Haley Fox

They led with it.

And that poisoned the investigation from the start.

Bauer says that as early as day three, an LASD official was pushing the suicide narrative during search team briefings.

To Bauer, this was equivalent to telling searchers to let up.

The sheriff's department was even sharing this theory with the press.

Bauer thinks it's irresponsible to promote the suicide theory without a high degree of certainty.

So he prods the department to keep investigating.

But he says the department ignored the case to such an extent that he began to question their motives.

Tell me about it, Bauer.

We tried with those public records requests and got the proverbial middle finger.

Without access to the information, it's hard for us to know how the Sheriff's Department handled the Ajay case.

And we'd remain in the dark if it weren't for Mike Bauer and other deputies coming forward.

Bauer retired in 2002 and has spent the better part of his retirement investigating Ajay's disappearance.

And he's uncovered what looks like some pretty damning information about the Sheriff's Department.

We know that law enforcement has its problems, but they're not usually laid out for us by dyed-in-the-wool cops.

People who know this world from the inside and can show us where the bodies are buried, figuratively speaking.

We tell Bauer we want to do a deep dive on the Ajay case, beginning with his investigation.

But he's not as encouraging as we expect him to be.

And for good reason.

This season on Valley of Shadows...