S01E03 - Tupper Lake, NY

In April of 2009 Israel Keyes abducted, murdered, then buried a victim alongside the Raquette River a few miles outside of Tupper Lake, NY. He then robbed the Tupper Lake Community Bank, absconding with nearly $10,000. Some of the weapons found in the Blake Falls Reservoir Bucket were used in these crimes and were hidden, previously, in a different cache at a different location. In this episode, Josh searches for a victims' remains as we realize a document I found in the early stages of our research directly relates to Israel’s caching methods.

Music: "part 2" by Dirt Jake Replicas
Backing Tracks: Somewhere In The Pines

Researched, Written, Recorded, Edited, and Produced by Somewhere in the Pines (Joshua and Dakota)

Patreon Producers:
Heather Horton Whedon
Nicole Guzman
Colleen Sullivan

With Special Guests: Neil, Kalli, and Boris Peterson

For early episodes and more: www.Patreon.com/somewhereinthepines

This is a Studio BOTH/AND collaboration: www.somewhereinthepines.com / bothand.fyi  For an ad-free experience: www.patreon.com/studiobothand  

Resources:"A Son's Torment" https://www.nj.com/bergen/2013/12/a_son_tormented_believing_serial_killer_israel_keyes_strangled_his_mother_matthew_feldman_struggles.html

Montage - CBSN LiveCBS NEWSNBC5 - WPTZKPTV

Episode Transcript

(00:08):
This is a studio both and collaboration. Somewhere in the Pines is a serial
podcast containing adult content, including descriptionsof violence, sexual assault, and suicide.
Listener discretion is strongly advised. Lasttime on Somewhere in the Pines,

(00:29):
tell you what I'll give you wherethe guns are buried. I'll give you
that stuff today. If I getmy cigar, you can say I've only
walked maybe a tenth of a mile. Possibly, Oh, I wonder if
that's it. Oh wow, that'sit. Maybe it is water access,
Maybe it's power lines. Maybe keyspray painted the TKT on the tree and

(00:51):
rock bucket. True, it hasthe seal that you have to tear away.
Yeah, I see it. Yeah, it's like someone feels it and
it hasn't been open in that twentyfive year span. And thousands of buckets
that you purchased. How many lidslike that have you purchased? Zero?
I mean, he could have grabbedthis thing in two minutes and then reck

(01:12):
to the car. This is just, oh my god, this is not
all what I expected. In twentytwelve, the last in law enforcement came

(01:32):
face to face with one of thiscountry's most prolific serial killers. His name
is Israel Keys. Investigators say IsraelKeys had a so called murder kit.
He strategically hit a box filled withweapons and tools near the Windowski River.
There is an orange home de Coebucket. Inside would be a gun,
weapons of rope, and sip ties. He always flew somewhere reck to the

(01:56):
car and then drove hundreds, ifnot one thousand miles, hold investor gettors.
He left the kids in Washington State, Wyoming, and Texas and planned
to hide one in Arizona and awhole bunch of states. I mean Alaska,
Vermont, Washington, warreg and NewYork, New Jersey, California,
Texas, bellinwa Tennessee. You hada cash in Washington because we're a very
in mind, all right. Thatwas a kid. I was used to

(02:21):
dream that i'd find buried trade andvery well, if I can't find it,
I might as well create it.Last night was a very long night

(02:44):
with all the rain. I wasjust pouring NonStop all night long. At
one point something woke me up.I think it was I think it was
a loon. I have no ideawhat it was. This does not look
familiar at all. If I'm goingthe right way. Yeah, this doesn't

(03:15):
look right. Okay, I'm afucking moron. I just want the wrong
direction out of the campground. SoI got to turn around and go back.
It's Sunday morning and I'm struggling.My destination today is the area surrounding
Tupper Lake, New York. Thisis not the site of a cash,
but it's very much a part ofthe story. But before we get there,

(03:38):
I need to get some caffeine andfine service. I still haven't talked
to Dakota about everything I saw yesterday, like Stark Cemetery, which is located
two miles south of the Blake FallsCache and McNeil Campground, a seasonal campground
owned and operated by Brookfield Renewable Powerthat is located just one mile north of
where the cash was once hidden andwaiting to be used. Dude, that

(04:04):
shit was fucking crazy. Man.Oh yeah, Like, I can't even
believe how close so many different thingsare there. So it's so fucking close
to the fucking parking lot. Man, I could throw a baseball and hit
it, and I can't throw veryfar. It's not yah, It's like
a dude, it is is rightthere. I know, so far all

