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Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need

support, please contact your local crisis centre. For suggested phone numbers for confidential

support, please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. On

the morning of Saturday, May 3rd, 1997, 33-year-old single father Gary Patterson woke up before

dawn in his home in Waco, Texas. He got dressed in black jeans and a white shirt and boots.

He didn't need to wear a suit to his final job interview. He had already met with one

of the business partners and they had got to know each other pretty well over the previous

three weeks. That morning, the 730 AM flight from Waco to El Paso was the last step in the

process. He would meet the company's CEO and would hopefully return home that night

the new head of a large housing development project. After a tough few years, things

were starting to look up.

The majority of the Chihuahuan deserts 200 million acres lie south of the United States

border in the central Mexican Highlands. As it sprls north into the US, it crosses the

far western corner of Texas into the south of New Mexico and Arizona. It is vast and

its landscape ever changing, one of the most biologically diverse deserts in the world.

Long sweeping valleys of sandy scrub, agave and yucca trees morph into huge experiences

...