← Going West: True Crime
Going West: True Crime
Matthew Anfeldt: Into the Woods // 589
00:42:32
In February of 2019, a 20-year-old man vanished after last being seen fleeing from a store near his small, Washington town. His disappearance came just two months after a disturbing incident in which he told loved ones that three people had attacked him and carved the word “kill” into his chest. After telling multiple people that he was concerned that his family was in danger, he vanished into the night… This is the strange disappearance of Matthew Anfeldt. GOFUNDME: https://www.gofundme.com/f/matthew-anfeldt
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- [00:00]
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- [01:19]
Daphne
Explore what's possible.
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- [02:15]
Heath
What is going on? True crime fans? I'm your host Heath.
- [02:18]
Daphne
And I'm your host Daphne.
- [02:19]
Heath
And you're listening to Going West.
- [02:21]
Daphne
Hello everybody. Hope you're doing well. Big, big shout out to Brittany and Kat for recommending today's case. This is yet another very strange missing young man's case that Heath and I are always very invested in. But this one I didn't really dive into at all. Like, heard about it briefly, but thanks to Brittany and Katie, we really dove in and it is just so weird.
- [02:45]
Heath
Yeah, I remember kind of hearing a little bit about this case. I think it happened around the time that Daphne and I actually first got together.
- [02:52]
Daphne
Yeah.
- [02:52]
Heath
And we were living in the Pacific Northwest, but I didn't really know all the details. And now diving into it like you said, I mean it's just incredibly strange.
- [03:00]
Daphne
Yeah. Cannot wait to hear your guys thoughts on this one. So don't forget to share it. Follow us on socials. That's where of course you can see photos of every case that we cover. It's where you can see photos for this one also actually just a little reminder, we have Going west merch officially out. It's all so high quality and comfortable and I think very stylish.
- [03:23]
Heath
Yes, it is. Yeah, we love it. I mean honestly like I wear the brown sweatshirt all the the time because it's so freaking comfy.
- [03:29]
Daphne
Yeah, he and I always sporting our own merch but it's just because it's really high quality and amazing.
- [03:33]
Heath
It's true. We're, we're a couple of weirdos.
- [03:35]
Daphne
So check it out. It's at shop. So the website is shop.I am unwell.com and then just click on our show Going west and you'll see all the selections.
- [03:47]
Heath
One last other thing before we dive into today's case. I want to remind you guys that we have ad free full length bonus episodes over on patreon.com or you can subscribe on Apple. We have over a hundred, 150 episodes that you're not going to hear on Going West. So go over and check those out. Subscribe. It really helps out the show.
- [04:06]
Daphne
Yeah, and it's just like Going West. So if you want more episodes from us, that is how you get them because there's so many inside and outside of the U.S. by the way.
- [04:15]
Heath
Well with that let's get into today's case. This is episode 589 of Going West. So let's get into it.
- [04:25]
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- [05:01]
Daphne
In February of 2019, a 20 year old man vanished after last being seen fleeing from a store near his small Washington town. His disappearance came just two months after a disturbing incident in which he told loved ones that three people had attacked him and carved the word kill into his chest. After telling multiple people that he was concerned that his family was in danger, he vanished into the night. This is the strange disappearance of Matthew Anfelt. Matthew Anfelt was born on January 27, 1999 to parents Sarah and James. He grew up in a large blended family and was the middle of five children between an older sister and older brother, as well as a younger sister and younger brother. His parents did eventually divorce and sadly his dad didn't have much of a presence in his life. Actually, his dad unfortunately struggled with both addiction and his mental health. So Matthew spent several of his childhood years in Alaska, but then settled back in his native Washington when he was 10 with his mom and his family. They resided in Tanaino, which is a small historic mining town located about 25 minutes south of the capital of Olympia and about an hour and a half south of Seattle, which. This is so weird to me. We're going to talk about this more later, but this town has less than 2,000 people in it and there's weirdly, a few true crime cases connected to it that we have covered, including the strange disappearance of Logan Shindleman. We covered that back in episode 196 of Going West.
