He Vanished at Electric Forest & His Remains Were Just Found: The Suspicious Death of Kevin Graves
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Hello, everyone, and welcome back to True Crime with Kendall Rae. Thank you so much, as always, for joining me today. And if you are new, then welcome. I'm so happy to have you. So guys, today we're going to be taking a look at a case that I've had on my radar for quite some time. And

Just over the holidays, there was a major, major break in the case. And so I thought now would be a good time to take a look at it, bring a little bit more awareness to it as a lot of the talk around the case has sort of simmered down. Although with the most recent update, I feel like it's gotten a little bit of an uptick. But there's so much to go over because the person we're going to be talking about today, Kevin Graves, disappeared seven years ago.

From the Electric Forest Music Festival. I've gotten so many requests to cover this case recently, I think because of the major discovery. And this family, I mean, they have been through so much since 2018 when Kevin disappeared. And even with this new discovery, there are still so many unanswered questions. And this family has done everything they can to keep Kevin's name out there. And I just hope that this family can finally get some answers after all this time.

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And as always, I'm going to start by telling you more about Kevin Graves and who he was. So Kevin Gary Graves was born and raised in Michigan to his parents, Gary and Kathy. And he had one sister, Kelly, who was six and a half years older than him. He also had two half siblings, a brother and a sister from his dad's first marriage. One thing that I really respect this family for is they have always kept it real when it comes to describing Kevin. I mean, they've expressed passion

That he wasn't perfect, of course, because who is? And he had his fair share of poor choices.

especially when he was younger, as a teenager. And I mean, what teenager did not make poor choices, right? I mean, I feel like every teenager did. And when I say that, I want to clarify there was nothing terrible by any means. But yeah, they've always just been very honest that he, you know, didn't always make the best choices. However, the one thing that I heard repeated the most about Kevin is that

he was just someone who had a heart of gold. If Kevin did something, he did it to the fullest extent. And it was always with the best intentions. And he was just someone who made decisions based on his heart, not necessarily his head, which, sure,

got him into some trouble. And personally, people like that are the types of people that I seem to gravitate towards the most. The people who are so in touch with their emotions and I feel like I'm like that in a lot of ways. I really think a lot of the time with my heart, not my head, and it hasn't always gotten me into the best situations, but it's something that I would never change about myself and I think it's a great personality trait that Kevin had. His heart, his kindness, his

ability to share love and, you know, make others feel good is what made Kevin who he was. Kevin was also a very emotional guy with a lot of big feelings, and he loved very deeply and very passionately. For example, his sister went off to college and the

the two of them are very, very close, but she ended up coming home the next weekend after she left to grab some things that she had forgotten, and her school wasn't that far away. So when she came home and Kevin realized that she was home, he burst into tears even though she had only been gone a week, which I just loved hearing that little detail about him and that he was that in touch with his emotions and loved his family and his friends so very much, but it

I mean, like I said, he and his sister were very, very, very close. Now, when it came to his own school experience, Kevin didn't necessarily thrive in the traditional school model, which again is another reason why I think I would be good friends with Kevin because I am the exact same way. And I find that people who don't thrive in the traditional school model are some of the

most interesting and creative people and loving people out there. Not that you can't be all those things if you do thrive in the, you know, traditional school model. Good for you if you do. But I think you know what I'm saying. But people who don't necessarily jive with the traditional school model and just learn differently oftentimes are still very smart people. Kevin did very well when he was able to learn in a more hands-on way. His father, Gary, who also seems like a great guy, worked

worked as a mechanic and when he started teaching Kevin you know the ropes of all that it was clear that's where he really shined. His dad said that he was the kind of guy that you could teach something one time and he would just never forget it. In his early adulthood he had mechanic jobs, carpentry jobs, construction jobs, you name it. In fact after Kevin went missing and I loved this detail his most recent employer said that if he ever returned they would welcome him back

with open arms, that he would always have a job there, which, you know, says a lot about how much they cared for him and how good he was at his job. And that comment, that support meant a lot to his family. Now, at the time Kevin went missing, he was only 28 years old. And in his 20s, he had gotten really into EDM music. Kevin had a girlfriend and she was also very into EDM music. So I think that was probably something they bonded over quite a bit.

Now, his girlfriend is someone that you're going to hear me talk about quite a bit throughout this episode. However, I'm just going to upfront say that when it comes to his girlfriend, there is a lot of drama and she doesn't seem to be someone who wants to be publicly named when it comes to coverage and she hasn't been named a person of interest. So I have decided that I won't be sharing her real name. There are a couple of people in this case that I won't be mentioning by name, but I've made...

like code names for them, alternative names. I feel like there's a better way to describe that, but you know what I mean. And personally, I just like that better than saying like friend one, girlfriend, friend two. I think I can follow...

along a lot better when there are fake names being used. So that's what I decided to do. So you're going to hear me refer to his girlfriend as Kate throughout this episode. So Kevin and Kate had been together for about two to three years, and they also lived together along with her two kids that she had from a previous relationship in a home in Highland Township, Michigan. And as I just mentioned, Kevin and his girlfriend were very into EDM music, and in 2018, that is what brought them to the Electric Forest Music Festival.

And it was actually his first time going, and he was really excited about it. Kevin's dad had been helping get Kate's car up and running because it was having some issues. And since this festival was about two and a half hours away, they obviously needed a way to get there. Now, as for the music festival itself, I'm sure a lot of you out there are probably somewhat familiar with Electric Forest or, you know, other music festivals.

I had to kind of do some research on music festivals. I've never been to one myself. I've just got too much anxiety. I mean, I can barely handle a concert. So I can't imagine actually being at a festival with thousands of people. But it does look really, really fun, especially from what I've seen about Electric Forest. It looks like a blast. And so for those of you who are like me and don't know much about music festivals or specifically don't know much about Electric Forest, I think it's really important that we explain it a bit more and give you kind of

An idea of what it's like. So Electric Forest takes place in Rothbury, Michigan every summer, and it features a ton of artists who perform their music over the course of a long weekend. These things are just massive. I mean, as an example, in 2023, there was an estimated 40 to 50,000 people there.

