TRUCK, 2 PET DOGS FOUND ABANDONED: WHERE’S JARED?

Summary

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Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

Episode: TRUCK, 2 PET DOGS FOUND ABANDONED: WHERE’S JARED?
Date: July 15, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Nancy Grace investigates the baffling disappearance of Jared McCulloch, a Louisiana construction worker whose truck—with the doors wide open and his two loyal dogs inside—was found abandoned in rural Knox County, Indiana. Grace, along with guests including Jared’s mother, detectives, reporters, and security experts, pieces together a mysterious timeline filled with unanswered questions, odd behavioral clues, and a desperate plea for public help to find Jared.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Jared’s Disappearance: What Happened?

• Background: Jared McCulloch left Marion, Louisiana, on a sudden 500-mile drive to visit his son in Illinois, taking his two dogs along. Days later, his white 2020 GMC truck is found abandoned near the Wabash River, with expensive tools untouched but Jared, his cell phone, and wallet missing.

  • "[Jared's] truck is still there. The door's wide open. Let's see a shot of that. His two dogs, loyal as ever, still waiting for him to come back to the truck. But no Jared." — Nancy Grace (04:08)

• Discovery of the Truck and Dogs

  • The dogs, Roxy Mae and Rusty, were found inside the truck, which had run out of gas. Doors were open, keys gone, but valuable tools undisturbed.
  • "[The] truck was left in the on position, like as in running until it ran out of gas and then the battery died." — Tammy McCulloch, Jared’s mother (05:56)

• Nature of the Area

  • The truck was found in a remote, gravel area bordering Indiana and Illinois, near fields and the river—a place Jared’s family had never heard of.
  • "There's nothing out there but river and fields going by...remote, just out in the middle of nowhere." — Tammy McCulloch (05:56)

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2. Timeline of Jared’s Last Known Movements

• Departure
  • Left Louisiana around 6:30pm Central Time, after talking to his mother.
  • He was upset about the water heater at home but otherwise "nothing out of the ordinary." — Tammy McCulloch (08:07)
• En Route Behavior
  • Stopped at multiple gas stations:
    • 2:32am: Hucks in Salem, IL (on camera, buying gas and energy drinks)
    • 2:47am: Leaves and makes a U-turn near Salem
    • 5:26am: Phillips 66 in Centralia, IL; cooler and bags no longer visible in truck bed
    • 8:51am: Hucks in Carmi, IL (on camera, appears normal)
  • 8:59am: Odd text to his mother: “where is that”
    • “He stops at four different gas stations between 2:32 and 8:51 along the journey before the communication, before everything goes quiet.” — Nate Eaton (15:19)
• Communication
  • Throughout, Jared was speaking mainly with his son’s mother.
  • Last known communication: the cryptic “where is that” text sent to his mom, who thinks it was likely meant for someone else.
  • “Jared had a tendency of texting the wrong people. He wasn’t good with technology, so I never replied back. And something that I’ll always regret…” — Tammy McCulloch (33:21)

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3. Theories and Analysis of Evidence

a. Contradictory Evidence: Abandonment or Staging?

• Physical Evidence

  • Doors left open: Only possible if someone physically unlocked, then opened from inside; key fob unlikely as Jared disliked them.
    • “It is impossible because Jared never carried a key fob. He didn’t like them. So, you only got one keyhole on that driver’s door... It is impossible for both the driver front and back to be unlocked, but the passenger supposed to be locked, because either it’s all locked or it’s all unlocked.” — Tammy McCulloch (21:13)
  • Valuable tools were left untouched, but his wallet and phone were missing.
  • Signs of fear from the dogs, particularly Roxy who urinated in her usual seat spot, indicating distress.
    • “She tinkles. And I could see that spot in the seat where she sits all the time. That exact same spot.” — Tammy McCulloch (29:27)

• Signs of Possible Staging

  • “This looks, has all the hallmarks of a vehicle being dumped here; that this was not the location where Jared went missing... All the hallmarks of staging.” — Brian Fitzgibbons, USPA Security (24:22)
  • The trip was described as ‘intentional’—if so, why end up in such a remote, nonsensical spot?
  • Jared loved his dogs—would not have left them behind voluntarily.
  • “This breaks the pattern of behavior... He loved these dogs. He traveled everywhere with them. I’m a dog owner myself and I’m not going to leave my dog behind in a vehicle, you know, with the door open.” — Brian Fitzgibbons (25:44)

• Boat/River Search

  • Thorough K9, underwater, and drone searches “have not found anything.”
  • “The river has been searched with multiple K9 units... We’ve used drones, we’ve had ground penetrating radar to look for any evidence that could lead us to Jared McCulloch.” — Detective Carr (26:28)

b. Digital and Other Clues

• Missing Garmin GPS

  • Jared used standalone GPS systems, not his phone; one was found in the glove box, but another (given to him by family) is missing.
  • Content of EDR (event data recorder) in the truck potentially underutilized; could have provided more data about his last stops, according to the family.

