The Witches Who Work For You | 1

Summary

Guru: Don't Cross Kat – Season 2, Episode 1: "The Witches Who Work For You"

Hosted by Chico Felitti

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Introduction

In the gripping premiere of Season 2 of Guru: Don't Cross Kat, hosted by journalist Chico Felitti, listeners are introduced to the enigmatic world of Kat Torres—a modern-day guru whose seemingly perfect life and social media presence mask dark and dangerous secrets. This episode, titled "The Witches Who Work For You," delves deep into the influence and control exerted by Kat, setting the stage for a tale of manipulation, obsession, and the lengths one friend will go to save another.

The Curious Case of Wayne Murray

The story begins in Leander, Texas, where Chico Felitti interviews Wayne Murray, a former neighbor of Kat Torres and her entourage of stunning Brazilian women.

Wayne Murray [00:22]: "Doing well."

Wayne recounts the arrival of the Brazilian women in 2022, noting their striking beauty and aloofness:

Wayne Murray [00:23]: "We had this traffic circle, right? So we'd come in, I'd wave to them. They never waved back."

Despite their glamorous appearance, Wayne noticed unsettling elements in their household. After the women abruptly vacated, he discovered unsettling items left behind, including voodoo dolls and a mysterious leather collar.

Wayne Murray [02:04]: "They had an altar in their yard, not a Christian altar, because she had… Ayahuasca."

These discoveries piqued Chico’s interest, prompting him to investigate further.

Chico Felitti: From Influencer to Investigator

Chico introduces himself, highlighting his dual life as a journalist and an accidental influencer. With over a decade of investigative experience in Brazil, Chico brings a keen eye to uncovering the truth behind Kat Torres' curated online persona.

Chico Felitti [05:17]: "I've been a journalist for 20 years now... I became an influencer by chance."

Patty Bertoldo and Desiree: A Friendship Tested by Influence

The narrative shifts to Patty Bertoldo, a 32-year-old Brazilian who relocates to Vancouver and befriends Desiree, another Brazilian woman working at an upscale French restaurant.

Desiree [07:30]: "I didn't like that too much because in France I had my life, my job, and communication and marketing."

Their friendship blossoms over shared cultural ties and mutual support. Desiree introduces Patty to Kat Torres, a charismatic wellness influencer whose teachings promise personal transformation.

Desiree [10:14]: "She can communicate with the universe because she has this light that can speak to her and she can help you."

Influenced by Desiree’s glowing endorsement, Patty becomes curious yet skeptical about Kat’s legitimacy.

The Seductive Allure of Kat Torres

Patty decides to book a consultation with Kat, spending over $200 for an hour-long video call. The session, however, leaves her unimpressed and doubtful.

Desiree [15:11]: "She says, 'I'm sorry. I had an appointment before.'"

Despite her reservations, Desiree becomes increasingly enamored with Kat, scheduling multiple consultations per week and integrating Kat's teachings into her personal life and marriage.

Desiree [19:12]: "But then she tried to convince me to have a second appointment."

Transformation and Obsession

As the pandemic hits, Desiree’s reliance on Kat intensifies, leading to marital strife and emotional turmoil. Kat’s online presence undergoes a disturbing transformation from a serene life coach to a figure espousing conspiracy theories and aggressive rhetoric.

Desiree [26:51]: "She was saying so much stuff in her Instagram... she would say bad words and say really mean stuff to people."

Patty becomes increasingly concerned as she witnesses Desiree’s descent into obsession and Kat’s manipulative tactics, including accusations of black magic against Desiree's husband.

Desiree [22:18]: "Magic. It's why I can't leave him. It's because he's forcing me to be with him."

A Friend Disappears

Patty’s fears crystallize when Desiree abruptly cuts off all communication, removing herself from social media and vanishing without a trace.

Desiree [30:44]: "Stop saying mean stuff about Kat... I prefer not to talk to you anymore."

Determined to uncover the truth, Patty embarks on a frantic search for her missing friend, uncovering the extent of Kat’s influence and the perilous path Desiree has been forced onto.

Conclusion: The Collision Course

As the episode concludes, Chico hints at the escalating stakes and the dark revelations awaiting listeners in subsequent episodes. The search for Desiree propels Patty into a shadowy confrontation with Kat Torres, setting up a riveting exploration of power, control, and the cost of friendship in the digital age.