Which is why, of course, it needs to be held on a big plot of land. And so every year, this festival is held at the Double JJ Resort, which spans over 2,000 acres. And just to give you a better idea of what that means...

We're talking about 1,500 football fields. And at these festivals, I believe the majority of people in attendance actually camp on the property. I assume because it makes it a lot more convenient and it's also just a fun experience to camp there. Basically, there's these designated spots where you can pull your car in

where you could sleep in your car if you wanted or you could set up a tent to sleep there for the duration of the festival. And that's what Kevin, Kate, and their two other friends ended up doing. And just like his girlfriend, I won't be sharing the real names of his two other friends, so I'm going to be referring to them as Justin and Anna. But let's go ahead and jump into the timeline here and I actually want to start on the Tuesday before the festival, which was June 26, 2018. And

There isn't that much to report from that day, but there are two things that I felt were important to mention. So on that day, Kevin and his dad had spoke about making plans for when he returned. Basically, Gary needed some help with things around the house and asked Kevin if he'd be willing to help. And he said, sure, no problem. Let's do it when I get back.

And then the other thing I wanted to mention has to do with his sister. Now, Kevin and Kelly were both raised in a religious home. However, Kevin identified as an atheist. And on the 26th, Kelly had sent him an hour-long video about...

explaining God to an atheist. She told him that she didn't need him to go to church or anything like that, but she wanted him to reconsider believing in God so that one day they could see each other in heaven. And I totally get that. I mean, I'm not a religious person myself, as I've said many times, but for the religious people I know in my life, it is something that is very difficult to wrap your mind around if you truly believe in heaven to believe

you know, have the thought of your loved one not being there with you and potentially being somewhere bad is really scary. You know, the two of them were so close, she didn't approach this in a way that was like attacking him or anything like that. She just wanted to share that with him. And he was very open to it. When she actually sent him the link, she didn't even expect him to watch it. But the following day when he got to the festival, actually, Kevin gave her a call saying,

and said that he did watch it and he would love to talk about it more when he got back. And I know those two interactions with his family members may seem a little bit random, but I promise we will circle back to it later on.

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And that brings us to Wednesday, June 27th. And that day, Kevin, Kate, Justin, and Anna got to the festival and they all arrived in two separate cars. Now, this isn't super crucial, but just an FYI that this was the second weekend of Electric Forest. In past years, the festival was so massive that they thought it would be, you know, helpful to break it into two weekends.

Now, we don't have too much information about the rest of this day, other than they arrived and unpacked all their stuff. The main festivities and performances didn't start until Friday, but...

Oftentimes, people will go early to get a good camping spot so that they could be close to the music and all of that. And between Wednesday and Sunday, things seemed to be going okay, at least as far as his family knew. Kevin was someone who really stayed in touch with his family. He would text his mom and sister pretty much on a daily basis, and that stayed true throughout the festival forever.

And if any of you guys have been to one of these festivals, from what I understand, the service is not that great. It can be very spotty and in some areas you can have no service at all. Sometimes the entire area has no service at all, which is

very dangerous when you think about it. But Kevin still managed to send off at least a daily text just letting them know that he was having fun and all was well. However, on Sunday, July 1st, his text started getting pretty strange. At 7.55 that morning, Kevin texted his dad saying something along the lines of, Dad, I love you for your service. I love you and someday I will pay you back

Everything I owe you. Gary and his father, so Kevin's grandfather, both served in the Marines. And it was something that Kevin always had a ton of respect for.

Gary had fought in the Vietnam War. And I just want to read you something that Kevin wrote to his dad. And it was actually framed with a picture. And I thought it was really beautiful. And it just shows you how much he admired him. Dad, you are such a good friend and father to me. You are my hero. You were so brave to go and fight in Vietnam. You fought for my freedom and yours. You are the bravest man I know. And I'm happy that you are my friend and father. Dad, you are my hero.

you are my hero. Now, Kevin admired and respected his dad for his time in the Marines so much so that he even got a Marine Corps tattoo in honor of his father and his grandfather, which actually I learned is kind of a no-no. And that's because Kevin himself didn't serve in the Marines. So his dad, when he saw it, was rightfully just a little like,

it's not a big deal, but we need to get this fixed. He didn't want him to remove it, but he felt that he should clarify it a little bit by adding the dates of his father's service or something like that. So anyway, going back to the text, it seemed a little weird to them at the time because, you know, he's out at this festival. It's just a strange time to send such a

you know, meaningful and heartfelt text, but Kevin was also a very heartfelt guy. And...

They knew how much he admired his father, so they didn't think that much of it. But then at 12.08 p.m., his mom sent him a text asking how they were doing, to which Kevin replied to one minute later with just the word, nothing. And Kathy thought this was weird because she did ask him how they were doing, not what they were doing. And so she actually texted him again asking if everything was okay. And he sent the same response back.

all he said was nothing. We then learn that sometime between 1 and 2 p.m., he withdrew $200 from an ATM. And lastly, at 1.55 p.m., Kevin texted his sister saying something like, it's all good, Kel. I love you the most. Now, this also has a little bit of a backstory, although I'm sure a lot of you do things like this with your loved ones. But Kevin and Kelly had this whole sort of game that they would play where

where one would say, I love you, the other would say, I love you more, and then it would go into this, like, I love you more war, you know, who loved each other more, and Kevin would normally end it by saying, I love you the most. So in the moment, that text didn't necessarily feel too out of the ordinary,

But I think looking back at these messages now, we can recognize that they do seem a little strange. On that Sunday, though, it wasn't enough for them to really think twice about it. Now, my first thought when reading these texts, and I think a lot of you are probably having these thoughts as well, especially because he's at age...

