After Emory's death, her aunt Becky kept calling the LAPD detective after detective just to check in for over a decade. There's no faith to have. It's like I said, if she wouldn't call, we probably wouldn't know anything. This is Emory's sister, Crystal. Again, we'd probably be thirty steps behind where we actually are now. And you know, I know they have big jobs, big cases they need to take care of, but she, along with the other millions of
people that have been murdered, meant something to us. She had a family and she was only fourteen. She had a future of out of her. It's hard to have faith and something that you see no potential in because the people in charge they're not They're not giving you any insights, they're not keeping you updated, they're not keeping you in the loop. They kind of just brush it off in a sense. And you know, like I feel, if she was taken to from the beginning, we would
probably know something Bry now. So when I did get new information on Emory's case, I immediately called her aunt Becky. Hello, Hi Becky, Hi, how are you hi? Good? This is Janis from Vice Vice N Yes, yes, how are you I'm okay, I'm waiting for my mouth to doct disappointment. Okay, how oh so so we're we got here early, so we're waiting in the car for the time. They don't
have you right, Yeah, exactly. Yeah, we've been trying to get a hold of anyone at Central Bureau Homicide UM because they've just stopped been answering our phone calls, not been like you know, not not not answering anything. We've been living voicemails, and they've been kind of hard to getting in contact with. Yeah, yeah, and yeah, we finally did. They said that the case is currently considered fresh, which means it's active because of information that was provided by
the by the family. We don't know what the family lead was, and LABD won't share more specifics. The family members we talked to don't seem to know either. I'm not really sure what he meant by information that was provided by the family, but it was. Yeah. Every time we'll hear like a rumor or somebody calls one of us with some seeing that they heard, we called right away and we let them know. From I Heearts, Michael du A, Podcast Network, Vice and Elia Studios, this is
party cruise the Untold Story. I'm Genus Amalca. In November of twenty twenty one, LIPD told us that Emory's case was fresh again, meaning that while it had been cold, they were investigating new information related to the case. We kept calling for updates but couldn't get more information than that. But a few months later we did get a new contact. Okay, I'll hear you this. Yes, okay, I was out of the country visiting my family in Peru for a few weeks.
So this is senior producer Sophia Palissa Carr on the phone with Becky. I ended up getting a call and she had some information that I wanted to pass on to you. The corner investigator we interviewed in a past episode told us she wanted us to pass on to Emory's family the name and number of an investigator she knew. His name is Moiss Castillo. Moses Castillo is a former LPD detective supervisor where he worked specifically on crimes against
children for fifteen years. After close to three decades, he retired from the force and now he work for a law firm as a chief investigator where he also does pro bone or work and what he told me. I called him and just talked to him, and he told me that his priority would be to make sure that the family could meet with the police department and just
make sure that where the case is at now. And I don't really know what that means exactly, but I know that he has a lot of contacts in LAPD, like you should really talk to him and see what you want to do. So what do you think do you think you might would like? Yeah, I would like to meet with him, you know, and uh, you know my niece Crystal and my sister Maria, and I was say her dad. They don't live together anymore with him
and my sister, but he's still in the picture. So I mean, I don't know if you would like to be there too. I would love to be there just to see the process. And I think how hard it to get information is important for people to know, and you know, it's been so long. But whatever you're comfortable with, I'll stop calling people today and see and then call him too. Sophia is going to take it from here. HI can help you. Hi, I'm going up to sweet
nineteen ninety. Are you here for Moses Castillo Um He's part of the law for After I talked to Becky, she did end up reaching out to Moses, and a couple of days later she let me know that they had set a time to meet. I was surprised because about ten people showed up. This is Maria, Emory's mom. Helloa Becky, Emory's aunt, was there as well as Emory's
mom and her dad, and her brother John. John's wife and his two kids also came out, and a couple of Emory's friends too, Alejandra, who we've spoken to, and her other friend Madison. Since originally Emory's mom hadn't been interested in speaking to us for this story, this was the first time that any of us had heard from either of Emory's parents before we met. We did ask the entire family for permission, and they agreed to let us record it. The meeting was at a law firm
in downtown Glendale on a Saturday morning in February. It was this tall, glossy building and because it was the weekend, the entire office was empty and quiet. Anybody want any coffee? And there's a little next for the kids too, for the dults to This is the former detective Moses Castillo, His demeanor was low key. He had brought some pandu and he joked as he put it on the table that quote I heard there were some Latinos here. He
clearly understood it was going to be intense for the family. Well, first of all, I want to say thank you for ling me in this journey that you've been going through for so long. And it's I have no word for relate. I dream he's the pain and that I want to hear about Emory. I want you to tell me about Emory, and I know that might be painful, but it still be important because I want My ultimate goal is to get you to me with the detectives on his case.
