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- [00:00]
A
March 28, 2021. Seminole County 911. What's the address of emergency? There's a lady been hit almost in front of my house. She's just beside the highway. Did he tell you if she was breathing or she was alive? She's. She okay? She. She's not breathing or anything? No. No, she's deceived.
- [00:28]
B
A young mother found lifeless on the shoulder of a rural Oklahoma highway. The OSBI and Seminole County Sheriff's Office says Faith Ely was found dead along the road in Seminole County Sunday night. Authorities called it a hit and run, the car vanishing into the darkness of the night. No witnesses, no evidence, no leads.
- [00:50]
A
We don't have any answers. And it's already been almost 365 days.
- [00:55]
B
But what if there was no car? What if it wasn't a hit and run at all?
- [01:01]
C
I feel like the only way for me to let go of anything is to let go of the truth. I feel like she killed herself because of our relationship.
- [01:10]
B
Could a family be hiding a deadly secret? One that holds the truth about what really happened to Faith Ely that night?
- [01:16]
C
Faith did not kill herself, and Faith was not hit by a vehicle. Faith was killed at that house.
- [01:24]
B
This is blunt force trauma. The death of Faith Ely.
- [01:28]
C
I loved Faith. I loved her with everything in me. I fought and I fought and I fought.
- [01:33]
B
A new investigative true crime podcast from echo space, premiering March 2026. Wherever you get your podcasts, our time
- [01:42]
C
on this planet is a puff of smoke. Eternity's a long time, my friend. Where do you want to spend it?
- [01:58]
A
I don't know. I don't know. She's a very smart girl, and I know she'll find somehow, some way, if she's alive. Escape, fight, use her intelligence to get out and get help. But if trafficking. I heard that if you drug the girl and threaten their lives or family's life, they're trapped somehow, especially when it's drugged. So I'm confused. People are giving me hope, but I'm confused. I don't know if she's alive. I don't know. I. People are trying to keep me up, Hope. But it's fading out. And it's one way or the other. I want her back. I want her back. I need to have her back. I need to find her.
- [02:52]
B
This is Susan park, appearing on the podcast Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. This is the Susan I've come to know. Broken but strong, confused but clear. One day, we're like best friends, joking around about some crazy thing that happened in our day. And the next, she's gone cold, either not replying anymore or replying with a single word, or maybe a thumbs up here and there. There's never really an explanation. And I've been doing this for long enough to understand that asking for one will only get you more time. And solitary, it just is what it is. It comes with the territory. Susan is, without question, a walking enigma. Things are black until they're white. Everything is up until it's down and we're looking left until we need to look right. If I step back from everything for a second and just look at Susan herself, strip away any of the evidence, the data, supposition and speculation, and just assess the way I feel about my interactions with her, I can tell you this up front. I don't feel that Susan was involved in Elaine's disappearance, at least not in any kind of physical sense. There is no doubt that Susan has done very little to help herself in the way she's been perceived by the public. And there are plenty of questionable decisions she's made over the years. But at the end of the day, almost every single one of those decisions can be explained or justified if assessed with a broader context. But I'm not here to make up anyone's mind. I'm just here to lay things out. And that's what we're going to do in this episode. Lay things out with as much clarity and detail as I can possibly give. Without giving you all migraines, here's more from Susan on Nancy Grace, running through the timeline of what happened the Friday before Elaine disappeared. Pay attention to the infliction in her voice, the way she speaks, just as much as you do what she's saying. Because in my opinion at least, there is just as much to glean from that as there is in the words she uses.
- [04:55]
A
Friday afternoon she asked me to borrow $20. And we have a little money thing going on where she asked me quick pay. I give her $20, I ask her to pay me back. And you know, it's like a managing money strategy I'm trying to teach her. So she said, yeah, I'll pay you back Friday night after my dad gives me spending money. So that's fine. That'll be around 6 o'.
- [05:17]
B
Clock.