the Electric Forest Music Festival is that it's possible that Kevin was doing some type of drugs at the festival. And specifically, I go to psychedelics because psychedelics really do make you think real deep and they can make you think a lot about your loved ones and you can get very emotional and depressed

You sort of want to express and profess your love for them or you get really, really in your feels. Of course, I don't know if that was the case. I don't know if he was on drugs or anything. He could have been completely sober for all we know. But it's something that's just going to come up in this case. Obviously, it can't be ignored that

festivals like Electric Forest are no stranger to drugs. And of course, by no means am I saying that everyone who goes to these festivals is doing drugs. In fact, we know that a lot of people don't, but the reality is there are a lot of people who do. Now, personally, I think there's nothing wrong with using psychedelics. I'm actually very pro psychedelics. I personally don't think I could handle them at a music festival, but for a lot of people, it's a great experience, but it can also be a bad experience. I mean,

I'm sure a lot of you out there have had bad trips or have heard of bad trips and know what can happen. Now, we do know for a fact that Kevin did smoke weed, which is very common. A lot of people do.

And that was no secret to anyone. And I don't know at all what Kevin, I mean, no one knows what Kevin was doing that weekend, whether it was just psychedelics or if it was something more dangerous. I would truly tell you if I knew more, I'm not trying to hide anything about his life. We just, yeah, we just truly don't know. I've said that like five times now, but...

As for his family, they, you know, they knew what goes on at these festivals. His dad even told him before he left not to get, quote, hooked up on something that he was going to regret. And Kevin even told him that he wasn't going to. He said that he was just going to go up and have a good time. Now, I know that because this is the internet, people are going to have varying opinions on drugs in general and thoughts on whether or not he was using drugs or not.

And, you know, I'm not going to stop you from having those opinions, but I do want to remind you that no matter...

what someone did in their life or who a person is, it doesn't mean they're any less deserving of justice. And I know most of you guys know that. You show that to me on a weekly basis, and that's why I am so proud of my audience. I know you guys aren't here to judge victims, and there's no reason that Kevin should be judged, especially because we have no idea if he did or didn't do drugs or what drugs he could have been doing if he did that weekend. We just have no idea. But as always, I just want to put out that little reminder, you know, that

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judge a person on something like that all of that will definitely be a larger conversation later on so um i'm sort of jumping ahead but let's get back to the timeline so on monday the second the festival was over and that's the day that people you know pack up and leave and i don't think kevin's family was necessarily expecting to hear from him first thing in the morning but like i mentioned earlier he had made plans with his family right before he left

As a reminder, he told his dad he would help out with things around the house, and he told his sister Kelly that he wanted to talk about that video that she sent him. So at the very least, both of them expected to eventually hear from him. But they didn't end up hearing from Kevin at all. But they did hear from his girlfriend, Kate. Now, I'm not exactly sure what time the call came in,

But that day, Gary and Kathy were driving home from Kentucky when they got a call from Kate saying that Kevin was missing. She explained, at least in this version of her story, that yesterday, the first, she and Kevin were at one of the festival stages when they got into a fight. She said that he was super upset and so he decided to walk back to the tent to cool off. But when she got back to the tent later on, he wasn't there. And she said at first it

didn't really worry her that much because she thought he probably just went to another stage and was watching another performance or something like that. But then he didn't return that night, and then he didn't return the next morning either. She told his parents that she and two other friends had tried to look for him, but eventually they had to leave. I mean, as I mentioned earlier, she had two kids and she said...

to Gary on the phone that they looked and looked and looked, but I had to go home. And in that moment, Gary understood. From what I understand, he wasn't immediately on high alert about the situation, and he figured he'd give his son a call and it would all be figured out that evening. But as he and Kathy were driving home from Kentucky, they weren't able to reach him. And his phone was just going straight to voicemail. But of course, his parents were starting to get concerned. And so when they made it back home, Gary's

Gary ended up calling Kate again. And during that call, she specifically told Gary that she wanted to go back up to the festival grounds with him and try to look for Kevin. I mean, after all, she was with him that day, and she knew the festival grounds better than his parents would. But a day later, on the 3rd, Kate called Gary to say that she was already up there with her dad, which Gary thought was kind of strange because literally the day before, she had told him that

she wanted to go back up there with him. But anyway, he and his other son ended up getting in the car and they drove up to the festival grounds to meet them there. Now, when Gary and his son got there, Kate and her dad were already in Muskegon, which is about 25 minutes south of where the festival grounds were, in Rothbury. But according to a YouTube documentary that was released recently on the case, Kate, her dad, Gary, and his son then proceeded to go to the festival grounds where they all began to look for him. Remember,

Remember, though, this was over 2,000 acres. So Gary and his son ended up staying through the weekend to cover as much ground as they could. And this is a bit of a tangent, but I just wanted to mention again that YouTube documentary. It's made by a small YouTube channel, and there's some great interviews with their family in it, and I definitely want to support them. So I'm going to have that link below. But I had to mention that there is

a song in the documentary that was clearly specifically written for Kevin. And it is beautiful. I mean, it brought me to tears. And so I can't play the whole thing for you, but I wanted to play a little snippet of it. And I suggest you go take a look at the documentary and they play it towards the end. I'm getting choked up just thinking about it. It was so, it's such a beautiful song. So I just wanted to share. The darkness of the night echoes through the air.

Kevin Graves, you slipped from sight. But in our hearts, you're still there. I couldn't find any information about who created that song. But whoever did, thank you. I'm sure it means so much to their family.

