00:00:02
to accept this call say or dial five now it's a strange thing to spend so much time thinking and talking about a
00:00:13
person that you've never actually had a proper conversation with good afternoon Miss laor then it finally happens where
00:00:22
do you even start I feel like law enforcement and and the da I feel like they did
00:00:30
everything they could to try to make it you know a daylight episode you know and
00:00:36
I guess they had to settle for your podcast but before we get into that there's some important context into why
00:00:41
I believe Queen finally agreed to speak with me you might remember Court was postponed for a day during his trial as
00:00:48
sergeant Garrett a crime scene unit and over a dozen other members of law enforcement took Queen out to the desert
00:00:55
where he claimed he and Bailey buried the rest of Micah's body here's Pro utor Smith asking Sergeant Garrett about it
00:01:02
on the witness stand now what if anything did you locate at any of these locations at the very first location
00:01:10
there was a piece of bone particularly a vertebrae that was uh located just sitting on top of the ground exposed to
00:01:18
the elements that was located and seized during his closing arguments prosecutor Smith brought up the search
00:01:26
Once More he was given the chance in a murder trial to go find what he says is out there and you know what it's not out
00:01:35
there it's not out there and you know what nothing there's a vertebra that's sitting on the top of the ground they
00:01:42
don't know if it's animal or human out in the middle of nowhere well he said he buried stuff so that doesn't make
00:01:48
sense nothing supports what he has to say so it appeared the search didn't turn up anything relevant to the case
00:01:59
but one year later Cheryl got yet another dreaded call from the coroner's office they had an additional piece of
00:02:07
her son it was the partial vertebrae found lying out in the vast openness that day in the desert which meant Queen
00:02:15
had been telling the truth at least part of [Music] it I'm Olivia lvo and this is the
00:02:25
Bakersfield 3 [Music] [Music] the confirmation that part of Micah had been buried in the desert didn't do
00:02:55
anything for Queen's case in terms of proving how Micah died or the C circumstances around it but it was still
00:03:02
something and maybe it was the validation that no longer someone could say queen led the police fully on a wild
00:03:09
goose chase or maybe it had just been enough time either way Queen was finally ready to talk you don't know you don't
00:03:18
know who I am you don't know who Bailey is you didn't know who Michael was so H how are all these people that have these
00:03:25
comments and and I don't mean to bash all of your listeners cuz I mean you have a lot of people who are into this
00:03:30
they're True Crime fans they like to they like to follow these things and and play little investigators at home that's
00:03:37
just you don't have the facts and it's it's one of the reasons why I'm doing this is because I think you know I mean
00:03:44
they tried to make me out to be a straighten Monster by they Queen is referring to Sergeant Garrett and
00:03:50
prosecutor Eric Smith he then brought up what he said on the witness stand about
00:03:54
Micah allegedly pulling a gun on him and Bailey I ask all your listeners I asked
00:04:00
him what would you have me do you know let him shoot me let him shoot Bailey let a bullet go through the wall
00:04:06
and hit my four-year-old son I did what I had thought I had to do to keep my family safe and myself safe did Bailey
00:04:14
take you a little too far yeah do I think in a million years he thought that he would die from that from a dumbbell
00:04:20
no of course not who would I wouldn't here Queen is referring to his claims that Bailey allegedly dropped a dumbbell
00:04:29
on Micah's head pet killing him instantly Queen maintains he is only guilty of dismembering Micah's body
00:04:35
after the fact and then what happened to mward no excuse it's it's horrible it's
00:04:42
a horrible horrible thing you know we made a bad situation way worse that's on me and it's on Bailey our time
00:04:52
discussing Micah's case was as Queen put it rehashing what was already said in court the story you've already heard so
00:05:00
much of our conversation turned to what he wasn't asked about during the trial what happened to Bailey it's simple
00:05:08
Bailey left she didn't want to did she tell you she was leaving yes I'm not going to get into who she left with I
00:05:18
don't know who they are and I'm going to leave it at that I'm not going to go into any of my suspicions I'm not going
