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Chris Watts Coworker Troy McCroy Interview | What He Saw at Survey 319 — Transcript

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0:00Was Chris scheduled to go to 319 that
0:02morning?
0:02>> When he got to the site, uh I think he
0:04said he had a shovel and he was already
0:05[snorts] digging.
0:06>> They had already dug it up. His shovel
0:08was standing right next to the uh
0:09catwalk. That was the location that he
0:11was at that morning.
0:12>> On the morning of August 13th, 2018, the
0:16day Shannan Watts and her daughters
0:18disappeared, the world had no idea that
0:21one of the most horrifying family
0:23tragedies in modern America had already
0:26unfolded. To everyone else, it was just
0:29another Monday. People went to work,
0:31children went to school, neighbors
0:33carried on with their morning routines.
0:36But at an isolated oil site in rural
0:38Colorado, something had already changed
0:41forever. A man named Troy Mcclo arrived
0:45at Survey 319 to investigate what
0:48appeared to be nothing more than a
0:49routine leak in a bypass line. It was
0:52the kind of job he had done countless
0:54times before. When he pulled into the
0:57location, one of his co-workers was
0:59already there, Chris Watts. For more
1:02than 2 years, Troy had worked beside him
1:04almost every day. They shared long
1:07hours, job sites, conversations, jokes,
1:10and the ordinary moments that make
1:12someone feel familiar. Chris never
1:15struck him as dangerous. If anything, he
1:17seemed like a quiet family man who often
1:19spoke about his wife and daughters. But
1:22that morning, something didn't feel
1:24right. Troy couldn't explain it. It
1:27wasn't one dramatic moment or a single
1:29alarming statement. It was everything.
1:32The way Chris was dressed, the boots he
1:35was wearing, the way he stood in
1:37complete silence, staring into the
1:39distance across the empty field, the
1:41expression on his face. There was
1:44something different, something that
1:46settled deep in Troy's instincts. Even
1:48though he couldn't yet understand why,
1:51he noticed it. He remembered it. And he
1:54couldn't let it go. 2 days later, with
1:57the entire country desperately searching
1:59for Shannan, Bella, and Celeste, Troy
2:02found himself driving back to survey
2:05319. He told a water truck driver he had
2:08forgotten a crescent wrench. That wasn't
2:11the real reason. The truth was far
2:13difficult to admit. Something inside him
2:16kept saying, "Go back. Take another
2:19look." What Troy didn't know was that
2:22only a short distance from where he had
2:24stood that Monday morning lay a crime
2:26scene that would shock the world. He had
2:29unknowingly been standing just feet away
2:32from where Bella and Celeste had been
2:34hidden. A realization that would stay
2:36with him forever.
2:39Before we hear Troy tell this story in
2:41his own words, it's important to
2:43remember why this case still matters.
2:46This isn't simply the story of Chris
2:48Watts. It's the story of Shannan Watts,
2:51a devoted mother who was 15 weeks
2:54pregnant with her son, Nico. It's the
2:56story of 40-year-old Bella, whose smile
2:59touched millions. 3-year-old Celeste,
3:02whose joyful spirit filled every room.
3:05and baby Nico, who never had the chance
3:08to take his first breath. Their lives
3:11deserve to be remembered for far more
3:13than the tragedy that ended them. Here
3:16on Evidence: True Crime, that's our
3:18commitment. We don't chase headlines. We
3:21don't glorify killers. We follow the
3:24evidence, honor the victims, and
3:26preserve the truth with the care these
3:29families deserve. If that mission means
3:32something to you, please take a moment
3:34to subscribe. Your support helps us
3:36continue creating carefully researched
3:39documentaries that keep these stories
3:41alive and ensure the victims are never
3:44forgotten. Now, let's hear directly from
3:47Troy McRough, the coworker who
3:50unknowingly stood just feet from one of
3:52the darkest crime scenes in modern
3:55American history. This is his story in
3:58his own words. Why?
4:00>> Yes, sir.
4:01>> Okay. What you do to bridge?
4:04Need to rename their streets there.
4:05Sounds like sit down with you again for
4:07just a few minutes. Um clarify some
4:09timeline stuff. Ask a few more
4:11questions. You all right with that?
4:12>> Yes, sir.
4:13>> And that number I called you on, is that
4:14a work phone? You have a personal phone.
4:19>> Where you from? Kansas.
4:20>> Uh Elart
4:22this morning.
4:23>> Okay.
4:23>> Yourself? [clears throat]
4:24>> Oh, for a while?
4:24>> Yeah. Okay.
4:25>> I just can't remember. I can't remember
4:26my work phone.
4:27>> Yeah, no problem. I've never written it
4:28out on my paper so I can get it to
4:29people call me.
4:30>> So let's let's start with um start with
4:33on Sunday. So Sunday would be the the
4:3512th.
4:36>> Yes.
4:37>> Did you talk to um
4:39>> Chris at all on the 12?
4:40>> I didn't speak to him over the weekend.
4:41I seen him on Friday.
4:42>> I seen him on Friday. So that was the
4:43last time you saw him before the work
4:45week.
4:46>> Yes.
4:46>> Okay.
4:46>> I seen him on Friday and he had taken
4:48off Friday to uh take Shenan to the
4:50airport for Phoenix.
4:52>> Okay.
4:52>> And then he told me he wanted to me to
4:54look at his Fire Stick that he bought. I
4:56said, "Okay." So
4:57>> TV Fire Stick, Amazon Fire Stick.
4:59>> So before um the work day ended on
5:02Friday,
5:03>> he's told me that he'd meet me at the
5:04Safeway parking lot there in Fort Lupton
5:07>> and uh he showed up in their Lexus and
5:09Bell and CC were in the back seat. So he
5:12jumped out, gave me the Fire Stick, and
5:14right after he gave me the Fire Stick,
5:15that's whenever Cody called Cody
5:17Roberts, the operator of the Survey 319,
5:19and said that he thought there was a
5:21leak in the bypass line.
5:22>> And that's on 319, you said?
5:24>> Yes. The Siri 319. Okay. Yeah, cuz that
5:27bypass line is now locked and tagged out
5:28cuz we done that Monday morning.
5:30>> Okay, so Bella
5:32>> Bella and Cece or
5:33>> CC?
5:34>> Yeah,
5:35>> CeCe were in the back seat.
5:36>> Yes, sir.
5:37>> And was um was Shannan Shannan Shannan?
5:41>> No, sir.
5:42>> Was she taking her to the airport?
5:43>> You take her there?
5:44>> Yes.
5:44>> Do you remember about what time this
5:45was?
5:46>> Um I'm going back through my text
5:48messages I gave you because he told me
5:50he was point he was sitting by the uh
5:515.0. There was an orange Mustang sitting
5:53in the parking lot.
5:54>> Okay. I think it was one of the ladies
5:56that [clears throat] uh Well, it looked
5:57just like the one I used to have.
5:58>> Okay,
5:58>> cuz I had a red one. I was telling you
5:59about that earlier.
6:00>> Yeah.
6:01>> So, and he's a huge Ford guy cuz he was
6:03a master mechanic for
6:04>> Yeah, I remember you said something
6:05about that.
6:07>> Sorry. [clears throat]
6:08>> No problem.
6:09>> You sent it there. Okay. Right here.
6:11It's at uh 305.
6:14>> Okay.
6:15>> Just remember he sent me the text
6:16message here parked next to the orange
6:185.0.
6:20>> Okay. So,
6:23>> and [clears throat] he was driving the
6:24white Lexus.
6:25>> Yes, sir. And Bill and CeCe were both in
6:27the back. They were buckled up in their
6:28car seat and uh he had pulled forward in
6:31the parking spot and I pulled back here
6:33and he was talking to me for I don't
6:34know like 3 or 4 minutes and you could
6:36hear him hollering in there. So, he got
6:38back in the Lexus and he backed it up so
6:39they could see me and they waved at me
6:41and everything like that.
6:42>> Okay. All right. And so, you have no no
6:45text conversation, no phone
6:46conversation, nothing like that over the
6:48weekend, Saturday and Sunday. Nothing.
6:50>> Okay. So, Monday morning.
6:52>> Okay.
6:53>> Um, what time do you leave to go to
6:55work?
6:56>> I leave Well, I usually leave my house
6:58about 6:00.
6:58>> Okay. Is that
6:59>> You're supposed to be here about 6:30
7:01>> here at the office.
7:02>> Yes.
7:02>> So, did you come straight to the office?
7:04Yes, sir. I did.
7:04>> On Monday morning. Yeah. So, 8:13.
7:08>> Yeah. And I actually I received a phone
7:10call from him Monday morning, but I
7:11couldn't answer it while I was driving.
7:13>> So, you can see in here it's phone call
7:14declined.
7:15>> Okay. But, uh, do you have the time?
7:18>> Here's the time stamp for you. That's
7:19what Chris Watts right here. He called
7:20me.
7:21>> It's the same with time.
7:22>> See? And call cancelceled because I was
7:24driving cuz I can't accept that. And
7:25that's 6:43.
7:26>> So you got to So incoming from Chris
7:29>> at 6:43.
7:31>> Okay. So incoming. But you declined it
7:33because it's on your phone and it tracks
7:34all that.
7:35>> Well, my my work phone is set up through
7:36my Bluetooth and my phone or my truck
7:39and with that uh geotab it can tell when
7:41call whenever you're driving
7:42>> and you're going to get busted for that.
7:44Is that right?
7:44>> You will get slapped.
7:45>> Okay.
7:46>> Yeah. cuz I came down from Keith Nosich
7:48and he's pretty high up in the company.
7:49They said that we can't use him anymore.
7:51>> Okay.
7:52>> So,
7:53>> that's when you were driving out to the
7:54site.
7:54>> No, sir. That's when I was driving to
7:55work.
7:55>> Driving to work.
7:56>> 643.
7:57>> So,
7:59apparently you'd gotten to work a little
8:01late after after 6:45.
8:03>> I would have been running behind that
8:04day then.
8:04>> Okay. Do you remember about what time
8:05you came out? You got here?
8:07>> No, I don't.
8:08>> Okay.
8:08>> Can we check on you guys can run on
8:10Geotab if that helps? Whatever you guys
8:12need.
8:12>> Yeah.
8:14>> All right. So, so you come in the office
8:18between 6:45 and 7:00. Would that be
8:20fair?
8:20>> Yeah, that would be fair because I
8:21always try to hit up the burrito guy
8:23that comes at 7:30.
8:24>> Okay.
8:24>> Gabriel.
8:25>> Gabriel.
8:27So, did you get a burrito that morning?
8:28>> Yes, sir. I did.
8:29>> Okay. And he's here by 7:30.
8:30>> Yes. He's usually here by 7:30 and just
8:32a little bit after.
8:33>> Okay. When you come to the office, what
8:36what's your routine?
8:36>> When I come to the office, I always park
8:38on the uh [clears throat] be the north
8:40side of the parking lot down here where
8:41my truck is now. And I walk through
8:43those doors. I come directly in the
8:44doors and then I go into the break room
8:46cuz that break room to the south or the
8:48north end of the office is where all our
8:49guys sit.
8:51>> All the whole team's there usually and
8:53then Luke's office is right down the
8:54way. So I just always park on the north
8:55end.
8:56>> Okay. So you you come in um do you get
8:59like your assignments for the day to
9:00check on my computer?
9:02>> Okay.
9:03>> You know my work laptop. I can check
9:04Signet whatever you know the case is.
9:06Usually since I'm a lead or a field
9:08coordinator, I go in and I talk with
9:10Luke and uh or talk with Chad because
9:12Chad's also a field coordinator.
9:13>> So when you come in and check with those
9:16guys, what what do you what do you do
9:18you establish your for the day or your
9:20day?
9:21>> Topics for the day. I mean whatever u a
9:22gentleman needs. Um I sent an email last
9:25week uh on Friday night telling them
9:27that we need to start checking plungers
9:29in our wells because they're supposed to
9:30be checked uh quarterly would be what
9:32Anodarco is supposed to require. So, a
9:34lot of our new guys do not feel
9:36comfortable with that procedure. So, you
9:38know, I just talked to them, see if they
9:39need help anywhere, you know, what was
9:40going on for that day. And Chad told me
9:42that we were going to start the Servy
9:441029, which is a pumping unit.
9:45>> Mhm.
9:46>> So, he'd like to have me out there that
9:47day. And, uh, we was going to test that
9:50back pressure line on the 319 to verify
9:52that there was a leak.
9:53>> 319. Check what?
9:56>> The verify if there was a leak on the
9:58back pressure line.
9:58>> On the back pressure?
9:59>> Yes. The one the same one that Cody
10:00called me about on Friday.
10:02>> Yeah. Okay. That that's when he
10:04mentioned the stain on the ground. Is
10:05that correct?
10:06>> Yeah, the stain on the ground.
10:07>> Yep.
10:08>> Okay. So So there was a problem with the
10:10319.
10:11>> Okay.
10:12>> About a leak. Is that correct?
10:13>> Yes, it was. Okay.
10:14>> Yeah. In the bypass line, we were able
10:16to verify that.
10:16>> So the back pressure in the bypass line.
10:18>> Well, I think they're one and the same.
10:20I don't know which one it is. It's the
10:21one that goes up on the top fill of the
10:22tank. Verify it cuz that service set up
10:25kind of weird cuz it's all older stuff.
10:27>> But we have log tag there. It's the
10:28first line as you're walking to the
10:29stairs right over on your right hand
10:31side. That is that first line cuz that's
10:32where the staining was and it's at the
10:34elbow underneath the ground is where I
10:36think the thread's washed out.
10:38>> So there was oil bubbling up from there
10:39and that's what caused the stain.
10:41>> What time do you leave here on Monday?
