True Crime Bullsh
Host: Josh Hallmark
Episode: S7 Prep: Gary Shawn Bryant
Date: August 28, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode serves as in-depth groundwork for Season 7 of True Crime Bullsh* as host Josh Hallmark delves into the mysterious disappearance of Gary Shawn Bryant in November 1999 near Morton, Washington. Hallmark interweaves the details of Bryant's case with Israel Keyes’ criminal patterns—specifically car-related staging, inspiration from crime fiction, and techniques for hiding his misdeeds—raising the question: Could Gary Shawn Bryant be an unconfirmed victim of Israel Keyes?

The episode seeks to dissect official accident narratives, explore gaps in the investigation, and offer Keyes’ modus operandi as an alternative framework for understanding the case.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Israel Keyes’ Fascination with Staging Car Accidents

• Keyes’ Known Behaviors: Keyes often moved, stole, and disposed of cars after abductions and murders—incidents frequently involving the destruction or staged “accident” of vehicles.

• Media Inspirations: Hallmark notes that Keyes likely drew inspiration from his favorite film, Death Proof, and books by Dean Koontz (Intensity and Mr. Murder), with Mr. Murder serving as a near playbook for Keyes' actions (07:30–09:30).

  "All this is to say reading Mr. Murder is a surreal experience for anyone even remotely familiar with Keyes and his crimes. But I digress. Keyes wrecking cars and staging car accidents comes up a lot, not just in his favorite media and interviews, but in the Namus 44." (09:00)

• Car-Related Incidents & Arson: The episode references prior True Crime Bullsh* discussions, including staged accidents and car arsons connected to possible Keyes victims: Lorianne Boffman, Antonio Luggio, Brianna Maitland, and others (09:45–11:00).

2. The Bryant Case Timeline

• Disappearance: On Nov 28, 1999, Gary Shawn Bryant, a 32-year-old logger and father of three, is reported missing after his car is found in Lake Creek, wedged between a boulder and the creek bank near Morton. The question is raised: Was this really a tragic accident?

• Key Details in the Police Account: The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office theorized that Bryant, traveling at 70 mph, failed to negotiate a corner and was ejected into the flooded Tilton River (22:00–24:00). Notably:

  • No evidence or body recovered after exhaustive search (23:30).
  • No blood, no glass, minimal car damage, and a highly improbable accident trajectory.

• Lack of Investigation: Police never investigated as anything except an accident, did not rigorously explore Bryant’s personal life/shared assets, or question the scene’s plausibility (24:45–25:15).

  "They never looked at this as anything more than a car accident. They never interviewed anyone in Gary's life. They didn't do a thorough analysis of his car, they just chalked it up to being a car accident." (25:00)

3. Challenging the Official Accident Narrative

• Hallmark’s Site Visit: Hallmark and his team visit the scene in Morton, highlighting:

  • Road Complexity: Bryant’s car location required multiple intentional turns from Highway 12; no logical reason for him to be on the gravel access road (30:45–32:15).
  • Topography & Barriers: Four fir trees, a fence, and a drop-off between road and creek; trees and fence intact (no impact evidence), disputing the idea of out-of-control, high-speed crash (37:00–39:00).

  "It would take intention and precision, and most importantly, the car would have to be entering from the exact opposite angle that Gary's car would have gone in had he failed to negotiate the corner." (39:30)

• Community Skepticism: Locals and a cement plant worker express doubt that a crash of that description could occur unintentionally—or that someone could disappear so completely post-crash (33:15–35:45).

  • Notable Local Quote:

    "I don't think even if you're not wearing a seatbelt, I don't think you'd die in that accident. Unless he ended up in the water. ... How'd you get ejected and then managed to float all the way down the creek into the river and gone? Yeah, that's highly unlikely, for a lot of reasons." (35:48)

• Expert Opinion: A crash reconstructionist consulted agrees: skid marks, vehicle orientation, and scene details do not support the official 70 mph accident theory (41:00–42:15).

