Until We Meet Again | 2

WEBVTT
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Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday
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dear Christian. Happy birthday to you.
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Every year on Christian's birthday, family and friends gather at
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the Andreakios for a night Ray has dubbed the wishing night.
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a night for people to celebrate Christian's life and mourn
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his passing, a mixture of emotions. While one group is
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sharing in laughter over old stories about Christian, someone else
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is nearby shedding a tear. This time means something different
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to each person, but ultimately, it's a time to remember Christian. Eventually,
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all the guests filter down into the basement, where Ray
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has a cake set up and an indoor s'mores rig.
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Some time is spent inside mingling and indulging in sweets,
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But really, everyone is waiting for sundown. At sundown, the
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party moves outside to the lake. Near the dock, there's
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a table set up with supplies on it. Each guest
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grabs three items from the table. A sky lantern, a lighter,
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and a marker. A sky lantern, or some call it
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a Chinese lantern. is basically a miniature paper hot air balloon.
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And underneath the lantern sits a small brick of wax
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suspended on some wire. This is where the lighter comes
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in handy. The marker serves a different purpose. Guests are
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encouraged to write a message on their lantern dedicated to Christian.
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The wax is lit. The lantern fills with air and
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light from the flame, which illuminates the message. And finally,
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the lantern lifts off.
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Into the sky.
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Can I draw?
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Can I draw on this one?
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Ray, would you mind reading what that says?
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I'll love you to the moon and back.
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Mom.
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Just like that.
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One, two, three.
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Push it.
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Here it goes, yay! Would you be comfortable reading what
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you wrote on there?
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Um, I'll probably go, but I'll try.
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Okay.
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I just said it, until we made a game.
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Okay.
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I feel like.
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We've shared a love for the Wanderer Circle.
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It doesn't get any easier. Try to get.
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It lit here. All right, Christian. Rest in peace, man.
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James O'Barr said, if the people we love are stolen
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from us, the way to have them live on is
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to never stop loving them. That was my takeaway from
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The Wishing Night. Christian Andreacchio lives on. Four years after
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his death, to see loved ones gather in his honor
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to watch hundreds of glowing lanterns fade into the night sky,
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it's eye-opening. A reminder that before that final day, Christian
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lived a life. And in doing so, he made an
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impact on people and on the world that you and
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I are still living in today. This is his story.
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If we're going to talk about his death and what
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happened at that apartment on February 26, 2014, then we
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need to start with his life. Most importantly, his final years,
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and the time leading up.
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Until we meet again somewhere across the road. Doesn't get
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any easier.
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This is Avery Smith, Christian's ex-girlfriend. Christian and Avery dated
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a long time. Ray had given me some backstory on
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their relationship, so I knew they were close, which didn't
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surprise me. What did surprise me was to hear how
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close he was with the rest of the family. Avery's mother, Lori, father, Paul,
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and brother, Kellan, To the Smiths, Christian was family. Here's Avery,
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along with her mother Lori and brother Kellen.
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Me and Christian met in ninth grade.
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He walked into my honors English class as the new kid.
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He definitely kind of stood out. We knew he was
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a new kid.
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I was kind of known as the nerd in school.
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Always kind of studied. But Christian walked in and he
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definitely caught my eye. He was just so funny and funny.
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I don't know, something about him caught my attention, and
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that was kind of the first time that really ever
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happened to me. But that's kind of our first moment meeting.
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He sat down in front of me, and we immediately
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just started talking, and he was so carefree. And I
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guess that's our first day, so to speak, our first
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moment where we interacted. So originally, we became just really
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good friends, like I said, from English class. And I
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just thought he was super cool, but I was terrified of, like,
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dating or anything like that. And I didn't even consider
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that he was interested in me that way, so to speak.
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And I actually was trying to set him up with
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one of my good friends. And so we would all
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kind of hang out in groups and just kind of
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started from there. And he was always talking to me,
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like even though I would try to push him in
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the direction of other girls, we just had this connection,
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I guess you could say. And He eventually told me, Avery,
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I don't want to be with your friend.
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Like, are you dumb, basically? Like, I'm into you.
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And I guess I was surprised but flattered at the
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same time. And I can remember we continued hanging out,
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and we couldn't even drive at the time.
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Our parents would drop.
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Us off at the mall or the movies, and not
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even sure my mom knew because I was just kind
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of a private person. But I remember the night that
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he asked me out, and we were watching a movie,
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the Prom Night remake.
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And I kind of jumped.
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At a scary part, and it's super cheesy, but kind
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of gives you insight on his personality. But he just
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leaned over and grabbed my hand and said, as long
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as you're with me, you'll never be scared. And of course,
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as a 14-year-old girl, that just melted my heart.
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And I guess the rest was history. We dated for about,
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it was almost five years.
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So from the time we were 14 going on 15
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to almost 21, about 20.
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The moment we met Christian, he came to the house.
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You knew something was special, no doubt. There was no
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doubt about that.
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Can you elaborate on that?
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Just, man, he would come in the room and just,
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I could be having a horrible day and just, you know,
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I mean, he would make it better. You know, he
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was just the kind of person that you did not
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not want to be around. You know, he made the
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room bright no matter what.
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It was just part of his character.
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Like any time if there was a struggle or a
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complication or something sad, like he's going to find the
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funny way out and make you laugh, make you smile,
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like no doubt about it. And that's just was a
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part of who he was. I think that Christian would
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literally do whatever it took to be the center of attention,
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to make people laugh.
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He was a total ladies man, like a flirt.
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You know, if you were 20 years old or 80
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years old, you know, he's going to make you feel
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like the only girl in the room. He just had
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that way about him. And I don't know, it wasn't
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chaotic to me. I just thought it was awesome because
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we were so different really. And I was more on
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the shy and quiet and, He just had such a
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way about him.
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It was natural for him.