(04:29):
the cases have been all the allthe locations have been like right there.
And it's crazy because there's like definitelya camp spot up there where he could
have been within two miles, wherehe could have easily been like planning to
stalk people there. But then Iturned around and went back. I thought
I had pretty much everything, andI was leaving to go back to the
camp spot. I'm like two milesaway from it. There's this old fucking

(04:53):
cemetery right on the side of theroad. I don't even know. It's
so everything is so close. Yeah, yeah, well that's where I started
realizing. When we started doing doingthe mapping that stuff out, I'm like,
oh, dude, that's like atwo minute drive. Yeah, I
don't know, man, it wasjust it was a lot. It was

(05:14):
pretty crazy. And yeah, didyou get a pictures of the cemetery.
Oh yeah, So it's called StarkCemetery just outside of Colton, New York.
It's it's actually in Adirondack Park.Okay, so that was Stark Stark
Cemetery ye in the Arandeck at ArandackPark Deck. Ye. Yeah, yeah,
I just couldn't say it. Citarisa lot easier to explain your presence

(05:45):
there too. Someone happens to showup, so you'd find a stone of
someone to pretend like you were thereto visit. Yeah, and easier to
explain in something. So you're alwaysthinking of that, You're always thinking of

(06:06):
your what he would say if youwere not your presence. Yeah, it
doesn't always work, so obviously youhave to have a backup plan. But
at least, like you say,cemetery, it's cemetery, camp ground,

(06:30):
something like that in public places easierto explain than private property. As Josh
makes his way towards Tupper Lake,I pour over maps, trying to see
a connection somewhere between the landmarks andsurrounding locations he was describing. We've heard
keys leading investigators to the Blake Fallscash only using Google Maps, and we

(06:53):
know he used local landmarks to navigatethe way. Which landmarks he used and
why at this point was still amystery. I'm not worried about New York,
but like you say, some ofthe other stuff, I don't know.
That's if you're gonna if you're gonnawant all the details, things are
gonna get kind of fuzzy. There'snot some of the stuff I'm not gonna

(07:14):
be able to find just by lookingat a map, So you know,
there's only so much I can doobviously from where I am. So yeah,
we realize. I think that's onus as long as you're making your
best efforts to it. Right upuntil this point, I'm in it.
I think everybody understands it. Thethings that you've showed us, you spend
a good deal of time looking for, and you're pretty careful about it,

(07:35):
and it's been pretty close, youknow, And there's and I know in
the future it is. There arethings we get to dese things with you
that might they get more helpful.That like Google, if we can get
somebody on the site, a fewthings like that, you might be able
to see certain certain areas. Youmight have to have a dash cam or
something so I can see landmarks,because I know all the general areas,

(08:01):
all the areas we're talking about arereally big places. In April of two
thousand and nine, israel Keys abducted, murdered, then buried a victim alongside
the Roquette River, a few milesoutside of Tupper Lake, New York.
He then robbed the Tupper Lake CommunityBank, absconding with nearly ten thousand dollars.

(08:26):
Some of the weapons found in theBlake Falls Reservoir bucket were used in
these crimes and were hidden previously ina different cash at a different location.
In this episode, josh searches fora victim's remains as we realize a document
found in the early stages of ourresearch directly relates to Israel's caching methods.
I'm Dakota and I'm Joshua. Welcometo somewhere in the Pines. Episode three,

(08:48):
Tupper Lake, New York. Bodyshout from so Fu sing, you

(09:15):
may not a Selenestly, it wasa few years ago, so I may

(09:45):
not get the exact order of everything, but I'm sure you guys can put
that stuff together. But I mean, when when the time comes, I'm
it's not like I forgot what happened. I can give you timelines where things
happened, and i mean, I'msure some of that stuff you've probably already

(10:07):
figured out now. So yeah,so let me just sort of so we
can figure out schedule here and we'regoing to try to reach out to the
FBI. FBI and uh in DCwill reach out to that area around the
Tupper Lake I'm sure that's only onejurisdiction that is the Northern District of New

(10:30):
York there, and you know,basically advise them of it and then we'll
figure out the local jurisdiction there.Okay, I at least you know.
And just to tell you again,not to give you legal advice, but
just how practically these things work issometimes you know, the the jurisdictions that
that can that can charge you arejurisdiction where murder curd, jurisdiction where body

