Survival is always ideal when talking about true crime. If a victim can make it through their traumatic experience and somehow managed to survive, then we have something to be thankful for. In the case of Ricky McGee, he did what he had to do to manage to survive. He survived over a total of seventy days in the Australian outback, which is remarkable. But how he got there in the first place is what really makes this case a very bizarre true crime tale.
My name's Ben and I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked and Grim, a true crime podcast.
The following podcast material intended for your audience listener discretion lies. Okay, before we go anywhere today, I have something hilarious I need to share with everyone here, and it is regarding the show The Office.
I was like, where are you going with this?
But yes, I burst out laughing the other day. So I was going through some Office episodes and I happened to Pawn season eight, episode number fourteen. So some context, Dwight, if you've seen the show, is leading a team to Florida. Okay, do you remember this episode at all? Any means? Okay, So he's leading a team to Florida. He gets to select who gets to go with them, and that kind of goes south. So Andy the manager at the time,
because Michael Scott is now gone. So Andy the manager, he says, you know what, since you're not doing it, since going sideways, here, I'm gonna sec the team for you. Here's the people. Dwight's pissed. He does not want these people. He wants his chosen team absolutely. So he takes the people and he chose into the meeting room and tries to give them an experience to frighten them away from Florida.
Convince him that this isn't a good idea to go.
Yeah, so he cranked the temperature in the in the boardroom, he let loose a shit ton of mosquitos in there, and he had photos on the wall behind him of shitty things in Florida to scare them away from going to Florida. One of those things he used to scare them away from Florida was a big poster of Casey Anthony plastered on the wall behind him of the boardroom. I just noticed that. Yeah, oh my god, that is to fuck.
It's pretty good. It's pretty good. I mean it's rightfully so up there.
Yeah, but even Dwight knows Casey Anthony yeah is not good. Yeah, so that says a lot right there.
Yeah, it was funny. Actually, I can't remember what I was doing, probably working at the time, and then you were just like roaring. It was good.
It made me laugh. It was good a lot. Sorry, I just wanted to get that off my chest because it had to be said. We shared it over on Patreon with the screenshot of it and everything. Yeah, it made me laugh so much.
Yeah, I sure did.
Yeah, yeah, oh yeah, for sure, Bud. Yes, Okay, we got to thank some patrons though. We're gonna stop talking about the office here and Dwight Shrut and Casey Anthony. We had a couple awesome people sign up for over on Patreon this week. We had Ryan Hanson and Fanny Prierr Preerer. I hope I said that last name right, forgive me if I didn't.
It is our thing, it is.
But they both signed up over on Patreon, so they already saw that screenshot of Dwight and the Casey Anthony and.
They're about to get a free episode, well not a free I mean an exclusive there you go, exclusive episode. On Friday.
They are last day of the month. They always get that exclusive good for one episode.
Actually, shoot, it's gonna be Thursday. Then. I think I told I was the one that was supposed to figure that out.
Yeah, and I said Thursday, and you're like, no Friday.
But for some reason, I think I was thinking the first day.
Okay, well it comes out in the last day of the month.
Yeah, Thursday. My bad.
We're not telling them which one we selected, but we did the other day. Let them go and tell us which ones they wanted to hear. So one of the people in Patreon got their episode they wanted to hear select.
Pretty exciting really, so that's awesome. It is super awesome.
It is super awesome.
So actually on Friday is that is December first, and we have something happening then too. This is a big deal.
It's it's a big undertaking.
It is. I'm a little bit I'm a little bit worried about it. I'm not gonna lie.
We expect to not make one hundred percent on this, but we're gonna do our darndest. We are taking on the challenge this year of vlog Miss.
Vlog Miss, which I didn't even know what the hell was and now I do.
It's a thing. So vloggers vlog every day of December. Yeah, some lead up to Christmas, some do afterwards. Whatever, we're gonna go try and do probably like Boxing day, like the day after Christmas something like that. But we're gonna try and hit every single day in December leading up to Christmas. There's probably gonna be some days we miss, but over in our YouTube channel is where we're gonna be posting those looks.
Okay, so it's not the whole month of December, it's just up until Christmas.
Well, I mean some people do just up until Christmas. Some people do the whole month of December. There's no real like rule written rule.
Okay, I see you.
And I haven't really talked about it yet. I just kind of assume we do like something around Christmas.
So okay, see, and I think I it was the whole month of December.
Well, I mean there's only a few days after Christmas through sha so yeah.
