hello friends welcome to the latest installment of our land of the lost series
this time we're delving into the cases of kiesland roberts and caleb smith now with all the bizarre
and seemingly unexplainable disappearance stories going around on youtube and other places these
days it's easy to get caught up in them and forget that these are real people real possible victims
who had family and friends loved ones whose lives were affected in every possible way by the
person's disappearance it could also be true that with all the books coming out and again all the
videos made and the information online about these cases it's quite easy to become numbed or jaded to
these stories to these people couldn't it also be true that maybe this numbness this nonchalance and
somewhat boredom with cases like these one after another after another after another to be exactly
what who or whatever is involved in orchestrating these disappearances and murders counts on
in this episode we're going to discuss two different cases
that have a strange similarity and also a bit of a connection
please keep in mind though that these are real human beings and though their cases may or may
not be similar to those you've heard over a thousand times already be sure and pay
attention to the details here listen closely and focus on the similarities and strangeness
of both of these cases while being sure to bear in mind that there is one big difference one of them
could very well still be alive and one of them unfortunately has already been found deceased
let's start with the tragedy of caleb smith on january 15 2020 caleb smith told his grandmother
that he was driving to rome georgia to spend the day hanging out with some friends who lived there
this wasn't anything out of the ordinary for the 21 year old so when he requested that she leave
the deadbolt to the front door their house unlocked for him so he could re-enter when
he got back home later on that night she happily obliged and thought nothing of it
little did she know that while she would speak to her grandson at least one more time over the phone
that same day as he walked out the front door of their house that ill-fated cold day in january
it would be the last time she would ever actually see him alive technically the
next day at 12 32 a.m caleb entered the flying j gas station in recycling georgia
this was on the way to rome georgia we know caleb entered this establishment at this exact time
because he was seen on the gas station's minimal surveillance footage three minutes later at 12 35
am caleb called his grandmother and informed her that he had to pull into the rest stop
because he realized he didn't have enough gas to get to rome as he'd initially planned he told her
there was one man sitting at a table on the other side of the restaurant that he was going to ask to
help him with five dollars for gas money so he can continue on his journey to go and see his friends
those phone records have not been made public at this time caleb is seen on the same surveillance
footage sitting at his table for a few minutes seemingly sending texts but possibly browsing
the internet caleb did eventually get up and approach the man assumingly he asked the man
for the five dollars for gas money as he told his grandmother he was going to do
however it is unclear whether or not the man gave caleb the five dollars
and caleb actually ended up approaching the man twice in a matter of just a few minutes
it's still unknown exactly what the exchanges were between the two men no word either on whether or
not this man was ever identified or questioned no information one way or the other can be found
after approaching and speaking to this man the second time
caleb returns to his own table and sits down facing this unknown man after just a minute or
two caleb gets up and leaves the gas station rest stop area never to be seen alive again
when morning came and caleb's grandmother realized that his bed hadn't been slept in
she became very concerned if caleb had planned on staying out he never would have asked her to
leave the deadbolt unlocked porn she decided to go the last place she knew him to be when he wasn't
answering his phone or returning any of her texts so she got into her own car and drove down to the
flying j rest stop and search the surrounding area and the parking lot for caleb's car she eventually
found his car parked in the flying j parking lot but in the back of the denny's restaurant building
assuming where the back entrance or garbage exit would be this location could be important
because it seems caleb was parked almost purposely out of view of any of the surveillance cameras
his grandmother states that she didn't immediately get out of her car to search caleb's car because
she saw a suspicious looking white nissan that in her words she said freaked her out
and decided it was safer to remain in her vehicle until caleb's other family members whom she had
just called arrived she never elaborated on why this white nissan was suspicious looking to her
or why it freaked her out so although it's speculated it was because the windows were
tinted very dark and the vehicle had pulled into park directly facing her in front of her vehicle
and nobody exited the nissan immediately upon the arrival of the other two family members she called
to come and assist her the white nissan pulled out of the parking lot there's no information
regarding whether or not this white nissan had any involvement in what happened to caleb
upon searching caleb's car the family found it was unlocked the cell phone and battery were
separated and both in the glove box the keys to the vehicle were on the floor underneath the seat
although caleb had called his grandmother the previous night and explained to her that he was
almost out of gas his car had a half a tank of gas in it when it was found this would have been
more than enough to get him to roam essentially caleb called his grandmother to explain about his