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It's easy to win over a crowd, to be the
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center of attention or the life of the party, so
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to speak. And that just came natural to him. And
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I guess that's something that I was infatuated with because
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that's not natural to me. I guess my favorite memory
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is kind of private. But like I said, growing up,
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I was pretty much a tomboy, like a pretty private person.
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And Me and Christian had been.
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Dating for about, goodness, over a month, going on dates,
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and he had met my family and everything. And I
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was terrified of a first kiss, terrified. but it's probably
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one of my favorite things because he was so patient
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of course and I was walking out of the bedroom
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actually checking on my ferret I'm going to be a
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veterinarian so I've had a lot of weird animals in
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the past and he was just like Avery come here
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And I turned around, and he just grabbed me up
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and didn't let me think about it and just gave
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me a kiss. And I was like, what just happened?
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And my heart was racing. And I don't know. I
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think that's probably something I'll never forget.
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So he brought her out.
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I think he got her into a lot of craziness.
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It just kind of reminded me of me and my
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husband because I was the innocent, sweet little girl And
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he was the wild, crazy one. And he kind of
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brought me out, and I calmed him down. And that's
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kind of how.
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They did, you know. We never knew what to expect.
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But, you know, my husband, like, at first, my husband
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was like, you know, why don't you want to go
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hunting with me anymore? Why didn't you want to do this?
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You know, what's he got that I don't got? You know,
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he loved Christian, but he had that typical daddy reaction
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at first. But then he's like Christian again. would do
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whatever he could to win Paul over. So they ended
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up having a real special relationship, too. He dated the
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whole family, basically.
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Every day, probably.
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I mean, there was probably not many days that went
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by that he was not at our house or with
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Avery and would swing by.
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He would come by just to see us.
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He would come. I worked at Firestone for, what, about
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nine years. He would always come. He had a little
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white BMW. He would go back and forth, I guess,
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to Tupelo or wherever he was going, get back and
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forth on the boat. And he would always stop by
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and he would stay for an hour and a half
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just talking. You know, how's everything going? I mean, my
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kids called him Uncle Monk, for goodness sakes.
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Somebody said he looked like a monkey.
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He had big eyes.
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He had big old eyes.
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So we called him Uncle Monkey. Everybody called him Uncle Monkey.
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And my little girl, she ate him up. I mean, she,
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I mean, he loved her. I mean, you know, he'd
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come to the house, and the first thing he would
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do is pick her up. I'm talking about when she
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was a newborn. I mean, you know, she wasn't two
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weeks old, and we'd come to mom and dad's house,
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and he'd be there, and he'd snatch her up. You
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don't find human beings like that. You just don't. Ones
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that just, they give all for nothing. They don't want
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nothing in return. Avery, too. I mean, Avery would be,
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you know, she's worked so hard to get where she's at,
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and Christian, not one time ever faltered in to tell
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her to follow your dreams. Do it. You know, I
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see him with Avery, and, you know, that's how happy
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my sister was. You know, I mean, we're from a
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small southern Alabama town, and family's it. You know, the
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unity is it. You know, not just everyone comes in
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our circle and can, I don't want to say survive,
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but come in and amend with us. And he was
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a brother, I mean, no doubt.
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Did you all stay in touch very much after you split?
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No.
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Honestly, not really.
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We did for probably the first month or so just
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through text messaging, but it wasn't too long after. I
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guess a couple months had passed by, and obviously we
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live in the era of social media, so I saw
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that he had a new girlfriend, so I wasn't going
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to try to mess that up or anything. That's really
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not my personality, so I chose not to pry into that.
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So honestly, we kind of slowly lost touch, and So
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we really didn't have a lot of contact after we split.
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When me and Christian decided to part ways, it really
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wasn't a terrible, like we weren't on bad terms. It
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really was, we just were kind of growing up and
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our lives were really taken different ways, I guess. I
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was in school and Christian was working on the boat
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and our time together was just becoming smaller and smaller.
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And that just kind of, I guess, put a strain
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on things. And we just had different outlooks on life
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at the time and just kind of decided to part ways.
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So it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
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It was sad. We were both sad.
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But we knew it was just kind of right for
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the moment. And I guess both kind of thought we'd
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end back up together once we kind of figured out
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our paths.
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But it doesn't always work out that way.
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Do you all remember when you heard the news?
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February 26th.
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Well, I will never forget this night, but I was
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actually studying for an organic chemistry test in the upper
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story of the UWA library where I was attending college.
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And I was with two of my friends who were
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both named Tyler and then one of my friends named Erica.
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Me and her both started receiving text messages and I
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just looked down she knew she saw it before me
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so she knew what we're what I was about to
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find out and everything just got really quiet and it
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felt weird and she was like Avery I need you
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to look at this and I looked at the message
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and I just I guess at first it didn't really
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register I was like this isn't real this is a
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joke like we need to call some people which obviously
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then we started making calls and All the information kind
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of was trickling in, and I mean, I just lost it.
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I had to leave the library, and my friends stayed
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with me that night, and I think I called my
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mom a hundred times. And through the night, I mean,
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it was probably 3 a.m., and I just kept calling
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my mom.
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I didn't know what else to do. It didn't seem real.
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It's kind of like 9-11.
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It's one of those moments in time that you'll never forget. Yeah.
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We had this thing called Sweet Bee Swap where you
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can go and take your kids' clothes.
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Anyway, I was there buying.
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Some clothes for the grandbabies. And I was in line
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to check out, and I got a call from Avery.
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I'm like, hey, baby, what's up? She was crying, mama.
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They said, you know, Christian's dead.
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I think that's exactly what she said. She said, they
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said he shot himself. He killed himself.
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I'm like, Avery, you know, don't be afraid.
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That's not true.
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Christian wouldn't do that.
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I mean, that was my first response.
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It wasn't true.
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And that, you know, anyway.
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By chance, he had died.
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He didn't kill himself.
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I'm like, he wouldn't have done that, you know. And
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then I heard the realness, I guess, in her voice.
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And I just dropped my clothes and left. Yeah, that's
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all I could think is he didn't kill himself. It
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made no sense.
