Open Water: The Disappearance of Serena Karlan & Bison Dele

After years of admiring each other from afar, Serena Karlan and Bison Dele decided the time was right to pursue a relationship. After 9/11, they embarked on a sailing adventure in the Pacific. The couple and boat captain disappeared after Bison’s brother showed up unannounced. They have never been found. 

SOURCES
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-sep-20-sp-dele20-story.htmlhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/2002/09/20/deles-brother-in-custody/a14eebe9-b9d4-4332-aaac-609090469b24/https://www.deseret.com/2002/9/13/19677308/fbi-probe-centers-on-dele/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cops-believe-ex-nba-player-was-slain/https://nypost.com/2002/09/17/nba-stars-case-is-murder/

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Episode Transcript

(00:31):
Dark Cast Network. Welcome to thedark Side of podcasting. Hey, hey,
welcome back to Autumn's Oddities. Iam Autumn. I am recording early
this week. I've gotten ahead onmy writing as well. There's a ton
of stuff going on in Louisville thisweekend. We've got like the Cherokee Triangle

(00:51):
Art Fair. I'm looking to scoresome local art. It's supposed to be
gorgeous outside, so I plan tospend my time out there and not in
side hunched over my laptop. Plus, my parents are taking the kids for
a day this weekend and next oftheir own free will. They have volunteered
to do this, so that's coolbecause my husband and I we go on
a date like once a month orso. If that that said, let's

(01:17):
get into today's case. After yearsof admiring each other from Afar, Serena
Carlin and Bison Daily decided the timewas right to pursue a relationship. After
nine to eleven, they embarked ona sailing adventure in the Pacific. After
Bison's brother showed up unannounced, thecouple and the boat captain disappeared. None

(01:38):
of them has ever been found.Thirty three year old Serena Midnight Carlin,
which is just a great name,was born on April fourth, nineteen seventy
two. She and her family relocatedto Berkeley, California, when she was
pretty young, and Serena's friends describeher as the most natural person. She
was a goofball, She was loyal, and she ever played games or caused

(02:00):
trouble. She was the loving personwho went out of her way to make
sure that other people's lives were better. But Serena was trying to find her
own way in life, working ina variety of career fields and same girl,
I'm damn near forty and I'm stillconsidering going back to school for like
the ninetieth time. Wherever she went, Serena's inner beauty and outer beauty drew

(02:23):
people to her. Her mother,Gail, said that it was initially her
physical beauty that attracted people, butbeyond that, they were attracted to her
depth and her nature. She didn'thave an ego about herself, and she
was stunning, but she did notknow it. Apparently, Serena was focused
on something that she'd been searching forall her life, finding her soulmate.

(02:46):
In early June of two thousand andtwo in Morea Island on French Polynesia.
Serena was vacationing with a man thatshe cared deeply for, former pro basketball
star Bison Daily aka Bryan Williams.That was the name his legal name when
he played in the NBA. Heactually changed his name to reflect his Native

(03:07):
American heritage. They'd met years earlierwhile Bison was playing for the La Clippers
in the nineties through friends, andSerena was immediately drawn to him. Bison's
business manager, Kevin, invited eachof them to a concert, and when
the two laid eyes on each other, it was over. Bison was different
and interesting and had similar world views, but Serena didn't think that a relationship

(03:31):
with Bison would go anywhere. Youknow, he was in the NBA,
he was on the road all thetime. He was subject to being traded,
you know, really at any time, So she kind of just let
that hope fade away. For overfive years, the two of them kept
in touch with each other periodically whileBison was on the road. In nineteen
ninety nine, Bison walked away froma thirty six million dollar NBA contract and

(03:55):
began traveling the world. He hadgrown disillusioned by the NBA, referring to
it as a machine that chewed upplayers and spat them out, even going
so far as to refer to himselfas the organ grinder's monkey. Bison told
his friends that he felt he wasconstantly selling out in order to stay in
the league, and that what hereally wanted to do was put away ten

(04:16):
million dollars and be done with it. And I totally get it, you
know same, that's my goal.Just put away ten million dollars and be
done with it. How about likeput away any money and be done with
it in this economy different times.Also, he was an NBA player,
but there was more to Bison thanjust basketball, and after his retirement,
he decided to buy a catamaran inAustralia, which he christened the Hakuna Matata.

