WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:06.360 Imagine keeping a secret for thirty four months. Wow, right, 2 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:08.679 I mean one fifty four days to be exact. 3 00:00:08.759 --> 00:00:09.919 That is a long time. 4 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:11.960 It is. That is over a thousand days of you know, 5 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:15.080 waking up, going to work, maybe even driving past a 6 00:00:15.160 --> 00:00:17.079 very specific stretch of rural. 7 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:19.399 Road and knowing exactly what is out there, yes. 8 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:21.839 Knowing exactly what is buried out there in the dirt. 9 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:24.920 You were just living your life, going about your routine 10 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:27.359 in this small Midwestern. 11 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:29.600 Town, right, blending in exactly well. 12 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:35.000 Simultaneously, like an entire state's law enforcement apparatus is slowly, 13 00:00:35.320 --> 00:00:38.119 methodically and invisibly closing in. 14 00:00:38.119 --> 00:00:40.960 On you, which is just a terrifying thought for the suspect. 15 00:00:41.159 --> 00:00:43.560 Oh absolutely, So today we are going to look at 16 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:47.840 the exact machinery that finally caught up to that secret. 17 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:50.719 Because it is a profound psychological burden for the suspect, 18 00:00:50.759 --> 00:00:52.920 you know. But on the other side of that equation 19 00:00:53.079 --> 00:00:57.799 you have the relentless, just unyielding mechanism of the state, 20 00:00:58.439 --> 00:01:01.320 and that is what makes our focus today so compelling 21 00:01:01.399 --> 00:01:04.400 for you, the listener. We aren't looking at like a 22 00:01:04.519 --> 00:01:05.959 narrative true crime book. 23 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:08.159 Here, I know, dramatic reenactments, no. 24 00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:12.280 We are looking at the raw architectural blueprint of an investigation. 25 00:01:12.439 --> 00:01:15.040 Okay, let's unpack this. Our mission on this deep dive 26 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:18.040 is to deconstruct a single primary source. 27 00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:19.840 Document, just one document, just one. 28 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:23.159 It is a press release issued on May eighteenth, twenty 29 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:26.879 twenty six, by the Iowa Department of Public Safety the DPS. 30 00:01:27.079 --> 00:01:29.120 And on its surface, I mean, if you just glance 31 00:01:29.159 --> 00:01:29.519 at it. 32 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:31.599 On your phone, yeah, it looks like nothing. 33 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:34.239 Right, It's maybe a four paragraph announcement of an arrest. 34 00:01:34.359 --> 00:01:37.799 It's sterile. It's totally bureaucratic, it really is. 35 00:01:37.959 --> 00:01:40.159 But when you look at the structure of this document, 36 00:01:40.680 --> 00:01:44.439 you know, the organizational footprint of the massive state website 37 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:45.040 it lives. 38 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:46.560 On, oh yeah, the menus, the. 39 00:01:46.599 --> 00:01:50.560 Links exactly, and the very deliberate legal language it employs. 40 00:01:50.599 --> 00:01:52.959 I mean, it becomes this high resolution window into the 41 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:54.319 life cycle of a tragedy. 42 00:01:54.439 --> 00:01:58.000 It really does. This document represents the exact bureaucratic and 43 00:01:58.079 --> 00:02:01.719 forensic machinery required to her a local missing person report 44 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:04.439 filed in the summer of twenty twenty three into a 45 00:02:04.519 --> 00:02:07.560 highly complex state level homicide arrest in the spring of 46 00:02:07.560 --> 00:02:08.439 twenty twenty six. 47 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:11.520 So let's set the stage for you. The case center's 48 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:14.479 on Jesse George. He's a thirty five year old man 49 00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:17.919 living in Missouri Valley, Iowa. Right, And on June twenty ninth, 50 00:02:17.960 --> 00:02:21.560 twenty twenty three, he vanished, just gone, just gone. A 51 00:02:21.560 --> 00:02:24.439 missing person report was filed with the local police, and 52 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:27.319 then a massive gap, a huge gap. Yeah. Now fast 53 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:30.199 forward to May eighteenth, twenty twenty six, the date of 54 00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:32.680 our source document, and we are suddenly looking at the 55 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:35.840 arrest of Joseph Langford, a fifty two year old man 56 00:02:36.039 --> 00:02:37.240 also from Missouri Valley. 