February 26, 2024 • 30 mins
33-year-old Jared McColloch drove over 500 miles north from his home in Louisiana on November 4th, 2023. He arrived in Salem, Illinois at 1:38 AM the next day and stopped for gas at a local convenience store. According to Jared's ex-girlfriend, the two were supposed to meet up and then visit their teenage son later that day. The following day, a local citizen called the police to report an abandoned truck on a remote road in Knox County, Indiana. Jared's truck had been left running with his 2 beloved dogs still inside. He has not been heard from since. Where is Jared McColloch? Join Dawn as she sits down with Jared's mom, Tammie Reppond in this brand-new episode. *The names of Jared’s ex-girlfriend and Jared’s son have been changed to protect anonymity. Click here to see the timeline & map of Jared’s Stops. If you have any information about the disappearance of Jared McColloch, please call the tip line at 618-367-1828. You can remain anonymous. Knox County Sheriff’s Office: 812-882-7660 Follow Jared’s case on Facebook: Finding Jared McColloch NamUs: Missing Person / NamUs #MP111425 | NamUs (ojp.gov) _________________________________ For the month of February, Method & Madness is proudly teaming up with Season of Justice, a non-profit dedicated to working directly with families to fund comprehensive awareness campaigns and other initiatives that can push their unsolved cases forward. Season of Justice also provides grants to investigative agencies that fund DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy research to solve cold cases. If you’re able to make a gift to Season of Justice that is meaningful to you, you’ll be helping families find answers. You can join me today in supporting Season of Justice with a donation by texting METHOD24 to 53555. Link to donate: https://givebutter.com/soj_methodandmadness Thank you. _________________________________ Method & Madness is researched, written, hosted, & produced by Dawn Gandhi Sound Editing by Brogan Molloy Music by Tymur Khakimov from Pixabay ____________________________________ REACH OUT: methodandmadnesspod@gmail.com CONNECT: DIVE INTO MORE: MethodandMadnessPodcast.com ____________________________________ All sources are listed on the website, under each episode description. MethodandMadnessPodcast.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
This episode contains details that may bedisturbing to some listener. Discretion is advised.
I don't want to think so I'mplayed that that's what everything. I
don't want to accuse anybody of anything. My first goal is to find Jared
first and then find out exactly howit happened and if anybody's responsible. Welcome
(00:33):
to Method and Madness. This isMissing Jared McCulloch. I'm your host,
don It was the morning of Monday, November sixth, twenty twenty three,
(00:54):
an abandoned truck was found in KnoxCounty, Indiana. The doors were left
wide and inside two dogs with theircollars and leashes on. The owner of
the vehicle, an adult male,had up and vanished while on his way
to visit his son. Today,we'll discuss the circumstances around a missing thirty
(01:17):
three year old man, Jared McCulloch. Joining me is Jared's mom, Tammy
Repond. Let's dive in. Onehundred and two thousand, three hundred and
sixty eight. That was the numberof missing men in the United States in
twenty twenty two. The good newsmost of these cases were resolved within the
(01:38):
same year. The alarming news isthe no news the media tends to shy
away from reporting on adult men thatvanish. Jared McCulloch is actively missing.
He's an animal lover, someone fiercelyprotective of his mother, Tammy, who
says she's been blessed to be hismom. She's shared stories with me about
(02:00):
how Jared was sick as a youngchild in faced health challenges but overcame them,
and how at the age of ten, he took in a straight dog,
a pet that became a loved memberof the family. As an adult,
he grew to love construction and wasthe first person to call when something
needed fixing. His last known whereaboutswere in Illinois on November fifth, twenty
(02:24):
twenty three. If you're in theIllinois or Indiana areas, please share this
episode with a friend and let's helpget the word out. Jared is a
thirty three year old white male fivefoot nine, one hundred and seventy nine
pounds with dirty blonde hair and blueeyes. He has several tattoos and is
(02:46):
likely wearing a tan car heart jacket, a light blue shirt, and a
dog tag necklace. On November sixth, twenty twenty three, Tammy reppond Jared's
mother received a phone call from Detectivecar of the Knox County Sheriff's Department in
Indiana. He told her that herson's truck, a twenty twenty white GMC
(03:07):
Sierra, was found abandoned in Vincennes'es, Indiana. Jared hasn't been heard from
since. Tammy has had no choicebut to use her prowess and research to
put together a timeline of Jared's movementsin the days leading up to his disappearance.
She's accessed all of Jared's accounts asmuch as was possible, and she's
(03:31):
been working with local law enforcement,but due to it being an active investigation,
she's just not privy to a lotof the information out there. As
you can imagine, Tammy has facedmore than a handful of challenges. Here
are just some of them. Jaredwent missing in an area his mother isn't
familiar with. In fact, it'snearly six hundred miles from her home.
(03:55):
As far as we know, Jared'scell phone, a motorola, has not
been found in or around the areawhere his truck was abandoned. His mother,
Tammy, does have access to someof the data on his phone,
but it's limited. Since Jared ison her Verizon plan, she can see
the calls and text records, buta cell phone bill or statement only tells
(04:19):
one part of a story. Youcan see the times and phone numbers for
all outgoing and incoming calls and texts, but it doesn't show the content of
the texts, only that they happened. In order to get that information about
the content of the messages between twoparties, you'd have to subpoena that information
(04:40):
from the cell phone provider, whichis difficult and mostly only occurs in court
cases. The phone is still beingkept active by Jared's family despite that it's
still remaining missing. To top offan already difficult and stressful situation for Jared's
family is the following The night intothe early morning that Jared was last seen
(05:02):
was the end of daylight savings.With a time falling back an hour in
addition to a time zone difference,it gets complicated to put exact times on
all of Jared's activities. What Tammyfound out after receiving the news that Jared
was missing was he allegedly was drivingfrom his home in Marion, Louisiana,
(05:25):
to Sandoval, Illinois, there hewas to meet up with the mother of
his fourteen year old son. Accordingto the child's mother, Jared never made
it to her home. We're goingto walk through the timeline of events.