But yeah, I mean we do have our we have our Wicked Life YouTube channel, and so it's just kind of a way to put a lot of content out there for the month and really show our life and who we are and stuff exactly. So it's gonna be good.
Yeah. So if you want to check that out YouTube link down the description of this podcast, same with Patreon link down below. Everything all our links down below, including our other podcast, Fearful h I think we've got everything.
Out of the way, I think so. Yeah, yeah, I got my one. I'm ready ready to.
Indulge, are you?
I am?
Okay, we'll be back. Because we had such a wild ride the last two weeks talking about the ad Hill.
Kids, Oh my gosh, no shit, I decided.
To google out of my way and try and find a survival story. Specifically, I wanted to find a survival story that was within the last decade or two within like say, two thousand and forward. So I found this story of an individual named Ricky McGee who went through some incredible survival in the year I believe it was two thousand and six. So we're going to get into that.
You ready, I'm ready, Okay, let's do it.
Well. Ricky McGee's tale unfolds as a peculiar and interesting narrative, to say the least. It's marked by extraordinary circumstances of survival in the whole Australian outback for a total of an astonishing seventy one days. Wow.
Yeah, that's impressive.
He was devoid of provisions, equipment, and even footwear.
Oh my goodness.
Yet the origins of his predicament, if you will, remain shrouded in quite a bit of mystery.
Huh. So here, I mean, I'm not super familiar with what the what Australia has for like issues, What do you mean issues like predators?
Everyone has the issues.
Well, I mean predators or the environment or like the climate or whatever.
Right, it's hot as fuck. They got spiders, they got reptiles, they got dingoes. I'm not sure what else they have for carnivores specifically, but so it's a bit scary. Yeah, they have crocodiles. Oh shit, they have alligators. I can't remember if they have alligators or crocodiles. Okay, they have one of the two.
Huh yeah, Okay, So there are some some things that you got to be afraid of for sure, definitely.
So. Brian was born in nineteen seventy one in Gypsuln, Victoria, Australia. His early life was characterized by happiness basically until his family made the move to Melbourne, where his father would ultimately and tragically commit suicide.
Oh jeez, that's sad.
Yeah. So despite this heartbreaking event in his life, Ricky rebuilt and moved on with his life as best as he could, as best anyone ked in those ccumstances, right, We all eventually do pass on, and we are all bound to lose those who are close to us, and he was, of course no exception. So Ricky would embark on his career journey as well, and he would work
a variety of jobs. He found himself navigating roles such as a carpet salesman, a prawn fisherman, nightclub doorman, and even eventually a bailiff.
Okay, those are all so different, they are.
That's a variety of jobs. He's building the diverse resume, for sure, and his whole resume and journey would take him eventually a bit of a darker urn, leading him to incarceration following a fight in Perth, as well as drug related offenses.
Oh shit.
Yeah, Now after that, in two thousand and six, at thirty five years old, Ricky found himself residing in Queensland looking for another start and a new job. Okay, okay, fresh, new start, getting back on track doing this thing.
You can always restart, you.
Can, you definitely can. That's one thing that's sure in life. You can always restart. Well, you can't always restart, but you can always start anew Yeah.
That makes sense, turn the page or whatever.
Exactly, new chapter if you will.
Yeah.
So, after handing out resumes and even going through a few interviews, I'm sure Ricky would soon receive a job offer from the Government Department of port Headland, which is in Western Australia, where he's currently residing in more Eastern Side. So often to seize the opportunity, he accepted the position and commenced a lengthy drive, a familiar route he had traversed multiple times before. The drive isn't anything to scoff at either. I mean a lot of us are probably thinking, like, hey,
you know a long drive. It's like a weekend road trip. You know a few hours this way might take you on the day, or to get over this way. No. No, he's going from Queensland to port Headland and it's approximately a forty two hour drive. Cool is shit, And between the two it is three thousand, nine hundred and ninety seven point nine kilometers, or for anyone who uses miles, it is two four hundred and eighty four point two miles.
So is this kind of one end to the other basically right?
Yes? Pretty well. So, Behind the wheel of his two thousand and one Mitsubishi Challenger, he navigated the Bunting Highway, which is a desert track that dominated much of his journey. It's kind I don't want to say it's a short cut highway. I mean it kind of is, but it's not like it's like, oh my god, he's taking a short cut that no one knows about. It's a highway, you know, it's just not the main highway.
Oh okay, these are the best routes. Really.