- [05:17]
A
So she text me about that and then seven o' clock comes and she has not, you know, responded or said anything at six. So at seven o' clock I text her about it and she says, at nine o' clock she text me and saying, oh, give me until later tonight. So I said, you Know, keep your word. You know, as a mom, I was like saying couple things. That was it. Then she didn't come home. Then on Saturday 1041, text her. She didn't respond. So I called her and two times it rang. And then after that the phone died. Then it went straight to voice message. So I'm thinking, well, that's really strange because she usually are good about paying me back and she has not responded or called and then the phone is dead. The reason why I did not think of much because in the past she would pack her bags and makeup and she would go away for a couple days, two, three days or two days, and she just appears. And we don't have a traditional or affectionate mother daughter relationship. She's 20 years old, we live in the same household, but she always wants me to leave her alone and she just closes the door. She doesn't want me to come into her room. Every time I try to pick up her hair or swipe her hair, she would say, why are you sneaking around? Don't come to my room. So I learned to leave her alone. So I'm thinking, well, she'll be back. And then Saturday evening I called her. The phone, it was off. All day, it was off. So now I'm starting to think something is wrong. Sunday afternoon, she still didn't come home and her phone was still off all day, all night. So I'm thinking, all right, something definitely is wrong. Sunday, I called the police department to look into filing missing persons report. But they say, oh, she's 20 years old. So we don't take this critical, we take it as a volunteer. So why don't you know, is anything missing? So yeah, her duffel bag is missing, her makeup is missing. So they didn't take it too seriously. So I'm thinking, well, let's give it one more night. So Monday came and that's when I finally said, okay, I have to do something. Something is not right.
- [07:37]
B
When I first heard this interview, it set me back a little. I was quite a ways into To Live and Die in LA when I heard it. And it felt different somehow. It took me a while to put my finger on it, but eventually I figured it out. This sounded genuine. Here's a little more, this time with Susan responding to a question about what she would want to say to Elaine. Should Elaine be listening?
- [08:01]
A
I just want a second chance with her. If you're listening out there, I'm sorry for not loving you as much as other girls that you see. I want her home safe. You Know I do love you very, very much. I'm lacking expressions and all I wanted to do is discipline you in traditional Korean way. And that's my fault. And I just want a second chance with Elaine, my daughter. And I want to love her no matter what. Unconditional love. I want to help you, Elaine. If you're into any kind of trouble, I want to help you. Please come home safe. We all love you. The whole community wants you back safe. We're doing all our best 24 7, practically putting out flyers, searching for any clues, anything. We're doing everything in our power. They're helping me pull together to look for you. We all want you back safe. We all love you, Elaine. I love you very much. And I'm sorry I didn't say enough. Please come home safe.
- [09:14]
B
It's like chalk and cheese, right? When she's talking about what happened the day before Elaine disappeared, she's quick, concise and detailed. The flow of her monologue is strong, confident and direct. It sounds like she's speaking from memory. She's not referencing a script or dot points. She's recalling things. But when she's talking directly to elate, when she's trying to be emotional and vulnerable, it feels a little, I don't know, forced maybe. It feels like she's playing the part of grieving mother the way she thinks it should look, rather than just the way it is. And that's not to suggest that there's anything nefarious there. Susan herself has said many times that she didn't love Elaine the way she should have, the way it may be expected in American culture. And I think it's possible this may reflect that perspective in the wake of Elaine's disappearance. And I get it. I mean, take a look at Lindy Chamberlain or the parents of Madeline McCann or even Amanda Knox. If you don't act the way people think you should in the public eye, you can quickly find yourself painted with the murderer. Brush on the flip side. If you do present yourself in the way that is expected but seem insincere or disingenuous, then you risk the same thing happening. It's an unenviable position. Susan's presentation definitely forms a part of the suspicion that people hold for her. But it's not that alone. If you listen to To Live and Die in L. A. You'll remember a few key points that felt like almost undeniable evidence of her involvement. The insurance from Elaine's car accident, the cadaverdog search which returned hits at Susan's house. And what was