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Episode 2: An Unreasonable Act from Valley of Shadows

January 19, 2026·41 min·2 clips

Bosco was allegedly shot for 20 cents and discarded in a dumpster behind the kennel.

1. Valley of Shadows: Episode 2, “An Unreasonable Act,” examines the 1998 disappearance of Deputy John Ajay from California’s Devil’s Punchbowl.\n2. Reporters Betsy Shepard and Haley Fox investigate Ajay’s case using interviews, department records, and material supplied by retired Captain Mike Bauer.\n3. The episode asks whether the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department supported its suicide ruling with evidence or with interpretations of Ajay’s marriage and personality.\n4. Ajay’s police dog Bosco lived with Ajay, Debbie, and their daughter Chloe and appeared prominently in family photographs.\n5. Bauer says the department told him Bosco died naturally at a kennel after stopping eating when Ajay disappeared.\n6. An unnamed deputy allegedly told Bauer that he and another deputy shot Bosco because the dog was dangerous without Ajay.\n7. Schoolteacher Dave Evanson met Ajay at Devil’s Punchbowl shortly before the disappearance while taking a fifth-grade class on a field trip.\n8. Evanson remembers Ajay answering children’s questions about Bosco and discussing wilderness safety before continuing his run.\n9. The sheriff’s department cited marital conflict, a missing off-duty gun, couples counseling, and Ajay’s statement to “have a nice life” in its suicide theory.\n10. The department’s report described Ajay as disciplined and opposed to divorce while concluding that suicide was overwhelmingly likely.\n11. Ajay’s girlfriend Vicky DeVita described him as preparing for a future after separating from Debbie rather than preparing to die.\n12. Debbie told Bauer that Ajay had never threatened suicide and that “have a nice life” was not a suicide threat.\n13. Retired officer Dave Rathbun says Ajay loved his daughter Chloe and rejects the idea that Ajay would intentionally abandon her.\n14. A gas-station charge and a dashboard sunshield suggest Ajay expected to return to his truck after running at Devil’s Punchbowl.\n15. Deputy Randy Heberle says he saw Ajay’s stainless-steel, five-shot revolver inside the locked truck.\n16. Sergeant Vince Burton recalls multiple deputies reporting the gun and says it was never shown as booked into evidence.\n17. Bauer’s Idaho ranch, where he cares for dogs, horses, ducks, deer, and turkeys, illustrates his intense attachment to animals and to the Ajay case.\n18. Larry Lincoln’s recorded message says Ajay alone was responsible for his death and that “one cannot find reason in an unreasonable act.”\n19. Listeners drawn to unresolved disappearances, investigative reporting, and disputed police evidence will find this episode relevant.\n20. Listeners seeking a closed case or a light entertainment format might skip it.

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