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E045: Rico Harris
1.6k Plays5 years ago
Rico Harris’s name has been known for many things, from rising basketball phenom to missing person. But, how could a 6’9” nearly 300-pound man simply vanish without a trace?
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Transcript
Opening Remarks and Listener Engagement
00:00:00
Speaker
Phew, we made it to Thursday, Maggie. It's been a long one. I'm telling you, I swear this week for some reason has felt so hectic that I didn't think I was going to make it through. I mean, I'm telling you, I feel like I've actually held it together quite well. I feel like since coronavirus started, but for some reason this week was so hard for me. Like,
00:00:29
Speaker
i've been exhausted i've been having chest pains like they started this week and i know it's like anxiety with school and everything but like they started this week up and having like chest pains well i haven't had that but i've gotten like so frustrated so easily and i i know you know what i'm talking about but i've found myself doing like the heavy side like the
00:00:55
Speaker
every 10 seconds. I mean, I'm doing one thing and I'm like, I'm probably sounded like a four year old. And then when I get really frustrated, I do like the, why me like clenched shaking air fists. You know, it's so sad. But the thought of talking with you, Maggie, and with you slow towns out there, it did get me through. Same.
00:01:23
Speaker
Plus we got some super nice reviews this week and that gave us that little boost that we needed. That was nice. Give me a little pick me up. Yes. And I know Maggie and I just hope that our show can be that boost for you guys too, to help you get through the rest of your work week and into the weekend.
00:01:46
Speaker
If you need some encouragement to Sleuth Hounds, don't hesitate to reach out to us. I mean, Maggie and I are teachers. We are really good at listening and at giving advice. And I don't know about you, Maggie, but I honestly feel like those moments with people in our lives where we're listening have been far more influential than any of the content that we've taught over the years.
00:02:10
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. Just when they know that you're there for them and that you're, like, you're listening, actively listening to what they're saying. Exactly. So, Sleuth Hounds, reach out. Please continue to listen to our show, to share, and like I said, reach out to us whenever you want to. Until everything can return to normal, take care of yourselves. Give yourself a break. Do the loud sighs if you have to. Shake those air fists, people.
00:02:40
Speaker
But please, whatever you do, don't lose faith in people, in yourself, nor in the idea that things will get better. Until then, stay together and stay safe. Now, onto this week's episode. The cheers at the basketball games gave him that jittery excitement.
The Mysterious Case of Rico Harris
00:03:05
Speaker
He knew he was good. He had skills that just came naturally, the kind of skills that people notice. He caught the attention of multiple Division I schools to play college basketball, and after that, the attention of NBA scouts.
00:03:22
Speaker
As I said, his was no ordinary talent. Anyone who watched him play knew he could have a career. At six foot nine, it would have been more shocking if he didn't. And anyone who knew him personally also knew the struggles he would have to face to get there. Due to those struggles, the ones that made his goals seem unattainable at times in his future just out of his grasp,
00:03:51
Speaker
He did make some poor decisions. He walked the tightrope of self-destruction. But he had also made it to the other side. He was about to begin a new life in a new city. He was on his way, only hours away.
00:04:09
Speaker
His black Nissan Maxima was headed north. The man's left arm, complete with a basketball and a ball-in-for-life tattoo, rested on the windowsill as he sang along to his music. This was his chance to start over, but it seemed some demons were still chasing him. The doubts, the fears, many still lingered. Could he fully overcome all that he had been through?
00:04:38
Speaker
Could he feel proud of himself again? Then he disappeared. A six foot nine man vanished in the warmth of the sun beating down on Cache Creek Regional Park in Northern California. This is the story of Rico Omar Harris.
00:05:15
Speaker
Oh.
00:05:36
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases, where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Allison Williams. And my name is Maggie Dameron. We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the cases will take those tips to law enforcement.
00:05:52
Speaker
so justice and closure can be brought to these families. With each case, we encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast, because, as we all know, conversation helps to keep the missing person in the public consciousness, helping keep their memories alive. So sit back, sip your coffee, and listen to what's brewing this week.
00:06:12
Speaker
So we're going to take a break this week on the request for the 150 ratings. I'm sure you guys are tired of hearing it, but obviously we still want you to share the podcast with your friends, with other people. And we're excited to announce that we have a very short new promotion.
00:06:28
Speaker
We want you to visit our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast. There will be a post that we're going to ask you to share on your personal Facebook page about the podcast. And we're going to ask that you tag three people who are true crime fans just like you. We'll continue this promotion for two weeks.
00:06:46
Speaker
Then we're going to do a random name selection for everyone who shared and tagged. You may be saying, what's in this for me? Well, not only will you get a personal shout out on our podcast, but we will also mail you a $20 Amazon gift card. Just pause this episode right now and go share. Go on. We'll wait for you. You can do it. Go on. Okay. Now that you're back, let's get onto the show.
00:07:13
Speaker
At the Cache County Regional Park Rest Area, in an area called Lower Sight, during a routine inspection of the lot on October 14, 2014, Yolo County Deputy Sheriff Danny Del Castillo noticed a black Nissan Maxima parked near a wall of vegetation in a lot off of the rarely used Route 16 he was patrolling.
00:07:39
Speaker
A car being there, Maggie wasn't odd. This was a rest area after all. And this was a regional park with beautiful mountains and streams, lots to see for nature lovers. But what was odd was that this same car had been there since October 13th, so the day before. So it had been there overnight.
00:08:01
Speaker
Also, I like the fact that this county is, you only live once county. Right. Yellow. Yellow. Yellow. Well, when the deputy approached this car, it was locked, but the contents inside were in complete disarray.
00:08:18
Speaker
Papers were strewn all about, CDs haphazardly tossed in the back seat. Worrying about foul play, the deputy ran the plates and found that the car had not been registered as stolen. It was also not linked with any tickets nor warrants.
00:08:36
Speaker
So he called his superiors and decided to contact the registered owner, Areco Harris from Alhambra, California, a blue collar town situated about nine miles northeast of Los Angeles. So I don't know, this is a case Maggie, but in my head I still picture it as very urban because nine miles is not that far and Los Angeles is very big. Yeah, at first I was picturing like
00:09:07
Speaker
a state park that would be in Kentucky, you know, like out to itself. Well, now the park is far away, but his home town, yes. And I'll get to that, how far away his car was found.
00:09:21
Speaker
Yeah. Well, the Alhambra Police Department, upon being contacted by the deputy, sent officers to the address on record, the residents of Margaret Fernandez, Rico Harris's mother. So remember, the car is registered to Rico, but this is the address, right, in his mom's house.
00:09:42
Speaker
When they asked to speak with Rico, his mom told them in a tone that I'm sure quickly moved from confusion to fear that he wasn't home. In fact, he hadn't been there in several days, not since a visit to her home from early October 9th until the wee hours of the morning on October 10th.
00:10:06
Speaker
Now this is about to get a little odd. So going back to visit your parents, not odd, right? My timeframe is weird though. Yes. And so is the distance he traveled. So Rico had just moved to Seattle, Washington. What? To move in with his girlfriend and insurance broker, Jennifer Song.
