Previous: Missing Persons
When the cops search Milo's & Ophelia's Prius, they find a ballistic helmet, night-vision goggles, respirators, ammo, two-way radios, used shooting range targets, & Milo’s acid trip journal (which is a great idea!)
They trace the car to a N. Carolina Airbnb, whose last guests are remembered by the owner & neighbors as… eccentric.
On the trail in N.C.
These guests- whose number is determined to have included Milo, Ophelia, & Ziz— never spoke to the neighbors, & were rarely seen in daylight.
Outside of the rental, they'd parked 2 white box trucks. They'd rigged up one truck w/ electricity from the Airbnb; in the 2nd truck, they kept a stretcher.
At night, dressed in black robes, long black coats, or black tactical clothes, they would walk through the neighborhood & surrounding woods, all holding hands.
Said one neighbor- who spoke on condition of anonymity- "They seemed to care for each other a great deal.”
At this news, the cops launch an all-out Zizhunt-
-but the trail runs cold for weeks, until...
...On Feb. 16th, 2025, in Frostburg MD- a mere 2.5 hrs from where we are writing this...
...a guy spots a pair of white box trucks, parked up a dirt road on his property. In the trucks, he finds 3 black-clad figures, who ask if they can stay for the month.
No dice: the guy recognizes them from news reports, & calls the cops.
State troopers & units from the sheriff's office descend. First they spot Daniel sitting in a truck cab. They order him to show his hands. Daniel answers that he has a learning disability & can't understand the request.
Meanwhile, from the back window of the other truck, someone seems to be wiping away fog— we get it: we are also chronic rubberneckers!
Flinging open the truck back, the cops find Jamie & Ziz, who flee thru an inner doorway to the cab, which they refuse to leave. Both also refuse to give their names.
Jamie, weeping, tucks their hands into their armpits. Seeing this, cops tackle them to the ground, & find a handgun w/ 12 rounds hidden in their waistband.
All 3 are arrested for trespassing & obstructing an officer. Jamie is charged w/ possession of the handgun; Ziz is charged for another gun found in the cab. 2 days later, fed. prosecutors in VT also charge Jamie w/ giving a fake address for the guns they bought Milo & Ophelia.
As of this writing, they’re being held w/out bail in Cumberland, MD- a mere 2h 11 mins from where we are writing this.
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Meanwhile, in California…
A few days after Milo's & Ophelia's shootout w/ border patrol, the cops finally arrested a suspect for the (fatal) Lind stabbing.
Meet 22-y.o. Maximilian Bentley Snyder: a Rationalist & Oxford grad in Computer Science & Philosophy, whose LinkedIn describes him as:
In early Feb., Maximilian dictated a 1,500 word letter to the San Fran. Chronicle, which it printed in full.
Uhhh....
Maximilian opens by insisting that he is "not one of Ziz's friends"… which is too bad, they seem like they’d have a lot to talk abt! He calls Eliezer his “teacher”, which is… unfortunate for him… & calls his letter “the best gamble I can think of to increase the chance that this world survives”, which is… 😮💨 all Eliezer’s fault tbh— for the sake of the children, he needs to cut it out w/ this world-saving bullshit!
Here, here, & here again, we so agree w/ Maximilian, but we fear for different reasons.
Maximilian mentions that he is ~ahem~ “the best (2014) D&D 5E optimizer in the world, and very likely came up with over half of the known tech for it.” Then he spends a long time telling Eliezer to go vegan… & mentions that he’s due to receive a trust for $200,000… 😮💨 maybe it’s a good thing Ziz doesn’t know him: Maximilian’s classmates agree this guy is “obnoxious” af, & tries to come off as “macho” besides 🙃
But who knows: we may grow to love Maximilian, & have to rewrite this whole section. If there’s one thing this saga has taught us, it’s that our first impressions are usually wrong, esp. when they are mediated by news reports! We have yet to uncover Maximilian’s full social media presence, so we will give him the benefit of the doubt.
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Btw: a few days before Maximilian dictated his letter, reporters unveiled that he & Milo had applied for a marriage certificate in Nov. 2024.
This shocked the friends of soft-spoken Milo: they had no idea the pair even knew each other, & by all accounts, Maximilian is an insufferable boor.
But in fact, Maximilian & Milo had both attended Lakeside School: the "best private high school in Washington". He is just 1 year older than xim. This is Lakeside's mission statement:
... & this is its motto:
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...SO, that's the whole gang accounted fo... what's that coming thru our earpiece? The father of Gwen says that she is...
Tho Gwen's lawyers heartily refute this, Dad reports that he has had many pleasant conversations w/ Gwen in recent months, & that she is "laying low" 🤫
We at Strange New Vegan Death Murders ADORE Gwen! What a double-good note to end on ☺️
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Next: News on News pt. 1
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