S10 E1: Jackie

Summary

Someone Knows Something — Season 10, Episode 1: "Jackie"

Podcast: Someone Knows Something (CBC)
Host: David Ridgen
Release date: March 9, 2026

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Overview

The tenth season of "Someone Knows Something" launches with the deeply perplexing and emotionally charged disappearance of Jacqueline "Jackie" Furland Smith, a Canadian woman who vanished from her new life in Costa Rica in August 2021. Season 10 opens by immersing the listener in Jackie’s world, her family's desperate search for answers, the swirl of suspicion and innuendo, and the conflicting accounts that emerged after she disappeared. Episode one sets the stage for an in-depth, sensitive investigation by host David Ridgen, examining Jackie’s personality, mental health history, marriage, and the events leading up to her vanishing.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introducing Jackie and Her Family

• Jackie’s Background:
  • Youngest of three sisters, athletic and health-conscious, raised on a farm in Abbotsford, BC.
  • Moved to Costa Rica in 2019 with her husband, Sebastian Furland, seeking a peaceful, healthy lifestyle.
  • [03:33] Candace (Jackie’s Sister): “Jackie, she's really fast, good runner, and she was really dedicated to that. She took it seriously and watched what she ate and was always really healthy and just motivated to that.”
• Family's Reaction to Her Disappearance:
  • Shock and confusion. They feel like "a needle in a haystack" in a foreign country.
  • [04:29] Candace: “You just kind of feel like needle in a haystack. Where do you even start?”

2. The Night Jackie Went Missing

• Event Timeline:
  • Jackie last seen August 17, 2021. Husband, Sebastian, calls her parents the next day.
  • Parents, Colleen and Gordon Smith, take several days to organize traveling to Playa del Coco, Costa Rica.
  • Initial reports were confusing, with uncertainty over whether Jackie left voluntarily or came to harm.
• Immediate Suspicions:
  • Parents doubted the narrative that Jackie would wander into jungle or leave on foot without her car at night.
  • [05:43] Gordon Smith: “She would never go in the jungle.”
  • [07:01] “...she’d never go out in the dark at night and not take her own car.”

3. Local Environment and Search

• Setting:
  • Cacique, a hillside development between Playas del Coco and Playa Hermosa; isolated, dark, few streetlights.
  • Descriptions highlight the difficulty and risks of searching in such an area, especially for someone not familiar with the local language and systems.
• Local Engagement:
  • Interview with Krista Marshall, a local acquaintance and Facebook search group administrator.
  • [09:47] Krista: “How can a woman just go missing and us put out all that effort to find her and she’s still missing? It just doesn’t compute to my brain.”
• The House:
  • Jackie and Sebastian moved from a busy condo to a new, secluded house in 2020.

4. Sebastian Furland’s Account & Community Perceptions

• Sebastian’s Story:
  • Claims Jackie suffered a mental health episode and left after an argument while he was in the shower.
  • References past incidents of Jackie leaving overnight and checking into hotels (although family claims these were always short and she would make contact).
  • [18:42] Sebastian: “She had issues, okay, like with too much stress…caused her to have paranoia, basically...she started slowly to basically like, lose it…And by the time I...get out of shower, she was just gone.”
• Mental Health Discussion:
  • Jackie's diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder outlined; noted she resisted medication due to side effects.
  • [19:49] Gordon Smith: “It’s mostly anger issues, highs and lows, which she did have some…Right.”
  • Jackie's family describes her as high functioning, healthy, active, minimizing the impact of her diagnosis in public perception.
• Sebastian's Defense:
  • [24:23] “I would just have to say to those people, obviously they don’t know me, okay? But I have nothing to prove to them...they can just come here and see the efforts we’re doing.”
  • Openly denies involvement in Jackie’s disappearance.

