The Truth According To Jon

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Speaker 2 Up and Vanished in the Midnight Sun is intended for mature audiences and may include topics that can be upsetting, such as emotional, physical, and sexual violence, rape, and murder.

Speaker 2 The names of survivors have been changed for anonymity purposes. Testimony shared by guests of the show is their own and does not reflect the views of Tenderfoot TV or Odyssey.

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Speaker 3 Recently, I've spent hours on the phone with John Girton. And what you're about to hear is what he says is the truth.
The man at the center of Florence Akpialik's disappearance. No more waiting.

Speaker 3 You're going to get to hear him right now. Unfiltered, his own words.
This isn't an interview. It's a real phone call.
A long, winding conversation between me and John.

Speaker 3 And what he tells me, it's strange. It's messy.
And it might change everything.

Speaker 3 This is the truth, according to John.

Speaker 1 I I didn't have a lot of choice because I had nowhere to go when things started going downhill here.

Speaker 1 Because

Speaker 1 prior to just coming here,

Speaker 1 Christmas two years ago, I mean, literally four months before coming here,

Speaker 1 my mother passed away Christmas Eve, and then two weeks later, my brother passed from a fentanyl overdose.

Speaker 1 And then I lost my father three weeks later to a stroke. So I really didn't have anywhere to go.

Speaker 1 And so when I came up here and I lost my job with the state,

Speaker 1 which was

Speaker 1 a result

Speaker 1 of the rumors going around,

Speaker 1 there were gentlemen on the boats that were going around

Speaker 1 calling me serial killer. And I yelled at them and I was removed of duty for violating a bulletin policy because I yelled at them.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 now, are you the same guy I met?

Speaker 3 Yes.

Speaker 3 I'm the guy you met in the bar, remember?

Speaker 1 Yes, yes, yes. And, you know, a lot of that, I think I didn't explain correctly.
Like, the part about

Speaker 1 the diver and the barrel,

Speaker 1 I never confirmed that. That was just something somebody had told me.

Speaker 3 What do you mean? Which part?

Speaker 1 The part

Speaker 1 where the girl accused the rescue diver and said that there was a barrel under the house that is working. That was just something somebody told me.
I never verified any of that. And so

Speaker 1 I was just relaying what I was told.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 I tell anybody that'll listen to me my story. And like, you know, it was pretty easy to get me to talk about it because I want everybody to know.

Speaker 1 You know, and the FBI, they were there for three and a half weeks and did a full investigation. And they even

Speaker 1 cleared me and, you know, cleared with, and they said no foul play, even.

Speaker 1 So I don't know. I kind of stay out of it, you know.
And

Speaker 1 it got pretty bad around here. I got hit by a car.

Speaker 1 I've been threatened multiple times. I've been assaulted.
And

Speaker 1 it got pretty bad. And the police here, I remember

Speaker 1 from

Speaker 1 fake profiles on Facebook.

Speaker 1 So what are people saying?

Speaker 1 They've actually changed it now.

Speaker 1 Apparently, I got robbed by a girl out from McDonald's and she assaulted me and I pressed charges. And so she had her friend go online and now there's two women out of

Speaker 1 supposedly,

Speaker 1 yeah,

Speaker 1 and they just made it up.

Speaker 1 And the police here conducted an investigation because they were receiving complaints because somebody posted the podcast on Ketchikan Community Cycle, which is a community Facebook thing.

Speaker 1 And the only reason I even found out about it was because fellow employees on the ferry, my chief steward called me and personal friends of mine too at work.

Speaker 1 They said, hey, dude. And I listened to about 10, 15 minutes of it, and I kind of started to cry.
I couldn't listen to it anymore. And now, apparently, I'm a child molester, too, and a rapist.

Speaker 1 I molest children now, too.

Speaker 1 And then, at one point, because Tetchikan has completely taken this and just

Speaker 1 they actually forged Tetchikan murder warrant documents and registered sex offender paperwork and sent it to my wife in the Philippines.

Speaker 1 I had to take her into the DA's office and tell her that it's all fake and that I am not wanted for any crimes. Wait, so who forged these documents?