possibly considered the most damning evidence, the text messages sent by Susan to Elaine in the months leading up to her disappearance. We're going to systematically break those things and a whole lot more down as we move forward. But before we do, do this exercise with me for a minute. Think of your person. The one you hold the closest, the one you trust the most, the one you love the deepest. Then go back over the last two years of your messages with them. Pick out any messages where you've said something heated, something angry, something at the height of an argument, something maybe you wish you hadn't said. Now delete all the other messages and only read those ones. It doesn't look great, does it? Because we don't communicate with foresight, knowing one day my loved one might go missing. We don't write messages to each other thinking one day these might be read out loud on a podcast, and certainly not without padding. The happy messages, the positive messages, the I love yous, and the do you want Taco Bell or in n out? We communicate like tomorrow will just be like today and the day after that, just like tomorrow. But this is the reality of the situation Susan found herself in after Elaine disappeared. Everything she always thought would be just hers suddenly wasn't. Here's another thing I want to say before we dive into the detail. Go jump in your car, grab yourself a coffee, because coffee is life. And take a little cruise down the closest freeway. While you're driving, look out for all the red cars. Take note every time you see a red car, count them if you want to. And keep that count going from the minute you leave your driveway to the minute you get back. And now, once you're back in your driveway, tell me how many blue cars you saw. You can't, right? But I bet you saw a whole lot more red cars than you expected to. The point is, when you're looking for something, it becomes all you can see. If you're looking for Susan to be the villain, then what you'll find is evidence that backs this up. The same goes for the opposite. Confirmation bias is alive and well in missing persons, in homicide cases. Let me tell you, I've tried as hard as I can all the way through this to remove any bias I have. It's been incredibly difficult because it's just so darn easy to slide into those rabbit holes. But to have done so would have been an injustice to Elaine. I had known the entire time I was working with Susan that the day would come where I would have to turn the tables and look at things that potentially pointed in her direction. I can tell you I wasn't looking forward to it, and I put it off as much as I could. But with the tail lights of what could definitely be a Volvo S60 staring out at me from my laptop screen as I analyzed the CCTV footage from the Compare residence and a comprehensive timeline of events surrounding Susan before and after Elaine's disappearance sitting in front of me, I realized that time had come. I couldn't put it off any longer. It was time to go through everything I had relating to Susan with a fine tooth comb. Beginning to end. I'm Troy Taylor, and this is among the missing. Let's take a look back at something Susan said in her interview with Nancy
- [14:32]
A
Grace one more time Friday afternoon. She asked me to borrow $20 and we have a little money thing going on where she asked me quick pay. I give her $20. I asked her to pay me back. And you know, it's like a managing money strategy I'm trying to teach her.
- [14:47]
B
Okay, so we know that Elaine did ask to borrow $20, and Susan did indeed send Elaine the money she requested. We don't need to go through that again. But Susan goes on to say that they have a little managing money strategy and that's why she asks Elaine to pay her back. And it's evident when you go back through Elaine and Susan's text messages that this is true. There's an enormous amount of discussion around Susan's response to Elaine not paying her back that $20 she borrowed that day and how unreasonably angry Susan was on the back of it. It's true that she was furious, that's for sure, but it helps to understand the context. Elaine borrowed money from Susan a lot. In fact, she asked Susan for money 39 times in the space of two months between November 2016 and January 2017. But it's not really the volume of requests that's important, it's the context. The reality is Susan was struggling financially to the point where they were actually on food stamps. Here's a snippet of one of their conversations around money from November 4, the same day Elaine first met Devine at a house party. Elaine, is there any way I could borrow some cash? I'm negative. I need money for food and gas, at least until I get some tips at work. How much and how? $40. Can you leave two twenties under the angel dish? I'll be passing through Lacrocenter later. I'm negative $100, so I would need money until I get paid again. I'm going to get an overdraft fee too. And when I get paid to cover the overdraft fee and payment, Speedy Cash is going to take out an automatic payment again. Susan, you