5. Family's View of the Marriage and Concerns

• Strained Relationship:
  • Candace and Gordon describe Sebastian as arrogant, self-assured, and note frequent, sometimes toxic, fights between the couple.
  • [29:29] Candace: “Very opinionated and confident, self-assured, arrogant…She would talk about the things they would say to each other and it was sounded really low blow, horrible fights...like, you should kill yourself and, you know, I hope you die.”
• Texts Show Turbulence:
  • Jackie had confided in Candace about Sebastian’s threats and emotional volatility, often following arguments.
  • [30:32] From Jackie to Candace: “Sebastian has told me at least a hundred times that he will kill himself and that the only good thing is that it will be my fault.”
• Family’s Doubts About the Official Narrative:
  • Parents question why Sebastian suddenly called this time when, according to him, similar situations occurred before.
  • [26:24] Gordon: “She might have went to a hotel for a night, but she always called back...”
  • [26:39] “You just don’t go out, right? I’m walking on the road. So we started not to believe the story.”

6. The Police & Investigation

• Police Involvement:
  • Costa Rica’s OIJ detectives take over; investigation includes separating family from Sebastian’s home for safety.
  • [31:33] Gordon: “They took us in separately...from Sebastian and said, get out of the house now...”
  • OIJ boss (allegedly) tells the family they believe Sebastian was involved, though no charges were ever filed.
  • [31:59] “The boss there leaned forward and said to us, Sebastian was involved in her disappearance...”
• Next Steps:
  • Ridgen expresses intent to speak with local police and Sebastian, hoping to access more of the investigative file.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [02:02] David Ridgen: “Costa Rica. Tiny lush, rich in species. But as I’ve found, people can disappear from anywhere. And there are many here who say they heard something or saw something or know something about a Canadian woman who did just that. Gone with little trace.”
• [09:47] Krista Marshall: “How can a woman just go missing and us put out all that effort to find her and she’s still missing? It just doesn’t compute to my brain.”
• [18:42] Sebastian Furland: “To make a long story short, okay, she had issues…She started slowly to basically like, lose it, literally, like, I want to die and that kind of stuff…And by the time I basically came back to myself...she was just gone.”
• [24:53] Sebastian Furland: “I just want her to be happy. Okay. And if being happy for her, like, is not with me, okay, it’s fine. I think that’s the definition of love right there.”
• [26:39] Gordon Smith: “You just don’t go out, right? I’m walking on the road. So we started not to believe the story.”
• [29:29] Candace: “She would talk about the things that they would say to each other and it was sounded really low blow, horrible fights…just horrible things that you would never want somebody in a relationship to be in a relationship like that.”
• [31:59] Gordon Smith: “The boss there leaned forward and said to us, Sebastian was involved in her disappearance…”

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Important Timestamps

• [02:02]: Ridgen sets the scene—Jackie’s case and the start of the investigation.
• [03:33]: Childhood and family background from Candace.
• [04:29]: Candace relates the initial shock of Jackie’s disappearance.
• [06:38]: Gordon describes getting the call from Sebastian.
• [09:47]: Krista Marshall, search organizer, describes the effort and her impressions.
• [13:19]: New house's location and significance.
• [15:30]: Krista on Sebastian’s focus on mental health and her impressions.
• [18:42]: Sebastian describes the night of disappearance on a local radio show.
• [19:49]: Family discloses Jackie’s mental health diagnosis.
• [24:23]: Sebastian addresses suspicion and rumors.
• [29:29]: Candace discusses the couple’s turbulent dynamic.
• [31:33]: Family describes being advised by police to leave Sebastian’s house.
• [31:59]: Gordon relays that local police believed Sebastian might be involved.

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Tone & Atmosphere

The episode maintains SKS's signature blend of calm, empathetic narration, direct family testimony, and investigative grit. There is emotional weight in the recollections, moments of skepticism, and the sense of familial pain and frustration. Ridgen’s approach is patient, methodical, and focused on human details amid the known facts.

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Summary

Episode 1 of "Someone Knows Something" Season 10 lays out the disquieting timeline, conflicting accounts, and unanswered questions about Jackie Furland Smith’s disappearance. By weaving together family memories, the couple’s difficult relationship, suspicions against Sebastian, and the struggle with mental illness, the show opens a multi-layered mystery. The episode closes with Ridgen preparing to confront the main person of interest and pledging to dig deeper into police records, Jackie's final days, and the heartache that continues for Jackie’s family—embodying the show's principle: somewhere, someone knows something.

Transcript

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[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

This is a CBC podcast. The following episode contains difficult subject matter, including references to suicide. Please take care while listening. It's okay.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

This is my stuff here.

