Podcast Summary: True Crime Bullsh**

Episode: S7 Prep: Hunters, WA
Host: Josh Hallmark
Date: September 18, 2025
Main Theme:
A deep dive into the potential victims of Israel Keyes in Washington and bordering states, with a strong focus on disappearances involving staged car accidents and the mysterious case of an abandoned farmhouse in Hunters, Washington.

Episode Overview

This episode sets the stage for Season 7, exploring the unsolved disappearances that could be linked to serial killer Israel Keyes during his time in the Pacific Northwest. Host Josh Hallmark examines a series of missing person cases involving suspicious car accidents, unexplained disappearances of Indigenous women, geographical connections, and newly uncovered FBI inquiries centered on Hunters, WA.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Israel Keyes’ Possible Involvement in Car Accident Disappearances

• The Leah Roberts Case (Whatcom County, WA, 2000)

  • Leah disappeared during a road trip; her crashed Jeep was found abandoned, containing cash and personal items, but no sign of her or her cat.
  • Key insight: Local law enforcement and the host explore the theory of Keyes’ involvement due to his MO and circumstantial cues. However, Josh points out Keyes was serving in Egypt at the time, but his military vacation time leaves some ambiguity.
  • Notable oddities: Missing cat carrier, cash left behind, eyewitnesses seeing Leah followed by a man, a cut starter relay, and an anonymous caller.
  • Josh Hallmark:

    “With Keyes, anything is possible. However… it's highly unlikely. Because at the time of Leah's disappearance, Keyes was in the army, stationed in Egypt. However, again with Keyes, highly unlikely isn’t necessarily exculpatory.” (05:07)

• Other Car Accident Disappearances

  • Kenneth Adrian Greth (Grants Pass, OR, 2002): Car found at bottom of a ravine; no evidence victim was in the car during the crash; Keyes’ whereabouts unknown during the relevant dates.
  • Thomas Randall Hedgecock (Filer, ID, 2004): Car found crashed; no body, blood, or footprints. Correlation with Keyes' geographic movements.
  • Pattern: Multiple cases echo Keyes’ known method of staging accidental deaths and leaving vehicles in remote, inaccessible locations.

• Quote:

  “I started looking into car accidents after Israel mentioned he staged one of his victims to look like an accidental death.”
  — Josh Hallmark (13:45)

2. Suspicious Deaths in Washington State Matching Keyes’ MO

• Wendell Harris (Poulsbo, WA, 2000)

  • Vanished after teaching a class; body recovered in Sol Duc area, Olympic National Park; cause of death undetermined.
  • Notable proximity: Keyes camped in this area before and after the disappearance.
  • Area previously linked to one of Keyes’ “murder kits.”

• Alice Ida Looney (Wapato, WA & Satus Creek, 2004)

  • Indigenous woman, vanished on the Yakima Reservation; body recovered more than a year later, cause undetermined.
  • Multiple jurisdictional complications (tribal, state, federal) possibly allowed the case to languish.
  • Host’s extensive geographic and logistical analysis suggests Keyes’ movements and habits fit a potential timeline.
  • Eyewitness Accounts: Statements from Keyes’ former girlfriend and boss suggest he took a suspicious three-day trip alone in August 2004, changed his appearance after returning, and used a different vehicle.

• Quote:

  “Of all the possible recovered victims, Alice seems to me the most likely Keyes victim.”
  — Josh Hallmark (30:23)

3. Keyes’ Personal Logistics and Geography

• Keyes had a 9-5 job with the Makah Tribe in Neah Bay but often took long weekends, reducing accountability ("My accountability was pretty low at that time" — Keyes, 23:59).

• Detailed breakdown of how Keyes leveraged geographic, social, and jurisdictional loopholes to evade suspicion and move freely for his crimes.

• Quote:

  “Washington was a lot easier in a lot of ways because once I lived out in Neah Bay, I knew all of Washington pretty well and except I was so isolated out there. Once you drive past Port Angeles, it's like you're in a new world.”
  — Israel Keyes (23:37)

4. The Hunters, WA Farmhouse Mystery

• Unreleased FBI Interview Segment

  • Post-Keyes’ final FBI interview, agents sought the owner of an abandoned farmhouse in Hunters, WA, specifically interested in unusual occurrences around April 2005.
  • The FBI’s unusual field investigation and the absence of these findings from public records or interviews point to something significant being withheld.
  • Josh notes a 30-minute redaction from the final interview video coinciding with these inquiries.

• Questions Raised:

  “So what exactly did Keyes tell investigators about this farmhouse and Hunters and why isn't it included… in FBI files?”
  — Josh Hallmark (38:18)

• Potential major plot thread for the upcoming season.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Keyes’ Plausible Deniability:

  “With Keyes, highly unlikely isn’t necessarily exculpatory.”
  — Josh Hallmark (05:07)

• On Staged Vehicle Deaths:

  “I started looking into car accidents after Israel mentioned he staged one of his victims to look like an accidental death.”
  — Josh Hallmark (13:45)

• On Jurisdictional Evasion:

  “And keep in mind the federal nexus that we talked about in the national parks.”
  — Israel Keyes (25:44)

• On FBI Investigation Redactions:

  “Thirty minutes have been edited out of the publicly available final FBI interview… The group then goes on to briefly discuss New York before circling back to an in-depth conversation about all of Israel's Washington State victims. It will be his most revealing discussion about these victims. So what does the FBI not want us to know about an abandoned farmhouse in Hunters, Washington?”
  — Josh Hallmark (39:00)

Important Segment Timestamps

• 05:00–07:00 – Leah Roberts case, Keyes’ military alibi, but lingering doubts
• 09:30–13:30 – Pattern of staged vehicle disappearances, parallels with Keyes’ statements
• 17:58–23:08 – The suspicious deaths of Wendell Harris and Alice Looney; movement analysis
• 23:37–24:38 – Keyes describing his travel routines and work “coasting” period
• 30:23 – Host declares Alice Looney the prime candidate for a “recovered” Keyes victim
• 33:43–39:10 – The Hunters, WA farmhouse, FBI investigation, and redacted interview segment

Conclusion & Tone

In this methodical, investigative episode, Josh Hallmark weaves together complex case details, interviews, timelines, and forensic insight with an air of both skepticism and relentless curiosity. The episode maintains a careful, somber, and fact-driven tone, steeped in empathy for victims and critical of law enforcement’s and the FBI’s oversights. As the show pivots toward Hunters, WA, the tension builds for the season to come, with hints of crucial secrets yet to be unearthed.

For listeners new and old, this episode acts as both a recap of intriguing unsolved mysteries linked to Israel Keyes and a tantalizing preview of deeper revelations in Season 7 of True Crime Bullsh**.