being law on gas for seemingly no reason it's been said that he did it to give a reason as to why he
would be later than expected coming home if he was stuck trying to get money for gas but that
hasn't been verified caleb's jacket was also found in the car it was a very cold night in georgia
in the middle of january the family couldn't understand why would leave his jacket behind
after searching his vehicle his family called the police to report caleb is missing
gordon county sheriff's office spent all of the next two days january 16th and 17th searching
the areas around the flying j rest stop for any additional evidence or for caleb himself
with no results it's also worth mentioning here that the gcso never processed caleb's car for
additional evidence forensic or otherwise and immediately released it to the family
on february 3rd 2020 caleb smith's body was found five miles away from the flying j
he was in a marshy martian overgrown area of the county between the sugar valley and hill
city communities the sheriff's office reported that a passerby found him in
a heavily overgrown and poorly drained area caleb was completely naked and oddly enough
the fire department had been dispatched to that same area his body was found earlier in the day
in response to a small brush fire and didn't come across caleb's remains
this is another odd fact despite not knowing whether or not this brush fire was connected
to caleb's death or not it was an incredibly wet few weeks there in georgia at the time
so for a brush fire to have been started on its own was almost impossible the initial
report stated however no immediate indications of violence were apparent regarding caleb's body
and the gbi revealed that there were no indications of violence or evidence of foul play
the results of the toxicology report were as follows
caleb died as a result of methamphetamine intoxication there's no known information as to
whether or not caleb ever had a problem with any kind of drugs and the death was ruled accidental
if it weren't for something eerily similar happening to a young woman just two days
later at the same exact flying j gas station that may have been the end of caleb's story
however when you add up the similarities with a story i'm about to relate to you
even when sprinkling in the differences one can't help but wonder
we in the true crime community know there's usually no such thing as coincidence and we all
also know that nobody knows this better than law enforcement so why exactly are they trying so hard
to make us believe that coincidence is exactly what seems to connect these two cases are we
really to believe that a young man supposedly with enough methamphetamine in his system to kill him
stripped off his clothes and then not only decided to walk five miles in the bitter
cold high and naked but then he managed to do so without calling any attention to himself at all
is it reasonable to think that not a single person would have noticed a naked young man
walking on the side of the road for an entire five miles there are so many facts that just do
not seem to fit with the accidental death ruling let's review just some of them now
first of all even if we asked no questions and accepted that caleb was able to walk all that way
without being noticed despite the condition he was in both physically and mentally keep in mind caleb
was found completely naked this means no socks no shoes nothing are we also to believe that he could
have accomplished this naked and five mile walk without not only doing no damage to but also not
dirting his feet at all there's no explanation as to why or how the police have been able to
reconcile themselves to calling this death with all the strange tracks and evidence an accident
caleb was found in a very muddy marshy area not even a drop of mud on his feet
his clothes were never found either but again there is no information as to the
extent of the police investigation into where his clothes went either
why wasn't caleb's family allowed to identify the body some say it's simply because of the
state of decomposition of the body after being outside the marshland for so long
but others aren't so sure remember this was during the cold winter in january speculation and rumors
surround this case and it seems no one knows enough to be able to separate fact from fiction
our research was only able to find two that weren't absolutely off the wall
while conjectured and made just a tiny bit of sins the first of these theories is that
he may have gotten into someone else's car to smoke the methamphetamine a dealer or perhaps
maybe the man he was seen on camera having multiple conversations with who to the best
of the public's knowledge was never even found let alone questioned or investigated in any way
and this tends to happen sometimes to people who partake in this particular substance
caleb became overheated and started taking off his clothes
before anyone knew what was happening caleb started overdosing and whoever he was with if he
was with anyone didn't want to be involved in any way with this overdose death for fear especially
if they were the one that sold or gave it to him but even if they were just using with him
and drove caleb's body to the marshland and left it there did whoever this person or people were
think about dna evidence or forensics and possibly instead of caleb stripping himself
did the perpetrators or witnesses stripped him of his clothes after he died to eliminate any kind
of touch or fiber evidence eventually coming back to link them or their car to his death
the fact of the matter is we just don't know and it seems as though if the investigators
in this case have it their way we never will caleb's case is officially closed at this point
two days after the incident with caleb at this flying j gas station
an eerily and almost shockingly similar disappearance happened many people who
are familiar with caleb's case feel like what happened to kiesland roberts or at least what
everyone knows happened to her because she is yet to be found should have initiated at least a
