Pod Insights Crime Junkie MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF: Tripp Brazeale About this episode In November 2024, 15-year-old Tripp Brazeale was found hanging from a tree in the middle of the woods of Forrest City, Arkansas. His death was quickly ruled a suicide, but in the weeks and months that followed, details of the case began to emerge that led Tripp's family, friends, and a private investigator to realize things might not be as clear-cut as they were led to believe.
Transcript 14,635 words · 8 speakers
Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:00 Ashley Flowers? Do me a favor. Put all five fingers up. Now, put one down if you have workout saved on Instagram that you haven't gone back to. Put one down if you were gonna go to a workout class this week, but there's just none that the times work out for. Put one down if you don't like working out at home because you don't know what to do and you need someone to push you. Put two fingers down if you want to stop this game. Babe, we are the same. I don't have a lot of time and honestly, I'm not even someone who likes working out. But Ladder actually changed that. I literally had to waddle into the studio to record this because my butt is so sore. Ladder is quick. I'm not wasting time wandering around or doing reps of something that won't matter. I'm in, I'm out. I have a coach along the way who can help me make 30 minutes with weights feel better than two hours of whatever I was doing before. And it's $1 a day.
0:45 Ashley Flowers? So if price was ever stopping you before, you're officially out of excuses. Remove the guesswork with Ladder and get a real coach in your ear telling you exactly what to do for every workout. No thinking, everything planned for you. If you have an iPhone, head to ladder.fit/crimejunkie and take a quick quiz to find your perfect ladder plan. Use my link and get a free seven-day trial with no credit card and $10 off your first month if you join.
1:13 Speaker 01 89% of dog parents call their pup their best friend and 31% willingly share their dinner fork. Pure obsession. That's why Ollie exists. To match that devotion with fresh, chef-crafted food delivered straight to your door. Ollie's fresh recipes like fresh beef with sweet potatoes are vet customized to exact calorie needs. Pups go crazy for the flavor and the benefits speak for themselves. Vibrant energy, a noticeably shinier coat, and better digestion. Plus, the Ollie app keeps care effortless with a custom well-being score and on-demand vet support for quick advice on digestion or weight. Our dog, Birdie, is a big fan of Ollie and I'm a fan of knowing more about her health, plus the support I need with the custom well-being score on the Ollie app. Get ready for both you and your pup to be obsessed.
1:57 Speaker 01 Head to ollie.com/crimejunkie, tell them all about your dog, and use code CRIMEJUNKIE to get 70% off your welcome kit when you subscribe today. Plus, it's risk-free with their obsession guarantee. That's O-L-L-I-E dot com slash crime junkie and enter code CRIMEJUNKIE to get 70% off your first box. Ollie, feed the obsession.
2:23 Ashley Flowers? It's 12:40 a.m. on November 3rd, 2024, and St. Francis County Deputy Trey Bynum is in hot pursuit. He's on a rural road in Forest City, Arkansas, chasing someone on a four-wheeler, and they are both booking it down this windy road in the dark.
2:43 Ashley Flowers? From the sound of it, Bynum is right on their tail. So when they come onto this raised dirt berm in the road, almost at once, both the four-wheeler and Bynum's truck go airborne before crashing back down to the road.
2:59 Ashley Flowers? Now, both vehicles get turned around, but something happens to the four-wheeler, and it stops suddenly. So Bynum slams on his brakes and calls out to the rider.
3:10 Speaker 02 Get on the ground!
3:13 Ashley Flowers? But before he can even approach the four-wheeler, the rider is on foot. He hops a fence and darts into the woods. It's all so fast that by the time Bynum draws his service weapon and aims for the woods, the rider is gone. Now, rather than jumping the fence and following him into the woods in the dark, Bynum decides to run back to his truck and call in the staff over his radio.
3:37 Speaker 02 Hey, wrecked out, I got the four-wheeler.
3:39 Ashley Flowers? There was another deputy following close behind, Sergeant David Kinney. So it only takes a minute for him to pull up.
3:48 Speaker 02 I'm good, but we went up the ditch.
3:52 Speaker 02 I said, "I'm good, but we went up that ditch right there." Both of us, me and him both.
3:58 Speaker 02 I need the trailer, because I'm towing that one. There's gonna be a white male on a camouflage hoodie and blue jeans, look like he went off that way.
4:06 Speaker 02 Did he roll it or something? He turned it and jumped off and took off running across the field.
4:12 Ashley Flowers? So Sergeant Kinney goes to get the trailer so that they can tow the four wheeler while more backup begins arriving and several deputies begin to assist in this manhunt. But they're having no luck, not after 4:20 a.m. when Kinney comes back and calls the fire department and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to come and set up thermal night vision drones to assist. Or after 7:20 a.m. when the East Arkansas Department of Corrections brings tracking dogs to the scene. Though they do find signs of the man who fled on foot. Deputies locate a boot and a hat a short distance from where he entered the woods.
4:50 Speaker 01 Just one boot?
4:51 Ashley Flowers? Just one. But even with this physical trail, for some reason, the canines aren't able to track his path. By the time daylight breaks, authorities are no closer to finding their man. So they decide to call in even more reinforcements. By that afternoon, there's not only the sheriff's deputies searching, but also state police troopers, the state emergency response team, two local fire departments, Forrest City police officers, and volunteers. They create a search grid and form eight teams to deploy in different areas. And they do end up finding a second boot, a wallet, a phone charger, and hoodie.
5:35 Ashley Flowers? But their man is still in the wind. And almost 19 hours after they first began their pursuit, at 7:18 p.m., the manhunt is called off due to the dark, and it is set to resume the next morning. So they pick up again in the morning, but it's not until late afternoon, around 2:12 p.m. as their search radius widens, that one of the groups finds several footprints in a creek. A search of the creek bed comes up empty, but one Game and Fish warden notices a trail of broken twigs from the creek leading up to the base of a steep ridge. She follows it, one step at a time, and when she looks up, she sees who they were all
6:20 Ashley Flowers? after, and he is hanging from a tree at the top of the ridge with a green ratchet strap around his neck. Now, his death is ultimately ruled a suicide by ligature hanging. The assumption being that this rider took his life, maybe so he didn't have to face the consequences. But Arkansas State Police still conducts a death investigation anyway. And as part of it, on November 12th, over a week after the chase that set off this tragic chain of events, ASP Senior Special Agent Andre Mack interviews both Deputy Bynum and Sergeant Kenny. Both interviews are recorded, and both men tell pretty much the same story.
7:04 Ashley Flowers? So I'm just gonna play you part of Bynum's interview, edited for clarity.
7:09 Speaker 03 So you know the reason why I'm here to interview you and everything? The only reason, we're trying to figure out what happened prior, if that makes any sense. So you can relax, and ain't nothing to be all stressed out about. I'm not reading your rights and nothing like that. I saw the video and everything. But just kind of describe what all took place and how you got to there and how you got, you know, all the way to the end. You can just, I mean, I'm on the subject. Let you tell them.
7:41 Speaker 04 I'm not 100% on the actual times that we got the call before that.
7:44 Speaker 03 That's fine, that's fine.
7:46 Speaker 04 But we got a call to SFC 308, I think the address was a 7-Eleven, SFC 308, to be exact, for a ping that was due to two missing juveniles out of across County Arkansas. A little boy and a little girl, 11 and 12 years old. Myself, Deputy Gage Milton, and Sergeant Kenny all arrived on scene, checked the location and everything. While we were there, checking everything, we could hear a number of four-wheelers or ATVs, so to speak, making a loud ruckus through the neighborhood. Aerodynamic speeds and just obnoxious. So we cleared that residence from the 901 ping from that cell phone that was showing
8:31 Speaker 04 that that juvenile was there, but we did not find anybody there.
8:38 Speaker 04 As we were getting back in the trucks to clear the area, Sergeant Kenny turned out of three oh eight on the SFC three thirteen back up to two eighty four. There was two four-wheelers sitting at the stop sign. Sergeant Kenny spoke with the individuals, and that's when one of the four-wheelers took off. And the four-wheeler turned around and come past us at a high rate of speed. I initiated my blue lights and my audible siren to make a traffic stop on the four-wheeler. And then that's when the chase began. Um, we went down SFC four oh nine for about a mile, mile and a half. And then we both went up a little hill,
9:19 Speaker 04 and then back down, and that's when the four-wheeler lost connection with the battery cable and the, um, solenoid, and the four-wheeler died. The individuals that was riding the four-wheeler, wearing a camel hoodie, blue jeans, and boots, took off running through the woods.
9:35 Speaker 03 Sounds good. Um, what about, uh, did you know who the guy was that ran from him at the time? You know now, but you didn't probably know at the time.
9:44 Speaker 04 Yeah, when I found out was approximately fifteen to twenty minutes later while waiting on Sergeant Kenny bringing the trailer back from the sheriff's department.
9:52 Ashley Flowers? Bynum says he never had any personal interaction with the individual. And this is important because you see, it seems like part of the reason this investigation is even happening is because in the week following the incident, rumors had begun to take hold in the minds of the small-town community members in Forrest City. Rumors that this manhunt and this tragic suicide wasn't at all what authorities were claiming it to be.
10:25 Speaker 04 And this is on the News Channel Three website, where they were making comments. And it says right there by.
10:35 Speaker 04 That they personally thought that the deputy shot him and then hung him.
