DeOrr Kunz /// Part 1 /// 305 | Forensic Files

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grab a beer let's talk some true crime [Music] [Music] what's the address of your emergency um
I'm actually camping in leedor just outside of leor uh-huh um my 2-year-old son um we can't find him how
long has he been missing about an hour an hour yeah are you by water yes do you know which Campground you're in uh it's
Stone Reservoir Timber Creek Stone Reservoir yeah we Creek hold on we need search and rescue
Jessica Jessica yeah what's your son's name okay what is he wearing he was wearing cowboy boots a
blue um pair like pajama pants and a camel jacket and he's got shagy blond hair is your husband calling
too like all down where we were camping at and we can't find him at all okay we need you to stay within cell service
we've got people going on on the way thank you the 911 call that you just heard came in at 2:28 p.m. on Friday July 10th
2015 the caller is Jessica Mitchell she is calling because she cannot find her 2-year-old son Dior Coons she is calling
from a campground near Lor Idaho you see the day before Dior Coons Jr his father
mother great-grandfather and a family friend traveled 120 M from Idaho Falls to to the Timber Creek Campground in Lor
the campsite is very remote and takes about 2 and 1/2 hours to drive from where they live in Idaho Falls the day
before the evening of Thursday July 9th the family packed up their things and got ready to make the drive out to
Timber Creek along for the camping trip we have two-year-old Dior Coons we have his father Vernal Coons and the mother
Jessica Mitchell and her grand grandf father Bob Walton and his friend Isaac renwand yeah the great-grandfather and
the friend are going to ride together in a truck the couple with their child are
going to ride in a separate truck here's some important things to note and we want to do this right here before we
move on because this is a confusing case with a strange timeline but it is crucial to have a decent understanding
of the four adults at the campground with little Dior and that timeline okay so first Vernal Coons little Dior Coon's
father also goes by Dior at times I believe this is his middle name but to keep everything nice and tidy when we
speak of the father we will refer to him as Vernal and when we talk about the little 2-year-old boy he is Dior now
dior's parents Vernal Coons and Jessica Mitchell are not married in 2015 they were engaged to be married the
old man on the trip is Jessica grandfather so little dior's great-grandfather his name is Bob Walton
and he is elderly and he has some health issues he was on oxygen 24/7 in 2015 he
had a lug around an oxygen tank everywhere with him Jessica works for her grandfather as his caretaker it's
it's unclear if this is a paid position you know paid in cash under the table or
if this is just her helping him out well based off of interviews I would assume that she's actually getting paid because
one of the reasons why they took the trip was this is kind of also a celebration of her working for 6 months
where she never has stayed at a job that long yeah that was my vibe too that I got that she is being compensated or
paid in some manner for this work that she's doing but there's no real paper trail of such right the fourth adult on
this trip is Isaac renan he is a friend of the old man's a friend of Bob's yeah Isaac before the trip has never met
Vernal Jessica or little Dior this friend situation has been deemed online as strange or odd Isaac is
much younger than Bob in fact Isaac is probably closer much closer in age to Vernal and Jessica than he would be to
Bob Bob and Isaac have been friends for about 5 years leading up to this camping
trip they at one point were next door neighbors or neighbors Bob hired Isaac often to do yard work and then they
became fishing buddies so let's get into this timeline and this has been difficult to put
together for reasons that will make sense later but I used multiple sources to try to piece this together so this
was constructed using statements from the four adults on the camping trip and the sheriff from the lead investigative
agency after they packed up and left the group went to Isaac's house to pick him
up the group made the Trek and they traveled in two vehicles as the captain mentioned Vernal Jessica and Dior are in
vernell's black pickup truck Isaac and Bob are in Bobs and I believe this was a Chevy Blazer or a Chevy
SUV again this is taken from statements from the family and Isaac and these statements are not very
thorough we do know there was a camper involved as well but I'm not sure who was pulling this camper the grandfather
was okay it was his he owned it they all arrived Thursday evening first they started setting everything up they built
a fire and started it started to get dark shortly after they arrived mhm the next morning they all seem to have woke
up at different times and it's very unclear as to the order in which they woke up well let's start with where they
slept the friend is going to sleep in a tent the grandfather sleeps in the camper it seems like the couple with
their child sleep in the Blazer and we have Isaac who says he got up at least once or twice that morning and then went
back to bed so that adds to the confusion of the order in which they woke up yeah now they did have breakfast
at some point Vernal and Jessica and Dior leave they get in vernell's truck and they drive to Lor Lor is a very
small town and it's near where they are camping I think it's like a 10 maybe 15 minute drive I think it's a 7 miles just
to get into their campsite like a singular road now on this trip into town as we'll call it they are going to hit
up a couple of stops Vernal says they went to get diesel fuel for his truck Jessica says they go so she could buy
some tampons it's unclear what time they exactly left or how long they were gone
but going off of what Vernal says they returned to the campsite at approximately 100 p.m. and while they're
gone Bob is taking around his friend to show him some different fishing sites and different fishing holes that he
fished in when he was a kid now we have Jessica Vernal and Dior all back at the campsite and it seems like everybody
wants to go fishing at this time and Bob and Isaac are back at the campsite as well Jessica asked Isaac to show her
where her inernal could catch some fish Isaac walks with Jessica to a fishing spot he says he thought Vernal and Dior
were right behind them Isaac shows her the spot and he continues on to another fishing spot Vernal joins Jessica and
