What Happened to Brittany Wallace Shank After That 911 Call? | Forensic Files

Santo County 911. Where's the emergency? >> Um, off of Fawn River. >> Okay. You're on Fawn River Road near uh
what cross street. >> What What cross street or what address are you at on Fawn River?
>> Where are we at? >> He wants to know what street road. >> I guess on Fawn River.
>> Okay. Do you have an address on Fall River? >> Um, here's a guy. >> Okay. >> That 911 call came into St. Joseph
County dispatch just before 9 at night on November 30th, 2018 from a house off a rural road right outside Sturgis,
Michigan. >> Can you tell me what's going on there tonight? >> I don't know. The girl just came to the
back door and she had no shoes on, no coat. She's bleeding, got her feet, no arms.
She said her boyfriend took off somewhere. He wrecked the car and took off running. I guess
>> if you didn't catch all of that, the man, his name is John, said that the young woman that came to his back door
was stranded after her boyfriend wrecked their car and then took off on foot without her. It was bitter cold with
snow on the ground. So, the fact that she showed up barefoot with no coat and a bit scratched up and bleeding was
cause for concern. >> She said that her boyfriend like took off from the area. Did he know was he
abusing her or what? What happened? >> I I don't know. I couldn't tell you that.
>> Okay. All right. Would you say that she's I mean, does she need medical attention or you said it's not serious
or what's going on? >> Under the static and radio chatter, you can hear the young woman Jon is speaking
to in the background of the call. She doesn't sound panicked. Her tone is measured. And she tells them she does
want medical attention. >> Yeah. Okay. >> She just told me she just told me. >> Okay. Yeah, absolutely. We'll get
somebody down that way for her. Do you happen to know what her name is? >> Is that your name?
>> She don't seem to want to talk to me. >> Okay. >> Welcome back in here. >> That's the moment when the woman takes
off from John's. still barefoot but wearing the green John Deere sweatshirt John had given her for warmth.
>> If you can tell her that help the help is coming down that way. I just need her
to stay there if she wants assistance. >> Yeah, she went outside. She ain't got no
shoes on. I give her a jacket. >> Law enforcement would later learn that the woman who ran away was 23-year-old
Britney Wallace Shank. She was moments away from help, but something pulled her away from the safety of Jon's back
porch. What or who or why has never been fully determined because since Britney slipped into the darkness that November
night back in 2018, she's never been seen again. and trying to understand what happened to her, what even brought
her out to that rural road to begin with and who she was with opens a Pandora's box of conflicting stories, troubling
allegations, and a mystery that has taken on a life of its own. I'm your host, Ashley Flowers. And
>> I'm Brett. And welcome back, Crime Junkies. The entire scenario that kicked off this
case. A woman comes to a stranger's door, a little worse for the wear, shoeless, coatless, in the cold, saying
she was in a car wreck and her boyfriend took off and left her. Then she takes off just before deputies are about to
come. That would be more than enough for a red flag to be thrown up for crime junkies, right? Like we would be like
like spiraling and like jumping into action. >> Actually, we've literally seen this play
out before. This feels like a slightly different version of the start to our episode on Lisk when Shannon Gilbert was
like running to a house looking for help. >> Maybe that's why to me this should have
been so alarming from the jump. >> But sadly that's apparently not what's on the minds of first responders. We
were able to get what seems to be most of the case file. And when they look over the car that's been abandoned, they
realize this was far from a serious crash. One of the few things almost everyone in this case can actually agree
on is just how thick the fog was that night. And it looked like the car had basically just kind of like veered off
the road into they call it a ditch, but like we're talking a very shallow ditch and then maybe got stuck. The car was
still drivable though. And even the injuries that John saw, he described them as small cuts on her feet and her
arms, but I don't know where those would have come from. Some suggest that maybe
from the brush in the field going from the car to John's if she like cut through that way and didn't use the
road. But like this is like right where we grew up. These like Michigan, Indiana, northern Indiana like fields.
>> And this is in November. >> Late November. Everything is like cut down by this point.
>> Yeah. There'd be like some sticks and stuff in like the farm fields, but not a
lot. >> I know. And some people have even said, "Oh, well, if they cut down the corn and
the stocks were still up." Like, but I was like, "Yeah, but deep tracks. I know my fields." You have to switch between
corn and soybeans. What was it that year? I don't know. >> And you sometimes like till it under at
the end of the season. So like, yes, there'd be stocks, but they're like half buried. Also, like there is the paved
road that goes right to his house, like from where the car was. So like I don't even know that she would have had to
have cut through a field. Listen, I don't know where the cuts come from, but I don't think it was from the crash cuz
there is really no crash. I have talked to enough cops to know that they do see a lot of this, right? Like if a driver
doesn't want to encounter police for whatever reason, they will just leave a vehicle. Maybe there was a reason that
Britney seemed ky with John. Maybe she didn't really want the police to come out there.
>> Okay, but then why go asking for medical help? >> That is not a mystery that they attempt
to solve right then. whoever that was, she's probably just going to show back up. And the truth is, the people in
Britney's life were probably making some of the same assumptions. The 23-year-old
mom was struggling with substance use. She had recently given up custody of her four kids while trying to get back on
her feet, hoping to start a new job, maybe enroll in school. And she had a warrant out for her arrest at the time
for lararseny. So when she goes MIA, at least at first, they kind of wonder if that's because she wanted to. But don't
get it twisted. I mean, some of her family and friends had been looking for her, like asking around. Even her
boyfriend had been out trying to find her. >> The boyfriend who took off on her.
>> That's the catch. It was her boyfriend, Sheldon Ashbrook. It was his car that
she had been driving. But when police dropped by unannounced after the incident, likely sometime around 10:30
p.m. or later, to tell him that his car had been impounded, Shelton was home and
informed them that he hadn't even been with Britney. She borrowed his car that night, and he said he had no clue who
she would have been with. So, it sounds like even he just assumed that Britney was either embarrassed, maybe by what
she had done to his car, or maybe she was laying low due to the fact that there was a warrant out on her. But
weirdly, it doesn't seem like he told her family about the car incident right away. I mean, he told some friends, but
the family didn't find out until later that she had taken off after the car went off the road. Though, even then,
they hear that the car was operable, so she must have just walked off, right? Even her being barefoot in the snow
didn't stand out to them too much. Her mom told us that Britney was known to run around in flip-flops or even
barefoot even when it was freezing in Michigan. And listen, those instincts might have been right because it turns
out when Britney went to John's that night looking for help, she did. She went to his house looking to use the
phone, but she didn't necessarily call 911 right away. She had actually tried calling her grandma Vicki first, but
either that call didn't go through or grandma just didn't answer. And I don't know for sure if it was her or John who
actually ended up dialing 911. Like she ends up passing the phone off to him pretty quickly and then doesn't seem to
want to give him any information. So I keep thinking maybe he like dialed before she realized what was going on.
Like since she didn't seem scared, my gut is that Brit wasn't looking for help for like first responders.
>> She called grandma like for a ride or something. >> Exactly. And when she realized that
deputies were going to be showing up, she took off. But that doesn't explain why she hadn't turned back up now. And
with every day that passed with no word from her, everyone who knew Britney was growing more worried, especially the
longer she went without being active on social media, cuz apparently she's like a Facebook junkie. But the real final
straw that set off alarm bells was learning that Britney hadn't been in touch with her grandma Vicki at all
after she tried to call her that night. Because the two of them were close and they talked constantly. So 8 days after
the night that she walked off into the cold, Britney's dad, Greg Wallace, reports her missing to the St. Joseph
County Sheriff's Office. And once they open an investigation, they decide to go to grandma since she likely had the most
contact with Britney. They think she's going to be super helpful in trying to map out Brit's movements leading up to
the night of November 30th. And it is a worthwhile stop. Grandma is a wealth of information because luckily the last
time Grandma had seen Britt just so happened to be the same night of this car crash or the car going off the road.
And Britt wasn't alone. Deputies learn that earlier on November 30th, sometime around 6:30 and 700 p.m., Britney had
stopped by her grandma's house to do laundry with a guy. Now, it doesn't sound like they were really interacting
too much with anyone else at the house, but that could have been because they had been using drugs that night. Now,