10:42 Ashley Flowers? Any amount of real reporting will show you that nothing is what it seems in this case. That man that they were looking for was actually a 15-year-old boy. And there is a very good reason that people in Forrest City, including his parents, think that they're being lied to. And I have a feeling you'll think that too, once you hear the full story of the night Trip Brazil died.
11:36 Ashley Flowers? I don't know if this is just a Midwest thing, or a me thing, but I get a rush of excitement when I score an incredible bargain. And I am one of those people who feel compelled to tell anyone about it when given the chance. So like, I'm the person who immediately responds to a compliment like, "Thanks, I got it on sale," or "Thanks, got it on Whatnot." And if you haven't tried Whatnot, then you're missing out on some great deals to brag about. Whatnot is the number one live shopping app in the US, where shopping happens in real time with real people, real conversations, and incredible deals. You almost never pay full price. You can shop name brands across makeup, perfume, clothes, handbags, jewelry, and more. When I say more, there is literally everything. I have gotten lost in the estate
12:17 Ashley Flowers? sale side of the app. You can find so many treasures without even leaving your couch. Download Whatnot today and get $20 off your first purchase. Search "Whatnot," W-H-A-T-N-O-T, in the App Store. Sign up and start finding the best deals on the products you love with $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.
12:37 Speaker 01 Everyone has those go-to wardrobe staples that get reached for constantly. The sweater that works with everything, the perfect-fitting jeans, or the bag carried everywhere. Quince specializes in those exact, permanent fixtures. Quince creates elevated essentials using luxury materials like organic cotton, washable silk, and 100% Mongolian cashmere, with cashmere sweaters starting at just $50. Beyond knitwear, the collection includes premium stretch denim, leather bags, footwear, and 14-karat gold jewelry designed to pull any look together. By partnering directly with ethical factories and removing middleman markups, Quince offers high-end quality at 50% to 80% less than comparable brands. That same approach extends beyond clothing into home goods, including hotel-quality bedding, bath, kitchen essentials, and thoughtfully-designed furniture.
13:20 Speaker 01 Quince has been my go-to for wardrobe staples for years now, but I recently started upgrading my bedding, towels, and even some kitchen essentials from Quince. And as usual, the quality of the items are impeccable, the aesthetic is unmatched, and the price is unbelievable. Find the fall pieces you'll reach for most at Quince. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to quince.com/crimejunkie. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash crime junkie.
13:54 Ashley Flowers? The comment that appeared on the News Channel 3 website, the one where a community member implied that a St. Francis County deputy shot Trip and then hung him, that didn't just come out of nowhere. There are a number of discrepancies, and gaps, and red flags in this death investigation that led people, specifically Trip's family, friends, and a private investigator, to the conclusion that everything is not as it seemed. And for you to understand, we need to go back to the beginning, to hear about the events of November 3rd from a different perspective: Trip's parents. But before I go any further, I want to note that Deputy Trey Bynum, Sergeant David Kinney,
14:39 Ashley Flowers? and SSA Andre Mack declined to speak with us for this episode. So their side of things comes from the investigative files. Those files, though, and what we learned from speaking to Trip's parents and the PI that they later hired to help them, leave a lot of unanswered questions. So, let's rewind. Jennifer and Gil Brazil shared that on Saturday, November 2nd, Trip was riding four-wheelers all day with his brother and his younger sister. And according to them, riding was Trip's passion. He was a pro rider at 15, wearing out three dirt bikes a year. Jennifer said that if it did not involve riding a dirt bike or a four-wheeler, Trip wasn't interested. It's part of the reason that he was homeschooled.
15:23 Ashley Flowers? Now, when Trip wasn't doing schoolwork or laying tile with the flooring company that he worked for, he was riding. So, the night of November 2nd, after he's riding with his siblings, he goes to a birthday party before then, meeting up with his uncle and a family friend to ride around some more. That's who Trip was with when Sergeant Kinney approached him in the early morning hours of November 3rd, right before Trip took off and the pursuit began. But what deputies didn't know is that about 40 minutes after Trip jumped off his ATV and ran into the woods, while they had deputies out actively looking for him, he called his mom. That call woke Jennifer and Gil up, but they were glad that it did because their son was asking for help.
16:08 Ashley Flowers? Trip told them that the police got his four-wheeler and asked if they could come pick him up. And the way he said it didn't make it seem like police were chasing him or anything. Maybe he downplayed it the way that like teenagers do, but all Jennifer was hearing was that he was stranded and needed a ride. So, she was in the process of telling him that they would get dressed, they would head over, and that's when Gil's phone started ringing. And on the other end of his line was a deputy that he knew named Jason Bradshaw. And Bradshaw was asking if Trip was home. Said that he and some other guys from the department were out there looking for him. And I think maybe this is when like the pieces started to click into place more. And honestly, whatever was happening, this felt like a good thing
16:52 Ashley Flowers? since Gil knew Bradshaw, Trip knew Bradshaw too. So Gil took Jennifer's phone and told Trip, "Listen, Bradshaw is out there. If you want to just go turn yourself in, go ahead." So that was the plan. Wherever Trip was in the woods, he said that he could see the blue lights from the deputy's vehicles. He said that he was gonna start walking up the hill to turn himself in. And his parents could see his location from the Find My app, and they said that they were gonna meet him there. And they actually wanted him to stay on the phone with them, but Trip said that his phone was almost out of battery, and so they hung up. Now, as the Brazils are getting dressed and they're preparing to leave, there isn't panic in the air. Like, their teenage son probably did something dumb on his ATV, and like, truly in the grand scheme
17:36 Ashley Flowers? of parenting, like, the stakes for this feel low. But the mood completely shifts when around 20 minutes later, a text from Trip's phone comes in. And it doesn't make sense with the conversation they just had. It says that he loves them, and he loves his sister, and he's sorry to do this. He says that he wants all of his stuff to go to his brother. And it goes on to read, quote, "I love you all so much. Y'all have been great parents to me. I guess I'm just a [bleep] up, and I couldn't change that. I wish I could have. I'm sorry, none of this is y'all's fault, only mine. I love y'all, I'm sorry, I should've stopped, but I'm a dumbass. I love y'all so much. My phone is about to die, so I got to go. I hope this makes it to y'all.
18:21 Ashley Flowers? I never wanted to end this way, but I guess it has to. I love y'all. I'm so sorry." Now, this text immediately sounded alarm bells for Jennifer, but not because of the content. It was because of the wording itself. Jennifer said that the text did not sound like Trip at all. Like, he would never say those things. He never talked that way. He definitely never texted in long paragraphs like that. Like, this was all one big message. But the thought of her son taking his own life wasn't even one that crossed her mind. So she just replied, "I'm on my way." The text that she got back was more of the same. It said, quote, "I'm so sorry. I love y'all so much.
19:05 Ashley Flowers? Y'all are the greatest parents anybody could ask for. I love y'all more than anything." End quote.
19:13 Ashley Flowers? Eight minutes later, Gil and Jennifer pulled up to the woods and began walking to the exact spot where Tripp's phone last showed his location. It wasn't actively tracking him anymore, but they knew where he was just moments ago. Except, when they got there, there was no Tripp. And even weirder, they didn't see anyone else around. No deputies, no patrol cars, no lights, nothing. Just the dark and eerily quiet woods. They tried calling Tripp, but by then, his phone was going straight to voicemail. So not knowing what else to do, they started looking for their son themselves with flashlights and an app that Gil used to make a search grid.
19:56 Ashley Flowers? And they just began walking back and forth in the woods yelling Tripp's name. And while doing this, they don't see a soul. Again, not Tripp, but maybe more concerningly, not a single deputy.
20:08 Speaker 01 Yeah, where is everyone who was looking for him?
20:10 Ashley Flowers? So, per body cam timestamps and Bynum's own narrative report, it seems like he and Kenny are towing Tripp's four-wheeler to the sheriff's office at this point. And the sheriff's office is like six-ish miles away.
20:25 Speaker 01 Okay, that's two of them. What about everyone else?
20:27 Ashley Flowers? I don't know who else is supposed to be out there looking, or where exactly they are. All I know is that Jennifer said when her and Gil arrived, they were searching by themselves for a long time. They said hours. In all that time, they said they never saw any deputies. And they're just confused and looking around on their own until Gil gets a call from Sergeant Kenny. According to Bynum's report, this call is made right around 2:15 a.m., which lines up with what the Brazils remember too.
20:59 Speaker 01 So, how did he have his number?
21:01 Ashley Flowers? A small city. I mean, and actually Gil used to be in law enforcement. He actually trained Kenny back in the day.
21:07 Speaker 01 Oh.
21:08 Ashley Flowers? And Tripp's older brother was friends with Kenny's son. So like-
21:13 Speaker 01 Just a small network of people.
21:14 Ashley Flowers? Yeah, it's not weird that he calls. But what he says kinda is weird. Kenny called Gil to ask if he had found or heard anything more from Tripp. And Gil's like, "No, and why are we the only ones out here looking for him?"
21:29 Speaker 01 Right.
21:30 Ashley Flowers? Like, he's kinda pissed at this point that they're more worried about towing the four-wheeler than looking for his 15-year-old son who is presumably lost out there in like the woods that he's not even familiar with. So according to Bynum's report, that's when Kenny went back out to continue searching.
21:45 Speaker 01 But just Kenny, not Bynum?
