Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
E107: Ruben David Felix
1.5k Plays4 years ago
Two-year old Ruben Felix had been at a family barbeque when he simply vanished. But single footprints, seemingly staged evidence, and hoax phone calls has left some of them wondering if Ruben’s disappearance were more than just a horrific accident.
If you would like to start your OWN podcast on Buzzsprout, please consider using our promo code so you can earn a $20 gift card after your second month on a paid plan:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=709643
Recommended
Transcript
Starting a Podcast with Buzzsprout
00:00:00
Speaker
Sleuth Hounds, have you ever considered creating your own podcast? Have you been inspired by listening to some of your favorites and thought, I'd love to try this out on my own? Whether it's a true crime podcast like ours, a motivational podcast, or maybe one filled with tips and strategies for those interested in the same activities you are?
00:00:19
Speaker
When Maggie and I first decided to start our podcast, we knew absolutely nothing about what podcasting would entail. But when we found that the platform Buzzsprout was one for which we didn't need any special equipment, just a computer microphone, some quiet space, and each other, we knew that this was the way to go. It is intuitive to use, fun to play around with, and so helpful in getting analytical data about our number of downloads to track trends,
00:00:43
Speaker
and from where listeners hail. Best yet, Buzzsprout is affordable, even by our teacher salary standards. Buzzsprout will get your podcasts listed on every major podcasting platform. So what are you waiting for? Fulfill that dream of yours and start today.
00:00:59
Speaker
If you use our Coffee and Cases referral code, 709-643, linked on Facebook and in our show notes, not only will you help support our show, but you will receive a $20 Amazon gift card after your second month on a paid plan. It's that easy. Podcasting isn't hard when you have the right partners. Join over 100,000 podcasters already using Buzzsprout to get their message out to the world. Now it's time for the world to hear what you have to say.
Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health
00:01:30
Speaker
We are coming up on the two year mark of when we here in the United States first heard of COVID. And in the span of those two years, no matter your individual feelings about the virus, we can all unite in saying that it has changed our lives in so many ways. Likely one of the strongest effects the virus has had on people though, is the one we rarely talk about, the mental strain.
00:01:59
Speaker
I'd wager that we have felt more tired, burnt out at work. We've been shorter with our kids. Our patience is almost shot. And for many, the pain has gone even deeper. According to an article in the Harvard Gazette, senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Richard Weisbord, helped lead a research study into the far-reaching effects of social isolation across various age groups.
00:02:29
Speaker
While he found that nearly every category experienced an increase in loneliness, older teens and young adults seemed hit hardest. At the very times in their lives when they're making crucial decisions about schooling, about career moves, about their families, the times when we most recall relying on older adults and our families for guidance, they felt alone in making their decisions.
00:02:56
Speaker
But interestingly, one of the most significant effects on feelings of loneliness had to do with people feeling that they themselves were trying to reach out to friends and loved ones, to show care, to listen, but that no one was doing that for them in return.
00:03:14
Speaker
which can create a vicious cycle. We've all experienced something like this before. You try so hard and want nothing more than for others to show even half the effort that you've been showing. Not feeling that effort from others can feel so defeating. Now, I want you to imagine having that feeling not for two years, but for nearly 25.
Stephanie Ellis' Search for Reuben
00:03:40
Speaker
and having that feeling not about things like work performance or friend relationships, but in the search for a missing loved one. Imagine that kind of loneliness and you'd have some idea of what Stephanie Ellis has been feeling for decades in her fight to figure out, along with only one or two other family members, what happened to her two-year-old nephew all those years ago.
00:04:10
Speaker
This is the case of Reuben David Felix.
Coffee and Cases Podcast Introduction
00:04:51
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.
00:05:01
Speaker
We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the case will take those tips to law enforcement 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, and to follow us on Instagram at Coffee Cases podcast and on TikTok
00:05:24
Speaker
at Coffee and Case's podcast, because as these families know, conversation helps to keep their missing family member in the public consciousness, helping to keep their memories alive. So sit back, sip your coffee, and listen to what's brewing this week. Allison, before we get started today, I have something I have to say. Okay. We are, so we are officially only four weeks away from the launch of our Patreon.
00:05:52
Speaker
Oh my gosh, I'm pumped for you guys to hear what we have recorded. And you know what? Speaking of Patreon, I don't know if you saw this Maggie, but one of our followers on Instagram, engineer Kenzie, which sounds super official. I like the name.
00:06:10
Speaker
asked when the Patreon was starting and you know her excitement just mingled with my excitement and I just can't wait until we can share with the world the mini episodes that we have created so far and Maggie should we share with everybody what that Patreon will look like and what our Slootowns will get.