(04:41):
Bison sailed around the South Pacific solo, but yearned for someone to share
his adventures with. Serena also hadher own brushes with fame and disillusionment.
This is huge, This is unlikeanything I've ever heard and really would have
been an absolute dream. One night, while living in La she went to
a nightclub and she met Prince Likethe artist formerly known as Prince. Yeah,

(05:04):
she met him, they developed afriendship, and he invited her to
go on tour with him through Europe, Like, what, please take me?
But Serena said that it got toa point where, you know,
she just didn't know why she wasthere or what she was doing, so
she decided to leave and figure outher next move. She also wanted to
figure out just what she was doingwith her life in general. She tried

(05:28):
her hand as a makeup artist,and she worked on a couple of movie
sets, but that didn't fulfill hereither. So in two thousand and one,
which is the worst time she couldhave done this, there's no way
she could have known. I'm notblaming her. She moved to New York,
New York City, Manhattan to workfor a childhood friend's real estate business,
and I'm like, good God,that is just such unfortunate timing.

(05:50):
But the terrorist attacks on nine toeleven dealt a huge blow to her business
and her psyche. Serena had beenin the city near the Towers on the
day of the attacks, which ofcourse traumatized her. The attacks also shook
Bison, who was halfway around theworld sailing in Australia. He was worried

(06:10):
about Serena. He knew she wasin New York and he reached out to
her. She told him that shejust wanted to leave New York for a
few months, understandable, so Bisoninvited her to join him. It finally
seemed like the timing was right,like they were both ready to concentrate on
a relationship together. They reunited onOctober sixteenth, two thousand and one,

(06:30):
on the South Pacific island of Vanawatu. What was supposed to be a two
week visit turned into four weeks.The two shared a deep bond and a
common need to move forward with theirlives. It was the first serious relationship
that Bison had been in more thanten years. They'd been attracted to each
other for years, but of courseSerena was cautious about getting involved with Bison.

(06:55):
She was careful because, you know, he was an NBA player,
and she didn't want him thinking thatshe after his money. Serena wanted to
make sure that their relationship was basedon the two of them and not what
he had. During their time inthe South Pacific, Serena and Bison seemed
ready to take their relationship to thenext level. Serena loved having that kind

(07:16):
of connection with Bison, and herfriends could tell that they weren't just on
vacation. They were embarking on anew chapter of life together. I said
that weird. Sorry, I've gotsome nasty, freaking sinus thing and it's
I know, it's making my voicesound weird. Apologies. So the trip
also confirmed that Bison had serious feelingsfor Serena, with him calling his friends

(07:38):
to tell them about her, whichapparently he did not do. But their
new love was about to be tested. Bison had obligations to his family financial
ones, and according to his friendPatrick Byrne, all of his family was
coming at him for cash like allthe time. His brother, though,
seemed to always be coming, youknow, to him with these get rich

(08:01):
quick schemes, and Bison had actuallylost a lot of money on one of
them. His great fear was beingsurrounded by people who only wanted his money,
and it kind of seems like that'swhat was happening to him. After
intermittently supporting his brother Miles, Bisontried to help him make it on his
own by putting him through computer training. Despite Bison's efforts, Miles continued to

(08:24):
ask for money, and it's onething to help your family out, you
know. But they wouldn't talk toBison for like a year, and then
they would just show up asking formoney. And not like twenty bucks a
couple hundred bucks, they were askingfor like many thousands of dollars. So,
I mean, I feel like hehad good concern to feel as though
his family and other people were usinghim for money. In January of two

(08:48):
thousand and two, Bison's estranged olderbrother, Miles day Board, paid him
a visit, a surprise visit inAuckland, New Zealand. Alright, like
what the hell? He had shownup completely out of the blue, and
this was truly a surprise, asthe brothers hadn't seen or spoken to each
other for several years. In fact, the two were said to have a

