Ricky (2:15)

Josephine county was a mining hub than a logging town. And it spent decades caught between old industries and the promise of tourism. The Rogue river brings in rafters and retirees. But the economy struggles, crime runs high and law enforcement is spread thin. When something happens out there, when someone disappears, it can take days before anyone knows where to look.

Ashley (2:40)

And in late June of 2020, when the sun hung high on a beautiful 70 degree day, 45 year old fauna Fry set out on a short trip through these roads, through the heart of Southern Oregon's beauty and isolation. But somewhere between Grants Pass and the mountain passes beyond, her trail went cold. This is the story of Fauna Fry. I'm Ashley.

Ricky (3:03)

And I'm Ricky.

Ashley (3:05)

And this is Crime Salad. So when you hear about Fauna Fry, what stands out most is how grounded she was. At 45, she lived quietly in Oregon. She loved the woods, reading and hiking forest trails. She was loyal to her family, responsible and kind. But her life was also shaped by loss. In 2004, her mother passed away. Two years later, in 2006, her younger sister died. Fast forward to 2019, and her beloved golden Labrador passed away. But Fauna kept on with resilience. In 2020, she temporarily moved to Dexter, Oregon, to live with her father, John, and her older brother, Dallas. Dallas was 48, healthy, and close to both Fauna and her dad. The three of them worked together every day, building homes for a small family business in Lane County. But on the morning of June 19, Dallas didn't show up for work. Fauna drove over to check on him and found her only remaining sibling unresponsive. Fauna tried to administer cpr, but it was too late. Dallas was long gone. The medical examiner later said it was a mitral valve prolapse, a heart condition that took his life in the middle of the night.

Ricky (4:27)

John said that Fauna was in complete shock in trying to find a way to grieve yet another loss. Ten days after Dallas died, Fauna packed up her jeep and left. But it wasn't just a drive to get away. She had a purpose. Dallas had been collecting silver for years, sometimes taking part of its profits from home building projects and investing it in silver instead, since, according to his father, Dallas trusted it more than cash. When John and Fauna cleaned out Dallas's apartment, they. They found the coin stacked neatly across the counter. $25,000 worth of it. Fauna told her father she'd taken some of it, but not to sell. She wanted to give it away. She mentioned three people. A man named Shawn, a friend of John's ex wife, and another person whose mother had cancer. All people Dallas cared about. Fauna said she wanted them to have something that was his. Her father had suggested cashing the silver in at a metal store and sending the checks instead of. But Fauna said no. She wanted to deliver it personally, making it meaningful and direct, like a parting gift from Dallas himself.

Ashley (5:37)

I mean, that's a huge amount of money. And the fact that Fauna wanted to give it away to the people in Dallas's life that he cared about showed how much of a good person she was. She didn't want to keep any of it for herself, and her father supported that. She delivered around $7,000 worth of silver to Sean, and with her remaining $18,000 in silver, she set off to give it to the other two people in Dallas's life. On June 27th of 2020, Fauna told her father that she was heading south to the Grants Pass area, and she didn't take much with her. There were no extra clothes, no suitcase, and no sign that she was planning to be away for long. Just her jeep, her silver, and the open road ahead.

Ricky (6:20)

That first night out, she parked somewhere off the road and stayed inside her car. It was late June, the kind of night that still held warmth from the day. It was mid-70s, dry and clear, skies that kept the forest lit long after sunset. By the next morning, Fauna was already hours into her trip south. At around 10:30 in the morning, cameras at 76 Station in Creswell caught her Jeep pulling in for gas. From there, she kept heading down I5 past the small towns that line the highway, moving closer to Grant's Pass in the foothills of Josephine County. And remember, Josephine county is where one of our last cases, Teresa Peroni, went missing. There were tons of wooded areas, small towns and places to get lost in.

Ashley (7:07)

But Fauna was on a mission. At 11:40am she made another stop, this time at a small store in Wolf Creek. Later that day, Fauna was at a general store where she found a hitchhiker looking for a ride. And. And I think we've established pretty well that Fauna was an extremely giving person, so of course, she agreed. The two women drove together along Fish Hatchery Road, through winding forest turns, and eventually down towards Teeney Creek Road, a rural area surrounded by thick pine and gravel driveways. That hitchhiker was later cleared of any suspicion, but that ride would end up being one of the last confirmed interactions anyone had with Fauna. By late afternoon, Fauna had made her way into Cave junction. At around 5pm her credit card was used at a Chevron station where she spent $25. It was just another routine stop for gas, snacks, maybe a drink before continuing towards Grants Pass. As daylight started to fade, Fauna checked into the Super 8 motel in Grants Pass sometime between 7:45 and 8:20pm and she called her father not long after.