Speaker 3 Because that's a crime in itself, isn't it?

Speaker 1 Yes, but Catchy Can doesn't have the means to find out because they used a fake profile. And I went in with the fake, and you can tell it's fake because when you open up the profile,

Speaker 1 there's no dates.

Speaker 1 The profiles only existed for a month. And there's no photo, you know, it's obvious.
And

Speaker 1 see, they never came to me when they received the complaints because people were calling them and complaining to them that I'm here, and they want to know what they're doing about it.

Speaker 1 So, when I went in with the actual, I've been literally received death threats.

Speaker 1 And they said, well, we conducted our own investigation a couple of weeks ago, and law enforcement doesn't even know who you are up there

Speaker 1 or anything about the case because

Speaker 1 the FBI, okay,

Speaker 1 no PD was, they even tried to talk to them. They refused to talk to me, right?

Speaker 1 They impounded a car that I'd rented from my friend,

Speaker 1 and I throw them out to go fishing.

Speaker 1 But

Speaker 1 any one of my friends, they were going in their homes and serving search warrants. I tried to talk to them, you know, which had help.

Speaker 1 So finally, the FBI came in.

Speaker 1 with a group of about five investigators out of Anchorage.

Speaker 1 And they they were there approximately, I believe, about three weeks. I fully cooperated.
They're the only ones that ever interviewed me or come talk to me. You know, and I told them everything I did.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 the only thing

Speaker 1 they kept asking me about a black truck because

Speaker 1 I don't know if you know the location, the beach where I was at is about a quarter mile away from the paved road.

Speaker 1 And up on that paved road, it's the port, and there's a camera that overlooks the port. Yeah.
Okay.

Speaker 1 they said that they had a picture of a black truck with a female profile getting into it about the time

Speaker 1 when I said you know she left okay

Speaker 1 and that's all I know because they just were asking me do you know anybody in a black truck no now

Speaker 1 About a year earlier, somebody loaned me a blue pickup that said Tanya on the back with two and a half foot letters. So I mean highly identifiable.
And

Speaker 1 that was a cab company I was working at and I got a four-wheeler and that's what I used for transportation, a four-wheeler with no exhaust and you could literally hear me come in and the FBI actually had me start it up for them.

Speaker 1 And they had to cover their ears. And they brought in cadaver dogs and everything and I gave them permission to go into my tent.
I had a huge cabin tent because people were allowed to just show up. I

Speaker 1 befriended quite a few female friends. I used to teach women

Speaker 1 self-defense and empowerment horses, right? And teach them they don't have to be a victim. The fact is, me being forced to stay there and not be able to

Speaker 1 run away,

Speaker 1 I have to

Speaker 1 every

Speaker 1 friend that I talk to when I first meet them I explain to them my situation and I want them to be fully informed that before you know you want to hang out with me

Speaker 1 that there is going to be a rumor and people are going to come up to you and say why are you hanging out with him do you know this this and this so so what do you tell what do you tell them that that situation is

Speaker 1 I tell them everything.

Speaker 3 Like,

Speaker 3 can you tell me what... I'm just curious.

Speaker 1 I said, I was in Northern Alaska. I gave a girl a ride and a safe place to stay.
And in the morning, I heard her leave. I tell them about her boyfriend showing up.
I can tell him everything.

Speaker 1 Her boyfriend. And I tell him.

Speaker 1 Yeah, her boyfriend showed up the next day. That's the person I gave the shoes and the phone to.

Speaker 1 He worked with me. I don't know.
I can't remember because I

Speaker 1 tried blogging, but he worked at the cab company. He knew me.
And her sister was with him. And she's like, he did something.
He goes, no, I know John. John didn't do nothing.

Speaker 3 So Florence was in your tent. That's okay.

Speaker 1 Florence was in your tent.

Speaker 1 But let me finish.

Speaker 3 But the next morning, Florence is missing, but you have her things.

Speaker 3 Why is that? Why is that?

Speaker 1 Because, okay.

