Cold Blooded: A Little Unusual

Summary

Cold Blooded: A Little Unusual - Episode Summary

Released on July 30, 2025 by ABC News' 20/20

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Introduction to the Mystery

Debra Roberts opens the episode by introducing the new podcast series, Cold Blooded Mystery in Alaska. This series delves into the enigmatic death of Dr. Eric Garcia, a beloved surgeon in Ketchikan, Alaska. Listeners are promised a tale of secret romances, significant thefts, and deep betrayals spanning six weeks.

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The Initial Welfare Checks

[01:18] Officer Devin Miller recounts the events leading up to the discovery of Dr. Garcia's body. On March 27, 2017, he was dispatched to conduct a welfare check on Dr. Garcia after receiving a distressed call from Jordan Joplin, who feared Garcia was contemplating suicide.

[02:07] Chris Connolly emphasizes the prominence of Dr. Garcia in the small community:
"Eric Garcia was one of just two surgeons in Ketchikan, making him an essential figure in this remote town."

[03:17] Chris Connolly describes Officer Miller's observations as two unfamiliar vehicles arrive at Garcia's secluded home, raising suspicions due to the presence of Garcia's known red Ford pickup unexpectedly parked at the airport.

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Discovery of Dr. Garcia

Upon entering the house, [05:19] Jordan Joplin hears a faint voice and realizes Dr. Garcia is present but unresponsive. Officer Miller describes the somber scene:
"There was a sectional sofa with Dr. Garcia lying dead, surrounded by an eerie silence broken only by the March wind."
The immediate impact on Officer Miller was profound, marking the moment as one he would never forget.

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Background of Dr. Eric Garcia

Chris Connolly provides a comprehensive background on Dr. Garcia, highlighting his Puerto Rican roots and his dedication to medicine since childhood. His brother, Saul Garcia, shares personal anecdotes illustrating Eric's compassionate nature and commitment to family, particularly in caring for their grandmother despite his demanding career.

[09:58] Chris Connolly explains how a serendipitous encounter on an Alaskan cruise led to Garcia's recruitment in Ketchikan, a town known for its vibrant arts scene and stunning natural beauty. Despite his diverse background and the stark contrast of moving from Eagle Pass, Texas, to the remote Alaskan town, Garcia seamlessly integrated into the community over nearly a decade.

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Life in Ketchikan

Dave Kiffer, a fourth-generation resident and former mayor, provides historical context about Ketchikan's evolution from a gold rush hub to a salmon canning powerhouse and now a thriving tourist destination. The town's ability to reinvent itself through various boom and bust cycles underscores its resilience and the tight-knit nature of its community.

[15:26] Dave Kiffer remarks:
"Ketchikan's ability to survive through multiple economic upheavals is a testament to its stubborn spirit."

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The Mystery Deepens

The narrative takes a darker turn as [21:29] Jordan Joplin reveals her deep concern for Dr. Garcia's wellbeing, having previously warned about his suicidal tendencies. Despite initial reassurances from Dr. Garcia's office, persistent worry led Jordan to travel to Ketchikan with Dawn Hink, Dr. Garcia's close friend and colleague.

Dawn Hink shares her last interactions with Garcia:
"He showed up wearing his vacation shirt, but there was a solemnness about him that I couldn't quite place."
Her growing unease was compounded when Garcia failed to respond to her messages, culminating in her and Jordan's visit that ultimately led to the discovery of his body.

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Investigation and Unanswered Questions

Upon discovering Garcia's body, Officer Miller notes several peculiarities in the scene, such as an open door propped by a pillow and unfinished barbecuing efforts, hinting at possible foul play or an unusual circumstance surrounding his death. [32:33] Chris Connolly summarizes Officer Miller's confusion:
"How is he here and his truck is at the airport? Why did his work think he was out of town?"

Further complicating the case, a friend reveals the existence of a locked storage unit beneath Garcia's stairs containing valuables worth half a million dollars, including wine, gold, and coins ([33:33] Chris Connolly). This discovery suggests potential motives rooted in theft or betrayal.

