From Valley of Shadows: The Devil's Punchbowl
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Who was Deputy Jon Ajay and what led to his disappearance?
Pushkin. Malcolm here. I want to tell you about a man named John Auger. He was a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy, an ultramarathon runner, a survivalist, and someone who had made a study of how to stay alive in punishing terrain. And one day, he went for a run in a place called the Devil's Punch Bowl in the high desert of Los Angeles, and he never came back. Some say Auger is just another missing hiker, claimed by the inhospitable landscape of the Southern California desert. Some say he took his own life out there. But there's another theory that many of Auger's friends and colleagues are convinced is true. that he was the victim of foul play and his own department is covering it up. Hosted by journalists Haley Fox and Betsy Shepard, Valley of Shadows explores Auger's unsolved disappearance and the stench of corruption that's followed the case for nearly 30 years.
Through exclusive interviews, revealing wiretaps, and buried police files, Haley and Betsy enter into the criminal underworld of outlaw biker gangs, meth production, and crooked cops in Southern California's Mojave Desert, exploring one of the state's most mysterious missing persons cases. You're about to hear a preview from the show. If you enjoy it, you can find Valley of Shadows wherever you get your podcasts.
This series includes content that may not be suitable for all listeners. Listener discretion is advised.
Is this okay?
Yeah, I'll turn it down just a little bit because sometimes you get animated.
I get pissed off. Pissed off old cop.
This pissed off old cop is Mike Bauer.
Okay, my name is Mike Bauer, retired captain, L.A. Sheriff. I retired in 2002. My last assignment was Major Crimes Bureau, Detective Division, L.A. Sheriff.
Bauer spent 33 years climbing the ranks of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. And he looks the part of a retired captain. His white hair and mustache are neatly groomed, and his eyes are permanently fixed in a look that says, do not fuck up on my watch. And he's pissed off because of something that happened to one of his guys on his squad back in the summer of 1998. June 11th started off like a normal day in Los Angeles. June gloom and bad traffic.
I got up early out of Long Beach and headed up the 605 and into East L.A., our office in East L.A.
Bauer was doing paperwork when a call came into the front desk. The receptionist answered.
Then she hung up and she comes down to get a cup of coffee across the hall.
What theories surround Jon Ajay's missing person case?
And I said, hey, who was that? It was John Adjaye.
John Ajay was a 38-year-old canine cop, and he was calling to inquire about an upcoming job assignment.
I said, well, I've been trying to get ahold of him. And she says, oh, well, maybe he'll call back. He never called back.
John Ajay was working for the unit Bauer headed up at the time, the Special Enforcement Bureau, or SEB for short.
which consists of seven or eight SWAT teams. And the SWAT teams were involved in tactical responses to high-risk situations in the field.
SCB handled things like active shooter situations, hostage negotiations, search and rescue. It was a job that attracted adrenaline junkies like Ajay. He was an Army paratrooper and a survivalist. And those military skills, along with his buzz cut and square build, made him a shoo-in for the Sheriff's Department.
He was in the Army in Special Forces. He was working at the elite unit of the department. I have to call him a loner, but he was an elite loner because the guy was doing 50 mile runs. He was an animal.
Ajay got his kicks by going on long runs through California's backcountry. He'd go out deep into the wilderness to conquer the only obstacle course that still challenged him. And that's how Ajay was spending his day off, on June 11th, 1998. He woke up, put on his running gear, and drove to one of his favorite parks, the Devil's Punchbowl. It's a rugged canyon where the Angeles National Forest, the San Gabriel Mountains, and the Mojave Desert all converge. Ajay entered the park just before noon, used a payphone to call into the sheriff's department, and then he took off running.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
Who was Deputy Jon Ajay and what led to his disappearance?
0:06–3:03
2
What theories surround Jon Ajay's missing person case?
3:03–26:31
3
How did the search and rescue operation unfold for Jon Ajay?
26:31–30:38
4
What challenges did search teams face in the Devil's Punchbowl?
30:38–35:23
5
What evidence was found during the investigation into Ajay's disappearance?
35:23–39:22
6
How did the sheriff's department handle the investigation?
39:22–48:32
7
What are the implications of the theories surrounding Ajay's fate?
48:32–48:37