The views and opinions expressed in Cold and
Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. All
parties mentioned are considered innocent until
proven guilty in a court of law. Cold and Missing
also contains adult themes and languages. Listener
discretion is advised. I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin
-Sulkowski. And I'm your co -host, Eli Sulkowski.
And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover
cold cases and missing person cases. Hello everyone
and welcome back to Cold and Missing. I'm your
host, Ali. And I'm your co -host, Eli. Welcome
back, everyone. Nothing too exciting at the top
to chit -chat about, so I think we should just
go ahead and get into it this week. Yeah, I think
so too. We are on episode 128 and we are on a
missing persons case. Let's get into it. So just
as a bit of a content warning at the top. There
are some mentions of death by suicide throughout
the podcast. Today, we are talking about the
missing person case of Reny Jose and this
takes place in March of 2014 in Panama City Beach,
Florida. But first, a little bit about Reny.
Reny is 21 years old in 2014. He is a mechanical
engineering major at Rice University in Houston,
Texas. He is a terrific student. He has a 4 .0
grade point average and was on track to graduate
the next year. When Reny wasn't working on
school, he liked to play pickup games of volleyball
with friends and loved spending time with his
family. Right as our timeline picks up, Reny
was about to head out for spring break. He had
called his mother before he and 22 other students
headed from Rice University to Panama City Beach.
Reny and the 22 other students had rented a
beach house for a week. His mom tells Reny
to have a good time and to be safe. And now a
timeline of events. Saturday, March 1, 2014.
Reny and the other students make it to the
rental house and get spring break started. The
house is on Front Beach Road on the west side
of Panama City Beach. The house sits right on
the water. It looks beautiful. Over those first
few days of spring break, it's unclear exactly
what the friends were getting up to. I imagine
it was a lot of typical spring break activities,
hanging out in the sun and partying with friends.
On Monday, March 3rd, the group has been at the
beach house since Saturday. Reny was last seen
around 7 p .m. It's unclear exactly where he
was seen or what the circumstances exactly were.
At least one person said that Reny had taken
LSD that night and had started talking about
suicide. The last confirmed sighting of Reny
was 7 p .m. The next day, Tuesday, March 4th,
that day started like many other days over the
spring break. A cleaning crew picked up the beach
at 6 a .m. before spring breakers covered the
place. At the nearby beach house, Reny’s friends
started to get worried when there were still
no signs of him that morning. It appears that
at some point in those morning to early afternoon
hours, people from the house found clothing of
Reny’s, specifically his sleeping pants and
socks, hanging on a railing near the beach outside.
The clothes had not been there earlier when the
cleaning crews had come through, otherwise they
would have been thrown out. At around 11 a .m.,
friends call the police to report Reny missing.
At around 4 p .m., one of Reny’s friends also
calls his parents to tell them that he is missing.
Immediately, his parents start making plans to
head to Florida to look for their son. When police
arrive to the Beach House, they look around the
property. They find in a trash can out back more
of Reny’s clothing and his cell phone. Inside
Reny’s room in the rental house, his laptop,
wallet, and suitcase were all found there inside.
Nothing of note is mentioned to be missing except
for Reny himself. The sheriff's office launches
the air unit to help search the water. Since
clothing of his was found on the beach and there
was talk of him on LSD, Police think he could
have gone into the water on drugs and drowned.
However, when police were searching the house,
they didn't find any other drugs. The next day,
Wednesday, March 5th, Reny has been missing
since Monday night. Reny’s parents arrive at
the beach house to help search. To their surprise,
most of the students had left. Of the 22 other
spring breakers, 16 had packed up and left from
their spring break trip. His mother said of the
students left, quote, there were two girls and
four boys left. Two of them didn't even want
to talk to us, end quote. It appears that the
Panama City Beach police never got the chance
to talk to all of the students who were at the
house near the time that Reny went missing.
Of the six left, it appears that different stories
emerged. Again, his mother says, quote, one was
saying, I don't know where Reny went. The other
one was saying, I went to Walmart. The other
one was saying, I was sleeping. And then the
other one said, he went for a walk, end quote.