00:06:34
Speaker
Well, I hadn't seen her comment on Instagram, but now I have to go look at it here a minute. So now your excitement is mingled with ours. Yes. So if you crave some closure for some of our cases, if you're curious about like our take on some of the more popular cases there are out there, or if you just need a really good laugh.
00:06:56
Speaker
Our Patreon is exactly what you need in your life. We'll be posting about three to four many episodes a month around like 15 to 20 minutes in length over like a range of topics. Once we get to 100 patrons we'll be releasing a full length episode a month and I can tell you guys that the first one Allison has picked is a crazy one. Yes it is. And
00:07:25
Speaker
Because we are launching Patreon on December 16th, it is right in time for you to give yourself a little Christmas gift. So you can have, I know, I mean, I'm feeling the Christmas spirit and you will have more content to listen to on your drive or your plane flight to see relatives or while you're wrapping Christmas gifts. While you are wrapping Christmas joy, I should say.
00:07:53
Speaker
And a Patreon membership is also the perfect gift and budget-friendly gift for a true crime-loving friend or colleague.
00:08:05
Speaker
or yourself. And only $5 a month for the first 100 subscribers. It's a price you can't beat. For that $5, you'll get immediate access to three mini episodes with two more to be released in the final two weeks of December. You will get a shout out on the show
00:08:24
Speaker
This level will become $8 a month after the first 100 sign up. So make sure you are marking your calendars to be one of the first ones to save those extra bucks. That's like a coffee for McDonald's. So tis the season for the thrill of Christmas savings.
00:08:42
Speaker
And like Maggie mentioned, once we reach 100 patrons, we will release our first full length bonus episode then. And after that, each month will include a minimum of one full episode and three mini episodes.
00:09:01
Speaker
If you sign up for a higher tier, you'll also receive a card or two from us and discount on merchandise. And if you're on our super sleuth level, you'll receive Maya and Allison's eternal love. Yes. Which isn't hard to earn because we're pretty loving people, but anyway.
00:09:21
Speaker
but also never fear because nothing here is going to change. Maggie and I will still be here every week on your favorite podcasting app with our cases as normal, trying to spread the word about lesser known cases to help these families as much as we possibly can. And with that said, let's get into this week's case.
Reuben David Felix's Background
00:09:43
Speaker
Maggie, this case is similar to a few that I've covered in the past where there just isn't very much information that's been shared publicly or even with the family about the case. Hmm. Yeah. If I'm not mistaken, I think I found seven total articles written about this case and it happened
00:10:11
Speaker
on February 23rd, 1997. And it's the case of a missing child. Wow. So I feel like there should be a lot more information. One would think. And so there are a lot of factors in it that
00:10:26
Speaker
make me wonder if that's why we didn't hear as much about it. That is why I'm here today telling you, Maggie, and you slowly sounds his story. And hoping that maybe with all of us talking about the case and pushing for coverage,
00:10:45
Speaker
his family can finally get the information out there and we can finally gain more information potentially about his case through that attention. Okay.
00:10:58
Speaker
I had the pleasure this week of speaking with Ruben's aunt, Stephanie, who was able to give me much more insight into the case than I was able to get from, you know, my seven articles. And she was also able to give me her kind of personal feelings and perspective about what happened. And after speaking with her,
00:11:23
Speaker
and hearing the pain of loss that's still in her voice. I knew like always when I speak with families, this is one of those cases. It's kind of like the Cecil Gaddy case where even though there isn't a whole lot of information, I just feel compelled to tell the story. Like I feel like I have to help spread the word because I can't stand the idea of somebody feeling like he or she is fighting alone.
00:11:50
Speaker
That's what I was about to say. Like, your intro, we want all of these families to know that we're fighting with them. Mm-hmm. So here is Reuben's story. So we are, Mackie, this week in the gem state. Any guesses as to where that is? The gem state. Don't Google it. Is it like Washington, Oregon, California?
00:12:20
Speaker
Like, I don't know. I feel like it's like the West Coast somewhere. It is Idaho. What the heck? I would have never in my life have guessed Idaho. I feel like that's the corn state.
00:12:32
Speaker
I know, listen, I just think of potatoes, but I asked you that because- That's the tater state. The tater state. I was, you know, I think we should do a Patreon mini episode where I quiz you on state nicknames. Yes, yes, yes. I'm feeling. And I've never been to Idaho. I haven't really been out West.
00:12:58
Speaker
But I looked at pictures of the town Shoshone, where we are this week, which is not to be confused with the Native American tribe Shoshone. But the town Shoshone is the largest city in Lincoln County, the largest city and has today around 1500 residents.
