MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF: Tripp Brazeale

Summary

Crime Junkie — "MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF: Tripp Brazeale" (June 8, 2026)

Episode Overview

In this gripping episode, Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat investigate the mysterious death of 15-year-old Tripp Brazeale in Forrest City, Arkansas, in November 2024. What was officially ruled a suicide during a police pursuit is now deeply questioned by his family, local community, and a private investigator. Through firsthand family accounts, gaps in the police narrative, and troubling procedural red flags, Ashley and Brit explore whether the true story may be far more sinister than officials claim.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Night of the Incident: Police Pursuit Gone Wrong

• Setting the Scene
  Deputy Trey Bynum chases a four-wheeler in rural Arkansas just past midnight (00:40–01:51). The chase ends with the rider jumping off and escaping into the woods. The rider: 15-year-old Tripp Brazeale.

• Immediate Aftermath
  Despite a manhunt involving backup units, drones, and dogs, Tripp is not found overnight. Deputies recover scattered belongings: two boots, a hat, a wallet, a charger, and a hoodie.

  [01:51] (Sgt. Kinney): “There's gonna be a white male on a camouflage hoodie and blue jeans. Look like he went off that way. Did he roll it or something?”
  [03:05] (Host): “Just one boot?” -- “Just one.”

• Discovery
  The next day, authorities find Tripp hanging from a tree with a green ratchet strap. The official ruling: suicide, but Arkansas State Police nonetheless conduct an internal investigation.

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2. Gaps & Red Flags: Piecing Together the Timeline

a. Tripp’s Phone Call and Bizarre Texts

• Parental Accounts
  Tripp calls his mother ~40 minutes after running (approx. 1:21 am) to ask for help picking him up. He seems calm, makes no mention of being chased. His parents, Jennifer and Gil, prepare to help him. Suddenly, Gil receives a call from a deputy looking for Tripp.

• The Strange Text
  About 20 minutes later, Jennifer receives a long, emotional group-message from Tripp's phone—ostensibly a suicide note. She immediately finds it suspicious.

  [13:51] (Text from Tripp’s phone): “I love you all so much. Y' all have been great parents to me. I guess I'm just a f up, and I couldn't change that… I love y' all so much. My phone is about to die, so I got to go. I never wanted to end this way, but I guess it has to. I love y' all. I'm so sorry.”

  Jennifer: “The text did not sound like Tripp at all…he would never say those things, he never talked that way.” [14:28]

b. Inexplicably Missing Law Enforcement

• Jennifer and Gil arrive at the site (tracked by "Find My" app) to find no one: no Tripp, no deputies, no vehicles—despite the "manhunt."
• They search for hours alone before finally getting a late-night call from Sgt. Kinney asking if they've found Tripp.

c. Deepening Mysteries Around the Chase

• No Clear Probable Cause

  • Despite pursuit policy requiring "immediate danger," neither Bynum nor Kinney can articulate a clear reason for the high-speed chase.
  • On tape:

    [19:08] (SSA Mac): “What was the probable cause? … Did you clock him on radar?”
    (Bynum): “No, sir.”

• Body Cam Policy Violations

  • Bynum manually turns off his camera at 12:51am. There’s a 49-minute gap before footage resumes at 1:40am—with Bynum now wearing latex gloves.
  • Department policy requires that cams stay on for the entirety of an interaction.

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3. Investigation by Family and Private Investigator

a. Mismatched Timeline & Physical Impossibilities

• Unusual Item Placement

  • Personal items (boots, hat, hoodie) spread illogically far from chase and search grids.
  • Gil and PI Cody Turner retrace the "impossible" mile-plus trek barefoot through violent terrain—Tripp's feet were unmarked, even though all shoes had been removed.

• Logistics of the Hanging

  • The branch in question is only ~2 inches thick but needed to hold Tripp’s 119 lbs. An outside forensic pathologist says the physical setup doesn’t match what’s plausible.
  • The ratchet strap allegedly used was tied in a slipknot unfamiliar to Tripp, who often needed help tying fishing line.

  [41:11] (Dr. Ashley Matthew, independent pathologist):
  “Based on her own research, branches 5 inches in diameter can hold ~115 pounds. The branch here was barely over 2.”
  “The manner of death would best be classified as undetermined as the role of law enforcement, if any, in the death is unclear.” [43:59]

• Crow Creek Exclusion

  • Deputies tell volunteers not to search “Crow Creek”—then Tripp is later found there.

b. The Anonymous Caller

• An anonymous 911 call identifies Tripp by name and pinpoints his location soon after the chase, before this was known to the public. Details of the call and the caller’s identity are fully redacted.

c. Missing Recordings and Evidence

• The body cam gap covers a key window. Other deputies’ body cam footage never surfaces (one disc given to the family is blank).

• When Jennifer requests dispatch logs, she’s told the hard drive was destroyed by a lightning strike.

  [65:07] (Brit): “Where do they keep this hard drive? Like, on the top of a flag pole?”

• Key items like Tripp’s clothing and socks are withheld, even though the case is ruled a closed suicide.

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4. A Civilian Witness: The Ride-Along

• Preston Cox’s Perspective

  • 21-year-old civilian Preston Cox, on a "ride-along" with Bynum that night, is later tracked down by PI Cody.
  • He leaves the area and law enforcement interest soon after the incident.

  [59:15] (Cody quoting Preston Cox): “I hate that it ended that way, I really do. But I couldn’t have done anything in my power to change what happened without getting Mr. Bynum in trouble.”

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5. Daylight Savings Twist

• Ashley realizes November 3, 2024, was Daylight Savings Time change—possibly doubling the body cam time gap to 1 hour and 49 minutes. This anomaly could explain mismatches between activity logs, parent recollections, and documented searches.

  [62:37] (Ashley): “That means that the missing 49 minutes could actually be an hour and 49 minutes.”

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6. Community Reaction & Ongoing Fallout

a. Rumors and Tensions

• The town is rife with rumors of cover-up. A community comment:

  “They personally thought that the deputy shot him and then hung him.” [08:39]

b. Suspicious Law Enforcement Histories

• Both Bynum and Kinney have documented records of insubordination and misconduct in prior law enforcement jobs.

• After the episode, Marion PD reviews Bynum’s employment and ultimately terminates him due to undisclosed prior discipline. He is rehired days later by the original St. Francis County Sheriff's Office.

  [71:01] (City statement):
  “The omission resulted in the department not obtaining and reviewing the complete employment documentation at the time of hire… continued employment … is no longer in the best interest of the department, the city, or the community moving forward.” [72:43] (Ashley): “He has been rehired by the St. Francis County Sheriff’s Office… [Sheriff] May called Bynum a good officer and said he looks forward to working with him again.”

c. Family Advocacy

• Gil, Tripp’s father (former LEO himself), and Cody, the PI, are running for Sheriff in their respective counties, seeking more accountability.
• Jennifer highlights the critical importance of using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to extract records and hold officials accountable.

  [76:25] (Ashley): “We actually created a FOIA guide on our website inspired by this case…”

d. Forensic Updates

• The family still possesses Tripp's phone, which is being forensically analyzed. Its contents may clarify the movement, messaging, and timeline of the final hours.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (With Timestamps)

• [14:28] (Jennifer, mother): “The text did not sound like Tripp at all…he would never say those things, he never talked that way. He definitely never texted in long paragraphs like that.”
• [41:14] (Ashley/Dr. Matthew): “It's not mathing.” “No. Especially when you consider ... drop force and any sort of struggle afterwards.”
• [43:35] (Dr. Matthew, read by Brit):

  “In my opinion, the manner of death would best be classified as undetermined as the role of law enforcement, if any, in the death is unclear.”

• [59:15] (Cody relaying Preston’s view):

  “I couldn’t have done anything in my power to change what happened without getting Mr. Bynum in trouble.”

• [65:07] (Brit):

  “Where do they keep this hard drive? Like, on the top of a flag pole?”

