Missing and murdered indigenous people
If you have spent any time reading about true crime, you probably know that American Indian/ Native American women go missing from the United States and Canada at alarming rates. On some reservations, women experience violence and are victims of homicide at 10x the rate of women in other communities.
But what about men and boys? Missing and murdered Indigenous boys and men are the forgotten group of this epidemic of violence on tribal land and many families are aching to see the cases of their missing/murdered male loved ones solved. Just like with the missing women, men and boys are going missing at an alarming rate on tribal land, but race is not the only factor. Men (and women) of all ethnicities who live on the Yakama reservation are missing and murdered at disturbing rates.
Missing and murdered indigenous people is a complex issue with prejudice and jurisdictional issues playing major roles. If you want to know more about the root of these issues, I suggest “Missing and Murdered” podcast by Indigenous Canadian journalist Connie Walker, who explains the issues much better than I ever could; that podcast is linked below.
Today, I want to highlight the stories of some of these men and boys, specifically those missing from the Yakama community. Because there are so many missing people who are practically unknown, I have decided to profile the cases of ALL the men and boys missing from the reservation, regardless of race.
This is a companion piece to another write up I completed about missing women and girls from the Yakama reservation. That write up can be found here. If some sections sound similar that is probably why. https://www.reddit.com/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/htvnv6/extensive_write_up_on_missing_and_murdered/
Background
Washington state is home to the fifth largest Indian reservation in the United States, the Yakama reservation, which is home to the Klickitat, Palus, Wallawalla, Wenatchi, Whishram, Wanapum, and Yakama people. According to the US Census Bureau, only the Osage, Puyallup (also in Washington state), Navajo, and Choctaw reservations are more populous. The Yakama reservation is located in South Central Washington state, just south of the city of Yakima. Of the 31,000 people who lived on the reservation, 11,000 are enrolled tribal members. Most people who live on the reservation claim Hispanic/Latino, white, or mixed-race descent, but Hispanic is by far the most common ethnic group. There are also small Filipino, Japanese, and Korean communities nearby. The Yakama reservation is located just south of the town of Yakima, Washington, a large farming community of 100,000 people. Apples, cherries, peaches, pears, grapes, and hops are all grown in the dry surrounding region. Harvest time brings thousands of migrant workers to the area, so the population is always in flux.
Outside of Yakima is the town of Union Gap (Pop. 8000), which is partially on the reservation, and partially off it. There are two other proper towns on reservation, Toppenish (pop. 8000) and Wapato (pop. 5000). Other small communities such as Satus, Harrah, White Swan, and Granger all boast several hundred residents each. All in all, the Yakama nation consists of 2,200 square miles of sprawling, rural land stretching from south central Washington nearly to the Oregon border. But from this unassuming patch of high desert and grassland, more than 30 Native women have gone missing/were murdered. If we add Native men to the equation, the number jumps to nearly 40 unsolved disappearances, deaths, and murders. If we add the deaths and disappearances of non-native people missing from the reservation, the number grows yet again.
Although the land is vast, the tribal population is small. From my estimates over .5% of native people on the reservation are missing or murdered. Like many tribal communities, unemployment and poverty is common, appropriate housing is scare, and according to the tribal council "disregard for the rule of law and general civil unrest" as well as gun violence and substance abuse is common. In 2019 a curfew was instated after a particularly bad shooting.
According to the Washington State Patrol, the Yakama nation has the highest percentage of missing people of any Native community in the state, even though they are not the most populous. The FBI created a task force in 2009 to investigate the possibility of serial killer among the Yakama, but the investigation determined that a serial killer was unlikely, but not impossible. This was because the causes of death were so different from victim to victim. The investigation did close 2 cases on the reservation after DNA on both women linked them to a man serving life in an Oregon prison, but the man is not believed to be responsible for any other crimes in the inquiry.
Whether a serial killer is loose on tribal land or not, this issue is complex and long standing and demonstrates how much substance abuse, domestic violence, accidents, and random crime affect the native communities in this county at 10x the rate of other communities. Some progress has been made such as state bill 2951 which allows Washington state authorities to track cases and help investigate and search for missing individuals on tribal land. Because tribal lands are usually under federal jurisdiction, state authorities previously were not able to help, despite being more familiar with the area than the FBI. This is only one small step in the right direction and although awareness is growing, the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous people will not simply go away.
Many people have heard of this epidemic, but few know the names of the victims; today it is time to change that. Below are the profiles of 20 men and boys who are missing, murdered, or who have suffered mysterious deaths. For some of the individuals very little information is available. The list below is not necessarily complete. If you know of other unsolved cases let me know in the comments below.
Quick guide: Yakima- large town near, but not on, the reservation
Yakama- the tribe and people group
NOTE: all cases organized most to least recent. In order to be profiled the cases in this piece must have some connection to the Yakama Indian reservation. This could mean those who lived on the reservation, were last seen on the reservation, are believed to be missing within the confines of reservation, or are of Yakama heritage by birth. Hope that makes sense.
Missing
Bernard Schieber, 86, of Yakima has not been seen since Aug. 8, 2019, when he left his home in the 2500 block of South 84th Avenue in Yakima. His black, full-size Chevrolet pickup was found a few weeks later in a closed portion of the Yakama Nation reservation. It appears to have been parked normally and not crashed or damaged. When he left his home in the city of Yakima, Bernard had only ¼ tank of gas and no money. He suffers from dementia. Bernard is described as a white male with blue eyes and gray hair. He weighs 190 lbs. and stands 5’ 11” tall. Anyone with any information about Schieber is asked to call the Yakima County Sheriff's Office at 509-574-2500. He is still missing.
Josiah “Jo” Michael Hilderbrand aged 25 and his friend 47-year-old Jon Joseph Cleary left southern California in early June 2020 to travel to a Grateful Dead concert at The Gorge a venue in Washington state. Both men were traveling together in a light blue 2004 Honda Civic hybrid when they were last heard from on June 7th, 2019. On June 8th their abandoned burned out car was found 8 miles west of Toppenish in a deserted, rural area of the reservation. The FBI has stated they believe the men are dead but they are officially listed as missing.
Josiah Hilderbrand is described as white male, age 25, with light brown wavy hair and blue eyes. He is 5’8” and 165 lbs. He has a neck tattoo. Jon Cleary is a white male, 47 years old, and 6’3” in height weighing 230 lbs. He has brown/gray hair and beard and brown eyes. He usually wears a baseball cap.
Remains found August 5th, 2020 near Toppenish may belong to the men. The FBI is handling the case as the men were found on tribal land. The families are offering $35,000 for information that can solve the murders. Even if the remains are those of the “Dead Heads” the crimes of their deaths remain unsolved.
Strangely enough Hilderbrand and Cleary died on the same day that a mass shooting occurred in White Swan where two men, Donovan Quinn Carter Cloud and James Dean Cloud, killed five people. The shooters have been convicted in that crime and some have speculated that both crimes are related. This mass shooting was the crime that inspired that reservation-wide curfew to be put into effect.
Elias Chief Culps, 25, was last seen in White Swan on Dec. 27, 2018 and has not been heard from since. In 2015 Elias was a witness in a court case about unreasonable searches and seizures and whose jurisdiction should be involved when fugitives are found on tribal land- the outcome of that case is unknown. There is little information available about Elias’ disappearance. Those with information are asked to call the Yakama Nation Police Department at 509-865-2933, case number 19-009167. He is described as a Native American male, 5’6”-5’7” in height and 150-170 lbs. He has brown hair and eyes and a tattoo on his neck.
Jose Francisco Canales a 43-year-old father of 7 children was last heard from on July 7, 2018 in Harrah, Washington where he resided with his wife of nineteen years. He was last seen at La Guadalupana (a store in Harrah) on July 6, 2018 where he cashed his paycheck. The next day, July 7th, he called his boss to report that he would not be coming into work that day. This was the last time anyone saw or heard from Canales. He is described as a Hispanic male, 5’7” or 5’8” in height and 145 lbs. with brown hair and eyes. He has a scar on his left hand about 1” in length and a tattoo of a heart on his right arm/shoulder area. He was last seen wearing along-sleeved t-shirt (possibly green), blue jeans, brown sneakers and a blue baseball cap. He has a receding hairline and some gray hairs in his beard. Canales may be driving a gray 1994 Ford Ranger single cab pickup truck with the Washington license plate number B53351T. There may be a green 2018 Polaris 450HO four-wheeler in the bed of the truck; it has the vehicle identification number (VIN) 4XASEA509JA252860. Canales's case remains unsolved.
Rolando Gabriel "Gabby" Gutierrez, of Mabton has been missing since Sept. 16, 2017. The 44-year-old was the oldest of six siblings and was close to his family. When his family last heard from him, Gutierrez was in Puerto Peñasco, also known as Rocky Point, a Mexican fishing and resort city on the Gulf of California. He was staying in the area and had weekly phone contact with his family. Gabby was planning to come home for his niece’s birthday in October, but he never made it. One of his sisters worried that Gabby was “wrapped up” in the drug trade. In November 2019, forensic scientists in the Mexican state of Sonora announced that they had recovered 52 bodies and skeletons from a mass grave near Puerto Peñasco. Gabby’s family told an Associated Press reporter that they thought there might be a chance his body was among them, but this is not known for certain. Rolando “Gabby” Gutierrez is described as either a Hispanic or a mixed race (Caucasian/ Hispanic) male who is 5’10” in height and weights 180-260 lbs. He has black hair and brown eyes but he shaves his head. He also has a zodiac cancer symbol tattooed on his arm and has pierced nipples. There is currently a go fund me for Gabby’s family so one of his siblings can travel to Mexico to give their DNA for comparison. Mexican authorities are investigating this case.
Kristopher Fowler, 34, was last seen Oct. 12, 2016. Fowler, affectionately known as "Sherpa" and “Kris” was hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and had started at the border with Mexico with a goal of completing the 2,800-mile trek to the Canadian border. He was last seen in the White Pass area only a few hundred miles from his destination. Kris was last seen at a convenience store in very rural Yakima county. Kris is described as a white male, 6’2” and 165 lbs. He has blonde hair and beard and blue eyes. He is believed to be lost in the wilderness. His step mother still hopes the body can be recovered some day. Those with information should call the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office at 509-574-2500.
Joseph Eric Miranda Jr., 24, has been missing from Granger since May 26, 2016. Reports say Joseph went to his bedroom on May 26, 2016 around 10:30 pm after talking with his father. His mother went to check on him in the morning but he was nowhere to be found. She last saw him late on the evening of May 25, 2016 and initially thought he had gone on a walk never returned. It is unclear if Miranda and his wife also lived at the house with his parents or if he was only staying there. According to one source, Miranda left his wife a note that said he “wouldn’t be seeing her for a while.” Miranda had a bank card and a cellphone with him when he disappeared, but because the cellphone was a government issued phone (a burner phone maybe?) it cannot be pinged. His bank card was last used on May 25th to buy a soda at a gas station and it has never been used again. He left his keys and his car at his parent’s home. There has been some activity on Miranda’s social security card but it is unknown if the user is Miranda or an identity thief. Joseph’s favorite movie is a 2014 film called Wild, about a girl who hikes through the wilderness of the Pacific Crest trail. His family worries he embarked on a similar journey and either got lost of met with foul play. They ask that if Joseph is out there to please contact them so that they know he is alive and well.
Joseph is described as a Hispanic male, 5’7” or 5”8 and 180-195 lbs. He has black hair and brown eyes. Miranda had long hair and a beard at the time of his disappearance and usually wore his hair long but occasionally cut it very short. He wears prescription eyeglasses with silver frames. He has a strawberry birthmark on his chest and a small mole on his upper lip. When last seen he was wearing multi colored swim trunks, a green long-sleeved shirt and superman flip flops. He often wears flip flops, his Rx glasses, and bandanas or hats on his head. If you have seen Miranda or have information please called the Granger PD at 509-854-2656.
Chad Nathan Stotz-Gomez, 36 of Union Gap, drifted between homeless camps at the time of his disappearance, but talked to his mother and other family members regularly. He was last seen on July 10th 2015. He has not been seen or heard from since. Some believe that this case is connected to the case of Cody Turner (details below). The same day Stotz-Gomez disappeared, there was shooting at a homeless camp between Yakima and Selah, Washington. The victim, a 36-year-old woman, was injured but the victim has not cooperated with law enforcement and no arrests have been made. Police found Stotz-Gomez's DNA at the shooting scene. Some have speculated that the shooting is connected to the November 2015 murder of Norma Emmerson, who was shot in the head outside East Selah, Washington. Some reports say Norma had information about a homicide committed by her ex-boyfriend, Raven Cutler. Cutler ultimately pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Cutler told Cody Turner's mother he'd seen Cody Turner (case below) and Stotz-Gomez together in downtown Yakima, but his information has not been verified. Other witnesses believe that the two men, Turner and Stotz-Gomez, knew each other casually and believe that their disappearances must be related.
In the past Stotz-Gomez has lived in New York and Montana and he may have traveled there. At the time of his disappearance, was required to check in weekly with the police. Stotz-Gomez is described as a Hispanic or mixed-race Hispanic/Caucasian male, 5’9” and 180-190 lbs. He has black hair and brown eyes and usually wears a beard. He has the following tattoos: barbed wire on his upper left arm, a skull with wings on his right arm, the letters "SUR" on one hand, the number 13 on the other hand, and a small cholo face on his chest. If you have any information please contact the Yakima County Sheriff's Office 509-574-2550.
Cody Turner, 24, was last seen July 26, 2015, in Yakima leaving the home he shared with his father and grandparents. Cody had been gone that day with his dog Ariel but arrived at the home in the evening where he ate, showered, and picked up some cigarettes before leaving the house again. He had his cellphone on him but since July 28th, 2015 the phone has gone straight to voicemail. According to some sources Cody was homeless at the time of his disappearance but according to others he lived at his grandparent’s house with his father. Cody has a history of meth usage and his family believes he was using at the time of his disappearance. Despite his drug use, Cody’s family said he usually returned home every evening and talked to his family daily. He does not have a history of dropping out of sight or being out of touch with his family.
Cody is described as a white male 5'5 - 5'7, 150 - 170 pounds. He has sandy colored hair and green eyes. He keeps his hair very short and tidy. He sometimes wears facial hair (a goatee and mustache) which he keeps short. Turner's nickname is Cooter. He has two scars, one on his left wrist and one on his abdomen. His ears and tongue are pierced, but he had stopped wearing his earrings and tongue ring prior to his disappearance. Turner has the following tattoos: the name "Natilie" with flames and barbed wire on his right bicep, three skulls with swords going through them on his left bicep, and a tribal stamp on the inside of his upper left arm. Turner has previously fractured his left foot and he smokes cigarettes. His case may be connected to Chad- Stotz Gomez’s case which is why it is included in this piece, even though he has no connection to the reservation.
Justin Lee McConville has been missing from Toppenish since sometime in January 2015. He was 24 years old at the time and was last seen on the Yakama reservation, but often travels to Oregon and fishes along the Columbia River. Some sources say he is nomadic and had no permanent address but others say he lives in Toppenish. Justin is described as a Native American male with long brown hair which he wears in a pony tail and brown eyes. McConville has a half-sleeve tattoo of a Native American man, Chief Joseph, on his upper right arm. He also has a tattoo of a tribal fishing design on his left arm and a tattoo of a Native American design on his back. He is 6’0”-6’2” and weights 165 lbs. Yakama Tribal Police are investigating. They can be reached at 509-865-2933.
Anthony “Tony” Peters, also known as Anthony Colfax Peters, 56, was last seen in October 2014 at Legends Casino in Toppenish. According to his sister, Peters was homeless at the time, living with relatives or friends or elsewhere when necessary, but he regularly talked to his family and friends. According to his sister, Alfrieda, Tony like many homeless individuals had a complicated life. His temper sometimes got him into trouble, but eventually he always came around. His sister remembers him as a natural born artist who did powwow dancing, beadwork, and drawing for fun. He was also a good singer. In the past, he has been known to travel to other nearby reservations such as the Umatilla or Warm Springs. He has also been known to travel to Seattle. He would drop out of sight from time to time, but never for more than a few weeks.
Tony is described as a Native American male with black hair and brown eyes. Peter’s nickname is Tony, and he may use the name Anthony Colfax Peters. He has an overlapped front tooth and one front tooth is missing. He is 5’6” and his weight fluctuates regularly. His missing person case remains open with the Yakama Nation Police Department, number 15-006132.
Roland Elton Woodall Sconawah a Yakama by birth was last seen in either Lyle or Dallesport Washington in November, 2013. Both communities lie on the Columbia river in Klickitat county in what was once the land of the Yakama people. Tribal members have fishing rights in the area even though it is not technically on the reservation. This is where Roland was last seen. The 23-year-old was somewhat transient. He went missing under unclear circumstances. Roland is described as a Native American male with brown eyes and black hair. He stands at 5'6 - 5'8, and weighs 140 - 160 pounds. He is sometimes referred to as Roland Sconawah Sam. Klickitat county sheriff’s office 509-773-4545, is investigating.
Ira Kennedy Yallup Sr. was last seen at the Lone Pine fishing site near The Dalles, OR. in May 2010. His family has offered a $1,000 reward for information about his whereabouts. He is a Native male in his 50s with black hair. No other vital statistics are available and he does not even have a Charley Project page. Yakama tribal police are investigating.
Francisco Javier Mendoza was 27 years old when he was last seen in the early morning hours of June 8th 1994 leaving a 7-11 convenience store in Toppenish. Francisco was with two friends at the time. Later that morning, the three friends were outside of Toppenish when their car broke down. Francisco apparently went walking in the direction of town in order to get help and vanished into the night. He has never been seen again. Few details are available and his friends’ story is considered suspicious. Francisco is described as a Hispanic male, 5’5” in height weighing 160 lbs. He has black hair and brown eyes. Mendoza may have a mustache, beard or a goatee. Some agencies may spell his first name "Franciso." He was wearing a white tank top, shorts and sneakers when he was last seen. Toppenish police are investigating, 509-865-4355.
Lawrence Jay "Larry" Riegel, 57 of Yakima worked as a carpenter and contract pilot before breaking four vertebrae, and injury that left him disabled. Right before going missing Larry had a surgery on his neck and some sources claim he was in a neck brace. Unable to work, Riegel was collecting disability. The last contact anyone had with Larry took place on Christmas day, 2009. He contacted several relatives and friends including a call to his mother to thank her for some clothes she bought him for the holiday. He was supposed to join his family in Yakima for a belated Christmas dinner on Dec. 26, 2009, but he never showed up or called. Riegel’s family described him as a “chatty Cathy” who talked to just about anyone and had daily phone contact with his friends and family. Riegel’s last phone call took place at approximately 5:30 pm on Christmas day. It is believed that the call was made to Riegel’s tenants who rented a farm from him in Union Gap, a town on the reservation. His tenants owed him $3000 in back rent.
Riegel lived with his girlfriend, Ladena Mann before he went missing. Mann claimed that the couple argued on Christmas day and Riegel left the home presumably to go see his tenants. She also claimed that Riegel assaulted her either on Christmas day or on January 4th before disappearing. When Mann tried to report this assault weeks later, she was unable because she had no injuries or proof of violence. Mann used Riegel’s money and EBT card after he disappeared as well as applied for her own EBT card claiming she still lived with Larry. Mann was charged with welfare fraud and perjury, but charges were dropped when she paid back the money and entered a diversion program. In one media interview she claimed that Larry is still alive and that he has “contacted several people” since going missing. She thinks Larry is residing in Idaho or Montana and has accused his family of knowing where he is. Ladena Mann is a person of interest in Larry’s disappearance as are his tenants, the last known people to have spoken to him. Riegel’s family is offering a $25,000 for information in the homicide investigation that leads to his remains. They have billboards all over the Yakima valley asking for information. Larry’s mother, aged 90, still drives around rural areas searching for his body.
Riegel is described as a white male with gray hair, a gray mustache, and hazel eyes. He is 6’2” and weights 200 lbs. He has surgical scars on his left knee and a prominent vertical scar on his neck from recent surgery to fix four broken vertebrae. He often wears eyeglasses and he has a limp in his left leg. He is also an alcoholic who frequented neighborhood bars. Yakima Police Department Yakima Police Department (509-576-6573) is investigating.
Donnie Sampson, 71, a well-known religious leader, had been serving for eight years on the Tribal Council’s Code of Ethics Committee when he disappeared in the fall of 1994 while hunting elk about 45 miles west of White Swan, near Mt. Adams. Donnie had a heart problem and had been prescribed nitroglycerin as a result. Right before his disappearance, he told his daughter that he (and the ethics committee) “was getting into something that’s going to make everybody mad.” He even went so far to tell her that he would be “making enemies” and that she and the community would hear about his findings soon enough. He had been investigating rumors of corruption in the tribal council and the housing authority before he went missing, but other committee members refused to elaborate on the matter.
Donnie’s truck was found Oct. 30, 1994, in the foothills of Mount Adams by volunteer searchers, but searchers found no trace of Sampson. His nitroglycerin, lunch, clothing and three rifles were found in his truck. A fourth rifle he left home with disappeared with him. Donnie’s children say tribal police has done little to investigate the disappearance, which they believe is a result of foul play. For example, his children were never interviewed and his truck was found by volunteers, not official search and rescue. Tribal authorities believe that the elderly Sampson simply got lost while hunting. There are no photos or description of Donnie Sampson available. He does not even have a Charley Project page. Tribal police are investigating.
Roland Jack Spencer III disappeared in late May 1984. He was 3 years old when last seen in the area of Knight Lane and Campbell Road in Wapato, although some sources say he was last seen in Toppenish. Roland is presumed to have been abducted by a non-family member, when he was in the yard. Curiously, Roland’s mother died under suspicious circumstances several years earlier (her case is featured in my previous write up). After her death Roland moved in with his great-aunt. Roland is described as a 3-year-old Native American male, with black hair and brown eyes. Roland has a scar on his abdomen. His nickname is Do-Boy and he may go by his middle name, Jack. Roland has some severe medical issues and disabilities. One website explains that Roland experienced brain damage in the womb which lead to his medical issues. Despite his hardships, he was a happy child who loved playing with cars. He is classified as mentally disabled, hard of hearing, and suffers from epilepsy. He takes medication to control his condition and may fall into a coma without it. He can only walk a few steps at a time and has very limited vocabulary and speaking skills. He was last seen wearing corduroy pants, a long sleeved red and white shirt, and tan boots. His was declared legally dead in 2000. Yakama tribal police are investigating, (509) 865-2933.
Murdered
Darryl Keith Celestine of Zillah, was murdered Sept. 25, 1988, in Wapato. He was found strangled outside his home. Darryl, a Yakama, was only 22 years old at the time. His murder is unsolved. Very little information is available.
What happened to these men? Why are so many people missing from such a sparsely populated area?
Sources
These sources are a good place to start.
https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/loved-ones-of-missing-and-murdered-men-and-boys-also-wait-for-answers/article_99d6a596-befe-5860-aa5d-a8fef822725f.html
https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/lower_valley/one-year-later-white-swan-quintuple-homicide-suspects-awaiting-trial-law-enforcement-targeting-crime-in/article_4ed98a29-a273-573c-8af1-031fdec6d248.html
https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/they-need-closure-families-of-men-who-went-missing-in-yakima-county-ask-for-publics/article_11358e29-b133-5458-9f13-acf4face7abe.html
The Charley Project and NAMUS
If you are interested in this issue as a whole, I suggest this podcast by Canadian journalist Connie Walker who explains and dives deeply into the issues discussed in the piece. You can listen to the podcast Missing and Murdered here: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/findingcleo/missing-murdered-who-killed-alberta-williams-1.4556030#:~:text=Sparked%20by%20a%20chilling%20tip,in%20British%20Columbia%20in%201989.
If you are interested in the cases of other missing Native Americans, my write ups on the Teekah Lewis and Bryce Herda cases can be found here on my reddit profile. https://www.reddit.com/useQuirky-Motor

