Kylie Lowe
Appearances
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Anna also told us that the same morning of the big community search, a neighbor told her that they saw Burton's ex-girlfriend come by with two friends to move some of her stuff out of his house.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
While the timing might seem sudden, blurbs in the case file indicate that, apparently, her reasoning was they'd broken up the month before, but she waited until that day to pick up the rest of her belongings to avoid contact with Burton, figuring he'd be out on the search. As word about Wojtek being missing spread throughout the tight-knit community, two promising leads popped up pretty quickly.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
First, a neighbor claimed he saw a man on the dock at the back of the house on East Shore Road where Wojtek had been sleeping over at around 9.30 Saturday morning.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
He observed the man, a clothed man, with a blue hooded sweatshirt pulled up over his head and long pants, sitting, slouched over on the dock for a long time, not really moving, before eventually getting up and walking back towards the rear of the house. I don't think this necessarily screams Wojtek, unless he somehow got a hold of some clothes, but this second one feels a bit closer, maybe.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
According to the files, this guy was jogging, not walking, by the way. And when you look up this case, the vibe I get is that this tip is often taken as fact, proof that Wojtek definitely wandered off from the home on his own free will. But one of our sources pointed out something that I think is crucial to note. It's not that this witness isn't reliable.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
It's just that even he can't be sure of what exactly he saw. He was in a car going like 40 miles per hour. According to an article published by the Providence Journal, this witness was a University of Rhode Island student. Madison wasn't able to find him, but it'd be curious if he was friends with anyone in the group at the house that night.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
After leaving the house barefoot, it's hard to imagine how even a strong and athletic Wojtek would have made it to that area of the marsh where he was supposedly seen in the first place. It sounds like you'd maybe have to swim from an inlet near the house on East Shore Road.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
And even though it's only a short swim, in right around freezing December temperatures, I don't know if it would even be possible to survive. It's possible your body would just shut down.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
It was likely that whatever was going on here wasn't the result of some criminal act. When the officer arrived around 1 p.m., he was greeted by the callers, two young men who we know to be Burton, the guy living at the home, and another friend, Sean. Here's Narragansett detective Ryan Prest.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
This was the only real lead investigators had at that moment, so I get why they ran with it. This witness took officers out to the area and showed them exactly where he'd spotted the man. Detectives blocked off the location with crime scene tape.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Since that specific area of the marsh was very shallow and you could see to the bottom in most parts, helicopters did an aerial search overhead while divers and boats saturated the surrounding deeper waters. But no sign of Wojtek was found. The next search police needed to conduct was of properties that were often vacant during the winter off-season in Narragansett.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Apparently, Wojtek had made comments in the past that he could squat in one of them all winter. With his alleged recent reckoning of wanting to live an off-the-grid lifestyle, maybe he was hiding out in one of them. But officers found no signs of him anywhere. Of course, police also considered the possibility that Wojtek didn't leave on his own, that something happened to him that night.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
But it was hard for that theory to grow legs. In all their interviews with Wojtek's family, friends, and acquaintances, no one could think of a single person who'd have a motive to make him disappear. He wasn't dating anyone. He seemed to be a well-liked guy with zero drama in any of his personal relationships.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
His cell phone was eventually checked, but since it had been back at his place in Newport the night this happened, there wasn't anything helpful. Calls and texts from earlier that week seemed pretty standard, too. Basic convos, checking in with friends, and asking what's up. The official searches eventually came to a halt with no luck.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
It sounds like investigators were leaning towards a theory that did not involve foul play. Whether he died by suicide or had an accident and was swept out to sea never to be found, I think many people in the community assumed Wojtek was no longer alive. But more than seven months later, in July of 2009, someone left Wojtek's mom a message that suggested otherwise.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
The handwriting was sloppy, almost childlike. You can take a look for yourself. We have pictures of the notes on the blog post for this episode. The writing was compared to known samples from Wojtek, but Detective Prest told us they didn't match up.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