• [76:25] (Ashley):

  “We actually created a FOIA guide on our website inspired by this case…”

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Important Segment Timestamps

| Timestamp | Topic | |-----------|-------| | 00:37 | Pursuit begins, four-wheeler crash, rider flees | | 03:03 | Early search, manhunt, first clues found | | 12:30 | Tripp’s phone call to parents, “stranded” | | 13:51 | Strange “suicide” message arrives | | 14:28 | Jennifer doubts authenticity of message | | 16:24 | Parents begin solo search, no deputies present | | 18:49 | Lack of clear cause for pursuit made explicit | | 26:27 | Community rumors, context from neighbors | | 30:00 | Mysterious anonymous call ID’ing Tripp | | 34:15 | Odd placement of items, search gaps | | 41:08 | Hanging mechanics questioned by pathologist | | 43:59 | Dr. Matthew’s expert opinion: should be “undetermined” manner of death | | 44:03 | Body-cam footage timeline reconstructed | | 49:16 | Camera off, back on, gloves now on | | 50:31 | Private investigator questions ATV collision | | 56:57 | Preston Cox’s ride-along, subsequent career change | | 62:37 | Daylight Savings realization, possible time manipulation | | 65:07 | Hard drive “struck by lightning” destroys dispatch logs | | 71:01 | Marion PD fires Bynum, details in city statement | | 72:43 | Breaking news: Bynum rehired by St. Francis County Sheriff | | 76:25 | FOIA advocacy and guide announcement |

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Episode Takeaways

Crime Junkie presents the Tripp Brazeale case as a chilling, multi-layered mystery rife with procedural questions, lost evidence, possible cover-ups, and broken trust in law enforcement. Despite being officially ruled a suicide, major inconsistencies—from the timeline, evidence trail, and bodily injuries, to the digital record-keeping—leave the door wide open for lingering doubts and suspicions, particularly for Tripp’s family and their allies.

Listeners are encouraged to learn about their rights to records (via FOIA), follow the latest on the Crime Junkie website, and reach out with any direct knowledge about the case.

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For more, full sources, and the FOIA guide: visit crimejunkie.com. If you know something about Tripp Brazeale’s death, contact [e-mail].

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Transcript

[A]

Hi, crime junkies. It's Britt and I have big news. One of my favorite seasonal shows, Counterclock is back with a brand new season and it is wild. Host Delia D' Ambra is digging into the 2008 Lane Bryant murders. I mean, this isn't just a recap, it is a re investigation. She's talking to law enforcement, people from the community, even sources who have never spoken publicly until now. And you know I love a show that asks all the questions. Listen to Counterclock Season eight now, wherever you get your podcasts.

[B]

It's 12:40am on November 3, 2024, and St. Francis County Deputy Trey Bynum is in hot pursuit. He's on a rural road in Forest City, Arkansas, chasing someone on a four wheeler. And they are both booking it down this windy road in the dark. From the sound of it, BYN is right on their tail. So when they come onto this raised dirt berm in the road, almost at once, both the four wheeler and Bynum's truck go airborne before crashing back down to the road. Now, both vehicles get turned around, but something happens to the four wheeler and it stops suddenly. So Bynum slams on his brakes and calls out to the rider, get on the ground. But before he can even approach the four wheeler, the rider is on foot. He hops a fence and darts into the woods. It's all so fast that by the time Bynum draws his service weapon and aims for the woods, the rider is gone. Now, rather than jumping the fence and following him into the woods in the dark, Bynum decides to run back to his truck and call in the stop over his radio.

[C]

He wrecked out. I got the four wheeler.

[B]

There was another deputy following close behind Sergeant David Kinney. So it only takes a minute for him to pull up.

[C]

I'm good, but we went up the ditch. I said I'm good, but we went up that ditch right there. Both of us, me and him, both. I need the trailer because I'm towing that one. There's gonna be a white male on a camouflage hoodie and blue jeans. Look like he went off that way. Did he roll it or something? He turned it and jumped off and took off running across the field.

[B]

So Sergeant Kinney goes to get the trailer so that they can tow the four wheeler while more backup begins arriving and several deputies begin to assist in this manhunt. But they're having no luck. Not after 4:20am When Kinney comes back and calls the fire department and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to come and set up thermal Night vision drones to assist or after 7:20am when the East Arkansas Department of Corrections brings tracking dogs to the scene. Though they do find signs of the man who fled on foot. Deputies locate a boot and a hat a short distance from where he entered the woods.

[A]

Just one boot?

[B]

Just one. But even with this physical trail, for some reason the canines aren't able to track his path. By the time daylight breaks, authorities are no closer to finding their man. So they decide to call in even more reinforcements. By that afternoon, there's not only the sheriff's deputies searching, but also state police troopers, the state emergency response team, two local fire departments, Forest city police officers and volunteers. They create a search grid and form eight teams to deploy in different areas. And they do end up finding a second boot, a wallet, a phone charger and hoodie. But their man is still in the wind. And almost 19 hours after they first began their pursuit at 7:18pm the manhunt is called off due to the dark, and it is set to resume the next morning. So they pick up again in the morning. But it's not until late afternoon, around 2:12pm as their search radius widens, that one of the groups finds several footprints in a creek. A search of the creek bed comes up empty. But one Game and fish warden notices a trail of broken twigs from the creek leading up to the base of a steep ridge. She follows it one step at a time, and when she looks up, she sees who they were all after. And he is hanging from a tree at the top of the ridge with a green ratchet strap around his neck. Now, his death is ultimately ruled a suicide by ligature hanging, the assumption being that this rider took his life, maybe so he didn't have to face the consequences. But Arkansas State Police still conducts a death investigation anyway. And as part of it, on November 12, over a week after the chase that set off this tragic chain of events, ASP Senior Special Agent Andre Mack interviews both Deputy Bynum and Sergeant Kinney. Both interviews are recorded and both men tell pretty much the same story. So I'm just going to play you part of Bynum's interview, edited for clarity,

[D]

so you know the reason why I'm here to interview you and everything. The only reason we're trying to figure out what happened prior, if that make any sense, so you can relax and ain't nothing to be all stressed out about. I'm not reading your rights or nothing like that. I saw the video and everything, but just kind of describe what all took place and how you got to there. And how you got, you know, always to the end you can just. I mean I'm let you talk.

[C]

I'm not 100% on the actual times that we got the call before.

[D]

That's right, that's fine.

[C]

But we got a call to SFC 308. I think the address was a 711 SOC 308 to be exact, for a ping that was due to two missing juveniles out of Cross County, Arkansas. A little boy and a little girl, 11 and 12 years old. Myself, Deputy Gage Melton and Sergeant Kenny all arrived on scene, checked the location and everything. While we were there checking everything, we could hear a number of four wheelers or ATVs so to speak, making a loud ruckus through the neighborhood. Erratic speeds and just obnoxiously so. We cleared that residence from the 911 ping from that cell phone that was showing that that juvenile was there, but we did not find anybody there. As we were getting back in the trucks to clear the area, Sergeant Kenny turned out of 308 on the SFC 313 back up to 284. There was two four wheelers sitting at the stop sign. Sergeant Kenny spoke with the individuals and that's when one of the four wheelers talked, took off and the four wheeler turned around and come past us at a high rate of speed. I initiated my blue lights and my audible siren to make a traffic stop on the four wheeler and then that's when the chase began. We went down SMC 409 for about a mile, mile and a half and then we both went up a little hill and then back down. And that's when the four wheeler lost connection with the battery cable and the solenoid and the four wheeler died. The individuals that was riding the four wheeler wearing a camo hoodie, blue jeans and boots, took off running through the woods.

[D]

Sounds good. What about. Did you know who the guy was at Renowned?

[C]

No sir, I did not.

[D]

You know now, but you didn't probably know at the time.

[C]

When I found out was approximately 15 to 20 minutes later while waiting on Sergeant Kenny to bring the trailer back from the sheriff's department.

[B]

Bynum says he never had any personal interaction with the individual. And this is important because you see, it seems like part of the reason this investigation is even happening is because in the week following the incident, rumors had begun to take hold in the minds of the small town community members in Forest City. Rumors that this manhunt and this tragic suicide wasn't at all what authorities were claiming it to be.

[C]

This is on the News Channel 3 websites where they were making comments and it says right there back that they personally thought that the deputy shot him and then hung him.

