In this episode, Payne chats with David Robinson, a father who has been searching for his son, Daniel Robinson, a young geologist who mysteriously disappeared in the Arizona desert. David shares the heart-wrenching story of Daniel's disappearance, the ongoing search efforts, and the challenges he has faced in seeking answers and justice. He talks about the impact of Daniel's case on his family, the support from the community, and the broader implications for missing persons' cases across the country. David also discusses the initiatives he has undertaken to raise awareness and improve the search for missing individuals. Join us for an impactful conversation that sheds light on a father's unyielding hope and the critical issue of missing persons in America.
You can learn more about how to help with Daniel's case here: www.pleasehelpfinddaniel.com
pleasehelpfinddaniel@yahoo.com
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All right, we're back Talking to Death. It's just me and Dylan today. Hey, that's because Mike is upstairs working on the next episode of Up and Vanished. We've hit that point where things are starting to meet up with real time. Now. It's a lot to unpack, and so we're gonna jump right into it from the moment that I first stepped down and know, it didn't take very long before we started to learn about this guy that Flow was allegedly last scene with in his tent, who had her things. We've been learned that this person went by the nickname Oregon John. Through some more digging, we eventually linked this person to a real name, which we're gonna keep a secret for now, but we know this person's full name and as far as we can tell, besides the theories that this girl Kelly was saying that talked about other people being involved, but then also sometimes John being involved too. That's the only theory running around town here. And so we really just put our detective hats on here and tried to find this guy. But I remember this weird feeling I had. I was like, man, this is perfect. It's almost too perfect, Like the only thing that can go wrong is that he's not on this damn boat, and that's we cannot control that, right And when we got there, I hit him up on that fake Facebook account and we learned that he was not going to be there and currently he's at home in Ketchi. Can we need to change flights?
Pivot?
Man, it was an intense time to start to finish.
Yeah, we were having just full on room debates because we didn't know the right answer, and like, you know, there's I'm still convinced that there isn't a definitively right answer here. But we decided that we wanted to meet Oregon John. I want to talk to this guy. And from everything that I know about him, he's not going to talk to Payne Lindsay, this podcast guy. And so you know, with the police having potentially no case file on this, in the moment for this particular situation, felt like it was the right thing to do. Got checked into the Airbnb and we just started pulling out equipment, and I wore a laval Eier microphone like a narc under my shirt, my iPhone recording, we had Cooper's Google Pixel recording, and we also had this it looks like a car key, it's like a keychain, but it's actually a recording device. On top of that, you and Mike were in the back behind us, just just blending in as patrons, just watching, just watching, and you were filming on your iPhone. So we have video of this too, which is crazy. It was in under an hour or less that we had touched down and catch a can, got our bags, took a ferry to the town, got in a taxi, went to the airbnb, got all of our microphones ready. I had been messaging John all the way up until that point, and we had kind of loosely arranged meeting with him later that afternoon, and so I wanted to get there with enough time to go find a place to meet with him and then be able to suggest a place to him that he would then agree to. In us to have been there hours before hand, when I first started trying to find this guy, it felt like a completely fruitless mission. He was a moving target, he was on this ship. I'm like, we could go, you know, fly out to one of these places, any of them, and it would take us two days to get there, and he'd be gone. And it's like, how do we like find him, Like, we don't have his address, we don't know any of his friends.
It was some really solid sleuth work to find him, to track him down, find out where he'd be, convince him to come to that place, have it all set up and prepare to mean so much time and effort went into it.
And not to leave the listeners hanging here. We do talk to John, you know. It ended Episode five ended with us waiting in the bar and I told you that he walked in and then you hear John, the real organ John and myself and Cooper saying hey, what's up. And you know, we ended up talking to John for several hours in the bar, and you're going to hear a lot of that in the next episode.
So I'll give that to you.
There's beyond just this being a show where we're not going to tell you everything at once. The real main reason that I'm not going to divulge too much right now is because this is the last week I have before statements that are said are out there permanently forever, and I know how much that can change the people that I'm talking to in this case right now, people who may know something, who saw something, you know, I want to know. I want to dig a little bit deeper into right now before those things become known, to see the before and after, because we can't get that time period back. And so I won't go into great detail about what he talks about, but to not leave you hanging, we did it. We talked to him for a couple of hours and it's all recorded and on video, and it's what you think it is, Like, it's putting myself out of my comfort zone again when I didn't have to. I don't have to to try and find out what happened, and like, stay true to the premise and the goal we set out to achieve, which is find out what happened to Florence. It was a conscious effort from all of us to go the extra mile and really try to push the boundaries for a good cause. In doing a season four that was the only way I could do it, and if I wasn't willing to do that at this stage of my career, at this point in my life, with what up and Vanish has been, is and will become, and just the impact it's had on true crime in general, I owe it to myself to do this, and I owe it to the family of the victim that we're talking about, and I can sleep good at night knowing that I've given it my all. Today's guest is a very special guest. His name is David Robinson. We went to Orlando to go to Crime Con, which is a conference that happens once a year where true crime fans and authors, journalists, producers, investigators, detectives, and actual victims families all meet in the same place. It's a very bizarre event, but there's been a lot of good things that have happened. And I got to speak to a man named David Robinson, and his son went missing several years ago and he is actively avidly trying to find him. We talked about his story, and we talked about his disappearance and where the investigation is today and what we can do to support his current investigation and try to help him solve this thing. Through his son's disappearance, He's become an advocate of the families of other missing persons. If you want to help and support David Robinson's mission to find his son Daniel, just go to Please Help Find Daniel dot Com. Our next guest on Talking to Death David Robinson. So, how you doing, man, I'm doing Will doing Will's back. Ind I bet it's been a busy week for you for weekend.
