VANISHED: Daniel Robinson

Summary

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Up and Vanished Weekly — VANISHED: Daniel Robinson (October 8, 2025)

Overview

This episode of Up and Vanished Weekly, hosted by Maggie Freeling and Payne Lindsey, dives deep into the mysterious 2021 disappearance of Daniel Robinson, a 24-year-old geologist who vanished in the Arizona desert. With Daniel’s case receiving less national attention than other high-profile missing persons cases, the episode aims to spotlight the complexities and unanswered questions that continue to haunt his family and the investigators. The hosts unravel Daniel’s story, examine the scene and the array of unsettling clues, and offer significant time to the voice and perspective of Daniel’s father, David Robinson, whose persistent advocacy is both heartbreaking and inspiring.

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Key Topics & Insights

Daniel Robinson’s Disappearance: The Basic Facts

• Daniel disappeared June 23, 2021, after leaving a job site in Buckeye, Arizona.
• His Jeep Renegade was discovered weeks later in a remote desert ravine by a local rancher, airbags deployed, sunroof kicked out, personal belongings (including his phone and wallet) left behind — but no sign of Daniel (03:30–05:49).
• Notable detail: Daniel was born without a lower right arm, but thrived in sports, music, and academics, and was described by loved ones as 'happy go lucky' and adventurous (05:49–07:10).

The Last Sighting and Immediate Aftermath

• June 23: Daniel was at a well site with coworker Ken Elliott, who described Daniel as "acting strange," staring into the desert, and making unusual comments. Shortly after arriving, Daniel drove off into the desert and was never seen again (07:10–08:50).
• Massive search efforts turned up several sets of human remains, but none were Daniel’s.

Discovery of the Jeep and Clues at the Scene

• Rancher Jeff McGrath describes finding Daniel's Jeep: “It was just stuck in there like a dart” (10:50). He noted that the cattle (who would lick new objects due to salt) hadn’t touched the Jeep, suggesting it hadn’t been there long (11:15).
• Private investigator analysis revealed the Jeep had been driven 11 miles after its airbags deployed, indicating the accident likely happened elsewhere (12:26–13:07).
  • Quote: “That means the vehicle drove another 11 miles after the airbags came in. That concerned me because ... I haven’t seen anything like that.” — Jeff McGrath [12:26]
• The presence of Daniel's clothing and phone at the scene raised suspicions, as to why he would strip down and leave those items behind if seeking help after an accident (11:28–12:26).

Questionable Theories and Investigation

• Despite the strange evidence (scene potentially staged, delay in finding Jeep, items left behind), police declared there was "no sign of foul play."
• Daniel’s family hired private investigator Jeff McGrath, who found various anomalies (red paint on the Jeep, late placement at scene, changed stories from last person to see Daniel).

A Look Into Daniel’s State of Mind

• Police, following text review, considered whether Daniel left voluntarily or was in a mental health crisis.
  • In the days before his disappearance, Daniel repeatedly messaged a woman named Kaitlin, showing up unannounced at her home and sending some cryptic texts (14:11–16:05).
    • Quote: “I’ll either see you again or never see you again.” — Daniel to Kaitlin [15:54]

Family Response & Ongoing Search

• Extensive interview with David Robinson (Daniel’s father), who has led search efforts, advocated for media exposure, and struggled with the police’s lack of progress or urgency (19:13–37:18).
• Initial law enforcement response was lackluster; David describes days spent trying to secure police involvement, and his concern as a Black parent about calling in authorities (21:56–22:46).
• Father’s perspective on the staged nature of the scene, changes in Ken Elliott’s story, and barriers to obtaining phone and vehicle data from authorities (24:12–26:26).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

The Rancher’s Perspective on the Jeep

• “It was just stuck in there like a dart.” — Jeff McGrath (10:50)
• “That Jeep had not been there as long as you were telling me it’s been there.” — Jeff McGrath (11:15)

Private Investigator’s Technical Assessment

• “The vehicle drove another 11 miles after the airbags came in. That concerned me because ... I haven’t seen anything like that.” — Jeff McGrath (12:26)
• “Not in the ravine, no.” [to whether the Jeep sustained damage there] — Jeff McGrath (13:07)
• “If we learned breaking news tomorrow that Daniel was murdered, would it shock you?” “No, because I haven’t been able to rule that out.” — Jeff McGrath (13:08–13:17)

David Robinson on Law Enforcement Experience

• “I asked law enforcement to go out that night, go search my son. They told me they couldn’t do so until the morning... That’s not true.” — David Robinson (23:04)
• “When [the police] broke the promise...they said it was unauthorized and canceled. He's a grown man. He can disappear if he wants to. That’s when I...started heading west to go do it myself.” — David Robinson (23:21)