Speaker 1 Because her boyfriend told me he had took her to the hospital, admitted her for treatment. They put her on the drugs that don't let you allow to drink.
Well, she went out and went drinking.

Speaker 1 That night, she became extremely unstable psychologically,

Speaker 1 was talking about hurting herself. There was about three camps right there where I was, and she wanted cigarettes so bad, she went next door.
Now, there was a guy from Spain or something like that.

Speaker 1 He'd been there every year or two.

Speaker 1 He knocked his tent down, got upset because he didn't smoke. I don't smoke.

Speaker 1 She couldn't find a cigarette, and I finally got her to calm down.

Speaker 3 How'd you get her to calm down?

Speaker 1 I was just talking to her and tell her it's going to be okay. Right.
You know,

Speaker 1 I said, you know,

Speaker 1 because she was talking about not wanting to live and everything like that.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 I did not.

Speaker 1 It was stressful for me watching her go through this.

Speaker 1 You know,

Speaker 1 because,

Speaker 1 and I, my tent was huge.

Speaker 1 It was 18 by 24. So, and I had a cot in one corner.
I had a wood stove in there to cook on, and I had a solar panel and a 12-volt refrigerator. So, I had a little thing.

Speaker 1 And I would set up pallets, you know, not pallet pallets, but that's what we call it. Sleeping setups.

Speaker 3 Yeah, just a little places to sleep.

Speaker 1 And I've had two or three because friends were always welcome to stop by.

Speaker 1 As a matter of fact, that night, I was expecting two friends to stop by, a boyfriend, a girlfriend, very close friends, because they like to come out and hang out. We'd have a bonfire and, you know.

Speaker 1 So everybody was always welcome, you know, and just be respectful.

Speaker 3 Who are these friends that you're talking about?

Speaker 1 She moved back to the island. The island that's right out from the ocean, Sabunga, I believe, from

Speaker 3 I mean the guy.

Speaker 1 Oh,

Speaker 1 well, it was I was mainly friends with her,

Speaker 1 but it was her boyfriend, and they kind of broke up right after that. So I'm trying to remember.

Speaker 1 They were in my old Facebook account, and when I broke my phone last month, I lost the Facebook account and had to start a new one. Can't really remember his name.

Speaker 3 Okay, so let's just go back to the basics here. Yeah, so Florence was in your tent, and then

Speaker 3 when is the last time that you saw her?

Speaker 1 Okay, I saw her when she went to sleep. Okay.
Okay. Now,

Speaker 1 daylight,

Speaker 1 you can tell in the tent it's daylight and

Speaker 1 I'm laying there half awake, half asleep, and I hear her get up.

Speaker 1 I hear her unzip the tent because it's

Speaker 1 an eight-foot-tall zipper. She unzips it and zips it down, And I figured she just went outside for a walk or to go take a pee somewhere.

Speaker 1 You know, because that's whoa, what the girls do out there is they go behind the hill.

Speaker 1 So and about

Speaker 3 what time was that at? About just guessing.

Speaker 1 Okay, I actually looked at my phone to see what time it was. That was 7.30.
I get up around 8.15, 8.20, and I'm looking around and she's not there. So I go outside and

Speaker 1 I walk and I look up and I look down the beach

Speaker 1 because

Speaker 1 it's about a quarter of a mile walk to the road and it is a direct sight line and you could if somebody is walking I at least see their silhouette and I don't see her anywhere so I'm like huh that's weird but it's not that weird out there because people that have been drinking and everything sometimes they just

Speaker 1 leave.

Speaker 3 Leave where, though?

Speaker 3 Why could you not see that?

Speaker 1 Oh, no,

Speaker 1 it's a 15-20-minute walk to the road, and from the road, it's another 10-minute walk to downtown.

Speaker 3 Back to when you're in the tent and she's asleep. Did you actually see her with your own eyes leave?

Speaker 1 No,

Speaker 1 I heard her use the zipper. How do you know?

Speaker 3 Because it was like, How do you know it was her?

Speaker 1 Because she was the only one there with me.