It has been productive though, It's been very productive. So I got a lot done and got a lot of resources that I've been looking for.
So tell me what you're doing here in Orlando this weekend. What's your mission.
Here right now here in crime con My mission is to get my son's story out. That's one of the most crucial parts of any missing person case. You know, get that story out, you know, getting that that name out, that that brings resources and and everything you need to find those persons, a person that may know something or have some answers, you know, things like that. So I'm looking for getting the information out by my son.
Why do you think that's an important thing to do in a in a cold case like that? Why do you see so much importance in showing your face and meeting people and getting awareness out there.
Yeah, and you know, just like I said, you know, just having that awareness out there, getting people engaged. Anytime people engaged, that also helped law enforcement keep that case active because once uh, the interests of the public, interests of families seem to kind of dwin the down, kind of give it shade where this case can become a cold case. It's also good opportunity for new fresh leaves, you know, so the information out there that maybe somebody heard something.
So yes, so I guess part of it's kind of even just keeping some pressure on law enforcement. If it's in the zeitgeist, you know, it tends to be more of a priority for them if it's in their face constantly.
That's right.
And especially in Dale's case, you know, currently I'm trying to get his case moved over to a different jurisdiction. And with that, you know, sometimes law enforces intend to want to move slowly. They even have sometimes things I believe is police the cold blue type, you know, atmosphere they have with each other. And so the public pressure, the public engaging can kind of help push them alone and make them get a process a lot faster for.
Someone who hasn't heard your son's story. Tell me a little bit about that. What happened?
Well, you know, Dany, he's a geologist. You know, grew out of South Carolina, graduated from the College of Charleston and Chaston, South Carolina. My son ventured out to Arizona's straight out out of college to pursue his dreams. He you know, landing his first job with a company called Major's New World as an engineering company. They hired him as a field geologists, also called a hydro geologist. His jobs are very important, so he go out through various well sites to areas where they have to test groundwaters. Groundwaters is something Arizona used as a desert state. They used to give water to their community.
About water deep in the ground or that's right, water.
Deep in the ground, and you know, being a scientist, his job is to help determine if those groundwaters can support a community. So by law had to be one hundred years of water. So that's what he does.
Okay, So he was out there doing that. And tell me about how you discovered that he was missing at some point.
Well, I was, I'm a retired military guy doing what military people do, relaxing, and I'm good for you.
Yes, that's right. And receive a.
Phone call from my daughter who had a co worker of Daniel's come to her apartment to see if he was there, and that that alerted us that something was wrong immediately, you know, so doing our due diligence, of course, the first thing we did is try to reach out ourselves, see my daughter to her his apartment to see if it's there.
He was in the vehicle, wasn't there? Light was on inside.
So after did doing all of that, that's when I look at the time how long it was since the last person seeing Daniel. They says, over, it's over six hours. That's something out of the ordinary. Daniel just wouldn't That.
Was already weird to you, That is because it's out of character. You know.
Sometimes you know, families we can tell because we know the character of a person, you know.
Yes, so you knew pretty early on that this was odd, and so you went into Okay, let's figure out what's going on and taking next steps. Yes, and so when you did that, as you started making those phone calls and talking to other people, what did you start learning in those first couple hours in that first day.
Well, you know, just the first few hours, and of course I've gathered more information from his company, you know, things like where he exactly located. But you know, of course my first initial things was to reach out to law enforcement to try to get at least a welfare chat, you know, because I still want to kind of have my due diligence there to make sure everything's already, get him to get inside his apartment, make sure there's no foul plans happening going on, you know, you kind of go from there. So that's the first initial stuff we were doing, learning about where his detail of location that he should have been, or his last scene.
When you eventually discovered that he was missing to a degree here, what were the circumstances that you stumbled upon. Where did it take it to you next?
Well, like I said, I was in South Carolina, so I'm over two thousand miles away. All my anything I had to do at the time was relying on law enforcement, you know, and that's what just me constantly calling.
Calling station and different time zone and just trying to I guess, you know, find out anything. Right, What what what was the status at that point.
Well, law enforcement have just had to you know, get information themselves. They was calling, of course the job and trying to find a little information themselves. Uh and also you know, kind of riding in the area, up and down the area to see if it's something simple as him having a flat tire stuck somewhere, because you know, the road that's outside of that desert, uh is a very long they call it the road to nowhere, So it is very long. What part of Arizona is it isn't a Buckeye Arizona Buck Arizona. That's forty miles west of Phoenix, Okay, so very world, Yes it is. Yeah, they're they're very deserty remote parts of that state.
I can only imagine that that during that time period and the initial stages, you have to be thinking that at any moment you're going to find him or get that call, and just but oh God, like you know, I was freaked out. And days go by and some new reality starts kicking in, and I just I can't imagine what that would be like. Could you describe that a little bit to me?
Well, you know, initially, just being to be honest, a person of color, it was very challenging for me to be two thousand miles away here I am calling law enforcement to do a welfare check. Yeah, my idea was hesitant for a quick moment to see if I did even want to do that phone call, because I was thinking maybe they'd go there and it turns to something else. Oh, we had to end up shooting them for some reason. And so that's some of the things that comes across the mind to be kind of weary, is kind of worried about even calling law enforcement. But as time went by, of course I've been learning at law enforcement in my son's case, wasn't I guess god days have grown an adult. They didn't see a need to really go search. So I had to go leave immediately and get in my car and start hitting with and go do it myself.