We've gone through a few of those. Yeah, sometimes not on purpose, but we have. So he was going through this Bunting Highway, which was an absurdly vast I don't know the word really to put it. It was barren. This barren section of the outback in the Northern Territory. On this stretch of highway is where Ricky's story would take a very bizarre turn for the worst. Ricky's eyes were beginning to get heavy and blurred. He struggled as something was pawing at his feet. All of a sudden,
he realized he wasn't in his car anymore. He could barely breathe, and everything was pitch black. He struggled and wriggled himself free from a black plastic wrap that was wrapped around him, and he began to push through the loose dirt that was covering him. He finally managed to dig his way to freedom, and seeing wild dingoes running away as they thought he was an easy meal. What the Luckily he was alive, and he wasn't an easy
meal as they thought. Ricky was now standing over the top of a shallow grave that he was laid in, covered with dirt and debris. Ricky stood there left nude.
Oh my gosh. Okay, for some reason, I was not expecting this.
I don't think anyone really would be expecting that.
Wow. Well, at first, when you started something clawing at his feet, I was like, holy shit, what's in his car? Like that's terrifying. But he wasn't even in his vehicle.
He's not in his vehicle. Okay. So I wrote it like that on purpose, though, so you would catch you off guard when you realize he's not in his vehicle, So that may get your mind spinning. Did it work?
Yeah, that's okay. Well, I mean his actual situation is more slo of a nightmare. But imagine driving and something squawing at your feet. I would lose my mind.
Probably you look down just realize your cat's in your car or something like that.
Or I was thinking like a mouse or something. I'd lose my shit. Probably you'd be in a car accident. Yeah, I'm not into mice.
Definitely not.
Well.
Ricky looked around. He's standing on top of this shallow grave that he was just laying in, and he didn't know where he was. He had no sense of direction, he had nothing of any use on him. So he picked a direction and began walk. Now, lucky for him, it was in the middle of wet season. It wasn't as hot as it could be, and water or rain wasn't as scarce as it normally is.
Okay, that's good.
Major bonus point. Like that's huge.
Yeah.
Climate in the Northern Territory during wet season, which runs from November until April, typically has a high humidity and monsoonal rains and storms that occur temperatures on average run from twenty five degrees celsius or seventy seven degrees fahrenheit to thirty three degrees celsius or ninety one degrees fahrenheit, which are much lower.
Okay, so I'm like, that's still pretty warm.
Yeah, but we live in Canada. So now it basically means that if he was stranded at any other time of the year, there was a very good chance that he would have died of thirst very fast. Okay, But luckily for him, water was a relatively easy resource to get a hold of it this time. So Ricky began walking, and he walked for days, making his way through the brutal outback landscape. He endured a total of a ten day trek through the north eastern fringe of the Tanami Desert.
Often he was being succumbed to heat exhaustion as temperatures, though on average should be lower, at the time, they were soaring above forty degrees.
CELSIU oh my goodness or one.
Hundred and four degrees fahrenheit.
I couldn't imagine just being in that all day, right, Like, that's a that's pretty I mean, we're from Canada, like you said, that's very hot. And then also just not having supplies like water and food, and.
And he's naked, he's newte he has no clothing to cover or protect his.
Skin, and wondering where the hell he is being disoriented. You know, that's just a nightmare.
Yep. So state to sustain himself, Ricky resorted to a diet of leeches, insects, snakes, ants, lizards, frog and whatever edible plants he could find. It was a menu of literally whatever he could get a hold of to survive and give him enough energy to keep going.
I mean, good for him, but oh that sounds horrible.
That's why it's called survival, right, doing what you need to do.
Yeah.
He sourced water from various puddles, dams and water holes, scavenging for sustenance and bushes each evening, and consuming only one meal a day, just enough to stay alive. In the absence of water. He even resorted to drinking his own urine. He would chill it in the evenings to try and suppress whatever flavor it would hold.
Right, I have heard of that for survival. I mean, this guy's smart. Yeah, he seems like he's doing a lot of things right.
And There is a lot of survival experts out there who have actually commended him for much of his survival tactics, for ensuring that he did source water, food, and what we'll talk about here in the moment, even shelter, making sure he took care of his necessities. So that's that a major commending commendment. I guess on him for doing so.
Because I find that super impressive, because I'm not sure I would be able to survive that extent of time. No, really, no, I don't think I could.
