Haley Fox

In fact, there's even confusion over the pronunciation of his last name.

We'll never know why he didn't tell people how to pronounce his name, but it seems fitting for someone who remains a mystery to so many.

Ajay was an enigma to just about everyone around him.

So when he disappeared, he became an easy target for conspiracy theories.

Stories began to circulate that Ajay's alive and well, living in Alaska.

Others say Mexico.

Some say he was recruited by a mercenary group or joined the CIA.

These theories were fueled by weird comments Ajay had made to friends like Dave Rathbun.

And of course, that conversation takes on extra meaning as searchers keep coming up empty-handed.

The sheriff's department folds the search after six days and gives a statement to the press.

Sergeant Sauer, one of the deputies overseeing the operation, says, quote, A good analogy would be someone coming up to you and giving you two to three pieces of a 500-piece puzzle and asking you to guess what the picture is.

Throw into that a few pieces of an entirely different puzzle, and that is what we work with.

We might never get it right.

End quote.

Rathbun says searches for missing hikers typically last 7 to 14 days, depending on the viability of the person.

Ajay was not your typical hiker, and given his personal and professional connection to the sheriff's department, it seems like the LASD would go the extra mile to find him.

The sheriff's department tells the public that Ajay disappeared without a trace and that they're ending the search because they're just spinning their wheels.

But behind the scenes, they're telling a very different story.

Pissed-off old cop Mike Bauer is evangelical in his belief that the suicide theory is bullshit.

Because, he says, the sheriff's department didn't arrive at this conclusion.