57 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:40.199 So the genesis of this case is that initial report 58 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:42.719 to the Missouri Valley Police Department on June twenty ninth, 59 00:02:42.759 --> 00:02:46.280 twenty twenty three. Right, someone realizes Jesse George is gone 60 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:48.719 and they make the call. That is the starting line, 61 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:51.759 the very beginning. But it's the gap between that date 62 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:55.400 and the arrest that tells the real story of this investigation. 63 00:02:55.879 --> 00:02:58.120 And I want to pause on that exact gap, because 64 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:01.400 this is where the reality of missing person cases totally 65 00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:03.759 collides with the television version we all have in our heads. 66 00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:06.000 Oh, for sure, TV makes it look so fast. 67 00:03:06.120 --> 00:03:08.520 Right, we were talking about June twenty twenty three to 68 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:11.599 April twenty twenty six, That is when the text states 69 00:03:11.639 --> 00:03:12.400 his remains were. 70 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:13.919 Finally found nearly three years. 71 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:17.199 Yeah, almost three full years. We always hear that statistic, right, Yeah, 72 00:03:17.240 --> 00:03:18.120 the first forty. 73 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:19.639 Eight hours the critical window. 74 00:03:19.879 --> 00:03:23.199 Exactly. If you don't find someone in those first two days, 75 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:27.400 the probability of a positive outcome just drops off an 76 00:03:27.400 --> 00:03:28.240 absolute cliff. 77 00:03:28.360 --> 00:03:30.639 It becomes a cold trail very quickly. 78 00:03:30.919 --> 00:03:34.400 So you might be thinking, how on earth does investigation 79 00:03:34.520 --> 00:03:38.560 sustain momentum for thirty four months without a body, without 80 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:42.199 a defined crime scene, and without any physical starting point. 81 00:03:42.439 --> 00:03:45.319 This raises an important question about the mechanics of a 82 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:49.159 long term investigation, because the answer is actually hidden in 83 00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:53.199 a very specific, deliberate phrase in the press release. The 84 00:03:53.240 --> 00:03:56.639 state rights that since the report was filed, law enforcement 85 00:03:56.840 --> 00:03:58.719 continued to work on the investigation. 86 00:03:58.960 --> 00:04:00.319 Continue to work yes. 87 00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:03.400 Now, in bureaucratic speak, that is a massive distinction. It 88 00:04:03.400 --> 00:04:06.039 does not say the case was you know, reopen. 89 00:04:05.800 --> 00:04:08.080 Right, or like a cool case, squad took a fresh look. 90 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:12.800 Exactly. It implies a continuous, unbroken chain of investigative effort 91 00:04:12.840 --> 00:04:13.599 over three. 92 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:16.680 Years, which requires a staggering amount of resources and discipline, 93 00:04:16.759 --> 00:04:20.560 massive amounts, because think about it, To keep a case 94 00:04:20.600 --> 00:04:24.279 active without physical remains means you aren't like dusting for 95 00:04:24.360 --> 00:04:25.839 prints or taping off a room. 96 00:04:25.959 --> 00:04:28.040 No, you have no physical room to tape off. 97 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:33.360 Right, You are chasing digital ghosts. You are tracking financials 98 00:04:33.399 --> 00:04:35.079 to see if a bank account is touched. 99 00:04:35.319 --> 00:04:38.439 You're monitoring social media for any sign of life. 100 00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:41.279 Yeah, pulling phone records, just waiting for a pin. 101 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:44.800 And you are dealing with the reality of negative evidence. 102 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:46.519 Negative evidence. What do you mean by that? 103 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:50.920 Well, when a person vanishes, the investigation initially focuses on 104 00:04:51.079 --> 00:04:53.560 proving they are still alive. Oh, I see, Yeah, So 105 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:57.199 you check hospitals, you check jails, you check mortar crossings. 106 00:04:56.839 --> 00:04:59.120 Right, try and find a heartbeat somewhere in the system. 107 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:02.480 Exactly, And when all of those come back negative month 108 00:05:02.519 --> 00:05:05.959 after month, the absence of data becomes the data. 109 00:05:06.360 --> 00:05:09.279 Wow, that's a really haunting way to put it. The 110 00:05:09.319 --> 00:05:10.519 absence becomes the data. 111 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:14.480 It does. The lack of a digital footprint slowly confirms 112 00:05:14.519 --> 00:05:18.480 the worst case scenario. But maintaining that level of vigilance. 