25 | Final Boarding Call

24:03The sightings of Bonnie and Kirk start to matter more. Their explanations start carrying more weight. And slowly, almost without anyone noticing, two people who once felt peripheral begin showing up at nearly every pressure point in this entire case. not as answers, but as something that now needs to be understood.

24:28Here's Bonnie.

24:33Sunday, we were at camp. I'd seen his vehicle drive by. We were outside working on the addition at camp, and I remember saying, how do you mean he didn't stop?

24:49Bonnie stated very adamant that he was with Christine 1.30 to 3 on the beach Sunday Sunday or Saturday I asked her point blank was it Sunday she says yes So we're getting conflicting information right from the get-go.

25:21And here's Kirk.

25:26Do you recall seeing Joseph at any point during the weekend that he disappeared? That'd be the 25th, June 25th. We were, last time I saw him was when he drove by camp on Sunday. I'm not sure what the date of that would have been. That weekend we were working on the new addition there at camp, which is at mile 26 on the council road And We were my wife and I were working on the deck and we saw his pickup go just flying by And she mentioned something like oh there goes Joseph and I looked up at the last second to see that blue truck go by And I didn't really realize he had a blue truck I guess I didn't really pay attention what he drove So I just didn't think anything of the truck, but we thought, I wonder why he didn't stop.

26:16It was about time to eat and normally he probably would have stopped in to say hi, but he didn't. And so we didn't really think anything of it, like, well, maybe he'll stop back on the way by it. I'm assuming that was him in the truck. I couldn't get a super good look at his face, because he went by pretty fast.

26:35How sure are you that it was Joss' truck?

26:41I'm probably 100 % sure because that's the truck that was parked down there where he was going hiking. There's another blue one in town, but I'm pretty sure it's an extended cab, not a single cab like his was. So it had the little extra window in the back, so his didn't have that.

27:04And it was the same one that was parked down there. Yeah, yeah. So I want you to use a 1 to 10 scale with 10 being absolutely positive, like you're looking out at something, and 1 being not at all sure. How sure are you using that scale that it was Joseph's truck that went by? Not the driver, just the truck. A 10. I looked at the vehicles that went by and I didn't know at that time that was Joseph's truck until later when Bonnie said he was driving that truck and then it was down there at the road. I didn't know he had a vehicle until then. But same one that was parked on there? Yep, same exact one.

27:52Because we were talking about the difference in those two trucks later and I said well the one that passed us was a single cab and I know that other one at extended cab. So I could tell the difference when I'm buying.

28:14Okay, let's explore some new information. And by new, I only mean just now coming to light. Joseph's sister, Selena, who has worked her ass off with the rest of her family to find Joseph, opened up a tip line. This was nearly 10 years ago now. It was the Finding Joseph hotline, a number that routed straight to her cell phone, and she literally answered every call. Late one night, back in 2017, someone called the tip line. If you didn't do anything, but you knew something, why wouldn't you come forward? At what point does silence become complicity? What if you saw something that you couldn't unsee?

28:58Something that scared the hell out of you? A piece of information you think might be directly related to a missing person.

29:15Finding Joseph. Hello? Hi. Hi. Got some information. I'm listening. Harvey Miller Jr. Sorry, what was that? Harvey Miller Jr. Do you have information, you said? Yeah. Kevin. Kevin Pascoya. Kevin Pascoya.

29:59Parts of his call were difficult to play on the podcast, so he reconstructed it verbatim.

30:13It was late. I was going to my Aunt Carol's house. Carol Piscoya. As I was walking down the street, I walked past my dad's house. I ran into my dad. It was about to be his birthday, so everyone was up late and drinking. My dad told me he wanted to talk to me about something. It sounded serious. He said, we're going to drive around together, and we're going to drink. But then he walked away into the other room. He was gone for a while. I peeked in and I could tell that he was on the phone with someone. And then I heard my dad say, you got a guy right here? Like he was asking the other person on the phone if someone was available for something.

31:14What it was, I don't know.

31:20Out of nowhere. Kevin Piscoya came around the corner. He just stopped and stared at me in the eyes. He said, Do you know who I am? Kevin was angry. And he was saying all kinds of weird stuff. He demanded that I go upstairs. Then Kevin reached out and demanded that I give him my cell phone. So I did. Then my dad came rushing out of the other room and yelled at me to go upstairs too. So I did.

31:58Can I repeat the story to make sure I understand correctly, Harvey? Kevin Piscoria showed up and said to go inside, and you went upstairs, and they took your phone. Yeah. When I got upstairs and went into our laundry room, very quietly, I looked out the laundry room window. Down below, in the driveway, I saw that old blue pickup truck. You know the one? The blue truck. The one that belonged to Joseph. All I could see is my dad and Kevin Piscoya backing that blue truck into the driveway. Then I heard my mom scream my name. She told me to stop looking. A few days later, someone called my dad on his cell phone.