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Mom called me. I was just getting off work. And
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she said, Kel, I know you need to tell you something.
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You know, you need to just hear me out.
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I said, all right.
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My mom calls me. There's no telling what it's going
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to be about. So I said, all right, what's going on?
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My wife was with me. She said Christian passed away.
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I think she said he died. I said, what?
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She goes, yes.
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I said, no, he didn't. She goes, yeah, he shot himself.
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I said, well, that's bullshit. Who killed him? If Christian
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was going to do something like that, it wouldn't have
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been in a bathroom. It would have been something so
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extravagant the whole world would have seen it. I'm just
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being honest. I mean, there was no halfway with him.
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It was either all the way or no way. You know,
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I still remember sitting there watching him, you know, putting
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him in the ground. That's not right. I mean, he
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was a young man, had everything in front of him.
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I mean, come on, who would, with that kind of
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attitude and that kind of life ahead of him. I mean,
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you're talking about a man that's on a straight and
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that's going to be what, the youngest boat captain and
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you're 21 years old. It's a shame and it hurt me.
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It hurt me to my core, hurt me to my soul.
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And there's not a night that I don't think none
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of us here don't pray. Pray for him. Pray for Ray.
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Pray for the whole Andracchio family. I mean, they're our family.
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And they'll always be our family. You've got 98% of
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people in Meridian, Mississippi know he didn't commit suicide. Bar none.
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People that don't even know Chris and you go ask
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them and they've heard of them, they know it's not true.
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It sucks that we have to have this conversation. You know,
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it really does. But, you know, it's good because, you know,
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maybe y'all can get more voices out there for a
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Christian so we can speak on his behalf. And maybe
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something will be finally done. You know, I think we're
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all just fed up. Something needs to be done.
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So nobody was perfect, but suicidal?
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No.
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No.
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No.
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I think for me, kind of finding an answer is everything.
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Will an answer heal me?
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No.
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Would it help me day to day? Of course.
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What human doesn't want the truth or closure? Christian will
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be with me till I'm in the grave.
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Things started to change after Christian and Avery split in 2013.
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As Avery mentioned, Christian had begun a relationship with a
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new girlfriend, Whitley Goodman. And around this same time, Christian
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also made a new friend, Dylan Swearingen. When Christian wasn't
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working on the tugboat most of his time was being
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spent with these two people, people who play very important
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roles in this story. I was fortunate to sit down
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with Taylor, an old friend of Christian's. He and Christian
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were friends for many years and remained close until the end.
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So not only did he know a lot about Christian's past,
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but he also had insight into the shift that was
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happening in Christian's life.
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Here's Taylor. I'm Taylor Dowell. Me and Christian are best friends.
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How did I get to know Christian? I worked for
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his grandfather for, I probably was working with him probably
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about five years, and then Christian and his dad happened
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to show up one day and kind of went from there.
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Christian was a little bit younger than me, you know. But,
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I mean, we just went to work, and our friendship
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kind of just grew from there. Whenever they come out there,
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I mean, hey, Christian was a good hand to work with,
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you know. I mean, anybody that can work, I'll work with.
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That's where it started from, and our friendship grew from there.
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While we was working, really, we just, we'd fool around,
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you know. We'd throw stuff in front of each other. We,
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I mean, wrestled, you know what I mean, by like brothers,
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you know. But, I mean, after work, I mean, we
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hung out at the beach, rode four-wheelers and, I mean,
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dirt bikes. He was real good at riding dirt bikes.
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When you seen him, you seen me, or you seen me,
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you seen him, you know, on the lake, hanging out
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at Delwood. I mean, it was fun. Just acting crazy,
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fooling around, you know. I lived at Delwood my whole life.
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He started coming around whenever he was working with us,
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but him and Ray and I didn't move to Delwood.
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You know, that's whenever we, you know, became friends. But
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like I said, yeah, he's the life of the party.
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I mean, everybody liked Christian, you know. I don't think
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he ever met a stranger. A good one, I wish
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I had the phone and everything. We had a video.
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We was digging dirt, loading dump trucks one day, and
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I was running the backhoe and everything, and I done
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got it and was extending the back of the arm
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out and was riding wheelies in the dirt pit. But
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Christian got up there with me and said, We was
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just making a video, you know, him hanging off the
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side of it, you know, with one hand and all.
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It was acting crazy. I think, man, I could go
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on with times. We were buddies until the day he died.
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You know, when Christian passed, you know, I mean, his
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dad was my best man at my wedding, you know.
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Christian was going to be that. He was a damn
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good friend. Everything good about him. A lot of damn
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good times. I feel like that when he died, that
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a part of me died with him. Just ain't never
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been right since. Never will be, right? I loved him
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to death. There's a lot of people out there that
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feel the same way about him. I'm just glad I
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was one of them that got to share that with him.
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When him and Whitley, you know, when they became boyfriend
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and girlfriend, we kind of, they kind of went their
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own ways, you know. I mean, me and my wife now,
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00:23:10.839 --> 00:23:12.980
which we was boyfriend and girlfriend then, you know, I mean,
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00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:14.660
we kind of, I mean, it was just kind of
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like an age difference there, you know. I mean, we
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was doing different stuff than they was. So, I mean,
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00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:21.160
we can, you know, we didn't grow apart, but, you know,
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we wasn't as tight as we was.
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Taylor goes on to tell me about Christian and Whitley's relationship.
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Whitley was his new girlfriend, the one he started dating
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after Avery, and who was living with him at his
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apartment when he died.