Like I said, it's just beautiful. But going back to Gary and his efforts, another thing that he did, which was very smart, was try and go to the bank to see if there had been any activity on Kevin's account. The problem, though, was that Kevin and Kate shared a bank account. And since Gary wasn't listed as someone unlicensed,

on the account they couldn't give him much information the bank manager was super nice though and did let him know that there hadn't been any activity she also did call him back a few days later when there was activity it turns out that kate had been writing some checks and as a reminder kevin and kate did share this bank account and before you jump to any conclusions here all the reporting i've seen on this case

said that Kate was writing these checks on behalf of Kevin. Kevin had some loans out, and so she reportedly was using the money to make sure that he didn't default on anything in the event that he returned. However, there definitely are some other things that are more difficult to ignore. But that being said, things with Kate actually...

actually started out to be pretty helpful. She and his sister Kelly sort of paired up in the beginning and traded off calling hospitals and jails and anywhere else they thought Kevin could potentially be. She also helped post in Facebook groups, asking people to look for Kevin in the background of their festival photos, and she often communicated with his family and showed concern, all things that led them to believe that she was on their side.

However, around the three-week mark after Kevin had disappeared, things started to shift. This is when she started getting rid of some of Kevin's things and asked his family to come pick up anything that they wanted. And as you can probably imagine, I mean, it had only been three weeks. And that left a really bad taste in his family's mouth. Also, they felt that her behavior during some of the search efforts was just a little off.

His sister specifically said that she felt to her like a stranger who was trying to help, not someone who had been dating Kevin for years. But the big turning point when it came to Kate is when she randomly just blocked their entire family. And I mean, blocked them on everything, their social media, their phone numbers, everything.

Within the span of just a few weeks, she went from someone who was on their side to someone who seemed to be working against them. At least, that's the opinion of Kevin's family. And I'm sure you're wondering why. Because that's pretty strange. Why would she block his entire family? And to better explain why she blocked them, I need to go back...

and explain the situation with the police. So basically, when I started digging into this case, I realized pretty quickly that the details about him being reported missing are quite confusing. Some sources only say that Kate reported him missing on the 3rd, but in that YouTube documentary I was telling you about, Gary and Kathy talk about how they reported him missing on the 2nd. They did also mention that Kate reported him missing to...

So I'm pretty sure it was both of them. Either way, though, that doesn't really change how this report was handled, which was, quite frankly, terribly. Basically, long story short, when Kevin's parents first went to file the report, they called the Michigan State Police. However, they were told that they needed to file the report in the county where Kevin was living, in Highland Township, which doesn't make any sense.

any sense if he went missing three hours away from there. But anyway, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, who represents Highland Township, ended up being the ones investigating his disappearance. And he gave his parents the whole, he's an adult, he can leave if he wants, you know, that whole runaround. And so their family desperately fought for his case to be turned over to the state police, but that would have required the police to care. And as you'll continue to hear throughout this episode, they just didn't.

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And before I get more into that, I need to first finish explaining how this relates to Kate blocking the entire family. And I know I am jumping around a lot here. I

I promise this is the best way to explain it for it to make sense. I mean, at least the way my brain works. So before she blocked them, back when she was still being helpful, she had actually given his sister Kelly the names and phone numbers of the two people that they went to the festival with, Justin and Anna. Well, she had communicated with them and generally speaking, felt like they were answering her basic questions. And around that time, Kelly also spoke to the lead investigator on the case.

Sergeant David Bach. And when she was speaking to him, she mentions these two other friends, Justin and Anna. You know, the people that he went to the festival with?

And you guys, the investigator didn't even know that he had gone to the festival with anyone else. He thought it was just him and Kate. Which means not only did his girlfriend Kate not even tell him, but he also didn't even bother to ask. And so around this time, Kelly is realizing that investigators really didn't seem to be doing their job properly.

And so she started kind of pressing on his girlfriend Kate a little bit more. And part of that was asking her if she would help them get access to Kevin's phone records. Now, Kevin was actually on a phone plan with Kate and her mom. And at first, she said she would ask her mom. But then they all just get blocked. And to this day, at least to my understanding, and this blows my mind, Kevin...

Kevin's phone records have never been looked into. Not by Kate, not by her mom, and not by police. And of course, after she just randomly blocks their entire family, that's when the tides really started to turn. And, I mean, I won't speak for their family, but the vibe that I grasped is that at this point they really started to question her.

a lot. However, and I want to be super clear here, Kate has never been named a suspect in Kevin's case and law enforcement seems to have always had her back. And in my opinion, and again, this is my opinion, the people investigating this case, I don't think ever really took Kevin's disappearance that seriously at all. And I think they failed to consider some pretty important factors such as Kate's

changing story of what happened. I mean, at first, she told law enforcement the same thing that she told Kevin's family, which is that they had gotten to an argument and he had walked off and she never saw him again. But then she ends up adding more details. When speaking with law enforcement, she was now adding that Kevin had been acting paranoid all week long and accusing her of some really strange things, such as ratting him out to the FBI. She also said that Kevin was accusing her of cheating on him with Justin, which...

does become important to note in this case, so keep that in mind. Another thing that she told investigators is that when she was packing up his belongings, she found syringes. Which, if that's true, that obviously indicates that maybe Kevin was on more serious drugs and maybe that is a reason for his disappearance. Now, I want to be super clear here that Kevin did struggle with his mental health and at times he could be paranoid, but the point I really want to drive home is even if that is...

True, there's no reason for investigators to have written him off because of that, which in my opinion they did. They straight up heard a different version of the story from Justin, and yet they continue to say nothing nefarious happened. And let's talk about this different story, because according to Justin...

He was the last person to see Kevin. Sometime around or after this supposed fight with Kate, Justin says that he and Kevin wanted to go see some music, just the two of them, while Kate was taking a nap in the tent. And this is apparently when Kevin started acting super erratically and was trying to rip off his wristband. He said it was all just super weird and then Kevin just sort of walked away and...

This is when he said he last saw him, which obviously is just not the same story that Kate initially told, which I learned eventually she did start telling the story the exact same way that Justin did. But if it wasn't the same story that she was telling from the beginning, which you would think at that point it would have been the clearest in her mind, I can definitely see how as Kevin's loved ones, you would start feeling suspicious about Kate and honestly just disappointed.

