Hi, everyone, Welcome back to the second half of season one of Somewhere in the Pines.

Before we step back into the case, there's something I need to share.

Sadly, Dakota will no longer be a part of the show for the foreseeable future, but he has given us his full blessing to carry on without him.

We're deeply thankful for the care and heart he brought to the journey.

And we know some of you will have questions, and that's completely fair.

But out of respect for Dakota's privacy and to keep our focus where it's always belonged, on the victims and on the truth still buried in the caches, we won't be going in any more details, just to be clear.

Life shifts and we're simply turning the page with gratitude.

Dakota's presence shaped the early chapters of the show and for that we are grateful.

So Dakota, if you're listening, thank you, and we hope to make you proud.

As for what comes next, we've been working quietly with some brilliant researchers behind the scenes.

No matter how long you've been following this case, buckle up.

At the end of today's episode, we will include a new segment called Music from the Pines, hosted by our friend Drew.

This is a new Patreon exclusive segment that we've been excited to bring the show for a long time, so we hope you enjoy it.

Thanks again now with the show.

This is a studio both and collaboration.

Some stories are hard to forget.

This podcast explores real events that some may find disturbing.

Listener discretion is strongly advised.

Last time on Somewhere in the.

Pines, we're looking for a guy.

Yeah, that's committed a pretty serious crime.

We don't know if you're the guy or not.

We would like hearing you not to be the guy.

So we liked this cooperation.

And there are some things that are going to be in the guy's possession that we're looking for, all right, that you shouldn't have, Okay.

So that's the reason we're asking maybe to look at your wallet is to make sure you don't have what we're looking for.

We like to look in your car, notice you have you are not certain?

Look, I know how this works.

I watched enough TV.

In twenty twelve, last in law enforcements came face to face with one of this country's most prolific serial killers.

His name is Israel Keys.

Investigators say Israel Keys had a.

So called murdered kid.

Keys strategically hit a box filled with weapons and tools near the Windowski River.

Everything was contained in a home.

Deeple fucking inside would be a gun, weapons of rope, sip ties.

He always flew somewhere, rented a car and then drove hundreds, if not one thousand mile.

He's told investigators he left the kids in Washington, state wideoming in Texas and Land to hide.

One in Eras had a whole bunch of states, I mean Alaska, Vermont, Washington, warreg and New York, New Jersey, California, Texas, Illinois, Tennessee had a cash.

In Washington, very Loington.

All right, that was a kid.

I was used to dream that I'd find buried trade darning.

Very well, if they can't find it, I might as well create it.

Swimshure.

So and I don't remember exactly what media release it was, but after one of our media releases, we got a tip that came in.

It was a woman who I think initially reached out and her and her boyfriend back in two thousand and five, had been up by the Hot Springs up near Swim there, hiking around, and my understanding was that the guy went to take a leak behind on the trees and they find what they later described as a rape kit behind the tree, and so not wanting whoever put it there to be able to have access to it, they throw the stuff fuver or a nearby cliff to get rid of it.

And so there's no mention of little bucket or anything like that, but it's you know, binding type things and just the type of things that you'd expect to have and something like that.

It makes sense in the sense of the timeframe lines upright.

We know, you know, Keys was actively looking for victims around that time period.

It seems like a place that he potentially could go to.

I haven't talked to anyone personally, but we haven't gone down that line of questioning because this is years later that we learned of this information, so kind of after our initial interviews.

So not something that was a point of early on interviews, you know, was he ever up at the squim Hot Springs, But something we can do some follow up potentially, But I think I think the chances are that could be related to him.

I mean, I guess we'll never really know for sure, but it's possible.

It makes sense.

It's Saturday and around five fifteen am.

I'm about to pick up Drew.

Here's the roundabout to make you turn then turn right out to use their inside street.

Gonna go to Dungeon as in the Olympic Hot Springs, And.

I've got an interview with the FBI on Monday.

M Brow you doing good?

You got cooler stuff you want on the color?

You're not really, I just got I've got like a lunch box with hot dogs in it, So it's.

Not like.

Thanks for picking me up.

Man.

Here, what's the best way to go here?

If you're going.

Today, we're heading deep into the Olympic Peninsula.

The mission to investigate a new potential Israel Key's cash site, scouting and documenting anything that might shed light on his early planning methods.

As far as we know, we are the first to return with intent to search since park rangers assessed the area over a decade ago.

Oh shit, there's a train.

Fuck.

This is the worst.

Man.

Like I go this way to go to work, and like I get so annoyed every time I hit this train.

So why'd you tell us to go this way because it is faster when, uh, when there's no train there.

During our first interview with Special Agent Haula, he confirmed who we had only suspected.

He believes that the tip about a cash being hidden behind a tree at the Olympic Hot Springs is an actual lead.

The tip came just two days after the FBI issued a chilling press release FBI Requests the public's assistance in case of serial killer Israel Keys, dated August twelfth, twenty thirteen.

The bulletin laid out a skeletal timeline of Keys's no movements and the dates they believe were critical to locating his unidentified victims.

When the tip was first submitted, forest rangers were dispatched to assess the site.

The hope was that the FBI could launch a formal search, but by then the landscape had already changed.

The spot where the cash was reportedly thrown over the edge had eroded into the river below.

The conclusion was too dangerous, too unstable, and too late.

We're going to try to understand why Keyes felt this was the in a place where he could take someone and get away with it, a place that had once been easily accessible, the place keys could have reached quietly and without leaving a trace.

Up until the.

Time you were arrested in Texas.

Had you ever been questioned before about any of.

The murders of the team.

No, No, one never stopped you question.

How about any any rapes?

Anybody ever questioned about any of No, how about any other crimes you committed?

Were you ever a question?

No?

Well, I mean there was.

Like really minor stuff that happened when I was a teenager, when I was breaking into houses.

But not right.

You told us the other day that you.

Could tell, you know, because you were trying to you knew you didn't want to get caught.

How would you identify a victim so that you wouldn't, you know, try to decrease the chances they'd be caught.

