April 1, 2025 • 40 mins
Lauren Ash (Not Dead Yet, Host of the 'True Crime and Cocktails' podcast) takes a wild ride through the suburbs of Connecticut as Arturo pulls a major April Fools twist with this week's escapee...and the steaks, er, stakes, have never been higher!
Read this episode's transcript on Mental Floss: https://www.mentalfloss.com/columns/greatest-escapes
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey guys, welcome to Greatest Escapes, the show bringing you
the wildest true escape stories of all time. Not today,
we're following a heartwarming tale, the story of an escapee
who the whole community rallied around. He even got the
police on his side. Very impressive. I'm Martro Castro, and
I'm joined by a fantastic actress and comedian who also
hosts a podcast, True Crime and Cocktails, Lauren Ash.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Let's go, Lauren Ash bra blah blah.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
What a joy in my life, I think.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Oh my gosh, I'm so happy to be here. I
was so excited when I saw this come through my email.
I was like, hell, yes, I cannot wait. This is
the best.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
You know.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
It's one of those things where where you know the
wonderful folks at Film Nation. I love Film Nation. Film
Nation is great. I love them.
Speaker 5 (01:15):
Help me.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Maybe you're plotting an escape.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Well's nothing. I love them. They treat me so to
her will not be escaping.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Legally contractually bound? I gotcha, Lauren.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
I wanted to ask you, do you have the greatest
escape story?
Speaker 3 (01:34):
You know what's so funny?
Speaker 4 (01:35):
I was with my best friend of ten ten twenty
years last night, Leslie Siler we met, Yes, we met
twenty years ago this month and I said to her.
I was like, I'm doing this podcast and it's about escapes.
And I was like, and I can't think it.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
She goes Boston and I went, that's it. Immediately she was.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Like me, Mark Wahlberg is involved, Like, oh, Boddy, we're
gonna go.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
We're gonna go, we're gonna get some sandwiches, We're gonna
eat a lobstery.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Okay, so tell me. So what happened in Boston?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
She and I again, we met twenty years ago.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
We were best friends, comedy partners, and we were going
for this comedy festival in Boston and we were staying
kind of far from the venue and so you had
to take a like an uber or a cab.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
But this was kind of at the time when Uber.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
Was just starting. So for those of us we were like,
how does it work?
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Do we have the app?
Speaker 4 (02:22):
We were still hailing cabs at this point right in
the world, okay, and.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
It was hella expensive and like hard to get I
remember totally totally.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
And so we we had come out of the hotel
and we had so much stuff because we were doing
a sketch comedy show, so I don't have to.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Tell you Wigs Wiggs.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
We've got a lot of gear and we're waiting and
we've somehow, for some reason, we like walked to half
a block from the hotel and we were like, there's
no cabs.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
What are we going to do? And then this car
pulls up.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
It's a black car, it's a nice car, and this
guy goes, where are you going?
Speaker 3 (02:53):
And we both were like, and he's like, I'll take you.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
And it was in this moment that I looked at
her and she seemed okay with it, and she later
told me that she looked at me and I seemed
okay with it, when in reality, neither.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Of us was okay with it.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
Wow, And so we were like, okay, I guess we're
getting into this unmarked limo car thing we put our
stuff in, but automatically now listen, this is pre me
having a true crime podcast. But I was already I'm
very familiar with the date lines.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
I know where this.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Con is like one oh one, yeah, right.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
So on my phone, I've pulled up where we are
supposed to be going, because again it's not our town
and I'm watching, and then I have the true horror
set in as I watched this man going the wrong
way and he gets on a freeway and he's driving away.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
From where we need to go.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
And in this moment, this is when I my anxiety
brain takes over. And I told her later that I
was like, this is the picture that my brain painted.
I was like, he was gonna drive us to an
abandoned airport hangar and that's where we get murdered.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
A very yes, very niche. There's so many of them,
you know, people don't know. It's a rampant abandonment of
air hangers in the East Coast.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Oh my god.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
But in this moment, so this is all this move,
I'm playing the movie of the rest of the end
of my life in my head and I'm watching him
go past exit after exit, and after the third exit,
the further we're getting from the from where we're supposed
to be.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
I'm Canadian? Can I curse on this show?
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Do we curse?
Speaker 5 (04:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Fuck it?
Speaker 4 (04:26):
So in this moment, I was like something took over
in me, and again fight to the death, I guess
came out even though I never predicted it. And I
was like listen, motherfucker, you're going the wrong fucking way,
and you're gonna get.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Off this freeway.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
You're gonna take this turn.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
You're gonna win. And he was like okay, whoa and
he did.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
And then I was like, listen, from here on out,
I am navigating, not you. And I was like telling
him where to go, and he drove us there. And
I don't know what his ultimate goal was. I think
it was just taking us for a ride to get
more money. I think that ultimately it was not necessarily nefarious.
But ultimately I think what I showed was this isn't
going to be easy for you.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
This is not gonna be fun.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
But the best part was we finally arrive at our destination,
which should have been about a fifteen dollars ride, and
he asked for seventy five.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Oh fucking dare he? Also, I love the idea of
you combating a serial killer with assertiveness, Like that's like
they're like, oh no, I've been foiled. Somebody spoke with
the station.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
This depends on the kind of ride that guy's looking for.
Don't pardon the pun, but again, it's like, you know,
it was like, this is gonna be too much trouble
for you for you do, but I'll never be.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
You're right, people want easy prey.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
Yes, but what we have said ever since then, this
is the follow up to this, is that it was
like we escaped death potential death once.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
We can never court it again.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah, you get the one.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Ge get one and that's it.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
You're Canadian, you might get two.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
We consider ourselves good global citizens for the most part.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
That's right. I'm another brush with death. Don't don't you
worry about it? Like, put yourself at a risk, take
that extra shot, jump in that car. Yeah, absolutely, Ben,
Can you give me that cool like chapter music? Please?
You know when we changed chapter Ben, Ben, no, man,
(06:13):
like you remember, it was like more emotional, like what
did we do last last one? We're gonna cut all
this out? But yeah, definitely oh this one, yes, like
turn yes please? Okay, So I'm gonna go, Ben, give
us some good chapter music. God damn it, man, we
(06:33):
just talked about it. Today. We start inside a prisoner
transport rattling down the Massachusetts Highway. They're being shipped out
of state to nearby Connecticut because everyone inside is scheduled
for execution.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Oh no, so Massachusetts we're we're in the same world here.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Yeah, that's right, And they were all being been by
a nounmarked vehicle. It was August third, twenty twenty. Along
with the other prisoners, Buddy pulled up alongside the new
facility and they jostled each other nervously as they came
to a stop. After four years penned up in Massachusetts,
he had been carted to Plymouth, Connecticut to die. Oh
(07:19):
what do you know about the death penalty in Massachusetts?
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Uh? You know what I should know more?
Speaker 4 (07:23):
I have a true crime podcast after two years, but
I wasn't aware that it was in existence in Massachusetts anymore.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
My capital punishment was overturned for state crimes in nineteen
eighty four. Only federal crimes were punishable by death, so
Connecticut kept the death penalty for much much longer. So
in twenty twenty, Buddy was scheduled for execution, but he
had different ideas. Okay, so this was the first time
Massachusetts and Connecticut facilities had actually worked together, and the
(07:50):
handoff wasn't really the smoothest okay. In fact, when he
was being unloaded, Buddy saw his chance. Somehow he was
able to slip past the restraints, dodged the guards, and
hall ass right to freedom. Oh there was a super
thick forest nearby, and Buddy dove into the trees and
totally disappeared. So it was an impulsive escape, you know,
he saw his opportunity and he took it. But whoever
(08:11):
said that it takes elaborate planning for an escape to
be great, right, This one was pure instinct. Buddy just
disappeared into the woods around Plymouth, Connecticut. Now he wasn't
hiding for long. In fact, multiple nine one one calls
came in when Buddy was spotted crossing the highway nearby.
The police were so quick on his sail. But Buddy
wasn't easy to catch. You know. He was a really
(08:31):
big dude, like terrifyingly big, and he was super fast too,
so once he got into the trees, he easily lost
everyone who was on his trail. Oh my god. Now
the police contemplated lethal force, but said it would only
be necessary if Buddy started to roam the streets and
threaten the public in Terryville, so it was like a
conditional lethal force action. It was more than three weeks later,
(08:52):
on August twenty seventh, that the police finally put the
word out that he was on the loose. The Plymouth
Police posted on their Facebook page that they were were
working with the two other agencies to recapture the eskpee.
He had been last seen along Connecticut's Route seventy two, So.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
They waited three weeks to alert the public.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Yeah. I think it's because of Yeah, it's hard to
admit when you pulled the dumbass act.
Speaker 6 (09:17):
You know.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
I guess when he did get away, he slipped away
so easily.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
Yeah, I guess maybe that's a tough thing to be. Like, Hey,
guys are bad.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Also, I love the idea that they're like, we have
to announce it somehow, we have to Okay, just put
it on the fucking Facebook page. Okay, nobody reads that one.
They actually printed it on their MySpace page. Yeah, exactly,
it was there.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
We put it out.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
We put it up there. Man, Yeah, you know, we've
announced it. You guys just didn't check high five dot
com at that time. Oh my god. So, for the
most part, Buddy was a really talented fugitive. He stayed
under the cover of the woods, ate his food super raw,
and stayed quiet. Even so, the town of Terryville was
told to be cautious. The police said that Buddy was
(09:57):
aggressive and a confrontation with him would cause serious injuries.