now they are fishing casting and looking at the water you know just enjoying themselves this is only about a 10 to 15
minute time frame here so ve a very small window of time right Vernal says he saw some tadpoles and wanted to show
deor the creek so he walked back up to the campsite with Jessica Bob is still at the site little Dior is nowhere to be
seen Jessica asked Bob where is theor Bob says I thought he was with you Jessica says no we left him with you
okay so now Panic the parents start looking for their boy calling out his name as a search and then the search
widens we have Bob who stays he's the one that stays at the campsite while the parents are looking they look for Dior
for some time and then the call is made to 911 well like we said this is like a 7 Mile to 5 Mile Road just to get to the
campsite you're in the middle of nowhere you would be freaking out yes yeah and so the the call comes in as we said
earlier at 2:28 p.m. and it's Jessica on the call and you heard that call and she gives
their location she gives a description of her son who is missing and she says we've been looking for him for about an
hour she's told that they're going to send search and rescue out to help and assist and locate the boy yeah now one
thing that we need to point out here that is interesting about this call and this is we've reviewed many 911 calls
but one thing that's kind of stood out for me that at some point the dispatcher ask if her husband if Jessica's husband
is calling as well and to which she says yes so what's going on at this time is we actually
have even though they're not they're not married um I think the dispatchers making an assumption there but at the
same time we have both Jessica the mother and vernal the father they're both attempting to call 911 yeah now
Vernal couldn't get signal so he drives about a mile and a half down the road to
try to get signal and she actually had signal so a little strange to me though I think from the outside looking in
there's there's a couple things here so one yes I could I could see it being a little strange because it's difficult to
think that you would leave that air um I don't know exactly what Jessica is doing at this time we know that Vernal
drove off in his pickup truck right and look the father could have panicked and took off without trying to you know he
looked at his phone let's just assume right he looks at his phone there is no signal panics jumps in his truck drives
to try to get signal meanwhile his fiance has signal on her phone mhm like it could be as
something as simple as that but again the two calls to me I'd be if I didn't have signal I'd be asking everybody else
does anybody else have signal yeah so I think here you could look at it two ways
either we have a father who's leaving the area to make the call and they're both going to call and this is a very
thorough manner of making sure that you do get a hold of rescue efforts or you question the movements of why is is
somebody leaving the general area in which you believe this boy you know where you last saw your son and maybe it
doesn't matter either way but I believe they're able to corroborate his story by
cell phone ping technology MH saying that wherever he made the call from was roughly about a mile and a half away
from the campsite right so both of them are calling from where they say they are
calling from or at least there's some evidence to back that up right search Crews arrive and they begin to look for
the toddler they search until about 4:00 a.m. they don't find him then on Saturday July 11th Searchers look on
Horseback ATVs foot and in the water for Dior they focus on a 2 and 1 half mile radius around the
campground one area of concern is a creek this is one of the fishing spots right this is about 15 yards away from
the campsite the area is searched numerous times Sunday July 12th the liem high County Sheriff's Office reports
nearly 200 volunteers show up to look for Dior on Monday July 13th dior's parents
do a TV interview in this interview they explain what happened the previous Friday afternoon now they at this point
say they no longer believe that Dior is lost but think that someone may have abducted their son and they make a plea
for his safe return that evening around 200 people Gather in Idaho falls for a candlelight
vigil Tuesday and Wednesday July 14th and 15th search efforts continue near the campground dive Crews focus on the
stone reservoir located about A4 mile from where the family was camping this is because the creek near the campsite
runs to this Stone Reservoir yeah dior's parents remain camped near the site as deputies search the creek once again and
determine that Dior is not there Friday the 17th the Bonville County Sheriff's dive team is called in
to help search the reservoir divers use a sonar robot to assist in foggy Waters Crews on Horseback Return To The Hills
near the campground Saturday the 18th it's dior's father's birthday he spends the day
camped just yards away away from where his son disappeared and the search efforts
continue on Sunday July 19th it's now been 10 days since Dior was last seen the Timber Creek Campground has been
searched dozens of times Crews have scoured the stone Reservoir and Creek investigators release few new details
and dior's family remains desperate for answers up to this point now this is a statement released from the uh searchers
they say that after 10 days up to this point no evidence has been found to suggest where the 2-year-old boy may be
yeah so we have this little baby boy what are our options of what possibly could have happened to him so the lead
investigative agency the sheriff's department the liem high sheriff's department they state that they are
working under three possible theories one that it was some type of animal attack
so wolves was the main concern yeah there were wolves in the area some had suggested maybe a bear but we also
eventually this case is difficult in the sense that we have a lot of statements from different people that are involved
in this case and then later not involved we've had a lot of people come in and out of this investigation from 2015 to
current day so later on somebody would suggest that a bald eagle would be the main threat but it seems like the
sheriff's department and I'm going to go with them because they know the area better than anybody else right their
main concern was a wolves in the area so animal attack is one possible Theory and their second theory is