(10:56):
was transported, and jurisdiction where abottom is buried. Okay. So I
was calling Dakota and just as Iwas entering the Tupper Lake area and I
noticed there's a whole set of powerlines going literally right along the Riquette River

(11:16):
and like a big cutout. SoI'm going to go back to walk around
and take a look. I mean, I not expecting to find anything,
but I think it's worth a try. Tupper Lake, New York. Tupper

(11:39):
Lake looks like a village pulled straightfrom a Stephen King novel. Family values,
outdoor recreation and summer vacations ooze fromthe modest homes and mom and pop
shops located along the main drag.The town is nestled in around the northeastern
edge of the sprawling lake, withevergreens as far as I can see,
and rivers bobbing and weaving throughout theexpensive forests. Once just a small group

(12:01):
of homes built in a clear cutleft behind by loggers, it has now
become the home of over six thousandresidents as it fastly approaches its bicentennial anniversary.
The Crossroads of the Adirondiccks inaccurate nicknamebestowed upon it because of its central
location in the park. New YorkState Route three connects to New York State
thirty, not far from the centerof town and just over thirty miles from

(12:22):
where Keys hit a bucket along theBlake Falls Reservoir, and around sixty five
miles from the house his father gavehim back in nineteen ninety seven. But
what happened to only a few milesoutside of town is what we are interested
in today, because just a fewmiles outside of town, along the Roquette
River, the FBI believes Keys disposedof a forty eight year old woman after
abducting her from New Jersey. Hername was Deborah Feldtman. On the outskirts

(12:46):
of town. There are two locationsthat meet the criteria for a possible dumping
ground. Ironically, the first site, located west of Tupper Lake, is
a small dam access road called dumpRoad. Okay, so I just pulled
pulled in. There's actually it splitsoff. There's a y right away,
so I went to the right wherethe gate is. But the actual dump

(13:09):
road is the left road. That'sreally just kind of a single dirt road.
So I'm gonna go and check thatout instead, because I just went
about a quarter mile down the otherroad and the transfer stations right there,
and there are people and everything allover the place, so I don't think
there's any possibility of anything there.So instead, let's see what this is.

(13:37):
Looks like you could pull off ina few different areas, but I
really want to see if it meetsup with the power lines. That's what
I'm interested in. Okay, thisthere's no trespassing. It's like on the
left, alright, this might bea little too difficult for this vehicle.

(14:07):
Ooh, that's not good. Wetold him you'd do this, so we'd
come back and try to get theinformation from me without going over to try
to get the information, and sowe're just trying to hold a barny to

(14:28):
the barn bru. I mean,if you're referring to that, I'm two
thousand nine and not what you saidthat, it's yeah, it's brilliant.
If you're referring to the New Yorktrip, I don't. I don't know
what you mean by going over becausethere wasn't anybody with me on that good
ones. Okay, well, okay, let's just ct. I mean,

(14:50):
I'm not. I just wanna comeover here with a clear picture. You
know, are you responsible for herdeath? No? Okay, do you
know anything about her disappearance? No? Why is her niebling in your own
kids? I don't know, Probablycause I looked it up. I can't

(15:15):
imagine when I does that image haveany meaning to you? Sure? But
probably not on We'll just explain.So we're not sitting here wondering. No,

(15:37):
I'm not. I'm not. No, I'm not gonna talk about what's
on the computer. What what Imean? There's something more of the story,
just unclare there's something more to thestory of Devor that you're just not.
Don't wanna tell us now? No? I just yeah, I just
don't wanna talk about it, butI'm right about that. Yeah. On

(16:06):
April first of two thousand and nine, Keys took a flight on Alaska Airlines
from Anchorage to Seattle, Washington.Renting a car in Seattle, he made
his way to the Olympic Peninsula,reaching Nia Bay on April second. His
credit card was used at the HobuckBeach Resort, a campground just three miles
southwest of Nia Bay on the Pacificcoast of Washington State. After spending two

(16:29):
days in the Nia Bay and HobuckBeach area, Keys checked into the Quality
Inn in Squim, Washington, ninetymiles back in the direction of Seattle.
Three days later, he boarded aSouthwest Airline's flight from Seattle, Washington to
Manchester, New Hampshire. His detourto the Olympic Peninsula is very interesting to
us, especially when you take intoaccount the crimes he committed on the East
coast throughout the rest of this trip. Was he accessing a cash at or