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Conclusion and Teaser for Next Episode

The episode concludes with unresolved questions about Dr. Garcia's death, setting the stage for deeper investigations into the secrets and deceptions that may have led to this tragic event.

Chris Connolly teases the next installment:
"Next time on Cold Blooded Mystery in Alaska, Investigators search Dr. Garcia's house again, looking for those valuables, only to find more unusual clues."

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Key Takeaways

• Dr. Eric Garcia was a central figure in Ketchikan, respected both professionally and personally.
• Multiple welfare checks revealed inconsistencies in Garcia's state and whereabouts leading up to his death.
• The discovery of valuable items in a locked storage unit introduces potential theft or financial motives.
• The community's tight connections and Garcia's hidden personal life add layers of complexity to the mystery.

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Notable Quotes

• Chris Connolly on Ketchikan's resilience:
  "Ketchikan's ability to survive through multiple economic upheavals is a testament to its stubborn spirit." [15:26]

• Dawn Hink reflecting on Garcia's demeanor:
  "He showed up wearing his vacation shirt, but there was a solemnness about him that I couldn't quite place." [24:05]

• Chris Connolly summarizing Officer Miller's confusion:
  "How is he here and his truck is at the airport? Why did his work think he was out of town?" [32:33]

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Stay tuned for the next episode of Cold Blooded Mystery in Alaska as the investigation into Dr. Eric Garcia's death unravels deeper secrets and unexpected twists.

Transcript

[Debra Roberts]

This is Debra Roberts. You're about to hear the first episode of our newest podcast series from 2020 and ABC Audio, Cold Blooded Mystery in Alaska. In this series, my colleague Chris Connolly tells you the story of Dr. Eric Garcia, who was a beloved surgeon found dead in Ketchikan, Alaska. You're going to hear about a secret romance, a theft of nearly half a million dollars worth of property and and a deep betrayal. It's a shocking and heartbreaking story that you will not forget. We'll be sharing the entire series right here on the 2020 feed over the next six weeks. Or you can get new episodes by following Cold Blooded Mystery in Alaska. Wherever you listen to podcasts now, here's episode one on WhatsApp. No one can see or hear your personal messages. Whether it's a voice call message or sending a password to WhatsApp, it's all just this. So whether you're sharing the streaming password in the family chat or trading those late night voice messages that could basically become a podcast, your personal messages stay between you, your friends and your family. No one else, not even us. WhatsApp message privately with everyone.

[Officer Devin Miller]

On March 27, 2017, Officer Devin Miller was driving through Ketchikan, Alaska on his way to conduct a welfare check.

[Chris Connolly]

In town. We get welfare checks quite often.

[Officer Devin Miller]

The person who called dispatch and was put through to Officer Miller was not calling from nearby. He was calling from out of town, out of state actually, which was very rare for the small, remote community of Ketchikan. Also unusual. The person the caller was worried about was sort of a local celebrity.

[Jordan Joplin]

He's been missing and he was contemplating suicide. Nobody's hurt from him. His parents? Yeah. Ten days has been.

[Officer Devin Miller]

The missing person in question was a prominent beloved surgeon, one of just two in the town named Eric Garcia. Officer Miller had even been his patient a couple of times.

[Chris Connolly]

And I felt like if I felt pain, this man was going to feel the same pain.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Dr. Garcia's house was secluded at the top of a hill, nestled among dark green mountains and tall evergreens. The house was on a half acre of land and it had a stunning view of the bay and the cruise ships passing in and out of Ketchikan. Dr. Garcia lived here alone. When Officer Miller arrived at the house around 9am it was surrounded by fog and there was snow on the ground. His colleague joined him and the two checked around the property. Everything seemed normal at first. No signs of forced entry or trouble.

[Chris Connolly]

Short time after that, I see two vehicles drive up the driveway.

[Officer Devin Miller]

One car was driven by a woman the other was driven by a man accompanied by a woman in the passenger seat. The man was driving a red Ford pickup, which officer Miller recognized as Dr. Garcia's car.

[Chris Connolly]

So I asked him, I said, is that Dr. Garcia's vehicle?

[Jordan Joplin]

And?