- [07:13]
Heath
Yep.
- [07:14]
Daphne
I think that was like three years before Matthew's case. And that, I will say that was in the neighboring town of Tumwater, but still it's the same area. And then also the murder of Nancy Moyer, which happened in Tonino in March of 2009. And we covered that back in episode 71 of Going west, but that one hasn't been available for a long time. I'll, you know, Heath and I say sometimes, oh, we're redoing this episode or whatever. Our first 100 episodes of going west were deleted a long time ago. So I think that's one that we should definitely redo. It's just very, very strange.
- [07:48]
Heath
Yeah, it's. It's incredibly weird that in this very small, kind of rural area there's a few different cases that are connected to it. It's like you wouldn't imagine that that would happen in one small area.
- [08:00]
Daphne
Especially like mysterious cases that have enough
- [08:04]
Heath
information and enough intrigue to cover like, disappearances.
- [08:08]
Daphne
Yeah. Because I mean, like, most towns have like, oh, a murder or there was a shooting or like, I don't know how to explain it. Like a true crime case that isn't very true crimey. I guess.
- [08:18]
Heath
Yeah. Which is what I mean. I totally get where your. Where your head's going there. It's. Yeah, it's weird that there's disappear like mysterious disappearances within this very small area.
- [08:28]
Daphne
Exactly. Well, anyway, so Matthew is remembered as a sweet and loving child who grew into a funny and happy go lucky teen. He was naturally athletic and was on the wrestling team throughout high school, which was a sport that he got involved in at just 6 years old.
- [08:44]
Heath
And actually, when you look up Matthew's name, there will be some newspaper articles about how he was like a, like a district champion for wrestling. I've seen pictures of him holding his medals and stuff.
- [08:57]
Daphne
Yeah, he was really good at it, actually. That's why he was interviewed for the local paper during his junior year about his time on the Tumwater high school wrestling team. So when I was just talking about Logan Shindleman, I said he was in Tumwater. That's how close these cases are. Again, we're going to dive into that later.
- [09:14]
Heath
In fact, they actually went to the same high school.
- [09:16]
Daphne
Yes. But above all else, Matthew felt that his life's calling was to pursue making his own music, and he aspired to be a rapper and singer. He had written dozens of songs and released them on his soundcloud and Facebook. And he also enjoyed freestyling. Like, he would post a lot of videos of himself doing this frequently under the stage name mt Hayes. His mom, Sarah, said proudly, quote, he hoped to be successful at some point in his life with music.
- [09:48]
Heath
But as a teenager, Sarah did admit that he fell in with the wrong crowd. And his family was shocked to see this because he was always such an honest, kind, and forthright person who seemed to have a strong moral compass. But it seems like Matthew had also seen the damage that drugs had done to his dad's life and kind of wanted to make different choices, but yet found himself struggling under the weight of addiction anyway. He also got into trouble with the law numerous times throughout his young life, and he went to rehab multiple times. But actually, his efforts finally seemed to stick in the months leading up to his disappearance. And his family, and especially his mother, Sarah, were extremely proud of him for maintaining his sobriety. However, I will say in December of 2018, just two months before he disappeared, he suffered a setback that may have laid the groundwork for his eventual disappearance. Now, at the time, Matthew was living with his aunt, so Sarah's sister, in Lacey, Washington, which is about 30 minutes north of Tanaino. And he had been working part time for a temp agency, just kind of looking for a position that was more permanent. On the evening of December 22, 2018, Matthew spent some time with a coworker in Lacey and wound up not too far from his aunt's house. But with no ride home and a dead cell phone, he decided that he would walk and venture down Slater Kenny Road. But as he continued on his way, he noticed three people in hooded sweatshirts eyeing him from across the street. And they began following him. So, getting scared, Matthew ducked into the Rite Aid situated on the intersection of Slater Kenny Road Southeast and 7th Avenue Southeast. Now, he killed time inside of this store for about an hour, just hoping that these people would leave. But when Matthew eventually left that store, he saw this trio still lurking outside waiting for him. He continued to hurry on his route home, but the group was following him, and when he tripped and fell, they seized the opportunity to descend on him when he was most vulnerable.