So you were hesitant to even call law enforcement in the first place, even though you were starting to realize you might need their help. Yes, really, because you're black and your son's black, and you were afraid of involving yourself and getting some other mistreatment or something worse happens. Rights like, is that what you were thinking?
Or that's right?
And I wasn't there to observe and know what's going on to make sure I can protect my son from.
Law Yeah, you don't want to send somebody here, and you've all seen horror stories and videos on the internet. So eventually you decided that you need some outside support and so you called them. And at what capacity did they speak to you and how they been working on this case or not?
Well, a law enforcement hadn't been doing the thing. Initially, you couldn't imagine the first helicopter sech that I asked for helping almost three days after he went missing.
Really, but when I found out.
The day of when I found out information of myself is actually missing in the desert, I has law enforcement to go out that night go search my son. They told me they couldn't do so until the morning. Because now I'm a military guy, I know this wasn't true. Helicopus came fly at night and well, yeah, that's not definitely not true. But then when they broke the promise and they called in this day, I called. They called me in this day and said it was unauthorizing council. He's a grown man, can disappear if you want to. That's when I grabbed everything I could at my home and threw it in my car and started hit him whist to go do it myself.
So out there, where are his things? What do we know? Are the last places he was and who he had talked to last and anything that was left behind that was the closest to him.
Well, as I was traveling, I started learning more information about my son. What's happening that day? I learned that it was a hug with one other person. He met someone out in that desert. He met some one on some valley parkway, it's the road. Uh, he followed this guy into that desert, they went to the well site. So I did learn that it was only one person and my son at this location where my son went missing. So when I got to town, that was the first thing I did is went out and stopped my own investigation and start interviewing this person that was less seen with my son.
So why is it that your son was with this person and they both went out here together but only one person came back?
Well, yes they did.
My son had two assignments that day, two weale sites, like I said, and he had to reach out to.
This other person who's already at the web site. Waiting.
My son made it to son all the parkway. The person met him on the roadway.
I for him.
I understand they had a brief conversation, and my son following him back into that desserk one mile west to Miuth north to get to this well, and they sat there for about They got there around nine o'clock that morning, at nine point fifteen. This person said, my son just waved off, wave to him, got his bilicle and drove off.
And that's when we never heard of Danie ever again.
So that's the story. Initially, was his car anywhere nearby?
No, The vehicle showed up thirty days later, you know. Of course by that time I was already in the desert searching for my son. I had searches every week with over three sometimes five hundred people. But we out there searching thirty days almost third days later, the vehicle showed up in a little farther about three miles through a little three miles.
Away from that well site.
It's farther into the remote part of the desert, down in twenty foot ravine lying on its side. So it was found by a rancher who owned that lands out there.
Was that was that location that would make sense for his car to be at.
No, it would not.
It would not because it has a lot farther from the roadway, Like I said, some villa park.
Where is the main mad that road there?
It's further out into the desert's going out west to nowhere, So you know it'll make sense at all?
So how do you rationalize that? Then? Where does that fit in your head? There?
Well?
And initially I didn't know what des about it, and listen to what law enforcement had to tell me. They told me that they felt that he drove straight from the whale site for whatever reason. And listened to who the only person's story. His story was that he followed my son's track and it led out to that direction out west. But I had to listen to that story and go with law enforcement gave us. He went down the ravine and flipped the road. He had a severe head injury. He kicked his way out the sun roof. Head injuries make you shredgs your clothes, and that's why his clothes, everything is wearing on. His body was three feet away and he went under tree cool off and died, probably in the animal got him that things like that, He joined a monastery, become a monk. Things that law enforcement gave me.
Yes, what was the last one?
He said he may have just from the the detective of the apartment suggested that maybe my son just wanted to be away from his family, join the monastery, became a monk. That's what I was told. That's what made me get a private best. He can't be serious. That's even worse. It was even worse in the time like that. But yeah, that's exactly the initial things I have gotten from law enforcement that called me to get caused me to get a second opinion.
That's why you know that about sums Up. I would assume how much help they've provided, right, that's right. So what was the condition of his car and what kind of physical evidence was around there? Did it seem like there had been a wreck or a crash or what? What did it appear like to you?
Well, to me, it's a look at crime scene. When I saw the pictures, and what law enforcement because it's lying on the side anytime lawful say you know what you know his clothing the ground, I didn't know he was like fully undressed, uh and say hey dead to say do your song?
Where bosses a breeze. I'm like, how would I know that?
He's a grown man, right, But he said where everything is unaware down to everything's in the path.
He would have been naked at some point, right.
And then the fact that me and my family was calling his cell phone. It was counselor ring and ringing too. I guess it finally died. And then they found the phone in the vehicle. Uh, you know, I thought foul play. That's the first thing I saw.
So out there where he was. Did he have his cell phone on him out there?
Yes? He did?
And like did he get service out there? Like were calls able to go through?
Yes?
And my forty nine wee SI serches. Yes, I never dropped the call out there, so you definitely get that's interesting.
Then, yes, is there anything Is there any data in the cell phone that could give us any more information in terms of if it went anywhere.
Else or if it always stayed there or that's so that we just don't have. That's the first thing. Before the vehicles showed up. We asked law enforcement. We're trying to get them get cell phone pings. They say they couldn't get it. We tried to get camera footge they couldn't get it. My son had the of uconnet in this vehicle. It's I'm like an on Star system and they claim when they went through it, it gave all zero gris. That's a law enforce telling us, so nothing was provided. Where all the tools that were there can give us locations and video. What's something law enforce would claim they could not get, you know, So those type deals.