[Chris Connolly]

And replied, yes. Where did you find that? And it was parked at the airport.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Miller found that a little unusual too, that this man had just happened upon Dr. Garcia's car and had keys to it. But in the moment, he didn't think much of it. He wanted to get inside the home as soon as possible. The man said he had keys to Dr. Garcia's house. Officer Miller asked him to unlock the front door.

[Chris Connolly]

Sergeant Cheatham and I had them all wait outside while we cleared the building.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Miller's body camera captured everything that happened next.

[Jordan Joplin]

Dr. Garcia, Police Department chiefly. Can you make yourself known, sir?

[Officer Devin Miller]

They checked the main floor first. Dr. Garcia's bedroom, his bathroom, his walk in closet, his office. They noted a locked closet door with no sign of Dr. Garcia. They went upstairs.

[Jordan Joplin]

Okay. Dr. Garcia, Officer Miller, Police department.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Once the officers reached the top of the stairs, they entered a large open room with white wall to wall carpet and nearly floor to ceiling windows that looked onto a deck, foggy evergreen trees and the glistening bay. The body camera footage gets much quieter from here. The officers stop shifting around. They stop calling out for Dr. Garcia.

[Jordan Joplin]

He's here. Okay.

[Officer Devin Miller]

In the middle of the room there was a sectional sofa. And on that sofa was Dr. Garcia. The officers could tell without approaching him that he was dead. It was silent in the house. No noise from distant cars, no chatter from neighbors. Just the breath and stillness of the two police officers and a corporation cold March wind blowing into the room through an open door on the deck. This moment, finding Dr. Garcia dead and alone in his four bedroom house would stick with officer Miller when he got home. Much later that day, he took off his bulletproof vest and his body camera. And he says the full weight of it hit him.

[Chris Connolly]

I think was finally able to let down enough to realize the situation and how horribly sad it was. And I just felt. I felt lonely. For Dr. Garcia.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Officer Miller and other investigators, they felt there was something so cold and striking about Dr. Garcia's death. A man who had cared for so many people, alone on a couch with a biting Alaskan wind surrounding him. To find out what happened to the beloved surgeon, investigators would have to go far beyond Ketchikan, far beyond Alaska. They'd have to untangle a crime fueled by years of lies and manipulation. A crime propelled by the vulnerability of isolation from ABC Audio in 2020. I'm Chris Connolly, and this is Cold Blooded Mystery in Alaska. Episode one A little unusual. Ketchikan is at the southern tip of Alaska, and it's known as Alaska's first city because it's the first stop for many ships coming from Washington and other states from the lower 48. Once you land in the Ketchikan airport, you have to take a ferry to actually get to town. Dr. Eric Garcia was not born or raised in Ketchikan. He grew up thousands of miles away in the complete opposite corner of North America in Puerto Rico. Eric Garcia was the oldest of four. His brother Saul says he was always interested in medicine. He'd read books about surgery as a kid. Saul said his older brother was also really good at making people feel special.

[Saul Garcia]

The feeling that people get is that you're his only friend that he has at this moment and that's it. I mean, he's not worried about somebody else or calling somebody else back. He's just with you.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Saul and Eric's grandmother had a genetic heart defect. And even as a teenager, Eric would advocate for her with doctors. As an adult, he took care of their grandmother for years.

[Saul Garcia]

So he always had her under his wing. And many years later, too, when she got ill, he would come and visit her and, you know, put IVs in her and things like that and treat her and all that. And then when she passed away, he was also there with her.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Eric Garcia left Puerto Rico to do his medical residency in Chicago. After that, he was a surgeon in Eagle Pass, Texas, for many years. Eagle Pass is right on the border between the US And Mexico. And Saul says his brother liked being able to serve people in need of quality medical care. To this day, Saul is not sure why his brother wanted to leave Eagle Pass and come to Alaska.

[Saul Garcia]

A lot of people when they leave and go to Alaska is because they're running away from something. But when I see his life and from what I know of his life, I didn't know. I wouldn't know of anything that he would be leaving behind.