[B]

Any amount of real reporting will show you that nothing is what it seems. In this case, that man that they were looking for was actually a 15 year old boy. And there is a very good reason that people in Forest City, including his parents, think that they're being lied to. And I have a feeling you'll think that too once you hear the full story of the night Tripp Brazil died. The comment that appeared on The News Channel 3 website, the one where a community member implied that a St. Francis county deputy shot Tripp and then hung him, that didn't just come out of nowhere. There are a number of discrepancies and gaps and red flags in this death investigation. And that led people, specifically Tripp's family, friends and a private investigator, to the conclusion that everything is not as it seemed. And for you to understand, we need to go back to the beginning to hear about the events of November 3rd from a different perspective. Tripp's parents. But before I go any further, I want to note that Deputy Trey Bynum, Sergeant David Kinney and SSA Andre Mack declined to speak with us for this episode. So their side of things comes from the investigative files. Those files though, and what we learn from speaking to Tripp's parents and the PI that they later hired to help them leave a lot of unanswered questions. So let's rewind. Jennifer and Gil Brazil shared that on Saturday, November 2, Tripp was riding four wheelers all day with his brother on and his younger sister. And according to them, riding was Tripp's passion. He was a pro rider at 15, wearing out three dirt bikes a year. Jennifer said that if it did not involve riding a dirt bike or a four wheeler, Tripp wasn't interested. It's part of the reason that he was homeschooled. Now, when Tripp wasn't doing schoolwork or laying tile with the flooring company that he worked for, he was riding. So the night of November 2nd, after he's riding with his siblings, he goes to a birthday party before then meeting up with his uncle and a family friend to meet ride around some more. That's who Tripp was with when Sergeant Kinney approached him in the early morning hours of November 3rd, right before Tripp took off and the pursuit began. But what deputies didn't know is that about 40 minutes after Tripp jumped off his ATV and ran into the woods while they had deputies out actively looking for him, he called his mom. That call woke Jennifer and Gil up, but they. They were glad that it did because their son was asking for help. Tripp told them that the police got his four wheeler and asked if they could come pick him up. And the way he said it didn't make it seem like police were chasing him or anything. Maybe he downplayed it the way that, like, teenagers do. But all Jennifer was hearing was that he was stranded and needed a ride. So she was in the process of telling him that they would get dressed, they would head over, and that's when Gil's phone started ringing. And on the other end of his line was a deputy that he knew named Jason Bradshaw. And Bradshaw was asking if Tripp was home. Said that he and some other guys from the department were out there looking for him. And I think maybe this is when, like, the pieces started to click into place more. And honestly, whatever was happening, this felt like a good thing, Since Gil knew Bradshaw, Trip knew Bradshaw, too. So Gil took Jennifer's phone and told Trip, listen, Bradshaw is out there. If you want to just go turn yourself in, go ahead. So that was the plan. Wherever Tripp was in the woods, he said that he could see the blue lights from the deputies vehicles. He said that he was going to start walking up the hill to turn himself in, and his parents could see his location from the find my app. And they said that they were going to meet him there, and they actually wanted him to stay on the phone with them, But Tripp said that his phone was almost out of battery, and so they hung up. Now, as the Brazils are getting dressed and they're preparing to leave, there isn't panic in the air, like, their teenage son probably did something dumb on his atv. And like, truly, in the grand scheme of parenting, like, the stakes for this feel low. But the mood completely shifts when, around 20 minutes later, a text from Trip's phone comes in. And it doesn't make sense with the conversation they just had. It says that he loves them and he loves his sister, and he's sorry to do this. He says that he wants all of his stuff to go to his brother. And it goes on to read, quote, I love you all so much. Y' all have been great parents to me. I guess I'm just a f up, and I couldn't change that. I wish I could have. I'm sorry. None of this is Yalls fault. Only mine. I love y'. All. I'm sorry. I should have stopped, but I'm a dumbass. I love y' all so much. My phone is about to die, so I got to go. I hope this makes it to y'. All. I never wanted to end this way, but I guess it has to. I love y'. All. I'm so sorry.

[C]

Now.

[B]

This text immediately sounded alarm bells for Jennifer, but not because of the content. It was because of the wording itself. Jennifer said that the text did not sound like Tripp at all. Like, he would never say those things. He never talked that way. He definitely never texted in long paragraphs like that. Like, this was all one big message. But the thought of her son taking his own life wasn't even one that crossed her mind. So she just replied, I'm on my way. The text that she got back was more of the same. It said, quote, I'm so sorry. I love y' all so much. Y' all are the greatest parents anybody could ask for. I love y' all more than anything. End quote. Eight minutes later, Gil and Jennifer pulled up to the woods and began walking to the exact spot where Trip's phone last showed his location. It wasn't actively tracking him anymore, but they knew where he was just moments ago. Except when they got there, there was no Trip. And even weirder, they didn't see anyone else around. No deputies, no patrol cars, no lights, nothing. Just the dark and eerily quiet woods. They tried calling Tripp, but by then, his phone was going straight to voicemail. So, not knowing what else to do, they started looking for their son themselves with flashlights and an app that Gil used to make a search grid. And they just began walking back and forth in the woods, yelling Trip's name. And while doing this, they don't see a soul. Again, not Trip, but maybe more concerningly, not a single deputy yet.

[A]

Where is everyone who is looking for him?

[B]

So, per body cam timestamps and Bynum's own narrative report, it seems like he and Kenny are towing Trip's four wheeler to the sheriff's office at this point. And the Sheriff's office is like 6ish miles away.

[A]

Okay, that's two of them. What about everyone else?

[B]

I don't know who else is supposed to be out there looking or where exactly they are. All I know is that Jennifer said when her and Gil arrived, they. They were searching by themselves for a long time, they said. Hours. In all that time, they said they never saw any deputies, and they're just confused and looking around on their own until Gil gets a call from Sergeant Kinney. According to Bynum's report, this call is made right around 2:15am which lines up with what the Brazils remember too.

[A]

So how did he have his number?

[B]

Small city. I mean, actually Gilbert used to be in law enforcement. He actually trained Kenny back in the day. Oh, and Trip's older brother was friends with Kenny's son.

[A]

So like it's just a small network of people.

[B]

Yeah, it's not weird that he calls, but what he says kind of is weird. Kenny called Gil to ask if he had found or heard anything more from Trip and Gil's like, no, and why are we the only ones out here looking for him?

[A]

Right.

[B]

Like he's kind of pissed at this point that they're more worried about towing the four wheeler than looking for his 15 year old son, who is presumably lost out there in like the woods that he's not even familiar with. So according to Bynum's report, that's when Kinney went back out to continue searching.

[A]

But just Kinney, not Bynum.

[B]

No. Bynum writes that during that time he and another deputy continued working leads for that other two missing juveniles from Cross County. The whole reason that they were out there that night to begin with. And so he basically says that he is tied up with that until like 3:45am and then that's when he links up with the people looking for Trip. And we know that it's sometime after that when the search really picks up with like the drones and the dogs and everything. Now I want to point out the first two, like really big. Wait, what moments in this story? When we started the story, it sounded like a manhunt.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

They were never hunting for a criminal. Every bit of this search was always a search for a missing kid. The kid is missing because the ATV he was riding stopped working after he was chased on it by deputies. He was being chased by deputies because. Oh wait, apparently no one can say. Here is another excerpt from Bynum's interview with SSA Mac.

[C]

So.

[D]

So we can get some clarification on one thing, you know. Cause it'll be brought up. The reason why you was fleeing him, you was chasing him, was because it appeared to you he was fleeing from David Kenny.

[C]

Yes, sir.

[D]

And do you know why David Kenny even stopped him? Or he was just. Was he just doing a welfare check on him? Was there a reason for him to stop him? Was he on a road that wasn't supposed to have no four wheelers?

[C]

It was on Highway 284 and in the area of that neighborhood that we was on Driving at erratic speeds and obnoxiously.

[D]

And so do y' all think y' all might. He made. Did this person. They may have been a part of that kid that may have been missing this pinion in Cross county. From Cross county?

[C]

No, sir, I don't. These two, like I said, was 11 and 12 years old.

[D]

Okay, so you just in that area, but then ran across them and decided to check them on the reason why? I was saying that because it's late at night.

[C]

Late at night, Highway 284. But there's a lot of people driving through there at that time. You know, someone's intoxicated and stuff like that.

[D]

So your reason, Give me your reason for chasing him. I want to make sure I understood your reason.

[C]

I initiated the blue lights and the sirens for the four wheeler to stop and it didn't stop.

[D]

Okay, but what was the probable cause? I guess what I'm trying to say,

[C]

the excessive speeds and.

[D]

You understand Always. Yeah. Did you. Did you clock him on radar this?

[C]

No, sir.

[D]

No, I'm not trying to. You know what I'm saying? I won't because what the family gonna say is I understand this and that and the other. You know what I'm saying?

[C]

So I know my truck speed and the four wheeler speed on Highway 284 was probably around 80 miles an hour.

[D]

Okay, sounds good.

[A]

Sounds good. Those are barely answers. Would Trip have even been speeding if he wasn't? I don't know, being chased by them.

[B]

This is at the heart of everything for me. Why was he being chased? Yeah, it seems like they can't say. I mean, you saw the footage for yourself. Like could he have slowed down safely with a Dodge Ram truck right behind him going 80 miles per hour? So to try and answer some of these questions, we reached out to the St. Francis County Sheriff's office. They declined to sit down for an interview. Referring us to ASP for any questions. The Arkansas State Police. But they did provide some helpful information, specifically their agency pursuit policy. So I'm gonna have a voice actor read it. Policy.