• Phone Pings

  • Last ping: Mount Carmel, IL tower, within 2.4-mile radius of where the truck was found.
  • Law enforcement believes this is an accurate depiction of where Jared’s phone (and possibly Jared) last was.

• Scratch Marks and Missing Cigarette

  • Back window had suspicious scratches, possibly not from a dog—could suggest human involvement.
  • A missing “lucky cigarette” noted by family as Jared’s personal ritual.

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4. Relationships, Communication, & Suspicions

• Ex-Partner’s Role

  • Jared’s son’s mother was apparently his only call contact during the journey. She claims she never saw him, despite phone records indicating heavy communication.
  • Her home was along his travel route, but unclear if Jared made it there prior to vanishing.
  • “It would most likely be that she knows more than she’s been revealing. But if there was someone else, maybe they had met or something had happened where another person was then added…” — Dr. John de la Torre, Forensic Psychologist (32:00)
  • Odd late-night phone calls, possible confusion or manipulation.

• Foul Play Heavily Suspected

  • Multiple guests, including the Vanished podcast host and security consultant, agree the scene seems staged, and foul play is a likely factor.
  • “We definitely think the truck was planted. We think the shoes were thrown to just throw someone off. The Wabash river is right there. If I was a betting man, I’d have to say that’s probably where his phone is from.” — Vanished Podcast Host (35:11)

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• Case Intro and summary: 02:24 – 04:10
• Discovery of truck and dogs: 04:10 – 05:56
• Jared’s mother describes confusion and timeline: 06:53 – 11:00
• Gas station timeline established: 15:00 – 18:45
• Discussion on truck door locking and possible staging: 21:13 – 24:22
• Expert analysis (USPA, Forensic Psychologist): 24:22 – 34:37
• Theories on suspicious clues (scratch marks, missing items): 27:09 – 31:34
• Foul play discussion and phone pings: 35:11 – 42:00
• Mother’s emotional appeal: 42:59 – 44:17

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “This is a guy that supported his children, that worked hard. Tonight, his mom asking for your help finding him.” — Nancy Grace (38:31)
• “We just need to bring him home... I need him home. We need answers. His children need answers. It’s exhausting.” — Tammy McCulloch (42:59)
• “All the hallmarks of a vehicle being dumped here, that this was not the location that Jared went missing.” — Brian Fitzgibbons (24:22)
• “If there was someone else, maybe they had met or something had happened where another person was then added... Why would another person then be added to this conversation? For what purpose?” — Dr. John de la Torre (32:00)
• “[The dogs] were only in the back. So if somebody jumped into the front, [it] could have been difficult for them. But they are also scaredy cats... She tinkles. And I could see that spot in the seat where she sits all the time... That exact same spot.” — Tammy McCulloch (29:43)
• “There’s no way somebody did not see Jared at that time. Any little piece helps. We just need to bring him home. It’s way past time.” — Tammy McCulloch (42:59)

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Call to Action

• Tammy McCulloch’s Plea:
  "Whoever knows anything, please reach out… There’s no way somebody did not see Jared at that time. Any little piece helps. We just need to bring him home." (42:59)
• Hotlines:
  Missing in America Network tip line: 1-888-44-MIA LOST (844-642-5678)
  Knox County Sheriff: 812-882-7660
  $2,500 reward for information leading to Jared’s whereabouts.

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Summary Tone:
Urgent, empathetic, and investigative—with a strong focus on hope, the search for truth, and the emotional toll on Jared’s family. The episode underscores the persistent questions, technical clues (timelines, phone pings), and behavioral anomalies that all point away from a voluntary disappearance towards possible foul play, concluding with the mother’s heartfelt plea for public help.

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Transcript

[Nancy Grace]

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[Nancy Grace]

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[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

Mm, yeah, but I'm not itching to

[Nancy Grace]

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[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

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[Nancy Grace]

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[Nancy Grace]

A truck with the doors wide open. Two loyal pet dogs still there, all found abandoned. But tonight Where's Jared? Good evening, I'm Nancy Grace, this is Crime Stories. I want to thank you for being with us.

[Detective Carr]

Construction worker Jared McCullough left Marion, Louisiana on a sudden 500 mile trip to visit his son in Illinois, taking his two dogs, Roxy Mae and Rusty. Days later, his white 2020 GMC truck is found abandoned on a remote dirt road near the Wabash river in Knox county with no sign of Jared.

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

My brother Jared, I baptize you in

[Nate Eaton (News Director, East Idaho News)]

the name of the Father, the Son,

[Brian Fitzgibbons (Director of Operations, USPA Nationwide Security)]

the Holy Spirit, the name of Jesus Christ.