10:44Approximately
10:45>> approximately um burrito guy comes at
10:487:30. Might have talked to the guys for
10:50like another 10 minutes. So probably
10:527:40 I was on the road.
10:54>> Okay.
10:54>> Is probably So we call it 7:45
10:58on the road.
11:00>> Yeah. I would say so, sir.
11:02>> Okay. So, do you remember that day where
11:04you headed first?
11:06>> My first location was going to be to
11:07head out to Servy.
11:08>> So, well, okay.
11:10>> Remember the 319 [clears throat] or or
11:11the 1029?
11:12>> No, it was a 319 because they were
11:13testing that bypass line because I have
11:15the call from Chris here. Let me verify
11:18that was at 643 when I told you about
11:20it.
11:20>> And then I talked to Chad McNeel.
11:22>> And then after that, I talked to Chris
11:24again at 7:40 a.m. incoming call cuz I
11:28just left the office.
11:30So 7:40
11:34a.m. you got a Was it another call from
11:37Chris?
11:37>> Yeah, it was another call from Chris. So
11:39by 7:40 whenever I pulled over to take
11:41this phone call, I believe I was at the
11:42intersection of Well, County Road 37 and
11:46I think it's 18 right there where the
11:48Hell got theirs is.
11:49>> So 37 and 18.
11:50>> Yes. I had to pull over to the side of
11:52the road and park right cuz they're
11:53building a new construction there. Okay.
11:55>> The Gracie Horizontals are going in. So
11:57the Hellgot Airs is the old location
11:59that held that lease. So I just pulled
12:01off the road right there to be able to
12:02take the call.
12:02>> How far is that from here?
12:04>> How far is that from the office?
12:06>> Yeah. Um
12:08>> I'm sorry. How far where you took that
12:09call? How far is that from here?
12:11>> From the 319?
12:12>> No, from here.
12:13>> From the office.
12:14>> From the office. Yeah.
12:14>> Okay. Um
12:16>> I don't know. You just go right down to
12:1722. You turn on 22. So I'd say about
12:20maybe 10 minutes. So maybe I left right
12:22after the burrito.
12:23>> Okay.
12:24>> So I mean we can pull up my geotab guys.
12:26That way I'm not,
12:27>> you know, over the timeline.
12:30>> Um, so what what do you and Chris talk
12:32about?
12:33>> What's going on in the field?
12:35>> Cuz he told me he was at the Serby 319
12:37and that he was going to test the bypass
12:38line. I said, "Okay, I'll be out there
12:39in just a minute to be able to help
12:41you." But I mean, of course, I'm at
12:43County Road 52 and 37.
12:46>> How long would it take you to get to
12:48Servy 319 from where from where you
12:51stopped to take this phone call?
12:52>> From [clears throat] where I stopped to
12:53take the phone call. Um, we got to get
12:55back on County Road 52, head all the way
12:58to Hudson, then we jump on I 76. So,
13:01probably about another 40 minutes to be
13:02able to get there from was drive time.
13:05>> Okay.
13:07>> So, that's why I was telling you the
13:08other day I tried I thought I arrived on
13:10location about 8:30.
13:11>> Okay.
13:12>> To 9:00 somewhere in that ballpark.
13:14>> So, if you got that phone call at 7:40,
13:15how long did you guys talk? You
13:16remember?
13:17>> Yeah, it was 2 minutes. 2 minutes. Okay.
13:19>> Yes, sir. Yeah, cuz he he asked me where
13:21I was at and I told him I pulled over to
13:22take his phone call at the hel got
13:24theirs and then he told me he was at the
13:26serving 319 and I said I'll be out there
13:28in a minute cuz Chad was going to have
13:29you come out to that 1029 anyway.
13:31>> Okay.
13:31>> So I told him I'd head to that 319.
13:33>> Okay. Was Chris scheduled to go to 319
13:35that morning?
13:36>> He told me on Friday whenever we spoke
13:40with Cody cuz Cody we cuz he was right
13:42there cuz I took the call on Bluetooth
13:44cuz I was parked in the parking lot.
13:45Whenever he found out about the leak, he
13:47said, "I'll go out and look at that
13:48thing first thing Monday morning."
13:49>> Chris said he was going to go out first
13:50thing Monday morning. First thing Monday
13:52morning
13:52>> and take a look at the 319.
13:53>> Yes, sir. To try to verify that whether
13:56or not that line was leaking or not. And
13:58I believe he called Cody. When I talked
13:59to Cody, he called Cody on Friday or
14:01Sunday at 5:00 p.m. and told him that he
14:04was going to head out to service first
14:05thing Monday morning.
14:07>> Okay. So, so the fact that he was there
14:09already and calling you about the 319
14:11was no surprise. No, I just he was just,
14:14you know, telling me that yeah, he was
14:15out on location and everything. I said,
14:16"Okay, I'll be out there in a little
14:17bit." That was it.
14:18>> Right. And so, it took me approximately
14:2140 minutes to drive out there.
14:23>> So, now we're probably what, 8:40, 8:30
14:26somewhere in that range.
14:27>> 8:30, 8:40.
14:28>> Okay.
14:29>> So, when you get out there, who who's
14:31out there when you get there?
14:32>> When I arrive on location, Chris is
14:35parked by the wellheads.
14:36>> Okay.
14:36>> Or the one wellhead of that location.
14:38>> Yep.
14:39>> Then we have Chad McNeel. When you when
14:41you say he's parked by the wellhead,
14:42where where is he?
14:43>> Okay, here location.
14:47>> Yeah.
14:47>> Okay. And I can show you exactly where
14:49his truck was parked because his truck
14:50was parked where the headlights were
14:51facing forward head.
14:54>> His [clears throat] truck is parked
14:54right here.
14:55>> You're going to his headlights.
14:58>> Draw his car on there for me.
14:59>> You want me to try to draw a car?
15:01>> That is a box.
15:02>> Okay. A box. I'm like I didn't know I
15:05was going to be testing home and
15:06drawing.
15:06>> Yeah. Right. So, which way is which way
15:08is he facing? The headlights of the
15:09pickup are facing toward the wellhead.
15:11>> Okay. So, let's see. So, if I do this
15:15and say that his truck is pointed that
15:17way.
15:18>> Yeah. Well, more of an angle where it's
15:19pointed directly at the wellhead.
15:21>> Okay.
15:21>> So, yeah, that's exactly it was pointed
15:23his headlights were pointed directly at
15:24the wellhead.
15:25>> Okay.
15:27>> All right. And uh who else is there?
15:29>> Melissa Parish and Chad McNeel.
15:32>> And where are they?
15:33>> They are parked right here on location,
15:34sir.
15:35>> Just on the other side as well. kind of
15:37where we're parked here.
15:38>> Yeah. Yeah. Their trucks were facing
15:39toward the exit. They pulled in and kind
15:41of circled and parked right here. And I
15:43parked right over here.
15:44>> Okay.
15:45>> Are there typical spots to park?
15:47>> Yeah. I mean, this is I was just pulling
15:49up so we're not in any way because we're
15:50supposed to pull up um where you don't
15:53have to back or anything like that. So,
15:55I usually try to pull around or pull
15:56back far enough where I know that if
15:58there's a truck parked over here, I can
15:59pull around and get away, you know, so I
16:01don't have to,
16:03>> okay, have anybody move their vehicles
16:05or back up? Cuz if they back up, then
16:06that sends a designation.
16:08>> Okay. It was that a usual place for
16:11somebody to park where Chris parked.
16:13>> Now that I think about it, it is unusual
16:15because
16:15>> Why would you say that?
16:16>> Well, if you're going to test the bypass
16:18line to me,
16:19>> where is that bypass line?
16:20>> Okay. The bypass line is coming off your
16:22separator or I thought that if I'm not
16:24mistaken, sir, I think the bypass line
16:25and the back pressure line are tied in
16:27one and the same. Okay.
16:28>> And the back pressure line comes off
16:30from the front of the doghouse on the
16:32separator. And then the back pressure
16:34line is back here by the flow line where
16:36it comes in at the header of the
16:37separator where the gas and the oil
16:38enter the separator.
16:39>> Okay.
16:40>> And those lines run directly underneath
16:42and then come right back over here to
16:43the edge of the tank where both of those
16:45lines come up and on top of the tank.
16:46>> And that leaf was in here, correct?
16:48>> Yes, sir. It was right there by the
16:49stairs. right as you go up the
16:50>> okay
16:51>> the catwalk.
16:53[clears throat]
16:54>> So to me, I'm lazy. If I pull up on
16:56location, I would pull up over in here
16:58somewhere. I would have took this circle
17:00right here and stopped right here in
17:02order to be closer to the separator and
17:03everything to be able to test that
17:04bypass line.
17:05>> Okay. So by him parking here, he kind of
17:08blocks this.
17:10>> Yeah. Nobody could circle around the
17:12wheelhead.
17:13>> Okay. Is is it normal for somebody to
17:15park in that d that fashion?
17:17>> No. Well, I mean now that I think what
17:20what's all has happened? No. But I mean
17:23at first I it didn't even, you know,
17:25flag anything for me.
17:26>> But that's where his truck was parked.
17:28>> Okay.
17:29>> So I mean to me, no. If you're going to
17:31go out there and test the bypass line
17:32and that's all you had to do, then I
17:33would have parked over here to be able
17:35to be closer to this and this.
17:37>> Okay. Plus, I'd imagine you have to get
17:38some tools out of your truck.
17:40>> Yeah. You know, crescent wrench,
17:41whatever do to be able to pressure up
17:43the vessel.
17:44>> Okay.
17:44>> What tools did he have out? Um, whenever
17:47[clears throat] I got there, everybody
17:48carries a crescent wrench in their back
17:49pocket. Whenever I arrived on location,
17:52um, he used his shovel to dig out the
17:54hole right there at the, uh, at the
17:56bypass line.
17:57>> Mhm.
17:58>> And then whenever I got there, they'd
17:59already verified that the bypass line or
18:01back pressure line, whichever one that
18:03is, failed and that it was leaking
18:05underneath ground cuz you could see like
18:06a little bitty puddle right there. And
18:08uh Chad McNeel when got his logout tag
18:11out, he put it on the um bypass line and
18:16I think they did the B or the bypass
18:18line at the separator to make sure it
18:19was locked out in both directions so
18:21pressure couldn't get in there and feed
18:22any more up so we wouldn't have any
18:23further contamination. And then after
18:26that, Chad and uh Melissa, they pulled
18:30away since I parked over here with Chris
18:33and Chris went back to his truck to
18:34check his phone. So, I grabbed a shovel
18:37from right here and I walked it back
18:38over to his pickup and handed it to him
18:40and he said, "No, there's still, you
18:42know, there's since that stain's still
18:43there and the dirt's already stained,
18:45we're going to put that back in there."
18:46So, then he filled back in the hole and
18:48then he came back over to the pickup.
18:49And then after that, he left first cuz I
18:51told him I grabbed the gate. So, he got
18:53out of here, went through, and then I
18:55followed behind him and I closed the
18:57gate behind me. Okay.
19:00[clears throat]
19:01>> So,
19:03when you get there
19:04>> Yes, sir.
19:07I'm sorry. Let me back up.
19:08>> Yeah, whatever you need.
19:11>> So, you get there, Chris is parked here.
19:13>> Yes, sir.
19:14>> And say who else was there already?
19:16>> Chad McNeel location and Melissa Parish.
19:19They were right there before me.
19:21>> And Melissa are both on scene as
19:27Cody [clears throat] Roberts was over at
19:28the 1029. Cody was already out of
19:31service, but he was at the 1029 cuz he
19:32was going to start that pumping unit. He
19:34said he was already out on Servey, just
19:36a like generic ranch or at this site.
19:38>> Well, no, not at this site. Servey Ranch
19:40is the way we speak upon it is
19:42consistent of those seven sites in
19:43Servy. And the 102 line, if you enter
19:46the gate from the south, which I'm sure
19:47you guys did when you went out there,
19:49cuz that's the only entrance that they
19:50are supposed to allow us to go through.
19:52>> As you go up, instead of curving back to
19:54go to the 319, you continue to go
19:56straight and there's like a little river
19:57bed right there that you cross over and
19:59go back into. And that's where the
20:01pumping unit is.
20:01>> Okay. All right. Okay. So, you you get
20:04on scene. Chad and Melissa are already
20:07there. Yes, sir.
20:08>> And Chris?
20:08>> Yes.
20:09>> Anybody else?
20:09>> No.
20:10>> Okay. [snorts] Um, do you see what Chad
20:13and Melissa are doing?
20:14>> They were just over there by the bypass
20:16line.
20:16>> Over here?
20:17>> Yes.
20:17>> Over here?
20:18>> Yeah. Over there by the bypass line.
20:20>> Okay. Were all three of them over here?
20:21>> Confirm that. Yes. Whenever I pulled up
20:23on location, all three of them were over
20:24there.
20:25>> Okay. Um, anything seem unusual?
20:28>> No.
20:29>> Just out of the ordinary?
20:32>> No. I Well, as soon as I pulled up and
20:35uh I talked to Chad McNeil about this
20:37cuz he [clears throat] remembered me
20:37making a comment that I didn't even
20:39remember. Um as soon as I walked out on
20:41location, I got out of my truck. And
20:43Chris is usually um fairly decently
20:46dressed man. He's always got on uh
20:47pretty tight fit in that far like
20:49really, you know, he wears area pants
20:51[clears throat]
20:52>> fire resistant.
20:52>> Fire resistant clothing.
20:54>> Um he usually wears that. He was wearing
20:56a blue shirt that was baggy. Looked like
20:59he had like an older shirt for him. So,
21:01it wasn't a fire resistant shirt.