00:05:23
to go into anything that Bailey told me about them Queen only used the term them
00:05:29
on our calls but reading between the lines I assume he's referring to what he said to numerous people myself included
00:05:37
about Bailey claiming she had ties to the cartel like I said I'm not going to go
00:05:43
into it there's there's a lot more to it that I I can't say I just can't she told
00:05:49
you she was leaving yes what did she say I'm not going to go into it I can't I mean you know why she left no listen she
00:06:00
killed Mah I'm not do we do I have to go over this look it's frowned upon in here
00:06:05
to be talking on about another person case later on I rephrased the question I mean how did she oppose it to you I'm
00:06:12
I'm going to go into hiding because I don't want to get caught the only words from her was I [ __ ] up Queen didn't
00:06:20
want to elaborate on that but he brought up another topic let's discuss the last
00:06:26
thing I ever heard about Bailey queen went on to share that sometime after Bailey went missing he sent an email to
00:06:33
someone from the Kern County Sheriff's Department the agency originally investigating bayley's case before
00:06:39
Sergeant Garrett from the Bakersfield Police Department took it over and I give him the information that I had that
00:06:45
was brought to me by this girl says that she saw Bailey at a at a hotel where the
00:06:51
entire hotel is a bunch of girls that are forced into prostitution they're not allowed to leave their rooms I give all
00:06:58
this information no response he doesn't even respond to that and then a year later I'm in jail and I see on the news
00:07:05
that this very Hotel gets raided queen says the hotel he told the sheriff investigators about is the same hotel
00:07:14
that was later raided by the FBI and Bakersville Police during a sex trafficking investigation that resulted
00:07:20
in multiple arrests what if your think happened to her what I really want to know is
00:07:26
whether or not she was really there did they go to that hotel did they look so does but does this mean that you think
00:07:32
that she is alive I have no reason to think otherwise I then brought up the odd timing of Queen's preliminary
00:07:40
hearing for the gun charges and Bailey going missing the next day that's a completely coincidence what's not a
00:07:47
coincidence is the same day my preliminary hearing was when Matt vantile was arrested that's not a
00:07:53
coincidence can you elaborate on that do I have to I mean he used his garage she
00:08:01
was probably worried he was going to flip the insinuation was Bailey left then because she was worried she was
00:08:08
about to get caught on the topic of Matt Vanda Castile I brought up a piece of information he had told Sergeant Garrett
00:08:15
about the night Queen and Bailey showed up to his garage remember Vanda Castile says he believes Micah was tortured and
00:08:23
murdered then queen says Micah was already dead and they just used the space to dismember him
00:08:30
either way Vandy casel's claims are dark he said that you did have a Polaroid camera that night at his house and you
00:08:39
and Bailey were using it in the garage uh not not true that never happened I never had a Polaroid in the
00:08:47
garage so the the Polaroid that you put on James windshield I'm assuming that was you who put that Polaroid on James
00:08:54
windshield the photo of you in Bailey and it said love you Mom I I'm I'm not going to comment that's
00:09:01
between me and Jane was that photo taken the night Micah was killed no we moved on to what I consider a
00:09:11
significant yet perplexing piece of evidence in Micah's murder the matching rope found on the bag with Micah's arm
00:09:19
Queen's headboard and Bailey's purse you're saying she put that on her purse what do you mean I don't know what you
00:09:27
you're talking about it's all the same rope right that was on her purse that was used to tie up the bag with mic's
00:09:35
arm I believe it was on your headboard as well it's irrelevant I think I I mean to me I think that's pretty significant
00:09:44
listen I'm not listen the Rope is literally has it's nothing there's nothing to that rope aside and I'm not
00:09:51
going to bring up Bailey and all sex life on this podcast I think a lot I think you're looking into a lot of stuff
00:09:57
that is not at all relevant I think your imagination is running away with you I had to disagree
00:10:05
with him it's significant frankly whether you tied it on her purse or she did it herself either way it's you know
00:10:11
