Mike Bauer

Initially, Rathbun was open to the possibility of suicide, but he's become increasingly skeptical over time.

Because if Ajay had killed himself, he thinks his body or some trace of him would have turned up by now.

So Ajay's colleagues are divided on what happened to him.

It's kind of like those faces seen in the rocks at the Devil's Punchbowl.

Same details, but interpreted in different ways.

And that makes sense because we feel conflicted about it too.

Ajay did say some eerie things about disappearing, but this disappearing act would be pretty hard to pull off.

I mean, how could he have buried himself and stay buried for almost three decades?

Rathbun asked the sheriff's department to explain that one.

They said, well, we think he might have sat on the edge of one of those mines and blown himself into the mine.

Okay, we are really stretching now for an explanation as to why we can't find him.

I didn't accept it.

Just common sense told me, you probably ought to see whether there's any evidence of self-infliction.

I took that person outside and I said, what in the hell did you say that for?

How could you possibly know that at this point?

How could you possibly discourage them to search for somebody that worked for you?

I kept contacting Homicide and saying, something's wrong.

I'm telling you, there's a problem.

Nobody was in charge of it, and nobody wanted any of it once they saw how stinky it was getting.

Randy Meggardly represents the other end of the spectrum.