valley of shadows

Coming out January 19, 2026!

On June 11, 1998, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy Jon Aujay went jogging in the Devil’s Punchbowl, a rocky canyon at the edge of the Mojave Desert. A long-distance runner and former military, this was Aujay’s idea of fun. But when he didn’t return home by dark, Aujay’s wife called his employer to report him missing. 

The Sheriff’s Department quickly ruled Aujay’s disappearance a suicide, but how could the LASD reach that conclusion without a body, a note, or evidence of any kind? Many of Aujay’s friends and LASD colleagues don’t buy. Instead, they are convinced that he was the victim of foul play, and that his own department is covering up what happened.

Hosts Betsy Shepherd and Hayley Fox dig into decades of confidential reports and talk to whistleblowers about what the department has kept hidden for more than 25 years. In the process, they uncover vestiges of the Wild West on the outskirts of LA County, where outlaw biker gangs crank out methamphetamine and local cops operate on both sides of the law.

Told over 8 episodes, Valley of Shadows take us into the Devil’s Punchbowl, and follows the hairpin turns of the Aujay case to uncover what really happened to the missing deputy.