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Actually, I knew her aunt and family and all of
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them before I knew Whitley. I guess that was kind
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of weird, you know, that she was never in the
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00:23:40.940 --> 00:23:44.650
picture with them. Just looking back, you know, I mean,
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she was just kind of, they just kind of let
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her just run, do whatever they wanted to, you know,
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and that's kind of what, I mean, once they became
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boyfriend and girlfriend, we all hung out at the beach
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and all and this and this, but I mean, they were,
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I think she was just a little bit more wilder
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than our crowd, you know, She was kind of headed
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on her little wild path, and I think she took
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Christian down that way, and I think they kind of
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knew how I felt about it. I was kind of
427
00:24:11.170 --> 00:24:13.210
not downing him, but I was kind of like, you know,
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you don't ever come around no more, and he didn't
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really want to hear it, which I know, you know,
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00:24:17.769 --> 00:24:20.369
guys in love or whatever, you know, and I don't
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00:24:20.410 --> 00:24:22.410
know if he was in love or not, but he
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was chasing her, and I was kind of the big
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brother or whatever you want to call it. The last
434
00:24:28.769 --> 00:24:31.369
time I can really think that That was all together
435
00:24:31.410 --> 00:24:33.970
was at a buddy of mine's house out there, Dale Wood,
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and Christian, and Whitley, and Dylan. All three of them
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showed up.
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So now we have a new person enter the picture,
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Dylan Swearingen. He was a new friend of Christian's, the
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one I mentioned earlier.
441
00:24:47.480 --> 00:24:50.049
But at that party, you know, I was telling Christian, like,
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you know, man, I don't ever see you no more,
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00:24:52.130 --> 00:24:55.130
you know, what's going on and all, and, you know,
444
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I mean, it was kind of, Kind of told me,
445
00:24:57.839 --> 00:24:59.400
and that didn't tell me nothing, but it was just
446
00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:01.740
kind of like, you know, they're doing their own thing,
447
00:25:01.779 --> 00:25:04.500
you know. And getting on Dylan, me and him wasn't
448
00:25:04.539 --> 00:25:07.599
really tight then, you know. I didn't, you know, really
449
00:25:07.640 --> 00:25:10.009
like Christian hanging out with Dylan then, you know.
450
00:25:10.029 --> 00:25:12.269
Did you know Dylan much outside of?
451
00:25:12.529 --> 00:25:14.769
Yeah, we went to school together. And like I said,
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he was a little bit younger than me. Dylan was
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00:25:17.470 --> 00:25:19.910
always just kind of quiet until he got a little
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bit older. Hung out with different folks than I did then.
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00:25:24.190 --> 00:25:28.380
I'd say not a drug head, but just kind of sketchy,
456
00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:32.259
shady kind of guy. Nothing against the guy, before then
457
00:25:32.339 --> 00:25:34.759
or now, you know, just sat at home all day,
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00:25:34.819 --> 00:25:37.140
you know, and he just was, I felt like he
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00:25:37.160 --> 00:25:39.779
was dragging Christian down, kind of, you are what you eat,
460
00:25:39.880 --> 00:25:42.339
is always what my daddy told me, you know, who
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you hang out with. After Christian died, Dylan, he had
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come by my house, just out of the blue, really,
463
00:25:51.220 --> 00:25:54.059
never even stopped by my house before then. until after
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Christian died, which I was fine. I mean, that was
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his buddy and it was mine. But I think that
466
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whenever he was coming to my house, it was more
467
00:26:01.789 --> 00:26:06.930
of him trying to tell his story. And he never
468
00:26:06.970 --> 00:26:09.559
would really tell me a story. It was always that
469
00:26:09.619 --> 00:26:12.700
he was worried about what Willie was saying about him,
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about what all was going on. Whenever he would come
471
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over to my house, I'd be so upset. You know,
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I still get upset at this day. I don't know.
473
00:26:22.069 --> 00:26:23.490
I mean, it was kind of like he was coming
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by to tell me something, but he wouldn't ever really
475
00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:29.099
tell me nothing. It was more him just saying he
476
00:26:29.140 --> 00:26:32.380
was sorry and all. But he was more worried about
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what she had to say or whatever somebody else was thinking.
478
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Just looking back on it, if I was in his shoes,
479
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I mean, that ain't the way I would have did it.
480
00:26:43.450 --> 00:26:44.930
Not the way I would have did it, but I
481
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wouldn't be sitting there worried about what somebody thought. I'd
482
00:26:48.329 --> 00:26:51.650
be like, you know what? Fran just killed himself, if
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that's the story. Once everything started shedding some light on
484
00:26:56.369 --> 00:26:58.750
that it might have been, you know, foul play or whatever,
485
00:26:59.690 --> 00:27:01.519
I'd see him at the store, you know, and he
486
00:27:01.539 --> 00:27:05.099
wouldn't even look my way or nothing. It was just
487
00:27:05.119 --> 00:27:07.019
kind of funny. I mean, you want to stop by
488
00:27:07.059 --> 00:27:11.059
my house and worry about what somebody else is saying. Well,
489
00:27:11.079 --> 00:27:14.339
I mean, if the man killed himself, then that's what
490
00:27:14.380 --> 00:27:17.009
it should be. The whole thing just never made no
491
00:27:17.029 --> 00:27:22.299
sense to me, and it still doesn't. Christian never talked
492
00:27:22.339 --> 00:27:26.839
about suicide to me. And like I said, we worked
493
00:27:26.880 --> 00:27:30.380
together side by side in the water, 10-hour days, five
494
00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:34.230
days a week. You get to know somebody. Never once
495
00:27:34.269 --> 00:27:39.009
ever talked about suicide or killing himself. He was never down.
496
00:27:39.130 --> 00:27:42.970
If anything, it was me. I was the one that
497
00:27:43.029 --> 00:27:46.369
would feel down before he would. It just didn't make
498
00:27:46.410 --> 00:27:48.890
no sense. I didn't believe it.
499
00:27:50.130 --> 00:27:51.940
Did law enforcement ever contact you?
500
00:27:52.900 --> 00:27:56.019
No, ain't nobody contacted me. You would think, but no.
501
00:27:56.579 --> 00:27:59.559
That's reading for you. You want to know the truth.