According to the case files, only a day before finding the notes, Anna also reported their car had been broken into, the car that used to belong to Wojtek. It's possible some change may have been taken from it, but besides that, there wasn't really anything else to steal. She said the seat had been moved back, as if someone had been inside.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
In the case files, it seems like there may have been an attempt to compare Wojtek's fingerprints to those found in the car after it was broken into, but I can't tell whatever came of it. Plus, I would expect Wojtek's prints to be there anyways, since he used to drive the car.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
And Wojtek's cousin Beata also agrees it's suspicious.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Months passed, then another year, and the Fudali family was left waiting for something else to come about that would help them hold on to hope. Even if it couldn't be proven that the notes were actually from their son or not, I'm sure there was a longing for things to just get shaken up again, anything to propel the stagnant case forward.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
While the more than 50 pages of police documents related to this case redacted all the names, AudioTrucks reporter Madison was able to identify the key players through her own sources and reporting from Terry Weber Mangos for the Providence Journal.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
And that movement would come one day in August of 2010, when Anna Fudali did something she probably so often did after Wojtek went missing. Picked up her ringing phone, even though it was a number she didn't recognize.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
The fact that the call came from Puerto Rico was interesting, because Wojtek had traveled there with some buddies on a surfing trip in early 2008. A source told us that it's possible Wojtek and his friends had rented a place while they were there, so maybe this was a little boy connected to that somehow? We may never know.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Investigators didn't know what to think about this puzzling phone call or those cryptic notes. Was someone trying to steer them away from the truth of what actually happened that night? Were these sick pranks? Or did it mean Wojtek could still be alive? Maybe this was his way of checking in and letting his family know he was okay.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Sadly, that seems unlikely, though, because in speaking with Detective Prest, it appears as if Wojtek's social security and debit and credit cards have never been used since, and there have been no reliable sightings of him to this day. And Wojtek's family still feels the frustration from all of this.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Here's Wojtek's childhood buddy, Adam. He remembers friends from their hometown thinking Wojtek must be alive after hearing bits and pieces about the mysterious notes and phone call, only to be crushed to discover he was actually still missing.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
From what we were able to put together, officers learned that the night before, 22-year-old Wojtek had been at his place about 45 minutes away in Newport with his roommate Zachary and their buddy Sean. Wojtek was sleeping, but his friends woke him up for a night out in Narragansett. Sean's girlfriend at the time, Caroline, was there too, and the group took off in her car.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
We checked the weather history for around the time Wojtek went missing, and although it wasn't single digits, it was below freezing at some points. It didn't reach past 32 degrees until closer to 10 a.m. on December 6th. But in 2017, detectives collected a DNA sample from Wojtek's mom, Anna, for NamUs.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
The hard part for me is knowing Wojtek's poor parents came to this country hoping to give their two boys a better life. But instead, they lost both of their sons in the matter of only several years. The family can't make sense of what they've been told about the night he went missing.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Somebody knows something, and the family believes that starts with asking the friends who were there with him that night some more questions. Detective Prest had this to say when our reporter Madison asked if there's any reason to believe that they could be involved in Wojtek's disappearance.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
To be fair, judging by the case files, it does seem like the group fully cooperated with law enforcement at the time, and they were all re-interviewed later on in the investigation too. We only found a few things in the case files that could indicate police were looking at the friends present that night as at least a little suspicious.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
One of the friends was asked to come into the PD back in early 2009, because the detective needed to clarify a couple of inconsistencies in his statement. The report mentions that he expressed that during his initial statement, he did not believe the police were interested in his actions the whole night, but rather his interactions with Wojtek.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
It seemed like most of the inconsistencies revolved around him leaving out some details about the entire night, like what exactly he was doing before meeting up with Wojtek, etc. There was also a note that he expressed shock and disbelief that Wojtek's parents would think his closest friends would do something to him.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Also in the case files, there were a few mentions about some people believing that maybe someone had given drugs to Wojtek without his knowledge. Madison tried reaching out to Burton, Sean, and Caroline, and no one but Burton got back to her. It was just a simple text he sent saying, Hey Madison, very sad, confusing and tough story which has never been easy to talk about.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