[Detective Carr]

Jared McCulloch was not around. The truck could not be located. Fast forward and we started a missing persons investigation.

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

I got a call from Detective Carr, I'd say it's about 9:30 in the morning, letting me know that they had found the truck and Roxy and Rusty, Jared's two dogs inside of the truck. I had no idea that he was going there or for what reason. It was total loss and confusion from

[Nancy Grace]

our friends at WTWV and East Idaho News. And speaking of East Idaho News, joining us now Nate Eaton, news director at East Idaho News, Emmy nominated journalist Nate, thank you for being with us. His truck is still there. The door's wide open. Let's see a shot of that. His two dogs, loyal as ever, still waiting for him to come back to the truck. But no Jared. It seems as if he had just left. What happened, Nate? What do we know?

[Nate Eaton (News Director, East Idaho News)]

Well, he left his home in Louisiana, Nancy, to go see his son. And then they found his truck there abandoned. What was interesting is that it was out of gas, but the truck was still on. The ignition was on. So it's like it had been running until it ran out of gas. Those dogs were there. There were really expensive tools in the back of the truck that weren't touched. But his cell phone and wallet were gone.

[Nancy Grace]

The expensive tools in the back, cell phone and wallet gone. Tell me about the area where his truck and dogs were found.

[Nate Eaton (News Director, East Idaho News)]

This is a very remote area, Nancy. In fact, it's on the border. It's in Indiana, but it's on the border of Illinois on the state line. So as you can see there on the picture, it's remote. It's on a rugged dirt road. The road's not even paved there. And this all happened. He left late at night at his house in Louisiana. He left late into the evening. There's the map there that shows where he left, traveled several hundred miles there to when he, his truck was found. And there were several stops at different convenience stores along the way. I'm sure you'll get into that in a moment. Where he stopped to get gas, he stopped to get food. And then it's just like he vanished off the face of the earth.

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

The truck was in a very, very remote location on the Wabash River. It's hard to really explain. It's a one lane gravel road, remote, just out in the middle of nowhere. There's nothing out there but river and fields going by. What the police told me both driver side doors were left open. The truck was left in the on position, like as in running until it ran out of gas and then the battery died.

[Vanished Podcast Host]

That the dogs had been left in the truck. When I heard that, that was when I immediately started to worry. When she said that the dogs were in the truck and Jared wasn't around. My initial thought was maybe he got out because he had been driving in the car in the truck for a while. So maybe he got out somewhere to let the dogs run, to stretch their legs, potty, what have you, and got himself into trouble in the river somehow.

[Nancy Grace]

How do you quote, get yourself in trouble in the river all on your own? That's for our friends over at Vanished Podcast. And joining us tonight, a special guest, Tammy McCulloch. Repond. This is Jared's mother, Ms. Tammy. Thank you for being with us. Tell me what you recall. What happened at the very beginning when you learned your son had seemingly vanished into thin air?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

I was at the hospital getting blood work done that I needed to get done. And I always keep my phone on silent. My husband called me and let me know that I needed to take this call. It was important. Well, he texted me and I went outside into the other room and answered the call. And it was Detective Farr. And it was. He had just told me that he had found the dogs and the truck by the side of the river and that Jared wasn't around. And, I mean, I was confused because I've never been there, so I didn't know where Knox county even was. And why would he be there? It was confusion.

[Nancy Grace]

Did you know he was taking the trip to see his son?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

I had just talked to him. Probably he would have left on the fourth, and by the timeline that I built for phone calls, it had probably been somewhere around 6:30 Central Time. But I had talked to him about an hour prior to that and everything was fine. He had already talked to his boss about work on Monday. He was upset because our water heater wasn't working properly and he needed a shower. He was dirty from work, so he was kind of grumpy about that, but nothing out of the ordinary.

[Nancy Grace]

So he takes off on this trek to see his son, leaving around 6:30pm Central. Still daylight, correct?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

Yes, ma'.

[Vanished Podcast Host]

Am.

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

Yes, ma'. Am.

[Vanished Podcast Host]

Okay.

[Nancy Grace]

When did you first learn he was missing?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

It was when Detective Carr called me because Jared would never left his dog. So I knew right away my stomach sunk. Something was wrong because those dogs are his kids. He would have never left them there like that.

[Nancy Grace]

So, Tammy, I'm trying to understand. The last you knew, he was on his way to see his son 6:30pm Central. The next thing you knew, you get a call from a detective saying his truck and his dogs had been found. So that's the first you learned of it?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

I didn't know he was going to see his son until after Detective Carr called me and I had to go back home. I'm not good on my phone, but go back home and kind of look at the map on the computer and try to narrow down the area where that was. And when I seen who he would have been close to because I didn't know again, that he was going to visit his son. When I seen the area that he would have been close to, I immediately knew who I don't want to say was involved, but who he would have been going to see.

