Haley Fox

I was born and raised in LA County.

Go Dodgers!

But this part of it feels worlds away.

The Antelope Valley, or the AV as it's sometimes called, is a 3,000 square mile stretch of the Mojave.

But this part of the high desert doesn't have the same allure and vibiness as places like Joshua Tree.

Instead, the AV is mostly empty space, dotted with defense plants, bedroom communities, and tumbleweed towns.

So a lot of just, like, trailers kind of just parked out in the desert.

Yeah, I mean, power lines and scrub brush.

Our story takes place in and around Pear Blossom, California.

It has a population of 1,500, and it's where the Devil's Punchbowl's located.

Driving through it, Betsy gets a case of deja vu.

Yeah, I mean, I think the three gas stations in a row tell the story.

It's actually really beautiful out here.

I did not expect it to look like this.

Are you looking at these huge rocks jutting out of the ground?

And like they're making all those crazy shadows?

I've never seen anything like them.

I haven't either.

Okay, we are pulling into the Devil's Punchbowl County Park parking lot.

We've come here to retrace John Adjaye's last known steps and to meet with Ranger Jack Farley.