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Ryder Strong
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Chris Delvecchio
schedule sounds like this.
Ryder Strong
Are you kidding me?
Chris Delvecchio
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Podcast Advertiser / Narrator
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Chris Delvecchio
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Ryder Strong
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Chris Delvecchio
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Podcast Advertiser / Narrator
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Chris Delvecchio
Not a chance. You're a lifelong learner who's come this far. Now we are here to help you keep going further.
Podcast Advertiser / Narrator
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Public Investing Sponsor
Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now gener assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures
Chris Delvecchio
the Red Weather is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons or events reflects the adaptation of real, publicly available materials for creative and legal reasons. The content of this podcast is the sole responsibility of Red Weather, LLC and does not reflect the views or responsibilities of iHeartMedia or its affiliates. Previously on the Red Weather. I found that tape in my car
Andre
when Anna left it with a bunch of her books.
Chris Delvecchio
But when I heard it, that's when I knew she was banging some older guy.
Bethenny Frankel
It also can't be true that age doesn't matter which.
Chris Delvecchio
By the way, you say it all the time. All of a sudden, she's missing school
Podcast Advertiser / Narrator
late nights, taking the car out.
Chris Delvecchio
He wore her down, that son of a bitch. Jesus. Do you remember Jacob Wyman?
Andre
The English teacher?
Chris Delvecchio
Wyman landed in hot water last semester when several parents noticed he had included the novel Damage by Josephine Hart on his fall reading list. I needed to see that book. So the sheriff's department is here. What? Yeah. Because I don't care if you are some little shit.
Andre
That is serious.
Chris Delvecchio
There are parts of my conversation with Mick Bowden that I didn't include earlier. It didn't seem relevant. Who actually came at you with a bat? The one I remember. The Phantom of the Opera or whatever. That's. That's why I took him out. And that kid went down hard. You took him and he wasn't getting back up. Okay, we were talking about the night Anna Trainor disappeared. No way. No way. Chris didn't see it. Quite the same. Took me out.
Andre
I think I'd remember that.
Chris Delvecchio
Anyway, Mick and I were going back and forth, and at one point he said this. It's just lucky I didn't have a gun. That's a weird thing to say. No, I'm making a point, okay? That if you come at me with a bat. Gun. If I had a gun. Okay, but if that's you, did you have a gun? Like, in your car? Did you have a gun? No, of course. What about at your house? No. Did you? No, obviously not. What do you mean, obviously not? You lived out in the middle of the woods. Okay, no, but hold on. You didn't have a gun at your house? In your house when you grew up? Yeah, my dad. I mean, we had hunting rifles. Okay? Multiple guns. Okay, let's just. Can we just calm down and take a step back? Why? We're getting off track here. We're not off track. You point a finger at me, I'm just pointing it right back at you.
Bethenny Frankel
Yeah.
Chris Delvecchio
Mick had recorded our conversation the same time I did. They're searching the house. They're going through all the closets and outside. The Sonoma County Sheriff's office had shown up at my parents house with a search warrant. My brother Shiloh called me while I was still in Colorado. I thought Mick's recording was all about intimidation. A power move, a bluff to keep me honest. What are they looking for? Guns. But obviously it was more than that. I am actor and filmmaker Ryder Strong. This is the red weather, Sam. I mean, I have to go because my. You know, my parents are freaking out. Instead of flying back to la, I needed to get to Northern California, but that would mean my wife, Alex would miss out on an acting job. It's. It's the one day guest star I can live without it. It's. It's. You should come home, stop recording, call a lawyer. Why? Why this total. No, this whole thing? It's. They have a warrant. They have a reason to be there.
Bethenny Frankel
They have a legal document.
Chris Delvecchio
You have nothing. You have your just your podcast. Like. Like. What are you not telling me? Nothing. What do you mean? Are you seriously asking me that? What? I. I'm not trying to hide. I'm not hiding anything from you. What? I mean, you. You left out the abortion you helped your ex get. Oh, my God. I can't believe you're bringing that up again. It's. I hope that you're joking.
Ryder Strong
I'm not joking.
Chris Delvecchio
I know you told. You said you told me, but I really do not remember. And I feel like that's something I would remember. It's pretty bad, man. My buddy Connor didn't hold back. Well, I mean, I think what she's mad about is that I've been gone for so long, you know? Or she's mad about exactly what she's telling you she's mad about. You know, when you said you were doing this podcast, I thought Willow was like a friend. Yeah, when you were kids. And then I find out more. No, that's. It is. That's. When we were teenagers, it got a little complicated. Do you remember the night we wrote that song? Connor was talking about one of the first times he met Alex. Yeah, I know. It's a. It's. It's very similar. It's the same thing. Connor had flown into LA to visit and the three of us went out for a big dinner, had a fun night. And when we got back to the house, Alex went to bed. Connor and I stayed up. Before he became an academic, Connor was a musician. We used to do shows together. And that night we stayed up until sunrise playing guitar and writing a Song. We were very intoxicated and we were not quiet. Writing a song that was dealing with, like, love and loss. And it was quite a dramatic. So, like, we were loud and you were singing at the top of your lungs. And she did come in and tell us to shut up several times. Alex was trying to sleep, which was problem number one. But then when she came out to tell us to be quiet, she heard the lyrics to what we were writing and found out we were writing a song about an ex girlfriend of mine. You've got to be totally upfront with her, like an open book. When I called from the airport, I got Alex's voicemail. Hey, look, I know you're upset, and I understand, but I also, you know, I want you to be able to have the whole picture. So I sent you a link that's gonna send you to a Dropbox where you can download all seven of the episodes so far that I have edited the rough cuts. And you listen to them, you'll