21:02>> It was It was
21:03>> It was a fire resistant shirt, but you
21:05know, different companies make different
21:06styles of t-shirts. And this is not
21:08something that, you know, I was used to
21:10seeing him in. It was kind of a baggy
21:11t-shirt.
21:12>> And then he had a pair of pull- on
21:13boots.
21:14>> And from every time that I can remember
21:16out in the field, he had an old pair of
21:17boots that he was lace up, so the toe
21:19was about to come off of
21:21>> and then here about 3 weeks ago, he
21:22bought a brand new pair of Red Redwing
21:24boots down at the FR store. Okay.
21:26>> Here in Flatville, and he always wore
21:28those.
21:28>> So, when I seen him, you know, on those,
21:30I was like, "What? you slung that today,
21:31bud? And he laughed, you know, and that
21:33was it. That was all it was.
21:36But I didn't notice that it was, you
21:38know, out of the ordinary. I just
21:39figured, okay, well, if he didn't get a
21:41lot of sleep last night and he was in a
21:42rush, you know, he just grabbed what he
21:43had, went out to location.
21:45>> Okay.
21:47>> But I think it was a pair of Redwing
21:49pull-up boots cuz I think the only style
21:51of boots he wears is Redwing.
21:52>> Okay.
21:59What color was the shirt?
22:01>> It was blue. A very dark blue, like a
22:03navy blue.
22:04>> Okay.
22:06And that shirt was different than the
22:08shirts that he usually wore.
22:09>> Yes. Well, usually he wears uh um I
22:12believe Yeah, it's Arot that makes most
22:14of ours that come from down there.
22:16They're a little bit better looking.
22:17>> What's the company name again?
22:18>> Uh Aroat.
22:19>> How do you spell that?
22:20>> I have no idea.
22:21>> Is that the shirt you were wearing uh
22:23when we first Okay.
22:24>> Yeah. those style of t-shirts.
22:26>> That's a more formal shirt.
22:28>> Yeah. You know, they fit a little bit
22:29closer and stuff like that. But this
22:31other shirt he had because like you guys
22:33had said the last time, he's lost a lot
22:35of weight in like the last 6 months to a
22:37year.
22:38>> So, I think it was one of his old shirts
22:40that he had, you know, in his closet
22:42>> cuz I even have some old shirts like
22:43that. They're baggy as heck.
22:44>> Yeah.
22:45>> So,
22:45>> okay.
22:47[clears throat]
22:48So, he's wearing
22:51his old boots. I would say they're
22:54older.
22:54>> I would say they're older because
22:55they're not his new ones. And I've only
22:57seen that I've noticed wear lace ups and
22:59these were the bons.
23:00>> Yes.
23:02>> Because the reason why draw my drew my
23:04attention to them is it drives me nuts
23:06if anybody tucks their boots
23:08>> or their pants inside their boots and
23:09the boot deals showing that drives me
23:11insane. [laughter] So he had it like
23:13half tucked. It was weird because one
23:15side was down and the other side was uh
23:17tucked into his boot.
23:18>> Okay. So it instantly drew my attention
23:21>> and that's unusual for him is he
23:24generally when you see him okay
23:26[clears throat] let me see if I can make
23:28this one make sense. So generally when
23:30you see him in a work
23:34setting
23:34>> yes
23:35>> he's at least dressed
23:40he he's put together that way
23:44>> and not not sloppily. No, he looks like,
23:46you know, a field coordinator looks.
23:47>> Okay.
23:48>> You know, cuz, you know, the higher up
23:50you go and everything like that, people
23:51pay more and more attention to your
23:53dress.
23:53>> Sure.
23:53>> So, I always try to come to work looking
23:55as nice as I possibly can. I've only got
23:57what God gave me. So, but uh you know,
24:00he was always nicely dressed.
24:02>> Okay. [clears throat]
24:02>> And that was just kind of threw me off.
24:04So, I gave him [ __ ] about it. You know,
24:05I just made that comment. I summoned it
24:07today and that was it.
24:10>> I mean, that's as far as it went. Chad
24:12laughed. Melissa laughed. That was all.
24:15>> What about his pants? What kind of pants
24:16was he wearing?
24:17>> Um, I believe those would have been I
24:20think the manufacturer on those
24:21particular style pants is Bull Work.
24:22>> Okay.
24:23>> And he [clears throat] usually wears
24:23Arot
24:25>> because they were a baggier pant than
24:27what's I'm used to seeing him.
24:29>> Did you notice anything, you know,
24:31besides the bagginess, anything else
24:33about his clothing? Clothing?
24:34>> No. I mean, that was it. I knew he was
24:36wearing a It had to have been an older
24:38shirt back from whenever,
24:40>> you know, [clears throat] he was bigger.
24:41And then the pants and the boots.
24:43>> Did you notice if his shirt was dirtier
24:45than normal?
24:46>> No, it looked clean.
24:46>> Pants, dirtier than normal.
24:48>> Everything looked clean. There was no
24:50stains on his pants. There was no stains
24:51on his shirt. Nothing.
24:52>> Did he seem out of sorts? Was he tired,
24:56sweaty? Um,
24:58>> no.
24:58>> Acting different, more quiet than usual.
25:00I know you said he's quiet.
25:01>> Yeah, he's kind of a quiet guy, but you
25:03know, um, that particular day, you know,
25:06I try to joke around cuz I joke around
25:07with everybody. That's just the guy that
25:08I am in the group. And you know, he
25:11would kind of joke around a little bit
25:13and stuff like that, but that was it. He
25:15was, you know, quiet. Some days Chris
25:17is, you know, pretty talkative. You can
25:19have an interaction with him. And then
25:21other days, he's more reserved and he
25:23really doesn't, you know, engage with
25:25you whenever you do that cuz we joke
25:26about things. We we both watch watch a
25:28lot of the same movies, you know, and
25:30stuff like that. So, we say stupid movie
25:31lines
25:32>> and [clears throat] he just wouldn't,
25:34>> you know, wasn't replying like he
25:36normally would. But I didn't think it
25:38was out of sorts at the time because of
25:39the fact that, you know, okay, well,
25:41maybe he woke up late. He's tired. I
25:43don't know, you know.
25:44>> Okay. So, [clears throat] you guys show
25:47up there, you mess with the back
25:49pressure line. Do you get it fixed at
25:51that point or
25:51>> we did not get it fixed, sir?
25:52>> Okay.
25:53>> That line is still currently, as far as
25:54I know, locked out, tagged out.
25:56>> Okay.
25:58[clears throat] So, how long are you
25:59guys on scene to try to fix that? Um,
26:01well, since they had already diagnosed
26:03the problem, we wasn't there a very
26:05short period, like 10 10 minutes, 15
26:07minutes, I'm guessing. Okay.
26:08>> That I was there.
26:09>> Okay.
26:10>> They had already been there before me
26:11and diagnosed that it was leaking.
26:12>> Mhm. So, once it's diagnosed that it was
26:15leaking and you guys figure out you
26:16can't fix it right at the moment,
26:18>> right?
26:18>> You guys move on.
26:19>> Yeah. Well, we have to move on as long
26:21as it's locked and tagged out and that
26:23line wasn't going to interfere. They
26:25wanted us to open up that top field
26:26because that location is a Tim's
26:28location which it's uh the Tims is what
26:30helps with emissions. So we don't admit
26:32any gas out of the top of the D patch or
26:35anything. So they wanted that line open
26:37and that's the only reason why it was
26:38open cuz Cody didn't even open that line
26:40until last week.
26:42>> So we went ahead and closed it, locked
26:44and tagged it out. The well was still
26:45able to run because it's almost uh it
26:48was almost a load out there. I think
26:49Cody said it had about 9 ft in it. Makes
26:51about 2 in a day. He said by Thursday or
26:54Friday that tank should be ready to
26:55halt. That's what we did.
27:02So that's what we did. We left it
27:03running.
27:04>> Okay. So, and just so I'm clear,
27:06everybody left when you guys left.
27:07>> Yeah, they left. And then
27:09>> And did you guys return to the 319 at
27:11all?
27:11>> No, sir. That day?
27:12>> I didn't return to the 319 that day. I
27:13went back over to the 1029.
27:15>> Okay.
27:15>> The 1029 pumping unit is where we were.
27:18>> Everybody
27:18>> Yeah. Well, uh, Melissa, uh, Cody was
27:21over there because Cody was already at
27:22the 1019 prior.
27:23>> Okay.
27:24>> And then Chris pulled up and I pulled up
27:25behind him.
27:26>> 1019 or 1029.
27:28>> 1029. Okay. 1029.
27:30>> Make sure we're talking about the right
27:31one.
27:31>> Yeah. I'm [laughter] sorry.
27:32>> That's right.
27:33>> 319 [snorts] to 1029.
27:34>> Yes, I know. [clears throat]
27:37>> Different.
27:38>> Yeah. Okay. So, let me do that one
27:40again. So, so everybody left.
27:42>> Yes.
27:42>> And then everybody went over to the 20
27:44the 1029. Yes, sir. Correct. 1029.
27:46>> Okay. along with the last ones on the
27:48319 location. Okay.
27:50>> Because I was standing over by
27:51[clears throat] the that valve that we
27:52locked and tagged out
27:53>> and Chris and was over by his pickup.
27:56Melissa and Chad got in their trucks and
27:58they drove off and said, "We'll see you
28:00guys at the 1029." I said, "Okay." So, I
28:02grabbed his shovel, walked it over to
28:03his pickup, and he said, "No, there's
28:05still staining on that ground, so we
28:06need to cover that up." So, he covered
28:08it up. We got the truck. I told him I
28:10closed the gate. He left and then I
28:12left.
28:12>> What's the point of covering it up?
28:15Well, if a state inspector comes out and
28:17they find like a puddle of oil right
28:20there, then that would be a fine
28:23instantly. Okay.
28:24>> But if there's this staining on the
28:25ground, then you have a chance to
28:26investigate what happened.
28:28>> So, we're still going to get the line
28:30fixed, but until the line was fixed,
28:32they wanted the line covered up.
28:33>> Gotcha. Just curious.
28:35>> No, that's fine. [laughter]
28:36>> All right. So, you guys leave, go to the
28:381029, and do you guys stay there for the
28:41rest of the day? I was there for almost
28:43the rest of the day. I didn't leave
28:44until around 2:00.
28:46>> Okay. What about Chris?
28:48>> Um Chris I'm thinking it's about 11:00
28:50to noon is whenever cuz he kept getting
28:53phone calls from a lady that was at the
28:56house
28:56>> ringing the doorbell and everything like
28:58that and couldn't get a hold of Shenan
29:00cuz she tried to call her I guess
29:01several times that morning and said that
29:04she'd missed the uh doctor's appointment
29:06or whatever that she had. Okay.
29:07>> So he was worried. He told me that he
29:10was getting worried about it because he
29:10could nobody could reach her. So
29:12[snorts]
29:13about 11:00 or so, he told us he was
29:15going home. But when Chad McNeel and I
29:18talked, I mean, I don't know if this
29:19would be anything that you guys could
29:20look into further for um any kind of
29:23evidence or anything, but he told us
29:24that he had to use the restroom on the
29:261029. So he told me it was number two.
29:30So he told us, well, I said, let's go
29:32over there by that tank at the 1029.
29:34Mhm.
29:35>> So, he backed his truck into the uh
29:37Sunflowers at the 1029 and used the
29:39restroom.
29:40>> Okay.
29:40>> I mean, that's not out of the norm for
29:41us because we don't have portaotties out
29:43there,
29:44>> but I mean, that is something that he
29:46did do in that location.
29:47>> Okay. [clears throat]
29:50>> When did you and Chad kind of discuss
29:51things?
29:53>> Um, well, I spoke with him again today.
29:55Okay.
29:56>> He's like, you know, you want to make
29:57sure that you bring that up to those
29:58gentlemen in case it can't help
29:59anything,
30:00>> right?
30:01cuz I I talked to Chad and I talked to
30:03Luke and told him that I was going to be
30:05coming in today.
30:05>> Okay.
30:06>> You know, cuz I mean Chad's the other
30:08field coordinator. So, I was keeping in
30:10loop with him and I called him because
30:12Luke didn't answer the first time. So, I
30:14just wanted to call Luke to let him know
30:15that I was coming into the office today
30:17to do an interview with each other.
30:18>> Okay.
30:19>> Okay.
30:23>> Can we back up to the 319 for a second?
30:26>> Um, when he was was he looking around
30:28just kind of the surroundings at all?
30:31Okay. Whenever he got back, whenever we
30:33got ready to get back in our pickups and
30:34leave, he was messing on the phone, you
30:37know, like texting or whatever. I don't
30:38know if he was texting the lady that was
30:40at the house or whatever the case may
30:41be. It didn't seem odd to me at the time
30:43cuz I thought he was walking toward the
30:45back of his pickup and before we leave
30:47location, we're supposed to do a circle
30:48check, a 360 circle check. That means
30:51you walk all the way around your pickup
30:52to verify that there's nothing in your
30:53way so you don't hit it. So whenever I
30:56seen him walking, he walked just right
30:58past his truck just a little bit, not
30:59very far, and looked out in the field
31:01like that. And then he walked right back
31:03and that was it.
31:04>> Did he do a full check or did he look at
31:05a specific point?
31:06>> No, he didn't look at any specific
31:08point. It was like his eyes were just
31:09kind of up in the in the like looking
31:11toward the sky.
31:12>> He just had his head up and just kind of
31:13looked around like that and then turned
31:14around and walked right back.
31:15>> So was he looking out into the field or
31:17was he looking back over
31:18>> looking into the field
31:20>> to the south?
31:21>> Yeah, that would be I guess that would
31:22be the south. I get confused on that.