[Nancy Grace]

Ms. Repond, everyone, this is Jared's mother. What, if anything, have you learned about his cell phone usage along the trip? That's a long trip, many hours. Did he call anyone or speak to anyone?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

He spoke to his son's mother the entire trip. There were phone gaps whenever he should have made it to her home, but she says that he did not. And then phone gaps whenever he went missing. There's some gaps, but the only person that he was talking to was her. So she, she at least has some answers.

[Nancy Grace]

Was her home along the route he had taken?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

Was supposed to, according to her, this is her words, go and see her first and pick her up because she didn't have a car to go visit her son, their son, so he was going to go and pick her up first and then go visit the son Sunday morning together.

[Nancy Grace]

How close was his truck to where his ex lived?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

It's probably a good three hours, depending on which route you took. I suppose if you took interstate, it might be quicker, but any which way you go where the truck was because of how remote, it would take a good amount of time. Just that little stretch there. The rest interstate.

[Nancy Grace]

Right. So let me ask you this, Ms. Repond. Where Jared's truck was found, would he have already been to her place or had he not passed it yet?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

He should have already been there because the phone calls stop. And I worked really hard on the timeline because it was difficult because the night that this all happened, time changed at 2 o' clock in the morning. So we fell back. Indiana is eastern time, Illinois is central. So it took a lot of time to really put everything together. But the time that he would have made it to her house, you have that phone gap when he stopped at that first gas station in Salem, he went in there and got gas and an energy drink and you can see him use the bathroom. His second stop there in Central City, Illinois. That would have been most likely whenever he would have gotten up. So those two gas stations, the Hudson, Salem and the Huts or Phillips 66 in Central City, her house would have been square in the middle of those two stations.

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Amazon Health AI presents Painful Thoughts I

[Nancy Grace]

I can't stop scratching my downtown.

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

Mm, yeah, but I'm not itching to

[Nancy Grace]

go downtown and tell a receptionist I'm

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

here to talk about my downtown.

[Nancy Grace]

Some things you'd rather type then say out loud.

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[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

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advance your education, but not on a traditional path. At Rasmussen University, you'll find flexible and engaging online experiences to tuition savings options if you qualify, exceptional student support and so much more. You may also qualify for a brand new laptop when you enroll in select online or on campus programs. Enroll in a fully online program or at one of their 20 campuses across six states. Start when you're ready and get the support you need. Visit rasmussen.com edu crime stories with Nancy Grace.

[Nancy Grace]

Back to Nate Eaton, News Director, East Idaho News we're showing video surveillance at a convenience store where we know he was en route and he's fine. He's not impaired. He's not being erratic. Everything is absolutely fine. Now, Nate Eaton, tell me about the pings on his phone. What if anything, did they reveal? And was he stopping by his ex's en route to see the sun?

[Nate Eaton (News Director, East Idaho News)]

That's a good question, Nancy. We know he stopped at a few gas stations. So 2:32am he stopped at a Hucks gas station in Salem, Illinois. 2:47, his truck stops at another Hucks. But here's the interesting thing. The cameras catch him leaving, but he makes a U turn and goes in the opposite direction. Three hours later, 5:26, he's seen on camera at another gas station. His cooler and bags, which were in the back of the truck, are no longer visible from the bed of the truck. Then at 8:51 he's seen on camera at another gas station. And then at 8:59, that's when Tammy can talk to this. She gets a text from Jared that says where is that? Kind of an odd text out of the blue, where is that? And that's it. That's it. So he stops it. It looks like four different gas stations between 2:32 and 8:51 along the journey before the communication, before he's, everything goes quiet.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay, Nate Eaton joining us, News director, East Idaho News. I want you to take me through the timeline at the beginning again very slowly. And I want you to incorporate in the timeline the gas station stops and the texts.

[Nate Eaton (News Director, East Idaho News)]

Okay, so he leaves the night of November 4th around in the six o' clock hour. Six six to seven o' clock hour, leaves then at 2:52am the next morning. Now remember, there's daylight savings time in different time zones here, so we're going with the best knowledge that we have. 2 2:32, he stops at a Huck's gas station. He's seen on the security camera going inside, giving the clerk money for gas. Around 15 minutes later, 2:47, he leaves the gas station. He's spotted on camera turning around, doing a U turn, going the opposite direction. That's at the Salem Hucks gas station. So the gas station in Salem, Illinois that he stopped at 15 minutes earlier,

[Nancy Grace]

6:30ish p.m. central, he leaves 2:32am and you've got an hour time change. There he is at a Salem gas station, a Hucks, he goes inside, we see him paying. Fifteen minutes later, he's caught doing a U turn. Okay, then what?

