Introducing Valley of Shadows: The Devil’s Punchbowl episode artwork

EPISODE · Jan 19, 2026 · 12 MIN

Introducing Valley of Shadows: The Devil’s Punchbowl

from National Park After Dark · host Danielle LaRock & Cassandra Yahnian

Valley of Shadows is a new true crime podcast that digs into a nearly 30-year old secret buried in the California desert. On June 11, 1998, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Jon Aujay set out for a run in California’s Devil’s Punchbowl park — and never came back. Aujay has yet to be found. The Sheriff’s Department rules Aujay’s disappearance a suicide, but friends, family, and fellow deputies insist the story doesn’t add up. Instead, they believe Aujay may have stumbled into the Mojave Desert’s criminal underworld — where outlaw biker gangs crank out methamphetamine and local cops operate on both sides of the law. Through exclusive interviews, revealing wiretaps, and buried police files, journalists Hayley Fox and Betsy Shepherd explore one of Southern California’s most mysterious missing person cases. In Valley of Shadows, they ask: What is the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department hiding? Find Valley of Shadows wherever you get podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jan 19, 2026

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Introducing Valley of Shadows: The Devil’s Punchbowl

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