possible abduction and then the third theory is that either a family member or friend was somehow involved in The
Disappearance of this child yeah this this drove me nuts cuz they kept on saying there's three options and then
they give you four options drove me nuts the whole time researching this case and
then the other thing that drove me nuts was what was the fourth option well no they would always say so they would
always say you know the first one is he's he was taken by an animal second one was he was abducted third one was
that it was either accidental or homicide so you see what I mean that's your option so it always drove me nuts when
they went we we have three theories like well actually have four yeah I don't think I said that clearly I I went off I
went away from my paper here you're exactly right the third theory was that either a family member or friend was
involved in the accidental death or homicide I don't know if it's because of the search efforts that they're ruling
out the possibility that he just went off and possibly something with the water I
know those all those little fishing holes were search extensively and so maybe that's why that theory is not on
the table but again when you start looking into this case my first thought was okay he walks off and what happens
then and then he walks off and there's an animal attack and those are two viable options but when I think because
of the extensive amount of of search they did and then the searching to the water they were able to actually
actually rule that out as a theory yeah they they aren't giving current day they
don't give much weight to the possible animal attack Theory well that's because there's no evidence there was no item of
clothes right clothes that were left behind there was no uh blood left behind there was there's no evidence of any
kind of attack right the their General thought is this that if there were some kind of snatching grabbed by an animal
there would be evidence of such and they searched such a vast area that that would have turned up something they
would like you said piece of clothing some blood or something else and I do want to point out this item here as well
because I think this is extremely important um so regarding the missing persons flyer for little Dior Coons says
missing since July 10th 2015 missing from leor Idaho his date of birth was December 30th 2012
so he's about 2 and a half at the time where he's last seen blond hair brown eyes 3 foot tall about 28 lbs so small
little guy and the flyer says Dior was wearing a camouflage jacket and blue pajama pants what it does not include is
in the 911 called Jessica says that he was wearing cowboy boots yeah and the cowboy boots are are really something
that I think are very important because these boots have never been located yeah
the general thought of these boots is this and this is from the The Searchers and from the sheriff's department they
simply say these boots as described to them by everybody that knew the little boy and knew of These boots were boots
that he loved to wear he loved to walk around in them but they were many sizes too big for him you know we've all seen
this it's very cute when a tiny little kid puts on adult shoes or or teenager shoes or something that's made for
something much bigger than the little boy or girl right it's very cute he wore these a lot and they said that it was
described that they were so big that he would often come out of the shoes when he's just walking his feet would would
pop out of the shoes and you'd find these boots uh lying around whatever yeah so one they're probably hard to
walk in so he wouldn't get that far right two if if he walked far enough he' probably come out of them three if
somebody snatched him or if animal snatched him then he'd probably come out of the boots pretty easily no matter
where the animal grabbed him at right and their argument to suggest that the animal grab is not likely the biggest
argument is therefore the boots because they're they're saying look yeah you could you could present a case that in
this huge area that maybe we missed a drop of blood right but where not going to miss these boots and the thing with
the water is it was searched so extensively yeah the the creek and that Reservoir the stone Reservoir I've had
I've I've seen some statements to also suggest that that water is not necessarily that deep so it wouldn't be
we're not talking about something that would be incredibly difficult to search right so there's no evidence of this boy
in the water there is no piece of clothing that they find they do not find any blood and in one report it states that
the scent dogs never picked up a scent of this little boy at the campsite bringing into question was this
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to answer call us at 1888 freedom all right cheers mates cheers to you Captain we wanted to take this time to
play for you that interview that TV interview that we discussed during the search timeline for little Dior here you
are going to hear his parents discussing how he went missing and what they hope they can find in their search for him
this is from East news.com um all right Dior so take us back was it Friday I'm not sure what day it is today
today Monday it was Friday Friday Friday about 2 2:26 is when I was it 226 236 when I called two was 236 is when she
called and I was in the truck hauling down to the road trying and get service cuz I didn't think one bar would get it
so she got very very lucky I was blessed that she was able to get service cuz I didn't I didn't want to try and risk
getting half halfway through my talking to the 911 and have it cut off so I went
down to where I knew I can get all service about a half mile down the road uh we searched
for after about 20 minutes and in a dead Panic not knowing where he was in such a
small area and not knowing never being there I knew I was in trouble uh so we decided to call search
and rescue uh and that's when I drove down she tried getting a signal out um soon as I got a hold of them I come they
told me that she was on the other line with them and they had our location and they were on our way
they they were amazing they are amazing and they still continue to be uh Liah High County sheriff and Sam in search
and rescue you could not ask for a better group of people volunteers and search and rescue and just everybody you
couldn't ask for better people so sincere so concerned and they were everybody was so emotionally attached to
this as anybody would be of a 2-year-old he's pretty small for his age but he he