No. Food and water were not his only issue, though he battled as we were just mentioning the elements daily as he baked in the day and essentially froze at night. Deserts are notorious for being hot in the day and cold at night. Right he fashioned temporary shelters from old tree branches to try and keep warm at night as he put his best efforts into getting as much sleep as he could to rest before moving on again the next day. Eventually, after walking for ten days, Ricky stumbled
upon a dilapidated windmill. Here he created a makeshift dwelling, used a feeding trough from cattle yards repurposed into what's called a humpy, which is a type of shelter traditionally used by Australian Aboriginal individuals. Okay, so he positioned a shelter on top of a dam. So he had this water source right beside his shelter.
Now, oh that's awesome.
Yeah, And here is where he lived in his improvised structure for ten more weeks.
I thought for some reason, you're gonna say days, but weeks. He stayed there that whole time, eh, basically hoping to get help.
Yep, hoping that this clearly is an area where farmers have previously used. It might mean that people might make their way through the area again. So as his strength waned, Ricky struggled to cover any sort of significant distance during his daily forging expeditions. At one critical juncture, we can buy this whole ordeal, he faced a potential fatal abscess under a tooth tooth, which he dug out and extracted using his car keys as a crude tool.
Oh wow.
As much as he tried to survive on insects and creatures that he found on the desert floor, Ricky was soon losing his battle and was gradually starving to to death. Wasting away. I can't imagine being in a situation of survival like this, like do what you need to do. Not only is it like a matter of life and death, but there is major mental things going on here.
Oh yeah, do.
You have the mental whereabouts to make yourself do the things to survive? Let alone do them to begin.
With, because really, no matter what you'd probably be you would be losing your mind in some way, right just even not having contact, not knowing where you are, wondering if you are going to be found or saved, like, oh, that is so daunting.
It really is. So can you imagine just for a moment, thinking I could die from a small infection in my tooth, so to save my own life, I'm going to rip it out with that piece of metal.
There's no way that I don't think that I would have the strength to do that to myself. No, I think it would probably just and I would end up just like succumbing to that infection.
I wonder how many people would actually have the strength to do that.
I think that would be like almost impossible. Would you be able to do that?
I don't know.
It's so hard to think, you know, when you're in like your home and like you have food and water and stuff to put yourself in that situation because right now I'm like hell no, But I mean yeah, if I was starving to death, I would I would eat a snake and I would eat bugs as well.
But when would that instinct kick in? Because there's always going to be that Like say it's the first day, the second day, third day, I don't whatever day, there's one point where you get desperate enough that you do it. So where is that line? And for how many people will they not be able to jump over that line? You know what I mean? Yeah, because we live in a society I mean not everyone does, thankfully we are someone who do. We are someone we do thankfully we do.
But we live in a society where it's like comforts are everywhere. Hm, So to have all those comforts ripped away from you, do we still have the instinct to kick in to do those basic survival needs? Is it still there?
Yeah?
Some people it probably isn't, but who I don't know.
Yeah. But then also sometimes people surprise you too. You would think someone doesn't have it in them, but then they do.
Yeah, that's true. It intrigues me so much to wonder what humans can do and what humans can't do.
Yeah, because like you and me, I think ninety nine percent of people would be like, oh, Ben would be able to do that, Nicole would, right, But it's like, also, who knows if we're in those situations? Who knows?
Me? Maybe you're the survival one in my parents.
That's a freaking reason I excel for some very odd reason.
Right, true, it's very possible. So well, Ricky was becoming increasingly weak, and of course he was mentally drained as well, just kind of like we were talking about. He even made a cross and he put it on top of his shelter, oh, marking what he thought would be his grave. Really basically praying his family would one day find his body laying in his own grave that he made.
Okay, that's pretty darn sad.
That's super dark. Yeah, So by now ridiculously weak and gaunt, Ricky also had the added worry of prowling dingoes wondering, you know, were they sizing him up for a meal at the night. He's hearing them making the noise running around. I even did see one source, though I couldn't find if it was for sure, but that he at one point was even like holding up some sort of dish or another piece of metal at the entrance of his shelter ensuring dingos couldn't get in. They were like scraping
at the door sort of thing. Not certain if that is fictional or factual, but that is something I did see at one point.
Well by the sounds of it too, though, he might not have been in the best of shape right, and so they could have like smelt like thinking.
That death is coming. So yeah, yeah, well, I mean he was at this point literally teetering on the brink of death, and in that moment he was rescued. He was found approximately fifty kilometers or thirty one miles from I'm gonna mispronounce this, but I'm gonna do my best beer in Doo Doo Station and around five hundred kilometers or three hundred and ten miles southwest of Catherine, Northern Territory, Okay. He was discovered by a local station hands and their
trainees who were known as Jackaroose. Basically, when found, Ricky was in a dire state, starving, sunburnt, and suffering from extreme malinutrition and exposure. Mark Clifford, who was the manager of the station vividly described Ricky as a quote walking skeleton upon his arrival at the stations, emphasizing that the location of his discovery was one of the again, quote most isolated places in Australia.
