The Truth They Demanded: LaLa Clark’s Story and the Push for Accountability Pt 5

How do we honor the victims behind true tragedies? 

By listening to the people who knew them and fight for them every day.

Tonight’s podcast episode (will air later tonight) , I welcome family advocate Cann Lowe  to discuss the heartbreaking case of LaLa Clark—the 15-year-old deaf teenager who tragically lost her life in Wilkes-Barre. 

With the criminal  currently in custody, Candice breaks down the facts of the case, corrects the narratives, and shares beautiful insights into LaLa’s life and spirit.

Tonight we give LaLa the love she deserved, and her aunt the disrespect she deserves 

Thank you, Candice, for your vulnerability and your fierce advocacy.

 Tune in to the full conversation later this evening on True Crime with Tiff Kline and Turning the Korner with Kline’s Korner  podcasts 

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and many other podcast platforms. Please subscribe, leave a rating and review and keep helping me give criminals the disrespect they deserve 

Transcript

SPEAKER_07 0:23

Hi guys, it's True Crime with Tiff Klein, giving criminals the disrespect they deserve. And tonight we're going to give so much disrespect to a criminal, but we're also going to give a lot of love to a victim that was taken by this criminal. Here I have Candice Lowe. She is the family advocate of Laniya Lala Clark of Wilkes Bear. If you're from our area, you may be familiar with her. She was all over in pink, all over Wilkes Bear. She was part of the American Sign Language community. She loved that. She loved her god and loved TikTok and loved dancing. And we're gonna highlight on who Lala was tonight and will continue to be because her spirit is around. And we just wanted to talk to you guys. There's been a lot of things that's happened since we'll go even back to October of 2025. Up until now, Lala's life was taken in February of 2026. But I have Candace on here because I want her to give the facts, the truth, and give you a different side of what the media puts out. Um, you know, sometimes the media forgets that these people are real, real families, real trauma, real victims, and it gets sensationalized, rumors get started. And there's no better way to clear that up than to talk to somebody who's directly involved with Lala's family. Um, so again, this is Candace. You may have known her on Facebook, going live all the time for Lala Legacy, Justice for Lala. Back in January, I remember seeing a missing person's flyer, and I immediately did some research to figure out who Lala's parents were. And I had messaged Amira, who is Lala's adoptive mother, and got her in contact with a friend of mine, Jazz, who runs a big national campaign called Missing in America. I sent her a link, Amira filled it out, and Jazz made a flyer and just distributed it all over the country. And Jazz is still watching this, she's following it. She's she's like, oh my gosh, you were, you know, she so we did that, and then the Gabby Petito Foundation posted um on their other page to find the missing. They had put Lala's flyer up and and put that out. Uh, I was just at CrimeCon in Vegas. They have a whole wall of missing people and people whose lives were taken. So on a heart, because I didn't have a photo with me at the time. Next year I'll take one. And I wrote Lala's name on it and we'll expare and we'll talk more about that later. But Lala was a kid and just I can't explain her. Candace can because she knows her. But we're gonna we're gonna go from the beginning to where we're at today, June 26, 2026. So without further ado, I'm gonna let Candace start. Um and she's just gonna catch you up to speed real quick on what happened, and then we'll we're gonna go backwards from who Lala was and how all of this became this uh tragedy. So Candace?

SPEAKER_03 3:11

Yeah, so to begin the story of how we got here and where uh it really started from it. It does start in October of 2020. Um, October in 2025 is when all this began over a simple disagreement. Bobby Joe is Lala's biological, she's known her her whole life in the hospital room when she was born. Um, she's been a pivotal part of Lala's Bobby Joe's only sibling brother with Darlene is Lala's brother, uh, who is named Joey. So just trying to give you a picture of who she was to Lala. Bobby Joe um has four children. Her oldest daughter is 14. So Bobby Joe, Lala, and her oldest daughter have you know a lot of memories because they were so close in age. It was like a built-in best friend, it was your cousins, uh, and then your aunt, and then you have to remember Bobby Joe and Lala are both part of the deaf community. Bobby Joe has four children, but three of them are deaf slash or of hard of hearing. The oldest one is hearing, so that also brings another layer of connection. So at this time in October, the summer had just concluded, everyone's going back to school, getting on their schedules, you know, back to your fall life. This past summer, Lala spent with Bobby Joe. They went up and down the coast. Lala's biological mother Anjali had her and brought her down to Texas, and then Lala spent time with her cousins and Bobby Joe for a few months during the summer, where she then came back up to Wolksbury, Pennsylvania to start school. A random day in October, America and Aunt um get some communications that Lala brought two of her cousins into Aunt's home. Ant and Amer are divorced, but they live close. Uh they only live about a block and a half away, so it's about a five-minute walk. And um Ant was out of town, and so immediately he was like, Hey, the girls cannot stay here. You can have a sleepover, I'm not here. And then he notified America since she's closest to it and her mama. And uh they immediately text Bobby Joe, hey, you know, you need to pick up the children. Um, why did you instruct Lala to go get them from the nursing home and sneak them in the home? Why didn't you call us? Aunt is out of town, you know, this won't work. Bobby Joe was an unhoused individual. Uh, and I guess that night her car got taken because she got pulled over and she had no license. So she was upset uh because she said she can't just come and get them, and you know, was just honestly really placing the blame on a mare and aunt uh instead of herself, and they were just really focused on hey, who's the adults here? You know, why would you place this on Lala to go pick up your children and then sneak them in the house when you could have just called us? And you know, at the end of the day, I'm not home, you need to come get them. So the two girls and Lala waited on the porch for her to come pick them up. What happens is when she came and picked them up, she took Lala too. Now, was it annoying, rude, and disrespectful? Of course, but it wasn't alarming. It was like, hey, Lala cannot go, she needs to come back home. But then it escalated. Bobby Joe turned off her phone, she blocked the mirror, she uh had Lala turn off her location on her cell phone and then this went into like a full, full day, like four or five day almost a week of her holding Lala and no one knowing where she is. Umera reached out to family, friends, the police, and in this time, these erratic messages started to appear coming from accounts named Lanaya, saying that she didn't have a deaf connection, her mom doesn't let her sign. But when you read them, it didn't sound like Lala. Although although Lala was deaf, she had good vocabulary because um American Sign Language is its own language. A lot of people believe you use your hands to interpret, and that's it, and it's not there's certain words in American Sign Language that you can't, you know, sign for English and vice versa. So the messages right away were obvious it wasn't Lala because they didn't speak like her. So America, you know, and dedicated parents figured out a way and found her. And when they found her, she was in a home on Northampton Street in Wooksbury Township. They called the cops, and then the one set of cops came first, and they said, Well, this is technically Wilksbury Township, so we're leaving, and then got to call Wilksbury Township, and they sat in the rain waiting for I think they said close to 10 hours. While they were out there waiting, they see a man who identifies himself as Julio going into the apartment and asks, Do they need something? My girlfriend lives here. And they say, Yes, actually, we need Lala. So he says, No problem, let me go in and you know clear this up. And when they go to do that, Bobby Joe calls the ambulance and says that a Lala needs to be 302'd. The police ask a mayor, well, can't she just spend the night with her aunt? Is it a big deal? And Amair is like, Absolutely not. This is crazy. Like, this is Amer felt this was kidnapping. So she was, you know, already pushing with the district attorney and the cops to have charges. They did see Lala, let her go to the hospital and evaluate her. The unfortunate part is when they did that, since Lala's age, she has to be with an adult, and Bobby Joe was the adult. So now America don't even know what's going on in the hospital. She's on the outside. Why is Bobby Joe in the w the room? It was a lot.

SPEAKER_07 9:22

So I I why my first question is why did she hold Lala hostage? And two, why did she want to have her 302'd?

SPEAKER_03 9:31

She said because she was scared she would harm herself because she doesn't get to be deaf and have a deaf connection. That was her her thing, this deaf connection.

SPEAKER_06 9:44

So she was pushes. Okay, go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 9:47

Oh, sorry, so she a mayor pushes, she was immediately released after. And they charge Bobby Joe with custodial interference.

SPEAKER_05 9:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 9:57

And issue a PFA. Um, and that's how all this starts to where we got in January, because from October till January, it was that temporary one until they got the permanent. Now, in between that time, I know you're very passionate about uh domestic uh violence and you're aware of PFAs as I previously have too. So we got another side on this because we unfortunately needed those resources.

unknown 10:26

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 10:27

It's important to note that in between this time, Bobby Joe violated the PFA twice and never faced consequences. Um in December, she sent La La money, and then the day of court on January 13th, she came and brought her a gift. The court was January 13th, and at this time, you gotta think from October to January, we later found Bobby Joe was using her children to manipulate La. So Lala was upset. She's like, What's the big deal? It's just my aunt, you know, and American signs like this is not where we want to go. And at this time, it's important to know that although she was adopted, Lala was with America from about seven years old. So she had many years with her, but many years of knowing Bobby Joe, allowing her to still attend like uh holidays or when she had cheerleading, and and everything went good until Mary Antwants it now. So this was all so erratic and unknown behavior, you know, it wasn't always like this, so it was a lot to take in.

SPEAKER_05 11:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 11:37

And um they went to court January 13th, and Lala asked if she could go. She allowed her to go, and you know, the judge asked her stuff and asked the mayor stuff, and um, it's noted on the transcripts that Judge Gartley wanted it to be noted that although Bobby Joe was using an interpreter, she was saying in and doing erratic and unstable things. So she grants a two-year PFA.

SPEAKER_06 12:02

I had Judge Gartley January 13th.

SPEAKER_03 12:04

You did? Yeah, Tina Gartley too. I did too. And she was really nice. She helped me out.

SPEAKER_06 12:10

Yeah. I mean, she was the only one that really Yeah, she would do a great job.

SPEAKER_03 12:15

I put her name on everything. I've like they went in front of a judge, and it was Judge Tina Gartley. Yeah, they're like I feel like judges and people get such, you know, negative talk, and I feel like it was important she put that order through. She stated she was unstable and unfit. I mean, yeah, she was doing her part. And that's it's important to know. But uh that was January 13th.

SPEAKER_05 12:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 12:40

So January 16th, uh, Marin Antoine take Lala to Pittsburgh. They toured the Western Pennsylvania School of Death. Um, they thought it would be, you know, a good uh transition for her. If she went to school up there, she would stay out there. Um, she would connect with the deaf community and honestly, you know, be away from all this and just get a fresh start. She was so excited. She got accepted. Uh, they came back that day, and then early Saturday on January 17th, she wrote notes to her crush saying she's gonna be going to a new school because at this time she was still grounded from her cell phone and she laid out her clothes on her bed, and she had did some chores for her mom Carmen, so she made some money. So she was excited about getting snacks, and this day on January 17th, she was spending the night at Antoine's house.

unknown 13:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 13:40

So she woke up at his house. Um, he seen her before he left for work.

SPEAKER_07 13:44

And just to clear it up, Antoine is is Lala's adoptive father.

SPEAKER_03 13:48

Yes, Antoine is the adoptive, and um he has a girlfriend, Anna, who was still home. She has two children. Lala shared a room with one of the children, the daughter, and they she started her day. Uh Anna went to get groceries. Lala was a foodie. She was excited for steak dinner. Anna seen her and was like, okay, you know, we're gonna have the steak dinner, and that was around 11. I believe the affidavit says don't quote me, it was somewhere between 11, 17, 1123, somewhere around there. Her Chromebook shows she logged on it. So sometime after then, la la disappears. We don't know at this time, you know, what exactly happened, but that's what kick-started the disappearance. There was some confusion in the beginning because Antoine and America live near each other, so it's okay and normal for the kids to walk back and forth. And it's important to note that Amer's right side neighbor is her brother, and her left side neighbor is her mama dad.

SPEAKER_05 14:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 14:55

So Lala has her uncle, her mama, her brother. So it the kids are always walking backward, but maybe mama needs something, or you know, because Carmen is a business owner, she has a hair salon, Lala would like to help out and do stuff. So it's, you know, okay, share your house, and share your, you know, it was one of those. Nobody realized immediately that she was missing. And the home Antoine lives in is the home him and Ameris shared when they were married. It's three floors, it's a very big, spacious house. It used to be a fraternity house. So just picture it. Um, so it's not like if you're not up there, like where you don't notice right away that she walked out. It was a Saturday morning, and um, she was 14. She was allowed to walk from that house to the house house, you know.

SPEAKER_07 15:40

Yeah, I was I you know, because I live close. I did take a drive a few weeks ago, like I told you. And when you pull it up on Google Maps, it looks really far apart, but then when you're there, it's really not because I I remember looking at it back in January, and I'm like, wow, she walked a long way, and then I'm driving down there and I'm like, this is actually really close to yeah. So I was really amazed by that. But so yeah, Google Maps can be deceiving.

SPEAKER_03 16:07

It's definitely deceiving. I try to show it, that's why I try to be diligent on my page because I know things could seem a certain way, but visually when you see it, you're like, whoa.

SPEAKER_07 16:17

Yeah. Yeah, it really was not a a big distance that she was walking like at all. So so she at that point around 11, between 1118, 1123, she logs off and no one knows where she's at, no one hears from her. Um, everybody just assumes she's at one of the relatives' houses or doing some work.

SPEAKER_03 16:36

Yeah, they originally thought she went to get a snack with the money at Pantron, but it still wasn't an immediate alert. Yeah, now like where's La La.

SPEAKER_07 16:45

What time of day? When dinner was scared. Okay, so it was around dinner time when no one has heard from her. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 16:51

It's like, hey, is she over a mayor? Is a mare is she uh, you know, like what's going on? And it was kind of like then, you know, but still not super alarming. Like, wait, she she walked outside, and that was a thing they already spoke to her about, you know, like make sure you tell us you know when you go here. And so um, it's still that that area community is where she's lived her whole life with America, because as I mentioned, the Terra Street address is the home American Antoine lived in when they adopted her and got her in foster care, and then around um her grandma, her mom lives right there. So it's like she's always known it, and so you know, there's a park straight across the street from their home, about a like quarter block Charles Street Park. So all right there is a small vicinity. Yes.

SPEAKER_07 17:35

So she was basically they thought she was gonna come home for dinner, so they were just asking each other, hey send La La home dinner ready.

SPEAKER_03 17:42

Right. Where's where's La Side for dinner? And she don't turn down food, like what you know, the steak in a rush.

SPEAKER_07 17:48

Yeah, with the steak. So when was it about who was it and when were I I'm I mean, guessing Amira or Antoine were like, wait, something's wrong.

SPEAKER_03 17:57

I think it was yeah, I think it was near five. Um, when they couldn't find her, they started to go look. And it's important to note Lana didn't have this, she had friends at school, but not a large amount that she hung out with near the neighborhood. So it's quick to understand, like, hey, where could she go? Where would she be? So they immediately went over to the nursing home to see if she walked to her grandmother's house.

SPEAKER_05 18:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 18:22

Which her name is Darlene. And um, Darlene is also deaf. So Aunt went over there herself and asked, did anyone see and you know, was she here? And no one's seen her. The name of the nursing call is is called Edenbrook, sorry, and it's in Kingston, it's not far from the Aldi if you're in the area. It's about two blocks from Aldi. And then that's when it was like, okay, let's go file a missing person's work because no one's seen her. The time was a little off, no, you know, because the kids are in and out, they have their own activities. Gabby's on competitive cheer, you know, like it's the whole spiel. It's like way worse. So um at this time, they were like, Okay, let's put this. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 19:02

At this time, Lala was grounded from her phone, correct? Is that what you said earlier?

SPEAKER_03 19:06

That is correct.

SPEAKER_07 19:07

So she didn't have a way to communicate with them all day, and that's why people couldn't get a hold of her because she had no correct no cell phone. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 19:15

She had no cell phone, she was grounded from typical teenager stuff. And sh it was just one of those things people often mention, you know, like, wow, maybe she had her phone, you know, but unfortunately she didn't.