see that Willow is such a small part of this. It's really. It's not about her. It really is about Anna. Anyway, give me a call later and we can talk. All right, I love you. Bye. Hi, guys. Hey. Hi. Yeah, no, I'm fine. I'm so sorry. How are you? You really got me freaked out. I know. It took me all day to get to my parents. The sheriff's department was long gone. Yeah. So I was in the back house, and I looked up and I just happened to see them. They had the lights on. They came down, and then they pile out and everybody comes in here. And then they grab mom and dad and bring them outside. And, you know, so I walked down and then they freak. They saw me, and I was like, you know what? The. Take me. Put us in a little area, and then they start taking each of us individually and start interviewing. But we couldn't talk to each other. And they're just asking about guns. They're just saying, like, where? Yeah, they had a search warrant. They gave me a warrant. Where's the search warrant? Let me see that. Let me. It says they're searching for what's listed in attachment B and. Oh, my God. Okay, so attachment B says one firearms of any make or model. The gun thing might seem a little out of character, but for all my parents, bohemian tendencies. My dad was raised in rural Pennsylvania, where he grew up hunting. He was in the Marines, so he made sure to teach us how to shoot. I got my first rifle when I was 6. And I'm not talking a BB gun? It was a.22. I'm actually very anti gun these days. Or at least very pro gun control. But my dad still had all of his. He has them locked and stored these days. But when we were kids, there was just a closet off of my parents room that had all of them, including but not limited to rifles and handguns chambered in.257, Roberts caliber or any other caliber consistent with ballistic evidence. How many guns did they take? They took all of them. Everyone I had. Yeah. Cuz they're looking for a match. Monica was talking about the bullets and evidence recovered from a tree. No, that's not what this is. This is. This is publicity. This is just retaliation. You know, Mick sends them on a witch hunt and they know that it's a witch hunt, but they still do it because they're pissed off for what you and I did. Well, I mean, it does make sense. I mean, she disappeared within a. A mile. And there's. What, there's guns at your property? Yeah. Okay, so I did it. I'm literally making a podcast where I'm trying to solve the case. Oh, this is not new. Zodiac killer sent letters to the San Francisco Chronicle. Then there was btk. He haunted the press for years. Okay, so don't question your parents. Do they ever lock their doors? No, it's about. I mean, they're out in the middle of nowhere. Never. Exactly. So somebody actually could walk into their house, they could find a gun and then. But they would have to know that. Would have to know that there are guns there. That's the point. You were in the woods. You, Willow and Chris, Connor, Orion. We. Yeah, we were all together. But you didn't stay at your house. No, we walked to Connor that night. I told you that. Why? What do you mean? Why didn't you stay at your house? You were right there. Because we had. It was the. Your whole family. No one from your family was home? No, I mean my. Yeah, my parents were in Tahoe. They were staying at a friend's cabin. And your brother. Hey. Hey. Where did you go after Heather's party? My brother was outside cleaning up. The sheriff's department had left a mess. Are you kidding me? No, I'm just helping. I will relax. My parents don't have trash service, so they have to bring it to the dump themselves every few months. And the sheriff's office had emptied it all out onto the grass. It was a month's worth of trash in complete disarray. I'm just trying to figure out how it all Went. So you were at the party, and then where did you go? Was with Aaron. We went downtown. Okay. And did you come back to the house? No, I crossed Aaron's. See, this is what I'm trying to. Why were none of us here? Like. Like the parents were in Tahoe in October? Oh. Cause the septic. I had forgotten about this. When they built the house, my parents had to put in their own septic tank. And that month in 1995, it had failed. Oh, well, the guy came in. Yeah, he'd get it pumped every three, four years. And the guy that came in and pumped it the last time looked at it and he said, oh, you know, this whole septic tank's no good anymore. You got to replace this. I said, why? He says, look in here. You look in, you see there's moss or something growing inside from the roots. He goes, yeah, the trees are getting into it. You gotta replace this. My dad was originally gonna do it himself, but it turned out to be a really big job. It was a full on excavation. There was a cement tank about 10ft by 10ft with leech lines. So we were all staying at other people's houses while a crew came in with backhoes. They dug up the old tank and put the new one in. Yeah. So the whole back hillside was torn up and we couldn't use the bathroom. What the hell? Oh, there was a box among the junk. What the hell? This is the pager. It was a box that we had packed up with a pager we'd found on the property. There was a chance that it was Anna's, so we had meant to send it off to Lyle Rincken, who was a specialist in older technology. But the package had never made it to ups. Hey, it's Ryder Strong. I'm Chris Deo's friend. I called Rinkin as it started to rain. Listen, I know why you never got that pager. It was actually never mailed off. It just got lost in the shuffle. I'm so sorry about that. Well, I. If it's all right, can I overnight it to you? Is that okay? I really appreciate it. Yeah, I'm gonna. I'll send it off today. Great. Thank you so much. Does he really think you can get something off of it? I mean, might as well try, right? Shiloh and I walked back to the house to get out of the rain. Who was your pager code? 145, because it's shy. Upside down. I feel like everybody had 666. Yeah, or 69. Right. Well, that's why Chris's was 96, because it was. He called it the anti 69. Like two people facing away from each other. It was the married couple. Did they search the garage? No, I don't think so because dad keeps that one gun in there. Really? Yeah. A few years back there was a mountain lion in the area. My dad was rebuilding a fence at the time and he wanted to have a rifle nearby. It was still in the garage? Yeah. Look here. No, they missed it. Well, what do we do? We turn it in. Well, hold on. Let's just. Let's think about this for a second. Think about what, Ryder? Think about what?
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Public Investing Sponsor
show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public investing brokerage services. By open to the public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available@public.com disclosures let's talk about modern home shopping.