God, this took way more words to accurately represent than I anticipated. Sorry.
So my trajectory for a crutch started when I was 18 and deeply afraid of the world around me and having absolutely no confidence in who I was. I went to the casino with friends and loved it. Like, I will never love anything as much as I used to love gambling.
Well that never ends well does it? 11 months off the bet now after six years in active addiction and four years of various degrees of trying.
Problem is I turned to alcohol during the Bad Years and loved that too. I could write my own version of "Drinking: A Love Story" and fill hundreds of pages with memories from the Glory Days, which were 10% about the bonding I had with friends (none of whom I even speak to anymore) and 90% my all-encompassing internal universe blooming into this warm, ethereal world upon contact with alcohol. I was gambling, thinking about gambling, drinking, or thinking about drinking for the vast majority of the time and I honestly didn't think too much of it, even though I had a vague sense of unease about my life and my future every day. I didn't believe the future would happen to me.
And then right before the peak of my gambling addiction where shit just hit the fan -- I mean it was just flying everywhere -- I discovered marijuana from a Spokane Valley dispensary and it scared the piss out of me. Absolutely blasted me away from this world and did it in about 5 seconds, from a single puff on a pipe. Could not walk for the first minute; I remember stumbling toward the couch and hitting my head on the wall. And then two minutes of panic, then thirty minutes of giggly fascination with the universe I found myself in. And then when the trip started to fade, I realized that the whole experience was unbelievably cool and I wanted that again right now. And so I smoked more.
It was shortly after then that I had The Summer From Hell, where I had no job, everything in my life was deeply wrong and I felt it in the core of my being, and I tried to placate myself with weed, constantly. Not just daily, but constantly. I'd wake up and tell myself "today was going to be different", then get high and when noon rolled around and I realized I hadn't actually done anything, a dark cloud would grip me until nightfall. I'd try to pretend it wasn't there, but it knew that I knew that I felt its presence. Then at night everything felt okay. Rinse. Repeat.
My finances were in shambles, I was being kept afloat by monthly checks from dad and those often went into a slot machine or a dispensary and Ramen noodles. I missed rent twice. I had absolutely no confidence in myself and I could not see a path out.
I continued smoking and started becoming convinced that my breathing technique was wrong because I could not get anywhere near as high as I used to. If I was being honest with myself, I saw no noticeable effect at all. I became suicidal and my behavior started becoming more erratic with each passing day. Near the end I would take long drives around the town I was living in at the time trying to feel any sense of calm at all. A drive used to give me that. Now I just felt like I was grasping at straws to keep myself sane. Sometimes I'd get so frustrated that I'd go 100 down a residential street just to try to feel anything remotely good. I remember feeling, really feeling, that the world is a cold, calculating place, that existence itself is not just burdensome but evil. I would call the suicide hotline and sometimes that would help.
I finally broke down and began to recover for my gambling with the help of the only two guys at the Gamblers' Anonymous meeting that one night. I moved back home and started job hunting, no weed was available (that I knew of at the time. I've since learned that weed is always available.). I was actively enjoying my recovery. But two months later (still cannot believe it only took that long) I relapsed.
Since then I found the ideal job for someone in my exact position, with coworkers who I click with and whose company I pretty much universally enjoy. Shortly after I started this job, I found out my cousin smokes and I got back on the weed train. It was nice.
Then one day in the following February, I smoked a batch and after one particular rip, I felt a deep pulsing pain in my chest. I felt my head go ice cold and my heart start to thump. I was absolutely certain I was having a heart attack. I came out and told my dad, he called 911 and then as soon as he connected with someone, I realized that maybe it was just the weed fucking with me. We cancelled the ambulance and I drove myself to the hospital. My dad followed, which I wasn't expecting. So when the doctors asked what was wrong and my dad was right there, I just told them I had a panic attack and they gave me a $50 Ativan. (It turns out that I love Ativan, too.)
The past three years have brought me professional success. I continued smoking off and on during this period and every time now, I get into deep monologues in my head and feel a vague sense of shame that I always try to brush off. I have a hard time parsing out what is authentically me and what is the weed. I come away often feeling disoriented and confused.
Last year I fell in love in Colombia with my first boyfriend and Sinalgen Max, which towards the end I spent $400 on in a single month. During this time I had my first real professional bomb and fell back into gambling at the ground floor casino in the building I was working in. When I came back home, I felt like I was being ripped apart from my own world and coming back home yet again was a traumatic experience, placated by the Ibuprofen bottle full of $135 worth of Sinalgen I had prepared myself with. I regretted not bringing more.
It's been a rocky road since then. My work life is not exceptionally good now: between that and my dive into proper non-functioning alcoholism during the first round of quarantine, I've lost a lot of trust. And my plans to move back to Colombia and live some more months with my boyfriend have been squashed by COVID, which could not have happened at a worse time for me. I miss him everyday and sometimes have a good cry about how much I miss my life down there, but sometimes I feel like I don't deserve to miss it, or that I don't actually miss it and I'm playing tricks on myself. Who moves to Colombia on a whim??
Lately I've been using kratom. A lot. (Me? No!) Like, 'withdrawals when I first stopped' a lot. I quit it for a 3-week span during a time in which I presided over my friends' wedding and it was such a special moment. Immediately after that wedding, on the ride home, I had an honest conversation with myself about how even though I was grateful I was fully immersed in that day, facing my normal reality was making my tummy turn. That cloud. There it is. So I bought a bag and smoked it when I got back home, and the conversation continued.
I'm in Idaho so I'm surrounded by idiots of the highest caliber in this pandemic and god dammit if that just doesn't piss me off and make me want to run away and I can't. So I stopped my Antabuse 11 days ago and I drank and got high again last night and got so, so gloriously fucked up. But I couldn't even maintain a conversation with my boyfriend and in my heart, didn't feel like I even wanted to. I was feeling all the love I needed already within myself from the crossfade -- my absolute favorite high of all.
That realization bothered me this morning. So I smoked to try to ease the disconnect and immediately fell back into the headspace of guilt and feeling disoriented and confused and scared about my life. I don't want to be confused and scared anymore, I've had enough of that feeling to last my damn life. I can escape it for months, even a year or more on some stretches, but it claws its way back into my head and I recognize it like an old friend right away, and I know that once it's lodged in my head it's not going anywhere for awhile. Unless I tell it to be quiet for a bit with a substance or a bet.
Now that I'm not high I Just wanted to get all this out because I always think about typing this and never follow through. Is it stupid that I still feel like my usage isn't the worst thing in the world? Like after typing all this out, my heart is still not convinced. I tell myself that this is in no way hurting me as much as the gambling did, but is that true? I'm in my late 20s now, am I going to be traumatized when I'm 30 because I still don't feel confident in my life trajectory?
I open my journal that I only write in when I'm sober and I see a guy who sounds happy, who is "so grateful" he's "doing this". But I also know that that guy had a constant sense of unease in his heart when he wrote that. Or do I? Does my recall of how I felt back then matter more than what's on the page? I guess that's the thing: I don't trust myself and my own perceptions anymore. And I don't know whether that's my underlying anxiety, the weed, or a genuine judgment about who I am.