Speaker 3 But you looked at your phone why didn't you why didn't you look up to see her

Speaker 1 because when i looked at my phone

Speaker 1 she'd already zipped it down and was outside and i just looked at it and i go man it's still early i'm gonna delay here a while right because i wasn't facing the doorway i was facing the wall because i sleep on my side i

Speaker 1 I was too lazy to roll.

Speaker 1 Look, because

Speaker 1 I knew who it was.

Speaker 3 Okay, so either way, you realize at some point, it looks like Florence left and she zipped the tent back up, right?

Speaker 3 Yeah. Did she leave anything behind or what?

Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 Later on that day, I didn't even realize it then, but I'm

Speaker 1 folding the bedding over that I made for her and

Speaker 1 underneath it was her phone and her

Speaker 1 shoes. I'm like, oh, well, she'll be back for these as soon as she realizes it.

Speaker 3 So when did you realize that? Like, not in the morning?

Speaker 1 But, no, I didn't find them right away.

Speaker 3 So when did you find them that next day?

Speaker 1 Well, okay, it was later on

Speaker 1 that afternoon. I wasn't curious to see, like,

Speaker 3 what she left behind if she just...

Speaker 1 dipped out on you? No, because I didn't know she'd left anything behind. Right.
You know, because to me,

Speaker 1 I put my shoes on and I put my phone in my pocket and then I leave.

Speaker 3 But

Speaker 3 why didn't she do that? That's so weird.

Speaker 1 But because she was under the drugs the hospital gave her that you're not supposed to drink on. So clearly, I don't think psychologically.

Speaker 1 And see,

Speaker 1 I... I kind of have my own theory that a lot of people aren't talking about.
But seriously. But

Speaker 1 I really don't want to think this happened, but up there, especially in Alaska with the addiction issues, there is a possibility and

Speaker 1 I, you know, possible.

Speaker 1 The night earlier, she was talking about

Speaker 1 wanting to live. And I am afraid that is a possibility.
What do you mean?

Speaker 1 I think she walked out in the ocean.

Speaker 3 So if you walked out in the ocean, because I've been out there on West beach

Speaker 3 you're not just

Speaker 1 i don't you know i i mean i'm afraid that it is but i don't i pray it's not but then the other alternatives is something else and what's what's the other what's the other alternative well

Speaker 1 somebody got her

Speaker 1 and who

Speaker 1 okay there's two options and who could who could that have been

Speaker 1 I don't know.

Speaker 1 And like I said.

Speaker 3 Well, it had to be someone close to your tent on the beach, so give me your best guess or, you know,

Speaker 1 help me. The guy next to me, he goes to church, and he's a nice guy.
You go to church, too.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 And then the other,

Speaker 1 there was a pallet house built right next to his tent. It was a pallet, and it was a guy and a woman, you know.
And I did not know them very well.

Speaker 1 But I talked to the

Speaker 1 Latino guy a lot, you know, because he was gold mining and stuff too.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 we got along and you know we were kind of doing the same thing you know and I I

Speaker 1 don't want to think that because

Speaker 3 you know well right now we have to think everything because yeah the bottom line is only two options you know

Speaker 1 correct that or the other you know and and

Speaker 1 Because they kept asking me about a black truck, but it wasn't conclusive because

Speaker 1 as much as they could tell me it was a female figure, there was nothing that they could tell me that it was even her.

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Speaker 3 That night,

Speaker 3 obviously, you said that she was drinking. What kind of drugs and drinks did you guys take that night?

Speaker 1 I took no drugs and I took no drinking. Oh, wait.
No, I was smoking some dabs.

Speaker 1 Marijuana. That was my thing.
Now, occasionally, and after that,

Speaker 1 I

Speaker 1 relapsed a little bit on the methamphetamines because of depression.

Speaker 3 Around what time period?

Speaker 1 About three to four weeks after the flu incident, because of my depression.

Speaker 3 Why were you so depressed?

Speaker 1 Because

Speaker 1 people were saying

Speaker 1 that I did something

Speaker 1 and I didn't.

Speaker 3 Why do you think they were saying that?

Speaker 1 Because

Speaker 1 technically, I was the last person anyone knows that saw her.

