Kristal Reisinger: Part 1 - Payne Faces Catfish

0:00You're listening to a Tenderfoot TV podcast. FanDuel's got an offer you don't want to miss this NFL season. New customers can bet just$5 and get$300 in bonus bets if you win. That's right. Pick a bet, bet$5, and if it wins, you'll unlock$300 in bonus bets to use all across the app. You can build parlays, bet player props, ride the live lines, whatever your style, FanDuel has you covered. The NFL season is here. The only question is, are you ready to play? Visit Fanduel.com slash sportsfan to download the Fanduel app today and get started. Must be 21 plus and present in Virginia. First online real money wager only.

0:43$5 first deposit required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. A new true crime podcast from Tenderfoot TV. In the city of Maus in Belgium, women began to go missing. It was only after their dismembered remains began turning up in various places that residents realized a sadistic serial killer was lurking among them. The murders have never been solved. Three decades later, we've unearthed new evidence. Le Monstre, Season 2, coming October 31st. Listen for free on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

1:23Up and Vanished in the Midnight Sun is released every Thursday and brought to you absolutely free. But for ad-free listening and exclusive bonuses, subscribe to Tenderfoot Plus at tenderfootplus.com or on Apple Podcasts.

1:41Up and Vanished in the Midnight Sun is intended for mature audiences and may include topics that can be upsetting, such 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. Is this being recorded? Yes. I'm done. Crestone, Colorado. A town unlike any other. Nestled in the Song de Cristo Mountains, it's a place of raw beauty and powerful energy. With no building codes, no streetlights, it feels like a different world.

2:26The closest policeman when you pick up a phone and dial 911 is in Swatch, a 45-minute drive away. So for the first 45 minutes that you're dealing with some nutcase, you're on your own. People come to Crestone to find peace, to live off the grid, and to connect to something larger than themselves. But it's also a place where secrets can hide. She really, really wanted to succeed at something. Excuse my friends. Some fucking piece of shit took that away from her. For Crystal Reisinger, Preston was supposed to be a sanctuary. In 2016, she moved there hoping to heal, to align her energy with the Earth, and to build a better future for herself and her young daughter, Akasha.

3:19And what's your name, Akasha? I see it right here. Right here near the mic. My name is Akasha. Crestone became the last place she was ever seen. This is the story of Crystal Reisinger. Her life. Her disappearance. And the investigation that uncovered the dark secrets of a town and the people who live there. The minute you drive into town and buy a soda at the deli, just about everybody knows you're there. And when you ask the first question about Crystal, 10 more people know you're there. In another hour, 100 people know you're there. They really monitor outsiders. I got the feeling people didn't like me there asking questions.

4:07Crystal was more than just a missing person. She was a mother, a daughter, and a friend. A deeply spiritual woman with piercing blue eyes and a magnetic personality. She drew people to her effortlessly. Friends described her as empathetic, intuitive, and full of life. She could see right through you. But Crystal's life wasn't without struggles. She had endured trauma, battled addiction, and navigated a series of challenges that many couldn't have survived. Despite it all, she remained a devoted mother to her daughter, Akasha. In 2016, she wanted to start fresh, find peace. And Cresto, with its spiritual centers and reputation for healing, seemed like the perfect place.

4:59She thought Cresto was her safe place.

5:19It warms my heart that you're even considering this. I hope we can find Crystal before I die. Crystal was just a wonderful lost soul, so to speak. but she kept going forward. There is a lot of inconsistencies in the actual last time that she was seen. For some reason, the 13th is the one that sticks with me. July 13th, 2016. That's the last time anyone heard from Crystal Reisinger. She made two phone calls that day. One to Eli, the father of her daughter, and one to her landlord, Ora McDonald. After that, silence. Crystal's disappearance wasn't reported until July 30th. Nearly two weeks later, Ora, her landlord, went to check on her apartment and found it exactly as Crystal had left it.