it's very bizarre behavior right I don't know I really couldn't tell you she could have tied it on the back to hang
00:10:20
it somewhere I I have no I really I cannot answer the question honestly if that rope like if I even remembered that
00:10:29
there was rope with the arm I mean I never would have kept it in my home I mean I had the roll in my house you you
00:10:36
get what I'm saying like it it has zero significance we eventually moved on to another topic there is a recorded call
00:10:45
between you and Sarah where you say something along the lines of you know Bailey had to go missing for you and I
00:10:52
to be together yeah sound good I know I know you know what and because I read it
00:10:58
and when I read it because it was in a police report that I had and I read it and I was like that's crazy you want you
00:11:04
want to know what that is it's me and Sarah on a spiritual level we believe that everything happens for a reason if
00:11:10
Bailey didn't leave I probably never would have gotten with Sarah and if I never got with Sarah I would never have
00:11:16
my son that's another situation where I think a lot like you probably look at that and you go oh my God and the cop
00:11:24
ibly look at that and they go oh my God let me save you time that that has nothing to do with nothing there's
00:11:31
nothing there other than me just thinking in the mindset you have to take the good with the bad that God has a
00:11:37
plan for for us and if you're not religious if you're not a Christian and you're not a parent you probably don't
00:11:43
understand anything that I'm talking about right now Queen's words and actions being
00:11:49
misunderstood and misconstrued came up a few different times here's a point in one of our conversations where he said
00:11:55
bayley's Mom Jane had an issue with him from day one she never wanted me to be with Bailey
00:12:01
because I'm twice Bailey's age but like I said to you know she was it strange I mean is it strange was it strange for
00:12:11
you for you being with someone so much younger especially you know with your your kids and and your stranged wife in
00:12:17
the house it was it was different I'm not going to use the word strange you know and let me be clear that I never
00:12:24
pursue I didn't pursue Bailey in the beginning she pursued me and the same goes for Sarah I'm not some old guy
00:12:31
going around trying to creep on young women you know what I mean I'm just you could see though how it would come off
00:12:36
like that especially because Sarah and Bailey I mean they they look similar listen listen I get it I understand it
00:12:45
if I was a parent I would probably be the same way but over the over over the several months that that faile matter
00:12:53
were together her mom should have noticed that Bailey was happy I don't mean to be rude but I I feel like we're
00:12:59
just I feel like we're going on and on like about gossip I think we're I think there's you and I want two different
00:13:06
things out of this podcast out of out of this interview what queen said he wanted out
00:13:12
of this interview was the opportunity to share information he wants people to know about his case here are excerpts
00:13:19
from our conversation on some of those topics I wanted to come on this podcast to show the problems that are in the
00:13:26
justice system that that I didn't get a fair trial and that that the result the ending result the
00:13:31
truth should have come out a lot sooner than it did it didn't have to take that long well you could have said what
00:13:39
happened way sooner but you you didn't much of Queen's answer as to why he didn't share his story boils down to
00:13:47
Queen's claim that he was only offered a plea deal if he would tell prosecutors what happened to Bailey the DA's
00:13:57
position on this was always B never M Eric Smith even came out to the jail and sat down and I thought this was
00:14:04
the opportunity I thought things were going to happen right he said I'm here to let you know that I'm the da I'm the
00:14:10
prosecutor on your case and I'm going to bring these bodies home and I'm going to
00:14:13
convict you of murder that's what he came out to say and he goes oh and if you want to if you want to talk to your
00:14:19
lawyer and this and that and you know work something out but that was always fail queen says if investigators would
00:14:28
have offered him a deal that just involved telling them what happened to Micah he would have talked a lot sooner
00:14:34
but he claims the only deal ever offered required information about Bailey that he says he doesn't have even even after
00:14:42
the verdict they were I was offered like hey we can still offer you a deal if you