I've heard in some cases that a family member can petition with the cell phone carrier and oftentimes they do give it to you. I mean, you'd be the only person you could probably get that. But yeah, I would just try to go around those guys.
Yeah we did, and that's what. Yeah, it's not yet.
When you do that. I don't even know what that process is like.
It's rough.
I've been meeting with some of the lobbyists and some of the other folks this meeting, trying to get them to release our data. It's actually my son's phone was my daughter's service, so it's her data, you know, trying to get it from them. So we're trying to get some things done to make sure we sive that. I even going as far as trying to help get lost pass to both of that through these these tail of communications departments, you know, phone companies and things, to make sure that it's our data we should be.
Able to get in circumstances like that, him being missing and you and you see this weird scene with the car and the clothes, what do you start put piecing together in your head in terms of trying to figure out how it looks like this and why this is the way it is and he's nowhere to be found. Is your mind like put together scenarios?
I could put anything. At first, I just listened, like I said, to what law Forcement had to say. Once I got my private investigator, he's an accident reconstructionist. He immediately looked at the scene and said, hey, no, this is not right. It's a stage event. He felt like it was, but he wasn't too sure until he physically examined the vehicle. Of course, you guys, if you know the story, Law Force meant the vehicles found on the nineteenth. On the twenty, they gave vehicle over to me everything for safe keep and say, hey, he's coming back for his things. So I was able to have my investigator to go through that vehicle and he initially immediately saw something not right. There was the damage domes terrain, there was red transferred pain on the side of the vehicle. There's nothing red in the desert lying on the side. Also, once he got the examined the black bots data, there was eleven this there was eleven mouse astro on the.
Vehicle after the crash.
What does that mean after the air bads deployed, somebody drove the vehicle of eleven miles additional mouse. I didn't know vill because he could do that once the airbad deployed. But that's what he says. And also the data on the black box showed there was forty six initial cycles. That mean the vehicles cranked forty six times after the airbad deployed. And so it would be physically impossible for a vehicle sitting on the side and somebody sitting there cranking it up forty six times. So you know, he always had all the information he had to knowing that the vehicles actually that stage event was put there a couple with the person who found the vehicles was the rancher. The rancher found the vehicle on July to nineteenth. He was out there on July to seventeenth in that same ravine because his cattle goes through there to go to a corral, and it wasn't there on the seventeen, but then he came back on the nineteenth, it was sitting.
There, and so he stopped responding on the seventeenth.
Well, for now, Daniel didn't stop. He stopped responding to that he went missing. So which you day was that that was June twenty third or twenty twenty one?
Okay, okay, So.
This other person who was out there with him, I mean, is that just not automatically who people should be looking at, or is this I would say, I think that we're running out of I think thinking beyond that until you clear that it's not even where you should be looking. It's like, right, and what's your assessment of that? I mean, I'm not going to put you on the spot to like say anything about him, but like, what's going on.
I don't believe the story he gave me.
The story, like I told you, bullshit meter on this person because he changed his story.
He changed the story.
Of course, I had no reason not to believe the story is what law enforcement gave me. Once I got to Phenix, Arizona. I made arrangements to meet this guy in the same place my son met. I'm right on the side of some villa parkway. He initially sent someone else from that whale site. I don't know who this guy was. I thought it was him. The guy at the really strange try to get me in the vehicle, and he was asking me why I wanted to speak to him. And then when I finally got past that part, the guy went and made a phone call out of earshot.
He actually saw that I was an earshot. He moved his vehicle.
Ford that had a conversation with His name is Ken, the guy, and then he rolled back and said, well, Ken said he's gonna come on up. So he came up there. Ken got his vehicle. First thing he did, he had a utility truck with his hand in. I'm a military guy. I washed hands. That's what we're trained to do. He moved his hand movements as if he was holding a weapon inside his compartment his utility truck. And I guess once he figured that I wasn't a threat, I guess I put up here trying to get information. He started talking to me. Once he did that, he gave me. It's almost like it was a written thing. He said, word from word, but the law enforcement officer told me, I mean it's word from word. But then when he got comfortable because I used a technique that I learned in the military to make a person feel really comfortable. And then when he did it, that's when he changed his story.
That's how did you do that?
How did you make it feel comfortable?
Well, you know, you'd be very agreeable, you know, things like look, hey man, you know he said, man, you know, if I know your sons, it's not your fault that he's missing, you know, to make him feel valid part of their thing. So that's when you start releasing more information like something that he didn't tell lawforce. Oh I stayed left for the tracks. Make sure I disturbed because I knew law enforcement gonna come, this thing gonna go national And oh yeah, he said.
Yeah, why are you thinking like that right at that point in time?
And if you want to take and I can be honest with you, you listen to his story. It will actually take you to where near where my son's vehicle is actually going to be found. So I can't say that, but I gave all this information law enforcement. I have the notes that was written, I had the videotape I had, you know, I have people with my witnesses that yeah, just.
Built build that case just internally. Yes, hopefully that comes into play at some point.
It wouldn't because law enforcement drops say, oh, that's what he said, and they dismissed it. So that's where we're at on that point there. But that's the reason why I say, yes, the first person that oh, the last person that's been seeing the person should be screwed.
That's third should be scrutinized very well. Yeah.