21:47 Ashley Flowers? No, Bynum writes that during that time, he and another deputy continued working leads for that other two missing juveniles from cross-county, the whole reason that they were out there that night to begin with. And so he basically says that he is tied up with that until like 3:45 a.m. and then that's when he links up with the people looking for Tripp. And we know that it's sometime after that when the search really picks up with like the drones and the dogs and everything. Now, I want to point out the first two like really big wait what moments in this story. When we started the story, it sounded like a manhunt.
22:23 Speaker 01 Yeah.
22:24 Ashley Flowers? They were never hunting for a criminal. Every bit of this search was always a search for a missing kid. The kid is missing because the ATV he was riding stopped working after he was chased on it by deputies. He was being chased by deputies because, oh wait, apparently, no one can say. Here is another excerpt from Bynum's interview with SSA Matt.
22:52 Speaker 03 So, so we can get some clarification on one thing, you know, because it'll be brought up. The reason why you was fleeing him, you was chasing him was because it appeared to you he was fleeing from David Kenny?
23:08 Speaker 04 Yes, sir.
23:10 Speaker 03 And do you know why David Kenny even stopped him? Or he was just, was he just doing a welfare check on him? Was there a reason for him to stop? Was he on a road that wasn't supposed to have no four-wheelers?
23:19 Speaker 04 It was on Highway 284 and in the area of that neighborhood that we was on, driving at a rate of speeds and obnoxiously.
23:27 Speaker 03 And so, do y'all think y'all might have, he made, this person, they may have been a part of that? A kid that may have been missing is pinging in Cross County, um, from Cross County?
23:36 Speaker 04 No, sir. I don't. Uh, these two, like I said, was eleven and twelve years old.
23:41 Speaker 03 Okay. So you just, oh, in that area, but then ran across them and decided to
23:46 Speaker 04 Yes.
23:46 Speaker 03 check them. The reason why I was sa- saying that because it's late at night?
23:50 Speaker 04 Late at night, Highway two eighty-four.
23:53 Speaker 03 But, but, but.
23:54 Speaker 04 A lot of people driving through there at that time, you know, someone's intoxicated and stuff like that.
23:59 Speaker 03 So your rea- give me your reason for chasing him. I want to make sure I understood your reason.
24:04 Speaker 04 I needed the blue lights and the sirens for the four wheeler to stop and it didn't stop.
24:08 Speaker 03 Okay. But what was the probable cause, I guess what I'm trying to say?
24:12 Speaker 04 The excessive speeds and.
24:15 Speaker 03 You understand what I'm saying?
24:16 Speaker 04 Highways.
24:17 Speaker 03 Yeah. Um, did you, did you clock them on radar?
24:21 Speaker 04 No, sir.
24:22 Speaker 03 No, I'm not trying to, you know what I'm saying?
24:23 Speaker 04 I understand.
24:24 Speaker 03 I won't, because what the family gonna say is
24:27 Speaker 04 I understand.
24:27 Speaker 03 this and that and the other, you know what I'm saying? So.
24:29 Speaker 04 I know my truck's speed and the four wheeler's speed on Highway two eighty-four was probably around eighty miles an hour.
24:38 Speaker 03 Okay. Sounds good.
24:41 Speaker 01 Sounds good? Uh, those are barely answers. Would Trip have even been speeding if he wasn't, I don't know, being chased by them?
24:49 Ashley Flowers? This is at the heart of everything for me. Why was he being chased?
24:56 Speaker 01 Yeah.
24:56 Ashley Flowers? It seems like they can't say. I mean, you saw the footage for yourself. Like, could he have slowed down safely with a Dodge Ram truck right behind him going eighty miles per hour? So to try and answer some of these questions, we reached out to the Saint Francis County Sheriff's Office. They declined to sit down for an interview, referring us to ASP for any questions, the Arkansas State Police. But they did provide some helpful information, specifically their agency pursuit policy. So I'm gonna have a voice actor read it.
25:28 Speaker 05 Policy. Vehicular pursuit of fleeing suspects presents a danger to the lives of the public, officers, and suspects involved in the pursuit. It is the policy of this department to protect all persons' lives to the extent possible when enforcing the law. In addition, it is the responsibility of the department to assist officers in the safe performance of their duties. To effect these obligations, it shall be the policy of the department to narrowly regulate the manner in which vehicular pursuit is undertaken and performed.
25:55 Speaker 01 Another part of their policy reads this.
25:57 Speaker 05 "The decision to initiate pursuit must be based on the pursuing officer's conclusion that the immediate danger to the public created by the pursuit is less than the immediate or potential danger to the public should the suspect remain at large."
26:09 Ashley Flowers? If an officer does decide to initiate a pursuit, they have to immediately notify communications center personnel and give the following information. A: Unit identification. B: Location, speed, and direction of travel of the fleeing vehicle. C: Description and license plate number if known of the fleeing vehicle. D: Number of occupants in the fleeing vehicle and descriptions where possible. And E: Reasons supporting the decision to pursue.
26:43 Speaker 01 Why they were chasing him in the first place.
26:45 Ashley Flowers? From what we can hear, Bynum doesn't give much of this information. And definitely no reason supporting the decision to pursue.
26:55 Speaker 01 Did Kenny call it in at all? Like, he's the one that went out there to the riders first, right?
27:00 Ashley Flowers? He was, but there's no documentation showing that he called anything in. There is only two times in the materials that we've obtained where Kenny talks about what led up to this chase. And it's not all that enlightening. One time is in his interview with SSA MAC, which is, again, over a week after the incident. And Kenny talks about how they were all at that house investigating that tip in the other case. And as they were wrapping up there, a couple of four-wheelers went by at a high rate of speed. He doesn't chase them, but it sounds like he catches up with them down the road and everyone is stopped. But as he was getting out of the truck to go talk to them, one of the riders takes off on the four-wheeler.
27:39 Speaker 06 He went a couple hundred yards and stopped. Looked over his shoulder. I said, "Where's he going?" One of the kids popped up and said, "We don't know, sir." And I said, "So he's just gonna leave y'all here?" He said, "That's what it looks like." Well, he come back by and he was approaching. He was slowing down like he was gonna stop. Well, I was unaware that my two deputies that were with me, I thought they went out the other way. But one of them come up behind me, pulled up beside me. And as the kid on the four wheeler was approaching, he took off. Then the pursuit was on.
28:14 Ashley Flowers? Now, the one other time Kenny talks about what preceded the pursuit was when he was captured on Bynum's body cam. This is right when Kenny had supposedly like just gotten back with the trailer to tow the four wheeler.
28:28 Speaker 06 Yeah, so I was just gonna talk to them, ask them where they were going. And, you know, while they were running through the...
28:35 Ashley Flowers? That's the moment where Bynum reaches his hand up to cut his cam before Kenny can say anything more.
28:44 Speaker 01 Wait, he turned off his body cam?
28:46 Ashley Flowers? He did, for the second time that night.
28:51 Speaker 01 What do you mean, "second time that night"?
28:54 Ashley Flowers? I mean, that I haven't even gotten to the most suspicious can of worms, the missing time. We have Bynum's body cam footage from the night of the pursuit, right? Like, it shows the pursuit. It shows the towing of Tripp's four wheeler. But what I haven't mentioned yet is that these two things didn't happen in quick succession. Not even close. There is a 49-minute gap between when Bynum turns off his body cam after he stops his truck, and when he turns it back on to tow the four wheeler. And when he does reactivate his body cam after that time, he all of a sudden just happens to be wearing latex gloves.
29:45 Speaker 01 Ever check a bank statement and discover payments for a forgotten streaming service? I know unwanted subscriptions happen all too easily, quietly draining hard-earned cash every month. That is where Rocket Money comes to the rescue. Rocket Money identifies all recurring charges and lets users cancel unwanted subscriptions directly within the app in just a few taps. No long phone calls or tedious customer service loops required. Beyond subscription management, the app seamlessly consolidates checking, savings, loans, and investments into one clear dashboard to give a complete, real-time view of your financial picture. It even sets customizable budgets and sends instant alerts for upcoming bills, large transactions, or low balances. Stop paying for things that go unused and regain full control of monthly spending. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find
30:28 Speaker 01 and cancel unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps you lower your bills so you can grow your savings. Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at rocketmoney.com/crimejunkie. That's rocketmoney.com/crimejunkie. Rocketmoney.com/crimejunkie. Navigating unexpected body changes or sudden mood shifts can feel completely overwhelming. That unsettling thought of, "What is happening to me?" And unfortunately, when it comes to seeking hormonal health support, most women walk out of a doctor's office with no real answers. However, discovering Midi Health means finally finding clarity. Midi Health exists to change that narrative with expert clinical care built specifically for women navigating hormonal shifts. Midi isn't another one-size-fits-all telehealth platform.
31:12 Speaker 01 It's virtual care exclusively focused on women's hormonal health, built by women who understand what patients go through firsthand. Care is covered by most major insurance plans, and getting started is easy, too. Just visit joinmidi.com, share a little about your symptoms, and get matched with a trained clinician. My favorite part? Appointments are available in days, not months. Clinicians offer personalized care plans spanning hormonal treatments, non-hormonal options, and targeted supplements. It's time to get back to feeling like you again. Visit joinmidi.com right now to book your first visit today. That's joinmidi.com to book your first visit. Joinmidi.com. Insurance coverage varies. Check with your plan for coverage.
