Where's Dia?

Here's episode 3 from Valley of Shadows, a new Pushkin true crime podcast that examines how the search for a missing deputy uncovered the Mojave’s meth epidemic, the outlaw bikers supplying it, and the corrupt police force covering it up.

At the time of Jon Aujay’s disappearance, California is under siege by a meth epidemic and the Antelope Valley is the epicenter. So when investigators receive tips that Aujay was killed after stumbling upon a meth lab, it seems like a theory worth looking into. But LASD detectives are quick to dismiss the leads. Questioning why the cops are so dismissive, Betsy and Hayley discover there was one cop, Homicide Detective Larry Brandenburg, who bucked the company line and refused to let the Aujay trail go cold.

If you liked these first few episodes of Valley of Shadows, there’s much more to come. Find Valley of Shadows wherever you get podcasts. Binge the entire season of Valley of Shadows, ad-free, by subscribing to Pushkin+. Sign up on the Valley of Shadows show page on Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm/plus.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here's episode 2 from Valley of Shadows, a new Pushkin true crime podcast that examines how the search for a missing deputy uncovered the Mojave’s meth epidemic, the outlaw bikers supplying it, and the corrupt police force covering it up.

After deputy Jon Aujay disappears, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department claims he was suicidal—pointing to marital troubles and erratic behavior in the weeks before he vanished. But the LASD’s official story doesn’t square with what Aujay’s loved ones and colleagues remember. Then, investigators start to hear rumors that the deputy didn’t take his own life, but was murdered for something he witnessed out in the desert.

Find Valley of Shadows wherever you get podcasts. Binge the entire season of Valley of Shadows, ad-free, by subscribing to Pushkin+. Sign up on the Valley of Shadows show page on (00:00:35) Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm/plus.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're sharing an episode from Valley of Shadows, a new Pushkin true crime podcast that digs into a nearly 30-year old secret buried in the California desert. On June 11, 1998, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy Jon Aujay went for a run in California’s Devil’s Punchbowl park...and never came back. Nearly 30 years later, the mystery surrounding his disappearance has only deepened. Some say Aujay is just another missing hiker, claimed by the inhospitable landscape of the Southern California desert. Some say he took his own life out there. But there’s another theory that many of Aujay’s friends and LASD colleagues are convinced is true—that he was the victim of foul play, and that his own department is covering it up. Through exclusive interviews, revealing wiretaps, and buried police files, investigative reporters Hayley Fox and Betsy Shepherd uncover vestiges of the Wild West in a small California town, where outlaw biker gangs crank out methamphetamine and local cops operate on both sides of the law.

Find Valley of Shadows wherever you get podcasts. Binge the entire season of Valley of Shadows, ad-free, by subscribing to Pushkin+. Sign up on the Valley of Shadows show page on (00:01:05) Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm/plus.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

About a year after the release of the series, Lucy Sherriff and Producer Daphne Chen sit down to talk about where things stand in the Dia Abrams case. They also answer listener questions and discuss some behind-the-scenes details about making the podcast.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’re sharing a preview of another podcast we think you’ll enjoy, Deep Cover Presents: Snowball. Snowball follows journalist Ollie Wards as he unravels the wild story of how his own family was taken in, and taken down, by a charming con woman from California…and tries to find out where she is now. He embarks on a question to find out how she did it, why she did it, and where she is now. Financial ruin, shattered trust, and a mystery that stretches across continents and decades—it’s got all the twists and turns you'd expect from a high-stakes crime thriller…only it's all true. Here’s a preview of Snowball by the Unravel Podcast team.
If you can’t wait to find out what happens, binge episodes of Deep Cover Presents: Snowball early and ad-free with a Pushkin+ subscription. Find Pushkin+ on the Deep Cover show page in Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.