502
00:27:59.640 --> 00:28:02.119
A lot of shit goes on around here that some
503
00:28:02.140 --> 00:28:05.369
light ought to be shed on it. Figured that some
504
00:28:05.630 --> 00:28:07.950
type of law enforcement would have came and, you know,
505
00:28:08.309 --> 00:28:12.130
if they was ruled a suicide, wouldn't you at least
506
00:28:12.170 --> 00:28:14.990
get a background on the man? Go talk to somebody
507
00:28:15.019 --> 00:28:20.180
that knew him? But no, never. Never seen nobody whatsoever. No,
508
00:28:20.220 --> 00:28:23.099
I was waiting for somebody to pull up at my
509
00:28:23.140 --> 00:28:26.019
door and say, hey, you know, I mean, we think
510
00:28:26.059 --> 00:28:28.119
your best friend killed himself. What's your take on it?
511
00:28:28.980 --> 00:28:31.150
They didn't investigate it whatsoever.
512
00:28:42.630 --> 00:28:46.220
Whitley Goodman and Dylan Swearingen were at the apartment the
513
00:28:46.259 --> 00:28:50.579
day Christian died. In episode one, I mentioned Christian and
514
00:28:50.619 --> 00:28:54.349
Josh's apartment in Meridian, but they weren't the only ones
515
00:28:54.390 --> 00:29:00.349
living there. Whitley and Christian made the move together. Before that,
516
00:29:00.930 --> 00:29:04.930
they were staying at the Andreacchio's home in Dalewood. Ray
517
00:29:04.970 --> 00:29:07.910
and Todd welcomed Whitley into their home, trying to be
518
00:29:07.950 --> 00:29:11.789
supportive of their relationship. But the support fizzled out quickly,
519
00:29:12.789 --> 00:29:14.859
and there's reasons why they ended up moving to Meridian.
520
00:29:16.950 --> 00:29:19.970
I mean, at the beginning, my, I guess, social worker
521
00:29:20.019 --> 00:29:22.779
background came up because, you know, I was like, I mean,
522
00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:26.140
you know, I kind of fell for the, you know,
523
00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:28.740
it doesn't seem like she has a good family, you know.
524
00:29:28.839 --> 00:29:33.089
They're not really taking care of her. She told us
525
00:29:33.140 --> 00:29:36.009
and Christian stuff that, looking back now, I don't know
526
00:29:36.029 --> 00:29:37.650
whether it was true or not. I mean, like, she
527
00:29:37.670 --> 00:29:40.460
would tell us that her mother, you know, wouldn't let
528
00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:43.000
her come to the house because her mother had remarried
529
00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:45.640
and had, they had two or three kids and they
530
00:29:45.660 --> 00:29:47.980
didn't have room for her. And the mother had basically said,
531
00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:50.960
we don't have room for you, so you can't stay here. Now,
532
00:29:51.009 --> 00:29:53.450
whether or not that's true, I don't know, you know,
533
00:29:53.490 --> 00:29:56.430
but she told us things like that, basically that her
534
00:29:56.470 --> 00:29:59.759
mother didn't provide for her. She typically was always the
535
00:29:59.799 --> 00:30:05.509
victim in these scenarios. We kind of were all like, well,
536
00:30:05.650 --> 00:30:08.630
she needs help and she needs, you know, somebody to,
537
00:30:08.650 --> 00:30:10.710
she needs a family. That's our problem is we always
538
00:30:10.750 --> 00:30:12.349
think that we need to be everybody's family. Oh, she
539
00:30:12.390 --> 00:30:16.390
needs a family. So, you know, we destroy our family
540
00:30:16.470 --> 00:30:20.250
for trying to help somebody else have a family. I mean, initially,
541
00:30:20.329 --> 00:30:22.839
I think that it was okay. Basically, we felt sorry
542
00:30:22.859 --> 00:30:26.319
for her. I mean, she's a cute girl. She was
543
00:30:26.380 --> 00:30:31.420
very sweet. Very meek and mild when she was around us.
544
00:30:32.500 --> 00:30:35.359
And then that didn't last long. Christian and I had
545
00:30:35.380 --> 00:30:38.380
a routine, a kind of a tradition. He would meet
546
00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:40.329
me for lunch and he and I would go eat.
547
00:30:40.869 --> 00:30:44.390
And just kind of our little, you know, okay, bye
548
00:30:44.450 --> 00:30:47.589
for the 30 days and kind of our little catch
549
00:30:47.730 --> 00:30:51.609
up before he left. We went and ate at O'Charlie's.
550
00:30:51.650 --> 00:30:52.390
I remember where we were.
551
00:30:52.930 --> 00:30:56.460
I said then, Christian, I'm really not sure about this girl.
552
00:30:57.710 --> 00:31:00.490
And he was like, oh, you know, we're not, I mean, mom,
553
00:31:00.529 --> 00:31:02.730
we're just hanging out. We're not, you know, and he
554
00:31:02.769 --> 00:31:04.750
made the comment. He said, we're not getting married. It's
555
00:31:04.769 --> 00:31:07.410
not like we're getting married. And I was like, well,
556
00:31:07.970 --> 00:31:10.069
and I told him, I said, I can remember something
557
00:31:10.089 --> 00:31:13.029
my mother told me when I was in high school
558
00:31:13.130 --> 00:31:16.059
and said, don't ever date somebody that you wouldn't want
559
00:31:16.079 --> 00:31:19.119
to marry because you may end up marrying them. At
560
00:31:19.140 --> 00:31:21.200
the end of the day, him and Avery would have
561
00:31:21.240 --> 00:31:23.839
got back together. I mean, everybody just knew that eventually,
562
00:31:23.880 --> 00:31:26.440
you know, one day they'd get back together. He, quite frankly,
563
00:31:26.460 --> 00:31:30.910
she was... in school, veterinary school. And, you know, it's
564
00:31:30.930 --> 00:31:33.069
a very difficult program and she didn't have a lot
565
00:31:33.089 --> 00:31:38.930
of time to socialize and to go out. And I
566
00:31:38.970 --> 00:31:41.460
think that's probably the main problem they had in their
567
00:31:41.500 --> 00:31:43.859
relationship is when he came home for 15 days after
568
00:31:43.880 --> 00:31:45.500
being on a boat for 30 days, you know, he
569
00:31:45.539 --> 00:31:47.119
wanted to go out and he wanted to do stuff.