[Gordon Smith (Jackie's Father)]

Okay.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Yeah.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Thank you.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Hello, doggy. Hello, doggy. In here.

[Sebastian Furland (Jackie's Husband)]

See?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Should I take my shoes off?

[Candace (Jackie's Sister)]

No, no, no, no, no.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

No problem.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I usually take one. Okay.

[Yves Mallet (Radio Personality)]

Here.

[Gordon Smith (Jackie's Father)]

It's okay. It's okay.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Thank you very much for meeting me here today, and I just wanted to meet you and talk about Jacqueline. So whenever you're ready.

[Candace (Jackie's Sister)]

Okay.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

No Spanish en espanol.

[Candace (Jackie's Sister)]

Okay.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Costa Rica. Tiny lush, rich in species. But as I've found, people can disappear from anywhere. And there are many here who say they heard something or saw something or know something about a Canadian woman who did just that. Gone with Little Trace I'm David Ridgeon, and this is the 10th season of someone Knows Something. The Jacqueline Furlan smith case. Episode 1 Jackie.

[Candace (Jackie's Sister)]

Okay, let's see. I'm the youngest of three girls, and so Jackie is the male sister. Sorry, I'm already. You feel fine. And then you start talking and all of a sudden it just all comes out. Sorry. All right, let's start again.

[Gordon Smith (Jackie's Father)]

Sure.

[Candace (Jackie's Sister)]

Yeah. We grew up on a farm in Abbotsford, out in Mount Lehman.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

I've reached Candace at her home in the northwestern usa. She and her older sister Jacqueline, or Jackie, as her family and friends call her, grew up in BC's verdant Lower Mainland. Jackie disappeared on August 17, 2021, at the age of 40, and she's never been found.

[Candace (Jackie's Sister)]

Growing up, we would play outside. I remember playing tag and water balloons and jumping on the trampoline. You know, we did all those outside fun things. We all played sports. Softball. Jackie ran track, played basketball, competitive sports. Jackie, she's really fast, good runner, and she was really dedicated to that. So she took it seriously and watched what she ate and was always really healthy and just motivated to that.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Jackie was able to try practicing her healthy lifestyle in this tropical place. She chose to move in 2019, several hours away by plane. Costa Rica. What was the first communication you got or what was the first indication that you got that there might be something up down there?

[Candace (Jackie's Sister)]

Well, my mom called me and she said that Jackie's missing. And I said, well, what do you mean? You know, like, what does that mean? So my parents went down to cocoa, and then I went down probably, I think it had been three weeks since she had gone missing with when I was there. And it was sort of just this feeling of what do we do? You know, especially being in a whole different country, different language, totally different system, like, how do we find somebody here? What do we do and how do we help? And you just kind of feel like needle in a haystack. Where do you even start? Well, I kept on thinking that it was possible that maybe she was wandering in the jungle somewhere and ended up perishing there. But she wouldn't do that.

[Gordon Smith (Jackie's Father)]

She would never go in the jungle.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

This is the first call of many I would do with Colleen and Gordon Smith, both on the line here from Abbotsford, B.C. a farming couple in their mid-60s who raised cattle on a many acred property. I first came across Jackie's case while preparing for a family trip to Costa Rica to look at moths, fish beetles and birds and try to focus on something that is not sks. Jackie went missing suddenly a Canadian in paradise and had an agonized family separated by borders and language. So after digging into some of what was online about Jackie's disappearance, a mixture of what looked like hope and conspiracy, peppered with a bit of factuality, I called and Jackie's parents were interested in me taking a closer look. I asked them about the moment when they first heard that something was up.

[Gordon Smith (Jackie's Father)]

Yeah, I'm just picturing myself on the lawn getting a phone call. And Sebastian, he just said, oh, Jackie, Jackie, you know, went out the night before and didn't come back.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Sebastian Furland is Jackie's husband, age 48, from Quebec.

[Gordon Smith (Jackie's Father)]

You know, right away we wondered. We thought, well, she'd never go out in the dark at night and not take her own car.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Colleen and Gordon say it took them several days to get down to Playa del Coco.

