Speaker 1: Imagine and time meant for family bonding, basking in the
Speaker 1: warmth of the August sun and enjoying each other's company. Well,
Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty two, a family of six was enjoying
Speaker 1: just that. But for them, what should have been a
Speaker 1: joyous occasion turned into the ultimate nightmare when a seventh shadow,
Speaker 1: uninvited and threatening, emerged from the depths of the woods
Speaker 1: during their camping vacation. This is the chilling tale of
Speaker 1: a family's disappearance amidst the wilderness of Wells Gray Provincial Park.
Speaker 1: I'm Nicole, my name's Ben, and this is Wicked and Grim,
Speaker 1: a true crime podcast.
Speaker 2: Daring podcast listener question that cheers, cheers. We're drinking some
Speaker 2: good wine today. M h from what was it?
Speaker 1: Gray Monk? Are you going to read the label again?
Speaker 2: Sure? Will? This is not sponsored not sponsored by Gray
Speaker 2: Monk's twenty twenty Pinot Noir. It's from the BCVQ a
Speaker 2: Okanagan Valleys.
Speaker 1: Dang good, delicious and nutritious. My friends so good. Yes,
Speaker 1: I was compiling a list. I was like, what do
Speaker 1: we have to chat about?
Speaker 2: What do we have to chat It's like, did you.
Speaker 1: Put ice cream on the grocery list. Yeah, well really
Speaker 1: that is like you know right up there, Yes it is.
Speaker 1: You need some motherfucking ice cream? Now, well you actually
Speaker 1: had some and I ate it. I'm obsessed with ice cream.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know.
Speaker 1: Did you look for that night it was gone?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 1: Oh shit, sorry, I.
Speaker 2: Was well aware you're obsessed with ice creb and you
Speaker 2: ate it all. Thanks.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's so good. Okay. So we have some patrons
Speaker 1: to think we do, and then we also have I'm
Speaker 1: doing this case yay wow, then get some breaks like
Speaker 1: I think the last one I did, dude, was like
Speaker 1: in December. Wow, that's bad. I apologize it's.
Speaker 2: Been a while. Yeah. Sorry, Yeah, singing some creed right now.
Speaker 2: But instead of singing creed, I'm going to go ahead
Speaker 2: and thank the patrons. How's that that would be wonderful? Okay.
Speaker 2: So we have two amazing people who joined us over
Speaker 2: on Patreon this week. We have Crystal Burbridge and Ashley Parks.
Speaker 2: Thank you once. We appreciate you, guys. Yeah, it means
Speaker 2: a lot for joining us over there.
Speaker 1: I love that.
Speaker 2: If you guys want to join Patreon links down below
Speaker 2: get behind the scenes. They just helped us name one
Speaker 2: of our chickens. They did you get exclusive content? It's fantastic.
Speaker 2: We did a pre show before this this episode, and
Speaker 2: they're getting that too. Drop some bombs in there, you know,
Speaker 2: thanks exactly dropping some good heads up information. We just
Speaker 2: dropped a couple of big ones in there.
Speaker 1: We did, we did, so, okay, so should we just
Speaker 1: dive right in. I'm like, antsie.
Speaker 2: Pantsy, Now, I guess you're running the show. You got
Speaker 2: you got the episode.
Speaker 1: I know I haven't. You know I'm going to be rusty,
Speaker 1: Like it's I'm just I might be a bit rusty,
Speaker 1: But I also know this freaking case like the back
Speaker 1: of my hand.
Speaker 2: That's good, that's good. I feel like I'm like the
Speaker 2: jury right now. I'm just watching the prosecutor taking this
Speaker 2: like taking the floor, addressing the court room, and I'm
Speaker 2: just like, okay, what's going on.
Speaker 1: I know we've switched roles. It's a bit I like
Speaker 1: it weird.
Speaker 2: I like it.
Speaker 1: I'll be nice. I will be nice. This is a
Speaker 1: two parter. But I'm pretty sure that I've said I
Speaker 1: said earlier in another episode that the next case I
Speaker 1: do is most likely going to be a two parter.
Speaker 2: Well, you had read in a book for this watch
Speaker 2: multiple documentaries, yes, not to mention articles in and out
Speaker 2: and through and through.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I was going to squeeze it all into one,
Speaker 1: and I was like, you know what.
Speaker 2: No, sometimes it's nice to do those deep dives.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I want to spend a smidge more time
Speaker 1: on part two, so you know, it allows.
Speaker 2: For that respectable respectable.
Speaker 1: Okay, let's go here, let's go. You ready for this? Yeah?
Speaker 1: You ever been asked that sort of question for a while.
Speaker 2: No, I haven't. Kind of caught me off guard if
Speaker 2: I'm honest. Oh yes, I am. Go for it, do it?
Speaker 1: Okay. It was to be a glorious two week camping
Speaker 1: vacation in Wells Gray Provincial Park. This is one of
Speaker 1: British Columbia's largest and most rugged recreational areas. It's in
Speaker 1: our province, which is very exciting. I just have to
Speaker 1: throw that out there. The park itself covers just over
Speaker 1: fifty four hundred square kilometers or one point three mile sorry,
Speaker 1: one point three million acres, and has something to offer
Speaker 1: for almost every outdoor enthusiast. It's a place we need
Speaker 1: to visit.
Speaker 2: Sounds amazing.
Speaker 1: So Bob Johnson, his wife Jackcki, who he'd been married
Speaker 1: to for twenty one years and their two daughters. They
Speaker 1: had a daughter named Janet who was thirteen, and a
Speaker 1: daughter named Karen, who was eleven. They left their home
Speaker 1: on August second, nineteen eighty two, with the intention of
Speaker 1: meeting up with Jackie's retired parents, George and Edith Bentley.