- [12:06]
Daphne
At this point, Matthew described being jumped and dipping in and out of consciousness as they beat him, cut him, and most disturbingly, carved the word kill into his chest with the tip of a knife. The three then fled, and Matthew managed to stumble home after this attack. Now in a daze, he then posted a video of himself crying on social media with visible bruises on his face and, like, bloody scratches on his chest and arms. Obviously, his older brother Anthony, was so concerned upon seeing this video. So by the time Matthew woke up, the entire family had been alerted, but maybe a little uncomfortable with the attention he was receiving, you know, how. How much this video was kind of spreading around. He actually deleted the post when he woke up the next morning, so we can't watch this video anymore. His aunt then brought him over to his mom's house, where Sarah encouraged him to have his wounds tended to at the hospital. You know, she's worried about him. Like, he literally has a word carved into his chest. And also, of course, to file a police report against these dangerous men.
- [13:19]
Heath
Yeah, because she's very concerned that, you know, maybe these. Maybe these guys will come back after him. So why not file a police report, see if you can get this resolved.
- [13:29]
Daphne
Yeah, and what an aggressive thing to happen as well.
- [13:31]
Heath
Like, what do you mean?
- [13:32]
Daphne
You got jumped and somebody, a group of guys, carved a word into your chest like these. They need to be put away, you know. But Matthew declined to offer a description of his three attackers and told his mom that he didn't want to be evaluated at the hospital or file a police report, claiming that he was afraid of retaliation and that his family would be in jeopardy if he lodged a formal complaint. He did, however, inform his family that he didn't know these guys and that he didn't owe anybody any money. This truly felt like a random situation. But still, he told multiple people in the aftermath of the attack that he believed that people were out to get him. Some have posited that this may have been an attempt to settle up a drug debt. But Matthew didn't confirm or deny this theory. Two months later, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019, was the last day that Sarah ever saw her son. That morning, he was concerned about the slow work season he'd been in. Like, he said, he was temping at the time, and he was just really worried about making ends meet. His Mom, Sarah recalled, quote, I told him to focus on finding a job. He was stressed about bills. And I walked out the door. He said, I love you mom. Now most of the day was otherwise normal. It wasn't until that evening that everything went wrong. But before that, Matthew went bowling with his sister and her boyfriend. And they reported that he seemed to be acting like his normal self and that he was in good spirits. You know, he was having a good time. And the only thing out of the ordinary was that he confided in his sister that he hadn't slept much, if at all in the last three days.
- [15:23]
Heath
And still in the last video that was captured of him, he can be seen smiling and laughing at the bowling alley, just having a great time. Now between 4 and 4:30pm that day, the three of them returned to the house and they decided to watch a movie. Between 5:05 and 5:10pm he left his sister's room to go grab his phone, which was in the main house, separated from his sister's room by the dissection of the garage. So it was kind of like a split house going on here. And the next thing his family knew, Matthew had vanished in a panic. Sarah explained on the news. From that point we know that he went to the neighbors yelling about his family and crying. He then ran out into the roadway stopping traffic and saying that his family had been murdered. Then at 5:17pm just minutes after Matthew went to the house to get his phone, A neighbor called 911 to report witnessing Matthew suffering a mental breakdown. According to the police report about this case, their neighbor, who also happened to be a former teacher of Matthew's, reported that he was frantic telling her that his family was dead and that they were after him. I mean he seemed like genuinely terrified at this point. As she called to get help for him, he panicked and then he fled just before sunset with the neighbor watching in horror as he ran from her home, hopped a fence and then darted across a Highway. Around 5:30pm Police reported to the Anfelds house just to kind of figure out what the hell was happening here. His sister who answered the door was completely confused because she hadn't heard or seen any of this. The last thing she knew was, was that her brother had just left to go grab his phone. And it was especially confusing since she noted that Matthew seemed in a very clear headed state of mind, you know, while they were bullying and also watching that movie. So it didn't appear that anything happened to be wrong with him during those particular activities. It felt like it just happened all of a sudden, like he snapped.