570
00:31:47.160 --> 00:31:49.359
And she was like, I've got to study. And I was,
571
00:31:49.380 --> 00:31:51.180
so then he would go out without her and then
572
00:31:51.220 --> 00:31:53.460
they would end up getting into an argument over it,
573
00:31:53.460 --> 00:31:56.099
which is, I mean, I can understand that, both sides
574
00:31:56.140 --> 00:31:59.029
of that. So we had no hard feelings with Avery
575
00:31:59.069 --> 00:32:01.009
at all. Like I said, I mean, we even said,
576
00:32:01.049 --> 00:32:03.329
you should have broke up with him before now, you know,
577
00:32:03.789 --> 00:32:07.509
because of how he did. So, you know, they always
578
00:32:07.549 --> 00:32:09.349
said that Christian would always say, well, I'm going to
579
00:32:09.369 --> 00:32:12.250
live here until I'm 27. And if you asked him
580
00:32:12.289 --> 00:32:14.349
why 27, he'd say, because that's when Avery will be
581
00:32:14.390 --> 00:32:17.849
finished with vet school. And that was even after they
582
00:32:17.869 --> 00:32:20.089
broke up. He'd be like, well, that's when she'll be through,
583
00:32:20.130 --> 00:32:24.650
and then we'll get married. I was concerned from pretty
584
00:32:24.710 --> 00:32:28.079
early on. But that's really more just general mother concern.
585
00:32:28.099 --> 00:32:31.309
Like I said, seeing some things posted that you are
586
00:32:31.349 --> 00:32:36.049
warning signs. Tweets of, today when I get up, what
587
00:32:36.069 --> 00:32:39.009
do I want to do, math or bath salts? You know,
588
00:32:39.029 --> 00:32:42.170
of course, her thing was, oh, I was just joking.
589
00:32:43.019 --> 00:32:45.660
I can't think of anything specific as far as other
590
00:32:45.960 --> 00:32:48.920
particular posts, but just things that were a lot of
591
00:32:48.960 --> 00:32:54.000
drug references, things that she posted on Facebook and Instagram
592
00:32:54.019 --> 00:32:58.950
posts was very obviously she had no concern for, not
593
00:32:58.970 --> 00:33:00.650
a lot of people put the things that she would
594
00:33:00.670 --> 00:33:03.609
put up on Facebook and Instagram. Even if you're doing
595
00:33:03.630 --> 00:33:06.980
those things, you don't necessarily brag about doing it. Like
596
00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:09.460
in your face, you know, here is what I'm doing.
597
00:33:09.480 --> 00:33:11.200
It's almost a shock. It was almost like she wanted
598
00:33:11.240 --> 00:33:15.019
to shock people and get that reaction. And, you know,
599
00:33:15.299 --> 00:33:19.160
when people find out that your kid is dating somebody
600
00:33:19.819 --> 00:33:23.410
that may be concerning, they start telling you the stories.
601
00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:28.400
You don't know how she'll influence your child. The real
602
00:33:28.460 --> 00:33:33.349
concern started when she started, like, at that time, we
603
00:33:33.529 --> 00:33:35.589
didn't really know her that well. She, you know, really
604
00:33:35.619 --> 00:33:38.609
wasn't here, like, in and out and all. But then
605
00:33:38.650 --> 00:33:42.589
when she was here all the time and I started
606
00:33:42.670 --> 00:33:48.230
seeing the manipulative behavior and the no boundaries. So she'd
607
00:33:48.250 --> 00:33:50.670
go into Alexa's room and take things of Alexa's. And
608
00:33:50.710 --> 00:33:53.470
then she was smart enough to go to Christian first.
609
00:33:54.700 --> 00:33:58.000
She didn't like Alexa at all, but she would pretend
610
00:33:58.059 --> 00:34:01.859
to be taking care of Alexa. You know, I'm just looking,
611
00:34:01.900 --> 00:34:03.700
trying to look out for Alexa, you know, and she
612
00:34:03.720 --> 00:34:07.220
would try to get Alexa in trouble. Like she called
613
00:34:07.720 --> 00:34:11.829
Christian and told Christian that she saw Alexa smoking cigarettes.
614
00:34:12.429 --> 00:34:15.329
I mean, Alexa was like 13, 14. I mean, Alexa
615
00:34:15.349 --> 00:34:18.230
was here. So Christian calls me, you know, you need
616
00:34:18.250 --> 00:34:21.170
to get Alexa. She's out smoking, riding around with somebody
617
00:34:21.190 --> 00:34:24.809
she didn't know, riding around with, smoking cigarettes. I'm like, Christian,
618
00:34:24.869 --> 00:34:27.980
Alexa's here at the house. I mean, no, she's not.
619
00:34:28.159 --> 00:34:29.739
I mean, I go to her room, she's in her room.
620
00:34:30.900 --> 00:34:34.559
And it's like she would try to instigate conflict between
621
00:34:34.780 --> 00:34:37.800
Christian and Alexa and Christian and me. She would do
622
00:34:37.840 --> 00:34:39.070
it in a way that was like she was trying
623
00:34:39.090 --> 00:34:40.849
to help out, trying to keep her out of trouble,
624
00:34:40.909 --> 00:34:42.789
but really she's getting her, trying to get her in
625
00:34:42.829 --> 00:34:45.949
trouble and try to, you know. She had a problem
626
00:34:46.010 --> 00:34:48.630
with me and Alexa. I mean, I understand why she
627
00:34:48.650 --> 00:34:52.119
had a problem with me, but With Alexa, I mean, again,
628
00:34:52.139 --> 00:34:53.780
I think it was that she was jealous of the
629
00:34:53.820 --> 00:34:57.619
relationship that Christian and Alexa had. And now Christian took
630
00:34:57.659 --> 00:35:01.539
care of her and looked out for her. And, you know,
631
00:35:01.559 --> 00:35:04.119
she wanted to cause conflict to where they wouldn't talk.