00:10:29
Speaker
So he just made the 1,100 mile trek back home to get some of his belongings and visit with his family. Now I know you just heard me say how long that drive was. 1,100 miles and he drove it Maggie. 17 and a half hours just to get belongings.
00:10:55
Speaker
No. Yes. And just to stay for that long. So I'm going to come back to that fact here in just a bit, because I know you're dying to talk about it. Well, Rico had arrived at his mom's house around 2 a.m. on the 9th. So remember, he's just driven 17 and a half hours. And immediately his mother was worried for two reasons. Number one, she was concerned that he had been drinking.
00:11:24
Speaker
Okay, drinking and driving, 17. Exactly. Yup. And the second problem, what's more, he didn't go to sleep when he got there, even after driving all through the night, nor did he sleep throughout that day that he spent at home. I would have been a zombie. Oh, me too. I mean, I feel like I'm a zombie after, you know, eight hours of reading back to school. But that night of October 9th,
00:11:54
Speaker
Rico took his younger brother out to dinner and when they pulled back into his mother's yellow duplex that night around 10 30 his mom begged him to sleep because after all at this point he had been awake for at least 32 hours straight and he was planning on driving back the next day which again 17 and a half hour drive. Maybe he was like
00:12:19
Speaker
taking Ritalin or something because that will have the opposite effect. Good point. I'm gonna, I'm gonna come to that. Okay. But Rico, you know, she was thinking he was gonna head back the next day, but where he had just relocated to Seattle to start this new life with his girlfriend,
00:12:37
Speaker
he knew that he needed to be back with plenty of time to spare because there was a barbecue party with his neighbors that he planned on attending the next night at 7 p.m. and he was supposed to have a meeting about a potential real estate job. I mean he could not pick a very good time to travel that far. No and that's precisely why it's so odd to me.
00:13:01
Speaker
because obviously your mom is gonna welcome you back whenever. Right, so whatever you had to pick up was so important that you couldn't sleep for like days at a time. Right, to come and get it. And I would think that when you packed initially, you would pack the most important stuff. Right. But instead of waiting until the next day and going to sleep, unbeknownst to his mother, Rico set out to head back to Seattle after midnight. Again, no sleep.
00:13:32
Speaker
Now, let's go back to this. He now drove 1100 miles there and he was getting ready to drive 1100 miles back. And he only spent not even a full day at home with no sleep. And I mean, maybe he missed his mom that much. I mean, let's be honest Maggie, you and I both totally understand that.
00:13:58
Speaker
right because we both live away from where we grew up exactly and i would totally drive to visit but i still question how far he drove for such a short visit especially knowing that he was supposed to have that meeting about the potential job yeah it just doesn't make sense it really doesn't like if i drove that far i'd be staying like a week right like not you know less than 24 hours because let's be honest i'd fly
00:14:29
Speaker
Yeah, because driving, that's 35 hours if you add both to and back home. Yeah. So that seems a little odd. And I'm going to come back to it when we get to the theories later.
00:14:42
Speaker
Well, Margaret Fernandez, Rico's mother, did hear from her son around 1 a.m. on the 10th and she didn't realize that he had already left. She had just assumed that he was still in town and he just hadn't come home yet for the night. And it wasn't until that call that she realized he was already on his way back to Seattle because that's what he told her when he called her at 1 a.m. Now, first of all, my mom would not be, she would not still be awake at 1 a.m. No, my mom would be asleep.
00:15:12
Speaker
Yeah, but I guess, you know, to each his own, some people are night owls. Well, so at least he called her to let her know. Yeah. But during the day of the 10th, because remember he left at 1am on the 10th, Margaret tried multiple other times to get a hold of her son to talk to him as he drove, but none of her other calls connected.
00:15:33
Speaker
She had, however, heard from Rico's girlfriend, Jennifer Song, the one he moved to Seattle for. Now Maggie, I'm gonna cut to what Jennifer told police once she was contacted about the whereabouts of her boyfriend Rico, because she was after all the next contact that they made. So she was asked by police about Rico's impromptu trip. And Maggie, it gets a little bit more bizarre.
00:16:03
Speaker
Well, it makes sense they would ask her, though. Yeah. Well, on October 8th, which was the day that Rico obviously left to drive home because he arrived home in the wee morning hours of the night. Remember? And it took 17 and a half hours.
00:16:21
Speaker
So on October 8th, when Jennifer was heading to the gym to go work out, Rico told her that while she was gone, he was going to drive around and explore Seattle a bit. Okay. Yes. I get that. If you move to a new place, driving around, totally logical thing to do. Right.
00:16:40
Speaker
Yeah, check it out, figure out where the restaurants are, the grocery store. Yeah, I do that like because we recently moved and so like at least once a week I try to take a different way home from work so I can try to learn my way like around town. Exactly. What didn't make sense is that instead of driving around Seattle to explore like he told her he was going to do,
00:17:05
Speaker
He just began his trek back home to his mom's house, 1100 miles away without telling his girlfriend, Jennifer. I would hope that Anthony would tell me if he was going to go on a 17 and a half hour journey. Yeah. It was going to be gone that long? Yeah. Not even telling her.
00:17:23
Speaker
Well, it wasn't until when Rico hadn't gotten home by 8 p.m. on the 8th that she knew something wasn't normal. Well, yeah. Yeah. And I don't know. I didn't read why she texted him instead of calling him. I don't know. Maybe she was afraid she'd like go off if they talked in person.
00:17:41
Speaker
But the source I read said that she texted him and he told her that he was heading back to Alhambra, his hometown, 17 and a half hours away and he was already in Oregon. So he's already stayed away. Now, again, I would probably be furious. First of all, Rodney would not do that, but
00:18:04
Speaker
I would be mad if he did. And if Anthony did do something like that, I would be like, okay, what's wrong? Like immediately something would be, like it'd be a red flag. Oh, absolutely. Now this trip, the police already knew about it because they'd already talked to his mom. And we know that he had left at the latest to head back to Seattle around 1 a.m. when he called his mom and told her he was on the way back.
00:18:32
Speaker
right? So that's the timeline we need to piece in because remember he called her at 1 a.m. and then none of her other phone calls connected. Okay. But Jennifer's to Rico did.
00:18:46
Speaker
So Jennifer spoke with Rico twice on the 10th on that drive back to Seattle. So did he block his mom's phone? Well, I don't know if it was that or if it was like, you know, if you were talking to say Anthony and I don't know, I called in, you might continue talking to Anthony and then like a plan to call me back later.
00:19:12
Speaker
Okay, I see. The reason I say that is because the first time that Rico spoke with his girlfriend Jennifer, he called her right after he had talked to his mom and she reported that he sounded really tired. So she actually stayed on the phone with him for like three to four hours while he drove.
00:19:34
Speaker
So from like 1.30 until like 4.30 or 5.30. Yeah, Anthony's done that with me. I mean, obviously not that kind of brain, but when I throw back and forth to my parents house, cause it's a three hour drive. So sometimes I do get sleepy and he'll talk to me for like an hour, hour and a half if I'm like super tired. So I get that. Yeah, keep you company, keep you awake. Yeah. Well then around like 4.30, 5.30, Jennifer went to bed.
