Mysterious Disappearance of Deputy Jonathan Aujay
Apr 19, 2021 22:44:30 GMT
politicidal and CrepedCrusader like this
Post by hi224 on Apr 19, 2021 22:44:30 GMT
As a K9-unit dog handler with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Jonathan (Jon) Aujay was described as an avid runner, experienced outdoorsman, and a man very committed to his job.
But on Thursday, June 11, 1998, the 38-year-old would go missing without a trace, prompting numerous theories and raising questions about his possible involvement in a huge corruption scandal within the LA County Sheriff's Department.
Jon had been a paratrooper in the Army’s Special Forces unit prior to his 18+ years of service in the department and, in addition to being a K-9 handler, he was also a member of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau. Jon was 6 feet tall and weighed approximately 165 pounds.
On the morning of the 11th, he would depart from his home, telling his wife, Debra, that he would be home by dark. His destination was “the Devil’s Punchbowl Natural Area,” about 60 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles. There, he planned to run the scenic gorge (as he had many times before) as part of his training for the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run.
At around 11:45 am, he arrived at his destination, parked his truck, and began his trek to the summit of the 9,400-foot Mount Baden-Powell with a green pack strapped to his back.
Not long after, Aujay ran into a school teacher with a group of kids, whose classroom he had recently visited with his K9 partner. He apparently stopped his hike to chat with them.
Later, two camp employees spotted a man fitting Jon’s description jogging in the direction of Baden-Powell.
There was another sighting at 6 pm from a third employee, who spotted a man with a green pack heading toward the parking lot.
Bizarrely, not long after that third sighting, a nearby resident told a park employee he heard a gunshot in the vicinity of the Punchbowl.
Debra reported her husband missing when he didn’t return home by 11. And, by 11:30, the search for Jon had begun after finding his car where he had left it that morning.
Over the next few days, they searched the area extensively, with helicopters, all-terrain vehicles, and even thermal-imaging equipment. No trace of him was ever found and, to this day, nobody is sure about what happened to him that night.
THEORIES
AN ACCIDENT:
All of the sources I checked seemed to gloss over the fact that he might have just had an accident somewhere along the trail. Anytime somebody disappears on a hike, there is a strong possibility they got lost, were spooked by a predator, or suffered some kind of injury that inhibited their ability to walk. This case, however, is admittedly different.
Besides the fact that this area isn't particularly remote, Jon was a super experienced hiker, had been on the trail multiple times before, and was apparently seen heading back towards the parking lot as late as 6 pm. It seems like, with how quick the search efforts began, how extensively they looked, and no reason Jon would veer off the trail, they would have either found him, his backpack, or his body somewhere in the park.
Still, the dangers of the “wilderness” can never be underestimated, and it’s entirely possible his fate was the result of a tragic accident.
DISAPPEARED ON HIS OWN ACCORD:
Jon’s sister, Jan Kaltenbach, has concluded that her brother intentionally went missing, with the intent of starting a new life. She recalls that Jon was increasingly miserable living in the Antelope Valley. Describing her last interaction with him, she says he was “ready to go, checked out, done.” Could he have planned this from the beginning — stashing money and obtaining a new identity for the escape?
He had apparently talked about moving to Alaska in the past, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility he decided to start fresh somewhere up there. A guy like him would certainly have the connections to do it.
HE TOOK HIS OWN LIFE:
A heartbreaking detail of this case are the last words Jon spoke to his wife, Debra. On the morning of the punchbowl run, Debra remembers Jon saying “Have a nice life” and “Tell Chloe I love her.”
His marriage with Debra was falling apart, and if the claims of Jon’s sister are true, then he clearly wasn’t happy with his living situation. There are also reports he started giving some of his personal items away.
A month before his disappearance, Debra claims that Jon held a gun to his head during an argument about their relationship.
CORRUPTION:
This is where things get weird. There is a theory that Jon was killed out on the trail that day by a fellow deputy, for the purpose of keeping him from spilling information about links to a meth lab.
At the time, the LA County Special Enforcement Bureau had been caught in an investigation relating to corruption involving meth production and traffickers, which turned up at least 50 suspicious incidents involving deputies. Drugs and counterfeit bills were even found in one deputy's home.
Furthermore, a few days after Aujay’s disappearance, a woman connected to the Antelope Valley’s outlaw bikers told law enforcement that Jon was “taken care of” after he apparently came across something he shouldn't have seen. Another tip came from an informant, who said a biker dealer claimed that Jon “was going to be a hero and “was taken care of” after he discovered something on his jog.