Speaker 1: The Bentleys, who were both in their late sixties, were
Speaker 1: avid campers and had actually recently just purchased a new
Speaker 1: truck and camper for their adventures. Okay, so you know
Speaker 1: all live in that retired life like that is? That
Speaker 1: is the dream, I think.
Speaker 2: The dream that we all dream of, you know. Yeah,
Speaker 2: just having that freedom.
Speaker 1: Getting yourself some new toys, spending time with your kids,
Speaker 1: your family, you know, getting.
Speaker 2: Drunk out in the provincial park with your new truck
Speaker 2: and camper shown by the lake and water.
Speaker 1: That's Ben's id, I guessa of retirement phenomenally. I feel
Speaker 1: like you do that now.
Speaker 2: I do that at home. If I already retired, I
Speaker 2: could do it out of the home.
Speaker 1: There you go, Yeah, and then I would do it
Speaker 1: in a home. See the progression works right, yeah? Okay,
Speaker 1: So for the trip, they had also secured a ten
Speaker 1: foot aluminum boat that they fastened on the top of
Speaker 1: the camper. It was going to be a good time.
Speaker 1: They were a close knit family, three generations of compatible,
Speaker 1: loving individuals who wanted to enjoy the outdoors and just
Speaker 1: spend time together. So two weeks came and went, with
Speaker 1: the Johnson family set to return home to West Kelowna
Speaker 1: on August sixteenth, but Bob didn't report, didn't report for
Speaker 1: work as expected, And in twenty years he had never
Speaker 1: missed a day's work.
Speaker 2: Oh dang, that's dedication.
Speaker 1: Yes, he was a very very good employee. He even
Speaker 1: had a workplace injury where he lost a finger and
Speaker 1: he returned to work the very next day.
Speaker 2: Damn.
Speaker 1: So to say that this you know, him missing a
Speaker 1: you know, time at work without any contact, like it
Speaker 1: was very.
Speaker 2: Much swat of character, no kidding. Their employer must have
Speaker 2: thrown him a damn good pizza party for losing a finger.
Speaker 2: You'd hope, hey, one would hope they would better be
Speaker 2: more than a pizza party. But in today's age, and yeah,
Speaker 2: it's probably just a pizza.
Speaker 1: I can't remember what the company was, but it was
Speaker 1: like he was a sar so it would have been
Speaker 1: like a mill.
Speaker 2: Sar like a saw filer.
Speaker 1: I think it's just said sorrow. Is that it? I
Speaker 1: don't know. He worked in a mill.
Speaker 2: Of sorts mill. Okay, well I can relate.
Speaker 1: You can lose fingers in that sort of environment pretty easily,
Speaker 1: can't you.
Speaker 2: I've seen many because I worked in saw mills for
Speaker 2: over fifteen years. I've seen countless people missing digits as
Speaker 2: a result of working in sawmills.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that is I couldn't imagine, and I would be
Speaker 1: one of those people that'd be like, I can't go
Speaker 1: to work for a pretty long time.
Speaker 2: I remember when I secured a job at one of
Speaker 2: the sawmills. During the interview, they're asking questions and everything
Speaker 2: that I got. I got the position, they hired me
Speaker 2: on the spot there, and then I went to shake
Speaker 2: everyone's hand and one of the guys interviewing me he
Speaker 2: was missing all the fingers on his hand. Wow to
Speaker 2: his for his first knuckle.
Speaker 1: Really did that make you kind of be like, uh, oh,
Speaker 1: what did I just do?
Speaker 2: No, because I had already been in malls for like
Speaker 2: five years, right, Okay, so I was already well aware
Speaker 2: of people missing fingers stuff. It was just every finger
Speaker 2: on the same half was gone.
Speaker 1: I was like, wow, gosh, that would have been brutal. Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: So on August twenty third, after missing work, so he
Speaker 1: missed work for an additional week, Bob's boss filed a
Speaker 1: missing person's complaint to the RCMP. You know, he was
Speaker 1: like a well liked guy. They were probably just giving
Speaker 1: him the benefit of the doubt or something, right, but
Speaker 1: eventually like enough's enough. The report was passed on to
Speaker 1: Sergeant Frank Baruda of Clearwater Detachment, who went about making
Speaker 1: several local inquiries, but unfortunately he came back empty handed.
Speaker 1: The families were then put in the system as missing persons.
Speaker 1: It was August sixth that was actually the last time
Speaker 1: anyone had been in contact with any of the family members.
Speaker 1: Edith had contacted their other daughter, Sharon from the Chamber
Speaker 1: of Commerce telephone in Clearwater, BC to check in. She
Speaker 1: let her know that they were having a great time
Speaker 1: camping and would be going to meet the Johnson's and
Speaker 1: Wells Gray Provincial Park. Little did anyone think this would
Speaker 1: be the last time they'd hear from either family. Day
Speaker 1: Brian Bentley, So that's George and Edith, Edith's other son.
Speaker 1: They had three children, in total and his wife Linda,
Speaker 1: who I imagine were worried for and sick. They circulated
Speaker 1: their family's photos in the area between Clearwater and Belmont.
Speaker 1: Among some of the first reports to come in was
Speaker 1: one from a gas station attendant east of Clearwater. We're
Speaker 1: calling seeing George and Jackie and the two children while
Speaker 1: they were filling up their car with gas. George had
Speaker 1: asked if they knew of any good areas to do
Speaker 1: berry picking in the area. It was promising lead because
Speaker 1: it showed that both families did in fact make it
Speaker 1: to the area of Wells Gray Provincial Park, and this
Speaker 1: led to a massive search of that area.
Speaker 2: Well that's a massive provincial park though, that's going to
Speaker 2: be a major key factor here in this park in
Speaker 2: this case.