[Officer Devin Miller]

But his friends say something about Ketchikan called to him. Dr. Garcia. He loved traveling, especially taking cruises. His best friend of 30 years, standing Carlos Gonzalez, often traveled with him. Carlos says Dr. Garcia even had a special shirt he wore for the first day of trips. It had bright colors and patterns with different color patches.

[Chris Connolly]

And all the pictures that I have that he's wearing that type of shirt, I know that was the first day of the trip because it was. He would use them for taking planes.

[Officer Devin Miller]

One year, Carlos and Dr. Garcia went on an Alaskan cruise that passed through Ketchikan. Dr. Garcia thought the town was beautiful. He was interested in its indigenous history. Ketchikan is the home of three native tribes and has the world's largest collection of totem poles. Dr. Garcia also loved that Ketchikan had a vibrant arts and culture scene. When Dr. Garcia got back from the trip, a recruiter from a hospital in Ketchikan reached out to him.

[Chris Connolly]

A recruiter who has my name, Carlos Gonzalez, invited him to go as a general surgeon to to Ketchikan. He took it as a sign because it was my name. And that's how he moved from Eagle Pass to Ketchikan.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Eric Garcia was introduced to Ketchikan by an Alaskan cruise. And that's how most people come across the town today. But it has had many lives. The fishing industry is what first made Ketchikan into a thriving town. And Ketchikan is still known as the salmon capital of the world. Dave Kiffer is a 4th generation Ketchikan resident, and he's served on the town city council and as the city's mayor.

[Dave Kiffer]

Between 2 and 3 million salmon come up every year. Yeah, one of the interesting things is when you're at the airport in the summer, you'll see all these boxes, big fish boxes, and people come here. Basically, they catch their limit of salmon and they take them with them.

[Officer Devin Miller]

He says the Tlingit drive had a fish camp along Ketchikan creek for hundreds of years. Eventually, Europeans and people from Washington, Oregon and California, they started coming to fish as well and to mine for gold. During the 1898 Alaska Gold Rush, thousands of people passed through the town. They saw lots of quartz, and quartz.

[Dave Kiffer]

Almost always means gold. Unfortunately, in rang, it did not mean gold.

[Officer Devin Miller]

But the gold rush did turn it into a frontier town with saloons and a red light district, where, as the town's tourism website puts it, ladies of negotiable affection entertained the miners, fishermen, hand loggers, and other frisky frontiersmen. In 1926, Ketchikan was called the worst pest hole in America by a Los Angeles newspaper because of its so called vice, which the article described as gamblers, liquor dealers, and red light women. Ketchikan kept reinventing itself. When the gold rush ended, canning salmon became the town's next big industry.

[Dave Kiffer]

And as my mother used to say, the whole place reeked in the smell of canned salmon all summer long. Of course, she called it the smell of money.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Like mining, the canning industry also went through a boom and bust cycle.

[Dave Kiffer]

Ketchikan's interesting because it's probably the only city that I've ever heard of that has gone through three different boom and busts and is still here. We were a mining boom town that crashed. Then we became a salmon canning boomtown that crashed. Then we were a timber boom town, and that crashed. Usually when that happens, you know, at some point in that process, the town goes away, But I guess we're just stubborn because we're still here.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Now tourism is at the heart of Ketchikan's economy. The town is a southern entryway To Alaska's inside passage. That's a route of waterways along the state's coast with gorgeous views of nature and wildlife, including bears, eagles, and whales. From April to October, Enormous cruise ships dock in downtown Ketchikan. Millions of passengers flock to town. On any given day during peak season, the town's population can more than double. Dr. Eric Garcia was one of those passengers. Thousands of miles from where he grew up, Ketchikan captivated him just like it had captivated generations of people before him. Looking for new opportunities and adventure, Often on their own. Ketchikan is a beautiful place, but it's also very remote. Residents of the town knew it could be a lonely, challenging place to live and that it was not easy to convince doctors to move there and stay there. So this town needed Dr. Garcia. He would be one of just two surgeons in a place where many people still do dangerous work.

[Dave Kiffer]

We have to have a very serious trauma hospital because people, whether it's timber industry, fishing industry, or whatever, have those injuries all the time, and they just wouldn't make it to Seattle or Anchorage.