632
00:35:04.739 --> 00:35:09.070
They wouldn't communicate. No boundaries going into your room. I mean,
633
00:35:09.110 --> 00:35:11.929
I just feel like that most people, when I was
634
00:35:11.969 --> 00:35:14.230
her age, I would never have gone to somebody's house,
635
00:35:14.289 --> 00:35:16.550
my friend's house, and gone into their parents' room.
636
00:35:17.510 --> 00:35:17.670
Or even.
637
00:35:19.030 --> 00:35:22.369
their sister's room if we weren't friends and take something.
638
00:35:23.550 --> 00:35:26.750
I was in my room reading one night and she
639
00:35:26.789 --> 00:35:30.199
came in and she had a picture in her hand
640
00:35:30.320 --> 00:35:33.239
and she put it down by me and said, well,
641
00:35:33.260 --> 00:35:37.079
this is what I think about this. And I said,
642
00:35:37.119 --> 00:35:40.539
what is that, Whitley? And she says, that's a picture
643
00:35:40.579 --> 00:35:43.610
I took out of your, in my room. I have
644
00:35:44.210 --> 00:35:48.400
pictures of the kids and everything. And, um, Christian had
645
00:35:48.420 --> 00:35:50.880
dated Avery for five years, and so we had pictures
646
00:35:50.960 --> 00:35:53.480
of them together. I mean, she came to all our
647
00:35:53.500 --> 00:35:57.710
family functions. Her mother was always taking pictures of them.
648
00:35:58.170 --> 00:36:01.789
And I think that probably maybe her mother had given
649
00:36:01.809 --> 00:36:04.309
me a picture that they had taken together, and I
650
00:36:04.349 --> 00:36:07.949
had it in my bookshelf. Well, she had gone into
651
00:36:07.989 --> 00:36:12.159
my room and taken the picture, and she said, well,
652
00:36:12.760 --> 00:36:15.000
Christian and I were shooting guns, and that's what I
653
00:36:15.019 --> 00:36:18.409
thought of the picture. And she had, I don't know
654
00:36:18.429 --> 00:36:21.530
whether she shot the picture, because I don't really think
655
00:36:21.750 --> 00:36:24.159
she'd be able to shoot that well, or whether she
656
00:36:24.199 --> 00:36:27.780
just poked holes. But basically, she had done the holes
657
00:36:27.900 --> 00:36:30.860
in Avery's face and in Christian's face, where you couldn't
658
00:36:30.900 --> 00:36:33.559
tell who was in the picture. And I mean, that
659
00:36:33.599 --> 00:36:36.960
concerned me for multiple reasons. But like I said, the
660
00:36:37.000 --> 00:36:39.079
main thing was, you went into my room, you took
661
00:36:39.159 --> 00:36:43.210
something that was mine, You then destroyed it, and then
662
00:36:43.269 --> 00:36:45.639
you came back and gave it back to me and said,
663
00:36:45.679 --> 00:36:48.059
this is what I did. And I just felt like
664
00:36:48.099 --> 00:36:53.360
that was just very abnormal. And that's something that most, again,
665
00:36:53.380 --> 00:36:55.519
if somebody goes into your room and takes something just
666
00:36:55.539 --> 00:36:57.139
because you don't want them to have it, then you
667
00:36:57.159 --> 00:36:59.219
don't go back and let you know that you took it.
668
00:37:00.170 --> 00:37:03.929
Not only do you kind of break what I consider
669
00:37:03.949 --> 00:37:07.570
a social norm, you then brag about it to me.
670
00:37:08.159 --> 00:37:12.460
So you have no concern for rules or laws. Really,
671
00:37:12.800 --> 00:37:17.800
our whole family was in turmoil, beginning trying to alienate
672
00:37:17.860 --> 00:37:20.739
Christian from his family. At first, of course, we didn't
673
00:37:20.760 --> 00:37:22.420
know anything about her, so we didn't really have a
674
00:37:22.460 --> 00:37:27.690
problem with it. And then when things started happening, it became, okay,
675
00:37:27.849 --> 00:37:31.010
she can't be here. Well, Christian's take on that was,
676
00:37:31.070 --> 00:37:33.789
if she can't be here, I can't be here. And
677
00:37:33.809 --> 00:37:36.150
we'd say, no, we're not saying you can't be here,
678
00:37:36.190 --> 00:37:39.760
we're just saying... you know, that she can't be here. And,
679
00:37:39.800 --> 00:37:41.340
you know, he was proud. It was kind of a
680
00:37:41.409 --> 00:37:44.340
pride thing, too, for him of, well, you know, well, then,
681
00:37:44.460 --> 00:37:46.239
but if she can't be here, I'm not coming here.
682
00:37:47.039 --> 00:37:51.159
And so we would go a month, six weeks or so,
683
00:37:51.800 --> 00:37:53.630
and then I'd break, you know, I couldn't take it.
684
00:37:53.659 --> 00:37:55.380
And I'd be like, okay, okay, she can come back,
685
00:37:55.679 --> 00:37:58.880
you know, just so he would come back. And then
686
00:37:58.920 --> 00:38:03.440
they would come back, and then something would happen. So,
687
00:38:03.460 --> 00:38:05.340
you know, Christian was kind of, I think, torn between
688
00:38:05.360 --> 00:38:07.320
the two of us, torn between what should be her
689
00:38:07.340 --> 00:38:10.239
and what was going to make her stay off his case,
690
00:38:10.460 --> 00:38:13.579
and then me, who, you know, I had gotten to
691
00:38:13.599 --> 00:38:15.980
where I wouldn't even talk about Whitley. Like, I knew
692
00:38:16.019 --> 00:38:18.460
that that was not, you know, he and I were
693
00:38:18.500 --> 00:38:20.340
never going to see eye to eye on that subject,
694
00:38:20.400 --> 00:38:23.679
so I never even talked about Whitley. You know, of course,
695
00:38:23.699 --> 00:38:26.110
looking back now, if I knew what was going to happen,
696
00:38:26.690 --> 00:38:30.019
I would have just said, she can come here, she can.