Chico Felitti [32:43]: "But in an online world, it's easy to have a sense of closeness with the people we see on Instagram every day."

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Stay tuned for the rest of the season as Chico Felitti unravels the tangled web of influence and danger surrounding Kat Torres, revealing the true cost of chasing an unattainable dream.

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For more episodes and exclusive content, join Wondery+ on the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

Transcript

[Chico Felitti]

Wondery subscribers can binge all episodes of Don't Cross Cat early and ad free. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Excuse me. How are you doing?

[Wayne Murray]

Doing well.

[Chico Felitti]

We're journalists from Brazil and we're writing a story about your former neighbor.

[Wayne Murray]

The biggest news that's ever hit this neighborhood.

[Chico Felitti]

Probably the only one that will. I'm not the first Brazilian to set foot in Leander, Texas. And the Brazilian women who came and lived here before me made quite the impression on their neighbors. Wayne Murray lived across the street from them. They said that you might know something, you might have spoken to them. Wayne says that in Leander, people do two things. Wave to each other and then mind their business. At least Wayne did then in 2022, that's when these new neighbors moved in right across the street.

[Wayne Murray]

They were not terribly friendly. We had this traffic circle, right? So we'd come in, I'd wave to them. They never waved back.

[Chico Felitti]

And there was something else about his new neighbors.

[Wayne Murray]

Very pretty young woman.

[Chico Felitti]

They looked like supermodels.

[Wayne Murray]

Very attractive blonde and a pretty attractive brunette.

[Chico Felitti]

Tall, thin, gorgeous, right out of the latest Victoria's Secret fashion show. I mean, I'm super gay and even I can see it. And it wasn't just having a house full of gorgeous Brazilian women in a nondescript American suburb. That was unusual. One day he just stopped seeing them. The house was empty. The women were gone. Eventually, a rental company came to clear the house. They put out the girl stuff in the front yard for anyone to take, which was interesting.

[Wayne Murray]

We got quite a bit of this stuff. We just took the bags. We looked later. I did keep the voodoo dolls.

[Chico Felitti]

Voodoo dolls?

[Wayne Murray]

Voodoo dolls. I've got three voodoo dolls.

[Chico Felitti]

May I ask to take a look at them? Sure.

[Wayne Murray]

Well, come on in.

[Chico Felitti]

One of the women was a social media influencer, famous in Brazil with more than a million followers. I was there because, well, I'm kind of an influencer myself, but that was basically an accident. I'm a journalist first, and I've made a name for myself investigating stories in Brazil where things aren't quite what they seem. And that's what brought me to Texas, because the woman who lived there, Kat Torres, seemed like she had a picture perfect life online. Thank you, Wayne. I'm Chico, by the way. Francisco Chico. Yeah. Okay.

[Wayne Murray]

Nice to meet you.

[Chico Felitti]

Wayne told me the more he looked through the stuff the women left behind, the more questions he had about them.

[Wayne Murray]

They had an altar in their yard, not a Christian altar, because she had. I can never Remember the name of the pronounce the name of the drug.

[Chico Felitti]

Ayahuasca.

[Wayne Murray]

That's it. That Brazilian drug.

[Chico Felitti]

Yeah.

[Wayne Murray]

They had packages of dried herbs and it has what they're good for. Good for romance, good for this, good for that. Three of them were also good for exorcisms.

[Chico Felitti]

And that wasn't all.

[Wayne Murray]

One thing I found, I still have it. It's a leather collar and, like a leather plate and these chains and there's a handle on it. When I finally buckled it up, it's for a dog.

[Chico Felitti]

That's why I was meant to ask, was it the human harness or the dog harness? Wayne started to wonder if he had been getting a little carried away. But soon he would see reports of what was really going on in that house and he would realize that maybe he was right to have been suspicious because there was something troubling going on. Something dark, dangerous, even.

[Desiree]

Lee interplace from it. Hi, I'm calling because I would like to know if you guys did a.

[Chico Felitti]

Wellness check on the two missing Brazilian girls, is an officer going to go.

[Wayne Murray]

Over there and talk to them? Because they really need to.

[Desiree]

Could I speak with the person that's.

[Chico Felitti]

In charge of the investigation that's going on for those three girls that are from Leander?

[Desiree]

I'm helping a family that has a girl missing and visiting Texas. It's a little bit scary, to be honest.