00:20:04
Speaker
And when Rico wasn't home yet and she hadn't heard any more phone calls from him around 8 a.m., she called him again to find out where he was, you know, how his drive was going. And he told her, so he answered the phone again. This is the second time she spoke with him.
00:20:23
Speaker
And he told her that he was near Sacramento, California. So he was still about 12 hours away from home and he was fueling up. So he obviously wasn't gonna make the barbecue party that he planned on at seven. Clearly not. Yeah. So, so far to me, that far of a drive back home to stay for such a short period obviously stands out as odd. We talked about that. But so does this next piece of information.
00:20:52
Speaker
So in that phone call with Jennifer, Reek at 8am, remember he sounded tired at one and he still hadn't gone to sleep. Well in that second phone call, Jennifer said that Reeko sounded even more tired.
00:21:08
Speaker
And he told her that he was going to quote, go into the mountains to rest. Yes. So, I mean, maybe like when he started on this drive, maybe he thought he could make it back to Seattle without getting tired, but like exhaustion finally hit him. And I mean, he had been at this point, Maggie, now awake for about 40 hours straight.
00:21:36
Speaker
I think he's like talking like out of his mind or something like that just doesn't make sense to me. I know possibly well you know what it reminds me of is you know how at the end of every semester when I have my college students final papers to grade plus finals so I like
00:21:53
Speaker
stay up all night and I use like coffee and I pace the floor to keep myself away. You're like, if I grade all of these and it takes me this long to grade them, I can sleep exactly negative five hours. I honestly have this conversation every time. So I am speaking from firsthand experience here. When you're exhausted, you get giddy and then you get your second wind and then you like fall asleep standing up.
00:22:22
Speaker
I mean, that's pretty much how it goes. So I get like the exhaustion hitting, but to me though, what I don't get is quote, going into the mountains to rest, especially knowing that in the mountains you don't get phone signal. I just think it's such an odd thing to say. Like it just sounds like, so like 1800. Well, when I go to the mountains,
00:22:52
Speaker
It's like, first I'm gonna sit my cattle out. I know, but like maybe I started thinking about it. Cause I always try to like think why. And so I started thinking, you know, maybe the fact that he doesn't have a phone signal is why he wanted to go there. So it's like complete isolation and no distraction. So he can just like sleep peacefully. Or he could just put his phone on, do not disturb. Or he can do that.
00:23:20
Speaker
Obviously. And I'm too much of a scaredy cat. Like, I want to know that if I'm alone and something happens to me, I can get a hold of somebody. Yeah, same. So I don't like him going someplace where he gets no phone signal. No. But that can explain why when Jennifer at this point tries to get a hold of Rico again, it doesn't go through. Now, what I don't understand is he did text her back
00:23:46
Speaker
at 1044 a.m. So this is the last communication that we get at 1044 a.m. to apologize for missing her phone call. But he didn't call her back. He just sent a text apologizing. So really that could have been from somebody else? Could have. And all other calls and texts to Rico's phone from Jennifer also went unanswered.
00:24:09
Speaker
Because he doesn't have service because he's asleep in the mountains. Right. Well, when Jennifer couldn't get a hold of Rico for hours, she decided to call Rico's mom, Margaret. And that's when she found out that Rico also wasn't answering his mother's calls.
00:24:26
Speaker
And so they had this conversation like, you know, do we call the police? Do we not? Like do we wait? And ultimately they decided not to call the police, at least not yet. Well, Allison, listen, if I ever go somewhere and you call me like multiple times and I don't answer and you call Anthony and he says he's not talked to me in multiple, like in several hours, call the police. Yeah, something's wrong.
00:24:52
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I guess they're thinking Rico had actually done this before. He had gone off. Well, it wasn't days, but he had gone off for several hours in San Diego once just to clear his head. And so they were thinking, you know, maybe with this big life change with the move and everything, like maybe that's what he needed again. At least that's how they rationalized it.
00:25:18
Speaker
And I feel like this needs to be said, Maggie, because we say it all the time. How often do family members and friends in our cases rationalize things that are abnormal because they fear that it's just some misunderstanding or no big deal, or they fear that their concerns aren't just petty? I feel like we say that every case. Yes, literally every one. So I just have to say this. Listen, sleuth hounds. Don't be rational.
00:25:47
Speaker
Like don't rationalize it. Yeah, go with your gut feeling. Exactly. So they decided not to call yet to give Rico some space to think and adjust or whatever it is that he needed to do. But when the police, because remember that deputy sheriff found the abandoned car,
00:26:09
Speaker
What day did he find that? He found it on the 13th for the first time. And then the second day on the 14th is when he reported it. And the last day we heard from him was? The 10th. Okay. Okay. So remember at this point when they're talking, when Margaret and Jennifer are on the 10th, he's only been gone several hours. Okay.
00:26:33
Speaker
And that's why they decided not to call. But when the police show up at Margaret's house and then she lets Jennifer know that Rico's abandoned car was found but not Rico, they're both terrified. Jennifer immediately filed a missing persons report because they knew like that's not normal for his car to be abandoned but he's nowhere to be found. And then they both began praying for his safe return because they knew something was wrong at this point.
00:27:02
Speaker
Unfortunately, both Jennifer and Margaret have felt that the investigation by some officers, not all, has been tainted once they found out the root of Rico's mother's and his girlfriend's concerns. It was twofold. That Rico suffered from bipolar disorder
00:27:23
Speaker
and that he had a history of drug and alcohol abuse okay and we come back to this again too i know that should not make a difference in how cases are handled i'm sorry they're missing persons a missing person whether they have a mental disorder of drug dependency or whatever they're still missing don't just chalk it up to their
00:27:44
Speaker
disorder and make it sound like it's okay. No, they're still missing. Right. Or like that's a reason that they would be gone. Yeah. And then like not investigate, you know, as thoroughly. So I totally agree with you. It angers me so much. And even though he had that history of drug and alcohol dependency, he had been clean Maggie for about seven years.
Rico Harris: Personal Struggles and Triumphs
00:28:08
Speaker
But Jennifer, his girlfriend knew, and Margaret had suspected, because remember she thought he had been drinking, that he had recently slipped back into old habits. Now, I do want to delve just a little bit deeper into the demons that were haunting and at times more like chasing Rico before I come back to the clues that we have in Rico's case. Because I feel like it's so important to understand him
00:28:38
Speaker
So Rico's insecurities and his troubles go all the way back to his childhood. Rico's father, Henry, had in the mid-70s been a forward for Idaho State University and a gifted basketball player himself. He later moved to LA to play in semi-professional leagues and it was from him that Rico had inherited his God-given talent on the court.
00:29:03
Speaker
But Rico's memories of his father Maggie are pretty turbulent ones. Most of them involve his father being verbally and physically abusive to his mother, to him, and to his three younger siblings. But Rico felt the abuse especially hard.