00:13:21
Speaker
Oh, okay. So, um, like the size of the high school that set the road for me, but okay. Yeah. So yeah, it's about, I guess, no, our high school's larger than that, probably. No, it might be, it might be a little bit less than that. Yeah. Yeah.
00:13:41
Speaker
Most who go to this little quaint town of Shoshone go there to do a walking tour of the ice caves. I wanna go. I know, it sounded so cool. I was looking at it. It was like this thousand foot long lava cave with ice formations and they stay frozen all year. Like it stays below zero in its temperatures, even when the temperature like right above on the streets is in the nineties.
00:14:07
Speaker
Yeah, that's how Mammoth Cave is in Kentucky. It's the same temperature year round, but there's no icicles. I want to, now I need to go to Idaho. Yep. You need to go to the gym state. Not the tater state. Yeah. But this was also the place where a two year old little boy, Reuben David Helix, went missing in broad daylight.
00:14:31
Speaker
and surrounded by people. A fact that shockingly, many, even those from such a small town, have never heard about. Like they've never heard about Ruben. His story, yeah. There's only a thousand people in their town. I know, and you were thinking a town that small, at least they would know. Yeah, like everybody would be talking about it. Right, and so that's why I just feel it's shocking that
00:14:59
Speaker
people aren't talking about his case, even in the small town. So I asked Stephanie to tell me a little bit about Reuben's childhood, his personality, you know, information that, well, it's normally lacking in the research, but was obviously noticeably lacking in the research on this particular case.
00:15:20
Speaker
And Reuben's mother, Rosanna Felix Morellus, who is now Rosanna Scott, had Reuben with Jose Rojas when she was very young. Stephanie believes that Rosanna may have been as young as 12 when she was pregnant with Reuben. That's literally how old the little people are that I teach. And I cannot imagine any of them birthing a child.
00:15:46
Speaker
Yeah. And I bring this up because, well, that doesn't mean that Rosanna couldn't be a good mom because of her age. There are many life lessons that often kind of go into parenting and she was literally a baby having a baby. Right. And
00:16:05
Speaker
She wanted in her life, actually, Maggie, to have lots of babies. Stephanie said that Rosanna used to say her goal was to have as many children as she has letters in her name so that she could spell out her name, Rosanna. So she had Reuben, Omar, Sabrina, Esperanza, and so on. Did she meet her goal? That I don't know. I should have asked, but I didn't. And I mean,
00:16:35
Speaker
I get that being your goal, maybe if you had a short name like Amy. A long name like Rosanna or Stephanie or something like that. Your birth and babies for a long time. So when Rosanna was pregnant with Reuben, she actually didn't let anyone know. It wasn't until her mom Peggy Salas walked into the bathroom when Rosanna was in the shower that Peggy saw her stomach and knew.
00:17:04
Speaker
So I don't know if she was planning on hiding it until, I mean, obviously she would show up one day with Reuben. You know, there, I've heard of a lot of girls though, like I can particularly think of a girl that was in high school at a different high school close to where I went, like at the same time. And she went into labor playing a basketball game. Like that's how well she hid that she was pregnant.
00:17:32
Speaker
Oh my goodness. Yeah. Like on the gym court, her water broke. Oh my goodness. I can't imagine. Wow. So I mean, I guess she was trying to hide it, but you know, Peggy saw her stomach and Ruben's father soon left the picture. Was he also a baby? I don't know his age. Okay. Um, because well, he left the picture.
00:18:02
Speaker
fairly quickly. I think Stephanie said she believes he's now in California and Rosanna began a relationship with Aurelio Morellus and Stephanie continued to reiterate throughout our conversation that Rosanna was a good mother to Reuben when she was around.
00:18:25
Speaker
However, probably partly because of her age and the immaturity that often comes with that age, she often wasn't around. So she would leave family members like Stephanie and Rosanna's mom Peggy to care for Reuben the majority of the time. Well, like you said, she's a baby having a baby.
00:18:46
Speaker
And it was the two of them, Stephanie and Rosanna's mom Peggy, who would watch Reuben. Stephanie actually called Reuben's middle name as David. And she said that they called him Davey Baby. Which I think is so cute. Yeah. And Stephanie said that he had just this
00:19:04
Speaker
sweet happy-go-lucky disposition and that he loved music. Like she said he would often dance around. One of her last memories she had taken him to see like all these different bands and he just loved music and like
00:19:19
Speaker
you know, bopping his little body around the music. And Peggy and Stephanie actually cleaned houses together. She said like seven or eight a day. And because they were caring for Reuben, they would often like bring him with them when they were cleaning the houses. And she said he would play clean too. Like he loved to dust because he just loved to be a helper. So I guess they'd give him like a little duster and he'd like walk around, you know, like he's helping them dust things.