Ricky (8:18)

And this call is what worried everyone who's heard it described by John Fry. Her dad said she sounded off, distraught and disoriented. She didn't like the motel and she felt uncomfortable. The tone in her voice made him uneasy, and that suggested that she find a better place. Her cabin. Funny enough, he said that he had a place in mind, but he didn't want to say it out loud since kids tend to do the opposite of what their parents say.

Ashley (8:45)

And even better, they were so close that she ended up saying that she would book a room at the exact inn that he was thinking of. The we ask you, in which we'll talk a little bit more about in just a minute. Just after her call with her father, Fauna stopped at Fred Meyer, one of the biggest stores in Grants Pass, where she bought toiletries, clothing and food. Nothing extravagant. And at Some point on June 28th or maybe the next morning, Fauna stopped at Fish Hatchery park, just north of Grants Pass. It's a quiet recreation park with an unstaffed kiosk. Fauna slipped a $10 bill into an envelope, signed her name, and dropped it into the slot. The park staff later found it when they emptied the box at 6:30pm on June 29, but no one saw her there. We only know that she was there because of her handwriting. On the morning of June 29, Fauna checked out at the Super 8 at 8:35am and just over an hour later, at 9:45, she withdrew $200 in cash from an ATM at the Umpqua bank in Rogue River, a small town just a few miles north of Grants Pass. She kept moving through the day, making another stop at 12:39pm at Big 5 Sporting Goods, where she bought outdoor gear and activewear and a few other small Items. Then at 1:39pm she went to Gooseberries, a local organic grocery store, and she picked up some food. At 2:39pm Fauna called the We Ask youk Inn, a historic lodge just outside of town, and she made a reservation for that night. But Fauna never arrived.

Ricky (10:18)

And that's where the timeline stops. A woman known for being responsible, careful, and close with her family simply vanished in a place she knew like the back of her hand. She knew southern Oregon very well, especially in areas like where she enjoyed hiking. Her father, who she was very close with, hadn't heard from her and knew that something was wrong. So he called the cops and reported her missing.

Ashley (10:45)

And the initial investigation confirmed the word that you used vanished. In rural southern Oregon, especially around Grants Pass and Josephine county, the roads wind into hills, cell signals fade, and resources for search and rescue can be stretched. Th investigators began by following standard missing person protocols. There was no major sign of foul play flagged in the early reports, and not a single sign of Fauna or a lead to where she might have gone after making her reservation at the inn. So for now, her disappearance remained a mystery with no crime scene. Nearly three months after Fauna was last seen, on September 23, 2020, searchers finally found her 2000 Jeep Grand Cheroke. It was parked about six miles above the Grave Creek boat landing in the rugged backcountry north of Grants Pass. The vehicle was locked, and it was intact. It was sitting on a rough gravel road that twists deep into the mountains. And inside were her clothes, toiletries, a VHS copy of the Lion King, and a box of dark hair dye. But her cell phone and the silver coins she had been carrying, the same ones she had taken from her brother's collection, were gone.

Ricky (12:08)

So, to me, that suggests two possibilities. Either Fauna walked away from her car on her own, or something happened to her, and whoever was involved took the most valuable things that she had. And beyond that, there really isn't much more for investigators to work with unless they process the forensics from the Jeep. And we'll get into some theories later. But for context, Fauna was blonde, and there was dark hair dye in her car. And that detail alone has made some people wonder if she might have been planning to change her identity and leave on purpose. It's just one of those things that adds more questions than answers right now.

Ashley (12:50)

Apparently, investigators, they've searched the area for days. Search and rescue teams, cadaver dogs and volunteers, they all combed through the forest and the steep canyons surrounding Grave Creek, but there was no sign of Fauna. No tracks, no clothing, nothing. The Jeep looked like it had been there for at least a month before it was found. There were no broken windows or signs of forced entry. And officers noted that there was no clear evidence of foul play, which meant no immediate reason to treat it as a crime scene. And that might explain part of what happened next. So her father, John said that fingerprints were collected from the Jeep, but. But there's been no public confirmation that they were ever processed. Without those results, it's impossible to know whether anyone else had been inside her car.

Ricky (13:38)

Yeah, and those lack of answers only deepened the confusion. Fauna's bank account hadn't been touched since her payment to The Inn in June 29. Her laptop and main cell phone were still at home, which complicated the search from the beginning. Fauna often used a burner phone to stay in touch with people, making it difficult to trace her last communications.

