16 | The Woman in Florida

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1:32such as emotional, physical, and sexual violence, rape, and murder. The names of survivors have been changed for anonymity purposes. Testimony shared by guests of the show is their own and does not reflect the views of Tenderfoot TV or Odyssey. Thank you so much for listening.

1:56All right, this will be an interview between Andy Klamter and Jake. Is it Stetton Benz? Yes, sir. Did you have friends over to the house on Friday or Saturday night? I didn't have friends Friday and most definitely didn't have friends the next night. Were you aware of him going to the beach with Chrissy on Saturday? Saturday? Yep. No. He probably would have left like around noon. Okay, hold on. Okay, so he went missing Sunday afternoon, right? It sounds like it, because it sounds like you were the last person to see him. Okay, so I was confusing myself. I went bridge jumping Saturday evening. Do you remember what you were doing on Friday evening?

2:57No, I do not.

3:03Do you remember if Joseph's truck was at the house when you got home Saturday night? No I don't. Did you just get dropped off? Yeah. Do you remember seeing the pickup that he was using at the house on Sunday?

3:23Since just the summer there might have been some confusion if you've talked to of state troopers before. They first asked me what I did that Saturday night, and I couldn't remember to save my life. And so, on the spot, I've never talked to the state troopers like this about a missing person. So I made a dumb move and made up a story. To me, it seems like either you were lying now or you were lying then. It doesn't sound like you're being 100 % truthful with me. What did you tell the troopers that wasn't true? That I went down the teller road to a different bridge. They went straight to my friends and they got a different story.

4:08It didn't make me look good. That's why I was lying to them. And then they came back to me after all the questions. It doesn't matter if it's your story, what were you really doing? And what did you say at that point? When you guys came back, where did you go? Did Tyler drop you off somewhere? He dropped you off and then you say you made it home at midnight 30. So what was the rest of it, brother? What did you do the rest of the night? It doesn't sound like you're being 100 % truthful with me. We got four or five hours in the evening that I'd love to know what you did. I mean... What happened after you guys went and Tyler dropped you off?

4:47That's the question.

4:52Yeah, I'm not going to play video games. Okay. So what did you do Saturday night when you got back to Nome from bridge jumping? I want to say more than likely, I probably just went to bed.

5:16Do Do

5:37From Thunderfoot TV in Atlanta, this is Up and Vanished in the Midnight Sun, Chapter 2. I'm your host, Payne Lindsey. The timeline for that weekend is covered with holes After midnight Friday, something bad happened to Joseph And from that point forward, nothing makes sense anymore Joseph texted his fiancée Saturday morning But she feels like it wasn't really him An unexplained 27-minute phone call with Christine Was he really at the beach with her? Jake does not remember that But he does remember seeing Joseph in the hallway Sunday at 1pm him. What are your sort of gut instincts about what probably happened to him?

6:17I think something bad happened to him. My mom said when they were searching for him, there was 30 plus bears in that area. I think a bear might have gotten to him. I talked to Joseph's sister, who was a part of every search, and she saw zero bears. I wish I could help you guys. I'm with you in the same boat. I just want to find them. I just want to know what happened. Do you remember about when you got home after being out bridge jumping? I'm gonna be honest with you, I really don't remember what time. Okay. What does Jake remember exactly? About anything? And who were you with?

6:59My friend Tyler and my friend Emery. Okay, Tyler and Emery. Maybe they can help. Hey, Tyler. Yes. Hello, I'm Andy Klemzer. Nice to meet you. So Jake had difficulty remembering events from Saturday or Saturday night. Was he messed up that day? Was he like drinking? I don't think he was drinking. Like I said, we went out bridge jumping every weekend. So in the summertime, it's nice. So I jumped in the water up the bridge. Right.

7:30So I mean, did you think it was unusual that Jake was trying to get people to say they were with him Saturday night? No, he wasn't doing that. No, he was, because we have the text he sent you guys about that. I'm going to tell you the same thing I told the trooper. Jake didn't know what he was doing and being stupid and he had to come up with a story or something because, I don't know, I guess he just wanted the trooper out of his way or something. Did you pick up Jake and Emery on Saturday? I think so. So what did you do after getting back to Nome on Saturday night at like about 10.30? I got it, Jake's.

8:08Played some games. So Tyler takes Emory and Jake bridge jumping Saturday. Conflicting times and locations, but putting that aside, Tyler ends up back at Jake's house playing video games that night. When we start playing video games, we play for a couple hours or so. How long do you think you were at, Jake, Saturday night? I don't know. I didn't have my timer on. Is he a train conductor from the 1920s? What timer? We're wasting your time. You're wasting our time. and we got no beneficial stuff for you. Oh, he must have brought his pocket watch this time. What happened after you guys went and Tyler dropped you off?