The only person that was ever in the interrogation room for as I know in my son's case was me and my daughter. We were put in the terrorication room. No one else what they needed to know from you other than it was horrible. You know your son is right? Is that what their behavior is, what's what's normal and what's not right?
Right?
I think they was fishing for, in my opinion, fishing for a way to say my son was probably mentally unstable, he's depressed. And the reason why I say.
That because he had gone off and did it to himself.
Pretty much, right, He just wanted to disappear or whatever the case may be.
Uh.
And the reason why I say that because you know, first of all, they brought us in the back door of the department. I didn't never been in a terrogation room in my life. I'm not a criminal.
Yeah.
I realized I have once and it wasn't fun.
Yeah.
Yeah, I was like, I don't belong here. There's no, it's not fun. I didn't realize it. But they had us sitting there for I think my daughter and I sat there for because, of course, say you know, you could think of anything that was odd and strange about your son. You know, we had to sit there for like fifteen minutes to.
Come up with what answer? Are you fishing?
Yes? So the only thing we come up with.
My daughter she said, Yeah, I think about a week or so, it could have been two weeks. He was staring off at the wall, and they put that in the port. Yeah, he's staying off the wall. He's had troubles or something out the other and.
Like staring at the wall all day in their office.
Yeah.
But at some point you were like, what am I doing here?
Right? Are we yet? Yeah? You know? And did?
I did? But I was able to provide it. My my position, I felt that I was being helpful because I want to help.
Yeah, you want to put that on record and do the due diligence right.
The bank records.
We was able to pull that up on the phone, you know, kind of holding in front of them and uh so they can look through things the cell phone. Uh certain information on the cell phone. Was able to show him on the cell phone through my dunc as of her account, you know, things like So felt like it was being helpful. They help try to get some information about Daniel.
This person of interest, Ken is his name.
Yes, his name is Ken.
So I can't say his name because he put hisself out of you doing interviews and everything.
Oh yes, I mean he's clearly been talking about right Ken. When you arranged to initially meet him, he sent someone else to meet you first, but didn't tell you that that's just to check it out or check it out. This guy's or something. Who was this person though? And I still don't know his name. That's the same part. Someone from this company or I'm.
Assuming somebody's working at the well site with them because of what I did learn, okay, is that the reason why I was able to go to that will area where my son was last seeing. I was actually well, But like I said, the son Villa Parkway is because Ken he since my son WO was missing, he was still at that well site every day, and so I was able to get back there. But yeah, the other person I'm assuming is somebody's helping him out at the will that probably was taking my son's place, or I don't know what his purpose was, but he's there.
Do you know much about that company? Is is it a big one or is it like a small local thing or a family owned joint or what is it?
Well, the company my son worked for's new World. That's that that company is. It's not huge, but it's not small lead it's kind of somewhere in between. My son actually got the job because of his one of his great friends, best friends you want to call it. In college parents own that company, and so of course when you graduated, they do they do.
They feel any sort of responsibility that this happened on their watch potentially or I don't know.
You know they as far as the companies say, I can't say they donated to my gold fundment.
Okay, that's nice, yes, and that's really helpful.
However, as a family, we were really disappointed because, like I told the owners, I have many board meetings with them. If it's your employee, I shouldn't have had to drive from South Carolina two thousand dollars. You should have to search, you have the resources. You should have called it law enforcement. You know he's missing. You should have been out there searching for my son. He's on your clock basically, so they haven't done any of that that stuff, So that that was problematic for us.
And the guy who was with Ken, if that was another employee or manager a different company, that was a different company company my friend he knew. No, they never met each other in life really like your sons or Ken had my son.
Having met Ken or Kay have met my son. But I was told in life Ken.
Works for the first time they'd ever been out there the first time of meeting. Yes, Oh that's interestingly, Yes, kid was already at the whal site. Like I said, before my son was coming there. My son did reach out to him. He didn't have his phone make it make so some little backfo I can tell by the phone record and kids already there. So my son was from his company's point. So he's supposed to be meeting Ken out at son Villa Parkway, and Ken could take him to the well site where they'll be working. So it was only two, the two of them. Like I said the first initial I didn't have no reason not to believe the story until I met him and listened to him first firsthand. You know, of course I had to do that.
I had to do it.
I'm a father the first so somebody gonna tell me something different from myself. I was a single parent, so I know my son. Tell me something different than what my son would do. He came to this website and just waved off and disappeared. I know my son. He had two web sites that morning. He went to the first one, completed that supposedly, and went to that one where he ended up going missing. He would have went to the first one if he didn't want to go to work that day, so that just his mindset. But so I had to listen to what this guy said. And when he did all of that and law enforcement not paying attention to his story high a change. And like you said, he's out now doing did interviews who I guess validate himself or whatever. And I could look at his body language, and I don't believe his story.
It just just don't make up.
It don't add up reality, the measurements that I even wrote, the story that he gave and it don't even add up because of the distance and if things staying left for the track, nothing matches. Yeah, I have a problem with that when law enforcement is not taking those things seriously, and it's a problem for me that on that behalf, there's nothing I can do.
I'm not law I'm not.
Lawful emotionally to piss you off or just or where are you at with that in this stage? And obviously you seem to be very uh diligent about the way that you're trying to network and get resources, which is super admirable, But I just could only imagine that there's a lot propelling that.
Yeah, well, you know, well, my love for my son is propelling for Yeah, I'm also you know, the fat I am a father, you know what I'm saying, that's my job and my duty and honor to fight my son. So that's that's automatic. That's one of the things that I'm definitely doing it for. But when it comes to seeing injustice and things not done the correct way. Yeah, it's a problem for me. So my job right now is to try to encourage law enforcement, uh and just put these things out there for them and give them an opportunity to work on it. As you guys know, I'm trying to move my son's case onto a different jurisdiction. And those are the reasons why. Because when things are not being taken care of, then I have to.