(09:11):
contentious relationship throughout their adult lives.Older brother Miles seemed resentful of Bison's success
and had a pretty big chip onhis shoulder. When Myles showed up,
he told his brother that he wasbroke and unemployed, and that he also
wanted to patch up their relationship.I'm like, oh, what convenient timing

(09:31):
with that he moved onto the catamaranwith his brother and Serena, but she
told her family and friends that wheneverthe brothers were together they argued constantly,
like pretty bad arguments too. Serenawas very happy with Bison, she had
no complaints about him at all,but she had major issues with Miles,

(09:54):
so much so that she decided toget off the boat. And I'm right
there with her. I'd be like, i didn't sign up for this bullshit.
I'm off of this boat, Serenasaid. It felt like the brothers
needed some space to work through theirissues. A few days later, Bison
decided to get off the boat aswell. He was probably like, I'm
not dealing with this on my own, Like, at least you were there
as a buffer. So on Maytwenty ninth, Miles sailed their boat from

(10:16):
New Zealand to French Polynesia without Serenaand Bison on board. The couple wanted
some time away from Miles after spendinga month in close quarters with him.
They flew to Tahiti rather than makethe boat trip with Miles. So he's
driving the boat and he's going tomeet them in Tahiti. About a month

(10:37):
later, on June twenty fourth,two thousand and two, Miles and the
catamaran arrived on Morea Island in FrenchPolynesia. Serena and Bison met him there
and planned to take the vessel toHawaii. So the plan was to meet
Serena's friend Stacy and Stacy's son thereand have like a little getting to know
you party, like getting to knowBison. Miles was supposed to leave the

(10:58):
catamor, but he seemed really justambivalent about the whole thing, telling Bison
he had his own plans. Foreshadowing, Miles told his girlfriend back in California
named Erica that he planned to sailwith the couple to Hawaii, then fly
back to Marea and meet her.So as Serena and Bison were ready to
cast off they think they're finally gettingaway from him, Miles invited himself back

(11:24):
onto the catamaran, once again insertinghimself into their plans. The friend Serena
planned to meet in Hawaii called herthe day before she was supposed to set
sail. That was the first timeSerena expressed that she wanted Miles to go
away, which was very surprising becauseSerena never said things like that. According
to her friends, she said shefelt completely stuck with Miles. Yeah,

(11:46):
they were like, finally we gotaway from him. You know, we're
gonna take our boat, We're gonnago to Hawaii, and then out of
nowhere. The next day he showsup and he's like, no, I'm
gonna go to Hawaii with you two. It's like, no, you're not.
You're gonna stay your ass. Idon't want you to go to Hawaii.
On July sixth, at five pm, the Hakuna Matata set sail out
of Maria Island headed northwest for astop on the island of Riataea, and

(12:11):
that was about a twenty hour sail. On board were Serena, Bison,
Miles, and the ships hired captainFrenchman Bertran Saldeaux. Moments earlier, Serena
called her friend to let her knowthat she'd send an email with their satellite
phone information and that she would seethem in Hawaii. She also said,

(12:31):
don't worry if you don't hear fromme for a while. So the next
day, at around eight pm,Serena made a call to Bison's business manager,
Kevin Porter in Michigan. They spokefor about three minutes, just kind
of talking about the weather, wherethey were going, nothing special, just
day to day stuff, just kindof updating him. Then she said that

(12:52):
Bison wanted to talk to him,and that's when the phone's connection dropped.
Porter wasn't worried, you know,that was a typical occurrence for satellite phones,
but that was the last time theywere heard from. It would take
eight weeks for anyone to realize thatSerena and Bison were missing. Back in
California, Serena's friend Stacy, expectedto hear from her. Sorena called every

(13:16):
year on Stacy's son's birthday, whichwas July eleventh. When she didn't call,
Stacy said she was a little upset, but she chalked up just chalked
it up to like there being nophone service or something like that. Serena
also didn't call to wish her ownmother happy birthday on July twelfth, which
again it was just very unlike her, but she had also told her mother

(13:37):
that she might be out of touchduring that time. As July turned to
August, her mother, Gail grewmore concerned. She called Kevin Porter,
who assured her that it was normalto not hear from Bison from months at
a time, Kevin was not worriedat all. Towards the middle of August,
Gail called Kevin again asking if hecould check on Bison and Serena.