The town was cautioned to keep their distance and call
nine to one one on site.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Now.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
On Monday, September one, twenty twenty, the state drone unit
was basically a couple of gamers down in Connecticut being like,
y'all do it, I got nothing else to do, as
well as local and state officers combed the woods along
Judd Road and Rout seventy two on the north side
of Terrible Connecticut. Buddy had been at large for almost
a month by this point. Now the local police captain
(10:28):
on the case. His name is Edward Benecki. Am I
saying that, right, overlord? That is correct? Okay, So Edward
Benecki had previously seen I'm sorry to all my Italian
American friends had previously worked enforcement on narcotics, on gangs
and firearms trafficking, right, but this was something completely new.
Buddy was massive and quick, so capturing him was difficult.
(10:51):
Some would say he's a survivalist, you know, like if
he were on a survival TV show game, he'd definitely
be the star. How well would you do, Lauren? You
want to survivor show alone? What's no there's one called
yes naked and a frame. There's one just called alone,
I think, and it's like so fucking.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
Scary, the ones where they drop you in the middle
of the woods and you're completely nude, and it's like
figure it out. That is what would happen to me
in like a purgatory situation after death if I did
bad things in life, like I.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Don't want to camp. I don't want a glamp, no.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
Shower, man shower, Because here's my question, how is camping
anything other than bragging?
Speaker 3 (11:36):
It is bragging that I can survive.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
That I don't.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
I have no I can be humble and say I wouldn't.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Well, you know you also realize, like as actors, like
how meaningless our skills are in an apocalypse, Like I mean, well,
everybody's like, you know this community used to say this,
and I love her for you, but she's like she's
like she would be walking around with an almond being
like can anybody turn this into milk? Can anybody in me?
I would be like, yeah, I don't really hunt or
(12:06):
like digs.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
For stuff, but we just have to hope that people
still want entertainment.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
I think that that's it, Like you gotta hope that.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Like, I mean, the musicians did go down with the Titanic,
so that's maybe not a great comparison.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Yeah, nobody was to make sure the musicians get in first.
Speaker 6 (12:19):
You know, the.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Music must live on, the music must live on.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Going get the laughs.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
I would learn to tap dance or something super marketable.
I'd be like, you guys need some tap dancing. So
ed this ed Biniki thought that he could corner Buddy
because Buddy was also young. You know, in fact, Buddy
was only four years old. Here's where we have, Lauren,
what do you think Buddy actually is a Number one,
(12:52):
we have a sadistic doll possessed by an evil spirit
of a serial killer. Number two is he a top
secret early prototype kinetic robotic system that developed artificial intelligence?
Or Number three a beefalo escaping slaughter? Wait a second,
what's a beefalo? Don't worry about it. Is it a bfalo?
(13:12):
Is it a top secret prototype or a sadistic doll?
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Okay, well, you said he was big, You said he
was young.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Uh huh.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
You said he was able to eat raw food, and
he could evade things and we couldn't shoot him. I
don't know what a beefalo is, but part of me
wonders if it is a cow buffalo hybrid that for
some reason.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Ding ding ding ding ding, you got it. I didn't
mean to say, you don't worry about it, but they
told me I couldn't tell you what it was, so no,
I I am, yeah, I am under contract. They're so
nice to me. I love them so much.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
I'm going to send you a burner phone.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Okay, I actually, yes, please give me. Yeah. I didn't
know what a beefalo was either, but I think the
name is fucking hilarious. So yeah, it's a beefo. Is
a is a bison mixed with with a cow? I believe?
Or right? Am I?
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Right?
Speaker 5 (13:59):
Guys, yes, sir, A beefalo is a bison cow hybrid.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Oh my god.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Okay, this is amazing. I love this turn. This is fantastic,
so listen.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
It turns out Buddy's only crime was being born a beefalo.
Oh so bison, you know, they are lean and mean,
and cows are docile but carry less meat, so when
they crossbread In the eighteen seventies, it was supposed to
make the perfect healthy meat animal, as lean as a bison,
but as gentle as a cow. They have been tested
(14:29):
as having higher vitamin levels and more protein than beef,
and they were supposed to be easily led from the
feed lot to the killing floor. Now you can visit
American beefalo Association dot com for the full picture, which
is actually a thing which I love. But the point
is that Buddy the beefalow was literally bred for slaughter,
but he was not planning to be merchandise. Nay, not Buddy,
(14:49):
my friend. In fact, his initial escape was just the beginning.
Give me a mood sound, will you?
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Ma oh?
Speaker 1 (15:03):
She was about yes and yeah, of course, Lauren, you're welcome.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
You're welcome to make any sound effects you would like.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Yes, sorry, Lauren, but I wouldn't ask you so so
so succinctly, I would be appreciate, do you mind? So, Lauren?
Now that we know that the escapee is actually a
b falow, what we got here is a really lighthearted story,
(15:32):
right like this happened early in the pandemic, and to me,
I don't know, it really showcases the like the power
of community and how we all needed a little optimism
and a little comedy in that time, you know, so
let's have some fun with it. Yeah, now, Bud, his
escape was pretty unusual. The slaughterhouse he ran away from
was a full service facility.
Speaker 6 (15:51):
You know.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
They did the slaughtering and the butchering, packaging, shipping out
of cuts of Primo b Falow everywhere ever. You got
to be follow, You got to be follow. That's all
they did. They were the real pros and they weren't
used to their animals escaping, so obviously neither were the
local cops. After the police put out an APV on Buddy,
Captain ed bickhetdie what is it, mckheeddie, sorry, Captain ed Mineki.
(16:17):
Captain ed Minecki gave a statement to the press. He
said that at one point there was an officer who
had cornered Buddy, but in that's words, I quote, yeah,
he approached the animal, but the animal put his head
down and started to pall the ground aggressively or scratched
the ground real aggressive like. So at the time the
sergeant tactically relocated, which is another term for he to
retreat it from the area. What excuse, what excuse would
(16:40):
you make to save face when you're basically telling people
that an angry moo moo freaked you out, you.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Know, a angry moo. Yeah, I like that term a lot.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
I mean, I think I think it's fair to say
I felt like I was going to be charged.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
But I guess my question then.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
Would just be and I know this isn't answering your
question directly, but if he's kind of menacing to you,
then I feel like you do have permission to use
deadly force because the whole point was right, So, yeah,
it kind of feels like in that moment, you got
to come up with something else, which I guess then
I would just be like, I am a vegan, I'm
a vegitarian, and I couldn't ethically.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
So I have found Buddhism in that moment where he
was stomping on the ground, right. But so I can
imagine them being like, yeah, you know, it's just I
made a tactical retreat. They always love to talk in
military terms. I'm like, so you so you ran away
to a store. Yeah, the tactical retreat.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
I made a tactical retreat.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
I did ad a tumble into a dish.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Yeah, the face of maneuver kind of John Wick style.
Oh so you jumped into a bush? Yeah, yeah, yeah, my.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Ankle pretty bad. Actually, I was laid up for a
couple of weeks with that.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
I don't know what a Connecticut accent sounds like, but
I think this is just what I'm going to keep
it as. So keep in mind, though, Buddy was almost
a thousand pounds in weight, so we can forgive him
for the tumble, for the very brave tumble. Of course,
as word spread, reporters starting asking Terrible residents what they
thought of the escape, if some of them were afraid,
or if they felt a little different about it. So
(18:08):
one of them said, they want to make steaks and
burgers from this animal. We don't want that. One putmouth
resident who put food out in their backyard for buddies, said.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Well, good for him.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
He knew it was coming and now he's out venturing.
So this guy was from the very deep south of Connecticut.
Of course, that's right, so is the word. As a
word about Buddy spread. He got his Connecticut neighbors on
his side, which is actually really cute. Local has created
this Buddy t shirts and on September twelfth, a Buddy
the Beefalo Twitter started spouting off right. The first tweet
(18:41):
was on the run and having von hashtag live large
hashtag beefalow balling. What which Okay, which team are you
are you on? Lauren? Is it beefalo bawling or just
beffalo bolognas? Like what do you no?
Speaker 4 (18:57):
It's it's beefelow balling. Look, I was a vegetarian for
nine years. I came back holding me to the dark side. Yeah,
which is fine. But but the point is is that
I do feel a couple of things. One, I'm like, yeah,
he he's an animal.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
He's running. I can't fold him for that, wouldn't you?
I would? I mean again, I ran away from an
unmarked car.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
But the point I think that it's bigger for me
is just it's interesting to make a disconnect that it's like, well,
there's also hundreds of others, Like he's just the one
that got away. Like if you are opposed to him
being killed, you kind of a pardon everybody? What do
you want a beefalo population to go out of control?
Speaker 1 (19:36):
And people are like I didn't even know if fucking
Beefalo existed until like like I don't know, like you're
forcing me to make a stance on something I just
found out exists. So, okay, I don't know this Befalo
is the Beefalo. But also, you know, like if he
wants it bad enough, I'm like, you're kind of root
for You're root for the underdog, don't you, or.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
The under buff for the under buff.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Wow, I'm gonna the comedy community is going to write
me a very strongly worded he about that one. I
loved it. It was clear that Buddy had the sympathy
of the public right The Plymouth police saw their chance
to get people on their side. So rather than trying
to capture Buddy to return him to the owners, they
came up with a very different plan. They were captured
Buddy so that they could set him free. We're here
(20:21):
with Tom Blen, we're doing a tactical retreat and we're
setting free hallelujah.