Ashley (14:00)

Yep. And because investigators hadn't found signs of foul play, they had to balance resources, treating the case as a missing person case instead of a criminal one. Which meant certain leads, like digital traces and fingerprint analysis, might have taken longer to process. State police told Fauna's father that the evidence collected from inside the vehicle had been placed at the end of a long backlog. Because there was no official evidence of a crime, it wouldn't be treated as a priority. But John kept searching on his own. He followed tip after tip Reports of sightings, stories that she's been seen in other towns, but every single one led nowhere. He said that he followed many false leads. One that said that she was supposedly seen in Eugene, a town north of where her car was found. Then the leads took him back to Grant's Pass, but still no trace of her. By February of 2021 months had passed since Fauna's Jeep was discovered, and still no answers. The case remained officially open, but stagnant. That's when Bill McKee, a retired police officer with 35 years of experience, stepped in to help. He reviewed the evidence that existed, saying it was clear that the Oregon State Police crime lab was simply overwhelmed.

Ricky (15:23)

Yeah. And he explained that because there was no evidence a crime had been committed, Fauna's case sat lower on the priority list. In his word, by necessity and because of their workload, the Oregon State Police crime lab prioritizes work based on their own criteria. And a cold missing person case is understandably a little lower on that priority list. But to me, a cold case is a bit of a stretch here. It hadn't even been a year yet.

Ashley (15:51)

I know, right? Usually people don't call them cold cases until much later. In many law enforcement policies, a case is only formally turned into a cold case after one to three years without significant leads. And at this time, it had only been five months since Fauna's car was discovered. But in this case, it might have been about the progress they were making in the case of which wasn't a lot. From what the public knew. By the summer of 2021, a full year had passed since Fauna Fry vanished. Her father and her small circle of friends and advocates who had never stopped searching were now facing a painful reality that there were still no new leads. Authorities continued to say that they had no evidence of foul play, and to them, the case was cold. So on June 28th of 2021, the Frey family and a group of volunteers gathered outside the Josephine County Courthouse in Grants Pass. They called it a rally for awareness. Hand painted posters lined the sidewalk. Her missing person flyers were taped. Lamppost and the words Help find Fauna were written in bold black letters on signs. Private investigator Scott McKee stood alongside them, still urging the community to come forward. He told reporters that they were still seeking leads from the community to try and determine what happened to Fauna and what her fate is. The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Movement joined the rally, standing with the Frye family to highlight the growing number of women missing in Southern Oregon.

Ricky (17:27)

Yeah, because at that time, there were 47 missing women across Jackson, Josephine, and Klamath counties. That's what made Fauna's disappearance feel less like an isolated incident and more like a piece in a pattern of something bigger, which we'll talk about a little bit later.

Ashley (17:45)

But for John Fry, that number reinforced what he had begun to suspect. That what happened to his daughter wasn't a coincidence. That Fauna's disappearance could be part of a larger story playing out quietly in the same isolated places where. Where her trail went cold. But despite these efforts, nothing new arrived in Fauna's case. I am obsessed with our Lola blanket. Like, the second the weather turned cold, this became my official winter survival tool. I curl up with it every night when we're watching shows, and it's just the softest thing I've ever owned. It's that cozy winter softness that makes you instantly breathe out and melt into the couch.

Ricky (18:29)

Honestly, I wouldn't even know because I've been downgraded to like the worst blanket in the town. But seriously, it's like that, that luxurious but still comforting type of I don't want to leave the couch like cozy night in type feel. I mean, Lola is the world's number one blanket for a reason. That faux fur is ultra soft and it has this like signature stretch that just makes it feel like it wants to hug you in.

Ashley (18:57)

Honestly, I love Lola blankets. I'm going to get one for everyone on my list this year.

Ricky (19:02)

Am I on the list? I really want to be on the list. I want that dang blanket. I mean, it's machine washable, it's double hemmed. Honestly, it feels like something you would have for years.

Ashley (19:13)

You have no idea. It's an amazing blanket.

Ricky (19:16)

I don't have any idea. You don't let me touch the dang blanket.

Ashley (19:18)

Anyways, it's a perfect gift. It's great for the holidays and it feels personal, thoughtful, and it's just something that people will actually use. You can give it to family, friends, or that impossible to shop for person gifting a Lola is like wrapping someone you love in warmth.

Ricky (19:35)

Plus, Lola has over 10,000 five star reviews. And honestly, I get it. I only touched it for a second, but I get it. Once you feel it, you'll understand why everyone is raving about it.