What will be presented is where Jaredwas at what time, stops on his
(05:46):
journey, which were verified by creditcard activity, video footage, and cell
phone pings. Tammy has also providedme with the receipts that Jared received from
various purchases made on his stops.For the purposes of anonymity, some names
have been changed. Jared's fourteen yearold son will be referred to as Ryan.
(06:09):
The mother of Ryan will be referredto as Liz. Jared and Liz
are no longer a couple, butallegedly they were meeting up to go visit
their son, Ryan, who wasstaying at a juvenile detention center in Benton,
Illinois. Jared was also trying toget custody of Ryan. We begin
(06:30):
on the evening of Saturday, Novemberfourth, twenty twenty three, around six
(06:58):
or six thirty PMS Central time,Jared left his home in Mary and Louisiana.
He brought his beloved dogs, Rustyand Roxy May with him in his
truck. His direction headed north overfive hundred miles, an eight hour drive
to the prairie state. At sevenforty eight pm, Jared texted his mother
(07:20):
Tammy, I love you, whichwas the tradition they had in the morning
after phone calls and at night.Tammy responded in typical mom fashion with I
love you more. At nine ohfour pm, Jared pulled into Southern Edge
truck stop in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and purchased forty dollars of gas.
(07:43):
At eleven twenty three pm, hemade a stop at Jordan's, a convenience
store in Pocahontas, Arkansas, wherehe got more gas and some food.
The two Arkansas stops were confirmed byreceipts that Jared left in his truck and
that Tammy held onto. As mentionedearlier. During Jared's drive, daylight savings
(08:03):
ended and he arrived in Salem,Illinois early Sunday morning. The time was
two thirty eight am or one thirtyeight am with the clocks falling back.
Jared stops while at Illinois were difficultfor me to visualize, so I took
to Google Maps to outline the possibleroute he took all day Sunday including where
(08:28):
his truck ended up. If youthink this will be helpful, you can
click the link in the show notesto get that visual. Once in Salem,
Jared stopped at Hawk's, a chainconvenience store on Main Street. His
visit there is confirmed by video footage, and according to a clerk, Jared
seemed fine while there. Jared senta text to his ex Liz telling her
(08:52):
that he'd quote be there in aminute, the assumption being that he'd be
at her home in Sandoval, Illinoisshortly. Sandoval is a tiny village near
Salem, and it should have onlytaken Jared ten or so minutes to drive
there. Also, this is arural area, just a couple of county
roads between destinations and lots of farmlandto look at. But after Jared went
(09:16):
missing, Liz told Tammy that Jarednever made it to her home and that
he just kept telling her he waslost. I asked Tammy if she knew
that Jared was meeting up with Lizto go visit Ryan. Here is Tammy
repond. I really don't know forone hundred percent fact that that was his
reasoning for going. All I knowis that's the story that she has told
(09:39):
I talked to Jared about an hourbefore he left Louisiana, and he didn't
say as far as going there oranything like that. He didn't ever mention
the trip. I was unaware untilI got the phone call as far as
the truck being found. All weknow as far as his exact reasoning is
(10:01):
just through some vague text messages andher word that that's the reason why he
went. I don't. I can'tsay hundred percent that that's I mean,
that would be her story to tell, and it's a story that Tammy says
has changed several times. If Jareddidn't make it to Liz's home, then
(10:28):
it's unknown what he was doing forthe next few hours that Sunday morning,
because the next known activity that Jaredhad was at five twenty six am.
So what happened between one thirty eightand five twenty six. That's a significant
time gap where Jared is supposed tobe at Lizz's house, yet she says
(10:48):
he wasn't. So at five twentysix, about a seventeen minute drive from
that Hucks and Salem, Jared wasseen on camera getting fifteen dollars worth of
gas at Phillips in Central City,Illinois. On that video, he seemed
fine and there was nobody with him, just his dogs. The gas station
(11:09):
is about an eight minute drive southfrom Liz's home in Sandoval, and it
didn't appear that anyone was following him, at least as far as can be
seen on surveillance video. Another threehours go by before Jared is seen again,
this time on video at a differentHucks convenience store in Carmi, Illinois.
(11:30):
It was eight twenty seven am onSunday, and Jared was now more
than an hour southeast of Liz's inSandoval. Again, he didn't appear to
be in distress and only his dogswere with him. It seems that his
credit card was declined here and thathe paid cash for more gasoline. An
hour later, there's an incoming callfrom Liz to Jared. His location is
(11:54):
estimated to be in the Greyville,Illinois area, as that's where his phone
pinged. At nine fifty nine Easterntime, Tammy received a text from her
son that said where is that thinking? Jared had texted her in error,
which he did often. She didn'trespond, but Tammy tells me that this
(12:15):
is a decision she's regretted and wishesmore than anything that she had called her
son back. When she reviewed thecell records later, the text was sent
from Jared's cell phone at seven fiftynine, a time difference that should have
only been an hour, but wassomehow coming up as two. Tammy has
(12:35):
confirmed that the only other person Jaredwas texting during his travels was Liz,
and Liz is adamant that she andJared only spoke once during his road trip.
The Verizon records say otherwise. Thatbrings us to ten twenty four.
On that Sunday morning, Between tentwenty four and ten forty one, Jared's
(12:56):
phone pinged the Mount Carmel, Illinoistower three times, all calls with Liz,
according to cell records. At tenfifty seven, Liz again called Jared,
and his phone pinged the Allendale tower. The final phone call that Jared
received was from Liz, the cellphone ping putting them road to Rolla's location
(13:20):
in Saint Francisville, Illinois, ateleven oh eight am. That's about an
hour northeast of Jared's previous ping.That call lasted for six minutes. No
video proof or credit card activity confirmsJared was in Saint Francisville. At this
time, the only information we havewas gathered through cell phone records and from
(13:45):
eyewitness accounts. After that, thereis no known activity and there has been
no bank activity since. On theevening of Sunday, November fifth, at
six thirty two pm, a GMCapp alert went out saying that Jared's truck
(14:09):
battery was critically low, a notificationthat Tammy received the battery died shortly after
that. The following day, Monday, at approximately eight am, a local
citizen called the police and reported asuspicious truck abandoned near the Wabash River in
Decker, Indiana, just across theIllinois state line that puts it in the
(14:33):
Eastern time zone. The river isfive hundred and three miles long and flows
into the Ohio River at the southernend of the Indiana Illinois state line.