[Jesse Weber]

When Luigi Mangione was arrested for allegedly shooting the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, he didn't just spark outrage, he ignited a cultural firestorm. Is the system working or is it time for a reckoning? I'm Jesse Weber. Listen to law and Crimes. Luigi. Exclusively on Wondery.

[Chico Felitti]

From Wandering. I'm Chico Felitti and this is Don't Cross Cat. Like most of you and anyone else, I post on Instagram quite often. I post pictures of the usual stuff. My dog Pachoja, my travels, and my overpriced outfits. Actually, my producer pointed out that in quite a few posts, I don't seem to have my shirt on. But, hey, cut me some slack. I'm Brazilian. I use Insta to post about my podcasts and my books, too. I've been a journalist for 20 years now. I've reported all across Brazil, telling stories of armed conflict, homelessness, indigenous tribes, you name it. And somewhere along the line, people started following me. I remember when I reached 100,000 followers on Instagram and an American company offered me 10 grand to pose with a bag of chips. That was the exact same amount I got for a book that Took me a year to write. A whole year. I'm not proud of it, but it's something I only tell my shrink. But nowadays I make a living from social media as much as being a journalist. This was not my plan. I have to emphasize, I promise. I became an influencer by chance. So when I came across the story, I knew I had to know more. Because it's all about influence. The lengths people will go to have it and what they will do to keep it. This is episode one, the witches who work for you. You. It all begins far from Brazil and far from Texas, in rainy Vancouver in the fall of 2016. Patty Bertoldo was a 32 year old from Brazil. She had a wide smile and long light brown hair. When she walked into Le Cocodille, an upscale French restaurant in the city center.

[Desiree]

It was an easy job for me because I could speak French. They are looking for someone that speaks French. I didn't have to speak a lot in English.

[Chico Felitti]

It was Patty Bertoldo's first day on the job. She looked around her for someone to talk to as the restaurant staff bustled around her. She was not feeling great about being there. She had just moved to Canada from France and needed money.

[Desiree]

I didn't like that too much because in France I had my life, my job, and communication and marketing. I was here not doing what I love to do.

[Chico Felitti]

As she continued to walk through the restaurant, Patty came across a young woman who said hi to her right away. And she was beautiful.

[Desiree]

She had this long blonde, beautiful hair with big eyes, with this beautiful smile and that energy that you can see when a girl. She's strong but feminine and funny.

[Chico Felitti]

Her name was Desiree.

[Desiree]

She wanted to welcome me to the restaurant and she said that she was Brazilian. So I was speaking Portuguese with a friend for the first time in so long.

[Chico Felitti]

Patty followed this idea around the restaurant as she briefed her on her new co workers. This one's really nice. That one is not trustworthy. This one's just eh, okay. Like most of them, Paddy was taking note.

[Desiree]

It was like having a friend in a place that everything was new for me.

[Chico Felitti]

It felt so comforting to talk to someone from Brazil. Someone who knew that in Brazilian Portuguese we don't have an equivalent for personal space. Someone who knew that we don't just shake hands when we greet someone. Of course not. We kiss twice. Sometimes three times. After that first shift at the restaurant, Patty started seeing Desiree outside of work at music festivals, the beach picnics. And soon they started texting each other daily.

[Desiree]

She had A lot of friends and she was really hard working girl. She loved life.

[Chico Felitti]

Desiree was in a wonderful marriage with a man from Germany. She and Patty became close. They talked for hours sharing their life stories. Desiree told Patty she had some struggles.

[Desiree]

She had leukemia when she was pretty young, like a kid. And she wanted to share with people how precious life is.

[Chico Felitti]

One day, on their way to yoga, Desiree told Patty about a famous Brazilian wellness influencer she just found online.

[Desiree]

Do you know that a girl on Instagram, she's so beautiful and she has this amazing life and she came from a real poor family in Brazil and she's also helping people.

[Chico Felitti]

Her name was Kat Turris. She had hundreds of thousands of followers on social media. She posted inspirational quotes about manifesting and nourishing your body and your spirit. She posted hundreds of videos like this one. Looking beautiful in an off the shoulder summer top. Blessing the day with her energy. And here's the thing about Brazilians, we love a good life coach. It's up there with how much we love supermodels and soccer stars because we value happiness, a balanced life. And there are plenty of life coaches in Brazil who have found a lot of success by telling other people how to live their lives for a fee, of course. Cat seem successful, healthy and wealthy. She posted about her designer bags, fancy hotels, even exotic looking animals. She had a huge albino dog that looked like a wolf and a really big cat that looked like a leopard. Desiree's eyes lit up as she scrolled through cats posts. She told Patty this life coach had helped her manifest all the good things into her life. And the way she did that was through a special gift. Cat had abilities. She could hear the voice.