[C]

Vehicular pursuit of fleeing suspects presents a

[B]

danger to the lives of the public officers and suspects involved in the pursuit.

[C]

It is the policy of this department to protect all persons lives to the extent possible when enforcing the law.

[B]

In addition, it is the responsibility of

[C]

the department to assist officers in the

[B]

safe performance of their duties.

[C]

To effect these obligations.

[B]

It shall be the policy of the

[C]

department to narrowly regulate the manner in which vehicular pursuit is undertaken and performed.

[B]

Another part of their policy reads the decision to initiate pursuit must be based on the pursuing officer's conclusion that the

[C]

immediate danger to the public created by the pursuit is less than the immediate or potential danger to the public should

[B]

the suspect remain at large. If an officer does decide to initiate a pursuit, they have to immediately notify communications center personnel and give the following A unit identification, B location, speed and direction of travel of the fleeing vehicle, C description and license plate number if known of the fleeing vehicle, D number of occupants in the fleeing vehicle and descriptions where possible and E reasons supporting the decision to pursue why they were

[A]

chasing him in the first place.

[B]

From what we can hear, Bynum doesn't give much of this information and definitely no reason supporting the decision to pursue.

[A]

Did Kinney call it in at all? Like he's the one that went out there to the writers first, Right?

[B]

He was, but there's no documentation showing that he called anything it. There is only two times in the materials that we've obtained where Kinney talks about what led up to this chase, and it's not all that enlightening. One time is in his interview with SSA Mac, which is again over a week after the incident, and Kenny talks about how they were all at that house investigating that tip in the other case. And as they were wrapping up there, a couple of four wheelers went by at a high rate of speed. He doesn't chase them, but it sounds like he catches up with them down the road and everyone is stopped. But as he was getting out of the truck to go talk to them, one of the riders takes off on the four wheeler.

[C]

He went a couple hundred yards and stopped, looked over his shoulder. I said, where's he going? One of the kids popped up and said, we don't know, sir. And I said, so he's just going to leave y' all here? So that's what it looks like. When he come back by and he was approaching, he was slowing down like he was going to stop. Well, I was unaware that my two deputies that were with me, I thought they went out the other way, but one of them come up behind me, pulled up beside me, and as the kid on the four wheeler was approaching, he took off. Then the pursuit was on.

[B]

Now, the one other time Kinney talks about what preceded the pursuit was when he was captured on Bynum's body cam. This is right when Kinney had supposedly, like, just gotten back with the trailer to tow the four wheeler.

[C]

So I was just going to talk to them and ask them where they were going. And, you know, while they Were running through the.

[B]

That's the moment where Bynum reaches his hand up to cut his cam before Kinney can say anything more.

[A]

Wait, he turned off his body cam?

[B]

He did. For the second time that night.

[A]

What do you mean, second time that night?

[B]

I mean that I haven't even gotten to the most suspicious can of worms. The missing time. We have Bynum's body cam footage from the night of the pursuit. Right. Like, it shows the pursuit, it shows the towing of Trip's four wheeler. But what I haven't mentioned yet is that these two things didn't happen in quick succession. Not even close. There is a 49 minute gap between when Bynum turns off his body cam after he stops his truck, and when he turns it back on to tow the four wheeler. And when he does reactivate his body cam after that time, he all of a sudden just happens to be wearing latex. Before I get into the almost hour of time missing from Bynum's body cam, I want to talk you through some of the important and strange details that the Brazils learn through their records, requests, and the work of their PI and this PI Is a former detective named Cody Turner. And I think this is going to help you understand how critical the missing window of time actually is. So let's go back to when this pursuit began. We don't know why it started. There was no probable cause to go after Tripp on the atv, but his parents start hearing concerning things from people in the community that make them wonder if Tripp was chased just because he was Tripp. The Brazils say that Tripp had plenty of run ins with law enforcement. Now, he'd never been arrested or anything, but he'd certainly been stopped on his four wheeler before. And they say that he knew Bynum and Kinney. Now, we weren't able to corroborate this next part, but Gill told us that in the months leading up to the pursuit, a state trooper warned Gill that members of the sheriff's office were, quote, hunting his son, which was obviously worrisome.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So the Brazils specifically told Tripp before all this to be careful. And a woman that we spoke to named Sandra Davis, who lived near the Brazils and who helped in the search for Tripping. She told us that about a week before Tripp's death, he rode his dirt bike up her driveway and back behind her house. And when she asked him what he was doing, he seemed really, genuinely scared. And he said that someone was after him. And, quote, if he catches me, he's gonna kill Me.

[A]

Who is he?

[B]

Sandra said that Tripp never specified, but a few minutes later, she saw a sheriff's office vehicle go down the road. And. And then Tripp said, okay, maybe he's gone, so I can go. So it seems like Tripp was clearly aware of someone in the sheriff's office. And we know that Trip's dad trained Kinney. Trip's brother was friends with Kenny's son. But there's this weird distancing that both Bynum and Kenny do where they say that they don't even know Trip. Kenny says that he wouldn't know Trip if he walked up and spit on him.

[A]

Okay, even if you want to say you didn't know he was the one on the atv, you said this is like, a really. Like, a pretty small community. Like, why pretend you have no idea who this kid even is?

[B]

I don't know. I mean, one thing that makes the text seem like they're from Trip, right, Is that he mentions his siblings by

[A]

name, but Kinney's admitting to knowing Trip's brother, right?

[B]

So it's. I know it's weird. And Kinney also says that in the three years with the department, he had never heard of any law enforcement involvement with. With, like, Tripp's name. And both he and Bynum insist that they had no idea who was on that four wheeler when the chase began. Except. Then why did Bradshaw call gil at around 1:21 saying that deputies were looking for Tripp?

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Obviously, this is concerning to Trip's parents. Well, by the time Bynum and Kinney are interviewed, there's an explanation. Apparently, at 12:59am dispatch received an anonymous call from someone who said that they knew the individual on the four wheeler was Tripp and they had his location. The caller said that he was spotted behind a church that was, like, down the road from the crash site or like. Or where the ATV stopped.

[A]

Wait, just, like, a random call, like, from someone? And this is, like, this wasn't known, right? There wasn't, like, an alert that, like, no bolo, no one knew that they were looking for someone. It's just a random call saying, like, I don't know if you need to know this, but Trip is out behind this church.

[B]

And by the way, this is like, one o' clock in the morning to your point. Like, yes, you might have heard some

[A]

like, or, like, seen siren commotion.

[B]

But, yeah, it's not like they've put out this, like, statewide alert or, like, there's no news about this yet. There's, like, nothing. But there's a 911 call with someone saying that they, oh, here's the person you're looking for. How do they even know they're looking for him?

[A]

That's exactly what I was gonna say.

[B]

And here's what stinks about this even more. Anything about who this caller was or how they knew it was Tripp is redacted in all of the materials that we received. They will not reveal who called, and they say it's because the caller wanted to remain anonymous. But, like, it makes zero sense to me. Like, you don't need to protect a witness here. This is a straightforward suicide case.

[A]

I would say there's nothing to witness. Right.

[B]

That's what everyone is saying. Like, just tell us who called. Where is that person in the community? Like, this case has gotten traction in the community. That one person could probably solve a lot. Where are they? Also, this isn't, like, a neighborhood.

[A]

No. It's, like, reminding me of, like, where I grew up.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Where there's just, like, land.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

And then some trees and a couple houses here and there. But not, like, on top of each other.

[B]

Right. There are really just, like, a few properties out this way. Literally just three that are even within, like, a half mile of the church where there's callers saying, like, he's in, like, the woods behind. And by the way, one of those people claims that they weren't even home that night. So who called?

[A]

Could it be the people that Trip was riding with? Like, wouldn't they have told Kenny, who was with them? Like, when can he stop them, though?

[B]

I'm sure they would have, like, given Trip's name, given the opportunity. But Kenny didn't stick around. It seems like once Trip, like, takes off, and then, like, everything happens kind of quick. Like, Bynum comes up, he takes off. Kenny, like, jumps back in his car, basically tells these other guys to go home. And Jennifer says that she doesn't think any of these people were the ones to have called. But you want to know something weird? I don't know how common, like, the Bynum last name is in this part of Arkansas, but one of the three houses that I mentioned, like, in a.

[A]

The only places that are closed by the search, this area.

[B]

Right. It's tied to someone with the last name Bynum. But here's the caveat. Like, we pulled a bunch of records. I can't tie any of those Bynums to deputy Bynum. Oh. So it might just be, like, the weirdest coincidence of the century. So you got all of that. All of that onto my. Wait, what? Moment number two. So we don't know why the chase started. An anonymous person calls into ID Tripp as the kid that they're looking for,

[A]

and we don't know why or how they know that.