(16:52):
near Hobuck Beach in preparation for thiscrime spree? According to the FBI timeline.
When Keyes arrived in New Hampshire onApril seventh, he rented a car
from thrifty Car Rentals. On Aprilninth, Israel had booked a hotel room
at the Highlander Inn in Manchester.It's not known if he ever used this
room, because on that same night, Keys admitted to abducting and murdering a
victim from an East Coast state,taking them across multiple state lines, and

(17:17):
eventually burying them in upstate New York, not far from his property and constable.
When the FBI vetted this information,they found that Deborah Feldman was the
only person to have gone missing inthe Northeast at this time, and her
name was found on his computer.Armed with only circumstantial evidence, they showed
Keys of photo of Deborah. Heshut down, refusing to talk about the

(17:37):
woman in the picture. Okay,I said fuck it, and I pushed
the car to see if I canmake it through that little stretch of rocky
road and mud. And I madeit across, and I'm at the power
lines, and I noticed there's aroad that goes right back to the Racquette

(17:59):
River. So I'm going to walkthat and see if he could have driven
his car all the way back tothe river and then maybe placed her body
somewhere along the River's Edge. Fiveyears after her disappearance, Debora's son and

(18:22):
her estranged husband were alerted to theFBI seeking information on his rookies and how
he could be related to Miss Feldman'sdisappearance. According to a twenty thirteen Star
Ledger article a son's torment, herfamily had always thought that she was in
the Witness Protection program and living somewherein Utah. Was chump ahead now Anchorage?

(18:48):
Is that it's the visiting prostitutes?Is that's something that you'd continued to
do over the years, including anAnchorage. Deborah, unfortunately, like so
many Americans, did a felt victimto drugs and had been using sex work
to support her habit. She wasknown to advertise on websites like Backpage and
Craigslist to find John's and Keys himselfadmitted to seeking sex workers on the internet.

(19:14):
Yeah, I mean I've I've doneit over the years. Do you
usually something I do all the time? Is it something when you is it
something that you use the internet for? Is it something are you do out
to the street. I know there'snot a lot of street walkers anymore,
at least up here there are thanksto craigs Yepigslist and back Page and a

(19:37):
few others. But is Internet theway that you would usually find them or
how would you no? That wasI mean, really, I've only used
computers for the last few years.You mentioned Craigslist, that's the most popular.
I think, yeah, I woulduse I would use the Internet or

(20:08):
phone books to get lists of phonenumbers, and I would rate the phone
numbers and then I would you know, when I got to whatever area that
I was going to do, thenI just called down the list of numbers
until I got a hit on one. When talking about his crimes, Freeze
Keys always said that after murdering avictim, he would be quote amped up,

(20:33):
and this is where the arsons andbank robberies fit into his mo After
taking someone, he would be ina heightened state. He would ride that
feeling and continue to commit serious crimes. In this case, after burying the
victim in upstate New York, hedrove a small distance to rob the tupper
Lake Community Bank in tupper Lake,New York, a bank that he no
doubt had staked out beforehand. Onthe night of April tenth, after the

(20:56):
bank robbery, Keys booked a roomat the Hampton End and Old Chester,
Vermont, only three miles in aneight minute drive from where he assembled and
hit another cash containing his guns alongthe bank of the Wanuski River. Preparing
for his next visit to the area. On April fourteenth, Israel Keys boarded
a flight traveling back to Anchorage,Alaska, by way of Seattle. During

(21:17):
FBI interrogations, Key's never admitted tothe abduction and murder of Deborah Feldman and
the Wenuski Cash. The Wenuski Cashwas at the heart of this two thousand
and nine crime spree, and itwouldn't be the last time it was used.
Deborah Feldman was last seen on Aprileighth, two thousand and nine,
and so he said that he burieda body just outside Tupper Lake, a

(21:41):
few miles out along the Raquette River. I think it's always kind of been
expected that it was at the boatramp on the other side of Tupper Lake.
This place is as good as anyopinion. Oh wow, wow,

(22:06):
Oh, it's beautiful. Looks tobe some sort of hydro electric dam early
nineteen hundred's large brick building. Theriver is up above, and then it
has this nice rocky flow coming downfeed into a river down below, So

(22:29):
I'll try to take a walk tothe edge and see if there's anything of
interest. It's like a camping chair, cigarette butts, So definitely people have
been down in that area. I'massuming she's probably not down there. I
don't even know how hipful just fellthere, but i'd say people come here