Speaker 1: But at least if they knew that they arrived to
Speaker 1: the destination.
Speaker 2: Which that's it's definitely a good thing. Yeah, I don't
Speaker 2: know if you're if you know, but you know, where
Speaker 2: in the park they were supposed to have been, Like,
Speaker 2: were they supposed to be at a specific lake or campsite?
Speaker 1: No, I don't even think that was they something I
Speaker 1: had read they kind of liked to camp in, like
Speaker 1: more rugged kind of off the beaten path place, gotcha,
Speaker 1: So that for this investigation is not helpful whatsoever.
Speaker 2: And this is in the early eighties. Yeah, so there's
Speaker 2: not a whole lot of provincial campsites that are can
Speaker 2: be like paved roads well maintained a lot of traffic. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so wow.
Speaker 1: The search was jointly led by Burruda, who I mentioned
Speaker 1: early earlier, and a staff sergeant, Norm Schaeffer, who was
Speaker 1: from Kamloops. The focus was on the park and involved police,
Speaker 1: parks personnel, private citizens clubs, and local pilots. The park
Speaker 1: was searched hirestly for any sign of the missing families,
Speaker 1: but they had no such luck and no clues were found.
Speaker 1: At this point, both Janet and Karen had missed the
Speaker 1: start of the school year and all the excitement that
Speaker 1: goes along with that. It wasn't until September thirteenth that
Speaker 1: an individual who was out picking mushrooms during the last
Speaker 1: week of August contacted the police, believing that he had
Speaker 1: seen the Johnson's vehicle. He reported that he'd been in
Speaker 1: the Battle Mountain Road area, which is within the Wells
Speaker 1: Green Provincial Park, where he came across a burnt out
Speaker 1: Chrysler similar to the one belonging to the Johnson family.
Speaker 1: So once Burruda got word of this, he and Constable
Speaker 1: Mike Glass drove to the area to investigate. At the
Speaker 1: location that was described, they noticed what appeared to be
Speaker 1: tire tracks angling off into the bush, and barely visible
Speaker 1: from the road, lay the wreckage of a car, its
Speaker 1: outlying cast in a dull orange hue. Despite the difficulty
Speaker 1: in spotting it, they pressed on, drawing nearer to the wreck,
Speaker 1: which was about one hundred and fifty feet from the road.
Speaker 1: It's worth noting that this road was typically traveled only
Speaker 1: by horseback or like four by four vehicles, Oka, confirming
Speaker 1: that they were far from the usual paths within the park.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so they're definitely going off the beaten path, if
Speaker 2: I mean, assuming they are driving their own vehicle in
Speaker 2: this area, differently, going down places people don't generally go,
Speaker 2: exactly trying to find that spot, you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So, upon closer inspection, they confirmed that the license
Speaker 1: plate was in fact a match. Surrounding the vehicle was
Speaker 1: scorched earth. Nothing remained untouched by the flames. Everything had
Speaker 1: been melted or warped beyond recognition. So they approached cautiously
Speaker 1: to take a peek inside the car, and when they did,
Speaker 1: the two froze in their tracks.
Speaker 2: Bodies.
Speaker 1: It was at this moment that the nature of the
Speaker 1: investigation shifted dramatically. What it initially seemed like, you know,
Speaker 1: could have been possibly an accident now demanded a thorough
Speaker 1: homicide investigation, and the area needed to be secured immediately.
Speaker 2: So bodies, well, Jesus just say it. I'm just like,
Speaker 2: come on, come on, what is it?
Speaker 1: What is it? So this is when Sergeant Michael Eastham
Speaker 1: got called who would lead the investigating RCMP officers, And
Speaker 1: he only gets called when there's bodies.
Speaker 2: Yes, there we go, Thank you bodies.
Speaker 1: He also wrote the book I Read on this case
Speaker 1: along with Ian McLeod, and it's titled The Seventh Shadow.
Speaker 1: So upon his arrival, east Ham went straight to work
Speaker 1: examining the burned out vehicle, and inside among the melted
Speaker 1: glass and metal was a horrible mess. The back seat
Speaker 1: of the car was filled with burned skeletal remains. The
Speaker 1: bodies had been literally cremated.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 1: Yes, it initially appeared to be two bodies, but a
Speaker 1: coroner on site was later able to determine he believed
Speaker 1: there was actually four bodies. It was absolutely shocking that
Speaker 1: what remained in the car's back seat amounted to four
Speaker 1: human adult bodies with one of the skulls appearing to
Speaker 1: have a bullet hole.
Speaker 2: Oh shit. Yeah, So there was how many individuals in
Speaker 2: this family? The two grandparents, parents, and two kids? So
Speaker 2: we have four adults, four adults?
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, and I am going to because you you
Speaker 1: kind of mentioned earlier, this is not like, this is
Speaker 1: not where they were camping. Okay, this vehicle is not
Speaker 1: found where they're camping. So when approaching the car, it's
Speaker 1: interesting because the investigator east Ham, he noticed that there
Speaker 1: was five keys dangling from the lock of the trunk
Speaker 1: of the car, and he like wondered, you know, what
Speaker 1: the fuck is in there, and realized, like, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm the one that's going to have to look in
Speaker 1: this in this trunk.
Speaker 2: I had a feeling when we were when I realized
Speaker 2: that two kids were missing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so it was now time to investigate why keys
Speaker 1: were dangling from the trunk of the car and they
Speaker 1: couldn't just open the trunk. I mean, this this vehicle
Speaker 1: was just like not in a good state seized up. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so they had to use a prim war to open it,
Speaker 1: and they got a shock of their life. They had
Speaker 1: hoped the trunk was, you know, maybe used to store
Speaker 1: the fuel and some sort of accelerant to make the
Speaker 1: fire burn so intensely, but instead, staring up at them
Speaker 1: were two little skulls, one of them looking straight at them. Damn, yeah, damn.