[B]

So Bradshaw calls Gil while Jennifer is on the phone with Trip. Parents tell trip, turn yourself in. He says he's going to start walking toward the blue lights, which he can

[A]

see from wherever he is.

[B]

Then they get the weird texts from him. But when they get out to the location where his phone lasts pinged, there

[A]

is nothing and no one.

[B]

So they had to start searching themselves. Right. Former law enforcement Dad, I told you. He set up his own grid. He knows what he's doing. Now, once other first responders showed up, they began guiding the search and setting up their own grid maps. But there are three weird things about this search. One, the location of Trip's things that are found. Makes no sense to me. So the road that they're on. 409. It is a small road. Forest, woods on either side, few houses. They're traveling east. Think left to right. They hit the berm, the ATV stops, and it actually, like, turns them around. So now they're, like, facing west. Trip runs into the woods just north of the road. That's where one of his boots and his hat is found.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Then the call about him being spotted at 12:59, that is, like, west of this road. This, like, behind this church area. Right. But then all of Trip's other stuff and eventually him is found south of the road. Like, he would have had to cross back over.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Which is just odd to me when you really look at the map and also, like, how spread out everything is. Like, I just don't understand the path that he would have taken on his

[A]

own and, like, not run into other people.

[B]

Right, but that is assuming that all of the items found were left by Tripp. But what if they weren't? Where Tripp's sweatshirt and phone charger end up being found. This is the second weird thing. Gil says that he swears he had walked through that area over a dozen times that night, and he never saw anything at all. Now, it was a camo hoodie.

[A]

Okay? But there was literally looking for a

[B]

they knew what he was wearing hoodie.

[A]

Like, yeah, I feel like you'd see it. Cause that's what you're looking for.

[B]

Yes. So that's weird. I don't know how to explain it. Again, it was dark. You probably could make excuses. But let me tell you about weird thing number Three. So remember Sandra Davis? She's the neighbor whose house Tripp hit at that one time. So she also had, like, come out to help with the search. And she told us that when she and her husband got to the search area to help on November 4, there were a lot of people by that point. So her and her husband told a nearby deputy that he would go park at a friend's house in this place called Crow Creek. But according to Sandra, the deputy responded, you better not go to Crow Creek. That's done been searched. You are not going to Crow Creek. You go to Crow Creek, I'll have you arrested. For what? Sandra's husband asked. And apparently the deputy just said to don't go there. It's already been checked. Except guess where Trip ends up being found that very same day in the area of Crow Creek, which, weird, the Brazils say that area was right outside of the search grid, the one that the deputies set up. So it theoretically actually shouldn't have been checked when Sandra's husband was being told that they'd already looked there. So, fine, say the parents missed the items because it was dark or whatever reason you want to give and say that everyone's wires just got crossed or there was miscommunication or like straight up bad luck. And that's why Trip wasn't found earlier by searchers. Let's then talk about how he would have gotten to the place where he was found. It was a Game and Fish warden who found Trip. And in the Game and Fish Commission's incident report, they recorded the exact coordinates of his location. So Cody, the PI and the Brazils took those values, went out into the woods themselves to try and find the exact tree where Trip would have been found. And they did. They even later got confirmation from some law enforcement materials that it was the right tree. Now, if you look on a map, the exact location is about a mile and a half south of where Trip driver jumped off his ATV like as the crow flies. But it was pitch black out there that night. There is no walking path or anything that Trip could have taken. The terrain is what Gil described as, quote, violent ground with, like, broken bottles, barbed wire, ditches, snakes. And he knows this because he and Cody have walked this path that Trip would have taken multiple times since his death at night. And they say that it would have taken hours on foot. And that's with shoes. Trip's first boot, remember, is found pretty close to the atv, right? The second boot is found in the woods, the ones like, south of the road, maybe like a Quarter of the way into the trees. Like, based on where he's found, that means that he would have had to have made this, like hours long trek without shoes over whatever is on the forest floor, man made or otherwise. So riddle me this. When Tripp's parents go up to the funeral home and get their first chance to look at Tripp's feet, Gil says there wasn't so much as a scratch on them. Why now? He was wearing socks. And in one of the autopsy photos, you can actually see them. They look dirty. It appeared like there's even maybe a hole in the right one, like a toe is popping out. But there aren't like, closeups of the socks to help us determine if he actually, like, walked all that way.

[A]

I mean, I'm still stuck on where his boots were. Like, why would he ditch them the way he did? Like, so far apart.

[B]

I mean, it looks like, based on where it is, like the first boot might have come off when he jumped the fence. So I don't know if, like walking it. It became kind of uneven. Like, I don't know. I think I would still keep my boot on.

[A]

Yeah, at least one of them.

[B]

And listen, we asked Tripp's parents if they've been able to examine the socks, because again, I feel like if you walked out that way, you'd be able to tell that for sure. The answer is no, because even though Tripp's boots and his phone and ATV and charger and sweatshirt were all returned to the family, for some reason, the sheriff's office won't release Trip's clothing, including his socks.

[A]

Okay, but why? Like, this is a. What are they calling it? Like a closed suicide case, right?

[B]

Yes, Britt. Why? Now, meanwhile, for what it's worth, Gil says that if you were to drive from where the pursuit ended to the, like, area of the road closest to where Trip's body was found, that's like a five minute drive, tops. And in that scenario, if someone did drive Trip that night, that could also explain why the canines lost his scent so quickly in the woods. But you know what? Let's keep suspending reality. Let's pretend there is a good reason why they won't let Trip's family have the clothes that Trip was wearing when he died by suicide. They say we'll just take them at their word that he walked shoeless through the forest for hours to take his life. This is the next Wait. What moment? Do the logistics of the hanging itself actually make sense? I mean, surely this part has to be completely solid Right. For them to close this case and to be so sure, this has to be rock solid. It has to make every other weird thing that's happened up to this point easy to write off.

[A]

But this is a crime chunky episode, so I'm betting that's not how it goes.

[B]

Of course it's not. When family went out to the tree that Trip was found hanging from, they found the exact sawed off branch that was cut down to get Tripp's body. It was still right there on the ground at the base. And once they saw it, they had immediate concerns. You see, the family consulted with an independent medical examiner and forensic pathologist out of Kentucky. Her name is Dr. Ashley Matthew. Now, all she had to go off of were the autopsy photos and the ME Reports themselves. And while she does say that on paper, Tripp's death does appear to be due to ligature hanging, she adds that without photos from the scene itself, like when they found him, she can't opine on the position that the body was found in or whether it corresponds to the injuries that she can see on Trip's body. What she did do was her freaking homework, though. In her report, Dr. Matthew writes that based on her own research, branches that are 5 inches in diameter are reportedly able to hold the weight of approximately 115 pounds. But the branch that the Brazils found looks barely more than 2 inches in diameter.

[A]

And how heavy was Tripp?

[B]

He's 119 pounds.

[A]

I'm not good at math.

[B]

It's not mathing, but.

[A]

It's not mathing.

[B]

No. Especially when you consider, like, the drop force and any sort of struggle afterwards.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And we actually have a photo of the branch. Jennifer took it home with her, and she can fit her thumb and pointer finger all the way around it. Plus, even if the branch could hold Trip without a ladder or a step stool or something, Cody's not sure about the physics of the situation anyway. And what really got Cody thinking when they went out there is the fact that there was a deer stand about like, 30ft away from this tree. Investigators write that the ratchet strap used in the hanging quote, appeared to match the rope from that deer stand. But then Cody's question is, like, if Trip stopped by this deer stand to get this strap, why not make use of the actual deer stand and its ladder while you're right there? Why walk another 30ft to a tree on the edge of a gully where the act would be far more difficult? And Cody said that he has worked hangings where people have even Used their phone chargers as a mechanism. Trip had one with him that night and abandoned it long before he even made it to the deer stand. Also, how did Trip even find the strap? Because Cody interviewed the owner of that deer stand, and he said that he'd cut that strap down two years earlier when he first put the deer stand up. And he hadn't seen it since because it had gotten, like, buried under foliage. He said that he forgot it was even there, which, to me, raises the question of how Trip would have possibly found it in the dark unless somehow he knew to look for it.

[A]

And why did investigators believe that's where the strap came from?