On Media Disparities and Advocacy

• “It took me literally three months to get [media coverage] going … But once I did, I learned some secrets. Things I’ve done on social media … But at the same time, it was during the time [Gabby] Petito case came to be.” — David Robinson (30:14–30:51)
• “Every family deserves attention. We just need to make sure it’s all focused and everybody get the same amount of type attention.” — David Robinson (32:22)

Family's Determined Search

• “Get law enforcement to do their job. It’s plain and simple as that. ... Everything we know today about my son's case didn’t come from law enforcement.” — David Robinson (29:24–30:14)
• “We have been finding human remains out there ... So there’s things out there that need to be taken. ... Even though I didn’t find my son, we brought some closure for somebody else’s family.” — David Robinson (35:56–36:11)

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Timestamps & Segment Highlights

• 03:30–05:49: Discovery of Daniel’s car and belongings, early response.
• 07:10–08:50: Last sighting, coworker’s account, start of search efforts.
• 10:50–12:26: Rancher and private investigator describe key scene details.
• 14:11–16:05: Text thread with Kaitlin, implications about Daniel’s mental state.
• 19:13–37:18: David Robinson’s interview, family perspective on search, media, law enforcement, and public advocacy.
• 36:11–37:18: How listeners can support the ongoing search and advocacy efforts for Daniel.

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Call to Action & How to Help

• Visit pleasehelpfinddaniel.com for details, to sign the petition to move Daniel’s case to a new jurisdiction, print or request flyers, donate, and learn more ways to assist (33:38–37:16).
• Daniel is described as a 5'8" Black man, 165 lbs, born with a partial right arm. Anyone with information should contact Buckeye Police Department at 623-386-4421 or submit a tip online.

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Tone & Closing Reflections

Payne and Maggie treat the subject with deep empathy and seriousness, amplifying the frustration and heartbreak of Daniel’s family — especially David’s experiences with law enforcement, media, and the challenges Black families face in missing person cases. Their reporting channels a persistent call for justice and community support, echoing David’s determination to not let Daniel’s story fade.

“The disappearance of Daniel Robinson is truly tragic ... Since Daniel vanished, David has done everything humanly possible to bring him home.” — Maggie Freeling (37:25)

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For more details or to join the search, visit: pleasehelpfinddaniel.com

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Transcript

[Maggie Freeling]

You're listening to a Tenderfoot TV podcast. When did making plans get this complicated? It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the secure messaging app that brings the whole group together. Use polls to settle dinner plans, send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets mom, see and never miss a meme or milestone. All protected with end to end encryption. It's time for WhatsApp message privately with everyone. Learn [e-mail].

[Payne Lindsay]

If you're enjoying this show, I'm guessing you like to hear about true crime, maybe even conspiracies and all the messy extremes of human behavior. I know I do, and that's why I find myself always listening to our friends over in the UK with the podcast Red Handed. Every week, Hannah and Saruthi dig into a new true crime story that'll not only give you chills, but also make you think they're not afraid to go deeper. Whether it's a brush with the occult, a strange subculture, or even geopolitics, and the way they approach it is smart, well researched and always a little different than what you'd expect. Recently, Red Handed covered everything from the twisted story of Ed Gein to Australia's so called mushroom murderer Aaron Patterson. They even put together these sharp, quick hit guides on big cultural moments like the JFK assassination or Diddy's trial earlier this year. And if looking for something shorter, their other show shorthand gives you a weekly bite sized hit from Area 51 to the Holy Grail. With more than 400 episodes already out there with Red Handed, you have plenty to binge, so go search my friend's podcast Red Handed. That's all one word. Red Handed. Wherever you get your podcasts.

[Narrator/Producer]

Up and Vanish Weekly is released every Wednesday and brought to you absolutely free, but for one week early access and ad free listening. Subscribe to Tenderfoot plus at tenderfootplus.com or on Apple Podcasts if you're already a subscriber. Thank you for your support.

[Maggie Freeling]

This podcast discusses mature and sensitive content, including descriptions of violence that may be triggering for some audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

[Payne Lindsay]

Foreign.

[Maggie Freeling]

Hey y'. All, welcome to up and Vanish Weekly. I'm Maggie Freeling. Today we're talking about the disappearance of Daniel Robinson, a young man who vanished from his job site over four years ago. This case is particularly tragic because due to other high profile missing persons cases at the time, Daniel's disappearance lacked the proper national attention it deserved. Daniel was fresh out of college and just beginning his career when he vanished. His case has been Followed and investigated extensively by Payne. He even sat down with Daniel's father David for an episode of Talking to Death. We'll let you hear some of this conversation later in the show, but first let's learn more about Daniel.

