Cold and Missing: Diamond Bynum and King Walker

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The views and opinions expressed in Cold and Missing are exclusively those of the hosts.

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All parties mentioned are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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Cold and Missing also contains adult themes and languages and is intended for a mature

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audience.

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Listener discretion is advised.

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Welcome back everyone.

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Welcome back to Cold and Missing.

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I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin-Sulkowski.

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And I am your co-host, Eli Sulkowski.

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And here at Cold and Missing, we cover cold cases and unresolved missing person cases.

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We are also a podcast that is true crime.

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Yes, but we're rooted in community care.

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Oh yes.

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So let's get into it.

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Alrighty.

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Just before we get into the story, I just wanted to talk a little bit about the content

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warning for this case.

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This week we are going to be talking about a missing child and a missing person with

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disabilities.

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So this week we are covering the missing person's case of Diamond Bynum and King Walker.

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And this takes place July 25, 2015 in Gary, Indiana.

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King at this time is two years old.

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He was born May 11, 2013, and he would be nine years old today.

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The family describes King as a playful, happy child, always getting into something, knows

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a handful of words at this time, but isn't speaking in complete sentences yet.

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Loves to run and be chased.

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This is his new favorite game, according to the family, and at the time of his disappearance,

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he was three feet tall and 35 pounds.

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He was wearing a blue shirt and red shorts.

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He has brown eyes and black hair.

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And King is Diamond's nephew.

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Diamond in 2015 is 21 years old and she was born February 18, 1994.

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So she'll actually turn 29 this month of February, 2023.

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It has Prader-Willi syndrome, or PWS, and this is a genetic disorder which causes intellectual

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delays, extreme flexibility, and excessive hunger, often insatiable hunger that can never

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be satisfied.

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Because of this, her family says she operated like a seven-year-old.

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She lived with her father and stepmother in Gary, Indiana.

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The family had just moved here a few months earlier in February of 2015.

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Family described Diamond as bubbly and very friendly.

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She loved playing games on her tablet.

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At the time of her disappearance, she was four feet, eight inches, 230 pounds.

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She has black hair and brown eyes.

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She also had gold streaks in her hair at the time of her disappearance and family says

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she walks with a noticeable limp.

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She was wearing blue or purple pants and a white t-shirt at the time she disappeared.

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So let's get into the timeline of events here.

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On Friday, July 24, 2015, Ariana Walker drops off King at her father's house for the weekend.

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This was a regular occurrence so Ariana could take cosmetology classes on Saturday in Chicago.

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King's Pawpaw and his Aunt Diamond are his favorite people.

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The family at this time live on the 500 block of Matthew Street in Gary, Indiana.

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On Saturday, July 25, 2015, Eugene Bynum, that's Diamond's dad and King's Pawpaw,

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leaves for work and Susanne Bynum, Diamond's stepmother, are alone at home.

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At around 10.20 in the morning, Diamond and King lay down for a morning nap and shortly

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after Susanne also lays down for a nap.

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At 11 o'clock a.m., Susanne wakes up and finds Diamond and King are gone.

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She quickly checks the home and the surrounding streets looking for a sign of them.

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When she doesn't see anything, she calls Eugene and tells him to come home, which he

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does, and then she calls police.

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Family believe that Diamond and King are together and one of the following possibilities happened.

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The first one is that Diamond took King to a nearby store and got lost.

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Family quickly dropped this in the coming days since the home kitchen was stocked full

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with food and nothing was touched, so she wouldn't have needed to go to the store for

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anything.

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So the family believe that it's more plausible that one of these two scenarios happened.

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Either King opened the front door and ran outside for Diamond to chase him.

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King was faster than Diamond, so he could have ran far enough away from the home that

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the pair became lost.

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Or that Diamond took King for a walk but got lost since she was unfamiliar with Gary.

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In Hammond, her prior hometown, neighbors knew her and would help her get back home

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when she was lost, but this was not the case in Gary.

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A McDonald's employee will later report seeing the pair.

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Employees gave them food but were unaware at the time that the pair were missing so

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police were not called.

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Police are never able to confirm if they were at the McDonald's since security footage

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never captures them there.

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Diamond's cell phone and her tablet were also left behind at her home.

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On Sunday, July 26, 2015, police began receiving numerous tips that Diamond and King have been

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seen, but by that evening, none of these reports have panned out.

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On Monday, July 27, 2015, this is Eugene's birthday.

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He says, quote, this was the worst birthday ever.

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My whole family is out looking.

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I'm distraught.

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End quote.