Speaker 4 (20:28):
I have a lot of questions free. He's grew, he
was born into captivity, like he's I guess he's proving.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
I guess you're proving that you're on Beefalo bolognes side.
Never never, I guess like maybe setting him free would
be like relocating him to a farm would be my guest.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
Okay, I supposed it's just like letting him freak in
real Now we've got a wild beeflow population, like uh.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Oh something you can get all sorts of weird ship
like a beef along, like he just starts mixing with everybody,
a beef of shepherd, a beef of corky. It's gonna
be really fucking weird.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Oh no, the legs.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
So when the cops told the slaughterhouse they didn't want
to bring Buddy back, that caused a little bit of
an issue, right because they were told that a thousand
pounds bfalow would bring in about six thousand dollars worth
of meat, so that was a really steep price. But
the police decided that they were up for the challenge,
so they launched a gofundmeat to buy Buddy from the slaughterhouse. Wow,
anything else to do in this town.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
You guys are like, you're raising pandemic. It was a
early pandemic. They needed a project.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
I know, I'm sure homelessness is not a problem that
you could help gofund me. No, no, no, let's set
this bee folow free. Yep. Meanwhile, they stayed on Buddy's trail. Right,
Captain Ed put his police dog Sarah into service to
track Buddy down. Now is that a sniffing ben?
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (21:55):
It is so inside my ear. Wow, I feel weird.
That was a may sniffing.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
That was an actual dog.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Gods, I feel weird. So during the day, Captain Ed
would pursue his normal police duties and in the evenings
he was off his shift, so he would take Sarh
and the two of them would collect the latest leads.
Then they would head out to track buddy. Lauren, is
this a heartwarming primetime sitcom or what? Like? You know?
Off duty captain and is trusty hound turned private eyes
(22:24):
and animal rescue?
Speaker 3 (22:25):
I guess it's just for me. It's a lot of questions.
First of all, are we eating buff like beef below?
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Like that? I thought I was like worth of it?
Speaker 3 (22:37):
Like how who is I have never heard of this
in my life.
Speaker 4 (22:41):
It feels to me like this is a way that
they somehow save money braiding cows and we don't know
and this is part of like the big beef conspiracy.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
That's what the first thing is for me.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
The second thing is is that in a world, in
a country where so many people's and I look, we
do have to get political, but.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Like, I just can't believe that this people lived this law.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Like the masses well, with so much food that goes
to waste, I'm sure, I'm sure like one befalo won't
make the difference. But yes, I hear you completely on
your concerns. So let's turn to my overlords to see
how much befalo is is in our food.
Speaker 5 (23:17):
Befalo is in every pound of beef that you could
buy the supermarket. Intact, beefalo is used to make to furky.
Every pound of tofood that you buy is half beefl.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Wait, every pound of turkey that I buy is half
fucking beefalo.
Speaker 5 (23:30):
Have you ever tried to buy zucchini at the grocery store?
You were actually trying to buy a log of befalo?
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Was that a joke? Were you making funny?
Speaker 6 (23:37):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Wow? I was like, oh my god? Did you did
you think he was serious? Lauren?
Speaker 3 (23:41):
Why am I so shuck being lied to by the government?
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Water shock? What's in our food? We love been eating
beefalo and we did not know it existed.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
This is like soiling greens, but for real, I I
that is the nineteen seventies reference I bring to this
show you're elderly.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
I'm an elderly human.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
So okay, so we got the captain. Is it a
cute sitcom? Is it an obsession of a man? We
don't know. But this went on for weeks and then
months right then finally, so the guy would do his
police stuff during the day and then at night chase
Buddy down. So finally, in the fall, the owner of
a local apple orchard, Nate, called the police station because
(24:20):
he had spotted Buddy under his trees. Now that gave
Captain Ed an idea. Working together with Nate, Ed decided
to stop chasing Buddy and instead, now that he knew
where he was, they would bring Buddy to them. What
(24:41):
would be your best beffalo trap design? What are you
going to like lure befalo with?
Speaker 3 (24:47):
I mean, ultimately, something that looks like a female bffalo.
So I'm going to take like always do. Isn't it
a leather couch.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
I'm gonna put some lipstick on it, some fake eyelashes,
you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (24:58):
I bet you there's a you there's like a thrift
store in Portland that has just such a design. You know,
I guarantee that they're like, we'll turn your your couches
into cows and then we'll bring them back to life
in a ceremony.
Speaker 4 (25:11):
And then we just planted a speaker there and pump
some female befalo mating sounds or whatever.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
And easy which is it's coincidentally, dj cow, it's next remix.
It's a mating female bffalo sounds the dj cal. I
wonder if the female bffalo is also called the bfalo?
Speaker 3 (25:36):
Oh, great question?
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Or is it a befal gave it timmy carl. It's
called befala.
Speaker 5 (25:41):
It is called beef alita b falita, right, okaysh felita,
I'm waiting for you.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Wow, so many nineties hits in my head at one time.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Again elderly.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
So.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Their alluring plants started with a big ass animal trailer, right,
one big enough to hold buddy if the biffalo would
actually go inside. But that was surrounded by cattle fencing
circled up around the trailer to create a coral, right,
a corral. I believe you guys call it. I call
it a coral. Fucking sue me. So leading towards the trailer,
an open gate on the farest side offered Buddy away
(26:18):
in right, So Captain ed got urine from a female
cow u Biefelida to use his lure to draw Buddy
into the cage alongside some hay and some grain. So
you were totally right kind of.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Well then I was a little more creative about it
again the End of the World. I'd like to think
that that's what the artists.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Writs, right, gave this woman a couch, She's gonna lure
some dinner. So I wish we had the recording that conversation, right,
Like if you have to approach the owner of a
cattle herd, like, how would you go about asking for
like cowpis, like female cowpis?
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Well, I guess they have to hope that one of
the female cows used the bathroom in the night and
didn't flush the.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Toilet, you know what I mean? Oh, yeah, there you go.
But yeah, I just imagine that conver saying like, hey,
hey are you doing? Hey, God bless you? So how's
your mother?
Speaker 6 (27:04):
Good?
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Good? Good? So listen, I'm gonna need a little bit
of animal smells, you know, for some sniffing. You got
any uh, you got any colpis? Lying around. You know
what kind of cop is I don't know if a
female female cow, female beefelino cow.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
I also, I want to hear the conversation with his
wife or partner about this, like how is your day? Like, oh,
I got it go down there. I had to source
some female cow piss. I'm laying a trap. It's like
you have been chasing this thing for a.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Month and a half. Eda Nate sat together in a
truck nearby, holding onto a rope that held together the
gate right, so if Buddy arrived to check on their trap,
they would just pull the rope and close the gate
and Buddy would be locked inside. Now thirty minutes later,
there was a commotion just at the end of the clearing,
a rustling from between the trees, and Eda Nate sat
(27:53):
in stone cold silence, trying not to move. I just
got to say, also, you know how they say like
men invented golf just so they could have an excuse
to go on walks together. I feel like this is
like their version of bonding and be like, yeah, we're
just gonna catch a cow, and it's like yeah, but
like if we want to talk about feelings while we're
doing it like, why the fuck not?
Speaker 3 (28:11):
You know, I guess it just never felt seen.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Yeah, yeah, so yeah, let's go catch a beflow and
let's talk about some shit. So so, from this commotion
and the clearing outstepped our pal Buddy. He approached the corral,
he spotted the open gate, and he walked inside. He
made his way to that pile of piss and grain,
and that's when Ed and the farmer sprang their trap.
(28:36):
They jumped out of the truck and heaved the gate
shut by pulling the rope. But these men had underestimated Buddy.
As the gate clang shut, he bolted not out the gate, nay,
but directly through the cattle fencing, and the moment was
caught on video. The large steel panels are thrown into
the air and scattered around the trailer like they were
(28:59):
barely more than cardboard.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
I'm so invested in this story. This is such a
great one. I can't even tell you. This is chaos.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
It's got love, it's got romance.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
It's got got everything you need.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
I also want you to know I was taking notes
at points because I was like, there's some points of
this that I got to come back to.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
So Buddy, the Bffalo stayed on the loose, but Ed
Captain ED had more tricks up his sleeve now. In interviews,
(29:34):
Captain Ed said that Buddy had become his white whale.
He was determined to capture the Bffalo at almost any cost. Fortunately,
the police gofund me had scooped up over nine thousand dollars,
so all the expenses were covered in under a day. Now,
all that was left to do was catched a beast. Lauren,
would you have contributed to the hashtag beef a little
(29:56):
bawling go fundme?
Speaker 3 (29:58):
You know, Honestly, the more it think about it, maybe
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (30:02):
It was a time we're gonna remember this time though,
this was September twenty twenty. We all needed a hero,
We all wanted something, you know, and maybe the community felt,
you know, brought together by all of this. I think
it's just because it's you know again, it's like there's
just so many of them. But I guess only one
got away, so maybe he is special and I should
be more supportive of yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Specific Also I love the irony of, like, you know,
the local townspeople watching this on the news and like
rooting for Buddy while like eating a fucking twelve on steak,
you know, like, oh man, I really hope he makes
it out. I never had any b flow in my life,
but you know, and little did they know that that's
befelow that they're eating.