31:55 Ashley Flowers? Before I get into the almost hour of time missing from Bynum's body cam, I want to talk you through some of the important and strange details that the Brazils learn through their records requests and the work of their P.I. And this P.I. is a former detective named Cody Turner. And I think this is going to help you understand how critical the missing window of time actually is. So let's go back to when this pursuit began. We don't know why it started. There was no probable cause to go after Trip on the ATV. But his parents start hearing concerning things from people in the community that make them wonder if Trip was chased just because he was Trip. The Brazils say that Trip had plenty of run-ins with law enforcement.
32:40 Ashley Flowers? Now, he'd never been arrested or anything, but he'd certainly been stopped on his four-wheeler before. And they say that he knew Bynum and Kenny. Now, we weren't able to corroborate this next part, but Gil told us that in the months leading up to the pursuit, a state trooper warned Gil that members of the sheriff's office were, quote, "hunting his son", which was obviously worrisome. Yeah. So the Brazils specifically told Trip, before all this, to be careful. And a woman that we spoke to, named Sandra Davis, who lived near the Brazils and who helped in the search for Trip, she told us that about a week before Trip's death, he rode his dirt bike up her driveway and back behind her house. And when she asked him what he was doing, he seemed really, genuinely scared.
33:25 Ashley Flowers? And he said that someone was after him, and, quote, "If he catches me, he's gonna kill me." Who is he? Sandra said that Trip never specified. But a few minutes later, she saw a sheriff's office vehicle go down the road, and then Trip said, "Okay, maybe he's gone, so I can go." So it seems like Trip was clearly aware of someone in the sheriff's office. And we know that Trip's dad trained Kenny. Trip's brother was friends with Kenny's son. But there's this weird distancing that both Bynum and Kenny do, where they say that they don't even know Trip. Kenny says that he wouldn't know Trip if he walked up and spit on him.
34:08 Speaker 01 Okay, even if you want to say you didn't know he was the one on the ATV, you said this is like a really, like a pretty small community. Like, why pretend you have no idea who this kid even is?
34:18 Ashley Flowers? I don't know. I mean, one thing that makes the text seem like they're from Trip, right? Is that he mentions his siblings by name.
34:26 Speaker 01 But Kenny's admitting to knowing Trip's brother.
34:29 Ashley Flowers? Right, so it's, I know, it's weird. And Kenny also says that in the three years with the department, he had never heard of any law enforcement involvement with like Trip's name. And both he and Bynum insist that they had no idea who was on that four-wheeler when the chase began. Except then, why did Bradshaw call Gil at around 1:21 saying that deputies were looking for Trip?
34:55 Speaker 01 Oh, yeah.
34:56 Ashley Flowers? Obviously, this is concerning to Trip's parents. Well, by the time Bynum and Kenny are interviewed, there's an explanation. Apparently, at 12:59 a.m., dispatch received an anonymous call from someone who said that they knew the individual on the four-wheeler was Trip, and they had his location. The caller said that he was spotted behind a church that was like down the road from the crash site, or like, or where the ATV stopped.
35:27 Speaker 01 Wait, just like a random call? Like, from someone? And this is like, this wasn't known, right? There wasn't like an alert that like, no BOLO, no one knew that they were looking for someone. It's just a random call saying like, "I don't know if you need to know this, but Trip is out behind this church."
35:45 Ashley Flowers? And by the way, this is like 1 o'clock in the morning. To your point, like, yes, you might have heard some like-
35:50 Speaker 01 Or it's like seen sirens, like-
35:51 Ashley Flowers? Commotion. But yeah, it's not like they've put out this like statewide alert, or like, there's no news about this yet, there's like nothing. But there's a 911 call with someone saying that, "Oh, here's the person you're looking for." How do they even know they're looking for him?
36:05 Speaker 01 That's exactly what I was gonna say.
36:06 Ashley Flowers? And here's what stinks about this even more. Anything about who this caller was, or how they knew it was Trip, is redacted in all of the materials that we received. They will not reveal who called. And they say it's because the caller wanted to remain anonymous. But like, it makes zero sense to me. Like, you don't need to protect a witness here. If this is a straightforward suicide case-
36:30 Speaker 01 I'm saying, there's nothing to witness, right?
36:31 Ashley Flowers? That's what everyone is saying. Like, just tell us who called. Where is that person in the community? Like, this case has gotten traction in the community. That one person could probably solve a lot. Where are they? Also, this isn't like, a neighborhood.
36:45 Speaker 01 No, it's like reminding me of like, where I grew up, right? Where there's just like, land and land- Exactly. And then some trees, and a couple houses here and there, but not like, on top of each other, right?
36:53 Ashley Flowers? No, there are really just like, a few properties out this way. Literally just three, that are even within like, a half mile of the church, where this caller is saying like, he's in like, the woods behind. And by the way, one of those people claims that they weren't even home that night. So who called?
37:09 Speaker 01 Could it be the people that Trip was riding with? Like, wouldn't they have told Kenny who was with them? Like, when can he stop them, though?
37:15 Ashley Flowers? I'm sure they would have, like, given Trip's name, given the opportunity. But Kenny didn't stick around. It seems like, once Trip like, takes off, and then like, everything happens kinda quick. Like, Bynum comes up, he takes off, Kenny like, jumps back in his car, basically tells these other guys to go home. And Jennifer says that she doesn't think any of these people were the ones to have called. But you wanna know something weird? I don't know how common, like, the Bynum last name is in this part of Arkansas, but one of the three houses that I mentioned, like, in a-
37:47 Speaker 01 The only places that are close to this area.
37:49 Ashley Flowers? Right. It's tied to someone with the last name Bynum. But, here's the caveat. Like, we pulled a bunch of records. I can't tie any of those Bynums to Deputy Bynum.
38:02 Speaker 01 Oh.
38:02 Ashley Flowers? So it might just be like, the weirdest coincidence of the century. So, we've got all of that.
38:08 Speaker 01 All of that.
38:09 Ashley Flowers? Onto my wait-what moment number two.
38:13 Ashley Flowers? So we don't know why the chase started. An anonymous person calls into ID Trip as the kid that they're looking for.
38:18 Speaker 01 And we don't know why or how they know that.
38:20 Ashley Flowers? So Bradshaw calls Gil while Jennifer is on the phone with Trip. Parents tell Trip, "Turn yourself in." He says he's gonna start walking toward the blue lights.
38:27 Speaker 01 Which he can see from wherever he is.
38:28 Ashley Flowers? Then they get the weird text from him. But when they get out to the location where his phone last pinged, there is nothing.
38:34 Speaker 01 And no one.
38:35 Ashley Flowers? So, they had to start searching themselves, right? Former law enforcement dad, I told you, he set up his own grid. He knows what he's doing. Now, once other first responders showed up, they began guiding the search and setting up their own grid maps. But there are three weird things about this search. One, the location of Trip's things that are found makes no sense to me. So the road that they're on, 409, it is a small road. Forests, woods on either side, few houses. They're traveling east, think left to right. They hit the berm, the ATV stops, and it actually like turns them around. So now they're like facing west.
39:19 Ashley Flowers? Trip runs into the woods just north of the road. That's where one of his boots and his hat is found.
39:26 Speaker 01 Okay.
39:26 Ashley Flowers? Then, the call about him being spotted at 12:59, that is like west of this road, this like behind this church area, right? But then, all of Trip's other stuff, and eventually him, is found south of the road. Like, he would've had to cross back over.
39:45 Speaker 01 Yeah.
39:46 Ashley Flowers? Which is just odd to me when you really look at the map and also like how spread out everything is. Like, I just don't understand the path that he would've taken on his own.
39:55 Speaker 01 And like, not run into other people.
39:57 Ashley Flowers? Right, but that is assuming that all of the items found were left by Trip. But what if they weren't? Where Trip's sweatshirt and phone charger end up being found? This is the second weird thing. Gil says that he swears he had walked through that area over a dozen times that night, and he never saw anything at all. Now, it was a camo hoodie.
40:22 Speaker 01 Okay, but they're literally looking for a camo hoodie. Like, yeah, I feel like you'd see it, because that's what you're looking for.
40:29 Ashley Flowers? Yes, so that's weird. I don't know how to explain it. Again, it was dark, you probably could make excuses. But let me tell you about weird thing number three. So remember Sandra Davis? She's the neighbor whose house Trip hit at that one time. So she also had like come out to help with the search. And she told us that when she and her husband got to the search area to help on November 4th, there were a lot of people by that point. So her and her husband told a nearby deputy that he would go park at a friend's house in this place called Crow Creek. But according to Sandra, the deputy responded, "You better not go to Crow Creek. That's done, been searched. You are not going to Crow Creek. You go to Crow Creek, I'll have you arrested." "For what?" Sandra's husband asked.
41:14 Ashley Flowers? And apparently, the deputy just said, "Don't go there, it's already been checked." Except, guess where Trip ends up being found that very same day? In the area of Crow Creek. Which, weird. The Brazils say that area was right outside of the search grid, the one that the deputies set up. So it theoretically actually shouldn't have been checked when Sandra's husband was being told that they'd already looked there. So, fine. Say the parents missed the items because it was dark, or whatever reason you want to give. And say that everyone's wires just got crossed,
41:57 Ashley Flowers? or there was miscommunication, or like straight up bad luck, and that's why Trip wasn't found earlier by searchers. Let's then talk about how he would have gotten to the place where he was found. It was a game and fish warden who found Trip. And in the game and fish commission's incident report, they recorded the exact coordinates of his location. So Cody, the PI, and the Brazils took those values, went out into the woods themselves to try and find the exact tree where Trip would have been found. And they did. They even later got confirmation from some law enforcement materials that it was the right tree. Now, if you look on a map, the exact location is about a mile and a half south of where Trip jumped off his ATV, like as the crow flies.
