Police are often called to dark and unsettling scenes in the name of justice, but few are as chilling as what lurks deep in the woods, where some of the most disturbing discoveries are made. I hear him. Dead ahead. Thank you. No shirt. These were the moments when cops made terrifying discoveries in the woods. Starting off with the case of when a chilling discovery was made deep within a dark and eerie forest. I'm not sure if it's a person or I'm not sure what it is, but I've got movement east of my location in the woods. Sounds like it's heading this way. All right, we got knife right here, body here, tents, whole camp spread up back here. Well, the thing is, I'm not accusing you of anything, but you have to be ruled out. You see what I'm saying? 100%. That I'm just like a god. On December 23rd, 2022, Officer Azour received a 911 call from a distraught man who claimed he had found his best friend's lifeless body deep in the Lake Jackson forest. Officer Azour rushed to the scene and immediately got to speak with the caller. Okay, y'all stay right there. 389. I'm 1012 with him. Just just just give me a minute. I'm 1012 with two. I'm head down to take a look. 361. If you want to come down in 56 with EMS in the back, I'm headed down to the scene. We're going to go back that way about 50 yards. Okay. Yeah. Knife is laying on the ground. There's no blood on it. Did you touch the knife? I didn't pick up the knife. Okay. Well, we're going to need to get fingerprints from you. Okay. No, no problem. Um I walked by the tarp and you couldn't see James. Um Okay. And then uh Allan walked by the truck, goes, "What's that?" And he picked the tarp up with with stickings on his hand and James was laying there face down and I dropped back and we left. Okay. All right. Well, we're going to need to get a very detailed statement from you. Okay. Yes, sir. Just because I don't understand. Well, the thing is, I'm not accusing you of anything, but you have to be ruled out. You see what I'm saying? 100%. At this point, the officer couldn't verify Robert's story. But with a report of a deceased body, he had no choice but to push further into the woods alone with a man he barely knew. And with the possibility that a killer could still be nearby, he knew he had to move forward with extreme caution. All right, you just hang on down right here for me. Okay, let me get up there and take a look. Which one? Right here. Right here. Oh [ __ ] Okay. Um and then please put in that back tent, please. All right. Where's the knife? Knife is on the left hand side of him. Okay. There on the ground. Got a He's got a wedge belt, too. Okay. Just hang out there for me. Okay. Jamie was indeed telling the truth. What the officer had just discovered was beyond shocking. Wrapped inside the tarp was the body of James Leendecker, who was lying naked and covered in his own blood. Realizing just how serious the situation was, Officer Azar instructed Jaime to head back while he moved on to investigate. That was when he began to hear something unsettling coming from deeper in the woods. I'm not sure if it's a person or I'm not sure what it is, but I've got movement east of my location in the woods. Sounds like it's heading this way. Hey, up. To officer Azour's great relief, backup finally arrived, restoring a sense of safety amidst the ominous threat that could still be lurking in the woods. [Music] He's I mean, there's nothing for y'all to check. He's cold to the touch. All right, we've got knife right here, body here, tents, whole camp spread up back here. We've also got one outstanding What the hell are you talking about? There's two people who live in this camp and one's on here and one's outstanding at the moment. Did you find the knife? I got a knife right here on it. Well, there's something right there. But hey, did you still got those two guys 1012 up front? Yeah, they're standing there waiting for us. Good. Because one that led me back touched the knife. So, we need to get his prints and the statement off him. The other one touched the tarp. They found out what was going on and they took off. I checked the camp and he's the only one back here. I got the name of the person with at 5 or 6:00. Yeah. So, and I've got what looks like maybe his clothes right over there. So, he's naked and there's some clothes right there on the fire. What the autopsy report revealed was beyond disturbing. Blunt force trauma to the head, strangulation, and even more disturbing, gasoline inside the lungs of the victim. It turned out that this would be only one of the many disturbing discoveries that the officer would uncover at the scene. Hey Seth, take a look at this for