Do Yeah, if you're not going to do it, then I need to try to get to get somebody else to the right place where someone will.
That's right.
So if this, if Ken is telling these stories about your son that don't sound like his behavior, that would mean that he's he's he's lying about that. Why would Kim be lying about any of those things?
Well, if it's foul play, you know, I mean it's a lot of people if they're I'm not saying the man is guilty and now I'm not gonna get out like that, but were saying is uh if if he has an involvement with that, of course you know he's unless he just ready to say, hey, I'm throwing town, just want to come clean or something, you know. Other than that, you know, people would not be truthful about certain things.
What do you think at this point it's going to take to get that resolution and close this case and find out what happened to your son.
Get law ENFORCEM to do their job. Just plain as simple as that. You know, you know I have I'm still holding DNA evidence. I'm holding evidence I found about my son's apartment. They just need to process these things and find out who was driving my son car if it wasn't him, who was in the passenger side, for instance, with the red transfer paint, where that came from. You know, things like that, is that really Daniel's clothes on the ground, because we don't identify those clothing at that crime scene that they're claiming as Daniels. This whole nine yard the process, and they get law enforcement to do their job. I gave them everything. Everything we know today about my son's case didn't come from law enforcement. They didn't contrivet to the findings that we have right now about my son's case. That came from my own efforts, came from my hiring them my private investigator. We just don't need them to process. We're not law ENFORCEM, but they will can go. But so far it is that job to do the rest?
How has the media coverage been about your son's disappearance?
Well, for me, you know, it's been hard. At first, I literally spent days and night nights trying to convince just even the local news to take Daniel's story. If it wasn't for me running to local news anchors like reporters like Josh Sanders is his name?
And Nicole Griggs.
Uh those are If it wasn't for them, I would have probably had Dane's story even on a local level. I had to work hard for that. I had to work hard for that. Is it took me literally three months to get that going? Uh oh yeah, yeah, I just get that going. But once I did, I've learned some secret things I've done on social media. That was a big platform for me to get Danie's story out there. And once that happened, I was able to get jew Reid from MSNBC. And the reason why I was able to do that, I didn't go direct. Sometimes you can't get direct message to them, of course, so I look at Twitter, for instance, and I hit their friends up, the ones that don't have the little I did. Yeah, that's the way, because I know the ones that don't have the chet marks nine times our friends or family. So he hit them up and they say, and that's exactly what happened. The family members of her friend came tore and said, hey, have you seen the story?
Right?
And that's what happened to give Daniel's case a little boost. But at the same time, it was during the time the Tito case came to be, and then they started talking about disparities and that helped.
Was that a little odd seeing this, you know, another story of a missing person getting really just kind of insane. I havenormal coverage even from any missing person's case. It was kind of an anomaly in that way. Was that frustrating in any way or you know, eye opening to you or how did you perceive that?
Well?
You know, statistically true that you know, people of color have less exposure when it comes to media coverage, that is true. But at the time, you know, a person like me having a missing son, I'd never known anything much about missing person's at all, So my whole focus was.
About my son.
I was doing that, like I said, for the whole three months, this focus on trying to get the story out there. I started them on searches at the time, So when the Potito case came about, I didn't know anything about it. I was so focused directly on my son. You have literally y yeah, people pretty much literally hit me up on the emboxing because I make sure at night I thank everybody who's been supporting.
Hey have you heard this Betito? Okay, have heard I'm like, what is that?
You know?
Right? You know?
Of course eventually I'm going to google it and see what's going on. And then when I saw that, I say, oh my god. The first thing initition I had was, oh, man, I think she was around my son's age, probably a little younger, yes, but oh my gosh. You know, I felt bad because another parent going through the same thing I'm going through, and I'm saying, what's going on with these kids going missing? Because I didn't know much about.
Miss this probably feels like the hell's going on. And That's what happened until my family started hitting up. My family started he said.
Day you hear about this? I said, yeah, I heard something.
I feel sorry for the family said no, you just understand this thing is twenty four hours seventy and they know how hard I was working to get damn story out like that, and they say this is twenty four hours.
I'm like, but it just happened.
I'm like, but I've been there here for three months, so it did me feel a certain way, like working really hard for three.
Months, I can't get it. Yeah, I can't out three months.
Yeah, but but but like I talked to I talked to the family all the time. My thing is, they deserve that attention. Every family deserve attention. We just need to make sure it's all focused and everybody get the same amount of type attention.
Every case should be dealt with that way. That's not just one case.
Yeah, I mean, it's still a parent who is still a parent whose daughter is missing. And you don't want to say that you should get less coverage or more coverage. It's more like, hey, if there's cases that aren't being covered as much, bring that spotlight over here too, or we need to work hard to make that happen. That's right, and consciously do that.
That's right.
That's that's because you know, of course, every family. I mean, I know what the pain not because even before the Potito case, I was out in the desert with families all the time. Like I said, three to five hundreds a lot of times. And believe it or not, you have people who actually have missing people up their own. What's out there with me searching for Daniel?
Wow? Oh yeah, it's amazing. So I hear that story is probably just hurt your brain. But the remarkable of them to just do that. Yeah, right, that's right. But they didn't have a voice. That's the problem. They didn't have a voice to tell their story. And I had to listen to that.