[Narrator/Investigator]

July 19, 2021. Buckeye, Arizona. It's morning in the Sonoran Desert just outside of Phoenix. A local rancher appears amidst the dusty arid landscape. He's out looking for his cattle, but instead stumbles upon something unexpected in a ravine located away from the main road. The rancher notices a Jeep Renegade flipped onto its side. As he moves in for a closer look, he observes the airbags are deployed and the sunroof seems to have been kicked out. Glass is strewn across the desert sand, but there is no blood and no sign of the driver of the of the Jeep. Later that morning, police arrive at the scene of the apparent single vehicle accident. An initial search of the area produces several personal effects, including a computer, a cell phone, a neon work vest, boots, and a pair of jeans which conceal a wallet. Police open the wallet and lay eyes on the driver's license of Daniel Robinson. Meanwhile, 1,000 miles away in South Carolina, father and military veteran David Robinson is deep into a frantic search for his missing 24 year old son who hasn't been seen in almost a month. His son Daniel works as a geologist and disappeared after leaving his job site deep in the Buckeye Desert. Soon, David would receive a call that would change his life forever.

[Payne Lindsay]

From Tenderfoot TV in Atlanta. I'm Payne Lindsay.

[Maggie Freeling]

And I'm Maggie Freeling and you're listening.

[Payne Lindsay]

To up and Vanished weekly.

[Maggie Freeling]

The discovery of Daniel Robinson's Jeep jump started a years long search headed by Daniel's father David. It's tragic, yet incredibly inspiring to learn about the effort the Robinson family has dedicated to to bringing Daniel home. A South Carolina native, Daniel was born without a lower right arm, but he didn't let that slow him down. Growing up, he excelled in both sports and music where he played both the trumpet and French horn. And Daniel was an avid outdoorsman. He loved adventure and wanted to travel abroad. His family and friends describe him as being happy, go lucky and always the conversationalist. Daniel and his family were very close and kept in regular contact with each other. They even shared personal passwords. His love for the outdoors led Daniel to the College of Charleston where he studied geology. After graduating, Daniel relocated to Arizona and started working as a hydrogeologist. That's someone who specializes in the study and conservation of groundwater. His job included visiting various work sites in the desert and regularly interacting with workers from other companies. And it was during one of these visits that Daniel would be seen for the last time.

[Narrator/Investigator]

On the morning of June 23, 2021, Daniel Robinson was checking a well site for a development company. Alongside him at the site was technician Ken Elliott. Earlier that morning, Daniel called Ken, initiating a series of calls and texts between the two. According to Ken's statement to police, Daniel arrived at the job site around 9am but due to inclement weather, the two decided to wait for the storm to pass before starting their inspection. During this time, Ken says he noticed Daniel acting strange, staring off into the desert and saying odd things. Ken told police that about 15 minutes after arriving at the job site, Daniel unexpectedly hopped into his jeep and took off, heading towards the open desert. After Daniel failed to return, Ken says he went out to search for him. Aided by the recent rainfall, he followed Daniel's fresh tire tracks south until coming to a fork in the road and deciding to cease his search. In the months after Daniel's disappearance, the Police searched over 70 square miles with the assistance of all terrain vehicles, cadaver dogs, drones, and helicopters. During these searches, multiple sets of human remains were discovered, though after forensic testing, none of them were determined to be those of Daniel.

[Maggie Freeling]

We'll be right back after a quick break.

[Narrator/Investigator]

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[Payne Lindsay]

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[Narrator/Advertiser]

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[Payne Lindsay]

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[Narrator/Investigator]

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[Maggie Freeling]

Experian. And we're back. It's totally wild to me that bodies are just out in the desert while there's a missing man. And yet neither are his. It reminds me of searching for Shannon Gilbert in the Long island serial case. While searching for her, they stumbled upon many, many other remains. The landscape of the crime scene is exactly what you'd picture when thinking of the desert. It's a ravine made up of small rocks and sand, dotted with unimpressive shrubs. And it's important to note that the ravine where Daniel's Jeep was found is not adjacent to any paved roadway. It was truly off the beaten path. Payne spoke with the local rancher who stumbled upon Daniel's Jeep on America's Most Wanted Missing Persons. Here's how he described the scene.

[Jeff McGrath]

I told my wife, I said, hey, I found this Jeep. She said, what's it look like? And I told her and she says, that's the Jeep the Buckeye PD is looking for. It was just stuck in there like a dart.

[Interviewer]

But you hadn't seen it before that.

[Jeff McGrath]

The Jeep wasn't here when. When the helicopter was out here searching for it. It's cowboy knowledge. If something new is out here, the cattle are going to come to it. If we leave this Jeep here for two or three days, we come back, the windows will be smudged because cows will lick it.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Why?

[Jeff McGrath]

They're salt deficient. There's salt on that vehicle. There was none of that action going on. My point to the detective, that Jeep had not been there as long as you were telling me it's been there.