00:19:47
Speaker
I know, I can just picture him doing it. Stephanie said that Peggy kept Reuben busy, like playing, pretend helping, because she had him most of the time. And that Rosanna would keep Reuben sometimes. But again, maybe because of her age, I'm not trying to excuse anything, you know, like,
00:20:15
Speaker
But I'm just attempting to explain. She would often leave him in the care of other people. Rosanna then, though Maggie, became pregnant with her second child, Omar, which oddly means first born son, even though he wasn't. Rosanna's first born son, because that was Reuben. But I guess it was her first born son with Aurelio.
00:20:45
Speaker
And right after Omar was born, Rosanna decided that she was going to take care of Reuben herself and moved him out of Peggy's home where he had, for all intents and purposes, been living. So basically- So how old is she when she has Omar? 14. Okay.
00:21:07
Speaker
So, Reuben had basically been living with his grandma, with Rosanna's mom, for the majority of his life and, you know, with Peggy and others, you know, raising him. But when Rosanna had her second son, two years later, she decided, nope, I want Reuben to come stay with me.
00:21:30
Speaker
and moved him out of Peggy's home. But Maggie- I guess she knew like Omar means firstborn son. Or like if that's just a really crazy coincidence. I don't know. And then I keep going back to that whole like, I mean, she did want to spell out her name and obviously an O is his first letter, you know. Probably because Oscar. Right. Oliver. Something. Right, I know.
00:21:57
Speaker
But only a couple of weeks after Rosanna took Reuben back, Reuben was gone.
Reuben's Disappearance and Investigation
00:22:07
Speaker
On February 23rd, 1997, Reuben's stepdad, Aurelio's family, was holding a farewell barbecue for Aurelio's brother, who was going back to Mexico that same day.
00:22:24
Speaker
So the whole family was there to wish him well. Like adult siblings were there, cousins, their children, like lots of people came to the Tanupa Ranch for this barbecue. And even though I couldn't find the exact temperature in Shoshone that day, I tried just to see, I did see that the average temperature in February is around 30 degrees.
00:22:51
Speaker
Right. Like I feel like when you say barbecue, I picture like the summer. I know. I do too. Yeah, I do too. You should be eating like soup when it's 30 degrees in February. Right. Yeah. Let's have a chili get together. Yeah. It's a bit of a barbecue, but they had this barbecue and, which I think really just means for like grilling meat.
00:23:15
Speaker
Okay, gotcha. But despite the average temperatures, a lot of the members of the family were outside while the kids, like around four to six kids, were all playing in the yard. Which, I mean, I think about it. And as a kid, I'd be out playing. I mean, it wouldn't matter the temperature. We put socks on our hands at my grandma's house. Wouldn't it get really cold so we could go play? Yeah, just whatever you had to do, you do.
00:23:44
Speaker
Stephanie was actually out of town when the barbecue happened, but she recalled to me that she had always been told that there were several adults who were outside with the children and that there was actually like a gate up on the property because there was a river nearby, like 200 yards away. There was a gate up, so it wasn't like the children would be able to get very far. You know, and if one of them tried, it would be noticeable.
00:24:15
Speaker
Okay. Sometime in the early afternoon, most of the sources that I read, the newspaper articles actually stayed at around 4 p.m., but Stephanie remembers it being earlier than that. Everyone went back inside. I don't know if the meat was done and they were all gonna eat or for whatever reason, but around early afternoon, everybody went back inside, except for Reuben.
00:24:44
Speaker
He was just nowhere. Like just vanished. Yeah. And no one said they saw anything. I don't know that I really believe that. Yeah. I, I feel like I would notice a two year old toddling away. Like I feel like somebody would have had to have noticed like,
00:25:08
Speaker
When I am out in public, even if they're not my children. I'm like watching to make sure they don't run into the site like off the sidewalk or, you know, like one time we were at a store in downtown and this little boys like literally to probably
00:25:28
Speaker
just ran out the front door of this department store like right at the road and his like people were nowhere and so like I just grabbed his like took his little hand and walked him back inside and like I was like where's your mommy or daddy and then like finally somebody came up and got him so like I feel like we watch little babies yeah most people do
00:25:50
Speaker
You're right. I mean, I do the same thing because Rodney and I will be somewhere and we'll see a kid and I'm like, where is that child's parent? I always say that like, where's your mom? Like in my head, I'm like, where's your mommy? Right. Where is your caretaker? Who is watching this child?
00:26:07
Speaker
I know, but it wasn't until, so this happens early afternoon. Again, Stephanie remembers it being earlier. A lot of the news reports said around four, but it wasn't until around 6.15 PM that Peggy, remember that's Rosanna's mom, she'd been taking care of Reuben for most of his life, got home from work to her telephone ringing.