113 00:05:18.079 --> 00:05:20.600 Reinterviewing associates who might have changed their stories a. 114 00:05:20.600 --> 00:05:24.319 Year later, Yes, all of that requires a structural endurance 115 00:05:24.360 --> 00:05:27.160 that most local departments simply do not have on their own. 116 00:05:27.399 --> 00:05:30.560 They just don't have the manpower. No, and that endurance 117 00:05:30.600 --> 00:05:34.639 finally hits a breakthrough in April twenty twenty six. The 118 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:38.040 text tells us that law enforcement found human remains in 119 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:41.600 a rural location four miles northwest of Missouri. 120 00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:42.920 Valley, which is very specific. 121 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:45.959 It is I want to zero in on that geographic specificity, 122 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:49.560 four miles northwest right. In a place like western Iowa, 123 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:53.319 a rural location is not just you know, a quiet park, No, 124 00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:55.720 not at all. You were talking about a landscape that 125 00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:57.959 actively fights against an investigation. 126 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:00.759 That is a crucial point. A rural environment in the 127 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:04.839 Midwest is highly dynamic. You are dealing with hundreds, if 128 00:06:04.920 --> 00:06:08.759 not thousands of acres of agricultural land. Timber ravines and 129 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:11.600 changes constantly exactly. You are dealing with a landscape that 130 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:13.800 completely transforms every few months. 131 00:06:14.120 --> 00:06:15.879 It's like trying to read a book where the pages 132 00:06:15.879 --> 00:06:18.360 are being ripped out every time it rains or every 133 00:06:18.360 --> 00:06:21.560 time a tractor drives over it. That's a great analogy, right, 134 00:06:22.279 --> 00:06:25.319 because the environment is actively erasing the text. You have 135 00:06:25.399 --> 00:06:28.959 the spring planting season where massive machinery churns. 136 00:06:28.759 --> 00:06:32.399 Up the earth, totally destroying any surface evidence exactly. 137 00:06:32.680 --> 00:06:34.800 Then you have the summer canopy of corn that makes 138 00:06:34.839 --> 00:06:38.480 aerial searches by drons or helicopters almost entirely useless. 139 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:40.879 You can't see a thing from the air in August, 140 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:42.560 and then the. 141 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:46.319 Autumn harvest, and then the deep winter freeze where the 142 00:06:46.360 --> 00:06:48.519 ground turns to concrete. 143 00:06:47.959 --> 00:06:51.079 Which means to find remains in a rural setting after 144 00:06:51.240 --> 00:06:54.439 three years of those seasonal cycles. They didn't just stumble 145 00:06:54.519 --> 00:06:55.439 upon them, right. 146 00:06:55.319 --> 00:06:57.199 It wasn't a casual walk through the woods, No, they 147 00:06:57.199 --> 00:06:57.839 were lead there. 148 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:02.319 That geographic precision exactly four miles northwest tells us that 149 00:07:02.360 --> 00:07:06.759 the continuous investigation finally yielded a highly specific data point. 150 00:07:06.839 --> 00:07:08.560 What kind of data point, like a tip? 151 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:11.160 It could have been an informant finally, they're silent, sure, 152 00:07:11.240 --> 00:07:13.759 but more likely given modern forensics, it was a piece 153 00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:17.399 of historical cellular data, oh, like a phone ping exactly, 154 00:07:17.560 --> 00:07:20.839 data that placed the suspect exactly four miles northwest of 155 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:23.639 town on the night of June twenty ninth, twenty twenty three. 156 00:07:23.879 --> 00:07:26.639 Wow. So once they dig into that earth and find 157 00:07:26.680 --> 00:07:32.680 those remains, the entire legal machinery shifts gears practically overnight. 158 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:35.759 It has to The source notes that the remains were 159 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:39.879 positively identified as Jesse George, and then the Iowa office 160 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:44.240 the State Medical Examiner officially ruled his death a homicide. 161 00:07:44.279 --> 00:07:47.360 The medical examiner's role is really the pivot point of 162 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:51.279 the entire document. Also, well up until that ruling, law 163 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:54.439 enforcement technically just has a missing person who was found 164 00:07:54.439 --> 00:07:58.720 to cease, right, which isn't inherently a crime exactly. There 165 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:00.839 are many reasons a person might pass away in a 166 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:05.319 rural area, exposure, a medical event, an accident while hiking. Okay, yeah, 167 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:07.920 But the moment the medical examiner applies the legal and 168 00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:12.680 medical term homicide, the whole game changes fundamentally. The framework 169 00:08:12.680 --> 00:08:14.839 of the state's response alters completely. 