42:41 Ashley Flowers? But it was pitch black out there that night. There is no walking path or anything that Trip could have taken. The terrain is what Gil described as, quote, "violent ground" with like broken bottles, barbed wire, ditches, snakes. And he knows this because he and Cody have walked this path that Trip would have taken multiple times since his death at night. And they say that it would have taken hours on foot. And that's with shoes. Trip's first boot, remember, is found pretty close to the ATV.
43:12 Speaker 01 Right.
43:13 Ashley Flowers? The second boot is found in the woods, the ones like south of the road, maybe like a quarter of the way into the trees, like based on where he's found. That means that he would have had to have made this like hours-long trek without shoes over whatever is on the forest floor, man-made or otherwise. So riddle me this. When Trip's parents go up to the funeral home and get their first chance to look at Trip's feet, Gil says there wasn't so much as a scratch on them. Why? Now, he was wearing socks. And in one of the autopsy photos, you can actually see them. They look dirty. It appeared like there's even maybe a hole in the right one, like a toe is popping out. But there aren't like close-ups of the socks
43:58 Ashley Flowers? to help us determine if he actually like walked all that way.
44:02 Speaker 01 I mean, I'm still stuck on where his boots were. Like, why would he ditch them the way he did? Like, so far apart?
44:10 Ashley Flowers? I mean, it looks like, based on where it is, like the first boot might have come off when he jumped the fence. So I don't know if like walking, it became kind of uneven. Like, I don't know, I think I would still keep my boot on.
44:21 Speaker 01 Yeah, at least one of them.
44:22 Ashley Flowers? And listen, we asked Trip's parents if they've been able to examine the socks. Because again, I feel like if you walked all that way, you'd be able to tell that.
44:28 Speaker 01 For sure.
44:29 Ashley Flowers? The answer is no. Because even though Trip's boots and his phone and ATV and charger and sweatshirt were all returned to the family, for some reason, the sheriff's office won't release Trip's clothing, including his socks.
44:44 Speaker 01 Okay, but why? Like, this is a, what are they calling it? Like a closed suicide case, right?
44:49 Ashley Flowers? Yes, Brett. Why?
44:52 Ashley Flowers? Now, meanwhile, for what it's worth, Gil says that if you were to drive from where the pursuit ended to the, like, area of the road closest to where Trip's body was found, that's like a five-minute drive, tops. And in that scenario, if someone did drive Trip that night, that could also explain why the canines lost his scent so quickly in the woods. But, you know what? Let's keep suspending reality. Let's pretend there is a good reason why they won't let Tripp's family have the clothes that Trip was wearing when he died. By suicide, they say. We'll just take them at their word that he walked shoeless through the forest for hours to take his life.
45:36 Ashley Flowers? This is the next "wait what" moment. Do the logistics of the hanging itself actually make sense? I mean, surely, this part has to be completely solid, right? For them to close this case and to be so sure, this has to be rock solid. It has to make every other weird thing that's happened up to this point easy to write off.
45:58 Speaker 01 But this is a Crime Junkie episode, so I'm betting that's not how it goes.
46:02 Ashley Flowers? Of course it's not. When family went out to the tree that Trip was found hanging from, they found the exact sawed-off branch that was cut down to get Trip's body. It was still right there on the ground at the base. And once they saw it, they had immediate concerns. You see, the family consulted with an independent medical examiner and forensic pathologist out of Kentucky. Her name is Dr. Ashley Matthew. Now, all she had to go off of were the autopsy photos and the ME reports themselves. And while she does say that, on paper, Trip's death does appear to be due to ligature hanging, she adds that without photos from the scene itself, like, when they found him,
46:45 Ashley Flowers? she can't opine on the position that the body was found in or whether it corresponds to the injuries that she can see on Trip's body. What she did do was her freaking homework, though. In her report, Dr. Matthew writes that based on her own research, branches that are five inches in diameter are reportedly able to hold the weight of approximately 115 pounds. But the branch that the Brazils found looks barely more than two inches in diameter.
47:15 Speaker 01 And how heavy was Trip?
47:16 Ashley Flowers? He's 119 pounds.
47:18 Speaker 01 I'm not good at math.
47:20 Ashley Flowers? It's not mathing.
47:20 Speaker 01 But it's not mathing.
47:21 Ashley Flowers? No, especially when you consider like the drop force and any sort of struggle afterwards.
47:27 Speaker 01 Right.
47:28 Ashley Flowers? And we actually have a photo of the branch. Jennifer took it home with her and she can fit her thumb and pointer finger all the way around it. Plus, even if the branch could hold Trip, without a ladder or a stepsuit or something, Cody's not sure about the physics of the situation anyway. And what really got Cody thinking when they went out there is the fact that there was a deer stand about like 30 feet away from this tree. Investigators write that the ratchet strap used in the hanging, quote, "appeared to match the rope from that deer stand." But then Cody's question is like if Trip stopped by this deer stand to get this strap, why not make use of the actual deer stand and its ladder while you're right there?
48:12 Ashley Flowers? Why walk another 30 feet to a tree on the edge of a gully where the act would be far more difficult? And Cody said that he has worked hangings where people have even used their phone chargers as a mechanism. Trip had one with him that night and abandoned it long before he even made it to the deer stand. Also, how did Trip even find the strap? Because Cody interviewed the owner of that deer stand and he said that he'd cut that strap down two years earlier when he first put the deer stand up and he hadn't seen it since because it had gotten like buried under foliage. He said that he forgot it was even there, which to me raises the question of how Trip would have possibly found it in the dark
48:56 Ashley Flowers? unless somehow he knew to look for it.
48:58 Speaker 01 And why did investigators believe that's where the strap came from?
49:02 Ashley Flowers? I don't, maybe they were just making an educated guess. I don't know if they like spoke to the owner of the deer stand like Cody did. And personally, I haven't even seen the rope that they're saying it looks similar to. So I don't even know if it's really a match. So I mean, it's certainly a possibility that the strap could have come from somewhere else. And listen, while we're on the ratchet strap, there's another thing. The autopsy report states that it was tied into a slip knot with two loose ends. But Jennifer said Gil still tied Tripp's fishing lines on for him and sincerely doubted that he would know how to make a sophisticated knot like that. In the end, Dr. Matthew said this. I'm gonna have you read it.
49:42 Speaker 01 "In the presence of a circumstance such as the decedent being involved in a law enforcement pursuit and reportedly fleeing from them into the woods, I would have liked to have had more information regarding Tripp's behavior and health history to confidently rule his death a suicide. In my opinion, the manner of death would best be classified as undetermined, as the role of law enforcement, if any, in the death is unclear."
50:06 Ashley Flowers? Know what would make it clear? That body cam footage.
50:10 Speaker 01 Yeah.
50:11 Ashley Flowers? So let's go back to that and take a good, hard look at what we have in light of everything you now know. At 12:40 a.m., Bynum turns his body cam on. That's when we get the start of the pursuit. At 12:42, Tripp takes off on foot. There's no more vehicle chase. Bynum parks his truck, gets out to check the four-wheeler, manhandling it with his bare hands. And then, at 12:51, Bynum turns his camera off. The next video that comes from his camera is from when it's turned back on at 1:40 a.m. And all of a sudden, he's wearing latex gloves.
50:56 Ashley Flowers? So 12:51, camera off. Then 12:59 is when they get that anonymous call telling them that it's Tripp and Tripp is in the woods behind the church. 1:21, Tripp calls his mom, tells her he can see the blue lights, he's gonna walk toward them, turn himself in, they hang up. We have no idea what is happening with Tripp in the next 20 minutes. But at 1:40 a.m., Bynum's body cam starts again, and he's got those gloves on. A minute later, 1:41, that's when Jennifer receives that text message from Tripp's phone that I read earlier.
51:37 Speaker 01 And are we sure that Bynum turned the camera off in between? Or do we just like, maybe not have access to that footage?
51:44 Ashley Flowers? You can literally see his hand like, reach up and manually turn it off.
51:47 Speaker 01 Okay.
51:48 Ashley Flowers? Now, based on their statements, this 49-minute window should be the time where Sergeant Kinney was getting the trailer. But we have no way to know that for sure because there is no body cam for him. Now, what's unclear, though, is if there was camera footage and then it just didn't get released in the FOIA, or if he was not wearing a camera at all that night. I know when I see him on the 140 video, he's just in like a polo, so he definitely didn't have one on then, and I don't know about earlier. But interestingly, I know at least one other person was wearing a body cam that night, and it was actually one of the deputies that went looking for Tripp after he was spotted
52:31 Ashley Flowers? in the woods behind the church. But when Jennifer requested all of the body cam footage from that night, she just got binums with that missing time, and then another disc, but that disc was totally blank.
52:47 Speaker 01 I mean, is anyone freaking out about this? Like, this, this feels like it has to be some kind of violation. Like, what's the point of body cams if you can just turn them on and off willy-nilly?