00:14:46
just tell us where Bailey is I can't that's something I can't give you I don't know where she is so because I
00:14:52
didn't have that chip I couldn't play queen says questions about Bailey's whereabouts have have plagued him since
00:15:00
the first time police showed up at his door they never mentioned Micah you know what I mean they always mentioned Bailey
00:15:06
oh we're looking for Bailey we're looking for Bailey well as you can imagine you know at that time I wasn't
00:15:11
willing to just come and tell them oh I know why she left you get what I'm saying but law enforcements like to get
00:15:18
a theory and they go with their Theory and they have tunnel vision the entire time trying to prove their Theory do you
00:15:24
agree that your behavior after she went missing was odd um Define odd I mean yeah sure when
00:15:32
they're coming to me and then and they want to know where she is and I can't really you know one I don't know where
00:15:37
she is and two which I was clear with them I don't know where she is I don't know who I don't know who it is that she
00:15:43
left with so that much is absolutely 100% true I just can't tell you why I think you know what I mean why she
00:15:51
left queen says he wasn't willing then to explain to investigators that Bailey left because according to him she killed
00:15:59
Micah I then brought up a different theory of her disappearance a lot of people said
00:16:06
Bailey had a huge mouth so many people believe that you were afraid that she was going to talk about what happened to
00:16:15
Micah so that you got rid of her in order to keep that from coming out okay let me be clear that is not that did not
00:16:25
happen and it doesn't and and let me also be clear why would I worry about her when she's
00:16:31
the one that dropped the dumbbell on his head think she's GNA understand she has
00:16:36
more culpability in this than I do would you say you understand why people would
00:16:42
suspect you uh I suppose but it's that's not what happened I I mean I don't know
00:16:49
what else to say if they knew I think if they knew me and they knew Bailey and they KN if they knew our relationship at
00:16:55
the time then I don't then they wouldn't think that jumping back to Queen's comment earlier
00:17:02
that he thinks Bailey is alive you don't think that she was murdered I have no I L I have no reason
00:17:10
to think that and you did not kill her no by that point I had already asked Queen if he killed Bailey and I'd
00:17:20
learned quickly that he gets frustrated feeling that people don't believe him but he says soon that's going to
00:17:27
change I can literally tell you right now that there is proof out there that I told the truth there's proof out there I
00:17:36
promise you that that proof will be brought to light I I promise you that what do you mean by that let me have you
00:17:43
ever heard the expression like if these walls could talk or there if there was only a fly on the wall well the Wall's
00:17:49
going to talk the wall is going to talk if I'm not going to spend the rest of my life
00:17:54
in prison for something just because Eric Smith convinced a jury that I was a liar Queen wouldn't go into more detail
00:18:05
on the evidence he says will come to light because he's in the process of trying to get his murder conviction
00:18:11
overturned as of this writing his first appeal is still pending in messages from Queen after our
00:18:19
phone calls it became apparent that he doubted I would ever report anything that would be in his favor I assured him
00:18:26
that if I was able to prove something he told told me and or if I came across any
00:18:31
information on my own that more or less looked good for him of course I'd report
00:18:35
it and recently I thought I'd found just that you might remember Queen admitted to investigators that he accessed
00:18:44
Bailey's social media accounts after she went missing hoping to find Clues this is problematic if you're looking for
00:18:50
evidence that biley is still alive because activity on her social media doesn't mean much if you think it was
00:18:56
just Queen behind the keyboard The Limited records I have show the dates and the type of device used to
00:19:03
access her Facebook and Snapchat Bailey's last phone was an iPhone 5 but after she went missing her accounts were
00:19:11
accessed numerous times from a Samsung Galaxy 8 plus which happens to be the same type of phone Queen owned at the
00:19:19
time but as I reviewed the dates of her Facebook account activity I noticed there were two days back to back in late
00:19:26
May 2018 one one month after her disappearance that someone else other than Queen logged onto her account see