Curiously, in 1999, homicide detective Larry Joseph Brandenburg learned from another deputy sheriff that Aujay may have been murdered and that another deputy may have been involved. Brandenburg's captain gave him permission to reopen the cold case, to which he contacted Darren Hager to help with the investigation. Hager and Brandenburg were building confidence that “Aujay was murdered and a deputy sheriff might be involved.”
Brandenburg was eventually taken off the case completely after presenting his investigation results to the command staff. Darren Hager was fired for his role. He sued the county for wrongful termination in 2018 and won his case.
Notes:
Jon apparently had a girlfriend at the time of his disappearance, an ultra-marathon runner named Vicki DeVita. She told investigators that Aujay had told her he planned to go on an overnight “walkabout” in the wilderness the day of his hike. Though, the validity of this claim, and whether or not Vicki was actually his girlfriend, is still in question.
Chloe, age 5 at the time, was Jon’s daughter, with whom he was described as being in a very close relationship.
It is worth noting the words of homicide Detective Joe Holmes, who began following up stories about Aujay a few years later, amid the infiltration of six methamphetamine-producing rings in the area:
“At the beginning, I’d thought he’d met with foul play,” Holmes said. “But we went out and interviewed all of these witnesses and I couldn’t find anything to suggest [it]. All those folks we talked to either said they’d lied about their original information, or we caught them in lies.”
Lastly, I’ll plug in this excerpt. Make of it what you will:
“Deputy Randell Heberle insists that when he arrived at the Punchbowl after Aujay was reported missing, he spotted a snub-nosed .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver on the center console of the truck. “No deputy back then would leave their gun visible,” says Heberle, who retired in 2010. The chance that a passerby might see it, break into the vehicle, and use the gun to commit a crime was too high. “It’s not just a red flag,” he says. “It’s full-on fireworks. Fourth of July.” He says he reported the gun to others at the site, but the official missing person flyers stated that Aujay was likely carrying the gun. “My recollection is that we could not account for his two-inch revolver,” says Dave Sauer, the sergeant who led the search.”
Sources:
Here is information about the Hager court case: caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-court-of-appeal/1676072.html
www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-may-20-me-aujay20-story.html
www.missingveterans.com/1998/jonathan-aujay/
www.lamag.com/longform/the-deputy-who-disappeared/
www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/2020/5/2/jonathan-aujay
But on Thursday, June 11, 1998, the 38-year-old would go missing without a trace, prompting numerous theories and raising questions about his possible involvement in a huge corruption scandal within the LA County Sheriff's Department.
Jon had been a paratrooper in the Army’s Special Forces unit prior to his 18+ years of service in the department and, in addition to being a K-9 handler, he was also a member of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau. Jon was 6 feet tall and weighed approximately 165 pounds.
On the morning of the 11th, he would depart from his home, telling his wife, Debra, that he would be home by dark. His destination was “the Devil’s Punchbowl Natural Area,” about 60 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles. There, he planned to run the scenic gorge (as he had many times before) as part of his training for the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run.
At around 11:45 am, he arrived at his destination, parked his truck, and began his trek to the summit of the 9,400-foot Mount Baden-Powell with a green pack strapped to his back.
Not long after, Aujay ran into a school teacher with a group of kids, whose classroom he had recently visited with his K9 partner. He apparently stopped his hike to chat with them.
Later, two camp employees spotted a man fitting Jon’s description jogging in the direction of Baden-Powell.
There was another sighting at 6 pm from a third employee, who spotted a man with a green pack heading toward the parking lot.
Bizarrely, not long after that third sighting, a nearby resident told a park employee he heard a gunshot in the vicinity of the Punchbowl.
Debra reported her husband missing when he didn’t return home by 11. And, by 11:30, the search for Jon had begun after finding his car where he had left it that morning.
Over the next few days, they searched the area extensively, with helicopters, all-terrain vehicles, and even thermal-imaging equipment. No trace of him was ever found and, to this day, nobody is sure about what happened to him that night.
THEORIES
AN ACCIDENT:
All of the sources I checked seemed to gloss over the fact that he might have just had an accident somewhere along the trail. Anytime somebody disappears on a hike, there is a strong possibility they got lost, were spooked by a predator, or suffered some kind of injury that inhibited their ability to walk. This case, however, is admittedly different.