(22:52):
to fish, maybe just sit upcamp and spend the night. Oh there's
a blue tag over here, somesort of trail here. Well, I
wanted to take the trail, butif I'm going to really put effort in

(23:15):
on trying to find her, I'mgonna go back the way I came and
go up into the woods. It'sa bit of a hill here, so
I might just hike up to thetop of the hill and walk that ridge
line back to the car. Andhere I'm avoiding the trail. I'm walking

(23:37):
parallel, at least I think I'mwalking parallel to the trail. You know,
I'm not seeing anything that is reallystanding out unfortunately, you know.
And I still believe that he hadsome sort of a pattern, because you

(24:03):
just don't get lucky over and overagain. All right, Well, it
was worth a try. I wasn'treally expecting to go searching for her.
It's our main focus is obviously thecash is but you can't turn down an

(24:30):
opportunity that's right there in front ofyou. So perspective is a word that

(24:56):
comes up a lot during the colntlesshours of interrogations. Nearly one hundred times
you could say Israel talks and perspectives. He will jump from his perspective to
what he believes their perspective is,so often that it is my suspicion that
investigators began to use the word asa verbal mirroring tactic, a way to
talk in his language. So thingshave to move forward, right from our

(25:18):
perspective, our boss's perspective, thingshave to go forward. Yeah, well
I know, and I understand.You know the reason I understand from your
perspective? Do you want to youknow this was all wrapped up neatly with
the ball on and make your livesa lot easier. He's wanted to feel
respected and in control in a lifewhere he had to be aware of every

(25:40):
move he made. All parts ofhis DVM behavior had to be hidden from
everyone in his life. He musthave scrutinized every part of his plans to
evade detection from family and friends,co workers, law enforcement, and even
people in the public as they walkthrough the woods in search of anything that
could resemble a possible burial site forDeborah. Myself constantly thinking about Israel's perspective.

(26:03):
What would be the most likely directionhe would go in? Are there
any landmarks that could guide me?Is there an area with an obstruction or
obstacle that would cause a regular personto avoid continuing onward? It brought me
back to the beginning of our research. Is I recall the first interview that
Dakota and I conducted. A friendfrom Portland's hockey community was willing to chat
with us about his experience in themilitary. Yeah, so it's probably very

(26:29):
similar. But my outgoing Neil right, yeah, yeah, Okay, you
guys can walk in. I'm Cali. By the way, the front door
is open. I have a seventyfive pound dog. He will scary.
His name is Boris. He soundsscary. He doesn't do a damn thing.

(26:51):
He has one to just say,Hi, Boris, are you felt
called down? Okay, We're notdone. Yep, it's a really big
tooth. Now, guys, whatwe just saw your wife She told us

(27:25):
to come right in Neil Peterson,like israel enlisted in the Army and was
stationed for a time at Joint BaseFort Lewis McCord south of Tacoma, Washington.
He was part of three American campaignsin Afghanistan. I was in the
Army. My position was a technicalengineering specialist. There's a rank of UH.

(27:47):
When I finished, I was aspecialist promotable. I trained at Fort
Sill for basic training, Fort LeonardWood for engineer school, and then I
was a station at JBLM Joint BaseLewis McCord, So a technical engineering specialist.

(28:07):
Basically, we are function in wartimeis to establish base defenses and outposts,
and we're construction managers surveyors. Sowe'll go out and basically decide we
want to put a base here,So we go survey to the farmland,

(28:27):
bring it back, pop it intoCAD, design the building, and then
go back out and lay it outand supervise the construction. Three months after
I got out of training, Ideployed. I actually volunteered, so I
ended up I didn't know where Iwas going at all, and I did

(28:49):
a rapid mobilization, so I normallythere's a two month build up and I
went in five days cool caveat.I got fuel promoted by a general because
of some work I did in amission. So like two star general the
eighty second Airborne Field promoted me onthe spot. In your training, either

(29:12):
before deployment or after deployment, wereyou ever taught about military cashing techniques?
Not really, not really, it'snot a big thing, you know.
I think that that might be somethingin my mind that's like a thing of
the past, because a lot ofstuff for us is supply chain. You

(29:36):
know, you're issued everything you wouldneed, and you know you're not especially
in Afghanistan, you're not going outon your own and hoping to find a
weapons cash that you leave. You'recarrying everything on your back. Yeah,
it's not a skill that's taught withcashing in mind, What skills did you