00:19:35
on those two days in question Queen was in jail after being arrested for having a gun on him when dropping off bayley's
00:19:42
belongings the story told back in episode 1 upon discovering this I thought this could be big this could
00:19:49
mean Bailey was alive or at least she was then or there was someone else going on her Facebook perhaps another suspect
00:19:57
who's been overlooked but as I kept digging the narrative changed on May 28th and May 29th the two
00:20:07
days Bailey's Facebook was active while Queen was behind bars her account was once again accessed from a Samsung
00:20:14
Galaxy 8+ odd I thought it's the same type of phone Queen owned but it couldn't have
00:20:21
been him and wouldn't his phone have been in police custody along with his wallet and whatever else was in his
00:20:27
possession when he was arrested did well as it turns out it wasn't Queen Samsung
00:20:32
Galaxy was still at his house which could explain this comment he made to his then wife when he called her from
00:20:39
jail why I let you the phone too the Snapchat is still on that phone bear with me it gets a little complicated
00:20:47
here a few days after that call late in the evening on May 29th 2018 investigators showed up to Queen's
00:20:55
home with a search warrant and seized a Samsung Galaxy 8 plus while he was still
00:21:00
in jail Bailey's Facebook was accessed at some point on this state on the same type of phone when I brought this up to
00:21:09
Queen he said maybe the cops went on Bailey's Facebook from his phone after They seized it that night records I have
00:21:16
don't specify the exact time her page was accessed so I can't say one way or another for sure but regardless that
00:21:24
wouldn't explain Bailey's Facebook activity on the same type of phone he own owned the day before his phone was
00:21:31
seized and then I found this it turns out according to the limited police reports I have Sarah's Facebook page was
00:21:39
also accessed on May 29th 2018 also on the same type of device there's a lot we don't know
00:21:50
especially since Sarah has never been willing to speak with me and when I recently tried to ask her about this
00:21:56
situation in particular she promptly blocked me but using the information I have a possible explanation is this even
00:22:05
though Queen and Sarah weren't openly dating then we know she was at his house when he was arrested it's possible she
00:22:12
stayed at his house after that and at some point used his smartphone to go on her Facebook and when she opened the app
00:22:19
Bailey's account was already logged in it doesn't necessarily mean anything nefarious with that said after going
00:22:27
down this rabbit hole it doesn't appear this information about Bailey's Facebook account ultimately
00:22:33
does anything to help prove Queen's story that she left his home alive and well and skipped
00:22:39
town however there is one date listed about a month and a half after Bailey's disappearance where her Facebook was
00:22:47
accessed on a type of phone that to my knowledge Queen did not own an iPhone 7 in The Limited reports I have there is
00:22:56
no mention of anyone involved in the case using this model phone so that still a
00:23:05
mystery then there's the issue of the SIM card a second perhaps even more convoluted Rabbit Hole I'm taking you
00:23:12
down with me remember how I just said that Queen Samsung Galaxy was left at his house when he was arrested for the
00:23:20
incident in episode 1 that's because that phone wasn't in his pocket when officers put cuffs on him a different
00:23:27
phone was and as you might recall hearing earlier the SIM card inside was linked to
00:23:33
Bailey's phone number Bailey's physical phone was never found but if her SIM card was found in
00:23:41
Queen's possession I don't know how you explain that but Queen did have an explanation when I asked him about this
00:23:48
he told me the SIM card investigators found was not Bailey's actual SIM card but rather a replacement one he says he
00:23:56
ordered shortly after she went missing he said he thought this might help him find her the phone that she had that she
00:24:03
left with was an iPhone but it was my it was my account her last words to me was that
00:24:12
she was getting rid of the phone so once I started looking for her that's when I
00:24:17
had a replacement phone sent in me since Bailey's iPhone and number were under Queen's account it's plausible he would
00:24:26
be able to order a replacement SIM card for her phone number Queen told me he assumes this is something law
00:24:33