[B]

I don't. Maybe they were just making an educated guess. I don't know if they, like, spoke to the owner of the deer stand like Cody did. And personally, I haven't even seen the rope that they're saying it looks similar to, So I don't even know if it's really a match. So, I mean, it's certainly a possibility that the strap could have come from somewhere else. And listen, while we're on the ratchet strap, there's another thing. The autopsy report states that it was tied into a slipknot with two loose ends. But Jennifer said Gill still tied Tripp's fishing lines on for him and sincerely doubted that he would know how to make a sophisticated knot like that. In the end, Dr. Matthew said this. I'm gonna have you read it in

[A]

the presence of a circumstance such as the decedent being involved in a law enforcement pursuit and reportedly fleeing from them into the woods. I would have liked to have had more information regarding Tripp's behavior and health history to confidently rule his death a suicide. In my opinion, the manner of death would best be classified as undetermined as the role of law enforcement, if any in the death is unclear.

[B]

Know what would make it clear? That body cam footage.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So let's go back to that and take a good, hard look at what we have in light of everything you now know. At 12:40am Bynum turns his body cam on. That's when we get the start of the pursuit. At 12:42, Trippe takes off on foot. There's no more vehicle chase. Bynum parks his truck, gets out to check the four wheeler, manhandling it with his bare hands. And then at 12:51, Bynum turns his camera off. The next video that comes from his camera is from when it's turned back on at 1:40am and all of a sudden, he's wearing latex gloves. So 1251 camera off. Then 1259 is when they get that anonymous call telling them that it's Tripp. And Tripp is in the woods behind the church. 1:21, Trip calls his mom, tells her he can see the blue lights and he's going to walk toward them, turn himself in. They hang up. We have no idea what is happening with Tripp in the next 20 minutes. But at 1:40am, Bynum's body cam starts again. And he's got those gloves on. A minute later, 1:41, that's when Jennifer receives that text message from Trip's phone that I read earlier.

[A]

And are we sure that Bynum turns the camera off in between, or do we just, like, maybe not have access to that footage?

[B]

You can literally see his hand, like, reach up and manually turn it off.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Now, based on their statements, this 49 minute window should be the time where Sergeant Kinney was getting the trailer. But we have no way to know that for sure because there is no body cam for him. Now, what's unclear, though, is if there was camera footage and then it just didn't get released in the foia or if he was not wearing a camera at all that night. I know when I see him on the 140 video, he's just in like a polo. So he def didn't have one on then. And I don't know about earlier, but interestingly, I know at least one other person was wearing a body cam that night. And it was actually one of the deputies that went looking for Trip after he was spotted in the woods behind the church. But when Jennifer requested all of the body cam footage from that night, she just got Bynums with that missing time and then another disc, but that disc was totally blank.

[A]

I mean, is anyone freaking out about this? Like, this? This feels like it has to be some kind of violation. Like, what's the point of body cams if you can just turn them on and off? Willy nilly.

[B]

Tripp's family is freaking out about this. Me and our reporter Nicole are freaking about this. Like, we are all freaking out about this now. And listen, we asked the sheriff's office for their body cam policy, and it states that deputies are required to turn on their body cams for every official interaction with the public, whether that is a routine conversation, an arrest, or something more serious. The cameras are supposed to help back up things like probable cause and give supervisors a way to review a deputy's actions later. But here's the key. Once that camera is on, it is supposed to stay on until, quote, the event is completed in order to ensure the integrity of the recording, end quote.

[A]

Which makes sense.

[B]

Now, there are a few exceptions. Deputies are not allowed to record communication with other officers without permission. Undercover officers, confidential informants, or private locations like bathrooms. Okay, Now I don't know if Bynum's actions fall under one of these exceptions. It sounds like each deputy has to kind of decide for themselves when an event is completed. So maybe when the chase ends and the ATV is stranded, that's complete in Bynum's mind. But then that doesn't totally add up because then why turn it back on as you're getting ready to tow it, right?

[A]

Because, like, to me, if you know you're gonna tow it, towing it would be the end of the event. Then, like, you're like, with it until it's done being towed.

[B]

I also wanna note something weird about the policy document itself that the sheriff's office sent us. So it's this like three page document with numbered bullets, but at the end of the first page it skips from 3B when and how to use the BWC to 3D restrictions on using the BWC. C is just missing. When we asked the sheriff's office about this, a representative said he never noticed the typo before. And it, quote, feels safe to say it is a clerical error.

[A]

Who feels safe about this?

[B]

Cause that I don't.

[A]

Doesn't make me feel safe. And also, like, I'm thinking like making a word document. It's kind of automatic. It should say C. Literally you, like

[B]

hit enter and it doesn't scare you.

[A]

Okay, sorry.

[B]

So do with that what you will. 1251. Camera goes off. 1 40, it's back on. And Bynum is wearing latex gloves.

[A]

And the camera cut just makes no sense. Like, if you're gonna.

[B]

That's what you said earlier.

[A]

If you're gonna turn it off at all, like, why are you turning it back on?

[B]

Like, why not just call the event complete? It's not like there's a new. This is the same thing. It's not like someone new comes in. Like you're not dealing with a new citizen. Or like, why. Yes, Bru, why turn it back on? Why? Just when you're trying to get the four wheeler onto the trailer.

[A]

Well, and like, why are you wearing gloves now? Like, now Especially maybe now.

[B]

Like, listen, I think some people could say, well, you know, he's like processing the ATV now like it's evidence. But the problem I have with that is, like, if you go back to before the camera turned off.

[A]

Oh, you said he was like, he's

[B]

manhandling that thing with bare hands. He is raw dogging that atv. So the question that the family's PI Cody has, the question that he has raised is whether it's possible that Bynum maybe hit the four wheeler during the chase. Cody actually has the four wheeler in his possession now. And before getting into law enforcement, he actually was an emt, which means that, like, he's worked quite a few wrecks. And he said that it really looks to him like the four wheeler was struck by a vehicle. He just can't prove that it was Bynum's vehicle.

[A]

So not that we followed a ton of protocol so far, but isn't there like a sort of police tactic where they can use their vehicle to like, purposely pit me down? Yeah, like hit another vehicle to stop it in pursuit.

[B]

It's called a precision immobilization technique.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

The sheriff's office pursuit policy, though, again, like we referenced that earlier, the one that we received specifically states officers may not intentionally use their vehicle to bump or ram a suspect vehicle to get them to stop.

[A]

So, okay, do we see anything like a collision on the body cam?

[B]

We don't. Like, we have the pursuit or at least the end of the pursuit. Right. But the problem is the camera is right at Bynum's chest and he's like, right on top of Trip's four wheeler the whole time. You can see the moment that both vehicles supposedly jump that hill, but it's really loud with the sirens and the four wheeler engine, so it's hard to know if there was a collision. What I think is so interesting is this part, though. Deputy Bynum gets out of his truck. He's surveying the area. He's looking at the four wheeler, and Kenny comes to follow, asking him what happened. And he said this.

[C]

There's gonna be a white male on a camouflage hoodie and blue jeans. Look like he went off that way. Did he roll it or something? He turned it and jumped off and took off running across the field. Yeah, he left his buddies hanging. Yeah, I got him step rail bent.

[A]

Wait, which step rail was bent?

[B]

Bynums? The part that caught me is the I got him line. Like, what does he mean he got him? Because, like, no, you didn't.

[A]

No, he took off running.

[B]

You were chasing him. Yeah. And he, like, ran off into the woods. You told him to stop. He didn't. What do you mean you got him? Could it be that you got him like your truck hit the atv? Now you can see Bynum's step rail is bent like in the body cam footage, but it's hard to clearly see the front of his truck. And I can't say whether the bent step rail is from hitting the ground when they like wet up that like berm or whatever or if it's from something else. You know though, there is something besides the body cam or the truck damage that could tell us if something happened to Trip that night. Or rather someone. I haven't told you this yet, but for the entire duration of the pursuit and presumably that 49 minute blackout, Bynum had a civilian ride along with him.

[A]

What?

[B]

Yep. Another set of eyes and ears who witnessed that night. Someone who could put this whole thing to rest if only his statements and actions didn't raise even more questions. And just you wait, because the biggest shock of this entire case comes at the very end. We've all heard those scary IRS radio ads that try to frighten you into calling, but tax relief advocates different if you owe the IRS 5,000, 50,000 or even $500,000, TRA has a solution for your tax problem. It doesn't matter if you're in your car, at work or with your kids, no matter where you are, visit tra.com don't lose hope. TRA could reduce or even eliminate what you owe. Their passion is taxes and helping people and businesses fix IRS problems. They have over 1000 five star Google reviews and an A rating with the Better Business Bureau. You no longer need to fear the irs. Generous tax relief programs are available now to give you a fresh start. So don't wait. Simply visit tra.com that's tra.com or call 800-583-6429. Once again, that's 800-583-6429. Tax relief advocates Real solutions for Real people We don't know much about 21 year old Preston Cox, who was Deputy Trey Bynum's ride along the night of November 2nd and into the early morning hours of November 3rd. Preston never got back to us for this episode, but through Trip's mom, Jennifer, we learned that Preston didn't know Trip personally. And from what we've been able to gather, it doesn't seem like Preston was a part of some civilian program like the Explorers or anything like that. What we know is that Preston was a mechanic who wanted to try his hand at law enforcement because he was drawn to the idea of of helping people. So I think the ride along was like a little peek behind the curtain, see what it's really like try before you buy kind of thing. Now, in my experience, you kind of got to know someone to get to do a ride along or, like, know someone who knows someone.