[Gordon Smith (Jackie's Father)]

We have a farmer, so it took us a number of days, like five days to get things organized, let all the cattle friends look after it. And flights were at that time in August. There's not a lot of flights going there.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

A few days after arriving, they went to see detectives in Santa Cruz, detectives from the OIJ or O I hota, the Costa Rican version of the FBI.

[Gordon Smith (Jackie's Father)]

Yeah. And I mean, we've got a fair

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

bit of information, information that I'll hopefully be able to look at once in Costa Rica, Colleen and Gordon stayed with Sebastian at the home he and Jackie built together while some of the local volunteer and police searches for her were undertaken. Sebastian Furland and Jackie were married for a year before moving to Costa Rica in 2019 together. Before they spent time in different Canadian cities, including Calgary. Sebastian had been a career vehicle technician in the Canadian armed forces from 2002 to 2019, and Jackie had trained at Simon Fraser University in kinesiology. Jackie and Sebastian's relationship started in Canada, but it's their time in Costa Rica I want to know more about. A glance online shows many accusations and much innuendo swirling around the case and particularly Sebastian. It's obvious that you look at family first and Sebastian was with Jackie the night she disappeared, from what I understand. I do wonder if he'll speak to me.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Beautiful star filled night. I think the moon is quarter moon there.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Waning

[Interviewer/Investigator]

in the northwest of the country, close to the border with Nicaragua. I'm just about to go meet with one of the people that knew Jackie. Not a best friend of Jackie's, but somebody who knew Jackie and who communicated with Jackie's husband, Sebastian in the wake of Jackie's disappearance. And her name is Krista. Front, back. I'm assuming it's you.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Krista was a longtime administrator on the Search for Jacqueline Facebook page and she agreed to meet me here in Playa del Coco. She's taller and capable, looking behind the wheel of her suv. She's just come from a night out with friends and is wearing a black dress.

[Krista Marshall (Acquaintance of Jackie)]

Well, I'm Krista Marshall and I've been living here in Costa Rica since 2018. We first came here for the quiet, like we were both in the military. And upon our release, we were looking for some peace. And we had visited Costa Rica a couple times before and we just knew that this was the place. I actually met Jacqueline on a couple of boat trips. I didn't remember her from the first one, but she remembered me. And then we ended up talking on the second one and yeah, I thought she was very nice, very quiet girl, but super nice. She added me on Facebook. And then there was a new vegetarian vendor at the local market. So I had sent her a picture of their menu and I tried one of their items and I let her know it was really good. But we never ended up hanging out one on one.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

So this is going up the hill to where their place is, right?

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

This is. Yeah.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Okay.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

It is very dark here at night.

[Candace (Jackie's Sister)]

Right.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

It is very dark. A two track asphalt road trailing off into nothing with fields and trees on both sides. Not a lot of other cars at this time. Around 8pm I'd describe it as a foothill or terrace above the main town of Coco. Below.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

There's no street lights on this particular road, which I think is leading to their house or to the house that Sebastian and Jackie build.

[Candace (Jackie's Sister)]

Yes.

[Krista Marshall (Acquaintance of Jackie)]

See, there's a little guard house here and I don't know if you can. There's anybody in it right now maybe, but I'm going to just park right here. There's people parked here all the time, so. And it should be very quiet.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Okay.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Christa pulls over onto the side of the road, far enough to be out of the way, next to a small concrete building she calls a guard house. Nobody appears to be in it right now and there's no gate or turnpike. But I've heard that guards who were working at this very place might have seen something on the day Jackie disappeared. And I need to find them and speak to them in Spanish. It's pitch black but for a sodium light nearby that bathes us in a lurid tone with insects providing what I find to be a life affirming chorus in the background.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

So the area that Jackie lived, can you just describe the area? What's it like? Is it a new development and how far from town is it?

[Krista Marshall (Acquaintance of Jackie)]

So it's a little remote, like it's on the mountain in between Playas del Coco and Playa Hermosa. And there's a couple of different ways to get there. There's the main route and then there's a back road that goes up Cacique Hill to the Cacique development. There's some beautiful houses. It's pretty open. You don't see a lot of fences. There's quite a bit of building going on right now. But in 2021, a lot of these houses that are built now weren't up here.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Jackie and Sebastian lived in a condo for a while in Cocoa, but then according to Gordon, they tired of the condo life and it was too busy with all the renters coming and going and they wanted more space. So in 2020, they began construction of this new place, a house in the Cacique development.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Okay.