00:26:32
Speaker
It was Rosanna on the other end of the line saying, he's gone, he's gone, he's gone, Reuben is gone. By her tone, Peggy thought like this has just happened. Right, yeah. But it was also just moments later.
00:26:51
Speaker
that she had found out that he hadn't just gone missing. He'd been missing for hours. Oh, okay. No, nevermind. Just kidding. What were you going to say? I was like, surely somebody called the police. Nevermind. No, they hadn't. And he had been missing for hours.
00:27:12
Speaker
And I mean, okay, I get looking around first, like making sure he's not just hiding, you know, under a bed or playing hide and seek or something before calling. But I feel like the younger the child, the quicker I'd call. Yeah. Personally. And there also might have been some hesitancy to call the police.
00:27:42
Speaker
because many of the family members were illegal immigrants. Yeah, but I feel like that's a baby. So like if I was in a country illegally with my family and a baby went missing, like I would be like, I'm leaving so you can call the police or you can call the police and like, I'll get deported, but we have to find this baby. I know.
00:28:08
Speaker
I agree with you. I also understand why that easily could have been a factor in their failure to call, but I'm with you. I wish someone did because first of all, so much happens in those precious hours. And I agree with you that in
00:28:29
Speaker
most every potential scenario, while obviously you feel self-preservation, at some point, especially for a child, I personally would care more about a child's safety than whether or not I'm going to face consequences. Yeah. And that is like a really hard
00:28:54
Speaker
predicament to be in, I guess, because, you know, maybe some of the people that were there illegally also had children, then you're like pulling a parent away from their child, potentially. Yeah, that's just a really yucky situation for both everybody involved. Yes. And when law enforcement was finally called, they searched the Tanupa Ranch and didn't find any clues.
00:29:18
Speaker
There was nothing in the yard or in the building that would seem to indicate where Reuben might have gone. What about the river that was on the property? Could he have been washed away in that? We're going to get to that. That is one potential theory. So two-year-old Reuben and the bottle that he had been drinking out of at the time were gone.
00:29:39
Speaker
Stephanie relayed that, like you just said, Maggie, just a short distance away lay the canal, the Littlewood River, according to my research. And the police, when they did finally investigate, became convinced
00:29:57
Speaker
that Reuben had somehow gotten out of the yard, walked to an outbuilding, across a potato field, up a little hill or embankment or whatever you want to call it, gone across the railroad tracks, and then walked down a pasture to the river's edge where he then, they theorized, fell in.
00:30:17
Speaker
Sometimes it is very frustrating when police like are so set on one theory. I feel like they miss so many potential clues or like things that could point them in another direction just because they're convinced something happened.
00:30:36
Speaker
And I do kind of feel like that's what happened in this case. Now, when I described, though, that distance that they believe he walked, it sounds like it's really far away. But Stephanie actually told me it was actually pretty close. It's like 200 yards or something, which is still like two football fields. So that's still, you know, a significant walk for a two year old whose legs are like, you know, inches long. Yeah.
00:31:04
Speaker
But I just, I still find it very hard to fathom that Reuben could have walked that distance with how long it would have taken, you know, a two-year-old to do that and over those obstacles. Yes. That's what I was about to say. Yeah. When you're two, you've only been walking for like a year of your life. You're still a toddler. You toddle. Right. I can't imagine him like
00:31:30
Speaker
effectively climbing over railroad ties and through potato fields without falling. I feel like that would be a very long journey for a two year old. Yeah. And remember, there's a gate blocking the path to the river. So that makes this belief of Reuben getting there undetected seem way more crazy to me. Yes.
00:31:53
Speaker
But the police believe that that is what happened, that Reuben wandered off by himself all the way to the river. And they believe that, Maggie, because of two reasons. Number one, police brought in scent dogs that trace Reuben's scent to and across each of those places that I mentioned.
00:32:14
Speaker
And the scent stopped at the river. OK. But OK. One just because they traced his scent does not mean he walked that someone could have been carrying him. Mm hmm. Two if it stopped at the river can dogs smell. Let's say they were like they waited across the river or they were picked up by somebody on the river. Would the dogs be able to follow the scent on water. I don't know that.
00:32:44
Speaker
Yeah, but then I'm thinking about like Crystal Rogers. And there's like that one documentary that's on like Amazon. Oh yeah. The dogs are on the boat and they do like an alert to something on the water. So maybe they can. Well, we want to know, Sleuth Hounds. So if you know, let us know. Yes. But the number two reason that the police believed this river theory is because at the river police noticed a single footprint.
