Transcript
Daphne (0:00)
Foreign.
Teeth (0:14)
What is going on, true crime fans? I'm your host, Teeth.
Daphne (0:17)
And I'm your host, Daphne.
Teeth (0:18)
And you're listening to Going West.
Daphne (0:20)
Hello everybody. Hope you're doing well today. Big shout out and thank you to Jessica and Justin for recommending today's case. The peak of this story takes place in the California mountains and there there's a lot to go into regarding phone pings, security cameras and so much more. But this case still does need as much attention as possible. So make sure that you share this one.
Teeth (0:44)
Yes. And for everybody who wants some extra episodes of Going west, we have a bonus episode series called Real Crime. You can find it over on patreon.com goingwestpodcast or you can subscribe on Apple. And we just released an episode on the Easy street murders. It was two women in the 1970s and it takes place in Australia. It is a wild story. Make sure you head on over there and subscribe.
Daphne (1:11)
We also have over 125 other bonus episodes from over the years. We leave the US a lot over on that series. So if you want international cases, that is a great place to go. But we do do some US cases too. But yeah, check it out. Thanks in advance. All right.
Teeth (1:27)
Alright guys, this is episode 473 of going west. So let's get into it.
Daphne (1:58)
We've obtained booking records showing that two men believed to be brothers have been arrested in connection with this case. Both of them arrested early this morning in Hesperia. Now this comes about four weeks after Aranda Brionis first went missing. According to the family at the time, she was last seen by one of those suspects. They're suspected of killing Aranda Briones who has been missing since mid January. I know what is true alive. To me, she's always going to be alive until I find otherwise she's alive. In January of 2019, a 16 year old girl went missing. Last seen at a community park near her Moreno Valley, California home. As police searched for any sign of her, a sinister revenge plot unfolded before their eyes. With the main suspect in her likely murder described. Described as nothing but pure evil. This is the story of Aranda Briones. Aranda Briones was born on June 1, 2002 in Moreno Valley, California. So just east of Los Angeles, out in Riverside County County. Sadly, at the start of her life, Aranda's parents were pretty absent. So she was actually adopted by her maternal grandparents at the age of three. And although she had such a loving family, it's said that her grandparents didn't put very many rules into place for her so early on in her life as well. They say that she wound up in some troublesome situations. I'm going to get into that a little bit more here in a bit. But she and her grandmother were very, very close. She was one of her strongest positive influence in her life. So it was a huge tragedy for the family and Aranda in particular when her grandmother passed away in 2016, when Arhonda was just about 14 years old. But despite her early life's rockiness, Arhonda strived to work hard and be kind to everyone she met. A friend named Amanda Johnson remembered, quote, she was a kind spirit and was always joyful, even in the bad moments. A former classmate described her as a happy person and a sweet girl. And it's known that her adoptive family, so really her extended family was close and loving. Her grandpa Carl and her uncles, who all resided together, raised her, quote, like a daughter and a sister. Her older brother Daniel, who described Rhonda as his best friend, said, quote, she was not without her troubles and questionable decisions, but she was a bright soul. Aranda was filled with unlimited potential that she was only beginning to tap into. Now, in the months before her disappearance, Aranda seemed to be turning her life around because according to her family, she was working a job she loved. And she also was a talented self taught makeup artist running an Instagram page for the various looks that she came up with. And I know that feels weird for me to say she was turning her life around without, you know, any examples of how it wasn't going well, you know, other than what happened with her, her parents and her grandma. But really all we could find was that she smoked weed and ran in crowds that sold and did drugs. So nothing too crazy, but I think the emphasis is mostly just, you know, on being somewhat in a drug crowd. But it's sad because I feel like especially considering how recent this case is, there should be so much more information about her. But it seems like she really slipped through the cracks. But the biggest part of the things we're looking up is because of something that happened to her in 2017, which Heath will tell us about in a moment. But first, going into 2018, Aranda even reconnected with her father around this time in question. Now, Aranda's dad, his name is Landry Briones, better known as Chapo Lee, had been in and out of prison since she was born. Admittedly, he hadn't seen her since she was about four years old. But they finally reunited in November of 2018, which was an occasion that Chapo Lee called the happiest moment of his life. So that must have been an emotional time for 16 year old Arhonda as well. And a little more backstory on his record. Chapo Lee was convicted of selling drugs in 2007 after an undercover cop busted him for selling cocaine that summer. So, a prior felon with six prison stints under his belt, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison, which is exactly what took him away from his daughter for most of her life. But after his release and their reunion, he was working to maintain a permanent place in Aranda's life and really just try to be the best dad he could for her.
