Crime Salad – "Where is Fauna Frey? Missing in Southern Oregon | Josephine County"

Release Date: November 14, 2025
Hosts: Ashley and Ricky

Episode Overview

This episode of Crime Salad explores the mysterious 2020 disappearance of Fauna Frey, a 45-year-old woman who vanished while delivering her late brother’s silver coins to his friends across Southern Oregon. Through detailed storytelling and personal interviews, Ashley and Ricky walk listeners through the rugged landscape, the fractured investigation, and the deep family bonds driving the ongoing search for answers. The episode maps Fauna’s final days, examines critical evidence, weighs local law enforcement responses, and connects her case to a troubling pattern of missing women in Josephine County.

Key Discussion Points & Timeline

1. Setting the Scene: Josephine County, Oregon

• [01:33] Ashley: Describes the dual nature of Southern Oregon’s beauty and isolation: “The same forests that make it so beautiful almost make it isolating... homes sit miles apart. And once you leave the main road, help can be a long way off.”
• [02:15] Ricky: Explains the socioeconomic backdrop—high crime, limited law enforcement, slow reactions to disappearances.

2. Fauna Frey: A Life Marked by Loss

• [03:05] Ashley: Paints Fauna as grounded, resilient, shaped by personal tragedies:
  • Mother (2004), younger sister (2006), beloved dog (2019) – Fauna kept going despite it all.
  • Working closely with her father John and brother Dallas in Dexter, Oregon.
• [04:27] Ricky: Dallas’s sudden death pushes Fauna into shock; sets the stage for her journey.

3. The Silver Coins Mission

• [05:37] Ashley: Fauna inherits $25,000 in silver coins. She insists on distributing them personally to people Dallas cared about, rejecting her father’s safer suggestion of sending checks:
  • “She wanted to deliver it personally, making it meaningful and direct, like a parting gift from Dallas himself.”
• First $7,000 given to a friend named Sean; $18,000 left to deliver.

4. Fauna’s Final Days – A Meticulous Timeline

• June 27, 2020:
  • Leaves Dexter for Grants Pass; barely packed, suggesting a brief trip.
• [06:20-09:45] Ricky & Ashley:
  • Stops at Creswell (gas, [10:30 am]), Wolf Creek (general store, [11:40 am]), and picks up a hitchhiker (later cleared).
  • Last confirmed interaction: Chevron, Cave Junction ([5 pm]), then checks into Super 8 in Grants Pass ([7:45-8:20 pm]), feeling “distraught and disoriented” on call with her father ([8:18] Ricky):
    • “She didn’t like the motel and she felt uncomfortable... the tone in her voice made him uneasy.”
  • Shops at Fred Meyer for basics.
  • Leaves $10 at Fish Hatchery Park.
• June 29, 2020:
  • Checks out of Super 8 ([8:35 am]), withdraws $200 from ATM in Rogue River ([9:45 am]), shops at Big 5 and Gooseberries Market.
  • Calls and books a room at the We Ask Yu Inn ([2:39 pm]); never arrives—her trail goes cold.

5. Discovery & Investigation

• Reporting Missing:
  • [10:18] Ricky: “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.”
• [10:45–12:08] Ashley & Ricky: Initial police search finds no evidence of foul play. Her 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee found three months later (Sep 23, 2020), locked and intact in remote backcountry. Her clothes, toiletries, an unused box of dark hair dye, and a VHS of "The Lion King" are inside; silver coins and cell phone missing.

6. Critical Evidence, Shifting Theories, and Law Enforcement Challenges

• [12:08] Ricky: "Some people wonder if she was planning to change her identity and leave on purpose."
• [14:00] Ashley: Law enforcement resource constraints; evidence processing hindered by backlog since case not formally categorized as a crime.
• [15:23] Ricky & Ashley: Bill McKee, retired officer, reviews evidence, criticizes lack of urgency:
  • “A cold missing person case is understandably a little lower on that priority list.”
• Family’s Efforts: John Fry pursues leads personally, organizes rallies, calls for public awareness, supported by Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Movement ([17:27] Ricky).