now owe me $160 when the refund check comes in. I'm home now and it's not here. Send promissory note of $160. Then I will leave $40 cash in the angel bowl and let me know around what time you're coming home to pick it up. I only have $27 in cash on me now. Maybe I can put $20 on my Amex credit card and then give you $20 cash. I need cash. $40, please. I don't want to have to drive all the way back. I'll send you 160 once the cash comes in and you can leave 40 under the dish. Okay. Can you meet me at Jeff's so I can get change? Or I can ask him to lend me $20. What? Just leave $27 under the dish. Susan are you sure? Elaine and $13 whenever you can. Just tell me when you can leave it so I can plan when to drive back. There's a Chase ATM right there. If you can't go real quick instead of driving all the way back to Jeff's or cash back from 7 11. Susan, I have $20, $10, $5, $2 bills and $3 in quarters totaling $40. Is that okay? Elaine doesn't reply, so. Susan Never mind. Going to the ATM to withdraw, then putting two times $20 equals $40 in the Angel Dish. Elaine. Okay, thank you. Put the $3 in quarters, please, for the parking meter. There are a lot of these little interactions where Elaine asks for money. Susan makes it very clear at all times that the money she gives Elaine is a loan. And she makes Elaine commit to a date and sometimes a time at which it would be repaid. But on 10 November, things get a little heated. Elaine, could you send me $20, please? No, don't have enough. Sorry. 15. Literally gonna use $3 to get food at McDonald's. Oh my God. Alright then, never mind. I'm gonna be $38 after I get the overdraft fee. Thanks. Susan. Send another promissory note for $85. Then I will send $20. Elaine I'll send you 60 next week and 25 before next Saturday. Susan Resend with exact dates on it. I'm getting lost. Elaine just put it in your calendar. No, resend with exact dates. Elaine, I'm driving and you're frustrating me. Never mind. Just gonna starve and wait till I get paid to pay off negative $40. Then speedy cash is taking out the rest, and it's my last paycheck. Can't even get into my own house. The second time you've screwed me over. I drove from Northridge just to be fucking locked out again. Susan, it wasn't me. Someone opened the main door, so the painter locked inside and then went out the patio door. Elaine, I'm fucking starving. I spent the last $5 I had for gas to get home so I can cook food, and I'm fucking locked out. So I have to overdraw my card for gas to get back to Northridge, and you won't even give me money for fucking food. I'm a little frustrated and you're pulling bullshit texts like no resend with exact dates. You're frustrating me, and I'm so hungry, I'm not even gonna go to class. I feel sick. I barely eat one full meal a day, and I try to save money and shit, and you pull this shit. You can't send me $20. Literally, I have to beg on my knees for my parents to give me money or food or anything else. It's so fucking sad. You don't see me driving myself deeper and deeper into debt and a hole and tickets and all this shit, and you're still so fucking blind. I'm ruining my fucking life and you're still blind. It amazes me. Susan, why are you putting this on me for your irresponsible behavior. Ha ha ha ha ha. I'm not even surprised you responded with that. Have a nice day. Susan, you're the one who needs money. Begging for money. You need to do what I asked you. Resend with the dates, and I'll send you $20. Elaine, you can't tell me shit about dropping out of school so I can just work a shitty minimum wage job to support myself if you don't fucking help me at all. You have no right to say shit. If I go to school, you're supposed to support me. I'm trying to balance school and work, and I'm having a hard time, and all you do is talk shit about how I don't have money. Obviously I don't have money. Where the fuck am I supposed to get it from if I'm going to classes for full days and making less than $400 a fucking month? Susan, why all the drama? All I asked you to do was send me a date when you were going to Pay me back and I'll send you $20. Wow. Elaine, I'm just working from now on. I'm not going to school anymore. I'm tired of this shit and you're both just talking to me like I should be fucking doing this on my own. I need money and you fucking leave me out to dry. So I'm gonna find a full time job and not ask you for shit anymore. Susan, no comment. You always do what you want anyway. Elaine, this is me trying to fucking communicate with you because you're my mother and I'm not sure if you realize, but every time I try to have a goddamn serious conversation with you, you just reply with a rude, hurtful or snarking remark. It's really not cool and it fucking hurts my feelings. So you'll compromise your education for just texting a date when you can pay me? If I were you, I would just text back with the dates. All the time you spend texting me, voice, text, whatever, you could have easily just texted me the date and this drama would not have happened. Elaine, you don't understand