00:33:13
Speaker
on the ground by the riverbank that looked the size of like a toddler's foot. Okay, that doesn't mean he got there by himself. Right. Or even that it was his. Right. Due to those reasons, Stephanie said that law enforcement wouldn't even entertain any other possible scenario. Once law enforcement did zone in on the river though, Maggie, they brought in divers
00:33:43
Speaker
who found nothing. They drug the river no fewer than five times and found nothing. And like, is this a, cause I'm thinking like the river that runs through Pikeville. On normal days, I don't think that the current is very strong. So I wonder if this was like, you know, he would have been washed like miles away. Like I wonder how strong the current is on this little river.
00:34:13
Speaker
Well, I think that's an excellent question Maggie. I'm not sure about the current on the river, but I do know that the Little Wood River, even though it's called Little, it's not so little. It's like 130 mile long river that flows through Idaho. So because of that, because of these kind of seeming clues that are near the river, that's kind of where the scenario
00:34:42
Speaker
comes from, but yet here they are diving, here they are dragging it, and they're finding nothing.
Family Reactions and Search Efforts
00:34:50
Speaker
And so if that's where Reuben had wandered, Stephanie questioned, then why did they find nothing at all? Right. The problem is, Stephanie felt at times that she and Reuben's grandmother Peggy were the only ones searching.
00:35:10
Speaker
She said that it felt so surreal to her that in the months and years that followed Ruben's disappearance, that the rest of the family would speak of Ruben as if he were fine. Like searching for him and for clues didn't consume them the way it did Stephanie and Peggy.
00:35:35
Speaker
Like they didn't even talk about him like he had passed away. We're just talking about him like he's on vacation. That's the impression I got as the way many of the family members spoke about Reuben. And the one detail that kind of stuck with Stephanie is that in the aftermath, she said that they would just let their children play in the yard unattended.
00:36:06
Speaker
Meanwhile, Stephanie and Peggy's whole lives changed. Like they never stopped talking about Reuben and telling a story and they supervised their children even more closely. And I feel like that's what I would do.
00:36:19
Speaker
Yeah, like if a kid, if I was at a park and a kid went missing from this park at the same time I was there, like one, I don't think I would ever take my children back to that park. And if I did, like they would be on a leash, like those backpacks with the leash. Yeah. Yeah. Like I, in my childhood, I was at a family reunion. I think I've told you this. I still to this day am terrified of fireworks because- I don't think you told me this.
00:36:46
Speaker
Oh, well, we were at a family reunion. We were setting off fireworks and they were putting them in a canister so that they would shoot up high in the air. And one of my younger cousins and another cousin who was in from California wanted to go play across the road where they were setting off the fireworks.
00:37:08
Speaker
like in this field and I was standing right next to the young boy's mom and she was like okay but find your dad like let him know that you're over there and he was like okay I will and so they went over across the field to play and all of a sudden we're there watching the fireworks go off and we see that there's a fire across the road
00:37:31
Speaker
And I remember somebody like joking and they were like, oh my gosh, they can't even set off fireworks without, you know, a catastrophe or something. And then because the fire was still going, I remember seeing like a shadow of people, like a line walking back across the road toward us and somebody was carrying something. It was that
00:38:01
Speaker
four year old cousin from California was what he was carrying because the firework, the canister tipped over as the firework was going on and it had exploded right beside his head. And I was standing right next to his mom.
00:38:25
Speaker
And they rushed him to the hospital, I believe, because I was young at the time also, I was like 12. And I believe they flew him to UK and they performed brain surgery, but they couldn't save him. Oh my God. And to this day, like I can watch professionals set off fireworks, like in a distance.
00:38:54
Speaker
But with my little sleuthound, I'm like, you can have sparklers and those little snappy things, and that's it. Yeah. And because of going through trauma, I feel like your perspective on everything having to do with whatever that trauma was related to changes. And the trauma of losing Reuben meant
00:39:19
Speaker
something to Stephanie and Peggy, like something deeper than it seemed to mean for other people in the family. Including Ruben's father, who Stephanie said didn't have anything to do with searching for him. Ruben's stepfather, who didn't have anything to do with searching for him. And even at times, Ruben's mother, Rosanna, who was hesitant to
00:39:48
Speaker
call the police to find out information. And I mean here's Stephanie who she recalled that she even spent her honeymoon putting up missing posters for Ruben. Stephanie began combing the land too on the Tanuba Ranch looking for clues.
00:40:10
Speaker
which that reminded me of Christy Cornwell's brother. Remember him walking his lines, like looking for his sister. That's what it reminded me of. Stephanie and the few others in the family who were helping search.