7. Rumors, Clues, and Community Investigation

• [24:44] Ricky & [25:05] Ashley: John Fry reveals new details in 2023:
  • Fauna was carrying ~$18,000 in uncommon silver coins ("generic large silver rounds without dates, harder to trace"), some rumored to be given away at stores.
  • Frustration with law enforcement: reported Jeep discovery via social media, dismissed by sheriff (“been eaten by bears”).
• [26:23] Ricky: Law enforcement explanation: bear attack (largely dismissed by family due to lack of evidence).
• [27:01] Ashley: Points out the car was locked, though back doors didn’t lock reliably; silver’s weight makes hiking away them improbable.
• [30:49] Ricky: Ponders if Fauna’s love of Jane Hawk novels (about conspiracies and vanishing off the grid) influenced her actions.
• [31:11] Ashley: Suggests Fauna booking multiple hotels as possible red herrings.

8. The Saddlebag and a Troubling Witness Account

• [34:34] Ashley: A saddlebag stamped with Fauna’s name found at a property with a reputation for criminal activity.
  • Bag had only cigarette butts and tobacco inside; might’ve originally held the missing silver.
  • Linking evidence: property known for drug/biker activity; hitchhiker possibly connected to people at this residence.
• [37:06] Ashley: Witness sighting of Fauna as passenger in a car with a man at this address. Witnesses described as “reputable locals.”
• [38:10] Ricky: John Fry suspects evidence may have been intentionally left to be found; family—not law enforcement—has produced nearly all actionable leads.

9. Law Enforcement Speaks (Reluctantly)

• [38:42] Ashley & Ricky: Sheriff David Daniel finally responds in 2023:
  • Cites rural understaffing and confirms “investigation active behind the scenes,” but withholds details.
  • “Until there’s evidence of a crime, they can’t treat it like one.”
  • Acknowledges tension between community investigators and official response.
• [40:49] Ricky: Sheriff admits decision-making is insular—frustrating the family.

10. Patterns of Missing Women

• [43:49] Ricky & Ashley: Connects Fauna’s disappearance to at least five other missing women (Mindy Gates, Erica Hogg, Lisa Cronin, Shelley Wellwood, Kimberly Miracle) from 2017-2019.
  • Commonalities: ages 35-45, traveling alone, few local ties, vanished in or near Josephine County’s wilderness.
  • [44:02] Ashley: “It just makes you wonder what’s happening to the women of Josephine County.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“She wanted to deliver [the silver coins] personally, making it meaningful and direct, like a parting gift from Dallas himself.”
– Ashley, [05:37]

“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.”
– Ricky, [10:18]

“Are they saying that the bears ate the silver? I mean, it’s such a... half-baked response.”
– Ricky, [29:27]

“That theory felt careless. And there would’ve been more evidence of that during their searches in the area, like blood or, you know, parts of her body or something.”
– Ashley, [29:37]

“Every clue in this case has come not from law enforcement, but from citizens and Fauna’s family.”
– Ricky, [38:10]

“It just makes you wonder what’s happening to the women of Josephine County.”
– Ashley, [44:02]

Important Timestamps

• [01:33-02:40]: Scenic and social context of Josephine County
• [03:05-04:27]: Fauna’s background, family tragedies
• [05:37-06:20]: The silver coins and Fauna’s unique mission
• [06:20-09:45]: Detailed timeline of Fauna's last days, key stops, final calls
• [10:18]: Last confirmed activity; reporting Fauna missing
• [10:45-12:08]: Initial investigation and finding Fauna’s Jeep
• [12:08-14:00]: Investigation theories (hair dye, silver), forensic delays
• [17:27]: Community rallies and broader pattern of missing women
• [24:44-25:48]: Newsweek interview: silver coin details, police missteps
• [26:23-30:49]: Bear theory, inconsistencies, literary influences
• [34:34-38:10]: The saddlebag, new physical evidence, and neighbor witness
• [38:42-41:20]: 2023 interview with the Sheriff, police-community divide
• [43:49-46:50]: Broader context—other missing women in the region

Conclusion & Current Status

• John Fry’s Ongoing Search:
  John Fry continues to advocate for answers, investing in investigators, offering rewards ($50,000+), and organizing awareness efforts. He remains convinced his daughter did not vanish by choice, describing her as “spiritual, intelligent, and deeply sensitive.”
• A Pattern of Disappearances:
  Fauna’s story fits a larger disturbing trend among women transiently traveling through the area. The case remains officially open but cold.
• Call to Action:
  As of recording, Fauna Frey is still missing. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Josephine County Sheriff's tip line at 541-359-5638 or email findfaunafry@mail.com. More information and updates can also be found on the Facebook group "Help Find Fauna Fry."

This summary captures the heart of the episode’s investigation: a family’s relentless search, the complexity (and failures) of rural policing, and a growing concern that Fauna’s fate is not as isolated as it seems.