52:57 Ashley Flowers? Tripp's family is freaking out about this. Me and our reporter Nicole are freaking about this. Like, we are all freaking out about this now. And listen, we asked the sheriff's office for their body cam policy, and it states that deputies are required to turn on their body cams for every official interaction with the public, whether that is a routine conversation, an arrest, or something more serious. The cameras are supposed to help back up things like probable cause and give supervisors a way to review a deputy's actions later. But here's the key: Once that camera is on, it is supposed to stay on until, quote, "the event is completed in order to ensure the integrity of the recording," end quote.
53:38 Speaker 01 Which makes sense.
53:39 Ashley Flowers? Now, there are a few exceptions. Deputies are not allowed to record communication with other officers without permission, undercover officers, confidential informants, or private locations like bathrooms.
53:52 Speaker 01 Okay.
53:53 Ashley Flowers? Now, I don't know if Bynum's actions fall under one of these exceptions. It sounds like each deputy has to kind of decide for themselves when an event is completed. So, maybe when the chase ends and the ATV is stranded, that's complete in Bynum's mind. But then that doesn't totally add up because then why turn it back on as you're getting ready to tow it?
54:16 Speaker 01 Right, because like, to me, if you know you're gonna tow it, towing it would be the, like, the end of the event, then like, you're like with it until it's done being towed.
54:25 Ashley Flowers? I also want to note something weird about the policy document itself that the sheriff's office sent us. So is this like three-page document with numbered bullets? But at the end of the first page, it skips from 3B, when and how to use the BWC, to 3D, restrictions on using the BWC. C is just missing. When we asked the sheriff's office about this, a representative said he never noticed the type of a four, and it quote, "Feels safe to say it is a clerical error."
54:57 Speaker 01 Who feels safe about this? Because that-
54:59 Ashley Flowers? I don't.
54:59 Speaker 01 Doesn't make me feel safe. And also, like, I'm thinking, like, making a Word document, it's kind of automatic. It should say C.
55:06 Ashley Flowers? Literally, you like hit Enter, it does it for you.
55:09 Speaker 01 Okay, sorry.
55:10 Ashley Flowers? So do with that what you will. 12:51, camera goes off. 1:40, it's back on, and Bynum is wearing latex gloves.
55:20 Speaker 01 And the camera cut just makes no sense, like, if you're gonna-
55:23 Ashley Flowers? It's what you said earlier.
55:23 Speaker 01 If you're gonna turn it off at all, like, why are you turning it back on? Like, why not just-
55:28 Ashley Flowers? Call the, call the event complete. Like, it's not like there's a new, this is the same thing. It's not like someone new comes in, like, you're not dealing with a new citizen, or like, why, yes, bro, why turn it back on? Why just when you're trying to get the four-wheeler on to the trailer?
55:43 Speaker 01 Well, and like, why are you wearing gloves now? Like, now especially, maybe?
55:49 Ashley Flowers? Now, like, listen, I think some people could say, "Well, you know, he's like processing the ATV now, like, it's evidence." But the problem I have with that is, like, if you go back to before the camera turned off-
56:00 Speaker 01 Oh, you said he was, like-
56:01 Ashley Flowers? He's manhandling that thing with bare hands. He is raw-dogging that ATV. So, the question that the family's PI Cody has, the question that he has raised, is whether it's possible that Bynum maybe hit the four-wheeler during the chase. Cody actually has the four-wheeler in his possession now, and before getting into law enforcement, he actually was an EMT, which means that, like, he's worked quite a few wrecks. And he said that it really looks to him like the four-wheeler was struck by a vehicle. He just can't prove that it was Bynum's vehicle.
56:38 Speaker 01 So, not that we followed a ton of protocol so far, but isn't there, like, a sort of police tactic where they can use their vehicle to, like, purposely-
56:50 Ashley Flowers? A pit maneuver.
56:51 Speaker 01 Yeah, like, hit another vehicle to stop it in pursuit?
56:54 Ashley Flowers? Yeah, it's called a precision immobilization technique.
56:57 Speaker 01 Yeah.
56:57 Ashley Flowers? The sheriff's office pursuit policy, though, again, like, we referenced that earlier, the one that we received specifically states officers may not intentionally use their vehicle to bump or ram a suspect vehicle to get them to stop, so.
57:10 Speaker 01 Okay, do we see anything like a collision on the body cam?
57:13 Ashley Flowers? We don't, like, we have the pursuit, or at least the end of the pursuit, right? But, like, the problem is the camera is, like, right at Bynum's chest, and he's, like, right on top of Tripp's four-wheeler the whole time. Like, you can see the moment that both vehicles supposedly jumped that hill, but it's really loud with, like, the sirens and the four-wheeler engine, so it's hard to know if there was a collision. What I think is so interesting is this part, though. Deputy Bynum gets out of his truck, he's surveying the area, he's looking at the four-wheeler, and Kinney comes to follow, asking him what happened. And he said this.
57:49 Speaker 02 There's gonna be a white male on a camouflage hoodie and blue jeans, it looked like. He went off that way. Did he roll it or something? He turned it and jumped off and took off running across the field. Yeah, he left his buddies hanging. Yeah, I got him.
58:08 Speaker 02 Step rail bent.
58:11 Speaker 01 Wait, which step rail was bent?
58:13 Ashley Flowers? Bynum's. The part that caught me is the "I got him" line. Like, what does he mean he got him? Because like, no you didn't.
58:23 Speaker 01 No, he took off running.
58:24 Ashley Flowers? You were chasing him, yeah, and he like ran off into the woods. You told him to stop, he didn't. What do you mean, "you got him"? Could it be that you got him, like your truck hit the ATV? Now, you can see Bynum's step rail is bent, like in the body cam footage, but it's hard to clearly see the front of his truck. And I can't say whether the bent step rail is from hitting the ground when they like went up that like berm or whatever, or if it's from something else. You know, though, there is something besides the body cam or the truck damage that could tell us if something happened to Trip that night. Or rather, someone. I haven't told you this yet,
59:08 Ashley Flowers? but for the entire duration of the pursuit, and presumably that 49-minute blackout, Bynum had a civilian ride-along with him.
59:20 Speaker 01 What?
59:21 Ashley Flowers? Yep. Another set of eyes and ears who witnessed that night, someone who could put this whole thing to rest if only his statements and actions didn't raise even more questions. And just you wait, because the biggest shock of this entire case comes at the very end.
59:47 Speaker 01 Ever check a bank statement and discover payments for a forgotten streaming service? I know unwanted subscriptions happen all too easily, quietly draining hard-earned cash every month. That is where Rocket Money comes to the rescue. Rocket Money identifies all recurring charges and lets users cancel unwanted subscriptions directly within the app in just a few taps. No long phone calls or tedious customer service loops required. Beyond subscription management, the app seamlessly consolidates checking, savings, loans, and investments into one clear dashboard. A complete real time view of your financial picture. It even sets customizable budgets and sends instant alerts for upcoming bills, large transactions, or low balances. Stop paying for things that go unused and regain full control of monthly spending.
1:00:29 Speaker 01 Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps you lower your bills so you can grow your savings. Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at rocketmoney.com/crimejunkie. That's rocketmoney.com/crimejunkie. Rocketmoney.com/crimejunkie. Navigating unexpected body changes or sudden mood shifts can feel completely overwhelming. That unsettling thought of, what is happening to me? And unfortunately, when it comes to seeking hormonal health support, most women walk out of a doctor's office with no real answers. However, discovering Midi Health means finally finding clarity. Midi Health exists to change that narrative with expert clinical care built specifically for women navigating hormonal shifts. Midi isn't another one size fits all telehealth platform.
1:01:14 Speaker 01 It's virtual care exclusively focused on women's hormonal health, built by women who understand what patients go through firsthand. Care is covered by most major insurance plans and getting started is easy, too. Just visit joinmidi.com, share a little about your symptoms, and get matched with a trained clinician. My favorite part? Appointments are available in days, not months. Clinicians offer personalized care plans spanning hormonal treatments, non-hormonal options, and targeted supplements. It's time to get back to feeling like you again. Visit joinmidi.com right now to book your first visit today. That's join m-i-d-i dot com to book your first visit. Joinmidi.com. Insurance coverage varies. Check with your plan for coverage.
1:01:56 Ashley Flowers? We don't know much about 21-year-old Preston Cox, who was Deputy Trey Bynum's ride-along the night of November 2nd and into the early morning hours of November 3rd. Preston never got back to us for this episode. But through Trip's mom, Jennifer, we learned that Preston didn't know Trip personally. And from what we've been able to gather, it doesn't seem like Preston was a part of some civilian program like The Explorers or anything like that. What we know is that Preston was a mechanic who Wanted to try his hand at law enforcement because he was drawn to the idea of helping people. So I think the ride along was like a little peek behind the curtain. See what it's really like. Try before you buy kind of thing.
1:02:38 Ashley Flowers? Now, in my experience, you kind of got to know someone to get to do a ride along. Or like know someone who knows someone.
1:02:43 Speaker 01 Yeah, have a connection.
1:02:44 Ashley Flowers? Right. Or maybe you just call up the sheriff's office and they let you. According to a sheriff's office representative, there is no written policy on ride alongs. But quote, "If a deputy chooses to allow a rider, it has to be cleared through the supervisor." Though there's nothing formal about like what that actually looks like.
1:03:00 Speaker 01 There's like no process for it.
