MI MI - Brittany Shank, 23, Sturgis, St. Joseph County, 30 Nov 2018

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The podcast has been approved for posting. I've listened to all of the episodes so far and even re-listened to parts. There is a ton of stuff to discuss, while keeping Terms of Service in mind.
This link goes directly to the Hide and Seek episodes 1-8.
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Hide and Seek

Listen to James Baysinger's Hide and Seek podcast with James Baysinger on Apple Podcasts.
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I never did fully understand where the car was found and where she went when she left it. In Eps 7: I wear My Sunglasses at Night Vickie, Brittany's grandma, talks about the route she took when she left; and podcaster James, speculates on her travels.

I made 2 maps, hoping the route it correct. On the first map, Crane Rd is the southern-most road, which runs east and west. The north/south on the right side of the map is Watt Rd. The top east/west road is Fawn River Rd and the north/south road on the left is Fawn River Road, which becomes Baughman Rd. I'm not sure of the exact location on Crane so I just started somewhere in the middle. Britt apparently headed east on Crane, then turned left (north) on Watt and the accident happened near the intersection in the right hand upper corner of the map = Watt and Fawn River Road. James speculates that when she left the car, she went south, down through a big cornfield and ended up at the first place where she asked for help.

It was also speculated that, since she wasn't headed back in the direction of Sturgis, Burr Oak or Bronson may have been her destination. In the last part of Eps 8: Good Luck Chuck the podcasters have a really interesting discussion mulling over all of their theories of this particular part of her story.

Map 2 is a zoomed out pic showing where Sturgis is in relation to Burr Oak and Bronson.

Britts Route.jpgBritts Route E.jpg
 
In the beginning of Eps 8: Good Luck Chuck James brings up that video of a guy with a white car. That was the one where someone was screaming in the back seat of the car; a lot of folks thought it was Brittany. Jessica caught up with the guy while he was in LaGrange Co jail. He told her who was screaming due to a bad drug trip. Not much was said about the convo between Jess and C.

So then, a friend of C's contacted James and said he wanted to help him clear his name. According to friend, C was stealing gas and told LE. The car was eventually returned to C and nothing of Britt was found in it. Jessica thought her DNA had been found in the car. James never heard back from friend or C.

Time passed and Sara found a new FB profile belonging to C; James sent him a message wanting to talk. C seemed reluctantly agreeable to talk a few days later but then he totally blocked James from his FB. So C was added to the list of unwilling persons of interest, which includes Eric (Britt's ex) and Ashley's associate, "J".
 
A new podcast is up. Eps 10: Allegedly
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‎Hide and Seek: S3 Eps10: Allegedly on Apple Podcasts

‎Show Hide and Seek, Ep S3 Eps10: Allegedly - Jun 25, 2022
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I've held off posting about some of these episodes because I didn't want to ruin them for others who had not watched them but still wanted to. Since we have the spoiler alert, I'll be posting some things for everyone to read and others will be behind the spoiler alert.
 
During the course of these episodes, there is a 'Polly' and a 'Holly', possibly 2 Zaks, and a Don or Dawn. There are a lot of first names only dropped and some other names I can't understand at all. To stay within TOS, I'll use initials or nicknames when I can and put real names behind a spoiler one time.

Eric Glide and Curtis Polly (aka Pocket) were friends. Pocket was also Ash's boyfriend at the time of Britt's disappearance. When Pocket was sent back to jail; he called Glide to 'bodyguard' her in case of trouble. James interviews Pocket in eps 10.

In eps 9, James plays a full recording made by Ash and 2 others; it begins at the 4:41mm and finishes at the 23 mm. One of the 2 others was her friend JJ and the 3rd was Mr. E. Glide. They were grilling EG for info they believe he had. He later claimed to have no actual knowledge and that it was just second-hand info told to him. James thankfully does a re-hash at the end of the recording (24mm).

IMO, this is the best episode so far. EG's story is the beginning of where the talk of Britt's rumored death comes from. A really short version is she was at a house where a lot of really bad stuff took place. She was killed and taken to a field; the house was burned twice to destroy evidence. A lot of names are dropped. The town of Colon is also mentioned.
 
As small of an area that we've looked at so far, I'd guess LE have a pretty good handle on this case. In Glide's interview, he said he used an app to keep track of arrests and releases. Apparently some think a quick release signifies a snitch = a bad business contact.