[A]

Yeah. Have a connection.

[B]

Right. Or maybe you just call up the sheriff's office and they let you. According to a sheriff's office representative, there is no written policy on ride alongs, but, quote, if a deputy chooses to allow a rider, it has to be cleared through the supervisor. Though there's nothing formal about, like, what that actually means.

[A]

There's, like, no process for it.

[B]

So I don't know how Preston ended up on that ride along that night or if he knew any of the deputies on the force before this, but if the goal was to see some action, he got it right. Like in that first body cam footage, you can hear Preston, like, right after that last clip that I just played where Bynum says, I got him. Preston sounds excited when he's asked if he's good.

[C]

Step rail bent. You good? I'm kind of highly thinking about doing this now. I knew we used to go airborne. You sure you're good? Huh? You sure you're good? Yeah, I'm good. Though.

[B]

Preston said he was highly thinking about going into Law Enforcement at 12:45am on November 3, at 12:50am as Bynum is walking around his truck looking at the damage, Preston asks Bynum something in a hushed tone. You on camera?

[C]

Huh? Yeah, I'm okay.

[B]

And then Preston, you can just catch a glimpse of him on the side of the frame. He proceeds to mouth something to Bynum that for the life of me, I cannot make out. I have watched this video a hundred times at this point, at every rate of speed, I've sped it up, I've slowed it down. I cannot tell what it is after that. They exchange a few more words about the damage.

[C]

This step road pretty messed up. Got the pipe. All that matters. Cover up his FMF pipe. I bet he had two. No, he only had that one. Did he? Yeah. Okay.

[B]

And that is where the video cuts off at 12:51am and whatever happened after that first body cam video cut out seems to have changed Preston's mind about going into law enforcement because according to the family's PI, Cody, shortly after this incident, Preston moved out of the area and decided not to pursue a criminal justice career again. Preston wouldn't talk to us, but Kody was able to talk to him once. And Preston told Kody that he was no longer interested in law enforcement because, quote, it's not worth it. Is it not worth it? Because you just saw a couple of deputies out there doing a standup job. And even though they did nothing wrong, community members are suggesting some kind of COVID up. Not worth it. I don't think that's it. Because in order for that to be the case, there's that whole, you have to be doing a stand up job, doing all the right things. Right. When Kody asked Preston straight up about the allegations that the public had been making, Preston said, quote, I hate that it ended that way, I really do. But I couldn't have done anything in my power to change what happened without getting Mr. Bynum in trouble.

[A]

What does that mean?

[B]

He didn't explain. He just said, I'm a ride along. And at the end of the day, that's it. Also, I don't know what to make of this, but when Kody interviewed Preston for his investigation, Preston said that while his and Bynum's interviews with the state police were the same day, Kinney was brought in the day before. But it's weird because all of the ASP reports and interview logs put the interviews happening on the same morning.

[A]

Do you think he misremembered?

[B]

I mean, he sounds completely certain of it, which just makes me wonder if there was a pre interview, like some kind of interview with Kenny the day prior to the documented interviews that for some reason wasn't recorded anywhere.

[A]

Or maybe they were logged wrong.

[B]

I don't, I still, I do not think that's it because you can literally hear SSA Max saying the date and time in the audio. So unless he's lying too, like, I don't know, it's just another thing I can't explain. I don't know what happened in the early morning hours of November 3, 2024. But the more our team looked into Tripp's case, the less the official story added up. Yes, a message came from Tripp's phone that some read as a suicide note. But when it comes in at 1:41, I don't know where his phone is. I can tell you that for the full minute. At 1:41 I can see Bynum's hands. He's messing with the four wheeler. Remember he turns his camera back on at 140 and at exactly 1:41.24, Kenny comes on screen. He's standing on the other side of the four wheeler as they're trying to get it on the trailer. So just going off this body cam footage, I think it would be easy to say that, well, they couldn't have sent the text message. We see them on Camera at the exact time, though, to be fair. Like, I don't have eyes on Preston that whole time. I mean, I know he's there. I can for sure see him on camera right after they get the four wheeler onto the trailer. But, you know, something was bothering me, like, and it's what we keep talking about. Like, it was itching my brain as I was, like, dissecting this video over and over. Why turn it back on? Yeah. I think this whole thing is more explainable if you just left the camera off.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Based on their own policy, you know, they have the right to decide when the event is over.

[A]

If it's over, it's over. Why turn it back on?

[B]

Why turn it back on at 1:40? And only for a couple of minutes, by the way. And how convenient that it is the exact time that Tripp's phone sends that message. It's just itching at me, right? Like, I was playing it over and over, looking at, like, every move, every second. And then I can't even explain how it hit me, but this thought came to me. This is early November. So I open Google and I start typing. When was daylight savings? No, in November 2024. It was November freaking third, 2024. On this night, it was 1:40 twice.

[A]

That means that the missing 49 minutes

[B]

could actually be an hour and 49 minutes.

[A]

Right. Cause at 2:00am it goes back to 1:00am for, like, fall back.

[B]

So it's possible, not definitive, but possible, that Tripp's phone sent that at 1:41, and then when 2:00 clock hits 20

[A]

minutes, 19 minutes later, it goes back to one.

[B]

So was the body cam footage at 1:40 actually, like 2:40 if it wouldn't have been daylight savings? Now, we went right to Jennifer to try and, like, pin this down, and she said she didn't even realize that the time changed that night. Like, she was so caught up in

[A]

looking for her son, she had a lot going on.

[B]

Yeah. The thing is, she's like, I don't. She can't even pin down. She's like, I don't know if it would have changed before we ever even left the house or like, as we are out in the woods, she doesn't

[A]

know which 140 it was.

[B]

If it was after, though, like, as they're in the woods. Like, that actually makes so much sense to me. Because one thing that was really throwing me was how Trip's dad was saying, like, they were out there alone, there was no one there for a long time. Right? Yeah, but. Cause when I look at the activity logs from the sheriff's office, it seems like, I don't know, maybe an hour, maybe even less. So, you know, was that just because it felt like forever because your son is missing and you're looking by yourself? Were the logs wrong or, like, is it, like, there's, like, this weird hour that's, like, not real or accounted for?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Now, there is one log from dispatch that shows time out of order. Like it reset for daylight savings. So, listen, it's very possible that everything is on the up and up, and this is just another one of the craziest coincidences of all time.

[A]

Okay, but how many of those do you get in one case?

[B]

A few more. Because I was about to say that one of the things we so desperately wanted to get our hands on to help, like, sort this out was the actual dispatch calls from that day. But in another one in a million chance. In a documented letter from the sheriff's office, they told Jennifer that they couldn't give her the audio or, like, those calls because their hard drive that, like, they kept all that on was struck by lightning. So the logs from that night were burned up, and they just don't have them anymore.

[A]

You're kidding me.