31:24>> Yeah, basically towards 76
31:27right here. Yeah, he walked right past
31:29his pickup. Just a little ways. Not like
31:31super far, but just right past his
31:33pickup cuz I thought he was doing a
31:34circle check and then he looked out just
31:36looked across the field real quick and
31:37then he walked [clears throat] right
31:38back to his truck and got in.
31:39>> So, was he was he off the off the pad
31:41out here in the weeds?
31:42>> Yeah. Well, yeah, cuz way he parked his
31:44truck with his tailgate. His tailgate
31:46was right kind of by the weeds.
31:48>> Right back here.
31:48>> Yeah, right back here.
31:50>> And he's looking off in this direction.
31:51Is that
31:52>> Yeah, he was looking off in the Well,
31:53yeah, cuz he walked right past here and
31:55he was looking back in [clears throat]
31:56here. I mean, it was just brief. It
31:58wasn't like he was staring or nothing
31:59like that. He just walked back there,
32:00kind of glanced around, and then walked
32:02right back to his pickup.
32:02>> Yeah. But if you're doing a a safety
32:04check, you should be looking
32:05>> Yeah. If you're doing a circle check,
32:06you should be walking right next to your
32:07pickup. You check your wheel wells and
32:09everything to verify that there's
32:10nothing there or anything behind you
32:12when you go to back up,
32:13>> you know, that you're going to hit
32:14because we have a lot of operators hit
32:16fixed objects.
32:16>> I'm sure.
32:17>> So, yeah,
32:18>> I would be one. [laughter]
32:19>> It's a big deal. I'm sure it is. Yeah.
32:21>> Yeah. Is there anything out here that
32:23would be of interest at all?
32:25>> No, cuz I mean the well pad for this
32:26site is just right here.
32:28>> Okay.
32:28>> This is just fenced off right out in
32:31here cuz there is a fence around this
32:32whole entire location and then the gate
32:34right there and we're supposed to keep
32:36the gate closed because the landowner or
32:38the gentleman that rents the ground
32:39doesn't want his cattle inside this, you
32:41know, doesn't hit any valves or anything
32:43like that.
32:44>> So that's all there is right here cuz
32:46the wellhead's here, your separator's
32:48here, your tank's here. That's the only
32:49thing that we mess with right there.
32:51>> Okay. Then, uh, when you got to the
32:53site, uh, I think you said he had a
32:55shovel and he was already digging.
32:57>> Well, no, the shovel was already
32:58Whenever I got to the 319, they had
33:00already dug it up.
33:01>> Okay.
33:02>> His shovel was standing right next to
33:03the uh um the freaking catwalk. So,
33:07whenever I walked up, his shovel was
33:10right up here. Okay.
33:10>> And the hole [clears throat] had already
33:11been dug
33:12>> right there.
33:13>> Um, that big around.
33:15>> How deep? Um,
33:18eight inches.
33:18>> Okay.
33:19>> Maybe eight, nine inches because I don't
33:21think the lines are very deep underneath
33:22that burm and before they elbow and then
33:24come up right there by the tanks.
33:26>> So, you could see a little puddle right
33:28there of oil by that big round and
33:30that's it.
33:31>> Okay. Did Chad or Melissa have shovels
33:33out too?
33:34>> No, not that I know of cuz I think Chris
33:36had already done that cuz that was the
33:37only shovel that I seen that was out of
33:39the pickup on location.
33:41>> Okay. [clears throat]
33:42Did Melissa or Chad have any other tools
33:44out? No, everybody just carries their
33:46crescent wrench. Okay.
33:47>> So, that's our thing. As soon as we get
33:49out of the truck as operators, 90% of
33:51our job will focus on a 12-in crescent
33:53wrench.
33:54>> So, I always carry that in my back
33:55pocket, even when I hop out because, you
33:57know, we use them to change or turn the
33:59wing valves on the well head, the inlet
34:01valves, the separator, the dump valves,
34:02everything. We use the 12 in for
34:04everything.
34:06>> Okay.
34:08So, if you jump out of your truck
34:09without the crescent wrench, it's kind
34:11of like you're useless.
34:12>> Yeah.
34:13>> Okay. Yeah, I always give all the new
34:15guys heck whenever they jump out. I was
34:16like, "You hadn't been operating very
34:18long, have you?" Cuz you forgot your
34:19crescent wrench. So, they'll go back and
34:21get it out of their pickup.
34:23[clears throat]
34:23>> So,
34:23>> yeah. Fair enough.
34:27>> All right. And then, so Chris is getting
34:30phone calls and texts. Um, can't find
34:33Shenan,
34:34>> right?
34:34>> And he he says he's worried about her
34:36and then he he leaves at some point. Do
34:38you remember about when that was?
34:40>> I would say between 11 and 12. Okay.
34:43>> Somewhere in that time frame window. I
34:44don't remember exactly. I know I wear a
34:46watch, but
34:47>> you know, I didn't think anything was
34:49out of
34:50>> Yeah.
34:50>> at all. So, I didn't, you know,
34:52attribute that [clears throat] to
34:53anything.
34:54>> Yeah. And how far is it from the 1029 to
34:56the 319?
34:57>> Um 1029 to the 319.
35:02Like 5 minutes.
35:03>> So, it's pretty close.
35:04>> 10 minutes. Yeah. It's not that far
35:06away. I mean, you have to take that
35:07road, go out back out of the 319, then
35:09you head back toward that original gate.
35:11M
35:11>> but as soon as you hit that intersection
35:12where you turn and go to the gate, you
35:14can turn right and then you head up that
35:15hill just a little ways and then like I
35:17was telling you that riverbed and you
35:19cross the riverbed and the 1029's right
35:21there.
35:21>> Okay.
35:22>> So all those wells are pretty short
35:24driving distance from each other.
35:25>> Yeah.
35:26>> Okay. [gasps]
35:29>> And to your knowledge, he didn't go back
35:31to the 319. No, but Chad and I were
35:34staying on location at the 1029 because
35:36we had to call um I think Steve Urgonati
35:40and he shoots fluid levels for us
35:42because we had that pumping unit going
35:44for almost 2 hours and the stuffing box
35:45was heating up and the polish rod
35:48because there was no fluid. It wouldn't
35:49bring any fluid down hole. So, I don't
35:51know if something's happened down hole
35:52with the pump, but um the stuffing box
35:54is right on top of or right on top of
35:56the wellhead. And as soon as that thing
35:58heats up, you have to keep spraying it
36:00or putting grease on it or anything like
36:01that to keep it cool cuz as soon as you
36:02burn those rubbers, if any fluid does
36:04come up, then it would go all over the
36:06place.
36:06>> So, we had to shut the unit down, change
36:08out the stuffing box rubbers. And then
36:10we gave uh Steve Urggon a call and he
36:14has a uh echometer type deal where he
36:17shoots a nitrogen into the backside of
36:20the casing. So you can see the fluid
36:22level.
36:23>> So actually he shot it into the tubing,
36:25but you can see the fluid level on his
36:26computer cuz it can tell you that sound
36:28wave that runs down the well will tell
36:30you where all the collars are and
36:31everything. And I stayed out there while
36:33they shot the fluid level.
36:34>> Okay.
36:36[clears throat]
36:37All right. So, you work on the 1029 for
36:39the rest of the day?
36:40>> Yes. And about 2:00 I left. Chad was out
36:42there longer because he was talking to
36:44Steve.
36:44>> Okay. And you left. And did what did you
36:46do after that?
36:47>> I left and went straight back toward um
36:50like Hudson
36:51>> and everything so I could come back into
36:52the middle of the field. That way I
36:54could be there if anybody needed
36:55anything because being a fuel
36:57coordinator, you have to wait until
36:59everybody leaves the field and everybody
37:00checks out to make sure everybody makes
37:01it home safe before you can leave the
37:03field.
37:04>> So then as soon as the last person
37:05checked out, I can give you the time on
37:07that, too. Yeah.
37:09>> Okay. That's what time I checked out.
37:12Headed out Daniel Bar and I checked out
37:15right there right after Daniel Bar.
37:17>> And what time was that?
37:19>> So I'm guessing that was about around
37:223:56 p.m.
37:23>> Little after 4 maybe maybe right at 4
37:25>> cuz and Chris didn't send the message
37:27when he was leaving the field. So I put
37:29Chris is out as well.
37:31>> Everybody have a good evening.
37:32>> Okay.
37:34Can [clears throat] you scroll up to the
37:35beginning of the day? I understand that.
37:37>> That's fine, sir. No,
37:38>> when you check into a site too, you most
37:40people will use a group me to say, "Hey,
37:42I'm here. I'm over here."
37:44>> Saturday, Sunday. Cuz this is Victor
37:45Zimbala. You work the weekend.
37:47>> Okay.
37:48>> All right. And then Cody at 6:30 or 6:28
37:52a.m. in the field.
37:54>> Yeah.
37:54>> But we're out in the field. I don't
37:55know. Um Luke saying that Alex is on
37:58PTO.
37:59>> Okay.
37:59>> So Tony or Robbie to please cover that
38:01route. And I got a O2 hit at 11:21 uh
38:06a.m. on my gas monitor. Okay.
38:08>> Cuz I was getting um a pipe wrench out
38:11of my toolbox. And if you stand too
38:12close to that exhaust while your trucks
38:13are running Oh, yeah.
38:14>> It'll give you a hit. So the IOC called
38:16me three times.
38:17>> Sensitive.
38:18>> Oh yeah. They had to call me three times
38:20cuz now anytime our monitors ding or we
38:22get a hit, the OC calls to verify that
38:24we're okay.
38:25>> Okay.
38:26>> And then
38:27>> Okay.
38:28>> Okay. Would it be unusual for people to
38:31not check in on grouping?
38:33>> No, not all the time. I mean, if you're
38:35out on the field and as long as it's
38:37usually after 6:30ish.
38:39Um, Alex Ray, he'll always send a
38:41message whenever he's out in the field.
38:42And usually Alex gets out there real
38:44early, like 5:30. He's almost like my
38:46alarm cuz he sends a [clears throat]
38:48message whenever he gets out to the
38:49field. But he was off all the way from
38:52Monday till Thursday, I believe.
38:54>> Okay.
38:54>> And that's on uh Luke's calendar down
38:56there. We need that.
38:57>> [clears throat]
38:57>> Okay. What about for Chris? Does he
38:59usually check in?
39:00>> Um, no. Usually he comes to the office.
39:02>> Usually comes to the office
39:04>> cuz usually we just see all each other
39:05out in the office cuz he usually carries
39:07a big red jug that he fills up with
39:08water every morning is about eight big
39:11and he always gets water at the uh ice
39:13machine down there in the break room.
39:14>> So for Monday, would it have been
39:15unusual for him to not stop at the
39:17office first?
39:18>> Well, he told me on Friday that he was
39:20going out to the 319,
39:21>> right,
39:22>> to check out that leak.
39:23>> Okay.
39:23>> So, we didn't think anything of it.
39:26>> Yeah. But just overall is
39:28>> just Yeah, cuz he always comes to the
39:29office.
39:30>> Okay.
39:30>> Always or
39:31>> I would say pretty much always.
39:33>> Okay.
39:34>> You know, he's he's there because that's
39:35where him and I meet because we're both
39:37fuel coordinators and he'll, you know,
39:38talk to me about any issues that we're
39:40going to have out in the field that day
39:41or what we need to do.
39:42>> Okay.
39:42>> So, we'll just go over that and then
39:44we'll head to whatever locations we need
39:45to. But I always meet him every morning
39:48down there in the break room.
39:49>> Okay.
39:52>> Why was Do you know why he was so quick
39:54to jump on this 319? No,
39:56>> you go check it.
39:57>> I don't.
39:58>> I mean, cuz we're always we're all the
39:59way back at Friday,
40:00>> right?
40:01>> And he's talking about, "Hey, I'll go
40:02Monday and do it,
40:03>> right?" No. And Cody's like, "Okay."
40:07You know, cuz Cody's the operator out
40:09there. So,
40:10>> and why why wasn't Cody fixing it?
40:13>> Well, Cody found the stain and Cody
40:15found that stain later on in the
40:17evening. I can see what time on Friday
40:19Cody called me
40:20>> and he said he was going to run back to
40:21a couple different locations and get or
40:24back to at least one of the locations
40:25out there where he had some uh oil
40:27gator.
40:28>> Mhm.
40:28>> And that's just some stuff that we can
40:30mix in with the uh um the ground any
40:33kind of oil that sets in there and
40:34that'll help break that stuff down and
40:36everything and um remediate that stuff.
40:40>> Okay.
40:40>> Uh [clears throat] let's see.
40:44Would it be typical for somebody to
40:46declare ahead days out like before the
40:48weekends um starts that hey I'm going to
40:50be doing this or would that usually be
40:52something you do the
40:53>> day morning of?
40:54>> Chris just said since he lived on 52
40:57right off Highway 52 that it's a
40:59straight shot from him to leave his
41:01house, go straight to Hudson and jump on
41:0376. Okay,
41:04>> and go out there and verify it. Usually
41:06when if we verify a line that's got a
41:07leak, we usually have more than one
41:09person out there. Okay.
41:10>> That way if we do send pressure to that
41:12line, one person could be here
41:14verifying, the other person could be at
41:16the separator sending the pressure. That
41:17way if there is a leak, we can hurry up
41:19and shut it off.
41:20>> Okay.
41:20>> That way we don't have excess
41:21contamination,
41:22>> right? [clears throat]
41:23>> And
41:25that makes sense. whenever Cody Roberts
41:28called me the last time cuz I called him
41:30and asked him how it was going and then
41:32he called me again whenever I was in the
41:34parking lot on Friday of that that week
41:37was at 3:13 p.m. whenever Cody Roberts
41:40called me and identified that there was
41:41a leak out at Servy Ranch or at least at
41:44the time he suspected that there was a
41:45leak.
41:46>> Okay.