8:51I mean, honestly, somebody's still playing video games. Jake says he was playing video games Saturday night, too. And who were you with? My friend Tyler and my friend Emory. Jake and Tyler were playing video games past midnight. So what's up with Emory? All right, this will be an interview between Andy Klamzer and Emory Bouchoud. We're at the Aurora Inn conference room. It's the 1st of October, 2016. The time now is about 2.21 p.m. Andy interviewed Emory. So we're trying to get better information on what was going on the weekend of June 25th. That's the weekend that Mr. Balderas went missing. And that would be the weekend that the troopers asked you about at some point.

9:32Do you remember what you were doing on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of that weekend? This is exactly what I told the troopers. I have no memory of that day. I mean, we obviously, what I believe is we went out to Cynic. I don't remember the exact day, so I can't really put anything in there for you. Okay. And this is to go bridge jumping, right? Yeah. Do you think that would have been Friday or Saturday? Your guess is as good as mine. Okay. Do you remember if you went bridge jumping like two days or two nights in a row, like Friday and Saturday, both? I wouldn't be surprised. It sounds like you guys would go out and do this a lot in the summer, right?

10:22Yeah. And so it would be hard to distinguish one weekend from another. Just a blur. Right. Just a blur. How are we to believe anything they say?

10:57thing you could do but yeah what did he say what did he say to that he jake yeah yeah uh what did he say like in the text when you told him no i mean when you're talking about told him it was like the worst thing you could do uh we were just dogging on him we're telling me stupid you're an idiot just giving him a bunch of crap so anyway do you still have any of the text messages from way back then i'd have to scroll a lot but i could find it right now if you wanted me to but i'd be scrolling forever. Well, let's see. Because otherwise, at some point, it's going to get lost. So let's just see if you can find them.

11:34Emory eventually does find them. Can I just take a picture of them? Go for it. Andy took pictures of Emory's phone and the conversation he had with Jake. It goes like this. Jake, Emory, I had to use you and Tyler in a story but the state trooper. Emory, what did you say? Jake, that us three took a drive to Solomon at 8 p.m., got back at like 1 a.m. This is supposed to be Saturday night, the day before he went missing. He asked what I did Saturday and if I saw him or whatnot. Emory, all right. Pretty basic conversation. Weird, though, but I noticed something that was slightly different in the state trooper's report.

12:17Could be nothing, but it's at least odd. In the police report, they refer to these same texts, but in the trooper's version, Emory responded differently, saying, quote, I honestly don't remember that day at all. And Jake responded, quote, me neither. So either those two texts were deleted prior to Andy's interview, or the state trooper just pulled that quote out of thin air? I don't think so. Did you think it was unusual that Jake was trying to get people to say they were with him that Saturday night? We were with him. It's just he said he didn't remember that day he just had to make something up.

12:52I guess he panicked. I don't know why. So what tell me what Jake said later about else after the troopers contacted you guys talked about you know talked about it. What did he what did he say about why he lied about it? He just that's just what happened. That's that that's just what he that's just what came to his head, I guess. Because he said he doesn't remember that day, so he didn't want to seem suspicious or anything, but he did the worst thing. If he didn't remember, then how would he even know he's lying? Because I totally made him look suspicious. Yes, exactly. So you don't really have an independent memory of this particular weekend, right?

13:43So it wouldn't do any good to ask you questions about that particular weekend that the guy went missing? Yeah, that's why I called you yesterday. I just wanted to get it over with. He just told me what he told you guys. I guess he assumed I was going to say the same stuff. I thought this was going to be just a few questions because there's really nothing I could say about it. This is a few questions. I eliminated like 90 % of the questions. Okay. Did Jake at any point actually ask you to lie for him about anything that weekend? He wanted me to stick with that story, but I figured since I don't know what I did to either, I'm just going to tell him I don't know what happened.

14:30Has Jake said anything about Joseph's disappearance? Jake never talked to him. and the rooms are right next to each other. They just keep to themselves every time. Every time I was there and Joe would come home, he'd go either to the kitchen, make some food, and then straight to his room. He talks on the phone a lot. That was pretty much it. He always went straight to his room. Never said anything to us. Joseph, you mean? Yeah. Do you know if there was any friction between Jake and Joseph? I doubt it. Did you ever meet this fellow that went missing? One time. Downstairs in the kitchen. Where he was staying at.