how fucking shitty it feels that I have to text my fucking mum the biggest issues of my life or a serious situation and making myself vulnerable by communicating my feelings to you and reaching out just for you to slap my hand and laugh in my face and tell me to stop being dramatic. It seriously fucking hurts. I tell you to get your head out of your ass so many times, but you just can't be fucking sympathetic at all. So my mother is just an acquaintance to me now. All you did was give birth to me, but you have no idea who your own daughter really is because of your own pride or whatever the fuck it is. Nice job. I don't think you realize how deep our hurt and problems and issues run between us because you refuse to face it and just play everything off by just pushing everything down further and further. Eventually it's going to blow up in your face and it'll be way too late by then. Daisy talks to her parents on FaceTime for at least two hours every day and her parents make sure she's fed and provided for because they love her. And that's how a parent shows love. I have a rude and mean ass person as my mum who I know loves me and cares but treats me like shit, which makes it even worse. And I'm not even allowed to call my dad on weekends. I don't even know my grandparents names. You and me were supposed to stick together and you were supposed to help me succeed in Life. But when I talk to my mom, I feel like I'm in a drama fight with one of my high school friends. Enemies. Grow the fuck up for the both of us and put on some big girl pants. You can't hold the way I acted when I was a teenager towards you against me. I was still growing up and learning I was a brat and I realized that it was a pain in the ass. But I didn't know any better and you were supposed to guide me. You were a grown adult by the time you had me. You have no excuse. And now you keep dragging it and continuing to treat me the same and. And neither of us are going to get anywhere until you admit to yourself and reflect on yourself. I already have. So many times. For me, this is the last fucking time I'm talking about it to you because I'm fed up. I'm not bitter toward you and I've been trying to reach out so that we can have a good relationship or at least try to work on one as a mom and a daughter so I have someone to talk to, not just a call. When something goes wrong in my life, I'm just so frustrated because you have put absolutely nothing into it at all and it fucking hurts. All of our fights are because of money and literally the only option is if I just start working full time. Sorry, I want to go to school, but I have a hard time turning assignments on time and going to my classes anyways. So I guess whatever. Okay, so there is more to unpack there than I could ever be qualified to do. So to be honest, I'm not even going to try. The difficulty is, even when you're making an effort to add context to things, you can't add all of the context. You can't even know unless you experienced it yourself. I don't know everything that was going on in Elaine's world around the time these messages were sent, or Susan's for that matter. So I can't really comment on the approach from either side. What is clear without too much analysis is that Elaine was feeling severely let down by her mother and that she had also inherited Susan's ability to strike out when angry. Elaine clearly wanted something Susan was unable to give her and that resulted at times in explosive exchanges like this. But I don't want to paint the wrong picture here. The vast majority of their messages are what you'd expect the relationship between a mother and her 20 year old daughter to be. Susan is constantly pushing Elaine to be more responsible. Elaine is constantly demonstrating that that isn't even remotely part of her plans. And the rest of the time they're talking about things like who Elaine voted for in the 2016 election. As Susan puts it, the reality TV star or the liar, the latest episode of Shark Tank, the Victoria's Secret fashion show. Or quite often, just food. Like on November 13th when Susan says I make kimchi chiagi with beef and mixed veggies. Or on the 15th when Elaine asks Susan to get apple juice, cinnamon toast crunch, Fruity Pebbles, s', mores, Pop Tarts and pumpkin pie from the grocery store. And I have to laugh because a day later, after Susan's bought the groceries, Elaine messages and says, can you send me $10 please? Me and Sadie just cleaned our cars and now I need food. And Susan replies, no, eat the groceries I bought. But there are also a couple of messages that answered some pretty key questions for me too. For example, you might remember to live and die in LA making mention of the fact that Susan had deleted her messages with Elaine. And Susan saying something about switching from a Samsung to an iPhone around that time. She also mentioned to Neil Strauss that she had a habit of deleting old messages and that she was concerned about accidentally deleting deleting messages she didn't want to because the iPhone didn't allow her to lock