[Nate Eaton (News Director, East Idaho News)]

Nate Eaton, 5:26am so around three hours later, two and a half hours later, he's seen on camera at another gas station, a Phillips 66 in Centralia. Illinois, and that's south of Salem. His cooler and bags, which had previously been in the bed of the truck, are no longer visible. So something may have happened in that three hour gap where he dropped the cooler in the bags. Fast forward to 8:51am Three hours after that, he's seen at another Hucks gas station in Carmi, Illinois. That's 45 miles east of Benton. And then Tammy gets the text message eight minutes later saying, where is that

[Nancy Grace]

Tammy McCoy at 8:59am where he texts you? Seems like he was texting somebody else. Where's that at? Would he have already passed his ex's

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

home when he turned around? That's actually Missouri Ave. So it's behind the Hucks in a sense. And the kids, back in the day, the ex, where she used to live would have been on Tantai Road. The kids used to take that back way, they called it Beer Can Alley to go to Tontai where she lived. And we used to live out on 37 that direction. That's where he's turning around. Because she had actually. Her dad had bought her a home that's down Highway 50 in the Sandoval area. So that's when he actually got a call. I would say in that time frame that he's turning around and most likely going. I mean, I can't swear that that's what he's doing, but it would make sense that that's the direction he would have headed to where she lived previously.

[Nancy Grace]

Let me understand this, Tammy. You're saying that, you know, his cell phone records reveal he got a call from who?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

From his child's mother.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay. From the ex. All right. And you're saying that him turning around would have been going in the direction of her place, Right?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

Correct. Because Sandoval, where she lived, is straight down the Highway 50. Where she lived prior to that would have been at her dad's house, which she would have. It's out in the country. He would have went down that Missouri Ave. There beside Hooks.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay, got it. And how far away would her place have been from where he did the U turn?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

The U turn was right behind Hucks, the Salem, Illinois gas station, maybe four miles, five miles.

[Nancy Grace]

Ms. Rupond, you're telling us that when Jared was making the U turn near his ex's home, she was about four miles away. But that was at the first gas stop at 2:32am Is that right?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

Yes, ma'. Am.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay. And he is seen alive and well at 8:51, is that correct? Nate Eaton at the Illinois Hucks.

[Nate Eaton (News Director, East Idaho News)]

8:51am 8:51am so that would have been over 12 hours later since when he left the home? Yes,

[Nancy Grace]

Mrs. Rupond, what can you tell me? Can you shed any light on the cooler and the bag being gone?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

They weren't gone. They were in. They were locked up in the back seat in the cooler. You can barely see it in the Carmine, Illinois video, but it is actually in the front passenger seat. And when this truck was found, his suitcase was in the floorboard, wedged in there in the back seat. It had been moved from the bed of the truck inside the truck. And I find new evidence along the way, such as those doors being left open. I did my own, I guess, kind of investigation. It is impossible because Jared never carried a key fob. He didn't like them. So you only got one keyhole on that driver's door. So therefore it is impossible for both the driver front and back to be unlocked, but yet the passenger supposed to be locked, because either it's all locked or it's all unlocked. You know, whenever you put it in gear and you can't hit the unlock button if the battery's dead. And that would be the only way to unlock it. Unless you lean back and physically opened that back door, that'd be the only way that could happen.

[Nancy Grace]

Wow. Okay. I find that to be extremely important. The way the doors would have been opened, the only ways they would have been opened. Nate Eaton, what does that mean to you, what she just said?

[Nate Eaton (News Director, East Idaho News)]

Well, it sounds like somebody would have had to put the key in the front driver's, unlock it, open the door, and then lean back to the back seat to open that door while the passenger doors remained locked, which would kind of be a bit of a. Of a nuisance or a bit of a bother if you were in a hurry or if you. If you, you know, wanted to quickly get out of there. The question all along, though, is why were those two doors just left open? I mean, that, that. That's the bottom line. With the dog still sitting in there, one. One push of a button with a key fob, you can unlock all the doors and they remain unlocked. You can easily access them, but if you actually have to have the key to put it in the lock to unlock it, that takes more time, and that can obviously be more complicated if you're trying to just unlock the one door.

[Detective Carr]

As time passes, memory fades. It's the small details in cases like this that really make a difference. If someone saw him or saw his truck somewhere and now they've forgotten we lose that, you know, we lose that information.

[Nancy Grace]

From WTWO and wawv, straight out to Brian Fitzgibbons joining us tonight. He is the Director of Operations at USPA Nationwide Security. He oversees a team of experts that literally go around the world finding, extracting, recovering missing people. He is a former Marine and an Iraqi War vet. Brian, what do we do now and what do you make of all the stops and what can we learn from potential pings on his phone?