Ashley (19:48)

Give the gift of softness this holiday season with Lola blankets. For a limited time, our listeners are getting a huge 40% off their entire order at Lola blankets.com by using code CRIMESALAD at checkout. Just head to lolablankets.com and use code CRIMESALAD for 40% off and after your purchase, they'll ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show and and tell them we sent you. The holidays are approaching and everyone knows that this time of year, the sooner you can get things done, the better for both shoppers and businesses. The best time to score great deals during the holidays is during that Black Friday Cyber Monday weekend. And if you have your own business, whether you've been around the block a few times or this is your first year going through the holiday sale rush, the most important thing you can have is a platform that can handle everything that's about to be thrown at you. This is a crucial time for your business and your customers. And with Shopify, you can be sure that your tools and platform are ready for anything that comes your way. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e commerce in the US from household names to entrepreneurs who will be participating in their first Black Friday Cyber Monday this year. With everything else going on, you probably don't have time to spend hours poring over every little detail in your online store. That's why Shopify's thousands of templates and tools help you streamline website creation and make sure that your site isn't just aesthetically pleasing, but functional and easy to use. Shopify's expedited checkout shop pay saves customer information and reduces hassle. And the best part is that it's been proven to boost conversions, meaning you'll see less abandoned carts and more profits. You can also stress less knowing that Shopify's award winning customer support team is on standby 247 to help with any issues that arise, allowing you to get back to your business as fast as possible this Black Friday. Join the thousands of new entrepreneurs hearing for the first time with Shopify. Sign up for your free trial today@shopify.com realm. That's shopify.com realm. Go to shopify.com realm and make this Black Friday one to remember.

Ricky (22:02)

Hey Michael. Hey Tom. So, big news to share, right? Yes. Huge, monumental earth shaking heartbeat sound effect. Big.

Ashley (22:11)

Mate is back. That's right.

Ricky (22:14)

After a brief snack nap. We're coming back. We're picking snacks. We're eating snacks. We're raiding snacks. Like the snackologist we were born to be.

Ashley (22:23)

Mates is back.

Ricky (22:25)

Mike and Tom eat snacks wherever you get your podcasts, unless you get them from a snack machine, in which case, call us.

Ashley (22:32)

Call us. I've got a homicide in Springfield's north.

Ricky (22:39)

Woods by mile marker 16. You are now entering Springfield. Where's the body off the side of the ditch down there, you know, surrounded.

Ashley (22:49)

By all this crime scene tape. Hello. Am I dead? My name is John. I'm the new forensic pathologist. I can see you. And that's how we'll figure out how you were murdered.

Ricky (23:01)

That means ghosts are real.

Ashley (23:03)

Since then, I've noted multiple additional missing case files and even missing bodies. Let's say I believe you came across some record keeping discrepancies and a string of deaths. You're not an investigator, Jonathan. Stop trying to be one. After everything I've discovered, I just need to know why.

Ricky (23:22)

What happened in Springfield? Going somewhere, Dr. Spacer?

Ashley (23:29)

Listen to How I Died, a full cast police and medical procedural podcast with over 40 episodes already available. Then tune in to season four of How I Died, releasing now on all podcast apps. Between this time and late 2023, the public record showed only a slow crawl of activity. In September of 2022, a detailed online case summary was posted, giving a timeline and repeating the fact that the vehicle had been found and that no location for Fauna had been determined. But besides this, no public announcements of any new developments in the case. And it was clear that John Fry was done being quiet. So in September of 2023, three years after her disappearance, John Fry sat down in a recorded interview with Newsweek, where he shared key details that until then had remained private. In this interview, he said that his daughter was carrying roughly around $18,000 in silver coins, saying that he bet it weighed around 40 pounds, mentioning that it wasn't something Fauna would have taken with her on a hike if she left her car voluntarily.

Ricky (24:44)

These coins weren't standard US minted coins. They were 1 ounce rounds, silver, buffalo style, generic large silver rounds without dates, which makes them harder to trace and much more valuable. He also said that rumors reached him that Fauna was handing some of these coins out during her trip. Like to store clerks.

Ashley (25:05)

Yeah, which doesn't surprise me. From what I've learned about who Fauna is slowed down. Surveillance footage from one of the stores that she visited seemed to show Fauna giving silver to the store clerk, showing again how kind and giving she was. John also didn't hold back his frustration about how the investigation was handled. The Jeep was first reported to him through a scanner page post on Facebook rather than directly from the sheriff's office. He called the sheriff, wanting to come down to the station, only to be told that it wasn't necessary for him to go down there because Fauna had, according to the sheriff, been eaten by bears. Which, I mean, isn't something that you Want to hear when your daughter is missing?

Ricky (25:48)

Exactly. And based off what information?

Ashley (25:51)

And John criticized the fact that tire tracks weren't logged and the area wasn't quartered off, saying that Fauna's Jeep was towed off on the site that same night, rather than being secured as a possible crime scene. John went on to explain in the interview that investigators believed that Fauna had voluntarily gotten out of her car to go for a hike, only to be eaten by the black bears that were common in the area. They believe this because they located bear droppings near the location of Fauna's Jeep.