00:40:26
Speaker
they would place little flags in the ground. So they would know, I thought that was super smart. So they would know where they'd already looked, right? So they're not like wasting time looking in the same spot. About a month after Reuben disappeared, a clue was found. Finally. Cause you know, here we are a month, like nobody's finding anything. So Stephanie told me that one of the little girls who had been outside playing with Reuben that February day,
00:40:57
Speaker
held something up in her hand and yelled, I found his bottle. Oh. Yeah. But instead of feeling elated, Stephanie actually felt quite the opposite emotion, Maggie. Well, like, is she, like, just out in the, like, is it out in, like, the potato field or, like, just out in the yard?
00:41:24
Speaker
And that's part of the reason why Stephanie wasn't like excited and more confused. She stated to me that in this moment, the whole thing to her felt staged, especially when she realized that the spot that the little girl claimed she had just found the bottle was right beside of a flag in the ground.
00:41:50
Speaker
And remember they use the flags to show the areas that they- They'd already looked. Yes. And that bottle, according to Stephanie, was never sent to the police nor the FBI for testing. And instead it sat in Rosanna's home on top of the fridge after it was found. That's strange to me. Me too. And speaking of staged,
00:42:15
Speaker
Stephanie also feels a personal conviction that the footprint by the river was also staged. Because she mused, how can a child that young? Yeah, a child that young isn't going to erase his own footprints, right? So how are there no footprints leading up to the river and only one at the river?
00:42:43
Speaker
And I wonder if it was like with his shoes or like his actual foot, like toes and all. You know what I just thought of when you said that. So if scent dogs smell a piece of clothing to follow a person, if someone took just a piece of clothing,
00:43:12
Speaker
Like if somebody just took off his shoe, say, and carried it all those places to the river and just kind of touched it down on the mud, would the dog still trace Reuben's scent because they were carrying his shoe? We need to know answers to these questions, listeners. Someone has to know these answers. Someone who trains scent dogs.
00:43:37
Speaker
Yeah, we're like, works in law enforcement, we need to know. We need a specialist. And sadly, there hasn't been much new information since. There were people who called after seeing the missing posters that Stephanie had posted, but none of them panned out to be Reuben. And I have only one final detail to share before I give you some theories.
Theories on Reuben's Disappearance
00:44:00
Speaker
Okay. Several years after Reuben disappeared,
00:44:05
Speaker
Rosanna received a phone call from someone who claimed he was Victor Grant, an agent with the FBI. He told Rosanna that he had found out information about Ruben's whereabouts, that he had actually traced Ruben to Guadalajara, Mexico. Wow. He relayed to her his belief that Ruben had been sold to a wealthy family there.
00:44:34
Speaker
and had urged Rosanna to drive to Twin Falls, Idaho where the FBI office was located to speak with him. And Rosanna did. So could I have possibly been like the family member that's going back to Mexico, kidnap Reuben to take him to this rich family?
00:44:50
Speaker
That's another theory we're going to talk about, Maggie. You're getting good at this. Thank you. You're getting good at guessing the theories before the theories. So Rosanna did decide to go. But when Rosanna arrived, she was told that Agent Grant had retired. So he couldn't have called her and that Reuben's case had actually been cold for the previous six years. That no one from the office had called her.
00:45:21
Speaker
Unless like this agent Grant called from like his personal home and had been like kind of figuring this out on his free time. But then why would he have her meet him at the FBI office and not be there? True, true.
00:45:36
Speaker
And it's because of that phone call that many in Ruben's family, including Stephanie, believe that that, that Ruben was sold to a wealthy family in Mexico is exactly what happened to Ruben, which again is a theory that law enforcement has yet to seem willing to entertain. So let's visit the various theories quickly and then I'll ask what you think is most likely. Okay. First.
00:46:05
Speaker
that Reuben drowned in the river. The river was only 200 yards away from where he had been playing. So it's fairly close. Had he fallen in the river, his body could have been carried away in the current, especially with it being hours before anyone began to call or a true search began. To play devil's advocate,
00:46:35
Speaker
shouldn't someone have seen him walking away? Right. How were there no other footprints leading to the river? And how did he get past the gate? Right, like how did he do all these things that were like really impossible for a two-year-old to do? Right. Second theory, and this is where I would normally say Reuben was abducted by a stranger. I want to bring it up because obviously there is a remote possibility.
00:47:06
Speaker
At the same time, I feel like I can't even fully argue this possibility and good conscience because where the barbecue was is too rural. You know, it's not like it's in a public place in a big city where, you know, there's all kinds of strangers passing by. And it was all family who were present. So I feel like they would have noticed if a stranger is also appearing in their midst. And the final theory.