moves pretty good and that was our concern he he uh was right with us uh where it's at is I mean I thought it
would be perfect to go camping there because it's enclosed by walls of mountains and there's not much space
around there that he could go and our biggest concern was the the cck which was knee knee deep few feet wide but
he's a little guy um they finally yesterday that we were able to put that to rest and Li
High County Sheriff um Sheriff Dave and the rest of the sheriffs have put out that there is they they assured me there
is 100% chance that he is not anywhere in that water around that water they have torn that cck upside down and in
and out divers uh have gone through wet suits along with the helicopter that was
the world's most advanced resch search and rescue helicopter uh volunteered out of Montana and those guys were just
amazing the accuracy they had with the night vision ability it has and the uh heat range it can see they were what the
one guy I can't remember his name um I've met so many people so many good people but um he was he his his own
safety he was he was more or less he was strapped in and he was on the side of that helicopter looking and I he was
looking down I remember them telling me that they um asked the search rescues to
go look over cuz there was an orange insect repellent can they think by the bank and they were dead on that's what
it was that's how accurate these guys are they thought it was it might have been like a part of a shoe or something
but they said go check that out that these guys search miles so the mile radius they have is it it is a very
Rocky terrain it is very open but it's not the helicopter that used is is used to back very deep Montana it it is
designed for a lot worse situations than this and there was not a trace of my son
found there still isn't but there the search is on that's the hearsay of things has kind of gotten way out of
hand the search is so far is has been put on that has been suspended and that is not entirely sure or true Sheriff
Dave of Liah High County I just spoke with him on the phone this morning he has got horseback Riders and trackers up
there right now uh and very very Advanced professional um I'll be I'll be going up um with and I've just come down
to get any resource I can get to go back right up back up today um what questions did you guys have tell
us a little bit about first of all how are you guys holding up I know everybody's a lot of people are praying
for you they're concerned friends and family and hoping to be this is what's I know keeping me together because if we
didn't have all of our family the minute I called my mom and she was up there in
a matter of hours and same with the rest of our family they were just up there those around us yeah luckily we a few
phone calls is all it took at first and we had just as Sheriff Davis said of the
news there was 175 plus people up there in the grid searches volunteers uh professionals and anybody I called there
the service up there is very here here there it's camping you know um we're we're trying to hold up the best we can
but with we have hope is the thing hope is what keeps it going hope is because the search is not over search is not
done we will find him no matter what you were you were in the truck so was it you
that first realized oh no dior's not here no we both did I we both did we after 20 minutes of up and down the
creek and up and around uh the camp and he wasn't there that's when I got in my pickup truck and drove down the road to
try and get some service especially after screaming his name we have nicknames for him no sound of him this
little boy he's a he's a goer and a mover but he's not he does not go away from his parents he does not yeah he's
very attached to us this is very unusual very very unusual sir and we didn't hear
people around us we didn't see anybody we have that needs to be addressed yeah I
know social media can be good thing but it can also be a bad going yeah we don't want to twist it
so clear up any rumors that you've seen or heard or we need talk about that one thing that we want to get to that what
most of the biggest rumors that are going around is I mean I have heard everything from the I mean why you would
make a rumor that has to do with a three-year-old is if you're not going to help please don't if it's not helpful
this is a this is a two almost three-year-old we're talking about please help us but but I've heard
everything from um I am I am a truck driver um I've heard everything from my company it won't let me come home off
the road to look for my son I was there the entire time and my employer 4 hours after my son went missing has been up
there day and night has not slowed down I've and that that one Bo that one bothered me and then it they just G they
got worse and they got worse and they got worse but there that's a handful of bad with a bunch of good the amount of
support is very overwhelming and it's good are there any rumors that you've seen or anything you want to clear up
Jessica I just somebody at the store um Lor said it was one of the ladies that had worked at the store said that they
saw um a gentleman and a younger blonde boy matching our description of our son really filthy buying candy for him and
he he was just balling in a black truck that is the only here's the problem other my pickup truck black truck as a
family we went down to get get a few things it could earlier it but but they claim it was at 6:00 that that evening
and I had we was were search and rescue until what A4 to 4 yeah from we never we
we haven't left the camp since 1:00 that afternoon so it's just a lot of hear say
and was anybody camping around you that we don't know know is I come to find I didn't know the area and I didn't know I
there's it's very open but you can't see much there's a a a road that goes up and
along the top by we're we're camped underneath the reservoir basically right below it and you can go up above the
reservoir and I didn't even know the road was did I didn't know the road was up there and as I traveled up there
myself I come to find out I can see everything going on in that campsite but you can't see out you can't see up you
can't see around and if anybody comes to the bottom of your Campground you can't
even see they are so they could have come into your they could have came in and you couldn't never know it and with
the water was not very it was not a fast running it's a cck but it is quite loud