Ricky (26:23)

And on that point, while black bears do inhibit southern Oregon and can appear on back roads, research tells us this likely wouldn't result in a sudden attack except for very specific circumstances. For example, studies show that black bears typically avoid humans and will flee, especially if they're not food conditioned. The only time, according to John, that it would make sense for Fauna to have been attacked is if she was interfering with a mother bear in her cubs, which, with what we know about Fauna's experience with hiking in southern Oregon, that probably wouldn't have happened.

Ashley (27:01)

Exactly. I feel like this explanation is such a stretch. And also, where is the blood? Where is the evidence? And John also pointed to inconsistencies inside the Jeep. The car was found locked. But John shared a new development, which was that he remembered that the back doors of the Jeep didn't lock. This meant that even though there was no evidence of forced entry, the fact that the back doors were unable to be locked could have been an explanation for why Fauna's car seemed undisturbed. And John confirmed that he went down to the evidence locker to inspect these items. He said that the Lion King movie had sentimental value. And he checked and confirmed that the hair dye had not been used. But her wallet and purse, they were missing. And as for the large North Face backpack, John said that this was the backpack that she often took hiking, but it probably wasn't big enough to fit all the silver she had in it. And besides, if Fauna did take off and go hiking, she wouldn't have carried £40 of silver with her.

Ricky (28:06)

And I get why that's so alarming, but I also keep wondering, could her Jeep just have broken down? Maybe she thought she'd just walk until she got cell service or help. I mean, in a place that remote, if her car stalled or overheated, she might have just thought she could hike a short distance and come back. But she didn't want to leave any of her valuables behind, especially if the back doors didn't lock. But again, the dark hair dye is a weird piece of this. It has to account for something.

Ashley (28:37)

And that's a great question. It's something that other people have asked too. There's no public record saying whether her car was in working condition or not when it was towed away from the scene. So we don't have an answer for that. But it's definitely a theory that people have been thinking about. And as for the hair dye, it might have just been part of her grief. A lot of people want to make a big change as a result of traumatic situations. So maybe that's what she was thinking when she bought the hair dye. So that could have explained that. In the 2023 interview, John Fry said that early on investigators had a simple explanation that Fauna parked her Jeep, walked into the woods and had been killed by wildlife. But he kept coming back to that question. If she just walked off and been killed by a bear, where's the silver? 40 pounds of it just doesn't disappear.

Ricky (29:27)

I mean, what are they trying to say? Are they saying that the bears ate the silver? I mean, it's such a, a half baked response. I don't know exactly.

Ashley (29:37)

And that's why he never believed that story. John said that there was no evidence of a struggle near the Jeep and that the sheriff's comment about bears didn't line up with what he knew of the terrain or of fauna. He told reporters that he has run into black bears before and unless you come between a mother and her cubs or seriously startle them, they usually avoid people entirely, which is exactly what, what you were saying. Black bears are generally shy and avoid confrontation. Attacks are rare and almost always defensive. So for John, that theory felt careless. And there would have been more evidence of that during their searches in the area, like blood or, you know, parts of her body or something. John Fry also talked about what Fauna had been reading before she disappeared. She had been deep into the Jane Hawke series by Dean Koontz books about an FBI agent on leave uncovering a secret government conspiracy that causes healthy, sound minded people to take their own lives. He said that Fauna read at least three of the novels, exchanging them with her father and brother, and they would talk about them. This was something that they shared together.

Ricky (30:49)

And this is interesting because he said he wondered later if those stories might have influenced how she thought about being followed or staying safe. Because in Jane Hawke, the main character is constantly trying to stay one step ahead of people who are after her. She uses red herrings, false trails, checks into hotels under different names, stuff like that.

Ashley (31:11)

Right. And John said that maybe Fauna booking a second hotel at the We Ask youk Inn could have been her way of doing the same thing. A red herring, Something that she might have picked up from Jane Hawke as a trick to throw people off her trail. And if she thought someone was watching her, because I don't think she was oblivious to the fact that she was carrying around such a huge sum of money. And if she was giving it out, it's not far fetched to think that people could have caught on to what she was carrying. But that's a big conspiracy. There's no evidence that she planned to disappear. Despite the hair dye piece, she never said anything about camping alone or leaving for good. And her father said that he goes back and forth about whether she's still alive. They were incredibly close. And he said it's hard to believe that she wouldn't have reached out if she could. But in that 2023 interview, John Fry revealed something that had never been made public before. A detail that completely reframed what might have happened to Fauna after she left Grants Pass. Every horror film hides a secret.

Ricky (32:18)

Behind the killers, the haunted houses, and the urban legends, there's a true story.

Ashley (32:25)

Welcome to the Fear Archive, the podcast that digs through case files and cult classics to uncover the real crimes that inspired your favorite horror movies. We're funny, we're obsessive, and we're not afraid to get our hands dirty because.