[Desiree]

She can communicate with the universe because she has this light that can speak to her and she can help you.

[Chico Felitti]

That phrase that cat talks to the light stuck out to Patty.

[Desiree]

And then I was, okay, she talks to the light. And I'm pretty much an open mind person. But I was like, okay, if someone say to me, you talk to the light, I will say, oh, you should see a doctor first. But Desiree wasn't laughing and she was now she's amazing. And she also has a website that you can have music to clean your soul. Everything.

[Chico Felitti]

Desiree talked about how pretty Kat was, how insightful she was, how she could read people's energies, how she could communicate directly with the universe to find answers to people's questions. And around that time, Patty did have a lot on her mind.

[Desiree]

I was having this breakup with ex boyfriend like Made me a little bit more fragile.

[Chico Felitti]

When Desiree heard about Patty's breakup, she insisted Patty try booking an appointment with Kat.

[Desiree]

She can help you go through that because she can see his energy. If he's meant to be with you and everything, what did she have to lose? So I thought, okay, why not?

[Chico Felitti]

Patty went home and pulled up Kat's website. She was curious but skeptical. She scrolled through the supermodel photos and got to the payment plans.

[Desiree]

So I booked an appointment with Kat. That was so expensive, by the way. I was almost more than 200American dollars for one hour.

[Chico Felitti]

But money wasn't everything.

[Desiree]

I wanted to believe that someone could help me to feel better.

[Chico Felitti]

On the day of the appointment, Patty rushed home to get set up for the video call. She was a little nervous.

[Desiree]

I was so curious. What is she going to say about my energy? Do I have a good energy? Is she going to say something that is new about myself that I don't know?

[Chico Felitti]

Patty was hoping to actually get some answers. Was she meant to be in Canada? Had her breakup been the right decision? Would she ever find happiness? So she sat down in front of her computer, ready for this beautiful woman to with psychic abilities to tell her the answers. But then she wasn't there.

[Desiree]

She was late. I was going nuts. I was texting and trying to call and no information.

[Chico Felitti]

Then 20 minutes later, Kat finally appeared.

[Desiree]

She said, I'm sorry. I had an appointment before. So we started. Not a good foot, I would say, because I was a little bit upset.

[Chico Felitti]

So, okay. She was late, Patty thought. But Desiree had spoken so highly of Kat that this was about to be good. Real good, right?

[Desiree]

She was just asking a few questions. And then she started asking about my breakup. But just really generic questions.

[Chico Felitti]

Nothing special so far was pretty much.

[Desiree]

Like talking to a friend that was not really my friend.

[Chico Felitti]

Then Kat started talking about her guiding light.

[Desiree]

The light is saying that he's not a good person for you.

[Chico Felitti]

Patty had to hold back from rolling her eyes in front of kat.

[Desiree]

I'm paying 200 bucks for that. So at this point, I was, okay, let's finish with this.

[Chico Felitti]

She didn't get why Desiree was so taken with Kat. So she decided she would gently bring it up with Desiree. Patty wasn't thinking about how Katie Kat would feel about all of this. After all, Kat was just a life coach on social media. She couldn't cause any harm, right?

[Patty Bertoldo]

Some people get a wild haircut or book a spontaneous trip when life throws them a curveball. But Molly, well, she dove headfirst into a world of no strings attached sex, secret rendezvous, forbidden affairs and unforgettable adventures. And together we tell every juicy detail in Dying for Sex, Wondry's award winning podcast that's now streaming on a TV near you, starring Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate. And to top it off, we're dropping brand new bonus episodes where I sit down with the cast to spill all the spicy secrets, desire, friendship, self discovery and the ultimate bucket list of pleasure. This is a story that had everyone talking. Listen to the original Dying for Sex and brand new episodes on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge the original series before anyone else and completely ad free on Wondri.

[Jesse Weber]

In the early hours of December 4, 2024, CEO Brian Thompson stepped out onto the streets of midtown Manhattan.