[Gordon Smith (Jackie's Father)]

Okay.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

So if we can just go buy the house and see if Sebastian's there, that would be great. And if hopefully he is and I'll go see him tomorrow, maybe he'll, you know, want to help try to find out where Jackie is, that would be amazing. The number one reason I want to talk to him.

[Technical Assistant/Audio Crew]

Right.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

I asked Krista how she found out that Jackie had disappeared.

[Krista Marshall (Acquaintance of Jackie)]

So I saw a post on our local chitchat group from Sebastian saying that she was missing.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

What day was that?

[Krista Marshall (Acquaintance of Jackie)]

I believe it was Tuesday or Wednesday. And he said that she had been missing for over 24 hours, I believe at that time. So I asked what we could do to help. And Sebastian, he ended up meeting up with me and telling my husband and myself the circumstances around how she went missing. For the first year after the second happened, I was kind of a mess because how can a woman just go missing and us put out all that effort to find her and she's still missing? It just doesn't compute to my brain. Yeah, you know, I don't know Sebastian really personally. You know, I. I spent time with him during the search, and I walked away with not the best taste in my mouth because he talked a lot about her mental health.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Krista makes reference to messages that she says Sebastian showed her that were from Jackie on the day she disappeared. Messages that he said showed she had lost it and was distressed. Christa doesn't have any copies, but I'd like to see them for myself soon, I hope.

[Krista Marshall (Acquaintance of Jackie)]

Oh, and this is the house right here.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Oh, it's got lights on.

[Krista Marshall (Acquaintance of Jackie)]

It sure does.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Okay, so what's the entrance? That driveway right there?

[Krista Marshall (Acquaintance of Jackie)]

Yes.

[Gordon Smith (Jackie's Father)]

Okay.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Before I undertake any interview, I like to make sure I'm making the best possible approach for success. Make the luck come to me. And knocking on a door late evening with a microphone, probably not the best good faith gesture.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

So the door is accessible through the front there somehow.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Yeah, the door is right there. Okay.

[Candace (Jackie's Sister)]

Yeah.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

All right.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

All right. I'll be knocking on that door tomorrow.

[Krista Marshall (Acquaintance of Jackie)]

Good luck.

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[Yves Mallet (Radio Personality)]

Welcome to this very special edition of Pepito Live. Actually, this special edition is nothing but a call for help.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

A video posted to YouTube on September 5, 2021 by a radio personality named Yves Mallet. His show, called Pepito Live, says its purpose is to serve the expat community and to provide a live window on all the beauties and treasures Costa Rica has to offer. But this episode is about Jackie.

[Yves Mallet (Radio Personality)]

Today we invite Sebastien Ferlan to share with us his story and his emotions concerning the disappearance of his wives. Sebastien Ferlain, thank you for according us this interview. Your wife, Jacqueline Smith has now disappeared since August 17th.

[Sebastian Furland (Jackie's Husband)]

Yes.

[Yves Mallet (Radio Personality)]

Put us into context into what you remember and what happened.

[Sebastian Furland (Jackie's Husband)]

Okay, to make a long story short, okay, she had issues, okay, like with too much stress and things like that, okay, that caused her to have paranoia, basically. And she had other stuff happening also in the same day. So that like really stressed her out. And she started slowly to basically like lose it, literally, like, I want to die and that kind of stuff. And I tried to reason her and she just lost it on me while I was in shower. And by the time I basically came back to myself and what the hell happened there? And dry myself and like, get out of shower, she was just gone.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

As an investigative artifact, this video is the same as any news item documenting the aftermath of a disappearance or murder. Some make a living dissecting videos like this for any inflective tell or error. Are the people making sense of a terrifying story that they experienced or is something else going on?