At times, the graves have expressed not wanting to get anyone in trouble.

They just want answers. This was their child, and there's nothing they wanted and still want more than to just know what happened to him. And then there was even a point where Anna, the other friend, got on Facebook and said that she was the last person to see him. And it's possible, maybe even likely, that none of these versions of events are true. And I say that because there were a few witnesses from that night who described something much different. In both Kate and Justin's stories,

Kevin disappeared during the day. However, witnesses who were near their tents said that something happened with Kevin that night. One witness said he actually met Kevin at the festival and that he was a super down-to-earth dude, which is why he was so bothered by the fact that Kevin was being viciously bullied by the people he was with on the night of July 1st. This witness said he overheard arguing and that overall it just sounded really nasty and disgusting.

At the time, he didn't want to get into the middle of it, but in hindsight, he wishes that he did. And then there was another witness that night who said she also heard fighting coming from their tent. Now, this witness was a woman, and she said that she had gotten into an argument with her husband, and so she went back to their tent to, you know, just kind of cool off and get some space. And while she was just walking around trying to actually get cell reception, she heard some commotion coming from Kevin's tent.

And this all happened in the span of like 10 minutes. But she says that she overheard them gang up on Kevin and say horrible things to him like, you piece of shit, as he stood there sobbing and begging them to stop. This witness also heard Kevin say things like, you promised you wouldn't do this again, and you told me you would stop this. And remember earlier how I explained that Kate said,

that Kevin had accused her of cheating on him. Well, that part Kevin's family thinks is true. There was some speculation, keyword speculation, that maybe Kate was doing whatever with Justin and that this was really upsetting to Kevin. As, you know, most of us could understand it would be very upsetting if your girlfriend was doing something with your friend. And I'm not saying any of this is true. Of course, this is all speculation.

But his family believes that it may be the case that Kevin had walked in on Kate and Justin doing something that he wasn't supposed to see. And that's what sparked his disappearance. And I haven't explained this yet, but Kevin was bipolar. And about two months before this, he had actually got off his medication because he didn't like the side effects. And so he was someone who had

really big emotions on both sides of the spectrum. So to hear that he was noticeably upset, so much so that a stranger could overhear it, that felt like he was pretty on point. But to be clear, this witness said he didn't sound violent, he just sounded devastated. Obviously, at the end of the day, we don't know what happened, but I just wanted to share that Kevin's family has definitely expressed concern about these stories not matching up. But from this witness's recounting of events,

There was this big fight, and eventually it stopped. She claims that she had been walking back and forth in the area, I believe just still trying to get, you know, cell phone reception, and she heard most of what happened, but...

remembers at some point the arguing was over, but she never saw Kevin walk away. She also doesn't remember a single person asking about him the next morning. Now, her camp space was only three or four down from them, and they claim to have gone around looking for him, but she says that nobody ever stopped by her tent. So, yeah, I mean, that is definitely something that, if I was a family member, would definitely make me have some concerns, especially because the way people set up their tents

you can back up your car and essentially put a tent around it. Meaning that in theory, someone could put something in the back of their car and drive off and no one would ever know. Big shout out to you for making it through the hectic holiday season. This new year, get clean, quality pregnancy nutrient support off your to-do list, including Ritual's best-selling Essential Prenatal Multivitamin, designed with 12 traceable key ingredients to support a healthy pregnancy.

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Now, after Kevin went missing, Kelly and Kathy, his mom and sister, were put into this random group text with a bunch of people that they didn't know. And then Kelly ended up getting a separate private message from someone who was in that group, and they claimed to be a drug dealer at Electric Forest. And I guess he told her that he was delivering drugs to someone, I'm not sure who, and he said that person was impaired mentally.

and ended up hitting Kevin. I'm not sure if it was on purpose or what, but he said that he put them in their car and they were going to take him to the hospital, but he died. Now, I'm sure just hearing that, you probably have a bunch of questions. And, of course, Kelly had follow-up questions too, but this guy who was texting her wouldn't answer them. And eventually, this person that she was texting even got mad at her for being ungrateful for the information he was willing to share. And...

nobody in their family was ungrateful. They just wanted answers. They wanted enough information to make sense of what happened, why Kevin went missing, where he could be. You know, they're desperate as anyone would be. At the end of the day, they just wanted as much information as they could get. But that information was never shared.

and they weren't going to wait around for someone to come forward with that information now the graves family were truly tireless in their search for kevin and in those early days weeks and months there were more on the ground searches for him than i can count the michigan state police did lend a hand in those efforts as well as the shiawassee search and rescue group and local volunteers grid searches were performed all throughout the double jj resort property however

However, nothing turned up. They ended up looking in lakes and swamps and open fields and forests and generally covered as much ground as they could possibly cover. And they were obviously looking for Kevin, but they were also looking for his phone and wallet. And another really big thing that they did in their search for Kevin was return to Electric Forest in 2019. I mean, what better way to gain information about his disappearance than to speak to people who go there? Because a lot of these people who go are people who go year after year after year. It's a tradition for them.

