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

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

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.

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.

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…”

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.

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.

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.