Well, back when I was smart, I would do it.

I would let them come to me.

I don't understand this remote area, you know, not kind kind of lay to a remote area that's not anywhere near where you live, but that other people go to as well.

You might not get exactly what you're There's not as much to choose from in a manner of speaking, But there's also no witnesses.

Really, there's nobody else around.

So and then when they.

When they disappear, A lot of times, nobody's really surprised because that happens all the time.

It always surprises me, you know, like some situations you read about in the paper, like so and so disappeared presumed boating accident, for example, will.

They find their boat?

You don't know what really happened to that person.

I'm not the only person who figured this out.

In two thousand and five, eighteen miles southwest of Fort Angels, Washington, a group of hikers stumbled across a black trash bag hidden behind a tree inside a pickaxe, rope, duct tape, and condoms.

It would be almost eight years later that they would come to realize the importance of what they found.

In this episode, we leave civilization behind and bike over twenty miles into the remote Washington wilderness to examine the terrain and seclusion firsthand.

As we begin breaking down the small but deliberate choices Key's made early in his criminal career.

I'm Joshua.

Welcome to Somewhere in the Pines.

Episode seventeen.

The Olympic Hot Springs.

Be the moon in the sky illuminate, the clouds.

Is there passing by?

Pos are close in the streets, are bear you hear resound behind you?

About when you term no one's there.

Built them in the coast inside, coast inside.

Around anytime i'd get to where I had downtime, or you know, if I were if.

I would leave Nea Bay, get out of Nea Bay, and all that stuff was still there, you know, like every time i'd drive, you make a drive somewhere, I'd be looking for places, good places to do stuff.

So at that point I had.

No I just knew.

I just accepted it was only a matter of time, time and opportunity before I did something again.

The Olympic Hot Springs.

According to Native America in folklore, two dragon like spirits once battled for control of the land surrounding the soul Duck and Elwha rivers.

When neither could overcome the other, they retreated to their caves and stalemate.

There they wept, and their scalding tiers percolated from fissures in the earth, rising a steam and forming the hot springs that still bubble along the forested slopes today.

The shallow pools tucked into a steep ravine carved by Boulder Creek, a tributary of the Elba River, were once used by indigenous tribes for bathing, healing, and vision quests decades ago.

They were relatively easy to reach, just a two point three mile hike after parking at the trailhead.

It was the access road that was all still open at that point where you.

Could, Yes, so have been much easier in two thousand and five to get up there, Yeah, much easier.

Let's see, we're at a trailhead the Elwa River valley and we're gonna head to some hot springs on our bikes.

A little bit of rain this morning, it's not gonna stop us.

Got ten miles to.

Go, Yeah, get antsy, ready to go cool, Let's do it.

Packed this up.

I'm gonna stop recording over and out.

As anticipated.

After the removal of the el Woan Glens Canyon dams, notably the largest dam removal project in US history at the time, the Elwa River began to reclaim and restore its floodplain.

In doing so, it reclaimed a section of the Olympic Hot Springs Road.

Because of this immense washout, visitors must now begin their journey at Medisine Fallows trailhead, adding an extra eight mile approach just to reach the old trailhead at Appleton Pass.

The first stretch of the trail follows along the powerful La River, smooth and manageable ones.

You pushed through the initial forested bypass trail that circumvents the collapse section of road.

As you reconnect with the road, you pass the abandoned park buildings, no longer in use because of the restrictive access and flooding, quiet remnants of what this place used to be.

After crossing a large bridge, the incline begins steadily climbing as you weave in and out of large stands of fir trees, wet lichen filled forests, and the expansive view from Glynds Canyon Overlook, one of the most shockingly beautiful viewpoints in the Pacific Northwest.

God damn, this place is fucking awesome.

In the early days of research and scouting, I had spent two full days searching around the Elwa River parking area and the trail leading to Madison Falls.

A few factors made the area stand out, but this was my first time continuing all the way to the hot springs slowly uphill in the more exposed stretches of trail.

We felt every rain drop as our gear began to fail.

We were soaked, so we pulled over for a quick snack and while we rested we read through the tip again just to make sure we knew exactly what to watch for when the trail began to narrow.

Recording it's about.

Ten miles in, ten point three miles in right now all the way and was all up pill.

We brought bikes, but it was mainly walking the bikes up hill.

But it's yeah, it's been raining now pretty consistently for the last maybe hour and a half, and we're to the point where we had to lock up the bikes and hiking up now or hiking up the trail to find the where the cash was heading.

So the tip just so you guys know, this is what we're looking for.

What they said.

In the spring of two thousand and five, they visited the Olympic Hot National Park to participate in hike through Olympic Hot Springs.

At some point during the hike, they observed several suspicious objects located at the base of a tree.

The items found included rope, a pickaxe, a black garbage bag, duct tape, and condoms.

Upon noticing these items, they proceeded to throw them over a nearby embankment.

The incident remained unreported.

They did not become suspicious of these findings until learning of the murder kits left by keys in various locations around the country.

She also advised that during the trip up to the Hot Springs, she was with her friend, who still lives in the Poored Orchard, Washington area.

She advised that she had contacted her friend around the time that she had made the tip, and that he was aware that she was contacting the FBI regarding their incident at the Hot Springs.

When he was contacted, he stated he recalled hiking up the Hot Springs with her.

They hiked to one of the lower level and smaller springs, which was located on the right side of the trail.

As you start to ascend the steeper portion of the trail at the hot spring.

He went back behind the spring to YearIn eate.

It was then that what can only be described as a rape kit was found at the base of the tree.

There were about fifteen items, including a knife and rope.

It completely creeped them out, and they decided to get out of there.

He did not recall moving the items, but he stated that she had a much better memory than he did.

He could not recall the year, but advised that two thousand and five would be consistent with a particular house that he moved into during the time of the incident.

He recalled that it was cold out during this trip, and he stated that he would be willing to travel up to the Hot Springs to help investigators locate this particular location if his description was not sufficiently detailed enough.