[Brian Fitzgibbons (Director of Operations, USPA Nationwide Security)]

I'll tell you, Nancy, what's immediately troubling to me is the state that the vehicle was found. To me, this looks, has all the hallmarks of a vehicle being dumped here, that this was not the location that Jared went missing. You know, the car running in order to run out of gas, the doors open to keep the dogs out. This is not behavior that somebody like Jared was heading this way on a very intentional trip in order to help out his son. This, this does not seem, this does not add up and has all the hallmarks of staging.

[Nancy Grace]

Why do you say staging?

[Brian Fitzgibbons (Director of Operations, USPA Nationwide Security)]

What reason did he have to come to this area? Right. There was speculation about the body of water. He wasn't coming here for a fishing trip. He had a very specific reason that he made this last minute trek to help out his child. This was not a trip that he was going on for leisure. So when you find the vehicle abandoned in this state, it raises the immediate question that was it Jared that drove it there to its final destination?

[Nancy Grace]

Interesting. Brian, what do you make of the fact that his beloved dogs were still in the car? He didn't go anywhere without them.

[Brian Fitzgibbons (Director of Operations, USPA Nationwide Security)]

That breaks the pattern of behavior and pattern of life that Jared's mother shared with us in detail that he loved these dogs. He traveled everywhere with them. I'm a dog owner myself and I'm not going to leave my dog behind in a vehicle, you know, with the door open. That that's not going to happen. So, you know, it does break from his normal routine and from what we know about him.

[Nate Eaton (News Director, East Idaho News)]

These boats, between the lights and the sonar that they have on them, allow us to get a lot better picture of what's underneath that water. The technology that we have on our boats, you know, is generally a lot is, is generally a lot higher quality than a small lawn for agency can have.

[Detective Carr]

The river has been searched with multiple K9 units that are nationally recognized. We've had boats, DNR has been involved and conducted several searches. We've used drones, we've had ground penetrating radar to look for any evidence that could lead us to Jared McCulloch.

[Nancy Grace]

Does that lend to Brian Fitzgibbons theory that where his truck was found is not where Jared really disappeared? That video from our friends at wfie, WTWO and wawv. Nate Eaton, tell me about the search for Jared. What did it entail?

[Nate Eaton (News Director, East Idaho News)]

It entailed searches from the air with drones. It entailed deep underwater searches, watercraft searches. They brought out dog teams, they brought out people walking along the banks of the river in the area they did is they've done a pretty thorough investigation according to the police as far as looking for any sign of Jared and they haven't found anything. I'll tell you what they did find in the truck, Nancy, which was also interesting is that the pack of cigarettes in the door bin of the back seat was. Was missing. Jared apparently had a. A lucky cigarette inside of the package that was gone. Also, the interior dust of the back window showed scratch marks. Now that could have been from a dog. And some items including his pliers, flashlight, vape and cell phone as we talked about those were also gone. So a couple of items missing, but yet the expensive tools in the back remained in the trunk.

[Nancy Grace]

Let me see those scratch marks again, please, because that does not look like a dog's scratch marks. No, a dog didn't do that. That looks more like someone had made marks with their fingers. But definitely, definitely not dog marks. And where were those marks, Nate Eaton?

[Nate Eaton (News Director, East Idaho News)]

Those marks were on the back window. So back of the truck right there you can see behind the. Where the separating the toolbox and the back seat.

[Nancy Grace]

And speaking of the back of the truck, listen, I think if people would

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

look at the video, you can see that Jared's big cooler was in the passenger seat. So the dogs were only in the back. So if somebody jumped into the front had been a little bit difficult for them, I mean it could have gotten up there. But they are also scaredy cats. And after seeing the pictures that of the truck the way it was originally found, I can see that there is a p spot where Roxy was sitting and did not want to move from when they come out there. So. And she only pees whenever she gets scared.

[Nancy Grace]

As Jared's mom speaking to East Idaho News straight Back to Tammy McCulloch repond Jared's mother. What are you talking about? Right there. Explain.

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

After I was able to see all the pictures that they took whenever they found the truck, that took some time for me to get those. I could see that there was a spot there. A lot of people say that, well, a German shepherd, nobody could do anything, you know, that she would bite somebody. But Roxy's the biggest there is and she does, when she gets scared, she hides behind somebody and she. She tinkles. And I could see that spot in the seat where she sits all the time. Like there in the pictures. That exact same spot.

[Nancy Grace]

So what does that mean to you?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

As I've told people before, me and Detective Car, we've. And he knows because we talk about this all the time. There's like a love hate relationship because he's about Jared's age. So I look at him kind of like my child now. But it depends on how things progress. Whenever they removed Roxy Mae, she refused to leave from the truck. So they had to use one of those dog catch poles and pull her out. So it could have been then or it could have been prior to that. So I don't know as far as whether it was actually still damp or anything at that time.