And in 2019, they stood by the entrances and passed out flyers and really did everything in their power to not only raise awareness, but see if anyone heard or saw anything. And while they were there, Gary and some others also had the opportunity to go inside the festival because someone had given them wristbands. A lot of these people...

come to this every single year i mean they really they come far for this electric forest and most of the people i've talked to they know this case we're never going to give up until kevin's found we'll never stop we will keep doing this until he's found and what's interesting is at some point during this

This woman drove up to them and asked them to see one of the flyers. And when she looked at it, she got all excited and said something like, that's him. And obviously they were like pretty excited about this. And basically she explained that her and her mom had gone to this Mexican restaurant and had seen someone that looked like Kevin and she thought maybe it was him. Now in, you know, previous coverage on this case, a lot of people have really gone in depth into this Mexican restaurant theory and

And I totally understand why. Unfortunately, now that we know what we know, the update, the big update from, you know, over the holidays that I'm going to get here soon, we know that that theory works.

doesn't check out anymore but at the time it was a really big deal and it kind of restored their hope that maybe kevin could still be alive the problem with that though is they just couldn't grasp why kevin would walk away in the first place there was nothing leading up to the festival that suggested anything was wrong anything that would make him want to just leave and as we know he had made plans with his dad and sister however there were people saying that that's what happened

that he just chose to walk away. And that includes Kate, her dad, and investigators. Now, when it comes to Kate's dad, there are...

a few strange things to note because he certainly inserted himself into the middle a couple times. As we know, he had gone back with Kate to the festival grounds to look for Kevin, which was strange at the time because as a reminder, Kate had asked Kevin's father to go with her and look and then she ended up just going with her dad and they didn't include them, which they felt was strange. And then this is very strange, but I guess he also told investigators that Kevin was

told him that he planned on never coming home from the festival at all, or at least said things to him that made him think Kevin didn't want to come home. And another interesting detail I learned about Electric Forest is there's sort of this story, and I couldn't find any like verifying details of this, but I guess there's kind of this lore at Electric Forest about

about this guy named Carl who got separated from his friends and that they went around yelling, Carl, Carl, Carl. And I guess it sort of became like a trend every year where people would go around shouting Carl. And maybe, I'm sure there are some of you out there who have been to Electric Force. I'm actually quite positive some of you have. And let me know if you've ever heard of this whole Carl story. But I bring this up because apparently,

Apparently, Kate and her dad told investigators that Kevin wanted to be part of this lore. They were suggesting that he wanted to, you know, be one of these missing people at the festival. Have people go around shouting, Kevin, Kevin, Kevin, I guess, would be my only understanding of it. And it's just...

It's really strange that they would even suggest this. But what's even more strange is that the lead investigator, that guy Sergeant Bach that I was telling you about, took them at their word and essentially used unverified stories like this to reaffirm his belief that Kevin chose to go missing. And get this, this is probably the worst of it all. He was interviewed on the Vanished podcast, and you guys, I don't know if I have ever heard someone in law enforcement be so biased about

against a victim in all of the years I have covered cases. And in this video, he is also very ignorantly saying that the only reason people go to Electric Forest is purely to do drugs. And listen, of course people do drugs there. It's a music festival, an EDM music festival, okay? It's undeniable that drugs are done there. But to say that people, all people who go, everyone there does drugs is just...

It's honestly so offensive. Really, his insinuation was basically that everyone there is on drugs and that they're not as important to focus on because those kinds of people just tend to go missing. And with his full chest in this interview, he said that he firmly believed that Kevin wasn't out there, meaning that his body was not still on festival grounds, which are words he would later choke on. He wholeheartedly believed and put it out there with such confidence that

Kevin just dipped out on his life and was somewhere where he doesn't want to be found, which also, may I add, was partly fueled by what Kate and her dad had told him. And mind you, even though Kevin wasn't the father of Kate's kids, he truly cared about those kids. He did school pickups and drop-offs and definitely was part of their lives during the time that they were together. Plus, not to mention how close he was with his family and the plans that he made with them

the conversation he wanted to have with his sister about that video. I mean, he was so close with her to the point where she comes back from college after a week of being gone and he cries. Is that someone who's going to just leave their family and leave them in agony not knowing where he is? No.

No. And his family, they didn't believe it. But at the same time, though, I'm sure there was a part of them that wanted to believe that. That one day he would just show up on their doorstep even after all these years. In one interview I saw, and God, it was so heartbreaking, Kathy says that she would sometimes just sit out on the stoop and fantasize about him walking up to her because that's where she was sitting the last time that she saw him. And looking back,

She wishes she gave him a bigger hug before he left. Now, every sighting that was reported just ended up not panning out. And there were tons of rumors that, you know, just ended up being rumors. And then there was another rumor that I want to go over briefly. And that was that Kevin may have joined a cult. While they were searching for Kevin, Kelly said she got like 100 messages from people saying to look into the group's

12 Tribes. Now, 12 Tribes is a fundamentalist religious group that follows strict interpretations of the Bible. I guess this group has communes all over the United States, and they're known to travel to places like music festivals to find lost souls. They offer free food and a place to live in exchange for work, and part of their thing is that they're a drug-free community. And so they go to these festivals to try to recruit

quote, lost souls to come live with them and spread their message. And Twelve Tribes has this signature double-decker bus and...

If you see it, that's your sign that the group is there. Many people actually post in festival Facebook pages warning people not to go inside the buses, despite the sign that often hangs off the side of it that reads, welcome, please come in. And when people were messaging Kelly, they were saying that they had seen this bus at the 2018 Electric Forest Festival. So she looked into it and surprisingly, she actually had a pretty good

positive experience getting answers from them. She, of course, wasn't really sure what to expect when contacting them, but most of the people that she reached out to did end up calling her back. But unfortunately, nobody had seen Kevin. She even talked to people across a few different communes, and yeah, no one had seen him, so it ended up just being a dead end. Plus, right off the bat, she was pretty doubtful that Kevin would have joined something like this because Kevin loves smoking weed, so to join a drug-free community just...

Didn't really make a whole lot of sense. And sadly, dead ends like this were common, but that did not stop their family from continuing to search. Even in the pandemic, when COVID prevented searches from taking place, they continued to do what they could to find him. Very sadly, though, the leader of the Shiawassee Search and Rescue Group

ended up dying from COVID, which is so tragic. And his passing put a major halt on things. He had been such a crucial part of the search efforts for Kevin. And when he died, nobody on the team stepped up to lead more. And that was really hard for the Graves family. And so in 2020, they were back to believing that Kevin was probably no longer alive.

and that any effort to find him was more of a recovery mission rather than a rescue mission. COVID was also a hard time for them because it meant that Electric Forest was canceled. And it was actually canceled in 2020 and 2021. And it was such a bummer for them because they plan on really going every year

and continuing to raise awareness, talking to people who had been there previous years, passing out flyers, things like that. Now, they did return in 2022, but things did not go as planned. Just get this, you guys.