Ricky (32:40)

The films, pure fiction. But the bodies, they're always real.

Ashley (32:46)

The Fear Archive of Violet Hour Media Podcast.

Ricky (32:50)

Follow now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

Ashley (32:55)

Ah, the Regency era. You might know it as the time when Bridgerton takes place, or it's the time when Jane Austen wrote her books. The Regency era was also an explosive time of social change, sex scandals, and maybe the worst king in British history. Vulgar History's new season is all about the Regency era. The balls, the gowns, and. And all the scandal. Listen to Vulgar History Regency Era wherever you get podcasts. From the darkest corners of our imagination.

Ricky (33:29)

Comes a game show that's more ridiculous than terrifying.

Ashley (33:34)

Welcome to Tickled to Death. I'm your host, Roz Hernandez, and I'll.

Ricky (33:39)

Be guiding guests through the creepy questions.

Ashley (33:42)

In chaotic games, all to win the.

Ricky (33:45)

Ultimate title of horror movie champion.

Ashley (33:49)

Listen to Tickled to Death wherever you get your podcasts. And hit follow. Unless you want the show to follow you. DC High Volume Batman, the Dark Knight's Definitive DC comic stories adapted directly for audio for the very first time. Am Fear I have to make them afraid.

Ricky (34:13)

He's got a motorcycle.

Ashley (34:15)

Get after him. I'll have you shot.

Ricky (34:18)

He mean blow up the building. From this moment on, none of you are safe. New episodes every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts.

Ashley (34:34)

So during Fauna's last fall phone call with her father, she mentioned that hitchhiker that she had picked up earlier in the trip, describing her fragile mental state and how she had given her a ride. What John didn't know then was that the location where Fauna picked her up, the hitchhiker, and possibly dropped her off would later produce one of the few physical clues tied to her case. In that part of Josephine County. A saddlebag stamped with Fauna's name was found. A family living on the property where it was found reached out to John after recognizing her name from missing person flyers. They said that the bag had been discovered wrapped around the post of their carport. The leather strap looped neatly, almost tied there. And inside the bag was nothing but cigarette butts and some loose tobacco.

Ricky (35:23)

And John gave context to this by saying that Fauna had ridden horses as a child, so he wouldn't be surprised if she did have a saddlebag. He also said that Fauna did smoke, but never in front of him, so the cigarette butts could have been hers. He also said that the saddlebag definitely was big enough to hold the silver coins inside. So it seems to him in the interview's theories that this could have been the bag that held the silver coins in it, and it definitely was Fauna's. And it makes me wonder if the cigarette butts were ever tested for DNA.

Ashley (35:58)

Me, too, but that's another thing that hasn't been released publicly. But I also don't know how much that would tell us. I mean, the bag literally has Fauna's name on it, and it's not a common name. But then again, if the cigarette butts don't have her DNA on it, that would be a pretty good clue that someone else was in possession of it, maybe even stole it from her. John said that the property had a reputation of being a place with heavy drug activity and people who caused problems in the area, possibly even a biker gang. When he checked into this address himself, ownership had already changed twice. He had heard talks that the hitchhiker that Fauna picked up was involved with the people at this address, giving Fauna a known connection in the timeline to this group of people.

Ricky (36:48)

According to John, many people had tried speaking with the hitchhiker to get additional information, but she wasn't very credible as a witness due to her mental state. The interviewer even said he tried to speak with her, but there wasn't a lot of coherent information that she could share.

Ashley (37:06)

Right, but that wasn't the end of the evidence placing Fauna at that location. There were witnesses in the same area. There was a couple described as reputable locals, and they reported seeing fauna at this address. They were walking their dog when a car drove past just five feet away. And the witness said that she saw Fauna in the passenger seat, clear as day, and said that the driver was a man with dark hair and facial hair. They saw her face and reported it immediately. The sighting has never been officially verified, but John said it came from people who had no reason to lie. People who lived right near and identified the address was where the saddlebag was later found as the location where they saw Fauna in the vehicle. They also talked about how the property had already been cleaned up when the new tenants found it. So why was this bag still there, sitting in plain sight? To John, it's the closest thing he's ever had to prove that Fauna didn't vanish on her own and that someone else was involved.

Ricky (38:10)

And to me, it seems like John was thinking that someone put the bag there on purpose to be found. And despite everything the family has uncovered, every location they've checked, every lead they've chased, police haven't discovered anything new. But according to John, every clue in this case has come not from law enforcement, but from citizens and Fauna's family. The people who love her most have done most of the investigating. John said that she didn't just walk away. Something happened out there.