[Nancy Grace]

What about his garment, the garment that he usually kept in the glove compartment?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

I had completely forgotten about this until recently when I was. Because I go through those pictures over and over and over again, seeing if I could find anything. Well, Jared didn't like to use his cell phone for maps. He liked to use the old garments. And that's what me and my husband always used to use. His broke down when he came to West Virginia to see us a week prior, his Garmin did. So we had give him our. Oh, our other one I can see in the pictures is a piece that. You can see that garment in the glove box and most likely probably the one that wasn't working. I mean, that's just a guess, but I asked Detective Carr and he said that he didn't have a. Any of the garments, either one. So this is just here recently. But in the picture that he sent to me, you can obviously see one there. Remember, they recovered the drug, so.

[Nancy Grace]

So it's missing. Dr. John de la Torre joining us. Licensed psychologist specializing in forensic psychology. And you can find him at Dr. John Delatorre. Dr. De la Torre, so many things out of place. I want to hear your thoughts.

[Dr. John de la Torre (Forensic Psychologist)]

My first thought is where is this text? Is, you know, where is that. That. That his mother receives?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

Who.

[Dr. John de la Torre (Forensic Psychologist)]

Why is he sending this text? For what purpose? Where is he being told to go and by whom is he being told to go? To a location that's near where the truck was found. That's the first thing that I'm thinking about because I can certainly see how the truck could appear to have been abandoned. I could certainly see the cousin's original statement about he stopped and let the dog stretch. I can see all of these things, but I want to know who he is talking to. If he's only talking to the ex, then we need to press her more because it. It would most likely be that she knows more than she's been revealing. But if there was someone else, maybe they had met or something had happened where another person was then added. But why. Why would another person then be added to this conversation? For what purpose? That. Where is that? Is the most standout thing to me because why would it have been sent to his mother? If it was sent to her on purpose, then that tells us sort of what's. What else is going on. If it was done accidentally, that it was meant to be sent to either someone else or to the ex, then there's more that is going on than has either been revealed by the ex or been revealed by police.

[Nancy Grace]

So to you, Tammy. Ms. Tammy, what do you make of that text?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

Jared had a tendency of texting the wrong people. He wasn't good with technology, so I never replied back. And something that I'll always regret because I just figured he was talking to somebody else, like one of his bosses or somebody here at home. So I never. I never texted him.

[Nancy Grace]

Dr. De la Torre, weigh in.

[Dr. John de la Torre (Forensic Psychologist)]

Yeah. I still think that the conversations that he was having with the ex, I think, point to, number one, maybe a level of increasing frustration. We don't actually know these are phone calls that are being had, so we don't know exactly what they're speaking about. And so we could certainly, if there's something new added, if there's some other kind of reason why she's drawing him in besides, you know, taking care of the son, maybe she needs something else from him, maybe. And he's been refusing, and she's using the son as a lure for him. There's more to what's going on that the text of where is that Suggests to me that he is.

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

He's.

[Dr. John de la Torre (Forensic Psychologist)]

He's being confused. He's being led somewhere, and the only person that would be leading him to a place that he didn't know would be the ex. So we need to have more of a conversation about what these two were talking about and why.

[Nancy Grace]

What about it, Brian?

[Brian Fitzgibbons (Director of Operations, USPA Nationwide Security)]

A number of these calls, and Tammy's done an excellent job putting together this timeline. These calls were not taking place, you know, during normal hours. These were happening in the middle of the night as Jared was making this trek. So there has to be more of a narrative around what was being communicated, what was going on. And I think that that's an important piece that directly ties to those final hours of cell phone activity that we can verify.

[Vanished Podcast Host]

I am strongly suspecting foul play. Yeah, we have some information that hasn't been released. So going off that information and what has been released, we definitely think foul play. We definitely think the truck was planted. We think the shoes were thrown. To just throw someone off the Wabash river is right there. And if I, if I was a betting man, I would have to say that's probably where his phone is from.

[Nancy Grace]

Our friends at the Vanished podcast, Nate Eaton, what can you tell me about the shoes?

[Nate Eaton (News Director, East Idaho News)]

The shoes were, were completely discarded as we know and were not. Were found with the truck near the same area. And the question is too, as they mentioned in that sound bite, the phone. No track of that. No. Able. Able to. They haven't been able to track that. I do think it's interesting and touching in a way that Tammy has kept that phone active, hoping that if, or kept the number alive, they continue to pay for the bill, hoping that if somebody calls it, if, if Jared is able to get through to it or someone calls it with a tip that they might be able to get that.

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[Nancy Grace]

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[Nate Eaton (News Director, East Idaho News)]

I'm probably standing weird. Why is he smiling?

[Detective Carr]

He knows he's gonna call me hemorrhoid Lloyd tomorrow.