Ryder Strong
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Chris Delvecchio
I want to believe that truth wins out, that if you're a good person or at least an innocent person, you don't have anything to worry about. It's their fault that they didn't find it, right? So why should I help them? Well, to solve the case. That's what you want, isn't it? Yes, but do I want them to solve the case? This is exactly the situation where people get completely screwed, isn't it? They, you know, think they're helping and they answer all the questions. They don't get a lawyer and then they end up in jail for the rest of their lives. Like you didn't do anything. Yes, I know that but, you know, suddenly my fingerprints end up on a bullet. Why would your fingerprints end up in a bullet? They plant something, they make it. They've already overstepped to hear that. Like, do you think you can trust them? Do you trust cops? Well, I mean, to a certain extent. No. This is why you have law. You get to a point and you say, okay, whatever, hand it off to them. Okay. I mean, I think at this point, I don't think they need. They deserve any of my help. That's. That's honestly the way I feel. You're just being paranoid. But was I? I mean, here was the sheriff's department raiding my parents house while all the evidence that I had been gathering was pointing in a new, promising direction. I had come to think of it as the Mr. Wrong theory. I pieced together that Anna was in a secret, inappropriate relationship with an older guy and they had a plan to run away. It was seeming more and more likely that she could have met up with him on the night that she disappeared. And I had a theory on who that might be. A teacher named Jacob Wyman. He was really young, and I think maybe that's part of it that he seemed kind of, you know, like there was that simultaneous, like, you know, him almost trying to be our friends, and then at the same time, you know, like, no, you got to do this essay. You got to get it in on time, whatever. So like, he seemed more, you know, know, like earnest and really, you know, wanting to connect with people and communicate an ethos of life. I needed to see a book that was in evidence at the sheriff's department. A copy of Damage by Josephine Hart. If it had handwritten notes that matched the other books both Anna and Willow had, then it would point decisively towards Mr. Wrong and by extension, Jacob Wyman. I wanted nothing more than to tell Sheriff Maldonado. I thought since he was retired, he. Maybe he would be open to helping me. Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. But he still wasn't taking my calls. Oh, screw those guys. Yes, that's what I'm saying. And Shiloh thinks I'm crazy. No, he's crazy. You're fine. Oh, hey, I'm on Burnside right now. I'm like literally passing where we were that morning. Nice. Hell yeah. Turn on. And it stoned me. Play that and imagine it's Orion singing. No, you mean Shallow Days. Wait, wasn't that. Was that. It was a shallow day. Yes, of course. That was like the epic Shallow Days performance. Well, just come back to LA and let this thing blow over. They have nothing, man. They've got less than nothing. I knew Chris was right. I needed to get home. Not only to lay low, but also to try and smooth things over with Alex. But then, on the way to drop the pager off at ups, I drove past Little Seed, the fruit stand that Maldonado had taken me to, and I saw that Andre's was working. Hey, Andre, it's Ryder. Oh, yeah, hey.
Andre
Been for some.
Chris Delvecchio
Some best berries. Sure. It's cool that I'm recording. I wasn't hungry, though. I was hoping you could help me reach Maldonado. Hey, listen, have you seen Robert lately? Have you seen Maldonado?
Andre
Not really. I mean, maybe last Sunday.
Chris Delvecchio
Okay. Yeah, I'm just trying to get a hold of him. You guys are friends, right?
Andre
I wouldn't say friends, but yeah. I'll tell you this, though.
Chris Delvecchio
I never charge him. When I asked why, Andres told me how in 1990, his family's life was upended when his grandfather died. The county treated the inheritance as a transfer and reassessed their whole farm at market rates. Suddenly, their taxes doubled. They were going to lose the property, Right? Right.
Andre
And you had a lot of families around here with deep pockets. That wasn't us. You know, we were broke. Plus, we didn't have the right last name.
Chris Delvecchio
What do you mean?
Andre
Well, if you had something that sounded Italian or Irish, you know, you were great. You had no problems.
Chris Delvecchio
Maldonado didn't know Andre's family, not personally. But he heard about what was happening and he told him about the Williamson Act. A way to lock the land into agricultural status and avoid the reassessment. But they still had to get through county bureaucracy.
Andre
And he fought for us. He pissed off some people good. You know, there's a couple council members and all that shit, and they just kind of walked out. But he didn't know us. And the guy, he still tries to pay me every time he stops by. Anyways, that was a long story. It'll bug you, boy.
Chris Delvecchio
Listen, if you talk to him, if you see Maldonado, can you tell him something for me? Sure. Here. Say this. Tell him that I don't like the story, but I'm letting the evidence tell it. I got back in my car and went back to my parents, and then I drove to the sheriff's department. I'm not gonna lie. It was awkward. Hi. Hi. I have something that I need to get to Grace Loughlin or Thomas Greer, but I can't really. I'm not sure how to bring it in.
Podcast Advertiser / Narrator
I'm sorry.
Chris Delvecchio
Well, it's evidence for a case and it's a gun. A deputy came out to my car and got it. The next morning, before I left for la, I got an email from Alex. She hadn't written anything. She just forwarded an old email that I had sent to her in 2010. It took a moment for me to know what I was reading. It was an email where I told her about getting my first short story published. It's the same story that I talked about last episode, the one that was inspired by my road trip with Willow. Alex had obviously listened to the episode because in the email from 2010, I told her that I'd written the story about her, about us. So it was about Alex or was it about Willow? Well, that's the thing. Both. I mean, I wrote it when I was 30. When you were already with Alex? Yes, but I was looking back at this time and. And I was combining things, you know, thing. People. You mean people. All right. But the story was about getting serious with Alex. You know, it was about commitment, so it was about Alex at its core. I mean, you know, thematically. Thematically about you is not a great thing to tell your wife. This was an even worse version of keeping her up all night with our song. I'm Home. When I got home, Alex wouldn't let me record. Our son Indy, was there and we put on a good front. We didn't talk about it, but later, Indy had gymnastics, I dropped him off and I came home. Alex and I finally had a chance to talk. Partway through the conversation, I began to record on my phone. Sorry. Right now, I just. What is.
Ryder Strong
Whatever's happening here is making me wonder
Chris Delvecchio
how you feel about me. Okay. Oh, you're just going to question 15 years of marriage because.
Ryder Strong
Because you're chasing Anna Willow.
Chris Delvecchio
Do you even care about them as people? Oh, my God, yes. That's the whole point of this thing. Think about it. I'm. All I'm doing is thinking about them as people, trying to get to know them. I'm doing all these interviews and asking all these people. Like I'm trying to get them, know them better, to understand them more. Have you interviewed any women? What are you talking about? Of course the sheriff is a woman. Like, the person I've been talking to the most is Monica the journalist. No, I mean from Anna's life. From your life. Have you interviewed any girls that you grew up with? I hadn't. I talked to a mom. This is insane. Why you are trying to Understand? A girl because. Who might have been killed or run away, but you never talk to any of the women who knew her. Just the dudes who knew her. Not one. I. I just don't see. It's not that. No, I don't see. Like, what's the point? No, of course. Of course it's not. Well, of course there's no point to it. That. That. That's not the point of this. Right? Because it's. It's about you and your guy friends
Ryder Strong
making yourselves feel better.