me. What is that? Is that just s weird off on that or um I mean it looks awful where he has for what I can see, but he is naked face down in the tarp with his upper torso covered. Definitely not. And definitely somebody put the weird. So, I don't know what his face looks like. If he was stabbed in the neck or the face, the blood may be hidden by the tarp. I'm not seeing any obvious blood. Apparently, the witness picked up the knife and the knife has like a rush of string around it. There's blood on the Yeah, the tarp's brown, but there's blood all over the tarp. Like blood splatter. It looks like I mean he was moved postmortm. You can tell by the way he was dragged. Oh, he's got leaf in his hollow down below. You see that? Yeah, that's crazy. Almost looks like a carbon fing one eye. You see that nuts? I think so. Gas. They had to cut the other chainsaw, right? And it looks like gas. Yeah, the officers were convinced this was more than just a homicide. It was a calculated and brutal. The evidence at the scene pointed to a prolonged hour-long ordeal of torture. But the real turning point came when Officer Azour returned to speak with the victim's friends, and that's when a major breakthrough finally surfaced. So, I heard arguing and stuff. So, I go through the woods, go to this camp. Mhm. See you later. All back to the camp. Okay. you know, homeless people, all you all talking about dumb [ __ ] It's been a while now and I haven't heard anything from James or anybody over there. So, I go over there to me and my friend that's with now. Mhm. Go over there. Right. So, when I walk get to a certain point, I see a tarp laying there beside this tree, which is never there. The tarp is uh I don't even know if it's James or All right. Well, we're we're going to we're going to get it figured out. Okay. Do you know James last name? Do you know James? No, man. No. I'm talking about the person who did this cuz I know who it is. Dusty McDonald that lives right up. He just got the complaint this morning. Man come down there with a hatchet. Chop [ __ ] up. Called it in. Sheriff's department. They come over. They talked to him. They told him, they told him that they're going to go over and talk to him. Just stay away. And James is the one who called. No, ma'am. Who called this morning? Rick. Okay. Rick is the one who stays there. No, ma'am. But Rick is the one who stays there. James is a friend of everybody's, but he was staying up there with Dusty. According to Jamie, there was no doubt Dusty McDonald was the one responsible. Earlier that day, police had already been called after Dusty reportedly attacked a man named Rick with a hatchet. But by the time they arrived, Dusty had vanished. Jaime's claim alone wasn't enough to pin him as the prime suspect. But everything changed once officers spoke with the other witnesses who all pointed straight at Dusty. We both went down there. We lived right here. We wanted to go check on our friend. He's rocking guitar. Okay, sir. Came back. We arguing earlier, right? We know who was down there. Uh, arguing. Okay. So, I walked down to the woods. I seen Dusty have dreams on the ground. He was saying, "You shouldn't talk [ __ ] about this." And, you know what I'm saying? I heard like, "Oh, they just getting shot." You know what I mean? But I never hear no nothing from over there. Like, you know Dusty's real name or Dusty? Did you say that James called them today and said, "Hey, nope." Rick. Oh, Rick called. Rick. James was there. Dusty went over there and cut his tent up with a machete. Cut his tent up. All kind of [ __ ] They called the police. I was called the police. Made a report. And the police just said, "Stay away from me. There's a tarp laying beside a tree that's never there cuz I live here." branch. I took the sticky went. When I flipped it up, I seen legs. After hearing these statements, the officers had a picture of what had happened just hours earlier. And they also had a lead suspect, Dusty McDonald, a name that one of the officers had heard before. I think they already brought up his name, but Dustin McCormick. Yeah, Dusty. Dusty supposedly general and some militia come down there this morning with a machete and started packing up some of the tents cuz he wanted to clear the area. Said he's the signal 20 and off his meds. They said Dusty they said Dusty is the one that was outstanding. Yeah. They said this guy Dusty left him over here like later in the evening. By this point it was clear Dusty had played a role in the murder one way or another. Determined to track him down, officers turned their attention to the first place he might be. his house. I don't know if that's