Transcript
Kendall Rae (0:00)
Foreign. And welcome back to another episode of True Crime with Kendall Ray. Thank you so much for joining me today. If you're new to the show, then welcome. So, guys, today we're gonna be talking about the very strange disappearance of Kaden Black. And I'm just gonna tell you guys right off the bat that this one is super, super frustrating, mostly just because so little is known about what even happened to him. And, you know, in 2025, you would think it's pretty damn near impossible to just vanish without a trace, given how many cameras we have and how much technology is, you know, wired into our everyday lives. I guess wired wouldn't be the word. I sound really old, but you know what I mean. But you would think it'd be pretty hard to just disappear nowadays, but that's what seems to have happened here. Now, like I said, when it comes to this case, there are unfortunately very few details, but I think there are enough to at least do an episode. And I thought it was still important to tell Caden's story because there really isn't a ton of coverage on this case, and his loved ones desperately need and want answers. Okay, so let's get into Kayden's story, starting with some background on him. So, Kayden Black was born on December 10, 2003, to his parents, Kara Patterson and Maurice Black. And he grew up in Wrightsville, Pennsylvania with two older siblings and two younger ones. And when he was around three years old, his parents divorced, and so he and his siblings lived primarily with Kara. Now, unfortunately, I couldn't find that much about his early life, but I did learn that he was a very active kid when he grew up. When Kaden was attending Eastern York High School, he was a wide receiver on the football team and ran track and field. And outside of school, he was into basketball, BMX riding and boxing. And he actually had big dreams of competing in the ring one day. And honestly, it just sounds like Kaden was that type of person who did not like to sit still, had to always be doing something. And in fact, fact, his dad said he always was doing something and that everything he did, he did at 100%. He would go to the gym pretty much every day, and sometimes he would even go twice a day. And if he were ever bored, he would go for a run or a bike ride. And one time, this blew my mind, he went on a 51 mile bike ride in just four hours just to see if he could. It just makes me laugh how casual he is about something like that. Something I could never do 51 miles on a bike in four hours. That is insane. And what's crazy is he told his mom that he actually could have done it in less time if he didn't make any stops. So not only is he clearly a very gifted athlete, but he also had a very strong personality. Kaden was known to be kind, friendly, and very funny as well, without trying to be. He was also described as a community helper and was well known in his small town. And he would sort of act as a big brother figure to many people. If someone was struggling on the football team, Kaden was there, and he'd have no problem staying after practice to help them out. And I don't want to use the classic true crime cliche of he lit up a room, which I'm sure I say that all the time or I have in the past, but sometimes that's the best way to describe a person. Right? Like, his presence was definitely known in the rooms that he was in. It just sounds like he had a really big personality that would sort of brighten people's days. And I know that sounds a little cliche, but it's true. He had this big smile and a deep laugh, which his family absolutely adored. His mom, Kara, said that he would actually laugh so hard that he would, like, bend over and hold his stomach sort of like that, and that none of her other kids had a laugh like that. Now, while Kaden had this big personality and a really sweet personality, too, like many of us, he really struggled with his mental health. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, anxiety, OCD tendencies, oppositional defiance disorder, and he was also on the autism spectrum. And if you've never heard of Oppositional defiance disorder, it's a behavior disorder, and it's most commonly diagnosed among children with symptoms that include arguing outbursts and defying adults or people of authority. And Kayden did exhibit some of these symptoms. And I will get into some of the specific situations in a bit, but for now, I want to get into the circumstances that led up to his disappearance. So in 2019, his mother, Cara, was offered an out of state job promotion in Maryland, and she decided to take it. So Kaden and his two younger brothers went with her. And at first, things were going okay. He started going to a school that he liked, but they he didn't have a sports program, which obviously with how athletic Kaden was, this was a big issue for him. And so he transferred to a different school. But then it was the opposite problem. He was in their sports program, but he didn't like anything else. About it. And after a while, Kaden just wasn't happy in Maryland. And even though the move was only like an hour away from Wrightsville, to a teenager, an hour is a lot. I remember driving an hour felt so long for me, so inconvenient when I was that young. And it kind of, when you're that age, it just feels like you're in a different world at that point. As the summer is coming to a close, which I've gotta say I'm pretty heartbroken over. But I do love fall. But now that we're headed into fall, I'm all about refreshing my wardrobe with staple pieces for the season ahead. And I've got a lot of events where I need to be looking good. 