[B]

Where do they keep this hard drive? Like, on the top of a flag pole? Like, it makes no sense. Sense to me. And by the way, there is one more thing that could maybe sort all of this out, and that is Tripp's phone. And this is where I actually have good news. His family has the phone. It has been in the PI's possession in a Faraday bag, because they know that its contents are important. They want to get it forensically analyzed. And we actually asked Cody if we could help facilitate that. And he assured us that he has someone working on it and that the data should come back as soon as this month. And that data should tell us a lot, if not everything, like what time calls or texts were sent is in a universal time code, so we can see it irrespective of daylight savings. Right, and it should be able to show us a clear path of how Trip's phone moved through the woods. This might be the definitive thing to help his family understand if there really is something shady going on here. Those who knew Trip say that they never saw this coming, and they can't possibly understand what about that night would have triggered something like this or something like what the sheriff's office is saying. And it's not just his mom and dad who were struck by this the day after Tripp's death. When the NP at their family doctor heard about this, she was so taken aback that she actually reached out to Jennifer and Gil and ultimately wrote a letter for them to show anyone who had questions about Tripp's death. And this is actually her reading the letter for us To Whom It May Concern Tripp Brazile was last seen in our clinic on October 9, 2024 for acute medical issues by me. During that visit I questioned him about life in general. He seemed pleasant, happy and I had no concerns of any mental health issues. I had no concerns at all about him having suicidal thoughts or ideations. He was very excited about his current job and life in general. He was a typical teenage boy. I also see other family members and have never had any concerns about his home life or his well being prior to his death. I am a family nurse practitioner and have no training in forensic pathology. There are some concerns in his autopsy report, but I am not in a position to offer input to the cause of his death. However, I was very surprised by his death by alleged suicide based on my previous visits with him. The missing pieces in this case tell a story of their own. The lack of probable cause for pursuit, Trippe's last call to his parents asking to be picked up, his uncut feet, the mysterious Anonymous call IDing Trippe as the ATV writer, the Gap in body cam footage, the latex gloves, just to name a few. Cody and Jennifer and Gil, even Sandra. They all believe Trip was met with foul play in the woods. If that's true, who would he have encountered? Anyone could have theoretically been in those woods. And I want to be clear that we're not accusing anyone. What I know is that two deputies were around the woods and I also know that both of them have a history of misconduct. In 2023, Bynum was formally disciplined by the Forest City Police Department for insubordination and neglect of duty. This is before Tripp's case. According to the records, he repeatedly ignored direct orders, failing to respond to messages from supervisors, skipping required administrative tasks, and refusing to follow instructions during his shift. Supervisors described him as argumentative and defiant. And according to his disciplinary records, which we have, at one point Bynum pushed back by saying, quote, you are not going to talk to me any kind of way. I am a grown man, which sounds like the least grown man thing to say.

[A]

It sounds like something my teenage son would say.

[B]

As for Kenny, he was terminated from the Lee County Sheriff's department in 2021 after repeated complaints about his behavior. Internal records describe ongoing insubordination yelling at his superiors, and outright refusal to follow orders, even after multiple warnings. But it doesn't stop there. Citizens also came forward accusing Kinney of speaking openly about calls that he responded to and even making inappropriate comments about involved parties. Officials said that his behavior wasn't just unprofessional, it reflected poorly on the entire department, and they decided they couldn't keep him on any longer, so he just went to work for the St. Francis County Sheriff's Office.

[A]

Did they know all of this when they hired him?

[B]

I mean, it's all right there in the employment file.

[A]

And they're both still with that department today.

[B]

Well, as of this recording, Kenny is. But according to Kody and Gil, Bynum now works for the Marion Police Department, or at least he did while we were reporting on this case. But that actually changed as of very recently. I don't know what happened in the universe, but Tripp's case started picking up some real Internet steam. Facebook posts made about Tripp from, like, months ago went viral recently. And the community reaction elicited a pretty strong response from the city of Marion, who put out this press release on March 18, 2026. I'm gonna have you read it, Britt.

[A]

The city of Marion and the Marion Police Department understand the strong emotions surrounding the tragic death of Trippe Brazil. Nothing about the situation diminishes the grief his family has experienced or the community's desire for answers. On May 12, Mayor Tracy Brick received a formal citizen request asking the city to review the hiring and continued employment of Officer Trey Bynum with the Marion Police Department. That same day, the police and fire committee began a review of Officer Bynum's hiring process, prior employment history, and related records. The committee also met with representatives of the Brazile family's private investigative team. As part of that review, Officer Bynum was not employed by the Marion Police Department at the time of the 2024 incident involving Tripp Brazil. To date, no state investigative agency has filed criminal charges or concluded that Officer Bynam committed misconduct related to Tripp Brazile's death. During the review, the city identified that a prior law enforcement agency had not been included on Officer Bynum's original employment application submitted to the Marion Police Department. Although Officer Bynum later discussed the prior employment and related disciplinary history with the department, the omission resulted in the department not obtaining and reviewing the complete employment documentation at the time of hire. After careful consideration of all information reviewed, the city has determined that continued employment with the Marion Police Department is no longer in the best interest of the department, the city or the community moving forward. This decision should not be interpreted as a finding of wrongdoing related to the death of Tripp Brazil. Rather, it reflects the city's responsibility to maintain integrity and public confidence in the law enforcement hiring process while acting in the best interest of the department and the community moving forward.

[B]

Crime Junkies I hate to interrupt this broadcast, but something just happened that I need to tell you about and you are not going to believe this. So you just heard Britt read a statement from the city of Marion saying that Trey Bynum was no longer employed by the Marion Police Department. And that's true. But it turns out he just got employed again and not by Marion pd. According to a Facebook post from the Forest City Times Herald, he has been rehired by the St. Francis County Sheriff's Office. The post says, quote, St. Francis County Sheriff Bobby May confirmed to the Times Herald that Trey Bynum has been rehired as a deputy with the department. May said Bynum, a certified law enforcement officer, was hired on Tuesday and is scheduled to begin work on Thursday, June 11. May called Bynum a good officer and said he looks forward to working with him again, end quote. So that means Bynum is expected to be back with the same department where all of this started. Obviously, I don't know what that means for this case moving forward, so we are going to keep following this and we'll try and update you as we learn more. Make sure to follow us on social Sign up for our newsletter on the Crime Junkie website. But for now, this doesn't change the rest of the episode and there is still more to come. So I'm gonna send you back to past Ashley and Britt now. Jennifer, Gil, Kody. They don't have any vendettas with police. Kody even told us that when he first heard the official details of this case. But like before he took it on, he was fully prepared to have to tell the Brazils that their son took his own life. But then once he started going through the materials, the gaps and the red flags caught even him by surprise. Him, a former military, former EMT, former CID detective, and Gil. He was in law enforcement for 14 years before taking over his family business. In fact, it is precisely because of Gil's law enforcement experience that he has so many questions about his son's case. He told us that he's specifically worked hanging cases before and what he is seeing is is just not adding up. Plus he says that many of the officers involved in his son's case I told you, like, he worked with them. He trained some of them. They were his friends. Which, like, made their handling of his son's death all the more frustrating.

[A]

Yeah, they aren't trying to help him from the inside now.

[B]

No, not. Are they not trying to help him? He doesn't even speak to them anymore. And Gil is actually running for St. Francis County Sheriff now because of everything. And by the way, Cody isn't just sitting around frustrated with the system either. He's running for sheriff, too, in Lawrence County. And we need more good people at the helm protecting the community, not protecting their own. Remember, guys, election day is November 3, 2026. And again, there is a chance that all of these red flags are really red herrings. But if they're not, then Tripp's family has gone too long without justice. They're still grieving. They even considered filing a wrongful death suit, but they want to make sure that they have all their ducks in a row. So Jennifer is still FOIAing, still trying to get Tripp's clothing and the ratchet strap and more employment records. She says she knows something more happened to her son out there, and she won't stop until she gets the answers she deserves. Now, when we asked Jennifer how we could use our platform to help her, she said that she just wants people to understand the power of the Freedom of Information act and how to use it. All they had when their son first died was just this gut feeling that something wasn't right. Jennifer had to get all of the records to be able to point to exactly what it was that made her feel that way. And even though Gil used to work in law enforcement, Jennifer said she had no idea how to go about getting this stuff. Like, she'd never filed a FOIA in her life, so she had to ask friends. She was, like, googling her way through this stuff, and she doesn't want any other parent or sibling or loved one to have to figure it out all on their own like she did. Like, in the middle of the worst time of your life. Right? So we actually created a FOIA guide on our website inspired by this case to help crime junkies feel confident making their own requests. No one ever expects to live a case like this, but it does happen. And when it does, it can be so overwhelming to even get your bearings. So we're going to slowly start building out our resources for families and for law enforcement, and this is our, like, very first step towards that. I'm going to link directly to our guide on how to submit a FOIA in the show notes and hopefully I'll be able to come back with an update on this case soon. Until then, if any of our listeners have information to share, email our tip line tipsoudiochuck.com. You can find all the source material on our website cross crimejunkie.com and you

[A]

can find us on Instagram at crimejunkiepodcast.

[B]

We'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Crime Junkie is an audio Chuck production. I think Chuck would approve.

[A]

Okay, Crime Junkies. You know, I absolutely love a twist and a turn, especially when it comes to people who turn out to be someone they're not. That's why I have been obsessed with the podcast Chameleon. Every Thursday, host Josh Dean deep dives into a scam so bizarre it will leave you wondering, how did they get away with that? It is truly one of my favorite podcasts right now and I've been listening for years. I think you'll love it too. Listen to Chameleon wherever you get your podcasts.