Missing and Murdered Indigenous women
If you have spent any time reading about true crime, you probably know that American Indian/ Native American women go missing from the United States and Canada at alarming rates. On some reservations, women experience violence and are victims of homicide at 10x the rate of women in other communities. It is a complex issue with prejudice and jurisdictional issues playing major roles. If you want to know more about the root of these issues, I suggest Missing and Murdered” podcast by Indigenous Canadian journalist Connie Walker, who explains the issues much better than I ever could; that podcast is linked below. Today, I want to highlight the stories of some of these women, specifically those missing from the Yakama community.
Background
Washington state is home to the fifth largest Indian reservation in the United States, the Yakama reservation, which is home to the Klickitat, Palus, Wallawalla, Wenatchi, Whishram, Wanapum, and Yakama people. According to the US Census Bureau, only the Osage, Puyallup (also in Washington state), Navajo, and Choctaw reservations are more populous. The Yakama reservation is located in South Central Washington state, just south of the city of Yakima. Of the 31,000 people who live on the reservation, 11,000 are enrolled tribal members. Most people who live on the reservation claim Hispanic/Latino, white, or mixed-race ancestry, but Hispanic is by far the most common ethnic group. There are also small Filipino, Japanese, and Korean communities nearby. The Yakama reservation is located just south of the town of Yakima, Washington, a large farming community of 100,000 people. Apples, cherries, peaches, pears, and hops are all grown in the dry surrounding region. Harvest time brings thousands of migrant workers to the area, so the population is always in flux.
Outside of Yakima is the town of Union Gap (Pop. 8000), which is partially on the reservation, and partially off it. There are two other proper towns on reservation, Toppenish (pop. 8000) and Wapato (pop. 5000). Other small communities such as Satus, Harrah, White Swan, and Granger all boast several hundred residents each. All in all, the Yakama nation consists of 2,200 square miles of sprawling, rural land stretching from south central Washington nearly to the Oregon border. But from this unassuming patch of high desert and grassland, more than 30 Native women have gone missing/were murdered. If we add Native men to the equation, the number jumps to nearly 50 unsolved disappearances, deaths, and murders. If we add the deaths and disappearances of non-native people missing from the reservation, the number grows yet again. Although the land is vast, the tribal population is small. From my estimates over .5% of native people on the reservation are missing or murdered. Like many tribal communities, unemployment and poverty is common, appropriate housing is scare, and according to the tribal council "disregard for the rule of law and general civil unrest" as well as gun violence and substance abuse is common. In 2019 a youth curfew was instated after a particularly bad shooting.
According to the Washington State Patrol, the Yakama nation has the highest percentage of missing people of any Native community in the state, even though they are not the most populous. The FBI created a task force in 2009 to investigate the possibility of serial killer among the Yakama, but the investigation determined that a serial killer was unlikely, but not impossible. This was because the causes of death were so different from victim to victim. The investigation did close two cases on the reservation after DNA on both women linked them to a man serving life in an Oregon prison, but the man is not believed to be responsible for any other crimes in the inquiry. Whether a serial killer is loose on tribal land or not, this issue is complex and long standing and demonstrates how much substance abuse, domestic violence, and random crime affect the Native communities in this county at 10x the rate of other communities. Some progress has been made such as state bill 2951 which allows Washington state authorities to track cases and help investigate and search for missing individuals on tribal land. Because tribal lands are usually under federal jurisdiction, state authorities are not able to help, despite being more familiar with the area than the FBI. This is only one small step in the right direction and although awareness is growing, the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous people will not simply go away. The mystery of vanishing people still stands.
Many people have heard of this epidemic, but few know the names of the victims; today it is time to change that. Below are the profiles of 35 women who are missing, murdered, or who have suffered mysterious deaths. For some of the women very little information is available. The list below is not necessarily complete. If you know of other unsolved cases let me know in the comments below.
Quick guide:
Yakima- large town near, but not on, the reservation
Yakama- the tribe and people group
NOTE: all cases organized most to least recent and are broken down into missing, murdered, and mysterious categories
Missing
Tiana Cloud went missing from Yakima on April 7th, 2018. She was 17 years old at the time. She may be in local area, and she may have been located. She is a Native female, 5'4 ft, 162 lbs., brown eyes and brown hair. She has large dimples. Tiana was last seen Yakima WA. Very little information is available. Yakima police are investigating.
Freda Knowsgun or Knowshisgun has been missing since October 18th, 2016. Freda was from Montana and was registered with the Crow Agency. In the months before her disappearance her family reported that she was acting strangely and began drifting around the Northwest and spending time in southern Washington state. Freda was still close to her aunt and talked to her children sometimes, but was distancing herself from the rest of her family. Freda was last known to be at a customer service desk at a Walmart in Kennewick, Washington. Freda used her cell phone to call a friend to ask for money. She wanted to travel back home to Montana to spend Halloween with her children. Freda’s friend sent her the money but the money was never picked up. When she called Freda 15 minutes later, Freda’s cell phone was disconnected and no one has heard from her since. She did not return to Montana for Halloween or for her aunt’s funeral in November and she was reported missing. Freda’s family believes that she was abusing drugs at the time of her disappearance and they believe that Freda’s new friends in the drug scene may be involved with her disappearance. Law enforcement has reported that Freda’s new friends have not cooperated with the investigation into her disappearance. Freda may have been seen in Billings, Montana in December 2016 and she may be traveling with a black male named Mike. Freda is reported to be a 34-year-old Native American female with dark brown hair that is waist length which she wears in a ponytail or high bun. She has brown eyes, a scar on her right elbow, weights 160 lbs. and stands 5’5” in height. She has the following tattoos: the names "Lyrical", "Trinity" and "Mason" on her back between her shoulder blades, the cartoon character Mickey Mouse with a basketball on her right calf, and a flower on her right shoulder. She may use the last name "KnowsHisGun" and many accounts refer to her by that name. Her case is being investigated by Crow Agency Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Rosalita Faye Longee disappeared from her grandmother’s home in Wapato, Washington on June 30th, 2015 at 10 pm. Rosalita who went by Rose was 18 years old at the time. She is an enrolled member of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes in Montana but had lived with her grandmother on the Yakama reservation since age 2. Rose visited her grandmother on the night of June 30th asking to stay with her but her grandmother refused as Rose was high on drugs at the time, and she had a rule that Rose could only live there when she wasn’t using. Rose may have been with friends at the time. Rose had struggled with addiction for years and had been in and out of rehab centers since age 16. This was the last time Rose was ever seen alive. Rosalita is described as a Native American female, 5’6”- 5’8” in height and about 130-140 lbs. She has black hair, brown eyes, pierced ears and lip, and scars on both wrists and both her chest. At the time of her disappearance she enjoyed taking photos and posting them on her Facebook page. Yakama Nation tribal police are investigating.
Roberta Jean Raines, 19 was last seen in Toppenish on July 10th, 2001. Roberta was with a man named Jose Merced Zamora at that time. In 2002, this man killed a teenage boy and fled the county going to Mexico. Roberta was apparently with him at the time. It was around this time that Roberta’s family realized they had not seen her in a while and they reported her missing. Jose was arrested in 2007 in Idaho and taken it custody for the murder of the boy. Jose Merced Zamora told the authorities that the last time he saw Roberta she was in Mexico and that they parted ways. Authorities do not believe this story. Roberta is described as Native American female, 5’2”-5’3” in height and 120 lbs. She has very arched eyebrows. Toppenish Police are investigating.
Karen Louise Johnley, sometimes referred to as Karen Johnley-Wallahee, was reported missing November 7th or 8th, 1987 by her cousin. She was last seen by a friend at the Lazy R Tavern in Harrah on the Yakama reservation. Karen’s cousin describes Karen as a 29-year-old female, five feet tall and 100 lbs. She was last seen wearing pink barrettes in her hair, a pink tee shirt, a Levi’s brand denim jacket, and white tennis shoes. She had long black hair and brown eyes. Her cousin expressed worried about the person Karen was last seen with. No pictures are available of Karen and she does not even have a Charley Project page. Tribal police are investigating. She remains a missing person.
Daisy Mae Tallman or Daisy Mae Heath age 29, was reported missing on October 29th, 1987. When her family was questioned it came to light that no one had seen Daisy since the end of August, 1987. Daisy’s sister remembers her as very independent, often leaving the reservation to visit friends and family on a different reservation in Warm Springs, Oregon, or leaving the area to go fishing. Daisy was a high school basketball player and was the youngest of 6 sisters who were all raised by their maternal grandparents. At the time of her disappearance, Daisy was staying with relatives in either Toppenish or White Swan. A year after she disappeared a set of keys and a backpack believed to be Tallman’s/Heath’s were found in a closed area of a reservation called Soda Springs. 7 years after her disappearance she was declared legally dead. One source mentions that one of Daisy’s sisters was murdered before her disappearance but I could find no corroborating source. Daisy is described as a Native American female aged 29 with black hair that extended down her back and brown eyes. She was 5’5’ and weighted 185 lbs. She also has given birth in the past. No pictures are available of Daisy and she does not even have a Charley Project page. The FBI is investigating. She remains a missing person.
Janice Marie Hannigan a sophomore at White Swan high school was the oldest of 7 children. In 1971 Janice’s parents had recently separated and Janice was living with her father in Harrah, Washington but visited her mother and younger siblings often. Janice was nominated to be Queen of the Veteran’s day parade in November 1971 and the newspaper even ran an article about her and the other nominated girls. According to her interview in the paper, Janice enjoyed beadwork, cooking, and watching football. A few weeks later on December 21st Janice was admitted to the hospital for the treatment of contusions on her head and torso. On December 24th she was released from the hospital in stable condition. The cause of Janice’s injuries, as well as the location she was treated at is unknown. Janice never made it home from the hospital; this was the last time anyone ever saw Janice alive.
Strangely, this was not the first time Janice had been reported missing. Janice may have been reported missing in February or March of 1971, although she was determined to be visiting relatives in Idaho with her father at that time. Because of this some agencies report that Janice went missing March 1st 1971 but that is not accurate.
Some agencies report that Janice is a possible runaway as she was upset about her parent’s separation, although Janice had never runaway before. One Law Enforcement office reports that Janice’s father is a person of interest in her case, but Janice’s sister Traci Clark denies this notion and says it is “not possible.” Traci was only 8 years old the last time she saw Janice, but she still looks for her big sister any chance she gets.
Murdered
Angela Marie Heath of Toppenish, aged 41 died on April 5th, 2019. Her death is an unsolved hit and run. Very little information is available. Washington state patrol is investigating. She may (key word may) be related to Daisy Tallman-Health located above.
Rosenda Strong a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon, was last seen on October 2nd, 2018 climbing into an acquaintance’s car, reportedly an older Nissan, heading to Legends Casino in Toppenish. Legends is an alcohol-free resort and Casino on the reservation popular with locals and tourists alike. Rosenda never returned from the Casino and sadly her body was found in a discarded refrigerator nine months after she was last seen in July 2019. Her death was ruled a homicide but no other details have been released. Rosenda’s sister said that at first tribal police did not take the disappearance seriously as Rosenda had past problems with drugs and they believed she would come home soon. Rosenda’s sister, Cissy Reyes nee Strong, believes that the murderers are the fellow tribespeople Rosenda was last with and complains that she still sees them “walking the reservation free” and refusing to talk. Cissy remembers her sister for her big, loud laugh and she hopes that someday Rosenda will get justice. The FBI is investigating.
Jedidah Moreno was last seen alive in September, 2018 by her family in the city of Yakima, which is not on tribal land. The 30-year-old was reported missing in late November 2018. Her body was found in early December and she had been dead at least a few days. She had died from a gunshot wound in a rural part of the reservation that was closed to non-tribal members. One report (a blog) claims that Jedidah was a member of the Yakama nation but no other sources state this, so take this information with a grain of salt. Her case remains unsolved. City of Yakima police and the FBI are investigating. Little information is available.
Linda Dave 39 of White Swan, was last seen alive in late 2016 or early 2017. On February 15th 2017, a woman was found dead under a bridge in Toppenish. It was determined that the woman died from a gunshot wound to the stomach and had been dead approximately six weeks. The woman was identified via DNA as Linda Dave. Linda was a mother and grandmother who enjoyed spending time with family, cooking, and dancing. She is the niece of Janice Hannigan, the first woman detailed in this piece. One local funeral home called Heggie’s has a website where people can share condolences to the family or stories about the deceased. In a cruel twist of fate one of the messages on Linda’s page is from murder victim Rosenda Strong. The FBI is investigating Dave’s case.
Minnie Andy was a 31-year-old Yakama woman who enjoyed fishing and swimming. Minnie was found beaten and close to death near 70 Egan Road in Wapato, Washington on July 9th, 2017. She had been badly assaulted earlier that morning and she tragically succumbed to her injuries at Astria Regional Medical Center in Yakima several hours later. Her cause of death was blunt force trauma. Christopher Lagmay was indicted for her murder shortly thereafter but he would be released from jail in 2019 without prejudice, meaning if new evidence arises, he could be re-tried. Her murder is still unsolved.
Destiny Lloyd, aged 23 disappeared on Christmas day 2017 from her home in Wapato. Her body was found in Harrah, Washington four days later. Initially, it looked like Destiny had died after slipping and falling on the concrete, causing a head wound but a full autopsy would reveal that her death was a homicide and that she died from blunt force trauma. Destiny worked at Legends Casino as a childcare worker. Her co workers remember her fondly and hope her case will be solved. The FBI is investigating.
Naoma George mother of six from Wapato, Washington was found dead in 2013 from trauma to her abdomen. Her death was ruled a homicide. Naoma was a traditional Yakama who did bead work and gathered traditional plants to keep the Yakama culture alive. Naoma was laid to rest in a traditional ceremony at the Longhouse surrounded by friends and family. Her case is unsolved and little information is available. Yakama Nation tribal police and the FBI are investigating.
Barbara Celestine aged 44 was a tribal member who lived in Wapato, Washington. She was found dead of blunt force trauma outside a housing project in town in 2013. Her death was ruled a homicide. The Yakama Nation police and the FBI are investigating the murder. Very little information is available.
Skeletal remains found in late 2008 in a remote part of the Yakama Reservation are believed to be those of a murder victim. The Doe was unknown until the FBI Seattle office mentioned the remains in early May 2009, when announcing the results of the FBI's approximately two-year-long analysis of reservation deaths which was spurred on by a March 2006 meeting with then-United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Until that point the fact that a doe was found was not public knowledge. The bones were found in a remote area near the backpack of missing person Daisy Mae Heath (Tallman). In early May 2009, Special Agents were awaiting mitochondrial DNA test results on those remains, which they said then might be those of Daisy Mae Tallman/Heath. The tests were inconclusive and there was insufficient evidence to conclude that the bones belonged to Daisy. The FBI has not released further information on the remains. This Jane Doe is on no public databases (NAMUS, Doe Project) as far as I can tell. The FBI is investigating.
The triple homicide of Charmaine Sanchey, 47, Toni Marie Green, 43, and Steve Alvarado, 52 is still unsolved. Their beaten and stabbed bodies were found in a small trailer outside Toppenish on Jan. 16, 2003 by their landlord who came over to collect their rent check. He found the women dead in the bedroom and Steve dead in the main living area. The trailer was on the reservation but it is unclear which victims (if any) were tribal members. Authorities say that they have few leads and few suspects. Later, Charmaine Sanchey’s brother, Arthur Joseph Sanchey, was the primary suspect, but was acquitted of charges in July 2004. The brutal triple homicide is still a mystery.
Sandra Lee Smiscon did not die on the reservation but I believe her case deserves a spot in this piece. In the year 2003, Sandra was a 45-year-old mother of 3 children who split her time between Wapato and Seattle. After high school, Sandra got a job in a nursing home and mothered three children. After her personal relationships fell apart Sandra became lost and her children were placed in the custody of their fathers and other family members. She often traveled to Seattle and did odd jobs but was basically drifting around. According to her brother Walter, Sandra was a “party animal” who loved having a good time but sometimes let the drinking get the better of her. Despite her flaws he remembers his sister as a somewhat shy individual with a huge, bright smile who taught her younger daughter the art of traditional dance. Sandra traveled home regularly for family events and holidays but never stayed for long.
One day Sandra and her companions were sleeping near 4th and Yesler streets in Seattle when a man, angered by nearby fireworks shot into the homeless camp aimlessly, injuring a few people and killing Sandra. Her 2003 murder is still unsolved. Sandra’s name is part of the Fallen Leaves memorial, a place of remembrance for deceased homeless individuals as a way to give them dignity and a place to be remembered. Her case is still unsolved. The suspect is described as young man in his 20-30s with a dark complexion but of unknown race. Seattle police department is investigating.
Shari Dee Sampson Elwell age 30, had not been seen for weeks when her battered and sexually mutilated body was found in a remote area by hunters near White Swan. Her body was found during February 1992 in the middle of a blizzard. She had been beaten, mutilated, and strangled. Little has been done to solve her case and very little information is available.
Skeletal unidentified Native woman believed to be in her late 20s or early 30s were found on Feb. 16, 1988, near Parker Dam in Union Gap. Her cause of death has not been determined but her case has been ruled a homicide. She had been dead from 2-10 months. She is described as a Native female, 25-40 years old with dark brown hair that had been bleached light brown in the front. She was wearing lavender colored pants, a long sleeve shirt with a Mexican label, and brown bowling shoes, one with a black sole and one with a white sole. She was slight and short 4’11” to 5’1”. She is not Daisy Tallman/Heath or Karen Johnley. Despite her heritage she is NOT believed to be Yakama; she may be from Mexico and perhaps a migrant worker as her clothing had Mexican labels.
JoAnne Betty (Wyman) John the 44-year-old mother of eleven children, was reported missing on August 1st, 1988. A partial skeleton was a discovered in February 1991 which was determined to be John’s. Her cause of death was ruled “homicidal violence.” Little information is available in her case. The FBI are investigating.
Rozelia Lou (Tulee) Sohappy, 31, of Brownstown was last seen alive New Year’s Eve of 1988. Her partially clothed body was found March 13, 1989, in a remote ravine along the south slope of Ahtanum Ridge north of Brownstown. She was identified through dental records, and an autopsy concluded she had been strangled. Very little information is available.
Jenece Marie Wilson was 20 years old in August 1987. The young woman who lived in Toppenish, when to a party one night and then left the next morning to hitch hike to her boyfriend’s place in Sunnyside, Washington but she never made it. On August 9th a farmer found the body of a woman in his orchard which was so severely beaten it was hard to establish her identity. Dental records confirmed that the body belonged to Jenece and she had died from a blow to the head. In 2009, twenty-two years later DNA evidence was run through the system and there was a hit. The DNA matched an Oregon convict, Samuel Posada. Samuel had attended the same high school as Jenece but the two did not appear to know each other. He was arrested and charged with murder and rape. Strangely, Posada waived his right to jury trial but was acquitted of all charges by the judge in his 2011 trial. Jenece’s case has been cold ever since.
Babette Crystall Greene was 26 years old and lived in the town of Toppenish but was last seen in Yakima, Washington in October 1986. A member of the Warm Springs tribe in Oregon, her skeletal remains were found during the summer of 1987 off North Track Road near Wapato, Washington. Her cause of death is listed as “homicidal violence.” Very little information is available.
Clydell Alice Sampson age 25 of Klickitat had not been seen alive since sometime in 1984 when her skeleton was found by hunters near Hambre Butte, south of Granger, Washington in December, 1986. Her death was ruled a homicide and she died from a gunshot wound. Very little information is available; there are no pictures available of Clydell.
Mavis Josephine McKay was a member of the Confederated tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon. She was 33 years old when she was found murdered in an irrigation ditch on August 13th, 1957 in Satus, a very isolated area of the reservation. Because her case is so old, very little information is available.
Mysterious deaths
Echo Kay Littlewolf was 31 years old when she was last seen alive. Echo is described as a tomboy who loved camping, animals, and being outside. Echo was homeless at the time of her disappearance and lived in a tent on the reservation but contacted relatives often, at least twice a week. She would pop into her parents’ or grandparents’ house to shower and do odd jobs for money for friends and relatives but always returned to her nomadic lifestyle. On August 15th, 2017 Littlewolf’s grandmother had not heard from her in a week and contacted Echo’s mother, Jeanette Osborne, who drove to her daughter’s campsite. As soon as she smelled decomposition, she called tribal authorities who found the body of Echo Kay Littlewolf. Her body was badly degraded due to the hot weather. Her death was ruled “natural causes” and Echo was cremated. Jeanette believes little investigation was done because Echo had used drugs in the past. According to Jeanette, her daughter’s body looked like she had been standing and then fell over after being hit with an object, nevertheless an autopsy was never ordered by authorities. Echo’s family now wishes she was buried and an autopsy could have been performed. Her suspicious death has never been solved.
Angela Babette Billy, 41, of Pendleton, Oregon was an enrolled member of the Yakama Nation. She also is known as Angela Shippentower and Babette Shippentower. According to the one article I could find Angela who went by “Babette” was a victim of domestic violence. Right before she went missing Babette confided to family members that her boyfriend was abusing her. Right after that her boyfriend left her to be with a woman he had been seeing on the side. Babette’s body was found in late May 2013 in the Umatilla River near Mission, Oregon. She had been missing for over a week. She was found by two people on horseback while they were conducting a private search for her. The area was accessible only by foot, horse or four-wheelers, from one side of the river. The area in which she was found was behind the home of her boyfriend’s new romantic interest. This woman, who remains unknown to the public, also had a reputation for drugs and violent behavior. Billy’s cause of death was drowning and while her death has not been ruled a homicide it is considered “suspicious” and not simply an accident. According to family members police did not take her disappearance very seriously at first- a mistake that may have cost Babette her life.
Alice Ida Looney, 38 of Toppenish was reported missing after she was last seen in Wapato in the early morning hours around Aug. 16 or 17, 2004. A hunter found her body Nov. 30, 2005, wedged under a tree on a small island in Satus Creek, about 12 miles southeast of Toppenish. Looney had family on the Cowlitz and Puyallup reservations. The FBI lists the cause of her death as inconclusive. High school and college athlete Rosy Fish, a distance relative of Looney’s, ran four races at a state track tournament (and won 3). Each race was dedicated to a missing or murdered female native relative of Fish’s, which shows the breadth of this issue. Fish’s actions have spurred other native athletes to do similar tributes. Looney’s death is still unsolved. Looney’s family also says they were never interviewed by law enforcement.
Teresa R. Stahi age 25. July 27th 1987 marks the day Teresa Stahi’s body was found drowned in a canal. Her clothed body was pulled from a fish screen in a diversion canal off Toppenish Creek south of Granger. An autopsy concluded she drowned and had been in the water less than 12 hours. The Yakima County Sheriff’s Office said it ruled out foul play. However, an FBI memo listed Stahi’s case as a “mysterious death matter.” Law enforcement now says her death is “inconclusive.” Very little information is available.
Sara Dee Winnier age 24 had recently moved back to the reservation after living in California. She was found at 3:30 a.m. July 22, 1985, sitting upright in the driver’s seat of a burning car off McDonald Road about half a mile from U.S. Highway 97. Her body was badly burned and the coroner used dental records to identify her. Winnier lived in a remote part of the reservation and worked at the Save More Grocery in Wapato. Her death is suspicious and unsolved. Little information is available.
Celestine Spencer, 21 sometimes called Celestine Yallup, of Wapato had been missing two weeks when her body was found at the bottom of a gully in a field off McCullough Road along the north slope of Ahtanum Ridge. She was found Nov. 11, 1982, at the bottom of a hill near a field. Her death while somewhat suspicious was determined to be hypothermia was deemed a probable accident. Celestine’s aunt was awarded custody of her son, Roland, who had some disabilities and various medical problems. Tragically, less than two years later Roland (age 3) disappeared in a child abduction in Wapato and has not been seen since. His Charley Project page is here- http://charleyproject.org/case/roland-jack-spencer-iii.
Lesora Yvette Eli was only 19 years old when a farmer found her fully clothed body along Parton Road near Toppenish on Feb. 2, 1982. She was face down in a drainage ditch. While the County Coroner’s Office listed the death as accidental drowning, FBI investigators claim it is a possible homicide. Her death has never been solved and very little information is available.
Sheila Pearl Lewis, a 33-year-old social worker who worked at DSHS in Yakima was found dead in August of 1980 near Parker Dam in Union Gap. An autopsy showed that she died of massive internal injuries most likely from being hit by a large car or truck. Even though her death is most likely a hit and run, it is classified as suspicious rather than a homicide. Sheila lived on the reservation. Very little information is available in her case.
What happened to these people? Is there a serial killer on the loose? Or simply an epidemic of violence towards women? Hopefully, these cases can one day be solved.
I have been thinking of writing up the stories of missing men and boys on the reservation, if you would be interested in a write up on that let me know in the comments below.
If you are interested in this issue as a whole, I suggest this podcast by Canadian journalist Connie Walker who explains and dives deeply into the issues discussed in the piece. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/findingcleo/missing-murdered-who-killed-alberta-williams-1.4556030#:~:text=Sparked%20by%20a%20chilling%20tip,in%20British%20Columbia%20in%201989.
If you are interested in the cases of other missing Native Americans, my write ups on the Teekah Lewis and Bryce Herda cases can be found here on my reddit profile. https://www.reddit.com/useQuirky-Motor
Special thanks to these sources:
https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/murdered-missing-and-mysterious-deaths-of-native-girls-and-women-on-and-around-the-yakama/article_46068a45-4f5f-5f8e-b37d-198fd98ac5a5.html
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/we-have-so-many-missing-people-coroner-tests-remains-found-on-yakima-river-island-as-families-wait-hope/
https://kimatv.com/news/local/over-one-third-of-missing-indigenous-women-in-wa-disappeared-from-yakima-county-wsp-says
http://lostandmissinginindiancountry.com/Newsletters/July2019.pdf
https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/seattle/press-releases/2009/se050609-1.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakama_Indian_Reservation
http://www.yakamanation-nsn.gov/
https://www.thesciencehippy.com/health/mmiw-the-women-she-represents
http://charleyproject.org/