[Officer Devin Miller]

It might seem like Eric Garcia would be a fish out of water in a place like Ketchikan. A Puerto Rican surgeon who got his training in a big midwest city and had worked in a town along the US Mexico border. Living in a town of 8,000 in cold, rainy Alaska. But his co workers, neighbors, and friends say he fit in quickly. By the time he died, he had lived in Ketchikan for nearly a decade. His brother Saul remembers going to the grocery store with Dr. Garcia. During one of his visits.

[Saul Garcia]

He'd be stopped and asked, oh, Dr. Garcia, you're here. And he would move on to the next aisle. And then somebody else would pop up and it would take forever to get out of the. Out of the store. It was took forever to get in and out, out of any place.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Ketchikan may have been a surprising home for Eric Garcia to choose, but the town itself is a place of contradictions. A boom town that never fully went bust. A pest hole that's become a town where people raise their families for generations. A remote place that brings the world together through the cruise industry. And it turned out Eric Garcia was a man of contradictions too. Beloved, well connected, social, but also very private. Was he happy in his big house overlooking Ketchik can? Or was he lonely and maybe dangerously isolated?

[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Officer Devin Miller]

Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile.

[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Officer Devin Miller]

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[Debra Roberts]

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[Officer Devin Miller]

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[Debra Roberts]

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[Chris Connolly]

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[Officer Devin Miller]

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[Chris Connolly]

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[Officer Devin Miller]

Djx that's V U-O-R-I exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions. This episode is brought to you by Liquid IV in heart pumping moments, you need hydration that can keep up. That's where Liquid IV comes in. Scientifically formulated to quickly replenish electrolytes and fluids lost from your well earned sweat session. Hydrate your favorite mode of movement with Liquid iv made with triple the electrolytes of the leading sports drink plus eight vitamins and nutrients also available and sugar free tear Pour live more. Visit liquidiv.com to learn more. March 27 the day Dr. Garcia's body was found was not the first time Officer Miller was asked to do a welfare check on the surgeon. The out of state caller, whose name was Jordan Joplin, had also called dispatch about a week earlier. During that call, Jordan said it had been a couple of days since he'd heard from Eric Garcia.

[Jordan Joplin]

He was telling me that he wanted to commit suicide and I haven't heard from him so I'm getting worried.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Officer Miller went to check on Dr. Garcia's house for the first time.

[Chris Connolly]

It was snowy on the ground, fresh snow and there were no prints at all going up to the house, going away from the house. At the side of the house. Doors were locked, windows were closed, there were some lights on in the house as if someone was going on vacation and they put Sporadic lights on. I looked in the garage. There was no vehicle in the garage. So I certainly did not anticipate that there would be anyone home. I walked around to the side of the house, and everything seemed to be secure back there. And so I left to contact his office.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Dr. Garcia's office told Miller they believed he was out of town.

[Chris Connolly]

I did not think that there was any issue because it all made sense.

[Officer Devin Miller]

But Jordan Joplin called again five, and then six days later, dispatch explained that an officer had checked things out and did not find a reason to be concerned. And they couldn't just knock down the front door and go in.

[Jordan Joplin]

We contacted the hospital, and they stated that he's out of town. And then also there's nothing else to believe that he's injured in any way. So at this point, they can't. They went to his house, it looks like. Yeah. And nobody knows there.

[Officer Devin Miller]

So Jordan said he was going to fly into town to check on Dr. Garcia.

[Jordan Joplin]

He gave me a house key. I know, a security key, everything, because I have permission. And I'm going up there on Monday because I haven't heard anything, and I am very worried.

[Officer Devin Miller]

A few days later, on March 27, more than a week after his first call, Jordan arrived in Ketchikan. He made the call we heard earlier, the one that was patched through to officer Miller. But Jordan Joplin was not the only one who said he was worried about Eric Garcia.

[Dawn Hink]

A lot of times they called me his work wife or his assistant.

[Officer Devin Miller]

His co worker, Dawn Hink, a patient access representative at the hospital, had become one of Dr. Garcia's closest friends.

[Dawn Hink]

I had a numerous amount of people calling me his daughter, which I always wore as a badge of honor because he was, you know, such a fatherly figure in so many aspects to me.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Dawn remembers the day she met Dr. Garcia.