It also sounds like of the six students that
were left, one of them is the person who told
police that Reny had taken LSD and was talking
about suicide. This also caught the family off
guard. Reny had been excited about graduating
and had big plans for his life and was looking
forward to the future. Reny had never talked
to anyone in his family about thoughts of suicide.
For the next few days, police focused their searches
on the water. Police believe that it is most
likely that Reny went into the water and drowned.
They have their marine unit searching the Gulf
of Mexico for any sign of him, but nothing is
found. On Friday, March 7th, Reny has been
missing since Monday night. Investigators continue
to focus on the water, but police also notify
other counties to be on the lookout as well as
the U .S. Coast Guard. Police do start to expand
their search a little bit here from the water.
They search abandoned properties near the beach
house and still no sign of Reny is found. At
the one -week mark, police say that they are
still searching for Reny. but do not believe
that any foul play was involved. They believe
that he took LSD, decided to go swimming, and
drowned. Very quickly after this, the case appears
to go cold. In September of 2014, Reny has
been missing for over six months, and his family
hold a demonstration outside of the FBI headquarters
to try to get the FBI's attention to take over
the case. The FBI do send out an agent to talk
with the family, but it doesn't appear that they
ever officially pick up the case or even get
involved in it. At the one -year mark of Reny’s
disappearance, his family heads back to Panama
City Beach to raise awareness for his case and
to ask the community for information. If anyone
remembers anything, please let them know. Maybe
returning spring breakers would remember something
from the year before. This trip back to the beach
will become a yearly trip for the family, something
that they continue to do to this day. Over the
years, the case will go cold, but the family
will fight to keep the case in the media and
raise awareness. The family hires a private investigator
to try to get more information. They especially
want to talk to all of the students who are at
the beach house with Reny, but no one talks
much to the family, and a few of them even lawyer
up. In March of 2024, it's been 10 years since
Reny vanished and there have been no new leads
or updates on his case. Police say that they
still work the case if a tip is called in, but
no physical sign of Reny has ever been found
since that first day, when his clothes were found
at the beach and in the trash can along with
his cell phone. Police say that they have talked
to all 22 students. Captain Daffy says, quote,
End quote. But that is all we know about the
disappearance of Reny Jose. So if you know anything
about the disappearance of Reny Jose or his
whereabouts today, please call the Bay County
Sheriff's Office at 850 -747 -4700. So that is
the case of Reny Jose. I have to say, just at
the top of Reny’s case, it always gives me...
knowing that they went missing more recently.
I think I have spoken on this before in prior
cases that you've brought to cold and missing,
but the immediacy always feels palpable when
you're listing out the timeline. And I know there
wasn't a ton within his timeline, but I do think
for this case, the timeline is tight. I'm very,
you know, I'm very grateful that you brought
his case here, but I'm eager to speak with you
about it. Yeah. Reny case, when I came across
it, was one that on the surface, you know, I
initially wasn't asking very many questions or
not a lot of things sprung into my head. But
the more I thought about it with the information
we do have, what little we do have, I started
to really. develop more and more questions surrounding
his disappearance. Yeah, with you saying that,
I kind of just want to jump right in here. After,
you know, he was last seen at 7 p .m. and the
following morning around 11, or within that time
frame in the morning when they were finding his
clothes, that's the first thing I wanted to discuss.
And just ask, what do you make of that? Yeah,
the finding the clothes on the beach. So that's
the first set of clothing that's found. It's
his pajama pants and his socks, according to
his mother. That's what was found on the beach.
And from what we know, cleaning crews do come
through at 6 a .m. and, you know, remove everything
from the beach before the day really gets started.
