Cold Blooded: Receipts

This is Deborah Roberts here with another weekly episode of our latest series from 2020 and ABC Audio, Cold-Blooded Mystery in Alaska.

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When Eric Garcia was a boy growing up in Puerto Rico, his dad introduced him to coin collecting.

In the 50-odd years that followed, Eric Garcia collected a lot of coins.

Big,

small, new, old.

And the one constant through it all was that connection to his dad.

Once Eric grew up, became Dr.

Garcia, and took jobs far away from his native Puerto Rico, he'd place long-distance calls and wind the evening away, telling his dad about his latest coins.

Once he had a bit more coin of his own, Dr.

Garcia's collections expanded.

In a makeshift storage space under a staircase inside his home in Ketchikin, Alaska, Dr.

Garcia filled shelf after shelf.

There were watches that retailed for several thousands of dollars.

Bottles of high-end liquors, several hundreds of them, including scotches aged for 20 years, 30 years, or more.

And of course, a lifetime's worth of rare and commemorative coins.

Police estimated the value of Dr.

Garcia's valuables could total as much as half a million dollars.

But now, the valuables were gone, and Dr.

Eric Garcia was dead.

Police had discovered his body on a couch near his second-story deck.

A toxicology report came back positive for a morphine overdose.

The tox report also found dangerously elevated levels of carbon monoxide in his system.

Those high levels of carbon monoxide tracked with what police discovered around doctor Garcia's body.

A barbecue grill in a nearby doorway, a partially burned charcoal briquette, and a charcoal stain on doctor Garcia's white T-shirt.

On top of that, every smoke detector in the house was missing.

They were later discovered at the bottom of a nearby ravine.

To police, it looked like someone was trying to hide evidence.

And of course, Dr.

Garcia's collection of luxury items had vanished.

Officer Devin Miller.

Knowing that the missing valuables were gone, it really changes things immensely.

It was a major theft.

And so, Ketchikin police faced two mysteries, a suspicious death and a major theft.

In the next two episodes, this one and the next, we're going to focus on the theft investigation because it was in the whirlwind process of searching for Dr.

Garcia's valuables that police uncovered what happened to the man.

From ABC Audio in 2020, I'm Chris Connolly, and this is Cold Blooded, Mystery in Alaska.

Episode 3

Receipts

What began as a simple welfare check had now grown into a sprawling, two-part whodunit.

A theft of this size, coupled with a mysterious death, would be a head scratcher in any municipality.

For police in Ketchikan, population 8,000, it was an investigation that would challenge the department in ways it had rarely been challenged before.

Dr.

Garcia!

Officer Miller!

Police Department!

Officer Devin Miller was on on the scene the day Dr.

Garcia's body was found.

Miller knew Dr.

Garcia.

He had been his patient.

Now that Dr.

Garcia was dead and his worldly possessions were missing, Miller was tasked with figuring out where it all went.

Anyone who knew him and knew about those valuables was under suspicion.

Working alongside Miller was Sergeant Eric Mattson.

He had been called in a day after the body was found to scrutinize the scene and look for clues.

One of the most striking clues police found was the missing smoke detectors.

And that's not all they noticed.

The house was not broken into.

There was no forced entry.

So the items were removed unsuspectingly.

I would say by somebody that had a direct relation with Dr.

Garcia.

So, with an eye toward anyone who might know Dr.

Garcia personally, police began to dig into every aspect of the doctor's life.

During the course of this investigation that involved the theft, we don't look at just the physical property there, but there's also

other financial assets, bank accounts.

When police examined Dr.

Garcia's accounts, they noticed a transfer made six days before the doctor's body was found.

$900

was sent to someone named Logan Cruz.

Police recognized that name, Logan.

Nobody's heard from him yet.

Remember the calls from out of state requesting a welfare check on Dr.

Garcia?

What's your name, my name?

My name's Logan.

Well, my real name is Jordan Joplin, but everybody calls me Logan.

Sorry.

Logan, aka Jordan Joplin, was one of Dr.

Garcia's friends.

For the sake of clarity, we're going to stick with his legal name, Jordan.

Jordan was there outside Dr.

Garcia's house when police found the body.

He had driven up to the scene in Dr.

Garcia's red pickup and he had the keys to his house.

To police, Dr.