To the best of our knowledge, it's still out there, beautiful day Olympics.

I mean, we've been so damn lucky all the times we've been out here searching so far, are that this almost feels.

Good to have this.

I'm not.

Yeah, so glad.

I'm so glad.

It's pouring right right now.

We left the bike's chain to a bent post near the old Trailhead parking lot.

It's hard to tell just how many vehicles could have parked in a lot.

Maybe a dozen't let's.

Talk about the bike ride up A little bit okay, kind of eerie coming through a little abandoned the camp ranger station kind of area.

Yeah, this area once looked very different years ago.

A vehicle could drive up the road past the Glens Canyon overlook, which would have been Lake Mills, the reservoir that was once contained by the dams, past an old gate that would have been used to close access to the Hot Springs, and park right near the trailhead, only about four point five miles from the gate.

Right from that point eight starts to really incline.

But they also had a gated.

Entrance there that said it was a seasonal road, so so dead end road and the seasonal road which is kind of similar to the Eagle River Cache.

The trailhead parking lot is completely covered in fur, needles and cones.

It has a natural roadblock as a fallen section of a tree has taken residents.

At the entrance, the first marker we came to is a pit toilet, followed shortly by a wooden sign for the Appleton Pass trail.

From here the trail begins.

It was two point three miles to the Hot Springs.

Yeah.

The path itself is wide and gradual, mostly smooth.

It's an easy walk aside from a few washed out sections where water is cut across the surface.

We walk from what feels like hours before reaching the next marker.

As the trail narrows, we find ourselves walking through a small meadow.

Off to one side is what I can only describe as a picturesque outhouse, complete with prescent moon on the door.

I read about this marker online.

It's not only a sign that we are on the right path, but we are also getting close.

Just before the final descent, a weathered sign still stands.

No camping or fires in the Hot Springs area.

It looks like a trail.

You see a bridge down there, Joe, Uh not yet?

This is some heavy erosion.

Could be it?

The slope off to the north shows significant erosion, rock slides, mud flows, the unforgiving rain constantly reshaping the hillside.

The campground itself is modest, a small meadow tucked along Boulder Creek before it starts cutting aggressively through the terrain, saplings dotted throughout.

Crossing the log bridge brings you into the Hot Springs basin.

Two black tailed deer grazed alongside the trail as we entered, barely acknowledging us.

It's a peaceful place.

We nowhere close when the smell hits us sulfur, the unmistakable likeness to rotten eggs.

Walking the single lane trails through the saturated grass and forest floor, we try to take note of the terrain and any potential landmarks in the immediate area.

We noted one unusual structure built into the hillside, a narrow cave like space framed in crumbling concrete with rebar protruding from the walls.

Later we heard it referred to as a natural sauna, though its construction suggest it may have once been a part of a bridge or another abandoned structure.

So now we're just looking to find the first trail off to the right when it starts to get steep.

So it was one of the lower level hot springs.

Because they're scattered all throughout the woods, the springs appear to be placed with intension throughout the area tiered pools, some visible from the trail, others hidden just out of sight down small slopes or behind brush, providing just enough privacy to create the illusion of being alone.

The water varies in color, deep turquoise and some and an unimaginable diluted mercury in others.

Some pools are stacked with rocks around the outside edge to create structure and depth.

Each has its own private view of the ravine created by Boulder Creek one hundred and fifty foot fir trees sprinkled along the edge of the ravine Doolittle to keep the rain and light from reaching the forest floor.

The setting is somehow both inviting and isolating.

Somebody by surprise.

I don't know why.

I just feels like it's like when I start talking to people, then I I go into a.

Different mode, like I wanna.

Be their friend or something.

But obviously if I I've already decided to take somebody, then I'm not their friend.

It's but you don't give them a chance either.

It's not like you have a casual conversation and then overtake him or Something's do you do that so that there isn't.

Anything personal Upbrom, I don't know.

I hadn't really thought about it.

It's just.

I think we already talked about this.

But even though you were never questioned by law enforcement about why you were.

Ever at any of these places or anything, well, like I said, casually, like.

They would see you at a trailhead and just talk with you right, Yeah, why you're here to fish or.

You hear to hike those kinds of things.

Right.

Let you see your.

Fishing license, right, And I usually had everything.

Yeah, I always had all that stuff.

I honestly a lot of times that's what I was.

Doing, like, yeah, first far back, because.

I can remember, you know, that's where I get a lot of the ideas, either fishing or out hunting and.

Thinking of them.

Yeah, stalk them through the woods and see somebody in the woods.

They don't see you, sit there and watch them for a while.

And I can remember doing that sometimes I was like thirteen or fourteen years old, thinking you could.

Just or just the fact that you're able to watch them and they don't know you're watching them.

Right.

The hillside that the pools are built into is steep, steep enough to provide a good vantage point, as well as eliminate the odds of someone randomly walking up on keys as he is lying in wait with a cash being found behind the pool, which is where the slope begins.

It makes sense that he planned for this to be his point of attack.

Anyone in the hot spring will likely have their attention directed towards the view the opposite direction of where keys could have planned to be hiding.

The fact that the trail is an offshoot of the main Appleton Pass trail works in Israel's favor as well, because there's no through traffic.

If your destination is as Appleton Pass or High Divide, you'll only pass by the junction in the trail.

We won't be able to see anything that is happening in the Hot Springs area.

It's too far away from the junction.

Moreover, all Hot Springs enthusiasts and campers will be coming from one direction from that junction, depending on the time of day.

He should feel confident with the trap he is set.

He can quickly walk to each pool and see if they are occupied.

The campground is before the springs, so anyone coming in to try and camp would drop their bags to claim their camping spot and grab a towel out of their bag at the very least before walking over to the springs.

Anyone approaching from the main trail could be seen long before they reached the log bridge, because the trail leading them down to the Hot Springs area skirts right alongside the ravine, and the foliage is spotty in those sections of the trail at night would be even easier to see a headlamp from across the creek as they made their descent, and with the creek being as loud as it is, it wouldn't be difficult to sneak up on someone without them hearing you.