So it is. the understanding that those would
likely have been thrown out had they been there
at 6 a .m. So they needed to show up after 6
a .m. but before 11 a .m. because 11 a .m. is
when his friends call police. So they would have
found the clothes just a little bit before that,
I imagine. I'm so glad I asked the question because
I knew you would have a different perspective
from mine. And that was something that I... didn't
include or even think of was that the cleaning
crew you know could have picked them up and tossed
them but what I thought and I think because you
know this is a missing person's case and we have
a lens over it to me it read as oh that's someone
trying to cover something up because normally
you wouldn't throw your own clothes away that
is kind of a nonsensical action to me But yeah,
that's kind of what I thought. While the first
set of clothes were found hanging on a railing
near the beach, the second set of clothes were
found in a trash can at the house, and that was
found by police. Thank you for reminding me and
our listeners that there were two different spots
where clothing was found. You know, the first
one, With the clothing hanging there, to me that
read as someone passed by the clothing. And I've
done this in our neighborhood before. If I see
a glove or something that it looks like someone
has lost it or left it, I'll usually hang it
on a neighboring fence or somewhere where it
can be safe and noticeable if the person wants
to come back to find it. But the second one,
which I just spoke of, Now knowing that there,
you know, there was a cleaning crew there, that
does make sense to me. But without that, it seems
like an action that someone would do to cover
something up. Sorry, the cleaning crew cleans
the beach. So they go through and clean the beach.
So the thought is that his clothes weren't hanging
on the rail at 6 a .m. Otherwise, they would
have been thrown out. So those would have had
to appear after 6 a .m. But before 11 a .m. OK,
thank you for clarifying. I'm I'm laughing because
I'm laughing at myself. You know, as Ali is telling
the timeline of these cases, I'm trying to keep
up with her and remember everything. So sometimes
the details get a little lost in the shuffle
for me. But that's probably true for our listeners.
So hopefully when I do ask questions, it's helpful
for you all as well. Another question I kind
of had about the clothing found on the railing
specifically, that was the sleeping pants and
socks, according to his mother. That's what was
found on the railing. It's never mentioned what
clothing he was last seen in the night before
at 7 p .m. So was he in his sleeping pants and
socks, like getting ready to have an early night
or just hang out? You know, his day clothes,
whatever. And then that would indicate that he
at least went into his suitcase and got his sleeping
pants if he put that there. So that's a question
I have with that specifically. The discovery
or finding of the socks and the pajamas kind
of made me think that maybe he did end up in
the water. I know this is a broad question and
we'll continue to ask more questions, but I'm
curious to know if you think that he drowned,
which is kind of the overall theory. And I wanted
to know how you felt about that. I think it's
definitely a possibility in the world of possibilities.
I think it is something that could have happened.
Something that comes up for me and I know kind
of comes up for the family as well, while it
doesn't surprise me necessarily hearing about
a college student taking LSD on spring break,
what does kind of surprise me is that, to my
knowledge, none of the other students in the
house said that they were also doing drugs that
night. That's kind of a strange part to me is
that Reny would be doing it by himself. So
I wonder if somebody else was doing it and they
didn't find any drugs in the house when police
did search. So then, like, if Reny was doing
it by himself, so he only had just that one dose
or there's just some questions about it. If other
people were doing drugs with him, which, again,
like, isn't crazy for college students on spring
break, I would hope that they would tell police,
like, at least what was happening and even, like,
have the drugs tested. Like, was Reny taking
LSD or thinking he was taking LSD but took something
else that... maybe had a adverse effect with
him. Like there's a lot of possibilities where
maybe it was just LSD and it hit him weird. I
think it is something that could have happened,
but there's still a lot of questions around it
and lacking evidence to support it. Thank you
for expanding on everything that you thought.
It kind of takes us into my remaining questions
as you were unfolding them. timeline for us.
