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Milton Florida is a little dot in

0:35

Santa Rosa County with a population

0:37

somewhere around 10. The town is

0:39

most well known for the naval

0:41

air base housed within its borders,

0:43

Whitingfield, which is one of the

0:45

U.S. Navy's two primary pilot training

0:48

bases. However, for others, Milton is

0:50

known for a few other things. Most

0:52

notably its climate, which earned

0:54

the town the 19th century

0:56

nickname of Helltown because of its

0:59

incurable humidity and rash of

1:01

living pest, like mosquitoes. Some

1:03

even called it scratch ankle. because

1:05

of the briar patches that grew

1:07

below knee level along the river

1:09

creeks and swamp beds. Milton is

1:11

also known for a surprising

1:13

amount of professional athletes that

1:16

graduated from the town's school

1:18

district in the 1990s and

1:20

early 2000s. Football players Cortland

1:22

Finnegan and Lawrence Tines

1:24

graduated from Milton High

1:26

School, along with professional golfers

1:28

Heath Sloakum and Boo Weekly. Casper

1:31

Van Dean. The actor most notable

1:33

for being the lead in the

1:35

feature film adaptation of Starship Troopers

1:38

also lived in Milton for a

1:40

period of time. However, the thing

1:42

that Milton has become known for

1:44

in recent years is a rising

1:46

population that is addicted to serious

1:48

drugs. Now, for the record, I

1:51

am not vilifying Milton alone in

1:53

this issue. The entire first

1:55

judicial circuit, which includes Escambia,

1:57

Akelus, Walton, and the entirety

1:59

of... Milton Santa Rosa County

2:02

has seen a dramatic increase

2:04

of drug use, which has

2:06

led to some fatal results.

2:08

Florida alone saw less than

2:10

100 heroin-related deaths in 2010

2:13

and 2011. By 2014, that

2:15

number had increased to over

2:17

447, according to the Santa

2:19

Rosa Press Gazette. and that

2:21

number continued to rise through

2:24

2016, with the death of

2:26

779 people. Many attribute this

2:28

to the addition of the

2:30

drug fentanyl to many heroin

2:32

concoctions, but it is indeed

2:35

indicative of a larger problem

2:37

plaguing the area. Outside of

2:39

heroin and other opiates, Milton

2:41

has become infamous in the

2:43

local area for featuring an

2:46

outlandish number of stories involving

2:48

methamphetamine. If you simply

2:50

search for stories involving the town

2:52

itself and the word methamphetamine, you'll

2:54

be greeted by a host of

2:56

stories regarding meth labs being discovered,

2:58

dealers being arrested with hundreds of

3:00

grams of the drug, you name

3:02

it. Throughout my digging, I even

3:04

found a meme a longtime Milton

3:06

resident had made, with someone joking

3:08

about being able to get meth

3:10

from 47 different people, but being

3:12

unable to find any good weed.

3:14

While that may sound a little

3:16

bit funny. I do want to

3:18

remind you that for every joke,

3:21

there isn't an ironic truth behind

3:23

it. That, while I may reference

3:25

statistics in regard to drug casualties,

3:27

for every single number that gets

3:29

added to the pile, there are

3:31

numerous people involved who have their

3:33

hearts broken. Not just family and

3:35

friends, but coworkers and neighbors of

3:37

those afflicted, who had no idea

3:39

there was anything wrong with the

3:41

person that they knew until it

3:43

was too late. Every drug addict

3:45

has a story to tell. something

3:47

that started them on the wrong

3:49

path moving forward. Very few addicts

3:51

get to choose their addiction. They

3:53

may have made a snap decision

3:55

to try something, but that addiction

3:57

soon consumes them, and eventually begins

3:59

to define them as a person.

4:01

I think it's important to... remember

4:03

that. Now while it's easy to

4:05

brush off addicts as junkies or

4:08

somehow lesser than us, at the

4:10

end of the day there are

4:12

just people who at one point

4:14

were looking for a way to

4:16

escape some kind of pain or

4:18

turmoil. On March 8th, 2016, in

4:20

this small western Florida town, a

4:22

man by the name of Chip

4:24

Campbell would be seen for the

4:26

very last time. He was picked

4:28

up on a security camera of

4:30

a circle cake gas station heading

4:32

to the back bathroom. For those

4:34

that new chip... This video was

4:36

a revelation. He looked like a

4:38

shell of his former self. His

4:40

hair long and unkempt, his appearance

4:42

gaunt and thin. He looked disheveled,

4:44

and many that knew him described

4:46

this as looking like an entirely

4:48

different person from the brother, friend,

4:50

neighbor, and co-worker they once knew.

4:52

Chip was carrying two backpacks. One

4:55

he was wearing on his back,

4:57

and the other he was carrying.

4:59

This same security camera picked up

5:01

Chip leaving the Circle K gas

5:03

station, surprisingly, without both of these

5:05

backpacks. Chip, who had been known

5:07

by everyone as a quiet, sensitive

5:09

guy. A gentle giant, as described

5:11

by his sister Laura, promptly disappeared.

5:13

After stepping out of that gas

5:15

station on March 8th, at some

5:17

time between two and four in

5:19

the afternoon, he would simply vanish.

5:21

While the content of the two

5:23

backpacks he had left in that

5:25

bathroom would point to a larger

5:27

more complicated mystery I find chip

5:29

story to be a tragedy This

5:31

is the story of someone who

5:33

was misunderstood who never quite found

5:35

his place in this world That

5:37

despite having an exterior persona of

5:39

love and affection had battled depression

5:42

and loneliness for his entire life

5:44

When he finally began to fall

5:46

on hard times, he viewed it

5:48

as his own struggle and refused

5:50

to share his inner grief with

5:52

those around him, eventually culminating in

5:54

a mystery that has gone on

5:56

for two years now. This is

5:58

the story of Chip Michael Camp-

6:00

example. Welcome

6:34

to the Unresolved Podcast. I'm your

6:36

host, Michael Wielen, and this is

6:38

a story that strikes home for

6:40

me in more ways than one.

6:43

Normally, I try and keep my

6:45

own opinions out of the podcast,

6:47

but this story in particular has

6:49

caused me to struggle with that

6:51

notion. Not only do I see

6:53

myself throughout many of Chip's struggles,

6:55

I can't help but relate to

6:57

many of the issues he faced,

6:59

namely depression and feelings of loneliness.

7:02

Instead of urging you to head

7:04

to my Patreon page, I'd rather

7:06

you spend that money elsewhere for

7:08

this episode. Class Kids, an organization

7:10

aimed at helping search and rescue

7:12

operations for missing persons, did a

7:14

lot to help the family of

7:17

Chip Campbell after his disappearance. I'd

7:19

really recommend you head to their

7:21

website, Class kids.org, to make a

7:23

donation there this week. Also, the

7:25

family of Chip Campbell still have

7:27

a crowd-raising fund set up to

7:29

raise awareness for their brother. If

7:32

you are as touched by the

7:34

story as I am, you could

7:36

find that at go fundme.com/find chip.

7:38

That's gofundme.com/find chip. No spaces. I'll

7:40

include links to both of these

7:42

in the show notes, as well

7:45

as links to some help lines

7:47

you could contact in case you

7:49

or someone you know are struggling

7:51

with either depression or an addiction.

7:53

If you suspect a loved one

7:55

may have an issue with either,

7:57

or both, please do not wait.

8:00

Please, reach out and try to

8:02

help. Now, without any further ado,

8:04

I'll start from the beginning of

8:06

this sad and tragic story. I'll

8:08

be joined by some of Chip's

8:10

family and friends throughout the episode,

8:12

who will hopefully help give you

8:15

an idea of the kind of

8:17

person Chip was, and how his

8:19

absence has left a hole in

8:21

the hearts of many. Reggie Campbell

8:23

was a cookie distributor living in

8:25

Western Florida. Throughout the

8:27

first half of the 1970s,

8:30

Reggie seemed to have a

8:32

great life. He was married

8:34

with four kids, three daughters,

8:36

named Laura, Lisa, and Donna,

8:38

and one son. Despite the

8:40

children varying in age, the

8:42

family was very close-knit. In

8:44

1975, Reggie's wife passed away

8:46

from leukemia. He found himself

8:48

on the verge of being

8:50

a very young widower, with

8:52

four children to care for.

8:54

Family members would ask Reggie

8:56

whether he wanted to have

8:59

the kids live with them

9:01

for a short period of

9:03

time, just until he got

9:05

back up on his feet.

9:07

But Lisa recalls Reggie telling

9:09

them, quote, my children are

9:11

my reason for living. This

9:13

would become a theme that

9:15

is run through the Campbell

9:17

family in the years and

9:19

decades since. That you care

9:21

for those you consider family,

9:23

even when you don't have

9:25

the means to help them.

9:27

While Reggie was struggling to

9:30

recover from the loss of

9:32

his wife. Another story was

9:34

unfolding nearby. A woman named

9:36

Shirley Gray had been married

9:38

to her husband, and the

9:40

two had struggled to have

9:42

a child throughout their marriage.

9:44

Shirley would find out from

9:46

doctors, after a series of

9:48

miscarriages, that she would likely

9:50

never be able to have

9:52

kids. So she and her

9:54

husband decided to adopt an

9:56

infant daughter, who, funnily enough,

9:58

was also named Donna. When

10:01

Baby Donna was three years

10:03

old, Shirley's husband passed away

10:05

from an illness. Just like

10:07

Reggie, she found herself as

10:09

a single parent struggling to

10:11

find her way through life.

10:13

Reggie and Shirley ended up

10:15

falling... in love in what

10:17

their family recall as being

10:19

a whirlwind romance. Before long,

10:21

they were married, creating what

10:23

was definitely a full family.

10:25

As luck would have it,

10:27

Shirley soon found herself pregnant.

10:30

This would be the only

10:32

child from their union, but

10:34

it resulted in a son

10:36

whose story I am bringing

10:38

to you today, that of

10:40

Chip Michael Campbell. He is

10:42

the only natural child to

10:44

my stepmother, Shirley Campbell. And

10:46

he is the sixth of

10:48

children with my father, Ranche

10:50

Campbell. My father was married.

10:52

He had four of us

10:54

kids, Laura, Donna Kay, me,

10:56

and then Mechee. And then

10:58

my mother passed away and

11:01

a few years later, my

11:03

father remarried to Shirley. Shirley

11:05

was unable to have kids

11:07

so she adopted a child

11:09

which is Donna Sue and

11:11

turns out that Donna Sue

11:13

is my exact same age

11:15

I'm 20 days older than

11:17

her which is kind of

11:19

cool because it was like

11:21

growing up with a twin

11:23

you know out of the

11:25

blue. So Tip was very

11:27

loved and since birth. We

11:29

all took turns watching him.