- [17:38]
Daphne
Yeah. And it's definitely possible that during that little gap in time when he went to get his phone, that he used drugs. Obviously, despite small that window would have been and Matthew's valiant and successful effort to remain sober in the months and weeks leading up to his disappearance. But this, of course, is speculated on.
- [17:57]
Heath
Yeah, I mean, it's tough because we do know that at some point he was using different types of drugs, so. But it's hard because this is a very convoluted case.
- [18:09]
Daphne
Well, I will add that his mom, Sarah, was later informed by someone who claimed to have intel into her son's final moments that week that her son had, in fact, relapsed the week that he went missing, and that he and a friend had bought drugs on Monday. So five days prior, there was a possibility that he had taken meth, Ecstasy, or Ativan, which, for those who don't know, it's a benzo used to treat panic attacks, seizures, and even withdrawal from alcohol. So Sarah didn't know this at the time because this was actually a stipulation. If he wanted to live in her home, he had to remain clean. So this was really hard for her to hear, especially alongside word of his panic and his disappearance, because then she really doesn't have, like, any clarity or answers as to, okay, well, did he take drugs that day? Was he acting weird because of drugs, or is that separate?
- [19:06]
Heath
Yeah. Is him missing, you know, a part of this drug situation, or was it something else?
- [19:12]
Daphne
Well, in addition to the possibility of Matthew having taken drugs, it's also possible that he suffered a mental health episode that maybe skewed his perception of reality, either due to a mental health crisis or sparked by the fact that, remember, he hadn't slept in, like, 72 hours. But the possibility also remained that he had actually seen something that truly led him to believe that he and his family were in real danger, or worse, that they were really dead, though we know that they weren't.
- [19:46]
Heath
Yeah. And this is an interesting point in this case. The fact that he's telling people in this panicked state that his family has been murdered. And we obviously know that that wasn't true, so.
- [19:57]
Daphne
But did he think that because of mental health or drugs or because he really was told that by somebody who was after him?
- [20:03]
Heath
Yeah.
- [20:04]
Daphne
So many possibilities.
- [20:05]
Heath
That's the big question there.
- [20:07]
Daphne
Well, despite the fact that it was a cold February day and, you know, early evening, I should say he left without his phone, without a coat, or even shoes. So remember, that as we unravel the rest of this story and the rest of this evening for him is he doesn't even have shoes on. He was only wearing a sweatshirt, sweatpants and socks as he vanished into the night.
- [20:46]
Heath
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Daphne
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- [21:57]
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- [22:45]
Daphne
Explore what's possible.
- [22:47]
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Make it quick young man.
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Aw, see, Pop Pop trusts you.
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- [24:58]
Heath
So after fleeing from that neighbor's house as she called police, Matthew ran out into the street that backed up to their house, which was a highway with a speed limit of 55 miles per hour or and began disrupting traffic as concerned motorists slowed and stopped to avoid hitting him. So obviously this is a very dangerous situation as well. Well get this. According to multiple drivers on the road that night, Matthew had blood on his mouth and he was running up to the windows of cars to tell them that his family had been killed. No one knew how or why that blood wound up on his face, but at one point he also jumped onto the hood of a car. Like this is how freaked out he was and how much he wanted help. Around 5:30pm, Matthew hopped in the bed of a utility truck traveling west on Old Highway 99 bound for Grand Mound, Washington, which is only about 12 minutes from his home in Tanano now, this truck took the Grand Mound exit, pulling into the parking lot of a Speedway grocery, convenience store and gas station, at which point Matthew jumped out of the truck bed and then tried to get into this vehicle, but instead this driver just sped off.
- [26:16]
Daphne
Yeah. Cause he's probably like, what the hell?