00:29:26
Speaker
According to a story on foxsports.com called The Vanishing Man that was published in 2017, Rico's grandfather had been abusive to Rico's father, Henry, as well, and had made Henry feel like a disappointment who would never amount to anything. And it was those same berating comments
00:29:49
Speaker
that Henry had heard from his father, that he then piled onto Rico in his moments of rage. That's so sad. That's such a sad cycle of life. I know.
00:30:01
Speaker
I know. Well, Rico's mother finally had enough, and she had moved with the kids to Alhambra to escape the abuse that was going on. And once she left, Rico barely ever even saw his father.
00:30:19
Speaker
You know, while it was a positive thing to be away from the abuse, the absence of a father figure and not feeling that love, pride, and acceptance that every child deserves to feel from both parents, I mean, that's also a pain that Rico now had to carry. And so it was like trading one pain for another, if that makes sense.
00:30:42
Speaker
As a result of not being around his father, two things seemed, in my opinion, to stem from that feeling of loss. The first is that Rico became very reserved. So ask any member of his family or anyone of his childhood friends, and they'll tell you that he did always have a smile on his face, but he was very shy and he rarely spoke. That is a huge sign of trauma.
00:31:12
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. Yeah, I mean, it was almost like he would just rather be on the sidelines. Yeah. And, but because of that smile, you know, that was always plastered on his face. And that combined with the fact that he was hardworking and he was always willing to help somebody in need. Everybody he met loved Rico.
00:31:35
Speaker
So even as he grew to tower over those around him, ultimately growing to that whopping six foot nine, in nearly every report I read about this case, someone described him as shy, how shy he was, but they also called him, quote, a gentle giant. I know, so like a big teddy bear.
00:31:58
Speaker
But the second result that stems from that feeling of loss, in my opinion, is that he turned even more to the one thing that he knew he was good at, basketball. And we see that a lot, I feel like, in school. Absolutely, yeah. Like students that maybe feel isolated at home or have something going on at home, like grab pay towards, like, band, if they're really good at band, or are, if we're reading.
00:32:25
Speaker
Well, yeah, because it's like some recognition of some value. And I think it's an escape to like positive one.
00:32:32
Speaker
Now, obviously I mentioned before the interest that Rico garnered from like top division one teams and from NBA scouts, but his talents, Maggie went back even further than that. One source I read an article by Nathan Fenno in the LA times said that when Rico was only 11 years old, he towered over his elementary school peers and he would instead play pickup basketball with the adults in his neighborhood.
00:32:59
Speaker
So you know what this reminds me of? It's so random and this would remind me of that. It reminds me about the story in the Bible when Jesus is a child and he's found like preaching to the adults. Yeah, that's totally. Yeah. Yeah. Well, here's Rico. Yeah. 11 years old playing pickup basketball with adults, with grown men.
00:33:21
Speaker
I know. Well Rico also grew up seeing his mother take care of him and his siblings and he saw her struggle to make ends meet because remember she's a single parent now. So in high school he saw his ticket to both his own success obviously and to helping his mother in his basketball career. He was obviously the best player on his high school team. He worked hard and
00:33:48
Speaker
And he avoided the party scene. He was laser focused on basketball. He sounds like such a great kid. I know. I know. And from all these stories, like in his childhood, oh my goodness, like how helpful he was and how he was always smiling. It's just like sweetness overload. But I have to go back to that sense of loss that he felt. And I
00:34:15
Speaker
I keep thinking that perhaps Rico hoped that he would prove his worth through his skill, especially to his dad. Yeah. Because no one around Rico doubted his talent. But regardless of that fact, his mother reported that Rico's dad Henry never came to a single game. That's sad.
00:34:38
Speaker
I know. So like the very thing that I think Rico, even if he never openly admitted it, wanted the one person's acceptance who he desperately craved was the one that he still lacked in his life. And again, I feel like that it's just very stereotypical people that experience this type of trauma. You want the acceptance and the love of the person that doesn't give it to you. Right. Right. Well, and especially from a parent who you feel like should love you unconditionally. Right.
00:35:09
Speaker
Well, and I say that he was so desperate for that affection because in the foxsports.com story that I mentioned earlier, they report that there was once that Henry showed up to visit Rico and Rico was so excited. And that alone shows me what Rico desired, this relationship with the man, again, who should love him unconditionally, but who so easily left him.
00:35:36
Speaker
But according to that report, his mother told reporters that when Rico approached his father, his father Henry saw an earring in Rico's ear. He grabbed a hockey stick and began beating Rico across the chest with it.
00:35:54
Speaker
And that just shows you how gentle Rico was because I feel like if that had been like, like if that had been Anthony, Anthony would have been fighting his dad. I mean, Anthony has an amazing father, but I mean, if I had been Anthony in that situation, he's just so hotheaded. Like he would have been fighting whoever that was. And I just think that shows how gentle Rico is.
00:36:17
Speaker
Yep, I totally agree because you're right. Anthony would do that. Rodney would fight back. But Rico just retreated to his room. And this next part is so sad to me because I grieve for Rico when I read this. But he later justified his father's behavior to his mother. And he was like, well, that's just how he is. And Rico still wanted to try to be around his dad.
00:36:46
Speaker
Well Rico's mother reported in that same interview that when Rico finally was able to contact his father Henry again two years later that Henry told Rico that he just wasn't cut out to be a father.
00:37:04
Speaker
Yeah, I mean maybe that was a blessing ultimately that Henry wasn't part of Rico's life because of that abusive nature. But to a child, nothing can make you understand that. Yeah, you would always question why wasn't I good enough for them? Yep, exactly. So yeah, usually the child feels like the parent isn't around because they themselves aren't worthy.
00:37:30
Speaker
And from all the research that I've done, I can't help but feel that that is precisely how Rico felt, and that's a lot of weight to bear. And to make matters worse, oh, you're gonna feel so bad for Rico after this, nearly every success in Rico's life was immediately followed, immediately, by disaster. I don't know.
00:37:56
Speaker
In high school, Rico was being watched by recruiters from so many Division I schools. So like Kentucky, Arizona, Connecticut, UCLA, and that's just a few. But Rico, while talented on the court, struggled academically and he couldn't score high enough on the SAT. So many of the schools had to withdraw their scholarship offers. Listen, if this had been my student, I would have been like,
00:38:26
Speaker
You're coming to my room and I'm tutoring you and you're going to get this ACP score. I'm tutoring you every day. That's right. Now, luckily for Rico, he was still accepted at Arizona State University, which put him one step closer to his dream career of playing in the NBA.
00:38:42
Speaker
But it came with a price. Because he had scored so low, he would have to prove himself academically before he was allowed to play. So for the first year, he would have to sit on the sidelines. I wonder if that's like a normal sports people. Is that a normal thing? I'm gonna guess that it is.
00:39:05
Speaker
But I mean, at least he's there, right? Like his goal is to play in the NBA. He's at least enrolled in college, even if he has to wait, like even if his NBA career will have to wait another year, he's at least on his way. Yeah, he's on the path. Exactly. But further trouble followed.
00:39:24
Speaker
One night, his first year at Arizona State, Rico and two teammates were arrested and charged with unlawful imprisonment. Well, this seems very odd to me because the Rico that was described earlier seems to not like really get in trouble, especially with police.