[Gordon Smith (Jackie's Father)]

Well, what we didn't know, Jack had a doctor in Ontario when they were there and the doctor said she had schizoaffective disorder. Not schizophrenia, paranoia, schizoaffective. It's mostly anger issues, highs and lows, which she did have some, you know. Right.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

In 2019, Jackie was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder by a Canadian doctor. According to records, schizoaffective disorder is diagnosed in people who show a mix of schizophrenia symptoms like hallucinations or delusions, along with mood disorder characteristics like mania or depression. According to the Mayo Clinic, a person with schizoaffective disorder may talk about or attempt suicide. People diagnosed with schizoaffective can be treated with medication and get other supports that make life manageable. A report dated February 14, 2019 by Dr. Antoni Bassinski of Wasaga Beach, Ontario, stated states that Jackie's schizoaffective disorder is manifesting in hallucinations, paranoia and delusions and goes on to say, in particular, Jacqueline's stress levels are elevated in situations of requiring her to interact with strangers, social interactions and any change to her routine environment. She does not adapt to changes to her routines and avoids interpersonal interactions when possible. Medications for anxiety and depression and for schizophrenia disorders are mentioned in the documentation. But I don't know what Jackie may or may not have been taking at the time of her disappearance. Medications mentioned in the documentation include Escitalopram for anxiety and depression and Aripiprazole for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

[Gordon Smith (Jackie's Father)]

Oh, Jackie, she was a really high functioning person. You wouldn't know that to anybody around her as so many friends. She was the nicest person besides her. We've interviewed neighbors and they all like Jackie. She said hi and hi to the kids and she was vegetarian, going to vegan and exercised every day. She did stuff. She had to write down what she's going to do that day. Paddle boarding, core work, bike riding, maybe four things she'd do every day. And then she would cook up a special vegetarian food there and, and she really was healthy and looked after herself so well. You could if you knew all the stuff that she accomplished. And you can't be that ill if you're doing that right. Yeah. All of her safety, the psychiatrist said she had all of her safety skills with her or whatever, you know, so she wouldn't be going out in the dark without her own right, you know, in a, in a, in a dark place there.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

But a healthy active lifestyle doesn't mean that someone isn't struggling beneath the surface. Jackie's text messages could show a sunny demeanor. Jackie would text her parents sent them photos of trees in her backyard showing their growth with pride. Happy birthday messages. Nature shots. Lizards, butterflies, electric sunset photos. June 10, 2021 8:20am I appreciate the good things you have done for me. I'm also sorry for my reactions that hurt you. Love you too. June 20, 2021, 10:20am Happy Father's Day. Have a nice day. Heart emoji. August 1, 2021, 1:39pm hi. Happy birthday to dad. We were busy landscaping this morning. Just cooling off in the pool now. If you have time to Skype, let me know. Aug 6, 2021, 4:29pm we are in Drake Bay almost at the Panama border on the Pacific coast. Green parrots, scarlet macaws and toucans were in the trees beside our patio this morning. Aug 15, 2021, 10:37am the bananas lol. They were shorter than me. Gordon replies. Wow, that's unreal. Will be great to have the fruit from everything. Jacqueline. Yes. Thumbs up emoji. Sebastian makes claims that Jacqueline suffered from mental illness of some sort and paranoia. And he mentions that made it out

[Candace (Jackie's Sister)]

to be way worse, way worse than it was.

[Yves Mallet (Radio Personality)]

So to those people who may say or think that you have something to do with her disappearance. What do you respond?

[Sebastian Furland (Jackie's Husband)]

I would just have to say to those people, obviously they don't know me, okay? But I have nothing to prove to them. They can just come here instead of complaining and, like, see the efforts we're doing. So just come here and see.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Sebastian has always denied having anything to do with Jackie's disappearance.

[Yves Mallet (Radio Personality)]

So Jacqueline speaks English. So if by any chance Jacqueline would see this video, Sebastian, what would you like to tell her now?

[Sebastian Furland (Jackie's Husband)]

I would like to tell her that I just want her to be happy. Okay. And if being happy for her, like, is not with me, okay, it's fine. I think that's the definition of love right there.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

The rough notion so far is that Jackie left her house on her own at night and didn't return. If Jackie just left when Sebastian was showering, like he says, it apparently wouldn't have been the first time that she walked out. According to information I have found, Jackie had left the house before and stayed at Tamarindo Sheraton and once at Coe's in Jaco, a beach town in Costa Rica. But she wasn't found at either place this time.

