In early 1990, Patricia “Candy” Candace Walsh and Douglas Scott Zyskowski were a young married couple traveling across the United States with a shared sense of purpose. As devoted members of an evangelical church in Seattle, they believed their journey itself was a form of ministry — hitchhiking from state to state to share their faith with those they met along the way.
After a final phone call from El Paso, Texas, the couple vanished.
Months later, their bodies were discovered in two different states: Douglas in rural Sutton County, Texas, and Patricia in Millard County, Utah. At the time, investigators had no reason to believe the cases were connected. Different jurisdictions. Different landscapes. One victim unidentified. No shared investigative framework.
This episode of Rocky Mountain Reckoning returns listeners to a different era — 1990, before cell phones, GPS, NamUs, or integrated national databases. It is a time when the world felt larger, movement was freer, and the distance between answers could stretch for years.
Episode One focuses on:
- The couple’s documented missionary journey and method of travel
- The discovery of their remains in separate states
- The geographic and jurisdictional barriers that delayed investigative linkage
- How forensic identification unfolded over more than a decade
- Why these crimes initially appeared unrelated
This episode does not center on a suspect or arrest. Instead, it establishes the world these victims lived in — and the limitations investigators faced at the time.
🎵 Music Credit
Original music featured in the victim tribute includes “Paper Wings” by JJ Hawk, produced by Hawk Studios, and used with permission.
Learn more about JJ Hawk and Hawk Studios here: 👉 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574578047424
(Song title may be updated once finalized.)
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🥾 Dark Dialogue Collective
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🎧 EXPLORE THE DARK DIALOGUE NETWORK
- Rocky Mountain Reckoning
- Dark Dialogue: Distilled
- Dark Dialogue: Unraveled Truths
- Dark Dialogue: Gallows & Gunfights
- Dark Dialogue: Shadow Chat Sessions
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