You know, you can hear that pain, and when they talk about it, it's like it happened yesterday. It wasn't like, oh even though someon was twenty years ago, it's like it happened right that day, that same day. That's how the pain for them is and so on. Like I'm saying, is every case deserved some attention, is none is different from It's the same pain.
It's the same pain they related to mine. I can relate to theirs.
Have you had a chance to meet to a Petitio family, Yes, yes, all the time, now, yes, how's that been.
It's been great, you know when I wanted to talk to their family for a long time. You know, in the course of me fighting for my son and one day I think I went with News Nation at one time, I do a story and I guess they exchanged my information to their family. And I got that phone call and said, hey, say, how you doing, David? This is this is Joe some of Joseph who just is Joseph Potito Like my mind say Patino, but somebody's still a ring And I'm like you.
And you said gab dead. I said, oh, you know, we've been friends ever since. Yeah, that's pretty awesome to hear. I was hoping that's what you would say. Yes, I'm sure there's got to be some sort of bonding that is it is right?
Yeah?
Yeah, And I did meet them for a second last night and they were super cool.
Yeah they are.
And I love their take on everything like they don't. They didn't have to go out of their way to try and spotlight, you know, persons of color that are missing too because of how much attention in their case. God, they could have just only focused on their family, and that also been okay for them to do. But for them to spread, you know, this tragedy that happened and spread the goodness that could come out of it at all around is I think it kind of very hopeful for yes, other families.
It is like it is you can say anytime you can take that pain and actually use it like that, Yeah, and think about other people have empathy like that.
That's that's awesome.
Yes, Yeah, that to me, it was just a powerful thing to see. Yes, And you know it makes me feel like there's you know, there's hope here. We can work together on stuff and we all want the best for people, right right, that's right. So what what are you trying to do next? In terms of you so you want to get his case moved?
You are?
You send a lot of network on your own. How could I help? How could a listener help where they need to go to support you and help figure out what happened to your son?
Well?
Currently you know, of course, after all the forty nine weeks of searches thirty five thousand that was able to cover the flyers distributions, the petition put your voice to the petition for Advocacies, et cetera. What I am at right now is, like I say, like you said, trying to get my son's case moved over to a different jurisdiction.
Which is going for that or anything? How do you have how do you do that?
And what I have right now is called a mail in protest. You know, I have a lot of times families that always reach out and say, hey, you know, mister Robinson, how can I help?
And I'm living Canada or I live.
In writing a letter to them and saying what right?
And then the letter writing it's just stuff they're going to. Please help find Daniel dot com my website. There are PDFs there. They just download those and and the goal is to get thousands of them going to that mail that Those are two lawforce officers every day every day, Yeah right, and build that box up. And what it does is keep Day's case out there in their mind is also keep that pressure on law enforcement while I'm working doing my part. Yeah, you're working in the background on the web.
That's staying just as strong, but you're doing more tactical and just right things that.
Give everybody the opportunity to join in and help. That's right.
What is the website again?
Please help find Daniel dot com?
Is there?
You go fund me still or that is so also it's on police Help find Dan dot com. It's a donation tab. If you have events, that's events tab. You got to help in other ways. If people have skill sets they think they can help us out with, and I says my team and I, they can put their skill sets there. That's a PDF button there as well. If people help me out, because I put out thousands fliers everywhere, you can download your own PDLs if you want to print them out. If you want us to send flyers, we just reaches at us at please help find o yahoo dot com and we'll send flyers out to you. So it's different ways. Like I said, again, put your voice to that petition because I am working with government officials and every time I do, I say, hey, look I got one hundred and fifty thousand people behind me wanting the same things that happen with the laws and the changes in the systems and things like that.
So that helps out a lot.
That's awesome. Yes, sir, I'm gonna personally donate one thousand dollars to you go fund me.
Oh wow, that's a blessing. That's a blessing. I truly appreciate that, yes sir.
And we'll post the links to everybody, and also any other resource or anything that comes to mind, feel free to reach out there's people that we I've done a series called Up and Advantage, and I've covered a different a different missing person's case every season. We do like a long form investigation and we're on the ground really digging stuff up and poking around. So through that over the years, I've I've met some people that are you know, like a dog searcher or just different people in their fields like that are experts that would absolutely love to assist if it was ever needed in that way. Just let me know, Yes, I can connect the dots.
I'd love to.
I appreciate it because what I'm doing right now, of course of not just the mailing protests to getting the case moved over. I also have other things have to take care. I have a protest coming ups over that that mailing protests is also ticket size and send it to the department, and I am going to have physical protests if those things not being probably the promises I've been given that.
Yeah, me get this just all part of the next step.
Right and the last part is also the search.
You know, I do have, like I told you, for forty nine weeks of search at thirty five thousand land. I'm not searching the whole sonore and desert. That's it's ridiculous because Daniel had been all over.
The finite amount of space that he could have gone right anyway.
And it's about what radius.
Yes, it's about sciences, about how far a person can walk, you know, without clothing. So all that is based on that in any direction from the location that we know. But the last search I have have gotten because they build and development out there, so we have some little problems. And also with funding, I'm really getting searched together for hopefully this fall, and I would need resources. When I say need resources, I need those specialized drones.
I need cadever.
Dolls, search dolls, whatever specialized dolls that will. Yeah, I do have volunteers that come out all the time with their razors and you know all these vehicles that made for that kind of terrain. We definitely that, so I put those things together every time. Uh, but I always go to need those.
Yeah, let me know when you when you guys do that or when you're setting up for it, and I'll whatever I can help connect. I'll do my best.