Garcia's relationship with Jordan was a mystery.

Dr.

Garcia's loved ones didn't know what to make of it either.

Bob Jackson, Dr.

Garcia's realtor-turned friend we met last episode.

He had met Jordan Joplin once before, in passing.

This was a few months before Dr.

Garcia died.

And it all started when Dr.

Garcia's passion for amassing luxury goods got him in trouble at work.

Dr.

Garcia was cut off by the hospital for getting packages.

They wouldn't allow personal packages to be delivered to the hospital anymore.

He was kind of miffed about that.

And I said, don't worry about it.

Have them shipped to my office.

I'm happy to do it.

He came in the office.

He was his jovial self.

He had ordered a several thousand dollar coffee machine and I was giving him a bad time about how much money he spent on it.

It was like $3,000.

It was foolish.

This was typical for Bob and Dr.

Garcia.

Dr.

Garcia would splurge on something.

Bob would roll his eyes and chide him for it.

Dr.

Garcia would remain undeterred.

This was their usual dynamic.

He was in a great mood, and all of a sudden, this gentleman got out of his truck.

It was parked right in front of my window.

And he got out and walked in.

And the fellow that came in, his physique was very well built, and he had a shirt that looked like it was painted on.

And Dr.

Garcia looked like he'd just seen, you know, something crazy.

His face changed.

He was ready to go, and he didn't want his friend talking.

But his friend did talk.

He He said his name was Jordan.

His friend ended up very chatty and honestly kind of likable.

Told the whole office where he was from.

And anyhow, it was, I didn't know what to think.

I was just surprised.

And what was more surprising than meeting Jordan was Dr.

Garcia's face.

And his face was like, oh no, he did not want that man coming in and visiting with us.

And he did.

But Dr.

Garcia was done.

He was done talking at that point.

All he wanted to do was leave.

And they did leave.

And of course, after they left, we all at the office sat around going, who the hell was he?

I had quite a few different notions in regards to Jordan.

A few of them were just a little unsavory.

Dawn Hink was Dr.

Garcia's friend and colleague at the hospital.

When she wasn't helping patients, Dawn sometimes handled tedious tasks the busy surgeon did not want to deal with.

One task in particular was taking up more and more of her time in the years after Dr.

Garcia befriended Jordan.

Dawn says she got call after call from credit card companies, flagging suspicious activity on Dr.

Garcia's accounts.

It sure seemed like anytime Eric was anywhere near this character, something hokey would be going on with his finances, and it just didn't sit right.

Dawn had met Jordan in person only once.

Dr.

Garcia's truck battery had died, and Dawn drove out to jump it.

When she got there, Dr.

Garcia was with Jordan.

Standing side by side, the two men made an odd pair.

One, a buttoned-up surgeon in his 50s.

The other, a chiseled 31-year-old in tight-fitting attire.

Dawn didn't want to pry, but she says the frequency of the calls from credit card companies worried her.

I would get to a point where I would get frustrated enough to begin to voice it, and Dr.

Garcia would shoot me down just about every way possible.

And to me, that was him saying he wasn't ready to discuss it with me, so I just left it at that.

On the evening of March 26, 2017, the night before police searched Dr.

Garcia's house, Dawn got a phone call from Jordan Joplin.

By the time of that call, Dawn, along with Dr.

Garcia's other loved ones, had not heard from the doctor in several days.

They didn't know where he was or what, if anything, had happened to him.

They were starting to panic.

Jordan, too, sounded panicky.

As soon as I answer the phone and he just starts, we don't know where Eric is and what's happened to him.

And do you think something horrible is going on?

And do you think he would hurt himself?

And I definitely felt like we got to work together to figure out what's going on.

For more than a week, Jordan had been calling Ketchikan police, asking for welfare checks.

And he seemed frustrated.

that police were not doing more.

He told Don he was flying into Ketchikan with his girlfriend the next day and asked for a ride into town.

The next morning, I picked him up from the airport.

You could pick him out of a lineup of anybody, even after just meeting him once.

He surely didn't fit in Ketchikan.

He had on glamorous jeans and jewelry and a muscle t-shirt, and it's March and freezing cold with three feet of snow.

Don, Jordan, and his girlfriend took the ferry from the airport to downtown Ketchikan.