enforcement would have verified with Verizon when I asked Sergeant Garrett about this he couldn't
00:24:39
comment if police do have proof Queen had Bailey's actual SIM card like he even said himself I mean that would be
00:24:48
prettyful it would certainly look suspicious so it seems it would be pretty beneficial for Queen to prove
00:24:55
that that SIM card was not taken out of bile phone but upon thinking about it more I realized that if Queen ordered a
00:25:03
replacement SIM card for her number after her disappearance Verizon would have presumably shut off her service
00:25:11
since there can't be two active SIM cards under the same phone number we could all speculate and
00:25:17
question why would he cut off her service if he was worried about her and trying to find her but maybe giving
00:25:23
Queen the benefit of the doubt he didn't realize that would happen who can really
00:25:27
say regardless of his intention though this would mean early on in Bailey's disappearance her phone would no longer
00:25:35
be capable of connecting to cell phone towers which provides the most accurate data in tracking a phone which of course
00:25:42
is crucial info in a missing person's case records show that one week after Bailey went missing her phone had
00:25:49
activity for the last time when it briefly connected to a cell phone tower so why does this matter well let's
00:25:57
say Queen's account is true Bailey ran away and after that he ordered a replacement SIM card in a way
00:26:04
he hurt himself if Bailey's service wasn't shut off it's possible her phone would have collected cell phone tower
00:26:11
data that could have helped prove his story all the different scenarios in my mind further muddy the waters and
00:26:20
contribute to a maddening standstill in the investigation into her disappearance
00:26:25
here's Sergeant Garrett and I is there any evidence that Bailey is alive and you I have this conversation
00:26:34
with Jane her mother often and you we you are consistent that there's not definitive evidence one way or the other
00:26:41
whether she's alive or deceased can't prove one way or the other at this point that's why there's still an act of
00:26:47
warrant for arrest for her participation in the death of Micah there have been no credible
00:26:54
sightings correct no Financial transactions that could be tied to her no phone records that could be tied to
00:27:04
her not to not that we're aware of but you know if you were involved in something nefarious like this and wanted
00:27:11
to drop off the face of the Earth it happens people do it happens and then they get found years
00:27:18
later people fake their death and get found you know 17 years later I mean do you think that's a real
00:27:25
possibility here only time will tell and the evidence in the case though at this point nothing in
00:27:32
this case should surprise me it's hard to imagine Bailey would be capable of living off the grid for all these years
00:27:40
with so many people looking for her and while Sergeant Garrett has to consider every possibility from my observations I
00:27:48
believe law enforcement leans heavily towards the theory that Bailey was the victim of Foul Play which of course is
00:27:55
what her mother Jane has thought from day one and like always Jane isn't going to sit back and wait for someone else to
00:28:02
bring her answers you hold your baby when you give birth to them and when they go away you
00:28:08
want to hold them to say goodbye I got to find her to hold her one last time even if it is just her
00:28:17
bones Jane has dealt with things that are hard to imagine she's had people call and tell her they're holding Bailey
00:28:24
captive and she'll be sold as a sex slave if Jane doesn't pay a ransom these calls are always determined to
00:28:30
just be heartless scams she's dealt with people having remorse for Bailey one day and the next
00:28:37
calling her a killer she's been told Bailey was dissolved in a barrel of acid that she's being held somewhere chained
00:28:43
in a dark basement she's hurt at all and no matter how painful the search for Bailey can be Jane tells herself she
00:28:52
can't give up she has to keep going just one more day I pray every time I hang every flyer
00:28:59
up one more day to find Bailey one more day not to go crazy Shane continues to do regular
00:29:07
searches for Bailey's body on her own she often speaks with psychics who give her different locations and she goes out
00:29:14
with a shovel and will dig for hours Jane also plans to keep pushing police to make arrests in Bailey's sexual
00:29:20
assault case where Jane says there is evidence of several different rapists she says she's also fighting