[Maggie Freeling]

If what the rancher says is true and Daniel's Jeep was not in that same ravine just days prior to him finding it, then someone moved it there well after Daniel disappeared. Could the helicopter searching the area really have missed the Jeep? According to crime scene photos, there are no obstructions that would limit an aerial view. And what about the clothing and personal effects found at the scene? If this was a simple accident and Daniel left his Jeep to find help, would he really strip down first and leave his phone at the scene? Despite these unusual discoveries, police determined there is no sign of foul play at the scene. The Robinson family then hired a private investigator, Jeff McGrath, to do a follow up assessment of the crime scene and evidence recovered. Here's McGrath talking to Payne about the irregularities found upon inspecting Daniel's Jeep.

[Jeff McGrath]

We download the black box and it'll tell you the mileage at the point that this impact happened and it blew the airbags. And then the mileage it was when we recovered it was 11 miles different. That means the vehicle drove another 11 miles after the airbags came in. That concerned me because it tells me that there was a collision somewhere else and that vehicle ended up there. In all my years doing this, I haven't seen anything like that.

[Interviewer]

Does that mean someone else was driving the vehicle after it wrecked?

[Jeff McGrath]

There was an Impact on this roof line and somewhere in this. I couldn't tie it to anything in the location it was recovered from.

[Interviewer]

So in your professional opinion, does it look like it sustained this damage from the car crash there in the ravine, or not?

[Jeff McGrath]

Not in the ravine, no.

[Interviewer]

Can one thing actually make sense here? If we learned breaking news tomorrow that Daniel was murdered, would it shock you?

[Jeff McGrath]

No.

[Interviewer]

Why not?

[Jeff McGrath]

Because I haven't been able to rule that out.

[Maggie Freeling]

But if Daniel's disappearance was the result of foul play, then who's behind it? The obvious answer would be the last person to see Daniel Robinson alive. Ken Elliott. But after being interviewed by police, he's never listed as a suspect. And for what it's worth, Ken did contact his co workers to let them know of the situation. And after Daniel left the work site. At this point, authorities were exploring all other explanations, one of which would be whether Daniel's disappearance could have been voluntary. While reviewing phone records between Daniel and Ken, police came across a thread of text messages that may help to explain Daniel's mental state when he disappeared.

[Narrator/Investigator]

On June 12, 2021, Daniel met a young woman named Kaitlin while making an instacart delivery for her and her friend. The two women invited Daniel inside and Daniel accepted the offer. According to Kaitlin, the interaction was uneventful. They chatted, and when it was time to go, they exchanged numbers. A few days later, Kaitlin received a message from Daniel explaining he left something at her residence and asked when it would be okay for him to come pick it up. Kaitlin didn't reply at the time as she was not home. But later she received a notification on her phone. She saw Daniel on her home security camera loitering around her front door. Caitlin told Daniel she wasn't home and would make arrangements. After returning the following day, he would be seen on camera roaming her property again. Kaitlin then texted Daniel asking that he stop showing up to her home. On Sunday, June 20, Daniel messaged Kaitlin via text.

[Maggie Freeling]

Are you home today? Honestly, you showing up at my house unannounced made me extremely uncomfortable. I will not be home today, but I don't see us hanging out anytime soon.

[Narrator/Investigator]

The text messages from Daniel to Kaitlin continued the next day, Monday, June 21, when he once again asked if she was home. On Tuesday, June 22, the day before he disappeared, Daniel sent his last text message to Kaitlin.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

The world can get better, but I'll.

[Maggie Freeling]

Have to take all the time I can. Or we can, whatever to name it. I'll either see you again or never see you again.

[Narrator/Investigator]

These text messages, along with statements made by Ken Elliott, lead investigators to question what was Daniel's state of mind on the day he went missing.

[Maggie Freeling]

The text messages between Caitlyn and Daniel do seem concerning and completely out of character for Dan Daniel. The thread leads police to question whether Daniel was potentially experiencing a mental health crisis. Based on Ken Elliott's statement about Daniel's behavior at the work site, including making odd comments and continuously staring off into the desert, it's no surprise to me that police explored this theory. Could a mental health crisis also explain the odd findings at the crash scene? Is it possible that Daniel freed himself from the damaged jeep and, due to either disorientation or a mental lapse, took his clothing off, left his phone before walking away from the area? Whatever the reason for Daniel's disappearance, there is no doubt that the years following have been extremely difficult for the Robinson family. Payne recently sat down with Daniel's father David to talk about his search for Daniel, the toll it's taken on his family and what he believes it will take to bring him home. We'll play that conversation for you after the break. And now, here's John with this week's critical missing case.