11:32

He was born in Fort

11:34

Walken Beach Medical Center. They

11:36

did a big write-up in

11:38

the newspaper. I think he

11:40

was the only boy in

11:42

the nursery at that time,

11:44

so they nominated him as

11:46

the Christmas baby. So he

11:48

actually came home from the

11:50

hospital and stopped him. So

11:52

Tip was very loved. since

11:54

first. We all took turns

11:56

watching them and we'd have

11:58

to watch them. after school

12:01

and stuff like that. I

12:03

and on a few, we

12:05

were both 12 when Chip

12:07

was born, so we was

12:09

old enough to do things,

12:11

you know, to take care

12:13

of Chip. It was really

12:15

cool. We got to see

12:17

all of his first milestones,

12:19

you know, first smile, first

12:21

words, first steps, everything. We

12:23

experienced with him. So we

12:25

watched him grow. Tip

12:28

was actually, you know, he was

12:30

pretty quiet, content boy. He was

12:32

happy to just play in the

12:34

dirt, playing with his cars and

12:36

trucks and things like that. As

12:38

he started to get older, he's

12:40

got all the coolest video games.

12:42

I think it started with the

12:44

Atari and went from there, went

12:46

to Nintendo and he always advanced

12:48

and all that. When he was

12:50

free, we moved from the house

12:53

that my mother's father had purchased

12:55

and pressed you. and we moved

12:57

about 32 miles away to Milton,

12:59

Florida. And that's the home my

13:01

father still owns him where Tip

13:03

was residing whenever he disappeared. But

13:05

growing up, he pretty much enjoyed

13:07

activities like just playing in the

13:09

dirt as he got a little

13:11

older. He learned to play the

13:13

saxophone. He was actually really good

13:15

at it. played in the high

13:17

school marching band. He just enjoyed

13:19

things. And unfortunately when he was

13:22

seven, his mother had to wait

13:24

suddenly. So it was kind of

13:26

a challenge, you know, Chip didn't

13:28

have an easy, easy childhood growing

13:30

up, but we all stuck together

13:32

and we did the best we

13:34

could with him. Many think that

13:36

Shirley's passing may have altered the

13:38

trajectory of Chip's life. turning him

13:40

into the quiet man he would

13:42

eventually become. After his mother's passing,

13:44

Chip would become morbidly obese, which

13:46

earned him a good amount of

13:49

taunting and bullying from kids at

13:51

school. His older siblings and his

13:53

best friend, Dennis, would try their

13:55

best to defend him whenever they

13:57

could, but even that would further

13:59

cement Chip into the role he

14:01

had earned within the family, that

14:03

of the baby, of the one

14:05

everyone cared for. Some consider this

14:07

time period, following the death of

14:09

his mother and when his issues

14:11

began to present themselves, that Chip

14:13

began to pull into himself. He

14:15

had never really been outgoing, so

14:18

to speak, but he began to

14:20

withdraw and become overwhelmingly quiet and

14:22

shy. His obesity eventually turned into

14:24

an actual health concern for Chip

14:26

when he was diagnosed with juvenile

14:28

diabetes in elementary school. This meant

14:30

that he would require daily insulin

14:32

shots, something that would impact his

14:34

daily life moving forward. But they

14:36

do recall one of his major

14:38

passions in life being music. While

14:40

in school, Most notably at Milton

14:42

High School, Chip began to play

14:45

the saxophone, and according to those

14:47

that heard in play, he excelled

14:49

at it. They say that he

14:51

was able to create sounds with

14:53

the saxophone that they had never

14:55

heard before, bringing all of his

14:57

inner turmoil into the music itself,

14:59

creating something that was equal parts

15:01

tragic and beautiful. Throughout his life,

15:03

Chip always remained close with his

15:05

father, Reggie. Being the baby of

15:07

the family. Chip was the last

15:09

one still living at home in

15:11

his formative teenage years. He remained

15:14

close with his siblings, and other

15:16

family members of course, but his

15:18

father Reggie was the one that

15:20

always seemed to understand Chip. To

15:22

hear Chip's siblings talk about it,

15:24

it seems like the two had

15:26

a really close bond. Chip would

15:28

continue to live in Reggie's house,

15:30

on and off throughout his life,

15:32

finding odd jobs in the area,

15:34

but never really seeming to find

15:36

a career. Like he had as

15:38

a child, it seems like Chip

15:41

had a hard time trying to

15:43

establish his own identity. A term

15:45

that many used to describe Chip

15:47

is, gentle giant. From everything I've

15:49

learned about Chip, this expression fit

15:51

him to a T. He had

15:53

grown up quiet and thoughtful, engaging

15:55

in hobbies that allowed him to

15:57

be on his own. He continued

15:59

to play the saxophone, eventually being

16:01

able to pull off a beautiful

16:03

rendition of Set Fire to the

16:05

Rain, by Adele. His sister Lisa

16:08

says that song now holds a

16:10

special place in her heart because

16:12

of how much emotion Chip was

16:14

able to put into it. Chip

16:16

loved to garden, growing plants and

16:18

vegetables in his yard. He gave

16:20

out cactus plants for Christmas one

16:22

year, and his sisters still have

16:24

some of those plants. He loved

16:26

to collect antiques, and he loved

16:28

to do water-related activities, such as

16:30

fishing. To hear his friends and

16:32

family talk about it, it makes

16:34

you know Chip. or at least

16:37

someone just like him. Chip was

16:39

always very quiet also, very quiet,

16:41

very reserved, he was a private

16:43

person. In fact, you know, after

16:45

he disappeared, we learned some things

16:47

about Chip that we even never

16:49

knew, but like him dabbling into

16:51

some drugs and stuff like that

16:53

because that's not cool. None of

16:55

us ever did anything like that.

16:57

But he was a very private

16:59

person, a very loyal person, and

17:01

he cared for the people that

17:04

he loved. He made sure that,

17:06

you know, he gives the shirt

17:08

off his bag if he needed

17:10

to, if he thought you needed

17:12

it. Chip was one of those

17:14

people that, I mean, everybody's got

17:16

their vices and their demons and

17:18

their battles that they have, but...

17:20

Chip, like you said, gentle giant

17:22

man, the dude was just huge,

17:24

but he was just like the

17:26

softest huge guy, even his face

17:28

didn't look intimidating, like, I mean,

17:30

he was just a big teddy

17:33

bear and he was one of

17:35

those people that quite literally... and

17:37

I've seen it, he's done it

17:39

for me, would literally give you

17:41

the shirt off of his back.

17:43

I mean, he was just one

17:45

of those guys that even if

17:47

he had nothing, you know, and

17:49

he happened to get, you know,

17:51

a little piece of something, you're

17:53

getting a piece of that too,

17:55

you know what I mean? He

17:57

just, he just took care of

18:00

his friends and took care of

18:02

his people, and he was just

18:04

a really good person. He's a

18:06

way better person than I ever

18:08

was. But Chip was just like,

18:10

just a genuine good person. You

18:12

know what I mean? Chip worked

18:14

at restaurants throughout his adulthood, primarily

18:16

as a cook. This is how

18:18

he met John Claudio, a friend

18:20

of his. Man, I've known Chip

18:22

almost as long as I've been

18:24

in this area. When I first

18:26

moved here, I, um, a couple

18:29

years in the living here, I

18:31

got the job as a general

18:33

manager of village in. which is

18:35

a breakfast kind of place, 24-hour

18:37

breakfast place in the area. Chip

18:39

was one of the cooks there.

18:41

He was one of the cooks

18:43

that worked under me. We became

18:45

friends pretty quickly. Chip worked for

18:47

me a couple of times throughout

18:49

the year. I've been his manager

18:51

probably about two or three times.

18:53

We had mutual friends, a couple

18:56

of really close mutual friends, like

18:58

a buddy of mine. We were

19:00

all like three best friends for

19:02

a very long time. For quite

19:04

a while, me and Chip were

19:06

more or less just like friends

19:08

of friends and then after my

19:10

divorce or after my separation, whenever

19:12

me and my wife separated, I

19:14

went to jail, I had a

19:16

little bit of an issue with

19:18

what happened. Came out of jail,

19:20

had nothing. And Chip, you know,

19:23

took me in for a little

19:25

while and I lived with Chip

19:27

for about a year and we

19:29

became like brothers at that point.

19:31

I mean, we fished to eat

19:33

every day. I mean, it was

19:35

just one of those like... survival

19:37

with each other kind of experiences

19:39

where we just you know we

19:41

took care of each other for

19:43

a year and Didn't have shit,

19:45

you know, I mean like both

19:47

of us I had lost everything

19:49

ship was struggling didn't have much

19:52

and so we had a good

19:54

time and we were happy and

19:56

we did things to just keep

19:58

our minds occupied. But that's that's

20:00

pretty much the summary of me

20:02

and Chip's history as far as

20:04

how we became friends. I mean

20:06

we met through the industry and

20:08

had mutual friends and then just

20:10

throughout the years because our mutual

20:12

friendship became closer and closer and

20:14

then you know once I separated

20:16

from my wife and I he

20:19

took me in let me live

20:21

there for about a year that's

20:23

when we became like really really

20:25

close. At the time of his

20:27

disappearance, Chip was working at a

20:29

Denny's Diner in Cantonment, a small

20:31

town roughly 20 miles away from

20:33

his Milton home. His sister Laura

20:35

has described his omelets as being

20:37

the best on the planet, and

20:39

I'm inclined to believe her. Chip

20:41

lived on and off at his

20:43

father's home in Milton, until his

20:45

father started suffering from health issues.

20:48

His father, Reggie, was sent to

20:50

live in an assisted living facility

20:52

after suffering a stroke in April

20:54

of 2015. This meant that for

20:56

the first time ever, Chip was

20:58

living in a home by himself.

21:00

Well, at least, he was mostly

21:02

by himself. You see, while having

21:04

that house to himself, he met

21:06

the love of his life. No,

21:08

not a woman, but a young

21:10

pup named Harley. He loved his

21:12

dog too. He was so good

21:15

with his dog. He had a...

21:17

I think it was a white

21:19

English bulldog. His name was Harley.

21:21

Now remember the day I took

21:23

him, I picked him up and

21:25

drove him over to Fort Walton

21:27

Beach and he picked up this

21:29

dog. He had met someone on

21:31

Christ's list that was given him

21:33

away. And he got the dog

21:35

and driving... chipping the dog back.

21:37

I said, well, what are you

21:39

going to name him? He says,

21:41

I don't know. So, well, he

21:44

looks like a Harley. So that's

21:46

what he named his dog, and

21:48

he spent the most time with

21:50

that dog. He was very well

21:52

trained, very obedient, and he could

21:54

tell there was a great bond

21:56

between him and Harley. He loved

21:58

that dog. All he had to

22:00

do was point and say, go

22:02

to the kennel, and that dog

22:04

would go and get in his

22:06

cage. He was very obedient, and

22:08

you could tell that Chip loved

22:11

him, and he spent a lot

22:13

of time with that dog. I

22:15

also think sometimes I think that

22:17

you know, kid was lonely too,

22:19

you know, because he was living

22:21

in the house with our father

22:23

and our father became ill and

22:25

then he had a stroke and

22:27

he ended up going to a

22:29

rehab. So I'm thinking ship was

22:31

pretty lonely at the house by

22:33

himself, just him and the dog

22:35

and that's when he allowed people

22:38

to come, you know, if he

22:40

had a friend that needed a

22:42

place to stay. You let him

22:44

come and stay with him a

22:46

little while. He was really good

22:48

to people. On Chip's Facebook page,

22:50

which is still live and has

22:52

not been touched in nearly two

22:54

years, you could find a handful

22:56

of pictures. Roughly half of them

22:58

feature Harley. Many think that Chip's

23:00

love of Harley was indicative of

23:02

his very nature. He loved to

23:04

care for others and that shined

23:07

whenever he was around Harley. His

23:09

friend, John Claudio. who went through

23:11

a nasty divorce in custody battle

23:13

a couple of years ago, describes

23:15

Chip as being a friend who

23:17

helped him out in his time

23:19

of need. Chip allowed John to

23:21

stay in the home for a

23:23

matter of months before things started

23:25

to get a little bit sketchy.