4. Potential Overlap with Keyes’ Travels & MO

• Keyes’ Movements Thanksgiving ’99: Keyes rented a car from Tacoma, disappearing for four days over the Thanksgiving weekend (17:30–20:00). FBI interviews suggest he may have visited relatives in Colville or Gresham; regardless, the alternative routes between these cities and Fort Lewis pass near Morton.

• Possible Alibi Setup: Keyes—by his own admission—often cultivated confusing or coincidental timelines around holidays or visits to establish plausible alibis (20:20–22:00).

  "I would do it in conjunction with something else that was going on... so that if it ever came up, then it's not like I would be in a situation where I had to explain where I was for days on end." (21:35)

• Car Placement Matches Keyes Patterns: Scene sits at a jurisdictional boundary—a known Keyes tactic for muddling investigations.

5. The Mystery Convenience Store Robbery

• Robbery the Next Day: On Nov 29, 1999, a convenience store 40 miles away is robbed. The robber flees through woods to a church parking lot—echoes Keyes' own discussion of robberies and use of churches/schools for evasion and vehicle swaps (47:20–50:00).

  "He knew [schools and churches] as places that were generally empty at night with little to no security, where you could park a car for extended periods of time without looking suspicious. And they both come up a lot in cases we've looked at." (50:10)

6. Unanswered Questions and Odd Details

• Ambiguous Case Note: Lead detective makes a fleeting reference to a “slingshot used” possibly relating to the case, but it’s never pursued or explained (44:45).
• Car Seat Position: Police admit the car seats were pushed all the way back—odd because Bryant was 5’7”, hinting at another driver (45:10).
• Bryant’s Laundry: A hamper of laundry in the car; his destination unconfirmed.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Keyes as a literary copycat:

  "If his M.O. is inspired by anything, it's Mr. Murder." (08:00)

• On law enforcement’s tunnel vision:

  "Local law enforcement had tunnel vision when it came to the theory. They never looked at this as anything more than a car accident." (25:00)

• On the physical improbability of the crash:

  "There was no glass or blood anywhere on the hood of the car, not a single shard nor drop. If someone got into this accident and flew through the windshield, you'd think there'd be some evidence of that at the scene, especially given that the creek water only went at its highest to the front driver side wheel well." (41:15)

• On the crash investigation:

  "If those skid marks belonged to his car, he was not going 70 miles per hour. Like the file indicates... Also, I think it's logical to posit that if he was skidding out around the curve, the car would have started to rotate, even slightly, and rolled down the hill." (41:55)

• Community reaction:

  "Yeah, that's highly unlikely for a lot of reasons." (35:50)

Important Timestamps

• 07:30–09:30 — Discussion of Mr. Murder’s influence on Keyes’ real-life crimes
• 17:30–20:00 — Keyes’ 1999 Tacoma rental and possible Thanksgiving travels
• 22:00–25:30 — Police theory of Bryant’s disappearance and investigation gaps
• 30:45–35:45 — Hallmark and colleague visit the crash site; local interviews
• 39:00–42:15 — Technical and topographical analysis challenging crash plausibility
• 44:45–45:10 — Ambiguous detecitve note and seat position oddity
• 47:20–50:10 — Discussion of Nov 29 convenience store robbery and Keyes’ patterns

Conclusion & Tone

Blending carefully-researched on-the-ground investigation with Keyes’ criminal psychology, Hallmark crafts a compelling, eerie narrative steeped in skepticism of official explanations. The possibility of Gary Shawn Bryant as a Keyes victim isn’t proven, but the episode convincingly establishes his case as unjustly overlooked and suspiciously on-brand for Keyes, inviting listeners to reconsider the boundaries of the killer’s known timeline.

The next season will continue unraveling these dark threads, probing how many “accidents” might really be part of Israel Keyes’ tragic legacy.