00:47:36
Speaker
is that someone in Aurelio's family sold Ruben to a family in Mexico as the, air quote, FBI agent had told Rosanna. Stephanie and I actually were talking about that phone call and I asked her, I said, you know, do you think that maybe whoever did make the phone call was someone who knew the truth and they were trying to like,
00:48:05
Speaker
clear their conscience, you know, by pretending to be somebody who's saying, I've got this inside her. And she said that she absolutely agrees with that statement. That's exactly what she thinks it was. Stephanie went on to tell me that, and this is, again, obviously this wasn't in any of the newspaper articles. This is her recollection
00:48:30
Speaker
But I wanted to share it. She went on to tell me that Aurelio's brother, the one that they were hosting the barbecue for, the one who went back to Mexico the same day that Ruben disappeared. That when he came back to the U.S., he had a new car, had money for other family members to purchase new cars and had money for his family to put down on a business.
00:49:00
Speaker
Like what feels strange to me about this. Like I feel like in a developing nation it would probably be relatively easy to buy a child. So why did it have to be Reuben that this rich family wanted to purchase. That's a good question. Some other questions too. I mean again
00:49:30
Speaker
On the other hand, like the money could have come from some other means. Right. Right. That Aurelio's brother. Yeah. Could have been coincidence that he left the same day Reuben disappeared. Right. And so those are the theories. What are your thoughts? What's your gut telling you?
00:49:54
Speaker
I mean, out of all three of those, I go feel like the final theory is kind of where my gut says, like what my gut says happened. I don't even know though, if I'm 100% sold on that, even that last theory. Right. Like I do definitely think it had to be somebody that was at this part, this barbecue that took this kid. I just don't know what their purpose in taking him was. Right.
00:50:23
Speaker
I think I'm with you. I lean more toward Ruben being sold to another family than either of the other two explanations. My gut, I keep sticking on the fact that Rosanna's second son got the name Omar, meaning firstborn son. And again, I get that it's part of it was that she wanted to spell out her name, but it still bothers me.
00:50:50
Speaker
I also keep dwelling on the fact that Mexico has one of the highest rates of human trafficking on the globe. And so like this theory that he would be sold. It's not unlikely. Exactly. And I keep coming back to that quote unquote FBI phone call because somebody had to have made that call. Right. And that seems an oddly specific detail
00:51:19
Speaker
to give. Yeah, it's like a very big lie to say. After Stephanie lost her nephew, her whole world changed. And now she watches her own children with an eagle eye. She taught her daughter at a young age how she should protect herself and not go with strangers. She told her daughter Reuben's story as a cautionary tale.
00:51:48
Speaker
She believes that Ruben is in Mexico and perhaps does not know his true identity, but he can recognize a scar he has, a crescent shaped scar on his right wrist. Is it you? Is it a scar you've noticed on a friend or loved one? The missing posters and age progressed photos
00:52:14
Speaker
show a lightly tan skinned handsome man with blue eyes and light brown hair. But that might not be what he looks like. Stephanie used her own children to illustrate her concern over the age progression photos.
00:52:31
Speaker
She said her own son's skin had darkened over time. Reuben's skin tone could be darker and his eyes may have darkened to hazel or brown. And so she thinks perhaps many are seeing the age progressed photo and they're saying, well, that doesn't look like the person I know. The best bet is to focus on the scar and to go from there.
00:52:58
Speaker
Please, Sleuthhounds, if you can take a moment, share Reuben's story. It deserves to be heard. It deserves more than seven newspaper articles. If you have friends or family in Mexico, please share this week's episode with them or share the Facebook post on this episode that will be on Facebook next Monday. And Reuben, if you're out there listening,
00:53:28
Speaker
Your aunt misses you so very much. Here is her message to you. Is there a message that you would want to either give to our listeners or send out to Reuben if by some miraculous reason he were to hear? Hello, baby, baby. Hello. You know, I hope he had a really good life and I hope that, you know, he comes home. Right. You still have hope. I do have a lot of hope for Reuben.
00:53:58
Speaker
I just don't want anybody to forget him. I want him found. And his cousins, I'll talk about him and we still have birthday parties for him. There's still Christmas presents for him that he's never gotten to open. We want him found. I'm hopeful one day. Me too. Anyone with information about Reuben David Felix's whereabouts?
00:54:28
Speaker
or concerning his disappearance, please contact the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office at 208-886-2259.
00:54:41
Speaker
Again, please like and join us on our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast to continue the conversation and to see images related to this episode. As always, follow us on Instagram at Coffee Cases podcast and on TikTok at Coffee and Cases podcast, or you can always email us suggestions to Coffee and Cases podcast at gmail.com.
00:55:03
Speaker
Please tell your friends about our podcast so that more people can be reached to possibly help bring some closure to these families. Don't forget to write our show and leave us a comment as well. We hope to hear from you soon. Stay together. Stay safe. We'll see you next week.