00:39:43
Speaker
Well, in this particular case, I think it was more the other two teammates. So two women have reported to police that the young men had forced them to perform sexual acts against their will. But while the other two men, they were charged with false imprisonment and sexual assault, Rico was only charged with false imprisonment.
00:40:09
Speaker
but ultimately all of the charges were dropped for all of the people involved because the police noted too many inconsistencies in the women's stories about the night in question.
00:40:22
Speaker
So even though that was a positive for Rico to finally be found innocent of any wrongdoing. Yeah, I'm sure that didn't sit good with the university in which you were attending on scholarship. Exactly. And so Arizona State said, well, because of the negative associations revolved around even being accused of something like this, we're going to require that you sit out a second year.
00:40:47
Speaker
Wow. So I know. So Rico's dream of playing in the NBA is like slipping further and further away, at least at Arizona State. So Rico needed to transfer someplace in order to play.
00:41:03
Speaker
he didn't want to have to wait two years and he was embarrassed by the accusations. Yeah, I could understand that you wouldn't want to wait that long. Right, so what he did was he came back much closer to home to his mom and to his hometown girlfriend Melinda and he enrolled in Los Angeles City College to play for their team
00:41:24
Speaker
Now, a lot of people saw this as a horrible move for his future crew. Yeah, I kind of agree. Yeah, I mean, it's not a Division I team, but Rico saw this as his fresh shot, you know, and he made the most of it. His plan was that he would prove himself here at LACC and then he would transfer to a larger school.
00:41:47
Speaker
So he would at least get to play instead of having to sit the bench. And his first year at LACC, Rico's skills of maneuvering and scoring, let me give you an indication. When he was a senior in high school, he averaged 28 points a game and 15 rebounds. Wow. Yeah. And his first year at LACC, he actually led them to a state championship title and Rico was named the MVP.
00:42:16
Speaker
Well good job. Exactly. So now he's proven his skill, he's ready to transfer and as luck would have it, so a positive thing, the coach at Rhode Island, so again division one school,
00:42:31
Speaker
The coach, Jim Herrick, had two years earlier been the coach at UCLA, so he was one of the schools that had been pushing hard to recruit Rico out of high school, but who had to withdraw the offer because of his SAT scores.
00:42:47
Speaker
So now this was Coach Herrick's chance to build a dream team with Zach Marbury, Lamar Odom, who both went on to NBA Careers, and Herrick was hoping to add to that team Rico Harris, and it was Rico's chance to prove his skill at that Division I level. Okay, so this is looking good. Looking up, but
00:43:11
Speaker
In order to get transfer credits to go to Rhode Island, Rico needed to pass all of his classes at LACC, and poor decision, he had stopped attending his psychology class about halfway through the semester.
00:43:27
Speaker
Why would you think that's a good idea? I don't know. I mean, in any circumstance, especially if you're looking to transfer, I feel like you're just kicking your dream out the door. Well, and once he thought like, hey, if my GPA isn't too low, I can fail one class and it's not so bad. Could he not have dropped it, I wonder? I guess, well, more than halfway through bed. Oh, yeah. So he ended up failing the class and thus lost his opportunity to go to Rhode Island.
00:43:56
Speaker
because I want to blame him for though, that was him. And there is some speculation in the research that I did. A lot of people believe that Rico failed the class on purpose because he didn't want to move so far away from his mom and his siblings, but he did it in a way that like something else could be to blame. I couldn't go because I failed the class, not I don't want to leave my family.
00:44:24
Speaker
And that could make sense because we know already how willing he was to drive 1100 miles to visit them for a few hours. Right. And because that LA times article that I mentioned earlier noted that when Rico had been at Arizona state, because remember that's where he first attended, that he had struggled with homesickness and he called his mom daily.
00:44:51
Speaker
And it said that he had become reserved again. I can't judge him on calling his mom every day because I call my mom every day. Right, right. But so they said, well, that kind of shows how homesick he was. But then there are other people who argue, well, no, he didn't do it on purpose, but he had already made the decision to stay closer to home anyway, because that was a better personal decision for him and for his family.
00:45:19
Speaker
It was in his second season though with LACC that Rico's demons revealed themselves.
00:45:27
Speaker
Rico was better than most of his opponents were. And because he wasn't having to like hone and perfect his skill, it was almost as though he grew bored. And with that boredom and with the pressure that generally comes with a lot of college students anyway, Rico began drinking with both his brother Tito who lived across the street from the college and with his basketball teammates.
00:45:57
Speaker
But while his teammates and his brother would find cures for their hangovers to sober up after a long night of drinking, Rico's cure was to continue drinking. Oh, so he just continued to stay drunk? Okay. Exactly. Yep, one beer when he got up, another one at lunch, and all before doing it all over again that night. And the reason why I think
00:46:21
Speaker
the issue continued with this bad habit is that initially the addiction to alcohol, it didn't affect his skills on the court. Instead, his teammate Derek Anderson reported to foxsports.com in the article The Vanishing Man, one instance in which Rico showed up for a game with dark sunglasses on because he was still so hungover, but then he went on to score 35 points in that game. Holy crap. Okay. Which does that say really
00:46:48
Speaker
a lot about him or perhaps the type of schools that he was playing at this tiny college. Well and I'm glad that you brought that up because you know you and I both know this about all these cases that we've read and people who we know that these addiction demons they don't sit passively by and the alcohol did begin to control more aspects of Rico's life and it was like he became trapped in his own head
00:47:17
Speaker
Rico and his girlfriend Melinda barely spoke any longer. His drinking grew worse. But like you just said, Rico was at least still aware enough of his own behavior that he knew that this environment at LACC, he needed to get away from it and away from the pressure. So he made the decision to transfer to a different small school
00:47:40
Speaker
to play basketball. And he thought, you know, a change of scenery, of atmosphere, maybe it will help me regain that previous discipline. So he called up the coach at Cal State Northridge and he announced to the coach that he wanted to be a part of the Northridge team. And I mean, this coach is like ecstatic because how good Rico is.
Rico's Road to Recovery and Relapse
00:48:03
Speaker
But Rico called him because he knew that that coach was disciplined and that he expected the same of his players. Okay, so he wants some structure. Right, so good move. Here comes the butt. When Rico got to Northridge, the drinking continued.
00:48:26
Speaker
Rico even began to get into arguments with his teammates and there was some discipline because it got so bad that his coach actually suspended Rico from several games because of his behavior. So like there is the discipline that Rico said he wanted, but I'm gonna get into why I think that might've backfired for Rico in a second. So his coach suspended him. And remember, he's like better than anybody.
00:48:54
Speaker
in the league. So I mean, that took a lot. Yeah, that took a lot. Yeah. Well, his coach scheduled a meeting with Rico actually to discuss putting him back into like the play rotation. But Rico didn't know what the meeting was about. And he never even bothered showing up. Okay, super responsible. I know. Now, you know, I love to psychoanalyze things. So I'm gonna psychoanalyze this Maggie.