23:27

I mean, Chip always throughout the

23:29

years, I mean, I wouldn't say

23:31

that he was necessarily addicted to

23:34

any one particular thing early on

23:36

in our friendship. But he's dabbled.

23:38

I mean, he's dabbled and he

23:40

like to drink. We used to

23:42

call him a chug or not.

23:44

I mean, he used to drink,

23:46

he used to drink, he used

23:48

to try to get a bit

23:50

of a party edge and he

23:52

would like to drink and have

23:54

a good time and he would

23:56

dabble in certain things. about the

23:58

time when I was living with

24:00

Chip, I moved out, like after

24:03

about a year of living there,

24:05

I had moved out and started

24:07

getting myself situated again. A friend

24:09

of our, well actually a friend

24:11

of his, Gabe, had gotten out

24:13

of prison and I guess he

24:15

owed Gabe a debt because of

24:17

something that happened 10 years ago

24:19

and gave him. So he brought

24:21

Gabe in, took Gabe in. This

24:23

was right about the time when

24:25

stuff started to get really, really

24:27

bad. And I kind of had

24:30

to distance myself from the situation

24:32

because I was fighting for custody

24:34

of my kids at the time,

24:36

but she started doing a lot

24:38

of Xanax and then the Xanax

24:40

ran out and then they started

24:42

doing that and then heroin came

24:44

into the picture and it just

24:46

got really bad round about the

24:48

time when Gay came around the

24:50

picture. Before that, I wouldn't necessarily

24:52

say it was a problem. It

24:54

was just something he did once

24:56

in a while. Hello,

25:34

it is Ryan, and we could

25:36

all use an extra bright spot

25:38

in our day, couldn't we? Just

25:40

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25:42

sitting in traffic, doing the dishes,

25:44

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25:46

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28:04

of played toward his emotions in

28:06

that sense, you know what I mean?

28:08

In the years before his disappearance,

28:10

Chip's life had begun to slightly

28:12

unravel. While his father Reggie still

28:14

lived at the house, he had

28:17

begun binge drinking, which was turning

28:19

into something that looked like a

28:21

problem. At one point, Reggie had apparently

28:23

found Chip outside of the home,

28:25

passed out behind the wheel of

28:27

a car. That was when Reggie sent

28:29

ship to go live with his oldest

28:31

sibling, his sister Laura, for a period

28:34

of time. She recalls getting him

28:36

into Alcoholics Anonymous, which worked for

28:38

a short period of time, but

28:40

then the loneliness and the shadier

28:43

acquaintances in his social circle began

28:45

to creep back in. He had two DUI-related

28:47

incidents happened in the years prior

28:50

to his 2016 disappearance. In addition

28:52

to another accident, I'll get into

28:55

shortly. Chip had a couple of

28:57

good friends in his life, such as

28:59

John Claudio, who only knew Chip as

29:01

an adult, and his buddy Dennis, who

29:03

had grown up with Chip. But outside

29:05

of that, he only really had his

29:08

family, who all lived relatively close,

29:10

but had their own families to

29:12

care for, and their own careers

29:14

to nurture. Chip began hanging out

29:16

with friends that were deemed,

29:18

quote, bad influences, by his

29:20

longtime friends over the following

29:22

months. These friends were

29:25

apparently somewhat open about their

29:27

drug use, at least to

29:29

the point of his friend,

29:31

John Claudio, not wanting to be

29:33

around them with Chip. In November of

29:35

2015, through this group of friends,

29:38

Chip met a young woman that

29:40

goes by the name of Tania

29:42

Rios. Chip apparently took to

29:44

Tania really fast, so much so

29:46

that she was living in the

29:48

Milton home with Chip by December

29:51

or early January. That Christmas

29:53

of 2015, while visiting family,

29:55

Tania was brought up by

29:58

chip during their conversation. When

30:00

asked about their relationship, Chip was

30:02

pretty mum on details, but told

30:04

his siblings that she was a

30:07

nurse who was currently out of

30:09

work. This would later turn out to

30:11

be false, but there's no way to

30:13

verify whether Chip knew this at the

30:15

time. It seems like, to outsiders,

30:17

that Chip was developing feelings

30:20

for Tania. To hear Chip's friend

30:22

John describe it, Chip had begun

30:24

to change for Tania. She

30:26

started dyeing his hair. You know, we

30:28

used to call him silver fox because he

30:31

had just straight gray hair for the longest

30:33

time and Kenya came around and he dyed

30:35

his hair black and You know just started

30:37

to really kind of match her vibe. You

30:39

know what I mean? And He was selling all

30:42

this stuff in his house just before

30:44

her habit and it just got really

30:46

bad at that point. But yeah, his

30:48

personality definitely changed He really wasn't around

30:50

much after she was around they were

30:53

always together She really did just use him.

30:55

It was one of those things where I

30:57

begged him multiple times, a few times that

30:59

I did see him during that period

31:01

of time. Like, you gotta get her out

31:03

of your house, you gotta get them, you

31:06

know, get out of situation. But yeah, it's

31:08

just, he did change quite a bit. He

31:10

got really heavy into the drug use and

31:12

every time I saw her talk to him,

31:14

he was just incoherent because

31:16

he was so fucked up all the

31:18

time. Chip was also beginning to experience

31:21

more stark before he disappeared. A buddy of ours,

31:23

I told you we were mutual friends. He called me. I was

31:25

getting off of work, so I was coming home from the

31:27

interstate and he basically said he was like, you know, ship called

31:29

me, he's freaking out, he's crying, he's talking, he's trying,

31:31

he's talking out, he's trying, he's talking about people

31:33

who are going to kill him, he's like, you know, he's freaking out,

31:35

he's trying to go by there and check on him, I'm like, I'm

31:37

like, absolutely, I'm like, I'm like, absolutely, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like,

31:39

I told him, I told him, I told him, I told him, I

31:41

told him, I told him, I told him, I told him, I told

31:44

him, I told him, I told him, I told him, I told him, I

31:46

told him, I told him, I told him, I told him, I told him,

31:48

I told him, I told him We sit down for a

31:50

little while and we're talking and I'm trying to

31:52

figure out what's going on and the whole time you

31:54

just keep saying that you know King isn't getting killed

31:56

if they owe somebody money and that that they were

31:58

in deep with somebody and I kept trying to

32:00

get the information out of him, like, you know,

32:03

like, who are you talking about? Well, the whole

32:05

time I was sitting there, his cell phone kept

32:07

getting text messages. And I mean, to this

32:09

day, I'm assuming they were from the person

32:11

that he was in debt to or that

32:13

was threatening him because he wouldn't tell me

32:15

who it was from, who it was threatening him,

32:17

because he wouldn't tell me who it was

32:19

from. He just kept telling me who it

32:21

was from, he just telling me what going

32:24

on. You know, we can figure it out. Like, we

32:26

can get you out of here and you can

32:28

stay at Jeff's house at my house, you know,

32:30

and we can go ride up on them and

32:32

figure out what the problem is, like,

32:34

we can do whatever you want to do,

32:37

just come to what's up. And he kept

32:39

telling me, like, no, I'm not going to

32:41

get you involved like that, you're

32:43

not going to get you involved like

32:45

that, well, I ended up taking a

32:47

trip out of that night and he

32:49

said, he said, a habit. that he

32:51

was supporting was beginning to be financially

32:54

too stringent for him, assuming that

32:56

they got front of a bunch of stuff,

32:58

or they were in some kind of way

33:00

to somebody, but it really was one of

33:03

the situations that day where he was

33:05

genuine in his fear. Like he, you

33:07

know, he was very specific and genuine

33:09

in the fact that he said that

33:11

came who was going to get killed,

33:13

that they owed somebody big time, and

33:16

I begged him that day, I was like, did

33:18

get her the fuck out of your house. Like

33:20

how much do you owe? Like I was going

33:22

to pay it. You know what I mean? I

33:24

was going to pay whoever he owed. I just

33:26

didn't want the involved. And I really

33:28

wish looking back that I would have

33:30

put more pressure on it, you know, and

33:33

really done more to figure out what else

33:35

is going on. Because I'm convinced

33:37

that that day, December 5th, is

33:39

directly related to his disappearance

33:42

in some kind of way, that

33:44

whoever was texting him that he was

33:46

that person was at least involved

33:48

or knew who was involved with

33:50

Chip's experience. As you

33:52

heard, Chip received text messages in

33:55

December of 2015 that caused him

33:57

a great amount of stress. He

34:00

began to inquire about arming himself for

34:02

protection and was worried about a debt

34:04

being owed to somebody, a debt that

34:06

could have belonged to either him or

34:08

his new roommate, Taneya. Yeah, and I

34:10

see this day, I don't know the

34:12

exact thing, he was receiving, but every

34:14

time he got one, he would just

34:16

look at being being being like, that's

34:18

them, like, and I'm like, who is

34:20

it, like, tell me what the fuck

34:23

is going on? He just refused to

34:25

let me get involved, and he just

34:27

refused to let me get involved. a

34:29

good friend of mine, a brother of

34:31

mine, be threatened. And, you know, I

34:33

would have done not great things to

34:35

figure out how to resolve that situation.

34:37

And I think Chip knew that, and

34:39

Chip knew that I was fighting for

34:41

custody of my kids at the time,

34:43

I was someone doing a divorce, and

34:45

it goes back to Chip's being not

34:47

good of a person, caring more about

34:49

others than himself, he just didn't want

34:52

me involved because he knew what I

34:54

was going through time. But it is

34:56

a regret of mine that I didn't

34:58

get more involved in it, because I

35:00

mean, I could see fear in his

35:02

eyes that day, and that's not something

35:04

that Chip really, like he said, Chip's

35:06

a general giant, like who the hell

35:08

hates Chip, who wants to hurt Chip,

35:10

you know what I mean? Like, I

35:12

could never imagine, even if Chip owed

35:14

me a thousand dollars, I wouldn't want

35:16

to hurt Chip, you know what I

35:19

mean? I had seen

35:21

Chip, it was the middle

35:23

of January and 2016, shortly

35:26

before he disappeared. And I

35:28

looked at him and I

35:31

could see, he had grown

35:33

his hair, his skin looked

35:35

sort of grayish, you know,

35:38

he didn't have that usual

35:40

healthy glow to his skin,

35:43

he I lost a lot

35:45

of weight, probably 40 pounds

35:47

or more, and I looked

35:50

like he had like dark

35:52

circles going around to side

35:55

and I looked at him

35:57

and I thought to myself,

36:01

He looks like he just don't

36:03

feel well. And he said, he

36:05

had explained it. And the first

36:08

thing I said to him was

36:10

not, hello, how are you? It's

36:12

chip. You look like shit. That's

36:14

what I told him. And then

36:17

I realized, oh my goodness, that

36:19

sounds so horrible. I softened it.