(14:00):
Spurred by Gail, Kevin called Bison'sbanker, who confirmed there was suspicious activity
on his account. There had beena check written to Certified Mint in Phoenix,
Arizona for more than one hundred andfifty thousand dollars, and right then
an alarm went off in Kevin's head. He called Certified Mint, a gold

(14:20):
dealer in Phoenix, Arizona, andspoke with owner Bill Haynes about a one
hundred and fifty two thousand dollars orderfor gold coins. Haines told Kevin how
the deal was brokeered. He receiveda call from a man asking if they
could handle a large order and ofcourse, delivery of gold coins. The
man then asked Haines if he knewwho Brian Williams was. You know,

(14:43):
that's Bison's former name. Haines wasa basketball fan, so he did recognize
the name. The man claimed thathe was Brian Williams and he wanted to
buy some gold. According to Haines, he received a check with Brian's name
on it, which cleared, buthe hadn't yet shipped the merchandise. After

(15:03):
hearing the story, Kevin told Hainesto hold off on sending the gold coins.
He's like, I'm not sure you'rereally dealing with him. He said
to Haines, I'm not going totell you that check isn't from Brian Williams
or that you didn't speak to him, but Brian and his girlfriend have not
been heard from in ten weeks.He's like, so yeah, you may

(15:24):
not want to fulfill that order.Haines then gave Kevin a phone number that
appeared on the check. It waswritten on the check with the Florida area
code. He called the number,hoping that Bison would answer, but he
was in for a surprise. Thevoicemail said, YO, this is Bee.
Leave a message, but it wasnot Bison's voice. Kevin's heart sank

(15:45):
when he recognized the voice as belongingto Miles. Kevin doug a little further
and found that Bison had written acheck from a checkbook that hadn't been used
in five years. So he foundthat very strange, and by that point
Kevin believed that Miles was impersonating hisbrother. Shortly after hanging up, Miles

(16:06):
called Kevin back. He asked whereSerena and Bison were, but Miles claimed
that he hadn't heard from them infour or five months. Kevin asked if
Miles knew the last place they were, but he claimed that he wasn't sure,
and then he hung up the phone. Kevin didn't say a word about
the check or you know, anythinglike that, and Miles never asked how

(16:26):
he'd gotten the number. Instead,Kevin called Haines to strategize their next move.
They called the FBI the City ofPhoenix police, but none of those
agencies was willing to help. Finally, an FBI agent told them to file
a missing person's report. Kevin fileda report in Detroit, and Serena's parents
filed a missing person's report in Denver. It wasn't until Haines called the Phoenix

(16:49):
police and told them that a manclaiming to be Brian Williams had written a
big fat check that they showed upand started investigating. Although the check had
cleared, Haines hadn't yet shipped thecoins, so Miles called Haines, explaining
he was in a hurry and wantedto pick up the gold in person.

(17:10):
That's a really easy way to getcaught. The police department arranged to be
at Haines's office when Brian Williams andAir Quotations showed up on September fifth at
four pm nineteen undercover police officers waited. Its certified meant for the buyer to
arrive. Why not twenty, Whynot make it a nice round number.
So the buyer walked in and Hainesasked if he was Brian Williams, to

(17:33):
which the man replied he was.Haines asked, you know, are you
still in a hurry, and againthe buyer said yes. The moment that
the buyer wrote the final signature onthe paperwork, the police sprang into action.
The buyer was arrested for forgery.And it wasn't Bison slash Brian.
It was indeed his older brother,Miles. He was also carrying Bison's passport

(17:57):
and credit cards. So I meanthat doesn't look good, does it.
Miles was taken in for questioning,and when asked about the disappearance of Serena
and Bison and the boat captain,Miles denied having any involvement. He also
denied knowing their current whereabouts, butin a contradictory statement, Miles claimed that

(18:17):
he'd been sent to the United Statesby his brother to bring back gold coins
for reasons he could not reveal.He dug in further by claiming that Bison
had given him his passport to makethe pick up. He's like, well,
how am I going to pick upthe gold if I don't have his
identification? It's like, good point, But how the hell is he going
to get anywhere if he needs hisown passport? So then Miles claimed that