- [26:18]
Heath
Probably didn't even know Matthew was in the fucking back of that truck. You know, he's like, what the hell's going on here? Well, there was at least one person in the car and he may have, he may have possibly spoken with Matthew, but neither that driver of the truck nor the vehicle have ever been located and therefore no one can be sure what Matthew was saying or what they may have discussed, which unfortunately is basically like a critical lost piece of information here because we'd really like to know who that driver is and what Matthew was possibly saying to them.
- [26:51]
Daphne
Was he saying the same stuff? My family's been killed, somebody's after me. Did he give more information?
- [26:57]
Heath
Yeah, it's definitely possible. Well, he was last seen inside that Speedway grocery store in Grand Mound, having burst into the store screaming that his family had been killed and that again, they were after him. Then he briefly hid behind the checkout counter, spending only about 30 seconds inside the store while an employee tried to get him help. Still in a state of panic, Matthew then escaped through the side door of the store and then he was never seen alive again. According to the employee who reported this interaction, he was panicked and sweating and seemed genuinely afraid. Now, this area is pretty rural with lots of woodland surrounding it. You know, it is the Pacific Northwest. But this didn't stop him from again fleeing into the dense cold of that dark February night. Thurston County Sheriff's Detective Mickey Hamilton explained. He was barefoot, scared and had blood around his mouth. He was again crying and yelling, apparently wanting to hide while the clerk was on the phone with 911. He took off out the door and that is the last time that we've seen him. We've done multiple search and rescue searches with the dogs and ground searches and aerial searches with unmanned aerial vehicles.
- [28:21]
Daphne
Hours passed and his family couldn't find him. Still, he never came back home. So finally, the next morning, Sarah officially reported her 20 year old son missing. Police in the area implored property owners to search their surroundings for any sign that Matthew had been there. And they were especially interested in speaking to anybody who had seen him or spoken to him as he was fleeing from his home. You know, especially anybody who was on the highway, I. E. The drivers, the truck driver that we Talked about?
- [28:53]
Heath
Yeah, the car that he was climbing onto, the. The, the hood of the car.
- [28:57]
Daphne
But no other witnesses reported having spoken with him or seen him after he left that Speedway grocery store. I mean, it seemed so odd that multiple 911 calls came in from that neighbor, also from motorists, and then from inside the store as well. And then suddenly nobody reported seeing him again after that. Like he truly had just vanished after he left Speedway.
- [29:22]
Heath
Yeah, it felt like all these things were happening at once, you know, like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Then he leaves the grocery store and nothing like, poof, into thin air.
- [29:33]
Daphne
Well, according to Detective Hamilton, quote, we've had no activity on any of his bank accounts, social media accounts, or his phone. So as far as we know, he has no means of supporting himself. Sarah led the search efforts for her son, just trying to get the word out, asking questions, posting flyers, terribly worried about his safety, and again, having no clarity about his state of mind or what he was experiencing. You know, especially because she was the one about two months earlier who was like, you were jumped. Please report it to police. Please go to the hospital. And he said, no. So she's like, what is happening to my son?
- [30:14]
Heath
And a lot of times when we see these disappearances of young men, we don't have as many witness sightings before the disappearance. Like, usually it's just like, oh, they left the home this day and then they were never seen again. But we have all these different incidents that occurred before he disappeared and then just nothing.
- [30:34]
Daphne
Well, and it's frustrating because there were a lot of tips and sightings pouring in in general, but still they couldn't substantiate any of them or locate him with any of this information. So Sarah wondered if maybe the presence of an unrecognized car had anything to do with her son's disappearance, as there had been a car reportedly seen near Sarah's house as well as near the store at which Matthew was last seen. And this car was a white mid-1990s edition Toyota Corolla. And according to other eyewitness accounts, this car was also reported to have nearly hit multiple people into 90 that evening. So it was driving erratically, which feels very sus.
- [31:20]
Heath
I mean, yeah, you've got this weird Toyota Corolla rolling around the streets of Tenaino, almost hitting people on the same night that a young man goes missing.