Ashley (38:42)

And in response, In October of 2023, the same news outlet released a follow up episode, this time with Sheriff David Daniel of Josephine County. It was the first time he'd spoken publicly about Fauna's case in that level of detail. And from the start, it was clear he didn't want to say much. The interviewer pressed him, but the sheriff kept his answers short. He opened by saying that for some reason, this case has gained a following. He acknowledged how intense the public interest had become. There were online groups, social media discussions, and a community that had formed around Fauna's disappearance. He said that he believed that she is or was a very nice person, but that it wasn't the reason her cause was gaining so much attention. The sheriff then went on to say how handling the case had been frustrating with the lack of personnel to investigate and follow leads. For a county as rural as Josephine, there were too few deputies in too many cases.

Ricky (39:44)

And the interviewer pushed back, pointing out that the community has done a lot of work in the case that volunteers and Fauna's family have generated nearly every lead so far.

Ashley (39:55)

And that's true and very frustrating. And Daniel agreed that the community had been resilient. But he added that the investigation had been active behind the scenes. He confirmed that forensic work had been done on Fauna's Jeep and that the Oregon State Police crime lab had processed it professionally. But when asked about what was found or whether anything in the evidence could change the official classification of the case, he didn't answer. And this is where David said what we've heard quite a few times in this case. Until there's evidence of a crime, they can't treat it like one. He explained that they look at all missing persons as a crime first, and then they changed the classification to missing if there's no evidence, then he added that you followed the trail wherever it bends and curves, and that's all investigators can do in this case.

Ricky (40:49)

And honestly, there's not much clarity there. But from what we know about previous missing person cases is how tricky can be sharing information to the public while still building a case. When asked about John Fry sharing new information with the public, like the saddlebag and the sighting, Sheriff Daniel said that someone made a decision without consulting him first. And that's the decision they made, which honestly said a lot about how strained the relationship has become.

Ashley (41:20)

Yep, and that's where the sheriff left it, saying that they're still working on it, but offered no new details. In the same episode, the interviewer mentioned Shawn, the only person who actually received that silver that Fauna wanted to give to him. Sean remembered spending about 30 minutes with her that day, how she talked about Dallas, about her plan to deliver his silver coins to friends, that she thought he would have wanted to have them. He confirmed that Dallas had collected them for years.

Ricky (41:51)

But that's where the story pauses again, because a follow up episode with Sean, the one that was supposed to dive deeper into what he remembers, was never released, and we don't know why. So now we're left with two interviews.

Ashley (42:06)

Today, more than five years later, John Fry is still searching for his daughter. He spent everything a father can spend, time, energy, money, and hope. He's funded private investigators, offered a $50,000 reward, walked remote trails that no law enforcement team ever searched, and kept Fauna's story alive through podcasts, vigils, and media outreach. He described his daughter as spiritual, intelligent, and deeply sensitive. She was a woman marked by loss, but still had a purpose. And she was never reckless. John has again and Again said that Fauna was not suicidal. She had plans, friends who were waiting for her. She had nearly $20,000 in silver coins in her possession with a mission to share it with the people her brother cared about. He's convinced that she didn't vanish by choice. Since then, there's only been whispers and rumors about what happened to Fauna. One man posted online in June of 2025 that that he'd been driving along Bear Camp Road heading toward the waterfalls off a side trail. He came across two women walking and one of them looked just like Fauna. The other woman reportedly was carrying a rifle and glared at him as he passed. But the man didn't stop. He said he'll never know if it was her, but the way he described it, it stayed with him. He pleaded that if this sounds familiar and if anyone knew who those women were, he. He would love to set his mind at ease and know that he didn't just pass a woman who had been missing for five years.

Ricky (43:49)

And that's got to be rough, but it's a reality out there. Like we touched on before, there's a lot of missing women in the area. And it makes you wonder what the pattern or connection is between them.

Ashley (44:02)

Mindy Gates, Erica Hogg, Lisa Cronin, Shelley Wellwood and and Kimberly Miracle have all also gone missing in the area between 2017 and 2019. Each of them between 35 and 45 years old, all traveling alone, most of them with no strong ties to the area. And all of them disappearing somewhere between Grants Pass, Sunny Valley and Merlin. In June of 2019, 40, one year old Mindy Gates disappeared after being last seen in Grants Pass. She was known to spend time in Murphy, just south of town. She was reported missing within days and no one has heard from her since. A month earlier, In May of 2019, Erica Hogg vanished after being seen walking along Deer Creek Road in Selma, about 20 miles west of where Mindy disappeared. Erica was 39 and just like Fauna, vanished in the woods. Then there was Lisa Cronin, also 39, last seen in Sunny Valley that same year. She reportedly accepted a ride to visit family in Grants Pass, but she never arrived. And Shelley Wellwood, gone that December with her car found on BLM Road in Spencer Creek. All of these locations are within an hour's drive of each other, along with the same mountains and roads. And if you go back just a Little further to 2017, another woman, Kimberly Miracle, 46 years old, disappeared after last car contacting her sister by phone in early March. She was last heard from near The Josephine county line. So all different women, but nearly all between 35 and 45 years old, most of them traveling alone, most of them with no strong ties to the area, and every one of them missing from the same rural county in southern Oregon. It just makes you wonder what's happening to the women of Josephine County. And many people are wondering this too. Fauna's disappearance has left behind a trail of questions and a father who refuses to give up searching for his daughter. He still believes that someone knows something out there in the forest of southern Oregon. There's currently a $50,000 reward for information leading to Fauna's location. Additional rewards are being offered for any verified details, like her belongings, her wallet, her keys, or any of the silver bullion coins she carried with her when she vanished. Fauna is described as a white woman, about 5 foot 6, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a tattoo on her lower back. She was 45 when she vanished and weighed somewhere between 135 to 155 pounds.