41:46>> And I told him, "Don't worry about it,
41:48dude. It's Friday. You know, we'll
41:50double check it on Monday. We can go out
41:51there on Monday morning and verify." And
41:53that's whenever Chris said, "I'll go out
41:55there on Monday morning. Yeah.
41:56>> So,
41:57>> is he usually one to volunteer for
41:59something like that?
42:00>> Yeah, usually he is. I mean, he's really
42:01good about doing that stuff.
42:06[clears throat]
42:12Let's go to
42:14Tuesday.
42:15>> Okay.
42:16>> Tuesday morning,
42:18tell me what you do. Tuesday morning, I
42:20come into the office, meet with the
42:22group, you know, talk about whatever we
42:25got to do that day. Um, I know that we
42:28were going to we had training set up to
42:30go cuz Luke sent out a message for
42:32training that we had to have at the
42:33Aquatera State.
42:35So, I went to the Aquaterara State
42:38first. No, not first. Um, I'm trying to
42:41pull it up for you, sir.
42:44Okay. We're still on Monday.
42:49Let's go to Tuesday.
42:53Do
42:53>> you have any contact with Chris on uh
42:55Monday evening?
42:56>> Monday evening text messages I gave you.
42:59>> Yeah, I think uh
43:00>> just asking how he was.
43:01>> Okay.
43:02>> Chris was pretty short. We're just
43:04saying
43:05>> Yeah. None of his replies were very
43:07long.
43:07>> No.
43:12>> But and then Luke sent out in the group
43:13me that morning at 6:31 that Chris would
43:15not be in that day. 6:31.
43:18>> Yes. Cuz I guess he called and talked to
43:21Chris Tuesday or Yeah. Tuesday morning.
43:23>> Who did?
43:24>> Apple. Luke. Yeah.
43:30>> Okay. They ordered an air compressor.
43:32Everyone meet me at the Aquater State
43:3318:36 at 11:15 p.m. for some training.
43:37Bring your mod one books if you have
43:39them cuz we got to complete our mod one
43:41before November for any uh APC blue
43:44badges.
43:44>> What's a mod one? A mod one is a general
43:47knowledge of all your parts, moving
43:49parts, your separators, your pumping
43:50units, your ECDs, your gas compressors,
43:53your VRUs, your BRTs. So, they want you
43:55to be able to go out to a location and
43:57walk them through every step on how that
43:59functions. Okay?
44:00>> So, I tested out [clears throat] last
44:02year, last year, the beginning of this
44:04year on it. And if you didn't get a two
44:06all the way around, then you would have
44:08to turn around and redo it. So, the ones
44:11that I missed, we're going over some of
44:12that. And Luke had another meeting that
44:14day. So we were able or you had to have
44:16a phone call at 1:00. So we sell him
44:18that location when we went over the air
44:20ski.
44:21So Aquaterero states not anywhere.
44:29All right. So Monday morning, I'm sorry,
44:31Tuesday morning, you came here.
44:33>> Yes.
44:34>> Um
44:35got your burrito.
44:36>> Yes. [clears throat]
44:38>> All right. And
44:43what what do you do? Do you hang around
44:46the office? You go check stuff?
44:47>> I hang around the office for a little
44:49bit, just talk to the guys. And then
44:50after that, um I'm trying to remember
44:53honestly if it was Tuesday or what day
44:54it was. Victor Zimbala was having
44:56trouble gauging the tank. So I went out
44:59with him cuz he's one of our new guys.
45:00He's having trouble coloring. And that
45:03was at the Canon 6768.
45:06And [clears throat]
45:06>> where's that? um right off County Road
45:0922.
45:11>> So fairly close.
45:12>> Yeah, County Road 22 and 31.
45:14>> Okay.
45:14>> So, um I'm trying to remember whether or
45:17not Tuesday cuz Tuesday you guys had me
45:20come back, I believe, to the office.
45:23>> I think we [snorts] spoke Wednesday.
45:24[clears throat]
45:25>> Was it Wednesday?
45:26>> Yeah.
45:26>> Yeah, I think Wednesday. Okay.
45:28>> Well, okay. I get No, I got a call from
45:30the officer in Frederick, but that was
45:32at 2:00 or something like that. So, I
45:35know I either helped Gage tanks or
45:37something that morning and uh I told him
45:39that we needed to head to training. So,
45:41we headed out or did I go with Daniel
45:43Bar? I don't know. If you guys pull my
45:45card to site, you guys can tell exactly
45:47where I was. I was either with Daniel
45:48Bar or Victor Zumbala that day.
45:50>> Okay. And then you go to the training.
45:52>> Yeah, we go to the training. What time
45:53was the training?
45:54>> Well, that we had to be there by like I
45:56guess what 11:15. Is that what I said?
45:58>> Yeah, I think that was which then?
45:59>> Yeah, 11:15 for the mod 1 training. So,
46:02I show up at the mod 1 training. And
46:03where was that at?
46:04>> Uh the Aquaterara State.
46:06>> Where's that at?
46:07>> Um Aquaterara State is I don't know what
46:10the intersecting county road is. Um but
46:1247 and four and then you go east a
46:15quarter and south into
46:18>> Okay. How far is that from here?
46:20>> Uh it's on the other side of Hudson. So
46:22>> Oh, it's a ways.
46:23>> Yeah, it's on the other side. Like if
46:24you take 52 out like you're going
46:26through Hudson, straight through Hudson.
46:28The first road right outside of Hudson
46:30if you're heading to the east is County
46:32Road 47. First [snorts] dirt road that
46:34goes south. So you take that dirt road,
46:36go south all the way to County Road 4
46:38and then from four over about a quarter
46:40of a mile and then south into it.
46:41>> Oh, okay. Is that like a training center
46:44for you guys?
46:44>> No, that's just a vertical that they
46:46wasted a lot of money on.
46:47>> Okay. [laughter]
46:49>> Well, it's it's built closest to the Az
46:51sites. I It's the only site that we have
46:53in the field that has pneumatic air.
46:55>> Okay.
46:56>> Where all the dumps and everything are
46:57run off air compressors. So that's the
46:59reason why he went there to train us
47:00because he wanted to go over the air
47:01compressor portion of the training.
47:03>> Okay.
47:04>> So, how long does the training last?
47:06>> Um almost until 1:00 cuz Luke had 15
47:10minutes until he had to be on the phone
47:12whenever we were wrapping up.
47:14>> Okay.
47:16So, what do you do after you leave the
47:17training?
47:18>> Okay. And there from that point, you
47:20know, I've got everything here going
47:22through my head and I'm like, what the
47:23hell's going on? Cuz it's been since
47:25Monday since we've heard anything from
47:27Shenan, right?
47:28>> Wait, wait, let me stop you there.
47:30>> No, you're
47:31>> So, you said you got everything in your
47:32head. What? Tell me what that means.
47:34>> Well, everything that's going on with
47:36>> Yeah. Well, Chris took off work, you
47:38know, and I'm worried [clears throat]
47:39about his wife and his kids
47:40>> because I've known his wife and his
47:42kids, you know. I've been over, hung out
47:44with Shannan, hung out with Bella and
47:46everything. So, I'm like, "What's going
47:48on here?" And he's been real short with
47:50me on text messages, you know, and
47:51there's been no news updates. I've been
47:53seeing, you know, stuff coming out and
47:55people are looking for him. Everybody's
47:56sharing it on Facebook. So, I was like,
47:58"Well, if nothing else, it's 1:00. I
48:01don't have anything else to do. I'll
48:02head back out toward that 3 or 319
48:05>> and, you know, see if I see anything out
48:07of the norm and stuff like that." And
48:08that's the same time that that officer
48:10called me.
48:11>> What prompts you to to want to go to the
48:13319?
48:13>> Because that was the [clears throat]
48:14first location we were at that morning.
48:16Okay. Just cuz or something's tripping
48:20your suspicion here, obviously.
48:21>> Well, I mean, honestly, because I seen
48:22him in the different clothes. Okay. I
48:24seen him in that
48:25>> and then, you know, and he just was
48:28short with me that day.
48:29>> You know, he wasn't really like engaging
48:32in conversations and stuff like that.
48:34>> Mhm.
48:34>> And then all of a sudden, you know,
48:3611:00 to noon, his wife's gone,
48:38>> you know,
48:39>> supposedly. And, you know, he thought
48:40that she went to a friend's house or
48:42whatever. I'm like, this is, you know,
48:44even in my head, it's not adding up.
48:46>> So, you've been thinking about this
48:47quite a bit as as
48:50work with. They're all like my brothers,
48:52>> you know, honestly.
48:53>> You can ask my whole group. I would do
48:55anything in the world for them, you
48:56know, I be there for them. They can talk
48:59to me about anything, you know, and
49:00everything. And I was like, man, this is
49:02just so weird because they're such a
49:03picture perfect couple. And then all of
49:05a sudden, she's just gone.
49:07>> Mhm. you know, and that didn't make any
49:09sense to me because by then we'd heard
49:10that the cell phone was there, the kids'
49:12medication was there, the purse was
49:14there at the house, everything, and
49:17Shannan and the girls were gone. That
49:18didn't make any sense to me.
49:19>> Okay.
49:20>> Because Shannan lives on that phone
49:21because that's what her business is, is
49:23that phone.
49:23>> Mhm.
49:23>> Right.
49:25>> So, I drove out to the 319
49:28and [clears throat]
49:29as soon as I went through the gate, the
49:30gate was already open. There's a water
49:31truck driver on location.
49:33>> Okay. and from MPT and I signed his JSA.
49:37So, I parked out by the wheelhead and I
49:40didn't want to alert the guy that I was,
49:41you know, out there looking for anything
49:42odd and suspicious or anything like
49:44that. So,
49:44>> you know what time that was?
49:46>> Um,
49:48I it was around 2:00 or so I arrived
49:52>> out there and I talked to the gentleman
49:54and everything like that and told him I
49:56was like, "Well, I think you know I
49:57might have forgot a crescent wrench or
49:59whatever." cuz I didn't want him to tell
50:00him cuz I didn't know if I should look
50:02around the field or what I should do. So
50:04that's what I told him. Okay?
50:05>> You know, and then I signed his JSA and
50:07I turned around looked at the clock and
50:08it's like it's so freaking late that by
50:10the time I get out of Servy Ranch and
50:12back to um you know the area around like
50:15County Road 22 and you know 37 kind of
50:18like a baseline. If somebody needs me
50:20then I'm going to be way too far away.
50:22So I went ahead and just got back in my
50:24truck after I signed his JSA and left
50:26location.
50:27>> Okay. Why did you sign that? because I'm
50:29supposed to.
50:29>> Okay. What is that?
50:30>> I have to sign that JSA
50:32>> job site analysis. So, these uh
50:36contractors I work for. So, they pull up
50:37on a location, they pull a tank, which
50:39he pulled the open top water pit is what
50:41he pulled. That's what he was hooked up
50:43to.
50:43>> So, this this water truck driver, do you
50:45know who that is?
50:46>> No, sir. I don't know his name.
50:47>> Okay.
50:48>> But I did sign his JSA.
50:50>> Okay.
50:51Is that what this is?
50:56>> [snorts]
50:57>> I I signed electronically. He just
50:58handed it to me and said, "Sign this
51:01cuz it says JSA." So, you're supposed to
51:03go through the steps in order to pull
51:04procedures.
51:07>> Yes, that's exactly what that is. Okay.
51:09So, this this thing here has a list of
51:14all these questions and and who filled
51:16all this out?
51:17>> He would have.
51:18>> He did.
51:18>> Yes, sir.
51:19>> Okay. And this is something he fills out
51:20every time he goes on site. to every
51:22time you go, well, not every time you go
51:23on a site, but if you're pouring a load
51:24of water, you know, like if they're just
51:26driving up on a site, they don't have to
51:27pull them out, but if you're doing any
51:29kind of work that's outside the realm of
51:31normal activity, but for them, that's
51:33their job. So, they're required to fill
51:35out a JSA
51:36>> for Hannah Darkco. Okay?
51:38>> So, they have to fill out the JSA, they
51:39have to go through their job steps and
51:40everything. Whenever I pulled up, he had
51:42his vent line and everything in the
51:43right direction, you know, he had it
51:44been away from his truck, you know, and
51:46the wind wasn't blowing toward his
51:47pickups or nothing like that.
51:49>> Where is he parked when you get here? He
51:50is parked. Okay. Your water pits right
51:52here.
51:53>> He is parked right here.
51:54>> Is that a normal place for him to park?
51:56>> Yeah, that's a normal place I would say
51:57for him to park so he can [snorts] cuz I
52:00believe you have to go over the top to
52:01pull these open top pits. So he would
52:02just put his load line inside that pit
52:04right there and then pull out the
52:05sludge.
52:06>> Okay.
52:06>> And he was hauling this load to the OPF.
52:09>> Where?
52:09>> The OPF, the oil polishing facility.
52:11>> Okay. Where is that at?
52:12>> That's on County Road 49.
52:14>> Okay. Where do you park when you pull up
52:16on Tuesday?
52:17>> When I pull up on Tuesday, I went right
52:18by him. right over here. Now, I pulled
52:20up right about here on the location.
52:23>> Okay.
52:23>> And then he walked over from his pickup
52:25before I ever even got out of my truck
52:26and he was right here. And I signed the
52:28JSA right there.
52:30>> Okay. Did he ask you what you were
52:31doing?
52:32>> Yeah. And I told him I [clears throat]
52:33was looking for a crescent wrench.
52:34>> Okay. But that was [ __ ]
52:35>> Well, I didn't just cuz things have been
52:37so out of sorts. I wanted to, you know,
52:39to go out here to see if I seen anything
52:40because I spoken to that officer, too.
52:43>> Okay. When you you remember what the
52:45officer's name that you spoke to?