them, whereas her Samsung would allow her to. There's an insinuation that that may have been, let's just say, erroneous, an excuse for why she went on to delete her messages with Elaine after her disappearance. Well, I can confirm that what Susan's saying is actually 100% true because Susan upgrades to an iPhone on or around the 22nd of November, and on the 28th of November, Susan actually messages Elaine asking do you know how to lock a text message on iPhone? To which Elaine replies, what do you mean lock? Susan explains, I like to lock texts and delete the rest so I don't need to keep following up. And Elaine goes on to explain that you can't actually do what she wants on an iPhone. Shifting back to the financial side of things again, Susan tells Elaine on the 23rd of November that she's applying for food stamps and medi cal, which is essentially government provided healthcare for those living at or slightly above the poverty line. On 27 November, Elaine messages Susan saying since I don't work at my job anymore, can you please just fill my tank maybe like once every two weeks or something? And Susan replies, reminder that I do not work either. Can you help with paying something? And Elaine confuses Susan with her reply, dang mum, sass is extra real today. To which Susan replies, sass real. To put things into perspective in terms of how much they were struggling financially, Elaine messages Susan about ordering herself a pizza. At one point in December, Elaine's got an online cart going for a single large pizza. Half pepperoni, jalapeno, half ham and pineapple for $17.42, including tax and fees. Susan's response, too much. Look for a coupon. Elaine goes on to ask Susan to download the Postmates app and send Chipotle or Panda Express or Popeyes to her. Susan replies and tells her she can't afford it, she might not be able to pay the electric bill. And Elaine replies, asking if she can just send her credit card details through and she can order it herself, to which Susan, of course, says, no. There's another moment when Elaine messages Susan on the same day she's in court for a traffic violation. 16 December. She asks Susan to look for a book in her bookcase, and Susan replies, what book? Elaine doesn't reply, so Susan says, not on the top of your desk. Bookcase. Should I look inside? And Elaine responds, stop going in my fucking room, Mom. I said the bookcase. Never mind. You're so aggravating. Susan replies, the bookcase is inside your room. You asked me to look. And Elaine doesn't respond. There's an interesting exchange. About half an hour later, Elaine messages saying she's super frustrated with Susan and she's walking into court late without her id. Susan sends her a photograph of her driver's license and Elaine replies, I fucking told you, I already. I have my picture id. Susan tells her she needs to look after it as best she can, and Elaine responds, asking Susan how she got a photo of her license. Susan tells her she sent it to her a while back, and Elaine responds, nope, I never sent you my updated license, ever. Don't lie to me. How did you get it? I never sent you that license picture. So how did you get it? And Susan responds, you are sick. They go back and forth a bit, Elaine demanding an answer, Susan continuing to maintain that Elaine had sent it to her previously. Before Elaine closes the conversation down by saying, this is why I can't trust you. You move like a snake. Even if you aren't one, you definitely act like one. It's not hard to be a good person. It's worth noting that a couple of weeks earlier, on 26 November, after she had been issued her new license, Elaine messages Susan asking her to send A picture of the license to her. Susan says she'll need to search for it because she's on her new iPhone and Elaine says it's okay, she found it in an email. Susan says, you got it. Elaine replies, yeah. And the conversation ends. Elaine messages Susan on 17 December, saying her OPA is going to see if he can lend her money for food and gas and he'll quick pay the money to Susan so Susan can just give her the cash for now. She says she asked him because Susan starts a world war every time she asks for anything. Susan responds, depends on how much because I'm not working and very limited on money. Elaine says she needs at least $40 till Wednesday. Elaine pushes it again, can I just borrow $40 from you, please? Dustin said he's low on cash and he has bills due. Susan responds, I can't. I told you I don't work. Elaine responds about 45 minutes later, telling Susan Dustin is going to send her $30. But as it turns out, Dustin accidentally sends the money to Elaine's account, which is already a negative, so she's not going to actually be able to use the money he sends her. Susan says, sorry, then I can't give it to you. I will then be negative and repeats to Elaine the message she sent saying Dustin's going to send her $30. Elaine replies, I just fucking told you he sent it to my account before I could tell him to send it to you. And this time Susan actually does snap and replies, then I can't fucking