00:49:21
Speaker
Part of me wonders, yes, Rico wanted that discipline, but I wonder if Rico also, in some small way, because he had become dependent on alcohol, so because of that fault, that Rico himself failed to see his own talents any longer,
00:49:42
Speaker
And so he just assumed because the coach had suspended him from playing and had now planned this meeting with him, maybe he assumed that the coach who we know from teaching high school is in some ways like a surrogate father figure.
00:50:01
Speaker
Right, for a lot of players. That he somehow assumed that his coach had also only focused on his fault and failed to see his talents anymore. Well, that's kind of heartbreaking. I know.
00:50:15
Speaker
Part of me wonders if maybe Rico felt those verbal assaults from his childhood once again, like those thoughts that he wasn't good enough, that he was a failure, that he was a disappointment. And maybe he didn't show up to that meeting because obviously he didn't know what was gonna be said at the meeting and whether he was gonna be berated or not. And maybe he knew that he couldn't face those feelings head on again.
00:50:39
Speaker
That makes sense though, now that you've said that, to avoid potential situations that would, I mean basically it's like PTSD, cause you to relive those moments in your life. Yeah, I mean that's, if I'm looking at the situation as an outsider, knowing his history, that's what I think. So after leaving, so he didn't show up to this meeting, and then he just dropped out of Northridge.
00:51:07
Speaker
Wow. So after leaving that school, Rico lost even more of his purpose. According to most reports, he bounced around on a few international league teams and even a traveling team. But luckily, Maggie, he was given one more shot. OK, here we go. OK, so he received a call. Are you ready for this? OK. From the Harlem Globetrotters. Listen.
00:51:34
Speaker
I was so excited. Yeah, I love their shows. They're impressive. I had always wanted to go and when I was in grad school, my friends Angie and Katie, they took me for my birthday one year and it was awesome. Like I loved every minute of it.
00:51:52
Speaker
So I mean obviously Rico was excited, just as excited as I was for Rico. And I mean to me like just knowing that Rico was invited to play for them that tells me even more about the skills he had. Right. Because it's not ordinary stuff that they do. Yeah it's like flips and these trampolines and all that stuff. He was like sitting, sitting on the floor at mid-court and
00:52:19
Speaker
made his shot and swish. And I was like, I can't even like jump and lunge my whole body forward from the three point line. But Maggie, you know what's coming. Yeah, I'm sure it's not good. As with everything else in Rico's life, tragedy struck.
00:52:44
Speaker
only about a month after joining the Globetrotters, Rico was out one night with a lady friend and he got into an argument with a group of people. Well, while Rico was arguing with one of the gentlemen, another came up behind Rico and hit him in the head with a baseball bat.
00:53:06
Speaker
Who does that? I know. Well, I guess it, I don't know what area they were in. I don't know. Like a very nice part of town. No. And Rico was able to drive away from the scene of the altercation, but afterward he had horrendous headaches. Yeah, he probably had like some type of concussion or something. I know he did. And he just began making even poorer decisions. Rico's longtime childhood friend, David Lara, he told foxforce.com that quote, from that point on,
00:53:35
Speaker
nothing was the same," end quote. And because of that hit, he could no longer play those headaches for the Globetrotters. Well, that's heartbreaking. So, yeah, so now here's Rico. Failed relationship with his hometown girlfriend, lost opportunities with no fewer than three colleges, and now a failed career. So Rico returned home more lost than ever.
00:54:00
Speaker
He no longer felt the sense of identity that he had found with basketball. And sadly, this young man who had been a town superstar like their claim to fame came back broken.
00:54:13
Speaker
His mother hoped that Rico being back home, it would bring back her sweet, smiling, hardworking son. But instead, because he had lost his self-confidence, alcohol was now no longer strong enough to mask the pain that he felt. So Rico turned to drugs like meth and heroin. Oh, I feel like that's a really big step.
00:54:35
Speaker
I know. And what's sad is that now instead of everyone hearing the name Rico Harris and thinking of this basketball phenom, they now thought instead of the nearly 100 arrests that he would go on to get for public intoxication. That's sad.
00:54:55
Speaker
So Rico, he had finally hit like the darkest of dark places. I feel like this is very stereotypical of the area we grew up in, like your hometown, like sports superstar that you've known as like this amazing football player or something like that. And then they have so many field opportunities and then they turn into, which it's sad, but like the person that's like taking money from their grandma to buy their next
00:55:22
Speaker
Right. And a lot of people were talking about like he would walk around the streets like begging for quarters. That's sad. I know. And I feel like what makes me so sad for Rico is that he had all that potential and so much of what happened to him was outside of his control. Yep. Well, he ended up, obviously now he's drinking all the time. He's on drugs and he ended up one night overdosing.
00:55:51
Speaker
But after that experience, Rico did enter the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center. Okay, good job. Yes, got his life back together. He realized that something in his life needed to be fixed and he actually worked really hard on fixing it. In fact, all the reports that I read, he was clean for nearly seven years. That's awesome. Yeah, I feel like we should applaud him for that.
00:56:18
Speaker
Well, during that time, that seven years, Rico managed to find a job in private security. Okay, good. Yeah. And while working security in a nightclub, he actually met the woman that he would fall in love with and move to Seattle for, Jennifer Song. Okay. And even though they maintained a long distance relationship for so long, Rico began to focus on a positive future and not the painful past. So he's smiling again.
00:56:47
Speaker
there's some purpose for him. Well that's good. That makes me happy for him. Absolutely. But in late July 2014 Rico relapsed. His demons that he had outrun for years had caught him.
00:57:04
Speaker
At least this time though, Maggie, he had the tools to know that he could and needed to get clean once again. And like the knowledge that addiction isn't a battle that just ends, it's a battle every day. And because of Jennifer's knowledge of the relapse, she knew that it had happened and now his mother's, you know. Yeah, she's suspecting it. Yeah, exactly. They were worried.
00:57:33
Speaker
But their question, the reason why they didn't go to police immediately is because again, things were recently looking up for Rico. He had an interview. He and Jennifer had been talking marriage and having spoken with Jennifer and some reports, he had plans to get help again. Like he knew he had relapsed, but he knew he needed to get help.
00:57:55
Speaker
okay so he is aware so he's making steps to you know to get back on the right track so good job for him yes now that you know the backstory i'm gonna take you back to the scene of the disappearance and any clues that we have
00:58:10
Speaker
So obviously the police impounded Rico's car when it had been left there.
The Investigation into Rico's Disappearance
00:58:16
Speaker
And remember it was in complete disarray. When they were able to get inside they discovered that the battery was dead and the gas tank was nearly empty. Now remember he had just fueled up only a couple of hours before Jennifer got that last text from him. And now his gas tank is nearly empty. So I'm wondering
00:58:40
Speaker
Like if he just took a nap in his car for like several hours, how much gas would that use? I think you are exactly right because I don't, there's some speculation that maybe somebody else took the car. I don't think that happened. I also don't think that he like just drove it around aimlessly. I mean, I did read one report that said that route 16 where his car was found was not the route that you would take to get to Seattle.