170 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:17.360 But how does a medical examiner look at remains that 171 00:08:17.399 --> 00:08:20.439 have been exposed to Iowa winters and summers for three 172 00:08:20.519 --> 00:08:23.879 years and definitively say, you know, this is a homicide. 173 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:25.720 It's incredibly complexing. 174 00:08:25.319 --> 00:08:27.399 Because you don't have soft tissue to show a clear 175 00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:31.560 stab wound or a ligature mark from strangulation anymore, right, right. 176 00:08:31.959 --> 00:08:36.200 It requires forensic anthropology and pathology working in tandem, because 177 00:08:36.200 --> 00:08:39.799 even after three years, bones tell a very detailed story. 178 00:08:40.440 --> 00:08:44.039 The medical examiner is looking for blunt force trauma. 179 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:45.519 For instance, like broken bones. 180 00:08:45.960 --> 00:08:49.159 Yes, but even microfractures in the skull that indicate a 181 00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:51.519 strike rather than say a fall. 182 00:08:51.720 --> 00:08:52.240 Oh wow. 183 00:08:52.360 --> 00:08:55.080 They are also looking for tool marks on the bone, 184 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:56.960 perhaps from a blade, and. 185 00:08:56.919 --> 00:08:58.679 They could tell that apart from animal. 186 00:08:58.360 --> 00:09:03.399 Marks, absolutely a bladely the very specific microscopic striations that 187 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:07.000 differ entirely from animal scavenging marks. That's why they are 188 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:09.600 also looking at the hyoid bone in the neck. 189 00:09:09.639 --> 00:09:10.919 The hyoid bone, Yeah. 190 00:09:10.759 --> 00:09:13.559 It's a small U shaped bone in your neck. If 191 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:16.600 that is fractured, it is a very strong indicator of 192 00:09:16.679 --> 00:09:19.360 manual strangulation, even years later. 193 00:09:19.879 --> 00:09:22.759 So the bones literally provide the narrative of the violence 194 00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:26.080 they do, and that narrative culminates. On May eighteenth, twenty 195 00:09:26.120 --> 00:09:29.799 twenty six, agents with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation 196 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:31.600 the DCI, arrests Joseph. 197 00:09:31.399 --> 00:09:33.519 Langford, the culmination of three years of work. 198 00:09:33.799 --> 00:09:36.200 Let's look at the charges leveled against him, because they 199 00:09:36.200 --> 00:09:39.000 are incredibly telling about the nature of this crime. 200 00:09:39.159 --> 00:09:41.919 Yes, the specific charges are very important here. 201 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:45.159 He is charged with murder in the first degree, which 202 00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:48.080 the text explicitly notes is a class A felony right, 203 00:09:48.440 --> 00:09:51.200 and he is charged with abuse of a corpse, a 204 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:52.159 class E felony. 205 00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:55.000 First degree murder is of course the apex charge. It's 206 00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:57.960 a big one, right. It requires the state to prove 207 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:01.080 not just that Langford killed George, but that he did 208 00:10:01.080 --> 00:10:03.559 so with malice, of forethought and premeditation. 209 00:10:03.799 --> 00:10:05.279 So it wasn't an accident exactly. 210 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:08.639 It was planned and executed. But it's the second charge, 211 00:10:08.759 --> 00:10:12.080 abuse of a corpse, that provides a grim context to 212 00:10:12.120 --> 00:10:14.679 the entire three year timeline we've been discussing. 213 00:10:14.759 --> 00:10:16.480 Yeah, I was really turning this over in my head. 214 00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:19.080 When we hear abuse of a corpse, Yeah, the mind 215 00:10:19.159 --> 00:10:22.200 naturally goes to something like ritualistic. 216 00:10:21.639 --> 00:10:23.960 Or macab sure, Hollywood stuff. 217 00:10:23.799 --> 00:10:26.279 Right, But in the context of a thirty four month 218 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:30.000 missing person's case, hiding those remains in a rural location 219 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:33.279 directly correlates to this specific class C felony. 220 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:34.000 It does. 221 00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:36.960 The abuse, in a legal sense is the ultimate form 222 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:37.679 of concealment. 223 00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:42.320 Precisely, the legal definition of abusing a corpse often encompasses 224 00:10:42.360 --> 00:10:46.440 the intentional hiding, burying, or concealment of the deceased. To 225 00:10:46.600 --> 00:10:50.639 Swart Discovery, Hi, the evidence yes, by burying Jesse George 226 00:10:50.679 --> 00:10:54.000 four miles northwest of town. The suspect wasn't just committing 227 00:10:54.039 --> 00:10:57.120 a murder, right, they were committing an ongoing daily act 228 00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:01.600 of psychological cruelty against the victim's family and actively subverting 229 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:02.480 the justice system. 