36:21

And I said, well, you look

36:23

like you just don't feel well.

36:26

And he said, he had explained

36:28

it. He had just wrecked his

36:30

car just a couple of days

36:33

before. He was just diagnosed with

36:35

diabetic seizures and you know just

36:37

explaining little things that had happened

36:39

to him in the last few

36:42

days. So I really began to

36:44

worry about him more at that

36:46

time. On January 2nd, 2016, just

36:48

after 6 p.m. Chip was pulling

36:51

out of a Circle K gas

36:53

station. located at the junction of

36:55

Stewart Street, and the Munson Highway

36:57

in Melton. As he was pulling

37:00

out of the Circle K parking

37:02

lot, he almost immediately crashed into

37:04

a blue Chevy Silverado. His black

37:07

Chevy neon t-bone to the other

37:09

vehicle, but Chip's car began backing

37:11

up and continued south on Stewart

37:13

Street. He then rear-ended a white

37:16

Ford fusion, before crashing into a

37:18

bike shop named truly spoken. Thankfully,

37:20

no one else was harmed in

37:22

these accidents, but Chip was rushed

37:25

to Sacred Heart of Pensacola Hospital,

37:27

where he was monitored for what

37:29

authorities called a medical emergency. This

37:31

would later be clarified as diabetic

37:34

seizures, which had resulted in Chip's

37:36

blood sugar dropping dangerously low and

37:38

him losing control of the vehicle.

37:40

This would result in his car

37:43

getting totaled and his license getting

37:45

revoked by the state of Florida

37:47

due to the seizure diagnosis. Without

37:50

a car, and without any reliable

37:52

public transportation options, he was now

37:54

unable to get himself to work.

37:56

Chip's fan- would find out later

37:59

on that chip had been forced

38:01

to quit his job and he

38:03

filed for disability benefits because his

38:05

medical diagnosis made it hard for

38:08

him to get a proper job

38:10

anywhere nearby. Despite the medical diagnosis

38:12

being diabetic seizures, those that no

38:14

chip think that something else might

38:17

have been going on. You see,

38:19

chip had been a long-time diabetic

38:21

and had maintained his insulin and

38:24

blood sugar levels for nearly 30

38:26

years. It was odd for him

38:28

now, in his mid-thirties, to go

38:30

through such a dramatic change. When

38:33

speaking to his sister Laura, she

38:35

brought up the possibility of chip

38:37

beginning to use methamphetamine at this

38:39

point in time. If you're like

38:42

me, and never thought about the

38:44

effects of meth on someone with

38:46

diabetes, then the results would be

38:48

shocking. In essence, meth can greatly

38:51

increase or decrease blood sugar levels,

38:53

to the point where someone would

38:55

feel fine one second. and then

38:58

suffer a debilitating change just a

39:00

moment later. Needless to say, many

39:02

point to this car accident as

39:04

being the beginning of Chip's major

39:07

downward spiral. By

39:29

March of 2016, things had continued to

39:31

spiral downwards for Chip. He had been

39:33

out of work for two months now,

39:36

and even though he had just gotten

39:38

an EBT card to help pay for

39:40

groceries and food, he had been struggling.

39:43

His older brother gave him some odd

39:45

jobs to do, which he would get

39:47

paid for. But that was barely enough

39:50

to scrape by, especially since so much

39:52

had changed in Chip's life. By this

39:54

point, he had lost an incredible amount

39:56

of weight. once called the gentle giant

39:59

He was still tall, but he had

40:01

lost at least 40 pounds, and he

40:03

was under 200 pounds for the first

40:06

time in his life. His hair had

40:08

grown long and shaggy. If you compared

40:10

this version of chip to whom he

40:13

had been less than a year beforehand,

40:15

you would barely recognize him as the

40:17

same person. In the preceding two months,

40:20

he had begun walking over to family

40:22

members' homes on occasion just to get

40:24

a bite to eat, which was more

40:26

often than not sandwiches, but he relished

40:29

any hot meal he could get. After

40:31

all, at this point, he had no

40:33

job, close to no money, and now

40:36

no car. But at least, on March

40:38

5th, he had family. His older brother

40:40

had hired him to do some mundane

40:43

work for him, and he was getting

40:45

ready to drop Chip off at his

40:47

home. Chip asked his brother if they

40:49

could stop at a nearby family dollar,

40:52

because Chip wanted to pick up some

40:54

things. Using the EBT card he had

40:56

gotten that day. He bought some groceries,

40:59

some cleaning supplies for the home, and

41:01

some dog food for Harley. At around

41:03

645 p.m. Chip was dropped off at

41:06

the home owned by his father on

41:08

Milton's Ward Basin Road. This would be

41:10

the last time that any of Chip's

41:12

family would get to see him on

41:15

the first Saturday of March, a little

41:17

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41:19

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purchase necessary. DDW, wait for him. After

45:20

finding this out on Facebook, Chip's

45:22

siblings began to react. They began

45:24

to call Chip's phone, and much

45:26

to their surprise, the mysterious woman

45:29

named Tania answered. She told the

45:31

Campbell family that she had found

45:33

Chip's phone in the bathroom of

45:35

the home, and was now trying

45:37

to figure out what had happened

45:39

to him. When Chip's family proposed

45:42

calling the police, Tania rebutted. She

45:44

said she did not want the

45:46

police to get involved. and for

45:48

good reason. More on that later.

45:50

Chip's oldest sister, Laura, who lived

45:53

six hours away in Alabama, drove

45:55

to Milton that very night. When

45:57

she arrived, she found two cars

45:59

on the driveway. One belonging to

46:01

Tania and the other belonging to

46:03

a man named Dawn. This is

46:06

the Dawn that Tania mentioned in

46:08

her Facebook post, who was a

46:10

mutual friend of both her and

46:12

Chip. I've since tried to reach

46:14

out to this Dawn, but I

46:16

have not heard her back. I

46:19

wasn't really sure, but I had

46:21

been worried about Tip. for a

46:23

couple of months before that, and

46:25

I was worried about some of

46:27

the company that was around whenever

46:29

I would go to the house

46:32

there. I always had like a

46:34

bad feeling. It wasn't anything anybody

46:36

said or did. It was just

46:38

a feeling that I had. I

46:40

was a little worried about the

46:42

company that he was keeping. So

46:45

in early, don't see, March, you

46:47

know, it was the first week

46:49

of March, whenever Kenya put that.

46:51

post up that Chip was nowhere

46:53

to be found and her and

46:55

gone had looked everywhere. And that's

46:58

when I had, I just called

47:00

the Santa Rosa Sheriff's Office and

47:02

I said, hey, can you go

47:04

check on my brother? There's this

47:06

Facebook post. I had already spoke

47:09

with all the siblings, Reggie, Laura,

47:11

Donna Kay, Donatsu, everyone, nobody. Nobody.

47:13

The police recalled and Officer Danny

47:15

Tussler was the one who responded.

47:17

He conducted a thorough search of

47:19

the home and took a statement

47:22

from everyone involved. In this statement,

47:24

Tania painted a much more alarming

47:26

picture of Chip's home. She claims

47:28

that on the day she returned

47:30

to the Campbell residence, she found

47:32

a reclining chair blocking the front

47:35

door. She was able to push

47:37

the door open, but upon entering...

47:39

discovered that the home was a

47:41

mess and the side door had

47:43

been left wide open. The door

47:45

to the refrigerator had also been

47:48

left open. and there were vials

47:50

of Chip's insulin laying on the

47:52

kitchen floor. She also allegedly found

47:54

a duffel bag of clothing which

47:56

was left on Chip's bed. Apparently,

47:58

Chip's dog, Harley, had been roaming

48:01

loose, and Mud had been tracked

48:03

throughout the home. Both of these

48:05

things were alarming, and you don't

48:07

have to take my word for

48:09

it. All of his siblings have

48:11

spoken at length about Chip's relationship

48:14

with Harley, and how he would

48:16

never let her roam free when

48:18

he was not home. Harley had

48:20

been found in the house, not

48:22

put into a kennel or a

48:25

bedroom as Chip would normally do

48:27

if he left. Other than Harley,

48:29

the family knew that the person

48:31

who would take Chip's disappearance the

48:33

hardest would be Chip's father, Reggie.

48:35

Reggie still technically owned the home

48:38

Chip was living in, but he

48:40

lived in an assisted living facility

48:42

after having medical issues in 2015.

48:44

The family members called the workers

48:46

of the facility, and asked them

48:48

to avoid the news in the

48:51

morning. They didn't want that to

48:53

be how Reggie learned of his

48:55

son's disappearance, even though it would

48:57

break their hearts. They had to

48:59

tell him in person. Chip's sisters

49:01

have talked about that being the

49:04

hardest part to deal with in

49:06

the wake of Chip's disappearance. Apparently,

49:08

those that look after him had

49:10

to stop him in the parking

49:12

lot of the facility, when he

49:14

tried to wheel himself away to

49:17

go help look for his son.

49:19

The police investigation defined Chip began.

49:21

but it unfortunately did not have

49:23

much information to go off of.

49:25

There was a three-day window in

49:27

which Chip might have gone missing.

49:30

From when his brother had last

49:32

seen him at around 7 p.m.

49:34

on March 5th, to when Tania

49:36

made her ominous Facebook post on

49:38

the evening of March 8th. Tania

49:41

claims to have seen him on

49:43

Sunday evening, the 6th of March,

49:45

before leaving to babysit. So police

49:47

began to operate under the assumption

49:49

that he had disappeared between then?

49:51

and when Taneyer returned home. After

49:54

scouring the area, police quit... evaporated

49:56

most of their leads. Nobody that

49:58

new chip had seen him, other

50:00

than Taneya. It appeared that his

50:02

quiet nature had gotten the better

50:04

of him. However, they quickly found

50:07

evidence pointing to a suspicious sighting

50:09

of chip at a nearby circle

50:11

K. This circle K, located on

50:13

the corner of Stewart Street and

50:15

the Munson Highway, is right across

50:17

the street from Milton High School.

50:20

It's also a stone's throw away

50:22

from Milton City Hall. and is

50:24

approximately three miles away from Chip's

50:26

home on Ward Basin Road. This

50:28

circle K produced video evidence of

50:30

Chip walking into the store on

50:33

Tuesday, March 8th, sometime between 2

50:35

and 4 p.m. In this footage,

50:37

which is somewhat grainy, Chip looks

50:39

entirely different from the photos taken

50:41

of him just months prior. He

50:43

had lost a good amount of

50:46

weight, his closed-looking baggy on him.