[Gordon Smith (Jackie's Father)]

Well, he said she's done this before. She never did it for two nights. She did it a few times for one night. I guess they had an argument. She would go to the hotel and then phone him and say she was okay.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Sebastian served in Afghanistan in 2009, 2010, and sometime upon return began a process of claim related to PTSD, ultimately retiring in his mid-40s. In 2019 on long term disability, he received the general campaign star Southwest Asia decoration and the Canadian Forces decoration for serving 12 years with good conduct during his service. Some feel Sebastian may know more about what happened to Jackie. Others who know him well say heart of gold. Where is the truth and how can you find it?

[Gordon Smith (Jackie's Father)]

She might have went to a hotel for a night, but she always called back and told fashion sheep she's okay and she'll be back in the morning. At this time, she didn't take her car. And where they live up there, it's, you know, it's really dark and away from town.

[Candace (Jackie's Sister)]

You.

[Gordon Smith (Jackie's Father)]

You just don't go out, right? I'm walking on the road. So we started not to believe the story.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Had Sebastian ever called you before when

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Jacqueline had left the house like that?

[Gordon Smith (Jackie's Father)]

No, he hadn't called us. No, no, we just heard about it later or something, you know.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

So if this happened a year earlier, you say if, and he says in the YouTube video, Sebastian, that it had happened before. Gone to a hotel. I'm safe. You know, she would call. He never called you and said, oh, Jacqueline's left. I don't know where she is, or this happened. She left and she called. She's okay. He never called to reassure you or to tell you that she had disappeared before this?

[Gordon Smith (Jackie's Father)]

No, no, no, no.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Okay. I mean, do you ask what made this occasion different in your head? Like, why would he call this time, do you think?

[Gordon Smith (Jackie's Father)]

Now, I never really thought about that angle of attempt, why he called at that time. I guess because she hadn't come back.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Jackie disappeared sometime in the latter part of Aug. 17, 2021. Sebastian called Jackie's parents late day on the 18th, and a missing report was filed with police on Aug. 19. Jackie, it said, left behind her cell phone, her credit cards, and her wedding ring at her house on the evening of August 17, 2021. I'll need to get into those details and confirm that.

[Candace (Jackie's Sister)]

I kind of had two thoughts go through my mind.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Jackie's sister Candace, upon hearing that Jackie was missing.

[Candace (Jackie's Sister)]

One was that she'll be back. You know, she'll. She'll be back. She's probably just mad and she'll be back, or maybe she killed herself. Those were the two things that were the only two options in my brain that I thought at the time. I was thinking that we would find her and then physical evidence would go from there like that. Yes, like suicide was still an option, but that there were other options. And so I think I was just focusing on the finding part. She never really wanted to be on medication. She also wasn't happy because the medication made her gain weight. And so she was heavier than she had been probably ever. So, you know, it's just like anybody, you know, you have the side effects of medication you have to deal with, and then you have to decide whether the side effects are worth the. The medication. And so she was on medication for a while there. Things seemed like they were going well, but she decided that she didn't like the side effects of the medication. And so she did go off after a while.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

I asked Candace for her thoughts on Sebastian.

[Candace (Jackie's Sister)]

He was. What's the right word? Somebody who came across when you first met him, you're like, okay, very opinionated and confident, self assured, arrogant. So I didn't think, like, anything horribly negative about it at the time. Just was like, wow, he's really opinionated. I would get messages or phone calls about fights that she had with Sebastian or problems that maybe she. Or a fight that she had with mom and dad. I don't remember hearing any physical part. She would talk about the things that they would say to each other and it was sounded really low blow, horrible fights. It sounded like they both were having issues. Things like, you know, you should kill yourself and, you know, I hope you die. Just horrible things that you would never want somebody in a relationship to be in a relationship like that.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Some of the texts I've seen that Jackie sent to Candice show what Jackie said she was experiencing with Sebastian. This one from October 14, 2019. Yes, we always fight now because we don't agree on a lot of things, but they never get resolved because he just loses it and often leaves. But he has never left all night or for good or ignored me. And a final one from April 28, 2021. Sebastian has told me at least a hundred times that he will kill himself and that the only good thing is that it will be my fault. There is no way to know if Sebastian actually said these things, and I hope to ask him about it when I see him, along with the timings of everything that happened. Colleen and Gordon say that soon after their arrival to look for Jackie, things got weird. They had been staying with Sebastian and had even helped him clean up the place when police, Colleen and Gordon say, took them aside and told them to leave the house.