(29:57):
learn in the army that you thinkwould be essential skills for cashing? So
so there, I think there issomething. Because you're taught how to read
maps, You're taught how to usea protractor in a map and get ten
digit grid coordinates, so it'd bereally easy to find your way back to

(30:19):
where you are, either you know, using a compass and the map and
a protractor or just terrain association,which is a lot easier, you know,
in the mountains because if you findone mountain, you're looking at a
map, you know, and youknow how to read a map, which
is standard. Land navigation is astandard training, but you have to pass

(30:41):
the land map to graduate basic.And as far as cash is like,
it would make sense because you know, the military trains you to live in
austere environments with no quality of lifethings. You know, you can sleep
in the mud, you can leanup against a tree and sleep, you

(31:03):
can stay awake for days on end. You know. It teaches you that
your mind is stronger than your bodyand you you know, and if you're
already have that level of depravity,it might just amplify it. You know.
It gives you a I wouldn't saya lesser view on the value of

(31:27):
human life, but it definitely putsin perspective that you could take a human
life maybe don't feel bad about itin certain circumstances. Keys being a mortarman,
do you think that there's any reasonwhy they would teach caching techniques in

(31:49):
mortar training? You know, possiblybecause it depends on what system is in
and that's something you probably have tolook at. But like you know,
so most of the time in abasinario artillery is in a pit. It's
a separate off area because it's ait would be a target on an attack,
right, so you don't want yourartillery in the middle of your living

(32:10):
quarters. It's actually separated a littlebit and a little more heavily fortified.
And then you would have like aan ammo dump, you know, which
is not what you're not a dump, but it's where all the ammo is
for that, you know, becauseyou don't want to run to the other
side of the base to get ammunitionfor, you know, if you're an

(32:31):
attack. So maybe they do teachthat if you're like a mortarman, you
know, and you're and you're operatingin a certain area of operations, maybe
it wouldn't be out of the questionbecause thinking you know, the ammo barrier,
you're not gonna carry a thousand fuckingpounds of ammunition. So it is

(32:53):
possible. I can't speak, youknow, intelligently on it, but I
wouldn't put it out of the question. Good Before we left Neil's house,

(33:14):
he gave us a copy of abook he'd received in basic training Warrior Skills
Level one. He referred to thisbook as his bible while he was in
the army. Everyone who enlists getsone and is prompted to study it.
He assured us there was nothing aboutcashing inside, and we found that he
was correct. But that made uswant to look deeper into military cashing education,
and then we did find something,a Special Forces Cashing Techniques Manual that

(33:38):
we would come to realize was linkedin many ways to Israel's cashing tactics.
It wasn't until we reread the CashingTechnique's Manual for a second time a few
months into our research, that thepieces began to fit. It was there,
practically jumping off the page. Landmarksused to conceal and recover a cash,
culverts, bow ramps, caves,power line right away, geodetic markers,

(34:00):
and more. It's all in themanual. Keys, a meticulous planner
and serial killer bent on distancing himselffrom the crimes he committed, likely went
to painstaking lengths to figure out thebest way to avoid detection. A self
proclaimed consumer of detective novels and survivaltactics would almost certainly have spent time researching
the best possible way to conceal acache. As Dakota and I scoured through

(34:22):
the manual with more intention, wetook note of how it relates to many
aspects of what we are now discoveringto be as method of operation. Reading
the instructions pulled directly from the SpecialForces Caching Manual, one must do a
quote systematic survey of the general areadesignated for the cash The survey is best

(34:44):
done with a large scale map ofthe area. A good military type map
will show the positive features in thetopography, proximity to adequate roads or trails,
natural concealment for example, surrounding woodsor groves, and adequate drainage.
A map also will show the naturaland man made features in the landscape.
It will provide the indispensable reference pointsfor locating a cash site confluences of streams,

(35:08):
dams and waterfalls, road junctures anddistance markers, villages, bridges,
churches, and cemeteries. When theobserver in this case Israel, finds a
suitable cash site, he prepares simpleand unmistakable instructions for locating the reference points.
These instructions must identify the general areaand an immediate reference point. Any

(35:31):
durable landmark that is identified by itstitle or simple description can be an immediate
reference point, for example, theonly Roman Catholic church and a certain village,
or the only bridge on a namedroad between two villages. The instructions
must also include a final reference pointor FRP, which must meet four requirements.