Speaker 1: Two vibrant young girls that were about Eastam's daughter's age, too,
Speaker 1: which would make it just that much worse.
Speaker 2: That would have hit him right in the gut.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I just oh man, it almost like I know
Speaker 1: so much about the case, but even just reading it
Speaker 1: it makes me feel just so sad, like so sad.
Speaker 2: So well, I can't blame you. It's not like that's
Speaker 2: an easy piece of information to really digest for anyone, Yeah,
Speaker 2: let alone east Ham staring the skull down.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So the whole atmosphere obviously changed once the trunk
Speaker 1: was open and the reality of the situation hit. One
Speaker 1: of the little skulls had a prominent hole over the
Speaker 1: left eye, looking like she had been shot in the
Speaker 1: back of the head, and this was the exit wound.
Speaker 1: They could only think, what kind of sick diluted coward
Speaker 1: would take a child's life, no shit, you know, two
Speaker 1: children's life, and then four adults too. Yeah, the whole family,
Speaker 1: three generations.
Speaker 2: Yeah wow.
Speaker 1: Tracking dogs, helicopters, and all the manpower that RCMP could
Speaker 1: muster were employed in search for more evidence, including the
Speaker 1: Bentley's truck and camper, which were not at this site.
Speaker 1: What was discovered next was what the investigators felt was
Speaker 1: the murder site. A report from a park employee had
Speaker 1: come in who recalled seeing a truck and camper unit
Speaker 1: parked at the old Bear Creek prison site, which was
Speaker 1: still within the park. This was approximately twenty kilometers from
Speaker 1: where the burned out Johnson car was found. Here they
Speaker 1: located six twenty two caliber shell casings and some beer
Speaker 1: caps of the brand known to be enjoyed by Bob Johnson.
Speaker 1: Full bottles of the same beer were also discovered cooling
Speaker 1: in the nearby creek, which I just kind of love
Speaker 1: that he was using the creek to cool his beer.
Speaker 1: But it's also like, oh, man, you know, it seemed
Speaker 1: just so innocent, Like it's so innocent that they were
Speaker 1: just there chilling with family and on vacation. And yeah,
Speaker 1: also found were two sticks with sharp edges, thought to
Speaker 1: be used by Janet and Cairn for roast marshmallows.
Speaker 2: Oh fuck me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Okay, they had the Johnson's vehicle and now the
Speaker 1: murder site, but they still needed to find more information.
Speaker 1: Yet to be found was the Bentley's truck and camper
Speaker 1: and a suspect. Over the next year, investigators pulled out
Speaker 1: all the stops to continue the search of what happened
Speaker 1: to these families. Researching this case, I honestly felt like
Speaker 1: the investigators team they actually did a like not all
Speaker 1: cases it seems like, you know, shit goes astray or whatever,
Speaker 1: but they did a really good job of investigating this.
Speaker 2: I feel like we've covered a few cases recently where
Speaker 2: they've pulled out all the stops. They didn't let go,
Speaker 2: didn't give up, and they pushed through and eventually they
Speaker 2: had results because of it. And so shout out to
Speaker 2: any authority figures, investigators, RCMP, police, who ever, shadow to
Speaker 2: you guys out there, who are the ones who are
Speaker 2: doing that, because that's what these victims need is someone
Speaker 2: like you to to find who the fuck did this
Speaker 2: and give them a voice totally.
Speaker 1: Well, because I imagine, like I just said, this has
Speaker 1: been going on for a whole year, and you would
Speaker 1: kind of lose hope and at some point, right, but
Speaker 1: it's like it's almost like they don't and they just
Speaker 1: keep powering through, which is awesome.
Speaker 2: It is.
Speaker 1: So a massive aerial and ground search of the park
Speaker 1: was done.
Speaker 2: Sorry it was a joke, but it was water and land,
Speaker 2: not Aaron bad. Sorry, it was a terrible, terrible joke
Speaker 2: that honestly didn't even really line up. But I just
Speaker 2: still said it anyway.
Speaker 1: I was even like, how do I even swand this
Speaker 1: doesn't make no sense.
Speaker 2: The thought process was there? Give me that it was there.
Speaker 2: It was there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're rusty at just you know, sitting back and
Speaker 1: I am sorry, truck bar, I don't know. They even
Speaker 1: went about constructing a nearly exact duplicate of the Bentley's
Speaker 1: truck and camper unit. Okay, no detail was spared, like
Speaker 1: they they found pretty well the exact truck, the exact camper.
Speaker 1: Even an aluminum boat was placed on top of the camper.
Speaker 1: I think they had motor at the back too of
Speaker 1: the camper, like a boat motor. So that was placed
Speaker 1: and they had it driven across the country and hopes
Speaker 1: that somebody would remember a similar vehicle and call in
Speaker 1: with a tit dang wow. Yes, there were a couple
Speaker 1: little easter eggs though, because they were getting a bunch,
Speaker 1: like they were getting so many calls. That was one
Speaker 1: thing that Eastman said that he really likes being able
Speaker 1: to use, you know, people to help with these sort
Speaker 1: of cases. And so there was two things in there
Speaker 1: that they altered just to see if witnesses you know,
Speaker 1: pointed those out or whatever.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, so there's specifically changing things to see if
Speaker 2: people know it, yeah, which would point to if they're
Speaker 2: being falsified information or whatever. Totally love that idea, Like
Speaker 2: that's just smart. Take it's really smart thinking outside the box.
Speaker 2: It is.