With a container being a bag and not a bucket, it's hard to imagine that anything of evidentiary value could still be located.

Maybe the knife could be found or one of the fifteen items that were claimed to have been in the bag.

It's likely if the pick axe had a wood handle, then all that would likely remains the head.

I would be interested in hearing what the other items were.

Was he using zip ties that long ago?

Did he have bottles of water or draino?

Every item can be compared to what was found in the Blake Falls cash to see what parts of his mo remain in the six year span of planning and execution.

The Hot Springs cash have him in place no later than two thousand and five and the Blake Falls Reservoir cash being hidden in twenty eleven.

If there is a solid connection between these caches, it could help determine how methodical he was and if he use somebody that when he found something that worked, he stuck to it, kept doing it, and that could translate over into the search for the vict terms of Israel Keys.

In two thousand and five is a critical time for Keys.

He claims to have killed four people in Washington within a couple of years of this cash being found.

Not one of those victims has yet to be named.

This location matches everything that he talked about when discussing his earlier crimes.

They seem so different his earlier crimes compared to his later crimes, but that is likely why he was able to remain uncaught for so long, because he took the time to plan it out, even early on, to set himself up for the highest likelihood of success.

He wasn't abducting people from their homes or from their place of employment.

He started out here in the woods.

Yeah, I mean the whole thing with ATM withdrawals like that's super high risk.

And yeah, he definitely was going whatever was happening inside of him.

He was trying to be willing to take on just crazy risks.

I don't think he would have never taken early on, early on his careers, his victims came to him versus later on when you look at Samantha Koenig and then the couriers, where he in a sense goes to them in some ways.

But he said early on his victims came to him.

The drawback of that was you didn't get to be real choosy about what happened about who came.

We can never fully realize what his plan would be out here.

What we do know is that the components of this cash say a few things.

It's safe to say he planned to abduct, assault, and dispose of this person, most likely right in that general area.

It would be easy for him to take control of someone that is likely lounging fully naked in a pool, unarmed and unassuming.

Then all he has to do is put all their belongings in a bag and remove those items from the area.

And this eliminated any chance of anyone ever even searching the area.

If he takes their belongings with him, maybe he planned to move their car down to the overlook, similar to his plant in Eagle River, Alaska, or plant their belongings further uptrail or further down trail to throw the investigation off.

The pickaxe is also an interesting choice.

It is a common tool that trail workers use to reshape and fix the trail systems, so it may not stand out to anyone that passes by him on the trail as he carries it up.

A pickaxe would be a better tool than a shovel in this location because of how rocky the area is, so he could use the pickaxe in the same way he planned a dispose of a potential victim in Eagle River.

There he planned a place of victim in a small ditch created by a berm and then cover it with sheet metal and shovel dirt over the top of it.

Here there are tons of little depressions and holes to hide a body and then use the pickaxe to easily rake the earth and rock onto them.

It wouldn't look out of the ordinary, just a small bit of erosion amongst the hundreds of sections of rock fall and landslides that fill the hillside surrounding the springs.

It would be extremely risky to try and walk someone from the hot springs down to their vehicle and completely remove them from the area.

I think he planned on being efficient.

He set a trap ready to ambush any unsuspecting person that arrived at the wrong place in the wrong time.

Do you think there's a lot of people like you out there?

No, but I don't think it takes a lot, you know.

And like I said, if.

You're not picky, if you can control your.

If I had been able to control myself, then you know, who knows.

How long.

But what I'm trying to take us.

So, but if somebody is camping in a remote spot.

Someone's gonna know that it didn't come home, right?

So, did you have other things that you looked for in a picked them?

No?

It was you know, it's just.

You asking what type of people I would pick, or.

Yeah, what p type or whether there was a way don't really have a type.

I had a preference, but that it wasn't what's the preference?

Well, lightweight?

Is that because of attraction or because of disposal?

Yeah, it's kind of makes it easier, okay, but you know it's not.

It's not a deal breaker.

Early on, he chose People in the Woods two thousand and five, only eighteen miles from Port Angelis, Washington.

He was willing to hike two point four miles into the wilderness to sit and wait for the right opportunity to abduct, assault and murder someone.

This was likely not to spur of the moment idea.

He most likely scouted it out and planned through it enough to brand a cash that far into the woods.

He wasn't abducting the people from their homes or from their place of employment.

This is the level of confidence that he had in himself at this point in time.

That's something to consider when looking for the unnamed victims of his roel Kies from two thousand and five through the end of two thousand and six.

There's a good chance that they had gone missing from a destination similar to this type of setup.

If he was more confident, he wouldn't need to hike two point four miles back into the widerness to do something.

Until we speak with the person that found the kid, we will probably never be able to be certain exacts where it was thrown over and the manner in which it was contained.

Was everything in the bag?

Was it pickaxe in the bag?

Did they put everything in the bag, tie it and toss it over the edge?

Did it reach the creek below?

How far beyond the pool was the cash?

Did they walk it downstream or upstream from where they found it before they threw it off?

If they could let us know where they threw the cash, we could determine for ourselves if there is even a remote possibility of anything being discovered.

It would be an extensive search, most likely a week, and the brush is so thick it's hard to tell, but some areas may require roping off.

We weren't getting any dryer, and we still needed to hike out and make the bike ride back, this time luckily downhill, so it proved to be easier as long as we avoid the areas of heavy moss and the cougars.

There have been several cougar sightings near the Glends Canyon Overlook around dusk, so we needed to figure out what we could take from the spot in a short window of time.

Once the light starts to fade out here, the forest feels a little closer and I forgot my head lamped.

How do you feel?

Oh?

Nice and dry?

Right?

Socks, dry underwear, dry pants.

I just feeling relatively dry and my good until we got off the bikes at the top and started walking, and then I just got soaked.

Yeah.

I can't believe we now know what that spot looks like.