give it to you. Use the math. Elaine replies, I know I'm not coming anymore. You'll remember in the last episode we spoke a little about the car accident Elaine was involved in and the insurance claim she submitted and Susan was helping to try to push through. They talk about it a fair bit in their messages. Between November and January on 2 December, Elaine messages Susan and asks her to hurry on the insurance check and tells her that if you press on it they'll get it done faster. She says that Sadie kept pushing and pushing and she got her check processed quickly. She's mentioning all of it because as she says to Susan, she's not working anymore and her Speedy Cash loan is going to keep withdrawing over and over and over again from her account. Susan tells her she might need to ask her dad for help in terms of servicing the Speedy Cash loan. She says she spoke to the insurance company the day before and they advised it could take around eight months from the date of the accident to settle. She encourages Elaine to also call and follow up if she wants to try and push it through quick. Quickly. Back on 16 December, after her court date, Elaine messages Susan again asking how the insurance check is coming along. Because it's Christmas, basically, and that's bullshit. It's on the back of her asking Susan if she can borrow $65 to pay off a $75 fine. Susan asks why she needs it right now and Elaine says she has to pay it right now. Susan tells her to ask her dad because she has no money. Elaine says she already tried asking her dad and he said no. And Susan asks her for clarification on what the $75 is actually for. She says, I thought you were just getting a trial date. Elaine replies, saying it's something to do with an administration fee and she actually got the judge to reduce it. It's normally $179. She goes on to say, I'm not taking out another bullshit ass Speedy Cash loan because you can't lend me $65 right now. The same shit situation again. Really? And Susan replies, I do not have the money. And then things kind of kick off again. Elaine, I'm so tired of you. You make me go through hell. I'm done. I'm not taking out another Speedy Cash loan, so I'm just not going back or paying it. If a warrant gets put on my record or I get a failure to appear, fine. It's not my problem anymore. I'm not going to any more court dates. I'm not doing any of it anymore. Now Dad's pissed off at me. We had a good setup arrangement so he could provide me some food and gas. But because of bullshit circumstances, I annoyed him and it's fucking up our relationship again. Ask dad. I'm broke. You just have to ask him to do it. Dad can pay it. Tell Dad I have no money. You already don't do shit as a mother. Own up and learn some responsibility. Dad is an actual person too. He works for his money. You run him into the ground because you're so childish and needy. Greedy probably into his grave. Let the man live his life. He deserves it. I'm dropping by the house to use the Internet and download some project stuff. Leave $67 in my room so I can pay the fee before 4. I can pay you $67. I'll drop it off on Thursday if it's not in my room and you seriously can't pay it. It's fine. I'll figure it out. But I'm not taking out another loan. I'm not gonna show up and maybe pay it next week when dad gives me money. Just realize I'm gonna have to deal with a lot of bullshit that's unnecessary. Hopefully I don't get a penalty fine or a warrant. Don't talk to me when I get there. I don't want fights. I want a lock on my door asap. Especially if Jeff is always there or other of your friends. Asap. One that only I have the key to to. If not, I'm emptying my whole room out. There's no context to the last part of her message, so it's difficult to ascertain why she's asking for that, but it definitely feels a little uncomfortable. Susan doesn't reply to her messages until the next morning when she suggests they both go to church together. Elaine replies to say they should go separately first before going together. Elaine messages Susan again on the 17th of December, insurance check. It's already Christmas, biggest letdown of my life. And Susan replies, I thought you called them. Keep calling. Elaine says she did call and they told her Susan had already called and they were waiting for the counteroffer. She tells Susan to keep pushing it because as the mum they'll do it right away. She says, I could have had the check a long time ago. Sadie got her 7G a week after she kept calling and complaining that she needed her compensation for a car and Susan simply replies with okay. There's an odd interaction between them. On the 20th of December, Susan messages and asks Elaine if she's coming home. Then she goes on to say, thanks for hanging up on me. Elaine replies, I told you I'll be out. I'm just driving around la, so please leave me alone. You're ruining my night. Susan replies, you said you were going to bring me a corn dog. And Elaine says, I already told you. Instead of nagging or asking repeatedly, why don't you just listen once and shut up? No, I'm