Chris Delvecchio
About what? Just ignoring girls back then? Because if they didn't date you or didn't you, they didn't. They didn't really count. Okay, I think that you're upset, but you don't have to trash this whole project because I'm. I'm questioning the why. Okay, you're right. You're right. Maybe. Are you recording this? Alex? I. It's. Oh, my God. No, hold on, hold on.
Ryder Strong
Important to the project.
Chris Delvecchio
Look, dude, I asked you to talk to me. I am talking to come home to talk to me, to really talk to me. And I am really talking to you. You are secretly recording me. I. It's.
Bethenny Frankel
My God.
Chris Delvecchio
Oh, my God. Please, no. Please, Alex. She didn't want me at the house, and I didn't blame her. Dead man walking. Oh, gosh. Hi. Chris let me stay with him. He and his wife Fiona met me at the door. Oh, my God. You forgot the cardinal rule, buddy. Happy wife, happy life. I hate that saying. But it's true. I mean, this is why I tell Fiona nothing lower the expectations. Yeah, he is joking, but also not joking. Women are complex, emotional creatures, which is why they'll never be president. Oh, come on, Chris. It's true, though. I'm kidding. But seriously, it's probably her time of the month. Oh, okay. All right. Good night. Good night to you. Yeah, I know.
Andre
I said too much.
Chris Delvecchio
I know. God forbid, give her time. Time heals all wounds. Especially if you're a creature who bleeds a few days a month and doesn't die from. Stop. Stop. I'm getting beers. I'm getting beers. Thank you. Chris didn't have a guest room, which meant I was sleeping on the couch in his living room. I mean, I just think that this whole thing, this whole project, has been driven by guilt. Are you confessing right now? No one saw this coming. I'm confessing to something a lot more boring than murder. It's just that Alex is right. Like, I weeks doing this recording. I didn't interview a single girl from Our teens. Whatever. You would have interviewed Willow if she hadn't. I don't, would I? I mean, she inspired this thing, you know? Do you remember in 2004 or five or whatever, when I found the pictures of her online? I was talking about a time when I was in college in New York, somewhat early in the days of Internet porn, And in a crazy coincidence, I came across photos of Willow naked. Yeah, you found photos of her. Kind of like amateur porn photos of her online. In a kitchen, maybe? I just remember being really kind of saddened by that. Yeah, because that was when I really fully appreciated how desperate she was for attention. And also possibly money. It was a real DIY kind of job. They weren't professional, but also not private. The worst part, she was wearing her same old fairy wings and nothing else. Well, I see them, I find them, and then what do I do? I immediately download them, put them in an email, send to you and Connor, and I don't even know who else, and I'm like, oh, my God, look what I just found. Yeah. Cause it was crazy. Of course you sent. If I would have found him, I would have sent them to you and Connor, too, doing the same exact thing. Okay, yes, it's crazy, but my reaction wasn't, oh, God, I should maybe reach out to Willow and tell her that this is up on the Internet. Maybe be sex positive. She may have wanted them out there. She may have wanted to do that. You could have been like, good for her. She's living her best but life. I never. I never thought that. Instead, I mean, I was just like, oh, my God, look what Willow's doing. I can't wait to show the guys. So. So if you think about it, I only found the photos because I was actually looking for porn. Like, I'm the target guy. That's why those photos are up there in the first place, right? So what's up with me? Right? How can I be like, oh, I want to find naked chicks on one hand, and then also be like, oh, shit, my friend's naked online. How pathetic. Or funny or awful or. All three. All three, right? Then I got a call. Oh, I gotta take this. Okay. I recognized Maldonado's number. After checking with him, I called him back so I could record. All right. Yeah, I got it recording now.
Andre
So I heard from Andres. I appreciate that.
Chris Delvecchio
Yeah, no, thanks for calling. I've been, you know, I'm piecing together a lot here, and mostly I've been zeroing in on this teacher, this guy named Jacob Wyman. I Don't know if he ever came up.
Andre
Listen, listen. Was good that you turned that rifle in.
Chris Delvecchio
Of course. No, I've got. I've got nothing to hide. You know, I don't. I don't know what Mick is. Is telling you or them.
Andre
Look, look, I want to be clear here, all right? I'm not in the department.
Chris Delvecchio
Got it? Yeah.
Andre
I'm retired.
Chris Delvecchio
Right. Yeah. No, I know.
Andre
Okay, so this. This is a citizen. Just calling another citizen who is. Appreciates the honesty.
Chris Delvecchio
Okay?
Andre
So I'm going to be honest with you as a citizen.
Chris Delvecchio
Okay?
Andre
That rifle that you Gave Lachlan, that's a.257 Rogers. That's a very rare caliber.
Chris Delvecchio
Okay? What do you mean?
Andre
Well, there might be 100 257s in the whole county. And if one of them sits 10 minutes from where we pulled those slugs out of a tree, I. I'd be surprised if it's not a match. They're gonna run ballistics because that's standard already. I can tell you right now, it doesn't look good.
Chris Delvecchio
My man.
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Chris Delvecchio
If Maldonado was right about the gun, then Jacob Wyman didn't make any sense. It had to be someone who knew there were guns in my parents house. And he says it, it. It doesn't look good, my man. Like what? Me? I called Monica to fill her in. Like you have to. You have to believe that I went crazy, walked into my parents house, got a gun, and then came back out and just randomly found Anna on the wall. Well, look, it's not. It's not random or crazy if you were in a relationship with her. Okay, fine, I'm in a. I. I never even talked to Anna. But sure, fine. I'm in a relationship with her and I'm the guy. And I planned to meet up with her and I shot her. And then I. What? I just. I magically made her body disappear. Buried it. Sure, I buried it. And what? I didn't say anything to Monica. But right then, something did occur to me. The septic work. The reason my parents were gone. The reason Shiloh and I were staying at Friends. There had been a giant, freshly dug hole right in my backyard. A person could easily dig up right next to the tank, drop a body in, and no one would ever think to look. Do you need like a toothbrush or something? No, I got that. You brought that? I'm good.