Beautiful, It's like out of a fairy book or something.

Do you get a lot of fairy books?

Yeah, I get a lot of fairy books, very books.

Right, hey, listeners, just go to Patreon for Drew spinoffs.

Are we get some food?

Over and out?

This is Drew signing off.

Another great day with my best friend.

Next time on Somewhere in the Pines, we begin our search of the Dungeoness Forks campground, but this time we are not searching for an Israel Keys cash.

Instead, we searched for the cash of a man that went missing back in two thousand and six.

As a fresh look at his case file compels me to reach out to his sister Kay to inquire about a potential avenue to find out once and for all if Keys was involved in the disappearance of Mike Mason.

The moon in this bye illuminate the clouds there passing by bout our close den the streets, I be you, hear resound behind you about when you term no one's there.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Somewhere in the Pines.

The easiest way to help support the show is by telling a friend, and you can support the research by subscribing to our Patreon at Patreon dot com, forward slash Somewhere in the Pines.

For episode photos go to Somewhere in the Pines dot com and thank you to Music from the Pines featured artist Rayguncarver, who could be found on Spotify at Rayguncarver, on Instagram and Facebook dot com, forward slash Rayguncarver, And as always, a special thank you to our Patreon producers Heather Horton, Whedon, Nicole Gooseman, Colleen Sullivan, Linley Toushop, Otturman, Caitlin James, Stephanie Brian Hannah, Kathy Nation, Ali Pink, Trista dale Axton, Corey Deetley, Virginia Williams, and the two newest Patreon producers, Ahmed Jerris and Jim Freeman.

Hi.

Everyone.

One of our biggest goals for the show has been to try to find ways to bring you along with us as we visit these unique places, to try and give you a better image of the locations and people that inhabit these small parts of the US, which is why we are so excited to introduce the new segment to our show called Music from the Pines, hosted by our friend Drew.

For the rest of the season, each episode will now feature a local band from the Olympic Peninsula.

Drew will interview and showcase these local musicians as they describe the local scene and some stories on folklore from the surrounding areas.

At the end of each interview, he will play the featured song in its entirety.

Like us, Drew is new to podcasting, but he's a major music lover and he's always making playlists at work as well as for the road trips we take while searching for Cashus and having been in bands as well, he knows what type of work and dedication takes to push and try to get attention.

So we're all very excited to be able to support local artists while at the same time bringing you closer to the story.

I asked you to sit down with me to talk about how the new segment is progressing.

And although the music from the Pines episodes will be released on Patreon, we have an exclusive first look at the first music from the Pines episode.

We hope you enjoy.

Yeah.

I grew up in a tiny town in upstate New York called Hartford, New York at the bottom of the adder ont Eggs.

My older sisters and cousins and stuff got me into like punk music and that kind of stuff.

And when you're up in the woods in the country, there's kind of slim pickings for shows you get to go to.

We were about an hour north of Albany, and that was like where we would go for shows.

Was Northern Lights in Clifton Park was the venue we went to the most, but there was also a revolution in Troy and like the Palace Theater in Albany.

Closer to us bigger towns like Glens Falls, New York, there was a lot of small venues and when I started to go to shows, I like realized how much I liked just like live music, and like at the time, I probably wouldn't comprehend like what a music scene was, but I did start to like go to these local venues and watch smaller local bands play, even just like cover bands and stuff.

I realized, like as I got older, that there actually was a scene in my hometown area.

And then you know, as a you get older and like travel to different places, you start to realize that there's music scenes literally everywhere.

So that was one of the ideas behind Music from the Pines was you guys are traveling everywhere doing these searches, and they're mostly remote places, but like, I'm sure in all of these places there is going to be a music scene, and it seems like a big part of your mission is to promote the spots you're going to and like help the locals in any way, shape and form.

So the idea of just showing some light on local music in these different towns I thought was cool.

It would be fun to and to just like hear the different bands in different types of music is always kind of cool and interesting.

And you grew up playing music too, right, so you write what it's like to be in a smaller band and try to get shows and get your music heard.

Yeah, we were, like I had like a couple different bands throughout high school and a couple bands in college too.

But yeah, it is it's kind of funny because there is a scene, but there's also like I'm trying to think of how to describe it, like and you know too, but like you trying to like find venues that will let you play when you're like in a small town area, you end up like playing shows in the weirdest spots, like you know, like small churches and basements and shit like that.

In a way that's like cooler because you can be like, oh man, I and if a band does like get bigger or a little more attraction, it's always fun to be like, well, I saw them play at you know, this church basement and when I was in tenth grade or whatever, or I saw them play homecoming at my high school.

So those were always the hardest gigs for us to get where the more personal, smaller basement shows and stuff like that.

Whenever we moved to Portland, Oh, it just it seemed like just because it took us so long to to meet people here and just to get to you know, just become friends and be a part of a local scene to where we got invited to shows like that because you can get you can get invited.

You could play, like there's so many different music venues here.

You can play almost anywhere.

But like the better shows are the shows where they're like more underground, and you know.

For us at least, yeah, you know, it's it's interesting.

I I'm sure Portland was, or like just bigger cities in general were a way different vibe for like a small band to play out.

And I never had a band out here in Portland, Sin it's living here.

So I've never actually played any live shows in Portland or anything like that.

Yeah, it was the opposite where I grew up, I think where it would be like a bar was, especially when you were younger, was a lot harder to get u at, because like I would be emailing, like as like a sixteen year old kid, like emailing all the like bars that had stages and stuff in my area, and they would not reply to me.

They'd be like why would I, And so it was like easier for like a friend or some school function or like community center of something some sort that was having some kind of event to like be like, hey, do you mind if we like play a twenty minute set, you know, in like the corner of your auditorium or whatever.

And then those shows were easier for us to like find.

In a way, it seems like in the Peninsula there's a handful of venues that everybody's kind of brought up, and also like different kind of local festivals or like farmers' markets and stuff like that.

There's a lot of like folky music up there and in that sort of scene.