Speaker 3 (30:38):
It is we've always this has been going on since
eighteen seventy. I wrote that down. I was like, this
is the greatest kept secret in the world.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
That's right, and we reveal it. Whoh, I love that
this is gonna like what if this is the last
strand of sanity that the world was like leaning on.
Like once this is revealed, everything just fucking snaps out
of place and everything the apoos yep. So Captain Ed
decided that he had a working strategy. He met with
(31:06):
Nate and they agreed that Ed could rebuild the trap
and use it again. So they build it again, stronger
this time, and filled it again with grain and water
to lure Buddy in. Then they kept watch and despite
their first encounter, Buddy did come back, probably because Buddy
did not believe in their fucking skills. They're like, yeah, dude, okay, yeah,
(31:26):
give me some grain. I'll be okay. And not just
once Eda Nate kept the corral stocked, and Buddy started
coming back regularly for the food and water. This just
feels like they just had a pet.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
To be honest, this is like, this just feels like
it's just like feeding a stray cat. It's always going
to keep coming back, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Yeah, So Captain Nett started spending his evenings after work
waiting for Buddy to appear. The police chief said that
Captain net did not hunt Buddy during working hours. End quote. Hey,
if my captain chooses the cheese a beefalow on his
own time, he can do that. It's a frequentry. He's
also even sigh uh, little known fact. So his weird
(32:03):
hobby didn't jeopardize his work, but his boss doesn't really
sound thrilled about it. Right, So, when when Ed and
Nate were staking out the trap more and more, this
is sounding like they just wanted to bond, you know. Yeah,
fuck it. So, when he was taking out the trap,
rather than staying in Nate's truck, Ed would lie down
inside the animal trailer itself. He set up cameras pointed
(32:25):
at the makeshift ben where he hoped that he would
trap Buddy. He even borrowed night vision goggles from a
fellow police officer and used a thermal camera from the
police department inventory so he could spot Buddy when he
was nearby and track his approach. According to one article,
he supplied all of his own batteries for the police
equipment he was using to keep watch for the runaway. Okay, Buddy,
(32:49):
So does he have a bunker?
Speaker 3 (32:51):
Is he hoarding batteries?
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Is this all part of this?
Speaker 3 (32:53):
So you have children? I want to know so much
about Captain Ed's life.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
So Ed was obsessed with the hunt, right, and as
the months got colder, he found himself lying in the
frigid steal trailer. He would get home from work, eat
dinner with his wife, and then get up, bundle up
in his jacket, and head for the orchard where he
would lie in wait for Buddy. Now his wife came
out with him a few times in the eight months
that he was hunting Buddy down, but it was his obsession,
not hers, and in an interview she said that she
(33:20):
mostly hoped they could just be sacking, you know. So
Ed caught the buffalo many times on video. The recordings
of his surveillance camera show Buddy repeatedly stepping into the pen,
grabbing his food, and then high tailing it out of
there again. Honestly, does this sound like they even want
to catch the b flow? You know, they just want
to play at cool surveillance gadgets away from their families
(33:41):
on there.
Speaker 7 (33:42):
If I may, I'd like to quote hit major motion
picture Batman The Dark Knight. Yes, please do which is
you know, I'm like a dog chasing a car. If
it caught it, I wouldn't know what to do with it.
I'm paraphrasing. The point is I win that particular line,
Thank you very much. I'm very prolific in I have
a great memory for quotes. The point is, I you know,
(34:03):
it's some of them just want to watch the world burn.
That one doesn't connect at all. But I just wanted
to prove I know a quote. The point is, I
just am very curious to see how this story ends.
And if he does catch it, it's like then what
Like It's like, what's the next thing?
Speaker 1 (34:15):
I got you? So, in an interview ed chalked it
up to COVID right. He said it was twenty twenty
and there was nothing better to do than lying the
cold trailer and wait for a cow, which, to be honest,
fair enough Buddy. So this carried on throughout winter. Okay,
Buddy cut a path in the snow into the corral
where he knew that there was always food waiting. Okay,
But Eda and Nate could never keep him inside the
corral or coax him into the trailer. The bfalow just
(34:38):
refused to get caught until one day in spring of
twenty twenty one, Buddy didn't show up for his daily feeding.
He was gone, gone gone. But by then the whole
toown knew that Ed was the man on the hunt
for Buddy. So soon the telephone was ringing down at
the police station. It was a different local farmer calling
(34:59):
in to As it turned out, after two hundred and
fifty days of freedom, plus a bayla hay and ten
pounds of grain every single day through the winter months,
Ed discovered that he no longer had to bring Buddy in.
After a whole winter playing catch me if you can
with Captain Ed, Buddy was found where he really wanted
to be, and it wasn't in the makeshift corral with
a chili cattle trailer and the weird dude lying in it.
(35:23):
In fact, Buddy had caught the scent of another local
cattle farm and it brought him wandering over. This time
he spotted a cluster of female cows. He jumped the
fence into the pen, trapping himself with the ladies inside. Ladies,
I know I've been out in the wild for far
too long, but I hear this is the lady cow.
(35:47):
Pis okay? Sorry. The local farmer marched them inside, locked
them up, called Captain Net to let him know that
the fugitive had finally given up the game. Maybe all
those nasty reports about him being aggressive were a bit
off the mark. It seems like Buddy, what he really was,
(36:11):
was lonely. It was Buddy himself who decided that his
rampage to the woods of the Connecticut Wilderness was over.
So Buddy he found his people. So once Buddy was caught,
the money from the GoFundMe paid for the vet to
check him out, and then they shipped him down south.
One of the officers said that they raised enough money
(36:31):
in a single day to pay the vet plus the transportation,
and we're paying Nate for all the food that he
brought during winter. Buddy was taken in by Critter Creek
Farm Animal Sanctuary in Gainesville, Florida. They required a short
quarantine adjustment period where Buddy got used to the climate
so they could also make sure that he wouldn't bring
any diseases to the other animals. Now are you hearing me?
They tried to luck Buddy up in a solitary pen,
(36:53):
but it failed. Buddy escaped twice. They should have pretty
much known better by this point. Don't you think like
Buddy does not like being locked up?
Speaker 5 (37:02):
Man?
Speaker 3 (37:02):
No, He's made it quite clear he's been evading. He's
been invading all capture for a really long time. Like
you gotta gotta keep him in a barn or I
don't even.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
Know what, but you just gotta keep the cow piss flowing,
that's all you gotta do. So eventually he once he
was let out into the main pasture to mingle with
the other cows and even a bison named Cinnamon, Buddy
calmed down. Finally, Buddy was lonely no more.
Speaker 6 (37:29):
Or no mo.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
In April twenty twenty one, Captain Ed drove down to
visit Buddy at the sanctuary in Florida. Apparently he tried
to feed the beefalo bananas, but Buddy kept his distance.
It's a little sad almost watching captain Ed try to
entice Buddy over our best beef of of boy just
will not be moved no matter what captain Ed offers him.
I guess in some ways, the real chase goes on,
(38:02):
and that's our story. Lauren, what do you think?
Speaker 3 (38:05):
This is amazing?
Speaker 4 (38:06):
I think that this was incredible. I loved the misdirect.
I loved all the details. I loved the fact that
early on in the story, I was going what crime
did this convict commit? Like?
Speaker 3 (38:14):
How dangerous of a convict is? I was taking notes,
I was doing what I do during my normal show.
Speaker 4 (38:19):
No.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
Yeah, And I'm just glad that we have a really
fun escape story for once with a happy ending and everything,
because this show it doesn't really get a lot of those.
And also, you know, in solidarity with Buddy and the
entire Beefalo community, we're actually going to make a donation
to the Critter Creek Farm on behalf of Captain Ed.
So it's a real win win here.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
Oh that's so kind.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
Wait to be honest, it's a cool. It's cool as
any abby man like I learned how to play chess.
So that's you know, one hundred pre chase scout. Some
people played chess. Where can listeners find your show, Lauren?
Speaker 4 (38:49):
You can find us anywhere. The podcasts are available, True
Crime and Cocktails. You can find us on all the socials. Also,
if you look for that name.
Speaker 1 (39:01):
To really go out with a bang, I'm gonna ask
Ben to play some of that sexy seventies music he
was playing in Yeah. I want to ask you, Lauren,
to sing with me, yeah and say goodbye.
Speaker 3 (39:13):
Oh, let's do it.
Speaker 1 (39:16):
Yeah, be fellow. Can you feel the moomomum you go into?
Speaker 3 (39:24):
Run way.
Speaker 1 (39:27):
Is a coral?
Speaker 6 (39:28):
Coral gonna eat a large bell of Hey, Lauren, thank
you so much, Oh my god, this was too fun, truly.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
Goodbye everybody. You see you next week. Radies Escapes is
a production of iHeartRadio and Film Nation Entertainment and association
(40:00):
with Gilded Audio. Our executive producers from Me are Turo Castro,
Alyssa Martino and Milan Papelka from Film Nation Entertainment, Andrew
Chugg and Witning Donaldson from Gilded Audio, and Dylan Fagan
from iHeartRadio. The show is produced and edited by Carl
Nellis and Ben Chugg, who are also, respectively, our research
overlord and music Overlord. Our associate producer is Tory Smith,
who's our other overlord. Nick Dooley is our technical director.