- [31:29]
Daphne
Right. So then you're like, did, did they have something to do with it? Was Matthew in their car? And they're like trying to speed away from the scene. Yeah, Are these the guys that jumped?
- [31:39]
Heath
Was Matthew abducted by that Toyota Corolla?
- [31:42]
Daphne
Right. Sadly, from the beginning of Sarah's search, there have been many roadblocks placed in her way. One of which is the fact that the manager of the Speedway store refused to let police perform a search inside, despite their insistence that nobody was in trouble and that they were merely wanting answers about the last credible sighting of a missing person. So it's like you hiding something?
- [32:08]
Heath
Yeah. What the fuck are you hiding? Speedway grocery store. So I'm with you. Seems very sus. Well, Sarah has received alarming tips about what her son was involved in before his disappearance and whether it was fabricated or true. It was pretty shocking to say the least because she was tipped off multiple times with the name of a known dealer in that area who was believed to have been Matthew's and who was apparently bragging about having killed him. However, in other instances, this man told police that Matthew had taken meth and this was just part of a psychotic break. So we don't know if he was bragging for attention or if there was validity to his claims. But apparently multiple people have come forward to Sarah to share that there have been rumors that about the involvement of this individual or individuals. Sarah is being very careful about not publicly naming these people, but she has shared some info. Like this is what she shared on Facebook a few years ago. Earlier this year, I received some pretty alarming information. I was told that my son was, in fact, murdered and that it is connected to the attack on my son that occurred in December of 2018, just three months prior to his disappearance. Now, I take a lot of information I've received with a grain of salt, but the details I was provided just fit with what we knew about both incidents. I won't go into detail in an effort to protect his case and those that have done the right thing, but I will say that from day one, I felt I would never see my son again. Well, months passed without any word from Matthew and without a single indication as to where he had gone. Then, almost a year exactly after Matthew's disappearance, Sarah decided to report the attack that occurred outside of that Rite Aid in hopes of revitalizing the search efforts. Detective Hamilton reported he had mentioned right before he went missing to a couple of his friends about some people were after him, but we haven't been able to develop who those people were. He didn't specifically mention names of who was after him or why they would be after him. So we need information that the public could provide. If anybody out there knows if these incidents are related or any more information about that December 2018 incident, we could try to see if they're connected.
- [34:39]
Daphne
But because nobody has claimed to witness that attack and there's no real evidence, some wonder if it really even happened at all. On the one year anniversary, Sarah organized a candlelight vigil to memorialize her missing son in hopes of spreading awareness in his case. In the years after her son's disappearance, she did move south to Florida for a fresh start. But she never gave up the fight for answers. Then in 2023, she finally received an answer to the question she sought about her son's disappearance.
- [35:18]
Heath
Yeah, because everybody's at least wondering, is he alive? Is he dead?
- [35:22]
Daphne
I actually emailed the sheriff's office basically with that same question, and they got back to me the same day. Because on October 28, 2023, a hunter reported finding remains in the Grand Mound Rochester area about 15 minutes southwest of Tenino. The following day, October 29, 2023, detectives from the Thurston County Sheriff's Office, as well as scent dogs and a search and rescue team were brought to the area in hopes of finding more remains. And I'll tell you right now, these were Matthews. But the police hoped to find the entirety of his remains because this was only partial. Sarah claimed the feeling was overwhelming to know that he was deceased and found. And in some ways a relief, but that could. It felt like almost five years of emotion. Every emotion I felt the last five years just sort of running through me. At one time, I couldn't really cry. I just remember my body starting to shake. I had been told over and over again, despite how much information we have, we need a body. So now we have that opportunity. How did he end up there? How did no one see him when all these 911 calls were coming in between our house and the store and suddenly nothing. November 2, 2023, is when the remains were confirmed to belong to Matthew Anfelt. A press release was issued with the announcement the following day. But unfortunately, though, the discovery of his remains was a major break in Matthew's case. A cause of death could not be confirmed due to the fact that the remains were incomplete, possibly because of animal activity. But of course, some speculate that he was killed and maybe dismembered, and this is why his remains aren't all there. But, yeah, the sheriff's office did confirm that they couldn't perform an autopsy because of how little remains were found, and they also couldn't verify which bones of his were discovered. To be able to identify Him. But they could have made the positive identification through bone marrow, teeth or even preserved tissue, which, honestly, I kind of doubt there was any tissue because this is a, like a four and a half year time gap.
