MISSING: Darrel “Bubba” Johnson Sr.

The gist

Bubba, a soft-spoken 67-year-old from Arizona, vanished overnight from a crowded family campsite at Conjas Lake State Park on June 29, 2024. He was last seen around 12:30 AM asking to borrow a flashlight from neighboring campers before walking toward the lake shoreline. By morning, he was gone—his tent empty, phone missing, wallet missing, with no trace left behind. Police quickly adopted a "walked away" theory despite the alarming absence of any physical evidence or credible sighting.

Key takeaways

• The missing phone ping: Bubba's phone last pinged near the campsite at 2:23 PM Saturday afternoon—two and a half hours after he was reported missing—and was never recovered or turned back on again. A private investigator's analysis suggested this ping location mapped to coordinates in the water.
• Conflicting stories about the phone: A witness named Cicely claims Ali's group told her they found Bubba's phone in his tent, but official records state it was never recovered. Ali and Roxanne deny this claim.
• The late-night flashlight request: Bubba borrowed a flashlight at 12:30 AM from neighboring campers, walked south toward the lake (which he allegedly feared and avoided), then turned back north toward his own camp. Witnesses said he seemed impaired, but everyone insists Bubba doesn't drink or use drugs.
• The mysterious Highway 104 sighting: A witness initially reported seeing a Black man matching Bubba's description wearing his exact outfit on Highway 104 around 6:37 AM, roughly 20 miles from camp. Police quickly ruled this out as a different person.
• A year later: The frightened man sighting: Residents living off Highway 104 reported seeing a Black man around 8-9 PM that same Saturday who looked terrified and appeared to be resisting contact with people in a sports car. The wife was confident it resembled Bubba based on his missing person photo.
• The boyfriend confusion: Bubba's son believed his father and Ali were romantically involved; Ali insists they were only friends and roommates for 40 years. Bubba reportedly introduced Ali as his girlfriend to others. The last photo shows Bubba, Ali, and her boyfriend Ernie together—Ernie was drinking heavily that night and tensions over his behavior existed.
• No thorough investigation of the group: Police only interviewed four of the 30+ campers present and never obtained a formal statement from Ernie, Ali's boyfriend of 13 years, who was reportedly drinking that night.
• The lake theory: People familiar with Conjas Lake said drowning victims typically resurface or leave clothing behind. The area has had drowning deaths before, but Bubba's body and belongings have never been found. Notably, no divers have ever searched the lake for Bubba.

Notable quotes

• "He's not a fan. Like when they tried getting him to go out on a boat before, he was like, nope. All good right here on dry land." — on Bubba's fear of water
• "I don't go for any man to disrespect a female, especially your mom." — Bubba, in Facebook messages to Ali's daughter about her boyfriend's drinking
• "The vibes were just off. So off that she says she went back inside and told her husband she felt like something bad had happened to this Bubba guy." — witness Cicely's account

Worth a full listen?

Listen to the full episode if you value thorough investigative reporting that challenges official conclusions—the details about conflicting witness statements, the mysterious phone ping, and the late-night Highway 104 sighting deserve the complete context that only the full episode provides.