later, when her family finally heard that 911 call, they told us that they suspect that she was high because of the
way that she sounded. Now, at grandma, she and this guy also appeared to be arguing a bit, and he was rushing her,
like he had somewhere better to be. And they stayed long enough to wash the clothes, but not long enough to like
fully dry them. Instead, Britney stuffed damp laundry into a basket, and then they left together. Let's call it like
8:30, 8:45 p.m. >> So, Sheldon lied. >> Sheldon did not lie. Grandma knows Sheldon. He and Britney had been friends
for years before dating on and off. Grandma says this wasn't him. >> Okay, then who was he? Brit, nobody
knows. But like I said, like Britney and this guy barely interacted with anyone else. And in hindsight, Grandma says
there was something off about this guy. Like he just they couldn't put their finger on it. Nobody ever got his name
though is the catch. They do have a pretty good description of him though. He is this thin white guy in his like
early to mid20s between 5'6 5'8ish with short blonde hair and thick mutton chop sideburns like Elvis as grandma
described and he was wearing like a yellow sweatuit type outfit with like some black on it.
>> So when Britney said her boyfriend took off after the crash is she talking about
this guy like whoever he is? If there was a man in the car with her when it went off the road, I think it has to be
this guy just based on the timeline, right? Like, so based on what grandma remembers, they left her house around
8:30 p.m. The spot where the car went off the road is about a 5minute drive away and then getting to John's should
take less than 10 minutes on foot. We know that the 911 call is placed around 8:50. So, it seems like there wouldn't
have been a lot of time for her to have like picked up anyone else. Like I don't
think anyone else could have been in that car with her. >> If someone was in the car with her, it
has to be this guy that she left grandma's with. Now, is there a chance that she dropped him somewhere and she
was alone in the car? Maybe. But there isn't a whole lot in this area. >> I was going to say this is like a pretty
rural area, right? So, personally, I think it's unlikely. Also, the direction that they were
driving is kind of interesting to me. I don't know where Britney was headed to, but like the direction she was going in
was toward Bronson. Now, she used to live in Bronson, but Bronson is away from Sturgis where she has been staying
with Sheldon. Now, the thing I'll say is that we're told a lot of drug connections lived out that way in
Bronson. So, maybe she was going to somewhere she used to live or to a connection she knew. But like, I have no
idea. Okay, so I'm buying that the mystery man is in the car with her, but like why does she call him her
boyfriend, though? >> Nobody really knows. Now, I mean, I have to say according to some family members
that we spoke to, Sheldon actually did kind of fit at least some parts of the description. Like, he is blonde. I think
he has like similarish facial hair, which I can show you, but the build, I think, was really different. And years
later, some close to the case would question just how reliable everyone's memory really was that night, right?
Like grandma's saying, "I know Sheldon's for sure, not him." But they also say grandma had a few beers. And nobody at
the house seemed to be paying particularly close attention to this guy. And I'm not like blaming them for
that. They couldn't have known the importance that like like he would become in this case. But
>> grandma says it is not Sheldon. So, to your point, why is Britney calling someone else her boyfriend? Maybe she
used the term loosely. Maybe it was someone that she was seeing on the side. Or maybe she just didn't feel like
explaining her love life to a complete stranger, right? Cuz let me tell you, her love life was pretty freaking
complicated, as we will soon get into. But just a quick observation, I've seen what's believed to be the last selfie
that Britney took from Sheldon's car before leaving that night, and she looks pretty done up.
Maybe that means absolutely nothing, but to me, it doesn't exactly scream like I'm just going to grandma's to do
laundry. >> More likely, she may have been like going out, going to meet up with
somebody. >> Yes. And if she was seeing another guy, then the question becomes, did Sheldon
know about it? When investigators circle back to Sheldon, the short answer, according to him, is no. He admits the
two weren't exactly in the best place the day that she vanished, mostly due to Brit's meth. He insists this wasn't some
like blowup fight they had or anything, more just like bickering. But he does say that before leaving the house that
night, Britney told him something along the lines of, "You're not going to like me much later, which he took to mean at
the time that she was going to go out and get high." He says he actually didn't want to lend his car to her that
night. People we spoke to told us that that car was his baby. But that night, Britney asked to borrow it so she could
go to her grandma's. And according to Sheldon, he actually even offered to drive her himself. Like it was only like
a 15-minute cruise away. But he says that Britney got irritated about this and was adamant about taking the car
alone, >> which makes sense if she's meeting up with another guy, >> which is what I think happens cuz
Sheldon helps fill in more of the timeline for November 30th. He says that she left his place likely sometime
between 5 and 6:00 p.m. And not long after, Britney called him up like half joking, half complaining. I think that
there wasn't enough gas in the car and she was going to have to stop and fill up. And after that's when we have a gap
where we think she picks someone up before going to grandma's. Now once hours pass by, Sheldon tries contacting
Britney to see where she's at. Like she's supposed to be back with his car, but she won't answer, which probably
frustrates him. Not cuz he is thinking she's with some other guy. He is thinking that she's out using and like I
said, not back with his car after he already seemed like on the fence about her taking it. And look, after talking
to people close to this case, Sheldon doesn't really seem like the jealous type. He is more so the guy that Brit
felt she could always fall back on if she needed something. So, at 9:42 p.m., he actually called a friend and his
cousin and asked them to pick him up so they could go out and look for Britney. And deputies end up confirming this with
those two people. The first place they said they checked are the Village Manor Apartments in Sturgis. Why not grandma's
if that's where she said she was going? >> Well, because according to Sheldon, Britney would go to these apartments to
visit friends and to do drugs like or get drugs. And remember, like that is what he thought was going on here, why
she isn't back. But he goes there, doesn't spot her car. So then they did go by grandma's. No car there either.
They said they drove back to the Village Manor Apartments one more time, but when
they still couldn't find her, they just went back to Sheldon's house. And it is very soon after he gets back home that
there is a knock on his door, not Britney, but police. And so now we're back to the point in the timeline that
I've already told you about when officers showed up to tell him that his car was found abandoned after this quote
unquote crash. And Sheldon said that he had no clue who Britt had been with. And
so this is one of the great mysteries of this case because there is some evidence
to suggest that Britney might not have been running from a car accident that night. She may have been running from
this man. And there are signs that mystery man may have found her. >> 911 emergency.
For 40 minutes, a man held six women captive inside Elaine Bryant store in Tinley Park, Illinois. Five were
executed and the killer escaped. >> The search continues for the gunman. >> Authorities have his face, voice, and
possible DNA. But 18 years later, this case is still unsolved. >> There was no doubt in my mind that we
were going to get this guy, and I was wrong. >> I'm Dillia Deira, and this is Counterclock season 8. Listen now,
wherever you get your podcasts. This case started with Sheldon's car going off the road. Supposedly, that is
why Britney went to John's and asked to use the phone, but there is something about that that doesn't really ring all
the way true. I mean, yes, the car went off the road, but like I said, I think it was still totally drivable. Now,
police did have it towed, probably just because it had been abandoned. Someone had fled the scene. But most people our
reporter Madison talked to said that this ditch was super shallow. Like arguably they wouldn't even call it a
real ditch. I wouldn't either. I was like on Google Maps. I've seen videos that they sent us of out like you grew
up in. >> I can like close my eyes and imagine it's like a slight divot on the shoulder
and then back >> barely. And if a car went off and I know there was a little snow on the ground
like say it was like really low to the ground. I think even just with a little bit of effort you would have been able
to get it out of there. Yeah. >> Now, to be fair, if you're on your own or like if you were high, maybe you are
really stuck. But for argument's sake, say the car could have been driven out of there. Why wouldn't she? Maybe she
was trying to get away from someone in the car. Remember, she had those small cuts and injuries that can't fully be
explained by her just going off the road, maybe tapping a little small tree that was there. Grandma said that
Britney and the mystery man seemed to be arguing a bit. And Britney's mom, Jessica Rolf, told us something
interesting about her. Believe it or not, she said that Britney actually had this habit of impulsively jumping out of
cars when she was pissed off. Like, it's something her mom had witnessed her doing before in an argument. And to