[Desiree]

This assailant pulls out a weapon and.

[Chico Felitti]

Starts firing at him.

[Jesse Weber]

We're talking about the CEO of the biggest private health insurance corporation in the world and the suspect he has been.

[Chico Felitti]

Identified as Luigi Nicholas Mangione became one.

[Jesse Weber]

Of the most divisive figures in modern criminal history.

[Chico Felitti]

I was targeted, premeditated, Admit to sow terror.

[Jesse Weber]

I'm Jesse Weber, host of Luigi, produced by Law and Crime and Twist. This is more than a true crime investigation. We explore a uniquely American moment that could change the country forever.

[Chico Felitti]

He's awoken the people to a true issue.

[Desiree]

Finally, maybe this would lead rich and powerful people to acknowledge the barbaric nature of our healthcare system.

[Jesse Weber]

Listen to Law and Crime's Luigi exclusively on Wondery. You can join Wondery in the Wondery app, Spotify or Apple podcasts.

[Chico Felitti]

Not long after the consultation with Kat, Patty met up with Desiree at the gym. She had a plan for how to start a conversation with her. She was going to keep it simple.

[Desiree]

I didn't want to be rude to her and say that that person that she was putting so much hope was a scam.

[Chico Felitti]

Patty waited for the right moment.

[Desiree]

I just say that, oh, I didn't like it. I don't think it was helpful for me. I remember that I said to her, you should just be careful.

[Chico Felitti]

Patty paused, waiting for Desiree's reaction.

[Desiree]

But then she tried to convince me to have a second appointment.

[Chico Felitti]

Desiree just didn't want to hear what Patty was telling her about Katie. Cat's relationship with her followers seemed to be superficial, at least from what I could see publicly. Her fans would write comments complimenting her on her appearance and advice. Cat's response to them would be just emojis. Or she would try to sell herself, saying things like, hey, book a one on one with me. Essentially, Cat was hot, blonde, and appeared American. That was the big appeal. Anyway. After that day at the gym, Desiree only got more obsessed with Kat. It seemed Kat was all she talked about now. She talked about how Kat told her what to eat, what to wear, and even what to do with her husband. Now Desiree was saying that she wanted her husband to be more spiritual, to join her in working with meditation, energy and yoga. But Patty knew the spiritual stuff wasn't his thing.

[Desiree]

He was more like playing video games and finances. Right.

[Chico Felitti]

She wasn't too worried, though.

[Desiree]

He was crazy in love with her. You could see that she was in love with him.

[Chico Felitti]

They'd been happily married for years. This was just normal couple stuff. And then came the pandemic. You were having to adapt your lies.

[Desiree]

To cope with this pandemic and continue.

[Jesse Weber]

We continue to base our response on.

[Desiree]

Either a public health emergency or a state of emergency.

[Chico Felitti]

As Covid brought the world to a standstill, Desiree's life changed completely. Her husband lost his job, which meant that they would have to move back to Germany. Desiree promised to stay in touch with Patty as much as possible. But as she began her new life in Europe, Patty noticed that Desiree started to see more and more of Kat. Patty says Desiree was booking two, sometimes three consultations with Katie every week. And Desiree's husband noticed it was hard.

[Desiree]

Because he didn't want Desiree to spend too much money. She was spending her whole money and consultations.

[Chico Felitti]

And of course, Desiree told her life coach all about her husband's concerns. Patty could see how this was going to go for Desiree's marriage.

[Desiree]

So they started fighting because of that, for sure.

[Chico Felitti]

It was mid-2021, about a year since Desiree had moved away to Germany, and Patty's phone rang.

[Desiree]

She called me and she was crying, and she said, katie told me that he was doing black magic. He's doing black magic. Magic. It's why I can't leave him. It's because he's forcing me to be with him.

[Chico Felitti]

Desiree believed her husband was using supernatural forces to keep her with him, an idea that Kat had put in her head. Patty told Desiree that it all sounded crazy to her, that she didn't think her husband even knew what black magic was. But Esiret believed Kat. A couple of months later, it was all over between Desiree and her husband.

[Desiree]

She deleted everything. His phone number, his family, everything. She was like, I don't want to talk to him anymore. And she Moved to another place was crazy.

[Chico Felitti]

Patty tried to support Desiree as much as she could across the time zones. She texted her all the time.