And yeah, some of them go out a little bit, you know, to like same type of events and festivals in like the Seattle area and stuff like that.

Not a majority of bands going to Seattle.

It's mainly they just stay in the peninsular area and work there.

Yeah, it seemed like it.

Interesting, and you think that the music scene there has basically just been more folk driven or is there what's your interpretation of the bands you've talked to there.

Yeah, everybody I've talked to is say, like folk rock kind of genre.

I think what stuck out to me the most with just the bands that I've heard so far is the like dark vibe to a lot of the music that I've heard, where it is like perfect for a true crime podcast.

And I've talked to some of these people about it too, like if it's the setting that they're in that influences the music a little bit, and it does seem to be the case, like these kind of rainy, brooding mountains and in the ocean and all that just promotes like a certain tinge to the to the sound.

I guess that's interesting.

The majority of the bands that you've spoken to are they born and raised in the area, or they have they moved there or is it a mixed bag.

It's a mixed bag, and I think most of them have like lived there for at least a long time.

So what has been the most surprising part of doing this little side quest?

Has there been anything that's been maybe a little more shocked or something you didn't expect?

Yeah, I didn't.

I didn't expect people to be like aware of keys and also aware of just like or telling like their own like stories in general of like true crime related things and like ghost stories and stuff like that.

Everybody seemed like I think actually the most surprising thing is the fact that people were excited about the idea.

I wasn't sure if people were going to be like, what is this?

Yeah, no, this is sounds weird.

I don't want my music on a on a like a serial killer podcast thing.

That's kind of the the reaction I was bracing myself for.

But not just the bands, like the venues I reached out to and stuff like that to like get recommendations of bands.

Would they'd hurt hear the idea and be like, oh, hell yeah, that's awesome, Like I know, like a bunch of people who would want to talk about this or like like I've got some rex for you kind of thing where it was like immediate support, where I was expecting to have to kind of sell.

It a little bit more.

So that's the most surprising thing I think is that people were that stoked on it.

That's cool.

I mean, I'm stoked about it.

It's yeah, it's already just the stuff that we've the episode we've put it in so far that we're about to release.

Yeah, I think it's just changes the show in a really positive way.

And uh, yeah, it's gonna be exciting.

So people when you were the first thing you started to say was that people tell they have their own true crime stories that they try to tell you or or ghost stories and stuff.

Is that something that they bring up on their own or that is part of your questioning process.

It's not really part of my questioning process.

Usually in the beginning of the interview, I just kind of talk about what you guys are doing.

Often in the beginning of the interviews where are like, oh, I checked out your podcast and like it's cool or whatever, and.

Oh they still want to do the interview.

That's awesome.

Yeah that's good.

But yeah, so then we'll often from that starting point they'll be like, oh, have you heard about like the Lady in the Lake at Lake Crescent and stuff like that, where then I'll get to hear some cool local folklore something like that.

Is that an exciting thing for you, because I know we've shared a few stories just working together of like how you know, sounds like a pretty similar childhood going out and trying to like find creepy places and all that stuff.

Is that Does it feel like that's part of that same thing for you?

Or I think talking about stuff is always.

A little less scary than.

Like when I've gone on searches with you.

And I'm sure this will be in later episodes where where we're camping in some spot that keys might or might not have been in and somebody may or may not have gone missing in and you know that kind of thing and it's fucking terrifying.

Yeah, they'll definitely come up in an episode for next next season's and have some scary stuff in it.

I think, yeah, Yeah, it's always exciting.

For me to hear like local ghost stories and stuff like that.

Has the music changed your opinion of the peninsula at all?

Or do you look at the peninsula differently now that you've got a good vibe of the music there.

In searching these bands and talking to these people, I do feel like, in some small way, like more connected to the area, like I have, like I have personally have a connection to the area, just even though I haven't spent a lot of time there.

It's like I've found these local musicians and listening to their music and talking to them gives me a connection to a place that I'm haven't been to all that much.

And I think that's that confirms for me the idea of the show, because that is what we're hoping to bring to the audience, is to help them experience the like traveling to this place without actually going there.

That's awesome, And that's, like I said, it's proof of concept that actually, yeah, does give you like a view of what the vibe of the place without even actually going there.

Like that's exactly it worked on me.

So, without further ado, here is the first episode of Music from the Pines.

Welcome to Music from the Pines, a companion piece to Somewhere in the Pines, where I search for local musicians in and around the areas that we search for cashes, I meaning me Drew you're a host of music from the Pines and the glorified best boy of somewhere in the Pines.

That's right, I'm holding the boom mic.

I'm leaving the truck unattended in downtown Seattle.

And if you aren't getting these references, you gotta go back and listen to all the episodes.

Get in on the inside jokes.

I'll probably be making a bunch of them, even though I'm told I'm not supposed to.

It's bad podcasting.

You wonder.

We're kicking off episode one with the first artist I connected with from the Olympic Peninsula, rig On Carver aka Michael soisith.

Gif then Pine, think about the life that you left me.

You have love inciarite create it for a life of misery and Ramon.

But before where I get to the interview, I want to go back and talk about the process of finding these artists in the first place.

I mean, this is an investigative true crime podcast bonus series after all.

So when posed with the task of finding local bands in the Olympic Peninsula, I started by doing what I imagine any investigator does.

I googled local bands in the Olympic Peninsula, and I found not a lot.

So I turned to my favorite of the streaming services, band camp, and typed in the same exact thing.

I did get a lead from that, but we'll address it in a later episode.

I still hadn't found much, so then I went back to Google, as one does in search for music venues in Port Angels.

I clicked on the first one, which happened to be Field Arts and Events Hall.

I called them up and talked to a lovely woman in the box office, who suggested I email their events administrator with my query.

Quick note rookie podcaster mistake by not recording this original conversation.

She was super helpful and I was very encouraged by the immediate excitement about this idea.

Anyways, this event's administrator forward my email to a local musician, Jason Mogi, who has been in the Peninsula music scene for twenty years and has his own Music from the Pines episode coming soon, and he sent me a list of local artists to reach out to.