Huh So it's honestly like a miracle that he was found then, by the sounds of it.
It really is, especially on the brink of death.
Yeah.
So it was on April fifth of two thousand and six that Ricky reached the Royal Darwin Hospital after enduring a stranded existence in one of the most remote remote regions on the continent for a of seventy one days.
Wow.
His original weight when he was lost was two hundred and thirty pounds. Upon his arrival at the hospital, he weighed one hundred and five pounds. Oh seriously, he lost over half his total body weight.
Oh man, that's a lot. Yeah, it is, and really like quite a short amount of time, really, yeah, not that he was out there for a short amount of time, but to lose that much weight, oh my word.
Well over you were looking at one hundred and twenty five pounds in seventy one days. Wow, that is wild.
Yeah, he really really wasn't having near enough finding near enough food then no.
And even when you do find enough food, there there's a question of is there enough fats in the food, Because I mean, yeah, you can have all the protein you want, fat is something that you need to keep yourself going.
Well, then how many calories is he also burning to get this food exactly?
You need to make sure that your intake is much more than your out to output. So that's a big thing in survival is making sure that your calories weigh against what you're burning.
But yeah, I think that would almost be the hardest thing because you're having to probably exert a lot of calories to find the smallest amount of food.
You are at a certain point you have to wonder is it even worth going out of your shelter to find food. If he's finding like a little lizard every day, it's probably not worth really going out for it very much, you know what I'm saying.
Yeah, I mean there's that certain It's a fine line.
It's a very fine line.
Yeah.
Now, despite his severe malnourishment and sunburn, Ricky managed to stay very well hydrated due to the season throughout his whole ordeal. He did not require significant medical intervention, which is lucky. Medical staff characterize him as emaciated but very well hydrated.
Okay, so that's good because you can't last years long without water.
Correct. So while at the hospital, Ricky underwent interviews with Northern Territory Police, shedding some light on the perplexing situation and circumstances that led him into this survival situation. Now, Ricky admitted that the events that followed were a little bit hazy, but at the time when he was rescued, he apparently told the rescuers that his car had broken down on the highway when he was driving, which doesn't line up with what I already said, but I'll explain, okay,
So that was originally what he said. However, he then changed his story, reportedly telling the Washington Post that his car didn't break down, he actually had been drugged by a hitchhiker and left for dead.
Huh okay.
In the the following days, Ricky provided additional details, recounting how he had picked up a lone Aboriginal hitchhiker whom he suspected of drugging him, possibly through a drink that he allowed the individual to pass him while he was driving, so he's like, hey, you passing my drink sort of thing,
adding another layer of like complexity to the story. But in twenty ten, a few years later, Ricky came out with an autobiography which is titled Left for Dead How I Survived seventy one Days Lost in the Desert Hell. Ricky introduced another version of his story in the book. In the book, he claimed that what happened was he had stopped for three men stranded on the road without any gas and offering them for a ride to the
gas station. During this encounter, he suggested the possibility of being drugged or even being stabbed with a syringe of some unknown substance. According to Ricky's book, he experienced a state of feeling quote dizzy and confused before blacking out entirely. Upon regaining consciousness, he found himself in a camp with his captors, who possessed a gun and provided him with
some water. Eventually, they departed, taking his shoes and clothes, but not stealing twelve dollars and thirty cents of his that was in his pockets.
Okay, that's what I was assuming, Yeah, Okay.
Then once again he blacked out and that's when Ricky mentions the part of the story where that I described waking up naked in the makeshift grave, covered in a black plastic sheet with some rocks and dirt thrown on top of him, and the dingoes scratching him.
Yeah. Okay, see, I have to say, affirst, I was just so enthralled by the surviving story that I forgot that some shady shit happened at the beginning, And now I'm just like, oh, yeah, right, this is a true Prime podcast.
Yep. Caught you off guard almost.
That's so weird.
I mean, it's not really surprising though, when talking about the true crime portion of this. No, I don't think anyone's really questioning his survival because I think that's very clear. Yeah, but it's people are kind of raising some eyebrows and are oddly doubting his story, especially considering he was changing his story so many times.
Well, yeah, that's a bit odd. I mean I can understand maybe it not being totally right at the beginning because he was like pretty unhealthy, right yeah, but then yeah, for it to change another two times, I suppose, or three times, that's a bit odd.