Andre
Do you need toothpaste?
Chris Delvecchio
No. Yes, I will need toothpaste. I'll lay some out. Great. Yeah. Okay, we're off to bed. Good night, guys. Good night. Good night, pal. I couldn't sleep that night. I was on Chris's couch just staring at the ceiling. And sometime around 3am I checked my email. Okay, I'm rolling because I just open up my computer and Rincon already got back to us. I actually think it might have been Anna's pager. I want to go wake up Chris right now. This is insane. All right. Rinkin says hi. Chris and Ryder, Quite a journey with the Motorola today. Powering it up with a bench supply was easier than I expected. It chirped the old 2Khz tone. Hollywood fakes that all the time, so hearing it for real was pretty sweet. I have no idea what and this means. Okay, the LCD was a nightmare. Reseeding the zebra strip. Oh, I think that's Chris upstairs. He must have seen the email. Okay, checked the hex, found some packed bcd, ran a little script. Jesus Christ. I don't know. Okay, dumping the EEPROM actually worked. I recovered the last 12 numbers. See attached. It's okay. It's a text file. Yes. Yes. The 823, 829. Those are definitely from Sebastopol. I gotta get my notes. All right. Yeah. I think Chris is coming down. Okay, that's. I can see. That's the Juniper pay phone number. And that's. It's actually. It's mixed. Home phone number twice. This is Anna. And then there's the last four pages. It's the same one. Four in a row. It's not a phone number. It's code 911. That was the standard code for this is an emergency. Or at least this is important. Minus 204. 204. The street address of the Tender Hearts property. 204 was same. Meet me there. And 96. Chris. That's Chris's cocoa. Wait, 911. 204. 96. Four times. But that. That's Chris. What was Chris doing? She's stupid. Seriously. Ran away. Nothing. It's just. Don't worry about it, babe. Just go back inside if you want to go back inside. Just. I've got this freaking my wife out. Ryder, where the are you, man? Ryder, can we please talk? Can we. Can we please just talk? Come talk to me. Come on, man. You want to ask me something? You want to accuse me of something? Come on out, man up. For once in your life, be a man and talk to me face to face. Come out. Come on. Come on. You got an email writer.
Andre
Hey, can I tell you a story?
Chris Delvecchio
Does it involve Johnny Appleseed? It was three months since I managed to get away from Chris's house. That night I was doing a follow up interview with Maldonado. And he said he wanted to make me feel better. I assumed he meant feel better about the fact that I never suspected my best friend was a murderer.
Andre
My old man, my dad, he died when I was 15. And when I was, I don't know, 16, 17, my mom started dating this guy, Luis. She and Luis ended up getting married. He moves in and I move out. And I was painting houses, mainly down in Marin. I didn't get back home that much, but every month or so my mom's at the doctor or in the hospital. Something's broken. Oh, my mom twisted her ankle again. Something like that.
Chris Delvecchio
Oh, shit. Yeah.
Andre
Yeah. Oh yeah. But I was Busy, you know, 19. It was all about me. I was making good dough painting houses. But then finally, finally it happens. I get that call that my mom's in the hospital again. Except this time it's serious. And this time. Well, this time it's undeniable. They got Luis with scratches all over his face, scraped up knuckles, and that bastard had tried to run.
Chris Delvecchio
So he was hitting her the whole time?
Andre
The whole time? From day one.
Chris Delvecchio
Was she okay? I mean, did she.
Andre
Yeah, she. She was fine. She came through. We've got two years.
Chris Delvecchio
That's it.
Andre
Yeah, well, it was. It was the 80s, man, would you expect? But that day, when I came back to find my mom in the hospital like that, knowing that this guy had done that and had been doing that, kept doing that. Well, that's the day that I quit painting houses and I enrolled in the police academy.
Chris Delvecchio
I was trying to figure out where this was going, how this could possibly make me feel better. Ah, so you became a cop because Louise was there in your life. He's your own stepdad, and you had no idea?
Andre
Of course not. Exact opposite. I became a cop because I always knew that son of a bitch was scum. I told my mom every chance I got. That's right. I've got the nose man, the radar. You see, I think the worst of every person every time. You know the old saying about assume?
Chris Delvecchio
You mean if you assume, it makes an ass of you and an ass of me?
Andre
Nope, It's. Don't assume. Makes an ass out of you and a cop out of me. Yeah, it's a curse, Ryder. So just be glad you don't have it. Oh, and hey, don't quit your day job.
Chris Delvecchio
18 days ago, Chris Delvecchio was charged with the murder of Anna Trainor. He's awaiting trial without bail. Anna's body was found in the backyard of my childhood home, 20ft from my bedroom window. It was a sloped, grassy hill my brother and I used to roll down as kids, play laser tag on. Once we set up a projector screen there, and I watched Coco with my son. No clue what was right below the grass. After 30 years, what remained of Anna was skeletal but telling.
Andre
You want the gory details, don't you?
Chris Delvecchio
The sheriff's office liaison, Thomas Greer, filled me in. No, no, I'm. I'm. You know, I'm just hoping that if I could interview somebody.
Andre
Come on. You're a showbiz guy, you play it, but you're a song and dance man. Admit it.
Chris Delvecchio
Fine. Admit it. So you'll let me talk to the forensic pathologist?
Andre
Oh, hell no. This case is ongoing, but I'll get you a summary of findings.
Chris Delvecchio
It still blows my mind. We had all lied to the cops about where we were in order to protect Willow. So it never Occurred to us that Chris might have been lying to us too. He was definitely at my house in the morning. He was there. Here's what Connor, Orion and I have been able to piece together. After the fire started, we ran, we scattered. Orion and I eventually found Connor on the road. Then later, Willow caught up with us. But even then, we split up throughout the night to hide from the cars, the fire trucks. Sometimes in pairs, sometimes alone. And when we thought back, we all assumed that Chris was with us, had been with one of us at any given point. But he wasn't. He wasn't there for sure until sunrise at Connor's house, when we made the pinky swear. Which leaves Chris unaccounted for from 10pm until almost 7am and in the days that followed, like me, Chris was questioned twice by the cops. Like me, he lied. Other than those meetings, there's no official record of his whereabouts. Plenty of time to move Anna's car, catch a bus home, even join the search party. Okay, do you. Do you mind reading it?