further hint at this idea that something happened in the car when Sheldon got the
car back from impound, he says the inside was trashed. Like the glove box was open. Britney's purse had supposedly
been like dumped out. Her belongings were scattered everywhere. And apparently that was exactly how it was
when first responders found it on the side of the road in the first place. So say something happened in that car
before or after it went off the road. Was Britney trying to get away from the person she was in the car with?
If so, there is a good chance that he caught up to her. Now, John isn't around anymore for us to get this story
directly from him. But Britney's dad, Greg, relayed to us that John had told someone that when he went out to his
detached garage the next morning after Britney had been at his house, it looked like someone had gone through his stuff.
The insinuation being that this had supposedly happened when Britney herself was inside with John talking to
dispatch. >> Meaning Mystery Man is in the garage, >> right? But that doesn't mean she didn't
know. >> What do you mean? >> I mean, like, I'd venture to guess people are more willing to open their
door to a young woman in trouble than a woman and a man. Like maybe she went up to use the phone, told him to wait
outside. Actually, that would make a lot of sense, especially when combined with the tidbit of info
that we get like when deputies canvas the neighborhood. So, >> okay, there isn't like much of a
neighborhood canvas. Again, you know, this area like it's >> super spread out. >> Yeah, it's pretty rural, but there was
another house not too far from John's on the same road. And someone in that house
saw Brit that night, too. According to the case file, there was this young teen who was home alone and they reported
seeing Britney outside this house wearing a big green coat just like the one that Jon had given her. And we can
be sure that this happened after she left John's. >> Right. >> But it's what happened next that's
really unsettling. So according to the report, while he watched this woman like circle from the backyard to the front,
like peering through the windows, he heard someone else knocking on his front door at the same time. Now, this
teenager was obviously like super freaked out. He's not going to answer the door for whoever is knocking. So, he
didn't see what that person looked like or anything. The question is, was this person like stalking her and looking for
her, thinking maybe, you know, she was at John's, maybe she's here, >> or now thinking what you're saying, were
they together? >> Did they travel to that second house together? >> Did they ever do searches in like the
fields? Cuz again, like looking at a map of this, this is an area like where I grew up. These houses are square miles
apart. Sometimes >> they're huge fields in between. Yeah. >> If she's barefoot and it's freezing,
there's some snow on the ground and this next house didn't open their door. Like
maybe she didn't make it any further. >> Yeah. I mean, people have wondered that
thinking that like she like either became disoriented in like the freezing dark, especially if she was using drugs,
she succumbed to the elements somewhere near the road that they're on. It's called Fawn River Road. Or they're even
thinking like, did she possibly overdose? But to answer your question, yes, they have searched and
>> they haven't found anything. So, like that makes me think that that's super unlikely. Especially when you think
about this is like late November, early December when they're searching. This is
flat flat farmland for like as far as the eye can see. >> The joke is like you can watch your dog
run away for a week like it's just there's nothing there. >> If she had just like like you know
fallen and died there or like whatever see her body >> she would have been discovered by now.
And even since those early days there have been even more searches beyond the open fields like in surrounding woods
water but still Britney has never been found. And outside of people having their own varying opinions on who he
might be, Mystery Man has never been identified. I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around because this is
this is like 2018, right? >> Yeah, this is like fairly recently. And like, >> right, did we not pull phone records?
How do we not know who she was meeting up with that night? And like what about the car? Like cuz Prince should have
been all over it if he was in it, right? >> It's so frustrating. So, we know she has
her phone with her when she leaves Sheldon. Remember, she took that selfie, >> right? But I don't know what happened to
her phone because actually, one of the things I keep wondering is why she wouldn't use that to call for help.
Like, why did she even need to go to John's farmhouse at all? And according to Sheldon, it hadn't been left behind
in his car when he went to pick it up. So, the only thing that I can come up with as far as her phone goes is like
>> A, maybe mystery man took it and like that's why she needed to go to John's. >> Or B, like I'm trying to think back to
2018, was this a world where like there was bad service? Like, I mean, it could definitely be spotty for sure. And
listen, I know according to the case file, authorities attempted to ping it, but whatever ping they tried to do just
didn't work. like the phone was either off or it was roaming or there was like no service.
>> Okay. But can't they see where it was like before it went offline? >> I would think, but there is no detail in
the records about this and law enforcement wouldn't talk to us. So, I don't know exactly what they did or
didn't pull. And I believe it may have been like a a prepaid or like pay as you go kind of thing. So, like I don't know
if that factors in. But even still, I don't know what they tried to track locationwise or like communicationwise
like related to that phone. But if anything, I assume it didn't lead them to mystery man or we wouldn't be here
talking about it. >> Oh, right. And what about the car? >> So, oh, that is the thing that's going
to frustrate you. It was just never processed. I guess because they just assumed initially that this was like a
girl who didn't want to be found. Like they're not thinking foul play, especially not at first. So, like they
just give it back to Sheldon. He just goes to pick it up from impound, no problem. And then I don't know if like
by the time they like realize what's going on, they're like, "Oh well, too late." To me, it's never too late, but
like never gets processed. >> But at least in giving evidence back to Sheldon, they did get a statement from
him. >> And he starts telling police about the people that Britney was known to go see,
starting with a woman named Ashley Hulie. And Ashley's interesting because she lives at the same Village Manor
apartments in Sturgis where Sheldon first went looking for Britney the night that she vanished. It wasn't grandma's
house he went to. It was there, right? >> And Sheldon told investigators that he
did that because Britney regularly went there to buy and use meth. But Ashley wasn't just some random drug dealer.
When she comes in to speak with investigators, she tells them just how deeply she was tied to Britney. They're
sisters. and she's desperate to find her and she is already trying to do whatever
she can to help. Except that's a lie. She did seem to be inserting herself into the investigation, but she is not
Britney's blood sister. Britney's dad is like, I don't even know who this woman is.
>> What? >> Now, Ashley does eventually clarify that she and Britney are not biologically
related. They're just like really close. And in a later interview, she'd eventually say that Britney was her best
friend, but she didn't know if she was Britney's. And some of Britney's family says Ashley may not have been nearly as
close to Britney as she was presenting herself to be. And over time, they start wondering whether Ashley is genuinely
trying to help solve Britney's disappearance because like I said, she just keeps like putting herself in the
middle or whether she may be trying to steer attention away from something else entirely.
But what? According to Ashley, she and Britt had recently been in touch. But pinning down exactly when they last
spoke or saw each other gets a bit tricky because in one part of her interview, Ashley tells investigators
that the last time she physically saw Britney was November 23rd. >> Okay. >> Then later she changes that to November
28th. But she says the last contact of any kind she had with Britney was through Facebook Messenger on November
30th, the very day she vanished. And listen, from what we know, that communication was friendly enough. Like
Brit was just checking in on her. >> And what did their other interactions say? Like further back.
>> Well, I'd love to tell you, but and this is jumping ahead just a little bit, something weird ends up happening with
Britney's social media. People we spoke to told us that Facebook Messenger was like one of the main ways that Britney
communicated, but everything on her social media had gone completely dark since she disappeared. Except months
after she had been missing, a friend notices that one of her Facebook accounts suddenly appears active again.
So, she tells Brit's mom, Jessica Rolf, who then notifies law enforcement. And it's not like she is talking to anyone
or like posting anything normally. the account just starts doing these strange things like they think stuff was
possibly being like hidden, deleted, altered in some way. Then apparently some of Brit's conversations with Ashley
start disappearing. Now, I know investigators took the activity seriously enough that in July of 2019,
they requested emergency Facebook records tied to Britney's account and they obtained IP address information
connected to the login. But a freaking course, their findings aren't documented in the files that we got access to.
>> Why would they be? >> But I do believe at least some of that activity that happened on her account
