A reunion between two retired detectives brings new focus to the Aujay investigation, just as Hayley and Betsy find out about another tragedy in the Punchbowl area. When a woman and her father are shot dead in deputy Engels’ home, the fatalities should’ve prompted the sheriff’s department to take a harder look at the alleged dirty deputy. But, instead, the LASD tries to bury the matter and — just like in the Aujay case — the deaths are ruled suicides. Hayley and Betsy press the department for answers about these and other suspicious deaths that occurred in Engels’ jurisdiction. Hear the full Valley of Shadows soundtrack here. Binge the entire season of Valley of Shadows, ad-free, by subscribing to Pushkin+. Sign up on the Valley of Shadows show page on Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm/plus. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 7: The Trial
16/02/2026 | 50 min
While the DEA showers Hager in accolades, the LASD turns against him. But Hager fights back, and drags the department’s dirty secrets out into open court. Betsy and Hayley go through thousands of pages of court documents, including internal LASD memos and recordings, to find out what the department knows about Aujay’s disappearance. Hear the full Valley of Shadows soundtrack here. Binge the entire season of Valley of Shadows, ad-free, by subscribing to Pushkin+. Sign up on the Valley of Shadows show page on Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm/plus. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 6: The Big Takedown
09/02/2026 | 42 min
Brandenburg is taken off the Aujay case, but the LASD can’t stop Hager and the federal task force. With the help of wiretaps, informants, and 18 months of investigation, the team pulls off one of the largest drug stings in Antelope Valley history and nets a key witness in the Aujay case. Hear the full Valley of Shadows soundtrack here. Binge the entire season of Valley of Shadows, ad-free, by subscribing to Pushkin+. Sign up on the Valley of Shadows show page on Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm/plus. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 5: The Legend of Bigfoot
02/02/2026 | 43 min
Decades before Jon Aujay’s disappearance, the Devil’s Punchbowl was infamous for something else: Bigfoot sightings. Sasquatch became a known boogeyman in the area. But beneath the folklore lies something real —- a local deputy, named Rick Engels, whose reputation inspires a different kind of fear. As detectives Brandenburg and Hager look into their colleague, they uncover a surprising connection to the Aujay case. Hear the full Valley of Shadows soundtrack here. Binge the entire season of Valley of Shadows, ad-free, by subscribing to Pushkin+. Sign up on the Valley of Shadows show page on Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm/plus. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 4: Outlaw Country
26/01/2026 | 46 min
As Detective Brandenburg follows leads in the Aujay case, he finds himself with an unlikely ally. A young buck narcotics detective named Darren Hager, who’s trying to dismantle a meth syndicate run by a local biker gang. Hager discovers that his bikers have a disturbing connection to Aujay’s disappearance — and to some of his own LASD colleagues. So he brings in the big guns, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and they launch a covert task force. Hear the full Valley of Shadows soundtrack here. Binge the entire season of Valley of Shadows, ad-free, by subscribing to Pushkin+. Sign up on the Valley of Shadows show page on Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm/plus. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How the search for a missing deputy uncovered the Mojave Desert's meth epidemic, the outlaw bikers supplying it, and the corrupt police force covering it up.
On June 11, 1998, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy Jon Aujay went for a run in California’s Devil’s Punchbowl park. A long-distance runner and former military, Aujay felt at home in the rocky terrain, but when he didn’t return home by nightfall, his wife reported him missing. Nearly 30 years later, Aujay has yet to be found and the mystery surrounding his disappearance has only deepened.
Some say Aujay is just another missing hiker, claimed by the inhospitable landscape of the Southern California desert. Some say he took his own life out there. But there’s another theory that many of Aujay’s friends and LASD colleagues are convinced is true… that he was the victim of foul play, and that his own department is covering it up.
Through exclusive interviews, revealing wiretaps, and buried police files, investigative reporters Hayley Fox and Betsy Shepherd dig into what the sheriff’s department has kept hidden all these years.
Told over 8 episodes, Valley of Shadows follows the hairpin turns of the Aujay case, and breaks new ground in the search to uncover what really happened to the missing deputy. New episodes release on Mondays.
Binge the entire season of Valley of Shadows, ad-free, by subscribing to Pushkin+. Sign up on the Valley of Shadows show page on Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm/plus. Hear the full Valley of Shadows soundtrack on Spotify.
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