Speaker 3 Well, then, who do you think saw her after you?

Speaker 1 I have no idea.

Speaker 3 Don't you think that if you could figure that part out, then you'll be cleared forever?

Speaker 1 But here, here's the thing: you want to hear something really weird? And this is what I thought about later after Danny's girl called me in Oregon.

Speaker 1 What is it?

Speaker 1 Paul was coming out and visiting me.

Speaker 1 Because

Speaker 1 I went in in town once, twice, and purchased some methamphetamines from him.

Speaker 1 And then he was making trips out there to check on me. And he would bring me out and he was asking me questions.
And he would give me a little bit. And I would talk to him because I was depressed.

Speaker 1 And then

Speaker 1 I'm like, I barely know this guy.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 I didn't socialize with him. I've only met him and purchased from him twice.

Speaker 1 And why is he coming out to visit me? I thought he was just trying to be a friend. Well, then Danny girl tells me this stuff and I'm like,

Speaker 1 because he was asking me questions.

Speaker 1 He got me high. Like what kind of questions? Like what?

Speaker 1 What do you remember about that now?

Speaker 1 And anything else? Is anybody saying anything?

Speaker 1 you know why would he ask what he asked

Speaker 1 I don't know but then

Speaker 1 after I make it to Oregon Danny girl tells me

Speaker 1 that

Speaker 1 he was best friends with the diver guy she had the theory about

Speaker 1 and she the reason she came up with the barrel theory is because she was working on the diver guy's house being construction underneath the restacking the piers because that's what she did was concession work.

Speaker 1 And she showed up one day,

Speaker 1 and the way she explained it was right after Flo's disappearance, and he would no longer allow her under the house to do any work and stop the job completely.

Speaker 1 And she goes, I think that you know, he did something and put her, and she's buried under the house. Well, that was a good idea.

Speaker 3 We've clearly, like, we've heard that, I mean, almost too many times. And you've even said you think it's a rumor.
And

Speaker 3 secondly, I don't care about the drugs, man.

Speaker 1 I don't give a shit. No, no, no, no.
I'm honest.

Speaker 3 But I do have a question for you.

Speaker 3 I found the picture from the FBI of the truck that you're talking about, and

Speaker 3 I texted it to you. Can you look at it and tell me if you recognize it?

Speaker 1 Wow. This is interesting.

Speaker 1 I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
I'm not meaning to get excited. It's just, you know, there's been so long and

Speaker 1 okay,

Speaker 1 pain image. Cool, cool, cool.
No, no, um, because I am just as

Speaker 1 much as I really, really, really

Speaker 1 wish it wasn't an outcome like that, um, but still, I want to know.

Speaker 1 Okay, okay, okay. I don't know, but like I said, it has a weird rack on the back, you know, because I never saw the picture.
They never showed me a picture. It's a flat.
Maybe they did that. Yeah.

Speaker 1 And like I said, I described this and somebody told me it was a...

Speaker 3 You described it to who?

Speaker 1 Well, two or three of my friends in town to see if they knew who he was. Because if I could find out some information, I could give it to the FBI because the FBI asked me.

Speaker 3 Have you seen this picture before yet or no?

Speaker 1 It is a possibility that the FBA showed me because it is looking familiar now, the picture.

Speaker 1 not the truck but the picture you know and it would make sense that the FBI would have this and show it to me so probably yes they showed me

Speaker 1 because I was

Speaker 1 at that point I wanted to cooperate because

Speaker 1 one

Speaker 1 I wanted to clear my name and two

Speaker 1 I really

Speaker 1 I really

Speaker 1 wanted everybody to know the truth.

Speaker 3 Do you still want them to know the truth?

Speaker 1 Yes, and because I know that I didn't.

Speaker 1 But who did?

Speaker 3 Yes, and no, but I'm asking you, but who did?

Speaker 1 I don't know because I had no involvement in that part.

Speaker 3 It doesn't matter if you weren't involved. You're saying that you didn't do it, but you're hinting that you know who may have done it.