can be tied to Ashley because our reporter Madison got in touch with Ashley and she did agree to answer some
questions via Facebook Messenger, of course, but they did end up hopping on a quick call later for some like
follow-ups at the last minute, too. Now, Ashley acknowledges that she did in fact
access some of Brit's online accounts after she disappeared, but she says that it's not in the way
that's like being portrayed, like it wasn't malicious. She says that Sheldon sent her a picture of like notebooks
that Britney kept with passwords and account recovery information, and that they were like hoping those accounts
might reveal who Britney had been talking to before she went missing. According to Ashley, most of the
passwords no longer worked. And she says she was only able to get into that one Facebook account and later she told
detectives that she had access to it. They asked her to stop going in. She says she did. But then months later she
says that a private investigator approached her for help accessing the additional accounts. And so Ashley says
that she believed that this PI was like working with law enforcement and like again she was trying to help. She says
she wasn't trying to like alter evidence or hide information. She says that she was simply looking for clues that might
help locate Britney. And here's the thing she says isn't correct about any of these allegations. She says that lots
of stuff was already gone before she got access to it. And according to her, it wasn't even just messages between her
and Britt that got deleted either. She says there were lots more. But both of Brit's parents dispute that. Who else
has got deleted? Her parents say that there is at least one other person whose messages seem to have been messed with.
It was actually the one other person whose name kept coming up over and over again with Ashley's as they like police
and her family were talking to people. And that is Eric Shank, Britney's husband.
>> One her what? But two of these names are also giving me a hard time. Actually
>> gosh, Eric, I know I know. Listen, I told you that her love life is complicated and buckle up because this
is where the case really takes a turn. Eric Shank is Britney's ex, but still he was technically her husband in November
of 2018. They're separated, but still legally married and sharing two children. Britney had reportedly started
filling out divorce papers shortly before she disappeared to try and make things official. Now, whatever
arrangement they had going on meant that Britney was free to date Sheldon or whoever else she wanted. But
emotionally, things were messier than that. Because according to Britney's mom, Jessica,
even though the relationship had become incredibly toxic due to drugs, Britney and Eric still had this intense pull
toward one another. like they could split up and somehow still always end up right back in each other's orbit. And by
the time Britney goes missing, she may be back with Sheldon, but Eric is still deeply woven into her everyday life and
into their little friend group because Eric knows Ashley well, too. He goes to her apartment to buy and use drugs, too.
And when he's later asked where he was when Britney went missing, Eric remembered staying over at Ashley's
apartment that entire night. Oh, that is part of why some of Britney's family starts paying such close attention to
Ashley moving forward. She is basically Eric's alibi and Eric hers. And when we asked her about that night, Ashley, I
mean, she said Eric came over at like 8:40 p.m. and then was there like most of the time.
>> So, perfect alibi for the kind of exact time that Britney goes missing. >> Yes. But around 1:00 a.m., she says that
he left, took her car to put air in the tires and then it sounds like he like comes back and then he eventually like
leaves her place again to go back home to his parents at around like 2:00 a.m. >> Quick question. Were they like together
together? Like my husband's not running out to fill up my tires at 1:00 in the morning.
>> I They say no. Like Ashley was actually dating someone else at the time. This
guy named Curtis Polly who everyone called Pocket. Get it? I got it. But um Ashley being tied up with someone
else or not. I think the thing that's important here is that Britney's mom, Jessica, told us she believes there is
no way that Britney would have been cool with how close they seemingly were. And
Ashley herself tells detectives that she thought Britney wanted to work things out with Eric, even though she was
seeing Sheldon. But what Ashley is saying doesn't exactly pass the sniff test. And I'll give you an example. I'm
sorry. him staying over at her house late night isn't the example. >> Well, that could have been anything,
Brit, you know, >> but honestly, truly, it maybe it was about like the drugs. Maybe he crashed
there. Also, it sounds like he's up and out and about at like 1:00 in the morning. Like maybe no one's crashing
and they're just like hanging out. It's hard to prove anything with that. But this next thing, especially the timing,
is a little bit harder to argue with. It's body cam footage from a traffic stop in Three Rivers, Michigan,
involving Eric from December 23rd, 2018. So, we're talking like three weeks after
Britney went missing. >> Is it your your car, Eric? >> No, it's not. >> No, we just borrowed it for a friend of
his. >> You what? >> I borrowed it from uh >> my girlfriend. We've been out in the damn woods all
day. What are you guys doing out in the woods? >> Looking for my wife. >> She missing?
>> Yeah, she's been Wallace. She's been missing since November 30th. >> Brit, do you want to guess who he says
his girlfriend is? >> All right. So, I'm following this black Ford SUV with a plate out of stir just
registered to Ashley Hulie showing no insurance and it's cutting through the First W neighborhood using side streets.
So, I make a traffic stop on it because it's not insured. It's Eric Shank driving. Uh he's on a restricted license
and John Fox Jr.'s in the passenger seat. >> Now, Ashley's relationship with Eric is
one of the things that we asked her about. And she did admit to us that after Britney vanished, she and Eric
spent a lot of time together because they were both caught up in the search. They were using drugs. They were dealing
with intense emotions. And Ashley acknowledges that their relationship did eventually become intimate, but she
maintains that happened only after Britney's disappearance. She says it was not during the time of this traffic stop
when he is calling her his girlfriend or even before. So anyways, back to this stop cuz there is more here. The
officers like are searching the car as part of this and it sounds like they're like concerned about drugs. But when
they ask John Fox Jr. or JJ as he's known, if he's got anything on him. He explains that he's got a notepad in his
pocket full of names because he's trying to figure out what he described as some
sex trafficking thing that's been going on. And I can't be 100% sure, but I think he's insinuating that this sex
trafficking thing has something to do with their search for Britney. Maybe even like why they've been out in the
woods all day. But weirdly, these officers like don't press. I mean, you can definitely sense that they're like
skeptical about why they're really out there. >> But remember, Brit's missing person case
isn't theirs. Like, this is Three Rivers. She went missing in St. Joseph County.
>> So, they have no reason to connect these dots. >> Exactly. Now, when Ashley shows up to
the scene, cuz she had been called, it's her vehicle that they're in. >> And when she's asked by an officer, she
does in that moment deny that she is Eric's girlfriend, saying that he's like just a friend. But she's clearly upset
that her car is going to get impounded. She says like she can't afford it, that she has already been through a lot. And
then the situation just kind of like escalates from there fast. They say she's not cooperating and she ends up in
handcuffs. And then she claims officers hit her head on the car while arresting her. JJ and Eric, on the other hand,
appear to be staying like cool as cucumbers. And even though officers find needles, needle caps, and a billy club
type impact weapon, >> a what? >> Like, you know, one of those like um it's like a heavy like duty nightstick
kind of thing. Like a police like a police baton. Still, they decide to give these guys a break because it's the day
before Christmas Eve. >> Happy holidays, folks. So, all things considered, Eric and JJ seemingly like
make it out of this traffic stop pretty much unscathed. But here's like another reason why I think this stop is so
important. And it has to do with JJ, the passenger in the car. So, remember in our timeline of November 30th, after
Britt leaves the house in Sheldon's car, Sheldon said that she had called him up
complaining that there wasn't enough gas. She was going to have to like stop, fill it up, whatever. Mhm.
>> So, if Britt did end up stopping for gas that night, that would make sense. Well,
what if I told you there is reason to believe Ashley had the receipt from the transaction in her possession at some
point? >> Ashley, who's saying she didn't see Britney at all that particular day?
>> That's the one. >> Cool. So, this receipt is for 20 bucks worth of gas at the Marathon Station on
Fawn River Road. It is timestamped for 6:11 p.m. on November 30th, and it appears to have Brit's account
information on it, but investigators don't end up with the physical copy of the receipt. They end up with photos of
the receipt that Ashley had. That's somehow almost weirder. >> I know, weirder to me is that she's not
even the one who originally brought it to their attention either. Okay, but why does she have them?
>> Okay, so this is all according to a later interview that she does with detectives.
>> Okay, >> basically she tells them that her Ford Explorer had been stolen sometime near
the end of January, beginning of February 2019. So this is like to put it in context, like 2 months after Brit