6:20Everything was still there. They were telling me at that point, she was a wild partier and having these parties in her apartment. If she was having such wild parties, the apartment would reflect that, and it did not in any way, shape, or form reflect that. It looked like she had just stepped out and never came back. One location kept coming up, the Full Moon Drum Circle, a local gathering that took place on July 18th. Witnesses claimed Crystal had been there, dancing and drumming like everyone else. But here's where the timeline becomes strange. Crystal was last heard from on July 13th, but the drum circle wasn't until July 18th.

7:06What happened in those missing five days? Where was Crystal? And who was she with? These were questions Payne Lindsey and the Up and Vanish team would spend months trying to answer.

7:29Crestone is a place of contrasts. It's home to more than 15 spiritual centers, Buddhist temples, Hindu ashrams, and meditation retreats. You paint such an interesting picture of this town, Crestone. It's a tale of two worlds. Well, what we found is that it's really a peaceful, meditative place, and thousands of New Age religious seekers from all over the world have come there. But, you know, there's a real dark side there. The drug culture is strong and a very thin police force. But Crestone also has a darker side. There's a huge mess seen here. It's a place where people come to get away, but some people never escape.

8:12There's just something really, really strange about this whole deal. They're undermanned and underfunded and I don't know. I want to trust them, but boy, I tell you, things are starting to chip away here. Boy, it's easy to get lost up in all this. I find myself going different directions all the time.

8:40Crystal was drawn into that darker side and began associating with people who would later become suspects in her disappearance. These guys that she was hanging out with, everyone said they were bad news. I think she was in with a bad crowd, and I think she knew it. I think the people that were in Crystal's life at the very end were dangerous, are dangerous, because they're still out there. Kind of creepy to live in a community and not know if that perpetrator is one of your neighbors. One of the most haunting revelations came directly from Crystal. Just weeks before she disappeared, she told her landlord, Ora, that she had been drugged and raped at a party in Crestone.

9:27She was planning to report her attackers, but Crystal never got the chance. Witnesses told us she went to confront one of her attackers, Catfish. one night after we'd met up i went home i i have a tv because someone gave me one i hardly ever watch it that night i came home and for some reason i flipped the tv on and it was on channel 12 and a concert was just starting and it was one that had been recorded here in denver and it was nitty-gritty dirt band well you have to be old to know who they are first of all and they just stepped up on the stage. Just as I turned the TV on, they start their first song.

10:11And it was a song that probably no one in the world, unless they were as old as me, would have known.

10:23Mama said don't go near that river Don't be hanging round old Catfish John Come the morning I'd always be there Walking in his footsteps in the sweet Delta Dawn

10:50Mama said, don't go down to the river and stay away from Catfish John. And I'm like, don't go down to the river. I'm like, there's something going on here. The only other band that ever did that song was the Grateful Dead. Well, that was her favorite band. The guy, his name is Catfish John. That's what they call him. What the fuck? You tell me that she didn't tell me to turn that TV on and hear that song. Catfish John? What the hell are the chances of that? A billion to one. I knew it was something from her. We certainly know who Catfish is. And I know that Catfish and his friend have been spoken to by detectives.

11:50And Doug. Here we have the Lemu Emu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug. Uh, Lemu? Is that guy with the binoculars watching us? Cut the camera! They see us! Only pay for what you need at LibertyMutual.com. Liberty, Liberty, Liberty, Liberty. Savings vary. Undwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts.

12:22Catfish had a reputation. People said he locked Crystal in his house and wouldn't let her leave. An anonymous tip sent to the sheriff's department described seeing Catfish on the night of Crystal's disappearance. He was standing outside his house in the rain, next to his van with a shovel and a human-sized bundle. It was suspicious enough to report, but nothing ever came of it. Catfish claimed Crystal had come to his house around his birthday, but his account was vague and inconsistent. He said they drank wine, smoked marijuana, and watched movies. Then he fell asleep and woke up to find her gone.

13:03Still, his name came up over and over again. The Up and Vanish team spent months in Cresto, piecing together Crystal's story. Payne Lindsey tracked down key players, including Catfish.