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Police and family begin canvassing the neighborhood with flyers and investigators continue to

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go door to door talking with neighbors.

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On Wednesday, July 29, 2015, police began a large search calling in Porter County search

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and rescue, the FBI's gang response investigative team, and the Indiana Department of Homeland

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Security District 1 to assist in the search.

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Police start at the Bynum home and go block by block checking abandoned homes.

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This is no small task.

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Gary, Indiana has around 15,000 abandoned homes and buildings at this time.

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Investigators use canines to track their scents to a gas station before the dogs lose it.

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On Thursday, July 30, 2015, authorities continue the block by block search.

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Altogether they will cover 24 city blocks.

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Investigators said that most of the abandoned buildings were unlocked.

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In some cases, the homes would be so full of trash they could adventure far inside.

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Police also receive a tip that Diamond and King are being cared for by someone.

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Gary police say, quote, we think someone is caring for them somewhere.

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Whoever that person is, please come forward.

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End quote.

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No sign of any significance is found by searchers, according to police on this day.

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On Friday, July 31, police carry out the third and final day of searching with Homeland Security.

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Eugene said, quote, that makes me feel lucky, makes me feel blessed that more than just

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Gary is looking for my kid and my grandkid.

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End quote.

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Another possible sighting of Diamond was reported.

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The tip said that Diamond was at a bus stop in Hammond, her prior hometown, asking for

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food and someone gave her $50.

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It's never been confirmed if this was in fact Diamond.

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Just over one week, Diamond and King have been missing on August 3rd.

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Police call off all official police searches saying, quote, the resources have dried up.

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End quote.

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And that's Lieutenant Thomas Pollack.

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On August 4th, 2015, family and community volunteers continue to search abandoned buildings

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in the area.

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Eugene is staying out until 1 a.m. most nights searching.

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Quote, it's very hard.

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I've been questioning myself and everything that's going on, just looking for some answers

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from somewhere or someone to point me in the right direction.

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It's heartbreaking.

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I just want somebody to have a heart and take a little bit of time out of their day just

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to look a little.

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And if you see them call and this could be over.

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End quote.

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And that's Ariana Walker, King's mother, Diamond's sister.

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On August 5th, this is 11 days Diamond and King have been missing.

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Police announced that they have asked other police agencies in the county to be on the

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lookout for Diamond and King.

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Investigators also announced that they are shifting their focus to investigate the registered

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sex offenders near the Bynum home.

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Police say there are 21 registered sex offenders within a mile of the Bynum home.

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The family also announces a thousand dollar reward for information leading to their safe

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return.

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On Saturday, August 8th, 2015, the family plead for help in searching from both the

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public and police agencies.

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The family went Homeland Security back to help.

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Quote, the Gary Police Department do not have the manpower to be as effective in the search

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as we would like them to be.

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End quote.

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And that's Eugene Bynum.

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The family also press how critical it is that they come home as Diamond has been without

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her daily medication for two weeks.

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On August 14th, 2015, police announced a person of interest in the case.

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A 34 year old man from Gary is sought in connection with the disappearance of Diamond and King.

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It will take police weeks to find him, but he'll eventually be ruled out during their

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search leaving the police back to square one.

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Police are saying at this time that they are still hopeful that there will be a positive

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ending.

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On August 19th, 2015, the family resumes searching for the pair and are unaided at this time

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by police.

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On August 29th, the family hold a press conference to mark the one month of the pair missing.

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They are upset that an Amber alert was not issued when the pair went missing.

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Diamond did not meet the criteria because she was 21 years old and King did not meet

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their criteria because it was believed that he was not in any danger since he was with

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his aunt Diamond.

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Family still want an alert issued despite the time that has passed.

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Family also say there have been reports of them seen on the south side of Chicago with

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a white couple eating at various fast food restaurants.

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Again, these reports go unconfirmed.

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On Wednesday, September 2nd, almost six weeks since Diamond and King have vanished, a silver

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alert is put out for Diamond.

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Silver alerts are used for missing senior citizens or people with disabilities.

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There is never an Amber alert issued for King Walker.

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On September 4th, police get a tip out of Blue Island, Illinois.

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This is about 25 miles from Gary, Indiana, that Diamond and King were seen near a gas

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station.

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But when police arrive and review the surveillance footage, it shows that it is not them.

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The next day on September 5th, the body of a two-year-old boy is found in Garfield Park

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Lagoon in Chicago, Illinois, about an hour away from Gary.

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Family are sure it is not King, but investigators submit a DNA analysis to the FBI.

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It will take a few months, but this is ultimately ruled not to be King Walker.