50:48

His hair, which had always been

50:50

cut short and grain, was now

50:52

long and shaggy. He had apparently

50:54

dyed his hair a darker color

50:57

in the preceding months, according to

50:59

his friend John, because he wanted

51:01

to fit in with Tania and

51:03

her group of friends. In this

51:05

footage, Chip is wearing a backpack

51:07

and carrying another. He walks from

51:10

the front of the store towards

51:12

the back bathrooms, where the area

51:14

of the recording cuts out. A

51:16

minute or two later, Chip returns

51:18

from the bathrooms, with neither backpack

51:20

in his possession. Many have pointed

51:23

towards Chip potentially having a black

51:25

eye in the Circle K video

51:27

footage, but in my opinion, the

51:29

footage is too grainy to try

51:31

and pick up his features. It

51:33

is possible that he does have

51:36

a black eye, but this could

51:38

be due to any number of

51:40

reasons, such as drug use, lack

51:42

of sleep, a physical altercation, etc.

51:44

Both of the backpacks he had

51:46

been carrying would be discovered by

51:49

police. The security footage from Circle

51:51

K that captured Chip saw two

51:53

people enter the bathroom after him,

51:55

and the second of these men

51:57

reported the backpacks to the employees.

51:59

They were held by the police.

52:02

behind the counter for a period

52:04

of time, before being thrown into

52:06

the dumpsters. Almost two weeks after

52:08

Chip disappeared, the police were able

52:10

to recover these backpacks from the

52:13

dumpster, and their belongings have been

52:15

one of the oddest parts of

52:17

this mystery. In the first backpack,

52:19

Chip had been carrying an assortment

52:21

of documents. He had his EBT

52:23

card, which he had just gotten

52:26

days beforehand, along with his own

52:28

social security card, a copy of

52:30

his father's birth certificate. and two

52:32

blank bank deposit forms. He had

52:34

also been carrying some medical supplies,

52:36

such as diabetic testing lancets, a

52:39

single vial of insulin along with

52:41

its injector, and something useful for

52:43

chips asthma, most likely an inhaler

52:45

of some kind. In these backpacks

52:47

were also clothing, food, and some

52:49

small supplies that someone would need

52:52

should they be heading off to

52:54

parts unknown. These consisted of rope,

52:56

pens, pens, pens, pencil pencils, snacks.

52:58

etc. The insulin and snack items

53:00

make some sense, as Chip was

53:02

diabetic and both of those items

53:05

would be useful for someone whose

53:07

blood sugar needed constant maintenance. But

53:09

his father's birth certificate being among

53:11

his possessions proposes some interesting thoughts,

53:13

such as him trying to protect

53:15

this information from someone. As police

53:18

began to decipher this newfound evidence,

53:20

Chip's family began to focus their

53:22

attention on those they suspected of

53:24

leading Chip down the wrong path

53:26

over the preceding months. And at

53:29

the top of that list was

53:31

Chip's roommate, one of the last

53:33

people to admit seeing him. None

53:35

other than Tania Rios. Tania Vanessa

53:37

Rios was born on December 17th

53:39

1982. This birthday was one of

53:42

the things that made her instantly

53:44

relatable to Chip. His birthday was

53:46

December 18th. so it had immediately

53:48

become a neat little icebreaker for

53:50

the two of them. According to

53:52

most... records, it looks like Tania

53:55

grew up in Florida. She has

53:57

family living in Key West and

53:59

was married at one point. Her

54:01

ex-husband, a guy named Chris, was

54:03

a military veteran who had two

54:05

children with Tania in their short-lived

54:08

marriage, a boy and a girl.

54:10

When their marriage fell apart, it

54:12

seems like so did Tania's life.

54:14

She lost custody of their children

54:16

who have been raised by a

54:18

family member in the years since.

54:21

Tania has gone on to be

54:23

known as braids, with a Z

54:25

at the end, and she worked

54:27

as a DJ in Florida in

54:29

California. After her divorce from Chris,

54:31

she apparently began dabbling with illegal

54:34

activities, as the Campbell family would

54:36

later learn. When going through Chip's

54:38

belongings, they found some ID cards

54:40

and documents with a social security

54:42

number of one of Tania's ex-husband's

54:45

cousins cousins. Chip had told his

54:47

family members that Tania was an

54:49

out-of-of-work nurse. but nothing I found

54:51

indicates that she ever did work

54:53

as a nurse. This to me

54:55

implies that it was something she

54:58

made up or it was an

55:00

excuse Chip was giving to make

55:02

her more relatable to his family.

55:04

After police were called to examine

55:06

Chip's home on the night of

55:08

his disappearance, the responding officers had

55:11

looked in Titania. According to some

55:13

rumors, she had given the police

55:15

a fake name and police were

55:17

able to find out why she

55:19

had done so. You see, Tania

55:21

Rios had been arrested at least

55:24

once before, and she had an

55:26

outstanding warrant from neighboring Escambia County.

55:28

Police went and arrested Tania on

55:30

this outstanding warrant on the day

55:32

after ship was reported missing, on

55:34

March 9th. It looks like she

55:37

was able to bond out just

55:39

a few days later, and after

55:41

her release, she returned to the

55:43

home she had been living in,

55:45

which was still owned by Reggie

55:47

Campbell. Ships family. aware that Tania

55:50

had returned to the home, wanted

55:52

to kick her out. However, she

55:54

began claiming Squatter's rights, and they

55:56

had to to go through the

55:58

legal process to get her evicted.

56:01

This took weeks of time, over

56:03

$500, and an endless amount of

56:05

paperwork, and throughout that time, the

56:07

family would do drive-bys of the

56:09

home to ensure that nothing overly

56:11

sketchy was going on. They made

56:14

sure to post-aviction notices on the

56:16

exterior of every door. It was

56:18

during this period of time, as

56:20

Chip's siblings were doing what they

56:22

could to track down Chip and

56:24

try to regain control of their

56:27

family's home, that they received some

56:29

bad news. Chip's

56:32

older brother, who was the

56:35

power of attorney for their

56:37

father, Reggie, received a call

56:39

from their bank. It seemed

56:41

like the account belonging to

56:43

Reggie had been overdrawn due

56:45

to some recent activity. When

56:47

the family investigated, they discovered

56:49

that someone had forged their

56:51

father's name on seven different

56:53

checks. This someone, it would

56:55

later be determined, was none

56:57

other than Tania, Chip's roommate.

56:59

Tania, who had been living

57:01

alone in Chip's home for

57:03

the better part of a

57:05

month, was arrested again on

57:07

April 15th, 2016. The charges

57:09

included larceny, exploitation of the

57:11

elderly, fraud, and possession of

57:13

drug equipment. Now that the

57:15

family were able to get

57:17

back into the home, they

57:19

discovered what a mess it

57:21

was. The entire house was

57:23

in disarray, and it was

57:25

covered in filth. There was

57:27

paraphernalia everywhere. with most of

57:29

the dishware and silverware being

57:31

permanently damaged if not missing.

57:33

The remaining spoons in particular

57:35

were bent and broken with

57:37

several pots and pans having

57:39

been used outside in a

57:41

fire pit. To the family

57:43

this made one thing crystal

57:45

clear that the home had

57:47

been used as a drug

57:49

den in the months beforehand

57:51

and that chip was likely

57:53

involved. That is Chip's childhood

57:55

home. He lived in that.

57:57

home since he was three

57:59

years old. He has a

58:01

lot of extended family that

58:03

live right down that road.

58:05

I just don't see it.

58:07

I don't think the chip

58:09

just ran away. I will

58:11

say that I won't rule

58:13

it out as a possibility.

58:15

It's possible he could have

58:17

just gotten so afraid of

58:20

something or someone that he

58:22

said, hey, I need a

58:24

waker. you know, my life

58:26

is out of control or,

58:28

you know, is it possible?

58:30

Sure, that's possible. But when

58:32

you think about and consider

58:34

all things in the circumstance,

58:36

it leads me to think

58:38

more that something has happened

58:40

to him. Yeah, I mean,

58:42

my personal impression of what

58:44

happened is I feel like

58:46

from December 5th that... ship

58:48

had a debt to somebody

58:50

for drugs, most likely mess.

58:52

I feel like going forward

58:54

from there, that ship probably

58:56

made some kind of deal

58:58

to, yeah, I feel like

59:00

he had worked out some

59:02

kind of deal to, you

59:04

know, let somebody cook in

59:06

his house or whatever the

59:08

hell was, but that that

59:10

video is in the circle

59:12

K. I'm 100% convinced it

59:14

was a dead drop. I

59:16

think he was either dropping

59:18

money in several K or

59:20

whatever it was. But

59:23

I do feel like that's related

59:25

to his disappearance as far as

59:27

like the debt he owed or

59:29

the Involvement and the drug activity.

59:31

I mean he I mean nobody

59:33

walks into a gas station with

59:35

two backpacks and walks out with

59:37

none You know, they're not leaving

59:39

something behind Despite Tania's arrest she

59:41

was not in prison for long

59:43

Tania was arrested in April and

59:45

it looks like she was able

59:47

to get released on bond a

59:49

short time later She was then

59:51

arrested in July, but again was

59:53

able to make bail to make

59:55

bail Chip's friends and family recall

59:57

this as being a very odd

59:59

series of events. Normally, when someone

1:00:01

is arrested, they're given... the option

1:00:03

to post-bond and make bail. This

1:00:05

always depends on the crimes they've

1:00:07

been arrested for, as well as

1:00:09

their criminal history. At this point,

1:00:11

Tania had been arrested a handful

1:00:13

of times. The charges filed against

1:00:15

her were mostly drug-related, but now

1:00:17

included some felonies that could put

1:00:19

her behind bars for a few

1:00:21

years. Despite her history of running

1:00:23

away and skipping out on bond,

1:00:25

she was allowed to make bail

1:00:27

once again. This time, in 2016,

1:00:29

in 2016, Tania decided to run

1:00:31

away once again. She disappeared entirely,

1:00:33

falling off of the grid. She

1:00:35

stopped using her primary Facebook page,

1:00:37

but created a few others, which

1:00:39

allowed her to communicate with family

1:00:42

and friends of various social circles.

1:00:44

Rumors reached Chip's family that Tania

1:00:46

had moved out to Sacramento, California,

1:00:48

where she had begun posting online

1:00:50

once again as braids, her DJ

1:00:52

persona. In August and September of

1:00:54

this year, After evading police for

1:00:56

over a year, Tania was captured

1:00:58

in Sacramento. She was transferred back

1:01:00

to Santa Rosa County, where she

1:01:02

has been awaiting trial for the

1:01:04

past few months. Oh no, and

1:01:06

she absolutely, she absolutely knows, and

1:01:08

that's the part that gets me,

1:01:10

like, you know, with all this

1:01:12

stuff you have on her, and

1:01:14

all these charges you have on

1:01:16

her, like, why are we pressuring

1:01:18

her, you know, like, she knows.