SPEAKER_07 19:27

Yeah. Unforeseen circumstances, that was not, you know, that it's just uh I wish we could change.

SPEAKER_05 19:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 19:33

But in the moment, you know, that's not the thing you're thinking about when you take your kids far away. Um so they filed a report. Were they were they told to wait 24 to 48 hours because you know, kids typically run away. I know that was a big thing. People said that La La ran away, and I see it all the time in our area, and they immediately they ran away.

SPEAKER_03 19:52

Yeah. So they took the report and America began her own search.

SPEAKER_05 19:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 20:00

And I I'm not saying aunt wasn't searching, America is just more investigative as nature, if you get what I mean. So he's the where should we go look? I'll drive, wherever, where she's like, let me figure stuff this out.

SPEAKER_06 20:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:12

I want to stress from the beginning, America felt Bobby Joe was involved.

SPEAKER_06 20:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 20:18

Like her got her mama instinct, she was just like, the keys, Bobby Joe. So at this point, she knew she still didn't have a permanent residence, so where could Bobby Joe be? So she decided to search all her social media accounts. And when she got on a TikTok, she found the background to a hotel. So then she went through all the local hotels and searched the room walls the same.

SPEAKER_07 20:46

Oh man.

SPEAKER_03 20:47

And found two that was similar.

SPEAKER_07 20:49

I thought I would be doing that too. Yeah, good for her.

SPEAKER_03 20:52

And of course, she was utilizing social media, and this went on for three days.

SPEAKER_06 20:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 20:58

So she's searching, she's looking, she's trying to find the date. She's calling the police. Nobody's getting back to her. She's still continuing her search. And then the 20th, yeah, sorry, the 20th, she uh thinks it's one hotel. She goes to call, look up there, it ends up not being. Then she goes to the second one, which is called the Extended Stay Americas near Motor World on Route 315. And when she got up there, she seen Bobby Joe's on again, off again boyfriend in the lobby. So now she's like, and when she sees him, he's on the phone, like suspiciously looking through, you know, like whispering, and she's like, shh sh he's tipping her off, you know. So she does what probably any mom would do immediately calls 911, like, hey, I believe my daughter's here. She goes and speaks to the the front desk. They say, Yes, she's right here. Room 113, because it's the first floor, it's not, you know, 113. And the mayor calls the police. And when she calls the police. the location of the hotel has the Plains Township police arrive. So that's important because some people think it's still Wolksbury, but it wasn't. It was Plains Township just taking the call and came. It was a woman officer who came where mayor shares. She genuinely um felt she was trying to be helpful. They knocked on the door and Bobby Joe didn't open it for minutes. A mayor said it felt like about close to 15 minutes.

SPEAKER_06 22:25

Wow that's not suspicious right now she claimed she was in the shower.

SPEAKER_03 22:28

Right. So the cop knows she don't have probable calls to just search it.

SPEAKER_07 22:35

So she asks and um she's like oh well my kids are in here moving you know so she lets her in she searches it she comes back out dripping sweat Amer said and she don't find her so now Amir feels defeated like okay where could she eat this this all don't align this way you know on accident so and I let me give my listeners a f a little I forgot to say this. Bobby Joe is Lala's biological aunt she is the sister of her Lala's biological dad.

unknown 23:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_07 23:33

So they she grew up with Amira. You all grew up together and you were friends and this just turned one day wow friendly um we all knew each other.

SPEAKER_03 23:45

If we seen each other probably we would say hi we were acquainted uh in fact as much as it sickens me I'm actually the one who started the contact between them two.

SPEAKER_06 23:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 23:55

When Lala was first taking off of her parents Bobby Joe reached out to me on Facebook. I had just did kinship with the and she was curious about the program to get Lala so I gave her advice you know like hey that sounds great you want your niece you know the more keep your families intact you know I was like oh I she went I don't dabble in that I don't know you know what you do once that happens and it was very short but sorry I don't know she did visibly seem emotionally upset like where could she be you know she's deaf and was she in a home with you know and those things and I was like I don't know you know maybe try and call them and see what you could do. So to my surprise a week later when I go to my friend a mayor's house I walk in I see Lala and I'm like Lala oh my gosh I know you I know your dad you remember me because she was only about six or seven and at this time I seen her last we're like three or four.

SPEAKER_06 25:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 25:11

And she was like you know me you know and I was like yes I know your Aunt Bobby Joe and she's like you do and I thought what better way to rich trust with her and her new family than to show let's call your Aunt Bobby Joe look and Bobby Joe was crying and Lala was crying and but I Lala liked me and I was like thank you you know and just I just knew how much she's been through at such a young age it's important to note that when Lala was removed from her parents she was seven as I mentioned but she was one of six kids so when she got split up they all got split up so she didn't essentially just lose her parents she lost her siblings they were all split up um they were all two were adopted with one family two were adopted another one alone and then her alone and they were close adoptions so at this young age she already established who mom and dad was who brothers sisters are who grandma is and now they're all ripped away and that's something Amer was so passionate about she wanted to bridge you know that with Lala to still have somebody specifically being deaf to and everything that went through you know went on with her life and with her family and her siblings so I'll never forget the messages Bobby Joe asked like perhaps maybe we could meet at a park and the kids could play and they did. And that went on for years. I have photos from last summer where Bobby Joe's children were in the pool at Amer's house. Amer's a big above ground pool and they were all swimming Lala loved to swim and I have photos at Gabby's birthday a few years ago they were attended and Lala's birthday like Amer really opened and bridged you know hey your kids could play with my kids and it don't have to be and it wasn't it wasn't it went on really good until the end of 2024. So they were a blended family integrated and as much as you would say yeah you know Amer did whatever she felt was best for Lala and it's important to remember Lala loved her father I mean if you knew him you knew Lala and if you knew her you knew him their Bund was just something so strong and he unfortunately passed away in 2022 abruptly and he unfortunately passed from a drug overdose and that you know is another thing you plan for it's just so unannounced and heartbreaking so Bobby Joe was that last piece of her father the kids were that last piece of her father you know it's just so heartbreaking because um you know Darlene is old has some health issues and she's bedridden and she lives in the nursing home and Lala knows her very well and visit her but with Bobby Joe she got to see things with her have experiences visit her house be raised with her the children are cousins but also best friends like they're a very close and tight relationship. I could sit here all day and show you probably 400 photos over the years of the kids Lala Bobby Joe going to eat pool dates play dates fun time you know like they had a close relationship.

SPEAKER_07 28:28

And I think that's really important to you know note because it's almost like you were just blindsided you know everybody's closed everybody you know Amira kept that door open so Lala had part of her family still she wasn't completely separated and did what she had to do that was in the best interest for her and then all of a sudden it just turns and I I wanted people to know that that there once was a good relationship.

SPEAKER_03 28:54

It was a happy uh emerging and and it's important to note that Lala's mother Anjali her biological mother she and Joey started dating at teens I want to say maybe 13 14 so I was well acquainted with her too she lived on the same street they had six children together she got her life together she got clean she relocated to Illinois and she repaired her relationship with Lala Lala went to Illinois went out to Illinois and state for a few months and went to school out there they had you know really got to mend their relationship but I want to stress Angela called Bobby Joe sister. Anjali and Bobby Joe were close even after her and Joey split. When Anjali got engaged Bobby Joe was there the baby shower she attended Bobby Joe traveled to end Anjali's youngest daughter's birthday this past summer when it happened um that last summer so she was somebody who you know Angie was still close with Lala was close with and then essentially America merged a relationship with her for Lala too.

SPEAKER_07 30:05

So Bobby Joe essentially was one of the you know this stable people in Lala's life consistently the consistent stable exactly yes that consistent stable through everything it was Bobby Joe. Okay. All right so Lala disappears you file you guys file a missing person's report and then the police officer goes up to the hotel on 315 and in Plains and doesn't see Lala in the hotel whatsoever. And this is going back into January. So and I don't know how you want to interject here and tell people what actually was going on there or wait for later but um so we yeah so yeah by this point we still didn't where Lala was um they didn't find so now it's kind of like back discussion and yes I will go over later everything so we can merge it all.

SPEAKER_03 30:57

So American with searching for her uh she's putting out flyers she's reaching out to the police she finally gets a detective on January 22nd 22nd and by this day that's how many days later sorry no one has been assigned for this case I was south sick so she is just got it like okay she got this protection from abuse order just days ago she is deaf she is 14 why isn't there any urgency why doesn't she qualify for this Amber why can't I get a detective 2024 so they were a blended family integrated and as much as you would say yeah you know America did whatever she felt was best for Lala and it's important to remember Lala loved her father I mean if you knew him you knew Lala and if you knew her you knew him their bun was just something so strong and he unfortunately passed away in 2022 abruptly and he unfortunately passed from a drug overdose and that you know is another thing you plan for it's just so unannounced and heartbreaking so Bobby Joe was that last piece of her father the kids were that last piece of her father you know it's just so heartbreaking because you know Darlene is old has some health issues and she's bedridden and she lives in the nursing home and Lala knows her very well and visit her but with Bobby Joe she got to see things with her have experiences visit her house be raised with her the children are cousins but also best friends like they're a very close and tight relationship I could sit here all day and show you probably 400 photos over the years of the kids Lala Bobby Joe going to eat pool dates play dates fun time you know like they had a close relationship.

SPEAKER_07 32:56

And I think that's really important to you know note because it's almost like you were just blindsided you know everybody's closed everybody you know Amira kept that door open so Lala had part of her family still she wasn't completely separated and did what she had to do that was in the best interest for her and then all of a sudden it just turns and I I wanted people to know that that there once was a good relationship.

SPEAKER_03 33:22

It was a happy uh emerging and and it's important to note that Lala's mother Anjali her biological mother she and Joey started dating at teens I want to say maybe 13 14 so I was well acquainted with her too she lived on the same street they had six children together she got her life together she got clean she relocated to Illinois and she repaired her relationship with Lala Lala went to Illinois Lala went out to Illinois and state for a few months and went to school out there they had you know really got to mend their relationship but I want to stress Angela called Bobby Joe sister. Angela and Bobby Joe were close even after her and Joey split when Anjali got engaged Bobby Joe was there the baby shower she had Bobby Joe et so was escorted into court in Quick Bear. Bobby Joe traveled to end Anjali's youngest daughter's birthday this past summer when it happened um that last summer so she was somebody who you know Anjali was still close with Lala was close with and then essentially America merged a relationship with her for Lala too.

SPEAKER_07 35:08

So Bobby Joe essentially was one of the you know this stable people in Lala's life consistently the consistent stable exactly yes that consistent stable through everything it was Bobby Joe. Okay. All right so Lala disappears you file you guys file a missing person's report and then the police officer goes up to the hotel on 315 and in Plains and doesn't see Lala in the hotel whatsoever. And this is going back into January. So and I don't know how you want to interject here and tell people what actually was going on there or wait for later but um so we yeah so yeah by this point we still didn't know where Lala was um they didn't find so now it's kind of like back to school and yes I will go over later everything so we can merge it all.

SPEAKER_03 35:59

So America kicks on with searching for her um she's putting out flyers she's reaching out to the police she finally gets a detective on January 22nd 22nd and by this day that's how many days later sorry no one has been assigned for this case I was south sick so she is just got it like okay she got this protection from abuse order just days ago she is deaf she is 14 why isn't there any urgency why doesn't she qualify for this Amber why can't I get a detective you know and they really don't have much to say so she's posting on Facebook I'm giving her suggestions family friends are giving her suggestions and then she continues on with her own search. She's asking the community and I'm watching and I'm sharing the stuff too so then I started to mention like maybe we should make a separate page what I noticed is is from the outside is very confusing. You have an adoptive mother you have a biological mother you have her biological aunt might have taken her then you know so it's yeah it took me a while to like map it out yeah yeah it's a lot and then emotions are high people are pointing fingers and now you're arguing and now it looks like drama. Yes so I was like hey I get it how about this how about I go and set it up what do you think and I was slightly happening in the beginning but I didn't fully make the own stuff you know until like February because at this point it's February 1st like our her birthday passed on January 26th she turned 15 there's no proof of life there's no tips the area is so small she has no money she hasn't no phone like no one's seen her if she was with a kid or or a boy or something like somebody would have some known somebody that knew somebody you know like it still just seems so calculated or something like somebody was purposely like somebody was had their hand and this wasn't just a kid so Amer said please you know and and I want to mention I I was she's my good friend but I didn't want to overstep yeah I didn't want to you know do things you you want to do it in a way where you're supportive but not you know doing too much or saying too much but Amer was like with open arms at this point because she's like look I'm I'm burnt out I have to get up go to work I'm worried I'm not sleeping I'm looking I'm you know so I got involved and I immediately made help find la la Facebook help find la la email help find la la tick tock I want to mention I had no real experience in TikTok I had a few fun videos over the years but like not an editor or I remember getting online and searching for what goes on a missing person's photo. What colors should I use what fonts should I use I laugh because I look back on my first one I'm like how is that gonna get anyone's attention like because you don't know these things you don't think about these until you're in them you know nobody teaches you how to operate and do these things so I'm going off of what I've ever seen on true crime and where my spirit leads me you know so I'm I'm I'm putting out she's like wow I did it all within like two hours she's like you just did this I was like yes like uh you know I met with someone and she was printing out good flyers that were done on a thicker paper because we were dealing with the weather so um I was helping with flyer distribution and I was working full time so it's like I was all over the place but it was going along and honestly I felt very confident we were going to find her soon. I started to send out emails to local representatives like Marty Flynn, uh Lisa Baker, Tony Brooks. I mean I was online looking at people who work for the courthouse the police station if they had an email I was sending it urging anyone to get this on a platform perhaps to get the news stations to do an actual story. I seen I can't confirm which all but one or two did like a a child missing on social media but get it to air on the news yeah because we really thought it was Bobby Joe. We knew she was homeless. So if it was at a hotel she was staying or something it would give that reach people coming and going somebody's gonna watch the news you know stuff like that. I at this point this is the beginning of February so we're still going through our tips I set up an anonymous tip line that you could leave it anonymously through Google but I really wasn't getting many bites.

SPEAKER_05 40:42

I didn't even know you could do that.

SPEAKER_03 40:44

Yeah it's a it's a I still have them I still look them over I have a few tips I got um yeah you could leave an anonymous tip I had that on the page and I was having teenagers put it through Snapchat because I know kids love Snapchat more. You know we had the flyers and then I start to think what if she tried to run back to her mom?

SPEAKER_05 41:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 41:05

I went in physically mailed flyers to people in the community of Brees Illinois to random addresses because I was like if she lives kind of over here and she goes this way if they get this and they see it one day I was on Brees's EMV their local elementary leaving flyer sometimes it kills me but sometimes somebody will like it recently like we'll like it and I'll pop up and it'll say so many weeks ago on Super Bowl ads I was leaving her flyer I was trying to utilize social media as much as I could because in Pennsylvania it was cold it was winter nobody's outside so I just okay the better way I could get you know people are going in and out the house quickly they're going in and out the store quickly so we were doing grocery stores we you know sheets and stuff like that all the local stores around near her house but we just weren't getting any bites so the 8th I believe February 8th I started to push the mayor I I downloaded a faxing app and I started to go old school fax people and I got up the next day and everybody was running the store it was like Fox 56 WNEP and I took all of them and made a TikTok and I was like yes like all right we're getting somewhere I was like mayor we're getting somewhere and I felt so confident and then um one of the news articles quoted the police and they said they had gotten multiple tips that she is out and about uh it was it was the way they worded it that led you to believe like she just ran away and I was gutted because I was like what tips did we get none were confirmed nobody's seen her because the ones the the two or three that we did get it it wasn't her so I immediately wrote the editor I read and I was like why did you say that you're you're leading the public to believe that she's just out there and I was so gutted because I worked so hard to just try and get that little bit and now I'm like are people going to disregard it like oh she's just ran away.