Andre
Oh, you're the actor, hombre.
Chris Delvecchio
I don't need you to act. Just read.
Andre
Okay, pressure's on. All right.
Chris Delvecchio
All right.
Andre
Skeletal remains were exhumed from approximately 60, 70 inches below grade. Associated artifacts included degraded denim, fabric pants, shoe fragments and metallic jewelry. Now my mouth is dry.
Chris Delvecchio
No, you're doing great. Sounds good.
Andre
Hey, how many times do you say anti mortem on Boy Meets World, huh?
Chris Delvecchio
Okay, well, now you know how actors on CSI feel.
Andre
Cranial trauma, left parietal bone exhibits a depressed fracture measuring approximately 4.1 cm in diameter.
Chris Delvecchio
In other words, Anna was struck in the head, but that didn't kill her.
Andre
Right fourth and fifth ribs both display complete perforation by a projectile.
Chris Delvecchio
The bullet killed her. Now, to be clear, everything up until this is the extent of public information, the district attorney isn't revealing more about their case. So let me state, because my lawyers haven't insisted that I say this, anything more is speculation. My speculation. But here's what I think happened that night. That's why I took him out. And that kid went down hard. You took him and he wasn't getting back up. Okay. Chris is hurt by Mick. Physically, of course. But when Mick knocks him down, something snaps. Years of being picked on. Rage, humiliation.
Andre
He's the massive debacio.
Chris Delvecchio
Constantly. Really?
Andre
Oh, dude, he lost his.
Chris Delvecchio
But it's not just that. It's. Who this is Mick. Anna's ex. Boyfriend. Maybe still her boyfriend. Knocking him down. That's the worst thing in the world for Chris because he's in love with Anna. He is by then in a relationship with her. I think you just like need it to be true that like you like like me and that I like you. But it's not okay. It like isn't okay for society.
Andre
It's what I'm saying.
Chris Delvecchio
When I heard about an age difference on the mix, my imagination only went in one direction. Older. I never thought it might mean younger. Chris began as Anna's stalker. The son of a who according to Laney, wore her down and became her secret inappropriate boyfriend. She was older, man.
Andre
She was the coolest.
Chris Delvecchio
You were in love with her? We all had a massive crush on her. I was not alone, dude. I barely even talked to her. But whatever. I was in love with anything with a pulse and boobs. Chris was a scrawny 15 year old, one of her sister's weirdo friends. The guy dressed as Phantom of the Coffee Shoppera. The guy everyone still called fancy pants to watch him wig out. She also obviously. Obviously must have liked him a lot. But I can imagine she was torn. She made tapes, he gave her books. They had fantasies of running off like Bonnie and Clyde. But did she take it seriously? I don't know. But I think Chris did. And that night he tried to confront Mick. It's actually possible. Likely he orchestrated the whole plan. Our Tom Shanagan's as a way to confront Mick. It would have been easy to tell Willow and each one of us what we needed to hear to get us out there. Yeah, and Chris and I were on the road too. Oh, really? You guys? I thought you guys were still in the woods. No, we met back up with you guys, walked back and we watched sunrise at Connors. We did? Yeah. Chris brings a baseball bat and then after Mick knocks him down, he goes and gets a gun. I don't think to kill Mick, but to scare him. But by the time he gets back, Mick and Travis are gone. He finds Willow in the barn. And then the fire starts. Chris runs to my parents house. He pages Anna. He's thinking operation Van Gogh. It's time. Anna meets him at the driveway. But something goes wrong. The wounds describe an escalation. So what does it say is the official cause of death?
Andre
It's a twofer. Combined blunt force cranial trauma and gunshot wound to the chest.
Chris Delvecchio
Anna won't go. They argue, they fight. It gets physical. He hits her. Maybe intentionally with the butt of the rifle. Maybe she falls. Either way, now she's hurt, bleeding. Anna runs. Chris panics, chases her. He shoots four times at least. The three rounds that hit the tree and the shot to the chest that kills Anna Trainor. Now, wait. I just want to be sure. The way she was shot, where the bullet went in, she was definitely shot from the front.
Andre
Yeah, see, you know your audience.