Thank you so much.
Yeah, Yes, I mean it is an endeavor out there in the field. It just it's just hard to search physically out there.
It is, you know, it just is like eslessly on the ground. A lot of people don't understand that. I have people say, man, you know you've been searching for a while. Not a map anymore? Yeah, another work that way.
Yeah, yeah, right.
It's very intimidating too, because a lot of times we finish the search and and I know, we cover a lot of ground. Then I look at the area that we look and I look back and I'm like, wow, there's so much more and.
You can't believe and see that, and it's back there a computer or whatever. So I totally understand. Yeah, I'd love to throw as many resources at it as possible, but I think, yeah, it needs.
A thorough search, Yes it does.
There should be something out there or we should definitely determine that there isn't. That tells us something to.
The scary part is that we have been found in human remains out there, of course, you know, the human skulls and.
And and and other remains.
Yeah, we did cover some remains to help bring clothes for other families. But you know, so there's things out there that need to be taken because the soul, as I have from that is that even though I didn't found my son, we brought some clothes for somebody.
Else's, which yeah, you would have ever thought that, right, So there's still it's it's worth the effort because there's it's yielding something no matter what, right, no, etually, that's where you're going to get there.
So that's right.
Yes, sir, Well, I appreciate your time today, and I know you've been busy, but what are your thoughts on a crime conference like this? This is your first time here?
Oh, my second year? Yeah, they brought me out last year and cool, just like last year at the Vegas one, the Vegas. Yeah, we were so busy.
I feel like I didn't even see anybody last year.
Yeah, I believe that I had got out twenty thousand flyers out there.
Like physically like you did this twenty thousand team and I my team and I mean that's just impressive.
I have never been in Vegas.
You know how much time did that take you to do? We just went on the strip, okay, just way gave it out. Yeah, people's taking them by the stacks and everything it's taken. Well, take it back to this stake. Yeah, I want to happen, take it to the I feel so great. Was like I told my team, I said, let's take out Team Boxes. Yeah, right, let's just go and let's go. Yeah, and just twenty thousand of them they just went out like that, Yes, aggressive and.
People from all over the place. So it was really great that.
You know, that's the best moment I think for me, even though outside of Crime Con definitely sitting on stage and yeah and meeting people, but that there was a highlight for me. It is getting those flyers out, cause that mean Daniel's stories is traveling.
So how the people you've met backs, because you know, it's I'd imagine it's kind of weird at first, I would think with true crime being a genre of content, Yes, and you know they're being fans of these murder podcasts, but also there's people but they also genuinely care, or at least most of them do. They do, and they want to listen and help probably, So what's been your take on that or observation just with these fans of the true crime and you're here talking about your missing son, that's right.
And that's how I got here true crime community. Of course, the podcast and somehow they want to jump over to missing person cases and say hey, can you come on my podcast? And I guess I've been so many of them. Yeah, they started reaching out to crime Con. I didn't reach out to crime they.
Was connected that way.
They did, and then crime Con reach out to me and say, hey, you know, hey, look we would like to have you out here at the Crime cond Like what you know, I didn't know what crime con.
I don't even know what that is. I should probably get I guess.
Yes, exactly.
And so so when I got there last year, I was like, Wow, it was amazing to be able to see the love and like you said, the people.
That what if you observe if people.
You know, sometimes they make you feel like you're some type of celebrity. You have people that.
Come to crime and want and I was like, I'm.
Just David Robinson, you know, and you don't even know this person, right, don't know, but it's the love.
I'm telling you. It's like genuine like you said, said the crime and stuff. It's like these people actually really care. Strangers don't know Daniel, but they feel they still connected with the story. They connected with my son and his story, and that means a lot to me.
How does that make you feel?
If you know, like the searches, it feels good to see people come out and spend their own money, their own time, and their own you know, and come out to help somebody that don't know. That means a lot. I see the world different because of that. That's a lot of good pep out there.
No, I love that. Yeah, Thatt. We've met a lot of cool people here too, and everyone really truly cares and it's cool to see people in person and interact with them and hear what there they have going on, what they're working on, or what their family's dealing with, and just kind of networking and connecting in a very niche place.
That's right, yes, sir, But yeah, I want.
To thank you again and we'll put out these links and yes, please, however I can help, yes, sir, let me know. And I got a thousand dollars for you for your go. Oh that's that's a wonderful God blessing for that, God bless mean it's a lot of paper, twenty thousand paper, I bet at Kinkyos. That's probably not very cheap. It is not you know, the library wouldn't be cheap. Well, yeah, I found some that trying to get a little more discount. Yes, that's bulk or something.
Yeah. Those bosses, they calls they realists.
Well let's lad you up, man, let's go. Yeah, that's right. Well, thank you man. I appreciate it, so, thank you.
Talking to Death is a production of Tenorfoot TV and iHeart Podcasts, created and hosted by Payne Lindsay. For Tenderfoot TV, executive producers are Payne Lindsay and Donald Albright. Co executive producer is Mike Rooney. For iHeart Podcasts, executive producers are Matt Frederick and Alex Williams. With original music by Makeup and Vanity Set. Additional production by Mike Rooney, Dylan Harrington, Sean Nurney, Dayton Cole, and Gustav Wilde for Coohedo. Production support by Tracy Kaplan, Mara Davis, and Trevor Young. Mixing and mastering by Cooper Skinner and Dayton Cole. Our cover art was created by Rob Sheridan. Check out our website talkingtodeathpodcast dot com.
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