SPEAKER_07 43:05

Yeah or think they saw her and send in 12 million tips and even her like so it broke my heart and we pushed her though.

SPEAKER_03 43:15

So now I'm more active with these flyers I'm trying I'm like okay in the middle of this my husband has a whole heart issue I'll never forget the woman was coming to bring me more flyers I'm calling her while I'm calling the ambulance for my husband while I'm working and was like still trained like this do this you know like do whatever um because I was so hopeful. And then we got to February 20th. So this is about two weeks from when I started making everything okay yeah I I remember leading up to February 20th because it's Joey's birthday.

SPEAKER_06 43:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 43:55

Lala's dad and I said yes I said if she is alive she Will show a sign if she is easily running away and free. She's gonna show a sign. She will not let this day pass without highlighting and acknowledging her father. I remember making the image with the two of them and clouds behind it. And I thought, I don't know if I should use this because I don't want it to look like she's dead. He's only dead.

SPEAKER_04 44:22

I remember that one. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 44:25

And it's this this beat to a song on TikTok with no words. It slowed down, and I thought this is perfect. And and in between photos of him and her, I'm gonna share the missing fire. Like doo-doo doo, daddy and daughter, she's missing. Daddy daughter, you know. I love this one photo when she was born. He's crying when she's in the the little bed when she and he's holding her finger. And I was like, this might grab people that really look. And then the day came and went, and I remember saying to my husband, Okay, now I'm scared. And he said, Why? And I said, She would never let this day go. But I knew I didn't want to say that to America. I didn't want to say it. I was like, you know what? I'm gonna pray hard, let's keep pushing. And the next day we wake up, and that afternoon, a man goes live in South Wilkesbury. A body has been found. I don't think people really understand what that does to people who are missing someone. I I can't really it it you freeze. And um, with today's technology, you're live watching the scene, and I remember putting it on, and they said they heard shots fired, and thinking, well, okay, that's probably not her then. Somebody got shot over there or something uh as horrible as it sounds, but your brain is trying to, you know, prove to yourself how it can't be her. But when I was searching for her, right near the garage is a train track that runs all through South Booksbury, and I remembered a tip somebody left me on TikTok that the kids like to hang out by the train tracks. So when he went live and I seen train tracks, I ran to that TikTok and I said, Hey, is the train tracks near Thayer Street? You know, like just trying to break it down, and but nothing. America, her sister Samara, we're all basically holding our breath. We're in the chat, writing each other, but we're like, and then America says, You won't believe it. I said, What? She said, Aunt just got a garage right there. He didn't even open it up yet fully. So now I'm like, Do you think Lala try to run there? But then we're like, wait, Lala never even been to the garage. Because she he literally set it up while she was missing. He was in the middle of moving from one garage to another while she was missing. So she never even been there. So America can't breathe.

SPEAKER_07 46:52

Does he work there? Does he own it still?

SPEAKER_03 46:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 46:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 46:56

Where her bench is, off to about 10 feet, is his door to that part of the garage. I know you went there. The front part are two different garages. It's multiple garages. Okay.

SPEAKER_07 47:07

And the person just for my clarification, the person who went live, were they going live be at the moment they found Walla, or was this they heard about it and ran to the scene and go live?

SPEAKER_03 47:20

So the person who went live, I'll only say his first name's name is Jason. He runs a Facebook page about like the corrupt and bad news of Wilkesbury. And his mother lives directly in front of the garage. Well, elderly lady, because he's a middle-aged man and she's older, and he was there visiting. And he's like, look at what this town is coming to. And he pulls around and he tries to get as close as he can and he zooms in. He's at least 50 feet or or more away. Um, and then he pulls around to the front and he's live, and at one point, the Wix of Greece's like, you need to back up, like you need to not be around there. So he pulls to the main parking lot of Mart and he's shooting where Lala would be that way. That we later find out, and you see a gold car, you see a truck, and you're like squinting, but then you see the coroner show up. You see, like 1520 detectives. I actually start to screen record it.

SPEAKER_07 48:18

Does this go back to the book and zoom in and do these people that just go live and do things like this, do they realize that the people on the other side that are connected to the missing person could just stumble upon this and be taken by like do they do they think?

SPEAKER_03 48:32

Wait till I tell you what he says the next day, you know, because he didn't care. So Americ says they are gonna question Aunt, the two garage owners, you know, because whoever's there, because they found a body. So they go down and they say they did find a body. It was in the back of a car. So we're thinking in the backseat of a car. We're not thinking literally in the back of and of course the first thing Aunt and Amara asking, is it Lala? They don't know. We they cannot answer that. Well, can you give us any hint? We don't know. We just have to ask these questions, you know. We have to go over this. So they're asking, and now it's Sunday. Saturday was the 21st, Sunday was you know the 22nd, and um we still don't know. So Amara's asking, and they stop and they say, Can you bring us her toothbrush? Could we check that way? So we're like, whoever's there, like why they can't identify her. And I'm saying to Amara, like, I don't want to say this, but I'm like, Well, if she just died, like, wouldn't she have her hearing aids in? And I I mentioned that because I would my brain was still so far from murder. Part of me was like, Did she freeze trying to find Ant? Why was she in the back of a car? Like, I just kept and and when they asked the mayor about it, they said they had found a suitcase with clothes. So I'm like, was she trying to where'd she get clothes from? But a mayor said it wasn't her clothes, so we're just trying to piece the stuff together.

SPEAKER_05 49:58

Hmm.

SPEAKER_03 49:59

And then Monday comes. And Monday, I wish I could go back to Monday. Because that Monday, Aunt went to the garage and he found the man who found the body. And he said, Hey, my daughter's missing. And can I show you some pictures? Is this the body you found?

SPEAKER_05 50:18

Good.

SPEAKER_03 50:19

I'll never forget that that message. He said, No, she was an older white woman with very short hair. I remember that. And um when America texts me that, oh my gosh, I felt like I won the lottery. Like, I have not felt the joy and happiness that I felt in that moment. I said, Amer, oh my gosh, I could finally breathe. And you know, I started to mention things I was thinking that I didn't want to say because you know, I wanted to be supportive. And she's like, I know me too. And we're just like, and she's like, if a man could see this and know, why couldn't the police just tell us? You know, we're just like, ah, and rejoicing. We literally are just so ecstatic. I remember stopping in my bedroom and having tears of joy. I remember telling myself, when I find Lala, I'm gonna tell her about this, and I'm gonna let her know, like, team might feel this way, and you might feel and thinking all these things. And then I hit up Gabriella who helped me with the flyers, and I was like, We we're gonna go bigger, we're gonna need even more flyers now. I'm gonna get a new design that's really gonna stand out, and we're gonna bring you know our girl home. I should mention Gabriella was just a stranger who helped me and just cared. And she was super supportive because I would get out of work at 11 p.m. and I would stay from 11 p.m. to like 5 p.m. researching, making content, doing whatever, repeat. So I was really in the thick of it, sending emails and say, you know, it takes a lot. I don't think people realize like, oh, you send an email, like, no, you gotta watch what you say, put enough, get a good subject, find the email, send it to this senator, send it to the senator, send it to the governor, send it, you know, you're just like all over the place.

SPEAKER_07 52:04

And you're morning on lack of sleep, adrenaline, emotions are high, and just yeah, being um working, and then you gotta grow your presence on social media because this is the page started from zero, you know.

SPEAKER_03 52:18

So I was like, gotta be on it. And then that week I was moving. I just got the house I'm in now. And I was set to move that Saturday. So that week I was packing up and I wanted to move comfortably. I wanted to put the boxes in the U-Haul, let the U-Haul sit, you know, just not rush and drop it off. And um, now it's Tuesday, and I was at Price Chopper in Wilkes Ferry, Market 32, and uh was in the U-Haul and started doing that. And my mom calls me and she says, There's a crime scene unit on New Alexander Street. And the first thing I thought is that poor woman that was found dead at the garage, it's probably connected to her. I said that to my mom. I said, Oh my god, let me say a prayer real quick, that poor woman. Because as horrible as it sounds, I'm so thankful it's not Lala, but I just know this poor family is gonna be giving the worst news. I remember looking at my mom on FaceTime telling her that. Wow. And then I click on it and I see it, and I'm like, wow, I didn't know we had a crime scene unit truck like that. Where do they park? And what like all this, you know, CSI stuff, and it's like the street is and as I look, America texts and says, Oh my god, I think it's a Lala. And I said, No, America. They're at New Alexander Street, they're not at the garage, it has nothing to do with Lala. And she said, That's the address I sent the detectives a week and a half ago that the sex offender lives at. And everything in my body dropped. I was like, I'm a I'm a firm believer in no coincidences. And now I'm like, I don't even know what to say. I say, okay, breathe. You know, let's let's play it out, let's see. So I drive home. I go into work because I work from home, and I but I'm glued to the live, you know, like we're both. And America's like, I can't take this no more. I gotta drive to police station. I need to know. I called Anjali, and they she told me they went to Illinois for a DNA. Now I'm like, why would they go all the way there? Why would they go all the way if it wasn't her? You know, and all these thoughts start running through your head. And she said, but Aunt said it was an older lady. So maybe the stress of all this is still just getting us, you know. And I'm like, you know what, that's right. That's like let's try and think positive. Yeah, I'm saying this in my head, like, yeah, you know, we know it's an older lady short hair, like maybe the lady knows where Lala is and got killed running away. And like, you know, I'm just trying to think what it could be. And um, I flipped my phone over for a minute because I had a meeting for work for about not long, like a 15-minute meeting. And I flip it back over and she says, Oh my god, it's definitely Lala. And I said, No, don't freak out. She says, No, I'm pulling up to the police station. Oh my gosh, Sabrina just told me it's her. I can't believe this Lala is dead. And I'm just like, wait, what? Are you sure? You know, like now is this and I so I call her, she's like, I can't talk, I can't answer. I need you to put out a statement, I need you to say it's Lala. The police um are confident, they know what happened, respect their privacy. I have to rush home and tell my kids they're gonna have a police conference. And I stood there in my room and I remember feeling every ounce of the blood and everything in my body just go to my legs and just stand there and was like, how? I just kept saying, how? I just couldn't accept it. Like, she's dead, like that's not the outcome we like I ever envisioned. Like, I I know I might sound crazy explaining that, but that's all my brain kept seeing is like how no, but I still didn't think murder. I was still trying to figure out how. Did she have hypothermia? How did they know who it was? Why was she in a backseat of a car? Like, I was still going, you know, like I was so confused. And I put this statement out, and I and I said, you know, let me know what you tell the kids. So I gave her like an hour, and then I showed up there, and we're all there in the house, all the family, and the news runs, and they say she was naked and bruised. We didn't know that. So I said she was naked and bruised, we're they and we're all looking together, like finding this out. The ligature mark, so she was tied up, like we're trying to put all this together. And I'm like, America, what exactly did the detective say? And she's like, the detective said it was Lala. Your suspicions are correct. We're um confident we'll solve the case, and like they can't go over more details yet. They still need, you know, the rape kit, autopsy, all that stuff at that time. So I'm like, somebody killed her? Who would kill Lala? Like and we all immediately were like, Why why would Bobby Joe kill her though? Like, Bobby Joe, what you know, like, huh? What? We're just trying to put this together because at one point all of us we got together after this, Anjali, Amer, and myself, and we all said the same thing that one point when she was missing, we said, Well, at least since she's with Bobby Joe, she's not out in the cold or not being hurt. That's how much we were like, she would take it this far. We've seen signs of escalation, and that's why America was doing what she was doing, but not to murder. And then when you hear New Alexander Street, that's approximately a four-minute walk from Amare's house. I'm like, she was right there the whole time, you know, because all the details weren't out. And then your brain is like, once we found his address, you should have just gone there and kicked the door in. We should have went and you know, but we didn't know, and you know, you don't know those things, and and in in it's just a lot of what ifs? Yeah, what if I did this? Why did I do this? I should have done this, and uh the biggest part is for me at least, I can't speak for everyone, is like how are we here and how can we change this? And then it sinks in like this, she's never coming back, and then it's like heartbroken all over again. I remember that night coming home and laying in my bed, and uh I remember trying to move from my right side to my left side, and it literally felt like exercise. I couldn't eat, I couldn't drink. I have never in my life just wept like I did. I just I thought with myself, it felt like this wasn't real, like this cannot be real. She cannot be dead, like that this isn't how it was supposed to end. This is I'm I'm so we're supposed to find her. What do you mean? Like it just I was so in denial. Tiff, I was so in denial. Like, I I can't believe this. And then when that 11 o'clock hour came, I'm like, what do you mean I don't search for her? What do I do now? Yeah, I've been searching for her at this time. So now at 11 a.m. till 5, I'm just there and I'm stuck. I'm like, what do I do? I don't make a video, I don't find her, and you know, I call my therapist, and my friends are checking on me, and they're like, just at least take a bite of food, make sure you're sipping. And my husband's so supportive, but nothing mattered because she won't come back. That's all my brain said, like, nothing I could do will bring her back. Nothing we do will bring her back. Like this is this is permanent, she's gone. And how did we get here?

SPEAKER_07 1:00:08

So with them identifying her, that you said that they sent the toothbrush, you gave them the toothbrush, and then they collected DNA from Illinois, and that's how they matched it to identify her. And that and it's up to you. I I know with the affidavit, um, guys, just to just to catch you up here, I did do four previous episodes on La La. One of them is me reading the affidavit word for word. I was reading it in real time. I had not looked at it before I I read it. So it was a few months ago, so I might ask some questions that I just don't remember the answers to. But if you don't mind, and if you don't have to answer this, could they just not identify her from decomposition? Or is that so they had to get DNA from uh cheese brush?

SPEAKER_03 1:00:55

They didn't say we found the body of Lemai, they said we found human remains.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:59

Remains, okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:01

I remember they also said is she was alive at least up until a week ago when they told the mayor that. So immediately I'm like, all right, today's the 24th, so a week ago she was alive, you know, like that already gave us a timeline. She was at least alive about a week a a little over a week ago, they believe the week ago. Um, more more will come, you know, once they go through everything, but they're confident they know what happened and who did it. And this was all on the 24th. Um, so as they're confirming it's her with America, this is the other things they're seeing too. Um you know what the news, but then the news are saying it's not confirmed it's her.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:41

I remember that.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:42

So, yeah, so a lot of people were hitting me up, like, are you sure it's law? And I'm like, uh, they told America yesterday at 4 p.m. Like, you know, I don't know if that was exactly the time, but you know what I mean? I was just like, and they're like, nobody's confirming it's her. And I'm like, I I don't know why, because they told up, you know, and then people were like, Are you sure? And it was like a lot of this back and forth. And I'm like, we have to prove she's dead, you know? It was just a lot.

SPEAKER_07 1:02:13

I I I can't speak for Lala, obviously, nobody can. Um, and I'm not, but I just couldn't imagine her. She like she knew how close she was to home, and she couldn't get out of that house. She couldn't, she had like just go what I don't want to know what went through her head. God bless that angel. But it I mean, I'm just thinking of me or my siblings being stuck somewhere, and you know, home is only four minutes away, and you're being taken, you know, you're at the hotel, and then now you're at New Alexander Street, and you're being hidden, and you she was probably so confused.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:47

Like why the affidavit highlights that? I think that as you mentioned, you don't know Lala well, and I get that, but there's key points that still show her innocence, how she would hide behind the curtain, and it's quoted Bobby Joe says, Stop looking, we know you're in there. I really believe there was a good point. This is just an opinion that Lala was playing along thinking it was a game. She trusted her on, she was with her siblings, and then the home she was visiting, uh Bobby Joe's best friend Jessica, when I was, you know, trying to get photos and just explain to people. I went back and I found Jessica with a Bobby Joe about I want to say nine, ten years ago. Lala's 14.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:34

So, well, she was 15, but she knew Jessica for a long time too.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:43

She she was around people she grew up with. I mean, not a new friend, not somebody you just you know became friends with or a friend of a friend. This is actual family.