The truck was Jared's, and boththe driver's side doors were left open,
with his dog's Rusty and Roxy Maystill inside. Their leash is on.
(14:56):
Jared was nowhere to be found,but the seas he'd been wearing were found
in the woods nearby, about tenfeet apart. This brings us to a
point in Jared's story where the questionof possible foul play is being raised.
Let's take a break this month.I'd like to invite you, the listener
(15:26):
and friends of the show to joinme in a special campaign in support of
Season of Justice, a nonprofit dedicatedto working directly with families to fund comprehensive
awareness campaigns and other initiatives that canpush their unsolved cases forward. Season of
Justice also provides grants to investigative agenciesthat fund DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy
(15:52):
research to solve cold cases. Sincetwenty twenty, Season of Justice has raised
more than one million dollars grants formore than one hundred and forty cases in
North America, leading to six coldcases being solved. But Season of Justice
doesn't do this alone, so I'masking you to consider donating this month.
(16:12):
I understand that financial support simply isn'tpossible for everyone, but if you're able
to make even a small gift toSeason of Justice that's meaningful to you,
you'll be helping families find answers.You can join me today in supporting Season
of Justice with the donation by textingmethod twenty four to five three five five
(16:34):
five. According to his family,Jared would never, under any circumstances abandon
his dogs. Any pet owner canrelate, our animals are our family.
The dogs being left is a hugered flag. If you're going to take
your dogs with you while you travel, you aren't leaving them alone in a
vehicle with the doors wide open.Also, if Jared was stopping somewhere for
(16:59):
a few minutes, his mother saidhe would absolutely have locked up his truck.
Let's talk about what else was foundin Jared's truck and what wasn't.
His suitcase, tools, and severalpairs of shoes, along with other traveling
items were still there. But hiscell phone, wallet, and the white
sunglasses he's seen wearing in some ofthe gas station footage that was all missing.
(17:25):
Here's what we know about the truckitself. It was in park but
had been left running until it eventuallyran out of gas. It estimated that
this would have happened around three pmon Sunday, and that the truck had
possibly been idling for about three hours. Jared's cell phone shows the last sink
was later at six thirty nine pm, which means that although Jared was missing,
(17:49):
his phone was still active. Injust a note. The local temperature
was about sixty three degrees as thehigh. Here, Tammy talks about the
day she heard her son was missingand how she began putting the pieces together,
which included reaching out to Liz.I was at the hospital getting blood
work done, and so I reallydidn't talk to him. I didn't answer
(18:12):
at first because I didn't recognize thephone number, and my husband texted me
and told me that I needed toanswer that call. So I walked outside
and I did, but I onlytalked to him for a brief minute because
I had to go back in.And I was still confused because all he
said was Indiana. I'm trying tothink of why in the heck would he
be in Indiana, And I didn'tknow where the place was that he was
(18:33):
referring to. I had no idea. I kind of figured out, as
that's not too far away from Salemand put two and two together and reached
out to her. But I talkedto him and Detective car for a little
bit. He just explained to mehow the truck was found and where it
was found. Of course I hadto Google map that to figure that area
(18:55):
out, and he told me asfar as the dog's being left in the
truck and everything I've been this iskind of going their direction. If I've
been sitting here thinking about the dogsbeing left in the truck, I'll say,
and I kind of wonder if thedoors were maybe actually closed when the
truck originally was there, because thetruck had to be there for, you
know, at least twelve plus hoursthat we know of, before somebody came
(19:19):
upon it and found it. Imean, what if because it's such a
thin one lane road, what ifsomebody did open the door seeing the dogs
inside, maybe they're getting warm.It just seems out of character for him
to ever leave the doors open.And if he was there at the you
know, the one who left thetruck or whatever happened, and he was,
he would never leave his doors open. I mean. And somebody,
(19:42):
maybe a good Samaritan, may havepassed by and you know, and just
seeing the dogs, maybe they werehot inside the truck and just decided to
open the doors. Then that's whythe dogs still had their leashes on when
they were found too, because healways kept their leashes on whenever he traveled
that way. If he stopped somewhere, quickly get out, you know,
walking mama leak. She always keptthem leashed if they weren't inside their pain
(20:03):
at home. Life has become anightmare for Tammy since receiving that call.
There's the unknown, not knowing ifyour child is safe alive, and the
red tape, trying to get answersfrom law enforcement, trying to put together
(20:26):
a timeline, and also spreading awarenessso that no matter what, Jared can
come home. But a big keyin all of this has been the cell
phone. It's my knowledge that's notbeen recovered. If it has, they've
not told me, but I knowin the very beginning they did say that
it was missing, along with hisvate and his wallet and his sunglasses.
(20:49):
I mean, I don't think theyrealized the sunglasses was missing. I just
I always call it. Jared's gotthat long haired, blue eyed syndrome that
the sun really hit hurts his eyes, So if it's sunning out, he's
always got the sunglasses on, andto my knowledge, those of the only
thing there was a disposable vape inthere, which he didn't like. But
then he always kept a backup packof cigarettes in his glove box in case
he ran out of his vape stuffbecause he's he's been working on trying to
(21:11):
quit for a good long time.But the backup pack of cigarettes was still
in his glove box and there wasa disposable vape been there. Tammy has
spoken with Liz a couple of timessince Jared went missing. Here she tells
me what Liz has said about Jared'strip, well, depends on much time
we talked, because in the beginningshe told me that it was he was
going to go there and stay allnight there, well not all night,
(21:33):
but sleep for a few hours andthen go the Sun, who was down
in Benton, Illinois together, AndI know her car was broke down at
the time. Also, I don'tknow if that's the reasoning that they were
going together or to you know,do a united Front or anything like that.