32:52It was hard to hear, but the person on the other line said something like, Joseph wants his truck. My dad paused for a minute. Then my dad told the person on the phone that Joseph went on vacation. That didn't make any sense to me. This was right around the time that people in town started saying Joseph was missing. The next day I asked my dad about it. and again he gave me the same answer. My dad told me that Joseph was gone on vacation. I didn't believe him. I know what I saw that night. I think Joseph was killed that night. And there's one more thing I need to tell you. It's been really bothering me.

33:47in our backyard there's like a big hole in the ground sinkhole in our backyard for several months my dad kept complaining about it saying that he wanted to fill it but he never did because he didn't have enough money to pay for it but then out of nowhere just days after that night that sinkhole in the backyard was filled in like it just happened overnight. The timing was so strange. I don't know. I feel like something might be in there. I feel like there's something buried under there. I heard Kevin and my dad talking about money. Kevin said something about someone disappearing. It was scary. and I didn't like how he said it.

34:42And I think I heard them say that Bonnie knows something too.

34:53If I was a family member and I knew about that, somebody's been digging that shit up. You'd be digging that shit up, I'm going to go over there and dig that shit up myself and it really bothers me. I was told that there's a truck now that's kind of parked, so you can't get in there. Be honest. Be honest. Yeah, you might get charged with something, but be honest. If you weren't the person that did it, be honest.

35:36there's one single detail in this case that should have stopped everything and to be completely honest the private investigator andy clamser mentioned this the first day i met him But at the time, in all the noise, it was hard to see just how important this could potentially be.

35:59Not only was his gun missing, this new handgun that he had purchased, but the case for the handgun was missing. I think that's a very significant fact. The troopers didn't even enter that handgun into the computer system. missing or stolen. Why would they do that? You know, they weren't interested in it. I mean, this is just my impression. The case was done, they had moved on, and they didn't want to reopen it and do more work on it. The missing gun and the case that went with it is really significant, I think.

36:35These are big leads to follow up on in a missing persons case. What does that tell you? That somebody stole the gun. He's missing, and somebody stole the gun. Something happened to him, and his gun and the case disappeared. So what kind of scenario did those feel for you in your head? That he was murdered.

37:06After I interviewed Kirk, they were urging me to talk to Jake. So I called Jake a bunch of times, like 11 times, I think the first day I was there, and he always had his phone set to not accept calls. He continues to say that he observed Joseph coming out of his bedroom about 1.30 p.m. on Sunday and leaving the house. He claims that he never saw any guns at the house there that Joseph might have had. frankly that didn't ring true to me because joseph couldn't even latch the door to his room you know he had to keep the door closed with a bungee cord he had bought that torus pistol in march and i just think it's highly unlikely that jay staying in a bedroom right next to his you know wasn't aware of that and never saw it let me break this down cleanly joseph bought a handgun in Nome, a new handgun.

38:08Joseph kept this gun at his house. After Joseph disappeared, the gun was never found. It wasn't in his truck. It wasn't in the woods. Not visible anywhere in the dozens and dozens of miles they searched. His gun was simply gone.

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40:29Hi, Payne. I wanted to give you some background on Kirk and the Piscoya family from my perspective. I believe it provides important context.

40:45Kirk and I were raised in a very unconventional household near Taquitna, Alaska. The adults who raised us converted to an extreme form of Seventh-day Adventism when we were very young. This included complete homeschooling, no television, no secular music, no makeup, no jewelry, no secular books, and no Christmas trees because they were considered pagan. Although there was a loving maternal presence, the father figure was intensely rigid about religious rules, while also being deeply anti-government and willing to break any rule he didn't agree with. He would not work on Friday afternoons because the Sabbath began at sunset, which in Alaska can be as early as 3.30pm in winter.

41:41We were raised listening to conservative talk radio during long drives to town, with very limited exposure to the outside world. This kind of upbringing is more common in Alaska than people realize, especially in remote areas with little oversight. When your only socialization is with like-minded individuals once a week at church, it shapes your worldview in ways that are very difficult to undo. Kirk and I responded to this environment differently. I was academically inclined and largely self-taught, a high school curriculum at home. Kirk struggled academically and did not complete homeschooling until he was around 20.