[Narrator/Producer]

Authorities are searching for a man last known to be in Albuquerque, New Mexico a few weeks ago. According to their report, on Wednesday, September 3, 39 year old Jonathan Michael Nelson was in the area of 98th street in Albuquerque, but he's not been seen or heard from since. Now in the weeks before he disappeared, Jonathan had also been in Chinle, Arizona, Kayenta, Arizona and Farmington, New Mexico. His family's tried locating him in all of these areas and they've even taken to social media to spread the word about his disappearance. Jonathan, who also goes by John Boy, is described as being between 5 foot 6 and 5 foot 7 with a weight of 100 to 130 pounds. He has shoulder length black hair, a beard and brown eyes. Identifying marks include a scar on his left cheekbone near his eye and an offset jaw. Jonathan was last seen wearing a light brown shirt, light brown pants and a black hat. Listeners, we need your help in spreading the word about Jonathan Nelson. Check out the up and Vanished weekly Instagram page at UAV Weekly to see a picture of him and also to share our post for more visibility. Jonathan was part of Navajo Nation. So listeners, if you know information about where he could be, please contact Navajo Nation Police Department, the chinle district at 928-674-2000.

[Maggie Freeling]

All right we're back.

[Interviewer]

So how you doing, man?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

I'm doing well. Doing well as I can. I'm looking forward to getting the information out about my son.

[Interviewer]

Tell me about how you discovered that he was missing.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Received a phone call from my daughter who had a co worker of Daniel's come to her apartment to see if he was there. That alerted us that something was wrong. Immediately doing our due diligence, of course, the first thing we did is try to reach out ourselves, send my daughter to her. His apartment to see if it's there. He wasn't. The vehicle wasn't there. Light was on inside. So after doing all of that, that's when I look at the time, how long it was since the last person seen Daniel. They said it's over. It was over six hours.

[Interviewer]

So you knew pretty early on that this was odd. And so you went into, okay, let's figure out what's going on and taking next steps.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

And so when you did that, as you started making those phone calls and talking to other people, what did you start learning in those first couple hours, in that first day?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

The first few hours, of course, I've gathered more information from his company, you know, things like where he exactly located. But, you know, of course, my first initial thing was to reach out to law enforcement to try to get at least a welfare check, you know. Cause I still want to kind of have my due diligence there to make sure everything's all right, get him to get inside his apartment, make sure there's no foul plays happening or something going on, you know, kind of go from there. So that was the first initial stuff we were doing, learning about where his detail of location that he should have been or his last seen.

[Interviewer]

When you eventually discovered that he was missing to a degree here, what were the circumstances that you stumbled upon? Where did it take you to next?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

I was in South Carolina, so I'm over 2,000 miles away. Everything I had to do at the time was relying on law enforcement, you know, and that's just me constantly calling them.

[Interviewer]

You're calling the station from your end. Different time zone and.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Right.

[Interviewer]

Just trying to, I guess, you know, find out anything. Right.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

What.

[Interviewer]

What was the status at that point?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Well, law enforcement just had to, you know, get information themselves. They was calling, of course, the job and. And trying to find a little information themselves. And also, you know, kind of riding in the area, up and down the area to see if it's something simple as him having a flat tire stuck somewhere. Cause, you know, the road that's Outside of that desert is a very long. They call it a road to nowhere. So it's very long.

[Interviewer]

I can only imagine that during that time period and the initial stages, you have to be thinking that at any moment, you're going to find him or get that call and just be like, oh, God, like, you know, I was freaked out. And days go by and some new reality starts kicking in, and I just. I can't imagine what that would be like. Could you describe that a little bit to me?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Well, you know, initially, just being. To be honest, a person of color, it was very challenging for me. V2, 2,000 miles away, here I am calling law enforcement to do a welfare check. Yeah. My idea was hesitant for a quick moment to see if I even wanted to do that phone call, because I was thinking maybe they go there and in terms of something else. Oh, we had to end up shooting them for some reason.

[Interviewer]

So you were hesitant to even call law enforcement in the first place, even though you. You were starting to realize you might need their help?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

Really? Because you're black and your son's black, and you were afraid of involving yourself and getting some other mistreatment or something worse happening. Is that what you were thinking, or.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

That's right. And I wasn't there to observe and know what's going on and make sure I can protect my son.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. You don't want to just send somebody here and.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

And it turns out to be something.

[Interviewer]

We've all seen horror stories and videos on the Internet.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

That's right.

[Interviewer]

So eventually you decided that you need some outside support, and so you. You called them, and at what capacity did they speak to you, and how have they been working on this case or not?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

The day of, when I found out information that my son was actually missing in the desert, I asked law enforcement to go out that night, go search my son. They told me they couldn't do so until the morning because now I'm a military guy. I know this wasn't true. A helicopter can't fly at night.

[Interviewer]

Well, that is definitely not true. Yeah, right.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Yeah, that's. That's not. Definitely not true. But then when they broke the promise and they called the next day, I called. They called me the next day and said it was unauthorized and canceled. He's a grown man. He can disappear if he wants to. That's when I grabbed everything I could in my home and threw it in my car and started heading west to go do it myself.