But and at first she told methat they were supposed to be there
at ten am. But then thelast time I talked to her, she
(21:56):
said that Jared was coming there justbecause that he needed to get away for
a few days and asked if hecan come and stay there, and that
they were supposed to meet the Sunat one pm. But he didn't go
because she couldn't get a hold ofhim, but she went. Tammy has
(22:17):
been unable to confirm that Liz did, in fact go to Benton to visit
Ryan at the Juvenile Detention Center.On December thirty first, twenty twenty three,
the center was closed a staffing shortagehad made it difficult to meet state
standards for the treatment of youth andcustody. According to an article by Molly
Parker for Capital News Illinois, onNovember twenty second, Tammy's husband got a
(22:41):
notification from Verizon that a request toactivate a new simcard or new device for
Jared's line had been made, sothey had no sign of suspicious activity.
And then as soon as I seenit on our email, I sent it
to a detective car and he said, well, he didn't know what that
meant. He'd had to send tohis tech guy. And then I asked
(23:02):
him again a couple times ago,two or three times ago that we talked,
and he said he didn't know whatthat was. He's never heard anything
back about what that was. Anotherhurdle that pops up in any open investigation,
whether it be a missing person oran unsolved homicide, is the theories
(23:26):
that tend to pop up online peopleare well intentioned and want to help,
but sometimes sleuthing or posting assumptions canactually cause harm. Tammy doesn't shy away
from the realities that Jared had beenin legal trouble in the past, but
that he always reached out to herand communicated about it. To just go
(23:47):
silent, is that a character forhim? Do I think that he's on
this earth? I'd like to believeit was everything inside of me, but
I can't. I mean, Istruggle with that because I know Jared and
I mean Jared. I mean it'sbeen put out there that Jared's been in
trouble before, and I know everytime Jared's been in trouble, he doesn't
ever hesitate to, you know,not call me. I mean he would,
(24:08):
he would never not call me,and to leave his dog. So
the only two things are either numberone in you know, an accident,
a fall, slip, something thatyou would have to say hit his head
or been knocked out too. Becausehe knows how to swim, and he's
very river smart. I mean welive in Louisiana and he loved the rivers
(24:30):
down there. He's very smart wherethe river is concerned. So him doing
something unsafe in the river does notmake any sense to me, and especially
without any shoes, because his shoeswere found that is so a fall kind
of counts that out because if theywere in the same location, to be
ten feet apart in the woods theredoesn't make any sense because Jared never goes
(24:55):
without shoes. That's why he's gotthree pair actually four, because he had
two pairs of sliders one of hissuit in the truck. But I mean,
he never goes without shoes, andhe definitely never in the river.
So I don't want to think soI'll played that that's what everything. I
don't want to accuse anybody of anything. My first goal is to find Jared
(25:15):
first and then find out exactly howit happened and if anybody's responsible. Tammy
spends every day running through all ofthe events in her head, searching Google
Maps, checking and rechecking phone records, and with the help of family members,
puts together flyers and gathers volunteers forsearches. The hardest part is that
(25:36):
I'm so far away. I'm notthere, and you know, if I
even if I stayed up there,say in the hotel, and live there
every day, I'm still not goingto get any further than what I can
here. I'm better off on thecomputer, I think, and meiling out
flyers because as far as that areaso it's so remote. If I had
any better leads as far as toknow where to look, I would,
(25:57):
But that's what I'm looking for,you know, if I had something solid
to go on and be there ina heartbeat. But thankfully I've got the
community there that that do know thearea and that have been a huge help.
I know brother's underwater recovery has beendown there twice. Billy Darnell,
the chief of police in Saint Francisville, he allowed and helped and helped along
(26:18):
with a search. I think it'sbeen about close about a month ago in
his city or town. And youknow, they've all just been really,
really helpful and been together Canine.They've done at least three four that I
know of, And anytime I gottaI gotta give them a big thanks too,
(26:40):
because they're patient with me. AnytimeI'm sitting here on the computer and
I get something in my head ofwell, you know, oh this this
place looks like something, this looksfamiliar. They're they're pretty quick, they're
they're a distance but not too faraway from the area that they'll they've picked
up and they they'll go out thereand checked for me. Every time I
think I see something on Google Mapsor something. It may seem an obvious
(27:03):
yes would be the answer to thefollowing question, but I had to make
sure since it's not always so cutand dry in the cases of adult men
who go missing. I asked Tammyif Jared's disappearance was being investigated by any
law enforcement agencies. It is myunderstanding yes, because I did ask as
far as the case record. Inmy opinion, from what I understood,
(27:26):
if it wasn't active, then Iwas allowed those case files by law,
and they said it is an activeinvestigation. I'm sure they do know a
lot more than I know, andthey can't tell me not. Scounty's in
charge of the case, not ScuntyIndiana, and the detective car is the
lead investigator. He's really the I'veonly talked to the sheriff once. The
(27:48):
detective Car I've talked to quite afew times. But I do know he
is listed in Missing Persons, whichI worked on getting that done along with
you right over in Illinois, Sohe does a missing person's number. He's
in namous Sola's officially listed in CIC. It's been a nightmare that Tammy can't
wake up from. A Few yearsago, Jared's younger brother, Austin,
(28:11):
passed away. Still mourning that loss, a mother is now faced with more
tragedy. You guys have heard mesay it dozens of times. Family members
have no choice but to become advocatesfor their loved ones, and Tammy has
been an incredible advocate for her missingson. The Facebook group that she and
her family created to raise awareness hasover eight thousand followers, with so many
(28:37):
good Samaritans offering to volunteer, tosertor to distribute flyers. It just warms
the heart. Most of these helpersdon't know Jared, but they see a
mom in agony trying to find herson, and they want to help in
any way they can. In midFebruary, a billboard was put up in
Fairfield, Illinois, provided free ofcharge by Travis Rhodes and Dusty's out Door
(29:00):
Media. The billboard, which islocated a little over ninety minutes from where
Jared's truck was found, features aphoto of the missing man and offers a
one thousand dollars reward. Here istoday's call to action. If you have
any information about the disappearance of JaredMcCullock, please call six one eight three
(29:22):
six seven one eight two eight.You can remain anonymous. You can also
reach out to the Knox County Sheriff'sOffice at eight one two eight eight two
seven six six zero. To followJared's case and to see how you can
help. Please join the Facebook groupfinding Jared McCollough. The link is in
(29:45):
the show notes. Thank you tomy very special guest, Tammy Reppond for
sharing Jared's story. Thank you forlistening to this episode of Method and Madness.