moving through the logs and things like that so hearing range is not all that far either so if you couldn't hear
anybody coming up either so he was just kind of playing and you guys were doing your thing and then he noticed he was
playing he was playing with Grandpa he was over he was getting ready for a nap I say it was almost by that time it was
almost two and he usually takes his nap um we we we was just yeah we decided we're
going to go a little exploring he was going to be good with Grandpa by the campfire we were't more than probably 50
50 yards away in 10 minutes uh but the time we I seen him to the point I figured out he was gone and I come back
up in the criek and I've actually seen there were some things down by the little minnows that I thought he would
just love so when I come back up to get him and I yelled over to Grandpa of where is you know where's little Dior
he immediately shocked he says I thought he came up to you because it's such a small
area that's what a lot of people they don't understand is they just assume how could you let your kid out of your sight
this area is pretty well blocked in and you can see you could there's no way you
couldn't not see him in what we thought and it just in a split second your whole
world is upside down and vanished there's not a trace found that's the other reason why this has
been called on the news is a suspension because it is not a suspension but there's not a single trace of him this
this child loses stuff he's he's two almost three anybody who has a child in that age range knows he leave they leave
trails they lose stuff they she was nothing there's just nothing and that's where we're starting to move is there's
might there's a possibility that he may be with somebody and that's what's giving us hope that it's it's a bad
thing that he will be not with us right now but it also means that there is a good chance that he is alive and with
somebody so we are drying every aspect we can any any aspect we can is that what your gut tells you you know as his
father as his father I believe and I think after being up there and a lot of people agree with me a lot that he is no
longer up the mountain anymore the the the searching advances they used and was just very thorough for
Miles uh not every there wasn't a stone left unturned there still isn't and still we're going to continue to search
but being as father also that's where my art and my gut tell me but I'm not sure
so that's where I'm asking the Public's help anything um Liah High County sheriff is
who's handling this but they're not designed for systems quite like this they've got two phone lines and uh
please be patient they're doing the best they can we all are and we will find him
do you plan to maybe hold a vigil down here I guess you maybe haven't even thought about it or kind of do you want
the community in Idaho Falls to to R I mean I know they don't want a lot of people going out that's what we're not
real sure um I don't yet again as a father who's very concerned with the whole family we'll tell you yes if we
can get the whole stadi of Idaho up there we'd love to but in such a small area that has been combed and combed and
combed something may have been missed but I don't know I've been trying I'm going to be getting with the LI High
County sheriff and snake Riv or sorry the salmon uh snake and RI salmon search rescue uh to see what their thoughts on
everything is and trust me with such a small area 175 people there was nowhere to park nowhere to walk there was grid
searches up from one and that's there's ridges on one side of you and the other and they're not very far apart and it
was all searched all the way down to the bottom all the way the above the reservoir the reservoir itself I don't
lot a lot of people know the place the reservoir itself isn't but maybe a few feet deep you can see if you're up on
top you can see the bot bottom of the center if you're looking at the middle of the reservoir you can see the bottom
of it so everything has been 100% thoroughly checked but I nobody can guarantee me 100% so I'm going to keep
looking we'll continue to look until he's found we don't care how long it takes we and we think as many people
that have shared the story and continue to share his pictures and things like that if somebody has him they'll
eventually somebody will come forward wondering where this child with some s of that may not be the case
but it's it could be so that's why we're trying to look at this aspect as well and you want people keep sharing that
please please keep sharing his photo please keep him in your mind your hearts and your prayers and just keep look keep
your eyes open please social media in general in public just keep your eyes open and keep sharing tell me about the
blanket this is his blanket he doesn't go anywhere without his blanket his cup or his monkey and all three of them were
left at the campground and he he all three has to be with him he will trip over them if he has to but they are
going with him and this is the first time since he's been born pretty much he's been without these things and
that's why you another reason another reason why we're wondering yes because this is the blanket that we brought him
home in from the hospital this is his this is what Comforts him any and all times um this is an exact replica of a
security blanket for everybody this is his actual blanket he does not go anywhere without it that's another our
other concern of why yeah should should should he be out there and happen to see this what would
you say we're looking for you son and we will find you and we love you more than
anything in the world you have a lot of people love you and are looking for you buddy will find you Daddy will find stop
looking until we get you home after a two-year-old and you guys have been always thought about the past
two days is there anything you want to add anything we didn't get to just if somebody has him please don't hurt him
just bring him home safely to us what ites where he belongs even if you have to just leave
him at a store where somebody else will see him and bring him home safely to us I don't drop him yeah just drop him off
somewhere somebody is at so that they can see him and bring him home and if that may not be the case I we will
search for you and search for you and search for you until we find you okay so a lot to unpack here with that interview
mind you this is just days after Dior is missing so that opening statement where
uh Vernal says I don't even know what day it is today let's keep in mind that that seems like an odd statement to me