little bit more investigation into his case they believe it should have led the police as it did
for most of the public into asking some serious questions regarding that accidental death ruling
so what happened to kiesland let's find out now please keep in mind as we go over the details
that we know in her case that she is still considered missing and should be presumed
alive until it can be proven that she is not so pay close attention on january 18 2020 21
year old young woman named kiesland roberts was seen at the same flying j gas station
only she was encountered entering an employee's only entrance in the back on the denny's side
remember this is also where caleb's car was found the same flying j gas station in recycle georgia
some reports state that keyson was simply told by an employee that she could not be back there
in this employee's only kitchenairy entrance and others state that she actually got into some kind
of altercation with the person who informed her of this and was then told to leave there's nothing
official to confirm or disprove either one of these statements remember there are no cameras
in this part of the parking lot what is known however is that when she was told or asked to exit
the area she was allegedly just standing there staring blankly out the door she just entered
kiesland had dropped all of her belongings these included a backpack containing her id credit and
debit cards cash and phone charger and ran off the employees of either the gas station side or the
denny's side again these reports conflict ended up calling 911 as a suspicious looking young woman
and described the odd encounter kiesland was never seen or heard from again where did kiesland go and
how did she get there without her car her vehicle was found two days later on january 20th with more
belongings inside parked very near where caleb's car was found in the exact same parking lot
witnesses would later come forward stating that they had briefly spoken to keys in that
fateful night and she had allegedly told them she was there meeting a male friend
however this alleged meeting has never been elaborated on the person she was supposedly
meeting and also her boyfriend were questioned by police shortly after she was reported missing
but so far nobody has been named either suspect or even a person of interest in the case
but it's worth mentioning that heasland did have a history with drug use mainly methamphetamine
and had blown off a mandatory probation appointment the day before she went missing
resulting in a warrant being issued for her arrest many speculate that kiesland so quickly
fled from the flying j that date due to not wanting to be there when the police were called
because she would have been arrested on this warrant but why not take her car more speculation
had kiesland possibly leaving the gas station with a trucker but again this hasn't been confirmed
in early march of 2020 when investigators searched the flying j and no idea why it
took this long for them to search the area her car was found in and where she was last seen
they did find items of clothing that belonged to kiesland in a dumpster behind the building
an anonymous witness who has been said to be fully cooperative with police and not
involved in any way to her disappearance came forward and told reporters that these articles
of clothing had been there the entire time but police were allegedly just getting around to
searching for and collecting them as evidence now and now meeting two months later in march
unfortunately this is all the evidence available at least online in either case
can it really all be a coincidence that two young people one unknown drug user and the
other possibility found dead from intoxication from the other's drug of choice go missing from
the exact same gas station under early similar circumstances within two days of each other
is it also just happenstance that the two also live on the same street as each other
now there's no evidence that they even knew each other but still
a little too much to overlook if you ask most people involved with are following this case
where is kielman did she meet the same fate as caleb and just hasn't been found yet
was caleb's death truly an accident and even if it was someone obviously moved his body
at least and at most they murdered him and dumped it at the location where it was found
he's running on her own and of her own free will due to fear again of being arrested for
that probation violation and probable relapse it's also worth mentioning here that there have
been several sightings of kiesland at multiple truck stops in various cities across the country
however none of these have ever been able to actually be confirmed as her
now as we mentioned her clothes were found two months after she was last seen fleeing the scene
so where did she go while naked also without anyone seeing her as the police are insinuating
caleb took a five mile naked walk without being noticed too were her clothes really there the
entire time as the anonymous and seemingly cooperative witness claimed to news reporters
or they dumped there after the fact for whatever reason currently there's
a six thousand dollar reward for information that could lead to kingsland's whereabouts
if you can help this investigation in any way or think you have any information no matter how small
or insignificant it may seem please contact the gordon county sheriff's department at 706
so what do you think of this case are these bizarre circumstances simply coincidence or
is there indeed a connection here i look forward to reading your comments
as always we ask that you please be respectful in the comment section when discussing this case
many times family and friends of the victims do watch these videos and read the comments so please
don't say anything that you wouldn't say if it was your family member or friend in this circumstance
in closing be good to yourselves and each other i'm steve stockton and i'll talk to you next time