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

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[Detective Carr]

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[Nancy Grace]

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. This is a guy that supported his children that worked hard tonight. His mom asking for your help finding him. Brian Fitzgibbons I'm not sure why we're not hearing information about the cloud, the last pings, the nav system in his truck. How can that help us?

[Brian Fitzgibbons (Director of Operations, USPA Nationwide Security)]

Yeah, I think there was some information and Tammy could correct me if I'm wrong, but there was some information about the last ping on Jared's phone in the location of that, you know, being a couple miles from a specific cell tower. How much can it help us? You know, hey, it narrows down the last location of that phone, right? That, that's an immediate good place to search and it may, may have indeed already been searched by law enforcement. I, I think at this point, a couple years into this, what's going to break the case is new information from somebody who knew what Jared was doing, who he was meeting up with, where he was going in those final hours that we have communication documented from him. The cell phone tells that timeline of his, his last communications. And what can break this case is somebody coming forward with information to fill in the picture of what was going on in those hours.

[Nancy Grace]

Tammy, what do you know about pings?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

To my knowledge, all they did was the last cell phone ping, which I think in my opinion it would help. Prior to, they claimed that they couldn't get anything off the EDR in the truck, but I believe that they probably could. I could be wrong on this. Somebody couldn't correct me. But when the truck sent out the low battery alert to my email, that should have sent from the truck to a cell tower of sorts. The way I read, I'm just learning. So they should have been able to get something off that EDR too. Because if we could track where the truck was Prior. Not where. Not where it ended up, but where the truck and Jared's phone were prior. That would let narrow down a lot of places to look at least.

[Nancy Grace]

Guys, you're seeing shots of Jared and tonight his mother is begging for your help. Ms. Tammy, how far away was the last ping known ping on his phone from where his truck was actually found?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

It was last pinged off the Mount Carmel, Illinois tower, which puts it in a 2.4 mile radius, which would put his truck where it was found, in that radius. But you still have a wide area.

[Nate Eaton (News Director, East Idaho News)]

Yeah.

[Nancy Grace]

Brian Fitzgibbons. I believe that pings, I mean, they can be pinpoint accurate. They can be within a few feet, a few yards, a block from where the phone actually is when it pings off a cell tower. I don't know that a phone would ping and show up 2.8 miles away from where it actually is. I believe that that ping is accurate where his cell phone was last and that the TR truck was then taken 2.8 miles away from where he was with his cell phone.

[Brian Fitzgibbons (Director of Operations, USPA Nationwide Security)]

Yeah, there's certainly tears to the data on how and not knowing exactly how that was pulled. Was this a tower dump? Was this generalized information coming from the towers? But you know, it's either going to give you a radius or a very specific location. And I think in this case, and I'll go back to it, what's really bothering me is that this trip was entirely intentional. Jared left there with a very specific purpose. He was communicating with a very limited number of people, namely one that we know about. Right. What happened in those final hours, when his phone goes dark, when he stops using it, when he stops communicating. We need to fill in the specifics and paint that picture of that timeline to Tammy McCulloch.

[Nancy Grace]

Repond. This is Jared's mother. What is your message tonight?

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

Whoever knows anything, please reach out. You can reach out to Missing in America network. They've got a. A tip line set up. 1-888-44. MIA loss. You can remain anonymous there. You can also send in a tip through our PO Box that we have set up and tip line, family tip line. I know some people tend to be afraid to come forward. There's no way somebody did not see Jared at that time. Any. Any little piece helps. We just need to bring him home. It's. It's way past time he missed them all. It's constant searching. I'm working pretty much every day going through paperwork. Jared was the only son that I had left or have left. I need him home. We need we need answers. His children need answers. It's exhausting. It's exhausting. To my husband, who was like a father to Jared. It's affecting everybody. And his children need ANSWERS. It's time.

[Nancy Grace]

Ms. Repon, thank you for joining us. I mean, it just means so much more to have you speaking on his behalf.

[Tammy McCulloch (Jared's Mother)]

Thank you for sharing his story because honestly, a lot of people are afraid of you and I think your bulldog attitude is going to scare some people and see some answers is what I'm hopeful for.

[Nancy Grace]

Well, I certainly hope so. And I'm going to take that in the best possible light. That number again. 844 M I A L O S T M I A lost. That's 8446-425678-44642-5678. His mom still keeps his cell phone activated and going in case somehow, some way, a tip comes through. If you know anything or think you know anything about Jared's disappearance, please dial Knox County Sheriff's 812-882-7660. There is a $2,500 reward or 844-64256. We remember American Hero Officer Stephen Anderson, Utah Department Corrections, shot in the line of duty, leaving behind five children, Sean, Sherry, Lisa, Melanie and Michelle. American hero officer Stephen Anderson. Thank you to our guests, but especially to you for being with us. Nancy Gray signing off for tonight, but I'll see you tomorrow night. And until then, good night, friend.

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[Nancy Grace]

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