697
00:38:34.320 --> 00:38:35.380
Let it run its course.
698
00:38:36.219 --> 00:38:39.909
We tried, you know, everything trying to get him away
699
00:38:39.929 --> 00:38:40.409
from her.
700
00:38:43.389 --> 00:38:46.269
Had Christian been in the apartment alone that day, we
701
00:38:46.309 --> 00:38:48.989
may not have much of a story to tell. But
702
00:38:49.010 --> 00:38:52.260
there were other people with him. And from Taylor, we
703
00:38:52.300 --> 00:38:54.280
know that they each have their own stories about what happened.
704
00:38:55.840 --> 00:38:57.280
It's time we talk about what happened that day.
705
00:39:00.679 --> 00:39:03.480
You got two people that were there. And neither one
706
00:39:03.500 --> 00:39:07.280
of them had the same story. If Christian killed himself,
707
00:39:08.110 --> 00:39:11.110
that should have been the story between both of them.
708
00:39:11.130 --> 00:39:13.969
But when you get two stories in somebody's mind, it
709
00:39:13.989 --> 00:39:20.760
had to have been a setup or something happened. I
710
00:39:20.760 --> 00:39:23.179
believe in what I think is a murder.
711
00:39:51.969 --> 00:39:53.329
This season on Culpable.
712
00:39:54.449 --> 00:39:55.730
It should have been blood everywhere.
713
00:39:56.349 --> 00:39:56.849
Everywhere.
714
00:39:57.329 --> 00:39:57.889
And it wasn't.
715
00:39:58.449 --> 00:40:02.429
That bathroom was cleaned up or he was not shot
716
00:40:02.489 --> 00:40:02.929
in that room.
717
00:40:02.949 --> 00:40:03.590
One of the two.
718
00:40:03.949 --> 00:40:06.909
So somebody somewhere is lying. So why wouldn't we have
719
00:40:06.929 --> 00:40:07.699
talked to these people?
720
00:40:07.969 --> 00:40:10.579
I mean, there's a whole slew of people that probably
721
00:40:10.639 --> 00:40:11.559
know what happened.
722
00:40:12.019 --> 00:40:12.920
They'll start talking.
723
00:40:13.400 --> 00:40:15.920
I think someone was involved in the case, in the murder,
724
00:40:16.239 --> 00:40:17.920
that they didn't want coming out.
725
00:40:18.139 --> 00:40:19.320
You know, they didn't want coming to life.
726
00:40:19.860 --> 00:40:20.820
I mean, what do they hide in?
727
00:40:21.500 --> 00:40:22.300
Just give it to them.
728
00:40:22.840 --> 00:40:26.030
The manner of death for Christian Andreacchio is homicide.
729
00:40:27.010 --> 00:40:28.690
And I've signed my name to that in my report,
730
00:40:29.070 --> 00:40:31.710
and I would testify to that in court in a heartbeat.
731
00:40:32.110 --> 00:40:34.449
You're almost there to where they're going to have to
732
00:40:34.530 --> 00:40:35.510
pay attention to you.
733
00:40:36.130 --> 00:40:37.349
All right, wait, they're pulling out.
734
00:40:37.389 --> 00:40:38.590
They're coming your way.
735
00:40:38.849 --> 00:40:40.929
Wait, wait, don't move yet, don't move yet.
736
00:40:43.980 --> 00:40:44.960
What's up, man?
737
00:40:45.320 --> 00:40:45.559
Hey, dude.
738
00:40:45.579 --> 00:40:47.909
Yeah, they're talking to her now, and they're recording it.
739
00:40:48.380 --> 00:40:49.239
Holy shit.
740
00:40:49.460 --> 00:40:53.539
We'll get what we want. We're gonna.
741
00:40:54.440 --> 00:40:54.880
Pardon me?
742
00:40:55.360 --> 00:40:56.559
I said fuck you.
743
00:40:57.659 --> 00:41:02.840
I think he knows 100% what happened. I just don't
744
00:41:02.889 --> 00:41:03.699
think he's giving it up.
745
00:41:11.820 --> 00:41:15.460
Culpable is a production of Resonate Recordings and Tenderfoot TV
746
00:41:15.940 --> 00:41:20.159
in conjunction with Cadence 13, written and hosted by me,
747
00:41:20.500 --> 00:41:26.280
Dennis Cooper. Executive producers are Jacob Bozarth, Mark Mennery, Dennis Cooper,
748
00:41:26.780 --> 00:41:31.690
Donald Albright, and Payne Lindsey. Additional production by Whitney Bozarth,
749
00:41:32.130 --> 00:41:37.030
Courtney Cooper, Meredith Stedman, and Mason Lindsey. Audio editing and
750
00:41:37.070 --> 00:41:40.730
sound design by Resonate Recordings. If you have a podcast
751
00:41:40.809 --> 00:41:42.949
or are looking to start one, check us out at
752
00:41:42.989 --> 00:41:47.719
resonate recordings.com. Our theme music and score is by dirt,
753
00:41:47.760 --> 00:41:52.179
poor Robbins cover art by drew Bardana. You can follow
754
00:41:52.219 --> 00:41:56.300
us on social media at culpable podcast show notes, as
755
00:41:56.320 --> 00:41:59.059
well as bonus content can be found on our website,
756
00:41:59.500 --> 00:42:04.380
culpable podcast.com. If you enjoyed this episode, please take time
757
00:42:04.739 --> 00:42:08.980
to subscribe rate and review. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
758
00:42:09.960 --> 00:42:10.679
Thank you for listening.