[Gordon Smith (Jackie's Father)]

That's when they told us. They took us in separately, obviously from Sebastian and said, get out of the house now. I'm like, really? Get out of the house now. I'm not scared of him.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Even so, Colleen and Gordon say they took the advice of the police and left the house that day. Gordon then says the OIJ told him

[Gordon Smith (Jackie's Father)]

something else, then interviewed Sebastian. Then he interviewed us. And the boss there leaned forward and said to us, sebastian was involved in her disappearance. They think that husband Sebastian was involved.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

I'll try to talk to police and get their opinions firsthand, maybe get my hands on their investigative file. Sebastian was never charged or arrested, and it's over two years later, so time to go find him and see if he can help me solve what happened to Jackie.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And it's the next morning. Heading to see Sebastian at the house I was at last night. Then we can start the process of getting all the questions out and seeing if there's any answers to them. It's hot here. Nice, like, I don't know, about 28 degrees already humid on the Pacific coast. And we'll see what Sebastian has to say. Does the car have a flat tire? Is my next question. Head northeast on Paelle Glacia toward Avenida

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Central, ruda nacional, secundario 151.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Got it. So just on my way up into the sort of foothills around Playa Coco. Good dog. That's a nice dog. Nice black and white dog on the street here. I don't know your name, but he does seem nice. There's lots of stray or unhomed other animals here, dog and cats. But I think Costa Ricans care for them quite a bit, even if they are stray. I'm not sure Sebastian's going to want to talk to me. There's many reasons why he might not want to talk to me. This case happened 2021. He may not want to talk about

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

it at all because he feels like

[Interviewer/Investigator]

he's gotten past Jackie's disappearance. Or there might be other reasons, and we can never really guess those. So if Sebastian does not want to talk to me, it doesn't necessarily mean anything. If he doesn't want to talk to me, there's lots of reasons not to say something. Here's one of the guard houses unoccupied. This development has guard houses and this one here is unoccupied. I'm just pulling up too now. I'm just gonna do a drive by of the house here and just sort of see what I can see from the house, as is my practice.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

In 200 meters, your destination will be on the left.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Some guys looking at me there. Get my business cards ready. Here, take off your sunglasses. Let's just listen for. Check, check.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Hello.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Hi. Hello.

[Technical Assistant/Audio Crew]

Shit.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

My batteries are going low. Crap. Okay, I'm gonna have to change the batteries. Good thing I checked. Good thing I brought extras. Check, check. Hello.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

That's good.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Just got my mic over my shoulder here. Makes it look less threatening, but who knows? Check, check. Good morning.

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

How are you?

[Yves Mallet (Radio Personality)]

Good.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Is Sebastian here?

[David Ridgeon (Host/Narrator)]

Someone Knows Something is hosted, written and produced by me, David Ridgeon. The series is also produced by Maria Jose Burgos. Sound design by Evan Kelly. Natalia Ferguson is our transcriber. Emily Cannell is our digital producer. Chris Oak is our story editor. Our executive producer is Cecil Fernandez. Tanya Springer is the senior manager and Arif Noorani is the director of CBC Podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Someone Knows Something early on the CBC True Crime YouTube channel or for early and ad free listening, subscribe to the CBC True Crime Premium channel on Apple Podcasts. Just click on the link in the show description. If you're looking for more investigations, check out the past seasons of Someone Knows something. There are nine cases you can binge listen to now. Season 8 investigates the disappearance of Angel Karlach, a young indigenous woman from White Horse, Yukon. Season nine revisits my investigation into the murder of Christine Heron and the conviction of the man who confessed to her murder. Find Someone Knows something on the CBC True Crime YouTube channel or wherever you get your podcasts. For more cbc podcasts, go to cbc ca podcasts.