This is the second episode in a two-part series, and the second series in our latest season covering cold cases across the United States.

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are solely the interviewee zone.

If you're in need of mental health support, you can reach out to NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness,

by calling their helpline at 800-950-6264, texting NAMI to 62640, or emailing

helpline at nami.org. In a crisis, call or text 988.

This is the fall line.

Last time, we began our coverage of Brian Vladda Castle, a 22-year-old who was adopted from Russia at age five, along with his biological sister, Irina. The siblings grew up in central Florida with their

large, blended family. Vladik had always dreamed of becoming a Marine, but separated from the military

in 2019 under an honorable discharge for failure to adapt. His family told us that military life

brought up difficult memories from his early childhood

in a Russian orphanage. In 2021, the hassles noticed troubling changes in Vlattac's behavior.

He'd begun giving away his possessions and became intensely focused on religious content

about heaven and the afterlife, including videos focused on angels and demons.

He had always been generous, but his focus on helping others intensified during this period.

He was sometimes giving way money that he simply didn't have to spare.

That fall, the family was planning a trip to Tennessee to celebrate Vladic's sister Bethany's

birthday. Several of his siblings would be

going, along with his father, Steve, and his mother, Cheryl. Though Steve and Cheryl had divorced years

earlier, they were making this trip together. Everyone wanted Vladik to come too, but at the last

minute, he decided to stay behind. He was living with his father in an apartment near the

University of Central Florida campus, and their shared car had broken down and was in the shop,

which meant that Vladic would be walking anywhere that he wanted to go. Steve made sure the

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