If you have and already, pleaseleave a rating, order review,
and don't forget to hit the followbutton to connect. I'm on x at
(30:07):
Methodpod, on Instagram at Method andMadness Pod, and you can find me
on TikTok and Facebook as well tochat. So just a case or discuss
the episode, reach out to meat Methodimadness Pod at gmail dot com.
Method and Madness is researched, writtenand hosted by me. That's it for
this week. Until next time,take care of yourself. You matter for
(30:32):
crisis support, text Hello to sevenfour one seven four one
This episode contains details that may bedisturbing to some listener. Discretion is advised.
I don't want to think so I'mplayed that that's what everything. I
don't want to accuse anybody of anything. My first goal is to find Jared
first and then find out exactly howit happened and if anybody's responsible. Welcome
(00:33):
to Method and Madness. This isMissing Jared McCulloch. I'm your host,
don It was the morning of Monday, November sixth, twenty twenty three,
(00:54):
an abandoned truck was found in KnoxCounty, Indiana. The doors were left
wide and inside two dogs with theircollars and leashes on. The owner of
the vehicle, an adult male,had up and vanished while on his way
to visit his son. Today,we'll discuss the circumstances around a missing thirty
(01:17):
three year old man, Jared McCulloch. Joining me is Jared's mom, Tammy
Repond. Let's dive in. Onehundred and two thousand, three hundred and
sixty eight. That was the numberof missing men in the United States in
twenty twenty two. The good newsmost of these cases were resolved within the
(01:38):
same year. The alarming news isthe no news the media tends to shy
away from reporting on adult men thatvanish. Jared McCulloch is actively missing.
He's an animal lover, someone fiercelyprotective of his mother, Tammy, who
says she's been blessed to be hismom. She's shared stories with me about
(02:00):
how Jared was sick as a youngchild in faced health challenges but overcame them,
and how at the age of ten, he took in a straight dog,
a pet that became a loved memberof the family. As an adult,
he grew to love construction and wasthe first person to call when something
needed fixing. His last known whereaboutswere in Illinois on November fifth, twenty
(02:24):
twenty three. If you're in theIllinois or Indiana areas, please share this
episode with a friend and let's helpget the word out. Jared is a
thirty three year old white male fivefoot nine, one hundred and seventy nine
pounds with dirty blonde hair and blueeyes. He has several tattoos and is
(02:46):
likely wearing a tan car heart jacket, a light blue shirt, and a
dog tag necklace. On November sixth, twenty twenty three, Tammy reppond Jared's
mother received a phone call from Detectivecar of the Knox County Sheriff's Department in
Indiana. He told her that herson's truck, a twenty twenty white GMC
(03:07):
Sierra, was found abandoned in Vincennes'es, Indiana. Jared hasn't been heard from
since. Tammy has had no choicebut to use her prowess and research to
put together a timeline of Jared's movementsin the days leading up to his disappearance.
She's accessed all of Jared's accounts asmuch as was possible, and she's
(03:31):
been working with local law enforcement,but due to it being an active investigation,
she's just not privy to a lotof the information out there. As
you can imagine, Tammy has facedmore than a handful of challenges. Here
are just some of them. Jaredwent missing in an area his mother isn't
familiar with. In fact, it'snearly six hundred miles from her home.
(03:55):
As far as we know, Jared'scell phone, a motorola, has not
been found in or around the areawhere his truck was abandoned. His mother,
Tammy, does have access to someof the data on his phone,
but it's limited. Since Jared ison her Verizon plan, she can see
the calls and text records, buta cell phone bill or statement only tells
(04:19):
one part of a story. Youcan see the times and phone numbers for
all outgoing and incoming calls and texts, but it doesn't show the content of
the texts, only that they happened. In order to get that information about
the content of the messages between twoparties, you'd have to subpoena that information
(04:40):
from the cell phone provider, whichis difficult and mostly only occurs in court
cases. The phone is still beingkept active by Jared's family despite that it's
still remaining missing. To top offan already difficult and stressful situation for Jared's
family is the following The night intothe early morning that Jared was last seen
(05:02):
was the end of daylight savings.With a time falling back an hour in
addition to a time zone difference,it gets complicated to put exact times on
all of Jared's activities. What Tammyfound out after receiving the news that Jared
was missing was he allegedly was drivingfrom his home in Marion, Louisiana,
(05:25):
to Sandoval, Illinois, there hewas to meet up with the mother of
his fourteen year old son. Accordingto the child's mother, Jared never made
it to her home. We're goingto walk through the timeline of events.
What will be presented is where Jaredwas at what time, stops on his
(05:46):
journey, which were verified by creditcard activity, video footage, and cell
phone pings. Tammy has also providedme with the receipts that Jared received from
various purchases made on his stops.For the purposes of anonymity, some names
have been changed. Jared's fourteen yearold son will be referred to as Ryan.
(06:09):
The mother of Ryan will be referredto as Liz. Jared and Liz
are no longer a couple, butallegedly they were meeting up to go visit
their son, Ryan, who wasstaying at a juvenile detention center in Benton,
Illinois. Jared was also trying toget custody of Ryan. We begin
(06:30):
on the evening of Saturday, Novemberfourth, twenty twenty three, around six
(06:58):
or six thirty PMS Central time,Jared left his home in Mary and Louisiana.
He brought his beloved dogs, Rustyand Roxy May with him in his
truck. His direction headed north overfive hundred miles, an eight hour drive
to the prairie state. At sevenforty eight pm, Jared texted his mother
(07:20):
Tammy, I love you, whichwas the tradition they had in the morning
after phone calls and at night.Tammy responded in typical mom fashion with I
love you more. At nine ohfour pm, Jared pulled into Southern Edge
truck stop in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and purchased forty dollars of gas.