15:18Where Jake lives. I introduced myself one night when he was cooking. Shook his hand. That was about it. I went back upstairs and started playing some more games with Jake. Okay. That was it, huh? That was the only time I ever talked to him. Have you known Jake all your life? My sophomore year of high school. Freshman, sophomore year, something like that. So what are your general impressions of Jake as a person? He's one of my best friends. That's all you gotta hear. Okay. I hang out with him every day. Is he honest? Yeah, for sure. I wouldn't be his friend if he wasn't. But he's one of my best friends.

16:10I'll probably head over there after this. The three bestest friends. I wonder what Emory talked to Jacob about after this. Or maybe he completely forgot to even go over there. At least they're consistent.

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18:55So, compiling all the facts, and the statements made by Jake and his friends Tyler and Emery, it appears certain parts of that weekend, they remember quite clearly. They did go bridge jumping, they think. Let's say it was Saturday. Or both days, even. Collectively, they do remember doing that, and coming back into town that Saturday evening. Both Jake and Tyler claim they spent the rest of the night at Jake's house, playing video games. and according to them, both Joseph and Joseph's truck were not there. The rest of it is fuzzy for them. But on Sunday morning, Jake's memory is crystal clear again and he recalls with near certainty that he saw Joseph's truck back at the house and saw Joseph himself in the hallway at 1 p.m.

19:42If this is true, it's like a David Blaine reappearing magic trick. The window of time in which Joseph could have come back to the house unnoticed and leave immediately again at 1 p.m. is beyond bizarre behavior. Also, how'd he do it? And you'd think if Joseph really came back to the house Sunday at 1 p.m., he'd respond to any of the dozens of missed calls and messages. People were blowing up his phone. Okay, devil's advocate, maybe his phone was broken. Then why not email your fiancé, just like you did on Friday? And where would Joseph be heading back out to at this point anyway? And did he bring his broken phone with him?

20:23Do you see what I'm saying here? Any way you try to rationalize Jake's sighting of Joseph on Sunday makes no sense whatsoever. So let's continue trying to fill these gaps here. After Andy spoke to Tyler and Emery, he followed up with another one of Jake's friends named Cam. Cam was also a part of Jake's friend group and hanging around that weekend that Joseph went missing. Here's Andy's phone call with him. We're trying to get better information and a better understanding of what was going on on the weekend of June 25th when Joseph went missing. Part of this, partly because Jake had trouble initially figuring out what was going on.

21:05Do you recall what you were doing on that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday? The Friday, I can't really remember, but I do know that Saturday we went out bridge jumping to Cynic Bridge. We were probably out there until maybe 6-ish, and then came back into town. What time did you guys get back in Nome? I would probably say anywhere from 7 to 8, 8.30. Who all was driving? I believe I drove my vehicle. I know Tyler had his vehicle. So how sure are you that you guys went out there on Saturday versus Friday? I want to say I'd be about 80 % sure that we were out there on Saturday and not Friday. I can look at pictures for what date was it again?

22:03June what? Saturday was June 25th. So we're wondering about the 24th and the 25th. Okay, 24th. I can look through my phone right now.

22:18Okay, June 25th, we were out at Salmon Lake. So that must have been the 24th that we went to Sennheik. Okay. And so, yeah, the 25th, we were at Salmon Lake. I have a picture of me and one of my friends that was there. but that's it. And is there a date or something on it? Yeah, there is a date. Noam AK, June 25. Noam Taylor Eilig. So did Jake ever ask you to say that you were with him that weekend? No. He never asked me to ever say anything to anyone specifically about anything about it. Okay. Sometime shortly after that weekend, and Jake had some injuries on his face. Did you know anything about that?

23:11Yeah, I was with them right before it happened, and they went out to Safety Roadhouse, and they were playing catch with the football, and Jake had fallen and scratched up his face bad, pretty bad.

23:27Is this based on what Jake told you, or did somebody else tell you about it? Tyler and Emory who were with them they told me about it they sent me a snapchat of his face while he was sleeping in the vehicle and then they said yeah Jake yeah that's how I found out what did his face look like? there was just some some scratches on it some scabs on like his chin jaw line area one on his cheek bone and I think he had one on his wrist too. Let's see, so Saturday you would have gone to Salmon Lake. Yeah. What time do you think everybody got back to Nome? Probably around the same time frame, you know, 7 to 8, 8.30 when it starts getting a little colder outside.

24:18Was there any small gathering or party on Friday or Saturday of that weekend? Saturday night, I want to say there was a bachelor party at the pit, and that's what I was doing on that night, Saturday night. So Jake wasn't there? No, yes, Jake was with me. Jake was with me. That's when he first met s*** that night at the pit.