00:29:28
waiting for the murder charge against Bailey to be dropped and for a murder charge to be filed against someone else
00:29:36
for what she believes happened to her daughter after Queen's sentencing Jane and I sat and talked for a while it was
00:29:44
an emotional yet odd day for Jane she's glad he'll be behind bars for a long time but there's still so much
00:29:52
unresolved her emotions are complicated and she often keeps them guarded here's parts of the conversation we had a few
00:30:00
hours after Queen was sentenced he's not going to get to see his little baby with
00:30:06
Sarah grow up or hold that baby again and pretty soon he'll forget what that baby smells like just like I forgot
00:30:14
Bailey's smell I don't have anything it's not that I forgot it it's I don't have anything that smells like her
00:30:22
anymore because the smell is gone I had a blanket that I used to hug and smell am I happy that he doesn't get to do
00:30:32
that I wouldn't call it happy I would say it's a kind of a Justice where he doesn't get to see his kids grow up he
00:30:38
doesn't get to be a part of their life that that's been taken away from him just like he took Bailey from me
00:30:46
again Queen has not been charged with any crime pertaining to harming Bailey but law enforcement is aware there are
00:30:53
allegations of domestic violence in their relationship I know know my daughter wanted help and she had no chance of
00:31:01
getting away from that Queen because I've heard she wanted too and he would beat her up and he said Bailey was just
00:31:11
clumsy you know that's why she had bruises cuz I would see bruises on her when she was over there and she'd come
00:31:17
out for just a second I say Bailey how did you get those bruises on your legs she'd make up some excuse one time
00:31:27
she said from sex and I go sex isn't supposed to hurt like that that's not sex Jane has made it clear she does not
00:31:36
believe her daughter would have willingly participated in killing Micah or anyone but at the same time she knows
00:31:43
that in the months before her disappearance Bailey wasn't the same person she fell apart she was broken I
00:31:52
know that's no excuse for her behavior but she had no coping skills with what everything that had happened
00:32:00
to her she was only 20 she didn't know how to na navigate life I just wish Bailey was here to tell
00:32:09
her side to defend herself she would want to be here then Jane shared something with me unlike
00:32:18
anything she had before my therapist said if I could have Bailey back today would I want her
00:32:25
knowing she would be in the same situation and not able to get help and I said no it took me a minute to understand
00:32:34
that Jane was saying she would not choose to have Bailey back if it meant she'd be in the same situation as Jane
00:32:42
believes her daughter was suffering immensely before her disappearance I read this thing in this
00:32:49
book for grieving parents and one of the passages was this lady had lost uh her kid to suicide know why would they do
00:32:58
this why would they do this and then after years she said it came to her God came to her and spoke and
00:33:05
said they needed it a different place to grow and so I hold on to that I think the only way Bailey could
00:33:14
be saved was that he allowed her to be murdered so she could leave Earth and be happy and have
00:33:26
it I found it's not uncommon for some people to end up having a stronger sense of Faith after going through something
00:33:34
so tragic including people like Jane who will tell you she doesn't consider herself that religious but for Jane and
00:33:42
others trying to believe there is a reason this horrific thing has happened to their loved one is the only way they
00:33:49
can go on but even so as Jane said these things I found it difficult to understand because I know Jane would do
00:33:57
any anything truly anything to get her daughter back even for just one minute but as I continued to listen to her
00:34:05
speak I had a Moment of clarity of course I didn't understand Jam's grief I'm not supposed to no one
00:34:14
is I'm sorry I don't think I've ever expressed that before no we can be done that was that was a lot well you know
00:34:24
people think I'm crazy for talking like that grief the grief process and it's really hard and I think a lot of moms
00:34:33
and people go crazy because you have to feel all the ugly and imagine it and I know I know
00:34:45
somebody killed my daughter and they won't tell me where she's at I mean how do you move on from that
00:34:53
so I have to hold on to every little bit of Hope and trust that that's why she was taken