Speaker 1: So there was more behind the reasoning to this. The
Speaker 1: police had received numerous sightings of a camper fitting the
Speaker 1: description of the Bentley's, driven by two French speaking males.
Speaker 1: The sightings indicated that the unit was heading east, and
Speaker 1: because the occupants spoke French, it was assumed the men
Speaker 1: were making their way to go back. They even got
Speaker 1: a call from an autobody mechanic in Windsor, Ontario, who
Speaker 1: saw the bulletins and contacted the police stating that a
Speaker 1: few months earlier, two French speaking males operating a vehicle
Speaker 1: identical to the missing Bentley truck approached him asking for
Speaker 1: a midnight paint job.
Speaker 2: Oh shit, Okay, that's suss as fuck. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: we just, you know, can you just in the middle
Speaker 2: of the night just paint this truck? Do you know
Speaker 2: if they were if he approached the guy at the
Speaker 2: middle in the middle of the night, or were they like, hey,
Speaker 2: at midnight tonight, can you paint the truck?
Speaker 1: I'm not certain, but I know he didn't do it.
Speaker 1: He sent them somewhere else.
Speaker 2: Either way, that's suspect as fuck for sure.
Speaker 1: Because they were also asking how to dispose of a weapon,
Speaker 1: like a gun that's a twenty two caliber.
Speaker 2: Oh just so happens to be the same caliber.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I mean that is common one, isn't it.
Speaker 2: Twenty two is very common, especially in any area where
Speaker 2: you're hunting twenty two caliber rifles or used for small
Speaker 2: game rabbit, grouse, etc. Yeah, so yeah, they're they're common.
Speaker 2: Any hunter growing up used the twenty two caliber. They
Speaker 2: probably have one laying around. But why are you going
Speaker 2: to just approach some auto body shop and be like, hey,
Speaker 2: can you paint my truck at midnight? Also, do you
Speaker 2: know how to get rid of a gun?
Speaker 1: Well? I think so. He was a little bit on
Speaker 1: the sketchy side himself as far as it seemed.
Speaker 2: Uh was he though, because he turned these guys away
Speaker 2: and reported them to the police he did. Maybe he
Speaker 2: was just rough around the edges.
Speaker 1: I don't know. So the witness was able to describe
Speaker 1: details too about the truck and camper that had never
Speaker 1: even been relieved really, which is so bizarre because unfortunately
Speaker 1: in the end this proved to be false. Really, and
Speaker 1: the investigators they heard some backlash from this endeavor of them,
Speaker 1: you know, like going across the Korean stuff. But they
Speaker 1: were just following leads and they had tons of leads
Speaker 1: that had spotted this. So I guess it was just
Speaker 1: like two French speaking, also sketchy people that had a
Speaker 1: very similar.
Speaker 2: Wow unit, I don't know, suspiciously wanted to dispose of
Speaker 2: a twenty two gun and get it painted at midnight.
Speaker 1: What did these two people do? You know?
Speaker 2: No kidding? Or or here here's a theory. What if
Speaker 2: these guys are driving the same looking vehicle happened to
Speaker 2: have a twenty two caliber rifle that you know they
Speaker 2: were hunting with earlier in the season or something like
Speaker 2: that or whatever, and they are now seeing these news
Speaker 2: bulletins and stuff, and it's like searching for these guys
Speaker 2: who stole this truck, Like, shit, did we do something?
Speaker 2: Like we didn't do anything, man, we got to get
Speaker 2: rid of this gun and change our truck. Is we
Speaker 2: didn't do shit?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Like what if they just they're panicking?
Speaker 1: I know, because I mean people are going to have
Speaker 1: similar trucks and similar campers in like a country, right, So.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean even me, like I have a very
Speaker 2: distinctive looking truck. It is bright fucking orange. Yeah, but
Speaker 2: there's like three other trucks that are damn near identical.
Speaker 1: To mine in town. Yeah, I know, and like I'll
Speaker 1: pass them. I have to do a double takes.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I get told that a lot from friends. They're like, oh,
Speaker 2: you know, I waved at you driving by this area.
Speaker 1: You're an asshole and you didn't wave bath.
Speaker 2: I'm like, I was at home all day yesterday. What
Speaker 2: are you talking about? That wasn't me?
Speaker 1: Yeah, So I mean there you go.
Speaker 2: Anyway, Sorry, I digress.
Speaker 1: That's okay. So Like I said, they were getting some
Speaker 1: backlash from this endeavor, but they were just following the leads,
Speaker 1: and they themselves said, can you really put a price
Speaker 1: a price day on the lives of six individuals? They
Speaker 1: were going to solve this case no matter what it took.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no props to them. I'm fully supporting them in
Speaker 2: their decision to do that.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And it wasn't just a few reports. It was many.
Speaker 1: So I mean like maybe if it was just one
Speaker 1: or two, they might not have but it was.
Speaker 2: Like a lot.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I mean it did keep the mass murder
Speaker 1: in the public eye, which was a good thing. In total,
Speaker 1: the police received thirteen thousand tips regarding this case. What
Speaker 1: like it was? I mean the manpower that they would
Speaker 1: also have for that have to deal with that kind
Speaker 1: of amount of tick.
Speaker 2: How do you soar through thirteen thousand? How do you
Speaker 2: categorize and process that?
Speaker 1: I don't even early Wow. So, but I mean, like
Speaker 1: he never made it seem like that was bad or
Speaker 1: anything like he if that's what he wanted he wanted
Speaker 1: of course, you know, the help of the public and stuff.
Speaker 1: That's how he usually went about kind of solving his cases.
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I assumed he was. He was happy to
Speaker 2: have it issuit. That's a lot to do, that's a
Speaker 2: lot of work.