M hmm, Well, changed two other times just at one point he just added on to that story a bit, okay, So he said it was a hitchhiker, and then later it was an aboriginal hitchhiker, right, and then it changed from that to three guys out.
Of gas in the book, so there was technically like three stories, right, correctly. Okay.
Now, some people believe that Ricky did not in fact have trouble at all. Instead, he simply put himself all through all of this to try and sell a story to a commercial television station. They believed that no crime was actually committed against Ricky, and that he actually went out into the outback willingly to fabricate the story and sell it, sell the rights to the story.
But he was out there and to the point where he was going to die though, correct. So that doesn't that's hard to digest for me.
I agree very much. So unless maybe he was suspecting of it being easier to survive, Maybe he suspected to be found sooner. Maybe he planned on being found and then he really did get lost, and then he really was screwed over.
Okay, Yeah, he could have honestly actually got disoriented.
Maybe he picked the rainy season for a reason. Huh, maybe it wasn't pure happenstance. Now, I don't want to question him at all, but these are questions that people are asking, and I'm I'm so thankful that he survived this because clearly he went through some shit. Clearly he survived. That's amazing. I'm so stoked for that. But there's some questions that that are definitely being raised, and they're raised for good reason.
Okay, well, can I ask a question? Go ahead, and maybe it's something you're going to get to later. But because he was on his way across the country to go for a new job. Correct, yes, did he was this new job actually a thing.
As far as I'm aware? Yes?
Okay, Okay.
Now, apparently the authorities in Australia also had their reservations, oh, regarding this, the whole story and everything. Quote, they had doubts about the story because of Ricky's previous minor drug convictions. So basically they're judging a book by its cover right there. But I mean, it's not surprising that Ricky of course denies any of these allegations and his account that he's misleading or fabricating anyone that sort of thing. Basically, saying, no,
this really happened. I survived. I was attacked, if you will. Reportedly, he even offered to appear on live TV and eat frogs to prove that he was telling the truth. Oh my goodness, though in my opinion this wouldn't prove anything.
No.
I understand he's implying to show the extent of what he needed to go through to the public without any hesitation. But to me, it almost makes it look more like he's chasing fame than anything.
Yeah. And also, isn't that a thing people do eat frog legs?
Oh yeah, But I think he's meaning like, just give me a frog and I'll just eat the thing, like you know.
Oh, okay.
To me, it's more like a fear factor thing. Yeah, I'll eat a frog. Give me fame, I'll eat a frog.
You know. I guess I.
Don't think that really is about to show.
That he survived, sort of, yea.
If anything, I think it's giving more credibility to the story of him doing this to sell for fame in my opinion, not to say that's the case, but it leads more that way.
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So something else that doesn't help Ricky's case is that he was not doing it for money sort of thing, because the ABC Radio reported that he had told his story for them free, but only after trying to get them to purchase a story from him for fifteen thousand dollars. He had told them that his cost was fifteen grand because another new source was offering him fifteen grand, so he said, if they match that price, he would sell it to them, and they said no, so he proceeded
to do it for them for free. AKA there was no other source willing to pay.
The fifteen k Okay, that's weird. Yeah, okay.
So Ricky eventually wrote the book that we mentioned earlier, and he moved to Dubai to work in construction. Now an interesting fact, because I have mentioned a few things that go against Ricky here. His car reportedly was never.
Found, okay, And if it was just broken down on the side of the road, you'd think it'd be found, yeah, like fairly easily. Yeah, and it would be known that he was missing a lot sooner. Yes, huh, Okay, that's okay.
But there's a couple things that don't make sense to me. I couldn't find anything in regards to research on these, but these are a couple questions I have. So I don't have any facts to back these up. I have nothing. These are just questions I have that are unanswered. So assume his car is missing, right, So to drive a car, what do you need? Yes? Well okay, yeah, but what do you use in your pocket?
Keys?
What did he use to pop out his tooth case? So he had the keys on him? So where did his car go? How could the car have driven away without the keys?
Shit? See? Because I was thinking, gosh, where was my head? Okay, it was there and then it was gone? Okay, So what I was thinking is that, say, if he didn't even have his car, or that he kind of just showed up here whatever, and he did plan this to do this whole big thing, would he even have his keys? Then? But I guess he could have just ditched his car somewhere or something, right, He.
Could have he could have sold it. He could have put it to an auto records or I don't know what.