Thought I would finally join this subreddit and give a run down of my experiences.
Last year, I bought a 2018 Prius with the intent of using it to go on road trips and live in it -- mostly because I have been trapped in the middle of frickin' nowhere my whole life and have never had a true adventure. I have never seen a mountain in-person prior to these trips. I also have a very comfortable IT job that easily facilitates me living in a car and working remotely without issues and with a lot of free time.
I went on two separate trips so far. The first one was about 2.5 months long and the second one was about 3.5 months long. I have traveled from Seattle, WA to Key West, Florida and put over 20,000 miles on the car in the process.
My first trip was comprised of South Dakota (Badlands, Black Hills), Yellowstone, Idaho (Coeur d'alene), Oregon (Forests, Crater Lake, Portland, beaches), Nor Cal (Redwood forests, beaches), Washington (Beaches, Seattle, Olympic National Park), and Montana(Glacier National Park).
And for my second trip, I went to Louisiana(New Orleans), Florida(where I spent most of the time and explored nearly everything), up the coast to Charleston, SC, and into the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains(Gatlinburg, Asheville).
Everything was amazing. I don't know if I have a favorite, but the beauty of Glacier National Park particularly strikes me. I also thoroughly enjoyed swimming in the crystal clear springs throughout Florida.
My setup is not particularly elaborate, but I didn't spare much of an expense:
- Tinted windows. - Front and rear dashcams with batteries for when the car is off. - Custom fit sun shades for all windows (Weathertech). - Weathertech floor liners. - A basic cooler. - Redundant IT setup so I don't get fired. (2 laptops, 3 chargers, a car charger, 2 hotspots) - A 4" thick full sized foam mattress pad and a sleeping bag, couple of blankets, couple of pillows. - Suitcase full of clothes, towels.- Bag with misc supplies (Laundry, food, trash bags, medicine, wet wipes). Wet wipes are great for cleaning yourself when you don't have access to a shower for some reason. - A Black Card membership to Planet Fitness (for showering mostly). It also makes a good excuse if you ever decide to sleep in a Planet Fitness parking lot (not my first choice). - Rain guards so that I can roll the windows down in bad weather.
And that is basically all I needed. I know people have much more elaborate DIY setups, but much of that I never found necessary or was interested in. I also ended up buying a USB fan that I never used because if I ever really needed heat regulation I would just use the AC.
One thing that I wish I had thought of beforehand is to get a Prius with a sunroof. It would have been nice to be able to stare up into the sky while I try to sleep, or to open it up and let some air in.
One thing I might consider in the future is a signal booster for my hotspots. These can be pricey, but worth it if your job depends on a reliable connection. Although I think I can get by without one by using apps that help you pinpoint the location of cell towers and by mooching off of hotel wifi access.
I took out a few credit cards prior to purchasing the car and supplies in order to score a bunch of bonus travel points (I had saved up most of the cost of the car prior to buying it). I used the Plastiq service in order to use car payments towards the qualifying payments required for the credit card bonuses. The fee they charged was definitely worth it for the points I accrued.
So I set out on the road with a boat load of free points I had thought I would need for hotels here and there. It's a good idea if you like to go to them from time to time. During my first trip I went to hotels twice a week (mostly to work). I eventually realized that I could work entirely out of my car without issues and without much discomfort, and during my second trip I only booked a hotel a couple times. As I write this, I still have around half of my points...
It's been the time of my life. I would do it full time if I didn't have other obligations (my cat, mostly, who waited patiently at home).
As a result of these trips, I have decided to move to the west coast permanently, which means I have another trip coming up soon. On my next trip I plan on going through Colorado, maybe stop at the Grand Canyon, and make my way through southern/central California.
Now I'll just focus on what it was like living in the Prius and what my preferences are when I do it rather than the trips themselves. If anyone has any questions about anything, feel free to ask.
I've only been explicitly shoed away twice, and one time a security guard caught my attention but allowed me to continue what I was doing. The first time I was shoed away, I was at a casino parking lot. I have stayed at many casino parking lots, and most of them never bothered me, but this one in particular had saw me put up my sun shields (from the outside) and was determined to kick me out. Since then, I started putting my sun shields on only from within the car so that people are less likely to notice, and I think it has helped.
The second time is when I was staying in Key West, Florida. Key West thinks they have a problem with people living in their car, so the locals don't take kindly to people camping in their cars and are extra vigilant about it. No one actually explicitly shoed me away, but someone dinged my car with a bell and yelled "No overnight parking" generally for the entire parking lot, which was enough to scare me away. They may not have known I was sleeping in my car.
And the time when the security guard approached me, I was sleeping in a large vacant lot two nights in a row. The first night went fine, and the second night alerted them more that something was going on and caused them to approach me. But, they thought I was homeless and destitute or something, and they let me stay there because they pitied me, but they told me to leave first thing in the morning.
My location of choice? Mid-sized hotel parking lots. I did this almost exclusively on my second trip. Holiday Inns, Courtyard by Marriots, etc. No one who worked at any hotel ever bothered me, tow away zone signs be damned. If I park in the right location, I get free wifi access, which is great for work. That was my primary motivation. Sometimes people staying at the hotel would catch on to someone being inside of the car and gossip about it such that I could hear them, but no one ever really bothered me.
Other than hotels, free camp sites are nice. (freecampsites.net) Sometimes you can get really lucky and find an abandoned camp site with a full bathroom and shower and electricity next to a scenic lake or something like that.
Other places I stayed at that I would recommend: Walmart parking lots (in good neighborhoods), 24 hour gym parking lots, Cracker Barrels, Cabelas, the aforementioned casino parking lots.
Side streets. I am not really a fan of side streets, but I think it depends on the neighborhood. It's a bit paradoxical because these might be locations where it's actually legal to park and stay overnight, but the people who live in the house you park next to can get suspicious of you. I would much rather deal with someone who works at a hotel or as a security guard and is underpaid than with a curious and possibly grumpy homeowner.
The first night I ever slept in my car, I stopped at a small town in South Dakota where I stood out like a sore thumb, and every time I would try to find a parking spot on a side street, someone would come out of their house and approach me. They would confuse me with someone they knew, or they would just look at me suspiciously. Everyone in a small town in the middle of nowhere knows everyone, and they know that you do not belong there. I ended up sleeping in a car dealership out of desperation and with someone probably watching me the entire time.
Rest stops. I never use a rest stop. They do not seem safe to me, because everyone knows that there are sleeping travelers there, and thus predators can go to these places looking for people to victimize. It defeats the purpose of stealth. The safest thing to me is to draw minimum suspicion that someone is even trying to sleep in their car. But as I never used them, I don't have any real world experience. The stories of people being attacked at them was enough to keep me away from them.
PEE JUGS: An art form. I don't know how female dwellers live without pee jugs. It must be difficult. I imagine getting up to pee a bunch would break stealth. It's bad enough that you're more vulnerable as a female to begin with. But as a male dweller, you will be presented with a variety of options. Gatorade bottles might seem like a good idea, being that they have a wide top and can store a decent amount. And while you may be able to pee in a Gatorade bottle here and there, you may underestimate how much you have to pee and how much space you actually have. Really, you want at least a gallon jug, and you want something with a nice tight screw cap and probably a firm handle. Large bottles of tea also work well. The last thing you want is to spill pee. Take this sage advice and do not learn the hard way. But also be sure to take advantage of the majestic pee jug if you are privileged to do so.
And never go to bed when you have to poo and think you can hold it in. It sucks. You rarely ever do this when you live in a house and you may not appreciate how uncomfortable and how bad of an idea this is until you try it. No, I did not poo the bed, for the record.
Anyway, that about wraps up everything I have to say for now. I will answer any questions. I love Prius Dwelling. It's been the time of my life. I want to continue doing it on and off for the rest of my life. These kinds of long trips are simply not financially possible to do if you stay at hotels unless you are loaded. I should probably write a tl;dr.
Edit: Added Rain Guards to my setup list.