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, and it's people just genuinely wanting to help.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's probably the odd one that isn't, but yeah,
Speaker 1: that I just is overwhelming. It's overwhelming.
Speaker 2: It's a lot.
Speaker 1: So Now, on October eighteenth, nineteen eighty three, this is
Speaker 1: about fourteen months after the Johnson's and Bentley's disappeared, east
Speaker 1: Em got a call from Sergeant Frank Beruda in Clearwater
Speaker 1: stating that he had two forestry workers with him, saying
Speaker 1: they found the burned remains of the Bentley truck and
Speaker 1: camper on Trophy Mountain.
Speaker 2: Okay, this was.
Speaker 1: Only twenty kilometers from the murder site and about thirty
Speaker 1: kilometers from where the Johnson's car was located. East Ham
Speaker 1: he couldn't believe it. They had spent so much time
Speaker 1: searching the area, like so much they had, you know,
Speaker 1: aerial searches like ground searches. They spent a lot of
Speaker 1: time searching this spot.
Speaker 2: Well. To play Devil's advocate in British Columbia, when you're
Speaker 2: looking at the boreal forest, if you're in the air,
Speaker 2: you can't see the ground.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's so dense.
Speaker 2: It's so dense, and when you're on the ground you
Speaker 2: can barely see twenty yards in front of you if
Speaker 2: you're lucky. It's again so dense, not only dense, the
Speaker 2: topographical the up, the down, the left, the right, it's inset.
Speaker 2: You can't imagine unless you've experienced it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it is. It is next level. But there was
Speaker 1: also another reason. So upon his arrival back to Wells
Speaker 1: grape Vinchal Park, it did make sense because the truck,
Speaker 1: like I said, it was also burned. It was the
Speaker 1: exact same color of the earth that it was surrounding it.
Speaker 1: It looked like it had been there for fifty years
Speaker 1: resting away.
Speaker 2: I also like how you just let me go off
Speaker 2: in that rant about like the boreal forest is so thick,
Speaker 2: and you're like, yep, yep. Also there's another reason, thanks
Speaker 2: that is.
Speaker 1: I think that's so a reason. Oh yeah, because it
Speaker 1: being like in our forest if you're up in you know,
Speaker 1: a plane, like you can't really see through the trees.
Speaker 2: That well, no, you can't now like to have something
Speaker 2: that's going to look like it's been there for fifty
Speaker 2: years at first glance, it's probably just gonna look like
Speaker 2: an upturned stump for pile of dirt.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and something too that just came back to me.
Speaker 1: There had been a forest fire or something in that
Speaker 1: area not long ago, so like that would just blend
Speaker 1: rate in as well.
Speaker 2: No kidding, it's going to be a bunch of scorched
Speaker 2: stumps and trees and stuff like that lasts a long time,
Speaker 2: that leaves mark for.
Speaker 1: So this was also very high up the mountain. Eastam
Speaker 1: thought that he was going. In his book, he mentioned
Speaker 1: like he's going to get a fucking nosebleed from being
Speaker 1: so high this mountain from the altitude, but like it was, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, it makes sense that it wasn't found When
Speaker 1: you think about it, it was pretty obvious that whoever
Speaker 1: drove the truck all the way up to the spot
Speaker 1: had been a local with knowledge of the area. Though
Speaker 1: definitely had the truck not high centered on a log,
Speaker 1: it would have been driven off a huge cannon at
Speaker 1: the end of the trail. And when cannon, sorry, canyon, canyon, canyon,
Speaker 1: what did I say? Cannon cannon, like a huge cannon,
Speaker 1: canyon canyon. Sorry. I was getting real into it and
Speaker 1: getting tongue tied. Sorry, so it would have been driven
Speaker 1: off of there, and if it did, it would never
Speaker 1: ever have been found again. Yeah, so he knew what
Speaker 1: he was doing.
Speaker 2: Neither would have the person driving it. They would never
Speaker 2: would have been found unless.
Speaker 1: They could have just like put something on the gat
Speaker 1: on the gas pedal and let it go off the cliff.
Speaker 2: Which probably would have been a better idea than what
Speaker 2: he did, clearly because it would have never have been
Speaker 2: found and that probably would have played to his benefit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but he got stuck.
Speaker 2: Oh, he got stuck.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was high centered on a long Oh.
Speaker 2: I thought you said had he not been highed, had
Speaker 2: he not? It's okay, sorry, I see what you said now,
Speaker 2: But I thought you were saying because he had knowledge,
Speaker 2: he did not get high centered, and he logs and
Speaker 2: made his way up this trail where he didn't even
Speaker 2: fall off into a cannon.
Speaker 1: Okay, No, he did get high centered, and for that,
Speaker 1: I mean they were able to find this.
Speaker 2: I see. Okay, that makes that makes sense.
Speaker 1: Okay, sorry, No, that could be in mine bad to.
Speaker 1: I was like getting too excited here.
Speaker 2: I got threw off with the cannon. I'm like, where's
Speaker 2: the cannon.
Speaker 1: Oh my god. Okay, so their focus was once again
Speaker 1: brought back to the clear Water area and with in weeks,
Speaker 1: investigators had several leads that pointed to a local man
Speaker 1: and his name was David Shearing. One informant called in
Speaker 1: after hearing a rumor that Shearing had run over a
Speaker 1: person out on the Wills Gray Park Highway a couple
Speaker 1: years back and he actually got away with it.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 1: Oddly enough, the same day that call came in, Yeah,
Speaker 1: one of the investigators was having lunch downtown when a
Speaker 1: waitress slid him a piece of paper with Shearing's name
Speaker 1: written on it. You know, I was like, this is
Speaker 1: a sketchy guy like me looking to him.
Speaker 2: Nudge nudge, wink wink.