(07:43):
At eleven twenty three pm, hemade a stop at Jordan's, a convenience
store in Pocahontas, Arkansas, wherehe got more gas and some food.
The two Arkansas stops were confirmed byreceipts that Jared left in his truck and
that Tammy held onto. As mentionedearlier. During Jared's drive, daylight savings
(08:03):
ended and he arrived in Salem,Illinois early Sunday morning. The time was
two thirty eight am or one thirtyeight am with the clocks falling back.
Jared stops while at Illinois were difficultfor me to visualize, so I took
to Google Maps to outline the possibleroute he took all day Sunday including where
(08:28):
his truck ended up. If youthink this will be helpful, you can
click the link in the show notesto get that visual. Once in Salem,
Jared stopped at Hawk's, a chainconvenience store on Main Street. His
visit there is confirmed by video footage, and according to a clerk, Jared
seemed fine while there. Jared senta text to his ex Liz telling her
(08:52):
that he'd quote be there in aminute, the assumption being that he'd be
at her home in Sandoval, Illinoisshortly. Sandoval is a tiny village near
Salem, and it should have onlytaken Jared ten or so minutes to drive
there. Also, this is arural area, just a couple of county
roads between destinations and lots of farmlandto look at. But after Jared went
(09:16):
missing, Liz told Tammy that Jarednever made it to her home and that
he just kept telling her he waslost. I asked Tammy if she knew
that Jared was meeting up with Lizto go visit Ryan. Here is Tammy
repond. I really don't know forone hundred percent fact that that was his
reasoning for going. All I knowis that's the story that she has told
(09:39):
I talked to Jared about an hourbefore he left Louisiana, and he didn't
say as far as going there oranything like that. He didn't ever mention
the trip. I was unaware untilI got the phone call as far as
the truck being found. All weknow as far as his exact reasoning is
(10:01):
just through some vague text messages andher word that that's the reason why he
went. I don't. I can'tsay hundred percent that that's I mean,
that would be her story to tell, and it's a story that Tammy says
has changed several times. If Jareddidn't make it to Liz's home, then
(10:28):
it's unknown what he was doing forthe next few hours that Sunday morning,
because the next known activity that Jaredhad was at five twenty six am.
So what happened between one thirty eightand five twenty six. That's a significant
time gap where Jared is supposed tobe at Lizz's house, yet she says
(10:48):
he wasn't. So at five twentysix, about a seventeen minute drive from
that Hucks and Salem, Jared wasseen on camera getting fifteen dollars worth of
gas at Phillips in Central City,Illinois. On that video, he seemed
fine and there was nobody with him, just his dogs. The gas station
(11:09):
is about an eight minute drive southfrom Liz's home in Sandoval, and it
didn't appear that anyone was following him, at least as far as can be
seen on surveillance video. Another threehours go by before Jared is seen again,
this time on video at a differentHucks convenience store in Carmi, Illinois.
(11:30):
It was eight twenty seven am onSunday, and Jared was now more
than an hour southeast of Liz's inSandoval. Again, he didn't appear to
be in distress and only his dogswere with him. It seems that his
credit card was declined here and thathe paid cash for more gasoline. An
hour later, there's an incoming callfrom Liz to Jared. His location is
(11:54):
estimated to be in the Greyville,Illinois area, as that's where his phone
pinged. At nine fifty nine Easterntime, Tammy received a text from her
son that said where is that thinking? Jared had texted her in error,
which he did often. She didn'trespond, but Tammy tells me that this
(12:15):
is a decision she's regretted and wishesmore than anything that she had called her
son back. When she reviewed thecell records later, the text was sent
from Jared's cell phone at seven fiftynine, a time difference that should have
only been an hour, but wassomehow coming up as two. Tammy has
(12:35):
confirmed that the only other person Jaredwas texting during his travels was Liz,
and Liz is adamant that she andJared only spoke once during his road trip.
The Verizon records say otherwise. Thatbrings us to ten twenty four.
On that Sunday morning, Between tentwenty four and ten forty one, Jared's
(12:56):
phone pinged the Mount Carmel, Illinoistower three times, all calls with Liz,
according to cell records. At tenfifty seven, Liz again called Jared,
and his phone pinged the Allendale tower. The final phone call that Jared
received was from Liz, the cellphone ping putting them road to Rolla's location
(13:20):
in Saint Francisville, Illinois, ateleven oh eight am. That's about an
hour northeast of Jared's previous ping.That call lasted for six minutes. No
video proof or credit card activity confirmsJared was in Saint Francisville. At this
time, the only information we havewas gathered through cell phone records and from
(13:45):
eyewitness accounts. After that, thereis no known activity and there has been
no bank activity since. On theevening of Sunday, November fifth, at
six thirty two pm, a GMCapp alert went out saying that Jared's truck
(14:09):
battery was critically low, a notificationthat Tammy received the battery died shortly after
that. The following day, Monday, at approximately eight am, a local
citizen called the police and reported asuspicious truck abandoned near the Wabash River in
Decker, Indiana, just across theIllinois state line that puts it in the
(14:33):
Eastern time zone. The river isfive hundred and three miles long and flows
into the Ohio River at the southernend of the Indiana Illinois state line.
The truck was Jared's, and boththe driver's side doors were left open,
with his dog's Rusty and Roxy Maystill inside. Their leash is on.
(14:56):
Jared was nowhere to be found,but the seas he'd been wearing were found
in the woods nearby, about tenfeet apart. This brings us to a
point in Jared's story where the questionof possible foul play is being raised.
Let's take a break this month.I'd like to invite you, the listener
(15:26):
and friends of the show to joinme in a special campaign in support of
Season of Justice, a nonprofit dedicatedto working directly with families to fund comprehensive
awareness campaigns and other initiatives that canpush their unsolved cases forward. Season of
Justice also provides grants to investigative agenciesthat fund DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy
(15:52):
research to solve cold cases. Sincetwenty twenty, Season of Justice has raised
more than one million dollars grants formore than one hundred and forty cases in
North America, leading to six coldcases being solved. But Season of Justice
doesn't do this alone, so I'masking you to consider donating this month.