Before we ended up getting into the nitty gritty, Moses asked to lead the room in prayer. Good God, I thank you for your love and for you goodness, all right, grace, that you would that Emory's family know that they are not alone. During the prayer, Emory's mother started to get emotional. Moses asked her to speak first, but she couldn't, so he turned to Jose, Emory's dad. Because you want do you want someone else to start or give you some time? Who's it? Yes, sir, would you like to tell me
about I was not there. I was a father figure and um but uh I would see them and give them what they needed. As you know, they called me and they tell me, and uh, you know, I just I just I like I said, I was, I wasn't there, you know, like the way I wish I would. I was. And you know she was. She was a She was a happy child. And I know she would cry and say where's my dad? Where's my dad? Because I wasn't there. But she, you know, I just she was. She was
a happy girl. When Maria was finally ready to talk, she ended up echoing a lot of what Jose said. She was wearing this silver chain necklace with two hearts, which used to belong to Emory. So I shee was a wonderful person. She was always singing, dancing. She's timing that she wanted She had a lot of friends. She wanted everybody to like her. She would put her brands for her if they needed something. She was always copying them out. And she was just a happy person. I
only told why somebody would want to hurt her. Maria told Moses how Emory struggled at school, how there were girls who wanted to jump her. We talked about this in a previous episode about how the family recalls that some girls showed up one day at the house and harassed Emory with a baseball bat. So Maria had her changed schools and then homeschooled her for two years, and then she went to Francisco Bravo High School, where things had seemed to be going well when she started going
to brav where her grace went back up. And I guess said, maybe she's hang around with the wrong crowd or because she wasn't having poulos though. It's like I would ask her, is there anybody that wants to hurt true? Is everybody wants you like tell you stuff? She's like, no, no, no, they agreed to whatever. I guess it was just the
crowd she hanged around with that I don't know. The other person that we haven't heard from directly, but whose name had come up in other interviews was Emory's younger brother John, any other questions, you want to share something about your sister. John is the one who got in a fight with her the day she disappeared. He was sitting at the very end of the table and he was wearing an La Rams jacket. Um, you know, I
was thirteen at the time, she was fourteen. I was, I was all enough to know what was going on. But we're too young to understand. My sister was involved a lot. You know, she was too young to be involved with the people that she hung around with, you know, the party scene. She knew a lot for her aide um, I'm at peace, you know, of what would occurred. I came to peace with it. No matter what, you know, doing justice or not, it doesn't I really, it doesn't
really matter to me. You know, I don't believe her as well, and so I forgive the people or a person that did the If we could find out what happened, it'll be you know, from their mom. You know, she's who will heard at it to the other part of this meeting was creating a space to share tips and theories that have come in over the years. As we've mentioned in a previous episode, the family has a ton
of them. People have reached out from all over giving them information after Emory's death, things they saw or things they heard, and this is the type of information that Becky would call LAPD detectives with whether they followed up or not. The family doesn't know, but they would call and relay everything that they heard. There are two theories that we've heard that have come up again and again.
Like we said previously, given the total speculative nature of these theories, we're only going to include first initials and we're going to cut out full names in the tape for privacy. So one of the theories was about Emory's former boyfriend at the time of her death, who we are calling r. He's currently in prison for a second degree attempted murder. In the meeting, Emory's mom talked about how a friend of the family ran into our after
Emory's death. They were talking to him through the window and that she said that she hurled her out and she's seen Emory's rings inside of struck. That was like about six months she classed away. Oh my, yeah, we visit. We mentioned this in episode four. But Emory was known for wearing all these different rings, and when she was found they were all gone, and there were tan lines as well in her hands where they had been. Her family never found those rings. The other theory is focused
on Emory's friend's ex boyfriend we're calling him. S Alejandra, her high school friend, says he spoke to Emory the day she disappeared, and I'm not sure what they talked about, but I remember they were going to meet after school and he was pretty upset about something that had happened. She says that s got upset with Emory because he felt that Emory got in between him and his ex girlfriend. Again, We've tried to reach out to all of these people
numerous times. Maria. Emory's mom also said that they had been told that the police did talk to s at the time. They went to his house supposedly and he got arrested to see the on guns in his house, and he went in and they took him to jail and then under clever cop pretending he was an inmate, put him in the same sound to see if he could get information from him, you know, brought up every you know kime out and said, well, did you know,
did you hear what happened to that girl? They said that, you know, to see if he would say anything, but he never commented nothing. They never got nothing out of him. Moses was taking notes the whole time, and after about an hour an hour and a half John's baby started to get fussy, and the family seemed pretty wiped and the meeting ended. And if you are thinking of reaching out to you at any point, don't hesitate you call them. Okay, let me a little pick up. I'll pick up my cat.