00:59:06
Speaker
which would have been Interstate 5, and that Route 16 was actually, you know, out of the way. But I think you're spot on. I mean, I think he likely just kept his car running like idling while he slept, like either for music or for air conditioning. Yeah. Because to me, that explains why it was not only low on gas, but the battery. Exactly. Well, the police tested the car for fingerprints and DNA, nothing was found.
00:59:34
Speaker
They did find in his car a Bendel, which I had no idea what that was. What is that? Well, it's generally associated with holding drugs, but it didn't have any drug residue in it, nor were there any other pieces of drug paraphernalia in the car.
00:59:53
Speaker
They found Rico's driver's license and one of his credit cards, also inside the car, but one of his credit cards was missing. Okay, but like I lose my debit card like every other day, so. Right though. Yeah. So he could have lost it anywhere. Yeah. So he's not in the car. Nobody knows where he is. So the police decide to search the area, see if they can find him. Right there.
01:00:16
Speaker
at the park now, correct? Yes, we're at the park, which again is, you know, on the way like a couple hours north of Sacramento. So still about 10 hours away from home, but like seven and a half hours away from his mom. Okay. So kind of in the middle.
01:00:36
Speaker
search teams had to look for him in ATVs and planes with heat sensing cameras. Kind of like we talked about with Brandon Lawson's case. They had to use those to comb the canyon. And I mean, that should tell you how dangerous the terrain was. That that's how they're having to search. Like you're not walking on site. But they ended up coming up empty handed. They did get a few leads.
01:01:05
Speaker
First, the police contacted Rico's cell phone provider and they were able to ping his phone. Oh, that's good. Yeah. So that's what I thought. So I'm like, okay, good. But it pings 70 miles away from where his car was found. Obviously you're not walking that far. Yeah, no.
01:01:24
Speaker
And when police contacted those in the area, so they contacted like everyone in the small town, and they sent out an area request for information, an elderly couple came forward to say that they actually, I guess had driven through that same park.
01:01:42
Speaker
and had found a backpack near the guardrail on Route 16. And so they stopped when they saw it and they looked in it for an ID. There wasn't any ID in it. They like yell out like, is anybody out there? We've got, you know, your backpacks up here. All this stuff and nobody responds so they took it. Which I think is a little bit odd. Well, I mean, okay. Maybe it's like an old people thing because my
01:02:11
Speaker
grandpa or my puppy that I what I called him who's been passed away for like several years now like I could totally see him 100% could see him like pulling off the road because he saw like a really nice bag or like something like that and then when he couldn't find whose it was like he just took it like I could 100% see my puppy doing that so maybe it's like an old people thing yeah like if you think it's abandoned
01:02:37
Speaker
But like I would never do it. It's it is weird. I agree. And I mean, they did return it to the police. So at least they did that. Right. So inside this backpack, the police saw jumper cables, which may be because his car battery is dead, but
01:02:53
Speaker
I don't know why you would carry those with you instead of just leaving them at your car, because obviously you'll need them at your car. So that doesn't make much sense to me. But they also found two jugs. One of them was empty and the other one was half full. And both of them smelled like hard alcohol.
01:03:14
Speaker
So again, maybe we're assuming he's drinking. But again, like that just to me sounds like a hitchhiker almost. Like you have all your things in your backpack, but it's 70 miles away from his car. So this dude's not slow. I mean, maybe he slipped, but I just feel like it's a really long way to walk. And I don't, can you even walk that far in the amount of days he was gone?
01:03:37
Speaker
Well, what happened was this old couple, when they picked up his backpack, they lived 70 miles away. Yeah, so they drove off with it.
01:03:46
Speaker
Okay, I've caught up now. No, you're good. So that's why it pings 70 miles away because also in the backpack was Rico's cell phone. Okay, so it's not necessarily he walked 70 miles. Right. It's just they carried his backpack 70 miles. Yeah, they saw his backpack in the park. They yell for him. Nobody responds. They pick it up. They take it to their home. Gotcha. So once the police search his phone,
01:04:12
Speaker
It backed up all the phone calls all the times that Margaret and Jennifer had reported to the police. It also showed that Rico had called his brother and he had actually texted to confirm his job interview.
01:04:25
Speaker
There were pictures on the phone, selfies, that he had taken near where his car was parked, and there was even one of him happily cheesing in front of the rest area Yolo County sign. Okay, so all normal things? Normal. The police also found a video on the phone that Rico had unknowingly taken, in which you can hear him singing off-key, totally me.
01:04:50
Speaker
Good music. But he was like tossing papers and CDs like from the front into the back and like over into the passenger seat. So now the police are like, well that explains why the car was so messy. That's me. Yeah. So now, not only do the police have that, so they know he's come in here. He's taken some pictures like nothing seems,
01:05:16
Speaker
off-putting and even the messy state of the car, which originally they were like, oh, this looks like foul play. No, Rico did it himself.
01:05:26
Speaker
there were at least two people who say that they saw a man meeting Rico's description. And let's be honest, a six foot nine, nearly 300 pound man would be hard to miss. Yeah. Then we talked about that not like just a few episodes ago. Like if you saw something out of the ordinary, you're going to remember it. And I think I remember basically a giant walking on a cattle guard.
01:05:54
Speaker
near the parking lot where Rico's car was located. So police searched the area and they actually found large footprints, size 18. So again, easily identifiable. And that made police think that, you know, maybe Rico came back to get the backpack, right? Like maybe he left it there and he was walking back to get it or something, or maybe he was trying to find someone close who could help him because his car wouldn't start.
01:06:24
Speaker
Another witness said that he had seen someone meeting Rico's description near a stream. And again, when police investigated, there were size 18 footprints and even the insole of a size 18 shoe. Okay. So now you're thinking like maybe Rico wandered into the canyon, like could he have gotten lost?
01:06:46
Speaker
When the police brought in cadaver dogs, there was one deeper body of water in the area that the cadaver dog seemed interested in, but the dive team found nothing. And the credit card that he was missing has additionally shown no activity since his disappearance. So with those witnesses, our clues end.
01:07:12
Speaker
Now I'm going to get into the theories and these are brief. First, had Rico gone down to the creek and lost his direction a bit and maybe came up the road elsewhere and like set his backpack down and then hitched a ride somewhere?
01:07:28
Speaker
But if so, why would he leave the backpack? Like, was it an oversight? Had he been drinking and he forgot it? Had he still not slept and maybe out of exhaustion he forgot it? And if so, who came to pick him up and where did he go? But most importantly, why didn't he call someone when he got there? You know, like if he ends up, you know, in the wrong spot, can't find his car again, gets a ride from somebody.
01:07:55
Speaker
I don't know if that really explains everything. So number two theory, many speculated that he had again turned not just to alcohol, but to drugs. So a lot of people that I read argued that Rico would have needed some kind of stimulant, which is why I said I'd come back to your comment.
01:08:17
Speaker
to have stayed awake for that long. So in that case, maybe he took something that caused him to OD while he was in the canyon or maybe somebody even picked him up and he overdosed in their vehicle, which made them nervous because we've seen this in some cases that they potentially just left them somewhere. But I don't know if I buy this theory either because I feel like there would have been drug paraphernalia in the car
01:08:45
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. Right. And it didn't even have traces of drugs in it. And so I feel like had he been on something, he definitely wouldn't have been in like the state of mind when he would have been able to like hide all traces. And I mean, plus I feel like if he already knew that he needed help again after drinking, I'd like to think that he wouldn't have done drugs as well.