went missing. >> Okay. >> 2 months after her car is taken, it's finally recovered.
>> Okay. She says that when she got her car back, there was this garbage bag full of
just like random items and trash inside the vehicle. And Ashley said she started
like digging through the bag trying to get proof of who took her car to see what they've been up to or whatever. And
she claims that is where the gas receipt turned up. So, she said she snapped a picture of it. And to be fair, she said
she took photos of a lot of things that she found in that bag. And she said she didn't realize the significance of the
receipt until it had already been thrown away. >> But if you didn't think it was
important, then why take a photo of it then? >> I mean, that's literally what Mads asked
her to. And Ashley said something that I think kind of contradicts what I just told you from her official statement to
investigators. She tells Mads now that she actually did notice the November 30th date, the time, like the specific
gas station. And she said she had this gut feeling that it might be connected to Brit. Even though at that point in
time she said that no one was thinking foul play yet. Like it's important if there was foul play that no one's
thinking about yet >> there. Yeah. Like what >> cuz she's like at that point they're
just like trying to when she finds it like track down her friend. I don't know. But I do know that back when she
was telling police this, she did believe she knew who took her vehicle like and and who had it for like 2 months. And
here we're coming back. John Box Jr. JJ. JJ. She told Madison she's confident it
was JJ because she claims he literally took off with her keys, left her a note saying he was borrowing it, and then
just like never bothered bringing it back. Oh, the thing is she's not necessarily saying that like he's the
one who had the receipt initially. She's kind of just like, you know, it could have easily been like any one of the
many people in the circle that he associated with that he could have like picked up or been in the vehicle or
borrowed the vehicle in like the time period that she is saying she did not have it. But here's the thing, the gas
receipt isn't the only thing connected to Britney that somehow resurfaces after she disappears. Because remember,
Britney's phone never recovered from Sheldon's car or anywhere else. That's still not totally found after the crash.
And this did always strike her family as odd because according to Jessica, Britney would have like fought somebody
over that phone. So, for it to be completely like gone that night with her, like seemingly untraceable, that's
always been like a big mystery. Like, they're thinking that it has to be with her, right? Who who is missing? That's
the only thing that makes sense. But then this happens. So, Eric Shank showed up to one of the early searches for
Britney, dropped off by Ashley, by the way, even though Brit's family told us that like at this point in time, like
they did not even know who she was. But it is like in this one of like early day
searches that he claims to have found part of Brit's phone. >> Part of it. >> Part. So according to people close to
the case, what Eric allegedly said he found was the back plate from a Samsung phone that resembled the one that
Britney had been using before she disappeared. This Samsung J337P. And we know that that's reportedly the
same model tied to the selfie that Britney took before leaving Sheldon's that night. It all seems to match up,
but some of Brit's family tell us that they're suspicious of this whole like finding because according to them, Eric
was like off searching by himself in a field near the crash site when he made this alleged discovery. No one else from
the search party was there to witness it. And what's even weirder, Brit's mom, Jessica, said that he didn't even like
run over to the rest of the group and tell them like, "I found this clue." Jessica said that he just like left and
she learned about it later. In the case file, there is mention of a ZTE, cell phone missing back plate, listed under
the evidence, but there's like no other details. I don't know if this is the one
that we're talking about. And they don't give any like notes in the file about like who ended up turning it in, when
that happened, >> or if investigators were ever even able to confirm that it was in fact
Britney's. Still, the family can't help but wonder, did Eric genuinely stumble across part of Britney's phone while
searching for her, or did he somehow already have it? >> Did anyone ever just ask him?
>> Not really. Uh, even though Eric is her husband, >> even though he is allegedly finding
evidence, even though he is tied up in some weird way to Ashley, who seems to keep finding herself at the center of
this thing, St. Joseph County investigators don't seem to question Eric at all until more than 6 months
after Britney went missing. And even that appears to have been this like super short interaction from what I can
tell. During that little chat, Eric even admitted he hadn't spoken directly with
any law enforcement about Brit's case before, and he had only passed information through guess who, Ashley.
And it wouldn't be until nearly five freaking years later that they would actually sit him down for a 45minute
formal recorded interview. >> How is this even remotely acceptable for an investigation? You tell me. As
someone from the Michigan area, it is embarrassing. >> Yes. >> Now, while the St. Joseph County
Sheriff's Office did provide us with the records, they never got back to us regarding our request for an interview.
But you know what is so bizarre about all of this Eric and Ashley stuff? >> I mean, I could go on, but you're going
to tell me something new. Whether it was only with like the pure intentions like
that Ashley describes, there is no doubting that Ashley puts herself at the heart of this case. She is definitely
cooperating with investigators, providing them with theories and leads to chase down people she thinks should
be looked at as a suspect. But for some reason, at least in the files we have, in all of the talking and fingerpointing
she's doing, she never seems to suggest that they look at Eric. Instead, she really focuses her
attention on someone else close to Britney. Not Eric, not JJ, the one who supposedly had this like freaking
receipt or like some kind of connection to someone who had the receipt or whatever. No, she turns the tables on
Britney's own mom, Jessica Ralph. Now, to be fair, we know that Jessica is suspicious of Ashley, too. So, they're
both pointing the finger at each other. And the accusations against Jessica kind
of stick for at least a brief moment in time. And that's because of some disturbing voice memos between mother
and daughter that end up getting leaked. Ashley Hulie believes Britney's mom, Jessica Rolf, at the very least knows
more than she's saying about what happened to Britney. Because according to the case file, there was speculation
that Brit's disappearance was somehow linked to retaliation of some sort. like maybe Jessica owed some dangerous people
money or there were like stolen drugs or something of like of the sort there. Now, to be very clear, investigators
never publicly substantiated any of those claims against Jessica. But this is where the case really starts
spiraling because even by Jessica's own account, she and Britney did have a complicated relationship. They fought
about drug use. They fought about the custody of Britney's children. And Jessica admits that she and Britney had
even fought over men. They had been involved with two of the same guys over the years, although apparently like at
different times. You can imagine this left a lot of room for rumors to run rampant, especially considering Jessica
herself was wrapped up in the local drug scene and struggling with substance use
back then. So, none of it looked good. But after several years of what seems like back and forth fingerpointing,
this video gets blasted online that plays horribly for Jessica. It's a recording of one of their motherdaughter
arguments from not too long before Britt went missing. And I'm going be honest, it is hard to hear, but because it is
already out there and it has become part of the narrative surrounding this case,
I felt like it was important to acknowledge and to play for you, to play for everyone listening, but it has been
edited down slightly for time sake. This is from about a month before Brit went missing. And these voice memos seem to
center around a man named Daniel, who Britney had dated and then Jessica had had a thing with. Now, Daniel seemed to
be stoking the fire around like Britney's custody of her children. She had recently given up custody, and her
mom was furious. First off, you destroyed yourself. You are a toxic waste to everything and
everybody you touch. Secondly, no, I'm not going to threaten you about jail. I'm not going to
threaten you about Daniel. I am kind of throwing you about Daniel, but um you need to shut your big ass mouth. Don't
be making phone calls. Don't be sending people to to sending messages like you are full of [ __ ] and everybody knows it.
You're sick in the head. There's something wrong with you. Seek help. That's what you need to do
immediately. You with people's lives. You tormented mine. You torment your dads. You torment
everybody's. You torment Daniel. You torment your children. You You suck, dude. You You suck. You
suck the life right out of people. Nobody likes you. We do not want to talk to you. We do not want to hear from you.
>> Yep. And you're blocked again. And no, actually, I'm doing great. Thank you. But you have a good one
and don't contact me anymore. You're not my mom. Like you mean nothing to me. And as far as Daniel, that was my
closure. I don't really give a um other than that, I don't have anything to say. So have a nice life. Stop
contacting me. And no, I get to see my kids on a regular basis. All of them. Thank you.