[Dawn Hink]

And everyone had told me how intimidating he was because he was, you know, had been the chief of surgery in all these places and everything. And I walked up to him, and he was the most gentle, kind, wonderful soul you could imagine. And it was just odd to me that people were intimidated by someone like that.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Dawn says Eric Garcia had a warm voice and the kind of smile so bright you could hear it through the phone. But when dawn really thinks about what made Dr. Garcia stand out in a room, she remembers his love of nice colognes and how he always smelled incredible.

[Dawn Hink]

He had one for each day of the week. And those little idiosyncrasies I used to take for granted are some of the true, most core memories I have with him.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Dawn last saw Dr. Garcia at work on March 16th. He was about to go to Las Vegas for a medical conference.

[Dawn Hink]

He showed up to the clinic wearing his vacation shirt.

[Officer Devin Miller]

That day, Dr. Garcia had to give bad news to a patient, and dawn sensed something else might have been going on.

[Dawn Hink]

His mood changed, and he still had the shirt on. He still had the smile on. But he. He had kind of a. Like, a solemnness to him that was hard to pinpoint. If you. You know, at this point in time, you can always go back and look back at things and think of hindsight, but to me, he was almost nervous to go on the trip.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Dawn and Dr. Garcia texted each other regularly, but after March 16, she stopped getting responses from him. She had sent Dr. Garcia a photo of her son in a local parade.

[Dawn Hink]

Just kind of, you know, trying to keep up with what was going on with him and how come he hadn't sent me pictures of the different Martini he was excited to try and didn't receive anything back at all. So it definitely struck me as odd. Day one, day two. Something is really weird in day three. Oh, we need to figure out what's going on.

[Officer Devin Miller]

She got a call from Dr. Garcia's mother, who was also worried. So Don went to his house multiple times.

[Dawn Hink]

And everything seems okay, except on the backside of the house. The window upstairs, which I thought was a window, was actually a door upstairs, was wide open. And this is March in Alaska. It was less than 32 degrees, and it had snowed about 3ft during the duration of him being gone. It just. The hair on the back of your neck stands up, and you just don't know really what to do.

[Officer Devin Miller]

But dawn saw tracks in the snow, which seemed to her like they were from a police officer. She figured if a police officer thought everything was okay, then it probably was. She didn't know that when Officer Miller had done his check, he hadn't seen an open door. Dawn wasn't totally satisfied. After her visit to the house. It still seemed odd to her that Dr. Garcia was. Was not replying to texts. So dawn called one of the hotels she knew he stayed in in Las.

[Dawn Hink]

Vegas, and they had said, no, his reservation has been canceled. And then whoever I was speaking with at that time realized they were not supposed to say that to me and hung up the phone really quickly.

[Officer Devin Miller]

On March 26, Don heard from someone else who said he was worried about Dr. Garcia. Jordan Joplin. She had met Jordan once before. He called her to say he was coming to town from Washington state to check on Dr. Garcia, dawn, and Jordan met at the Ketchikan Airport on March 27 and made their way to Dr. Garcia's house. They drove the two cars that Officer Miller watched arrive at the house. When Don and Jordan arrived, Officer Miller and his colleague, Sergeant Cheatham was went into the house to do the final welfare check. Dawn was still waiting outside with Jordan when the sergeant reemerged.

[Dawn Hink]

It felt like it had been about 20 minutes, when in actuality, it was probably less than two. He came back down the stairs, opened the door, his face gray. He was pale. And he looked at me and said, eric has passed away, and he is in the house. And I wouldn't say I lost it. I had a fair amount of shock behind me, knowing that I had visited the house so many times, and I could have, you know, what could I have done? I walked to the opposite side of the house, as far away as I could. Get physically sick with emotion and sadness and, you know, just despair at that point and looking for answers.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Dawn knew she didn't know everything about Dr. Garcia. He was a warm, friendly person, but he was also very private.

[Dawn Hink]

Dr. Garcia definitely had secrets, and I think a lot of people may have known that. No one ever pushed the envelope. Everyone had a very firm line of respect for him.