13:30Hello, brother. Hey, man, this is John. Yeah. Hey, this is Payne. Ask me if you're recording. Are you recording this? Yes, I'm recording this. That's smart of you. Listen, you understand my frustration isn't that I got some kind of agenda against you or something. Like, I don't have that kind of mentality. What I've got is I lived there for 17 years. Why would I hurt the girl? I barely knew her. She's a rainbow sister. It's my job to protect her.

14:10Why are you doing this and why is this happening to me? I have a podcast called Up and Vanished and it's about missing persons. Oh, well, how nice of you. Here's how you know I'm missing. I have yet to take the time to listen to one word of one podcast. You see what I'm saying, friend? First of all, there's been no crime. What happened to Christmas? I don't know. I've told the CBI, the Bureau, and the locals all I can possibly give them and more. Dready Brian did admit to doing something, but he could have been saying it to be funny or something like that. He's a weird kid, but he basically said he confessed and he did it.

15:01However, I'm not able to get involved in that, I'm guessing, because that's called a federal investigation. I would be interfering in. So, unless you have some kind of, like, large amount of money, I don't know anything. Are you still friends with Brian? Fuck no. Why would I be friends with someone after they said something like that? Why aren't you friends with him? He said that he'd done something that I would be completely against doing. Which was what? look this is my interview of you sir this is not your interview of me respectfully i hear your canvas you're a good camera sir you'd be great going door to door with kirby i do not mean to offend you i am only you're welcome to ask your question i'll answer any question you have listen to me turn your recorder off if you want then that'd be my question but secondly you're not going to do that and third i had nothing to do with this why would i tell you something that I wouldn't tell any of my friends.

16:00Why would I do something like this to begin with? What is it? And this hasn't even necessarily, hopefully nothing's happened. She's been missing five times before and shown up at Disneyland. Maybe we should check Disneyland. I'm asking you, have you been slandering me on live podcasts for money? No, I've never slandered you. I've only spoken the facts and the truth. I learned about your name because of the police report. Crystal was at your house around your birthday, correct? I'm not answering your questions like that, sir. Okay, who's that in the background? Considering you're, again, asking me to interfere with a federal investigation.

16:36I'm working with the family. Her daughter, Rodney, Amy, all these people. Mikey, they all want to know what happened to Crystal, and you're the last person to see her, as we know. They know me, and they know I didn't do anything. I have nothing to do with harming her in any way whatsoever. And you need to understand that if we are ever going to talk politely. On June 28th in 2016, Crystal said that she was raped at your house. Is that true? She did not say this. Yes, she did. Said it to Ara, said it to Eli. It is not true. What happened that night? What night? June 28th, 2016 went and picked Crystal up from your house in the middle of the night.

17:20No, actually, she was scared of him and she left him to come for safety. Now, I sound like I'm saying some shit here so I'm just going to stop but that's the truth from me to you. That's what happened. Why would she make that up? Because that little pink-haired freak was... Why would Crystal make that up? I wasn't even there then. That was the week after my birthday. No, that's July. It's not on June 28th. Also, you know what, sir? Do you want to cut the check today or do you want to cut this check later? Because honestly, you're making some shit up and falsely excusing me of it. I know both of them in for a fact.

17:56They did not tell you that. You're saying they said things that they did not say. I recorded people who told me that Crystal said that she was raped at your house on June 28th. And I did the Roswell incident with the fucking 16 gauge in 1920.

18:17Crystal's disappearance didn't just devastate her family. It left the entire Crestone community shaken. For many residents, the thought of living among the people responsible is haunting. Crystal's daughter Akasha has provided some of the most chilling moments of this case. Mommy's cold in a cave, she told her family. We need to go find mommy. Her stepfather Rodney refuses to give up hope. I'll sell everything I own if it means finding her, he said. This story isn't over. Crystal's landlord, Ara McDonald, tells the Fox 31 problem solvers she listened to Crystal's cell phone messages, hoping to find clues.

