Ahren Barnard - USA

The Missing

Darrell Brown

True Crime, Society & Culture, Documentary

4.3 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 2 September 2024

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode we tell the baffling story of the disappearance of Ahren Benjamin Barnard.

Ahren Benjamin Barnard, known as Benj to many, was 35 years old when he vanished from Boise, Idaho. Ahren was a born entrepreneur, having started his first business at the age of 21, an exotic fish store which he named Tanks A Lot. By the time he vanished, Ahren had worked as a DJ, a pawn broker and a gun salesman and was looking into starting a limousine business. On the night of December 4th, 2004, Ahren dropped off his son with the child's mother at the McDonalds on the corner of Cole Rd and Overland Rd in central Boise. He was never seen again.

This episode hears from Ahren’s mother Vicki who has done everything she can to keep the search for her son alive for the past two decades. She walks us through the investigation into his disappearance, her initially contentious relationship with the police and how one shady figure in her son’s life in particular, may have far more to do with the case than he’s led the authorities to believe.

This episode is supported by Doe Network. They exist to appeal for answers in hundreds of missing persons cases worldwide. Visit their website The Doe Network to find more information about this and many other cases, which all need help. They believe the case of Ahren Barnard CAN still be solved.

If you have any information which might help to solve this case, or anything you want to share, there is an easy way to get in touch. You can email [email protected] - your information will be passed securely to the relevant authorities. And you can get in touch anonymously.

This episode is hosted by Ashley Loeb Blassingame.

The Missing is produced by What's The Story? If you want to hear more of their shows, and get early, ad-free access to every episode of The Missing, why not join The Missing +

Our subscription site has a bunch of exclusive benefits. And it helps to keep the show on air. Simply search for The Missing + in Apple Podcasts. Or follow this link to get the content on whatever platform you choose to listen.

Information on every episode of The Missing is available on www.themissingpodcast.org

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Transcript

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0:13.6	Not all missing persons cases are created equal. For every disappeared individual whose story generates public outpourings of grief and sympathy,
0:20.0	there are dozens more that spark a series of predictably dispassionate responses.
0:25.0	That young woman walked home alone drunk in an unsafe neighborhood.
0:30.0	She should have seen this coming.
0:32.0	If that guy had never gotten mixed up with drugs, he might still be here.
0:37.1	He should have known better. Those parents allowed their daughter to hang around with a bad crowd. What did they think was going to happen?
0:46.8	When Aaron Barnard went missing from his home in Boise, Idaho in in December 2004.
0:53.2	What little media attention his case received at the time
0:56.6	centered on Aaron's so-called unsavory lifestyle.
1:00.7	He was a gun dealer, one who had gotten in trouble with the law in the past.
1:05.0	He worked at a pawn shop, the kind of place often notorious for dealing in stolen goods.
1:11.0	On top of that, he also DJed at a strip club. These details,
1:17.0	carefully hand-picked, crafted a narrative that while never saying it
1:21.3	outright, seemed to suggest that Aaron deserved to disappear,
1:25.6	or at the very least wasn't someone who warranted your sympathy.
1:30.9	For his mother, Vicky, nothing could be further from the truth. To her, her son was first of all a
1:37.7	talented entrepreneur, one who managed to keep dozens of plates spinning at all times. He was also a devoted father who
1:46.3	cared deeply about his children and doted on them often. Finally and perhaps most of all, he was a loving son, one who would do absolutely anything
1:57.5	for his mother.
1:59.4	I'm Ashley Lowe Blassingame and you're listening to The Missing, a What's the Story original
2:05.5	podcast series.
2:07.4	This episode and all of the episodes in the United States and Canada are brought to you with the help of the Doe Network, a not-for-profit
	...

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