Besides the fact that this area isn't particularly remote, Jon was a super experienced hiker, had been on the trail multiple times before, and was apparently seen heading back towards the parking lot as late as 6 pm. It seems like, with how quick the search efforts began, how extensively they looked, and no reason Jon would veer off the trail, they would have either found him, his backpack, or his body somewhere in the park.
Still, the dangers of the “wilderness” can never be underestimated, and it’s entirely possible his fate was the result of a tragic accident.
DISAPPEARED ON HIS OWN ACCORD:
Jon’s sister, Jan Kaltenbach, has concluded that her brother intentionally went missing, with the intent of starting a new life. She recalls that Jon was increasingly miserable living in the Antelope Valley. Describing her last interaction with him, she says he was “ready to go, checked out, done.” Could he have planned this from the beginning — stashing money and obtaining a new identity for the escape?
He had apparently talked about moving to Alaska in the past, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility he decided to start fresh somewhere up there. A guy like him would certainly have the connections to do it.
HE TOOK HIS OWN LIFE:
A heartbreaking detail of this case are the last words Jon spoke to his wife, Debra. On the morning of the punchbowl run, Debra remembers Jon saying “Have a nice life” and “Tell Chloe I love her.”
His marriage with Debra was falling apart, and if the claims of Jon’s sister are true, then he clearly wasn’t happy with his living situation. There are also reports he started giving some of his personal items away.
A month before his disappearance, Debra claims that Jon held a gun to his head during an argument about their relationship.
CORRUPTION:
This is where things get weird. There is a theory that Jon was killed out on the trail that day by a fellow deputy, for the purpose of keeping him from spilling information about links to a meth lab.
At the time, the LA County Special Enforcement Bureau had been caught in an investigation relating to corruption involving meth production and traffickers, which turned up at least 50 suspicious incidents involving deputies. Drugs and counterfeit bills were even found in one deputy's home.
Furthermore, a few days after Aujay’s disappearance, a woman connected to the Antelope Valley’s outlaw bikers told law enforcement that Jon was “taken care of” after he apparently came across something he shouldn't have seen. Another tip came from an informant, who said a biker dealer claimed that Jon “was going to be a hero and “was taken care of” after he discovered something on his jog.
Curiously, in 1999, homicide detective Larry Joseph Brandenburg learned from another deputy sheriff that Aujay may have been murdered and that another deputy may have been involved. Brandenburg's captain gave him permission to reopen the cold case, to which he contacted Darren Hager to help with the investigation. Hager and Brandenburg were building confidence that “Aujay was murdered and a deputy sheriff might be involved.”
Brandenburg was eventually taken off the case completely after presenting his investigation results to the command staff. Darren Hager was fired for his role. He sued the county for wrongful termination in 2018 and won his case.
Notes:
Jon apparently had a girlfriend at the time of his disappearance, an ultra-marathon runner named Vicki DeVita. She told investigators that Aujay had told her he planned to go on an overnight “walkabout” in the wilderness the day of his hike. Though, the validity of this claim, and whether or not Vicki was actually his girlfriend, is still in question.
Chloe, age 5 at the time, was Jon’s daughter, with whom he was described as being in a very close relationship.
It is worth noting the words of homicide Detective Joe Holmes, who began following up stories about Aujay a few years later, amid the infiltration of six methamphetamine-producing rings in the area:
“At the beginning, I’d thought he’d met with foul play,” Holmes said. “But we went out and interviewed all of these witnesses and I couldn’t find anything to suggest [it]. All those folks we talked to either said they’d lied about their original information, or we caught them in lies.”
Lastly, I’ll plug in this excerpt. Make of it what you will:
“Deputy Randell Heberle insists that when he arrived at the Punchbowl after Aujay was reported missing, he spotted a snub-nosed .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver on the center console of the truck. “No deputy back then would leave their gun visible,” says Heberle, who retired in 2010. The chance that a passerby might see it, break into the vehicle, and use the gun to commit a crime was too high. “It’s not just a red flag,” he says. “It’s full-on fireworks. Fourth of July.” He says he reported the gun to others at the site, but the official missing person flyers stated that Aujay was likely carrying the gun. “My recollection is that we could not account for his two-inch revolver,” says Dave Sauer, the sergeant who led the search.”
Sources:
Here is information about the Hager court case: caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-court-of-appeal/1676072.html
www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-may-20-me-aujay20-story.html
www.missingveterans.com/1998/jonathan-aujay/
www.lamag.com/longform/the-deputy-who-disappeared/
www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/2020/5/2/jonathan-aujay