So, stop texting him, stop calling him, stop emailing him, stop everything, stop
having people contact him or I am going to let everybody know where little Miss Britney is at.
And I'm going to ruin your life. Stay the away from everybody. I was just granted visitation with my
boys, so it doesn't really matter. where you do you and I'll do me and you can live your dope style life with Daniel
and let him keep ruining your life, too. He's a piece of [ __ ] I don't give a about him.
And I moved back out of state, so it doesn't really matter. And yep, that's why my dad talks to me
on a regular basis now, too. Huh. And as far as Daniel goes, I'm with somebody, so I don't really give a [ __ ]
Like I said, that was just my closure. I could care less about him. Those are tough. I'm telling you,
>> tough to listen to. And what I'll say is this. Jessica told us that she is not
proud of what she said. She seemed to own it, though. These voice memos haunt her. They are played over and over
again. sometimes when she least is expecting it. One of her lowest moments on repeat. But she says it's taught her
to be more careful about what she says out of anger because you never know what your last words to someone might be. And
those being hers to Brit is something that she has to live with now. But she is adamant that no matter how ugly those
recordings sound, Britney did not deserve what happened to her. She never wanted any harm to come to her daughter.
and she firmly believes that Ashley put those out just to make her look bad and to divert suspicion away from her and
Eric. And Ashley admitted to us, yes, she was the one who originally got access to that video, but she says the
story is a bit more complicated than that because she claims at one point she was helping Jessica get into an old
Facebook account while they were still on good terms. But like long story short, that changes. They're no longer
cool. And then she finds these voice memos between Britt and Jessica on Jessica's account. So while she says
she's the one who discovered them, she also is saying she's not the one responsible for actually circulating
them online. She said that she only shared it with some of Brit's other family members, like people she thought
needed to know. And like that's how it got blasted out. Now, when all of this is said and done, there is nothing that
I've come across that seems to put Jessica with her daughter the night that she went missing or anywhere near Fawn
River Road. You mean like a gas receipt like that? I get that where there's smoke there's usually fire, but what I
am really struggling to find here is the why. Like, let's say Ashley and Eric, at
least at a minimum, know a little bit more than what they're saying. What do they know?
Why did she go missing? Because I've been out there. I've been in stress. Yeah. >> I I really struggled to believe that
this is a random person who could have picked her up. Like, where does this mystery man come in in all of this?
>> Well, it is possible that mystery man isn't that much of a mystery at all because
>> wait, did anyone look at at Daniel? >> Oh, they definitely looked at Daniel like obviously due to all the drama like
and stuff. >> Um, not Daniel. He like apparently was living at the Florida at the time though
I there was like some back and forth questions like was he wasn't he? I don't know. I don't think it matters because
he is like ultra tatted like even on his face so like >> identifiable. >> Yeah. But anyways, not Daniel but still
might be someone she already knows. Like don't get me wrong, mystery man has still never conclusively been
identified. But here is the thing about the sketches that were done of Mystery Guy. So the first one, the one that I
showed you already, that one was done by like Grandma's description in 2019, a couple of months after like the
incident. That's the guy with like the long skinny face, the sideburns. >> That one didn't really get circulated
publicly. Like for some reason, investigators only seem to show it to some people they talked to asking who it
like looked like to them. Britney's dad, Greg, who is Grandma Vickiy's son, told
us that he was told detectives never really completely trusted that sketch, which he's like, "Look, I kind of get
it." Like, right? Remember, their interaction was super brief. Like, people were in and out of that house all
the time. Perhaps that one was wrong. But for some unknown reason, detectives thought that they could get something
better, even if it was like way down the line. So, in 2023, they get like a whole
news sketch from Britney's cousin, who was apparently around when Brit and this mystery guy were there.
>> How was something done 5 years later, more accurate than grandma a couple months out?
>> The only thing that like I can make make sense for myself is like the person,
this cousin who gives this, they were a teenager. So, like total shot in the dark. Maybe they hadn't been like
drinking like other people in the house or like were intoxicated in some way like more like clear-minded.
>> Either way, somehow police feel confident in this second one. Now, I'm going to still post both just in case
like they're not wildly different in my opinion. And all of that to say between the two, first, second, whatever. Some
people thought that the general description of this mystery man maybe kind of sort of fit Sheldon. We know
that, right? Despite the family knowing him. But some people have also wondered whether Eric could have been the mystery
man at grandma's house. How would they know Sheldon but not Eric, though? On paper, I know that sounds like
ridiculous, but according to people close to the family, most of the family hadn't seen Eric in a long time. Like,
him and Britt are separated. They're not living together. And in that time, I guess his appearance had apparently
changed drastically, likely due to his drug use. So Brit, that body cam footage of the traffic stop that we got earlier,
that actually may be one of the most accurate views we have of Eric circa the time Britney like vanished cuz that's
from December 2018, remember? >> And like there's something like I noticed >> there's sideburns.
>> Uhhuh. But the other problem I have though is like he's got a big beard and glasses and we heard that he strictly
was like a glasses guy. >> Yeah. I honestly don't see how it could be him. Yeah, you would think that that
would have like stood out. Plus, remember based on the timeline Ashley gave us, it probably wouldn't have
worked for Eric to be Mystery Man. But if we believe that, we have to believe that the timeline Ashley is giving us is
accurate. Okay, let's just say mystery man isn't Eric. It still feels like he knows something. So again, I ask why?
like who actually has motive to want Britney gone? Of all of the things that have come up over the years, all of the
rumors, all of the fingerpointing, I'm telling you, this case is like a you can get lost in it.
>> Mhm. >> I don't have like a firm this is it reason to point to, but there is something that I can point to and say I
think the answer might be hereish. So, we got word that Britney had been talking to this guy named Zachary Bowman
seemingly romantically. And the very evening that she went missing, they talked on the phone several times. Like,
it even sounds like one of these calls took place on her way to grandma's. >> Is he Mystery Man?
>> Well, that this I know is not possible because he is in prison at the time. That is the only reason that we even
solidly know about these calls. >> Okay. I was going to ask that again. >> They're recorded on a prison line. and
Brit, it sounds like we are the first ones to obtain these recordings. So, >> I was praying that there was going to be
some new tidbit of information from them. Like maybe Brit would drop a name or a location, a hint, and we would hear
some like something strange in the background. Anything because I definitely believe that she picked up
mystery man on the way to Grandma's. And although she doesn't end up revealing who it was who was going to be with her
that night, I do think there is something in one of these calls that we got that could be telling. But I need to
give you some quick background context first. So at the time that Britney goes missing, we know that Ashley says that
she's dating a guy that I mentioned earlier, Pocket, real name Curtis Polly. So, part of her alibi outside of Eric
being over at her place for most of the night is that she stayed home upset because Pocket had apparently just been
picked up by police. Apparently, he'd previously been on probation for something drugrelated and decided to
ditch his monitoring device. So, in one of the calls with Zach, it sounds like Britney is maybe just about to leave
Sheldon's house for the evening. And I'm going to play you a short clip. Take a listen and then we'll talk about it.
Oh my god. I have to tell you something. What's wrong? >> Paulie went to jail. >> Polly?
>> Yeah. He got picked up yesterday >> at seven at night. >> Huh? >> I ain't going to lose no sleep o over
it. >> You That means he just absorbing or catching more charges. I have no idea. Ashley hasn't said
anything to me. Well, I asked her about it, but she hasn't responded. >> It means if he's in jail, I can get word
to him now. >> Yep. >> I mean, I could have been a first. >> Well, you No, no, you better. No, don't
do that right now. You need to wait a little bit. Only cuz when I was up, I don't I don't
need anything to come back on me. I don't need him to get a hair in his ass because of what he said to me got
repeated back to you. You feel me? >> What's up? >> I said I don't I don't need him wanting
to do some revengeful [ __ ] because something that he said to me got back to you while he's in there sitting on
whatever he's sitting. >> It don't matter what was said. Period. It all comes out anyway. It don't
matter. I always find out anything. It doesn't matter what it is. This is how it's been. It was like that with all my
baby mamas. I'm not talking my cat to you know what you're talking about. Bye. >> What's up?