When they reached land, Jordan said Dr.

Garcia's truck was parked nearby and that he and his girlfriend would drive it up to the house.

I followed them up the hill, and as soon as I saw the police cars, I knew it was going to be an interesting day.

I see two vehicles drive up the driveway.

On the morning of March 27, 2017, Officer Devin Miller was standing outside Dr.

Garcia's house.

One was Don Hink, and in the second one, it was a red truck, a Red Ford truck, which I knew Dr.

Garcia drove a Red Ford truck.

Officer Miller had gotten a call earlier that morning from Jordan Joplin.

Jordan had told Miller that he had landed in Ketchikan and that he and Don Hink were coming to do a welfare check at Dr.

Garcia's house.

Miller wasn't sure what to make of Jordan.

Jordan Joplin, it was unusual that he was driving the doctor's vehicle, but I think Mr.

Joplin was given quite a bit of credibility since Don Hink also was with him.

Jordan also seemed genuinely affected by the news Dr.

Garcia had died.

After police told him, Jordan said he had chest pain.

No, I know what I mean.

Okay.

If you need to go to the hospital, we can get you to the hospital.

Jordan recovered from the initial shock.

After that, officers interviewed him.

Sergeant Bob Cheatham led Jordan into the front entryway of the house.

Their conversation was recorded on the sergeant's body camera.

So we just came in and closed the door to get some privacy.

We do have a few questions for you.

Okay.

So

how often do you come up to Kitch Camp?

I've been up here quite a few times.

Okay, for work or just for visiting?

Visiting.

Okay.

How did you guys meet?

I'm just curious.

I know you're a massage therapist.

Through that?

That was the very first time, yeah.

Okay.

Jordan said he had been working as a massage therapist.

He would say later that he had given Dr.

Garcia a massage and that the two stayed in touch afterward.

So how did Dr.

Garcia and Jordan go from a massur-client relationship to Jordan having the keys to Dr.

Garcia's house and car.

The answer to that question would have to come another day.

Because over the course of this interview, Jordan kept saying things that made Ketchikan police suspicious.

Here's Officer Devin Miller.

Jordan was starting to act in an unusual way.

When was the last time you were physically in Ketchikin?

Not that long ago.

Jordan's answers were vague.

He said he'd been in Ketchikan roughly two weeks earlier, visiting Dr.

Garcia.

He remembered going to Walmart together.

But besides that, Jordan was hazy on exact dates.

He was hazy on other things, too.

You said you have power of attorney?

I have a paper that he gave me that says power of attorney, but the attorney is a topic.

Okay.

Can I ask you a question?

Can you explain to me what a power of attorney is exactly?

Because I have no idea.

Jordan informed Sergeant Cheatham that he had a power of attorney, but he couldn't explain what a power of attorney was, and he didn't have it with him.

Where is it at?

It's my house.

Down in Washington?

Yeah.

Okay, and you talked to Dawn last night?

Yeah, I was actually talking to her about me when I got to orders.

When Jordan had called Dawn Hink the night before, he mentioned this legal document that Dr.

Garcia had supposedly given him.

Officer Devin Miller again.

Don Hink

knew about this Jordan saying that he had a power attorney and specifically told him to bring it to town when he came, and he didn't bring it.

In the body camera footage of this interview with police, Jordan seems distracted.

You could see that he was paying more attention to his phone than he actually was the interview itself.

Do you know of any

high-valued items in the house?

No.

In the interview footage, Jordan is swiping away at his smartphone, leading the sergeant to repeat questions.

You're not aware of any high-valued items in the house.

Yeah, actually.

Okay.

I'm asking you about it because

you need to be truthful with us.

When I ask you, is there any high-valued items, you first said no, and now you're saying yes.

So what high-valued items do you know about?

All that stuff that's in there.

I don't know what that is.

You need to explain to me.

Vases that are from overseas that he's collected.

Okay.

Anything else?

He knew about some vases that were purchased out of country

and that was about all he knew.

He said he didn't know what kind of valuables were in the house.

Remember, Dr.

Eric Garcia was known to give gifts, valuable gifts, to both friends and near-perfect strangers.

He would give rare coins, expensive bottles of liquor, and more.

On top of that, Dr.

Garcia was often eager to discuss his flashy watch or designer cologne.