1:01:20

That's the one thing I have

1:01:22

said from day one. to her,

1:01:24

like she is God awfully afraid

1:01:26

of me because I told her,

1:01:28

I'm like, I know, you know.

1:01:30

Well, and she's contacted me like

1:01:32

throughout the last year and a

1:01:34

half and tried to convince me

1:01:36

of her story, like when she

1:01:38

was in California, she tried out,

1:01:40

she tried out, she called me

1:01:42

with her Facebook and you know,

1:01:44

just was like, I just want

1:01:46

to explain to you what happened,

1:01:48

and I'm like, look, I don't

1:01:50

want to hear your lies. Like,

1:01:52

you know, she told me that

1:01:54

shit took off the alibi. and

1:01:56

that he was living in the

1:01:58

woods, and I'm like, she's full

1:02:00

of shit, like, I just don't,

1:02:02

you tell me that she had

1:02:04

no idea what happened. Everything that

1:02:06

was going on, you had no

1:02:08

idea what happened, who did let

1:02:10

him, nothing. And she just, she's

1:02:12

just a liar, man, like, that's

1:02:14

what it comes down to, she's

1:02:16

just full of it. I've never

1:02:18

trusted a word, she said. And

1:02:20

I feel like 100% she's full

1:02:22

of shit. But as far as

1:02:24

her thing, she doesn't know what

1:02:26

happened, she doesn't know what happened,

1:02:28

that's I will be

1:02:31

updating you further on any developments

1:02:33

in her case, and whether or

1:02:35

not it pertains to Chip Campbell.

1:02:37

But I would just like to

1:02:39

state that Tania has not been

1:02:41

officially accused of any wrongdoing in

1:02:43

the disappearance of Chip. While it's

1:02:45

very easy to point out her

1:02:47

flaws, I stand with Chip's family

1:02:49

who want Tania to get help.

1:02:51

Hopefully, in her recovery, she'll be

1:02:53

able to provide a clearer picture

1:02:55

of the troubles she and Chip

1:02:57

were facing before his disappearance. and

1:02:59

whether she knows something more than

1:03:01

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the aftermath of Chip's disappearance,

1:03:35

his family and friends banded

1:03:38

together to try and piece

1:03:40

together the mysteries he left

1:03:42

behind. His older sister, Laura,

1:03:44

stayed in Milton for the

1:03:46

next six weeks, trying to

1:03:48

stay close to the investigation.

1:03:50

She wanted to be there

1:03:52

to help out however she

1:03:54

could, and try to serve

1:03:56

as a point person for

1:03:58

the search parties. Most of

1:04:00

these searches were done by

1:04:02

volunteers from class... a search

1:04:04

and rescue organization set up

1:04:06

to find missing children and

1:04:08

family members. Partnering with Milton's

1:04:10

K-9 Academy, the groups have

1:04:12

not only put up flyers

1:04:14

and hosted public events to

1:04:17

inform the public about ship's

1:04:19

disappearance. They have also conducted

1:04:21

searches of the area around

1:04:23

ship's home and where he

1:04:25

was last seen. Unfortunately, the

1:04:27

groups have had no real

1:04:29

luck. Even when using accredited

1:04:31

trained cadavro dogs and highly

1:04:33

specialized search canines, They were

1:04:35

unable to find anything that

1:04:37

suggested a death or even

1:04:39

a struggle within his home.

1:04:41

Hope was raised in May

1:04:43

of 2017 when remains were

1:04:45

discovered by Milton's Canine Academy

1:04:47

German Shepherds, Gunner and Maxwell,

1:04:49

but those were later determined

1:04:51

to be animal remains. The

1:04:53

Campbell family were able to

1:04:56

get Taney illegally evicted, a

1:04:58

little over a month after

1:05:00

ship disappeared, and that's when

1:05:02

they found the home in

1:05:04

its poor condition. However, that

1:05:06

would not be the only

1:05:08

strange state of affairs regarding

1:05:10

the house. After getting Tania

1:05:12

evicted, Chip's older sister, Donna,

1:05:14

moved into the home. She

1:05:16

began to box up belongings

1:05:18

of the prior tenants, including

1:05:20

Tania, Chip, and their father,

1:05:22

Reggie. During this, she found

1:05:24

several odd items in Tania's

1:05:26

possession, including the ID card

1:05:28

and Social Security paperwork belonging

1:05:30

to Tania's ex-husband's cousin, which

1:05:32

I mentioned earlier. as well

1:05:35

as a receipt for gloves

1:05:37

and ammunition bought at a

1:05:39

Pensacola Walmart just a short

1:05:41

time before chip disappeared. And

1:05:43

if that wasn't enough, the

1:05:45

month of June would see

1:05:47

one of the strangest revelations

1:05:49

in this story. Right after

1:05:51

Chip, right after we realized

1:05:53

that Chip was indeed missing,

1:05:55

I believe by 6 a.m.

1:05:57

We had a sister there,

1:05:59

driving by that house that

1:06:01

morning, there. myself and my

1:06:03

husband and my sister Donna

1:06:05

Sue. Everyone we all got

1:06:07

together we dropped our lives

1:06:09

basically to go there and

1:06:11

we all ended up staying

1:06:13

like three weeks at my

1:06:16

brother's house in Milton and

1:06:18

Completely focused on Every day

1:06:20

going out to search to

1:06:22

find him to talk with

1:06:24

the detectives to work with

1:06:26

class kids and We

1:06:28

noticed around the house there was

1:06:30

this big pile of debris and

1:06:33

it looked like it was a

1:06:35

big burn pile actually and we

1:06:38

couldn't figure out you know the

1:06:40

things that were in it pots

1:06:42

and pans and spoons and We

1:06:45

couldn't figure out why would someone

1:06:47

be burning all this stuff and

1:06:49

you look in the kitchen and

1:06:52

this is my father's home who's

1:06:54

been married, he's had two wives,

1:06:56

he's had tons of dishes, and

1:06:59

his 40 years of being an

1:07:01

adult, and there is not a

1:07:03

spoon, a fork, none of that,

1:07:06

nothing, no kind of utensils in

1:07:08

the kitchen, okay? So we were

1:07:11

all really puzzled, like, why? You

1:07:13

know, also. Before the mess lab

1:07:15

was discovered there was this gentleman

1:07:18

who came to the door and

1:07:20

my sister Donna Kay was living

1:07:22

at my father's home and he

1:07:25

was asking about cutting the grass

1:07:27

and she put her shoes on

1:07:29

and by the time she put

1:07:32

her shoes on walked outside he

1:07:34

was already in the backyard looking

1:07:36

all around asking all kinds of

1:07:39

questions and like what's going on

1:07:41

here. She said you couldn't figure

1:07:43

out why he kept looking at

1:07:46

the roof and all around the

1:07:48

house. And one of the investigators

1:07:51

said, you know, there's something in

1:07:53

that house. And she brought a

1:07:55

ladder and put it up, and

1:07:58

they went in the attic, and

1:08:00

that's when they found there was

1:08:02

a mess lab up there. I

1:08:05

have been told the name of

1:08:07

this man, but I don't want

1:08:09

to reveal it through this podcast,

1:08:12

in case the criminal investigation to

1:08:14

finding out what happened to Chip

1:08:16

includes him in the future. I

1:08:19

will say, though, that he has

1:08:21

been arrested twice over the past

1:08:23

year. including once for battery and

1:08:26

obstructing justice, and another for DUI.

1:08:28

He has a criminal history, and

1:08:31

many believe him to be involved

1:08:33

in the drug operation. Hence why

1:08:35

he was trying to get into

1:08:38

the house. Perhaps he knew about

1:08:40

the upstairs meth lab, and he

1:08:42

was trying to recover whatever he

1:08:45

could. It's possible that if he

1:08:47

was informed about the drug operation,

1:08:49

then he might have more knowledge

1:08:52

about what Chip Campbell was potentially

1:08:54

tied up in, and what may

1:08:56

have caused him to go missing.

1:08:59

It seemed to click that possibly

1:09:01

they were cooking some meth. My

1:09:04

opinion is that Chip knew that

1:09:06

my sister Donna Kay was going

1:09:08

to come and stay at the

1:09:11

home for a while and I

1:09:13

think that he knew that that

1:09:15

was not going to go. It

1:09:18

was not going to be okay

1:09:20

to do that. I honestly think

1:09:22

that chip was getting rid of

1:09:25

all that. And in my opinion,

1:09:27

is it possible that that action

1:09:29

made someone angry? Maybe the owner

1:09:32

of the mess lab? Maybe. Possibly.

1:09:34

I don't know, but it seems

1:09:36

like that could could be what

1:09:39

has happened. It's rarely. You find

1:09:41

people like that. People that are

1:09:44

just genuinely good people and despite

1:09:46

or in spite of whatever the

1:09:48

situation was that he was involved

1:09:51

in or whatever However deep he

1:09:53

got me and the drug use

1:09:55

or whatever activity was. But that

1:09:58

aside, I mean, doesn't change the

1:10:00

fact that Chip is one of

1:10:02

the best people I knew. One

1:10:05

of the best people I knew.

1:10:07

And it's just, for him to

1:10:09

just go and just be made

1:10:12

to disappear without a trace, without

1:10:14

any kind of closure for the

1:10:16

family, without any kind of explanation

1:10:19

or anything, it's just, he's not

1:10:21

the person that I would have

1:10:24

expected that to happen to. You

1:10:26

know what I mean? It's

1:10:29

hard for me to talk about

1:10:31

Chip Campbell without getting emotional. I

1:10:33

see so much of my family

1:10:35

and I'll just be able to

1:10:38

bury our fucking brother, you know

1:10:40

what I mean? Like, that's really

1:10:42

the biggest thing. It's such a

1:10:44

sad thing that it's being left

1:10:46

open like this, and nobody knows

1:10:48

what happened, you know? It's hard

1:10:50

for me to talk about Chip

1:10:52

Campbell without getting emotional. I see

1:10:55

so much of myself in him.

1:10:57

The issues with depression, loneliness, self-confidence,

1:10:59

you name it. Whereas so many

1:11:01

stories I've featured on the podcast

1:11:03

have scared me, reminding me to

1:11:05

lock my doors and windows at

1:11:07

night, this is one of the

1:11:10

first that made me examine my

1:11:12

life and make me thankful for

1:11:14

all the advantages I have. I

1:11:16

hope many of you feel the

1:11:18

same. It does warm my heart

1:11:20

somewhat that someone like Chip, who

1:11:22

kept so much of his personal

1:11:24

life secret and closely guarded his

1:11:27

emotions, has warranted such a response

1:11:29

from those lucky enough to know

1:11:31

him. Everyone that new Chip Campbell

1:11:33

has nothing but great things to

1:11:35

say about him. They all have

1:11:37

different nicknames for him. The gentle

1:11:39

giant, the silver fox, the chugrenator.