when I first saw this interview but then I look at the date of the interview and
realize oh this is just Within hours and days of this boy being missing right there's a good chance he may not know
what day it is and if he's been actively looking for his son this entire time which we know from the other Searchers
involved that the parents did remain up at the campsite for for a very long period of time looking for their boy and
I would say that their demeanor seems a little frantic um as far as you know he's not
waiting for his fiance to answer the questions he's jumping right in talking over
her and she obviously seems pretty distraught I mean her her tone is much lower and much softer and much more
worrisome but uh they definitely seem frantic about the situation and so to me that would point to them telling the
truth not knowing what happened to Dior and I agree with you vernold not only does he
you know interrupt his his fiance from time to time he doesn't fully let the interviewer finish the question right
he's so eager to kind of jump in and offer his words and his thoughts and as you said frantic it seems this is in no
way a scripted statement that they're giving this is very all over the place and and vernal is really just saying
what pops into his mind at that very moment mhm now and and they talked about their minds Racing for you know days and
weeks and months just constantly trying to figure out this puzzle in your head we walked up to see this little fishing
hole we thought we were clear with Grandpa hey you are now watching him right mhm uh um when they come back
where's our son I thought he was with you because you know the grandpa was also known to doze off from time to time
mhm and so you're then wrapping your head you start looking and you're thinking we're going to find him within
minutes and so what's your thoughts on they say they they looked for their son for about 20 minutes and then called
911 so that that's a difficult thing because we have Jessica's 911 call where she very clearly says that they looked
for Dior for about an hour before she called and then we have just Days Later where Vernal is very clear saying that
we looked for about 20 minutes M and then called that's I I say it's difficult because it it is really tough to track
time if you are in full panic mode right but at on the same on the at the same token here we have a situation now where
the two stories there's something that could be significant that is not lining up with both of their stories yeah but
see I wonder if it's a fall back on I call 911 how long have you been looking for your child if I say 20 minutes do
they tell me to hang up the phone and keep looking or do I say we've been looking for an hour mhm and if I say an
hour they're going to go oh [ __ ] we got to do something mhm and so that's what I
I wonder or is it manipulation 911 how long have you been looking oh 20 minutes but we'll tell you
an hour to seem like we're so concerned and then when we're interviewed by it uh
about that situation we're going to say less time to show that we were panicking
even faster than than we told 911 right is it controlling the narrative and you know what's also interesting
about this is you don't know that we don't know if they've had time to change their story because they have right what
if what if they're confronted by law enforcement at some point during the course leading up to this interview and
they're told why did you say an hour on the phone to 911 when we have Grandpa and somebody you know and the family
friends saying it was more like 20 minutes right you know what would be very curious to hear is how far along
did Vernal get in his 911 call because I couldn't find anywhere where they were stating that vernell's call was released
to the public we know that Jessica's 911 call was released to the public I believe within a week right of this case
so I would love to hear his 911 call as well to to kind of verify what it was that he was able to tell the dispatcher
in his call yeah maybe he told the dispatcher how long you been searching for him 20 minutes you know maybe the
story didn't change and again I think you have to put into context the idea that they are frantic and so now they're
doing an interview a couple days later they don't know what day it is they said 20 minutes MH is it something that
should not even be looked at as as as a evidence that they're not telling the truth the other thing regarding vernals
911 call he says there that he had a bar um a signal you know his phone is indicating to him that he has a single
bar of service right and then decides to get into his truck and drive to where he
knew he would have service again later he does say hey we were camping the the service is spotty at best out there um
so I I don't know that that's really something to really hone in on but it is it is just one of those uh old by the
way kind of things to note that he he references at the time when he looks at his phone that his phone is indicating
he does have some type of service before he drives away right and I think again put everything into context you're in
Walmart walking around with your kids and you turn around and one of them's gone you will push people out of the way
you will act like a maniac until you see uh your son or your your child and I think we've all been there anybody with
kids you know you turn around they're gone oh no and you just go into freakout mode and so some of these um reactions
and some of their actions I think can be explained Away by you're in panic mode mhm
yeah I had a situation once and this this is weird and it's the only way I can really relate to this but like you
said you you go into this survival type mode and your your reactions and your movements might not always be logical to
others at a later point right but I was in a situation once where somebody had a
horrible accident in a lower level and I was the only person there this person was bleeding and was not
conscious and so I had to call 911 with my cell phone now this was many years ago and I I
can't remember if it was a flip phone or what but for whatever reason I couldn't
even make the emergency call to 911 in that lower basement level right so I had to go up to another level of this
building and call 911 and the dispatcher is telling me to we need you you to stay
on the line sir and I'm trying to explain that I can't tend to the accident victim right and stay on the
phone with you it's not humanly possible I have to make a decision right now being the only person here is it more