When their family showed up at the entrance of the festival and started, you know, passing out flyers as they always did, the Michigan State Police also showed up and served them a cease and desist order. They were told that they could not continue passing out these flyers or even be there anymore because they were giving the festival bad PR. Bad PR. Isn't that just ridiculous? That pisses me off. Like, isn't a missing person much more important than PR?

PR for a music festival. It's just, it's totally insane. So they end up quietly escorting them off the property and then banned them from ever returning again. But this family doesn't give up. And you want to know what they did the next year? They bought a big-ass billboard space right outside the entrance so that every person driving in

would have to see Kevin's Missing Persons poster. And good for them. I just loved that so much. Now, they actually did have some hope going into the 2023 festival because they ended up getting a call from the CEO of Electric Forest just about a week before the festival began. And he profusely apologized for what happened the year prior and said he wanted to meet with them at Double JJ Resort to talk about how he could help them.

Kathy said they went there with a list of demands, not like in a threatening way, but just, you know, things that they wanted to have happen to help them. And here's a list of some of the things that they asked for, which I think they're all very reasonable. An apology for being escorted off the property last year, which he basically scoffed at and didn't do. To put Kevin's flyer on the big screen during the event.

Which he said no to. And lastly, to have his staff hand out flyers to people as they entered the festival grounds, to which he said that people would just throw them on the ground. So they ended up getting screwed again, because genuinely, none of those things would be that difficult to do. I mean, at least he could have done a couple of those things. But yet, he did none of that. The only thing he offered to do was put flyers at the information booth. Uh, which...

wouldn't really have done much at all, and that was it. Overall, it was just a giant slap in the face, and I'm just glad that they ended up getting that billboard put up because...

That is just so awesome and very smart. And if you think about it, it was actually put up before that meeting, which makes me think the CEO just wanted to talk to them to see if they would take it down before the festival started. But they definitely didn't take it down. In fact, the manager of Lamar Advertising in the area said that she would leave it up longer for free, so long as nobody else rented the space. So yeah, needless to say, this has been a huge emotional rollercoaster for this family throughout the years and...

They're just very hurt overall by how everything has been handled. Sometimes I'll be sitting there in the living room watching TV and I'll just start crying. Not a shame doing that because I'm thinking about him. I'm looking at his picture there by the TV and I just say, where in the hell could you be? Just don't forget about Kevin. I know there are a lot of people missing, but...

And it's just, we just need help.

A $10,000 reward for information was posted almost as soon as Kevin was reported missing. And in 2023, Gary said he doesn't care if he goes broke trying to find him. Their whole family desperately didn't want people to forget about Kevin. But as the five-year mark came and went, they were worried that that's what was happening. With the lack of investigative work, they had to be his voice and even find and turn over their own evidence. Now, this next part was really interesting to me.

Okay, so Kevin's girlfriend, Kate, at the time, or I guess I should say ex-girlfriend now, because she did end up going on and getting married to someone else. And there were rumors that she was dating Justin for a period of time. They're just rumors. I don't know if it was true. And the guy that she ended up marrying is not Justin. But anyway, this guy, her new husband, ends up getting in contact with Gary and...

told him that his wife, Kate, knew more about Kevin's disappearance than she was saying. And I guess he was so nervous when he was telling him this that he was actually shaking. But yeah, he told him that she knows more than she is telling you. Now, Gary actually got permission from him to record him saying this, and he did. And then he turned it over to investigators. And to this day, he has not heard anything.

anything from them about it. In fact, Sergeant Bach has openly stated that he does not suspect Kate because she doesn't have any motive. And he's essentially just written Kevin off as a druggie, and therefore his disappearance isn't worth looking into.

I mean, I don't think he said those words exactly. Maybe he has, I don't know, but that's definitely the vibe his family feels. And honestly, this case should have never gone to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office to begin with, and the sheriff has literally said that. Gary gave an interview in 2023 where he said that he spoke with the Oakland County Sheriff who asked him why his men...

have this case in the first place. So they were just as confused as to why they were investigating it as his family was. Gary also said that they were under the impression that the case was going to be turned over to state police. But that didn't happen. Well, eventually it did, but not when they wanted it to. Not when it really would have counted. Eventually, it was handed over to Michigan State Police, but only because what happened later.

on December 30th of 2024. So very recently. And this is where I'm finally getting to the big update that recently happened. And I'm sure a lot of you in the true crime community have already heard this update or figured out what it was just by the way I've been speaking. But that day, after nearly six and a half years without answers, human remains were discovered by two hunters clearing a path in a wooded area only 100 yards away

from where kevin's campsite was can you believe that only a hundred yards that blew my mind it hadn't been confirmed that the remains belonged to kevin however they believed with 99 certainty that it was him given that his phone and wallet were also found nearby on monday human remains were found by a woman living on this property just behind me in the rothbury new era

area. It's just next to the site of the annual Electric Forest Music Festival. Now, friends and loved ones of Kevin Graves, who went missing from the festival nearly seven years ago, are waiting to find out if it's him. The following day on New Year's Eve.

Gary and Kathy got a call and were soon met at their front door with the news. And I guess Kathy just collapsed into Gary's arms and they moved to the couch where the two of them were told the news. Although, of course, they already knew what was about to be said. But just hearing it was something that they could never have been prepared for. Even after all that time and, you know, their gut feeling that he probably wasn't alive anymore.

They always had that sliver of hope, and now that sliver was gone. And since his remains were found only one day prior, they still, like I said, didn't know with 100% certainty that it was Kevin, but they were told that they would have those answers soon. And that confirmation came on January 2nd, 2025.

