Ashley Flowers

Both interviews are recorded, and both men tell pretty much the same story.

So I'm just going to play you part of Bynum's interview, edited for clarity.

Bynum says he never had any personal interaction with the individual.

And this is important because, you see, it seems like part of the reason this investigation is even happening is because in the week following the incident, rumors had begun to take hold in the minds of the small town community members in Forest City.

Rumors that this manhunt and this tragic suicide wasn't at all what authorities were claiming it to be.

Any amount of real reporting will show you that nothing is what it seems in this case.

That man that they were looking for was actually a 15 year old boy.

And there is a very good reason that people in Forest City, including his parents, think that they're being lied to.

And I have a feeling you'll think that too once you hear the full story of the night trip Brazil died.

For decades, some cold cases have been reduced to files in a cabinet, but not anymore.

I'm Ashley Flowers, and me and my team on the deck have been traveling across the country to report on these forgotten cases.

And in some instances, it's resulted in these cases being solved after decades.

Join me every Wednesday as we revive these stories one card at a time.

Listen to The Deck now, wherever you get your podcasts.

The comment that appeared on the News Channel 3 website, the one where a community member implied that a St.

Francis County deputy shot Tripp and then hung him, that didn't just come out of nowhere.

There are a number of discrepancies and gaps and red flags in this death investigation that led people, specifically Tripp's family, friends, and a private investigator, to the conclusion that everything is not as it seemed.

And for you to understand, we need to go back to the beginning, to hear about the events of November 3rd from a different perspective, Tripp's parents.

But before I go any further, I want to note that Deputy Trey Bynum, Sergeant David Kinney, and SSA Andre Mack declined to speak with us for this episode.

So their side of things comes from the investigative files.