At the top of this list was ray gun Carver.

Imagine my excitement when the first song I listened to for a true crime podcast companion piece sounds.

Like this ghost inside side you can't drink cost inside good side.

It's done a mounting.

Down the day that you've done side.

Hell yeah.

When people ask me what I'm doing for the podcast, I usually just say I'm helping with equipment on searches, or I'll explain the Music from the Pines concept.

The usually ask what I know about keys or if I help with the research and investigating type stuff, and I always say, no, I don't know anything.

I don't really hear much about why we're going to a place to search until we're there walking it and Josh just tell me about it in real time.

Music from the Pines was a fun idea to be a part of this rad thing they're doing without having to be as familiar with the dark, heavy serial killer related stuff.

So I call that Michael Sooyseith of Ragon Karver.

Are you are you from?

You're from Fort Angelas?

Right on?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I was aware of him and my girlfriend I think we think we ran into him once.

No way, really, and that was within the first couple of minutes of my first interview for Music from the Pines.

So I guess I am a true crime podcast investigator now.

Anyways, that's all interesting and everything, and I've sent that over to Josh to do his thing, but we're here to talk about music specifically the scene in the olympicqine.

Yeah.

Well, I came from Ashland, Oregon up here, and and when I moved here, it was a different, way different music scene than when I came up here.

On the peninsula.

It was way more.

A lot more folky kind of a vibe what they were looking for.

I know, there were a lot of Grateful Dead inspired bands up here at the time, right, Yeah, and that was a big thing, and and I was never into the Grateful Dead, it was never a thing for me, so so it was kind of different.

Yeah, And as far as the scene goes, uh, you know that that's kind of been a mainstay and and.

The more of.

The folk kind of thing has gotten only gotten bigger since then.

It seems like as far as the local areas.

I mean, people seem to really respond to that.

And there are a lot, you know, the opportunities to play live though, have gotten less and less around the area.

There's a few clubs that offer music live music still, but but it used to be a lot more, a lot more venues than there are now and that's the same everywhere.

I mean even when I came from Ashland, Oregon, most of those venues that we had back in the day, they were everywhere.

Now they're almost all gone.

Oh man, there are very few live music venues around there anymore.

So, yeah, of the ones that are still around now, Like, what are some of your favorites that are up in your area.

That are up here?

Let me see.

There's Sirens in Port Townsend, which is a a good club.

The New Moon does really well in Port Angeles.

They have a lot of local bands up here playing and.

It's really small, but it's really.

Always well attended and seems to be a real uh uh enthusiastic audience.

And let me see where else do you have?

The Roadhouse in Port Townsend is one.

The Roosevelt is a new place in Port Angelis that is trying to get a music scene going.

There's the Meta Room in Port Angelis, but that's mostly DJs and.

Things like that.

Michael tells me about his main focus with his music, And.

For myself, I've really been focused more on the producing music, recording music, pitching it for sync opportunities for film and TV, and and uh and writing it and recording is pretty much my whole focus.

And I'm just getting back into going out.

I'll do some solo acoustic shows.

Uh and uh, this all starting to get out.

But but I I'm not I'm not playing in any uh cover bands or anything that was never my yeah, my thing.

No, I appreciate, I mean, I I wanted to ask you too about the your just production on your music videos and stuff, because it's really impressive and uh and obviously your music sounds great too, but are you are you do you have like a crew that you work with or are you just doing that stuff solo?

Because well no, mostly mostly solo.

There's a guy that I did work with out of out of Egypt for a while and and uh and he shot by far, the bulk of my videos are shot in.

Cairo, Egypt.

Wow.

And and with local lacers up there, and uh, up here, I just started shooting videos up here and and uh.

Like what is it?

Uh, Saint James's Infirmary is a video that I just shot in my own home.

Let her go, Let her go, God lesson well, shame bad such the whole wide well.

Never found man.

Yeah, I was just gonna bring that up, man, I watched that earlier today actually, and uh, just the like shadows and everything.

It was very cool.

When you get a chance, go check out some of Rayguncarver's music videos on YouTube.

The production is great and they really captured the vibe of his music.

Yeah, we have and the guy that is also a local songwriter musician who's really good, the same as Scott Sullivan.

Scot and Scott Sullivan.

Yeah, he's really good and and he has some music too.

He owns the Straight Slice Pizza in Port Angels.

Okay, right on, But he's good and I know he's his daughter.

He's got a younger daughter who just graduated who's singer songwriter as well.

So yeah, that's there's a few of us out.

Here in kind of doing our own thing.

And Scott sport along the lines of what I'm doing.

He's just creating his own music out there and getting it out.

Yeah.

Man, I mean that's kind of the whole hope behind this, this you know, bonus segment, is to kind of find those branches.

Like what you're saying, it's like one name leads to another name and suddenly there's all this music that people might not get a chance to hear right.

That is just great.

You know.

I'm from a small town in upstate New York too, and it was the same same thing, you know, like like you wouldn't think there would be a scene, but they're kind of I feel like there's always a scene, no matter how.

Small it is.

And no, I agree, I agree for sure.

Michael tells me he's been making music his whole life.

It's what gets me up, it keeps me up all night.

I'm always writing.

I probably write three four songs a week, wow, and then out of those, give a couple of weeks to see if they still stick with me after that, and then I'll move on to recording.

But I've got a huge backlog of material.

I'm getting out and working on a new album and getting stuff ready for that.

And I just I'm with Laurel Cannon Music out of Los Angeles now.

I was representing my original music for Sync in film and TV and he really liked it because he thought.

It was great stuff for the crime genre like True Detective.

And things like that on HBO, and so so we're looking to get into that, get into that market and get into a film rule of film and television, you know, Ozark would be another one.

Just stuff like that.

He tells me about some of his influences.

Wowways, you know the Beatles were when I was a kid, I had Magical Mystery to her that album, and I just I just listened to it and listened to it and listened to it till I burned it into my DNA.