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Family continue to search for Diamond and King and call on local churches to commit

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to one day throughout the month to support the family and their search efforts.

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On September 25th, the family hold a press conference to mark two months of Diamond and

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King missing.

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The family still believes that someone is caring for the pair, unaware that they are

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missing.

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Arianna Walker says, quote, I don't even think she knows how to ask for help or how

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to say we're lost or even to ask to use the phone and that's what makes it difficult.

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End quote.

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The family also announced that they will not press charges if someone is holding them and

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returns them safe.

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The family goes on to say that canines tracked the sent to a gas station in Gary, Indiana,

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but the gas station has not been forthcoming with the video.

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The family actually held a protest in front of the gas station to put pressure on them

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to release the video.

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Later in a police statement, investigators will say that they have the video from the

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gas station and there is nothing of significance on it.

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On October 25th, this is three months now.

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The family begs for help from the police and the community to help them search, quote,

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our hearts break, but we have to keep fighting and keep looking because somebody has them.

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End quote.

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And that's Daisy Bynum, Diamond's grandma and King's great grandma.

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On December 25th of 2015, Christmas marks the five month anniversary of Diamond and

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King being missing.

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Eugene, Diamond's father and King's grandpa says, quote, every day life is hard.

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The holidays don't really mean nothing to us anymore.

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End quote.

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So moving into the year 2016 on April 25th, it's been nine months and family confirmed

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that there have been no confirmed sightings of King and Diamond despite all the tips and

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reports of them.

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The family have stopped searching abandoned houses and are focusing on getting Diamond

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and King's photo out, quote, they could be anywhere right now.

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We need help in this surrounding area in the Midwest and even further than that.

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We just need help.

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End quote.

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And that's Eugene Bynum.

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On July 31st, the family gathered to mark the one year of them being gone, but there

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have been no updates in the case.

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The family remains hopeful, quote, I get a strong sense they're still with us.

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I believe the Lord doesn't leave us ignorant about our children, but they aren't on their

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own.

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There was no way Diamond could care for a baby.

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Our hearts are broken, but our spirits are not.

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They haven't found any bodies.

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We need answers and we need help.

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End quote.

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And that's Daisy Bynum.

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In October of 2016, this is around one year and three months, the Northwest Indiana Major

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Crimes Task Force announced that they'll investigate the case.

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The task force will bring in detectives from different agencies across the state of Indiana

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to review the case.

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Quote, investigators strongly believe that someone knows what happened to Diamond and

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King and more importantly, where they are at right now.

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We are counting on information from the public to help us find them.

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End quote.

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And that's Rob Bird, the task force spokesperson.

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November 1st, 2016, this is just a couple of weeks later, the Northwest Indiana Major

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Crimes Task Force at this point have re-interviewed people, submitted several items for further

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testing, re-canvassed areas with K9s and executed one search warrant.

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When pressed for further details about what items were submitted or where the search warrant

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was executed, they did not give any details, but they report that nothing comes from these

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efforts.

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No new leads, no new clues.

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On May 26th, 2018, so Diamond and King have been missing for almost three years at this

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point.

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Police say they have not received a tip in over a year.

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July 25th of 2020, after five years of them being missing, the family remains hopeful

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that they'll be found, but there have been no new leads.

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And then most recently, in July 25th of 2022, this is seven years that Diamond and King

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have been missing.

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Police release a new age-progress photo of King, where he's been age-progressed to

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nine years of age.

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The family meet with investigators and police say that a recent tip had taken them to the

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East Coast and Florida.

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No updates on the case since then, but if you know anything about what happened to Diamond

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Bynum or King Walker, please call the Gary Police Department at 219-881-1260.

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Again, that's 219-881-1260.

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And the sources for today's podcast come from ABC 7 News, Medium.com, The Charlie Project,

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The Chicago Tribune, and The Times.

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So that's the case of Diamond Bynum and King Walker.

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They are still missing today.

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Yeah, hard to listen to in knowing.

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I know their faces now.

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You know, you have to put a face to the name to know that that type of like, pure innocence

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is just like lost out there and how easily that can be manipulated and like torn down

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in a person.

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So it's just very worried immediately.

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Yeah.

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I mean, even though Diamond is 21 years old, she's very much a child in the way that she

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interacts with the world.

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And she's very small, too.

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Yeah, she's very small and King is very small.

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I'm not laughing because I think that that's that's funny.

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I'm also I'm a short man.

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But I was smiling because I'm thinking of the pictures of her and.

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Like she's like noticeable as a person because of like, obviously because of her smile.