230 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:05.440 It's the state saying you didn't just take a life, 231 00:11:05.799 --> 00:11:08.519 you stole the truth for three years, and there's a 232 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:11.440 specific legal penalty for that theft. 233 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:14.720 The state tax on that class C felony. To acknowledge 234 00:11:14.759 --> 00:11:16.600 the specific severity of the. 235 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:18.559 Cover up, Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. 236 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:20.639 It ensures that the act of hiding the body is 237 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:23.000 punished independently of the active murder itself. 238 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:25.759 So we have a clear picture of the timeline, the environment, 239 00:11:25.879 --> 00:11:28.759 and the charges we do. But what really fascinates me 240 00:11:28.759 --> 00:11:32.200 about this primary source document is the interagency web. 241 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:34.279 It reveals the bureaucracy of it all. 242 00:11:34.600 --> 00:11:38.000 Yes, because this wasn't just a couple of local deputies 243 00:11:38.039 --> 00:11:40.759 solving a three year old murder in a vacuum. The 244 00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:44.159 press release explicitly lays out a chain of collaboration. 245 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:46.960 If we look at the text, it lists a very 246 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:51.120 specific jurisdictional hierarchy it does. It begins with the Missouri 247 00:11:51.159 --> 00:11:54.320 Valley Police Department, the agency that took the initial. 248 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:55.120 Report right the locals. 249 00:11:55.320 --> 00:11:58.879 Then it mentions the Harrison County Sheriff's Office the county level, 250 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:03.480 and finally the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation the DCI 251 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:05.279 the state level. 252 00:12:05.399 --> 00:12:07.080 So what does this all mean? When I see a 253 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:10.480 case jump from a municipal police department up to the 254 00:12:10.519 --> 00:12:12.679 county sheriff and then all the way to the state level, 255 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:17.080 it tells me the local guys hit a wall. Usually yes, 256 00:12:17.159 --> 00:12:19.600 not because they aren't capable, but because the logistics of 257 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:22.840 a weal to year manhunt simply break a local budget. 258 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:26.159 It is entirely an economy of scale. Yeah, think about it. 259 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:29.279 A local municipal department in a town like Missouri Valley 260 00:12:29.480 --> 00:12:32.360 might only have a handful of sworn officers, a few 261 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:36.759 guys on patrol. Right. Their primary function is immediate response, 262 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:42.080 domestic disputes, traffic enforcement, immediate canvassing for a missing person, 263 00:12:42.279 --> 00:12:44.639 the day to day stuff. They can handle the first 264 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:48.440 forty eight hours brilliantly, But when a thirty five year 265 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:51.600 old man vanishes without a trace and the hours turn into. 266 00:12:51.399 --> 00:12:53.200 Weeks, the budget just evaporates. 267 00:12:53.240 --> 00:12:57.440 The required resources rapidly outstrip what a town budget can support. 268 00:12:57.600 --> 00:13:00.639 You can't have your only two detectives chase down cell 269 00:13:00.679 --> 00:13:03.200 phone warrants for three years while the rest of the 270 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:04.480 town still needs policing. 271 00:13:04.679 --> 00:13:08.879 Exactly, So jurisdiction expands. The county sheriff steps. 272 00:13:08.519 --> 00:13:10.200 In because they have more money. 273 00:13:10.039 --> 00:13:14.799 More money, more manpower, and broader territorial authority, which is 274 00:13:14.919 --> 00:13:17.519 vital when a body is dumped in a rural area 275 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:18.759 outside city limits. 276 00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:21.399 Oh right, jurisdiction literally ends at the city. 277 00:13:21.159 --> 00:13:24.720 Line, exactly. But when a case stretches into years, requiring 278 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:29.159 deep forensic analysis of degraded remains, cyber tracking, and coordination 279 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:31.679 across state lines, you need the big guns you have 280 00:13:31.720 --> 00:13:33.279 to bring in, the heavy machinery you have to bring 281 00:13:33.320 --> 00:13:33.840 in the state. 282 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:36.720 And the state in this context is the Ioad Department 283 00:13:36.759 --> 00:13:37.440 of Public. 284 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:38.440 Safety the DPS. 285 00:13:38.519 --> 00:13:42.039 Yeah, the press release actually includes an about section for 286 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:44.799 the DPS at the very bottom. Now, normally I think 287 00:13:44.840 --> 00:13:47.279 people just skip right past the about section of a 288 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:47.799 press release. 