him, but there's somebody. Sheriff, put it put a knife down, man. Come on out. Come on out. Come on out. I'm not I don't have anything in my hand. Okay. Come on. Please. I don't have anything in my hands. Come on out. I'm right here, sir. Come on out, dude. I'm right here. Dusty, dude. Yes. Turn around. Put your hands behind your back, dude. The man just trying to light me on fire, dude. Y'all know what happened down there. That man tried to light me on fire, man. It's all on surveillance, dude. Listen, Dustin, you trying to do things stupid dogs going to bite you on damn not even on there. I'm not at all. Sir. Sir, man just left my house and tried to me down there and light me on fire. It was clear as daylight that Dusty knew exactly why the cops were at his door. What? Yeah, dude. Sir, you know what happened down there? That's what we're trying to figure out, dude. The man tried to light me on fire as I Okay, just listen. Okay, we've got one side. That's why you need to come with us. Okay, come on. I know you want. With Dusty now in custody, detectives brought him in to piece together what really happened. Those who knew him described a man fueled by anger and a thirst for control. He even offered help to the homeless, not out of kindness, but to feel superior. He'd let them bathe at his place, but it was more about power than compassion. Inside the interrogation room, everything was set for a confession. Detectives were hoping for clarity, but what they got instead was pure nonsense. You know I'm an owl, right? You're what? You know I'm an owl, right? Okay. You know what that means, right? Yes, sir. I do. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. This has been a This has been a really hard day, sir. I waved all around the a long time ago. Uh, you know, I I still have a great sense of innocence within me, if it ain't obvious to you this time. Dusty seemed trapped in a delusion, and when he skipped his schizophrenia medication, his mind would spiral out of control. Still, that didn't stop him from trying to outsmart the detective, pretending he wasn't the killer, but instead someone with crucial information about what really happened. Uh, I'm handling remarkably well if you man that was some crazy man and to still be able to get us some usable intel, you know, get why staying at that place is so dangerous for me. I know a lot of trust is given to me like that, but man, thank you for saying it to talk about this. Dusty really thought that he had just outsmarted the officer by saying that he would be able to offer intel. However, he would soon realize that he was the main suspect of the cold-blooded murder of an innocent man. I haven't shed a tear all day, you know. Uh I even I've been going hard, you know. I'm so exhausted. How long have you done? What? Uh this kind of work? Not very long. That was my first. I think everybody knows that from the get-go, you know. Uh, thank you for this deep psychological run. No, of course. Uh, it helped him a lot. Listening closely to Dusty, it sounded like he was admitting to the murder, though his words were scattered and unclear. The detective got the sense that Dusty was taking responsibility without fully realizing the gravity of what he had done. But his bizarre ramblings didn't stop there. I just brushing and then u as and then he gasoline on me cuz you saw how I was bulled up down there. Dude, I thought I was just doing it for the other. You know what I mean? That was my intention. And then man to hit that neu come out like that. I don't know how I do it sometimes. You know what I mean? Yeah. Uh, I mean, when I'm just experimenting in the house with blades, like before I, uh, back when I took the, uh, budget knife and threw any curve on it. But, uh, I mean, I don't know how I do it. So, I just know of my, uh, beautiful mind that, uh, I'm just, it's a three-way, you know, it's the photographic, the audioenic intake, and the new loving genetic. Yeah. You know, I I if y'all don't ever think it, I'm so amazed that that I'm just like, "Oh, God, man. I I never thought it would be something like that, but my god, what that thing was for me to verify everything that I can see elsewhere. I got I'm trying to I know you're not mad at me. That's just I don't want you to think I'm asking questions. I think my personality is uh that I can't talk to people. I can't. I I don't want you to think I'm being and I am very relieved that we were having this conversation. Dusty insisted he wasn't angry and said people just didn't understand the way he communicates. It became clear he didn't see himself as the suspect, but as the victim. That belief was only reinforced