Speaker 1: And then the next day during a door to door
Speaker 1: that was another thing they did. They went door to
Speaker 1: door like they had tons of people going and visiting
Speaker 1: everyone like girl scouts pretty well selling cookie situation, but
Speaker 1: it wasn't selling cookie. Yes, So Shearing's name came up
Speaker 1: once again when a woman said to her husband, aren't
Speaker 1: you going to tell them about what Dave's sheer said
Speaker 1: about reregistering that truck with the bullet hole in the
Speaker 1: door just like yells this to her husband who's at
Speaker 1: the at the door with like a police officer, and
Speaker 1: then he just like sideizes her, and it's like the fuck.
Speaker 2: You know, yeah, because clearly he was gonna keep it
Speaker 2: hush hush.
Speaker 1: Yeah. But thankfully I could just picture it.
Speaker 2: A wow, ain't you gonna tell him about that bullet
Speaker 2: hole truck? He was gonna reregister.
Speaker 1: Shut up, Debby, you know like it is. You can
Speaker 1: literally picture it.
Speaker 2: Oh, I picture it.
Speaker 1: But thankfully that officer just like kept cool like he
Speaker 1: didn't hear that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he pretended like he didn't hear it, right, Like it.
Speaker 1: Was just like not gonna register with him, so that,
Speaker 1: you know, this guy wouldn't like alert Dave sharing or whatever.
Speaker 1: So David Shearing, who lived a couple miles from the
Speaker 1: alleged murder scene at the time of the murders, was
Speaker 1: twenty three years old.
Speaker 2: Dang, he's young.
Speaker 1: Yes. Despite his unpleasant reputation and criminal record, David came
Speaker 1: from a respectable family. Unlike many of the backgrounds of
Speaker 1: individuals we often cover. His father, who passed away only
Speaker 1: about four months before the murders, had once been a
Speaker 1: prison guard, and his brother a sheriff. He had previously
Speaker 1: been arrested for assault, drinking and driving, and drug possession.
Speaker 1: Up until his recent move to Tumblr Ridge from work
Speaker 1: for work, David had lived in the area all of
Speaker 1: his life and would have been very familiar with the
Speaker 1: park and roads, back roads or whatever and something. I
Speaker 1: did have this in here, but it's not anymore. He
Speaker 1: had actually graduated from high school and everything, and even
Speaker 1: had like a little bit of post secondary education I
Speaker 1: believe in like mechanics or something.
Speaker 2: Okay, which honestly at that time is like it's.
Speaker 1: Pretty u so, like, I mean, his background was no,
Speaker 1: nothing to like really be alarmed about or like, oh
Speaker 1: you know, that kind of makes sense, I guess.
Speaker 2: So whatever, he's not out torturing animals or something like that.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So this was now November sixteenth, and Eastham got
Speaker 1: on the phone with Constable Ron Jerman, who had he
Speaker 1: had previously worked with and who he knew was currently
Speaker 1: in like working in tumblr Ridge as an officer. And
Speaker 1: just for reference, Tumblr Ridge is about ten hours or
Speaker 1: so drive from Clearwater, so it wasn't like they could
Speaker 1: just hastily drive them there themselves, right.
Speaker 2: They also have dinosaur footprints and tumblet Ridge.
Speaker 1: They do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I've been there. I've seen them. You can
Speaker 2: go there and they ask you not to touch them
Speaker 2: because I mean it could have road and damage over time.
Speaker 1: Right, totally.
Speaker 2: You can like literally like have your hand like in
Speaker 2: a dinosaur footprint in the ground just off the side
Speaker 2: of the road.
Speaker 1: I know I haven't been. I would really like to
Speaker 1: one day.
Speaker 2: Well you should, I should.
Speaker 1: Okay, So this is how their conversation went.
Speaker 2: Sorry, that was just an interesting It was very We
Speaker 2: just go ahead, though.
Speaker 1: So he goes, Ron, it's Mike Eastam here, Mike, Ron beamed.
Speaker 1: I guess you're pretty busy with that family murder case. Look,
Speaker 1: I've got a bit of a weird duck up here.
Speaker 1: He said. He used to live in Clearwater, and I
Speaker 1: figured I could ask him some questions if he wanted
Speaker 1: me to. His name's David William Shearing. Eastam's heart skipped
Speaker 1: a beat because he hadn't even fucking said the name
Speaker 1: of the guy yet.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, actually, Ron, we're looking at him right now as
Speaker 1: a possible suspect. Cheering was continuing to get in trouble
Speaker 1: in tumblr Ridge and actually had an upcoming court date
Speaker 1: on the Monday for possession of stolen stolen property or something.
Speaker 1: German said he'd continue to keep an eye on Cheering
Speaker 1: until they arrived to conduct an interview. And that's where
Speaker 1: we're stalking part one. Of course, I know it is
Speaker 1: such a dick spot to stop, so I'm so sorry.
Speaker 2: I honestly almost forgot that it was gonna be a
Speaker 2: two part thing. I was just like, we're getting through.
Speaker 1: This, and yeah, there is a lot more to this story. Okay, okay,
Speaker 1: so that's part one.
Speaker 2: You've done it. Just do that to us, didn't you?
Speaker 1: I did?
Speaker 2: Wow? Yeah, thanks, you're welcome. Now we have to wait
Speaker 2: a whole week for part two. Thanks appreciate that.
Speaker 1: I know. I know I was there. I was like, okay,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna stop it there. But I'm going to get
Speaker 1: in some shit for stopping it there. But that is
Speaker 1: just that is just the natural spot to stop. So
Speaker 1: I do apologize, but I don't apologize. Sorry.