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But after a while, she caved because, you know, at the end of the day, she just wanted her son to be happy. And so In November of 2021, he moved into Maurice's home in East Prospect, which is just a few minutes away from Wrightsville. But unfortunately, things didn't calm down for Kaden after this, because when he returned to Eastern York High, he kept getting into fights. And Maurice explained that it's because Kaden couldn't stand bullies. And he was that type of person that would stand up to them. He did not care. He was not scared of them, but, you know, it would lead to confrontation. And so, unfortunately, he was expelled, and he was forced to attend Paradise School, which was about 45 minutes away in Abbotstown, Pennsylvania. And it's a small, private special education school that specializes in helping students with emotional or behavioral issues. But Caden wasn't happy going there, which became abundantly clear on April 4, 2022. On that day after school, Caden was being driven back to his dad's house by the school's transportation. Now, I've seen reports that it was a small, like, school van, and then I've seen other reports that say that it was a regular school bus, but it really doesn't matter a ton to this story. What does matter is there was assigned seating on this bus, and Kaden wasn't in his assigned seat. And I guess the bus driver became so upset by this that he actually pulled the bus over on the major highway, Route 30. And then the driver told him that he was tired of his insolence and demanded that he got off the bus. And I'm not sure if this was a repeated issue or why he said he was tired of his insolence. Seems like a pretty small issue to just be in the wrong seat. It's a little confusing here, and I'm no expert on school bus driving, especially in Pennsylvania or anywhere, but I did look into it a little, and after taking a quick peek at the Pennsylvania school bus driver's manual, this action of demanding a student to get off the bus does seem to fall out of the scope of assertive discipline that it outlines. Basically, it sounds like this action was way too far. And the more appropriate action for the driver to have taken would have been to just drive him back to the school or call someone to assist. But anyway, he didn't do that. Obviously, he demanded that Kayden gets off the bus, and Kaden refused to get off the bus. So the exchange became very, very heated. And according to the criminal complaint, the driver says that Kayden threw a clipboard with papers and also slammed the bus door. And I'm confused about that because, I mean, a classic bus door automatically opens and closes. So maybe this was like a van situation. And I'm also confused because it's unclear if he was getting off the bus somehow or if he did it when he was still inside. Maybe the driver had opened it and he slammed it shut, or maybe he got off at one point, I don't know. But either way, that's what the driver claims. That's what's in the criminal complaint. And then he also says that Kaden grabbed him by the throat with his left hand and hit him with his right. Then the driver grabbed him by his hair, to which Kayden responded, let go of my hair or I'll kill you. And we also have to keep in mind here that it's unclear what violent act happened. First, the driver said it was the throat grabbing, but Kanan's mom has said that the bus surveillance footage shows that he was actually acting in self defense. But either way, the police were called and Caden was arrested, and his charges included aggravated assault, simple assault, strangulation, and recklessly endangering another person. And the two assault charges were actually felonies. So Kaden was looking at a lot of potential trouble. Now, in York county, where he was arrested, people who are incarcerated and awaiting trial don't go to their local jail. They are sent to the state prison. And also, keep in mind, it's 2022, so we're still dealing with the courts being backed up because of COVID And so Kaden's bail wasn't even sent until April 13th, over a week after the incident, his twenty five thousand dollar bail was posted on April 17th, and he returned to Maurice's home, but never returned to Paradise School. And I can't imagine the type of trauma that Kaden experienced as a very, very young man in prison for nearly two weeks. And I mean, I know he's an adult, and even though he did act out, he's still a teenager and he's being sent to be around serious criminals for two weeks. And that just seems like way too much. And unfortunately, this wouldn't