Chris Delvecchio
This is a gory detail I do want to consider because it makes what of kind Chris did more intentional, more brutal. It means Anna wasn't running. She had fallen or stopped and turned around. Maybe she was on her back, maybe sitting, hands in the air. Maybe she was pleading. No matter what, she was facing Chris when he shot her. No matter what, he was looking right at her when he pulled the trigger. I mean, he didn't seem nervous or honestly, even concerned. Chris's arraignment was a few days ago. Monica was there. Was he wearing an orange jumpsuit? Yeah. Oh, wait, I was joking. Was, was the joke? Well, I don't know. Maybe, Maybe not. Not a joke. Not. No, not a joke. I, I, I guess it's just the, it's bizarre, the, you know, the reality that this is actually happening, that Chris's, you know, I mean, there were 32 arraignment hearings in the morning session alone. Right, right. So 32 jumpsuits, huh? Your friend is charged with murder. So why is it bizarre that he looks like the other defendants? Yeah. Do you remember when we first talked? Yeah. Back in 95. No, I'm talking about the. When we first did our zoom for this. And you said that you had seen me when I was doing the graduate in my 20s. And I said I didn't remember you. Right, yeah, yeah, that wasn't true. I saw you that night, right, when I walked in. It was that party at the hotel lobby, right near the Kern, The Warwick. Yeah. I avoided you all night. I was totally terrified. I kept, I kept thinking that you were going to remember me. Well, I did. Right. Of course. That's. I was scared that if I talked to you, I was going to crack and just tell you the truth about the fire, you know? Just that I had lied to you back when I was a kid because I remembered talking to you when I was 15 and lying to you and just how hard that was. So it was so awful to see you now in my 20s. I just, I avoided you. I mean, I, it's like I, I even left the party early. Now, talking to anyone else, I might have been more direct. I might have just come out and said something like, you're a good journalist, Monica. But something told me I didn't have to. Well, thank you. Thanks. Well, thank you for everything and keep in touch. Will do. You might wonder why I wasn't at the arraignment myself. And maybe I should have been, but I'm in Bocas del Toro, Panama, where Willow wrote the letter that started all of this. The beach is gorgeous. Clear water, and we have our own personal path here. How do we get that? No, we didn't. We just walked up the beach and mountains. I'm not sure exactly why I came here, except I guess I wanted the place to be real. To be honest, I hate the beach. But I brought my family and we've had a good time. I haven't heard from Lainey. I understand why for every reason she might thank me, there's a reason to condemn me. Lying back in 1995, keeping Anna's murderer close while pushing Willow away. I may have eventually helped to solve the case, but for 30 years, I neglected. And for two months, running around with a microphone, I misdirected. I complicated everything. I also haven't heard back from Fiona, Chris's wife. She's refused to speak to press. According to public records, she's filed for divorce. But then she appeared in court at his arraignment, which means, I guess, that she has complicated feelings. I have complicated feelings. Of course, there's this righteous, vengeful part of me that. That is just so angry, that hopes he suffers. Can't wait to see him locked up for the rest of his life. Then there's another part of me that maybe I shouldn't admit to that's just sad. I still can't believe he could do this, did do this. And the weirdest part is I catch myself wanting to share that disbelief with my best friend. Which means almost every day I want to talk about how crazy it is that Chris did this. With Chris. Looking back, it's obvious that Chris joined me in the podcast in order to throw me off, insisting that talking to the cops was a bad idea, throwing away the pager. For all I know, he paid Sparks to feed me conspiracy theories and then vanish. Because Monica, and more importantly, the district attorney, never found evidence about campaign contributions. I was blind in so many ways. Maybe I should have always seen the signs. But it's hard when the memories are actually good. Like, I remember sitting in a restaurant with Chris when he just grabbed the check and ran. When we were 12, Chris talked our way into an R rated movie, demanding to see the manager and then cracking the guy up so much that he just had to let us in. I remember afternoons wandering Six Flags so Scared to talk to girls. But Chris would talk to anyone, everyone. So by the time our moms picked us up, we'd have phone numbers and pen pals. There's this thing that guys used to say. Not anymore. Not in my circles at least. Bros before hoes. And I know that's cringe these days, like maldonado using the old F word. And rightfully so. But it's also true that in 1995, I might have flinched at those words, but not at the sentiment. I was a lovesick teenager, always heartbroken, always wanting a relationship or mourning one. Having a friend, a guy who was there for you was kind of a matter of survival. He'd tell you it's okay you don't fit in, it's okay you can't play sports. Or that people treat you differently because you're an actor on a kids show. A friend who'd tell you she's psycho, you're better off without her. Or even just chicks, man. That was a friend that I thought I needed sometimes. I'm sure I was that friend for someone else. Even now, when I think about Willow in 1998, I can see she was honoring a bro code by not telling me that Chris was Mr. Wrong, the one who got her pregnant. She was protecting my friendship with Chris, protecting me knowing that I was in love with her, that I would have hurt me to find out that the two of them were seeing each other behind my back. I called this show the Red weather because I thought there was something reckless and potentially damaging in the non conformity of my parents generation. How like the drunken sailor with a dream, they broke from consensus, ran off into the woods, walked around naked, worshiped trees, did drugs. But now I think they didn't go far enough. Because for all the unique parts of my town, my friends, in the end, Anna's murder was a pretty predictable story. There's a tendency to look back at history and think we get smarter, more sophisticated that people used to be. Gullible, naive products of their time, starting communes using lead, gasoline or, you know, believing slavery was tenable. And we like to think of ourselves as past that. We've gotten better, we see more clearly now. We've somehow escaped the bubble. But I didn't even know my own friends. And I'm not talking about Chris, I mean Anna and Willow. It pains me to think how they have figured in this podcast at various times. Victim, muse, enigma, prop. Even with the best intentions, I built stories around them, eclipsing them. It's not really that different from the way Chris once had a fantasy of hopping in a car with the girl of his dreams. She would fix it. She would make it better. Which is why I think I wanted to come to Panama. So this place wasn't some abstract thing in my head. Not an idea whose meaning only grows in relationship to my life, to stories that I tell myself, but real sand, real water. I'm working a little here too, finishing up that script. Finally, Alex is glad I'm back to fiction, to made up monsters. We were walking down the road last night along the main drag here and I saw something, a bakery that Willow had mentioned in her letter. She had this crazy story about an argument that she got into with this expat who was trying to bring cronuts to Bocas del Toro. I started recording a voice memo on my phone because I realized it could make a great ending to this podcast. It would bookend these episodes with Willow's letter and it would offer the opposite from where I started. Something funny, light hearted from her life. But then I thought about how Willow wrote a letter to me, labeled it, stamped it, sealed it. And I shut my phone off. Sam. Sa. The Red Weather was written and directed by Ryder Strong Sound engineering, editing and mixing by Bo Milkus Produced by Tess Bartholomew executive producers at iHeartRadio Trevor Young and Matt Frederick Associate producer Bo Milkus Original score composed and performed by Kyle Morton and featuring the sound the body makes by Kyle and Ben Morton. The Red Wing stars me, Ryder Strong with Alexandra Barreto and Indy King, Lynn and Shiloh Strong as themselves. Chris Wilde was Chris Del Vecchio, Lanisa Frederick was Monica Tremblain. John Huertas was Sheriff Maldonado. Rachel Marsh was Anna Traynor. Heidi Sulzman was Lainey Traynor. Chris Lemke was Elric Light, Kelly Lou Dennis was Sheriff Grace Loughlin. Travis Schultz was Thomas Greer. Leif Gantfort was Mick Bodhi, Al Vicente was Andres. Adam Stillwell was Sparks. Adam Bush was Howard Tripp. Lindsay Phoenix was Julie. Tess Bartholomew was Fiona and Logan Bartholomew was Yuri Donenfeld. Ashley Platz was the Pinecone waitress. Henry Dittman was the news announcer. Sarah McElligott was the news anchor. Thelma Sugai was the protest news anchor. Zayn Rubin was front desk woman. Jessica Devonville was front desk attendant. Sheila Leela. June Azeem was Laughlin's assistant and Eric Luminarius was the bodyguard and Ken the police officer. Special thanks to Ocean Green, Sean Fox, Nathan Sackett, Aaron Grail, Toby Lawless, Amy Sugarman, Danielle Fishel, Chris Levitas Joshua Melken, Paul Gandersman, John Flynn York, Todd Goldberg and Elaine and Andrew of Cathay 86 at Eagle Rock. And a very special thanks to all my friends, friends and family who lent their time, their voices and their stories. Thank you for listening. We hope you enjoyed the show.