Myra Kindle is an independent investigative reporter.
Her other reports:

• What does Google want with male sex workers?
  
• Google’s Algorithmic Decay - A Report on the Lenoir, North Carolina Bombing
  
• In 1979, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow was losing more than 120 informants a year to Russian KGB. by 1981, that number had dropped to just 10. Now, a former intelligence agent is raising alarm that the wildly unorthodox methods once used to protect Russian sources could pose a devastating new threat
  
• For Two Years a Former University Student Has Set-Up Unusual Protest Demonstrations in Buffalo, New York - No One Is Still Quite Sure What He’s Protesting
  
• Nearly Two Months After a Terrorist Attack in China Killed 337 People, Investigators Have Gotten No Closer to Determining How the Attack Was Carried Out
  
• After winning $1.3 Million at a Casino, Why does a man cover himself in Gasoline and drop a lit Match?
  
• A Report on the Grey Men of 327 Cedar Lane -- This was part of a collaborative project with nslewis, who wrote the incident that takes place prior, "The grey men of 327 Cedar Lane"
  

Once Enviable

At six foot one, 41 years of age, and net worth of hundreds of millions, prodigious venture capitalist Dean Banks should be the envy of the world. But he’s not.
Dean struggles to leave his house, says he feels an impending sense of doom, and is prone to sudden outbursts of crying. None of this is unusual for a recovering survivor of a ransom kidnapping, an experience which can test our ability to feel safe in any space afterward.
What is unusual is that since the kidnapping Dean has become a vigorous advocate of free range chicken farms, and now refuses to eat the animal himself. An odd trauma for a survivor to come away with, but one more consequential to Dean, who in 2017 became a member of the board of directors at Tyson Foods, one of America’s largest suppliers of chicken.
Now, facing the possibility of dismissal from the board at Tyson, and angry at the lack of coverage in the media, Dean has agreed to speak on the record for the first time since the incident.
Dean claims Tyson conducted an illegal ransom payment to free him, and that they have humiliated him by disbelieving his account of the kidnapping. Dean also says Tyson played a significant part in shutting down two police investigations into what happened, and that Tyson has been suppressing his speech since he has tried to say publicly that they promote the cruel treatment of chickens.
Based on dozens of interviews with Mr. Banks, representatives from Tyson Foods Inc, and law enforcement in Idaho and Wyoming, as well as documents and correspondence provided by Banks and other sources, this special investigative report by independent journalist Myra Kindle lays out in chilling horror the six day ordeal and subsequent coverup of the Dean Banks kidnapping.

Breaking with Corporate

On a late afternoon on December 12th, 2018, Dean Banks left his winter home in Sun Valley, Idaho. He planned to drive 3.4 miles from his home to a grocery store, a drive he has made many times before.
He never arrived, and instead would not be seen until six days later on December 18th, when he was found severely dehydrated and rambling emotionally outside of a bar in a town close to the border in neighboring Wyoming.
The details of the intervening six days are a topic of dispute between the police, Tyson, and Dean Banks, with each party giving wildly different versions of what happened. What is agreed with no dispute by any party is that Dean Banks has been irrevocably changed.
“An abduction is an extremely traumatic experience,” says Linsey Windsor, adjunct professor at UCLA psychology. “Security is a fundamental human need. An abduction, especially in an area we typically think of as safe, can instill a feeling that we’re never safe. The long term effects of that on a person can be devastating -- their personality can completely change.”
If personality changes are normal, then for Banks it’s his views on raising chickens that have changed.
“We treat them so poorly,” Dean says. “I get that people are going to eat chicken. I understand that’s not going to change. What I don’t understand is why we have to be so cruel to chickens during their short life.”
Dean’s argument is not substantively new. Chicken farms have often been the target of animal rights activists who argue chickens aren’t given enough space to walk, and live most of their life in a dark crowded coops, eating till they’re ready for slaughter.
More complicated for Dean is his view that the company for which he serves on the board promotes animal cruelty.
“I think Tyson plays a huge part in the treatment of chickens,” says Dean. “It’s not even that I think it -- I know it. We’re involved in how farms raise chickens because we’re the main buyer. If we said we’re not going to buy your chickens unless you give them more space to roam, we could change farms all over the country.”
Dean’s views are seldom heard publicly, and aside from a few quickly taken down YouTube videos, this is the first national reporting on the Tyson board member.
Tyson claims they had nothing to do with flagging Mr. Banks’s YouTube videos, and also takes umbrage at Dean’s argument that Tyson promotes animal cruelty.
“Tyson Foods plays no part in how chickens are raised,” Tyson spokesman Eli Hule says. “We are the distribution, and we do that proudly, but we’re not the farmers. We have no say over how chickens are raised.”
While it’s true Tyson owns very few farms themselves and is in mainly a distributor, Tyson works extensively with private farms to set up new chicken operations.
“Tyson doesn’t own the land, but they essentially tell farmers how to run their operation,” says Eduardo Porter, economics reporter for the New York Times. “For example if you want to invest in building a new chicken coop, a commercial bank typically won’t underwrite that loan. You go to a company like Tyson and say you’ll sell them chickens for X many years if they loan you the money to scale up. But in that agreement is the implicit understanding that if Tyson doesn't like what you’re building, say they think more chickens could fit in that coop you want to build, they’ll deny the request. They have incredible control over chicken farms. It’s just indirect control.”
Dean’s explanation for how he could go from Tyson board member to chicken rights activist?
“If you knew what it was like to be a chicken in a crowded, shit covered, dark coop with barely enough room to bend your legs, you wouldn't be asking me that,” says Dean.

Conflicting Stories

Outside a bar in Wyoming near the border of Idaho, Dean yelled frantically, emotionally, till the bar called the police and Dean was sent to St. John’s Medical Center in Jackson, Wyoming.
At the hospital, Dean was treated for dehydration and minor bruising, and then was moved to the mental health ward where he was kept under observation for three days.
Dean says he remembers nothing about how he got to Wyoming, or how he ended up specifically at that bar. For Dean, it’s the intervening six days that he remembers, but was also severely hesitant to talk about at first.
“I’m worried the public will say what Tyson says, what the police say, that I’m making it all up,” says Dean.
He has reason to be worried. Dean’s story is fantastical, and arguably the reason for a lot of his current troubles.
“I can’t deny what happened,” says Dean. “I can only tell you that they gave me the memory implants of a chicken’s life, and it was fucking horrifying.”
Hot and sweating in pitch black darkness with skant enough room to turn his neck, Dean describes his experience as living in “the horror of optimization from the perspective of the cog in the machine.”
“It’s dark. It’s hot. You’re standing on grating that cuts into your feet and you don’t even have enough room to rotate your body,” says Dean. “And then the screams, the never ending screams of a room of creatures that don’t understand what’s happening but know they’re in pain. All the while the smell of feces is just putrid. The chickens are stacked, so the droppings from who was above me dropped onto my face, my body, and again I didn’t have enough room so I couldn't wipe it off. I just wanted to die, but even that was impossible.”
When asked how he understands his experience to be the implanted memories of a chicken, Dean says, “When I was taken, the kidnappers told me that they were going to fill my head with the memories of a chicken that lived and died in a high capacity farm. I didn’t believe them at first, of course, but the next thing my mind is filled with the sense of being something different. Like, just the sense of touch was different, the smell, and then I just felt I wasn’t me, and then the chickens started screaming, I could smell feces, and I didn’t know it at the time -- I mean didn’t understand anything, but when I was recovering at the hospital, I realized the kidnappers hadn’t been lying. They really did what they said they were going to do.”
Neither Tyson Foods nor police in Wyoming or Idaho believe Dean’s telling of his abduction, and have separate views themselves about what happened.
“We are overjoyed at Mr. Banks’s safe return,” says Eli Hule of Tyson Foods. “We are however greatly discouraged by scandalous media attempts to make his ordeal something it is not. It was a kidnapping. He was safely returned and we think that should be the focus right now.”
While Mr. Hule refused to elaborate on what happened to Banks, lawyers for Tyson provided the following statement: “Tyson Foods Inc. is extremely grateful to local law enforcement for the safe return of Dean Banks. In regards to Mr. Banks’s experience, it is our position that inflicted abuse on Mr. Banks should not dictate how Tyson runs its business, which is currently an industry leader in providing delicious, healthy chicken products to more than 250 million Americans every year.”
On the record, law enforcement in Idaho and Wyoming who have handled this case are equally suspicious of Mr. Banks’s story.
“We have no evidence to back Mr. Banks’s claim of being implanted with the memories of a chicken,” says attorney general for Wyoming, Bridget Hill. The Idaho attorney general referred me to Ms. Hill’s statement when asked for comment.
Off the record, local police officers were more forthcoming on their opinions of what happened to Mr. Banks.
“Totally believe him,” says officer Steve of Idaho, who asked I only use his first name. “This type of stuff happens all the time. Drug lords in Mexico put the memories of dogs in their hit men to toughen them up. This is nothing new.”
Another officer from Wyoming, who only agreed to speak anonymously, has another theory: “I don’t know about memory implants, but I’ll tell you that guy was on drugs when we picked him up, psychedelics or something.”
Asked if Dean’s experience could be explained with drugs, Dean says: “I went to college. It wasn’t drugs.”

The $87,250

Why was Dean Banks released on December 18th, 2018? It’s a question the police and Tyson don’t have an answer to, but one Dean readily has a response for.
In Dean’s telling, Tyson was contacted following his kidnapping and asked to pay $87,250 for his release. Dean notes that this request didn’t go to his family (who would have paid it, he says), but directly to Tyson corporate.
Tyson adamantly denies this, whose lawyers state: “Tyson did not pay a ransom for the release of board member Dean Banks, nor were we contacted by Dean’s kidnappers. Any story to the contrary is completely unfounded.”
Police also dispute there ever being a ransom, with AG Hill of Wyoming stating, “It is our position that this was not a ransom kidnapping, but rather an abduction. No money was sought to release Dean Banks, and he either escaped on his own or was released by his captors for reasons unknown.”
The denials by Tyson and police are clear, but there is contrary evidence there was indeed a ransom.
“It wasn’t even 48 hours before a friend of Dean’s contacted me to let me know what had happened,” Martha, Dean’s wife says. “They serve on the board together, and they filled me in on everything Tyson had learned. They said Dean had been kidnapped, but the kidnappers were only asking for $87,250. It was such a small amount that Tyson put the petty cash to pay the ransom the very next day. A few days later, he’s home.”
Martha declined to say who told her about the ransom and the payment, stating: “Do I really want to put another person in the same boat as Dean? Tyson might remove Dean from the board. I don't want that to happen to them too. They were simply trying to console me, let me know Dean would come back safe.”
Tyson has good reason to lie about making a ransom payment. Although prosecutions for it are nearly non-existent, under section 1202 of federal penal code 18, it is illegal to make a ransom payment.
While the legal liability for Tyson might be low, there almost certainly would be a media firestorm over Tyson Foods making an illegal ransom payment, no matter the ethics of the act. Large publicly traded companies will often squash a story unless it’s clearly beneficial to the company’s image.
“It’s a toxic story,” says Dean. “What’s the upside here? Some coverage that Tyson is a good company cause they paid a ransom? For Tyson, there’s no guarantee that would happen. Meanwhile, they know they’ll have to deal with a board member calling their farming practices cruel getting a national microphone. Of course they’d deny the ransom.”

No Investigation

Perhaps the most perplexing detail of Dean’s abduction is, why haven’t the kidnappers been caught?
It is just one question among the many that loom over Dean’s case. Why was he transported to Wyoming? Why, even if it didn’t happen, was he told he would be given the implanted memories of a chicken? Why was his ransom set at $87,250? Did Tyson make the payment?
Police in Wyoming and Idaho claim they are still investigating, but anonymous sources from inside investigating police departments have told me the case was given such low priority that they’re nearly certain it’ll never be solved.
That might be good for large parts of Wyoming and Idaho where many of America’s chickens are raised. A scandal involving Tyson and illegal ransom payments could financially harm thousands farmers and businesses that rely on that industry that Tyson is so central to.
“I think what’s good for the survivor here is going to be bad for the community, so we’re just not going after this one,” says a detective in Idaho who only agreed to comment anonymously.
Meanwhile, Dean and his family are somewhat resigned that Dean’s captors will not be apprehended by law enforcement.
“Justice is hard enough to get when it’s what everyone wants,” says Dean. “But in this case, I think I’m the only one who wants it, so what kind of a chance is that, really?”
In Dean’s telling, Tyson is actively suppressing the police investigation by denying the ransom.
“For fear of cutting into profits from bad press coverage,” he says,” Tyson is willing to let someone who committed a serious crime go free.”
“If we speak about the ransom,” says Martha, “Tyson has threatened to sue on defamation. It’s a risk just talking to you now.”