I'll call you when I'm able to, because my knees didn't very busy sometimes. But on the way out, I caught up with Becky in the parking garage. I wanted to know how she felt. Did you feel like your expectations in the beginning changed over the course of the meeting or are either the same or hown't you know? My expectations are high. I love the way the detector talked to us. I love that he began with a prayer,
thanking God like we should always. I felt that he's, uh, okay, thank you, nice me you so you're welcome, thank you. I feel this sincecere in in his voice and his heart. After the family left, I asked Moses what he thought about what he heard in the meeting. After hearing them speak and giving me some insights as to what happened. I do believe there's additional investigation that needs to be conducted, such as interviewing ex boyfriends and someone who was considered
a person of interest. Revisit that person because now things have changed and time has gone by, and sometimes people can't add things that maybe they were afraid to say back then. But now if this person's are reading cars, maybe he says, you know what, I I have anything else to gain or lose him, I would just tell the truth. Somebody out there has information about what happened to Emory that night. Somebody knows, somebody told someone, somebody confided in someone.
Moses told me that he reached out to Assistant Chief Alfred Lebrata, who's part of Central Bureau where Emory's cases currently. Again, he's doing this pro bo. He says he's taken on a few cases since he retired from LAPD. The request I made to him was a request that he assigned a new set of detectives that would give it another look, and then also requested that those detectives meet with the family under what we call Marcy's Law, fit them build of rights. He asked LAPD to meet with the family
and go over the case. Again. It's like this reminder to LAPD that someone is paying attention and also to get any more information that the family might not already have. If you remember, they told us that the case was fresh or active again, but they didn't clarify any more than that. And there used to be a fifty thousand
dollars reward for any information in Emory's case. It was approved by La City Council in two thousand and six, two thousand and seven, and then again in twenty eleven, but since then it's expired, so it's possible that the reward could get renewed again. And the family is also trying to raise awareness on Instagram. They made an account called Justice for Emery Munyos. And that's where we left off with the meeting. Hello, I think blame hi. How
are you? When I got back from Peru after visiting my family for a few weeks, I called Becky and she gave me some news. M okay, yes, overwhelmed them. It seems like a lot kind of happens right in the last two weeks. Yeah, it did. That's after the break. Two weeks after Emory's family met in that conference room, I got on the phone with Becky who told me some news. They're happening, and that makes me feel good. It makes me feel nervous. LPD agreed to meet with
a family. The former detective, Moses Castillo said that LPD had Emory's file and had been looking at it for a month and a half already, and so they're ready to meet with the family and they're ready to do it soon. This is big news. They haven't sat down with a detective in years, and when we started reporting the story, they were having trouble even finding the contact for her case since it's been passed around so much
all emotions. Overwhelmed said, you know, all the things that happened sixteen years ago, are the feelings, the thoughts and everything come back, the emotions. But I'm glad you know this is happening. That I guess is normal for us to relive everything again. So but I'm glad they're happening, and so thank you. The family meets with LAPD on their own and then afterward we joined them. How did
the how did the meeting go? So they said they're going to do everything they can, you know, and it's gonna take a while on us as long as it's not sixteen more years. Do you remember the feeling in the room was it m was it just them talking or it was emotional. Yeah, it was emotional because I m I mentioned that all the detectives that she had, you know, it's like, I don't feel like they care. And I told him, I said, I know, to you guys in new cases, just another number. And he's sitting
on all of us. Maria, Emory's mom is in the room. It's the first time I'm meeting her. I can immediately see where Emory inherited her big brown eyes. I feel that I'm gonna get answers this time, I really do, you see. And we never got none of this before. Never, it was just like detectives. She wouldn't call. It even messages and they wouldn't call, and we've never gotten this far. They don't return calls, you any messages, and and then when you call, it's like, oh, everything's the same, like
no big deal, you know, there's no leads. And I'm like, so it's like sometimes I used to tell her, why am I even gonna call? It's always the same thing, nothing, nothing, and it just like it gets a mad, you know, it's like it hurts. One of the reasons I was hesitant to do the series is that Inherently looking at someone's death means that the family has to revisit trauma, and it's not always clear if making families revisit the
past is worth it. It hurts to know what they did to her, but I want to know what did to her. I need to know. It's like they just hurt. It brings anger to me because when they were picking her at the school, it's like I would go with her everywhere because she was afraid to go into the story wherever she wanted to go, and I was always going with her. I went to school, I sat with her, and it was like I protected her from nobody touching her.