(40:23):
Additional editing by Whitney Donaldson. Special thanks to Alison Cohen,
Dan Welsh, Ben Riizek, Sarah Joyner, Nicki Stein, Olivia Canny
and Kelsey Albright. Hey, thank you so much for listening,
(40:46):
and if you're enjoying the show, please drop a rating
or review. My mom will call you each personally and
thank you, and we'll see you all next week
Hey guys, welcome to Greatest Escapes, the show bringing you
the wildest true escape stories of all time. Not today,
we're following a heartwarming tale, the story of an escapee
who the whole community rallied around. He even got the
police on his side. Very impressive. I'm Martro Castro, and
I'm joined by a fantastic actress and comedian who also
hosts a podcast, True Crime and Cocktails, Lauren Ash.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Let's go, Lauren Ash bra blah blah.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
What a joy in my life, I think.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Oh my gosh, I'm so happy to be here. I
was so excited when I saw this come through my email.
I was like, hell, yes, I cannot wait. This is
the best.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
You know.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
It's one of those things where where you know the
wonderful folks at Film Nation. I love Film Nation. Film
Nation is great. I love them.
Speaker 5 (01:15):
Help me.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Maybe you're plotting an escape.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Well's nothing. I love them. They treat me so to
her will not be escaping.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Legally contractually bound? I gotcha, Lauren.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
I wanted to ask you, do you have the greatest
escape story?
Speaker 3 (01:34):
You know what's so funny?
Speaker 4 (01:35):
I was with my best friend of ten ten twenty
years last night, Leslie Siler we met, Yes, we met
twenty years ago this month and I said to her.
I was like, I'm doing this podcast and it's about escapes.
And I was like, and I can't think it.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
She goes Boston and I went, that's it. Immediately she was.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Like me, Mark Wahlberg is involved, Like, oh, Boddy, we're
gonna go.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
We're gonna go, we're gonna get some sandwiches, We're gonna
eat a lobstery.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Okay, so tell me. So what happened in Boston?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
She and I again, we met twenty years ago.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
We were best friends, comedy partners, and we were going
for this comedy festival in Boston and we were staying
kind of far from the venue and so you had
to take a like an uber or a cab.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
But this was kind of at the time when Uber.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
Was just starting. So for those of us we were like,
how does it work?
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Do we have the app?
Speaker 4 (02:22):
We were still hailing cabs at this point right in
the world, okay, and.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
It was hella expensive and like hard to get I
remember totally totally.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
And so we we had come out of the hotel
and we had so much stuff because we were doing
a sketch comedy show, so I don't have to.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Tell you Wigs Wiggs.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
We've got a lot of gear and we're waiting and
we've somehow, for some reason, we like walked to half
a block from the hotel and we were like, there's
no cabs.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
What are we going to do? And then this car
pulls up.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
It's a black car, it's a nice car, and this
guy goes, where are you going?
Speaker 3 (02:53):
And we both were like, and he's like, I'll take you.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
And it was in this moment that I looked at
her and she seemed okay with it, and she later
told me that she looked at me and I seemed
okay with it, when in reality, neither.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Of us was okay with it.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
Wow, And so we were like, okay, I guess we're
getting into this unmarked limo car thing we put our
stuff in, but automatically now listen, this is pre me
having a true crime podcast. But I was already I'm
very familiar with the date lines.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
I know where this.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Con is like one oh one, yeah, right.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
So on my phone, I've pulled up where we are
supposed to be going, because again it's not our town
and I'm watching, and then I have the true horror
set in as I watched this man going the wrong
way and he gets on a freeway and he's driving away.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
From where we need to go.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
And in this moment, this is when I my anxiety
brain takes over. And I told her later that I
was like, this is the picture that my brain painted.
I was like, he was gonna drive us to an
abandoned airport hangar and that's where we get murdered.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
A very yes, very niche. There's so many of them,
you know, people don't know. It's a rampant abandonment of
air hangers in the East Coast.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Oh my god.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
But in this moment, so this is all this move,
I'm playing the movie of the rest of the end
of my life in my head and I'm watching him
go past exit after exit, and after the third exit,
the further we're getting from the from where we're supposed
to be.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
I'm Canadian? Can I curse on this show?
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Do we curse?
Speaker 5 (04:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Fuck it?
Speaker 4 (04:26):
So in this moment, I was like something took over
in me, and again fight to the death, I guess
came out even though I never predicted it. And I
was like listen, motherfucker, you're going the wrong fucking way,
and you're gonna get.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Off this freeway.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
You're gonna take this turn.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
You're gonna win. And he was like okay, whoa and
he did.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
And then I was like, listen, from here on out,
I am navigating, not you. And I was like telling
him where to go, and he drove us there. And
I don't know what his ultimate goal was. I think
it was just taking us for a ride to get
more money. I think that ultimately it was not necessarily nefarious.
But ultimately I think what I showed was this isn't
going to be easy for you.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
This is not gonna be fun.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
But the best part was we finally arrive at our destination,
which should have been about a fifteen dollars ride, and
he asked for seventy five.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Oh fucking dare he? Also, I love the idea of
you combating a serial killer with assertiveness, Like that's like
they're like, oh no, I've been foiled. Somebody spoke with
the station.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
This depends on the kind of ride that guy's looking for.
Don't pardon the pun, but again, it's like, you know,
it was like, this is gonna be too much trouble
for you for you do, but I'll never be.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
You're right, people want easy prey.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
Yes, but what we have said ever since then, this
is the follow up to this, is that it was
like we escaped death potential death once.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
We can never court it again.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah, you get the one.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Ge get one and that's it.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
You're Canadian, you might get two.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
We consider ourselves good global citizens for the most part.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
That's right. I'm another brush with death. Don't don't you
worry about it? Like, put yourself at a risk, take
that extra shot, jump in that car. Yeah, absolutely, Ben,
Can you give me that cool like chapter music? Please?
You know when we changed chapter Ben, Ben, no, man,
(06:13):
like you remember, it was like more emotional, like what
did we do last last one? We're gonna cut all
this out? But yeah, definitely oh this one, yes, like
turn yes please? Okay, So I'm gonna go, Ben, give
us some good chapter music. God damn it, man, we
(06:33):
just talked about it. Today. We start inside a prisoner
transport rattling down the Massachusetts Highway. They're being shipped out
of state to nearby Connecticut because everyone inside is scheduled
for execution.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Oh no, so Massachusetts we're we're in the same world here.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Yeah, that's right, And they were all being been by
a nounmarked vehicle. It was August third, twenty twenty. Along
with the other prisoners, Buddy pulled up alongside the new
facility and they jostled each other nervously as they came
to a stop. After four years penned up in Massachusetts,
he had been carted to Plymouth, Connecticut to die. Oh
(07:19):
what do you know about the death penalty in Massachusetts?
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Uh? You know what I should know more?
Speaker 4 (07:23):
I have a true crime podcast after two years, but
I wasn't aware that it was in existence in Massachusetts anymore.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
My capital punishment was overturned for state crimes in nineteen
eighty four. Only federal crimes were punishable by death, so
Connecticut kept the death penalty for much much longer. So
in twenty twenty, Buddy was scheduled for execution, but he
had different ideas. Okay, so this was the first time
Massachusetts and Connecticut facilities had actually worked together, and the
(07:50):
handoff wasn't really the smoothest okay. In fact, when he
was being unloaded, Buddy saw his chance. Somehow he was
able to slip past the restraints, dodged the guards, and
hall ass right to freedom. Oh there was a super
thick forest nearby, and Buddy dove into the trees and
totally disappeared. So it was an impulsive escape, you know,
he saw his opportunity and he took it. But whoever
(08:11):
said that it takes elaborate planning for an escape to
be great, right, This one was pure instinct. Buddy just
disappeared into the woods around Plymouth, Connecticut. Now he wasn't
hiding for long. In fact, multiple nine one one calls
came in when Buddy was spotted crossing the highway nearby.
The police were so quick on his sail. But Buddy
wasn't easy to catch. You know. He was a really
(08:31):
big dude, like terrifyingly big, and he was super fast too,
so once he got into the trees, he easily lost
everyone who was on his trail. Oh my god. Now
the police contemplated lethal force, but said it would only
be necessary if Buddy started to roam the streets and
threaten the public in Terryville, so it was like a
conditional lethal force action. It was more than three weeks later,
(08:52):
on August twenty seventh, that the police finally put the
word out that he was on the loose. The Plymouth
Police posted on their Facebook page that they were were
working with the two other agencies to recapture the eskpee.
He had been last seen along Connecticut's Route seventy two, So.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
They waited three weeks to alert the public.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Yeah. I think it's because of Yeah, it's hard to
admit when you pulled the dumbass act.
Speaker 6 (09:17):
You know.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
I guess when he did get away, he slipped away
so easily.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
Yeah, I guess maybe that's a tough thing to be. Like, Hey,
guys are bad.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Also, I love the idea that they're like, we have
to announce it somehow, we have to Okay, just put
it on the fucking Facebook page. Okay, nobody reads that one.
They actually printed it on their MySpace page. Yeah, exactly,
it was there.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
We put it out.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
We put it up there. Man, Yeah, you know, we've
announced it. You guys just didn't check high five dot
com at that time. Oh my god. So, for the
most part, Buddy was a really talented fugitive. He stayed
under the cover of the woods, ate his food super raw,
and stayed quiet. Even so, the town of Terryville was
told to be cautious. The police said that Buddy was
(09:57):
aggressive and a confrontation with him would cause serious injuries.