Directly after I was writing questions about,
I wonder, you know, if it was drowning, I quickly
pivoted to, all I wrote was, did something happen
with the kids? Because as it started to unfold,
and just like you, it took me a second to ask
more questions, you know, within myself. About
the kids, about the people that were around him
as this happened. And I think the lack of information
is odd. And the kids' behaviors when the parents
show up, odd. Yeah, you know, I think the other
students, the other college students, like something
could have just gotten out of hand. you know,
like partying too much, drinking too much, and
then something happens. And I try to leave like,
you know, some grace too, because I think if
I was 21 and had gone on a spring break trip
and somebody went missing, I might freak out
and panic and leave too, just because I was scared
that something might happen to me. You know,
I'm not somewhere where I... no, I don't know
anybody there. So I might just try to like get
out of there to feel safe. But then on the other
hand, you know, I can't imagine leaving a friend
behind that I came there with. Like that feels
really unimaginable to me and to not be, you
know, banging a drum, trying to get attention
and get a search going for them and get them
home. So it's very confusing, the behavior. But
I would love to know, like, The statements of
everybody there and just is there any clue that
was missed in the timeline? Because it doesn't
seem like one police agency has ever interviewed
all of the spring breakers. So like if one person
did all the interviewing, could they find something
that multiple police departments missed? Just
some of the other questions that, you know, if
I could sit down and get any question I had answered,
I would be curious. Did his cell phone reveal
any information? We know this was found either
in the trash or next to the trash at the rental
home. You know, was he texting anybody? Was he
texting dealers to get drugs? Was there any GPS
on it? Anything to show what he had been up to?
Or maybe even when he and his phone became separated?
Is there any indication of when that happened?
And then... I also got curious just if any of
his clothing was missing, if they were able to
determine that at all. But was there any outfit
missing that he could have possibly been wearing
when he vanished? We know clothing was found
in the beach and in the trash can, but was all
of his clothing accounted for otherwise? Or,
you know, is there a certain kind of shirt? Were
his swimsuit missing? Or his, you know, was anything
else missing? That's something I would want to
know. I think it's important to mention his family
here and his parents more specifically. And I'm
so grateful that you covered just a little bit
of their navigating what a, I mean, to put it
lightly, like just horrifying mess this must
be to have to. Go to somewhere where you don't
know to try to find your loved one, your child.
Worst case scenario, worst nightmare. Reny’s
case is one that, unfortunately, we have seen
before where someone goes missing during specifically
a spring break trip. And that's terrifying because
it's supposed to be a space for young people
to... have fun and cut loose and, like, be in
community. So I'm really, I'm glad that we learned
that his parents did everything they could and
continue to. And I just wanted to mention the,
and I know you know this, Allie, but just the
cost of, like, hiring a PI and having to search
for your loved one in this way, the toll it takes
on your life. Forever is, you know, gigantic.
And when you speak about them in the unfolding
of the case, you know, usually we only have time
to cover just a small amount of it. But I think
it's important to mention that these people,
not only after losing a part of their hearts
or if a part of their hearts is lost, they are...
They are drained in every other way. My heart
really goes out to them, and I have a lot of
hope for this case, specifically because there
are witnesses, they're still alive, and it happened
so recently. And Reny deserves to come home.
I, too, have hopes for this case, that we can
get answers, that we can bring Reny home to
his family who, yeah, everything you said. was
perfect. They have worked tirelessly on this
case and have dedicated their lives. His family
really cares about him and wants him to come
home. I think that there is still information
that can be gleaned in this investigation and
not even nefarious information necessarily, but
just like more details where we can really fill
in, you know, minute to minute what happened.
I think that is possible in this case, and I
really hope we get it so that way Reny’s family
has the answers and we get to bring Reny home.
But again, if you know anything about the disappearance
of Reny Jose or his whereabouts today, please
call the Bay County Sheriff's Office at 850 -747
-4700. As always, I will be providing the graphics
for our case this week. Reny and what he looks
like and hopefully on your own social medias
you can share or share that you're listening
to the podcast you can find us on instagram at
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love needs a transcript to follow along to the
podcast because you are hard of hearing, you
can find that on our website, www .coldandmissing
.com, where we have our official transcripts
that is edited by me. So it has correct spellings
of names. and all that jazz. So that's on the
website. And you can also find all our old episodes
there as well. But that's all I have for you
this week. Thank you so much for listening to
Cold and Missing. I'm your host, Allie. And I'm
your co -host, Eli. Have a good week and stay
safe, y 'all. Stay safe, y 'all.