when he turned to the detective and asked a startling question. Will I be able to go home? I'm going to figure that out. Yeah. Or am I going to jail or we're going down to dance? I we're going to have to figure that kind of out cuz you know how this thing kind of goes from here. I guess I don't know. I'm going to come talk to you about it. It was clear Dusty didn't fully grasp the severity of the situation. However, the witness statements, his vague confessions, and the evidence at the scene were enough to move forward. Dusty Macdonald was charged with first-degree murder. One disturbing discovery to the next. This time, officers responded to another truly haunting scene. Three bodies bound, gagged, and executed with chilling brutality. Shot in the face or head. He looks like a Hispanic. Hispanic or Hispanic? Yeah. He's got two bounding gas Hispanic. Yeah. On March 10th, 2023, officers with the Akran Police Department were dispatched to a wooded area near a major highway where a chilling discovery had just been made. Three bodies lying on the forest floor. What awaited them was a deeply disturbing scene in need of urgent investigation. Her head or stroke was some some sort of injury in this area. I don't see injury on him though. Is he white or is he looks like Nois Hispanic or a Hispanic. Yeah, we got two Hispanic. Yeah. It turned out that a woman had driven past the scene and seen the bodies, yet never called the police. Now, with that revelation, officers were desperate to track her down. Speaking with the woman could be a crucial breakthrough. She might have seen a vehicle, a face, or something else that could blow the case wide open. Hey, Bo. Um, I got a woman here. She uh drove by the 750 this morning and saw the bodies there, but she didn't call the police. Um, she thought they were like mannequins. Yeah. Do um does anyone from DB want to come talk to her? Yeah. Hold on one second. Okay. [Applause] Uh, wind's on the way down. Okay, thanks. Yeah, right down. He's going to come out and talk to you real quick and just get your name. Just ask you what you saw and then get you out of here. You didn't do anything wrong. I know. I I feel bad for not calling, but they dump back. You never know. It's horrible. I'll step out here and talk to you. Yeah. You I seen the guy with the baseball cap playing there. And I seen something else that I didn't know. Listen, you didn't you didn't do anything wrong. Oh, I know. It's just He'll come down here and talk to you a couple minutes. It's gross. It's just gross. Yeah. I'm sorry you had to see that. I just um you know, and and then when I came back up to go to Aldi's just I'm like Mhm. that must have been real. And maybe a timeline would help it all. I don't know. But yeah, cuz I'm not one to not getting, you know, turn turn my head because too many people do that nowadays. Well, you're not even, you know, what's the chances that that's where that would be, you know? Right. Right. Oh my god. Horrible. With no solid leads pointing to a suspect, officers turned to the neighbors living near the woods. Residents who, with an unsettling sense of certainty, admitted they had long felt something terrible was destined to happen out there. Yep. From outside. Thanks. 603. Any cars that drove by me and maybe stopped. Can I be honest with you? Please do. There is so much there is so much up and down back here. We have contacted the council people because honestly there's three houses on this street and we want this to be a dead end street. All three homeowners. The council people says we can't do it. I don't know what this is about, but I'm telling you, if if it's something to do with anybody, honest to God, there there's so much traffic back through here and and my wife has heard gunshots back through here. You know, I always I've lived here all my life, you know. Oh my Nothing like that. Huh? 79 years. But you know, I always thought that over the years, especially the last 30 years, that something like that was going to happen down. Yeah, it is. It's right off the expressway. And yeah, you always hear there's always somebody shoot gun off on I always hear people shooting. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, you're going to see us out here for a little bit. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Yes. Were they young or old? The neighbors didn't offer much, but then deep in the woods, a fourth body was discovered. Except this one wasn't deceased. It was Oscar Major Gomez, the lone survivor who had played dead to escape execution. With the help of a translator, Major Gomez gave police a chilling account of what had happened. While assisting them in retracing the crime scene, he unexpectedly spotted the man who' nearly killed him, Elias Gudino, at a nearby gas station. Investigators learned that Gudino had kidnapped four young men, executed three of them, and dumped their bodies in the woods. He was ultimately convicted on 18 charges, including aggravated murder, attempted murder, and kidnapping. He was sentenced to life in prison with a chance of parole after 23 years. Moving on to the case of when an elderly man had gone missing and was allegedly last heard from inside the woods. I hear him. Paul. On July 7th, 2022, 70-year-old Paul, a man suffering from Alzheimer's, was reported missing. Family, friends, and local deputies quickly joined forces in a desperate effort to find him. Him yelling for the guy that was screaming for help. So, a guy already went out there. I do hear it. I'm going to try to do my best to get to him. Paul. Paul, can you hear me? Morgan, I'm to your left. Paul, [Music] Paul, Paul, say something if you can hear us. Oh, it's better. I don't know how deep this is, Morgan. That's Guess we're going to find out real quick. Pause. I hear him. Way back in the He's way back in here. [Music] I think it's this way. At this point, one of the officers spotted Paul deep inside the woods. And to say the least, the site was extremely disturbing. Dead ahead. Oh, come. Oh, please don't get bit. Please don't get bit. It's all right, Paul. You didn't do anything. It's all right if we got to. That's all matter. Is there a way of getting out through here? There's a canal. We got to cross the canal. You got to educate me, Morgan. There's gators up in here. No, we're we're way back in here. I mean, we're up against the river. I'm trying to see if we can get to a dock. Are you anywhere? It's getting to him. That's the problem. Thanks. Does somebody have a pontoon we could borrow? Yeah. Or a skiff. Robin, they need your boat. Uhoh. I'll be right back. We're going to get a canoe. There's a canoe next door I'm going to grab and maybe that'll bridge the the gap. [Music] Thanks, Steve. There we go. Come this. Yeah. All right. How are you? All right, let's go. We're out. Thankfully, after the search, the man was found and rescued. Moving on to the case of when police discovered two abandoned kids. Their dad was on the run from the police and had chosen to take his two children with him. Sheriff's office, if anybody's in the vehicle, show yourself now. Sheriff's office. I can hear kids crying. Sheriff's office. Watch down. I got up. Yep. Front of the car. Got him. Can't believe this. Hi, little guys. This is horrible. Get on the radio and get DHS up here. We want medical, too, sweetie. Yeah, let's do it. Hi. The suspect, Justin Ryan Trumpeter, had escaped, leaving his toddler and infant behind. Upon arrival, the officers focused on the children's safety, as they could have been left alone for many hours. How are you? You are such pretty blue eyes. Hi there. We're out with the children. Uh, hi there. Can we get a hold of DHS? We need to respond immediately. And medical code one at the bottom of a sweetheart where the gates at for the children just to check on. Yeah. Are you okay? Just keep looking. Just make sure he's not hiding up there. That's what I'm doing. You all right, baby? If we can secure I don't like this, dude. I can pop off. Let's Let's secure him in our cars. Yeah, cuz at least just take the whole car seat. It's okay, honey. Coming up, the officer called for medical assistance to ensure the well-being of the two young children. Go all the way to the top of Wagon Trail. You'll come to a gate that's now open. Follow that up. You'll come to a house at Fort. Hi, baby. Hi. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I know. I know. I know. Oh, no. Do you want out here? I'll get it for you. I got to get You want it? You want to come out? At this point, dispatch had sent the suspect's approximate location, allowing some officers to begin searching for him. However, what they didn't anticipate was that this moment would mark the beginning of a month-long manh hunt. So, he just sent that location, right? Yeah. So, we're not far behind. No. It's game on. Let's Let's lace up. And heated a couple kids. Yeah. This is unreal, man. After an almost six-monthlong manhunt, the suspect, Justin Ryan Trumpeter, was finally arrested. He was charged with 14 separate offenses, including thirdderee robbery, fourthderee felony domestic violence assault, harassment, first-degree theft, two counts of secondderee neglect, five counts of reckless endangering, reckless driving, attempting to elude police by vehicle, and a parole violation for coercion.