The town was cautioned to keep their distance and call
nine to one one on site.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Now.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
On Monday, September one, twenty twenty, the state drone unit
was basically a couple of gamers down in Connecticut being like,
y'all do it, I got nothing else to do, as
well as local and state officers combed the woods along
Judd Road and Rout seventy two on the north side
of Terrible Connecticut. Buddy had been at large for almost
a month by this point. Now the local police captain
(10:28):
on the case. His name is Edward Benecki. Am I
saying that, right, overlord? That is correct? Okay, So Edward
Benecki had previously seen I'm sorry to all my Italian
American friends had previously worked enforcement on narcotics, on gangs
and firearms trafficking, right, but this was something completely new.
Buddy was massive and quick, so capturing him was difficult.
(10:51):
Some would say he's a survivalist, you know, like if
he were on a survival TV show game, he'd definitely
be the star. How well would you do, Lauren? You
want to survivor show alone? What's no there's one called
yes naked and a frame. There's one just called alone,
I think, and it's like so fucking.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
Scary, the ones where they drop you in the middle
of the woods and you're completely nude, and it's like
figure it out. That is what would happen to me
in like a purgatory situation after death if I did
bad things in life, like I.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Don't want to camp. I don't want a glamp, no.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
Shower, man shower, Because here's my question, how is camping
anything other than bragging?
Speaker 3 (11:36):
It is bragging that I can survive.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
That I don't.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
I have no I can be humble and say I wouldn't.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Well, you know you also realize, like as actors, like
how meaningless our skills are in an apocalypse, Like I mean, well,
everybody's like, you know this community used to say this,
and I love her for you, but she's like she's
like she would be walking around with an almond being
like can anybody turn this into milk? Can anybody in me?
I would be like, yeah, I don't really hunt or
(12:06):
like digs.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
For stuff, but we just have to hope that people
still want entertainment.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
I think that that's it, Like you gotta hope that.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Like, I mean, the musicians did go down with the Titanic,
so that's maybe not a great comparison.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Yeah, nobody was to make sure the musicians get in first.
Speaker 6 (12:19):
You know, the.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Music must live on, the music must live on.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Going get the laughs.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
I would learn to tap dance or something super marketable.
I'd be like, you guys need some tap dancing. So
ed this ed Biniki thought that he could corner Buddy
because Buddy was also young. You know, in fact, Buddy
was only four years old. Here's where we have, Lauren,
what do you think Buddy actually is a Number one,
(12:52):
we have a sadistic doll possessed by an evil spirit
of a serial killer. Number two is he a top
secret early prototype kinetic robotic system that developed artificial intelligence?
Or Number three a beefalo escaping slaughter? Wait a second,
what's a beefalo? Don't worry about it. Is it a bfalo?
(13:12):
Is it a top secret prototype or a sadistic doll?
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Okay, well, you said he was big, You said he
was young.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Uh huh.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
You said he was able to eat raw food, and
he could evade things and we couldn't shoot him. I
don't know what a beefalo is, but part of me
wonders if it is a cow buffalo hybrid that for
some reason.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Ding ding ding ding ding, you got it. I didn't
mean to say, you don't worry about it, but they
told me I couldn't tell you what it was, so no,
I I am, yeah, I am under contract. They're so
nice to me. I love them so much.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
I'm going to send you a burner phone.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Okay, I actually, yes, please give me. Yeah. I didn't
know what a beefalo was either, but I think the
name is fucking hilarious. So yeah, it's a beefo. Is
a is a bison mixed with with a cow? I believe?
Or right? Am I?
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Right?
Speaker 5 (13:59):
Guys, yes, sir, A beefalo is a bison cow hybrid.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Oh my god.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Okay, this is amazing. I love this turn. This is fantastic,
so listen.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
It turns out Buddy's only crime was being born a beefalo.
Oh so bison, you know, they are lean and mean,
and cows are docile but carry less meat, so when
they crossbread In the eighteen seventies, it was supposed to
make the perfect healthy meat animal, as lean as a bison,
but as gentle as a cow. They have been tested
(14:29):
as having higher vitamin levels and more protein than beef,
and they were supposed to be easily led from the
feed lot to the killing floor. Now you can visit
American beefalo Association dot com for the full picture, which
is actually a thing which I love. But the point
is that Buddy the beefalow was literally bred for slaughter,
but he was not planning to be merchandise. Nay, not Buddy,
(14:49):
my friend. In fact, his initial escape was just the beginning.
Give me a mood sound, will you?
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Ma oh?
Speaker 1 (15:03):
She was about yes and yeah, of course, Lauren, you're welcome.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
You're welcome to make any sound effects you would like.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Yes, sorry, Lauren, but I wouldn't ask you so so
so succinctly, I would be appreciate, do you mind? So, Lauren?
Now that we know that the escapee is actually a
b falow, what we got here is a really lighthearted story,
(15:32):
right like this happened early in the pandemic, and to me,
I don't know, it really showcases the like the power
of community and how we all needed a little optimism
and a little comedy in that time, you know, so
let's have some fun with it. Yeah, now, Bud, his
escape was pretty unusual. The slaughterhouse he ran away from
was a full service facility.
Speaker 6 (15:51):
You know.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
They did the slaughtering and the butchering, packaging, shipping out
of cuts of Primo b Falow everywhere ever. You got
to be follow, You got to be follow. That's all
they did. They were the real pros and they weren't
used to their animals escaping, so obviously neither were the
local cops. After the police put out an APV on Buddy,
Captain ed bickhetdie what is it, mckheeddie, sorry, Captain ed Mineki.
(16:17):
Captain ed Minecki gave a statement to the press. He
said that at one point there was an officer who
had cornered Buddy, but in that's words, I quote, yeah,
he approached the animal, but the animal put his head
down and started to pall the ground aggressively or scratched
the ground real aggressive like. So at the time the
sergeant tactically relocated, which is another term for he to
retreat it from the area. What excuse, what excuse would
(16:40):
you make to save face when you're basically telling people
that an angry moo moo freaked you out, you.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Know, a angry moo. Yeah, I like that term a lot.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
I mean, I think I think it's fair to say
I felt like I was going to be charged.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
But I guess my question then.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
Would just be and I know this isn't answering your
question directly, but if he's kind of menacing to you,
then I feel like you do have permission to use
deadly force because the whole point was right, So, yeah,
it kind of feels like in that moment, you got
to come up with something else, which I guess then
I would just be like, I am a vegan, I'm
a vegitarian, and I couldn't ethically.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
So I have found Buddhism in that moment where he
was stomping on the ground, right. But so I can
imagine them being like, yeah, you know, it's just I
made a tactical retreat. They always love to talk in
military terms. I'm like, so you so you ran away
to a store. Yeah, the tactical retreat.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
I made a tactical retreat.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
I did ad a tumble into a dish.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Yeah, the face of maneuver kind of John Wick style.
Oh so you jumped into a bush? Yeah, yeah, yeah, my.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Ankle pretty bad. Actually, I was laid up for a
couple of weeks with that.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
I don't know what a Connecticut accent sounds like, but
I think this is just what I'm going to keep
it as. So keep in mind, though, Buddy was almost
a thousand pounds in weight, so we can forgive him
for the tumble, for the very brave tumble. Of course,
as word spread, reporters starting asking Terrible residents what they
thought of the escape, if some of them were afraid,
or if they felt a little different about it. So
(18:08):
one of them said, they want to make steaks and
burgers from this animal. We don't want that. One putmouth
resident who put food out in their backyard for buddies, said.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Well, good for him.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
He knew it was coming and now he's out venturing.
So this guy was from the very deep south of Connecticut.
Of course, that's right, so is the word. As a
word about Buddy spread. He got his Connecticut neighbors on
his side, which is actually really cute. Local has created
this Buddy t shirts and on September twelfth, a Buddy
the Beefalo Twitter started spouting off right. The first tweet
(18:41):
was on the run and having von hashtag live large
hashtag beefalow balling. What which Okay, which team are you
are you on? Lauren? Is it beefalo bawling or just
beffalo bolognas? Like what do you no?
Speaker 4 (18:57):
It's it's beefelow balling. Look, I was a vegetarian for
nine years. I came back holding me to the dark side. Yeah,
which is fine. But but the point is is that
I do feel a couple of things. One, I'm like, yeah,
he he's an animal.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
He's running. I can't fold him for that, wouldn't you?
I would? I mean again, I ran away from an
unmarked car.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
But the point I think that it's bigger for me
is just it's interesting to make a disconnect that it's like, well,
there's also hundreds of others, Like he's just the one
that got away. Like if you are opposed to him
being killed, you kind of a pardon everybody? What do
you want a beefalo population to go out of control?
Speaker 1 (19:36):
And people are like I didn't even know if fucking
Beefalo existed until like like I don't know, like you're
forcing me to make a stance on something I just
found out exists. So, okay, I don't know this Befalo
is the Beefalo. But also, you know, like if he
wants it bad enough, I'm like, you're kind of root
for You're root for the underdog, don't you, or.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
The under buff for the under buff.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Wow, I'm gonna the comedy community is going to write
me a very strongly worded he about that one. I
loved it. It was clear that Buddy had the sympathy
of the public right The Plymouth police saw their chance
to get people on their side. So rather than trying
to capture Buddy to return him to the owners, they
came up with a very different plan. They were captured
Buddy so that they could set him free. We're here
(20:21):
with Tom Blen, we're doing a tactical retreat and we're
setting free hallelujah.