They went to a party, then hopped over to Charlie O's Tavern around 10 p.m., before rounding out the night at another party. Zachary parted ways with the group shortly after arriving at that second party, leaving with his girlfriend to go back to her place.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
I am not interested in speaking on the podcast, but hope it goes well. All the best. Maybe it's not easy to talk about, but Wojtek's family is still interested in hearing the details of that night from those who lived it. So if you have nothing to hide, I would encourage Burton, and everyone else who was there that night, to reach out to them.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Even with the family's lingering skepticism, Beata likes to imagine the best case scenario. Her super cool surfer boy cousin still out there on a beach somewhere.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
If you know anything about the mysterious disappearance of Wojtek Fudali on December 6, 2008 in Narragansett, Rhode Island, take this as your sign to come forward now. No detail is too small or insignificant. Even a small piece of the puzzle could help detectives see the bigger picture here. You can call Narragansett PD's anonymous tip line at 401-789-8967.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
And when the others eventually left themselves, all piled into Caroline's car, they went to pick up their friend Burton, who was walking home from a party of his own. The crew all made it back to Burton's place, the house on East Shore Road, between 1 and 1.30 or so in the morning.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
If you don't mind speaking to Detective Ryan Prest directly, we have all the ways you can contact him in the show notes. The Deck is an Audiochuck production with theme music by Ryan Lewis. To learn more about The Deck and our advocacy work, visit thedeckpodcast.com. So, what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Burton and Sean said they went to sleep, while Wojtek and Caroline stayed up chatting, before eventually heading to bed themselves. But before the crack of dawn, people at the house were apparently woken up, and they claimed things with Wojtek took a drastic turn.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
And who knows, maybe next week you'll hear from another member of the Audiochuck family to tell you about a case in their backyard. Now, this missing person's case, on its face, might appear to be a tragic tale of a young man experiencing some sort of mental break.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Burton told police there'd been a short period of tug of war between the two as he attempted to take the piece of bed frame away from Wojtek. It seems like Sean eventually went in to assist too. As Detective Press mentioned, the friend said Wojtek eventually calmed down, even put his clothes back on at some point.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
According to statements in the case files, at least one of the friends checked on him throughout the night. And every time, they said he was either lying down or putting the bed frame back together. Now, I know what you might be thinking with all of this happening after a night of partying.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
But let me just stop you right there, because it appears Wojtek's abnormal behavior couldn't be blamed on inebriation.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Although it seems like Wojtek was being social, there was a report from a friend saying he seemed a bit off that night, like maybe more quiet, standoffish than usual, but nothing alarming.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Despite reporting that Wojtek was hitting himself with the bed frame hard enough that there were visible marks on his body, it's specifically documented in the police reports that all subjects said that Wojtek had never made threats to harm himself. I'm guessing that means they were saying he hadn't actually threatened to take his own life or anything.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
If these accounts from the group of friends were in fact true, then clearly Wojtek was suffering from something. But since he seemed sober, what was happening here? Well, his friends did say the odd behavior hadn't just started suddenly overnight. According to some of them, it had been going on for a few weeks or so.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Our card this week is Wojtek Fudali, the Three of Spades from Rhode Island. And hi, The Deck listeners. I'm Kylie Lowe, host of another weekly audio chuck true crime show, Dark Down East. And I'm so grateful Ashley passed me the mic today. But on Dark Down East, we cover cold cases in the New England area, just like the one you're going to hear about today.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Wojtek graduated from the University of Rhode Island that May. That's how this group knew each other. They had either graduated from URI or were current students there. Remember, this was 2008, a recession. It was hard to find work. But if anyone was going to find a job, it was Wojtek. The guy was a genius, spoke multiple languages, had a degree in international business with a 4.0.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
But there are a lot of loose ends and strange occurrences that can't fully be explained away by a young college grad simply taking off on his own. And since we're in my neck of the woods, Ashley asked me to take over for this episode. I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is The Deck.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Understandably, not being able to find full-time work would have been stressful, and a friend stated Wojtek may have also been worried about student loan debt and paying his rent. But it seems like he had a solid backup plan. His parents were supportive and more than willing to allow him to stay with them while he was on the job hunt.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