(16:12):
I understand that financial support simply isn'tpossible for everyone, but if you're able
to make even a small gift toSeason of Justice that's meaningful to you,
you'll be helping families find answers.You can join me today in supporting Season
of Justice with the donation by textingmethod twenty four to five three five five
(16:34):
five. According to his family,Jared would never, under any circumstances abandon
his dogs. Any pet owner canrelate, our animals are our family.
The dogs being left is a hugered flag. If you're going to take
your dogs with you while you travel, you aren't leaving them alone in a
vehicle with the doors wide open.Also, if Jared was stopping somewhere for
(16:59):
a few minutes, his mother saidhe would absolutely have locked up his truck.
Let's talk about what else was foundin Jared's truck and what wasn't.
His suitcase, tools, and severalpairs of shoes, along with other traveling
items were still there. But hiscell phone, wallet, and the white
sunglasses he's seen wearing in some ofthe gas station footage that was all missing.
(17:25):
Here's what we know about the truckitself. It was in park but
had been left running until it eventuallyran out of gas. It estimated that
this would have happened around three pmon Sunday, and that the truck had
possibly been idling for about three hours. Jared's cell phone shows the last sink
was later at six thirty nine pm, which means that although Jared was missing,
(17:49):
his phone was still active. Injust a note. The local temperature
was about sixty three degrees as thehigh. Here, Tammy talks about the
day she heard her son was missingand how she began putting the pieces together,
which included reaching out to Liz.I was at the hospital getting blood
work done, and so I reallydidn't talk to him. I didn't answer
(18:12):
at first because I didn't recognize thephone number, and my husband texted me
and told me that I needed toanswer that call. So I walked outside
and I did, but I onlytalked to him for a brief minute because
I had to go back in.And I was still confused because all he
said was Indiana. I'm trying tothink of why in the heck would he
be in Indiana, And I didn'tknow where the place was that he was
(18:33):
referring to. I had no idea. I kind of figured out, as
that's not too far away from Salemand put two and two together and reached
out to her. But I talkedto him and Detective car for a little
bit. He just explained to mehow the truck was found and where it
was found. Of course I hadto Google map that to figure that area
(18:55):
out, and he told me asfar as the dog's being left in the
truck and everything I've been this iskind of going their direction. If I've
been sitting here thinking about the dogsbeing left in the truck, I'll say,
and I kind of wonder if thedoors were maybe actually closed when the
truck originally was there, because thetruck had to be there for, you
know, at least twelve plus hoursthat we know of, before somebody came
(19:19):
upon it and found it. Imean, what if because it's such a
thin one lane road, what ifsomebody did open the door seeing the dogs
inside, maybe they're getting warm.It just seems out of character for him
to ever leave the doors open.And if he was there at the you
know, the one who left thetruck or whatever happened, and he was,
he would never leave his doors open. I mean. And somebody,
(19:42):
maybe a good Samaritan, may havepassed by and you know, and just
seeing the dogs, maybe they werehot inside the truck and just decided to
open the doors. Then that's whythe dogs still had their leashes on when
they were found too, because healways kept their leashes on whenever he traveled
that way. If he stopped somewhere, quickly get out, you know,
walking mama leak. She always keptthem leashed if they weren't inside their pain
(20:03):
at home. Life has become anightmare for Tammy since receiving that call.
There's the unknown, not knowing ifyour child is safe alive, and the
red tape, trying to get answersfrom law enforcement, trying to put together
(20:26):
a timeline, and also spreading awarenessso that no matter what, Jared can
come home. But a big keyin all of this has been the cell
phone. It's my knowledge that's notbeen recovered. If it has, they've
not told me, but I knowin the very beginning they did say that
it was missing, along with hisvate and his wallet and his sunglasses.
(20:49):
I mean, I don't think theyrealized the sunglasses was missing. I just
I always call it. Jared's gotthat long haired, blue eyed syndrome that
the sun really hit hurts his eyes, So if it's sunning out, he's
always got the sunglasses on, andto my knowledge, those of the only
thing there was a disposable vape inthere, which he didn't like. But
then he always kept a backup packof cigarettes in his glove box in case
he ran out of his vape stuffbecause he's he's been working on trying to
(21:11):
quit for a good long time.But the backup pack of cigarettes was still
in his glove box and there wasa disposable vape been there. Tammy has
spoken with Liz a couple of timessince Jared went missing. Here she tells
me what Liz has said about Jared'strip, well, depends on much time
we talked, because in the beginningshe told me that it was he was
going to go there and stay allnight there, well not all night,
(21:33):
but sleep for a few hours andthen go the Sun, who was down
in Benton, Illinois together, AndI know her car was broke down at
the time. Also, I don'tknow if that's the reasoning that they were
going together or to you know,do a united Front or anything like that.
But and at first she told methat they were supposed to be there
at ten am. But then thelast time I talked to her, she
(21:56):
said that Jared was coming there justbecause that he needed to get away for
a few days and asked if hecan come and stay there, and that
they were supposed to meet the Sunat one pm. But he didn't go
because she couldn't get a hold ofhim, but she went. Tammy has
(22:17):
been unable to confirm that Liz did, in fact go to Benton to visit
Ryan at the Juvenile Detention Center.On December thirty first, twenty twenty three,
the center was closed a staffing shortagehad made it difficult to meet state
standards for the treatment of youth andcustody. According to an article by Molly
Parker for Capital News Illinois, onNovember twenty second, Tammy's husband got a
(22:41):
notification from Verizon that a request toactivate a new simcard or new device for
Jared's line had been made, sothey had no sign of suspicious activity.