[Officer Devin Miller]

While Don was hearing the news from Sergeant Cheetam, Officer Miller started documenting the room they discovered Dr. Garcia's body in. Just like everything else that day, many things in the room seemed unusual. For instance, the tv. It was still on, but it was stuck on a blue screen. And then there was the open door leading out to the deck.

[Chris Connolly]

And it wasn't just open. It was propped open by a pillow. There was a barbecue right at the door. I also looked at the barbecue. There was no barbecue tools around.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Officer Miller walked closer to Dr. Garcia. There was a coffee table in front.

[Chris Connolly]

Of him, which he had his elbow on. There were some items there that didn't really make sense to me. There was an open package of bacon. There was a partially burned charcoal briquette. And I didn't really understand how a person could barbecue bacon on a barbecue grill.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Miller began taking detailed photos of Dr. Garcia himself. Then he lifted up Dr. Garcia's hand, meaning full rigor mortis, a sign Dr. Garcia had been dead for at least a few hours. Officer Miller lifted a green sheet that was covering Dr. Garcia's body up to his chest. He was looking for signs of trauma, like a gunshot or a knife wound. He didn't see anything like that, but he did notice a few other things.

[Chris Connolly]

His thumb and two fingertips, I think had charcoal, dark charcoal on them, which had transferred to his white T shirt, which I'm guessing came from the partially burnt charcoal that was on the table. Also, I noticed that on his right shoulder there was a purple stain and the stain wasn't consistent. It was more like a dribble stain, and it looked like it was dribbled from his shoulder towards his head and to his mouth.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Officer Miller took more photos and then turned his body camera off. As Sergeant Cheatham returned. He said his first impression of the scene was that Dr. Garcia's death could have been a medical event, like a heart attack, or it could have been a suicide. But the whole thing didn't make much sense to him.

[Chris Connolly]

The setup was just a little unusual.

[Officer Devin Miller]

And he had a lot of questions about what they had learned so far.

[Chris Connolly]

How is he here and his truck is at the airport? Why did his work think he was out of town? Also, it just didn't make sense.

[Officer Devin Miller]

When Officer Miller came out of the house after documenting the room, his body camera was back on, facing the handful of people standing in the fog and snow outside the house. Don Hick, Jordan Joplin, and the woman who was with him among them. And another friend of Dr. Garcia's who had shown up. While the officers went through the house, the next step was to start doing interviews with everyone at the scene to see what they knew. They learned a lot from those interviews, but maybe the most surprising thing they learned came from that friend who had shown up after dawn and Jordan, he knew a lot about Dr. Garcia's house and what should be inside.

[Chris Connolly]

He pulled me aside and he informed me that there was at least a half a million dollars worth of valuables in a locked storage unit underneath the stairs, which included wine, gold, and coins.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Next time on Cold Blooded Mystery In Alaska, Investigators search Dr. Garcia's house again, looking for those valuables, only to find more unusual clues. Cold Blooded Mystery in Alaska is a production of ABC Audio and 20 20, hosted by me, Chris Connolly. Produced by Camille Peterson, Shane McKeon and Kiara Powell. Edited by Gianna Paul. Our supervising producer is Susie Lu. Music and mixing by Evan Viola. Special thanks to Liz Alessi, Katie Dendas, Janice Johnston, Joseph Reed, Gary Wynn, Xander Samaras, Chris Donovan, Michelle Margulis, Tom Berman, Sandy Evans and Pat Lalama. Josh Cohan is our director of podcast programming. Laura Mayer is our executive producer.

[Jordan Joplin]

Foreign.

[Officer Devin Miller]

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[Chris Connolly]

Story for you about a young man.

[Officer Devin Miller]

And the boy he used to be. From executive producer Sterling K. Brown, the.

[Chris Connolly]

New Hulu original Washington Black is streaming.

[Officer Devin Miller]

July 23rd on Hulu.

[Saul Garcia]

Ready for a brand new adventure.

[Officer Devin Miller]

Based on the beloved novel? This just ain't his story. It's our story. I'm going to change the world, and that's what you gonna do. Washington Black now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney plus.