That a close friend who had keys to both Dr.

Garcia's house and car would only know about some vases?

Police found that suspicious.

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On March 28th, The day after Dr.

Eric Garcia's body was found, police got a warrant and searched his truck, the Red Ford pickup that Jordan Joplin had been driving.

In the glove compartment sat a bombshell.

Again, Sergeant Eric Mattson.

We found a shipping receipt from Alaska Marine Lines.

It's a local barge company that transports goods all through Alaska along the coast down to the state of Washington.

The receipt was for a transaction involving three shipping containers.

A portion of that receipt showed how much weight was in the three containers.

The container weight was total about 4,400 pounds.

4,400 pounds, two tons of cargo.

The destination for all this cargo was also listed.

The receipt was in the name of Jordan Joplin, listing the doctor's address as a shipper address to

Jordan Joplin in Maple Valley, Washington.

Remember, Jordan had told police he didn't know about Dr.

Garcia's valuables beyond a few vases.

But now, police had a strong hunch as to where those valuables were and where they were headed.

Around the same time police found the shipping bill, they uncovered another receipt, this one to the local Walmart.

That Walmart had come up before.

We do have a few questions for you.

Okay.

Jordan Joplin had mentioned Walmart when he talked to police on the day Dr.

Garcia's body was found.

When asked about the last time he was in catch again,

Jordan said he and Dr.

Garcia went to Walmart together.

I think it was because he 16 is when I used this truck.

Okay, because you'd have to return the truck to him, but he was with me.

Okay, he went to Walmart.

Police reviewed Walmart's surveillance footage from the day in question.

A camera overlooking the parking lot captured a Red Ford pickup driving up and parking.

I viewed the truck coming into the parking lot, park.

Only one individual got out of that truck, which was Jordan Joplin.

Cameras inside the store showed Jordan filling a shopping cart with heavy plastic bins, the kind you might use for storage or moving.

Footage shows Jordan gathering up so many bins that he eventually filled his cart.

He had an employee from Walmart help him with another cart because he had that many bins.

The footage shows Jordan exiting the store, pushing a cart stacked with bins, and an employee trailing after him with another.

So once all those items were loaded back into the truck, Mr.

Joplin got back into the truck and departed the parking lot.

He was the only person that I saw exit and enter that truck.

I did not see Dr.

Garcia on the Walmart footage from that day.

Police realized that Jordan had lied about his trip to Walmart.

He went there alone, not with Dr.

Garcia.

Police went back to the local shipping company and reviewed their security footage.

While we were watching that, we saw a red Ford pickup and a male wearing a red sweatshirt that was unloading cargo and

on the property around those three cubes.

Those three cubes meaning the three shipping containers listed on the receipt inside the pickup.

The shipping company had a manager on site and he told police he remembered the guy who'd been there on the day in question.

When we were talking to the manager, he had stated that he had talked to that person or that male that was by the three containers.

We were able to get a photo and the manager positively identified the male that we saw on the red sweatshirt that day as Jordan Joplin.

Jordan Joplin had told police he didn't know about Dr.

Eric Garcia's vast collection of valuables.

And yet, here he was, on camera, loading 4,000 pounds of something into containers.

Just days before police discovered the valuables were missing.

Police had also caught Jordan in a lie about his trip to Walmart.

He said he went with Dr.

Garcia, but the surveillance footage showed that he was alone.

So what was Jordan Joplin hiding?

For police, the next steps were clear.

Search those three shipping containers and interview Jordan Joplin again.

But there was a problem.

We learned that the containers had already left Ketchikan.

Next time on Cold Blooded Mystery in Alaska, the hunt for Dr.

Eric Garcia's valuables takes Ketchikan Police to the lower 48.

Cold-Blooded Mystery in Alaska is a production of ABC Audio and 2020.

Hosted by me, Chris Connolly.

Produced by Camille Peterson, Shane McKeon, and Kiara Powell.

Edited by Gianna Palmer.

Our supervising producer is Susie Liu.

Music and Mixing by Evan Viola.

Special thanks to Liz Alessi, Katie Dendas, Janice Johnston, Joseph Reed, Gary Wynn, Xander Samaris, Chris Donovan, Michelle Margulis, Tom Berman, Sandy Evans, and Pat Lalam.

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