289 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:49.879 It's usually boilerplate text right. 290 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:54.360 But here it is incredibly eliminating. It states flat out 291 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:57.759 that the DPS is the largest law enforcement agency in. 292 00:13:57.720 --> 00:14:00.000 The state, which is saying something. 293 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:03.679 And their mandate is to work in conjunction with local, state, 294 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:08.120 and federal government agencies, and importantly, the private sector. 295 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:13.000 That combination of public and private sector cooperation is key. 296 00:14:13.240 --> 00:14:15.080 Why is that so important, Well. 297 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:17.519 A local police department might not have the high level 298 00:14:17.559 --> 00:14:21.240 security clearance, or the dedicated legal teams, or the specialized 299 00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:26.440 software to demand and decode massive tranches of telecommunications data 300 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:28.879 from a private cellular giant. 301 00:14:28.600 --> 00:14:30.799 Like getting records from Horizon are At and t right. 302 00:14:30.840 --> 00:14:34.159 It's a huge legal lift. The DPS has those teams. 303 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:36.480 They act as the central nervous system for the state's 304 00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:37.279 law enforcement. 305 00:14:37.639 --> 00:14:41.159 The sheer scale of this organization is staggering when you 306 00:14:41.159 --> 00:14:43.879 look at it. If you look at the navigation menu 307 00:14:44.039 --> 00:14:48.080 included in this source document, it lists six main divisions 308 00:14:48.120 --> 00:14:49.320 within the IOWADPS. 309 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:51.039 Six massive divisions. 310 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:53.720 Yeah. You have the Division of Criminal Investigation, which actually 311 00:14:53.759 --> 00:14:57.240 made the arrest. You have Narcotics Enforcement, you have the State. 312 00:14:57.039 --> 00:14:59.759 Patrol the highway guys, right, the State. 313 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:02.879 Fire Marshalls Division, Yeah, the Division of Intelligence and Fusion Center, 314 00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:05.879 and the Administrative Services Decision. 315 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:06.759 It's huge. 316 00:15:07.159 --> 00:15:11.960 That is a massive, multi tentacled umbrella overseeing the safety 317 00:15:12.039 --> 00:15:13.159 of millions of people. 318 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:15.279 And if you look closely at the text in that 319 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:19.559 about section. They explicitly list the core values driving all 320 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:20.240 this machinery. 321 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:20.799 Oh I saw that. 322 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:25.960 Leadership, integrity, professionalism, courtesy, service, and protection. Right, It's fascinating 323 00:15:25.960 --> 00:15:29.840 how a clinical legal press release about a horrific murder 324 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:33.279 arrest is anchored by these philosophical pillars. 325 00:15:32.840 --> 00:15:33.879 Like they're making a statement. 326 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:37.440 It is. It's the state publicly declaring that behind the badges, 327 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:39.960 behind the crime labs and the guns, there is a 328 00:15:40.120 --> 00:15:42.200 guiding democratic. 329 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:46.200 Ethos, which is vital because that ethos is ultimately directed 330 00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:49.519 by the commissioner, who the text notes is appointed. 331 00:15:49.080 --> 00:15:51.240 By the governor, right, the civilian leadership. 332 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:54.600 So there is a direct line of democratic accountability from 333 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:57.519 the dirt of that rural field in Harrison County all 334 00:15:57.559 --> 00:15:59.559 the way up to the governor's office in Des Moines. 335 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:02.960 The chain of command is what gives the entire operation 336 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:04.440 its legal legitimacy. 337 00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:05.159 Absolutely. 338 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:08.320 But to understand how they actually process a crime scene 339 00:16:08.360 --> 00:16:11.519 like that after three years, yeah, the actual mechanics exactly. 340 00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:14.240 To understand the mechanics of how they caught Joseph Langford, 341 00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:16.759 we have to look inside the DCI itself. 