important that I drop the call and just trust that you are on your way and you know my location mhm or or do I leave
this person alone that may need some kind of assistance now I know CPR and stuff like that I don't know how much
assistance I was really going to be able to offer but in the moment I felt that it was more important to be with the
person you start screaming I'm not a doctor I'm not a doctor oh man it was it was stressful I solve crimes I never
want to relive that moment again but some other things here that that were brought up in this interview so we have
her missing her uh 911 call sorry and then we have the missing Flyers so 911 call is said that uh Dior was wearing
camouflage jacket blue pajama pants and those cowboy boots which we've already discussed and then also in this
interview they bring up a blanket a cup and a monkey like a stuffed monkey these
were his dior's prized possessions these were things that he always brought along
with him and these items were left behind all three of these items were located somewhere at that campsite yeah
and a lot of people then start saying that this is where they start Shifting the blame
maybe he's lost at this point they don't they're they ruled out the water they're
kind of ruling out that he just wandered off they're almost W you know ruling out
that he was wandered off and was attacked by an animal pretty quickly in the search and they start going hey we
uh possibly he was abducted mhm and and and I think again your brain is frantic and you're searching everywhere and you
have all these people on Horseback you have a lot of dogs searching you have you have a lot of people and this
small area looking for your son and they're not finding anything so does your brain go
to you know are they Shifting The Narrative Again by pointing out that he could have been a abducted or is their
brain going okay we can't find him we're trying to solve this puzzle in our brain
maybe somebody else was up there um so it's very difficult because on one hand you
go okay maybe they're Shifting The Narrative or on the other hand you go they sound so panicked that they are
grabbing at straws to figure out the answer we also have in that interview where Jessica references that a possible
eyewitness may be seeing Dior later with a man buying candy and as they indicate
in the interview this would have been been in like the 6:00 6: p.m. time frame yeah this is kind of strange and I'm
going to jump ahead a little bit in the story but we have the situation being that they go to town to get gas
or uh because she had her period so it's one or the other right and well I think it could be
both right but it seems like when you hear it from one part of the story it's this and when you hear it from the other
part of the you know when it's coming from the father he's saying we need to get gas when it's coming from her it's
no we you know I had a a female emergency right so but they stopped at multiple places when they go back to
interview those people not takes them a while to go back to interview those people but they don't remember seeing
the mother with the child mhm so then again that leads to the speculation of is this child even at the campground was
he even there at all and you claim that you went to all these spots and there's no eyewitnesses
saying that they saw this child mhm but that is factually in correct because we do have a
situation here where we have eyewitness days after you you know the search begins
saying hey I saw this child with a messy man so one was it a child with a messy Man black truck there's a lot of black
trucks there's also uh sightings of a black Rubicon Jeep so is this eyewitness mistaken the Jeep for a truck was this a
messy man giving candy to a kid around 6:00 possibly or was the time wrong and but either way it is an
eyewitness that is claiming they saw this boy in that area which would put him at that campsite a small blonde boy
crying right would be going off of their interview that's the the statement as far as we know so that's tough it's it's
really that that part of the interview might be the weirdest part and I say that because look we now
have a situation where the parents are saying in this very same interview we've now shifted our personal belief that
he's not lost up there that it was not an animal attack these Searchers are doing a damn good job and they can't
find any trace of our son right so now we're shifting gears in our beliefs that he was
abducted I would love to know how I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall there and to figure out how
this conversation went down when they were presented with this thought and with this eyewitness
account that someone's saying hey I saw a guy that drove up in a black truck with a with a small blonde boy who's
crying the guy is buying candy for this boy and this took place about 6:00 p.m. on the day that this child went missing
so roughly 3 to 4 hours after Dior is last seen right but then we have the parents very
quickly going here's the problem I have a black truck M and we went to probably that same location MH and so that is
very very difficult because now you either have a you have this information where you can go oh that's a breadcrumb
it follows along with what we now personally believe could have happened to our son but but they dismiss it right
but again they're trying to analy they're trying to analyze all this stuff with a frantic brain and so it's like
are are they grabbing at straws too quickly to go no no no no that's not that that wasn't some shady man that was
actually me you know you just got the time wrong that's where I question it I don't I question is is it in fact that
they are grabbing at straws or is it such that they are trying to put the boy with one of them at one of their
locations when later we have people that can't put the boy with them at any of the locations right but the mother later
says that when they were at one of the stores that she saw a creepy older man kind of staring blankly at at her son
which they call little man um and again is that it's one of those things where it's like is she just
trying to remember everything that's possible so she can give you as many pieces of the puzzle for for law
enforcement and for the public to to figure this out or is it Shifting The Narrative and was there even a creepy
man that was staring at her son well and at some point in the investigation as an
investigator you're left with with looking across the table talking to a person that may have been one of the