And then as soon as I seenit on our email, I sent it
to a detective car and he said, well, he didn't know what that
meant. He'd had to send tohis tech guy. And then I asked
(23:02):
him again a couple times ago,two or three times ago that we talked,
and he said he didn't know whatthat was. He's never heard anything
back about what that was. Anotherhurdle that pops up in any open investigation,
whether it be a missing person oran unsolved homicide, is the theories
(23:26):
that tend to pop up online peopleare well intentioned and want to help,
but sometimes sleuthing or posting assumptions canactually cause harm. Tammy doesn't shy away
from the realities that Jared had beenin legal trouble in the past, but
that he always reached out to herand communicated about it. To just go
(23:47):
silent, is that a character forhim? Do I think that he's on
this earth? I'd like to believeit was everything inside of me, but
I can't. I mean, Istruggle with that because I know Jared and
I mean Jared. I mean it'sbeen put out there that Jared's been in
trouble before, and I know everytime Jared's been in trouble, he doesn't
ever hesitate to, you know,not call me. I mean he would,
(24:08):
he would never not call me,and to leave his dog. So
the only two things are either numberone in you know, an accident,
a fall, slip, something thatyou would have to say hit his head
or been knocked out too. Becausehe knows how to swim, and he's
very river smart. I mean welive in Louisiana and he loved the rivers
(24:30):
down there. He's very smart wherethe river is concerned. So him doing
something unsafe in the river does notmake any sense to me, and especially
without any shoes, because his shoeswere found that is so a fall kind
of counts that out because if theywere in the same location, to be
ten feet apart in the woods theredoesn't make any sense because Jared never goes
(24:55):
without shoes. That's why he's gotthree pair actually four, because he had
two pairs of sliders one of hissuit in the truck. But I mean,
he never goes without shoes, andhe definitely never in the river.
So I don't want to think soI'll played that that's what everything. I
don't want to accuse anybody of anything. My first goal is to find Jared
(25:15):
first and then find out exactly howit happened and if anybody's responsible. Tammy
spends every day running through all ofthe events in her head, searching Google
Maps, checking and rechecking phone records, and with the help of family members,
puts together flyers and gathers volunteers forsearches. The hardest part is that
(25:36):
I'm so far away. I'm notthere, and you know, if I
even if I stayed up there,say in the hotel, and live there
every day, I'm still not goingto get any further than what I can
here. I'm better off on thecomputer, I think, and meiling out
flyers because as far as that areaso it's so remote. If I had
any better leads as far as toknow where to look, I would,
(25:57):
But that's what I'm looking for,you know, if I had something solid
to go on and be there ina heartbeat. But thankfully I've got the
community there that that do know thearea and that have been a huge help.
I know brother's underwater recovery has beendown there twice. Billy Darnell,
the chief of police in Saint Francisville, he allowed and helped and helped along
(26:18):
with a search. I think it'sbeen about close about a month ago in
his city or town. And youknow, they've all just been really,
really helpful and been together Canine.They've done at least three four that I
know of, And anytime I gottaI gotta give them a big thanks too,
(26:40):
because they're patient with me. AnytimeI'm sitting here on the computer and
I get something in my head ofwell, you know, oh this this
place looks like something, this looksfamiliar. They're they're pretty quick, they're
they're a distance but not too faraway from the area that they'll they've picked
up and they they'll go out thereand checked for me. Every time I
think I see something on Google Mapsor something. It may seem an obvious
(27:03):
yes would be the answer to thefollowing question, but I had to make
sure since it's not always so cutand dry in the cases of adult men
who go missing. I asked Tammyif Jared's disappearance was being investigated by any
law enforcement agencies. It is myunderstanding yes, because I did ask as
far as the case record. Inmy opinion, from what I understood,
(27:26):
if it wasn't active, then Iwas allowed those case files by law,
and they said it is an activeinvestigation. I'm sure they do know a
lot more than I know, andthey can't tell me not. Scounty's in
charge of the case, not ScuntyIndiana, and the detective car is the
lead investigator. He's really the I'veonly talked to the sheriff once. The
(27:48):
detective Car I've talked to quite afew times. But I do know he
is listed in Missing Persons, whichI worked on getting that done along with
you right over in Illinois, Sohe does a missing person's number. He's
in namous Sola's officially listed in CIC. It's been a nightmare that Tammy can't
wake up from. A Few yearsago, Jared's younger brother, Austin,
(28:11):
passed away. Still mourning that loss, a mother is now faced with more
tragedy. You guys have heard mesay it dozens of times. Family members
have no choice but to become advocatesfor their loved ones, and Tammy has
been an incredible advocate for her missingson. The Facebook group that she and
her family created to raise awareness hasover eight thousand followers, with so many
(28:37):
good Samaritans offering to volunteer, tosertor to distribute flyers. It just warms
the heart. Most of these helpersdon't know Jared, but they see a
mom in agony trying to find herson, and they want to help in
any way they can. In midFebruary, a billboard was put up in
Fairfield, Illinois, provided free ofcharge by Travis Rhodes and Dusty's out Door
(29:00):
Media. The billboard, which islocated a little over ninety minutes from where
Jared's truck was found, features aphoto of the missing man and offers a
one thousand dollars reward. Here istoday's call to action. If you have
any information about the disappearance of JaredMcCullock, please call six one eight three
(29:22):
six seven one eight two eight.You can remain anonymous. You can also
reach out to the Knox County Sheriff'sOffice at eight one two eight eight two
seven six six zero. To followJared's case and to see how you can
help. Please join the Facebook groupfinding Jared McCollough. The link is in
(29:45):
the show notes. Thank you tomy very special guest, Tammy Reppond for
sharing Jared's story. Thank you forlistening to this episode of Method and Madness.
If you have and already, pleaseleave a rating, order review,
and don't forget to hit the followbutton to connect. I'm on x at
(30:07):
Methodpod, on Instagram at Method andMadness Pod, and you can find me
on TikTok and Facebook as well tochat. So just a case or discuss
the episode, reach out to meat Methodimadness Pod at gmail dot com.
Method and Madness is researched, writtenand hosted by me. That's it for
this week. Until next time,take care of yourself. You matter for
(30:32):
crisis support, text Hello to sevenfour one seven four one
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