SPEAKER_07 1:03:55

Yeah. People she was saying, like family to her.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:58

She was, you know, that was her aunt's best friend, and she's been around her for many years and been at her house and etc. So I of course we'll never know, but I still don't think she seen death was near until it was too late. Um I do think she tried to go along just based off of the affidavit, the things Bobby Joe said, like you don't appreciate what your aunt did for you, you don't think about no one else, and it's like you have her tied up in a closet, bro. Yeah. You know what I mean? But it's very like she must tell some of the words she used.

SPEAKER_07 1:04:34

And she, I mean, again, I'm not speaking for her, I'm just trying to imagine, like, yeah, right. She's playing a game, she's trying to just do what she's told to do because she loves her aunt, she loves everybody in the house.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:46

At the same time, I really wonder what I wonder if it came to a point where it's like, hey, it's time to like I don't want to play this game. Yeah. Like I I really feel that's what happened. That's why I'm eager to see what goes in trial, what they fully show us. And um what I know uh based on Lala, she's so active, she's very loud. I mean, she was a deaf child, she wore hearing aid, but she was loud, and oftentimes they don't even realize how loud they are, and she was loud just for fun. So she was a foodie, as I told you, and then being withheld food and her her hearing aid taken from her, she don't know how loud or not loud she is, and you know, just all those details surrounding it. I I wonder if that's why those statements were made. I want to go home now. I'm done playing the game, and it's like, what do you need now? All this I did for you, I sacrificed so much, you don't appreciate your aunt and your cousins. You you're annoying, you always want stuff, you get on everyone's nerve.

SPEAKER_07 1:05:49

Let her go home. She was starting to maybe piece together not that that death was one, but sort of slowly realize that something is wrong.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:00

It's time for me to go home. Yeah. You know, I think the manipulation started to wear off. I think the lies and the tactics started to not make sense to her. She was, you know, only 14 and 15. She trusted her aunt. She loved her aunt. We see the pattern of manipulation and messages, the lies her aunt was putting out. And it's important for the listeners to realize that while all this is going on, Bobby Joe is publicly saying angels protect her. Angels pre please bring my baby home. The stupid PFA is why she did this because she wants mommy Joe. She wants her auntie. And you know, I want to mention that because that really shows how sadistic she is to balance both herself as a victim, knowing she has her niece tied up and tortured and then ultimately killed. And you're actively sharing my post, begging her to come home, knowing she's dead. It's just a certain level of sick.

SPEAKER_07 1:07:00

You said earlier that the body that the man found said that the woman had short hair. So I remember you telling me off off camera that they they cut La La's hair. So that so the guy really wasn't putting out misinformation. He was just going off what he saw. So when Ant Antoine showed him the photo, he was like, No, then no, because he was going based off what he saw, not Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:25

I think he saw a decomposing body that probably looked I think he saw the short hair, and he never correlated this could be a teenager this is looks like a middle-aged woman with short hair. Um I I don't think he meant it, you know, of any ill way. In the beginning, when it was coming out and it was on a lot of newspapers and comments, he commented on one of them and said, Hey, I was the person who found it, and I'm just so sorry. You know, my heart breaks, but my camera caught everything, and I'll never forget that. It was about one or two days after it was confirmed her and he said that, and I remember thinking, Alright, it's time to kick in a gear, you know. At the video, I broke down horribly before everyone arrived. I mean horribly, Tiff. I got to that site and it was like every emotion just finally took head. I screamed, I cried, I mean, it was out of body. And Amer's mom was there, she came and she grabbed me real quick, she said, Look at me, and she snapped me. She's like, Gotta keep it together. Amir's about to come, and I'm like, I can't, I can't, I'm hyperventilated, I'm shaking. She's like, You could, and you will. And I was just like, Okay, okay, and I let it out, and then she's like, 'Cause we're gonna do it for la la. And I was like, you're right. And I pulled out my phone and I started to count briefly while I was getting, I was like, one, two, three, four, five. Even if she went this way, it there's so many cameras are in that parking lot, so many, just in the law alone. And then that's when I started to try to push through grief with investigating.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:06

Honestly, you know, okay, what do we know? I know the streets will talk, I know people will talk. Help us understand because right now we can't just accept she's gone and we're just gonna sit. It's like, all right, what's next? What can we do? I drafted up La La's Law and tried to start that petition, and then I focused on honoring her um and focusing on her funeral. And then once the funeral passed, it was go time. Justice is the mission, you know.

SPEAKER_07 1:09:37

Can you tell us more about La La's Law?

SPEAKER_03 1:09:40

Yeah, so I was sitting there in between those hours the first night after I found it was her, and I kept thinking, How? If we had an amber alert, I really believe she would have been found alive. Um, Bobby Joe didn't have her own house, she didn't have her own vehicle. So she depended on places like hotels, Uber, ride shares, you know, with that amber alert, everybody's getting it right then and there. But they said she didn't qualify. And when it's asked why didn't she qualify? And they said, 'cause we couldn't prove an abduction. So then I start to think about that more. As a victim of domestic violence many years ago, and having a PFA, even you know, say if I was 40 and had a PFA just days before and I went missing, I would hope that would alert something. And then I'm like, she was deaf. She was 14 when she went missing. Like those are strong components, in my opinion, that would alert urgency. But yet it wasn't met with urgency, she didn't qualify. So that's when I started Lawas Law, when I started looking into it. A law that helps vulnerable children that slip between those cracks with Amber Alert. I think Amber Alert is great. I don't want to replace it, but I think we should always err on the caution of the worst than just a runaway. The beginning it was she's just a runaway, she's just it's she wasn't a runaway. I stress this over and over again. Even if she willingly went with Bobby Joe, let's say, we had months of proof of manipulation and coercion happen. If Bobby Joe was her soccer coach, or a friend she met at a football game, or her teacher, or any other adult with a setting like that, it would meet urgency. I truly believe. I feel like people would have taken it more serious. But since she was someone who was related to her and she knew there was just no urgency, there was just no serious energy being met with us. It was felt as if we were dismissed from the beginning. Uh at one point, detective said they don't work weekends, and detective being assigned five days later. It's just like if we had just a little bit of that urgency and support in the beginning, I really feel she would be found. Um so I really hope from this tragedy something more could come for it like La La's La. There's other cases that show this too.

SPEAKER_07 1:12:21

Well, I I'm just gonna throw this out there. I even I don't know if you saw my Facebook post, but it's on my mind, and I'm thinking I know you and I have talked about working together to do some things. I got a call from Senator Marty Flynn's office yesterday about my own PFA issues. And because I've addressed things to the DAs, the legislator, the governor, the police, and nothing's been done, they told me to come in and they're going to talk about some of the things I listed and resolve issues that I listed, and maybe if I can off record tell you when it is and where, we can go together and just collaborate. I would love that. Because this is a domestic violence issue, and people need to realize it is too. Just because Bobby was Lola's aunt does not make it not domestic violence, it's in the family. Aunts, uncles, grandparents, siblings, cousins, that's domestic violence. And I would love to also present this law to them. If I have the time, like while I'm there, I will don't mind sharing that time with you if you want to go and I would love that. Take that opportunity.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:21

I actually emailed him.

SPEAKER_07 1:13:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:23

I was emailed him and I emailed him when she was missing, and then when she was found deceased, I wrote on one of his posts, I said, Hey, I wrote you when she was missing, and I didn't hear anything. He's like, Well, give me a call.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:35

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:37

But when I got that notification the next day, it was about five days after she died, and I was not doing good at that day. I had one day where I would be a little good, and then one day I'd be really and um I didn't call. I just was still dealing with everything, but then I sent an email again. So I've been I actually just sent one yesterday or the day before again. So hopefully he he will say something too. But if not, I would love to collaborate. Yeah, I mean, if and that's something I was highlighting, like, hey, this is a protection from abuse order. Why is that just being bypassed? I feel like that alone meets urgency just days later after it, like just like come on, you know.

SPEAKER_07 1:14:16

And and if he reaches out to you for and by all means, I'll go and support you, but um, or you do it, you do it on your own, whatever you gotta do. But um, if I love that if I mean I'm going in to talk about PFAs, so why not just do it all at once? And yeah, you then you could pitch La La's law, and you know, I know you got the signatures going and well it's a PFA too, yeah. Yeah, so yeah, I just think I want to go hard and I want laws to change with his PFAs. I don't I don't care absolutely these violations, like I know you said Bobby Joe violated it twice, my abuser violated it twice. There shouldn't be a time for a second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth. As soon as a PFA is filed, and this is something else I'm gonna bring up to them. As soon as a PFA is filed, they should have to register as well, like a sex offender. Go right into an abuse. I know there's other states doing this for re repeating offenders. Why are you letting them repeat it? As soon as repeat, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:15:09

Let's do right from the beginning.

SPEAKER_07 1:15:10

If Gartley signs or any other judge signs a PFA into file, they should immediately have to go into a reg register. They don't get a second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth chance. You violate it once, your ass is in jail for a year. Whatever it whatever law they come up with. Absolutely. Whatever and that's what I'm calling.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:26

Definitely need to be applied to.

SPEAKER_07 1:15:27

That's it, that's it. And maybe you and I collaborating can push this because I I agree.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:33

I remember the first time um my ex uh many, many years ago this was though, but he violated it, and I'll never forget they took him in the police car. I was grabbing stuff, and not even 20 minutes later he was back there. I was like, I didn't have enough time to get all my stuff out the house. And I was like, How did he even get back here? Um, and so there's there's always been a flaw. I know this was close to 20 years ago, but now seeing these flaws now with Wala's case and that happening, you're like, hey, changes need to be made. Yeah. You have an agenda for and it should have urgency.

SPEAKER_07 1:16:06

It does. And you have your agenda for Lala. I have my agenda for just victims everywhere, and why not just funnel it together? I mean, isn't Pennsylvania have a purple alert too for people with disabilities? Why wasn't that put out?

SPEAKER_03 1:16:18

So they they were trying to put that out, and that's another thing somebody uh sent to me. There was a certain alert she should have qualified for too. So that's why I was trying to get more people on it. I I know how crazy it sounds. It was just like we had no support. I I that's the only way I could explain it. Like it was just no one was there, and we had to rely on our own research and create our there's things I want to say that sometimes I refrain.

SPEAKER_07 1:16:45

It's just it's good for everybody. So do do you do you know why they would have cut Lala's hair? Was it just to make her feel bad about herself? Was it Yeah?

SPEAKER_03 1:16:55

I think um I say that be one of the children said, Oh, she had a knot in her hair, so we cut her in half. But then we later found out her hair was cut within the first three days, and it's important. Lala spent the whole summer with um they went swimming, it was documented multiple times, and she managed her hair for months, so I find it hard to believe she couldn't manage it within two and a half days. So she was known for doing hair. That's one of the things her mama and Carmen would talk about. She's gonna be the next Carmen coach. She was doing good with hair and braiding and just doing style, so I don't believe that, but that's my opinion.

SPEAKER_07 1:17:36

Okay. So when they eventually, you know, confirmed 100% with you guys, it would there was no more question. What was the next step? You said that you didn't know what to do between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. You were like, what am I supposed to do with my time? You decided to, you know, work on La La's Law. And I know you threw yourself into social media because I was following you and it was it just blew up. Like it you got so much attention and followers and support, you know, with the town hall meeting and the the everybody showing up down to the police station, the vigil, I mean, the funeral you guys you live streamed. I mean, I I was able to watch it then. I I think I had the flu, but there was just so much support in the community. Everybody just showed up, and it was interesting from an outside perspective because it went on and on and on, nobody knew anything, and then all of a sudden, boom, you know, we found out she's deceased, unfortunately. But then that's where all the rumors started, and the back and forth bickering and the false statements that were put out. And I know you were online all the time defending and defending and defending, and you guys from day one were giving out facts, what you were allowed to give, and it's like people didn't want to hear it. It's like I have the receipts, bro. Like, and it people just get so and this is where like with my podcast and just meeting all these people that lose people, this is where people forget that victims are people. And you and I are into true crime, but you have there's a separation where it's not fake. This is real life. So, do they like the the people making up rumors and and you know talking crap on you guys or la la or anybody, that's not of just affecting you, that's affecting La La's legacy, that's affecting the investigation, that's affecting the family, her siblings, her school friends, her ASL community, and it's a ripple effect.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:26

And it was horrible.

SPEAKER_07 1:19:28

How did you deal with that?

SPEAKER_03 1:19:29

I remember the first night I would I didn't care about how um if it was professional or not. I up until that point, no one knew I was behind La La's way because I would write in a way that I was just the like um I would respond in a way and I that was the one thing I asked her. Let's not put my name on it, let's just make it seem like um now at this point she's got it. She just lost her daughter. Um I'm mad and I want people to know that we didn't bash them when they didn't work on weekends, we didn't bash them when it took five days to get it at the final straw for me that day was not just Lala being confirmed dead, it was the detectives that worked on the case weren't even the ones who told Amir. Amer was walking into the police station to get information and the coroner told Lala's biological maternal grandmother it was her, and she told text Americ, it's Lala Coroner just told me. And that enraged me. That was the last straw for me. Like this woman couldn't even get the decency to process her daughter's murder and death alone for a moment, that somebody else had to tell her, and as she's walking into the police station, she finds this out, and the two detectives who pull her her and aunt in the room to confirm that it is true aren't even the detectives who worked the case. So no, you know, rapport or connection with these people, just two strange new people telling you this news. And then the press conference was not even 40 minutes later. And to see the district attorney and the chief and the cameras all lined up on New Alexander Street, and I do I think it was on purpose, district attorney um Sandalucci. I don't know how I say his last name, sorry.

SPEAKER_07 1:21:37

I know who you're talking about.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:39

Yeah, I don't do I think he was smiling on purpose, no, but if you know cameras are there, be prepared. And I remember the beginning of the video's like, huh? No. Like so, yes, we're here. We do believe it could be in connection, and I was just like floored. It was like a switch in me took off. Up until then, I always wanted to confirm with America. I wanted to know how she felt first. I didn't want to say I that moment I didn't care. I was like, no. And I got on there and I said, This is Candace, and I'm speaking for Candace. My friend X, Y, and Z, she sent this sex offender's picture to the detectives, and I just let it all out. I didn't feel it would jeopardize the case because at this point the address was already being on the news, that's where the press conference was. It wasn't nothing where I mean we found about it on the news. Joined the party. Um, it had nothing to do with the case yet, and I just let it all out. And a lot of people don't know that the next day that protest in front of the police station, that was not us. We didn't want to go. But who started that? Maternal grandmother. The maternal grandmother Sabrina Smith did. And I remember thinking, who has a protest in the middle of the week at 10 a.m.? I gotta work.