[Interviewer]

So what was the condition of his car and what kind of physical evidence Was around there, did it seem like there had been a wreck or a crash or what? What did it appear like to you?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Well, to me, it's like a crime scene when I saw the pictures. How so? Because it's lying on the side. Anytime lawful say, you know what, you know, his clothing on the ground. I didn't know he was, like, fully undressed. To say, hey, do your son wear boxes of breeze? I'm like, well, how would I know that? He's a grown man.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

But he said, where everything, his underwear down to sock, everything's in the pile.

[Interviewer]

So all of his clothes were completely taken off. So he would have been naked at some point.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Right. And then the fact that me and my family was calling his cell phone, it was constantly ringing. Ringing too. I guess it finally died. And then they found the phone in the vehicle. You know, I thought foul play, that's the first thing I saw.

[Interviewer]

So out there where he was, did he have his cell phone on him out there?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Yes, he did.

[Interviewer]

And like, did he get service out there? Like, were calls able to go through?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Yes. And in my. My 49 weeks of surgery, yes. I never dropped a call out there. So, yes, you definitely get service.

[Interviewer]

That's interesting then.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

Is there anything. Is there any data in the cell phone that could give us any more information in terms of if it went anywhere else or if it always stayed.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

There or that's something we just don't have. That's the first thing before the vehicle showed up. We asked law enforcement. We're trying to get them to get cell phone pings. They say they couldn't get it. We tried to get camera footage. They couldn't get it. My son had a uconnect in his vehicle. It's almost like an OnStar system. And they claim when they went through it, it gave all zero grids. That was a law enforcement telling us. So nothing was provided. Where all the tools that was there that could give us locations and video or something. Law enforcement claim they could not get him being missing.

[Interviewer]

And you see this weird scene with the car and the clothes. What do you start piecing together in your head in terms of trying to figure out how it looks like this and why this is the way it is and he's nowhere to be found. I mean, does your mind, like, put together scenarios?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

I couldn't put anything at first. I just listened, like I said, to what law enforcement had to say. But once I got my private investigator, he's an accident reconstructionist, he immediately looked at the scene and said, hey, no, this is not right. It's a staged event. He felt like it was, but he wasn't too sure until he physically examined the vehicle. Immediately saw something not right. There was the damage that the mesh terrain. There was red transfer paint on the side of the vehicle. There's nothing red in the desert lying on the side. Also, once he got the examined black box data, there was 11 miles astro on the vehicle after the crash. Couple with the person who found the vehicles was the rancher. The rancher found the vehicle on July 19. He was out there on July 17 in that same ravine because his cattle goes through there to go to a corral. And it wasn't there on the 17th, but then he came back on. On the 19th, it was sitting there.

[Interviewer]

This other person who was out there with him. I mean, is that just not automatically who people should be looking at, or has this guy been cleared? What was your bullshit meter on this person?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

He changed his story. Did he changed his story? Of course. I had no reason not to believe his story. This is what law enforcement gave me. Once I got to Phoenix, Arizona, I made arrangements to meet this guy in the same place my son met him, right on the side of sunvella Parkway.

[Interviewer]

When you arranged to initially meet him, he sent someone else to meet you first, but didn't tell you that. Who was this person, though, in relation to him? Was it a friend or was it someone from this company?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

I'm assuming somebody was working at the well site with him.

[Interviewer]

Okay.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

The reason why I was able to go to that well area where my son was last seen is because Ken, since my son went missing, he was still at that well site every day. But, yeah, the other person I'm assuming is somebody that was helping him out at the well. The guy at the really strange tried to get me in the vehicle, and he was asking me why I wanted to speak to him. And then when I finally got past that part, the guy went and made a phone call. And then he rolled back and said, well, Ken said he's going to come on up. So he came up there. Ken got his vehicle. First thing he did, he had a utility truck, put his hand in the. I'm a military guy. I wash hands. That's what we were trained to do. He moved his hand movements as if he was holding a weapon inside his compartment of his utility truck. And I guess once he figured that I wasn't a threat, I guess I told him I was up here trying to get information. He started talking to me. Once he did that he gave me. It's almost like it was a written thing he said word from word, what the law enforcement officer told me. I mean, it's word from word. But then when he got comfortable, that's when he changed his story.

[Interviewer]

How does it make you feel seeing this guy who you have these weird suspicions about? Because it doesn't add up. And you have your own bullshit meter and radar. Just him walking around out here and you're just trying to find anything that could make more sense of this. What kind of emotion does that create for you?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Well, for me, like I said at first, initially, I didn't have no reason not to believe his story until I met him and listened to him firsthand. You know, of course I had to do that. I had to do it. I'm a father. So somebody gonna tell me something different from my son. I was a single parent, so I know my son. Tell me something different than what my son would do. He came to this well site and just waved off and disappeared. I know my son. He had two well sites that morning. He went to the first one, completed that supposedly and went to that one where he ended up going missing. He wouldn't have went to the first one if he didn't want to go to work that day. So I had to listen to what this guy said and when he did all of that and law enforcement not paying attention to his story, how it changed. And like you said, he's out now doing did interviews to I guess validate himself or whatever. And I could look at his body language and I don't believe his story. Nothing matches. Yeah, I have a problem with that. When law enforcement is not taking those things seriously.