Speaker 4 (20:28):
I have a lot of questions free. He's grew, he
was born into captivity, like he's I guess he's proving.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
I guess you're proving that you're on Beefalo bolognes side.
Never never, I guess like maybe setting him free would
be like relocating him to a farm would be my guest.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
Okay, I supposed it's just like letting him freak in
real Now we've got a wild beeflow population, like uh.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Oh something you can get all sorts of weird ship
like a beef along, like he just starts mixing with everybody,
a beef of shepherd, a beef of corky. It's gonna
be really fucking weird.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Oh no, the legs.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
So when the cops told the slaughterhouse they didn't want
to bring Buddy back, that caused a little bit of
an issue, right because they were told that a thousand
pounds bfalow would bring in about six thousand dollars worth
of meat, so that was a really steep price. But
the police decided that they were up for the challenge,
so they launched a gofundmeat to buy Buddy from the slaughterhouse. Wow,
anything else to do in this town.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
You guys are like, you're raising pandemic. It was a
early pandemic. They needed a project.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
I know, I'm sure homelessness is not a problem that
you could help gofund me. No, no, no, let's set
this bee folow free. Yep. Meanwhile, they stayed on Buddy's trail. Right,
Captain Ed put his police dog Sarah into service to
track Buddy down. Now is that a sniffing ben?
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (21:55):
It is so inside my ear. Wow, I feel weird.
That was a may sniffing.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
That was an actual dog.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Gods, I feel weird. So during the day, Captain Ed
would pursue his normal police duties and in the evenings
he was off his shift, so he would take Sarh
and the two of them would collect the latest leads.
Then they would head out to track buddy. Lauren, is
this a heartwarming primetime sitcom or what? Like? You know?
Off duty captain and is trusty hound turned private eyes
(22:24):
and animal rescue?
Speaker 3 (22:25):
I guess it's just for me. It's a lot of questions.
First of all, are we eating buff like beef below?
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Like that? I thought I was like worth of it?
Speaker 3 (22:37):
Like how who is I have never heard of this
in my life.
Speaker 4 (22:41):
It feels to me like this is a way that
they somehow save money braiding cows and we don't know
and this is part of like the big beef conspiracy.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
That's what the first thing is for me.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
The second thing is is that in a world, in
a country where so many people's and I look, we
do have to get political, but.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Like, I just can't believe that this people lived this law.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Like the masses well, with so much food that goes
to waste, I'm sure, I'm sure like one befalo won't
make the difference. But yes, I hear you completely on
your concerns. So let's turn to my overlords to see
how much befalo is is in our food.
Speaker 5 (23:17):
Befalo is in every pound of beef that you could
buy the supermarket. Intact, beefalo is used to make to furky.
Every pound of tofood that you buy is half beefl.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Wait, every pound of turkey that I buy is half
fucking beefalo.
Speaker 5 (23:30):
Have you ever tried to buy zucchini at the grocery store?
You were actually trying to buy a log of befalo?
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Was that a joke? Were you making funny?
Speaker 6 (23:37):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Wow? I was like, oh my god? Did you did
you think he was serious? Lauren?
Speaker 3 (23:41):
Why am I so shuck being lied to by the government?
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Water shock? What's in our food? We love been eating
beefalo and we did not know it existed.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
This is like soiling greens, but for real, I I
that is the nineteen seventies reference I bring to this
show you're elderly.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
I'm an elderly human.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
So okay, so we got the captain. Is it a
cute sitcom? Is it an obsession of a man? We
don't know. But this went on for weeks and then
months right then finally, so the guy would do his
police stuff during the day and then at night chase
Buddy down. So finally, in the fall, the owner of
a local apple orchard, Nate, called the police station because
(24:20):
he had spotted Buddy under his trees. Now that gave
Captain Ed an idea. Working together with Nate, Ed decided
to stop chasing Buddy and instead, now that he knew
where he was, they would bring Buddy to them. What
(24:41):
would be your best beffalo trap design? What are you
going to like lure befalo with?
Speaker 3 (24:47):
I mean, ultimately, something that looks like a female bffalo.
So I'm going to take like always do. Isn't it
a leather couch.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
I'm gonna put some lipstick on it, some fake eyelashes,
you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (24:58):
I bet you there's a you there's like a thrift
store in Portland that has just such a design. You know,
I guarantee that they're like, we'll turn your your couches
into cows and then we'll bring them back to life
in a ceremony.
Speaker 4 (25:11):
And then we just planted a speaker there and pump
some female befalo mating sounds or whatever.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
And easy which is it's coincidentally, dj cow, it's next remix.
It's a mating female bffalo sounds the dj cal. I
wonder if the female bffalo is also called the bfalo?
Speaker 3 (25:36):
Oh, great question?
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Or is it a befal gave it timmy carl. It's
called befala.
Speaker 5 (25:41):
It is called beef alita b falita, right, okaysh felita,
I'm waiting for you.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Wow, so many nineties hits in my head at one time.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Again elderly.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
So.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Their alluring plants started with a big ass animal trailer, right,
one big enough to hold buddy if the biffalo would
actually go inside. But that was surrounded by cattle fencing
circled up around the trailer to create a coral, right,
a corral. I believe you guys call it. I call
it a coral. Fucking sue me. So leading towards the trailer,
an open gate on the farest side offered Buddy away
(26:18):
in right, So Captain ed got urine from a female
cow u Biefelida to use his lure to draw Buddy
into the cage alongside some hay and some grain. So
you were totally right kind of.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Well then I was a little more creative about it
again the End of the World. I'd like to think
that that's what the artists.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Writs, right, gave this woman a couch, She's gonna lure
some dinner. So I wish we had the recording that conversation, right,
Like if you have to approach the owner of a
cattle herd, like, how would you go about asking for
like cowpis, like female cowpis?
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Well, I guess they have to hope that one of
the female cows used the bathroom in the night and
didn't flush the.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Toilet, you know what I mean? Oh, yeah, there you go.
But yeah, I just imagine that conver saying like, hey,
hey are you doing? Hey, God bless you? So how's
your mother?
Speaker 6 (27:04):
Good?
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Good? Good? So listen, I'm gonna need a little bit
of animal smells, you know, for some sniffing. You got
any uh, you got any colpis? Lying around. You know
what kind of cop is I don't know if a
female female cow, female beefelino cow.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
I also, I want to hear the conversation with his
wife or partner about this, like how is your day? Like, oh,
I got it go down there. I had to source
some female cow piss. I'm laying a trap. It's like
you have been chasing this thing for a.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Month and a half. Eda Nate sat together in a
truck nearby, holding onto a rope that held together the
gate right, so if Buddy arrived to check on their trap,
they would just pull the rope and close the gate
and Buddy would be locked inside. Now thirty minutes later,
there was a commotion just at the end of the clearing,
a rustling from between the trees, and Eda Nate sat
(27:53):
in stone cold silence, trying not to move. I just
got to say, also, you know how they say like
men invented golf just so they could have an excuse
to go on walks together. I feel like this is
like their version of bonding and be like, yeah, we're
just gonna catch a cow, and it's like yeah, but
like if we want to talk about feelings while we're
doing it like, why the fuck not?
Speaker 3 (28:11):
You know, I guess it just never felt seen.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Yeah, yeah, so yeah, let's go catch a beflow and
let's talk about some shit. So so, from this commotion
and the clearing outstepped our pal Buddy. He approached the corral,
he spotted the open gate, and he walked inside. He
made his way to that pile of piss and grain,
and that's when Ed and the farmer sprang their trap.
(28:36):
They jumped out of the truck and heaved the gate
shut by pulling the rope. But these men had underestimated Buddy.
As the gate clang shut, he bolted not out the gate, nay,
but directly through the cattle fencing, and the moment was
caught on video. The large steel panels are thrown into
the air and scattered around the trailer like they were
(28:59):
barely more than cardboard.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
I'm so invested in this story. This is such a
great one. I can't even tell you. This is chaos.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
It's got love, it's got romance.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
It's got got everything you need.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
I also want you to know I was taking notes
at points because I was like, there's some points of
this that I got to come back to.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
So Buddy, the Bffalo stayed on the loose, but Ed
Captain ED had more tricks up his sleeve now. In interviews,
(29:34):
Captain Ed said that Buddy had become his white whale.
He was determined to capture the Bffalo at almost any cost. Fortunately,
the police gofund me had scooped up over nine thousand dollars,
so all the expenses were covered in under a day. Now,
all that was left to do was catched a beast. Lauren,
would you have contributed to the hashtag beef a little
(29:56):
bawling go fundme?
Speaker 3 (29:58):
You know, Honestly, the more it think about it, maybe
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (30:02):
It was a time we're gonna remember this time though,
this was September twenty twenty. We all needed a hero,
We all wanted something, you know, and maybe the community felt,
you know, brought together by all of this. I think
it's just because it's you know again, it's like there's
just so many of them. But I guess only one
got away, so maybe he is special and I should
be more supportive of yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Specific Also I love the irony of, like, you know,
the local townspeople watching this on the news and like
rooting for Buddy while like eating a fucking twelve on steak,
you know, like, oh man, I really hope he makes
it out. I never had any b flow in my life,
but you know, and little did they know that that's
befelow that they're eating.
Speaker 3 (30:38):
It is we've always this has been going on since
eighteen seventy. I wrote that down. I was like, this
is the greatest kept secret in the world.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
That's right, and we reveal it. Whoh, I love that
this is gonna like what if this is the last
strand of sanity that the world was like leaning on.