52:46>> Um I I got a voicemail.
52:51and I spoke to him at like 2004, but you
52:54know, things in my head weren't adding
52:56up correctly in my eyes. So, I do have a
52:59voicemail from him. I didn't delete it.
53:03>> At what time?
53:06>> Uh, you called me earlier attorney for
53:07[clears throat]
53:08Troy McCoy. Um, this is officer Waly
53:12with the police department. I was
53:14wondering if you can give me a call
53:15back.
53:16>> Play that part again. Can replay that
53:18first part again.
53:26>> Hello. This message is [laughter] for
53:28Troy McCoy. Um, this is officer Walie
53:32with the Fred Police Department. I was
53:34wondering if you could give me a call
53:36back uh on my cell. It's uh 303500
53:424073. you again. That's 303500473.
53:49Um, I was calling you with regard to
53:51we're working on trying to find uh a
53:55missing person.
53:57Um, and I was going to ask you, um,
54:02uh, Christopher Watts, I believe that
54:04you work with him. Um, gave a name your
54:08name as, um, someone that he was going
54:11to meet yesterday in the early morning
54:14possibly or possibly would meet uh, or
54:17and or that you work out at a site where
54:20he was going to be working. So anyway,
54:23he gave your name or wanted to talk to
54:24you. a couple questions with regard to
54:26Chris. Um and um that would be it. So if
54:31you can give me a call again, Officer W
54:34A L J E of the Frederick Police
54:36Department. Um if you feel more comfort,
54:41I'm currently there
54:42>> [snorts]
54:43>> uh currently here, I should say. Um and
54:46I can talk to you at the office if you
54:48feel more comfortable calling that
54:50number. Uh but again my cell is
54:52303500473
54:54in case I have to leave. Thank you. Good
54:56night.
54:57>> All right. Thanks.
54:58>> No problem. [clears throat and cough]
55:05>> Did you know that the water guy was
55:06going to be out there?
55:08>> Uh no I didn't.
55:09>> Okay.
55:09>> No. The water guy was out there. Well,
55:11Cody Roberts told me that he uh was
55:13going to have the load bottomed out at
55:14Serby. And then he also told me that the
55:16load line was leaking on the tank.
55:17[clears throat]
55:18>> Okay. cuz that load line is leaking on
55:20the tank that was almost full.
55:21>> That was on Tuesday or was that another
55:23day? [clears throat]
55:25>> I think it was on Tuesday and he called
55:27me and told me that they were going to
55:28have that uh pit bottomed out and I
55:31think the water truck drove me told me
55:32that he got like 15 or 20 barrels of oil
55:35out of there or not oil but water and
55:37then he pulled the rest of the oil and
55:39stuff that was on top of the tank. Okay.
55:43So, is it normal for you to [snorts]
55:45sign this if you if you show up on site
55:47when they're on site? I want you to sign
55:49that sign that sir.
55:50>> Yes, sir.
55:50>> Okay.
55:56>> Okay. So, he's So, you pull up around
56:00here or approximately here.
56:03>> Yeah.
56:03>> He He comes over before you're even out
56:06of your car. Get out of my pickup.
56:08>> Okay. Do you ever get out of your
56:09pickup?
56:10>> Yes.
56:11>> Okay. Um, do you do you walk around,
56:13take a look?
56:14>> No, I mean whenever I get out of the
56:15pickup to talk to him.
56:17>> Okay.
56:17>> Cuz he's walking, you know, he's walking
56:18up and he's right here by my truck. So,
56:20I get out, you know, and everything and
56:22talk with him. And then he told me, you
56:23know, that he's here to pull a load and
56:25everything like that. And I need to sign
56:26his JSA. And the screen is scratched to
56:28hell on that JSA. [laughter] Sure. He
56:30couldn't read nothing if you wanted to.
56:31So, I input my name and then I asked
56:33him, I said, "Where do I sign, sir?" So,
56:35I handed it back to him. He handed it
56:37back to me after he got me to the screen
56:38where I needed to sign and then I signed
56:40my name. Okay. All right. Then so does
56:42he leave or I'm sorry, go back to his
56:44truck.
56:44>> Yes, sir. He went back to his truck and
56:46then
56:46>> what do you do?
56:47>> I get back in my truck cuz I looked at
56:49the clock and it's already freaking like
56:512004 around that time period. So, I'm
56:53going to go ahead and get back in my
56:54truck and I just leave location.
56:56>> Okay. So, you weren't there for what 5
56:5810 minutes?
56:59>> I wasn't there. No, sir. I wasn't there
57:00very long at all. Okay.
57:01>> And the gentleman told me that if he
57:02found my crescent wrench that he would
57:04lay it up on, you know, the battery or
57:05the tank or the separator for me.
57:07>> Okay. So, all right.
57:10Did you do you have a chance to look out
57:12in this direction at all? No sir, I
57:13didn't. He was just on you that quick.
57:14>> Yeah, he I mean he was just right there
57:16next [clears throat] to me. So I was
57:17like, "Okay." And that's good, too,
57:19because they're supposed to be able to
57:20approach people,
57:21>> you know, [clears throat] as soon as
57:22they get soon as they see somebody pull
57:23up on location, they will approach you.
57:25You know, they're supposed to. That's
57:26what they're supposed to do.
57:28>> So, I wasn't shocked to see him or
57:29nothing like that, but he was just right
57:30there at the pickup. So, I signed the
57:31JSA and
57:32>> you know, cuz in my heart of hearts, I
57:35didn't want to believe that Chris had
57:37done anything. you know, I've been his
57:39friend for two and a half years,
57:41>> you know, but with Shannan not getting
57:43back to anybody, you know, even like
57:45calling her parents and just being like,
57:46"Hey, you know, I'm fine. I'm safe and
57:49sound. Bella and the kids are with me.
57:50We're good." You know, I was like, that
57:53was the location that he was at that
57:54morning. So, that's why I went out there
57:58>> because, you know, everybody's looking
58:00for clues and tips, anything that can
58:01help. And I honestly just want to help.
58:03>> And something something's needling you
58:04about this.
58:05>> Yeah, it is. Well, I mean, you know, I
58:08didn't say it in our first interview,
58:09but the clothes
58:10>> Mhm.
58:10>> the clothes, it was just different to
58:12me. And then whenever I told you about
58:13how he walked by the back of his truck,
58:15it was odd. And then now all of a
58:17sudden, I find out, you know, the next
58:18day that his girls are gone and there's
58:20a missing person's report and everything
58:22for him and nobody's [snorts] heard
58:23nothing from him.
58:25>> You know, I'm a father. If my wife was
58:27gone and everything like that, I'd be
58:29freaking out, you know.
58:30>> Oh, yeah.
58:31>> And, you know, he's just like, "Hey
58:32guys, I got to go." you know, it wasn't
58:34like necessarily like a panic whenever
58:36[clears throat] he took off. There's
58:37>> no urgency to it,
58:38>> you know, but he's like, "Hey, you know,
58:40I I just got to go." And that's all he
58:41said cuz he rolled down his window and
58:43he pulled up to Chad McNeel's pickup
58:44that day and he's like, "Hey guys, I got
58:46to go." You know, something's not right
58:48at home. And then he drove off.
58:49>> How did he drive?
58:51>> He just pulled away normal. It wasn't
58:53like he was in a fire rush, you know? M
58:55>> if I had my friends calling me and
58:57telling me, you know, or my wife's
58:58friends that my wife was missing and my
59:00four kids weren't home, I'd be freaking
59:02out, honestly.
59:03>> Pedal to metal.
59:04>> Yeah.
59:04>> Yeah. I'm with you. [laughter]
59:08[clears throat]
59:09>> Why did you park there?
59:11>> Cuz that's where I seen him parked.
59:12>> Okay. And when the oil water guy
59:16approached you, why didn't you just keep
59:17looking around like you
59:19>> after he approached me and everything?
59:21cuz I was looking at the clock because I
59:23need to be off somewhere close to the
59:26time frame like 2:30ish and stuff like
59:27that.
59:28>> So I can actually get home cuz I live in
59:31Gley and from Gley to serve is a heck of
59:33a long drive, [snorts]
59:34>> you know, and my wife babysits and
59:35everything else. So I want to get home
59:38whenever it's close to time cuz I'm not
59:39trying to melt the clock, get any extra
59:40overtime or anything like that,
59:42>> right?
59:42>> So after he approached me, we talked
59:44for, you know, just a couple minutes and
59:47everything like that. He told me that if
59:48he found my crest branch that he put in
59:50the tank battery for me. And that was
59:52it. I got right back in my pickup. I
59:55drove around slowly the location, you
59:57know, drove around the edge of the
59:58location right here.
1:00:00>> I just drove around right here. Okay.
1:00:02>> You know, and then just went ahead and
1:00:03took off.
1:00:03>> Okay. Why didn't you tell him the truth?
1:00:06>> Because I didn't want to tell him that I
1:00:08was searching for any kind of suspicious
1:00:10things on location.
1:00:12>> What would have been wrong with that
1:00:13though if you had just said that? Well,
1:00:15I know, but I mean, at the time whenever
1:00:16I was approached, that's what I said,
1:00:18honestly.
1:00:19>> Okay.
1:00:19>> I mean, I'm not here to lie to you guys.
1:00:21You know, I'm upfront and honest about
1:00:23it. Obviously, you guys knew I was
1:00:24there, and I've got no problem telling
1:00:26you exactly why I was on location.
1:00:28>> Yeah.
1:00:31>> So,
1:00:32um
1:00:39you talk to your wife about this on, uh
1:00:42Monday when you got home. Well, yeah,
1:00:44cuz Shannan and uh Wanita, you know, do
1:00:48the Thrive thing
1:00:49>> because [clears throat] Wanita is a
1:00:50promoter as well, but she's never even
1:00:52hit her 4K on that,
1:00:54>> you know, and it just doesn't feel
1:00:56right,
1:00:57>> you know, for those girls just to
1:00:59disappear and she had to disappear and
1:01:00she's such a public person and
1:01:02everything like that. So, the wife was
1:01:04worried about them. She wanted to make
1:01:06sure that they were going to be okay as
1:01:07well.
1:01:08>> What was your conversation about? What?
1:01:10Tell me, not necessarily about tell me
1:01:12what was your conversation like? Were
1:01:14you Were you guys, you know, convinced
1:01:17something had happened or just a little
1:01:18bit concerned?
1:01:19>> Well, we were concerned because I mean
1:01:21it wouldn't be out of the realm of
1:01:22possibilities if they were having
1:01:23issues, you know, and she wanted to
1:01:25leave if that was the case for her to
1:01:27take the girls cuz I figured she would,
1:01:30you know, and go ahead and go off to a
1:01:31friend's house because he told me that
1:01:33he thought Shannan had went to a
1:01:35friend's house that morning. So told you
1:01:38that?
1:01:38>> Yeah. It wasn't nothing out of the
1:01:39normal, [clears throat] you know, like
1:01:41she goes over to friend's house and
1:01:42stuff all the time. But that's what I
1:01:44told my wife. I was like, "Well, I don't
1:01:46know if she took off, went to a friend's
1:01:48house, you know, whatever the case." And
1:01:50then later on in the day, we found out
1:01:52the cell phone was still there, you
1:01:53know, and everything, the purse, all
1:01:55that kind of stuff. And then it just
1:01:57didn't start adding up. You know, you
1:01:59never want to think that one of your
1:02:01co-workers would be capable of doing
1:02:03something like that to a person, you
1:02:04know, anything. And then
1:02:08>> so at what point do you start to think
1:02:09that um Chris has done something?
1:02:12>> Well, the only part I start to think
1:02:13would be Wednesday cuz I drove out to
1:02:16location. You know, I wasn't out there
1:02:17very long on Tuesday. I didn't see
1:02:19anything out of the normal. I was there.
1:02:21But I really didn't look around, you
1:02:22know. I was [snorts] just got back in my
1:02:23pickup and drove off. And then
1:02:25Wednesday, I didn't text him at all.
1:02:27>> Nothing. I didn't, you know, try to
1:02:30check on him, anything. And then, okay,
1:02:32then Wednesday would be the day that you
1:02:33guys called me. What? Roughly around
1:02:3510:00 that I think you
1:02:36>> and then I come back to the office and
1:02:38have a talk with you. Joe,
1:02:39>> were you out at this location ever again
1:02:42after Tuesday?
1:02:42>> No, sir. I wasn't ever again.
1:02:46>> Do you know who else has been out at
1:02:47that location?
1:02:48>> Cody Roberts was out at that location on
1:02:50Tuesday. He had
1:02:52>> to do something out there. I think Cody
1:02:54Roberts was out there though. Do
1:02:55>> you remember about the time?
1:02:59>> No sir, I don't. That's just from Cody
1:03:00talking to me telling me that he was out
1:03:02on location.
1:03:03>> Okay.
1:03:05What about Melissa or Chad or anybody
1:03:07like that? Did they ever go back to 319?
1:03:09>> Well, I think Melissa would have been
1:03:11back out there because Melissa's been
1:03:12shadowing Cody.
1:03:13>> Okay.
1:03:13>> Because Cody starts um automation cross
1:03:15trainining next week. Okay.
1:03:16>> So, that's the whole reason why Melissa
1:03:18was out there anyway, right?
1:03:19>> Cuz she's not the normal operator. She's
1:03:20just a trainee that just got signed off
1:03:22on her SOPs, standard operating
1:03:24procedures.
1:03:25>> And then now we're feeling comfortable
1:03:26enough to let her run a route and see
1:03:28how she does.
1:03:29>> Okay.
1:03:29>> So, that just happened to be a
1:03:31particular route which she drew. H
1:03:33>> okay. Would there any be any reason for
1:03:35anybody to drive out here in the weeds?