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One it must be identifiable, includingat least one feature that can be
used as a precise reference point.Two it must be an object that will
remain fixed as long as the cachemay be used. Three it must be
near enough to the cache to pinpointthe exact location of the cache by precise
linear measurements from the FRP to thecache. Four, it should be related

(36:17):
to the immediate reference point by asimple route description which proceeds from the immediate
reference point to the final reference point. Since the route description should be reduced
to the minimum essential, the idealsolution for locating the cache is to combine
the immediate reference point and the finalreference point into one landmark readily identifiable but

(36:39):
sufficiently secluded. Following objects, whenavailable, are sometimes ideal reference points.
Small unfrequented bridges and dams, boundarymarkers, mile markers, culverts along unfrequented
roads, a geodetic survey marker,battle monuments, and wayside shrines. When

(37:00):
such reference points are not available atan otherwise suitable cash site, Natural or
man made objects may serve as theFRPs, distinct rocks, posts for power
line or telephone lines, intersections instone fences or hedgerows, and gravestones in
isolated cemeteries. These instructions must describethe point where the cache is placed in

(37:21):
terms that relate to the FRP.The cash ordinarily is placed inside the FRP,
so it is pinpointed by a precisedescription of the final reference point.
Concealment requires the use of permanent,man made or natural features to hide or
disguise the cash. It has severaladvantages both employment and recovery. Usually can
be done with minimum time and labor. If it wasn't for visiting Lake Falls

(37:52):
Reservoir, we may not have knownabout the geodetic marker, the culvert,
or how the location relates to manyother items listed in the manual. It
reaffirms our notion that visiting all ofthe sites will provide a unique perspective.
Going to the cash site and thenlistening to the April twelfth interrogation, again
providing me with the profound new perspectiveIsrael's perspective, because in this interrogation he

(38:13):
leads investigators directly to the cache inhis own words, some very specific words,
would end up leading to such anobvious but almost unbelievably logical way of
looking at the case. Pay attentionto the landmarks that he brings up unprompted
as he leads them to the cash. You can then understand what stood out
to him about this location, whatlandmarks he noticed and still remembers even after
having not been there for over ayear. All right, So, because

(38:37):
it was off sharp right hand turn, okay, and then I took a
left onto the road, which wouldbe River Road. Yeah, the boat
launch is right off the road.You can see it right and that should
be a paved road. There's acreek that runs underneath the road right via
the boat launch just dumps into thereservoir right next to the boat launch on

(39:00):
the reservoir side of the road.Right there, that should be a power
line right of way. It lookslike there's a line of trees right there
between the road and the right ofway. Yeah, there is a bunch
of rocks. There's a bunch ofboulders, and they're kind of drop off
steeply towards the water. I think, if I remember right, it's about
four feet by six feet. Thebig slab of rock gets slid off.

(39:22):
Underneath that slab of rock there isa orange home depot bucket. I'm trying
to think of a landmark or something. It is clear that the boat ramp,
power line right of way, andthe stream slash culvert intersecting with the
reservoir could all be great immediate referencepoints, since he is the one that
describes under the investigators and they canall be seen in a map. And

(39:45):
the final reference point, the FRP, is the four x six rock slab
that used to hide the bucket.Although Israel tries to pretend like he didn't
give anything away, he already saidway too much. A lot of people
think that because in instigators didn't uncoverall the identities of Israel's victims, that
the work they did ultimately was afailure. We disagree. They may not

(40:07):
have gotten a full confession, butthey got so many small pieces of the
puzzle things that Israel probably thought theywouldn't be able to relate to any sort
of pattern. But Keys gave useverything, the planning, the travel,
the caching, abductions, murders,and disposal. We just need to apply
it. That is why going tothese places is just as necessary as reading

(40:27):
through all of the documents in thecase file, not only because potential victims
like Miss Feldman's remains deserved to besearched for, but at the same time
we are connecting the doubts between locationsthat could lead to a common landmark.
It's become clear that we need toknow the cashing manual like the back of
our hand. Israel's cashing techniques couldbe taken directly from these pages, and
like the bucket lids, this isone more lead we believe the FBI should
be aware of. One step inthis process that we've given a lot of