But then either way, if his car was stolen though, like abducted or whatever, or he sold it or anything like to that extent, would he still have his key? Though? Was it his car? It was his car?
There's a photo of him that I I saw holding up his abscessed tooth and a car key.
Huh.
He's holding them up to the camera, so clearly it was his car key because he himself is presenting that.
Yeah. I mean, unless say he did get broken down, right and then someone just later like hijacked his car, is a possibility too. Yeah, I would say that's true. It was sitting there long enough someone's like, fuck, I'm just gonna take this.
But let me ask another question here. So he had his car keys right in his pocket. Yeah, he was naked, get everything stolen from him?
What the fuck?
But he had his car keys, not to mention, they didn't steal the twelve dollars and thirty cents that he specifically stayable.
All that one way over my head.
Those are more questions I have.
That doesn't make any sense.
He's out in the desert naked, yet not only did he have his car keys, not only did he have the twelve dollars in thirty cents, he did still manage to keep track of and keep said tooth.
Okay, well, keeping the tooth makes sense, yes, because if he was in that shelter, Rady could have just held on too, But how much true you have had his keys in his pocket and change if he was naked. Yeah, that makes zero sense.
It doesn't.
Wow. You just blew my mind and just blew your herd. For some reason, I didn't even catch on to that. I mean, I'm sure people who have listening did, but I'm just like almost embarrassed.
I didn't know he's been out in the Australian Outback desert for let's say, because he was a total of seventy one days. Let's just say it was day sixty or fifty five. Okay, day fifty five, Okay, you know what, let's even cut it down. Let's just say it's day thirty. So he's been out there naked thirty days, just carrying these car keys around.
Yeah, that doesn't make any sense for what really, for what reason either would you hold on to those?
Well, I mean, I do understand it's survival exactly it is. However, it makes much more sense to have them in your pocket, especially if he wakes up in a ditch and he's just naked, like the car keys are there, What did he like dig around in this grave and find the keys? Well?
Yeah, and if someone had buried him too. I don't think they would leave the keys with him.
No, what do they do? They stripped him naked and took the keys out of it, out of the pocket, and gave him the keys and buried them. No, they're going to take his clothes and like.
And the keys so they can discard of the vehicle.
Yeah, probably to drive away if they stole it.
Oh my goodness, this is hurting my brain this one.
There's so many if and or butt situations and ways we can say, well, this could have been, this could have been, But it's all stretches. He was stripped naked, the keys would have been in his pocket, the car was apparently stolen, they would have needed the keys for the car. Why does he still have his fucking keys to rip out his abscessed tooth thirty fifty sixty seventy days later. Does not make sense.
No, unless you found a r random key, I.
Very much so doubt it.
I mean, I'm just almost playing Devil's advocate, because like, how why on earth would anybody put themselves through that situation? Though, I don't even think you would want to put yourself in that situation to potentially get a payout because I don't know how that necessarily would be making you money, how that can make you money. I mean, I guess now he's written a book and he's made money. Yeah, from that.
I'm imagining, and I'm gonna I'm gonna go out on a limb here if if his story is not true, if he is fabricating something. I'm wondering if he was not in fact on this shortcut Bunteen Highway. He was actually on the highway that's much more north and he had seventy one days to walk. He walked to go survive.
And up there on a different area completely is where he abandoned his car, perhaps to a scrapyard, who knows, And he walked and did the survival thing, and he's going to sell the rights to this, and shit goes south. He gets lost, he's actually having to survive, and he's lucky he got found, and people are asking what happened, what happened, and he's just, hey, I was a victim and want to make some money off it.
Like he was almost embarrassed.
That maybe I'm just again playing Devil's advocate here, I'm throwing stuff out there. He very much so could be a real victim. I'm not discrediting him on that, Yeah, but there is some fishy stuff at play, And what if this was an option? Have we considered something like that?
Yeah, But I also think in that kind of situation too, you would probably be like hallucinating and stuff. Things would probably And then if you're if you're that hung like just starving right and mel nourished and everything, like, your mind would be could be making up things.
And you have a very good point, very good point. Maybe he doesn't even remember the real story what happened to him. Yeah, maybe what he remembers is a fabrication of his own starvation and survival instincts and his brain trying to protect him. So maybe the reason why things don't line up is because his brain won't let him even know the truth.
Well, yeah, because I could. I mean, I freaking say, and like hungry for an hour, my brain is all like messed up and foggy, and I'm freaking hungry and just like bitchy, and so I mean I feel like that that kind of hunger could do some really weird things to your mind. And just that that being alone that long too.