last people to see little Dior and you're asking the mother or the parents at some point when you've run out of
questions this is where you go you go okay now I need you to think really hard and really think about that day and tell
me was there anything anything any way that was out of the ordinary seem strange or odd to you about anybody or
anything that day you're left with that really kind of dumb open-ended question right right but but when you can't find
any trace of this person that's all you're left with and you have to ask that question and now you have a
situation where you say okay do we have parents that are going okay I'm I'm thinking really hard
oh wait oh I remember this dude he was kind of creepy he was staring down my boy and M okay that's that's a possible
lead or is that an opportunity again for the parent to deflect away from themselves to deflect possible guilt and
suspicion away from themselves and onto just another possibility of what could have happened well the snit tuation in
the poly D and the T-shirt time what look what drives me nuts about all the scenarios and then I don't know how it
it exactly went down but to me it's like okay we have these parents that say our
our child is missing from this spot and to me it needs to be it almost seems like they just went okay we're going to
take their word for it we're going to search the area and that's all we're going to do where it's like on some
level it's like you have to then like pull these individuals aside questioning them right away we got
cadaver dogs and scent dogs in that truck and and in the other truck and the camper you see what I'm saying like I
think um you know I think sometimes we assume too much we go okay these parents are
telling us the truth and we're going to do all that we can and then it's it's the days that
pass you know like if she was questioned right away about this would she bring up
this creepy guy that was in the store um and and so I mean I know that's difficult and you can't go into every
situation and go well what's all the possibilities and we need to explore all those possibilities right now and not
focus on the search but it it just seems like um I don't know this one's this one is
very difficult well in regards to This creepy guy my belief is that this is not information that was presented to the
investigators early on it was presented at a later time and what we do know according to the leam high sheriff's
department they say that at some point now mind you they do specifically say it did take a good deal of time to track
down who we think this individual that she saw was that she's referencing as staring at her boy right and they say
look we've we've tracked this individual down they they are local we questioned them we investigated them and we don't
believe that this individual had anything to do with The Disappearance one and then on top of that this
individual does not remember seeing the boy they and we got to be clear about that because the sheriff's statement is
not that the the man did not see the boy right the statement is the man does not
remember seeing the boy right so then on that level you go okay well this manand
did exist so she's not just making up some random person so to me that is trying to remember everything you can
and put out as many pieces of the puzzle out there for people to to be able to find the answer to but this guy doesn't
remember look there's a lot of times you're in a store you're at a restaurant kid walks by you they do something silly
you kind of smile and that's it and if somebody asked you about it two weeks later you'd be like I don't know you're
talking about but this this person took months to to find um but so again I to me the person existed she wasn't just
making up this person at a thin air so that makes me want to believe her more not me cuz I feel like she could
have just she could have saw this guy and remembered him and she's now just throwing another M another variable out
there what what's interesting about the sheriff's statement regarding this creepy man MH is he never once says that
the man does not remember seeing Jessica so it it that doesn't mean that he he did say he saw Jessica that day
but the Sher just going off the sheriff's words is simply that the man doesn't remember seeing the boy well and
again that goes back to the people that Jessica said hey look I ran into this lady at the store
uh she was working there I ran into this other lady she saw me with my son and the two people that she claims saw her
with her son in town when they went to go get gas claim that they never saw her with her
son so much more to get to join us tomorrow in the garage make sure you tell a friend and share on social media
yes sir and until next time be good be kind and don't [Music] litter [Music] the Angie list you know and trust is now
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Part 1 of 2

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Idaho - July 10th, 2015 - Jessica Mitchell calls 911 because she cannot find her 2 year old son. The family was in the middle of a camping trip. According to Jessica the little boy disappeared from their campsite where he was staying with four adults. Join us this week in the Garage for this very strange case.Beer of the Week - The Great Return by Hardywood Park Craft Brewery Garage Grade - 4 out of 5 Bottle Caps

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Brief Summary

Two-year-old Dior Coons went missing while camping in Idaho, sparking a frantic search and various theories about his disappearance.

Key points

The Great Return IPA. This bold IPA is a tribute to conservation efforts, bursting with grapefruit flavor.
911 Call for Missing Child. A frantic mother calls 911 after losing her 2-year-old son while camping.
Search Efforts Intensify. After 10 days, searchers have found no evidence of the missing boy, Dior.
Community Support. The parents express gratitude for the overwhelming support from volunteers and search teams.
The Search for Dior. Dior's parents recount the frantic moments after he went missing, emphasizing their hope and determination.
Conflicting Stories. The parents' accounts of the search duration for their son differ significantly, raising questions.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

We can't find him.

A mother's desperate plea during a 911 call.

4:10WatchNov 16, 2023

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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