01:09:08
Speaker
Yeah, that would make, I think he would, he seems rational enough that he would realize that too. Yeah, I agree with you there. So, number three, Siri. Did he have car trouble and without cell service, so like after he wakes up from a nap or whatever and his battery's dead, now he doesn't have cell service. Again, why you shouldn't go sleep up in the mountains? Yeah, this is weird.
01:09:32
Speaker
Right. And so maybe he had gotten out to walk for help and then like some sort of trouble befell him. So like maybe he got lost and we couldn't find his way back to the car. He was overtaken by an animal because they were a black bear. They're mountain lions, like all of these dangerous animals. And so like one Reddit user, so again, that tells you it's a Reddit user, but they said that mountain lions are known to take their prey into the trees.
01:10:02
Speaker
And then you are going to carry a 300 pound man.
01:10:06
Speaker
Well, apparently the cane, well not mountain lions per se. So this person said like they didn't find, the searchers didn't find him because they should have looked up and not down. And I did some digging because I was like, is this true? But I found that some lions and leopards do put their prey in trees. Like after they feed for the first time, like whatever's left, they put it up in a tree. So other, you know, scavenging animals aren't gonna find it. But mountain lions do not, is what I read.
01:10:35
Speaker
And they didn't, like, did they do any searching of the, I know they used like the heat stuff, but did they search? Not that I read. And that gets to my other point is that I was thinking like, you know, if an animal did get him or like maybe he wandered onto somebody's private property, right? And like the landowner doesn't know who they are and they shoot or whatever.
01:10:57
Speaker
I was thinking, well, I wonder if the heat seeking cameras would have seen him. Well, I was thinking if they did it on her, would they, on her, on foot, would they have smelled it? I know that's like kind of graphic, but it would, you would smell it. Right. And nothing that Iran said that they did search on foot.
01:11:13
Speaker
But with the heat-seeking cameras, I looked into it because I was thinking, like, how long does your body hold heat if he did get killed by something or someone? And it was only about 24 hours. So, I mean, by the time they find his car, he's already been missing for four days by the time the deputy reports it, that second day of seeing it. So that could be an explanation. But again, like, I feel like
01:11:42
Speaker
even the remains of a six foot nine man. I mean, I feel like, I don't know. I shall think, I don't know. I don't know that I bought that one. If you're on an ATV and you searching for somebody and Rico had been on foot, like I feel like you could travel a lot further on an ATV than you could on foot. Yeah. I feel like they would have searched the area that he could have possibly traveled.
01:12:12
Speaker
The most popular opinion, Maggie, is that Rico went to the mountains to commit suicide.
Speculations and Theories on Rico's Fate
01:12:18
Speaker
Okay. Well, I didn't even like that literally never crossed my mind until like you just said it, but now I can kind of see it maybe. Well, the people who believe this theory, they argue that his phrase going to the mountains to rest was like a euphemism for meeting his final resting place.
01:12:40
Speaker
And they say, well, that's why he made that trip back home, right? That trip that was so odd. I feel like why would he drive? That it was some way for him to say like his final goodbye. To see everybody. And they said like maybe he was feeling pressures about this new career, you know, and about like what happens if I interview for this job and I don't get it.
01:13:03
Speaker
And then like the pressure of falling back into the grasp of his demons, right? Because remember he had just relapsed. And then the pressure of living up to expectations, the pressures of those old insecurities of feeling unworthy. And this place, right, this park, it was actually, like I mentioned earlier, almost perfectly in between his past
01:13:24
Speaker
and all hambra and his future in seattle so it's like this perfect in between the spot where he just kind of existed by himself and that was all that mattered and i mean maybe he was more than just physically tired i mean obviously he was physically tired he'd been awake for more than 40 hours but maybe he was just spiritually and mentally tired as well and i mean that makes sense like we talked about this whole time he does have a lot of trauma and i feel like if you're
01:13:53
Speaker
Like if you have that much trauma and you're also abusing alcohol and or drugs, that probably just adds to it. So I mean, I'm sure he was not in the best place. Right. But here's why I just don't know. I feel like if that were the case, I don't think he would have texted to verify his job interview. I don't think he would have taken those cheerful selfies.
01:14:20
Speaker
I just don't think that it explains everything. So, like, in my mind, somebody with the intent of taking his own life wouldn't be smiling, singing to music, and making plans for tomorrow. And didn't we talk about that in a case not long ago that another theory was suicide, but they had, like, made plans with their friends, like, for the next couple days, and, like, people that have studied that, like, studied people that commit suicide, that was...
01:14:45
Speaker
like people that are going to kill themselves don't make like long short term plans. Right, exactly. And so that's why I feel like I don't know if that theory holds any clown either. And that's it. Like as time has gone on, Maggie, the police, they become more likely to suspect foul play. Yeah. But as of 2015, Rico's case has been cold. Like,
01:15:13
Speaker
I mean, we know he didn't just like stumble into like a river or something and drown. I mean, there are parties of water. There is that one deeper one that the cadaver dog seemed interested in, but the dive team didn't find anything.
01:15:30
Speaker
I mean, it kind of almost does seem like maybe he was hitchhiking or trying to find somebody to help him start his car and that he just met the wrong person. But again, like you're going to have to be a pretty strong person to overpower like almost seven foot tall, 300 pound man. Right. It would have to be multiple people. Yeah. I don't know.
01:15:51
Speaker
Rico's childhood friend David Lara told Nathan Fino of the LA Times of Rico, quote, he was a man who had been broken by many things, by life's general weight, by the weight of dreams unfulfilled. I think he was a broken human being, end quote. But then, aren't we all?
01:16:14
Speaker
but we're all also healing. We know, and Rico knew, he'd seen the devastation of trying, that you cannot ever hide and heal at the same time. Now, it's also Rico's family who are hurting. His mother, Margaret, told reporter Nathan Fino of the pain of her sweet boy being missing, quote,
01:16:38
Speaker
This is a pain that's deep, that goes down to your core. It's like you're on a merry-go-round and can't get off. Nothing is going to quiet the pain. Nothing is going to make it go away. He could be alive. Maybe he's not. I don't know what the truth is. I don't know. People don't just vanish." End quote.
01:17:01
Speaker
Margaret made it clear that Rico was not forgotten, nor was his talent, nor are the positive experiences friends, family, and teammates had with him forgotten. The struggles Rico faced do not lessen his worth as a human being.
01:17:18
Speaker
We cannot turn our backs on him like many in his life did. If we do that, then we only justify those unwarranted insecurities that Rico felt his whole life. Judgment doesn't help solve his case. Caring does. Do what you can, Sleuth Hounds, to share his story.
01:17:40
Speaker
Anyone with information on Rico Harris's location or information about his disappearance is asked to call 540-668-5280.
01:17:56
Speaker
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01:18:26
Speaker
Stay together. Stay safe. We'll see you next week.