42:31He became interested in flying as a teenager and illegally soloed a neighbor's plane with adult permission at 15. He became a licensed pilot at 16 and had little interest in academics. We both married young. Kirk's first marriage ended after three years, leaving him with a one-year-old child, parenting and early adulthood. After his first marriage ended, Kirk moved to Unala Cleet to build flight hours. Other family members had to step into parental roles for his son, either traveling to care for him or having him stay elsewhere. Kirk took parenting lightly and often prioritized social life over responsibility, leaving the actual care of his child to others.

43:25He later remarried a woman significantly older than him, a relationship that eventually became abusive and ended in divorce. After a key maternal figure in the family passed away at a young age, his son was exposed to a series of new relationships Kirk brought into his life. Eventually Kirk moved to Nome to fly for Bering Air, where he met Bonnie Stettenbentz, who was married at the time and worked as the office manager. They had an affair, Bonnie divorced her husband, and she and Kirk married in 2014 when the children involved were teenagers. The Piscoya Family Dynamic I first met the Piscoya family in Nome in 2013.

44:17From the beginning, there was a clear hierarchy. Some children were treated as central, and others as peripheral. Kirk openly tolerated his own son being treated as lesser than Bonnie's children. I personally witnessed Bonnie instruct his son to sit on the floor so her children could sit on the couch. This was not an isolated incident, but part of a consistent pattern. Kirk has always been a follower rather than a leader. He consistently deferred to his partner's wishes, even when it came at the expense of his own child. His son was treated as a servant, expected to do chores while others were not.

45:04He was held to strict rules while other children were allowed far more freedom. At one point as a teenager, he was expected to perform physically demanding caregiving tasks for an elderly family member, responsibilities more appropriate for a trained adult, while others were not asked to help. The Piscoya family is extremely close. They have weekly meals together and are deeply intertwined economically, emotionally, and culturally in Nome. Carol functions as a clear matriarch, and family reputation is treated as paramount. Control, image, and relationships. Kirk and Bonnie have long been over-involved in Christine's romantic life.

45:55Public comments and family behavior strongly suggested they were pushing Joseph toward a relationship with her. In a small town like Nome, being invited to weekly family dinners is not casual. It signals inclusion and expectation. I am not surprised Joseph would have felt welcomed and wanted to spend time with them. I would also not be surprised if the family reacted strongly to any perceived rejection or slight involving Christine, who was described as a favorite within the family.

46:37After the podcast was released, Kirk told his son that a large family meeting had been held where the decision was made to say nothing publicly. His son was not included in that meeting and was not informed about the podcast for weeks.

47:04When it became impossible to hide, the podcast was minimized, and you were demeaned as the podcaster. Kirk's Personality Kirk is outwardly charismatic, and people tend to like him. At the same time, he has long struggled with low self-esteem and reacts poorly to people he perceives as more successful. He frequently brags about being an Alaska Airlines pilot and is very image conscious. He seeks attention and validation, often performing publicly, including filming himself playing piano in airports.

47:51Bonny shares this showy behavior, which is notably out of step with Alaska Native cultural norms that typically value humility and self-restraint. Kirk does not think independently and often needs external pressure to act. His advancement to Alaska Airlines captain occurred only after degree requirements were dropped and after strong advocacy from Bonnie's brother. When conflict later arose, Kirk cut ties rather than engage directly. He requires constant validation, reacts angrily when challenged, and will gaslight when confronted with factual inconsistencies. He routinely diminishes educated professionals in order to elevate himself.

48:48Money and Loyalty Kirk has a long history of financial irresponsibility. He and Bonnie spend lavishly on Carol's adopted children, posting frequent trips and experiences, while his own son did not receive comparable care or support. Kirk has repeatedly chosen the Piscoya family over his own relatives. He ignored an elderly family member for over a year after a serious medical event until confronted. He severed relationships rather than repair them, even refusing to make amends when asked at the end of life. After Joseph's disappearance, we never heard about law enforcement interviews when they happened.

49:42Kirk and Bonnie occasionally posted about Joseph being missing, often accompanied by smiling selfies. If Kirk had believed he was meaningfully assisting the investigation, he would have spoken about it openly. Instead, this was hidden from much of the family and only discovered later through the podcast. Kirk is entirely devoted to the Piscoya family and will comply with whatever Carol or Bonnie wishes. While I want to believe he would not be directly involved in wrongdoing, I do believe he would bend moral boundaries to protect the family's image. He has always treated rules as flexible, especially when they conflict with loyalty or self-interest.

50:34Kirk has refused to listen to the podcast. There is no rational explanation for this. Anyone being discussed on a national platform would normally want to hear what was being said, especially if it were false. His refusal and his anger when others listened strongly suggests he already knows what happened and does not want to hear it framed publicly. Kirk has been urged by other family members to reconcile with his son and has consistently refused, offering excuse after excuse. he will villainize his own child while continuing to prioritize others. I do not want to speak for his son. Other immediate family members are deeply troubled by what appears to be the Piscoya family's role in this tragedy, and by Kirk's lack of honesty surrounding it.