[Interviewer]

What do you think at this point it's going to take to get that resolution and close this case and find out what happened to your son?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Get law enforcement to do their job. It's plain and simple as that. You know, I have. I'm still holding DNA evidence, evidence I found about my son's apartment. They just need to process these things and find out who was driving my son's car. If it wasn't him, who was in the passenger side. For instance, the red transfer paint, where that came from, you know, things like that. Is that really Daniel's clothes on the ground? Cause we don't identify those clothing at that crime scene that they're claiming as Daniel's. This whole nine yard to process and they get law enforcement to do their job. I gave them everything, everything we know today about my son's case. Didn't Come from law enforcement. They did contribute to the findings that we have right now about my son's case. That came from my own efforts, came from my hiring of my private investigator. And we just need them to process. We're not law enforcement. They will go, but so far, it's their job to do the rest.

[Interviewer]

How has the media coverage been about your son's disappearance?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Well, for me, you know, it's been hard at first. I literally spent days and night, nights trying to convince just even a local news to take Daniel's story. I had to work hard for that. I had to work hard for that. It took me literally three months to get that going. Oh, yeah, yeah, just get that going. But once I did, I learned some secrets. Things I've done on social media. That was a big platform for me to get Daniel's story out there. But at the same time, it was during the time Petito case came to be.

[Interviewer]

Was that a little odd seeing, you know, another story of a missing person getting really just kind of insane, abnormal coverage, even from any missing person's case, it was kind of an anomaly in that way. Was that frustrating in any way or eye opening to you? Your son's a person of color, and it was harder for you to get any story. So if you're seeing this case, how did that make you feel?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Well, you know, statistically true that, you know, people of color have less exposure when it comes to media coverage. When the Petito case came about, I didn't know anything about it. I was so focused directly on my son. People pretty much literally hit me up, hey, have you heard this Petito case? Have you heard? I'm like, what is that? You know, right? I felt bad. Cause another parent going through the same thing I'm going through. And I'm saying, what's going on with these kids going missing? Cause I didn't know much about this person.

[Interviewer]

This probably feels like, what the hell's going on?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

And that's what happened until my family started hitting me up. My family started saying, david, you heard about this? I said, yeah, I heard something, but I feel sorry for the family. They said, no, you just don't understand. This thing is 24 hours 70. And they know how hard I was working to get Daniel's story out like that. And they say, this was 24 hours. I'm like, but it just happened. I'm like, but I've been in LA for three months. So it didn't feel a certain way, like working really hard for three months. But like, I talked to I talked to the family all the time. My thing is they deserve that attention. Every family deserves attention. We just need to make sure it's all focused and everybody get the same amount of type attention. Every case should be dealt with that way, not just one case.

[Interviewer]

It's still a parent whose daughter is missing. And you don't want to say that you should get less coverage or more coverage. But yeah, it's more like, hey, if there's cases that aren't being covered as much.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Right.

[Interviewer]

Bring that spotlight over here too. Or we need to work hard to make that happen.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

That's right.

[Interviewer]

And consciously do that.

[Maggie Freeling]

Back after a short break.

[Narrator/Producer]

Hey listeners, if you have a tip or theories about a case you want to share or a case of interest you'd like to recommend to us, then we want to hear from you. Email us casesenderfoot tv DM us on Instagram avweekly or give us a call at 770-545-6411. You can also join the conversation on our discord at Discord GG upandvanished. Now back to the show.

[Interviewer]

What are you trying to do next in terms of you say you want to get his case moved. You've done a lot of legwork on your own. How could I help? How could a listener help? Where do they need to go to support you and help figure out what happened to your son?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Well, currently, you know, of course, after all the 49 weeks of searches, 35,000 acre land that was able to cover the flyers distributions, the petition, put your voice to the petition for advocacies, etc. What I am at right now is like I say, trying, like you said, trying to get my son's case moved over to different jurisdiction, which is was Maricopa County.

[Interviewer]

Do you have a petition going for that or anything or how do you, how do you do that?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

And what I have right now is called a mail in protest. You know, I have a lot of times families, they always reach out to say, hey, you know, Mr. Robson, how can I help?

[Interviewer]

So writing a letter to them and saying what right.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

And the letter writing assist of they go into please help find daniel.com my website. Okay. There are PDFs there. They just download those and they go goal is to get thousands of them going to that mail that those two law enforcement officers every day. Every day.