Speaker 3 Well,

Speaker 1 all I was told by another friend that she was drinking with a guy in that truck, and she described him to me as a young white male,

Speaker 1 mid to late 20s,

Speaker 1 and

Speaker 1 I don't know him. Who is and I never I don't I don't know who told you that, but

Speaker 1 God, I'm trying to remember her name. So I could have

Speaker 1 maybe would have changed the outcome of anything, you know, a butterfly effect. One small thing can change everything.
If I'd have got up and walked outside and made sure she was okay,

Speaker 1 maybe whatever, whatever would have changed to, you know, let's take you to town.

Speaker 1 Let's get you some cigarettes. Are you hungry?

Speaker 1 Where's home? Can I drop you off? Just anything that

Speaker 1 is

Speaker 1 nothing to me, no effort, just a small change. could have had a drastic impact.

Speaker 3 So

Speaker 3 what do you think happened when she she left the tent? Because you have to have thought about this for years. If I were you,

Speaker 3 I would think a million possibilities. Where have you landed?

Speaker 1 Without any other further proof of anything, I can only

Speaker 1 think that

Speaker 1 she went in the ocean.

Speaker 3 Why would she do that?

Speaker 1 Because the night before, she was talking about after I got her to come in, she was talking about how her life was so horrible, and that how she's such a

Speaker 1 burden on everybody, and that she wishes you know that she wasn't around anymore.

Speaker 3 And what did you say to that?

Speaker 1 I told her, I said, Look, you know,

Speaker 1 this is just how it looks to you right now at this moment. You know, life gets better.

Speaker 1 But her life is all about no, no, it didn't

Speaker 1 because

Speaker 1 I was too lazy to care about

Speaker 1 her.

Speaker 3 I just assumed she was going to be okay. Are you still too lazy to care?

Speaker 1 No, because

Speaker 1 everything that I believe in,

Speaker 1 if I hadn't been too lazy

Speaker 1 and assumed she was going to be all right, if I had just made sure of it,

Speaker 1 the possibility of things being different would be extremely great.

Speaker 3 What do you think they would be?

Speaker 3 How would they be different?

Speaker 1 Well, I could have taken her to get help.

Speaker 3 Why didn't you take her to get help that night?

Speaker 3 Because it was late. It wasn't that night when you picked her up from the nugget.

Speaker 1 No, no, no, but I didn't realize that she was in that type of condition until late.

Speaker 3 Well, you did, though, you said that whenever you talked to her, she didn't seem right and she was not able to complete sentences.

Speaker 1 Yeah, and I figured just resting and hanging out would be fine.

Speaker 3 Well, do you see how somebody, not me, but somebody else could look like that as predatory behavior? Oh, yeah.

Speaker 3 Yeah, but we're sitting here talking today, all these years later, because there's not enough evidence to point somewhere definitively yet, right? But when I hear you say that after all these years,

Speaker 3 you feel like she walked into the ocean.

Speaker 3 Here's my problem with that, John: is that there is the least amount of evidence to support that.

Speaker 3 So

Speaker 3 let's just go ahead and check that off the list and start with the other possibilities.

Speaker 1 See, the other possibility is even harder to think about

Speaker 1 because

Speaker 1 then I would have to realize that my inaction resulted in something that is just

Speaker 1 that would mean that something horrible happened to her. I mean, granted, that the other, you know, if she suffers herself, that's not demeaning the horribility of that.

Speaker 3 But

Speaker 3 that's what we're facing, John. Yeah,

Speaker 1 that's what her family thinks. Think about that.
You know, and I swear to God,

Speaker 1 I wished I could find out because

Speaker 1 she wasn't a bad person. She was just in a bad place.

Speaker 1 And she hadn't done anything to deserve anything

Speaker 1 done to her.

Speaker 1 We get three hours of sunlight during the day between noon and like three or four.

Speaker 1 But at night, even though it's dark, there's so much freaking snow. Everything's lit up from the snow.

Speaker 1 Lay under the midnight sun, man.