Wellis Farms

Since I started covering this story in February, I’ve driven countless hours on midwestern roads between Sun Valley, Idaho and Jackson, Wyoming. Along the way I stopped at several chicken farms to learn, first hand, how chickens are kept and raised, and to verify Dean’s claim of arguable animal cruelty at many of these farms.
It was by chance when I was coming back across the border into Idaho that I found Wellis farms, a small operation with extremely talkative farmer that was thrilled that I was asking him questions about how chickens are treated.
“Beyond cruel,” Wellis says, showing me around his farm in an acid washed durag and white t-shirt. “If a chicken could do it, they'd commit suicide in those densely packed coops.”
He’s happy to show me his farm, regularly pointing to the chickens that roam mostly free in a large enclosed area.
“I’m not a vegetarian,” says Wellis. “Hell I eat ‘em, and they just taste better when they’re raised right. When they’re raised as slaves and they know it, they taste bitter. I taste a chicken I can tell you how much room that chicken has to run around. Swear.”
In one corner of the farm is a dilapidated chicken coop. I ask Wellis about it, and it’s the only time his mood sours during the whole tour.
“Hundred grand mistake is what that is,” he says, and refuses to say much more. “It was a project and it didn't work out,” is all I can get him to add.
The tour was nice, and Wellis seems like a genuinely nice guy, but the failed chicken coop did pique my interest.
While not definitive evidence of wrongdoing, I was able to find a series of building plans filed with the local building inspector in Bonneville County, where Wellis Farms is located. Listed publicly for that property is a set of documents for construction of a chicken coop filed in 2011. There are two plans, one from Wellis, and a revised version by the underwriter of his loan, Tyson Foods. Wellis’s plan was a for a modestly packed coop. The revised plan from Tyson called for a chicken coop with eight times the occupancy. The amount for the loan, $87,250.
While perhaps just an amazing coincidence, this information was provided to Tyson, law enforcement in Wyoming and Idaho, and Dean Banks.
Tyson gave no comment when told about Wellis farms. Police stated that they are still investigating but appreciated “citizen efforts.”
Dean was the least ambivalent. After contacting Wellis, Dean said: “It’d be an awful thing if he was the one who kidnapped me, it really would. Because he doesn't seem like such a bad guy.”
Myra Kindle is an independent investigative reporter. She covers tech, law, politics, and other stories that would be impossible to write about in more traditional outlets.

Hi everyone. About a month ago I asked for some advice about a trip to your state to visit glacier and yellowstone. A lot of you had some great input and advice and I just came back from my trip. We only had accommodations set-up for the first 2 nights and just kinda winged the rest of the trip.
All I can say is wow. You guys live in a beautiful place. Montana is massive and so diverse.
The first day we flew into Helena and drove north toward the east side of glacier to stay in a town called Essex just outside of the park. It was like another planet to see those rolling hills covered in flowers and wide open spaces for hours along the drive. The town of browning inside the blackfeet reservation had some really nice people too (also why is there a casino attached to almost every gas station?)
We explored glacier the next day. Did some hiking in two medicine and drove the famous road inside the park. We got lucky and the weather was kinda sketchy when the day started so there weren't many people in the park or on the road (we went from east to west down the road). When we were on the road, the weather was clearing up and when we were finishing you could see the bumper to bumper traffic coming from the other side.
The next day we just kinda went exploring and drove thru whitefish. We decided to check out canada since it wasn't a far drive and we ended up coming back thru Idaho and stayed the night in bonners ferry(idaho was surprisingly scenic and friendly).
We came back to Montana the next day and did the hike to Kootenai Falls right by the border. Really cool area and we had the trails to ourselves. After that we just kinda bounced from small town to small town passing thru places like Thompson Falls to stop to check things out(thrift stores, random events in the middle of town). The views of the mountains and picturesque rivers/lakes made those towns seem like paradise.
We stopped in Missoula and ate at a place called Taco San. We had a hard time finding a place to stay there and on a whim a found a place online in the next town over called Butte and decided to go there.
I knew nothing about Butte when I booked that hotel. As soon as we rolled off the highway I knew this wasn't just another town. To me it was fascinating. Like you were in an episode of the twilight zone. All those empty houses for sale. These gorgeous turn of the century buildings with old ads painted on the bricks sitting vacant. We got up the next morning and there were no stores open. No cars on the road. No people besides us walking on the sidewalks. It was just bizarre. On our way out, ww checked out the Berkeley pitt and some mining memorials and started to piece together what happened to this place. To me Butte was one of the most memorable places I've ever visited.
After Butte we found a place in Gardiner just outside of yellowstone and drove there and checked out Lamar valley that afternoon and saw tons of wildlife. We got up at 530 the next day to beat the crowds and check out the Westside of yellowstone with the hot springs. We stopped at mammoth springs and the mudpots and had the places to ourselves. We hit old faithful by 8am just as the crowds were starting to come in. We hit a few more things on our way out and were done by noon just in time to see the half mile deep line to get into the West entrance.
We found a nice place near a town called Ennis and had the best steak of my life. And that was our last night in Montana before we flew back out of Helena.
We drove 1300 miles in 7 days. It was scenic and interesting and not at all like driving up and down i95 in florida like how some of you said it would be. Almost everyone we ran into was friendly and helpful. It was a great trip and I plan on coming back again. Thank you for your tips and hospitality.

We only had accommodations set-up for the first 2 nights and just kinda winged the rest of the trip.
All I can say is wow. Montana is massive and beautiful place.
The first day we flew into Helena and drove north toward the east side of glacier to stay in a town called Essex just outside of the park. It was like another planet to see those rolling hills covered in flowers and wide open spaces for hours along the drive. The town of browning inside the blackfeet reservation had some really nice people too (also why is there a casino attached to almost every gas station?)
We explored glacier the next day. Did some hiking in two medicine and drove the famous road inside the park. We got lucky and the weather was kinda sketchy when the day started so there weren't many people in the park or on the road (we went from east to west down the road). When we were on the road, the weather was clearing up and when we were finishing you could see the bumper to bumper traffic coming from the other side.
The next day we just kinda went exploring and drove thru whitefish. We decided to check out canada since it wasn't a far drive and we ended up coming back thru Idaho and stayed the night in bonners ferry(idaho was surprisingly scenic and friendly).
We came back to Montana the next day and did the hike to Kootenai Falls right by the border. Really cool area and we had the trails to ourselves. After that we just kinda bounced from small town to small town passing thru places like Thompson Falls to stop to check things out(thrift stores, random events in the middle of town). The views of the mountains and picturesque rivers/lakes made those towns seem like paradise.
We stopped in Missoula and ate at a place called Taco San. We had a hard time finding a place to stay there and on a whim a found a place online in the next town over called Butte and decided to go there.
I knew nothing about Butte when I booked that hotel. As soon as we rolled off the highway I knew this wasn't just another town. To me it was fascinating. Like you were in an episode of the twilight zone. All those empty houses for sale. These gorgeous turn of the century buildings with old ads painted on the bricks sitting vacant. We got up the next morning and there were no stores open. No cars on the road. No people besides us walking on the sidewalks. It was just bizarre. On our way out, ww checked out the Berkeley pitt and some mining memorials and started to piece together what happened to this place. To me Butte was one of the most memorable places I've ever visited.
After Butte we found a place in Gardiner just outside of yellowstone and drove there and checked out Lamar valley that afternoon and saw tons of wildlife. We got up at 530 the next day to beat the crowds and check out the Westside of yellowstone with the hot springs. We stopped at mammoth springs and the mudpots and had the places to ourselves. We hit old faithful by 8am just as the crowds were starting to come in. We hit a few more things on our way out and were done by noon just in time to see the half mile deep line to get into the West entrance.
We found a nice place near a town called Ennis and had the best steak of my life. And that was our last night in Montana before we flew back out of Helena.
We drove 1300 miles in 7 days. It was scenic and interesting. Almost everyone we ran into was friendly and helpful. It was a great trip and I plan on coming back again.

Hey all, 30,000 words later, I've finished the rough draft of my thesis, so I get to reward myself with this!
It is an attempt to catch all the literary references in Destiny's flavor texts–I did armor last week, you can find that post here!
Obviously, since I'm not a writer in Destiny, nor do I know any of the writers, this will not 100% complete–but I read a lot, so maybe it'll be close!
Without more ado about nothing, here's the primary weapons! They're organized by class, and then roughly in descending order of rarity.

Auto Rifles

Fabian Strategy: Wait for enemy to make a mistake. Die. Stand by for Ghost Resurrection. Repeat as necessary.
Interestingly, despite its name being the an actual military strategy, the use of Fabian Strategy really doesn't seem in line with that strategy. The actual strategy is one of attrition, guerrilla warfare, and light skirmishes, as opposed to the frontline fighting the gun espouses. The strategy itself was named after Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator (can't make this stuff up), a Roman dictator who pioneered it against Hannibal, a legendary Carthaginian commander. Fun fact, his cognomen–or honorary last name–Verrucosus, means 'warty', a reference to a wart on his upper lip.
((GENESIS CHAIN~)): ~if(input(SIVA)) // echo Shirazi // output(death) // ask(not in vain)~
I think this is a reference to James 4:3:

³You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.

New Revised Standard Version. 'Ask not in vain', as it were. I'm not 100% about this one simply because it's not a great fit, but 'ask not in vain' is a pretty iconic phrase.
Monte Carlo: There will always be paths to tread and methods to try. Roll with it.
Uhh, so this is a reference to the Monte Carlo method, which, according to Wikipedia, is, "a broad class of computational algorithms that rely on repeated random sampling to obtain numerical results." If someone with relevant expertise could explain this better, I'll edit it in, but for now, I'll take a whack at it: as a part of risk analysis, Monte Carlo methods allow you to simulate a large number of possible outcomes, so you can better make decisions under uncertainty. Of course, it is also a reference to the Monte Carlo principality in Monaco, particularly its opera-house-cum-casino, from which the RNG of the Monte Carlo method takes its name.
Abyss Defiant: We will not go quietly.
A reference to Welsh poet Dylan Thomas' "Do not go gentle into that good night", all of which is fabulous, but I will quote just a short stanza here:

Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. 

As Guardians, we're pretty conditioned against the 'dying of the light', so this one definitely feels like a good fit.
Arminius-D: Unleash a torrent on your enemies with the Häkke Arminius-D.
The name is of Arminus (german, Hermann), a legendary German commander who lived in both the BCE and CE, and gave the Romans their greatest defeat at the Battle of Teutonberg, in 9CE. Arguably one of the most important battles in history, it likely stopped Roman advancement past the Rhine permanently–which is likely the "torrent" referenced in the flavor text.
Zarinaea-D: You provide the will, and the Häkke Zarinaea-D provides the way.
A Sacae woman, who also fought in battles. Wife of the Parthian (ayyyyy, see pulse rifles, below) King Marmares. Her story is related in Ctesias' history of the Persian empire, Persica.
Paleocontact JPK-43: An auto rifle, modified by Dead Orbit's superb technicians and specialists.
Paleocontact is the idea that aliens rendezvoused with early humans and influenced civilization. It is generally considered a pseudo-historic theory at best, and falls under "Ancient astronauts". No idea about the "JPK-43" part, unfortunately.
Questing Beast: You'll never catch it. But that's not the point.
A reference to Arthurian legend, the Questing Beast is a vicious monster, and a, "... subject of quests undertaken by famous knights such as King Pellinore, Sir Palamedes, and Sir Percival". Its description was quite ferocious:

The strange creature has the head and neck of a snake, the body of a leopard, the haunches of a lion, and the feet of a hart.^[1] Its name comes from the great noise that it emits from its belly, a barking like "thirty couple hounds questing". 'Glatisant' is related to the French word glapissant, 'yelping' or 'barking', especially of small dogs or foxes.

More contemporary incarnations can be found in The Magicians series by Lev Grossman, and possibly South Park? Unsurprisingly, it also makes an appearance in the Merlin TV series. Thanks to Phoenity1 for pointing that one out!
Zero-Day Dilemma: There's no defense against it.
A reference to zero-day vulnerabilities, which are computer vulnerabilities found and exploited before the developers can come up with a solution or workaround–thus the 'zero-day' moniker.
For The People: I stand against the state of nature.
A reference to Thomas Hobbes' "natural condition of mankind", from Leviathan. A 'state of nature' was the theoretical idea of man's existence before society. A really interesting exploration of that idea is Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān, a philosophical work by Ibn Tufail–Arabic, أبو بكر محمد بن عبد الملك بن محمد بن طفيل القيسي الأندلسي– which tells the story of a young man raised entirely in nature by animals, who only comes into contact with society later on in his life.
Izudabar-D: Millenia will pass, and still your name will ring out.
"Izdubar" was the initial translation of the name Gilgamesh, who of course is the protagonist of the Epic of Gilgamesh a fabulous (and surprisingly short!) ancient Mesopotamian epic poem, which is considered the first example of the genre.
Bronzed Miyamoto-D: An aggressive Häkke auto rifle, earned through glory in the Crucible.
A reference to the later-era (1600s) Japanese swordsman and strategist, Miyamoto Musashi–Japanese, 宮本 武蔵–and likely not the co-founder of Nintendo! In his later years, he wrote The Book of Five Rings, a treatise on strategy, tactics and philosophy.
Galahad-E: This extraordinary multirole rifle boasts a smartmatter frame, the key to remarkable capabilities.
More Arthurian legend! Sir Galahad is the illegitimate son of Lancelot and Elaine of Corbenic, ironically renowned for his purity and gallantry. He appeared quite late in the Medieval Arthurian legends, but became much more common in the later narratives, like Le Morte d'Arthur. Ultimately, he is considered to be the only night of Arthur's table worthy to see the Holy Grail and ascend to Heaven.
Shingen-E: The exemplary Shingen-E is built to pop skulls.
One of my old favorites (still sad I sharded it, though :( alas for small vaults), it likely references another 16^th century feudal Japanese lord, Takeda Shingen–Japanese, 武田 信玄. A commander of "exceptional military prestige" during the Sengoku period, his alleged death by sniper was depicted by Kurosawa in the movie Kagemusha. It will be the 444th anniversary of his death on May 13th!
Longespée-A: When all around you is chaos, the dependable Longespée-A won't fail you.
A reference to William Longespée (literally, 'long sword' ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)), 3^rd Earl of Salisbury. Renowned for being friggin' huge and having a friggin' huge sword. Go figure. He died in 1226, and was buried in Salisbury Cathedral. Five hundred and fifty years later, his tomb was opened, and a well-preserved rat was found inside his skull. I guess you could say it was skulking around? He got ratted out, though!
SUROS TYR-14: Stable. Dependable. Rapid-fire. SUROS.
Reminding me of how much I hate Suros' flavor text style, I'm not 100% sure about this one, because most of the 'cheap' Suros weapons have three-letter acronyms at the end of their name, so this might be coincidence. But, Týr is an ancient Germanic/Norse god, either the son of Odin, by the Prose Edda, or Hymar, by the Poetic Edda. Associated with war and might. Had his hand bit off by Fenrir, and is therefore known also known as 'The Leavings of the Wolf' which is an honorific, rather than a dig at him. His name is also where we get 'Tuesday' (Týr's-day)!
Cydonia-AR3: The City can't rely on a steady supply of programmable matter, so the multirole AR3 uses it only sparingly.
A region of Mars, but also a surname of Athena. That region of Mars was also where we found 'the Face of Mars', a rock formation whose shadows made it look like a face. Pretty neat.

Pulse Rifles

Herja-D: Devastate your foes with the deadly precision of the Häkke Herja-D.
More from the Prose Edda! This is a Valkyrie (demigoddesses of war, they would ride into battles and pick the worthy dead to come with them to Valhalla) specifically named in one of the two Nafnaþulur lists. Etymologically, it is also related to the Old Norse herja and Old High German herjón, both of which mean 'destruction' or 'devastation'.
Apple of Discord: "For the Fairest."
Huge shout-out to G3vanB, I'll put their analysis here:

Eris, godess of strife, supposedly throws one:
An apple of discord is a reference to the Golden Apple of Discord (Greek: μῆλον τῆς Ἔριδος) which, according to Greek mythology, the goddess Eris (Gr. Ἔρις, "Strife") tossed in the midst of the feast of the gods at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis as a prize of beauty, thus sparking a vanity-fueled dispute among Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite that eventually led to the Trojan War.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_of_Discord
The Apple was inscribed with ΤΗΙ ΚΑΛΛΙΣΤΗΙ The translation is the Gun's flavour text.

Interesting to note the Goddess of Strife's name ...
Hawksaw: A northwesterly wind is blowing.
Perhaps one of the more well-known references to our dear Bard, this is from Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2, Line 351:

HAMLET I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw. 