Yeah, I mean we all saw that one with Tom Hanks Al Wilson.
Yeah, with the with the volleyball. Oh man, yeah, right, like it does stuff to you. Now.
I'm super thankful he survived because I am not questioning one iota that he was in a survival situation.
Oh yeah, he killed Like, that's amazing he killed it.
Yeah.
I don't think other people would be able to serve. Not many people would be able to survive like.
That, even on the off chance that he was out there for whatever financial gain. And he's like, yeah, someone's gonna find me soon, and I'm not going to bother walking over this way to the town that's fifty miles that way or whatever. I'm just gonna sit it out and stick it out. He's he's going to die if he isn't found. He's literally in a survival situation. Whether he knows it or not. He survived and is lucky
to be alive, and I'm thankful that he did. Yeah, but something's not adding up with the story, and I can't fathom why. Yeah.
See, I don't know. I'm I give people like too much of the benefit of the doubts sometimes, well, and that's.
What I'm trying to do as well. Trying to give him the back of the doubt.
I just feel like there might have been some serious brain fog, because, I mean, he was traveling to a new job, so it doesn't make sense that he would end up doing this. I could not just I can't have that add up in my brain. Why someone went on on to do that? Did he happen to do you know if he happened to suffer from mental health issues at all?
I'm not to it was just.
Drug stuff, right, I think it was just some minor, minor, minor stuff. Okay, huh, I don't know. This is hard. This is a hard one.
Here. There's two options here, well, I guess there's three. Option number one, someone committed a crime against against Ricky. Easy. Option number two. Ricky's trying to pull a fast one and he's trying to well he's basically being the criminal himself,
which I think is the lesser of the options. Really an option three, Like you say, the brain fog, he's out there for whatever reason, and amnesia, mirages, starvation, malnutrition, all this shit is just preventing him from remembering correctly on how he got there in the first place.
Because I even think that, I mean too if he ended up having some trauma from an attacker or whatever. Right, he could have even not ever remember what happened, because like he got hit in the head or whatever, and by that time he was found like his head injuries had kind of healed to an extent.
Yes, he might not have had a gash in his head, but he might have had a minor concussion.
Yeah.
What if he fell asleep at the wheel when he
was driving. That's a long ass road trip. What if he went off the road in a relatively deserted section and then his car burned up and the frame is unrecognizable and all this sort of stuff, and it's just left there out and who knows where right now, And then he was disoriented and walking through the desert, and then he had these dreams of feverish dreams when he was first out there and recalls this weird encounter with these guys on the side of the road and stripping
him down and all this sort of stuff. Yeah, and we do know that things like I can't remember the exact term, but extreme hypothermia will actually make an individual feel like they're hot and they will do what strip it gets cold in the desert what if he got he was becoming cold and he stripped his clothes.
Yeah. The fact that he still had his keys though, and change and stuff is a bit weird. I don't know, there's a lot of things in here that don't super make sense. I would almost like to read his book and then decide, but I agree.
I don't think a decision can really be made until we read his book. I wanted to read his book prior to this, I didn't have the opportunity. So I think I'm going to be reading it here soon.
Yeah, yeah, over the Christmas break. Eh, yeah, the holiday break, I think.
So. Anyway, hopefully you guys had enough to process. There was not too much of a mystery in this one. Hopefully your brain isn't mush right now like mine is.
But this was kind of a nice break because, like you said, the last two weeks were a bit hellish.
Yeah, so something a little bit easier to listen to and something that's a bit more thankful that, no matter what the case, Ricky survived and that's the most important thing.
Yeah, totally, yeah, well done.
Thank you. Well, if you guys want to check out more. Like Nicole had said earlier in the episode. Patreon is getting an exclusive episode at the end of this month, as they always do. The link is down in the description. YouTube channel is down there where we're going to be doing vlogs all Christmas long, and of course we're having a lot of other videos posted out there as well. In fact, I just put up one there where we made a list of different gear that we think is
crucial for podcasting. So how you can get started in twenty twenty four with your own podcast.
Yeah, exactly, So go check that out.
Link is in the description. And of course we appreciate you being here, whether you're here still as we're chatting and rambling right now, whether this is your first episode or you've been here this whole entire time since episode one, you're amazing and we appreciate that so much.
We sure do. Yeah, and we'll be back next week with an with an episode I'm doing.
No, you're putting it out there publicly.
Hey, well, I've already started it, so it's gonna happen.
All right, no holding back. Now. Nichole's hosting the next case, So here we go until until you do your case, Stay wicked.