Now we get into arguments, you know, when moms, you know, to tell their daughter and name my z alone. And when they killed her, it's like I was like, may maybe I know she was yelling for me. I know she was. She needn't be the most. It wasn't there for her, and I would I need to know why. What was the reason, because because you didn't like her, did she do something that I don't know? And I just like I told a detective, you know, with God's help, when you guys find out, I don't give me names
all to see faces. I believe that we're gonna get some answers. Now this is Emory's dad, We'll say again. Because when I when this happened, I used to go. I never called the LAPD. I just went down there. And that will just sent me in the room the first two times and leave me in there, you know, like if somebody's gonna come and talk to him. But they didn't, you know, so commanded. There's nothing to say
because we haven't found out nothing. So I used to get mad, and I used to raise my voice out them, you know, and say, if you guys ain't gonna do anything, I'm gonna do something about it, you know, because I mean I looked for answers or I got up, you know, and I used to in other words, I was out there.
It's homeless. Three years they where they found her, you know, and I was trying to find something, you know, and nothing and nothing, and I started drinking and I became an alcoholic for three years, you know, and all but I was always trying to do something, and I iced
to go down to LAPD and just race. Somehow we did ask LAPD about this, and they acknowledged that Emory's case had gone through a lot of hands, but they said every time they receive a tip from them, they investigated it, and the detectives don't always share information because they don't want to give families false hope or compromise
the investigation. While we were talking, there was a family album on the table and we were flipping through pictures of Emory with her siblings and every at them all, and then Maria told us a story about her. She used to talk my dad wish she's to him sugar daddy, Mama daddy, mister mister baby, she should call my dad. Mister baby was Emory's grandfather who has now passed away. She used to go and sit in my dad's lap, which mister mister baby. She says, you love me, and
he's like, yeah, she does. You want to buy me a pizza or where she wanted to go McDonald's. What do you want? You know? And they're like he was like, okay, go ahead, order it whatever. But then he caught out and she's like, do you love me? He's like no, She's like, yeah you do, and she's like we're gonna get pizza, and I'm like, how do you do that what do you do? Yeah, doesn't she say? I have? I got it? Like that? I love hearing the story. It's like a little family inside joke, and Maria just
lights up with a smile on her face. It meant a lot to hear Maria talk about emory outside of her murder case. A word that's been coming to mind is the sugar recently, especially in these times. I've heard this word a lot from my father when it comes to grief and pain. I don't know how to describe it in English. It's like when you're literally drowning in your emotions and you have to let it all out. You have to lighten the load, bent unburdening yourself. Even
if it's not positive, it doesn't matter. Sometimes you just have to yell at someone or cry to find some way to keep going. Whatever happens with the investigation, which is now active. According to Lapd, at least the family had this moment to confront Lapd about how they were treated. To release, but to the sugar is also an act of survival, a way to cope when there isn't a solution, when the reality of the world is just too heavy
to bear. But it's the world you have to live in, and in the absence of an answer, what I heard emerge in this intense conversation was a lot of guilt and blame, and I can't help but feel reminded of my own guilt, A guilt that I didn't feel when I was a kid sneaking out at night without my parents knowing, but as grown and groan since then, and that I think I finally understand. In our final episode, I talked to my mom and we follow up an
emory story that's next time. This episode was written, reported, and hosted by me Janemocha. Our show is produced and reported by Sofia Polissa, car Victoria Lejandro, and Kyle Chang, and edited by Antonio Seihido. Additional editing by Carolina and any Abulis, fact checking by Nidia about sound design and original music composition by Kyle Murdoch. Our supervising producer is Janet Lee, art by Julie Ruiz and Victoria Kollon. Our
executive producer from Vice Audio is Kate Osborne. Our executive producers from Elias Studios are Antonia Seido and leog Our Vice president of Podcasts from Elias Studios is Shanea Naomi Krocmo special thanks to the UCLA Department of Communication Archive for access to their news collection. Party Cruise The Untold Story is a production of Elias Studios and Vice Audio
in partnership with Ihearts Michael Fluda podcast Network. For more podcasts, listen to the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows, and Hey, were you and a party crew? Send us your party flyers or photos. I'd love to see them, even a voice message about your memories anything. You can send us a message or a picture at Party Cruise app at Elliot studios dot com.
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