SPEAKER_07 1:23:03

Yeah. A lot of people wanted to go and were like, we have work, I want to. Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:08

I was like, first off, it's not even been 24 hours since she died. That's all I kept saying. Like, I'm like, and I'm like, but if we don't go, we're like the mean people. Why, you know, we were the we show up, and then that's when we were blindsided by all the lies and chaos, and and I I was like, this can't be real. That's how I stepped into being the family advocate. When I got there at the police station that day, I was the first one there. Americ wasn't there yet, and it wasn't there, so mayor, nobody was there. It was me, my husband, and my eight-year-old. She had a cold, so I kept her home a little. And I was like, Oh, we'll go real quick to see, you know, and be in little. I'm watching them set up, and on the bottom parking lot, the police have all the cameras and tripods in front of the police station that the news does, and they're all set up there. And Sabrina's not there, but her crew is. They're like, I'm with Sabrina, and they're like, Who are you? I'm like, I don't know, I just showed up, you know, like, okay, come stand over here so we can look big. And I'm like, I don't do well with crowds, I'll come when it starts, you know, I was off to the side because I have anxiety. And where the police station is is this way, but on this side, and if you go about halfway down the block, it's children and youth. And when I look down, Sabrina's a friend of children, and I'm like, why isn't she up here? And then I see she got her mic'd up. Yeah, bring her down now. And I'm watching this and I'm like, is this a production? But I felt like I was watching her. And they come and they bring her, and they're like, they're gonna bring out the car, and the car stops, and a lady comes from the side with flowers to hand it to her, and she's like, grab her now. She's mic'd up, she's mic'd up. And I'm like watching this, and I'm like, my friend is not about to pull up to this. So I look at James and I'm like, Do you see this? And he's like, I can't believe this. And I was like, Oh my god, tell Aunt Amara, forget it, don't even come. And when he sends it, they're like, Oh, we just parked, we're walking over now. So now I'm like, Oh my gosh. So the cameras are all set up on little tripods, and she doesn't stand in front of there to talk, she walks past them and walks up to the door to the police. So I'm like, what is she doing? You know? So they go up there and I say, James, you stay here alright. I'm going up there. So I walk up there, and you know, some of the people grab their cameras, some left them because they're like, Oh, we're going in this direction. And she's like, She was abused by them. And I'm like, I remember my mouth is like, what? So I turn around to tell my husband when I do, a mare and aunt are right there. So now I'm like, oh wow, they got here quick, you know. And aunt's like, you're a liar. And I'm like, and I'm just watching this live, grieving, and I have the worst social anxiety.

SPEAKER_07 1:25:59

I was watching it live too.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:03

Like thinking, like, no, this is a setup. So I put myself in mind. I was like, no, this is about Lala, and I start, and then just 15 cameras here in front of me, and I kid you my niece. If you go back and can see something far away, they're sh because I was telling stuff, you're not gonna pass out, you're not gonna. I thought I was gonna faint. I was like, oh my god. I ran Lala's legacy. We searched for her, and I just try to talk, you know, like we're not about to do this, we're not about whatever they got. I was shit. I am not gonna have her in this chaos target anything with Lala, and I have to get control back. And they're like, Who are you? I'm Candice, I'm her friend, and you want to know more about her, Amir, tell her. And then Amara showed her tattoo and started telling her about Lala, and I was so worked up, and I went home and I and I cried some more, and I reached out to a family friend from church who does this, and she told me, Don't go to the town hall, they they're gonna associate you with this now. You're in this, you're the family advocate. So, who I didn't do that, I'm just a friend. She said, That's your new role. I said, What? And I'll never I woke up the next day and I was on the cover of the newspaper with Aunt, and I oh she was right, and then she calls me and she says, Didn't I tell you? She's like, Don't go, it won't be worth it. If Amer's mom and sister, whoever want to go, that's fine. But right now, you, aunt, and America are the face of this. Yeah, I'm like, I can't. You don't understand. I don't talk, I don't want she's like, Whoop, be backing. So then she's like, Focus on something else. And we talked about the vigil, and then that's what I focused on. Let's do a vigil, let's reclaim this space. It's so dark there at night, it's so dreary. I was like, Let's take back this space, and that's what I focused on, you know.

SPEAKER_07 1:27:57

I remember watching that live. And I was at work and I really wanted I was in training for my new job. And I'm like, oh man, I wish I could just, you know, because I was I'm in sales, but at the time I couldn't leave the office. So I'm like, I want to go down there. But I remember it and you almost wonder why it was done that way.

SPEAKER_06 1:28:14

So people couldn't show up, right?

SPEAKER_07 1:28:17

So I remember seeing you, and I'm like, who is this woman? Because you had this like this power, right? And you just, it's like the Lord was just speaking through you, and you just that was it. And I I thought originally you were La La's adoptive mom. So when I was yeah, and I couldn't tell who was who, I just knew they were all family, but I I thought you were a mom, and I'm like, oh, she's gonna do some things. And I remember I was like, she's gonna she's gonna take this far. So I followed you, and every step of the way, I mean, you've been nothing but respectful to all parties, you've been honest, you've respected La La's legacy, even family members that you don't associate with. I mean, you have not done anything with slander, of disrespect, of lies just to make somebody else feel bad. I mean, it's all been transparent. And then I tried to be I saw the vigil on live stream, and I wanted to be there and I couldn't because I had the flu. It was just not good timing. I saw the town hall meeting on live. I do remember seeing a mirror there, and I remember somebody interviewing them in an elevator at the end. Um because somebody got kicked out at the end or something, and I remember that. Um but then wasn't there wasn't there somebody else trying to plan another visual at the same time? Wasn't there two going on?

SPEAKER_03 1:29:38

Yeah, so I got online and I knew Sabrina and the Fallers were going to the town hall, and I was like, I'm not going, it's gonna be part two. While they're at the town hall, I'm gonna plan. And I did, I I made a graphic, I started putting it out, and I about three hours later, somebody sent a post from Devin Chant saying about another vigil by the grandmother on the exact same day, and near the same time, but by the courthouse. And I so I went to America, I was like, I see she's still doing this. I will admit America took the high road. Um and America, I can't come in. They were so broken, people bashed them, people judged them, and they the truth will come out. They will see people will shut up when the truth will come out. I couldn't. I told them, I don't know what's going on. They treat your family like they're Kardashians right now, and I'm about to lose it. And I remember my sister laughing, and I was like, I can't sit back, I can't do this. I know I have to get online. I just couldn't. I was like, I cannot breathe right now in mourn la la without putting out more info. What really happened? Now, after it's out, if people want to take it, I don't care, but I'm at least going to put it out. And I went live away from my bathroom floor in the middle of moving, in the middle of having a nasty sinus infection, was so sick, and I said, What is wrong with you people? And that's how I started off to look. I was like, I wasn't dressed, my hair was enough to care. And I think a lot of people, yeah, I think a lot of people loved and respected that because I was like, I don't care how I look, I don't care how this sounds. A child is dead.

SPEAKER_06 1:31:28

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:30

My friend should not be proving how good of a parent she is right now. You know, I watched this woman be one of the best mothers I know. She's so involved in her children, and Lala was deaf, but she was not defined by her deafness. Lala was on cheer. Lala tried ballet, La um did track. She was in different camps. She just was always active, moving, and Amer was there supporting it. You would not have known she was deaf. She's not going to sit and say, I want, you know, something done a certain way because I'm deaf. She was at a regular school talking with her friends, you know, and and fitting right in, making TikToks. And I wanted that to be the focus. I couldn't stand seeing drama and lies when it should all be about Lala. So I and that and that's my mission still today. You know, we can't nothing brings her back. Nothing will bring her back. And I truly believe she's in heaven and at peace, I do. But I'm still on earth. And uh her family is, and the way she was taken from here isn't okay, and we're going to fight, and we're going to ensure everyone is held accountable. Um, it's really important when you see the affidavit and lay out how many people were complicit. It's hard not to feel heartbroken, angry, betrayed. You know, every emotion you could think of because there was so much time missed because of someone's lies. There was opportunities to not look at this because another person's lies, you know. And uh, Mara and I are the Recei queens. We kept a screenshot, we have a copy of everything, and we look back and we piece, and we're just like me.

SPEAKER_06 1:33:23

Oh, we work well together.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:26

I told you, my phone's like a 92% full, like 70 some thousand there. And you know, it it all matters though. All jokes really matters because Lala could be alive right now. Yeah, I feel that in my heart and soul, I don't feel I'm being, you know, delusional crying. It's a fact she was not found in the hotel room when it was searched. I wanted to go back to that or urgent. Yeah, yeah. Uh, there was multiple times here in this investigation where there was missed opportunities because she was labeled a runaway, it was not met with any urgency. They didn't go into it looking at her as a victim, and I really feel that's what caused the ripple effect of all of this. And um, I kind of mentioned to you off camera, Bobby Joe is deaf, and she loved to weaponize that. She could talk to me, fine. I'm I'm not deaf, I don't sign. But when the police were knocking on her door, she would only want to talk with an interpreter, and they didn't have one. And then they had a detective who did sign language, but he wasn't a certified interpreter, so she wouldn't talk to him. And I kept saying, and America kept saying to the text early on, that's not behavior of a loving aunt who's curious and wants to know where their niece is and cares and is you know passionate about finding her. That's very indicative of somebody who has something to hide.

SPEAKER_06 1:34:56

You know?

SPEAKER_07 1:34:58

So she could speak, the signs were there. She could speak to you. You could understand her, she could understand you, and yes. So, like I said, I want to go back real quick. I know going back to the beginning here, we said that the police went into the hotel room, didn't see anything. Can you elaborate on that? What they actually missed.

SPEAKER_03 1:35:17

They missed Vla. We later get confirmation on April 21st when the affidavit is fully printed in the conference, the police conference, um, they discuss although the room 113 was searched, she was not found despite being hidden there. They believe she was next to a dad. But it's important to remember la la, five foot eight, 150. So immediately the public jumped in and wanted to know how. How was she covered up in blankets or you know, explain to us more? And you know, it was another check on my list of trying to tell people what I was telling people a month earlier. I was like, they dropped the ball, and when I was saying they dropped the ball, I was saying it with my chest on Facebook. I was tagging them, I was um, because I really felt like yes, was I upset and mad I was, but how do we heal, move on, and learn if no one is lacking any account.

SPEAKER_06 1:36:19

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:36:20

And that infuriates me more than anything. We can't bring La La back. But how are we going to change the future if we do not hold each other accountable? They need to be held accountable on the way they handled certain things and didn't handle certain things, and acknowledging that and you know, coming to good communication terms on how we can move forward is keeping no disrespect to the Booksbury police. They don't feel they did anything wrong, you know. That was very clear during the press conference. They let us all come down and we sat there and they said I online to be famous when it's almost he quote it when it's almost something to get online and be famous and in front of my face, and that hurt. That hurt because I genuinely cared, and he tried to paint me as somebody who wants fame, and anyone who knows me knows I don't even like the spotlight, so it's so far from who I am, and it hurt, but more importantly, a child is dead, there's so many missed opportunities. We're all in this press conference finally hearing about who's held accountable, and before we begin anything, you want to discuss how amazing this department is and how people like to get on social media and bash who couldn't do this job and only want fame. Disrespectful and downright just wrong, in my opinion. Not because it was about me. I just feel it shows it's just like decorum, respect, care, la la's, memory, a lot. It's just it just was a lot for me.

SPEAKER_07 1:38:00

And Hannah's again, it's we live in the same county. And it sounds almost familiar where I told you where it wasn't the same police department, but one close where the chief of police screamed at me and said I was doing the same thing. I was going online trying to make them look bad when I was just trying to grow a how about I'm holding your ass accountable because no one else is doing it. And some this daughter, this little girl, Lala, or myself, or any victim out there, deserves to be heard, deserves justice, and deserves somebody to fight for them. No, it's not you. It's not you getting online to be famous, it's you're you're being a voice for Lala.

SPEAKER_03 1:38:38

Exactly. And you know, I want to also mention people have to remember they told us it was Lala February 20th. Um, by her funeral, March 14th, we still didn't get many updates. By then, they told us she was not, but besides that, no updates came from them. We didn't know the cause, we didn't know who nothing from them because they just simply weren't returning any calls to mayor. Now, I want to stress we weren't expecting them to tell us things, we were just wanting them to acknowledge if the acknowledgement, hey, we have no, but we're still working diligently, we got your message. Okay, all it was calling daily for was a family advocate to ensure someone could update the clerk, family, with family appropriately when court dates are coming. We don't want to know at the last minute, it's important for us to be um, and just have the right support because as much as I care, I don't have experience in this. I wanted to ensure my friends had the proper support because I'm tucking rolling and doing what I could as I go, and everything I'm finding out is that their support there's so watch it, and then I reach out to the Victims Resource Center and they assist me. And then they're trying, and now it's me and two members from their trying, plus you know, calling. And what I finally got the district attorney to answer was ironically, after I went live, she seen the secretary seen my facts. Apparently, they didn't see no voicemails, phone calls, or anything before then. But when I went live, that wasn't just to oh my gosh, I want to bash the police. I'm simply sharing our experience in asking where we can get this advocate and assistance because a month went by and we had no help.

SPEAKER_07 1:40:30

And uh public you have the freedom of speech, and since the police don't want to take social media seriously and think anybody can do whatever they want on social media, why all of a sudden is it a problem when you speak out?

SPEAKER_03 1:40:42

And it's a funny to know that live in the first hour I went over rurals, the screenshots that were being about the case, which included possibly how Lala was killed, who could have been involved. The detective only called me and said I was watching the case when I talked the police not finding her in the hotel. I do remember that you were on live when they called you, right? Called me right then there and said, You're ruining our case, you you're showing all our cards, shut up. And he was so rude, he pulled me off, he yelled at me.

SPEAKER_05 1:41:16

Because you made them look bad bleep.

SPEAKER_03 1:41:18

Exactly. And then I'm like, Why would you call me live? I I answered live. Um, there were talks that I um charged for recording live. And I'm like, Well, you call a radio station live, and like, what do you mean? And I had I wang on an attorney and I said, if they try to charge me, I I will go 20 times harder, and they did it, but they never apologized. That detective sat front-center at the press conference with a smug look on his face, and that's okay. At the end of the day, I'll take all the key because everything I said in that was all true. There you go. There was not one thing I said in there that was wrong. Everything I said on the line, they put in the affidavit, and I'm like, whoa, that's interesting. So while I was live at the press conference and they're bashing me, I was live. And I'm like, that's a lie. I sent them that tip. And they're like, We check this out. I'm like, I sent that tip on February. Like, I know this case, like the back of my hand. Think of me like Aaron Brockovich in here, okay? But you're not gonna tell me. I know the number of the day, and you know, yeah, it hurt. I won't lie, it hurt that first day because I have a lot of pressure of off my on myself of not feeling Lala and her family. And when I see anything negative associated, and now it's with me, now it makes me feel bad. But then I dusted myself off because it worked. We got the advocate, we got the update, we got it was like night and day.

SPEAKER_07 1:42:40

So my my friend Cheryl McCollum, I told you about, that's friends with Nancy, Grace. She's crime scene investigator. She made a point, she wrote a book, and it's going back to what you said where do not promise or tell a family that you're gonna reach out if you don't follow up. Instead of saying it, do it once a week. Pick up the phone, like you said. I don't have any updates, but I just want to let you know we didn't forget about you. That's all it takes.

SPEAKER_03 1:43:04

Yes, that's all. Or hey, you know, uh get your family advocate because I guess when you're a victim of murder, there's certain advocates you get. And hey, we didn't get one yet, or one wasn't assigned, just anything. No general, like they didn't even mention this. I found all the signs. I didn't even know we were uh allowed to be compensated for the funeral or compensated for a mirror missing work or an Epcot, nothing. I just happened to find all and um I'm like, hey, you know, there's resources that may be beneficial to you because if I'm only on the outside and I know how deeply this death affected me, I can't imagine what it's doing to you guys, and you have to go back to work and show for your kids and pay bills. And I I truly wholeheartedly think about that all the time, Tiff. I I I couldn't even I gave it all month of of March. It wasn't until the second week of April. I went one day when I didn't cry, and then it slowly got better. And I can't imagine being a married walking past her bedroom and celebrating your other children's accomplishments and going to cheer camp and all this stuff, and you have a kid who's not here no more, and going to middle school graduation, and your other middle schooler isn't graduating because she's dead. Like, uh, I can't imagine that back and forth grief you feel when last week you see Jamal was arrested, but nothing to do with the case. It was two with a gun charge. That opens wounds for the family. Oh, or it's not with this. America lives so close to Jessica and Jamal. They run into them when they're driving, when they're at the corner store, and you're seeing people that you know are a part of this case somehow. We all know that they're detailed out, you know, that was the apartment, and we know those things, and you can't act, you can't do. I just really want to stress what that does to someone and the grief you're processing.