Speaker 2: Not Sorrysha Sory, not sorry. Wow, Okay, David sounds like
Speaker 2: a douchebag though.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you guys are definitely going to want to turn
Speaker 1: tune into part two because it is a fucking roller coaster.
Speaker 2: Yeah, up and down, left and right and twisting around
Speaker 2: and upside down, all down to be honest, just all down. Okay, okay,
Speaker 2: all right, ye what you're doing here? Yeah, I'm in
Speaker 2: for it. I'm in for it.
Speaker 1: So there you go.
Speaker 2: Okay, Well that's that's you caught my attention.
Speaker 1: You're going to be able to to wait a week.
Speaker 2: I might have to read this book and in the
Speaker 2: meantime just catch up in the middle. What was the
Speaker 2: book called? Again?
Speaker 1: One day, I'm just gonna like be trying to find
Speaker 1: my book and you'll have it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll be curled up in the couch.
Speaker 1: Oh man, I had it. Seventh something, seventh shadow, seventh shadow. Okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: the seventh Shadow.
Speaker 2: Okay. I might want to read that after this case
Speaker 2: or before part two. I don't know. We'll find out.
Speaker 1: It is very good there, Like there is a lot
Speaker 1: in and about, you know, him just being an investigator
Speaker 1: and you know, like referencing other little cases or his
Speaker 1: life or whatever.
Speaker 2: His experience and point of view.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because he's been an investigator for a long time.
Speaker 1: He's now tired, but which I think is why he
Speaker 1: can write this book, because he's not like an act
Speaker 1: of Yeah. Still in the force. But yeah, it is
Speaker 1: the first half it was harder to get through. But
Speaker 1: then the but I always find books sometimes are hard
Speaker 1: to get you know, get started in, but then you know,
Speaker 1: halfway through whatever, I was like, okay, I think that's
Speaker 1: when I read the half in one day or one
Speaker 1: evening or whatever, because I was like, okay, yeah, like
Speaker 1: I'm at the point I can put this down.
Speaker 2: So I understand what you say though, with the book
Speaker 2: like being hard to start, it's the same with with books,
Speaker 2: with TV shows, with movies, you name it because you're
Speaker 2: not invested in the story or the characters or whoever yet. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and once you get past that point of investment in it,
Speaker 2: in the story of what's being told or what's happening,
Speaker 2: then it's okay, you know, I want to see how
Speaker 2: this person reacts or how this develops, and oh my god,
Speaker 2: like David actually was also on this other guy's list,
Speaker 2: like if if howered to start a conversation, youah, this
Speaker 2: guy who potentially murdered people, because I don't know if
Speaker 2: he actually did or not. He was found in tumblr
Speaker 2: Ridge by some other cops for theft of property. Cool,
Speaker 2: no one's gonna care. But if we tell them all
Speaker 2: the stuff you just told us. Then you stop for
Speaker 2: fucking part two. They're gonna be pissed because they're invested. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and they're gonna want to hear it now. Can't they
Speaker 2: have to wait till next time?
Speaker 1: They're going to be pissed because they're invested. Wow, just
Speaker 1: throw me under the bus a little more, Why don't you? Oh?
Speaker 2: I can, I can keep going, trust me.
Speaker 1: Anyway. I've said this numerous times. There is not many
Speaker 1: things in life where we have to wait anymore, where
Speaker 1: you're like binge watchers whatever, right, And it's like that's good.
Speaker 1: It's good sometimes to have to go a week and
Speaker 1: anticipate something exciting in your life, to you know, come
Speaker 1: back next week and be like, oh man, yeah it's
Speaker 1: part two when I get to know what happened.
Speaker 2: You know, there's some people out there, and I'm not
Speaker 2: throwing them under the bus. You do you I do
Speaker 2: not judge it whatsoever. I'm just giving you another perspective here.
Speaker 2: There are some people out there who when they see
Speaker 2: that we are putting out a part one, they wait
Speaker 2: until part two is out to listen to them both
Speaker 2: back to back. Yeah, I can totally relate to that though,
Speaker 2: because they don't have like the will to, like, oh
Speaker 2: I gotta wait a whole week now. I'm sure they
Speaker 2: could if they wanted to, but like, who wants to?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know it is hard, it's hard. And this story,
Speaker 1: the story sucks like it's super sad, it's super shitty.
Speaker 1: It just sucks. And yeah, it doesn't get any better,
Speaker 1: I guess, is what I'm saying.
Speaker 2: Well, like you said, it's just downhill, yeah, roller coaster
Speaker 2: that just goes down. So yeah, thanks, good job so
Speaker 2: far though, thank you. Yeah, good job, good job. I'm
Speaker 2: liking it. I'm loving it. I can't wait for part two. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and until then, if you guys want to check out
Speaker 2: more of our social links like Patreon or Instagram or
Speaker 2: Facebook or YouTube. We have two YouTube channels when where
Speaker 2: we've logged and do some lifestyle tiny home stuff, and
Speaker 2: another one where you can actually watch the recordings of
Speaker 2: the podcast in visual form on camera. You can go
Speaker 2: do that too. Yeah, I've been doing his hand gesture
Speaker 2: every time I talk about the camera rolling and us
Speaker 2: like you can watch it. I always do the hand
Speaker 2: gesture because it just feels right, It feels right, natural.
Speaker 1: Natural, okay until next week.
Speaker 2: I wasn't even done. You could check all those things
Speaker 2: in the description of this podcast down below. Go ahead
Speaker 2: click on things. Thanks for listening, now go ahead.
Speaker 1: Are you done? Tatty Kathy?
Speaker 2: Sorry, I had a glass of wine and I want another,
Speaker 2: and I want to listen to part.
Speaker 1: Two, well until part two.
Speaker 2: Until part two, stay wicked.