Ricky (46:50)

If you know anything, please contact the Josephine County Sheriff's Office tip line at 541-359-5638 or email. Find faunafrymail.com you can also visit the private community on Facebook. Help find Fauna Fry to watch for updates in her case.

Ashley (47:11)

Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of Crime Salad. If you would like to support the show, you can follow us wherever you get your podcast. Please leave us a rating or a review if you use Apple podcast.

Ricky (47:24)

Also, if you hate ads as much as we do, check us out on patreon.com crimesaladpodcast where you can get ad free listening as little as $1.

Ashley (47:34)

And as always, stay safe. Take care of yourselves and we'll see you next week.

Ricky (47:40)

Crime Salad is a Black Cat production. Please check out blackcat FM for more.

Ashley (48:15)

I've got a homicide in Springfield's north.

Ricky (48:17)

Woods by mile marker 16. You are now entering Springfield.

Ashley (48:22)

Where's the body?

Ricky (48:23)

Off the side of the ditch down there.

Ashley (48:25)

You know, surrounded by all this crime scene tape. Hello? Am I dead? My name is John. I'm the new forensic pathologist. I can see you. And that's how we'll figure out how you were murdered.

Ricky (48:39)

That means ghosts are real.

Ashley (48:41)

Since then, I've noted multiple additional missing case files and even missing bodies. Let's say I believe you came across some record key keeping discrepancies and a string of deaths. You're not an investigator, Jonathan. Stop trying to be one. After everything I've discovered, I just need to know why?

Ricky (49:00)

What happened in Springfield? Going somewhere, Dr. Spacer?

Ashley (49:07)

Listen to How I Died, a full cast police and medical procedural podcast with over 40 episodes already available. Then tune in to season four of How I Died, releasing now on all podcast apps.

Ricky (49:19)

Welcome and enter if you dare. Hi, I'm Halli Kiefer.

Ashley (49:23)

And I'm Alison Libby, and together we're.

Ricky (49:25)

The hosts of Ruined, a scary movie podcast where Hallie tells me the grisly details of a haunting new horror film each week.

Ashley (49:31)

Whether you're a terror hound like me.

Ricky (49:33)

Or a scaredy cat like Alison, we've got so many thrills, chills, and obviously kills to share with you. In every episode, it's the podcast that'll have you saying, that was so funny.

Ashley (49:43)

I should not have listened to it.

Ricky (49:44)

At night, with all the lights off, from the greats like the Exorcist and Poltergeist to modern classics such as Hereditary and Get out to the freakiest new releases like A Quiet Place and Terrifier.

Ashley (49:54)

We ruin em all and we'll leave.

Ricky (49:56)

You howling, mostly from laughter sometimes because you're turning into a werewolf. Ooh.

Ashley (50:01)

Listen along as I try and guess.

Ricky (50:03)

The movie's twist, predict who will survive, and answer the hardest question of all, what would you do? So please listen to new episodes of Ruined every Tuesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Ashley (50:16)

And whatever you do, we're begging you.

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Please keep it spooky. When they were young, the five members of an elite commando group nicknamed the Stone Wolves raged against the oppressive rule of the Kratarakian Empire, which occupies and dominates most of the galaxy's inhabited planets. The Wolves fought for freedom, but they failed, leaving countless corpses in their wake. Defeated and disillusioned, they hung up their guns and went their separate ways, all hoping to find some small bit of peace amidst a universe thick with violence and oppression. Four decades after their heyday, they each try to stay alive and eke out a living. But a friend from the past won't let them move on. And neither will their bitterest enemy. The Stone wolves is season 11 of the Galactic Football League science fiction series by author Scott Sigler. Enjoy it as a standalone story or listen to the entire GFL series, beginning with season one. The Rookie Search for Scott Sigler S I G L E R Wherever you get your podcasts.