1:11:41

All come from a place of

1:11:44

love. Those that did love him

1:11:46

hope that he is still out

1:11:48

there, alive, ready to return home

1:11:50

at any moment. They hope, with

1:11:52

their heart of hearts, that he

1:11:54

may have just found himself in

1:11:56

something too insurmountable to overcome. So

1:11:59

he decided to run away and

1:12:01

live in the woods. I mean

1:12:03

really at this point like I

1:12:05

just want closure for the family

1:12:07

that's going to be able to

1:12:09

bury my friends because I'm like

1:12:11

I said I'm maybe I'm the

1:12:13

test of the grief and I

1:12:16

am hopeful that he is out

1:12:18

there. I mean, God, I would

1:12:20

love for him to just turn

1:12:22

up and be like, hey, I've

1:12:24

been, you know, camping for a

1:12:26

year, but I just, I'm also

1:12:28

a realist and I don't see

1:12:31

that being likely, just given the

1:12:33

situation and how he left and

1:12:35

who left his dog behind and

1:12:37

hasn't contacted me at all in

1:12:39

any kind of way. I just

1:12:41

don't, not to mention just the

1:12:43

situation and the drug involvement There

1:12:45

was something serious going on. Something

1:12:48

very serious was going on with

1:12:50

people. You know, I've done my

1:12:52

fair share of things. They grew

1:12:54

up in South Florida and I,

1:12:56

you know, I've got friends and

1:12:58

family and I've done it myself

1:13:00

where I've, you know, I've, I've

1:13:02

doubted dabbling, dabbled and dealt dealing

1:13:05

and just other little shit. But

1:13:07

what I mean with like mess

1:13:09

and mess heads and stuff like

1:13:11

that, man, like, they're just dangerously

1:13:13

unpredictable, you know, and I just.

1:13:15

I feel like whoever he owed

1:13:17

money to, like, I don't know

1:13:20

if they intentionally harmed him, but

1:13:22

they came to that house that

1:13:24

day to scare him or hurt

1:13:26

him or get something from him

1:13:28

and, hell, maybe he got hurt

1:13:30

accidentally and they freaked out and

1:13:32

they, you know, covered it up,

1:13:34

got rid of him, whatever, but

1:13:37

I just, I don't see the

1:13:39

likelihood that he's still alive, but

1:13:41

I just doubt it. Chip's gone,

1:13:43

I know that. I'm convinced he's

1:13:45

dead. And I hate saying that

1:13:47

out loud and I try not

1:13:49

to say it to his sisters

1:13:52

and stuff, but the likelihood of

1:13:54

him not being dead is very

1:13:56

unlikely. Chip loved his dog, first

1:13:58

off. He would have never left

1:14:00

his dog behind anywhere. He would

1:14:02

have called me or somebody and

1:14:04

told somebody to watch the dog.

1:14:06

Also, Chip's extremely diabetic. He didn't

1:14:09

bring any insulin with him. I've

1:14:11

seen Chip passed out from not

1:14:13

eating for a couple hours. You

1:14:15

know, that's not something that he

1:14:17

would be able to do without

1:14:19

insulin. And also that was died,

1:14:21

you know, like chips are my

1:14:23

best friend, who's after a year,

1:14:26

I mean, you're talking about over

1:14:28

a year now. Chip would have

1:14:30

contacted me if he was still

1:14:32

alive. He would have contacted me

1:14:34

in some kind of ways or

1:14:36

indirectly or You know through like

1:14:38

an alternate account with a different

1:14:41

name He would have made a

1:14:43

Facebook and called it the chug

1:14:45

or not or something like I

1:14:47

would have heard from him by

1:14:49

now if he was alive Based

1:14:51

on everything that was going on

1:14:53

and the fact that we learned

1:14:55

later on that He was afraid

1:14:58

of someone My biggest instinct is

1:15:00

to think that something has happened

1:15:02

to Chip. I have no proof

1:15:04

that something has happened. Of course,

1:15:06

if we would find him somewhere,

1:15:08

that would be good proof, right?

1:15:10

But is it possible that Chip

1:15:12

just ran off? I think it's

1:15:15

possible. But then I think also

1:15:17

of all the things that have

1:15:19

happened in the last year and

1:15:21

a half. the amount of media

1:15:23

coverage and searches that have been

1:15:25

done for chip. And we've seen

1:15:27

nothing and heard nothing. And also

1:15:30

the fact that we, just a

1:15:32

few months ago, had a really

1:15:34

major hurricane that was televised nationally.

1:15:36

I just think that there's been

1:15:38

so many things that have brought

1:15:40

a lot of public attention. We

1:15:42

would have heard something by now,

1:15:44

that if he was out there,

1:15:47

he would have reached out somehow.

1:15:49

So remember, Chip is actually a

1:15:51

very caring person, you know, and

1:15:53

I don't think that Chip would

1:15:55

have ever left his dog like

1:15:57

that. Chip was a diabetic, and

1:15:59

without any insulin, it would be

1:16:02

almost impossible for him to make

1:16:04

it. between his downward spiral, his

1:16:06

burgeoning substance abuse problems, and his

1:16:08

worries of being in... in danger,

1:16:10

his loved ones have accepted that

1:16:12

Chip is most likely not with

1:16:14

them anymore. But even though they've

1:16:16

accepted that, they have not accepted

1:16:19

the fact that there have been

1:16:21

no answers to any of their

1:16:23

questions. Chip was last seen in

1:16:25

a Circle K. Circle K serves

1:16:27

almost as a beacon of his

1:16:29

downward spiral. His home on Ward

1:16:31

Basin Road was located down the

1:16:33

street from a Circle K. His

1:16:36

life-changing car accident. officially caused by

1:16:38

his diagnosis of diabetic seizures, happened

1:16:40

right outside of the circle K,

1:16:42

where he was last seen, on

1:16:44

Milton Stewart Street. Many, including his

1:16:46

own family, think that the car

1:16:48

accident was the alarm that should

1:16:51

have told them something was wrong.

1:16:53

That perhaps the trigger wasn't necessarily

1:16:55

chips worsening diabetes, but perhaps his

1:16:57

drug use, which would go on

1:16:59

to consume his life. If you

1:17:01

look on Google Maps, you'll notice

1:17:03

that many of the locations in

1:17:05

Milton were last updated in April

1:17:08

of 2016. This was just a

1:17:10

month or so after Chip disappeared,

1:17:12

mere weeks later. It's almost odd

1:17:14

being able to see the world

1:17:16

as it was then, when Chip's

1:17:18

friends and family still held out

1:17:20

hope that he would return home

1:17:23

without issue. Now it's been nearly

1:17:25

two years, and the world looks

1:17:27

a lot colder than it did

1:17:29

then. I just hope. that somehow

1:17:31

he's out there somewhere and you

1:17:33

would hear this story and know

1:17:35

that it's okay to talk to

1:17:37

us. You know, we love him.

1:17:40

And we'll try to get him

1:17:42

all the help he could possibly

1:17:44

use if he's still around. able,

1:17:46

we'd be happy to have him

1:17:48

be back home. And if he's

1:17:50

not, my prayer... is that he

1:17:52

knows he's loved and it would

1:17:54

still be great to bring him

1:17:57

back home and at least know

1:17:59

what happened. Before I begin to

1:18:01

wrap things up, I just want

1:18:03

to touch on a theory that

1:18:05

I haven't really addressed so far,

1:18:07

the theory that Chip is still

1:18:09

alive, out there, somewhere. In the

1:18:12

immediate aftermath of Chip's disappearance, police

1:18:14

began to focus on him as

1:18:16

a runaway. Unlike some of the

1:18:18

other stories I've covered, this theory

1:18:20

did not just appear out of

1:18:22

nowhere. His family members reported to

1:18:24

police that Chip had suffered a

1:18:26

long period of depression, especially in

1:18:29

the months after his car accident

1:18:31

outside of the Circle K where

1:18:33

he would last be seen on

1:18:35

security cameras. They were just worried

1:18:37

that, in his latest bout of

1:18:39

depression and with the fear for

1:18:41

his life, that he might do

1:18:43

something drastic. These family members reported

1:18:46

that Chip may have taken a

1:18:48

handgun belonging to a family member.

1:18:50

This was the same family member

1:18:52

that lived nearby Chip, where he

1:18:54

would go for sandwiches or meals

1:18:56

after losing his car and his

1:18:58

job. Surprisingly, this family member would

1:19:01

report the pistol missing. The gun,

1:19:03

which is a Taurus 380 ACP

1:19:05

High Point handgun, is still missing

1:19:07

to this day, and has been

1:19:09

reported to all of the available

1:19:11

agencies. Police were contacted by Chip's

1:19:13

lifelong friend, Dennis, who told them

1:19:15

that Chip had talked about going

1:19:18

quote off the grid. in the

1:19:20

days and weeks before his disappearance.

1:19:22

With the theft of the handgun,

1:19:24

police began to become convinced that

1:19:26

Chip had followed through on this.

1:19:28

Later, they would find a text

1:19:30

from Chip to another one of

1:19:33

his friends, which claimed to have

1:19:35

gotten a hold of a pistol,

1:19:37

cementing this idea in the early

1:19:39

investigation. I've told you about the

1:19:41

security camera footage of Chip, which

1:19:43

was taken from the Circle K

1:19:45

on the afternoon of March 8th,

1:19:47

2016. Well, police would later find

1:19:50

additional security footage of Chip from

1:19:52

the surrounding area. This footage showed

1:19:54

Chip walking north from that Circle

1:19:56

K, towards the area of the

1:19:58

Blackwater... trail. This trail, which is

1:20:00

approximately eight miles in length, runs

1:20:02

through some woodlands and leads up

1:20:04

to the Blackwater wildlife area, which

1:20:07

is, in itself, a giant swath

1:20:09

of land. It would be a

1:20:11

prime place for someone to live,

1:20:13

quote, off the grid, as Chip

1:20:15

had mentioned to his friends. Police

1:20:17

investigated this trail and found no

1:20:19

trace of Chip, but then again,

1:20:22

there are countless foot trails that

1:20:24

lead further into the woods. Is

1:20:26

it possible that Chip went off

1:20:28

to live as a mountain man?

1:20:30

With his asthma and diabetes, it's

1:20:32

very unlikely. On April 23rd, 2016,

1:20:34

just about a month after Chip

1:20:36

disappeared, a witness at Lenny's subshop

1:20:39

in Mary Esther, Florida, reported seeing

1:20:41

a man that looked like Chip

1:20:43

Campbell. Mary Esther is a town

1:20:45

about an hour southeast of Milton,

1:20:47

right along the Florida coastline. This

1:20:49

witness saw a man matching chips

1:20:51

description, wearing a white hat, a

1:20:54

black jacket, black pants, and old-looking

1:20:56

white and black tennis shoes. This

1:20:58

incident was reported over a week

1:21:00

later, so the security footage had

1:21:02

already been written over, but the

1:21:04

incident occurred at roughly 6.20 p.m.