Michigan State Police, with the help of forensic anthropologists from Western Michigan University's medical school, were able to confirm through dental records that it was, in fact, the body of Kevin Gary Graves. And because of the amount of time that his body had been outside, unfortunately, his remains were skeletonized. And of course, this means it will be even more difficult to determine his cause of death. And right now, it's being reported that they don't suspect anything.

any foul play, but until an autopsy is complete, especially with how long it's been, I'm not going to take any early reporting on that as fact. Over the last six and a half years, this family has been continually disrespected by law enforcement. They were made to believe that their son chose to abandon him and that his life choices were to blame when that couldn't have been further from the truth. And while we don't know the cause of death yet,

It's because of their apathetic investigation that his family might never even get those answers. I mean, he was right there. They very easily could have found him if they took this seriously from the jump, which they just chose not to. They chose, you know, to write him off as a druggie, in my opinion. And it's infuriating because unless he sustained blunt force trauma, it will be very difficult to determine a cause of death

with what little remains of him. And what's really maddening is if just one person had made the effort to just ping his phone, this family might have been saved from years of misery. It's even possible that an autopsy might lead to more questions than answers. And really, that's the last thing they need. And at this point, they don't want anyone to be punished. They just want to know the truth so that they can...

find some semblance of peace. Unless there are people who do know what happened and those people, you know, the guilt just catches up with them and they decide to just be honest and explain everything that actually happened.

I don't know. I think chances are that people know more than what they're saying. And of course, I don't know that to be fact, but they definitely, their family definitely believes people know more than they're saying. And all they are asking for is those answers. Graves' sister Kelly told News 8 that hunters found his wallet and cell phone as well, which she says leaves her with more questions than answers. It was 100 yards from his campsite. And...

The hunters found human remains. I think his clothes were still there and they found his wallet and cell phone as well. But my question is,

this six years ago when we said he didn't just run away. I mean, they could have pulled phone records. They could have pinned his phone. We would not have had to wait six and a half years for this. And it's really frustrating. Kelly saying she hopes people know that even six and a half years later, her brother is more than just a billboard and wants him to be remembered for his personality and his positive spirit. He was pretty happy-go-lucky. He was just

extremely sweet, well-mannered. He had the biggest heart. I just want them to remember him for his kind spirit and his smile. I'm going to miss his smile. God, seeing his sister just break down at the end there, it has to be such a complicated feeling. I want to say bittersweet, but that, I don't know. It's hard to

the way that she must be feeling. I mean, only really she could probably describe it. But yeah, it just pisses me off. Like she said, he was only 100 yards away and those search efforts were meticulous too. And I'm sure that just brings a whole new level of sadness knowing that he was there potentially

potentially all along. For Kathy, she says that she hates the word closure and she understands that people mean well when they say it, but to her, it puts some sort of finality to something that will truly never be final because at the end of the day, they haven't gotten those answers. They don't know what happened to him. I have a big hole in my heart that will never be filled. I hate the word closure. I know people mean well, but like I say, it comes in waves and

Just can't seem to get past it. I know it's early. Maybe as time goes on, you know, we'll have some peace. Now that he's been found, we want to know what happened, if we'll ever find out. So many things just still don't sit right with them, and it's been really difficult to fathom that he was right there all along. Feels terrible because feel it until I go to the spot where they found him.

That'll give me the peace I need because then I'll know how dumb I was not to see it. You weren't dumb. Because it's... They were very thorough. They searched that. It's like 2,000 acres. It was swampy in there in areas and we couldn't get through there. We even looked upon the highway. And I have bad legs so...

For me to try and go through there, all the guys were saying, "No, we'll go through there. You stay out here." Everybody was super people.

And we can't say enough. Can't say enough about the people that helped us. And despite feeling like law enforcement really dropped the ball, and I definitely personally agree with them on that, they have been very outspoken about their appreciation for the public. And I also wanted to note, they've said that they especially admire the small community of Rothbury, who they say never hesitated to help. Overall, this is just a really frustrating and baffling case, and I know there are going to be people, and I understand this, that think...

think that Kevin may have just wandered off. Maybe he had taken some drugs and something horrible but accidental happened. And of course, that could be a possibility. But I really don't think other factors in this case can be ignored. I mean, when you think about it, why were there multiple stories? Why did his girlfriend ultimately refuse to help this family? Why did she block their family's phone numbers and social media? I mean, these are just a few of the things that their family wants answers to. And

As I sit here, all I can do is hope that they one day get those answers. I am hopeful that maybe they can pull some information off of his phone now that they have it. And I'm sure that that's probably in process or going to happen soon, hopefully. But even if that's the case, that's, you know, something we probably won't have the answers to anytime soon. At the core of a lot of this, I think a huge part of the problem and failures here are

was because of the stigma against music festivals, and major red flags were just ignored. And here's some things about Kate that I haven't mentioned yet. She actually does have an extensive criminal background, including several felony weapons charges, but of course, that doesn't make her a killer. In case any of you were wondering, the car that she drove up there was never searched, and she ended up selling it not long after Kevin disappeared. This is something that the Graves family has always wondered about,

And unfortunately, they may also never get those answers. At the end of the day, this family believes that something happened to him on those festival grounds, and they just aren't going to stop fighting for those answers. But even if someone didn't do something to him, they do believe that...

At least someone has more information than they are sharing. I know opinions are going to be all over the board on this one, so I definitely want to hear your thoughts. But I just, you know, want to remind you again to be thoughtful about your comments and remember that every victim deserves the same opportunity for justice. Okay?

But definitely let me know what you think. My heart truly goes out to this family. What a devastating loss and a horrific experience they have had since the day that he disappeared. And I just hope so badly that they can get some answers and some peace one day.

That is going to be it for me today, guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode. And make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked, or you can just search Kendall Ray. I will be back with another episode soon. But until then, stay safe out there.