19:09There were a few things that were really sketchy. Crystal's last message was reportedly from a local man with a felony criminal history of assaulting and drugging a victim. Records show Crystal never made a police report, but Sowatch County Sheriff Dan Warwick has not ruled out silencing her as a possible motive for foul play. She was very disturbed, very upset. She told me people had drugged and raped her. The guys that are directly involved in Crystal's rape have strong ties in a drug market that goes back and forth directly from Crestone to Denver. Crystal had made the decision to do something about it.

19:51She wanted them to be accountable for their actions, and that's when she went missing. I strongly believe she was murdered by these guys.

20:08Crystal Ann Reisinger left the busy city life in search of religious enlightenment, hoping that Crestone, Colorado's spiritual centers would bring her happiness and peace. But this mother of a five-year-old daughter who is described as loving, kind, and generous disappeared without a trace on July 13th 2016. Well now the host of the popular podcast Up and Vanished, Payne Lindsey, is looking into Crystal's disappearance, hoping to break this cold case open. Payne, thank you for being here. Thank you for doing what you do. This podcast up and vanished. Where are you on this right now? We've found the people that we're looking for.

20:54Crystal Reisinger was more than a missing person. She was a mother, a daughter, and a friend. Her disappearance isn't just a mystery. It's a tragedy. But it's also a story of resilience, of a family and a team of investigators determined to find the truth. Payne Lindsey and the Up and Vanish team have been working on this case for years, even after the podcast ended. A new piece of information here is that a witness came forward and said what? This individual came to me and claims to have audio and video evidence of what happened. and there was multiple people there, so they all knew about it, and they all got rid of her body.

21:39What did he say happened to the body? I heard that she was burned. Up in Crestone, it's not uncommon for somebody to go up hiking and be overdue coming home or coming back. After she went missing, her friends were coming around looking for her, and all of them were all saying that she had to be at Catfish's. There were actually people convinced that she was being held there and that she was still there. It's either Catfish did something or Catfish is connected to people who did something to her. And they're all part of that group. Is he still in town? No, he skipped town around the time when the podcast came out.

22:21And then his house was gutted and they even removed the windows. According to the police, Catfish had gutted his house out and cleaned everything, bleached everything, got rid of all of his computers, and got rid of all kinds of stuff. We scoured that whole area. In the drum circle, there was a creek with the running water, and we stopped in there, and it sends chills down my spine because Akasha actually said, Mommy is here, and she wants us to find her. Catfish John, that name is all over this case. The question isn't really whether he had anything to do with her disappearance. He's already admitted that he is one of the last people to have seen Crystal.

23:18He is involved. He can't tuck his way out of that. He's somehow involved. Somebody's going to find Crystal's remains, and then the police are going to have this case solved. There's going to be evidence there. They already have a short list of suspects. I think she's out there. After Up and Vanished season two concluded, Payne and the Up and Vanished team returned to Crestone once again. This time, they weren't just there to ask questions. They brought in a team of search dogs. For days, they combed through Crestone, up and down every trail, through the thick brush, searching for anything that might point to what happened to Crystal Reisinger.

24:01But in the end, nothing was found.

24:07Do you have a map anywhere you can show me? Well, if you go up to where the jump circle is, there's the North Crestone campground. You go over that bridge. You cross that stream left and you can't miss it. I think she's down in there.

24:27When it comes to what your family eats and drinks, you know your choices matter. You're the expert because you know what fits your life. And getting it right starts with good information. That's why America's beverage companies are sharing more information about our ingredients at GoodToKnowFacts.org. No spin, no judgments, just the facts straight from the experts for more than 140 beverage ingredients. Visit GoodToKnowFacts.org.

25:00When did making plans get this complicated? It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the secure messaging app that brings the whole group together. Use polls to settle dinner plans. Send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets mom's 60th. And never miss a meme or milestone. All protected with end-to-end encryption. It's time for WhatsApp. Message privately with everyone. Learn more at whatsapp.com. We did get a pinpoint of where they think her body is and is next to like a little stream. We've gotten a lot of information thrown at us. We don't know what's true and what's not true, you know?