Like once this is revealed, everything just fucking snaps out
of place and everything the apoos yep. So Captain Ed
decided that he had a working strategy. He met with
(31:06):
Nate and they agreed that Ed could rebuild the trap
and use it again. So they build it again, stronger
this time, and filled it again with grain and water
to lure Buddy in. Then they kept watch and despite
their first encounter, Buddy did come back, probably because Buddy
did not believe in their fucking skills. They're like, yeah, dude, okay, yeah,
(31:26):
give me some grain. I'll be okay. And not just
once Eda Nate kept the corral stocked, and Buddy started
coming back regularly for the food and water. This just
feels like they just had a pet.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
To be honest, this is like, this just feels like
it's just like feeding a stray cat. It's always going
to keep coming back, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Yeah, So Captain Nett started spending his evenings after work
waiting for Buddy to appear. The police chief said that
Captain net did not hunt Buddy during working hours. End quote. Hey,
if my captain chooses the cheese a beefalow on his
own time, he can do that. It's a frequentry. He's
also even sigh uh, little known fact. So his weird
(32:03):
hobby didn't jeopardize his work, but his boss doesn't really
sound thrilled about it. Right, So, when when Ed and
Nate were staking out the trap more and more, this
is sounding like they just wanted to bond, you know. Yeah,
fuck it. So, when he was taking out the trap,
rather than staying in Nate's truck, Ed would lie down
inside the animal trailer itself. He set up cameras pointed
(32:25):
at the makeshift ben where he hoped that he would
trap Buddy. He even borrowed night vision goggles from a
fellow police officer and used a thermal camera from the
police department inventory so he could spot Buddy when he
was nearby and track his approach. According to one article,
he supplied all of his own batteries for the police
equipment he was using to keep watch for the runaway. Okay, Buddy,
(32:49):
So does he have a bunker?
Speaker 3 (32:51):
Is he hoarding batteries?
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Is this all part of this?
Speaker 3 (32:53):
So you have children? I want to know so much
about Captain Ed's life.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
So Ed was obsessed with the hunt, right, and as
the months got colder, he found himself lying in the
frigid steal trailer. He would get home from work, eat
dinner with his wife, and then get up, bundle up
in his jacket, and head for the orchard where he
would lie in wait for Buddy. Now his wife came
out with him a few times in the eight months
that he was hunting Buddy down, but it was his obsession,
not hers, and in an interview she said that she
(33:20):
mostly hoped they could just be sacking, you know. So
Ed caught the buffalo many times on video. The recordings
of his surveillance camera show Buddy repeatedly stepping into the pen,
grabbing his food, and then high tailing it out of
there again. Honestly, does this sound like they even want
to catch the b flow? You know, they just want
to play at cool surveillance gadgets away from their families
(33:41):
on there.
Speaker 7 (33:42):
If I may, I'd like to quote hit major motion
picture Batman The Dark Knight. Yes, please do which is
you know, I'm like a dog chasing a car. If
it caught it, I wouldn't know what to do with it.
I'm paraphrasing. The point is I win that particular line,
Thank you very much. I'm very prolific in I have
a great memory for quotes. The point is, I you know,
(34:03):
it's some of them just want to watch the world burn.
That one doesn't connect at all. But I just wanted
to prove I know a quote. The point is, I
just am very curious to see how this story ends.
And if he does catch it, it's like then what
Like It's like, what's the next thing?
Speaker 1 (34:15):
I got you? So, in an interview ed chalked it
up to COVID right. He said it was twenty twenty
and there was nothing better to do than lying the
cold trailer and wait for a cow, which, to be honest,
fair enough Buddy. So this carried on throughout winter. Okay,
Buddy cut a path in the snow into the corral
where he knew that there was always food waiting. Okay,
But Eda and Nate could never keep him inside the
corral or coax him into the trailer. The bfalow just
(34:38):
refused to get caught until one day in spring of
twenty twenty one, Buddy didn't show up for his daily feeding.
He was gone, gone gone. But by then the whole
toown knew that Ed was the man on the hunt
for Buddy. So soon the telephone was ringing down at
the police station. It was a different local farmer calling
(34:59):
in to As it turned out, after two hundred and
fifty days of freedom, plus a bayla hay and ten
pounds of grain every single day through the winter months,
Ed discovered that he no longer had to bring Buddy in.
After a whole winter playing catch me if you can
with Captain Ed, Buddy was found where he really wanted
to be, and it wasn't in the makeshift corral with
a chili cattle trailer and the weird dude lying in it.
(35:23):
In fact, Buddy had caught the scent of another local
cattle farm and it brought him wandering over. This time
he spotted a cluster of female cows. He jumped the
fence into the pen, trapping himself with the ladies inside. Ladies,
I know I've been out in the wild for far
too long, but I hear this is the lady cow.
(35:47):
Pis okay? Sorry. The local farmer marched them inside, locked
them up, called Captain Net to let him know that
the fugitive had finally given up the game. Maybe all
those nasty reports about him being aggressive were a bit
off the mark. It seems like Buddy, what he really was,
(36:11):
was lonely. It was Buddy himself who decided that his
rampage to the woods of the Connecticut Wilderness was over.
So Buddy he found his people. So once Buddy was caught,
the money from the GoFundMe paid for the vet to
check him out, and then they shipped him down south.
One of the officers said that they raised enough money
(36:31):
in a single day to pay the vet plus the transportation,
and we're paying Nate for all the food that he
brought during winter. Buddy was taken in by Critter Creek
Farm Animal Sanctuary in Gainesville, Florida. They required a short
quarantine adjustment period where Buddy got used to the climate
so they could also make sure that he wouldn't bring
any diseases to the other animals. Now are you hearing me?
They tried to luck Buddy up in a solitary pen,
(36:53):
but it failed. Buddy escaped twice. They should have pretty
much known better by this point. Don't you think like
Buddy does not like being locked up?
Speaker 5 (37:02):
Man?
Speaker 3 (37:02):
No, He's made it quite clear he's been evading. He's
been invading all capture for a really long time. Like
you gotta gotta keep him in a barn or I
don't even.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
Know what, but you just gotta keep the cow piss flowing,
that's all you gotta do. So eventually he once he
was let out into the main pasture to mingle with
the other cows and even a bison named Cinnamon, Buddy
calmed down. Finally, Buddy was lonely no more.
Speaker 6 (37:29):
Or no mo.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
In April twenty twenty one, Captain Ed drove down to
visit Buddy at the sanctuary in Florida. Apparently he tried
to feed the beefalo bananas, but Buddy kept his distance.
It's a little sad almost watching captain Ed try to
entice Buddy over our best beef of of boy just
will not be moved no matter what captain Ed offers him.
I guess in some ways, the real chase goes on,
(38:02):
and that's our story. Lauren, what do you think?
Speaker 3 (38:05):
This is amazing?
Speaker 4 (38:06):
I think that this was incredible. I loved the misdirect.
I loved all the details. I loved the fact that
early on in the story, I was going what crime
did this convict commit? Like?
Speaker 3 (38:14):
How dangerous of a convict is? I was taking notes,
I was doing what I do during my normal show.
Speaker 4 (38:19):
No.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
Yeah, And I'm just glad that we have a really
fun escape story for once with a happy ending and everything,
because this show it doesn't really get a lot of those.
And also, you know, in solidarity with Buddy and the
entire Beefalo community, we're actually going to make a donation
to the Critter Creek Farm on behalf of Captain Ed.
So it's a real win win here.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
Oh that's so kind.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
Wait to be honest, it's a cool. It's cool as
any abby man like I learned how to play chess.
So that's you know, one hundred pre chase scout. Some
people played chess. Where can listeners find your show, Lauren?
Speaker 4 (38:49):
You can find us anywhere. The podcasts are available, True
Crime and Cocktails. You can find us on all the socials. Also,
if you look for that name.
Speaker 1 (39:01):
To really go out with a bang, I'm gonna ask
Ben to play some of that sexy seventies music he
was playing in Yeah. I want to ask you, Lauren,
to sing with me, yeah and say goodbye.
Speaker 3 (39:13):
Oh, let's do it.
Speaker 1 (39:16):
Yeah, be fellow. Can you feel the moomomum you go into?
Speaker 3 (39:24):
Run way.
Speaker 1 (39:27):
Is a coral?
Speaker 6 (39:28):
Coral gonna eat a large bell of Hey, Lauren, thank
you so much, Oh my god, this was too fun, truly.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
Goodbye everybody. You see you next week. Radies Escapes is
a production of iHeartRadio and Film Nation Entertainment and association
(40:00):
with Gilded Audio. Our executive producers from Me are Turo Castro,
Alyssa Martino and Milan Papelka from Film Nation Entertainment, Andrew
Chugg and Witning Donaldson from Gilded Audio, and Dylan Fagan
from iHeartRadio. The show is produced and edited by Carl
Nellis and Ben Chugg, who are also, respectively, our research
overlord and music Overlord. Our associate producer is Tory Smith,
who's our other overlord. Nick Dooley is our technical director.
(40:23):
Additional editing by Whitney Donaldson. Special thanks to Alison Cohen,
Dan Welsh, Ben Riizek, Sarah Joyner, Nicki Stein, Olivia Canny
and Kelsey Albright. Hey, thank you so much for listening,
(40:46):
and if you're enjoying the show, please drop a rating
or review. My mom will call you each personally and
thank you, and we'll see you all next week
Host
Arturo Castro
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