Speaker 1 I get on my wheeler and I'm going down the road, heading

Speaker 1 out of

Speaker 1 okay

Speaker 1 The Nugget The last hotel on the left going out of town towards my camp

Speaker 1 Flo was standing out there on the corner

Speaker 1 right about in front of that bar I met her and at the last bar at the other end of town on the same side of the street And I pull up and I say hey what you doing nothing where Busney?

Speaker 1 Oh, she went home. All right.

Speaker 1 What are you doing?

Speaker 1 Nothing, she says. I'm like, well, I got some friends coming out with a bottle later.

Speaker 1 And you want to go hang out and do some dabs. We're going to cook some dinner and drink and have a fire.

Speaker 1 And she goes, yeah, that was, well, she just said, yeah. And she hopped on.

Speaker 3 You saw her by herself and you gave her an invitation.

Speaker 1 Yes, yes.

Speaker 3 Well, what was her demeanor like?

Speaker 1 It was inebriated, but she wasn't staggering. She wasn't, you know,

Speaker 1 but she wasn't overly conversative either. She just said, yeah.

Speaker 3 How did she seem to you?

Speaker 3 She was functional, but. What does functional mean?

Speaker 1 She could stand up.

Speaker 1 She could answer questions. Like, hey, you want to go do something? Yeah.

Speaker 1 But she wasn't into giving prolonged answers or a conversation.

Speaker 1 Just I would ask her, you know, hey,

Speaker 1 do you want to go hang out? I told her that those two are going to come over later and we're going to barbecue.

Speaker 1 And I said, do you want to go? And she's just like, yeah.

Speaker 3 But she seemed pretty inebriated.

Speaker 1 Yeah, but it was kind of weird. It wasn't like a regular drunk inebriation.
And I thought that was kind of weird.

Speaker 3 Tell me,

Speaker 3 why was it that you thought it was a good idea to bring her to your tent if she was in that condition?

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 1 because

Speaker 1 nothing good happens in Gnome after midnight.

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Speaker 18 If

Speaker 1 I was involved with an accident or anything, I would have already come forward. I would admit to it, and

Speaker 1 I would rather meet you face to face so you can look into my eyes.

Speaker 1 I would be willing to go back to known with you.

Speaker 1 For her, bro, it's not right.

Speaker 1 And I don't know what to do. I don't know how to help

Speaker 1 because

Speaker 1 this is where I'm at. You know, this in my mind.
You know, I

Speaker 1 because I know

Speaker 1 I didn't do anything,

Speaker 1 but

Speaker 1 I'm the only one one that can really help.

Speaker 1 It'll help Zom memories or whatever, dude. But I don't care about me anymore.
This has been going on my life for so long now. And I want,

Speaker 1 you know,

Speaker 1 and, you know, I mean, I'm not afraid of being in trouble because

Speaker 1 I know what I did or didn't do. You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 1 You know, like I'm saying,

Speaker 1 what

Speaker 1 happened happened

Speaker 1 and after that I don't know up to that point

Speaker 1 after she shut that zipper I have no idea because I wasn't there

Speaker 1 I know I didn't do anything wrong to her

Speaker 1 so

Speaker 1 to be honest I didn't do anything other than

Speaker 1 not caring enough to get up the next morning when she left to her harmer, to be honest. That's it.

Speaker 1 Like I said, the night before, she was going through a

Speaker 1 thing

Speaker 1 and she went extremely erratic,

Speaker 1 started destroying other people's property.

Speaker 1 And like I said, I

Speaker 1 never touched her. I never...

Speaker 1 tried to get her to do anything inappropriate. That was the furthest from my mind.

Speaker 1 At a certain point, I was actually

Speaker 1 kind of scared because she got violent at other people. And at that point, I tried to keep my distance and calm her down.
And when she got calmed down, and at that point, I was so relieved.

Speaker 1 You know, but she wasn't like hurting people. She was knocking down their tent, screaming, and she was angry because she couldn't get a cigarette.
I don't

Speaker 1 I wasn't over there when she was doing what she was doing to the people. I was at my tent.
And I went out there and I got her to come back.

Speaker 1 I remember

Speaker 1 finally talking her down, getting her to sleep, and I went to sleep. Well, the only person that she

Speaker 1 did anything to be angry was my neighbor. I went to sleep thinking everything was okay.