(18:37):
Kevin Porter could explain everything. Thebusiness manager could explain everything to them and
vouch for him, and they're like, m okay. Little did Miles know
Kevin had already flown to Phoenix fromDetroit. When Kevin entered the interrogation room,
Miles said that if he could gethim out of there, he would
tell Kevin everything that was Happenings claimedthat Serena and Bison were in trouble and

(19:03):
he needed to get money and takeit back to Tahiti and bail them out.
So Kevin asked, you know whatkind of trouble are they in?
Was it with a gang pirates.Were they in legal trouble? What you
know? Were they even still alive? Miles claimed that they were still alive,
at least when he left. Theywere. After seven hours in police
custody, Miles refused to give investigatorsany more details. Strangely, the DA

(19:30):
ordered that Miles be released since therewasn't enough evidence to hold him. Well,
let's see, he committed identity theft. He forged documents to gain access
to over one hundred and fifty thousanddollars in gold, and his brother,
whose identity he had stolen, wasmissing. Okay, then good work,
I guess everyone. Let's pack itup and go home. Like, no,

(19:52):
he could be committed with several manycrimes that I just listed. So
anxious to get out of town,Miles left for the airport, with Kevin
following. He again asked Miles whathe knew, but grew frustrated. At
some point in the airport, helike follows him to a chair, asks
Miles what's going on, and getsfrustrated and begins to choke him. I'm

(20:15):
like wow, because this guy wasseven or six foot eight, so almost
seven feet tall, and Kevin waschoking him. Then Miles made a truly
bizarre request. He asked Kevin tocome with him to Mexico, and I'm
like, oh, yeah, sure, he wouldn't end up dead there or
anything like nice, try my dude. When asked why, Miles said that

(20:36):
Arizona was a death penalty state.Now why would he be worried about the
death penalty. Kevin never got ananswer to his questions, and Miles got
on a flight headed to California.It was the last time he would see
him. Later that day, onSeptember sixth, Bison's friend Patrick Byrne arrived

(20:56):
to meet Kevin and help search forthe couple. While the two spoke,
Kevin's phone rang, it was Miles. Kevin and Miles spoke for a little
while, then Patrick took the phoneand continued the conversation for about forty five
minutes. Patrick said the call wentin circles and scarted the main issue.

(21:17):
No questions were answered. He saidhe knew that Miles would hang up if
he was directed with his question,if he just came right out and said,
hey, I know that you stoleyour brother's identity and you probably killed
him. Miles maintained that Bison andSerena were fine. You know, they're
just being held somewhere, and thathe needed to get the ransom money to
buy their freedom. It just keepschanging his story. It's ransom, it's

(21:37):
legal trouble, it's this, it'sthat. Okay, he doesn't know where
they're at, but he knows wherethey're at. It doesn't make any sense.
By speaking to Miles, Patrick hopedto keep tabs on him, calling
Miles's bluff. Patrick's like, okay, well, since they need this money,
I'll take my private plane to abank and get out literally any amount
of money in order to get Bisonback. So he's like, okay,

(22:00):
you need this, I'll do itright this second. He attempted to persuade
Myles that he believed his version ofevents, even though he was nearly certain
that his friend was already dead.Miles was reluctant, but agreed to stay
in touch even though he was onthe run. After landing in Palo Alto,
Miles went straight to his girlfriend's officeto tell her goodbye. He said

(22:22):
he was in a lot of troubleand that something happened with Serena an accident.
Eric told Miles that he needed totell her family, but Myles said
he would only contact her family afterhe was safely across the Mexican border.
Why I just don't understand. Theyset off that same day, driving south
to Tijuana. On the drive,Miles told her his version of what happened

(22:47):
to Serena and his brother. OnJuly seventh, two thousand and two,
Bison woke and found his brother onthe deck of the catamaran, who said
that he was enjoying his last dayof sailing. So I guess he was
being past aggressive, like, oh, I'm just enjoying my last day of
sailing. He said that. Bisonlaughed the comment off and said that Myles

(23:07):
was welcome anytime. But Miles becamecombative, snapping back that he knew they
didn't want them there, and I'dbe like, oh really, what made
you think that they'd be like,get the hell off my boat? This
is absolutely ridiculous, Miles claimed.Their argument escalated into a brawl, and
the captain tried to intervene. Bisonallegedly pushed the captain away. Then,

(23:30):
and remember this is according to Miles. This is all according to Miles.
Then Serena jumped onto Bison's back,why would she have done that? I
don't know, and I don't thinkthat really happened. Thinking Serena was the
captain, Bison allegedly punched her,causing Serena to fall and hit her head.