We're all mad, mad I tell you! Thanks to pocsaclypse for pointing that one out!
Parthian Shot: Who's got the last laugh now?
A military tactic turned literary term, a Parthian shot is an insult or retort delivered as the speaker was leaving. It eventually evolved into the much more well-known 'parting shot' in a delightful little bit of linguistic movement. It comes from a strategy developed by the Parthians, ancient Iranian peoples, where they would ride their horses away from the enemy while firing their bows at said enemy. Of course, it was also before the development of stirrups, so this was a technique that required a truly sublime mastery of equestrian skill. Imagine shooting a bow, while riding a horse, that you're only controlling with the muscles in your legs. Insane.
Smite of Merain (Adept): Barrel etching: "He parted them like a sea, which closed upon him again."
It's not exact, but any references to any parting of any seas are of course biblical in nature–Exodus, 14:21-15:19. Just taking the most similar quote I can find:

26 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chari- ot drivers."

14:26, NRSV. As usual, that particular act of God is followed with a great deal of praise.
The Messenger: From deep within the shadows it came—a messenger borne on black wings.
The personification of death often includes a pair of black wings. Crows and Ravens (and many other members of the Corvus family), often thought of as battlefield scavengers, are black. This feels like it should be a specific reference, but honestly it's more a trope than anything.
Hopscotch Pilgrim: It's a long road. Enjoy it.
In a seriously impressive bit of detective work, JohnnyFlack found that this is actually referencing:

Oh oh i found this while reading about the origins of hopscotch...
"In Cuba and in Puerto Rico it is called "La Peregrina" (meaning "Pilgrim Girl") and the squares represent the 9 rings the pilgrim traveler has to pass in order to reach Heaven from Purgatory according to Dante's Inferno."

Here's the Wikipedia article!
Moriaen-D: You are a child of many peoples, a protector of all cultures.
More Arthurian literature. This is a 13^th century romance, called Moriaen, whose story of the titular hero follows him as he first attempts to find his father, and meets with famous knights of the round table, like Lancelot and Gawain. Once his father Aglovale is found, they return to his mother and take back her rightful lands. He is Moorish after his mother, but obviously is also a part of the Arthurian tradition. Thus the 'child of many cultures'.
Lump Distribution: This nimble rifle's on-board tactical systems keep a scrupulous tally of combat stats.
Besides looking totally neat, the gun refers to a Lump-Sum Distribution, which is, "... the distribution or payment within a single tax year of a plan participant's entire balance from all of the employer's qualified plans of one kind (for example, pension, profit-sharing, or stock bonus plans)." Thanks for that, IRS.
Painted Apollo MSc: A highly accurate Nadir firearm, earned through glory in the Crucible.
Our first Nadir gun! Apollo is the Greek god of, among other things, music, poetry, art, oracles, archery, plague, medicine, sun, light and knowledge. Wicked important, very well known. Has a sister, Artemis.
Painted Neptune MSc: A high velocity Nadir firearm, earned through glory in the Crucible.
I'm sensing a naming trend, though perhaps not a consistent! Neptune is the Roman god of the sea and freshwater, and is the counterpart to the Greek Poseidon.
Hotspur-A: Piezopolymer paneling makes the Häkke Hotspur-A a balanced war machine.
Hey! This is interesting. The green Häkke weapons are named after English noblemen! This one is after Henry 'Hotspur' Percy. Led a bunch of rebellions against Henry IV and was eventually killed at the Battle of Shrewsbury by an arrow to the face. Get rekt kiddo. He also featured as a character in Shakespeare's Henry IV, part I.

Scout Rifles

Fate of All Fools: *"The wise man knows his fate. The fool merely finds it."
I orignally thought this was a reference to Matthew, but turns out it's not–check out the story below!
A really excellent explanation of this from Voroxpete, which makes much more sense:

The Fate of All Fools - This one is actually a reference to a videogame... Specifically, Marathon, the series that Bungie created back in 1994, and from which many, many elements of both Halo and Destiny are derived. Rather apropo, given that the weapon was originally gifted to a long time fan who was recovering from brain cancer.
The specific reference is to this scene from Marathon 2:

Tycho's ship has been destroyed. The crater where it annihilated itself on Lh'owon's inner moon is still glowing. There were no survivors. With a focused message laser I burned his epitaph into the surface near the crash site, in letters three hundred meters high: "Fatum Iustum Stultorum."

The speaker in that scene is Durandal, an incredibly powerful rampant AI (wow, gee, its almost like Bungie have some kind of fixation on powerful rogue AIs or something). Tycho is another very powerful AI, acting under the control of an alien empire and sent to destroy or capture Durandal.
The phrase in latin at the end is a little bit wonky (hiring experts to get your dead languages right wasn't exactly a thing in nineties video game design), but it's more or less agreed that the intended translation is something like "The just fate of the foolish"...
Or "The fate of all fools."

Cocytus SR4: The Omolon Cocytus SR4 will drown your enemy in a river of pain.
Thanks to scapulargolem for this:

The 'Cocytus' is referencing the black river surrounding Dis/Hades (The underworld) in Classical mythology. It's mentioned many times in Virgil's Aeneid book 6. It's flavour text reflects this.

Incidentally, in some versions of the tale, the Cocytus Styx was supposedly the river Achilles was submerged in to make him invulnerable. He was held by his ankle, thus making his ankle his only weak spot–his Achilles heel (thanks to thyrandomninja for that clarification!).
And some additional context from Owasippe_Ninja! Thanks!

Awesome. Also, in Dante's Inferno, Cocytus is the frozen lake of the Ninth circle of hell, encasing not only Lucifer himself, but those who betray a bond of trust with others like benefactors, countrymen, and family. The ice is formed by the tears of the Old Man of Crete, which are described as being frozen sorrow and pain, and the frozen winds blown up by the wings of Lucifer. The worst betrayers (who aren't being devoured in the three heads of Lucifer) are fully encased in the ice in a the region called Judecca, named supposedly for Judas Iscariot (although there's more to Judecca than just Judas, check out its use in medieval city planning and general attitudes of Italian Christians of the time to Jews). So seems to fit the flavor text of "drowning enemies in a river of pain."

Additional small bit from another stealthy person, thyrandomninja:

is not just a reference to a literal river, but the Cocytus is also the river of lamentation, or mournful woe. It not only drowns the enemy in front of you by shooting them, but their friends and family are drowned in mourning as well.

Tuonela SR4: Hell will freeze over before the Omolon Tuonela SR4 will fail you.
Ahahah funny joke, Bungo. In Finnish mythology, Tuonela is the equivalent of Hades. In Finnish Christianity, it is the word used for 'Hell' in translations of the Bible. In terms of a literary reference, though, Tuonela is featured in the Kalevela, a Finnish national epic. The protagonist (roughly speaking), Väinämöinen, travels there to seek the knowledge of the dead. It, uhh, went okay.
The Hero Formula: It's just so satisfying!
Okay, this is referencing one of two things: either Heron's formula, alternately spelled Hero's formula; or the Hero's journey, which, frankly, makes slightly more sense? The first is a mathematical formula that gives the area of a triangle by requiring no arbitrary choice of side as base or vertex as origin, where A=√(s-(s-a)(s-b)(s-c)). It's satisfying, I guess? Math isn't really my thing. The second refers to the 'monomyth' or the "common template of a broad category of tales that involve a hero who goes on an adventure, and in a decisive crisis wins a victory, and then comes home changed or transformed". The idea was originally put forward by Jason Joseph Campbell in his 1949 book on the subject, The Hero With a Thousand Faces.
Lethe Noblesse: Do not forget. Never forgive.
Many thanks to Johnny_Dirtbird for this one:

Good job. One other that I had in mind is the Queen's scout rifle, Lethe Noblesse. The flavor text is "Do not forget. Never forgive." From dictionary.com - Lethe is "a river in Hades whose water caused forgetfulness of the past in those who drank of it." Noblesse is a French word that means nobility. I know it from the phrase 'Noblesse Oblige' - nobility obligates. Putting the words together, my guess would be something like 'forgetfulness of nobility.'

High Road Soldier: The survival of civilization depends on our willingness to choose conscience over expedience.
Per S0rrowS0ng and JohnnyFlack, this is likely a reference to the common idiom (I mean, it bascially defines the concept in the flavor text) 'take the high road'. It could also be a winking reference to the chorus 'The Bonnie Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond':

O ye'll tak' the high road, and I'll tak' the low road, And I'll be in Scottland a'fore ye, But me and my true love will never meet again, On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond. 

Zero Point LOTP: This much fun should be outlawed.
thyrandomninja has a great and funny explanation:

I'll do what I can to explain. Every object has "energy levels", whether it be an electron, a molecule, a snooker ball, or a planet. The DIFFERENCE between these energy levels is imperceptible to us because we exist on the macroscopic scale (i.e. we're too big to see tiny differences), so to us it looks continuous. On the microscopic level (e.g. electrons, these energy levels are relatively larger, and much more noticeable, which is what ultimately leads to all the "weird shit" in quantum mechanics, that doesn't show up in real life scenarios). Energy states are usually categorised as n=1, n=2, etc, where n is the number of that energy level. (Electrons NATURALLY tend to operate in n=1 through ~20 [give or take whatever - CERN like to add a few thousand/million/whatever n's in their accelerators :P ] territory, whereas a person is always on n = several fucking million) Zero Point Energy is the energy of an object at n=1. There is no n=0 (for reasons i won't get into here), and therefore no such thing as "having no energy". There is always SOME amount of energy in any given object, and you cannot get rid of it (that "some amount" is negligible compared to things we see in our lives, but that's not the point).
Relating to Life Of The Party, this is probably saying there's no such thing as a dead party. There is always SOME fun to be had, no matter what - the very idea a "life of the party" person would embody.
Alternatively, it could be a jab at the "life of the party" philosophy, by saying that "yeah, there's some fun, but it's negligible, and i'm going to go home", meaning the description takes on a more sarcastic approach.

The Scholar: You can't pull an all-nighter when the sun never sets.
Not really 'literature', but too relevant not to include ;)
Also, per goldenboot76:

Everyone probably knows this already, but the other reasoning behind the Scholar scout rifle's flavour text is the fact that Mercury's orbital period and rotational period are one and the same. As such, half of Mercury is in eternal sunlight, and the other is in eternal darkness.
Hence, the "You can't pull an all-nighter when the sun never sets.".

Thanks for that!
Lampad SR4: Let your enemies know: death will be their only companion.
The Lampads, or Lampedes, were spirits of the underworld in greek mythology. They accompanied Hecate and generally went around doing spooky stuff.
Orphne SR4: If death is the Darkness's way, let our Light defy their desire.
Orphne was a specific nymph of the Greek underworld. Also an alternate translation of Caliga, the goddess of Darkness.
Painted Abbadon SR5: A single-fire Omolon firearm, earned through glory in the Crucible.
Sharing its name with the exotic machine gun, Abbadon is either a "place of destruction" or an Angel of Death. Either way, not pleasant.
Just a quick clarification from westen81, thanks!

Abbadon is most usually associated with the angel of destruction (not necessarily death)..

Painted Sorg SR5: A powerful Omolon firearm, earned through glory in the Crucible.
In a large number of Germanic and Germanic-derived languages, 'sorg' means 'sorrow' or 'grieving'.
Primed Díyú SR5: A long range Omolon firearm, earned through glory in the Crucible.
Following a clear pattern here, 'Diyu' is the Chinese conception of Hell.
Silvered Kín SR5: A highly accurate Omolon firearm, earned through glory in the Crucible.
A Turkic word, it means, simply, 'pain'.
Bronzed Yamaduta SR5: An accurized Omolon Scout Rifle, earned through glory in the Crucible.
The Yamatuda are messengers of Death in the Hindu tradition.
Thanatos SR5: Where Death follows, new life will grow. Where new life grows... Death will follow.
Thanatos is the Greek personification of Death. He is the twin brother of Hypnos, the God of Sleep. Referenced in the Illiad:

... then send Death to carry him away, and Sleep who is painless ... 

The Iliad, 16.453-4. Richard Lattimore, translator.
Xibalba SR5: Tiled with picocircuitry, the Xibalba SR5 is fiendishly accurate and hungry to grow.
How many different conceptions of Hell can we find? This particular one refers to the Mayan realm of the dead. It shares its flavor text with the Acheron SR5. The Acheron is both a real river in Greece, but also another one of the five rivers of Hades. The Cocytus (discussed above) flows into it.
Naraka SR5: There will always be new hells to conquer.
hahah, no kidding about those 'new hells'. This specific hell is a particularly diverse amalgamate, finding its place in Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism. Modified to 'Neraka' in Indonesian and Malaysian, it also describes the Islamic concept of hell. Moreover, it also describes the servants and spirits of Hell when modified to 'Narakas'.
Garmr SR1: Death is hungry.
Garmr is a dog (or wolf) of the Underworld in Norse mythology. He is, "the blood-stained guardian of Hel's gate".
Shinigami SR1: Death comes for the City's foes. Let's not keep it waiting.
Shinigami–Japanese, 死神–are spirits or gods of death. They invite humans to death, and rule over the underworld. Fans of the anime Death Note will also remember their appearance in that series.

Hand Cannons

The Last Word: "Yours. Not mine." —Renegade Hunter Shin Malphur to Dredgen Yor
Many thanks to andreisse for this one!

I know it's based on a gun, and a speech... I'll try and find it.
The Last Word is likely based on a real-life counterpart called Revolver No. 5. It was a weapon devised in 1928 by Elmer Keith, a "firearms enthusiast" from Idaho renowned for his six-shot expertise. He wrote about this weapon in 1929, in an article titled "The Last Word".
http://destinydb.com/item/3164616405/the-last-word

Here's a link to a .pdf of the article.
Gaheris-D: Balanced and dependable, the Häkke Gaheris-D is a true warrior's weapon.
More Arthurian legends! Gaheris was the nephew of Arthur, and a knight of the round table. He is described as "... valiant, agile, handsome, reticent in speech, prone to excess when angered, and possessing a right arm longer than the left".
Judith-D: Headshots are strongly encouraged with the Häkke Judith-D.
So, there are a lot of things this could be, but most likely it is referencing Judith of Bethulia, an Israelite who beheaded the Assyrian general Holofernes. Headshots strongly encouraged, indeed! Incidentally, that poem is found in the same manuscript as Beowulf–the Nowell Codex.
Kumakatok HC4: When the Omolon Kumakatok HC4 comes knocking, even the Darkness locks its doors.
The kumakatok are three Philippine spirits, who walk from door to door, knocking and bringing bad omens. One is supposed to resemble a young woman, the other two old men–however, they obscure their faces with hoods. Seriously creepy.
The Devil You Know: Let's make a deal ...
A reference to the phrase, "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't", this is the only weapon I know of that actually completes the phrase in game. The Devil You Don't was widely acknowledged to be simply a worse version of TDYK, not only being an impact class lower, but also with worse base range. That's commitment to the joke right there.
Uffern HC4: Omolon's Uffern HC4 sentences the City's enemies to burn.
In what should be a surprise to nobody at this point, Uffern is the Celtic version of Hell. Unfortunately I can't source it beyond a three-word mention in the Wikipedia article on Hell.
A very helpful clarification by Rapstah–much appreciated!

"Uffern" is literally Welsh for "hell". "U" is a near-close central unrounded vowel, or even a short "i" sound in southern Welsh. The sound "f" is represented as "ff" in Welsh, so if you represent it as "yfern" it's clear that it's derived from Latin "infernus".
I wouldn't say it's the Celtic version of Hell, it's literally just what you would call the christian concept of Hell in Welsh.

Byronic Hero: Brood, baby, brood.
A type of anti-hero created and embodied by Lord Byron. Byronic Heroes are: "a man proud, moody, cynical, with defiance on his brow, and misery in his heart, a scorner of his kind, implacable in revenge, yet capable of deep and strong affection". Think Hamlet, with a touch of Han Solo.
Also possibly another more modern reference, per getedm8–thanks!