[Interviewer]

You can't ignore this.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Yeah, right. And fill that box up. And what it does it keep Daniel's case out there in their mind is also keep, keep that pressure on law Enforcement. While I'm working, doing my part, working in the background and putting that pressure.

[Interviewer]

Staying just as strong. But you're doing more tactical logistical.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Right.

[Interviewer]

Things to get it moving.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

But that give everybody an opportunity to join in and help. The last part is also the search. You know, I do have, like I told you before, 49 weeks of search at 35,000 acre land. I'm not searching the whole Sonoran Desert. That's just ridiculous. Because Daniel had been all over the whole Sonoran Desert.

[Interviewer]

There's a finite amount of space that he could have gone anyways. Right. What's that radius?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Yeah, it's about science. It's about how far a person can walk without clothing. So all that's based on that in any direction from the location that we know.

[Interviewer]

And I mean, it is an endeavor out there in the field. It's just hard to search physically out.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

There unless you're on the ground. A lot of people don't understand it. I have people say, man, you know, you've been searching for a while, it's.

[Interviewer]

Not a map anymore. Now you're in it and you just.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

It doesn't work that way.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

It's very intimidating too, because a lot of times we finish a search and I know we covered a lot of ground, then I look at an area that when looking, I look back, I'm like, wow, there's so much more. And I just can't.

[Interviewer]

And you can't really even see that unless you're back there at the computer or whatever.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

That's right.

[Interviewer]

So I totally understand. But there should be something out there or we should definitively determine that there isn't. And that tells us something too.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Right. The scary part is that we have been finding human remains out there. Of course, you know, the human skulls and other remains, you know, so there's things out there that need to be taken. Because the soul, as I have from that, is that even though I didn't find my son, we brought some closure for somebody else's family.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Who would have ever thought that?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Right?

[Interviewer]

So there's still. It's. It's worth the effort because there's. It's yielding something no matter what. And eventually you're going to get there.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

So that's right. Yes, sir.

[Interviewer]

What is the website again?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Please help find Daniel. Com.

[Interviewer]

Is there a GoFundMe still or.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

That is so also, it's on. Please help find daniel.com. it's a donation tab. If you have events, there's events tab. You got help in other ways. If People have skill sets they think they can help us out with. When I say us, my team and I, they can put their skill sets there. There's a PDF button there as well. If people can help me out because I put out thousands of flyers everywhere. You could Download your own PDL's if you want to print them out. If you want us to send you flyers, we just reach at us at please help find danielahoo.com and we'll send flyers out to you. So it's different ways. Like I said. Again, put your voice to that petition because I am working with government officials, and every time I do, I say, hey, look, I got 150,000 people behind me wanting the same things to happen with the laws and the changes in system and things like that. So that helps out a lot.

[Interviewer]

That's awesome.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Yes, sir.

[Interviewer]

Well, thank you, man. I appreciate it.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you so much.

[Maggie Freeling]

The disappearance of Daniel Robinson is truly tragic. A young man fresh out of college, landing a job in a field he'd been interested in his entire life, thrilled to start his life, only to vanish without a trace. It's heartbreaking to hear David speak about the search for his son. Since Daniel vanished, David has done everything humanly possible to bring him home. It's also unfortunate that Daniel's case may not have received the national attention it deserved. In a 2024 statement, Buckeye Police said, quote, we are committed to locating Daniel Robinson and getting answers for his loved ones, end quote, adding that they continued to investigate every tip and lead reported to them. Daniel is listed as standing 5 foot 8 inches tall and weighing 165 pounds. He was born with a partial right arm and has no right hand. He has black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information on Daniel's whereabouts are urged to contact the Buckeye Police Department at 623386, 4421, or visit www.buckeyeaz.gov and leave an online tip. You can also visit the website set up by Daniel's father at www.pleasehelpfinddaniel.com for more information on the case. Y', all, thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of up and Vanish Weekly. Be sure to tune in next week as we dig into another new case. Until next time.

[Payne Lindsay]

Up and Vanish Weekly is a production of Tenderfoot TV in association with Odyssey. Your hosts are Maggie Freeland and myself, Payne Lindsay. The show is written by Maggie Freeling, myself and John Street. Executive producers are Donald Albright and myself. Lead producer is John Street. Additional production by Meredith Steadman and Mike Rooney Research for the series by Jamie Albright, Celicia Stanton and Carolyn Tallmadge Edit and mix by Dylan Harrington and Sean Nurney Supervising producer is Tracy Kaplan Artwork by Byron McCoy Original music by makeup and vanity set. Special thanks to Oren Rosenbaum and the team at uta, Beck Media and Marketing and the Nord Group.

[Interviewer]

For more podcasts like up and Vanish.

[Payne Lindsay]

Weekly, search Tenderfoot TV on your favorite podcast app or visit us@Tenderfoot TV. Thanks for listening.