>> I was telling him, >> but no, I can't I can't say what I want to say over the phone, but there's a
reason why I don't want you to say anything right now. >> I was hanging I was hanging around Eric
um his uh pockets lady and pocket. Okay. So, I don't I don't need anything said right now.
>> It feels like they're like talking in a code. I mean, probably they know they're
being recorded, right? >> And I don't know about you, like I feel like there's like some tension there.
Like code or no code. Like the vibe I get is that Britney has been hanging out with Eric, Ashley, and Ashley's
boyfriend, Pocket, who is now in jail, where Zach is already at. And it sounds like Britt has something like maybe some
dirt on at least one of them and she doesn't want what she has like getting back to that person or to someone and
like I don't know maybe this means nothing. >> I mean I definitely sensed something
>> same. So what's Zach in prison for then? also something drugreated, but like seemingly separate, not whatever like
Pocket was like going away for. >> Okay. >> I don't know. Maybe Britney or Zach like
knew how Pocket like ended up getting picked up by police. Like could Brit have been the one who ratted him out? I
don't know. Our reporter Madison tried tracking down Zach and Pocket, hoping that they might remember what the heck
she was talking about, but she has not had any luck reaching them. And of course, we tried reaching out to
everyone named in this episode, too, including Eric Shank. But as of this recording, Eric never got back to us.
And listen, when we asked Ashley straight up if she is involved or if she knows more, she said most definitely
not. And I want to point something out that I find like pretty odd. And I'm not sure like where the disconnect is, but
it's like concerning no matter what is going on here. So, in the case file, there is this mention of detectives
talking to Ashley about potentially taking a polygraph, but then there's like no info on whether or not they
followed through. So, obviously, we ask people like we were speaking to about this. Did they hear about the results?
Did it happen? And Britney's dad, Greg, told Madison that St. Joseph County Sheriff's Office told him that both
Ashley and Eric ended up taking polygraphs and they passed. But plot twist, Ashley told Mads that she never
ended up taking one. >> But wouldn't a a pass polygraph be good for her? Like that would like help her
>> I would think so. She told us she was supposed to take one. Like she even went
in for it and she spent more than 3 hours being like pre-screened only to ultimately not be tested because the
examiner felt like she hadn't gotten enough sleep. Well, apparently like she had been on the road a lot for work
around that time. And she said that she spent several months trying to coordinate a second exam with a
detective, but then like it eventually just like died off. >> I I can't even like come up with a
reason for any of that to make sense, >> right? Like is someone in law enforcement so confused that they're
like imagining polygraphs that never happened? >> Or or is maybe like Ashley confused
about the prequests, like the pre-screening? Maybe they just told her it was like the beginning part, but it
wasn't. >> I mean, I doubt it. I like for at least from what I know and and and admittedly
like I don't I've never seen like all a bunch of polygraphs like but I think that like they do the pre-screen before
you're like hooked up to the machine. I think you would know if you were taking a polygraph,
>> right? I mean this is this is just like the perfect example in my mind of like
this encapsulates the case. Like we're missing something. >> I think we are missing a piece. I really
think someone out there has to have the piece. So like this is my plug to everyone to reach out to us tipsuck.com
because Brett I find that with the stories that have this like kind of local following people tend to come out
of the woodwork with important information and no matter which theory you follow like something just doesn't
work here. And maybe that's because what happened wasn't planned. I mean I think
there's a real possibility something spiraled. Maybe tensions that had already been brewing finally boiled
over. Maybe drugs were involved. It could have been an accident. And people panicked afterward. Some people believe
that Mystery Man eventually caught back up with Britney after she left John's house, called for help, like went by
that second house, and then like whatever happened next just went horribly wrong. Others have even
speculated that Britney may have been hit by a car sometime after leaving that teen's house. Maybe Mystery Man had
called for a ride for them. that person hit her and then it was covered up. And honestly, when you remember how dark and
foggy those roads were that night, there was like a little bit of snow plus the possibility of drugs being involved,
like it's not hard to imagine how quickly things could have taken a dangerous turn. Almost every scenario in
my mind, though, involves someone else. Mystery Man hasn't come forward, so there has got to be a reason for that,
right? Like if he knows what happened, he had to have gotten a ride out of there from someone with or without
Britney. I want to know who else was in that area. I mean, we know detectives didn't even talk to Eric for forever.
Like, did they get his phone records? Ashley's, JJ's, anybody's. I would love to know who was in communication with
who that night. Maybe one of them were even out that way. I mean, Google doesn't offer geoloccation info to
police anymore, but they did for a long time after this case. I want to know what detectives have and who was in that
area. And as unlikely as it seems, it is possible that there was someone out there who isn't part of Britney's
circle. I mean, there was some like super strange events that happened like out that way after she vanished. Like
for example, a couple of weeks after Britney goes missing, a woman in a neighboring county reported that someone
driving a white Cadillac stole gas off her farm. Seemingly unrelated, right? Well, the ring cam footage of the event
ends up being circulated, and that's when some people in town start saying that they can hear Britney screaming in
the background like maybe she was being held captive by the guys who were in this car.
Hey, hey, hey. >> Even Grandma Vicki reportedly thought that the man who turned out to be the
driver of that car resembled Mystery Man. But the man later claimed that it was only a friend asleep in the car who
he had like startled awake or something. And deputies did process the vehicle, even recovered blood evidence. But when
testing came back, the samples belonged to two unidentified men. Dead end. Then there was an abandoned property off
of guess where? Fawn River Road that investigators paid really close attention to. This was like a place tied
to rumors like basically that after the crash Britney had been taken there against her will where she was
subsequently assaulted, tortured, and eventually killed. There had also been sex trafficking rumors tied to this
house, which I think is important to mention, knowing what JJ brought up earlier in that body cam footage.
>> And what really like fueled this theory around this house was the fact that it
burned down via arson, possibly to try and cover things up. Investigators photographed the scene,
searched the property multiple times, even collected evidence, all after the fire, and they even found women's
underwear that looked like it was the kind that Britt wore, like found near a burn pit. There was a knife with what
looked like possible blood stains in the basement along with more suspicious stains on the basement floor. Again, you
you're thinking like, "This has to be it." I guess all of it turned out to be nothing. Apparently, it wasn't actually
blood. and likely nothing connected to this case. And Brett, there is so much more where that came from. Stuff like
this, if anyone were to want to go down like a deep rabbit hole, there is this podcast called Hideandsek hosted by
James Basinger. He is like deep deep deep in this case. Has been for literal years. The guy's done like 50 plus
episodes just on Britney's case. That's how much there is to this. So, anyone who wants can go take a listen.
Britney's case was his third season. He's done a couple now. I I really like the one that he did, his first season on
Nancy Moyer. So, that's hideand-seek. Go listen. You can go way deeper. You'll hear I mean, so many stories like this.
And like, this is the thing about these stories. Like, some of them are so detailed and specific and disturbing
that part of me wonders like, >> how could all of this just be made up? But then there's another part of me that
wonders like what if what we're really seeing here is just like an entire community trying to make sense of
something horrific after one of their own vanished. Because sadly in worlds shaped by instability and rocky
relationships and paranoia, trust disappears fast. People hide things. People protect each other. Stories
shift. Rumors spread faster than actual facts do. And once fear enters the picture, every coincidence starts
feeling sinister. >> So, I keep coming back to the simple things, the Facebook messages that
disappeared. How did Britney's gas receipt actually turn up? I think somebody out there really does know
exactly what happened to Britney Wallace Shank that day, November 30th, 2018. And
maybe all the accusations and the chaos and the outlandish stories just served another purpose. entirely. Maybe it was
creating so much noise that detectives would never find the truth buried underneath it. But I believe the answers
are there. And I believe that the right person can still get to them. So if any of our listeners know anything about the
disappearance of Britney Wallace Shank, especially if you recognize the man in the sketches, which we've also posted to
our blog post, you can contact the St. Joseph County Sheriff's Office at 269-467945.