(23:52):
After a few minutes, Bison allegedlyrealized that Serena was dead. The
captain wanted to notify authorities, butBison violently disagreed. This is according to
Miles. Again. He then allegedlypicked up a wrench and struck Bertrand over
the head, killing him. Myquestion is, why would he have done

(24:14):
any of this? Why would Serenahave jumped on his back? I think
that in this scenario or in thisplay, Bison is playing the part of
Miles. I think that maybe thestory was close to what happened, but
I think Miles was the person whowas aggressive. Erica said that Myles told

(24:34):
her Bison pleaded to help him covereverything up. Instead, Miles went back
to the cabin and returned with agun. He claimed to be afraid of
what Bison would do to him,so he shot his own brother in the
chest. Three people were dead onboard the ship, and Miles set about

(24:55):
disposing of their bodies. He tiedweights to their bodies and threw them we
board one by one. Erica wasin shock. On September eighth, still
stunned. I just I wouldn't saya word. I'd be like, oh,
yeah, yeah, I totally believeyour story. Erica dropped Miles off
at the Tijuana border, where hecrossed into Mexico. The next day,

(25:17):
Erica reported what Miles told her topolice in northern California, and finally the
FBI got involved. Special Agent ElizabethCastanada was contacted by the Sonoma County Sheriff's
office, who told her they hada witness who'd come forward with a confession
about killing people in French Polynesia.The FBI launched a manhunt for Miles de

(25:40):
Boord. French Polynesian papers were plasteredwith headlines that Serena Carland and her boyfriend
Bison Daily and their catamaran captain hadbeen missing for two months. Castanada and
her team flew to Tahiti, andI bet they were like, this is
the best case ever. They getto go to Tahiti to invest gate the
disappearances. Unsurprisingly, what they founddid not match up to the story Miles

(26:06):
told his girlfriend On September thirteenth,the FBI recovery team located Bison's missing catamaran.
They processed the boat, which wasfound at a boat's slip under a
I'm going to call it an assumedname. The Hukuna Matata had been repainted
and renamed Aria Bella. While theteam in French Polynesia continued processing the boat,

(26:29):
the FBI continued their manhunt from Milesin Mexico. Patrick was still speaking
to Miles, occasionally attempting to convincehim to return to the US. Miles
had no clue that Patrick was helpingthe FBI track him. He told Miles
that he could get a half milliondollars in cash and bring it to him
in a suitcase. Instead of puttingthe money in a suitcase, Patrick packed

(26:53):
his clothes and then put a hammerand a roll of duct tape in there.
And he said his plan was tosubdue Miles and take him to the
FBI office in San Diego. Sowas he planning on hitting him with the
hammer, threatening with the hammer ducttaping him. I know I'm laughing,
but I mean I'm fairly freaking certainthat Miles killed three people. After six

(27:17):
days of back and forth, Milesagreed to meet in Tijuana on September eleventh.
But Patrick wasn't the only person thatMiles was talking to. He'd also
been in contact with his estranged mother, Patricia Phillips. According to her,
they spoke for the first time intwo years. During that conversation, he
told his mother that he loved herand he wanted reassurance that she loved him

(27:40):
as well. She promised that shedid love him, and she told Miles
that Patrick was cooperating with the FBI, So his mother, Yeah, his
mother kind of blew the investigation,which I sort of understand as a mother,
But you know, he most likelykilled your other son, so you're
just fine with okay. On theday they were supposed to meet in Tijuana,