- [37:43]
Heath
Yeah, there probably wasn't much.
- [37:46]
Daphne
I mean, like, there wasn't. I can probably just concretely say that.
- [37:49]
Heath
Probably just bone fragments.
- [37:51]
Daphne
So when Sarah said, you know, how did he end up there? We also don't know the exact location that he was found at, just that it was in a wooded area that had not been searched previously and was several miles away from the grocery store. So if he walked there and died without any nefarious causes, like, that's what she's confused about, how that would be possible. Because actually, Heath is gonna explain in a minute how strange this location really was.
- [38:21]
Heath
Yes, because it was incredibly strange. Well, on the Facebook group that she manages from Matthew's case, Sarah wrote candidly, quote, you have to be completely transparent with these cases. Doing anything else only hinders the ability to find the truth. Every scenario must be looked at with a microscope. I have not shunned away from this. No matter what happened that day. He was in a crisis and likely it was drug related on some level, whether he did them or somebody from that world did something to him. I think what is important to understand and remember for those speaking their opinions is, is this is an extremely emotional situation for so many people. It's very easy to take offense to people's comments. There's no way to get away from this. And I won't fault anybody for their reactions because I've felt these same reactions in intense hurt. It's just part of what we deal with. And let me say, I've had to deal with some awful people and assumptions throughout the last six years. It wears on you. And sometimes we have our moments where we just can't take anymore and finally say something. This is a daily hell to live through. I always say, just because my son died does not mean I will ever stop being his mom. Sarah also remains skeptical about what really happened on the night that her son vanished, as well as the attack that occurred in December two months prior. According to Sarah, though, names of a person of interest have never been announced publicly, she has her suspicions. Remember, this community is very small and multiple tips have drawn her to the same conclusion as well as the same group she divulged. On Matthew's Facebook group, we do have names of potential suspects, one of which has been named since day one. And probably 95% of tips I have received this individual was also named in 2021 as murdering my son. As far as where he was found, Matthew was found about five to six miles or about eight or nine kilometers from where he was last seen. If he was to go through 10, 12ft of ice cold moving water, through thick brush, up a steep hillside, fairly deep in the woods. Remember, he had no shoes or light. If he was to go the path of least resistance, he would have had to walk or run 10, 12 miles. This is an estimate as I have not clocked this distance to get back to the road that led directly to where he was found in those woods.
- [41:01]
Daphne
So, yeah. Is that impossible? No, but it's weird, you know, again mentioning that he's not wearing shoes, he doesn't have a light, it's pitch black, he's in a full panic. Sure, maybe under duress, his actions aren't making sense to us. We're like, why would you run into the woods instead of to other people that can help you, you know, into town? So it's just, it's really, really strange. 10 to 12 miles into the woods is a long distance, especially without shoes. Again, it is possible, but it's weird. So this led her to the conclusion that Matthew most likely could not have gotten himself to the area in which his remains were found and that someone had to have done this to him or at the very least driven him there. In which case, either way, she thinks somebody knows something that they have not shared. Sarah remains her son's most outspoken and steadfast advocate and feels that his history of addiction got his case overlooked by the local police force. Saying this very mindset has hindered the entire investigation. And as far as I'm concerned, is the number one reason why our family doesn't have answers. Now, of course, Matthew's case has drawn comparison to that of the disappearance of Logan Shindleman, which again we covered back in episode 196. Because just 15 minutes up the road from Tenino, Washington is Tumwater, the setting of this other well known and very confounding missing persons case. The case of 19 year old Logan Shindleman occurred under eerily similar circumstances. And like Heath mentioned earlier, they even went to the same high school. So Logan was last seen in the kitchen of his grandmother's house where he was living at the time, on the morning of May 19, 2016. And I want to add that at the time that he disappeared, he was kind of going through this identity crisis. He didn't really know what he wanted to do with his life, who he really was and was having kind of strange conversation or conversations, sorry, with his family and his friends, which is kind of similar to Matthew actually. The next day his car was found abandoned on the side of the road with his wallet inside. Multiple people reported seeing the car drifting across the highway and having seen two people along with Logan in the vicinity of the car on the side of the highway. So not only was there, like, strange behavior from both of them before they
- [43:38]
Heath
went missing, but there was a few other people there too, and they're both
- [43:42]
Daphne
like going missing off a highway kind of in the same exact area. There was also a man reported to be walking around naked on the side of the highway near where the car was abandoned, but it was not confirmed if this could have been Logan or somebody else. Well, after Logan didn't return home, his grandmother Ginny reported him missing. And nearly 10 years later, there are still no answers in the case of Logan's disappearance either.