342 00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:17.639 Okay, let's do it. 343 00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:20.960 The press release mentions the DCI made the arrest, and 344 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:24.840 the medical examiner made the ID. But how how do 345 00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:28.120 you extract evidence from a rural landscape thirty four months 346 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:28.879 after the fact. 347 00:16:29.240 --> 00:16:32.360 Here's where it gets really interesting. This is the part 348 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:33.759 that completely blew my mind. 349 00:16:33.879 --> 00:16:35.480 It's fascinating stuff. 350 00:16:35.639 --> 00:16:38.559 If we use the provided website structure in our source 351 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:41.759 document as a map, we can literally see the internal 352 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:45.399 layout of the Iowa DCI Criminalistics Laboratory. 353 00:16:45.480 --> 00:16:46.879 It's all right there on the page. 354 00:16:47.080 --> 00:16:50.039 It's like they've handed us a blueprint of their forensic arsenal. 355 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:55.080 Under the crime lab section they list all these specific units. 356 00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:55.799 Let's hear them. 357 00:16:56.080 --> 00:17:00.799 The crime scene section, DNA casework, DNA profiling, fort defenders, 358 00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:09.279 drug identification, firearms and tool marks, fire and explosives, impression evidence, photography, toxicology, 359 00:17:09.480 --> 00:17:10.400 and trace evidence. 360 00:17:10.599 --> 00:17:14.799 It represents the complete, uncompromising scientific breakdown of a crime. 361 00:17:14.920 --> 00:17:15.559 It really does. 362 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:18.920 Let's walk through how this actually deploys in the real world. Okay, 363 00:17:19.160 --> 00:17:21.680 when human remains are found after three years, the local 364 00:17:21.720 --> 00:17:23.440 deputies don't just dig them. 365 00:17:23.319 --> 00:17:24.960 Up, right, They don't just grab a shovel. 366 00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:28.680 No, they secure the perimeter and the DCI's crime scene 367 00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:30.079 section is deployed. 368 00:17:29.880 --> 00:17:32.160 Right because at that stage. It's not just a recovery, 369 00:17:32.200 --> 00:17:34.960 it is an archaeological excavation exactly. 370 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:38.079 They treat the site like a fragile historical dig. 371 00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:38.640 Wow. 372 00:17:38.759 --> 00:17:42.279 They use grid systems. They might use ground penetrating radar 373 00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:43.759 to understand how the soil was. 374 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:45.519 Disturbed without even touching it yet. 375 00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:48.240 Right, They sift the dirt through screens to catch a 376 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:51.000 fragmented tooth, a button, or a piece of jewelry, just 377 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:56.200 meticulous very and once that material is secured, the evidence 378 00:17:56.279 --> 00:18:00.440 diverges and travels down these highly specialized lanes in the 379 00:18:00.519 --> 00:18:01.359 DCI menu. 380 00:18:01.960 --> 00:18:04.519 I was thinking about it like a forensic assembly line, 381 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:07.160 but one where the workers are all PhDs. 382 00:18:07.319 --> 00:18:08.440 That's a great way to put it. 383 00:18:08.920 --> 00:18:12.279 Think about it. You pull dirt, debris, and remains from 384 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:15.799 a rural field. That material gets passed from one extreme 385 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:17.160 specialist to another. 386 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:18.039 From lab to lab. 387 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:21.799 Yeah, let's take the impression evidence section listed in the source. 388 00:18:22.599 --> 00:18:25.400 You might think after three years of rain and snow, 389 00:18:25.599 --> 00:18:28.000 there wouldn't be any footprints or tire tracks left. 390 00:18:28.119 --> 00:18:29.200 You'd assume it would all be. 391 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:32.359 Washed away, right, But what if the suspect threw a 392 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:35.359 heavy tarp over the burial site, or what if a 393 00:18:35.400 --> 00:18:38.480 tire track was compressed deep into clay soil and then 394 00:18:38.519 --> 00:18:41.680 baked hard by the summer sun before being buried under leaves. 395 00:18:41.880 --> 00:18:44.079 That is exactly where impression evidence comes in. 396 00:18:44.160 --> 00:18:44.960 How do they handle that? 397 00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:46.960 They don't just take a photo of a tire track. 398 00:18:47.240 --> 00:18:50.720 They use specialized dental stone to cast the physical imprint 399 00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:53.680 of that track. Oh, like dentists used for teeth exactly. 400 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:56.519 Then they use oblique lighting back in the lab to 401 00:18:56.680 --> 00:18:58.559