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Ryder Strong
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In this gripping final episode of "The Red Weather," host Ryder Strong untangles the devastating truth behind Anna Trainor’s disappearance, culminating in heartbreak, remorse, and a community's reckoning. Ryder, with help from friends and erstwhile allies, is forced to confront uncomfortable realities about his own actions, the toxic dynamics of his friendships, and the tragic consequences that went unexamined for decades. This episode masterfully weaves present-day revelations with memories, examining how nostalgia, masculinity, and the stories we tell ourselves can blind us to the truth—even when it’s closest to home.
Police Raid and Gun Search (04:34 – 09:50)
The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department serves a search warrant at Ryder’s family home, hunting for firearms tied to Anna’s murder. Emotional recollections ensue as Ryder and his brother recount the family’s gun history, stemming from their father's rural upbringing and Marine background.
Family Fallout & Defensive Uncertainty
Ryder faces the existential paranoia of being wrongly implicated but must decide whether to keep cooperating with authorities. His brother’s discovery that one rifle escaped the sheriff’s search triggers an ethical dilemma—turn in the missed gun, or protect himself and his family from further scrutiny?
Old Evidence, New Suspicions (19:45 – 25:35)
Ryder and Monica, the investigative journalist, laser in on the theory that Anna was involved with an older man named Jacob Wyman, her English teacher. A book central to the investigation—Damage by Josephine Hart—is thought to hold a connection via handwritten notes.
Friendship on Trial
Chris, Ryder’s childhood best friend and podcast co-host, becomes increasingly agitated as evidence mounts—especially after his home is searched and a firearm of a rare caliber is identified as matching bullets from the crime scene.
Alex Confronts Ryder (27:26 – 29:14)
Ryder's obsession with the case causes a rift with his wife, Alex, who accuses him of ignoring the perspectives of women involved in the events—both then and now.
Locker Room Confessions: Guilt and Complicity
In a brutally honest exchange, Chris and Ryder grapple over past actions—the handling of explicit photos of Willow, casual sexism, and how their youthful “bro code” blurred lines of respect and accountability.
Old Pager, New Clues (40:00 – 43:48)
A lost pager is finally retrieved and analyzed. The decoded messages reveal Anna’s apparent attempts to contact Chris—911 emergency codes and specific location numbers—suggesting urgency and intent the night she vanished.
Andre’s Story: What Drives Officers
In a powerful aside, former sheriff Maldonado shares why he became a cop—not out of faith in people, but because of a deep-seated suspicion, crystallized after discovering his stepfather abused his mother.
Finding Anna & Chris’s Arrest (46:41 – 53:41)
Anna Trainor’s skeletal remains are found twenty feet from Ryder’s childhood bedroom—the result of a septic tank excavation all those years ago. Detailed forensic reports and timeline reconstruction leave little doubt: Chris had motive, means, and opportunity to kill Anna after a confrontation.
Rewriting the Narrative
Ryder reevaluates the group’s collective memory, realizing that Chris was unaccounted for during the crucial hours of the night. Ryder’s assumptions about Chris are shattered; the “Mr. Wrong” wasn’t just an older authority figure, but his own friend, hiding in plain sight for thirty years.
Chris’s Motivations & The Bro Code
Wrestling with anger and sadness, Ryder probes how the toxic codes of youth—particularly “bros before hoes”—led to decades of silence and misdirection. Willow’s silence, the group’s misplaced loyalty, and the sidelining of women’s voices all contributed to obscuring the truth.
Final Thoughts from Panama
Ryder travels to Bocas del Toro, Panama, where Willow once wrote from, searching for closure but unsettled by guilt and ambiguity. He reflects on the limitations of retelling tragedies and the need to see women as more than muses or mysteries to solve.
Alex to Ryder about ignoring women’s voices (28:14):
“Why are you trying to understand a girl who might have been killed or run away, but you never talk to any of the women who knew her? ... Not one.”
Maldonado’s officer origin story (45:57):
“I became a cop because I always knew that son of a bitch was scum. I told my mom every chance I got. That’s right. I’ve got the nose, man, the radar. You see, I think the worst of every person every time.”
On the gun evidence (34:12):
“That rifle that you gave Lachlan, that’s a .257 Rogers. That’s a very rare caliber. … It doesn’t look good, my man.”
Discovery of Anna’s body (46:41):
“Anna’s body was found in the backyard of my childhood home, 20ft from my bedroom window. ... After 30 years, what remained of Anna was skeletal but telling.”
Ryder’s self-reflection at the end (approx 54:00 – 59:00): “Even with the best intentions, I built stories around them, eclipsing them. … But now I think they (my parents) didn’t go far enough. Because for all the unique parts of my town, my friends, in the end, Anna’s murder was a pretty predictable story.”
Introspective, raw, and haunting, the episode maintains a conversational yet urgent tone, weaving together the deeply personal with the procedural. Ryder is honest (sometimes brutally so) about his own missteps, blind spots, and painful realizations. The dynamic shifts from nostalgia to confrontation, ending on a note of humility and unresolved grief.
"The End of the Imagination" serves as a powerful, devastating finale to "The Red Weather." What began as an effort to understand the past becomes a story of betrayal, missed signs, and how the narratives we build—especially the ones grounded in youthful friendship and masculinity—can make it impossible to see the truth, even when it's painfully close. Ryder Strong’s courageous self-examination and the hard-won answers about Anna Trainor’s fate leave listeners questioning not just the story's details, but their own blind spots as well.