SPEAKER_07 1:45:02

That's horrible. I've seen you post things of Amira still going to your camps and con uh competitions with with her name Gabby. They show up, they're still showing up for their other kids, which is important, but they really are. You're showing up for them. And I hope you know that. Like, I think you taking that. I think you little hookout party for them. Well, I mean, I think you just taking that off their shoulders is giving them that space to still be present with their kids. Um because they seem to have a very tight-knit supportive family.

SPEAKER_03 1:45:39

Yeah, they have a good dynamic, you know. American aunt, husband and wife, maybe not the best. American aunt, co-parenting, friends, amazing. Love that. Aunt is in a great, a great father. You know, just some people don't work out. My joke, you know, when they divorced, I said, Up you divorced her, divorced me. Um, and it was a joke for a while. And then in the beginning, I was like, You guys got me defending and talking about aunt so much? Oh no, America's my girl. Like um, Aunt is really a cool and a good guy. Ant is uh a very cool and good girl, they're very laid-back people, they're more reserved, and that's why I hated in the beginning like showing my emotions because I didn't want to be that person, but I know they're so reserved and they deserve, they deserve that privacy. Um, so I was like, it's just me, let me put it out there because I'm just a friend, and if this is affecting me this way and we're thinking this way, and it opens the community to see that, you know. There was a a long time where I would go to that night. I wouldn't be a I I had to go there. I had to make sure a light was turned and it made no sense to and you couldn't tell me nothing. And after Bobby Joe was arrested, I only got that urge one time. I've never had the urge to go back that much no more. I would be there at least three times a week. When I was there and then I started to feel bad I wasn't, you know, this I felt bad.

SPEAKER_07 1:47:04

Like, why am I not getting someone's going because when I was there it's daylight and there was a candle lit.

SPEAKER_03 1:47:09

Yeah, someone goes and sometimes Aunt keeps up with um he worked Oh that's right, yeah, that's right. Yeah, but people do no, people go. They actually send um and I will post them when they go. Some brought their baby, some brought toys.

SPEAKER_07 1:47:21

I felt weird when I went because I was like, these guys in this garage are gonna be like, Oh, it's another one just showing up.

SPEAKER_03 1:47:26

But I'm like No, the one like uh I at this point, I wonder if they stopped by at this point because when the car magically moved for us, I was like, Finally, like, you know, because I didn't want to be that person, but I was about to start petitioning, like, it's abandoned, can you just move it?

SPEAKER_07 1:47:40

Yeah, and well I went that day and I showed you that was the day you found out they moved it. And I'm like, you're like you're like, Oh, the truck's not there.

SPEAKER_06 1:47:47

I'm like, No, there's no car, there's no truck.

SPEAKER_03 1:47:51

It was just open. So now I'm like, maybe we could decorate the ground, you know. I have some name plates for her I want to put there, and I have flowers growing here. I'm gonna put um it's just the way I felt connected. I'm here felt connected sitting in. Um, you know, it's just how people feel connected. But I noticed the public likes going there. And um, some will ask, like, is it okay? And I'm like, uh, because Lala was talkative, she was friendly, she's going to talk to ever. And I really feel like in spirit she would love that too, you know. So why not? Go pay a visit, go leave something if you like, if you feel compelled to, you know, as long as you're quiet and respectful. But I love seeing that. It every person who visits and shares it, or who visits and has a family, their mother's sharing that story with a family member, and when they share it on social media, that's another person. And that's the key for me is keeping her memory live. Even if it's one person per day, that's a whole new person, you know, and that brings so much joy for me. Like it brings joy when I talk to her friends, and they brought her to graduation and they want to bring her to prom. And literally the day before yesterday, her one best friend wrote me. She's like, I'm confused. How long was she in the house? Like, no, hi, how are I'm like hey girl? Like, I talk to the kids, like I talk to them, you know, and I made friendships with some of them, and even that girl's mom will rate me sometime, and she's like, You're just so amazing, and we're very friendly and nice. And I helped her daughter navigate the grief. Because that's something to discuss is this is so overwhelmingly complicated for the kids this age. Like, they're dealing with losing a friend that was missing and then was tied up, tortured, and then murdered. And then the bad guy was her aunt. They're like, they don't know world a world like this, you know. They can't even grasp it. They're like, What? Like, and the one from I was honestly even afraid to go to her funeral. She was so scared, she was having nightmares. And I'm like, I just want to talk about how deeply this affected the community, adults, parents, children. You know, it really did change a lot of people.

SPEAKER_07 1:50:03

Well, I'm glad that her friends want to keep her going to graduations and proms. And I know you said in the past, let's talk about some good stuff for a little bit. Uh I know you said in the past that Lala was a prankster. And I want to tell you some of the things I noticed. I went through some of the videos you posted of her. And and two stand out more than any else, but I I think captured her personality. When I went to her memorial, I told you, I said that she had something to do with bees. This damn bumblebee. I have they freak me out. Bees freak me out because I got stung in the eye when I was little. This bee came out of nowhere, and it just kept this all around. And I kept swatting it. And it just it was so loud, too. It was on my live, and I kept swatting it, and it just would not go away. So I thought it's probably her. But there's two videos. There was one where she's with Antoine talking about Jalapanos, and she's laughing, and she just kept saying Jalopeno. But I could see the in the chili. Yes, I could see the like the the child's innocence, right? I don't know how sh how old she was in that one, but she looked like she was a Japanese.

SPEAKER_08 1:51:15

Putting what in the in the chili? Jiappalino. Jappolinos? Yeah. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_07 1:51:21

Dressed up for cheerleading or something.

SPEAKER_05 1:51:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:51:26

Okay. She just you could just tell that she found the smallest things funny. Like, like at she'd laugh at herself because like she's sometimes the funniest person in the room.

SPEAKER_03 1:51:36

Yeah, absolutely. That video I love when Aunt shared it. Um, are you playing Japanos in Chili? And he's like, What? She's like, Jopalanos, like what like I'm not weird, you're weird. Like, you're gonna put them or not, you know? And he just like, and that's how she was because some certain things she said, you know, a certain way due to being deaf, and and we were laughing. I remember Samira is um LGBTQ, and in the beginning, like, are you? And she would call her boy, and that was her sign name, boy. Um we did uh the merge live with the deaf community. Deaf community will assign you a sign name, and it's like, do you have a sign name? I'm like, she never gave me one, and somebody was like, Mine was boy, and they're like, boy, and she's like, Well, and I'm like, You gotta be there. She called her boy girl. Like, okay, um, she was just so wild in a good way, though. Like, she was so wildly chaotic, you didn't know what version of her you're gonna get. She had high, like, if you're somewhere and we showed up at this party, you wouldn't have not known. First off, she's loud, her energy's high, but she's abnormally beautiful, too. Like, she is beautiful, naturally beautiful. She had beautiful skin, she was fine, she towered over a lot of people. She towered over her mothers. She just really was so herself. You know how some teenagers dim their self and they're not they're not sure who they want to be, and she just was who she was, you know. Um, and and it's so beautiful for me to see because it's so similar to her father.

SPEAKER_04 1:53:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:53:21

I put that in the Father's Day post, and a few people were like, everything you described and said she's just like her father, that's what I remember her father to be. The jokes, the laughing, the running around, the high energy, and I'm like, it's copy paste. So it's really funny. But at the visual too, a lot of her friends talked about school. She was, you know, deaf and she talked and she fit in, but when it was time to be told she couldn't do something, she would take it out and be like, huh? I can't hear you. Like she would mess with the teachers back too. Like, I didn't hear what you said. Oh, you said something to me. Like, you know, and uh playing with her friends in sixth period, they love to ride bikes. She loved riding bikes. And when you know the weather got warm, aunt was disgusting, like hearing all the kids out there playing and not hearing her laugh. You know, it does a lot. Those seasons as they transition, and she's stuck in the winter season, yeah, the month of the winter, and everything that happened. That's bumpy. Um, Amer had a party for Gabby and Amir. Amir turned 16 and Gabby graduated middle school, and I was walking outside to the yard, and I could literally see her visually in that pool, but she wasn't there, you know. She would swim sun up to sundown. Amer has a big, large above-ground pool, and she would be out there and she loved animals. She loved her dogs, and she she I have so many photos of her with all different animals. And I was like, I'm gonna put a video together with all the photos with animals and all the photos with babies. If there was a baby there, she was holding it. If there was animals there, she was holding it, you know. That is one of those things that sat with me a lot when she first passed. It's like she don't get to become a mother, you know, she don't she don't get to those things. I look at some of her memories. I have a good video Samara did with her that I'm gonna post in the next few days that you'll love to. It's where you have to do the raw, paper, scissors, shoot, and eat and then run, and she's hilarious in it. And I want to share it because I want people to see more of that. Nobody, you know, planned to think her life will be cut short, you know. You look at photos and pictures and you just want them so bad. Uh I had photos of her from my sister's graduation party a few years back, and I remember after she died, I was running, searching through my box to find the SD card, and I was trying to shove it in, and I'm like, no, it deleted. And I remember crying, like, because I'm like, I don't have the pictures now, you know? Because you always think more memories will come, more time will come. Um but those memories stay in your heart, and we live for her. I mean, look at her shirt, and you're doing the mud girl run coming up for her. What day is that? I believe it's I believe it's July 11th. I'll have to double check.

SPEAKER_07 1:56:12

Yeah, I thought it was somewhere because that's in the was that in the Poconos.

SPEAKER_04 1:56:16

Yes, it is in the Poconos.

SPEAKER_07 1:56:18

All right. That's on the I the other video I wanted to talk about was I don't know if it was the last Christmas she had. She looked older. She was in a black hoodie, and uh she just didn't get she just didn't care what she was getting. She was just like throwing stuff, she just didn't care, and then all of a sudden she got a pair of sunglasses, and she was loud and just sassy, and I was like, She is a sassy girl. And I'm like, she will give you her opinion and not care what you have to say. I'm holding back.

SPEAKER_03 1:56:46

And I love when the public sees that because it shows her true personality, so aligns with how we were like she will fight for herself. Like a part of us were like, you know, whoever this, we know she fought back. Yeah, yeah. We know because she would never just sit down and accept she's a very, you know, in your face, some point of a fight, you know. So that I hate to say, but bring some solace. We're like, we were saying, like, we know she at least did something.

SPEAKER_07 1:57:16

Those two videos were the two that really just made me see who she was. And I'm glad that yeah, you shared those with us because you know, we think people are like, Oh, I don't want to be on camera, I don't want to be on camera.

SPEAKER_05 1:57:28

Right.

SPEAKER_07 1:57:29

I film everything because there's gonna come a time where I'm not gonna be here anymore, and yeah, I want just leave something behind. And you know, for her that she loved TikTok. I'm glad that she filmed herself and you that you guys filmed her because she's I just love I just love her so I was it was like winning when I found the TikToks.

SPEAKER_03 1:57:52

I didn't know about the TikToks a lot when she was missing. Um, I would have used more of those. I know as a mother, when the kids go through the teen phase too, you'll be like, come on, let's take a picture. Yep. Or I'm done with it. And I would see some of those like, Walla, I can't use this photo on her. Like I can tell when she's genuine, when she's she would make funny faces, and it's so important for me to put those photos up. When I do collages, she's like, and she's like, and I'm like, because that's really how she was, though. So people are like, wow, I can really see her person. I'm like, because that's I'm trying to tell you. Because in the beginning they kept seeing like and I'm like, no, she was um her can't sent us photos, and she was wrapped in toilet paper during one, and she's like, Yeah, and I'm like that, like that's what I want people to see, like that chaotically wild, fierce, fun, and just full of energy.

SPEAKER_07 1:58:46

I'm telling like just from those videos and all the other videos I've watched, and just being at her memorial, you could feel it. It wasn't when I walked up to, and maybe it's just because I'm not connected to her like you are, but I didn't feel heaviness or yeah. I mean, I did at first, but then after I sat there and took a breath, it was almost like you could feel her joy, her joy.

SPEAKER_03 1:59:09

I felt really good after. Yeah, I I I really feel like we releaned that area in that energy. I think because it was seeing someone I care about and was looking for was left here. Yeah, and when you're actually seeing it versus I was seeing it on live, it was just like that breakdown that I had was that real gut-punching reality of this is real, and here she's really gone because unfortunately, when she passed, we we couldn't get a funeral, we could um, so there's never that like closure with that, you know what I mean? She already started to decompose and she was human remains, so we didn't get that verification. Oh, this is her, or you got to see her in a cask, or anything like that. And when you go there and you're like, Okay, this is real now. This really happened, this is reality, and then everyone showed up, and people from out of town showed up, people we never knew, biker gangs, people who English wasn't the first language would bring somebody over to translate for me, the deaf community, two interpreters, and I looked at that parking lot and we had at least 200 people in it, and I was like, wow. Um I started to walk around and shake people's hands, just thank you, just thank you. My biggest thing was I begged the community, the social media to share her flyers, to look for her, to help. And now that she's dead, I can't just turn that off. Like I'm appreciative. I felt like I had to keep, you know, reaching out and giving that, you know, and I hope they felt that because that's why I do it. Because it's like I'll never forget, you know. I remember names, I remember suggestions. You when you go through something like that, she remember every detail of who was there for you.

SPEAKER_07 2:01:03

I mean, I think with I think there's like 16,000 followers, and you're like people are invested. You have the high engagement. Like, people want to see Lala, they want to know who she was, they want to know who which she's still continuing to be because that kind of energy doesn't just disappear. Like, um, that was another question. Um, do you guys get signs from her that you just know like it's Lala 100%?

SPEAKER_03 2:01:24

Like Yeah, she's came to America and her she came to one not too long. What she said in her ream to America just was very she came to my dream right before Bobby Joe was it was when the family went to South Carolina to a cheer competition, and I took a quick nap before company came over, and she came in my dream dream then. And I was at America's house, I don't know why my dream, and she was on the couch, and I'm like, What are you doing? Everybody's in South Carolina, and she's like, I know. She's like, I know everything. And I'm like, what do you mean you know everything? Like, everybody went to the cheer competition. She's like, I see everything, I literally know everything, I'm always here. And like in the dream, I'm like, wait, how are you here? You died, yeah. And she was like, She took me out of the living room, and I was by a bush in a building, and she was telling me something about Bobby Joe. And she was like, She did this before. And I was like, She did what? She's like over there, and I was like, What did she do? And she was like, You know.

SPEAKER_06 2:02:27

She did it before.

SPEAKER_03 2:02:28

And uh it was like a building with a bush, and it looked like next to it looked like a building connected to where a pool was, like a community pool or like a public pool. Okay, that kind of pool, uh brick wall bush, and then you could see like the pool was back there, and I couldn't connect it. And I was like, Oh my gosh, like Bobby Joe, I knew you know, she's like you know, and she's like, I see everything, I know everything. And then I woke up and I was like, Is that her? Now I had dead relatives come to my dream game.

SPEAKER_06 2:03:01

I have too. It's a thing in my family.

SPEAKER_03 2:03:03

Yeah, it's a thing for me. My family knows it.

SPEAKER_07 2:03:05

They're like, mm-hmm I tell people all the time, like people visit me, and I've known people who have died before anybody else knows they're dead. And I'll be like, like one time my friend's mom came to me that morning and I said, Is your mom okay? Well, two hours later she says her mom passed away. I've predicted I've had peop dead people tell me things in my dreams, where I tell people, like, how do you know that? It's a thing if you're in tune with it. So I absolutely love that she sits there and says, I see everything. Like she's confirming to you. Yeah, I'm still here.

SPEAKER_03 2:03:34

With America, she said um something like how do you like you're okay? She's like, Yeah, somebody showed me where to go. Like she had a guide. Yeah, it was really deep.

SPEAKER_05 2:03:46

Um Wow, that gave me cold chills.

SPEAKER_03 2:03:48

I don't know what Amer wants me to, you know, share. It in my opinion that last dream Americ was all a confirmation. It went over like everything, and in the dream she was with Amer's mom, who Ameris mom keeps having dreams about her, too.

SPEAKER_07 2:04:03

Oh god, you're giving me chills.

SPEAKER_03 2:04:05

Amer's mom's not super emotional, but Lala's death really, really affected her, and I just feel like it's all a sign. Um I really truly feel a peace in my heart that she's at peace. But I feel a selfishness of wanting her here. It's it's it it it as time goes on, I really do feel she's in heaven, she's here with us. I I really do. But I'm just still so mad and jealous and selfish because I want her here. You know, I hope with time I get better with it, you know. I think you will, but I think it's really I'm grateful we have those confirmations. I'm grateful her body was found. I'm grateful we found some of that. We knew who was a part of this. There's people who don't always find their loved ones, there's people who don't find their killers, like there's a lot is horrific of you know uh all this was, don't get me wrong. I try to find good in everything.

SPEAKER_06 2:05:13

I do too.

SPEAKER_03 2:05:14

Um, I struggle with anxiety, I struggle with public speaking, and guess what? I jumped in front of that mic multiple times. I think you do great. I don't know, like I'm over here digging my nose.

SPEAKER_07 2:05:25

Like, no, I think you're good, and I think you have a power behind you, like a force.

SPEAKER_03 2:05:30

I really live in that, and I I say one thing I'm really thankful for is because she got she pushed me. There were days, I won't even lie, I don't know if I ever said this publicly, but I'll have anxious days and I'll be off, and I'd be like, but what would Lala do? I literally say that to myself, I swear to God, and one time I was like, God, Lala would be like this is easy, let me get up and go do it, you know, and I'm just gonna do it. And it it just makes you really look at life differently when you see a tragedy like this, and someone who has such energy like this. I just love that I truly feel her killer thought she was distinguishing it, but all she did is multiply it because I feel La La is through all of us, and it is gonna blow up. I think her memory is gonna continue. As I live in Bereath, it will always continue myself, America and Ant, of course, too. But uh, you know, we we have yard sides with her picture on her, we have photos, we have shirts, we have I I'm always thinking of new things to just keeping it going. And I hope when people see me and see that, it inspires them to live like Lala too. You know what I mean? Live for her. She didn't get to live out the rest of her life, and people do share that with me now already in a short time. I'm just hoping and prayful that it continues, you know, on. I know for me and my family it will.

SPEAKER_07 2:06:59

What was some of like Lala's favorite movies and shows and music and foods and all that stuff?

SPEAKER_03 2:07:06

Foods. Oh my god. Well, it makes me laugh because she was such a foodie. Mara and Aunt have a really close friend uh named Suzanne. She actually spoke at the funeral, and Lala loved her baked mac and cheese. Okay. And there is actually a video I'll have to share with you. She's like, Who made this mac and cheese? Like, Suzanne made this mac and cheese. Oh, I love it, I love it. Like, she loved her food. Well, we sit and just think about those moments, and there is a lot of funny moments because Samara would do a lot of TikToks with them. So it uh she would call Lala Amir Gabby the goof troop. So I come here goof troop and um she has videos of them trying to exercise, doing it wrong, doing the rock, paper, scissors challenge, and I say that video I'm gonna share with you because it was like Samir and Gabby versus Amir and Lala. But Lala kept rock, paper, scissoring paper. Okay, Gabby picked up on it, and she's like, Oh, they're trying to run, and she's like, and you can tell she wants to eat more of her food, and she keeps picking paper, and you're halfway through and you're like, Lala, you keep picking paper, and then at one point Gabby's like, She keeps picking paper, and she just keeps scissoring it, and I just love seeing those things and hearing her laugh because it's so contagious, but it shows her spirit so much, and in between some of the heavy videos, I try to bring back those videos of just her, her smiling, um, because the tragedy is horrific, it is forefront, but behind this is a child, a child who loved her perfumes, okay? She liked her smells, she had her edges laid nice, she did not buckle for anyone. She was proud, tall of who she was. She loved being deaf, she loved being in the hearing community, she loved her adopted family, she loved her biological family. She made a friend everywhere she went. In fact, her school in Illinois made a bench for her. And one of the first ones were if Lala was here, I doubt she would be sitting on it because she would definitely be running around. Everyone who speaks of her talks about her energy. She's always around today. Somebody sent me photos from Illinois, like during a camp where they're playing music.

SPEAKER_01 2:09:29

So, guys, we wanted to create a permanent spot on campus that belongs to Lala. Um, we hope this bench sets is a place where students can sit, take a breath, and enjoy the hustle and bustle of the playground. However, anyone that knew Lala knows she wouldn't have spent a single second sitting on this bench. She would be too busy bouncing from group to group, sitting in as much socialization as possible before the whistle blow. So while we offer this bench as a place of rest, we also want it to be a reminder of Lala's energy and positive spirit. When you see it, let it remind you to check in on a friend, to include someone new, and to make the most of the time you guys have together. Lala, you will always have a seat here at Greece Elementary, and we'll try our best to model your energy out there on the playground. So today, May 13th, 2026, we officially dedicate this list in honor of Maya Lama Musical Chairs, and she was like, La la beat those boys every single time in musical chairs, like nobody, it was she was the only girl on the crew, and she would beat all the boys, and she was like, I I miss her so much.

SPEAKER_03 2:11:06

Like when we have these, you know, games and we're playing this again. I feel like I could still hear her and I know she was gonna beat everyone, and she loved it. And I like sharing those. I like sharing her criticism when she tried to teach you sign language, you did one word wrong. She'd be like, She was a short-tempered teacher. Like, I got this dummy over here who can't figure this out. And I'm just like, teach us, you know. She just really was loud and so she had such magnitude about her. So without her hair, it really feels quiet. You could feel that peace. I mean, it's literally quiet too without her big old mouth, but it's just like that energy, it it it it changes you. And I mentioned this off camera that when I went into her room about two weeks ago her her room was there, and just seeing, you know, her chores. And seeing her vanity and just seeing all the things I would see on TikTok. It was such a teenager's room. And she has prayers written on the wall, but she had friends sign their name on the wall. And I'm like, I went from being like all my breath taken away and being like sad watching time standing still, seeing her last drink and her meal, her bowl still sitting there. And then seeing all her personality on the walls and and her funny things, she has to. I almost broke my name on the wall. I'm like about the I'm like, wait, what am I doing? Like, oh my gosh, can't you know like step out of it real quick, but because that's just how she is, and she has her shoe rack there. And I remember America looking at the pictures one day, and she's like, Why does she have white cowboy boots? Where was she going? Like, she was just unpredictable. Like, you didn't know what version and inside you would get. And I love that about her. I still struggle to say her name and speak of her past. I I really try, I'll be like, she was, she is. Um, but part of me loves that I struggle with that. It's proof that she was here. There's proof, you know, she was loved, she was she's missed, and more importantly, so many people care about her and want justice for her. I could really say that.

SPEAKER_07 2:13:16

Yeah. Um, that was beautiful. I was gonna say something, but I'm just reflecting. I think that's why when I went to her memorial, when I said it felt joyous, it's because she didn't leave a bad energy behind. She she left that light, and I just couldn't like I was just I sent you pictures. I was literally smiling sitting there, and like I'm thinking like to myself, like, I feel I feel horrible like smiling, but it wasn't a smile of happiness that she's got, it was just I couldn't help it.

SPEAKER_03 2:13:45

It was literally beautiful. I remember at one point towards the end, different um reporters wanted to interview, and a Mary Aunt were like, Can you go talk to them? And I'm like, um, and I was like, okay, if we interview, they were doing it like in the back trunk of their area, and I'm like, Oh, yeah, I'm sitting in the trunk of my son's SUV and in their SUV trunk and whatever. And I looked over at the crowd and I just felt peace. Those first few days were so chaotic, they were so painful. But that moment there, I felt good. I really and I said I was like, I was like, I feel like we really reclaimed the air. Like, do you look at it? And he's like, Yeah, and I could remember two of the journalists tearing up with me, one man and one woman. Two of they're like, This is just hearing the stories, funny, chaotic ones, like the prank she did with her friends, and tricking them, and just being a kid and drinking Dr. Pepper and eating talkies. You know, it just brought who she was because before then she was a flyer. She was this missing girl, she was a deaf teen missing, and she was on this flyer, and she was on the top, and then she was found murdered. What? And now we're here, and we're like, no, she was a middle schooler, she went to JR Middle School, and guess what? Sixth period, her and that girl would play games and trip each other, and that girl and her would ride bikes and drink soda at the Charles Street Park, and you know what? She played a prank on that camp counselor, and it got people to really see her and show all that energy. I really remember coming home that night and feeling so happy and at peace for a moment, like really.

SPEAKER_07 2:15:26

I think anybody, and it's hard to explain that feeling when you're at her memorial, too. Like, I can't explain it. You have to go there, you'll know what I'm talking about. It's just like this energy. Like, I don't know, but uh thank you for letting us visit there. Um we're probably gonna have to do multiple episodes because I just feel like I know there's a gag order coming up because the arraignment is in in July. Um, and then until you're allowed to talk, we we won't be doing one. But after that, I it's a full game. Whatever you're allowed to say, we're gonna get back on here. Um and we'll be promoting.

SPEAKER_03 2:15:57

We don't know the terms of the gag order yet. They might just share how we're feeling, where we're at. Of course I will. Um, if I can't say anything at all, yeah, you know, our goal is to ensure a good trial, a strong conviction, you know. So we'll because you know, an arrest is a great step. It is, yeah. But ultimately, conviction is the goal.

SPEAKER_07 2:16:19

And we definitely hope that if there are others involved, the accountability is given, taken. I don't know the right word for that.

SPEAKER_03 2:16:26

Um no, I get what you mean. Yeah, absolutely. It's applied. Everyone who is accountable. I mean, even if it's somebody who helps order something, the the charge is a fine. Guess what? I I want it.

SPEAKER_05 2:16:39

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 2:16:40

Story, and those who had a part in it as little and as big should all be held accountable.

SPEAKER_07 2:16:46

Absolutely. Yeah. And I have a feeling that the day of arraignment, I feel like there's something loud is gonna happen. And it's gonna be Lala being like, I'm here, bitches. Like Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:16:57

I pray and hope.

SPEAKER_07 2:16:59

I just I just feel like that something like that's gonna happen, and or it's gonna thunder and a lightning strike, and you know, just something, something crazy. But um, I think that will happen, and we'll go from there and and just see what I mean. I really don't with all the videos they have and the the footage good evidence.

SPEAKER_03 2:17:16

As someone who loves sure crime and you as well, I don't want to sound cocky, but I'm so confident she will pay, she's going to jail. There's not not sorry, circumstantial, cannot hearsay. They have solid surveillance, they have DNA, they have the video, and in that 17-minute video of Lala, she's being berated. Um but the detective said with tears in his eyes, it's one of the worst videos he's seen. So I think it's worse than what we know, the affidavit share. It just shared small details. But on that, telling her she has to pee in a yogurt cup, she's nothing, go poop in a bag. It shows along with the Google searches, how to get rid of um a body with household items, how to um just certain details she was looking to get rid of her, and like could a child mentally uh make you snap and just certain weird things that not only show she her goal was to kill her, but was also to set up what would be her excuse too. She even Googled, could the social media track you? Like she was Googling a lot, and uh she was switching her SIM card to different phones, but I don't think she realizes the SIM goes to whatever phone. So just taking it to a new phone, it's still stored on the SIM. So there's a lot of errors here, and then ultimately she took the body to the garage with a million cameras and then cut her clothes off. It it just shows a lot of details there. Um, the ribbon left there was a part of a drawstring to a garbage bag they got at the scene. The tote she used was on her live video at the house on the eighth. There's just a lot of details that I I say this all the time. Bobby Joe is the dumbest criminal, and she's so used to lying to people and getting away with it, but she has to realize the jury are gonna be people of my peers, not hers.

SPEAKER_05 2:19:20

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 2:19:21

Not the people she surrounds her with. There's gonna be people with common sense, okay? And I just feel like it on the outside looking in and reading just what they're already sharing in the affidavit. We have a solid, solid case. Um but I feel like she's going to drag it out. She's not ready for that mask to come off. She's so used to lying and sneaking and tricking, and she's she did that in so many ways of her life.

SPEAKER_07 2:19:47

They they believe they believe their own lies, they have no remorse. If I got unfortunately, if I get called jury duty, I can't do it because of bias. But um, I I do hope I do hope to get to the one of the the trial days. But uh, if you don't mind, real quick, can we, you know, uh again, I'm gonna tell everybody there's four other episodes on season two of true crime with Tiff Klein. This is also going to air on my newest podcast, Turning the Corner. Um, it's gonna be highlighting more of missing persons, advocacies, getting justice for people, drug and alcohol, rehabilitations, and things like that. So it is gonna air on both of my podcasts um because I do believe it hits both demographics. Um, but there are four episodes already on season two of true crime with Tiff Klein. I'm gonna move those over to Turning the Corner as well. Um, we'll be the first five episodes of that podcast. So this way they're all right there. But I do I do read the you know the affidavits I start out and how I learned about La La and how I became invested in talking to the family, and I've kept you updated. But real quick, everybody, the affidavit is online, it's public information. Candace has posted it on a legacy la la page. I've shared it a million times, but I do read it if if you're an auto, you know, in the car and want to listen. It is graphic, so I'm giving you a heads up, a warning, but we're transparent, and that's what we're gonna do. And uh, we will continue to be transparent because that's the only way to get justice and to prevent this from happening to other people. And Candace brought up a tote. Bobby Joe had placed Lala in a tote, those storage totes that you could put books in, shoes in, those plastic ones that you snap the lids off and on, and then put her in a laundry cart, correct? And then pushed her down the street. And then when she left Lala at Fair Street, she left the cart near the laundry mat. And the and the tote was still in that, correct? Yes. Okay, correct. So that's how they were and how long was that sitting outside for for there?

SPEAKER_03 2:21:52

A while, I believe. Sorry, I don't have the information. I want to say they found that back on the 22nd of February. So she dumped Lala's body the 14th, really close to the midnight, midnight into the 15th, and she left that there on the I think it was after midnight, so it was the 15th early morning. So it sat there, and I feel like that was Lala.

SPEAKER_07 2:22:13

Yeah. Interesting. And they couldn't get DNA from that, or is that what they were using to match?

SPEAKER_03 2:22:19

I believe they found DNA.

SPEAKER_07 2:22:21

Okay. Okay. All right. Well, so when is the next when's the arraignment date? What are we looking at?

SPEAKER_03 2:22:27

Yeah, so the formal arraignment is July 29th at 11 a.m. at the main courthouse.

SPEAKER_07 2:22:33

Your Matt brings charges to Bobby Joe. She's gonna plead guilty or non-guilty, and then you'll hear after that what's going to happen.

SPEAKER_03 2:22:41

Free trial starting, any motions, and then if that gag order starts, it would start after that.

SPEAKER_07 2:22:47

And in the meantime, what can the community do to support La La's family and you and the legacy and everything else?

SPEAKER_03 2:22:54

Speak her name, share her story. If you know anyone who's passionate about La La's law or advocacy or supporting uh a deaf awareness, there's so many avenues she um hit here because she was a teenager, she was deaf, she went missing, she had a protection from abuse order. So I feel like, you know, if you are passionate about any of those and and what changes, let's connect. If you follow the story and you're like, what more can we do? I really encourage many people to write into the district attorney. I send a letter now. I started again to send one once a day to VFX, and you know, just encourage them to hold everyone accountable to thoroughly look in the investigation, reviewing the affidavit shows some people were complicit. It details people flat out lied multiple times, and they should be held accountable for that, you you know, even though she was missing that obstruction of saying that she's here and there and etc. So, you know, I try not to put any names, but just hey, could you just do a deeper look? So if people want to do that, um if anybody sees anything that they feel that it could help my movement or help her memory, I'm always free on the Lala's Legacy page on Facebook. But I also have an email, helpfindlala at gmail.com. And really just keeping her memory alive, too. If they hear this or stumble upon it anyway, and something about the story's touch them, that's the goal for me, you know, hearing Lala's name and knowing it connected to somebody else, and they will possibly remember this and remember her, and that's really what the goal is is keeping her memory alive, making changes and just holding everyone accountable.

SPEAKER_07 2:24:41

Okay. I will definitely post resources and links and information for people as well. Um people have been following this. I know, especially, I mean, obviously in our area, but they're from my episodes, it's hit a lot of states and Stephen gone out of the country. So Lala's name is there. Um, and that's that's what we want. We want her name. I love it. You know, we want her name focused on, but um well, thank you. And I I do want to say thank you for allowing me to ride this journey with you since January, February. I don't remember exactly when you and I started talking, but um right. I just gravitated towards it. And I don't gravitate towards every case that happens in Wilkes Bear. There's how many are there? And there was just something about La La that I'm like, I I just had to just throw myself into it. And uh thank you for being transparent and being a supportive person in the community and standing up for what's right and being a voice. Because I know you said you have like anxiety and that's not you, but think of sometimes we we have a purpose, right? We don't think things are a coincidence. We we both are like that, and maybe this is your purpose. And things I think everything happens for a reason, and you were in La La's life for this reason. And think of the other people that you're gonna inspire because they're gonna be like, you know what? I remember her doing this, I remember what she did, I remember how she did this, I remember her speaking out. If you hit one person with that wealth of information or knowledge, it's gonna be a ripple effect, Candace. So, like, don't doubt yourself. And I love how you have no filter, you're transparent, you are who you are, and that's the those are the people that get shit done because there's no that's it. You're just a genuine person. And the first time I saw you, like I said, I'm like, she's gonna be doing stuff. Like, I was like, Yes, I gotta get to know her.

SPEAKER_03 2:26:21

And then I remember um at the vigil, a pastor I really love, Sean Walker. He stopped me. He's like, Oh, you know, hello, thank you for everything. And I'm like, Oh my gosh, you're my favorite pastor, but I am not built for them. So, like, this is not my thing. And he was like, You might think you're not, but God called you to walk in this purpose and you're walking tall.

SPEAKER_05 2:26:39

And I'm like, Yes, okay.

SPEAKER_03 2:26:41

And then uh a few people hit me up and asked me, you know, hey, do you do this for a living? Like, do you want to join a team? And then um the victims above the victims resource center, she was like, You're really good at this. Did you ever think to do? And I'm like, girl, you need to be calling you because I'm over here tripping. She's so nice. And and I met so many amazing people along, you know, this that's the best part as horrific it could be, and that's the best part. Um I try to acknowledge that every chance I can, you know, when I'm asked, or people met, I'm like, I met so many amazing people. Wyoming Valley, you know, it's a bad rap. We hear a lot of negative, and I try to share that we had. Yeah. People come out, uh, florists donate flowers for it, the bikers donate, you know, people raised money and donated it to her favorite camp, camp hero. And that's really what it's all about. Uh as we said, we can't change what happened, you know. But it's all what we could do in the future, and that's what I try to live by now. And I hope when people hear this, they they take that too, you know, into account.

SPEAKER_07 2:27:47

That's how I've gotten through a lot of my grief and traumas. I look on what I can turn it into. And I feel like it's the only way. Exactly. Um it's the that's how I feel. It's the only way for me. I'm like, I have to. I have to do something. I mean, I can have this energy where I can sit and you know, obviously. Obviously, we have to grieve and poop and move through things, but yes. I have this force where I'm like, all right, you know what? I need to get rid of this energy and I'm gonna put it where it's gonna do something because there's a lot behind it. Um But think about like think about like when you started doing all this, it wasn't your ideal like it wasn't your mission to become this advocate, right? It just happened. And it's because you have the passion, the love, the drive, and that's what makes a good advocate. But think about when you did it, you had you didn't know where to start. Now you're a resource for people in this area that are like, I can go to her. Like, think like do not beat yourself down, give yourself a confidence because you were doing this every single day. Like I'm watching you, and it's just and from the time I've met you till now, your growth. I mean, you're grieving through this too, and you probably even haven't sat and even processed it fully yet. But I swear I didn't. So, but I think you talking about it and doing it, it's a way for you to yes, you're you're co you're coping through it, you're moving through it, you're grief, you're processing it through giving Lala a legacy, and in the end, you know you're you're doing it right by her. So I think that's healing.

SPEAKER_03 2:29:11

Yeah, too grief.

SPEAKER_06 2:29:12

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 2:29:14

Uh, because I know on the outside people don't realize how important it is to keep everything active. You want it, you need it. It's important, it's crucial. You have to, and they don't have the energy to even get the first month or two to the process that they had to go through so many accusations and drama and stress, and so I really feel like I'm walking in my purpose, as you said. I I started to admit it, I really did. In the beginning, people would say, You're such a great friend, you're you're amazing at this. And I in the beginning, I would actually cry. I would literally because I didn't bring her home. I really thought I was bringing her home. Jokingly saying that when I walked into America's house when it was confirmed it was her that same day, her mom said, Candice, when you couldn't find her, I said, uh-uh, something is going on because you find everybody. It's a joke that I'm so investigative, like me too. It was sweet, and I love it. It was sweet, I love it. But then also it's like I didn't, I can't believe it. And I know she didn't mean it that way at all. She loves me, you know. But it was a personal battle I had to go through. Okay, you know, we didn't see this coming. Yeah, we you know, we seen escalation, but not to murder. We didn't think of murder if because that's not where we were, you know. And we could sit here all day and beat ourselves up, we could think of what if I should have, and we did. Yeah. Um, but then you know what, that don't change anything, and it don't help anything. And then I I was like, I can't waste it on that.

SPEAKER_06 2:30:43

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 2:30:44

So I wasted on her. So that's when you see the videos, or I'm trying to build a website now too. It takes a lot of time. I'm not really good. Let me, you know, I don't work that way.

SPEAKER_07 2:30:53

Let me look around to see who I have in my back pocket that can build one and will do it voluntarily because there are people out there, believe it or not, that will do things for free just to help other people.

SPEAKER_03 2:31:04

Well, I don't mind doing a little pay, but some of it, I looked at the first one like $125. I don't even want that much on here.

SPEAKER_07 2:31:11

So sometimes you have to like pay a monthly fee to keep it hosted and live and exactly, yeah. And just like building it on Wix is a pain in the ass, but I mean I if I if I sit and take the time to do it, I can probably.

SPEAKER_03 2:31:25

It takes up so much time. Last thing I finally took some time and I I managed to add two court papers, the next court and three photos of Lala and a video, but that's okay like for So July 11th is the mud run.

SPEAKER_07 2:31:39

Is that what you what you called it? And what time is that run in? Run.

SPEAKER_03 2:31:43

So it's at different times. It depends on what time they enroll into run.

SPEAKER_07 2:31:48

Okay. And where is the location?

unknown 2:31:51

In the Okinaw. Okay.

SPEAKER_07 2:31:52

I will share that flyer. I will try to come to that one. Is Amir is Lala's entire family going?

SPEAKER_03 2:31:58

Amer is running, Samara's running.

SPEAKER_07 2:32:00

I don't run, but I can take photos.

SPEAKER_03 2:32:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 2:32:05

Oh, you're not going.

SPEAKER_03 2:32:06

Some people were going, no, I'm not going.

unknown 2:32:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 2:32:10

You got a a sneak peek. This is the shirt they'll be wearing.

SPEAKER_07 2:32:13

I don't run. Maybe I'll just buy a shirt then.

SPEAKER_03 2:32:16

And I'm like, that's as much support I could do is I'm gonna wear my shirt at home. I don't run and I'm heat. Yeah. My you know, I I burn up quick. And they're like, just sit in the car.

SPEAKER_07 2:32:25

I'm like, that's I sweat so bad.

SPEAKER_03 2:32:28

Like I sweat.

SPEAKER_07 2:32:29

Well let them go run. Let them go run. We can we can have margaritas and see how we're gonna change the laws.

SPEAKER_03 2:32:38

That it's funny you said that. I would love to if you're free. I'm trying to see if America's free because I made a flyer, I want to do margaritas, dips, and toes. There you go. And give them a moment to just chill out. I had a a party the day before Father's Day for Juneteenth and Father's Day, and Aunt came and his girlfriend, America, came and a bunch of people, the kids, and they gravitated to my front porch. They said my house is set to morgue. You can't help it. I'm like, and I think just hanging out, the nice weather a lot for that one. So I was like, this next one, it gotta be something chill. So I'll let you know the tacos because like chicken or taco dip, then act or something.

SPEAKER_07 2:33:19

Well it's a sign then, because why I just randomly said margaritas.

SPEAKER_03 2:33:23

Literally, you're like, you don't even know what you started because I was like, margaritas and tacos.

SPEAKER_07 2:33:27

Like that sounds like something. All right, we'll have to plan that. Um all right, guys. So please go over to the Legacy for La La's Facebook page, TikTok. You're not on Instagram, right? You don't have a page for her, it's just yours.

SPEAKER_03 2:33:40

I was thinking about trying one.

SPEAKER_07 2:33:42

Okay, we c I can help you with that. And then uh stay tuned for the arraignment. Candace will be making updates when what she's allowed to say because the a gag order will be in place. And we'll do many more videos together. Hopefully, we can change some laws and get some of this uh con these consequences and Restrictions t you know tightened together. And uh I told Candace I will be here to help her every step of the way with social media. You guys know from this area. I don't know if I ever told you, Candace, but I ran Clients Corner and I was a food photographer and social media marketer for restaurants from 2013 to about 2023. I hung up my hat and I worked with hundreds of restaurants and I just branded. And like what you're doing with La La's photos and brand, I just pushed it in people's faces and then I started my own business with it. So I love doing social media, and that's how I ended up in radio sales and now I'm insurance, but I've always used social media as my voice. And I actually find peace laying in bed and just doing things on social media. That's just what I do. So if you're like midnight and you're like, I need this done, blah, blah, blah, send it my way. I'm like, all right, good, I'll release some anxiety. I don't mind to help speak, I don't mind to help write things. I the only thing I can't do, I'm not a videographer. I'm not, and I don't know how to use Photoshop. I use apps, but that's it. I'm not afraid to talk to people. I'm not afraid to use my voice. I'm not afraid to show up places and speak. I'm here for you. And I'll I'll help you every step of the way because I want, I want law, I want to do something to get Lala's name, like, you know, as a law or something. So we'll work on that. Um, guys, I will keep you updated again. Remember, there are four episodes prior to this, but this will air on True Crime with Tiv Klein on Spotify, Apple, iHeart, YouTube, and all your other favorite platforms. And now turning the corner with Klein's Corner. Please subscribe, leave some comments, show some support for Lala, go to the page, learn some sign language, play rock, paper, scissors, wear pink, make some noise and be fun and loud and go to her memorial. You have you have permission, leave something. I I left a green scrunchie on the chair from Crime Con. Oh, that was before we wrap it up. So I was at Crime Con in Vegas, guys, and I bumped into Nancy Grace's assistant. I won't say her name, but I met in Denver and she took my phone in 2025 and put her number in it. So I walked up to her and I'm like, she probably won't remember who I am. And she didn't, but I said, This is your number, right? And she looked at me and she's like, that is my number. And then I kind of showed her my logo and she's like, Oh, yeah, okay, now I remember you. Thanks to my mom, I I spaced out because I was I was so tired and jet lagged. She says, Well, what cases are you working on? And I'm like, I'm thinking, like, well, I don't really have one because a lot of podcasters follow one. You know what I mean? And they that's all they do. I cover a lot of stuff. So my mom goes, What about the girl Lala from Wilkes Bear? And my mom, I said, Oh yeah, like so. I I talked to um my mom lives in Ohio, so it's like because she's she's she's followed this with me since since you started making videos, but it caught the girl's attention and I told her more about La La and you know everything going on, and that's when she immediately emailed Nancy Grace's producer and copied me on it. And I thought for a second, I'm like, she's not really gonna copy me, you know, she's not gonna send this email.

unknown 2:36:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 2:36:56

So I stood behind her because they had a photo op and they imposed Nancy Grace's photo on it. So I think, remember, I sent it to you, and I'm standing behind her and I'm like zooming in, and I'm like, I really wanted to see if she put me on this email. And I sent it to you, I'm like, don't tell anybody. She did. I did get that email, and then he reached out to me about two weeks ago and said, Thank you so much. I am looking into this. Um and you know, the girl brought it to my attention. I'm I'm researching this. I haven't heard back, but my goal is probably by Wednesday, I'm gonna reach back out and I'm gonna send him this podcast. But I and I know you said that you've been contacting everybody.

SPEAKER_03 2:37:33

Um, hopefully, if we can get you I won't say their names either, but yeah, um try to sit in some details about it, you know.

SPEAKER_07 2:37:40

Yeah. No, I'm I like I said, I I've I've talked to a lot of people in this true crime community, and there's connections. You just have to know how to work them. Yeah. And you it's really about finding the you have to find the one person that cares about victims. And that's the person that will escalate it where it needs to be. And I I know thankfully I know a few. I'm going to reach out to some podcasters I know that will keep it transparent, honest, all about la la. Um, and I will I will send them your way. This way they can reach out to you because you have enough on your plate. Like, but I will send you the ones that I think will give you justice for la la and go on your mission. But I know we talk this is the longest podcast I've done, and I could probably keep going, but I'm hungry.

SPEAKER_03 2:38:26

I know.

SPEAKER_07 2:38:27

I need to eat on like La La. You talk about steak, and I'm like, ooh, man. I mean whole pizza. Yeah, I trust my guard. Guys, you know what's funny is we l we don't live far from each other. I feel like we're like really good friends already. Like we definitely need to hang out. We just become friends. Yep. I live over by um on River Street.

SPEAKER_03 2:38:46

I'm by and I'm like, I'm not far from Dairy Queen.

SPEAKER_07 2:38:51

Okay, I know where you're at. All right. All right, guys. Thank you so much, Candace. Thank you so much. Uh I hope I know I hope Antoine and Amir and Samira listen to this if they do, and I hope it brings them some kind of joy. Um, I'm here for anything they need as well. Be if they just need a shoulder, they need a if sometimes people just need to vent without someone responding, send them my way. I I don't repeat anything that you tell me. If I'm not allowed to say it, I'm not gonna say it. But uh if they want to talk to me, I'm here. But anything I can do, please, please do not hesitate. You're not bothering me. I'm a night owl, just okay. I promise.

SPEAKER_03 2:39:27

That's me. All right, well, thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you for having me on.

SPEAKER_07 2:39:32

You're welcome. We'll talk soon. You have a good night. You too.

SPEAKER_08 2:39:42

Yeah, matonla.

unknown 2:39:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_08 2:39:49

You have a cool you.