00:35:07
away because she wouldn't have gotten better here so God took her up to heaven working with the mothers of the
00:35:15
Bakersfield 3 has shown me that grief is a web of emotions that can defy logic it
00:35:22
can be as unique to a person as their fingerprint the intricacies and depths of someone's s
00:35:28
tells a story only they can truly understand and as time continues to pass the moms tell me their season of grief
00:35:37
evolves with it they say after the first year it should get better does not get better do actually this last year the
00:35:44
fourth year has been worse it's been worse for me too it's been worse than the first year absolutely maybe I was
00:35:51
more in shock we didn't have time to stop and grieve early on it wasn't always easy to see because Dy
00:36:02
was so often focused on being there for Cheryl and Jane helping them navigate Bailey being charged with Micah's murder
00:36:09
the trial and everything in between but I knew Dy was struggling as I wrote this
00:36:15
podcast I often thought about something that retired homicide detective Bill Derby said I think D is a trooper for
00:36:24
all the attention being on Mike and Bailey and she knows and she stays strong I'm the first to acknowledge that
00:36:32
after it became more apparent that James's case wasn't directly tied to Bailey and Micah's it got less attention
00:36:39
from the media and the public I felt guilt about this the day Matt Queen was convicted of Micah's murder I was
00:36:47
standing outside with Dy when she started to cry and said will James's case ever be solved almost immediately
00:36:55
she composed herself this is Micah's day she said but I knew that emotion that fear was real as Dy has often said we
00:37:05
only have so many you know homicide detectives and they work on the newest case and so it just you know goes down
00:37:13
down down in the pile once Micah's trial was over D said she couldn't let James's
00:37:19
case keep sinking lower in a pile of lonely files she was going to double down on pushing for information and
00:37:26
leads but then she started to not feel well a few weeks later she was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer that had
00:37:35
spread all over her body Jane and Cheryl immediately stepped in Jane is taken to
00:37:41
Bringing Dy to all her appointments Dy says she needs them as she fights for her life and the chance to be here when
00:37:48
James's case is finally solved after a particularly long and difficult doctor's appointment D sent
00:37:55
them a message saying we fight like a mother in so many ways and it continues on if we can help just one other family
00:38:04
besides ourselves it's worth it and the moms have continued doing just that working with victim's families to help
00:38:12
them navigate the criminal justice system they've gotten policies changed in karna county and since learning the
00:38:19
local chapter of secret witness was essentially broke the moms have raised well over
00:38:25
$100,000 for the program there's now finally funding for law enforcement to offer rewards for information on
00:38:32
Unsolved cases and when it comes to Sergeant Garrett even though he's no longer a
00:38:39
detective after his promotion he insisted on keeping Bailey and james' cases and says in his spare time he
00:38:47
still works on their investigations are you confident about James's case yeah are you confident
00:38:55
about Bailey's case yeah yeah I always have hope recently Sergeant Garrett visited D
00:39:03
at home to tell her he's beginning to dedicate one day a week to James's case which just so happens to be his day
00:39:14
off there's something the three moms said to me once about their relationship that stuck with me it was before Micah's
00:39:22
murder trial before D's cancer yet it rings true now more than ever it stemmed from Jane comparing their Fight For
00:39:31
answers to a NeverEnding wave I mean you just kind of ride together through the waves and it's it's
00:39:38
really a very unique relationship I think that we have I'm still waiting for that wave to crash and be over with
00:39:46
we've been riding it like you know keep your head above don't sink together the three of them continue
00:39:54
to ride the waves no matter how treacherous water gets together they keep their heads above
00:40:02
[Music] water the Bakersfield 3 is a case File presents production written and reported
00:40:15
by me Olivia Lavo audio editing by Anthony teler sound production and music by Mike migus special thanks to the
00:40:24
mothers of the Bakersfield 3 for allowing me to tell their story and thank you for listening
00:40:29
[Music]