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Yeah, she has a very noticeable smile.

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And of course, we'll be posting pictures on our Instagram of the two along with the age

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progress photos of King as to what he might look like today.

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But, you know, even though it's been seven years now, the family is still really hopeful

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and really believe that somebody has them and has been caring for them all these years.

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In this circumstance, that's like absolute best case scenario.

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You know, what's really unfortunate, though, is to hear that, like, the resources have

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dried up because I think with the last couple of years have shown us if you've been paying

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attention with, you know, police brutality and some more transparency from police departments

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and where they're what their budget is, you have the money, you do.

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You're just not funneling it to where it needs to go.

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It's not shared properly.

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So that was pretty immediately.

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I felt like what a failure.

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We don't have enough money to look like how dare you say that to someone when it's your

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job to do so.

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Right.

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Yeah.

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And it's really sad because the family again and again, at the end of almost every statement

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they make to the media is like, we need help.

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Please help us please come out volunteer like the community come out.

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We need help.

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And that's like always what they say is like, there's just so many places to look.

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They just need the eyes there and they didn't have them.

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They didn't have them.

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They got like three days of a really big, intense search.

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But that was it.

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You know, like that was really the end of it was those three days.

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Pretty immediately.

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I felt, you know, and this was because I, you know, saw the picture, it was really hard

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to not draw the conclusion that systemic racism played a role here, you know, and I, it's

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a privilege for me to like sit here and talk about it and not experience it, you know,

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but again, like I said, I think if you've been like paying attention, especially the

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last couple of years, like you can pretty clearly see what cases get the attention and

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all cases suddenly have tons of money to to like continue the trajectory of a search.

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And yeah, just again, like blow after blow, like this family was essentially given nothing.

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Yeah.

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And it's 2000.

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It's now like cameras everywhere, phones everywhere.

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Like I don't understand what happened with the gas station either.

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I understand that sometimes things need to be held close to the chest on law enforcement's

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end for whatever reasons.

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I understand that there are like complexities there, you know, and in place for a reason,

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but you couldn't even show the family.

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Yeah.

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Why?

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And this is again in reference to the sent dogs leading to a gas station and the family

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never really gets to see this footage from the surveillance video and they hold a protest

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there surveillance.

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Correct me if I'm wrong.

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The surveillance video has imagery of them on it.

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That's not clear.

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So yeah, that's that's shady.

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So the family believe that the sent dogs go there and then they lose the sense.

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So they want to review the tape and then police say that they have the tape, but there's nothing

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of significance on it.

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So we don't know exactly what is or is not on that tape or if it shows diamond at all

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or King at all.

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Yeah, like I think it's like about trust, you know, very, very clearly there there is

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a disrespect.

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I think building that trust maybe is like being honest with the people that you're working

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with.

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It's it's unfortunate.

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Where were the people that were supposed to be helping these folks?

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Why didn't we know how how you know, like literally you and I, how did we not know about

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this?

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You know, I actually did know about this case for a while.

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Oh, you did.

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I I grew up in Northwest Indiana and I actually know diamonds like high school teacher and

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this all came out.

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I remember seeing on Facebook about it and seeing like a personal testimony about how

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like sweet and loving and kind diamond is and like, please get this baby home.

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I'm really glad that you brought it back.

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Oh, yeah, this is a case that I've wanted to cover on the podcast.

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But sometimes with cases that I've been following for years, I hope that they something happens

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to them and they they're not cold or they're not missing anymore.

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So like I, I kind of hold out a little bit and hope that they'll be solved and that they

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don't need to be covered here.

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But yeah, it felt really important to get Diamond and King's story out there.

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Again, if you know anything, please call the Gary Police Department at 219-881-1260.

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And like I mentioned earlier, we will be posting photos of diamonds.

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You'll get to see her beautiful shining face and King along with his age progress photo

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to nine years old.

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So that way you can get an idea of what he looks like today.

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Now as of 2023, while you're in your podcast app, while we're shutting down here, go ahead

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and rate us five stars, leave us a written review, thumbs up.

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You know what I'm asking you to do.

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The more people that rate and review our show, the more people will eventually see this.

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The algorithm works in mysterious ways, but we know this is one way that it works.

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00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:57,800
So please tell your friends about it or leave a review that helps other people find these

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00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:03,080
cases, which ultimately just gets more eyes looking for not only Diamond and King, but

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for everybody that we've covered and will continue to cover on the podcast.

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That's it.

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That's all I have.

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Have a good week and stay safe, y'all.

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Stay safe, y'all.