51:40If Kirk cannot show compassion for either his own family or Joseph's family, then he has fully aligned himself with the Piscoya family and whatever role they played. If you need further context, I am available.

52:06Nothing of Joseph was found at all. Besides his blue truck, strangely parked on the road, there was nothing. No pieces of clothing, no backpack, no phone. There was no body, no gear, nothing. Got it? Okay. So, here's a very basic question. How do you know someone is unarmed if you never find that person at all? Easy answer. You don't. If Joseph owned a gun and that gun was missing from his house, the most logical assumption would be that he took it with him.

52:54Right? Any personal belongings that are missing would likely be on his person, which we've never found. That's not speculation. That's just how logic works. The police reports aren't public. All the interviews that you've heard from Andy Klamzer, the private investigator, Literally no one has heard these except for us, and now you guys.

53:23Hopefully we're all on the same page now. I'm about to play you some tape, which is part of the reason we've taken this long abrupt pause in the first place. The same week we did the very impromptu polygraph test with Oregon John, someone very close to this case reached out with what I feel is bombshell material. I'll shoot you straight at that time in my life I was completely overloaded not solely from the podcast just life and so I took a long pause and I left you guys hanging it wasn't my intent but yeah I did but I was sitting on something that required a lot more scrutiny detail protection Not just for me, but for the sources themselves.

54:17And after over six months of talking to them, they've agreed to release this tape. This was obtained 100 % legally. The laws of one party consent apply in all audio, and there's written permission granted from the other caller on the phone. This is Kirk and Bonnie.

54:53There's this stupid podcast person who does investigative stuff on missing people and he started doing this podcast about Joseph and that we're all murderers and part of the mafia and that Graham's a mafia person and we should all lose our job. I mean, it's bad seeing that we're the ones who made Joseph disappear.

55:18He doesn't know anything. This guy doesn't even know anything. He's just making all this stuff up and dragging everybody to the dirt about it. That first day, he found 29 bears. In that area. In that area. But Selena, just his sister, thinks there, no, that can't be it. That can't be it. This guy's just an idiot and I think he should be sued for lying and for trying to scare people. That's not right. I think we should be sued for it. He probably doesn't have any money though. That's probably the deal. I don't know how you get paid for podcasts probably by viewers or something. Everybody in our family, a long time ago after all those interviews with us, they cleared us all because we all had alibis of what we were doing.

56:06We all were doing. It had nothing to do with us. He probably got taken out by a bear somewhere, but this guy won't agree with that. I don't know why somebody would want to hurt him. He was such a nice person. I mean, you met him, you knew him. He was a nice guy. I don't know anybody would want to do anything to him. To me, what makes sense is he's running on a ridge with no gun, no airspray, and he's in the most popular bear area around. He goes missing. They'd have to know Joseph owned a gun in the first place. No gun, no air spray. This was not emphasized by police. This wasn't common knowledge at all.

56:50Okay, I'll play devil's advocate. Maybe some people learned about the gun later. But that explanation doesn't work here. If nothing of Joseph was ever found out there, how does he know he didn't have his gun with him? because even though this was said recently, it wasn't the first time Kirk said this. He also said it back in 2017.

57:20So what are your gut instincts about what happened to him? Part of me says it's a bear, just because this area and where he was, and alone, not armed. He wasn't saying maybe he didn't have a gun. He also knew that gun was not with Joseph. So, where the fuck is it?

57:49In the next episode of Up and Vanished in the Midnight Sun, you'll hear the rest of this phone call. This is the captain speaking.

58:29Up and Vanished in the Midnight Sun is a production of Tenderfoot TV in association with Odyssey. Your host is Payne Lindsay. The show is written by Payne Lindsay with additional assistance from Mike Rooney. Executive producers are Donald Albright and Payne Lindsay. Lead producer is Mike Rooney along with producers Dylan Harrington and Cooper Skinner. Editing by Mike Rooney and Cooper Skinner with additional editing by Dylan Harrington. Supervising producer is Tracy Kaplan. Additional production by Victoria McKenzie, Alice Kanique Glenn, and Eric Quintana. Artwork by Rob Sheridan. Original music by Makeup and Vanity Set Mixed and mastered by Cooper Skinner Thank you to Oren Rosenbaum and the team at UTA Beck Media and Marketing and the Nord Group Special thanks to all of the families and community members that spoke to the team Additional information and resources can be found in our show notes For more podcasts like Up and Vanished Search Tenderfoot TV on your favorite podcast app Or visit us at tenderfoot.tv Thanks for listening

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