(40:55):
thought to is how to connect withlaw enforcement. What will happen when we
make ourselves known to local law enforcementand the FBI? Will they want our
help? Will they listen to whatwe have to say and to the leads
we uncover? Do they even careabout this case anymore? As we were
wrapping up the second episode, Aconversation about the bucket lid lead brought us

(41:15):
to the point of realizing now isthe time to make the call. We
didn't know if we would reach aperson. By calling the Polsbow FBI office
in Washington State, we were greetedby an automated system listening off options and
extensions. Press one for this,press two for that, press zero for
other. We were other. Itrang until an answering machine picked up and

(41:36):
prompted us to leave a message.I hung up. We quickly gathered our
thoughts and wrote down a precise messageto leave on the answering machine with my
notes in front of me. Icalled again and went through the system.
After pressing zero for other, itstarted a ring just like before, but
this time someone picked up. Iwas a bit stunned, not expecting to
get an actual person, but Iwent ahead anyway. I asked to speak

(41:58):
with the agent assign to care pnumber three six an one five six four
to two, referring to Israel keys. The voice on the other end of
the phone said, that's me,what are the odds? We reached Washington's
lead investigator in charge of this case. We talked in vague terms about keys,
and more importantly the caches. Theyseemed excited to have our input and

(42:19):
coached us on the FBI press clearanceprocess. We now knew the steps we
had to take to be able tohave a conversation on the record. The
FBI Public Affairs Office was going tovet us and our involvement in the investigation.
They wanted to know what questions wehad for their special agent. We
sent back a six page email.When we sent the email back, we
got an automatic response the clerk willbe out of the office until Wednesday next

(42:44):
week. So now we wait.As I parked in the Rickett River Boat
Launch parking lot, the rain camethrough again. With the constant flow of

(43:06):
traffic at my back, I snuckthrough the area surrounding the boat launch and
across the street in search of anysign of Deb's remains. Okay, I
think I've gone a lot farther thanhe probably would have gone with a body,

(43:27):
so I might circle back. Yeah, I'm gonna circle back. I
don't really know what to think aboutthe Rickett River Boat Launch. I I'm

(43:50):
honestly more interested in dump Road,and I understand that it It seems just
ridiculous that he would dump a bodyundumper road, But I mean it looked

(44:12):
like the the environment was so similarto the boat ramp at Blake Falls Reservoir,
and it was way more remote.You could easily go back there and
not worry one bit about a vehiclecoming back to bother you. While while

(44:32):
the Raquette River boat launch, Imean you you there are cars, I
mean it's the main artery and thereare people flying by the entire time.
Reflecting on my trip so far,I found myself sitting by the campfire wondering
what made this area target for keys? Did he plan to use the cemetery?

(44:54):
Did he spray paint the TKT nextto the Blake Falls cash? And
where's Deborah Feldman? Unfortunately, withhow more details on her whereabouts, she
won't be officially searched for. Soeven though it's just me at this moment,
my search felt worthwhile. We'd liketo offer up a moment of silence
for Deborah, our family and friends. Next time on Somewhere in the Pines,

(45:24):
Josh will complete his trip in theNortheast by traveling to Essex, Vermont,
to visit another confirmed cash location alongthe Winooski River as Israel's methods began
to reveal themselves. Thanks for listeningto this episode of Somewhere in the Pines.

(45:55):
One simple way for you to jointhe search is to rate and review
the show, and don't forget tosubscribe and tell a friend. For photos,
news, and more, visit Somewherein the Pines dot com for every
episodes and behind the scenes content.Join us on Patreon at Patreon dot com
forward slash Somewhere in the Pines.We'd also like to give a very special
thank you to our Patreon producers HeatherHorton, Whedon, Nicole Guzman, and

(46:21):
Colleen Sullivan. I'll tell you whereyou can go free. Okay, right

(46:54):
at Toper, go through Topper andlook up Horseshoe Falls. There's a rogue
owned into Horseshoe Falls. Okay.As soon as you come out of Topper,
you just you head towards Horseshoe Fallsand you'll see campsites on the right
and left are free. It's likeempty and that's free cour there's odd houses.

(47:15):
But what you'll do is you'll goover a bridge and you'll see see
like a waterfall there rough water.Once you get over that bridge and you
start up the hill on the righthand side. There's campsites there. Okay,
cool, Yeah, I think eitherway, because I'm probably gonna be
there a couple of nights, soi'll definitely check that out. Yeah yeah,
cool, cool, See I appreciateit. Yeah, thanks for your time.