1:03:01 Ashley Flowers? So I don't know how Preston ended up on that ride along that night. Or if he knew any of the deputies on the force before this. But if the goal was to see some action, he got it, right? Like in that first body cam footage, you can hear Preston, like right after that last clip that I just played where Bynum says, "I got him." Preston sounds excited when he's asked if he's good.
1:03:24 Speaker 02 Step road, Ben.
1:03:29 Speaker 02 You good?
1:03:33 Speaker 02 I'm kind of highly thinking about doing this now.
1:03:39 Speaker 02 I knew we used to go airborne though.
1:03:43 Speaker 02 You sure you're good? You sure you're good? Yeah, I'm good, dog.
1:03:48 Ashley Flowers? Preston said he was highly thinking about going into law enforcement. At 12:45 a.m. on November 3rd. At 12:50 a.m. As Bynum is walking around his truck, looking at the damage. Preston asks Bynum something in a hushed tone. You on camera?
1:04:11 Speaker 02 Huh? Yeah, I'm on camera.
1:04:14 Ashley Flowers? And then Preston, you can just catch a glimpse of him on the side of the frame. He proceeds to mouth something to Bynum that for the life of me, I cannot make out. I have watched this video 100 times at this point, at every rate of speed. I sped it up, I slowed it down. I cannot tell what it is. After that, they exchange a few more words about the damage.
1:04:40 Speaker 02 This step road, pretty messed up.
1:04:45 Speaker 02 Got the bike. All the metals.
1:04:50 Speaker 02 Cut off his FMF pipe.
1:04:54 Speaker 02 Ah, Billy had two.
1:04:57 Speaker 02 No, he don't have that one. Billy? Yeah.
1:05:02 Speaker 02 Okay.
1:05:13 Ashley Flowers? And that is where the video cuts off. At 12:51 a.m. And whatever happened after that first body cam video cut out, seems to have changed Preston's mind about going into law enforcement. Because according to the family's P.I. Cody, shortly after this incident, Preston moved out of the area and decided not to pursue a criminal justice career. Again, Preston wouldn't talk to us, but Cody was able to talk to him once. And Preston told Cody that he was no longer interested in law enforcement because, quote, "It's not worth it." Is it not worth it because you just saw a couple of deputies out there doing a stand-up job? And even though they did nothing wrong, community members are suggesting some kind of cover-up?
1:05:59 Ashley Flowers? Not worth it? I don't think that's it. Because in order for that to be the case, there's that whole, "You have to be doing a stand-up job, doing all the right things," right? When Cody asked Preston straight up about the allegations that the public had been making, Preston said, quote, "I hate that it ended that way. I really do. But I couldn't have done anything in my power to change what happened without getting Mr. Bynum in trouble."
1:06:30 Speaker 01 What does that mean?
1:06:33 Ashley Flowers? He didn't explain. He just said, "I'm a ride-along, and at the end of the day, that's it." Also, I don't know what to make of this, but when Cody interviewed Preston for his investigation, Preston said that while his and Bynum's interviews with the state police were the same day, Kenny was brought in the day before. But it's weird because all of the ASP reports and interview logs put the interviews happening on the same morning.
1:07:04 Speaker 01 Do you think he misremembered?
1:07:06 Ashley Flowers? I mean, he sounds completely certain of it, which just makes me wonder if there was a pre-interview, like some kind of interview with Kenny the day prior to the documented interviews that for some reason wasn't recorded anywhere.
1:07:20 Speaker 01 Or maybe they were logged wrong?
1:07:22 Ashley Flowers? I don't, I still, I do not think that's it because you can literally hear SSA Max saying the date and time in the audio. So unless he's lying too, like, I don't know. It's just another thing I can't explain. I don't know what happened in the early morning hours of November 3rd, 2024. But the more our team looked into Tripp's case, the less the official story added up. Yes, a message came from Tripp's phone that some read as a suicide note. But when it comes in at 1:41, I don't know where his phone is. I can tell you that for the full minute at 1:41, I can see Bynum's hands. He's messing with the four wheeler. Remember, he turns his camera back on at 1:40.
1:08:07 Ashley Flowers? And at exactly 1:41.24, Kenny comes on screen. He's standing on the other side of the four wheeler as they're trying to get it on the trailer. So just going off this body cam footage, I think it would be easy to say that, well, they couldn't have sent the text message. We see them on camera at the exact time. Though to be fair, like, I don't have eyes on Preston that whole time. I mean, I know he's there. I can for sure see him on camera right after they get the four wheeler onto the trailer. But you know, Something was bothering me. Like, and it's what we keep talking about. Like, it was itching my brain as I was like, dissecting this video over and over.
1:08:51 Ashley Flowers? Why turn it back on?
1:08:53 Speaker 01 Yeah.
1:08:54 Ashley Flowers? I think this whole thing is more explainable if you'd just left the camera off.
1:08:58 Speaker 01 Yes.
1:08:59 Ashley Flowers? Based on their own policy. You know, they have the right to decide when the event is over.
1:09:04 Speaker 01 If it's over, it's over. Why turn it back on?
1:09:06 Ashley Flowers? Why turn it back on at 1:40? And only for a couple of minutes, by the way. And how convenient that it is the exact time that Tripp's phone sends that message. It's just itching at me, right? Like, I was playing it over and over, looking at like every move, every second. And then I can't even explain how it hit me. But this thought came to me. This is early November. So I open Google and I start typing. When was daylight savings?
1:09:39 Speaker 01 No.
1:09:40 Ashley Flowers? In November 2024? It was November freaking 3rd, 2024. On this night.
1:09:49 Speaker 01 It was 1:40 twice.
1:09:51 Ashley Flowers? That means that.
1:09:53 Speaker 01 The missing 49 minutes.
1:09:55 Ashley Flowers? Could actually be an hour and 49 minutes.
1:09:58 Speaker 01 Right, because at 2:00 AM, it goes back to 1:00 AM for like fallback.
1:10:04 Ashley Flowers? So it's possible, not definitive, but possible that Tripp's phone sent that at 1:41. And then when 2 o'clock hits.
1:10:15 Speaker 01 20 minutes, 19 minutes later.
1:10:17 Ashley Flowers? It goes back to 1. So was the body cam footage at 1:40 actually like 2:40 if it wouldn't have been daylight savings? Now, we went right to Jennifer to try and like pin this down. And she said she didn't even realize that the time changed that night. Like, she was so caught up in looking for her son.
1:10:36 Speaker 01 She had a lot going on.
1:10:37 Ashley Flowers? Yeah, the thing is, she's like, I don't, she can't even pin down. She's like, I don't know if it would have changed before we ever even left the house or like as we are out in the woods.
1:10:45 Speaker 01 She doesn't know which 1:40 it was.
1:10:47 Ashley Flowers? If it was after, though, like as they're in the woods. Like, that actually makes so much sense to me because one thing that was really throwing me was how Tripp's dad was saying like, they were out there alone.
1:10:57 Speaker 01 There was no one there.
1:10:58 Ashley Flowers? For a long time, right, yeah, but, because when I look at the activity logs from the sheriff's office, it seems like, I don't know, maybe an hour, maybe even less. So, you know, was that just because it felt like forever because your son is missing and you're looking by yourself? Were the logs wrong? Or, like, is it like, there's like this weird hour that's like, not real or accounted for?
1:11:20 Speaker 01 Yeah.
1:11:21 Ashley Flowers? Now, there is one log from dispatch that shows time out of order, like, like it reset for daylight savings. So, listen, it's very possible that everything is on the up and up, and this is just another one of the craziest coincidences of all time.
1:11:40 Speaker 01 Okay, but how many of those do you get in one case?
1:11:43 Ashley Flowers? A few more, because I was about to say that one of the things we so desperately wanted to get our hands on to help like, sort this out was the actual dispatch calls from that day. But in another one in a million chance, in a documented letter from the sheriff's office, they told Jennifer that they couldn't give her the audio or like, those calls because their hard drive that like, they kept all that on was struck by lightning. So, the logs from that night were burned up and they just don't have them anymore.
1:12:19 Speaker 01 You're kidding me.
1:12:21 Ashley Flowers? Where do they keep this hard drive? Like, on the top of a flagpole? Like, it makes no sense to me. And by the way, there is one more thing that could maybe sort all of this out. And that is Tripp's phone. And this is where I actually have good news. His family has the phone. It has been in the P.I.'s possession in a Faraday bag because they know that its contents are important. They want to get it forensically analyzed. And we actually asked Cody if we could help facilitate that. And he assured us that he has someone working on it and that the data should come back as soon as this month. And that data should tell us a lot, if not everything.
1:13:05 Ashley Flowers? Like what time calls or texts were sent is in a universal time code. So we can see it irrespective of daylight savings. Right. And it should be able to show us a clear path of how Trip's phone moved through the woods. This might be the definitive thing to help his family understand if there really is something shady going on here. Those who knew Trip say that they never saw this coming and they can't possibly understand what about that night would have triggered something like this or something like what the sheriff's office is saying. And it's not just his mom and dad who were struck by this.
1:13:49 Ashley Flowers? The day after Trip's death, when the NP at their family doctor heard about this, she was so taken aback that she actually reached out to Jennifer and Gil and ultimately wrote a letter for them to show anyone who had questions about Trip's death. And this is actually her reading the letter for us.
1:14:06 Speaker 07 To whom it may concern, Trip Brazil was last seen in our clinic on October 9th, 2024 for acute medical issues by me. During that visit, I questioned him about life in general. He seemed pleasant, happy, and I had no concerns of any mental health issues. I had no concerns at all about him having suicidal thoughts or ideations. He was very excited about his current job and life in general. He was a typical teenage boy. I also see other family members and have never had any concerns about his home life or his well-being prior to his death.