(28:03):
Miles didn't show because, of course, his mother had tipped him off.
Patrick stayed there for about two daysthinking he could track him down,
but he never found Miles. OnSeptember thirteenth, Miles called his mother again.
That time, an answering machine recordedhis final words to her. He
said he loved her and that hedidn't do anything. Okay, Well,

(28:25):
why are you running and why areyou buying gold in your brother's name.
The next day, Miles was foundunconscious and brought without ID to a Mexican
emergency room. The Red Cross wascalled, but despite there being an Interpol
APB for a six foot eight blackAmerican like serious six to eight come on,
officials failed to recognize Miles day Board. A few hours later, he

(28:47):
was driven to the border, whereofficials took him to Script's hospital, where
he lay in a coma for severaldays. It wasn't until he was fingerprinted
that his identity was revealed, butdoctors did not believe that he would wake
up. They suspected that Miles tookan overdose of insulin, and given his
irreversible condition, his parents agreed toremove him from life support. On September

(29:10):
twenty seven, two thousand and two, Miles day Board was pronounced dead.
What really happened to Serena Bison andCaptain Saldeaux None of their bodies have been
located to date, so the FBI'sonly source of forensic evidence was the catamaran.
They were not able to corroborate milesversion of events with the evidence that

(29:33):
they found on the ship. Accordingto the FBI, Miles's story could not
at all be substantiated. He claimedthat bison killed Serena and Captain Saldeaux with
blows to their head. And ifyou've ever had a head wound, you
know they produce an extraordinary amount ofblood even when they aren't fatal. So
if two people were killed by bluntforce trauma to the head, there would

(29:56):
have been a great deal of bloodspain in the top of the deck or
on the top deck. And therewasn't. There just wasn't. There was
really no blood and no evidence thatthe deck had been replaced, no evidence
of anything even remotely close to thestory that Miles told his girlfriend. Evidence
uncovered by the FBI showed that Milespurchased about two hundred dollars of weights from

(30:19):
the Rebel Sports store at Atrium onElliott Auckland in New Zealand. Agent Castanada
said the purchase of the weights,with other evidence, suggested that Miles planned
the murders. Yuck staff at RebelSport remembered Miles coming into the store several
times, the first time with hisbrother, whom they recognized from his NBA

(30:41):
days. When Miles returned on hisown to buy the dumbbell weights, he
was polite, and friendly, andI'm like, well, how great.
He's just polite and friendly while buyingthe weights he's going to use to dispose
of three corpses. That's great.The fact that three people are most likely
dead and have never returned, that'sthe only part of Miles's story that is

(31:03):
actually true. Mother Patricia claimed thatMiles couldn't have acted alone in the deaths
of Serena Bison and bertrand Seldeaux,and I'm like, yeah, he absolutely
could have. I don't understand whyyou're saying you couldn't. The FBI said,
you know, that's all well andgood, but there was no evidence
of any kind to show that anyonebut Miles was involved in their deaths.

(31:27):
In the end, what really happenedon that catamaran on the Pacific may never
be known, but Agent Costanata hasher own theory. Miles was impressive in
his own right, speaking fluent Russianand being a computer wizard, but he
was never able to reach the levelof success his brother had. Yeah,
that's NBA money. Nobody can't seriously. Whether it was jealousy or something else,

(31:52):
Miles stole Bison's identity and name,attempting to assume his life, but
he was unsuccessful. On October two, wealth Bison and Miles were memorialized in
La Serena Carlin was remembered on thesame day in Berkeley, California. Her
mother, Gail, said that shewill never ever get over her loss,
which runs parallel to the part ofher that is forced to accept it.

(32:15):
The only solace Serena's friends and familytake from this tragedy is that she was
able to spend some time with someonethat she loved so dearly. The FBI,
along with the French authorities, concludedthat Miles killed Bison, Serena,
and Captain Saldeaux and either threw themoverboard or force them to walk off the
boat into the ocean. Their bodieshave never been found. Well, I

(32:40):
think we can pretty safely assume thatBison, Serena, and Captain Saldeaux are
deceased. Miles admitted to that,but his story sounded like it was just
completely made up. It made absolutelyno sense. No one who knew Bison
thought that he would ever do anythinglike what Miles described. He was a
violent person at all. I personally, I think that Miles planned to kill