be the only time that he had to deal with something like that, because just a few months later, Kaden did end up getting into a pretty big fight with his Father Maurice and his fiance. And not all the details are known, but in an interview, Marie said, that day was mainly on me. He was setting pictures of himself on fire, and he was just angry in general. He was just off. He wasn't his normal self that day. And, man, it is really hard to think about Kaden sitting there burning pictures of himself. I mean, that is a low place to be. And my heart breaks for him for whatever he was feeling in that moment. But anyway, the police were called and Kaden was placed in an involuntary psychiatric hold, or a 302, as it's called, in Pennsylvania, and was taken to York Hospital for further evaluation. And I want to be super, super clear here. The reason I am telling you guys about these incidents is because they could have played a role in what happened to him. And I don't want to characterize Kaden as violent or a mean person. I've seen the media describe him as a troubled teenager, and I just hate that term. It's. It's so old school, I can't even believe they really still use it. But, I mean, I hate it for so many different reasons, but especially when it comes to disappearances, because I worry that people will see the term troubled teen and just write off his disappearance as something to do with that or it's not something that I'm going to spend my time caring about, not give it proper attention. And it's really frustrating to see that term used. It's just irrelevant to his disappearance, in my opinion. But like I said, I do think it's important that people understand his diagnosis and also these incidents because they could have led to his disappearance. They could be part of what happened. We don't know. But overall, you know, I. I just don't want to judge Caden solely on his worst moments. That's not why I bring these things up. And I hope people don't judge him from this episode because overall, people had nothing but great things to say about Kaden. His old track coach even said that one day he'd make you mad and the next it would be like nothing happened. And obviously, I don't know Kaden personally, but from what I've gathered, it seems like he was a good kid who was really just struggling with his emotional and mental health. And it was clear he needed help. And this fight with his dad may have put him on the path to getting it. And in order to understand that path, I need to introduce someone significant in this case, Chris Foust. So Chris is the father of one of Caden's friends. His name is Ethan, and the two of them met in middle school and while on the bus together. And over the years, Caden would spend time at his house and playing video games or swimming in their pool. And he just got to know their whole family pretty well. Now, according to Chris, he was at a dentist appointment when he received a call about Kaden being at the hospital. And he supposedly ran out of there, went straight to him and talked with him for four to five hours. And Chris claims that he visited him every day and that at first he really wasn't doing well, but eventually he was given a medication that helped to stabilize his mood. Now, Chris was a former air traffic controller who took theology courses at Liberty University. So I guess he felt qualified to teach Kayden about his faith during these visits. I guess he gave him a Bible and he would preach his religious beliefs to him. And I know we probably all have very different beliefs about that. I'm sure you can tell just from my tone how I feel about it. I don't know. I think that's all I'm gonna say. But anyways, after the hold was up, Kayden had to go back to prison because the fight happened when he was on probation. And so this time he actually had to spend several weeks there because of the court delays. And so as you can imagine, this was a very difficult time for him. And Chris recalls seeing bruises on him, wounds on him when he would go and visit. And thankfully, eventually his bail was set. And because of the altercation, Caden wasn't allowed to go back to his dad's home. So the Faust offered for him to move in with them. And at this point, Kaden was 18 so he could legally decide where he wanted to live. And so he decided to take them up on their offer and live with them. And they later said that they completely cleared out and repainted a room for him and even bought him a brand new bed. And I did read that it was a three bedroom house. And since there was already Chris, his wife, and their two teenage kids already living in the home, it's unclear if someone was moved out of a bedroom to make room for Kaden. I'm not really sure what the situation was, but regardless of that, it seemed like Kaden was doing really well in their home. And he started looking for work and also started figuring out steps to get his ged, which is great. And he actually was starting his own lawn care business, but unfortunately some asshole stole the mowers that he purchased, which is a huge bummer. And so he was set back on that project.