1:14:48 Speaker 07 I am a family nurse practitioner and have no training in forensic pathology. There are some concerns in his autopsy report, but I am not in a position to offer input to the cause of his death. However, I was very surprised by his death by alleged suicide based on my previous visits with him.
1:15:10 Ashley Flowers? The missing pieces in this case tell a story of their own. The lack of probable cause for pursuit. Trip's last call to his parents, asking to be picked up. His uncut feet. The mysterious anonymous call IDing Trip as the ATV rider. The gap in body cam footage. The latex gloves, just to name a few. Cody and Jennifer and Gil, even Sandra. They all believe Trip was met with foul play in the woods. If that's true, who would he have encountered? Anyone could have theoretically been in those woods. And I want to be clear that we're not accusing anyone. What I know is that two deputies were around the woods.
1:15:54 Ashley Flowers? And I also know that both of them have a history of misconduct. In 2023, Bynum was formally disciplined by the Forrest City Police Department for insubordination and neglect of duty. This is before Trip's case. According to the records, he repeatedly ignored direct orders, failing to respond to messages from supervisors, skipping required administrative tasks, and refusing to follow instructions during his shift. Supervisors described him as argumentative and defiant. And according to his disciplinary records, which we have, at one point, Bynum pushed back by saying, quote, "You are not going to talk to me any kind of way. I am a grown man."
1:16:39 Ashley Flowers? Which sounds like the least grown man thing to say.
1:16:41 Speaker 01 It sounds like something my teenage son would say.
1:16:44 Ashley Flowers? As for Kenny, he was terminated from the Lee County Sheriff's Department in 2021 after repeated complaints about his behavior. Internal records describe ongoing insubordination, yelling at his superiors, and outright refusal to follow orders, even after multiple warnings. But it doesn't stop there. Citizens also came forward accusing Kenny of speaking openly about calls that he responded to and even making inappropriate comments about involved parties. Officials said that his behavior wasn't just unprofessional, it reflected poorly on the entire department. And they decided they couldn't keep him on any longer. So he just went to work for the St. Francis County Sheriff's Office.
1:17:26 Speaker 01 Did they know all of this when they hired him?
1:17:30 Ashley Flowers? It's all right there in the employment file.
1:17:33 Speaker 01 And they're both still with that department today?
1:17:35 Ashley Flowers? Well, as of this recording, Kenny is. But according to Cody and Gil, Bynum now works for the Marion Police Department. Or at least he did while we were reporting on this case. But that actually changed as of very recently. I don't know what happened in the universe, but Tripp's case started picking up some real internet steam. Facebook posts made about Tripp from like months ago went viral recently. And the community reaction elicited a pretty strong response from the city of Marion, who put out this press release on March 18, 2026. I'm gonna have you read it, Brett.
1:18:15 Speaker 01 The city of Marion and the Marion Police Department understand the strong emotions surrounding the tragic death of Tripp Brazil. Nothing about the situation diminishes the grief his family has experienced or the community's desire for answers. On May 12, Mayor Tracy Brick received a formal citizen request asking the city to review the hiring and continued employment of Officer Trey Bynum with the Marion Police Department. That same day, the Police and Fire Committee began a review of Officer Bynum's hiring process, prior employment history and related records. The committee also met with representatives of the Brazil family's private investigative team as part of that review. Officer Bynum was not employed by the Marion Police Department at the time of the 2024 incident involving Tripp Brazil.
1:18:58 Speaker 01 To date, no state investigative agency has filed criminal charges or concluded that Officer Bynum committed misconduct related to Tripp Brazil's death. During the review, the city identified that a prior law enforcement agency had not been included on Officer Bynum's original employment application submitted to the Marion Police Department. Although Officer Bynum later discussed the prior employment and related disciplinary history with the department, the omission resulted in the department not obtaining and reviewing the complete employment documentation at the time of hire. After careful consideration of all information reviewed, the city has determined that continued employment with the Marion Police Department is no longer in the best interest of the department, the city, or the community moving forward.
1:19:41 Speaker 01 This decision should not be interpreted as a finding of wrongdoing related to the death of Trip Brazil. Rather, it reflects the city's responsibility to maintain integrity and public confidence in the law enforcement hiring process, while acting in the best interest of the department and the community moving forward.
1:19:58 Ashley Flowers? Crime Junkies, I hate to interrupt this broadcast, but something just happened that I need to tell you about. And you are not going to believe this shit. So you just heard Britt read a statement from the city of Marion, saying that Trey Bynum was no longer employed by the Marion Police Department. And that's true, but it turns out he just got employed again. And not by Marion PD. According to a Facebook post from the Forrest City Times-Herald, he has been rehired by the St. Francis County Sheriff's Office. The post says, quote, "St. Francis County Sheriff Bobby May confirmed to the Times-Herald that Trey Bynum has been rehired as a deputy with the department."
1:20:42 Ashley Flowers? "May said Bynum, a certified law enforcement officer, was hired on Tuesday and is scheduled to begin work on Thursday, June 11." "May called Bynum 'a good officer' and said he looks forward to working with him again." End quote. So that means Bynum is expected to be back with the same department where all of this started. Obviously, I don't know what that means for this case moving forward. So we are going to keep following this, and we'll try and update you as we learn more. Make sure to follow us on social. Sign up for our newsletter on the Crime Junkie website. But for now, this doesn't change the rest of the episode. And there is still more to come.
1:21:26 Ashley Flowers? So I'm going to send you back to past Ashley and Britt.
1:21:31 Ashley Flowers? Now Jennifer, Gil, Cody, they don't have any vendettas with police. Cody even told us that when he first heard the official details of this case, but like before he took it on, he was fully prepared to have to tell the Brazils that their son took his own life. But then, once he started going through the materials, the gaps and the red flags caught even him by surprise. Him, a former military, former EMT, former CID detective. And Gil, he was in law enforcement for 14 years before taking over his family business. In fact, it is precisely because of Gil's law enforcement experience that he has so many questions about his son's case. He told us that he specifically worked hanging cases before,
1:22:15 Ashley Flowers? and what he is seeing is just not adding up. Plus, he says that many of the officers involved in his son's case, I told you, like, he worked with them, he trained some of them, they were his friends, which like made their handling of his son's death all the more frustrating.
1:22:31 Speaker 01 Yeah, like, they aren't trying to help him from the inside now?
1:22:34 Ashley Flowers? No, not only are they not trying to help him, he doesn't even speak to them anymore. And Gil is actually running for St. Francis County Sheriff now because of everything. And by the way, Cody isn't just sitting around frustrated with the system either, he's running for sheriff too, in Lawrence County. We need more good people at the helm, protecting the community, not protecting their own. Remember, guys, Election Day is November 3rd, 2026. And again, there is a chance that all of these red flags are really red herrings. But if they're not, then Tripp's family has gone too long without justice. They're still grieving. They even considered filing a wrongful death suit,
1:23:17 Ashley Flowers? but they want to make sure that they have all their ducks in a row. So Jennifer is still FOIA-ing, still trying to get Tripp's clothing and the ratchet strap and more employment records. She says she knows something more happened to her son out there, and she won't stop until she gets the answers she deserves. Now, when we asked Jennifer how we could use our platform to help her, she said that she just wants people to understand the power of the Freedom of Information Act and how to use it. All they had when their son first died was just this gut feeling that something wasn't right. Jennifer had to get all of the records to be able to point to exactly what it was that made her feel that way. And even though Gil used to work in law enforcement,
1:24:01 Ashley Flowers? Jennifer said she had no idea how to go about getting this stuff. Like, she'd never filed a FOIA in her life. So she had to ask friends. She was Googling her way through this stuff. And she doesn't want any other parent, or sibling, or loved one to have to figure it out all on their own like she did. Like, in the middle of the worst time of your life, right? So, we actually created a FOIA guide on our website, inspired by this case, to help crime junkies feel confident making their own requests. No one ever expects to live a case like this. But it does happen. And when it does, it can be so overwhelming to even get your bearings.
1:24:43 Ashley Flowers? So we're going to slowly start building out our resources for families and for law enforcement. And this is our very first step towards that. I'm going to link directly to our guide on how to submit a FOIA in the show notes. And hopefully, I'll be able to come back with an update on this case soon. Until then, if any of our listeners have information to share, email our tip line, [email protected] .
1:25:25 Ashley Flowers? You can find all the source material on our website, crimejunkie.com.
1:25:29 Speaker 01 And you can find us on Instagram, at Crime Junkie Podcast.
1:25:32 Ashley Flowers? We'll be back next week with a brand new episode.
1:26:12 Ashley Flowers? Crime Junkie is an AudioChuck production. I think Chuck would approve.
1:26:20 Speaker 01 When the nights grow longer, the shadows start to stir, and that can only mean one thing. Full Body Chills is back. This season, step inside original tales where every doorway leads somewhere darker, every stranger carries a secret, and nothing is ever quite what it seems. Each story takes you somewhere new, but be careful. You never know what might follow you home. So gather round, listen close, and stream Full Body Chills wherever you get your podcasts.
Previous WARNING: AI Voice Cloning and Virtual Kidnappings Next MURDERED: Alberta O. Jones Page updated October 30, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated