Catch Him if You Can
March came from nothing. Now, he’s the 1%. He made his fortune in oil and cryptocurrency. He’s sweet, handsome and charming. It’s hard to believe he’s still single. Only, it isn’t. Because March isn’t real. He’s a border-hopping Canadian con artist who’s tricked women and men out of over a million dollars. He thought he was untouchable, but now he’s messed with the wrong women. From Pink Moon Studio, this is Catch Him if You Can. The story of Marcel Vautour, his survivors' real time crusade to catch him, and the broken legal system that’s allowed him to get away for over 20 years – told in 7 parts. Written and produced by Emilia King and Maggie Reid. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @catchhimpod
Catch Him if You Can
Jodi
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Jodi McMullin, a health information officer from Kelowna, is recently divorced and trying to build a new life for herself and her teenage son. She tries online dating for the first time and soon meets Dre. He’s everything her ex-husband wasn’t - attentive, affectionate and he has big plans for their future.
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SPEAKER_06March Vautour is the 1%. He made his fortune in oil and cryptocurrency. He's handsome, charming, and has a heart of gold. It's hard to believe he's still single, only it isn't. Because March isn't real. He's a serial grifter and romance con artist who's tricked women and men across Canada, the US, Vietnam, and the Czech Republic out of over a million dollars. And that's just what we know of. His trail of destruction has led to heartbreak, bankruptcies, foreclosures, and even PTSD.
SPEAKER_07How could you not be a psychopath? How could you ruin so many people's lives and not care and walk away? It's dark evil.
SPEAKER_05Romance fraud, business fraud, investment fraud, medical fraud.
SPEAKER_00You know they say a really good liar puts some truths in there to make it easier and make the story more believable because he has conviction about that because he knows it's true.
SPEAKER_05He goes by Marcel, he goes by Mark with an M-A-R-C, an M-A-R-K. He goes by Andre, he also goes by Dre. We know him to go by Andy, we know him to go by Martin. We know him to go by March. I think he has a character that he's built for each one of them.
SPEAKER_08He doesn't work. This is his job. He is good at what he does. You're good at what you do. But we're we're good at what we do too. And we're gonna get you.
SPEAKER_06My name is Amelia King, and this is Catch Em If You Can. In episode two, you met Kim Nicholson, a registered nurse from British Columbia who had a whirlwind affair with Marcel in Niagara Falls after meeting him on a Cross Canada train. This happened at one of the most vulnerable moments in her life. He took her money, but it was so much more than that. So when Kim found another potential victim online, she was worried she might still be with him. A Facebook post from Marcel's account on March 23rd, 2018 read, quote, Going to Kelowna on Tuesday to see my love, Jodie Lynn. This was posted five days before Kim met Marcel on the train. And the comment underneath it from a man named Jason said, You mean the really nice woman you conned and stole from, you piece of shit?
SPEAKER_05So I private messaged this um Jason and he agreed to talk to me. So we spoke for two hours and I said, You can give Jody Lynn my uh my email and my phone number. Um he's like she's very devastated. She was taken for quite a bit of money. And I asked him, I said, Was it in the 40,000s?
SPEAKER_08It was. You know, I'm one income, I'm single mom. So I had nothing when when he took all that money from me. I was a wreck. Just I felt like my entire world had just crushed. This guy that I was like crazy about just gone, like vanished. I, you know, how am I gonna pay all this money back? How am I even gonna just open up my accounts again? Because the bank was just like, nope, nothing gets opened. This is fraud. They were blaming me.
SPEAKER_06Chapter 3, Jody. In late January of 2018, Jody McMullen had recently divorced from a 23-year marriage and was just building a new life for herself and her teenage son, Scott.
SPEAKER_08We actually grew up together. Our uh parents were family friends growing up, so we knew each other our whole lives. The divorce wasn't just uh you know us breaking up, it was an entire two families kind of just parted ways, and it was it was a lot to take in.
SPEAKER_06They live in Kelowna, British Columbia, where Jody owns a small business. She's a health information practitioner. Her job mostly consists of auditing medical records in hospitals, pouring over the smallest of details. In late 2017, post-divorce, she buys a new townhouse for her and her son on the edge of Kelowna Mountain. It feels like a fresh start, but she's trying to put herself back together financially, spiritually, and emotionally.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, I was definitely scared for what the future held. Like I had lots of different mixed emotions. Am I gonna meet somebody? Am I gonna be single forever? I think my main focus was just you know creating a life for my son and I and just keeping him going.
SPEAKER_06Just like Andrea and Kim, Jody is a caretaker to her core. But in this next stage of her life, with her son graduating high school soon, she also wants to focus on her career, on travel, on herself for once.
SPEAKER_08I had a friend up from Vancouver. She had come up for Christmas. She had kind of suggested that maybe I was ready to start meeting somebody or get myself back out there. So she kind of put the push on me to put myself out there and see what's out there. And we were actually just sitting around one evening and having a couple glasses of wine, and we made an account on Tinder, and she's like, Okay, turn it on. Within minutes, it was like ding ding ding ding.
SPEAKER_06Jodi makes her profile pretty basic. She puts up a few pictures, lists some hobbies, kayaking, hiking, outdoorsy type stuff. Tinder also prompts her to choose an anthem, a single song to add to your profile that the app claims improves your swiping experience. Jody adds Meant to Be by Florida Georgia Lion and BB Rexa.
SPEAKER_08I think it just kind of resonated with me with the fact that if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. Like just let things fall where they may. So that's kind of where I was in my life. I wasn't really looking. I was looking more for uh just kind of getting myself out of the sheltered lifestyle I'd been accustomed to. I just need to not like rush into anything and just focus on if it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't. I met one guy right away, and you know, we went on a couple dates, but it fizzled out pretty fast. And then I met Dre.
SPEAKER_06From his profile picture, Dre looks just like Jody's type.
SPEAKER_08I'm like, okay, yeah, baseball caps, truffy. I swiped right, and then he messaged me first and just said, Hey, I I like your profile, and it's crazy, but that's one of my favorite songs too, and that's how it kind of started.
SPEAKER_06They hit it off quickly and exchanged numbers. Their early messages are what you'd expect work, interests, horoscopes, and they exchanged some pictures. FYI, these are their actual text messages.
SPEAKER_09What do you do? I audit doctors' clinical documentation and hospital records. Docs don't like me too much.
SPEAKER_10I worked on the rigs in Alberta, then took a position in Asia as I speak Vietnamese to teach oil field offshore safety.
SPEAKER_09That sounds like an interesting job. What brings you to Kelowna?
SPEAKER_10Well, my contract finished, but I'm still freelancing. I had to renew my passport. Came and tried Victoria for a month. I didn't like it. And then my friend Richard told me Kelowna is nice. So I came here two days ago to give it a try, as I love lakes and boating.
SPEAKER_09Welcome. I've been here 15 years. A bit hard to meet people, but great place to live if you like the outdoors. Do you like country?
SPEAKER_10I like all kinds of music.
SPEAKER_09I'm a country girl at heart, but also listen to current stuff. I have a 17-year-old son who's got me into post-malone, Khalid, Drake, etc. I pretty much like anything except super heavy metal. Hate Iron Maiden, FYI.
SPEAKER_10Me too. I hate anything heavy metal. I'm Libra, so pretty much laid back and love all kinds of things.
SPEAKER_09I'm a Sagittarius. Sweet and lovable. But don't piss me off.
SPEAKER_10I'm non-confrontational and don't like drama.
SPEAKER_09I'm not into any drama. I was totally kidding about the don't piss me off. I'm very laid back.
SPEAKER_10LOL. Surprised face emoji.
SPEAKER_09So do you prefer Andre or Andy? I'm adding you as a contact to my phone.
SPEAKER_10Andre has um French, but barely have an accent.
SPEAKER_09Okay. Andre it is.
SPEAKER_10Up to you. Actually, most people call me March, as it is my nickname.
SPEAKER_09Why March?
SPEAKER_10Because when I worked on the rigs, I couldn't wait until March for spring break.
SPEAKER_09Well, I had a bad experience with an Andre in my early 20s, so maybe I'll end up giving you my own nickname, Smiley Face.
SPEAKER_10You can call me Dre. Nobody's ever called me Dre before.
SPEAKER_09Okay, Dre, Smiley Face. I'd like to meet you if you're interested.
SPEAKER_10Let me know when you're free. I'm pretty much free all the time these days.
SPEAKER_09I wish my day wasn't so busy. Tomorrow for sure.
SPEAKER_06Jody and Dre meet the next day, February 1st, 2018, at a Starbucks in downtown Kelowna.
SPEAKER_08He had the baseball cap on, he didn't have the scruff. Uh he had some he was wearing some glasses. Um I thought at first, not quite as exactly as his picture, but pretty close. Dre talks a lot, asks a lot of questions. And uh a lot of eye contact, which I wasn't used to, so I was like, okay, like why is he staring at me? He seems really interested. So he made me, you know, feel really comfortable. And we sat at the table for a few minutes, talked. I went and got a drink, uh, came back, and then he's like, Do you wanna go for a walk or something? And I'm like, Yeah, sure, that'd be nice. So we've it was freezing. I remember being absolutely frozen. We were walking along the lake.
SPEAKER_10Wow, I'd love to get a boat like that.
SPEAKER_09Oh yeah? It's a little big, isn't it?
SPEAKER_10I've been thinking of buying one and just living on it. I've got to sell my condo and get my money out of Vietnam first.
SPEAKER_09Just wait till summer. It's the best.
SPEAKER_10I think I could really get used to it here.
SPEAKER_09A little colder than Vietnam? You thinking about staying in Kelowna?
SPEAKER_10Maybe. I've got to figure out a new work plan. Get my paperwork in order, renew my passports. I've still got my old water hauling business from when I worked on the rigs in Alberta, but I've also got some investor lined up for a new business idea I've been working on.
SPEAKER_09Oh yeah? What's that?
SPEAKER_10It's a delivery service for cannabis. Like Uber for weed.
SPEAKER_09Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_10After six years working in Vietnam, uh, it's time for a change in scenery.
SPEAKER_09Sounds like you had a good job there. I'd like to go to Vietnam.
SPEAKER_10The money is insane, but it's long hours and dangerous. I have to take a helicopter on the rigs. When I first got there, I had to fire everyone because they weren't following safety protocols. And in this line of work, that's life or death. So I had to re-ire and train a new crew.
SPEAKER_09Sounds like pretty interesting work though.
SPEAKER_10I'm still working freelance for the company remotely right now. It's tough with the time change. Honestly, the best part about being there was the time off. I got to travel all over South Asia. I went to India.
SPEAKER_09I'm so jealous.
SPEAKER_10Maybe we'll go one day. It was fun, but I do miss having that connection with someone. You know what I mean? I didn't date much when I was there. The women were only interested in money.
SPEAKER_09Money is nothing if you aren't happy.
SPEAKER_10Amen. So any crazy exes?
SPEAKER_09Nice egway. Well, I was married for twenty three years. I have one beautiful son, Scott. My ex had an affair and I left. It should have ended years ago. We're trying to be on good terms for our son.
SPEAKER_10Sorry to hear. What do you think went wrong?
SPEAKER_09So many things. We never really did anything. No dates, we didn't travel. He wasn't affectionate. And let's just say I don't ever want to date a drinker again.
SPEAKER_10I don't touch this stuff anymore. My only vice is smoking. I quit for three years and now I'm back to it.
SPEAKER_09You should quit.
SPEAKER_10I will. I'm down to only two a day.
SPEAKER_09So any crazy exes?
SPEAKER_10Also divorced. We were together for twelve years. She's a dentist in Washington. It took me a long time to realize, but she was an abusive alcoholic. I never drink, but she always wanted me to because apparently I'm no fun. One night in Vancouver, I had a couple and got a DUI. I ended up getting banned from the US. It was a mess. She needed to stay in the US because her career came first. So we decided to end it.
SPEAKER_09It sounds awful. I like work, but I also want someone to cuddle with. You need to have balance.
SPEAKER_10For me, life isn't about being alone. It's all about family and spending time with the ones you love.
SPEAKER_09Totally. My son actually lives with me full time. He doesn't see his dad much. I'm ready to have someone in my life again after taking time to heal and be happy after my divorce.
SPEAKER_10I've been ready for years. How long have you been on dating apps?
SPEAKER_09Like two weeks.
SPEAKER_06What about you?
SPEAKER_10Two days.
SPEAKER_06Jody and Dre don't wait long for their second date. They go to a movie the next night. Dre says he doesn't have a car yet, so Jody picks him up.
SPEAKER_08I'm like, okay, that's no problem. And then he gave me the address. I'm like, oh, that's that's a hostel. He's like, oh yeah, I love staying at hostels. You meet people from all over the world, and you never know when you're gonna need to know somebody in a certain country. And he had an answer for everything right away. That's the one thing I can say about him. He never once hesitated with an answer. Ever. It was so like boom, boom, boom, right away. Cool as a cucumber, and you just there was nothing to question because it was so sincere and so legitimate.
SPEAKER_06On their second date, Dre is very affectionate. He holds her hand during the movie, he tells her she's beautiful, he recounts stories about his adventures abroad. Jody wants to hear more, see some pictures. His life seems so exciting.
SPEAKER_08Our third date was at my house. I remember him opening up his backpack, and he pulled out his laptop, and then he pulled out this little black case, and he opened it up, and he was going through all these what do you call them? The like he had a bunch of cards.
SPEAKER_06Jody's talking about SD cards. She counted about 30 of them.
SPEAKER_08And then he would just pop them into his laptop. And he was very strategic, and it every once in a while a picture would pop up of a woman in lingerie, or like the doctor in Bellingham. He had nude photos of her and lingerie photos, and he's like, Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to show you that one. I don't want to upset you. And he would have pictures of Vietnamese women, and he's like, Oh, oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that one to pop up. And and then also in that case were little tiny ones, and I'd be like, Oh, what is that one? So I thought they were just the micro SDs, and he's like, Oh no, these are for the GoPro. I don't want to lose my memories of all my travels, so I just keep them all on a SIM card, and then I just keep this really close to me so that I don't lose it. Because if someone wants to steal my laptop, they can steal it, but they're not gonna steal all my memories.
SPEAKER_06Dre is very well traveled. He's been to India, all over Southeast Asia. He documents everything, and he seems to make friends everywhere he goes.
SPEAKER_08And he went through tons of photos of all his adventures in Vietnam, and he had pictures of the rigs, he had pictures of his condo, he had pictures of his scooters, KTM, everything.
SPEAKER_06Dre loves motorcycles. He's a huge KTM fan.
SPEAKER_08And I was intrigued by that. I used to ride as a young kid and teenager, and we had motorbikes, so I was like, okay, yeah, I like that. And uh he talked a lot about travel that he wanted to go to uh South America, do a lot of backpacking. He talked about camping, but like bush camping with very little stuff. Yeah, just really attracted me to stuff I I'd known as like growing up.
SPEAKER_06He even talks about them traveling together to Vietnam, to South America, all over. He says he's never met anyone like her before. Dre kisses Jody for the first time that night.
SPEAKER_08I was intrigued. I was very intrigued. I was like, okay, this this could be a very interesting adventure for me in life.
SPEAKER_06Dre doesn't wait long to follow up after their date.
SPEAKER_10Thanks for having me over. I really like spending time with you. I love that we have the same goals.
SPEAKER_09Thanks for a nice eve. And the kisses. Kiss face emoji.
SPEAKER_10I feel like I can open up to you.
SPEAKER_09Is it safe to say we are both open to seeing where this goes?
SPEAKER_10Yes, for sure. What's going to delete Tinder today, LOL?
SPEAKER_09Me too. Wanna come to dinner tonight? Meet my son?
SPEAKER_10Sure. I'm exhausted from working these off hours, but I want to see you. Vietnam is a 14-hour difference, LOL.
SPEAKER_09You won't be doing it too much longer. Pick you up at 4 30.
SPEAKER_06I have to get groceries.
SPEAKER_10Thumbs up, emoti.
SPEAKER_06They're almost inseparable in that first week. When they aren't together, they're texting. Jodi even introduces Dre to her mom, who immediately approves by the way. He becomes increasingly attentive and affirming.
SPEAKER_08Saying the right things, touching you the right way, just a lot of it for me was like the eye contact. Seemed like he really wanted to know me. And I was not used to that at all. Kisses, hugs, holding hands.
SPEAKER_06Jody picks up Dre for the big dinner, meeting Scott. She decides on lemon pepper chicken and roasted potatoes.
SPEAKER_08I remember walking through superstore with him, and he was holding my hand. And I remember pulling it away at one point, and he's like, Why'd you pull away? And I'm like, This is not what I'm used to. Like, I'm really uncomfortable. Like it's I'm I felt really awkward, and I said, Nobody's ever wanted to hold my hand like this before. And he's like, Well, I'll never let go. I introduced him to my son first, and I was really nervous because he was the first guy that I'd actually brought home and introduced to my son. Uh, my son didn't like him right from day one, but I attributed it to him just being upset that I was getting back out there and gonna start dating again. I talked to a couple of my friends that had been divorced and they're like, Yeah, he's gonna give you slack, you know, he doesn't like to think that his mom's out dating, and it's natural for him to react that way.
SPEAKER_06Jody figures Scott will come around eventually, but thinks her friends might be more objective judges of her new guy. She brings him to her best friend's birthday in Pentikton.
SPEAKER_08And that was that was a real moment for me when I was like, oh, this this guy might be a real catch because their daughter um has Asperger syndrome and is very secluded and just you know hard to talk to and doesn't want to put herself out there. And but he really, really pulled her out of that shell. Like she was, I remember sitting at the dinner table and she, you know, had come and sat down for dinner, and she was just intrigued. He told so many stories about Vietnam and you know, India that he had traveled to, and she was just like, Wow, like tell me more. And I remember looking at my friend and just saying, like, who is this girl? Like, she never talks, and she's like, You can't get her to shut up. I remember Andre just saying, Oh, I just tend to have that way with people. I can get the most quiet people to talk. I think that was the moment for me when I was. Like, yeah, I'm really falling for this guy. I remember just like after dinner that same night. Uh, after dinner, we went and sat in their living room, and they had a wood fireplace, and fireplace was on. I was sitting on the love seat, and I remember him just like taking my my legs and putting them over his knees so I could stretch out. And I'm just like, oh, you don't mind that? He's like, No, I like it. And I remember my friend just looking at me and just smiling, like, you look happy.
SPEAKER_06Things start to get pretty serious between Jody and Dre.
SPEAKER_08He was already telling me that he was falling for me and that so excited to start a future, and that he definitely didn't want to go back to Vietnam. And that he was gonna look for uh a contract on the oil rigs hauling water to get him through the next couple months so that he could continue dating me and figure out if we were gonna make it work, and then he would you know get enough money together so that he could go back to Vietnam and ship all his stuff back and sell his condo and you know close the door on Vietnam.
SPEAKER_06In the meantime, Dre's falling further behind on the remote work he's doing for Vietnam, filling out safety forms for the offshore oil rigs.
SPEAKER_10My laptop crashed. Sad face emoji.
SPEAKER_09Oh no. Shopping's free tomorrow.
SPEAKER_10Oh, not really. I have to wait to get a transfer first.
SPEAKER_09Bring it tomorrow. I'll take a look at it. I'm good with them.
SPEAKER_10I had Richard's friends check my MacBook as he's a computer science engineer, and he said my motherboard is fried.
SPEAKER_09You can use my MacBook until you get a new one. Here's the real Jody again.
SPEAKER_08He's like, Oh, I'm so stressed, I gotta get this work done. And he's like, Oh, it's you know, it's pretty uh confidential information. I really need to figure out I gotta get a laptop, and I'm like, what can I do to help? And he's like, Oh, I don't want to have to go back to Vietnam. And he never really came out and said, Lend me money. He said, if I don't get some money, I'm gonna have to go back. Or if I don't get a new laptop, I'm gonna lose this contract.
SPEAKER_06And even though Jody doesn't feel totally comfortable, she buys him the laptop.
SPEAKER_08I financially wasn't in a position to be lending out money, but I was caught up. He kept saying, If I don't, you know, get a new laptop or I can't get this contract in Alberta, then I'm gonna have to go back. And I felt bad. Like I was like, oh my gosh, like I'm falling for this guy, and I don't want to see him go. Dre also seems to keep track of everything, which makes her feel better. He had done up like a little spreadsheet and it said, What I owe my love or whatever, and then it had laptop and then the price. And he's like, you know, as soon as I get my money from Vietnam, here it is. I know I owe you this. Here it is, I'm gonna pay it right back.
SPEAKER_06Dre keeps stressing just how difficult it is to get your money out of Vietnam.
SPEAKER_08He had shown me a bank card from Vietcom Bank, and he's like, you know, they they track everything, you can't get the money out. You put the money onto gold bars, and then you got to fly to Taiwan, and then you got to cash in your gold bars, and then you got to transfer the money over to a Canadian count. He's like, it's such a big deal. And he's like, I got a buddy in Vietnam that's a school teacher, and he's gonna be going to Taiwan in two weeks. And he said he would go to my apartment, grab a couple gold bars, and he can cash them in for me and then wire me the money.
SPEAKER_06Jody doesn't just take his word on this, she does some fact-checking.
SPEAKER_08I went online and I was researching how to get money out of Vietnam, and everything he was saying was accurate. You know, it's a communist country, they keep very close tabs on the money that comes in. They don't like letting the money go out of their country. And I kept questioning him, like, why would you go to a country that you can't get your money out of? And he's like, I'm not worried about it. I've got gold bars. He showed me pictures of the gold bars, he told me where they were hidden in his condo.
SPEAKER_06Jody wants to help him get his money so she doesn't have to lend it to him. At one point, she and Dre go to the bank together, and Jody seizes the opportunity.
SPEAKER_08I had to go in and do some um account uh banking for my business account. And I remember him standing in the office with me, and I said, Oh, by the way, this is you know, Dre, and he's just coming back from Vietnam. And, you know, do you guys have any ideas how to get this money back? And I remember the banker saying, Oh, yeah, Vietnam's a tough one. You gotta have this forum, and then you gotta get that forum, and then you gotta do this, you gotta, and I'm just like, oh my gosh, that's crazy. And then I remember him saying, See, babe, I told you it's so hard. Like, I just gotta get, you know, my buddy to to wire me some money when he goes to Taiwan, and then when we go back, we can, you know, bring back money ourselves. And then I remember him saying one night to you, see, this is why I have a money belt, so I can just hide the money in my belt. And he showed me his belt, and I'm like, oh, okay. So it all just kind of it all felt real, like it just seemed like it was a legitimate, crazy but legitimate story.
SPEAKER_10Good morning, honey.
SPEAKER_09Aww, good morning, babe. How are ya?
SPEAKER_10So I got in touch with Johnny, one of my old contacts in Alberta.
SPEAKER_09Oh?
SPEAKER_10He sent me the contract this morning. Smiley face. They need a small crew of guys. I'm going to hire Richard and my buddy Mike. 450 a day plus 140 a day a living allowance.
SPEAKER_09Really? OMG! I'm proud of you, babe. Is this for the rigs in Alberta?
SPEAKER_10Yes.
SPEAKER_09How long's the contract for?
SPEAKER_10Until April 2nd.
SPEAKER_09I'll miss ya.
SPEAKER_10Sad face emoji. It will go by quick. Then we can go and get all my money out of Vietnam. You can come with me.
SPEAKER_06Can't wait. Kiss emoji. Dre sends Jody a picture of his work contract. It lists the terms of work and his day rates. He says he needs to complete a few courses in Calgary, recertifications, before heading to northern Alberta for the contract. He has to leave the next day. February 11th. After their brief but intense romance and a warm but sad send-off from Jody that consists of hugs, kisses, and his favorite Tim Hortons order, Dre gets on a bus at the Kelowna Greyhound Station and leaves for Calgary. Dre's displays of affection for Jodi continue from afar. He texts her constantly.
SPEAKER_08And FaceTime. Huge on FaceTime. Non-stop. Even if he was driving in Alberta, he was like calling me, FaceTiming me constantly. Wanted to know and see me all the time. And it was like, you know, I'd be sitting here working at my desk and he would FaceTime me and I'm like, what are you doing? He's like, Oh, I'm just driving from Edmonton to Calgary. I missed your face. I wanted to see it. What are you doing? Da-da-da. And he would just keep me on the phone like for hours and hours.
SPEAKER_06They talk about anything and everything, but mostly something is always going wrong for Dre.
SPEAKER_08It was a lot of drama. I remember my I remember my girlfriend being here one day, and she's like, Oh my god, like it's like non-stop with him. Like there's like one thing after another after another, like, you know, something freezing on the oil rig. Every time there was an issue, after he explained the situation, it would be, you know, what what do you think we should do? And I'd be like, hey, well, yeah, I don't have the money. And he's like, well, you know, you is there any way you could get money out of your business account? I need $500 to get this certification, or I need $800 to get this part for the truck. And if I don't get the truck working or the water line working, then I can't do my job and I'm not going to get paid. I don't have a credit card.
SPEAKER_06The credit card becomes a recurring issue.
SPEAKER_08That was a big thing. I don't have a Canadian credit card yet, so I can't rent an Airbnb. Do you think you could rent me the Airbnb? And then and every time he would send me like a screenshot or flip the phone around and show me his computer where he had the spreadsheet of everything I had lent him. And he kept reassuring me, Oh, you know, don't worry. As soon as I get that gold bar, we can square up, and I've got lots of money, and it's just a matter of getting the money to you, and this is just temporary.
SPEAKER_06Jody starts using her credit cards to book him Airbnbs, car rentals, car parts, and even mechanics.
SPEAKER_08And then you had to go and get this part, and then the truck would break down, and you'd have to drive and get this part, and then you need, you know, he was stressing out because the crew couldn't work, and he needed to make sure the crew was working, and it was just non-stop. I need you to book me an Airbnb. I gotta go back to Calgary because I gotta get this part for the truck, and and he would just like flip the phone around and he'd be like, Oh, see that truck right there, that's so-and-so driving.
SPEAKER_06Dre always sends her screenshots corroborating the latest drama. Here's one he sends her of a text message exchange with a mechanic.
SPEAKER_02Hey, this is Sean the mechanic. Your bearings are shot. You'll have to get a new set. You can call to get new bearings and get them down here tonight. We can have this fixed together. It's a five-hour job. How much are we looking at? Well, if you can buy the bearings, I'll charge you 120 per hour plus tax, so roughly five hours. Let me see something first.
SPEAKER_10I'll text you in a couple of minutes. Babe, he doesn't take credit card over the phone. See what I mean?
SPEAKER_09Okay, so how can we pay him?
SPEAKER_10I'm texting him now.
SPEAKER_09Okay.
SPEAKER_10Jean says to get it fixed and that I have to send him an invoice and he can get a check for me for Wednesday. Just email transfer and I'll get Mike to pay for it on his credit card. He says it's okay.
SPEAKER_09Okay.
SPEAKER_10Jean said he will give me the check on Wednesday, so I will have to deposit that in the account so that we cover the wages.
SPEAKER_06Dre's requests for money don't stop. Increasingly, he asks for Jody's help with accounting, too, often sending screenshots of his conversations with his boss or his crew.
SPEAKER_08I need this, I need that. Just had me swimming and just back and forth, back looking back. I'm just like, holy I don't even know how I managed to get my own work done during that time period. It was it was non-stop. He had me writing up invoices, he had me documenting, he phoned me, he's like, Okay, I need you to do up me an invoice for this, this, this, and he had me keeping track of hours. He'd tech, you know, call or text and say, Okay, Mike worked this many hours, I worked this many hours, the other guy worked this many hours, and this is overtime, this is regular time, this is the rate. It's like I have like a huge file of just all the invoices he had, and then he's like, Okay, email me this invoice, I gotta submit it.
unknownLike a rainy Sunday morning makes me want to stay amazing.
SPEAKER_10I thought of you when I heard this song.
SPEAKER_09Ah, babe, I feel the exact same. I love Jason Aldean music. Heart emoji, heart emoji, heart emoji. I can't wait to see ya.
SPEAKER_10Babe, uh I I'm going to be uh short around $500 to pay Mike. He's meeting with me at 7 p.m. I hate to ask, but I might need your help.
SPEAKER_09Okay, no problem. I'll send it.
SPEAKER_10Let me know when it's done.
SPEAKER_09I just sent it.
SPEAKER_06Password is my baby. Just as Drey's debt to Jody's beginning to build, she gets an unsettling phone call.
SPEAKER_08Yeah. I remember texting me and saying, Babe, are you there? I need to talk to you right away. And I so I call him and he's like, Oh my god, I just got hit by a car in Calgary. I'm like, what are you talking about? He's like, like, I'm literally standing on the street corner and this car like came up on the sidewalk and hit me and knocked me over. And I'm like, Well, did you get the information? Are you hurt? He's like, No, no, I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm just shaking up. I just needed to talk to you.
SPEAKER_06And a couple of days later, Dre is still in Calgary doing a recertification course when Jody gets another alarming call. Hello.
SPEAKER_10Baby, it's me. I'm having a really bad chest pain. I don't know what to do.
SPEAKER_09Go to Emerge right now. Can someone drive you?
SPEAKER_08I have to check.
SPEAKER_09Take a cab. Go right now. Call an ambulance.
SPEAKER_08Okay. I mean, he he did actually spend like a night in the hospital. Like I have pictures of him where he was all hooked up to a monitor and stuff. And then he's like, Oh, the doctor wants me to get this test done and that test done. And I think it was actually me that said, Well, why don't you just come back to Kelowna? Because I was worried. I, you know, five years earlier I hadn't lost my dad to a heart attack. And it was very traumatic because they were away on holidays when it happened. So it's hard losing a parent to begin with, but to lose one that away on holidays and have to worry about getting your mother home and all their personal belongings home and their dog and their truck and fifth wheel. So I was like, well, come back here and we'll get the tests done here and I'll take care of you.
SPEAKER_06I'll look after you and make sure you're good. Jody E transfers him money for his travels, and Dre takes the bus back to Kelowna from Calgary.
SPEAKER_08And I remember several times saying, like, why don't you just hop on Westjet? Like, get on a plane, you'll be here in an hour. So I remember him telling me a story of how he had been in a plane with two of his buddies, uh, a small little three, four-seater plane, and they had to do an emergency landing on a highway in Quebec. And I'm like, Yeah, but you flew back from Vietnam, that doesn't make any sense. And he's like, Oh, I don't mind like long flights because I can get first class and I can take an Atavan, and he goes, But these short little commuter flights, he goes, I just get too stressed out.
SPEAKER_06When he gets back to Kelowna, Jody takes care of him. She takes him to his doctor's appointments. He has to wear a halter monitor. She even makes sure he's staying healthy. Jody even puts him on her cell phone plan.
SPEAKER_08After his uh heart attack scare, so he went back to Alberta to finish the job.
SPEAKER_06Drake continues to call and text her constantly. After his big health scare, they are closer than ever, even though physically apart.
SPEAKER_10I miss you so much.
SPEAKER_09We can do this. I believe in us.
SPEAKER_10I really appreciate what you do, and it proves to me that our relationship is good.
SPEAKER_09I've never felt like this before.
SPEAKER_10I really love you a lot. I'm going to be back in Calgary in a few weeks for meetings at head office. Why don't you come visit me for the weekend?
SPEAKER_09I do have flight credits. I need to use up.
SPEAKER_06Smiley face emoji. Jody books a flight to Calgary for St. Patrick's Day weekend.
SPEAKER_08I remember my son was just so upset with me that I was going away. So I went there for the weekend. But the night before I left, I had a concert, a country concert to go to with my friend. And he was so stressed out because I was out, I was drinking, I was having fun. He was texting me nonstop. And I remember my girlfriend saying, Wow, he's is he getting jealous? Like, is he worried you're gonna go out and find someone else at this country concert?
SPEAKER_10I didn't think you were going to drink that much.
SPEAKER_09Neither did I. I actually only had five drinks, but I didn't eat. I only got four hours of sleep the last two nights.
SPEAKER_10The booze doesn't help, also.
SPEAKER_09Nope.
SPEAKER_10I was a bit disappointed to see you in that state last night.
SPEAKER_09Well, never again, babe. I normally don't drink.
SPEAKER_10Why did you drink so much when you knew you were coming to see me?
SPEAKER_09Millie and I have never gone out alone together before. We weren't that drunk. We were just being super silly because Scott was our DD. Honestly, baby, I seldom drink. Don't be mad.
SPEAKER_10I'm not mad. I just hope this is not a routine thing. That's all.
SPEAKER_06Jody gets on our flight early Saturday morning and takes a bus to their Airbnb.
SPEAKER_08He was waiting there, he had a coffee waiting for me, he was super sweet. And we walked back to the Airbnb, and I remember walking into the Airbnb, and the bed was just in shambles. Like the bedding was all over the place.
SPEAKER_09What happened here last night?
SPEAKER_10I didn't sleep a wink. I was so stressed that you weren't going to come or that you'd be too hungover.
SPEAKER_09Babe, that was never gonna happen. Oh wow, let's see your passport picture. Oh man.
SPEAKER_10I'm having some really bad abdominal pain. I think I need to take a bath.
SPEAKER_09Hold on a second. You told me when we first met that you had to renew your passport.
SPEAKER_10Yeah?
SPEAKER_09This passport isn't brand new. It's full of stamps. It doesn't expire until 2023.
SPEAKER_10Yeah, I still need to renew it. I haven't done it yet.
SPEAKER_06Oh. Okay. Dre and Jody manage to have a great time, despite a rocky start to their visit. They go to dinner, they go sightseeing in downtown Calgary. Then Dre starts getting text messages from his employees. More drama. A waterline burst.
SPEAKER_08And he needed to get it repaired right away, and he was stressing out because he's with me in Calgary, and he's like, I have a couple days off, I don't want to go back to Edmonton. It's like gonna be payday in like two days. And he's like, I need to get these guys paid so they stay. You know, work is really stressful. And he actually convinced me to pull out five thousand dollars to pay his employees.
SPEAKER_09Uh you know, I had to go to a CIBC and Babe, but I don't know if they're gonna let me take out this much at a time. Here's the real Jody again.
SPEAKER_08We took a cab there, and when we walked into that CIBC, it was a Saturday afternoon, there were two tellers, he went right to the Vietnamese teller. Yeah. And she was a little hesitant to release the funds, but he was talking her up a storm, just talking about his travels in Vietnam. He was questioning what part of Vietnam she was from, and they were just they were talking non-stop. And he was super affectionate with me. And I remember her commenting, you know, like, oh, you guys look so in love. It's so nice to see people happy, and and she ended up giving us the money, and he put it in his money belt, and he was so thankful that I'd helped him out. We got back to the Airbnb, he went right on his computer and added that to the spreadsheet of what he owed me.
SPEAKER_06From March 17th until March 27th, it was non-stop calling, texting, and FaceTiming.
SPEAKER_10He has 16 days at 150 per day, plus 14 days at 75 leave of absence. Plus a receipt for Diesel for Jean for 10637, as he had to grab the parts for Jean and fill the truck as his gas card didn't work. 355637 total. We need to do the other invoice tomorrow and send it as they're moving the rig in two days. I don't remember the password. Can you send it to my email?
SPEAKER_09It's Rocky19.
SPEAKER_10I miss you so much, babe. Sometimes I get spells where I feel anti without you.
SPEAKER_09I feel lost without you too. I was sad last night. Here's the real Jody again.
SPEAKER_08And then the evening of the 27th, he called me and said that he was gonna get paid that next morning. He was stressing out because he had discovered that his corporation was in arrears because he hadn't claimed Canadian income tax in 10 years. And he's like, I don't know what I'm gonna do because if I deposit this check into that corporation, they're gonna take it back. So I'm like, I don't know what to do. Like, can they just pay you cash? And he's like, it's $49,000, babe. Like, how are we gonna do this? Like, I need to pay you back and I need to have enough money to go to Vietnam. He's like, you know, what if I get the company to put it into your name? And then we can just deposit it into your account, your business account, and then we could just pay it out all the expenses from there.
SPEAKER_06Jodi hesitates at first, but Dre reassures her. He gives her Teresa's number, the owner of a company called TKS Trucking. They were settling up for the contract.
SPEAKER_09Hi Teresa. This is Jodi, Andre's girlfriend. He asked me to contact you to give you some info. Can you confirm what you need from me? Thanks. Hi, Jody. I'll need the bank name and address, institution number and bank account number. Thanks. No worries. I've paid a lot of Andre's expenses already, so need to know if all is okay. Sorry about the inconvenience.
SPEAKER_06I'll contact Andre right away. Should be resolved shortly. The next morning, Dre gets the check for $49,000.
SPEAKER_10Hey babe! I've got the check right here! See!
SPEAKER_09Nice! Oh, why is it happening?
SPEAKER_10Interesting story. I went into the office this morning and Theresa told me that they had a break in. She had to put a stop payment on the existing check and wrote a handwritten check on the spot.
SPEAKER_09Oh.
SPEAKER_10Good news is I'm finally paying you back.
SPEAKER_09Okay, I what's up to my bank login just now.
SPEAKER_10Okay, I downloaded the CIBC app. Okay, I'm in. EDEP positive easy peasy. Look, you can see the bank balance. All good? The money's there. Oh man. I feel so much better now. I'm so excited to get home to you. Finish this job, start our life together. Finally, we can fly to Vietnam now.
SPEAKER_08I can't wait. And then right after he deposited it, I changed my code so he couldn't go back into my banking. And later that afternoon he called me and he was at the mall and he's like, Oh, look what I bought you. And it was a like a backpack, but it was the kind where it's got that protective stuff in it. So he's like, You're gonna need this in Vietnam because they're just roofless there, and you know, they're always trying to scam you and take advantage of you. So I bought you this backpack, and I'm like, Oh, that's really sweet. Like, thank you. I'm you know thankful that you're looking out for me like that.
SPEAKER_06The next day on March 28th, Jody leaves for a friend's wedding in Las Vegas.
SPEAKER_08So my son and I were going, and it was really good friends of mine that Scott had grown up with their son, and so there was like 60 of us going to this wedding, and I was super excited to go to this wedding in Las Vegas. It'd been planned for a couple of years, and um that morning he called me and he's like, I want you to go and have a good time. He says, I'm my job finished early. I I know you're not back in Kelowna from your trip until April 2nd. He goes, I'm gonna come back to Kelowna on the 2nd. And I was like, Well, what are you gonna do like over the weekend? And he's like, You know what? I've been in touch with this wellness retreat just outside of Jasper. He goes, I think I'm gonna go there for a couple days, just unwind, be with nature, and just relax. He goes, I hope you don't mind. I'm gonna spend, you know, fifteen hundred dollars to do this. I just really think I need to relax before we go on our Vietnamese adventure. And I'm like, okay, yeah, it sounds fair. And he texted me and said, you know, okay, I'm leaving. You know, I might not have a lot of service, but I'll call you as soon as I get there. And later that night, Jody gets a call from Dre. He called me, he what WhatsApp to me that night, and was like, they took away our sim cards, so we can't make calls. It's kind of like a wellness retreat, so you're not supposed to be on your phone, but I snuck out, I'm calling you on WhatsApp. And I remember asking him what the name of the place was. Like we were on our way to the airport to catch our flight to Vegas, and uh, it's morning, and I'm like, send me all the info about where you're at so I know where you're at and that you're safe. And he wrote back, he says, I can't talk now. I'm I don't want them to see me on my phone, but the place is called Northern Lights.
SPEAKER_06Jody Googles Northern Lights Wellness Retreat. Nothing comes up.
SPEAKER_08I'm like boarding a plane, the money's in my account, everything's good. Okay, yeah, I believe him. He sounds legit. So we get to Vegas, we were doing all the you know fun things, went to took the kids to a comedy show. You know, the wedding was on the Saturday, we had a blast. And then the Sunday, we were laying by the pool, and I had been texting and not getting any response back. And it was the Sunday I was missing him, I was hungover, I was like, I'm having a blast, but I'm excited to go home and he'll be there. Remember texting him and just saying, you know, like what's happening? I hope you're okay. I haven't heard it from you. I'm starting to get worried. Why aren't you answering my text? You should be out of the wellness retreat by now, on the bus heading back to Kelona. No response.
SPEAKER_09Baby, I ha haven't heard a peep from you since Wednesday. I'm scared. Shitless something went wrong or you took off. I'm super sad. Jody tries again the next day. Babe, please answer me. What is going on? And again on her way home. I was so excited to get off the plane and be in your arms, but now I don't even know where you are or if you're ever coming back. Last time we talked, you said you would be out Saturday and catch a bus to Kelowna. It's Monday, and nothing.
SPEAKER_06Jody flies home feeling dejected. She drops off her son, picks up her dog, and heads to the grocery store, still hoping that Dre might be on his way to see her. Maybe there was a logical explanation for his radio silence.
SPEAKER_01Do you need bags?
SPEAKER_09Phoud, I forgot my reusable ones. Yes, please.
SPEAKER_01That'll be $342.50.
SPEAKER_09I'll pay with credit.
SPEAKER_01Sorry, it says declined.
SPEAKER_09Weird. I was just traveling. I hope they didn't freeze my card. Here, I'll try debit.
SPEAKER_03It says declined.
SPEAKER_09Really? Okay, uh, one more card.
SPEAKER_03Declined.
SPEAKER_09Can you just hold this stuff here? Uh give me a minute. Here's the real Jody again.
SPEAKER_08So I called my girlfriend and I'm like, like, none of my cards are working. It's holiday Monday. I can't go to the bank. I'm like, I don't standing here in Walmart with $350 worth of groceries. What do I do? And she's like, all Walmarts have like a Western Union or something. She goes, I'll rush out right now and I'll wire you, you know, $400 and you know, get home and we'll figure out what's going on. So I waited there for about half an hour texting him, saying, Are you on the bus? Like, what's happening? And no response. So the wire comes through to pay my bill. So embarrassed because I'm like, this is awkward. I don't have money to pay my bill. And then I got home and I went on to my online banking and everything was overdrawn. And I'm just like, what is happening? Like every single account was overdrawn. Total, I was out like just over $45,000.
SPEAKER_06Jody goes into the bank the next day. They tell her the check bounced.
SPEAKER_08Okay, but I was able to like e-transfer all these funds to him on the 27th and 28th of March. And he's like, Well, there was like a $20,000 no hold on your business account. $20,000 no hold, that's unheard of. And he's like, well, there was. I'm like, okay, well, that's weird. When the when he put the check in, I was transferring him money to cover all his stuff. And then of course the check bounces. And I was trying to pull money out of everywhere. I had been paying for Airbnbs and car rentals and you know payroll and repairs and certifications, everything. I paid back all the money into my other accounts, but then when the check bounced, it was like a ricochet event, right? It was just like boom, boom, boom, everything kind of just I I can't even wrap my head around it still. Like two years later, I'm just like, how did that even happen?
SPEAKER_06Finally, she hears from Dre.
SPEAKER_08I got a text message from him April 3rd. And it wasn't from his number, it was a totally unknown number that I didn't recognize.
SPEAKER_10I didn't intend for it to be this way. I got screwed over and I don't know what to do. I'm scared and disappointed for the one I cared for the most. My intentions were not to hurt you. I was supposed to get money back, and everything went sour. I know you don't trust me, Jody. But I'm scared. Sad and destroyed too. I feel like dying.
SPEAKER_09Dre, is this you? Please talk to me and explain what's going on. You owe me that. That is the last time Jodi hears from him.
SPEAKER_08I was a wreck. Just I felt like my entire world had just crushed. This guy that I was like crazy about just gone, like vanished. I, you know, how am I gonna pay all this money back? How am I even gonna just open up my accounts again? Because the bank was just like, nope, nothing get nothing gets opened. This is fraud. You they they were blaming me. How do you recover? You know, I'm one income, I'm single mom. I had nothing when when he took all that money from me. So I had to take out um a couple line of credits and I maxed out credit cards, took cash advances on credit cards, just to be able to open up because the bank I was terrified. I thought they were gonna come after me and charge me, and so I'm just like, I gotta get this money paid back. So I borrowed forty-five thousand dollars between lines of credits, friends, credit cards at like twenty-nine percent interest.
SPEAKER_06Jody tries to convince the bank that she too had been a victim of fraud.
SPEAKER_08I went to the abundanceman of CIBC and they did an investigation and they came back and they offered me a thousand dollars if I would sign off with an assigned contract that I wouldn't pursue it any further. And I was just like, Nope, sorry, not happening.
SPEAKER_06The cops don't do any better.
SPEAKER_08You know what? They don't give a shit. That's the bottom line. They don't give a shit. It's not big enough for them to deal with. I have been through a couple constables, a sergeant, a lieutenant, a corporal. I'm getting nowhere. Nowhere. They just are I'm on the back burner. You know, for me, $45,000 is traumatic. Right? Single mom trying to make it on my own, living in BC is not cheap. And for them, it's just it's petty. And they really make you feel that it's your fault. You deserved it. This doesn't stop Jody from trying. Every single police officer that I've dealt with in the last two years, they have all said it. It's just not big enough for us to get enough action. And then on the other hand, they they'll say that, and then they say it only takes one person to take it seriously. And I'm like, well, why aren't you that one person? And I remember saying to one of the corporals, if this was your mother, your daughter, your wife, your sister, your niece, you'd be fighting till the end. So look at me, know that my dad was involved with the RCMP. Do it for me. It just takes one person. It takes one person in the organization to say, you know what, I'm gonna take this on, I'm gonna create a task force, we're gonna get this fucker. Takes one person, but they don't care. They just don't care. It's just a file. It's just a file. I'm just a file that they want closed. Nobody cares. Nobody cares.
SPEAKER_06That's how Jody feels until she hears from her friend Jason. Remember the guy from Facebook who talked to Kim?
SPEAKER_08So this all went down in April, and then May June for me were awful. I was in a very, very, very dark place. And while he was with me, he created a Facebook page, and it was M A Viture. So he's like, I'll do this for you, and then you know, we can send pictures and stuff to each other while I'm in Alberta. And he had his last post on that Facebook page was can't wait to get back to Kelowna on Tuesday to see my love Jody. My girlfriend Millie, her uh common law partner Jason. I guess he just randomly saw that post. So he commented on it. She goes, but someone's come forward and reached out to Jason and they want to talk to you. He's like, I think you really need to talk to this girl.
SPEAKER_09Hi, Kim.
SPEAKER_04Hey Jody. I'm so glad we're finally getting to talk. I'm so sorry about everything that's happened to you.
SPEAKER_09Sorry, this is so weird. I still can't believe it. When did you meet Dre?
SPEAKER_04March 28th, on a via train to Toronto.
SPEAKER_09Oh, you can't be serious.
SPEAKER_04Have you gone to the cops?
SPEAKER_09Yeah. And they aren't doing anything. They act like it's my fault.
SPEAKER_04We can't let this fucker get away with it, Jody. We just can't.
SPEAKER_06Jody and Kim end up talking for hours. Here's the real Jody.
SPEAKER_08And at first it was still really raw for me. And I kept thinking, like, how could he have gotten over me that fast and moved on that fast? When it still wasn't processing that I was a target. I was never loved by him. But you know, I I'm struggling, just trust, trust issues, and I'm in, you know, I'm in some therapy. And I realize now that it was it was a job for him. Like it was, you know, like my therapist said, it was real for me. It wasn't real for him. It was a job and it was a a project. It was a means of of making money. But for me, all those feelings, all those emotions, everything I went through was real.
SPEAKER_06Jody's hurt doesn't go away. But with the cops doing nothing and Kim on her side, she channels that hurt into something more productive.
SPEAKER_05We went to the train company, we were shut down. We went to the banks and we were shut down. We went to the police in many different municipalities and we were shut down. And at that point, we knew that it was going to be us that were going to have to lead the investigation and be able to get some traction on this case in order to find Andre and get him.
SPEAKER_08We just started talking and trying to figure out ways. And, you know, I remembered that before he went back to Edmonton the second time, he had convinced me to put him on my phone plan and that he needed a new phone. And so we I signed him up under my phone plan, and he's like, Oh, it'll be better this way because we can write it off and you know, we can share the data, and I'm gonna be using a lot of data, being on the road all the time. And again, I fell for it. But then I realized when I was talking to Cam, I'm like, hold on a sec here. If he was on my phone plan, then I have his phone records. So she's like, Yes. So I dug, then I got all the phone records. So we had phone numbers, text messages, like everything. It was like 18 pages of phone numbers. He was a busy guy, like it was crazy. And so I sent nine pages to her and I kept nine pages, and we were just phoning these numbers.
SPEAKER_06Remember when Jody went to visit Dre in Calgary and the bed was all in shambles? He said he couldn't sleep because he was so upset about Jody's drinking.
SPEAKER_04Thanks for calling the city of love. How can I be of service?
SPEAKER_08The night before, he had called an escort service.
SPEAKER_06This was the tip of the iceberg. Remember all of those SD cards Dre had with him that he told Jody were for his GoPro? They were actually SIM cards he was using to pretend to be other people.
SPEAKER_08We got really, you know, quite creative, but in all the phoning all these places and trying to track down where he was going, what he was doing, you know, who he was calling, we discovered a phone number we called, and it was a check printing company in Edmonton. So we reached out to them. They were very sympathetic with our situation and they gave us all the information. So I took that information down to the police station. I met with the corporal and I said, I think we got some information that's gonna help my case. And he's like, I'll look into it. And he called me back within an hour. I went down there. He had a copy of the invoice that Andre had called in to order these fake checks. Um, he ordered 75 checks, he paid cash for them. Then we were able to track down the so-called company that he worked for, and it was a legitimate company, and the owner's name was Teresa Steck. And then signature on the check that he gave me looks like Teresa Steck.
SPEAKER_06Teresa was the woman Jody thought she was texting with, though she now knows it was Trey.
SPEAKER_08She confirmed that Andre did work for her for two months back in 2015. And we sent her a picture of the check, and she said, Yeah, it looks like my name, but that's not my signature. So now we have him on forgery.
SPEAKER_06Jody and Kim didn't stop there. They made fake profiles for Dre, aka Marcel, on Facebook.
SPEAKER_08We had one Marcel Becher, one Andre Butcher. We got a message. We had posted a picture of him uh standing in front of a Porsche that he claimed that was his. And under the picture, Kim with her alias account had put, beware, he's a con.
SPEAKER_06On the next episode of Catch Him If You Can, Jody and Kim ramp up their investigation, and what they find out shocks them. More victims. And the realization that Marcel's cons go far beyond romance.
SPEAKER_05It's romance fraud, business fraud, investment fraud, medical fraud, and I'm sure there's other types of fraud that he's involved in.
SPEAKER_06Little by little they start piecing together exactly who Marcel Andre Vautour is and what he's done.
SPEAKER_08On one of Andre's fake profiles, his youngest daughter reached out. His ex-wife is in Quebec, three kids. She hasn't had child support for three children since 2013. Absolute piece of shit.
SPEAKER_06Catch 'em If You Can is created and produced by Pink Moon Studio in partnership with Frequency Podcast Network. It's written and reported by me, your host Amelia King, and Maggie Reed. Evan King is our post production supervisor. Chris Rennick is our editor. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Catch Em Pod.