1:03:37>> No, sir.
1:03:38>> No reason at all for anybody to do that.
1:03:40>> Is that um is that permitted? You guys
1:03:43get for that?
1:03:44>> No. Yeah. You like whenever you're out
1:03:45of sort ranch, if you read that sign and
1:03:47supposedly [clears throat] by that gate
1:03:49[laughter] ranch road,
1:03:51>> you don't want to be caught outside of
1:03:52those ranch on, you know, on the leash
1:03:54roads that are out there because you
1:03:56will get your butt ripped.
1:03:57>> Yeah.
1:03:57>> I mean, most of our land owners that we
1:03:59have are like that.
1:04:00>> Yeah. Sure.
1:04:01>> You know, even Mr. value that way.
1:04:03>> Okay.
1:04:05Anything else that we haven't talked
1:04:06about regarding any of this stuff um
1:04:09that you can think of that we need to
1:04:11cover even if you think it's not related
1:04:14or it's frivolous or anything else you
1:04:17can think of, you know, suspicions, just
1:04:19rumors, um anything else you can think
1:04:22of.
1:04:22>> Right. Well, I'm trying to go through my
1:04:24head on everything that I could have
1:04:25said to him that day. I mean, with all
1:04:27this stuff that's gone on, you know,
1:04:29>> sometimes it's hard to remember, but I
1:04:31[snorts] do another thing. Um, that
1:04:33morning, he told me they were having
1:04:35issues and everything like that, but
1:04:37>> Monday morning.
1:04:38>> Yes. Yeah. You know, he said, "Yeah,
1:04:40we're having some issues and
1:04:41everything." And, you know, he's like,
1:04:43"Well, her wedding ring was laying on
1:04:44the counter." That's when he told me
1:04:46that the wedding ring was on the
1:04:48counter. And I was like, "Why would she
1:04:51leave her wedding ring [clears throat]
1:04:52on the counter?" He's like, "Well, I
1:04:53guess that she's just through with me. I
1:04:54don't know." you know, but he sound
1:04:56hopeful that they could work things out,
1:04:58you know, so that didn't, you know,
1:05:00necessarily bother me at all. You know,
1:05:01he told me that the waiting room was
1:05:03laying on the counter.
1:05:04>> Counter where do you say?
1:05:05>> No, I don't know if it was a kitchen
1:05:07counter, sir, or their dining room table
1:05:09cuz they're right there next to each
1:05:10other.
1:05:10>> Did he say anything about, you know,
1:05:12hey, this is going to be hard on the
1:05:13kids? Um, you know, anything like that?
1:05:15>> No, he never spoke of his girls.
1:05:18>> Never did. No, [clears throat]
1:05:21>> they said that they didn't uh go to
1:05:23school or whatever at CC and Bella cuz I
1:05:27don't know if they had like daycare or
1:05:28something that they go to every day, but
1:05:30he said yeah, she didn't take him to
1:05:32daycare and uh she didn't go to a
1:05:33doctor's appointment. That was it.
1:05:36That's all he ever spoke of the girls.
1:05:38But he just told me that him and Shannan
1:05:39had had issues and everything. And
1:05:41that's why I figured why cuz she didn't
1:05:43get in till late Monday morning or
1:05:45Sunday night, whenever she got in.
1:05:47>> Mhm. And I figured that they just
1:05:49couldn't sleep. Honestly, there's a
1:05:50reason why he looked the way he looked.
1:05:52I never put things out of sorts, you
1:05:54know, or even would have thought about
1:05:55things being out of sorts until nobody
1:05:58heard from her.
1:05:59>> Right.
1:06:00>> You know, and she's not that type of
1:06:01person at all.
1:06:03>> Does he generally talk about his girls
1:06:05on a day-to-day basis?
1:06:07>> Um, [snorts] here and there if they get
1:06:08to go do something.
1:06:09>> Okay.
1:06:10>> You know, um, he loved playing with them
1:06:13and everything. Uh
1:06:15uh last pictures I seen anyway of the
1:06:17girls other than whenever I you know I
1:06:19seen him on Friday with him. They were
1:06:21happy, laughing and everything
1:06:22[clears throat] when we met in Fort
1:06:23Lupton and uh you know like the trip
1:06:26that they took out to the beach in North
1:06:27Carolina, you know, he always posts
1:06:30stuff like that, you know, and you know,
1:06:32for the most part, if anybody asked him
1:06:34about his kids, he would just light up,
1:06:35you know, they were like the center of
1:06:38his world, you know, it's what it seemed
1:06:40like, you know, but now that we know
1:06:42what we know now, obviously that must
1:06:44have not been the case cuz any father
1:06:46that loves her children could never do
1:06:48something like that. So, I'm just blown
1:06:51away with this. And I mean, I know me
1:06:54going out to location on Tuesday does
1:06:56not look good upon my part. And I told
1:06:58the guy I was looking for my wrench, but
1:07:00I had that sick feeling in my stomach,
1:07:02okay, we haven't heard anything from
1:07:04her. If I can find anything out on that
1:07:06site where I could tell authorities, you
1:07:07know, something about it that, you know,
1:07:10we could find out what happened. You
1:07:12know, I'm praying to God that that
1:07:14wouldn't be true because that's a guy I
1:07:15worked with for two and a half years,
1:07:17>> right? Your buddy.
1:07:18>> Yeah. I mean, I would consider him a
1:07:20[clears throat] friend. You know, we
1:07:21didn't hang out outside of work hardly
1:07:23at all.
1:07:23>> I went down to his house twice for
1:07:26thrive parties like I told you guys
1:07:27before and then I met him at Fort Lton
1:07:29because he asked me to try to put some
1:07:31programs in the Fire Stick for him and I
1:07:32said, "Okay." That was the only reason
1:07:34why we met and it was a brand new Fire
1:07:36Stick straight out of the box. And I
1:07:38handed it back to him on location that
1:07:39Monday night.
1:07:42>> So, okay.
1:07:44[sighs and gasps]
1:07:46>> Yeah. Okay. No, it just understand that
1:07:49we had come across this information
1:07:52about you being on site on Tuesday,
1:07:54>> right?
1:07:55>> And you know, it just
1:07:58just one of these loose ends that we
1:08:00need to tie.
1:08:01>> I I understand that. That's why I said I
1:08:03had no problem to come down and talk to
1:08:04you.
1:08:04>> Sure. No problem. I and I appreciate
1:08:06that, you know, and and I think you you
1:08:08know, you pretty well told me that you
1:08:12recognized that something was wrong and
1:08:14you know, you put a few things together
1:08:16that that
1:08:19one one of the first things I brought up
1:08:20to you guys is, yeah, okay, we're at the
1:08:22319.
1:08:23>> That was the site that I met him on.
1:08:25>> I got a map out my truck. Anything I can
1:08:26do to help? I went and got you guys a
1:08:28map so you guys could take pictures of
1:08:29it or whatever. You called me and asked
1:08:32if we'd go out to Serby Ranch together.
1:08:33I said, "Yes, sir." Yep.
1:08:34>> You know, I didn't hesitate and I drove
1:08:36straight from County Road 37 and 52
1:08:38where I received your phone call
1:08:40straight to Hudson and waited there for
1:08:41you until you guys arrived on location.
1:08:44>> Yeah.
1:08:44>> Cuz I mean, I wanted to help.
1:08:46>> Yeah. And
1:08:47>> you didn't know it was going to turn out
1:08:48this way.
1:08:48>> No. And I I appreciate it. We appreciate
1:08:50that.
1:08:50>> But, you know, and obviously you you
1:08:52thought something was up cuz you know,
1:08:54that wasn't adding up.
1:08:56>> Yeah. I mean, like I paid attention to a
1:08:59lot of things. I mean, I' I've got like
1:09:00ADD, you know, I notice stuff that's
1:09:03just different, you know, that a lot of
1:09:05people just kind of gloss over, but I've
1:09:07got so much that runs through my mind
1:09:09all the time. I don't remember
1:09:10everything. But then Chad and I started
1:09:12talking about the day that we were on
1:09:13that location. And that's whenever I
1:09:15remembered all that stuff. So, I was
1:09:17like, "Okay, I'm going to have a meeting
1:09:18with those gentlemen today. I'll tell
1:09:20them everything that I know just to see
1:09:22if I can help out in any way, shape, or
1:09:24form
1:09:25>> because I mean, I I can't believe what
1:09:27happened. That's absolutely terrible.
1:09:29And then [clears throat] to read on
1:09:31number seven or something like that, the
1:09:33tanks were involved with that too, you
1:09:36know, possibly. I don't know if that's
1:09:37the truth or not. And I don't know if
1:09:38you guys can't say that's part of the
1:09:40investigation, but I was standing right
1:09:43there by those tanks, you know, and if I
1:09:45was that close to that, that blows my
1:09:48mind. It [snorts] honestly does. I don't
1:09:51I don't even know how to process this,
1:09:53you know. I was starting to feel better
1:09:55a little bit talking to the counselor a
1:09:56little bit. I didn't talk to him
1:09:57oneonone. We talked to him in the group,
1:09:59you know, and my buddy Tony Brown, he
1:10:02was balling, you know. Chad McNeel was
1:10:03visibly upset. I've been crying most of
1:10:05the night once I found out the news. And
1:10:08I don't know. I mean, anything I can do
1:10:10to help you guys, I'm more than willing
1:10:12to.
1:10:12>> Yeah, we appreciate that.
1:10:14>> But I just don't know. This is
1:10:16absolutely horrible. I've never been a
1:10:18part of this in my life. I've never been
1:10:19in trouble in my life. You know, I don't
1:10:22have any experience with talking to
1:10:23officers or nothing.
1:10:24>> Yeah. Well, and understand we're not
1:10:26accusing you of it,
1:10:27>> right? Yeah. I mean, but I know it looks
1:10:29>> it's just one of those loose ends we
1:10:30need to tie up.
1:10:32>> It's just one of those loose ends we
1:10:33need to tie up. I can come back and I
1:10:35can say, "Yeah, he told us about, you
1:10:37know, X, Y, and Z, and this is why he
1:10:39was there."
1:10:39>> Yeah. I [snorts] mean, cuz I wanted to
1:10:41be honest with you guys.
1:10:42>> Yeah. And we appreciate that.
1:10:44>> Yeah.
1:10:45>> So, um, did did Anadargo bring in a
1:10:49counselor for you guys?
1:10:50>> They did. Uh, it was a gentleman. It was
1:10:52an older gentleman. I don't remember his
1:10:53name. And I've got the paperwork that he
1:10:54gave us for we have like a counseling
1:10:57hotline that we can call if we need any
1:10:59help. And I believe he was here
1:11:01yesterday as or sorry today is Friday,
1:11:03right?
1:11:03>> Yeah. Yeah.
1:11:04>> Okay. He's here today as well.
1:11:05>> Okay. cuz we had our meeting yesterday
1:11:07morning and he sat and talked to us for
1:11:08about an hour, you know, and then our
1:11:10boss came in and talked to us and he
1:11:12said, "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to,
1:11:14you know, be able to say anything to you
1:11:16guys or anything about what had happened
1:11:18because was it it was Wednesday night,
1:11:20right, that they came across the news
1:11:22that he had confessed. Is that correct?"
1:11:24>> Yeah. Yeah. Late late Wednesday night.
1:11:26>> Yeah. Late Wednesday night cuz I was
1:11:28sleep and then Tony Brown calls me and
1:11:30he's balling his eyes out.
1:11:31>> Yeah.
1:11:31>> And I said, "This can't be true." And
1:11:33then we pulled it up and we seen that it
1:11:35was true. And my wife cried unconsulted
1:11:37for an hour and a half. I was trying to
1:11:40calm her down. I mean, it's just been
1:11:42tough on everybody.
1:11:43>> Yeah.
1:11:44>> So,
1:11:44>> I can't imagine the way that those
1:11:46families feel cuz they've been
1:11:48absolutely ripped apart.
1:11:49>> Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
1:11:50>> You know, and then to find out that she
1:11:51was pregnant with a little boy.
1:11:53>> They invited me to their gender reveal
1:11:54party,
1:11:55>> you know, and then it got deleted. I
1:11:57didn't know who deleted it or nothing,
1:11:58but it just, you know, no gender
1:12:00[snorts] reveal party cuz I believe that
1:12:02was supposed to take place on the 16th.
1:12:04[clears throat]
1:12:05>> Speaking of that, you know who Nicole
1:12:07UTF you
1:12:11>> other than seeing her on the news, sir,
1:12:12for the interview that she
1:12:13>> Yeah,
1:12:14>> that's the only person. That's the only
1:12:15way you know who that is.
1:12:17>> Okay. Well, the other person that
1:12:18Nicholas that you guys have got going,
1:12:21>> Nicholas,
1:12:21>> well, yeah, not you guys, but interviews
1:12:23that you guys have seen on online, he's
1:12:26a bald gentleman. And in this interview
1:12:28on the news, he's sitting on a park
1:12:29bench with his wife right next to him.
1:12:31>> That was a gentleman I was telling you
1:12:33about that Chris run with all the time.
1:12:34>> Okay.
1:12:35>> He was running together trying to make
1:12:365K.
1:12:38>> You talk to him.
1:12:39>> Okay.
1:12:41[clears throat]
1:12:41>> But no, I didn't know any of the other
1:12:43Thrive group outside of any of that.
1:12:45>> Okay. Because the the fried party that
1:12:47we went to, we built a vision board,
1:12:48which I still have in my house and my
1:12:50wife still has hers because you're
1:12:52supposed to put your goals and put out
1:12:53pictures and all that. So, we done that
1:12:55with him. We ate supper with him. But
1:12:57like I said, that was, you know, like
1:12:59Februaryish or something, you know.
1:13:00>> Yeah.