[Desiree]

It's so hard, right? She's the youngest. She's 23, so whatever. Just a young girl making decisions, and you don't have too much power to decide for her.

[Chico Felitti]

Not long after the divorce, Desiree told Patty that she had started dating again. But to Patty, it didn't seem like Desiree's heart was in it. After one of her first dates, Desiree called Patty in tears. She told her she was 30 minutes late to her date, and the guy got upset and said a bunch of mean things to her.

[Desiree]

And then she was like, I was trying to explain to him that I got lost. Then I took the wrong bus and everything. He didn't want to listen to me.

[Chico Felitti]

Patty told her to ditch the guy. He wasn't worth her time. But when Desiree told Kat about it, she had a very different answer. Kat told Desiree that guys like him have a strong energy, so they need women with an energy that's a little more soft. And Desiree seemed to agree.

[Desiree]

So was there that I could see for the first time that something was really wrong we for her, that she was giving way too much power to Kat in her life to decide for her everything. But every time that I tried to say something, she would get so mad at me. She would say, you know how much she's important to me. When she would not listen.

[Chico Felitti]

Patty's concerns kept growing. She decided to look at what Cap was posting on social media, and what she found was disturbing. When Patty looked online, she saw that Kat's social media had changed. She wasn't the same gentle life coach that Patty had met a few years before, when her online presence gave more of a yoga zen vibe. And she posted videos of inspirational meditations, breathing exercises, and positive affirmation. Now she had become intense, angry even. She posted long videos rambling about paranoid conspiracy theories on Covid. She told her followers not to self isolate if they got infected. If they just believed hard enough, they would magically get cured. And she had found herself a large audience, more than a million followers, as well as her select group of paying clients like Desiree. But she was getting noticed by other people, too. An influential science blogger spoke out on YouTube. She warned everyone not to follow people like Kat on Instagram. All the criticism didn't sit well with Kat. Kat said psychologists were a bunch of quote shits. She said that people were wanting to lynch her, but she wasn't Going to stop talking.

[Desiree]

She was saying so much stuff in her Instagram. And every time that someone would say something that would go against what she was saying, she would be so aggressive and say bad words and say really mean stuff to people.

[Chico Felitti]

Then one day, just when Patty thought she had seen it all, a new, more bizarre video popped up on Kat's Instagram profile.

[Desiree]

Tell me to calm down. I need to calm down.

[Chico Felitti]

Kat said she had been kidnapped by Russians.

[Desiree]

I need you right now. I'm going to die. They're going to kill me.

[Chico Felitti]

She filmed herself against a white wall. No details provided. It was honestly all very cryptic, like, how did she even have her cell phone with her anyway? She said she needed her followers to send money to help pay for ransom. Hi.

[Desiree]

Don't get angry at me. I need help. Help. Help, help. Help.

[Chico Felitti]

Help.

[Desiree]

Help, Help, Help, Help, help.

[Chico Felitti]

A few days later, Kat posted another message.

[Desiree]

She was on the spa. Oh, I'm okay. Thank you for everybody that helped me. And she was on the spa, probably with the money that people sent to her, Right?

[Chico Felitti]

But Kat wasn't relaxed for long because there was one of her followers who hadn't sent her any ransom money. Desiree. Kat went live on Instagram, talking to her million strong following.

[Desiree]

She got crazy.

[Chico Felitti]

Desiree is so fucking arrogant. Kat said. She's an idiot, I tell you. A moron.

[Desiree]

She's saying to her followers. Desiree was not grateful for everything that she did for her, and she blocked Desiree.

[Chico Felitti]

Soon after, Patty got a frantic voice message from Desiree. She couldn't believe Kat would do that after everything she had done to show her loyalty. This is not the person I knew, Desiree said on the voice note. I'm not going to waste my time. Patty saw her chance. This was the moment she'd been waiting for. So she sent her a message back.

[Desiree]

That girl, she's just a crazy girl. She needs medical help, not people sending money. So she needs someone to go to the hospital with her. And Desira was, yeah, she's crazy.

[Chico Felitti]

Finally, this was the fork in the road, the point when Desiree would see Kat for the scammer Patty saw. A week later, Patty. Patty noticed a new post on Kat's Instagram. Kat said she was making some changes around her house in Texas. She was expanding her business. And from now on, Kat wouldn't be the only one providing the coaching services. She had some assistants living with her. The post read, meet the witches who work for you. And there in the photo was a familiar face. And Desiree wasn't the Team Patty realized the truth. Her best friend hadn't left Kat at all. Instead, Desiree had gone all in on what Kat had to offer.