But as far as modern influences, I have a big fan of Radiohead, a big fan of h who else would it be.

I like Wilco a lot.

I like Amy Mann Uh, I think she's great.

Uh School not Zippers, They're a great band.

Uh uh boy, There's there's been a few that it just depends on.

If I hear something that really strikes me, I'll seek it out and see who it is and and move with that.

But oh, you know a lot of the British.

One of the British bands, Blur was one was around a while back, and uh, oh boy Bowie, I guess you can't have to say David Bowie.

Bowie was was a huge influence on me as well.

But it's funny I never got into him until years years later in his career and kind of discovered.

Uh that really started following him, but I get a lot of people always say it sounded like I get like Bowie, I get Nick Caves, I get.

Nick Drake.

Yeah, Leonard Leonard Cohen.

Yeah, that kind of stuff for a vibe.

Michael tells me about another song he wrote that he thought might be good for the podcast.

Cool.

Yeah, you know, I was gonna send you another song possible for the for the podcast.

That then I was going to produce more, but I thought.

It sounds really good with just backing vocals, a single note piano, an acoustic called there.

Will be Blood.

And I don't know if they're going to do more crime podcasts, but it would be it would be good for that.

But it's not it's not really in that kind of it's me.

But I also do kind of more.

Of the.

Singer songwriter kind of stuff, but more more and that kind of minor key.

Kind of haunting.

Okay, yeah, no, it is stuff.

I would love to hear it.

Yeah, I'll send it you and if you guys are interested in using it, then that'd be great.

There will be.

Ever working the ground, making a scene, talking in good.

They know what you mean, picking.

At w.

Open, never.

Letting it flow.

It never never render, it's never inner, there will be blood, never be love.

Hell yeah, So let's get into ghost Inside, the song we featured on Somewhere in the Pines Inside.

I really was happy the way that came out.

It.

It was again, it.

Wasn't a song that I I'd almost finished the record and that I thought, well, I needed a couple more songs.

I always got much more songs and I end up using and so I went with wrote that one and it just came to me pretty quickly and put that out and so I'm really happy with.

The way it came out.

And then I named the record ghost in Side as well.

Yeah.

Yeah, I've heard that story a few times.

You know.

It's always that like once you get most of the work done and out of the way, then all of a sudden, you're whatever it is, your creative senses open up and something flows out of you like nothing.

So that's uh, yeah, that's cool.

Yeah.

I'm always focused, Like with me, I'm always focused on the next thing.

It's like I'm always I'm just like I'm always on the next project, in the next song, yeah, and the thing I'm working and and so I'm always excited at whatever I'm working happen.

I'm really excited about this new uh, this new.

Record in the way.

That's coming out.

I'll send you a couple of tracks just for you to listen to that they're not but most of the materials done.

And yeah, it's pretty cool.

Yeah, man, I would love to hear it.

That's awesome.

Keeping on your little ones.

You can't hide, you can't run.

And you can't look away.

For bringing your money and away we'll go to.

The midnight show.

We have a midnight showing.

Before I played the song and full, I've been asking everyone i've interviewed about what they love about the Olympic Peninsula Outside of the music scene.

I'm big into free diving.

Oh no, I've done hundreds and hundreds of free dives at Lake Crescent because the water is so clear, and the everything about Crescent is you realize you get down.

There's a thermoc line in there, and you'll get down.

The water will be warm until you get to fifteen twenty thirty feet depending on and it just turns to ice.

You just hit this like a wall of ice.

And psychologically, when you know about you know there's bodies on there.

And the thing about Crescent Is.

People don't come up.

It's so cold that they go down.

They don't decompose, the gases don't bring them up.

They stay there, they stay preserved.

Wow s it's like forever.

So that kind of gets in your head.

But I like doing that.

I like going out in the.

Ocean with my kayak and.

Spearfishing and most of the time I won't even spear of fish.

I just like being down there and the water and free diving.

Not a fan of scuba diving because that's really cumbersome.

It seems really loud in the water.

But I just like having a snow work along with a mask, a shoot for warmth and some fins and just going in.

So that's that's what really I like about Porta Angelacy Is.

I like the lakes and the ocean.

Being out here in the mountains are beautiful look at, but I don't go up in the mountains a whole lot.

I truly couldn't ask for a better match for the first interview of music based companion show to a true crime podcast.

Thank you all for listening and go find links to these artists on the Music from the Pines tab on the Summer in the Pines website.

Check out raygun Carver on Spotify and YouTube and catch them playing out solo.

If you got a band local to the Olympic Peninsula or no one that I've missed, email me about it at Drew dot MFTP at gmail dot com.

There's a lot more to come down the line.

And now here's the full track of Ghosts Inside by Ray Guncarver.

Thanks getting Lady growing Din.

They called or sick the red watch the light I spawned.

Shadows run from the light inside a house that looks like somebody's up late to night.

You wonder what.

Them life is life.

Walking the moon.

Then Pine, think about the life that you left behinde high you had love and.

See here a tea dreaded for a life of miss Rick and remember.

Said flight.

It's just the bob for the coast.

Coast inside, coast inside beside.

I had to catch the drink of the eye.

Coast inside the ghost inside it's gone about to tell the day that you have died.

Coast inside.

Either moon in the sky.

Illuminate the clouds, and there passing by air bouts our clothes in the streets.

Our air.

You hear sound behind you bought when you tell'em.

No one said, Just like there's something them in.

The coast inside, coast inside the side.

I had to just a trick of the eyes.

Coast inside, the ghost inside.

It's gonna, aren't you tell?

The day that you're dying?

Ghost inside?

But no, it's gonna get cold.

Nights are getting longer, and you just keep getting no, getting high ending up load.

Now you're rock goner.

How much further down can you go?

Not much further do go?

Coast inside, coasting side slid again, Just a drink of the ghost inside, the ghost inside, it's going about you tilt the day that you die, Ghost inside.

Ghost inside.

You asked the question, but you never know why.

Ghost inside