Population stats for towns of interest in St. Joseph County:
St. Joseph County Michigan: 60,789 (2020)
Sturgis: 10,853 (2020)
Burr Oak: 798 (2020)
Bronson: 2,061 (2020)
White Pigeon: 1,513 (2020)
Colon: 1,128 (2020)

The Sheriff, by Statute is responsible for operating the County Jail. The Jail Division maintains all functions related to Jail and Inmate management. The Jail houses approximately 167 inmates. The St Joseph Co Jail operates with a staff of twenty-four hour (24) full time and (4) part time employees which includes four (4) Corrections Sergeants. Annually, the jail staff processes approximately 3500 inmates.

Here are the links to St. Joseph Co. courts; I look in c45 for the more serious cases.
 
Moonbeam456 said:
I don’t know if Porter and Brittany knew each other personally but they have a lot of the same friends and associates from what I’ve seen looking at different Facebook profiles.
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Are you in the discussion group
 
I have never listened to more of a twisted case in my life. So many people could have done her wrong. The drug world is such a sad place to be in. I hope with the hard work James has been doing with his podcast, they find out what happened to Brittany and who is actually responsible for it.
 
chaddylex said:
I have never listened to more of a twisted case in my life. So many people could have done her wrong. The drug world is such a sad place to be in. I hope with the hard work James has been doing with his podcast, they find out what happened to Brittany and who is actually responsible for it.
Click to expand...
Considering the time that has passed between when she went missing and when James began his investigation, I wonder how accurate any of their memories are. Add to that the fog of addiction and how can we know if any of the info is reliable?

I wonder how long we'll have to wait until we know if he gets the files from St. Joseph Co. LE.
 
FrostedGlass said:
Considering the time that has passed between when she went missing and when James began his investigation, I wonder how accurate any of their memories are. Add to that the fog of addiction and how can we know if any of the info is reliable?

I wonder how long we'll have to wait until we know if he gets the files from St. Joseph Co. LE.
Click to expand...
I agree. I must say his podcast is very suspenseful.
 
chaddylex said:
I agree. I must say his podcast is very suspenseful.
Click to expand...
He does give enough info that a person can do some digging if they are so inclined.

In eps.8 Good Luck Chuck , I had about written him off until he blocked James and refused further contact. However, after James noted that the date of the ring video showing Chuck stealing gas was on the same date that "the house" burned down, my interest was totally renewed. Then came Mr. Glide's interview.

I'm not a good detective and things tend to go right over my head the first time I hear them.
 
I am listening to this podcast as well. Yes there are a myriad of suspects, but this one has kind of a Brandon Lawson feel to it. She is on drugs and is running around with no shoes in very cold temperatures. Although her life was filled with shady characters, I just believe occam's razor applies here. I think her remains will be found eventually within a 3 mile radius of where she initially crashed Sheldon's car.
 
MysteryRoad said:
I am listening to this podcast as well. Yes there are a myriad of suspects, but this one has kind of a Brandon Lawson feel to it. She is on drugs and is running around with no shoes in very cold temperatures. Although her life was filled with shady characters, I just believe occam's razor applies here. I think her remains will be found eventually within a 3 mile radius of where she initially crashed Sheldon's car.
Click to expand...
Haven't they searched the surrounding area well? A lot of it appears to be just flat farm fields.
 
We have a new episode. The first 5 minutes is a review of the last one. Then they continue discussion of Britt's FB.

The expert opinion on phones begins at 26mm. The main question was is it possible for more than one person to be using the phone during the given days.

ZK's interview begins around 39mm and continues until the end. He delves into drug dealing and girls for sex, gives on opinion on what may have happened to Britt and how the cartel operates. It was really interesting and I commend ZK for turning his life around and cooperating when asked.

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‎Hide and Seek: S3 Eps 12: Android 9 SM-G960U on Apple Podcasts

‎Show Hide and Seek, Ep S3 Eps 12: Android 9 SM-G960U - Jul 15, 2022
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Woman still missing 4 years after car found crashed off road near Sturgis, Michigan

STURGIS, Mich. – Four years ago, a 23-year-old woman’s vehicle was found off the road near Sturgis, Michigan, but she had vanished.

Brittany Nichole Shank was last seen at 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 30, 2018, in the 33000 block of Fawn River Road, just east of Sturgis.

Her mother said she had gone to her grandmother’s to do laundry and crashed on the way home. Her car was located with only minor damage, but she has never been found.

She has piercings on her eyebrow, tongue, nose and lip. Her tattoos include “Kayden” on her upper right chest, a butterfly on the small of her back, “Zak” on her wrist, initials on her other wrist, a sugar skull on her right thigh and “Owen Conner Spahr” down her right leg. She was last seen wearing a green coat and jeans.

Michigan State Police have taken over Shank’s case.
 
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