1:21:06

Is it possible that this mysterious

1:21:08

man was Chip Campbell? In my

1:21:11

opinion, absolutely. But at this point,

1:21:13

Chip's family and friends who knew

1:21:15

him best don't think that he

1:21:17

would be so cruel and withhold

1:21:19

his whereabouts from them for so

1:21:21

long. That no matter what the

1:21:23

problem was or what the debt

1:21:25

was or what the issue was

1:21:28

that Chip's family, Chip himself, his

1:21:30

friends deserve some kind of closure.

1:21:32

He was a good person. You

1:21:34

know, there's people, and I've even

1:21:36

said this about myself throughout this

1:21:38

whole investigation, that like, you know,

1:21:40

I've done things that weren't great,

1:21:43

you know, and it's one of

1:21:45

those, you know, there are people

1:21:47

in the world that shit like

1:21:49

just happened to. And nobody misses,

1:21:51

you know what I mean? Like,

1:21:53

you look at the situation, you're

1:21:55

like, oh, well, they deserved it.

1:21:57

They brought it. on themselves or

1:22:00

a piece of shit, whatever the

1:22:02

case may be. Chip's not that person. Chip

1:22:04

was never that person. Like did he

1:22:06

fall into some really dark times toward

1:22:08

the end and probably get himself a

1:22:10

little too in deep in a situation

1:22:12

he couldn't get out of? Yeah, absolutely. But Chip

1:22:14

deserves better and chip doesn't deserve to be

1:22:16

left to a ditch somewhere or whatever the

1:22:18

case may be. Like he was one of

1:22:21

those people that no matter what the situation

1:22:23

was, like he would have done what he

1:22:25

could have, whatever he could to make to make

1:22:27

it to make it right. Really

1:22:30

that's it man just that he's

1:22:32

a way better person than

1:22:34

me man and deserves deserves better

1:22:36

than whatever happened to him.

1:22:39

Somebody out there knows something I

1:22:41

just wish they would would talk

1:22:43

because you can't even imagine what

1:22:46

it's like to have someone that

1:22:48

you love that you care about

1:22:50

just go missing. One day

1:22:53

they're fine they're here and

1:22:55

the next day you're trying

1:22:57

to contact them. and they

1:22:59

don't call, they don't come

1:23:01

home, they don't take care

1:23:04

of the responsibilities that

1:23:06

they have, and you

1:23:08

know something's wrong. It's

1:23:11

the worst feeling, and

1:23:13

until you actually experience

1:23:15

it yourself, you won't understand.

1:23:19

But believe me, those of

1:23:21

our families left behind,

1:23:23

we're sort of like a

1:23:26

really weird group to belong

1:23:28

to. We

1:23:31

all understand each

1:23:33

other and it's sort

1:23:35

of like a strange

1:23:37

clan, you know, and I

1:23:39

really hope that people

1:23:42

will stop having

1:23:44

to experience this. I

1:23:46

believe, I don't know

1:23:48

how many, every 40

1:23:51

seconds someone goes

1:23:53

missing, that's an

1:23:55

alarming statistic,

1:23:58

you know. And I hear... those

1:24:00

who have family members

1:24:02

that are missing for

1:24:04

20, 30 years or more

1:24:07

and I think that's

1:24:09

really sad. I really hope

1:24:11

that somehow we can

1:24:13

get a little better at

1:24:16

finding out what happened

1:24:19

for finding these missing

1:24:21

loved ones. I thank

1:24:23

you and people just like

1:24:26

you who dedicate their

1:24:28

time and their attention to

1:24:30

bring awareness to these cases,

1:24:33

to get it out in

1:24:35

the public, because someone

1:24:38

knows something. And if

1:24:40

we could just get those

1:24:42

people to come forward

1:24:44

or just to speak something,

1:24:47

even if they don't

1:24:49

think it's significant, it

1:24:52

could hold the key to an

1:24:54

answer to what happened. Thank

1:24:57

you very much Michael. We

1:24:59

really appreciate all the work

1:25:01

that you're doing to bring

1:25:04

awareness. It brings a

1:25:06

form of comfort also to

1:25:08

families who are able to

1:25:10

talk about the ones they

1:25:12

love. I really, really appreciate

1:25:14

your help and anyone else

1:25:16

out there listening has a

1:25:19

family member that's gone missing.

1:25:21

You're not alone. then we're

1:25:24

all here for each other,

1:25:26

okay? Chip's

1:26:08

story has been featured on at

1:26:10

least three other podcast over the

1:26:12

past few months. The vanished, the

1:26:14

Apex and the Abyss, and Unfound.

1:26:16

All have offered opinions and

1:26:19

insight into the case, and I,

1:26:21

along with Chip's friends and family,

1:26:23

are grateful to them for featuring

1:26:25

his story. Chip Michael Campbell was

1:26:27

approximately six feet and two inches tall,

1:26:29

and weighed roughly 190 pounds at the

1:26:32

time of his disappearance. He was 36

1:26:34

years old. with graying brown hair and

1:26:36

brown eyes. He had a tattoo on

1:26:38

his upper left arm, which was a

1:26:41

frog with a bat wing set in

1:26:43

outer space. He had once worn a

1:26:45

nose piercing, but had not been seen

1:26:47

with it for some time before his

1:26:50

disappearance. Chip had gotten into a fight

1:26:52

roughly eight or nine years ago, and

1:26:54

he broke his jaw as a result.

1:26:56

These injuries may match up with some

1:26:59

record somewhere, so please keep that in

1:27:01

mind. Chip was last seen wearing

1:27:03

a long-sleeved camo print

1:27:05

t-print t-shirt. Blue jeans and

1:27:07

size 13 white sneakers. If you

1:27:09

have any information about

1:27:12

Chip Campbell, you could contact

1:27:14

the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's

1:27:16

Office. The official in charge

1:27:19

of the case, Detective Duran

1:27:21

Nelson, can be phoned at

1:27:23

850-983-2234. Chip's family are still

1:27:25

hoping to raise funding to

1:27:27

hire a private investigator. who

1:27:29

will hopefully be able to

1:27:31

do some digging and conduct

1:27:33

research that they themselves are

1:27:35

unable to do so. If

1:27:37

you have been touched by

1:27:39

this story as I have,

1:27:41

you could head to go

1:27:43

fund me.com/find chip to support

1:27:45

their efforts. And of course,

1:27:48

Class Kids, the non-profit organization

1:27:50

that helped conduct searches for

1:27:52

chip, could always use an extra

1:27:54

little bit of help. You could

1:27:56

head to their website, Class kids.org.

1:27:59

That's K. to learn more and

1:28:01

donate. As I've told those I've spoken

1:28:03

to regarding Chip, I hope to be

1:28:05

able to bring you an update in

1:28:08

the near future, telling you that Chip's

1:28:10

case file has been closed. However, until

1:28:12

such time, I can only say that

1:28:14

the story of Chip Michael Campbell remains

1:28:17

unresolved. Thank

1:29:03

you for listening to this episode of the

1:29:05

Unresolved Podcast. I would like to give a

1:29:08

special thank you to Chip's entire family and

1:29:10

his cast of friends. I was lucky to

1:29:12

be able to speak to his sisters and

1:29:14

his friends throughout the making of this episode,

1:29:16

and I'm so grateful to all of them.

1:29:18

I am also so grateful to have

1:29:21

the support and assistance of the

1:29:23

Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office, who

1:29:25

contributed their police records to clarify

1:29:27

some information for me. Thank you. I

1:29:30

honestly don't know what to say after

1:29:32

such an episode. The story of Chip

1:29:35

Campbell has had quite a profound

1:29:37

impact on me. When speaking to

1:29:39

his sister, Laura, she told me

1:29:41

that she only hoped Chip's story

1:29:43

could serve as a tool for

1:29:45

someone struggling with their own demons,

1:29:47

whether they be depression, loneliness, or

1:29:49

substance abuse. If you are

1:29:51

struggling with anything this holiday season,

1:29:53

please reach out to those close to

1:29:55

you. And if they don't have the time,

1:29:58

reach out to someone who can help. reach

1:30:00

out to me. I may be pretty crummy about responding

1:30:02

to emails in a timely manner, but I

1:30:04

can hopefully help you get in touch with

1:30:06

someone who could help you out. Just please

1:30:09

everyone. Even if you feel alone in

1:30:11

this world, you're not. There's someone out

1:30:13

there that loves you, and they do whatever they

1:30:15

could to help you. So please, just don't

1:30:17

bury your problems and hope they'll disappear.

1:30:19

You need to work through them, but there

1:30:21

are people out there who can help you with that.

1:30:23

If you would like to stay in touch with

1:30:25

me, you could do so via

1:30:28

social media, via social media. At

1:30:30

Unresolved Pot on Twitter or backslash

1:30:32

Unresolved Pot on Facebook. The

1:30:34

podcast can be reached through

1:30:36

email, either the Unresolved Podcast@gmail.com

1:30:39

or Michael at Unresolved at

1:30:41

ME. Once again, that's Michael, E

1:30:43

before the A. It's weird, I know. You

1:30:45

could also get in touch via phone.

1:30:48

You can send in your text and

1:30:50

voicemails to 831, 200, 3550. If you

1:30:52

would like to support the podcast, you

1:30:54

could do so by simply heading to

1:30:56

iTunes and leaving the podcast a five-star

1:30:58

rating and a positive review. If you

1:31:01

want to go above and beyond that,

1:31:03

you could head to patron.com/unresolved pod to

1:31:05

get access to some cool perks I've

1:31:07

tried to set up. That is of course, after

1:31:09

you go to Chip's Family's Go Fund

1:31:11

Me page and donating to Class Kids.

1:31:13

Before I wrap things up, I just want to

1:31:16

give out a quick shout-out to the

1:31:18

patrons who have helped support the podcast.

1:31:20

and to my friends Vanessa Fierson and

1:31:22

Tyson Nordgren. Vanessa, as you

1:31:25

may all know, is the host of

1:31:27

the cleaning of John Doe podcast, and

1:31:29

she recorded a little segment for this

1:31:31

episode. Her podcast is great, so please go

1:31:33

and check it out. Also, I need to

1:31:35

thank Tyson for constantly helping

1:31:37

out with the podcast. He

1:31:39

consistently offers its outstanding original

1:31:41

music and production expertise to

1:31:43

the podcast, and I am

1:31:45

so grateful. Thanks, buddy. Also, if

1:31:47

any of you are in the market

1:31:49

for some... podcast editing, you could head

1:31:51

to E audio productions. They've been helping

1:31:53

me out with the editing and they've

1:31:55

done a great job. Sadly, this will

1:31:57

probably be the last official episode. of

1:32:00

2017. I have something fun planned for

1:32:02

the weekend before Christmas, but I'll

1:32:04

probably be taking a week or

1:32:06

so off afterwards. However, I think

1:32:08

you'll all enjoy what I have

1:32:10

planned for this next episode. If

1:32:12

you've been a fan of my

1:32:14

prior April Fool's holiday specials, I

1:32:16

think you'll find it fun. I'll

1:32:18

be featuring some guests which many

1:32:20

of you may probably be pretty

1:32:22

familiar with. Hopefully that'll help

1:32:25

liven up spirits. But until next time,

1:32:27

I hope you all stay safe and I'll talk

1:32:29

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