(33:05):
everyone on board that boat and takeon his brother's identity. You know,
why else would he show up unannouncedin New Zealand after not speaking to Bison
for years. That is bizarre,That's beyond bizarre. I think he was
jealous of Bison's success and he wantedhis money, plain and simple. The
way I think things went down was, you know, Miles found one of

(33:27):
Bison's old check books, or he'dstolen it years prior, and when he
found you know, when he foundout that his brother was sailing the world,
he realized it was his chance toget rid of him and take his
money. He most likely did notknow that Serena was on board and she
was collateral damage, as was CaptainSeldeaux. He sailed with them, you
know, probably intending to kill Serenaand Bison before they abruptly decided to leave

(33:52):
the boat. You know, theygot off the boat early. Serena got
off, the Bison got off,and they're like, okay, keep sailing
for a month and won't meet youin Tahiti. I think that was when
he was planning to kill them,was on that trip, and he realized
that he'd missed his chance, andthat's why Miles got on the boat with
them to go to Hawaii when hewas not supposed to. You know,

(34:15):
that was his last opportunity, andhe took it. When Serena called Kevin
and attempted to give the phone toBison, I think that Miles had already
written that check and ordered the goldfrom certified mint. He probably thought that
Kevin, being Bison's business manager,was calling him and being like, hey,
what is this. You know,one hundred and fifty thousand dollars check
being written from your old checkbook.I think that's why the call dropped.

(34:37):
I think that Miles ambushed them.I'm not sure how he killed them,
but since there wasn't you know,evidence of blood found on the boat,
I think that he either drugged themand threw their bodies overboard waited of course
because he did go and buy thoseweights, and or since he mentioned a
gun in the story, you knowthat he told his girlfriend he could have
forced Bison, Serena, and thecaptain overboard at gunpoint, probably with waits

(35:01):
on. Is my guest. Ido believe parts of his story, like
there was a gun involved. Ido believe all that. I don't,
in any way, shape or form, believe that he and Bison got into
such a vicious altercation that Serena decidedto jump on her own boyfriend's back.

(35:22):
I'm very confused by all that andthinking it's the captain and punching her and
she's dead, and instead of youknow, mourning the accidental death of his
girlfriend and calling it in, whichI think is what he would have done,
he beat the captain to death withit. I'm not laughing because of

(35:44):
that. I'm laughing because it's preposterousthat he would just go ahead and beat
the captain to death with wrench.That's idiotic. And then what's his face?
Miles decides I'm gonna go below deck, get a gun and shoot him.
What about that story makes any senseto anyone? It just does not.
There was no indication whatsoever. Peoplehad spoken to Serena and Bison that

(36:07):
day, the day before. Therewas no indication what soever that Bison and
Serena were having any problems. Shewouldn't have jumped on his back. That's
idiotic. He was a freaking NBAplayer. Who is jumping on this man's
back and making him do anything.No one he's a giant or he was
a giant. I'm just saying it'snot it's not probable, it's it's damn

(36:31):
near impossible, and it just doesn'tmake any sense. So that's another unsolved
case, unfortunately. But I meanthe FBI, they made their their determination.
They believe that all three Serena Bisonand Captain Sealdeaux are deceased and that
Miles day Board is responsible for theirdeaths. I really don't see any way

(36:54):
around that, you know. Ithink the only thing that's up for debate
is how he actually killed them.All right, Well, if you enjoyed
that episode, you can hear moreepisodes every Tuesday and Friday, released on
all podcast platforms. On social media, you can find me on Instagram at
Autumn Podcast, Facebook at Autumnsodities,Patreon at Autumnsodities. I've written three Patreon

(37:19):
episodes. I'm probably gonna record oneright after I finished recording this. I'm
sorry for slacking you guys, It'sbeen a weird few months. And send
me key suggestions at Autumnsodityes Podcast atgmail dot com. I feel free to
send some lesser known stuff, somelocal things to you, and I'll do
what I can to try and investigate. I'm pretty good at filing foyer requests.

(37:45):
All right, I appreciate you listening, and remember, if it's creepy
and weird, you'll find it here. Tott