Speaker 1 Then I heard the zipper in the morning and then I'm like, okay,

Speaker 1 she must have went home.

Speaker 3 And where do you think she went?

Speaker 1 I have no idea

Speaker 1 because I wasn't with her.

Speaker 3 You were with her right before she went to wherever she went next. So yes, you were.

Speaker 1 But after that, I have no idea. And I'll take polygraph, voice stress analysis, whatever they want.

Speaker 1 And I mean, I'd do voice stress analysis, polygraph.

Speaker 1 I mean, seriously, because I'm being straight, bro. I know

Speaker 1 that that's all where mine ends. You know what I mean? You know?

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 it's really hard

Speaker 1 for me when people think that about me or if there's any

Speaker 1 possibility

Speaker 1 because

Speaker 1 it's not, you know.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 it would give

Speaker 1 something

Speaker 1 to even the people listening. They're like, wow, you know,

Speaker 1 you know,

Speaker 1 you know,

Speaker 1 because right now there's too much speculation.

Speaker 1 There's too many questions. At least this would answer some.

Speaker 1 And, you know, then you can look and say, wow, John,

Speaker 1 if you can set up.

Speaker 1 you know, polygraph or voice stress analysis or, you know,

Speaker 1 I am 110% for that

Speaker 1 you know because it will bring absolution

Speaker 1 and

Speaker 1 I can move on and

Speaker 1 you know

Speaker 1 I was as confused as everybody

Speaker 3 as of now this is John's story Every twist, every dodge, every moment he claims as his truth. And after all that, John agreed to something very big.

Speaker 3 Something that surprised me. He wants to take a polygraph test.

Speaker 3 Live, no editing, no excuses. And so we're going to do it.
This Sunday, May 18th, at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, we're going to go live.
John Girton gets asked the hard questions by a real polygrapher.

Speaker 3 in the most professional setting that we can create. You'll get to hear it all for yourself, in real time.

Speaker 3 No places to hide.

Speaker 3 So, this Sunday, May 18th, at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, follow up and vanished on Instagram.
We'll be going live on the Up and Vanished Instagram, which is just at Up and Vanished.

Speaker 3 This is something we've never done before. And honestly, I have no idea how this plays out.
But if you're as curious as I am, tune in. Sunday, May 18th, 8 p.m.

Speaker 3 Eastern, Instagram Live at Up and Vanished.

Speaker 3 See you Sunday.

Speaker 2 Up and Vanished in the Midnight Sun is a production of Tunderfoot TV in association with Odyssey. Your host is Payne Lindsay.

Speaker 2 The show is written by Payne Lindsay with additional assistance from Mike Rooney. Executive producers are Donald Albright and Payne Lindsey.

Speaker 2 Lead producer is Mike Rooney, along with producers Dylan Harrington and Cooper Skinner. Editing by Mike Rooney and Cooper Skinner with additional editing by Dylan Harrington.

Speaker 2 Supervising producer is Tracy Kaplan. Additional production by Victoria McKenzie, Alice Kanik Glenn, and Eric Kintana.
Artwork by Rob Sheridan. Original music by Makeup and Vanity Set.

Speaker 2 Mixed and mastered by Cooper Skinner. Thank you to Oren Rosenbaum and the team at UTA, Beck Media and Marketing, and the Nord Group.

Speaker 2 Special thanks to all of the families and community members that spoke to the team. Additional information and resources can be found in our show notes.

Speaker 2 For more podcasts like Up and Vanished, search Tenderfoot TV on your favorite podcast app or visit us at tenderfoot.tv. Thanks for listening.

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Speaker 3 Every story has layers, and sometimes the truth hides in plain sight. I'm Josh Dean, host of Chameleon, the podcast about people who transform, deceive, and survive.

Speaker 3 From con artists to unbelievable yet true occurrences, we dive into stories where nothing is ever quite as it seems. Because to understand the world, you sometimes have to change the way you see it.

Speaker 3 Listen to Chameleon wherever you get your podcasts.