This may be a stretch, but with the Byronic Hero's flavor text, it could be a reference to Saturday Night Fever. More specifically, the song "Disco Inferno" where the main chorus sings "Burn, baby burn!"

Vortimer-D: Where you come from is not important. It's for what you do that you will be remembered.
Vortimer, or Saint Vortimer, was another English legend. He can be found in Geoffry of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britainniae–my copy of which I've misplaced, apologies–where he is a described as a Britonic king with a strong distaste for Saxons. Worked out well, he died though.
Rience-D: You will not suffer these invader kings to live.
Hey, wait, are you telling me Häkke named another one of their guns after an English legend?! Yes, yes I am: Rience was an English/Irish/Scottish/British king named in Arthurian legend. He is variously described as the king of North Wales, Ireland, and 'many Isles'. He had the habit of edging his robe with the beards of Kings he had conquered–by the time Arthur came along, he had eleven. Arthur's, of course, was to be the twelfth invader king that he would crush. Didn't work out so well. Gosh, I really hope that's not a predictor.
LOCK_ARETE: Her excellence lies in swiftness.
A confusing one, because arete-Greek, ἀρετή–is literally 'excellence', especially in regards to efficacy, but also in terms of bravery. Arete is also the wife of Alcinous of Scheria, described thus in the Odyssey:

... Alkínoös married her and hold her dear. No lady in the world, no other mistress of a man's household, is honored as our mistress is, and loved, by her own children, by Alkínoös, and by the people. When she walks the town they murmur and gaze, as though she were a goddess. No grace or wisdom fails in her; indeed just men quarrels come to her for equity ... 

The Odyssey, 7.70-8. Robert Fitzgerald, translator.
It wasn't originally my plan for these to go in descending order of references, but hey, that worked out nicely!
As I said in the beginning, I'm sure I've missed some, so don't hesitate to point them out.
Thanks so much for reading, Guardians, I really appreciate it!

10,000 hours. That's how long it's said to take before someone has "mastered" a skill. Woodworking, Painting, Banjo Picking or Tap Dancing, the medium doesn't matter. You have to put in hours. You earn skill through repetition.
This concept of putting in the tedious effort to learn something is really common among musicians and other performers. Your job is to entertain people. You do that by performing a difficult task and making it look easy. Making something look easy takes time.
For the vast majority of musicians, the fear of embarrassment forces them to sit locked up in their room and get "good enough" to play for people in public. We feel ashamed of the fact that we were once novices, and we don't want anyone to know that we were ever anything less than perfect.
It wasn't always this way. For most of human history, there was no separation between "performer" and "audience." Music was a communal task, participated in by everyone around the cookfire or all of the hands out tending their crops. Music and dance were a natural form of communication, an important cultural dialogue in which everyone took part.
Even after The Middle Ages, when Europe's ruling class made entertainment a commodity for themselves and put musician servants on stage, traditions of folk music everywhere in the world still expected everyone sitting around to pick up an instrument or clap their hands and sing.
This natural, communal form of song still lives on today, and in first-world countries, it is carried by the kindred spirits of travelers. The tradition of busking looks at society's implication that one must be a master to perform, and sticks its tongue out at the whole thing.
If you have a guitar that you barely know three chords on, and two of your more-experienced friends are willing to teach you a couple of songs, you can stand on the sidewalk and get real experience performing for real people. Rather than meticulously sitting alone playing the same lick until it "sounds right," you can learn much faster by putting your imperfect skills out there for people to hear.
This might sound scary. "What if people think I suck? What if I mess up?" My advice is to accept that these things will happen. First of all, every musician messes up. Even professionals who play the same show every night to a packed house could point out errors that they made after each performance. That's what makes live music great. It's provocative and risky and real. The musicians could fall apart at any point, and every moment that they hold it together and keep producing that Golden Sound is another little miracle.
It's okay to mess up. It's also okay to not impress anyone. Just by virtue of the fact that you're playing on the street, some people are going to disregard you or ignore you. Just like hitchhiking, busking teaches you to handle constant rejection with grace. The beauty of playing on the street is that you nave a dynamic, non-static audience. Most people hear you play for about 30 seconds as they walk by. This means that you could totally mess up and fail a song, and then try again, get it right, and two minutes later, the people hearing you will have the impression that you've been playing wonderfully the entire time!
The majority of people who hear you will act like they don't care. Luckily, the people who do react positively make it all worth it emotionally. If I'm playing and getting discouraged and then all-the-sudden a 4-year-old kid stops his parents and starts dancing around to my music, that is worth a hundred scowls from unimpressed people. When I get a sly look from a pretty girl or a thumbs-up from someone driving by or an unexpected tip from someone who I thought was going to just walk by, that makes all of the time I spend playing for non-music-lovers totally worth it.

-What is Busking?-

Busking is performing on the street, usually for cash tips, and can be any type of music. If you play violin and are only comfortable reading sheet music, get some good sheet music and play it. If you have a shitty guitar and only know two blues songs, play those two blues songs until you get sick of them, and them play 'em some more. If you play a weird instrument like French Horn or Harp or Oboe, realize that this actually works in your favor and that having that novelty will make you more valuable than just another kid singing and playing guitar. I make about 10-times as much money per hour when I play saxophone versus acoustic guitar.
"Bucket Kids" can be found in many places where tourism is big. Ranging in skill from "7-year-old out with his big brother, generally bothering the public" to "Holly shit how did that guy learn to play like that? Let's go dance!"
Busking also includes a million other talents besides music. Jugglers, hoopers, fire spinners, and flow artists are some of the most common. Dance crews with portable sound systems tend to be good at drawing big crowds. Tarot Card readers and Fortune Tellers are very popular in places like New Orleans. Street Magic is a whole artform of its own, and can be lucrative if you're a good showman.
Street artists can sometimes make a very good living by selling paintings, sketches, or whatever medium catches peoples' eye. Caricature work deserves special mention here, as do graffiti artists, who remain anonymous and never get paid for their work. The whole world of crafting and selling trinkets and jewelry shares space with street performers. Writers also have a place in the busking world. There is growing popularity in setting up a type writer on a milk crate or small table and writing off-the-cuff poetry "your topic, your price."
Entertaining people means getting creative. There is a whole genera of buskers who take on a character and interact with the public. It can be as simple as dressing up like Spiderman or Darth Vader and making a sign that says "Tips for Pictures." There are Statue Dudes who go to elaborate lengths to draw in audiences.
It really doesn't matter what you do. What's important is that you get out and do it.

-Your Setup-

You're going to need some kind of gear. The most basic, universal object is the "Hat" This is something to collect money from people as you perform. The Hat can be a 5-gallon bucket or a glass jar or an open guitar case or a small cardboard box written on with sharpie. Your Hat should reflect the style that you're exuding. It should be attractive and easy to access. It should be an object that draws people in and makes them want to put nice things inside.
It's common practice to put "seed money" in your Hat. This is just a dollar or some change that serves as a sign that "money goes here."
Many people who do this every day have a whole little routine figured out, and they often address common concerns with a sign, in an attempt to waste less time. The "Tips For Pics" sign, as mentioned above, is a good example of this. If you have to tell every single person that it's not cool to just steal your image for free, and that they need to contribute, that's going to take a lot of time and effort that you could spend on actually performing. There is a fine line here between adding a cardboard sign to your busking setup and "flying a sign" as a style of panhandling.
With music or dance, there is often a need to have amplified sound. This involves getting power somehow. There are many different types of setups with batteries and even generators that one can use to get an electronic speaker to play on the street. In some instances, you can find places to plug in, but that is rare and unreliable.
In my experience, relying on electronics can be a hassle. Batteries die, devices break, it rains. Many times, cops will use "amplified sound" as a specific excuse for running you off of your spot or giving you a ticket. Acoustic music sounds better, and is less of a hassle if you do it right.
Whatever your setup is, know how to set up and tear down quickly. I prefer to have no more stuff than I can carry when I busk. If you do have more than just an instrument with you, you're probably going to need some kind of cart. Even if you're a van dweller and can haul your gear around in your rig, don't rely on being able to find parking directly adjacent to where you want to busk.
Some people lay out a rug, have a bunch of trinkets and furniture and decorations, set up a sound system, etc. All of this is done for their own comfort, and to establish an atmosphere. Having an elaborate setup can work well, but again, practice setting up and tearing down quickly. You are vulnerable during these transition periods.

-Getting Started-

If there is one piece of advice or encouragement I can give you, it's this: the fear and trepidation that you might feel is temporary. As soon as you play that first note or hit "play" on your boombox and start dancing, the anxiety melts away and you're focused on what you're doing.
I've spent a lot of time doing this, and thought about it a lot. I've tried to decipher what it is that makes busking this special magic thing, why it's hard and scary to think about, and why it's so easy once you get going. I think it has to do with your energy level. Before you start performing, you're at the same level as everyone else walking around. You're an anonymous human, going about your day, with your own agenda. You're not familiar to any of the people around you, and society kind of implores us to just tolerate and ignore each other. The amount of attention that you command is very neutral.
Once you start playing, however, you're suddenly addressing all of these strangers and saying "Hey! Look at me! I'm doing this thing and I'm doing it for you! I hope you like it." You are taking a risk for the sake of enriching the lives of your fellow people. This puts attention on you, and it brings you to a higher energy level. Whether peoples' opinions of you are positive or negative doesn't matter, they are paying attention to you and thinking about you. This gives you power. Once you've crossed the threshold and taken this power, it's easy to keep it up.
Once you've got your instrument or your equipment and you've decided to do this thing, the first big step is finding a spot. The only real criteria for success is finding a place that has foot traffic. You want to set up in a place that allows people to easily see and hear you, but not somewhere where you get in the way or block traffic. If someone else is busking in an area, it's probably a good spot.
Most cities have some kind of downtown, and these are often good places to try. Outdoor shopping malls usually have people in a consumerist mood, and are likely to produce some tips before you get kicked out. For times when you're traveling and in a pinch, Walmarts, grocery stores, and gas stations can be your bread and butter.
Big tourist spots are great places to try. Hollywood Blvd. in LA, The Strip in Las Vegas, Bourbon St. or Royal St. in New Orleans, Time Square or The Subway in New York, Haight St. in San Francisco. Those are just a few examples in the US. Every major city has high-traffic areas to try. Go out and explore them!

-Busking Etiquette-

Everyone is out there on their hustle. There are only so many people walking around with money in their pockets, and there are only so many spots, and so many hours in the day. The way that you go about interacting with homebums, cops, audiences, drunk hecklers, and other street performers will either earn you friends and allies or alienate you and make it harder for you to do your thing.
As with trainhopping or hitchhiking, you want to be conscious of how your presence effects the area and people around you. When I say that, I mean don't blow up the spot. Examples of activities that blow up busking spots include performing when you're shit-faced drunk; letting your dog bark, make a mess on the sidewalk, or bite people or dogs; singing racist or hateful lyrics; heckling people, especially women; smoking in an are where people are forced to be exposed to your smoke; getting in fights; or doing anything besides busking to get the cops called on you.
Sometimes police or private security or just employees of businesses will tell you to leave. This is the reason for having a minimal setup, because the best thing you can do is say "okay" and leave. Sometimes you will busk in places where you know you'll get kicked out. Walmarts, grocery stores, and gas stations are all examples of these. The vast majority of the time, store policy says there's "no soliciting" there. Despite this, I often still get a half-hour or more of solid busking before anyone says anything. In American-style freeway stops where there are 2 or 3 or more gas stations and stores in one concentrated area, you can get several hours of good busking time if you just play until you're kicked out of one spot and then move across the street to the next one.
Getting kicked out of a place isn't a bad thing. Sometimes it will actually get you more money. I've had big tips given to me as I was getting kicked out, or even after I left, because people felt bad for me and were enjoying my music before I was told to leave. Be polite, be friendly, try to relate to the person who's kicking you out. More often than not, they don't even want you to leave, they're just following orders because they don't want to loose their job.
When it comes to other performers, in general, if someone is already set up and doing their thing, leave them alone. You can watch and be a good audience member and give them tips to help encourage their audience. You can dance if their music is good and applaud if they're putting on that kind of show. If they're playing music, and you have some kind of musical contribution to offer that you don't think will be over-bearing, you can take a chance and try walking up and playing along. If you do join someone who's already playing, invited or not, don't expect them to split tips with you. The proper way to share tips once a new performer joins is to empty the Hat before you start playing and then split whatever you make after the new person has joined.
Respect seniority when you're busking. Old-timers have likely been busking that spot for years, and probably rely on being able to do their thing there.
Don't get too discouraged by negative reactions to you doing your thing, but do take ques and hints from people. If you see people covering their ears or getting startled by what you're doing, you might be too loud for the particular area you're playing in. If you have songs with lots of cuss words or adult themes, and parents are getting offended, maybe tone it down or find a place with fewer families. If you're finding yourself getting drowned out by traffic or construction noise, find a quieter spot.
Many busking locations have specific rules and regulations that you have to follow. The best way to learn what these are is to blatantly ignore the rules and play wherever you want. Someone will tell you what you're doing wrong. Often, you'll have to buy a permit to busk. A Farmer's Market permit in Moscow, Idaho is $6. A year-long busking permit in Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington is $30. A permit to sell paintings at Jackson Square in New Orleans is $600 a year, and there are only 192 spots. The rules and prices vary everywhere. As with busking in front of gas stations, you can usually get at least some playing in before someone kicks you out or asks for your permit. Sometimes it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

-The Kick Down-

The main type of love that I get from people when busking in 2018 is cash, mostly singles and fives, sometimes pocket change. At Farmers' Markets, I often get fresh fruit or veggies in my case. In Las Vegas, I often get cigarettes, weed, casino chips, and sometimes $20's or even $100's. Many times, I have gotten buisness cards from musicians, producers, and DJ's. A couple times I've gotten numbers from girls. You never know what will end up inside that Hat!
Right now I'm settled down in Santa Barbara. I play for college kids in Isla Vista, which doesn't pay much, but does make me increasingly famous in Southern California. Busking next to one of the popular restaurants, or especially crashing parties with my Saxophone might get me on 200 peoples' Snapchat stories. It helps that Isla Vista has the highest population density of any area West of the Mississippi (there are about 25,000 people living in one square mile, and most of them are 18-26 years old.)
Going downtown to Santa Barbara proper is a totally different scene. It's many tourists, families, international travelers. People are there to shop, wine, and dine. There are many homebums and other buskers there, but again, nearly everyone is playing guitar or percussion, so the Sax stands out. There I more-reliably make money (about $15/hour on average. Sometimes much more, sometimes a little less.)
One great practice I've started to answer the "I don't have any cash" response is to set up a Venmo account and write my username on a piece of cardboard. Simply busking next to a sign that says Venmo: Tall Sam Jones has been surprisingly successful. Sometimes I match whatever I make in cash with my Venmo tips. That is my actual username, by the way, if any of you are particularly appreciative of my writing ;)

Snapchat, Venmo, Instagram, these are the ways in which people interact now, and catering your busk to these services will serve you and help you connect to your audience.

You don't need 10,000 hours of practice to busk. You just need something to play and the will to go out and do it for people. It takes faith, man. You are giving your art away for free and hoping that you might get some appreciation back. In terms of musical development, I've learned as much about performing from 3 years of busking as I did from the same amount of time in music school. Even on days when I barely make enough for bus fare, I feel rejuvenated by sharing music with people, and I feel like it was time well-spent.
As with most of the things I write about here, you'll learn much more from your first real-world experience than you will from reading about it on the internet. Go out there and give it a try! Maybe we can jam together on the street sometime soon.
Good Luck, and remember to drink lots of water.
Peaceably,
-Tall Sam Jones
Edit: Thanks for putting some Gold in my Hat!