On November 30, 2018, a 911 call came in from a rural property near Fawn River Road outside Sturgis, Michigan. A young woman had appeared at a stranger’s door. She was barefoot, had cuts on her arms and feet, and said the vehicle she was riding in had gone off the road. She claimed the man she was with had taken off.Moments later, before deputies could arrive, she disappeared into the darkness. That woman was Brittany Wallace Shank. She has never been seen again.

In this episode, Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat investigate a baffling disappearance that has generated years of rumors, conflicting stories, and unanswered questions. You’ll hear the 911 call that became the last confirmed interaction with Brittany Wallace Shank, what happened after a vehicle was abandoned near Fawn River Road in St. Joseph County, Michigan, the unidentified man Brittany was reportedly with before she vanished, the complicated relationships and shifting accounts that followed, the evidence that surfaced after Brittany disappeared, and why investigators are still searching for answers nearly seven years later

As investigators dug deeper, they uncovered conflicting witness statements about Brittany’s final hours, missing digital communications and social media activity, mysterious evidence discovered after her disappearance, reports of a man Brittany’s family and investigators have never identified, and a case that continues to divide those closest to it.

Brittany Wallace Shank was a 23 year old mother of four trying to rebuild her life when she vanished.

If you know anything about the disappearance of Brittany Wallace Shank - especially if you recognize the man in the sketches we shared, you can contact the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office at (269) 467-9045. -------- Follow Crime Junkie: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crimejunkiepodcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CrimeJunkiePodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrimeJunkiePod Crime Junkie is created and hosted by Ashley Flowers.

About Ashley Flowers Ashley Flowers is the top female podcaster in the U.S. and the host of Crime Junkie, the #1 podcast among women and the #1 true crime podcast globally. As the Founder of Audiochuck, she has built a top-tier podcast production company that has garnered over 2.6 billion downloads, captivating audiences with its gripping storytelling through 10+ chart topping podcasts. Ashley and her team are dedicated to creating responsible true crime content that respects victims and their families.

Follow Ashley: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ASHLEYFLOWERS/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ash_flowers TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ashleyflowerscrimejunkie Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashleyflowers.af/

Check out these other great crime channels: @annieelise 'Maternal Instinct' Taylor Parker's UNEDITED & UNCUT Interrogation at the Hospital https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEG12NTJ138 @kallmekris The Brutal Sugarcane Serial Killer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWPv4a262G0 @KendallRae Alaskan Teen Snatched By Killer Cop? The Murder Of Sonya Ivanoff https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm0qp68e98E @christinaarandall What Netflix Left Out of The Documentary Maternal Instinct | Wade Tells ALL | Taylor Parker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er0oaFITa-k

Brief Summary

Britney Wallace Shank vanished after a 911 call for help, leading to a complex investigation involving her boyfriend and an unidentified man.

Key points

The Mysterious Disappearance of Britney Wallace Shank. Britney shows up at a stranger's door after a car accident, but vanishes before help arrives.
The Mystery Man. Questions arise about a mysterious man seen with Britney before her disappearance.
The Mystery of Britney's Disappearance. Britney's last known whereabouts raise questions about her fate and the people involved.
Ashley’s Complicated Role. Ashley claims to be Britney's close friend, but her true connection is questioned.
Eric Shank's Alibi. Eric, Britney's estranged husband, provides an alibi that raises more questions than answers.
Ashley and the Gas Receipt. Ashley claims to have a gas receipt linked to Britney's disappearance, raising suspicions.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This feels like a slightly different version of the start to our episode on Lisk.

Comparison to a previous case discussed in the podcast.

4:00WatchJun 22, 2026

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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