Betsy Shepard

Ajay moved at a fast clip, trying to balance the competing demands of home and work.

But his life came to an abrupt and puzzling end.

The deputy's body has never been found, which raises a lot of questions for Mike Bauer.

And a survivalist getting lost in the woods?

Another big question mark.

Over time, the mystery of it all has turned into something else.

Deep and unsettling suspicion about the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

And that's my cue.

When Mike Bauer first told me about Ajay, I thought, an unsolved disappearance involving a cop.

That's unusual.

But when he started talking about the sheriff's department, his department, that's when I locked in.

Because you'd expect the L.A.

County Sheriff's Department to turn over every stone to find their guy.

So the claim that the LASD may have an interest in not solving the case?

Now that's a story.

So I called up my friend Haley Fox.

Like me, she's an investigative journalist, and she knows a lot about the Sheriff's Department because she's reported on it for many years.

We've teamed up on stories before and decided to get the band back together to find answers about this missing deputy and to take on the largest sheriff's department in the country.

I'm Betsy Shepard.

Spoken like a true Angeleno.