going to be out and I don't have the money to get food. Susan replies, shut up with nine question marks, to which Elaine doesn't reply. A couple of days later, on 22 December, Elaine messages Susan, I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you. I appreciate you so much and I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said about Jeff either. Susan responds, are things okay with you? But Elaine doesn't reply. Later, Susan messages Elaine to ask, do you want to come to a Christmas party with us this Saturday evening? To which Elaine also doesn't reply from there, there are a whole lot of messages from Susan to Elaine in early January, reminding her of upcoming appointments, letting her know she'd made food if Elaine wanted it, giving her advice on how to handle traffic violation charges, and complaining about her cat meowing constantly at Elaine's door, to which Elaine replies that the cat isn't allowed in her room anymore and for Susan to just shut her own door if she's sick of hearing the cat. When I go through all the messages between November and the day Elaine disappeared, there's around nine and a half thousand words exchanged between the two of them. I ran through them again, looking specifically for any time Susan lashed out or responded angrily, aside from the ones we already know about on the day before Elaine disappeared. And here they all are on November 8, after Susan reminds Elaine she owes her $105 and had committed to sending it back to her the day before. Elaine says, yeah, and then can I send you money to hold for me so I can save for New York? To which Susan responds in all caps, no, no, no. Send $105 midnight. Of course, there's a message on the 17th of December, I can't fucking give it to you that we covered earlier. Then on 27 December, in response to Elaine saying her house keys were locked inside the house, Susan replies, you better not have broken through the window with a series of characters and question marks. After, when Lane goes to get groceries and doesn't send Susan the receipt, Susan messages in all caps, give me receipt now, followed again by a series of characters and question marks followed by there's a good reason why I'm always angry and upset with you and it's not good for my health. And finally, on January 23rd, fucking messy bitch with no context and. Well, that's pretty much all of it. Out of nine and a half thousand words and 84 pages of messages, there are only five angry or aggressive messages from Susan to Elaine, at least in that window of time. I closed my laptop when I reached the end of the pages and pages of communications between Elaine and Susan and rubbed my temples. I now had a comprehensive view of the way they communicate with each other and a much broader outline on the status of their relationship. Yes, it was fiery, and yes, Susan sent messages that were aggressive and hostile, but Elaine could give as hard as she got. And I mean, of course she could. Her mum is exactly the same. But was there anything in there that suggested Susan might have intentionally plotted Elaine's demise? Absolutely not. At worst, there's a predisposition for anger, for snapping. So the possibility of an accidental death and a cover up, sure, that's possible, I guess. But was there really anything that indicated that might have been the case? Well, to really get a view on that, I needed to take what I had the detailed timeline and Elaine and Susan's communications, layer them over each other and take a look at one more piece, the data. And once I did that and took a step back to look at everything holistically, I found enough to give me the answers I'd been looking for all along. But that's next time on among the Missing. Thanks for listening. If you're looking for more of among the Missing, jump on over and take a look at our subscription offer on either Apple Podcasts or or Patreon. There's some really great content on there already, including expanded interviews and our first subscriber only bonus episode she said she want to Disappear. If you know anything about what happened to Elaine or where she is, a Reward fund of $25,000 cash is still on offer. If you'd like any more information on the reward or you have any information relating to Elaine's disappearance whatsoever, please visit our website@amongthemissingpodcast.com we you can send us a message or leave us a voicemail. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok at among the Missing podcast. If you've got any questions you'd like to be addressed in our Q and A episodes, please visit our website@amongthemissingpodcast.com and either send us a message or leave us a voicemail. Among the Missing is a production of FTM Media, produced by Troy Taylor, Mark Tarulli and Fred Schurzer, written by Troy Taylor. Our theme song is Lucid Symphony by Dirty Freaks. Elaine park is still a missing person and her case is still open with the Glendale Police Department. If you have any information about her whereabouts, please contact them on 818-548-3135 and mention Elaine's case number 1715 12.