[Desiree]

So I texted Desiree and I was like, what is going on? What is she talking about? Are you going to work with that crazy girl? And I used the word crazy.

[Chico Felitti]

Four or five days went by and nothing. Patty texted again. This time, Desiree did reply.

[Desiree]

Stop saying mean stuff about Kat. You know how much she is important to my life, and if you can't accept that, I prefer not to talk to you anymore. It was really sad for me to hear that from her. And I remember that I told her, how can you say that? I'm your friend for years now and I'm always here for you. I'm always listening to you. You know me. You came to my place, you slept in my bed. And so I know you.

[Chico Felitti]

How can you put an Instagram influencer ahead of the friendship we have? Patty wrote, someone you're paying to give you attention. After that, Desiree disappears.

[Desiree]

She was not on WhatsApp anymore. I texted her and she was not getting the text. So I went to Instagram. She has no Instagram anymore. And Facebook. No Facebook anymore. Okay, that is really weird. So I brought her an email. They say, everything's okay. If you don't want to talk to me anymore, it's okay. Just let me know if you're okay.

[Chico Felitti]

Weeks went by and still no reply.

[Desiree]

So I start being really worried about her.

[Chico Felitti]

Patty started looking for other people who may have been in touch with Desiree.

[Desiree]

Like maybe a friend that know her from somewhere. So I texted people in Vancouver that knew her.

[Chico Felitti]

She even called Desiree's former school in Brazil, hoping to find a contact for her parents.

[Desiree]

So no one. No news. I just wanted to know if she was alive, if everything was okay.

[Chico Felitti]

True friendships are often at the core of our lives. We share our innermost secrets with our friends. They are the people we turn to when we need help, the people we would drop everything for. But in an online world, it's easy to have a sense of closeness with the people we see on Instagram every day. So when a beautiful, rich influencer gives you attention, even if you're paying for your time with them, it could feel like a real connection. Like you really know them and they really know you. Kat had more than a million followers, but she was showing Desiree one on one attention. And if you're a real life friend like Patty, how could you ever compete with that? Patty was about to find out. And that search for her missing friend was going to cost her a lot more than she had imagined. Still to come.

[Desiree]

I can be pretty much dangerous when I'm angry, but I think the police in America has more dangerous people to catch. Why she's talking about suicide. Maybe she going to kill her.

[Wayne Murray]

It's the most stupid thing I've ever.

[Chico Felitti]

Heard in my life that Kat Torres.

[Wayne Murray]

Can kidnap two grown women. No one's being held against her will.

[Chico Felitti]

No signs of a distress. Everybody seems to be okay.

[Wayne Murray]

No emergency.

[Desiree]

Sorry, what? Don't tell she's in my house. Don't tell haters, gossip pages on Instagram with millions and millions of people. I am a famous person. Do you want to get me fucking killed? And when people cross me, how do I behave?

[Chico Felitti]

Very serious. That's all coming up on this season of Don't Cross Cat. Follow Don't Cross Cat on the Wondery app, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes early and ad free right now by joining Wondery plus in the Wondery App or Apple Podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short [e-mail] if you have a tip about a story you think we should investigate, please write to [e-mail] Tips from Wondery this is episode one of six of Don't Cross Cat. Don't Cross Cat is hosted and reported by me, Chico Felitti. Producer is Andres Caballero Senior professional producer is Fernanda Echeverri Associate producers are Giovanna Romano Sanchez and Ottavio Bonfa. Additional production assistance by Beatriz Trevisa Fact checking by Zoe Sullivan theme song by Mariana Romano sound design and mixing by Stephanie Lebeau additional mixing by Julia Caruso and J.J. carubin sound supervisor is Marcelino Villalpondo, Project Manager Manager is Nancy Trujillo and supervising senior production manager is Jessica Ellis. Managing producer is Heather Baloga Development producer is Olivia Weber Senior development Editor is Rachel B. Doyle Production services by Futuru Studios Executive producers for Futuru Studios are Marlon Bishop and Maria Garcia. Executive producers for Wondery are Russell Fence, George Lavender, Marshall Louis and Jen Sargent.