- [44:10]
Heath
So his great aunt Mary Ware, who has been one of the leading forces of the search for Logan since the very beginning, has actually joined forces with Sarah to share information about the boys on each other's respective platforms. And the two have been very supportive friends. Sarah and the rest of Matthew's family are still eager and hopeful for answers. Even seven years later. Sarah explained, I want to be able to lay him to rest. I want to be able to have him home with us. And if that's all I get, I'll take that. But I do. If somebody did do something, I do want them to pay that ultimate consequence. Sarah still has an active GoFundMe in order to help offset the costs of having to travel between Washington and Florida. Of course, for searches and to speak with detectives, as well as the private investigator that she hired in 2019, Sarah has remained her son's greatest advocate. Via local newspaper, she shared the message that she wished to pass along to Matthew, saying, not one day has gone by that I have not thought of you, missed you, shed tears, or prayed for you. If you somehow see this, we need you to know how deeply you are loved and missed. We just want you home. Please remember you have and always will be my number one champion. We will never give up on you and we love you. If you have any information about the disappearance or death of Matthew Anfelt, please contact the Thurston County Sheriff's department at 360-786-5500.
- [45:58]
Daphne
Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West.
- [46:03]
Heath
Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. If you want to see photos of math. You head on over to our socials. We're on Instagram @goingwest podcast. We're on TikTok. We're on Facebook. I honestly just. Really just thinking about Logan's case and Matthew's case and the fact that they're. They both took place within this very small rural area. You said like 2,000 people. It's just very alarming.
- [46:29]
Daphne
Yeah. And I. I like as well that, you know, because drugs were involved in this case in one way or another. I appreciate that. His mom acknowledges that, and she's. You know, she's not saying, no, none of that's true. She's acknowledging that, but saying two things can be true here. Yeah, he could have taken drugs and he could have been killed. Either way, she wants to know what happened to her son, whether something nefarious occurred or not. And just I think the fact that this December incident, you know, a lot of people speculate whether or not this was true. If he was taking drugs and he did this to himself, you know, that we don't have clarity on that because he didn't report it, but it also very much could have happened. So it's like, was that real? Were people really after him?
- [47:17]
Heath
Yeah. And, you know, some of these areas, especially in the Pacific Northwest, do see a lot of traffic within, like. Like the drug world within, like, meth and things like that. So all of this is very possible.
- [47:29]
Daphne
Yeah, it's. It's very possible that there were some bad people around him. Absolutely. Because we already know that he had fallen into the wrong crowd as a teenager, so he wasn't surrounded by a ton of, you know, do gooders, I guess, and that muddies things up a bit. But he deserves justice. So thank you guys for listening. Don't forget to share this story, and we will see you on Friday.
- [47:56]
Heath
All right, guys, so for everybody out
- [47:58]
Daphne
there in the world, don't be a stranger.
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Heath
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Heath
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