1:13:01>> Cuz I just met Shenan for the first time
1:13:03at our Anodarco Christmas party.
1:13:05>> This most recent one.
1:13:06>> Yeah. The last year's Christmas party,
1:13:08you know. And I don't know what date
1:13:09that was or anything, sir. But, you
1:13:11know, cuz I I text Chris and everything
1:13:13cuz we've been working together, you
1:13:15know, long enough. And he wanted to set
1:13:17by my wife and I. So, we hollered at
1:13:19them. I got to meet Shannan, you know,
1:13:21and found out how bubbly her personality
1:13:22was and just how awesome she was, you
1:13:25know. And then I guess she had lupus and
1:13:26by taking Thrive, it was able to help
1:13:29her, you know. And so, my wife is
1:13:31suffering from acid reflux and
1:13:33everything and she said, "Well, that
1:13:34might help you." So, I got my wife on
1:13:36Thrive and she's been doing better ever
1:13:38since, you know, and I thank Shannan for
1:13:41that because Wolita had to take
1:13:42medications all the time. It just
1:13:43weren't helping her, you know. So,
1:13:48I just
1:13:49>> Yeah, it's a terrible circumstance no
1:13:51matter how you look at it.
1:13:52>> It is bad. I mean, the only other
1:13:54situation I've ever been close to that
1:13:56would even resemble this at all, which
1:13:57it doesn't, was be my dad's passing. And
1:14:00that's the closest I've been to anything
1:14:02like that. I've been pretty fortunate in
1:14:04my life not to have anybody I know ever
1:14:06have any serious trouble, you know, or
1:14:08nothing like that or anybody else that I
1:14:11know personally pass. You know, all my
1:14:13friends are still alive, you know, by
1:14:15the grace of God. Thank God for that.
1:14:17>> But to have something like this happen
1:14:19for the guy that I spoke with every
1:14:20freaking day for 2 and 1/2 years, you
1:14:23know, and then just to go like that and
1:14:25like I said on Friday when I met him, he
1:14:27seemed fine, man. He was laughing,
1:14:29smiling, you know. He went to the
1:14:31console and uh it might still be in the
1:14:34console of that vehicle that had gum,
1:14:36like little um bubble gum deal. It was
1:14:38white and uh it was like tangerine. And
1:14:41he gave it to each one of his girls and
1:14:43he asked me would I like a piece of gum.
1:14:44And I took a piece of gum from him, you
1:14:46know. It's
1:14:48not not off at all on Friday at all.
1:14:51Just normal crisp, [clears throat]
1:14:53>> you know. And I can't fathom what would
1:14:55have happened between that time frame
1:14:57for any of this to take place. I just
1:15:00can't.
1:15:02But
1:15:03>> I mean, anything you'll need for me.
1:15:05>> Yeah. We appreciate that.
1:15:06>> I'm more than willing to help cuz I
1:15:08don't I don't know what I can do at this
1:15:09point.
1:15:10>> Yeah.
1:15:10>> You know,
1:15:11>> well, obviously seek counseling cuz this
1:15:13has affected you. I mean, it's affected
1:15:14pretty much everybody involved, us
1:15:16included,
1:15:17>> just especially from being out at the
1:15:18site and the folks who um, you know,
1:15:20[snorts] gone through the recovery
1:15:21process. It's terrible circumstances.
1:15:24>> Once at this, you know, once that it was
1:15:26confirmed that something was out on the
1:15:28site, whenever I got drove home
1:15:30yesterday, cuz they wouldn't let me
1:15:32drive my truck cuz I was a freaking
1:15:33wreck. And uh the gentleman that drove
1:15:36me home, I asked him, I said, "Is there
1:15:38any way that I can never have to go out
1:15:39to that area again? I can't stand being
1:15:42on that location cuz I knew her. I knew
1:15:45those two little girls. They played
1:15:47[clears throat] with my girls. My girls
1:15:48loved them. I can't even watch the news
1:15:50because if my daughters CCC and Bella on
1:15:53there, I [snorts] don't want to have to
1:15:54tell them that they're in heaven now,
1:15:56you know? I have what else to do.
1:15:59>> Yeah.
1:16:00>> But I'm sorry I went out to location on
1:16:02Tuesday, but it just didn't sit right
1:16:04with me. It honestly
1:16:05>> apologize. All right. I think that
1:16:07that's a uh that's a very astute
1:16:09observation that you you picked up on
1:16:12something's wrong and and just that you
1:16:14put together [snorts] the totality of
1:16:16the circumstances and I think you went
1:16:17out there just to even ease your mind a
1:16:19little bit to say this this can't
1:16:21possibly be. So, when I talked to you
1:16:23guys on Wednesday, you know, before
1:16:25anything came out later on that evening,
1:16:27I told you I wanted to help you do
1:16:29whatever I could, you know, whether it
1:16:30was find the girls if Shannan just went
1:16:33away or whatever she did with a friend,
1:16:35you know, or clear his name cuz I
1:16:38honestly thought at that time he was
1:16:39innocent. But I wanted to know in my
1:16:42hearts if I seen anything odd out there
1:16:44that I could call an officer and have
1:16:46them investigate it.
1:16:47>> Yeah.
1:16:47>> You know, and that's why I was out
1:16:49there. [clears throat]
1:16:50>> No. And I think that that's a very
1:16:52reasonable explanation.
1:16:53>> Yeah,
1:16:54>> absolutely.
1:16:54>> This is kind of a for later down the
1:16:56road when u you know like maybe his
1:16:58defense council finds something like
1:17:00this,
1:17:01>> right?
1:17:01>> And then wants to make some story up. We
1:17:03have to be able to say, "No, that's
1:17:05stupid. This is what actually happened."
1:17:06[snorts]
1:17:07>> That's fine. I mean, whatever you guys
1:17:08need from me.
1:17:09>> Okay.
1:17:10>> Honestly,
1:17:12>> does the name Mark sound familiar? Did
1:17:13Chris ever talk about a Mark in
1:17:15California?
1:17:16>> No, he's never mentioned a Mark to me.
1:17:18>> Okay. any name that started with an M.
1:17:21Mark name may not be the right name.
1:17:23>> No. Um
1:17:23>> or anybody in California actually.
1:17:26>> He's [clears throat] real reserved in
1:17:27the fact that I mean he'll let you on a
1:17:29little bit of stuff. Like he told me his
1:17:31wife and him were having a little bit of
1:17:32issues,
1:17:33>> right?
1:17:33>> You know, but he didn't say nothing
1:17:35about they were, you know, going to get
1:17:36a divorce or anything like that. It was
1:17:38just issues. But no, when I talked to
1:17:41Chris, it was about fantasy football.
1:17:43You know, he's a big Steelers fan. And I
1:17:45used to be a Colts fan until Manning
1:17:46left because I followed Pton Manning
1:17:48around. So, I don't really watch
1:17:49football much anymore. And I had
1:17:51[clears throat] the 5.0 Mustang I told
1:17:52you about. Well, he used to have a
1:17:54Mustang whenever he lived in North
1:17:56Carolina. And when he moved out here
1:17:57with Shenan, they sold it.
1:17:59>> But he had it all souped up and
1:18:00everything. And since he was a Ford
1:18:01mechanic, I talked to him about issues
1:18:03or questions that I had
1:18:04>> with my Mustang. And then my wife has a
1:18:07um she had a Ford Flex, one of the
1:18:10ugliest vehicles in the road. [laughter]
1:18:12Having issues with that cuz I bought it
1:18:14outright
1:18:14>> and that was my fault. I bought it from
1:18:16like one of those buy here, pay here
1:18:18places, but I pay cash for it
1:18:19[clears throat] and it was terrible.
1:18:20>> Yeah.
1:18:21>> Had a hole in the gas tank. I drive it
1:18:22for two weeks and the transmission goes
1:18:24out. So that was like five grand.
1:18:26>> Yeah. Right.
1:18:26>> So no, I'd ask him questions about all
1:18:28that kind of stuff all the time. So all
1:18:30of our conversations were mostly upbeat,
1:18:32you know, talking about sports, you
1:18:35know, stuff like that. And since I, you
1:18:38know, could sense just from, you know,
1:18:39him telling me that they were having
1:18:40issues, I never asked. That's not my
1:18:43business, you know, that's not my place.
1:18:45what goes on behind their closed doors,
1:18:47that's their business, you know, cuz my
1:18:50wife and I almost went through a divorce
1:18:51two years ago and I was the same way,
1:18:53you know, so I understood.
1:18:55>> Yeah.
1:18:57>> Have you talked to Luke days?
1:19:00>> Yes.
1:19:00>> How's he doing?
1:19:02>> Pretty rough.
1:19:03>> Yeah. He was pretty twisted up.
1:19:05>> Yeah. I spoke to him today
1:19:06[clears throat] and just because I
1:19:08wanted to touch base with my supervisors
1:19:10and tell him that I was coming in today
1:19:12and he said, "Okay, buddy. you know, if
1:19:13you need anything. He asked me, did he
1:19:15need to drive up? Cuz he was at the
1:19:16office today. He brought his personal
1:19:18Suburban down because the gentleman that
1:19:19weren't able to drive home. Um, Victor
1:19:22Zala and Daniel Bar and I believe
1:19:26Melissa
1:19:27Melissa didn't catch a ride with a
1:19:29gentleman yesterday, but Victor Zala and
1:19:31Daniel Bar did. So Luke lives out in
1:19:34Wiggins. So he picked those guys up and
1:19:36brought them in in their in his
1:19:37suburban. And he asked me, "Did I need a
1:19:39ride down here, you know, to have an
1:19:41interview with you guys?" and I said,
1:19:42"No, it's okay." I said, "We
1:19:44[clears throat and cough] get to drive
1:19:45me down. That way, I can go ahead and
1:19:46pick up my work truck, you know, and
1:19:48drive it back home." So,
1:19:50>> okay.
1:19:51>> But yeah, he's he's pretty shaken. Yeah.
1:19:53You know, and Chad McNeel, he's pretty
1:19:55shaken as well. And then Tony Brown, he
1:19:57was just all sorts of tore up.
1:20:00>> I've never seen that man cry in my life.
1:20:02And he was
1:20:03>> just sobbing the whole entire time we
1:20:05were at the office. and we were talking,
1:20:07you know, about how [snorts] to, you
1:20:09know, try to let things go and
1:20:10everything, you know, and move on to the
1:20:12future. This guy drew out like a little
1:20:14diagram [snorts] on the board. I mean,
1:20:16he was just almost unconsolable,
1:20:18you know, and it's just tough because
1:20:22I'm looked to as leadership in the
1:20:24group, you [clears throat] know, we're
1:20:25right below Luke, you know, for answers
1:20:27and everything. All those guys talk to
1:20:29me all the time, you know, and that's
1:20:31why I feel like they're all brothers,
1:20:34you know. I do anything for them. And
1:20:35and you know, even Melissa's a sister,
1:20:38you know, even though she's new to the
1:20:40group, she's excellent. You know, she
1:20:41used to be an EMT and everything, so
1:20:43it's pretty cool having her part of the
1:20:45group.
1:20:46>> Yeah.
1:20:46>> But all right.
1:20:49>> Well, thanks for coming down and talking
1:20:50to us again.
1:20:51>> Oh, you're welcome, sir.
1:20:53>> Yeah. If you think of anything, I gave
1:20:55you my card last time, didn't I?
1:20:56>> Yes, sir. You did. I believe I still
1:20:57have both your cards. Verify that
1:20:59though.
1:20:59>> Yep. If you think of anything, you know,
1:21:01give me a call or send me an email.
1:21:03>> Okay.
1:21:04>> Appreciate that.
1:21:05>> Um, Philip Jones.
1:21:06>> Yep.
1:21:06>> And Greg.
1:21:07>> Mhm. Is that fair?
1:21:08>> Okay. I don't want to mess that up. I
1:21:10turn around.
1:21:12>> Yeah.
1:21:13>> Sometimes I have a cold lot worse. So,
1:21:15>> yeah. But make sure you talk this whole
1:21:17situation through with people just for
1:21:19your own mental health cuz this is a
1:21:20terrible situation no matter how you
1:21:22slice it. So, everybody's been affected
1:21:25by it that was close to him, family,
1:21:27co-workers,
1:21:28>> neighbors, pretty much everybody, the
1:21:30whole community.
1:21:30>> I wish that I knew, but like I seen on
1:21:32Facebook, they're they're raising a
1:21:34GoFundMe page.
1:21:35>> Okay.
1:21:35>> To be able to, I think, get Shannan and
1:21:38the girls back out to North Carolina
1:21:40>> so they can be, you know, laid to rest
1:21:42properly.
1:21:42>> Oh, [snorts] yeah.
1:21:43>> And I called Luke and ask him if
1:21:46Anodarco would be willing to donate. and
1:21:48he went to some of the higherups, you
1:21:50know, and all I got to do is take a
1:21:52picture of that link and be able to send
1:21:54it to him. I think they're going to
1:21:55[clears throat] try to donate to be able
1:21:57to help out the
1:21:57>> That's good to get them back home.
1:21:59>> That's good.
1:21:59>> All of us were blindsided by this
1:22:02terrible.
1:22:02>> Yeah.
1:22:04>> So, well, even from our point of view,
1:22:07Anadarco has been very nice to us. Yes.
1:22:09>> So,
1:22:11>> they they've really gone above and
1:22:12beyond and I think you're you're blessed
1:22:14to work for the company that you work
1:22:15for because they really have stepped up.
1:22:17>> Yeah. I've been with him for 11 years
1:22:19and
1:22:20>> you know it just seems like we had a bad
1:22:22stretch of luck last year at Firestone.
1:22:25>> It was a horrible horrible incident.
1:22:26>> Yeah. And then now you know it's

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