Introducing Valley of Shadows: The Devil's Punchbowl
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What mysterious case does Valley of Shadows explore?
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Hi, everyone. It's Sarah from Sequestered here, and we've got something special to share with you today. It's a preview from a new true crime podcast that we think you're going to love. It's called Valley of Shadows. And like our most recent season of sequestered, it explores a disappearance that took place in a national park and it dives deep into the secrets that remain buried there. This season of Valley of Shadows is hosted by journalists Haley Fox and Betsy Shepard, and it explores the unsolved disappearance of a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy, John Adjaye, 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.
In this preview episode, we hear how Ajay, an ultra marathon runner and survivalist, went for a run one day in a national park called the Devil's Punchbowl. He never returned. His body has yet to be found. And the people closest to him insist that the ruling of his disappearance as a suicide just doesn't add up. Okay, we hope you enjoy this episode. If you like what you hear, you can find Valley of Shadows wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you want to hear the entire story ad-free right now, you can binge the series with a Pushkin Plus subscription. Sign up now on the Valley of Shadows page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm slash plus.
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 in to the front desk. The receptionist answered. Then she hung up and she comes down to get a cup of coffee across the hall. 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 a hold 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.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What mysterious case does Valley of Shadows explore?
0:00–4:56
2
Who was Deputy Jon Aujay and what happened to him?
4:56–9:30
3
What theories surround Jon Aujay's disappearance?
9:30–30:28
4
How did the search for Jon Aujay unfold?
30:28–36:12
5
What does the evidence suggest about Aujay's fate?
36:12–45:56
6
What role does the Sheriff's Department play in the investigation?
45:56–48:40