In fact, his mom, Anna, told us he was actually planning on moving back in with them in Massachusetts when this all went down. Likely the greatest source of his sadness though, the loss of his big brother. He died tragically a few years prior. From what we learned, Wojtek had been on some type of antidepressant medications around the time he went missing.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
But even with these stressors, this extreme outburst his friends had described to police still didn't add up for many of his loved ones. His parents were aware of his struggles and knew he'd been prescribed medications to help cope, but they hadn't personally experienced any of this out-of-character behavior. Wojtek's cousin, Beata, had recently seen him about a month before.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
He came to Western Massachusetts to visit her for her 21st birthday. She described her cousin as being laid back, calm, peaceful, with a heart of gold and a good head on his shoulders. Here's Beata recalling this.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Now with more context for the time leading up to the night he went missing, back in Narragansett, something they found at the house made a lot more sense.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Strangely, his clothes were found neatly folded and they appeared to have been recently laundered, something his mom said didn't make much sense. He'd wear the same pair of jeans for weeks and wasn't known to be neat and tidy.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Concerned for his safety, the search was on for this around 5'11", 200 or so pound, young man with brown hair and blue eyes who had a large tattoo inspired by the Polish coat of arms under his left ribcage of a black eagle with a yellow and green background, which should be pretty visible since he'd apparently left the house naked.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Even his speech would have been distinct if anyone were to interact with him. He had a Polish accent that would have stuck out to any potential witnesses. The initial responding officer talked with a neighbor, who said he hadn't seen any unusual activity, definitely no one walking around naked on that cold winter day.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
He did add that he'd noticed the lights were on at the house across the street around 5 a.m., though. He took note because he thought it was a bit abnormal for the spry young adults to be up so early on a Saturday morning, but it does fit with their version of events. The officer went on to check with a local hospital, but no one there matched Wojtek's description.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
So with that, a bee on the lookout was sent out to surrounding departments. That evening, Wojtek's parents, Anna and Richie, made the drive to Rhode Island from their home in Massachusetts.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
They'd gotten word about the situation from Wojtek's roommate, Zachary, who'd been the one to call them concerned when he first heard his friend, who had slept over at the East Shore house, had seemingly vanished. According to our law enforcement sources, the others at the house that night, Burton, Sean, and Caroline, were acting as you'd expect Wojtek's friends to act.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
They seemed genuinely concerned. But obviously, something we often talk about, it's not fair to judge innocence or guilt based solely on someone's reaction. However, when Madison tracked down Wojtek's parents in Poland and spoke to his mom through a family friend who could translate, she remembers it differently.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Anna explained that when they arrived at the house in Narragansett, Burton and Sean were there. She said that while, in her opinion, Sean seemed concerned, she described Burton as having a stone face, not appearing concerned with the issue at hand. And instead of giving them all the details about what had happened the previous night, they directed them to the police.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Since they didn't seem to want to participate in this podcast, we don't know why they may have acted like this. It's possible they were simply nervous, or maybe something just got lost in translation. From what we can tell, although they were all spoken to, it doesn't seem like Burton and Sean were separated and really probed about their shared account of the previous night.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Neither of them, nor Caroline, appeared to be treated like persons of interest. We were told there was nothing out of place or suspicious at the house. No blood, no signs of a struggle. So maybe that's why the people there that night, or the home itself, didn't seem to be put under a microscope.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
At least at the start of all of this, I get the feeling that law enforcement probably thought this had to be a mental health crisis. But there's something I haven't told you yet. Something that makes me wonder if, maybe, something more was going down at the house overnight that Wojtek's friends should have been pressed on. 1 p.m. wasn't actually the first time police responded to that house.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Another officer had been called out there around 3 o'clock that morning, mere hours before Wojtek seemingly disappeared. The call was for a wellness check, but it wasn't for Wojtek. It was for someone else.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Through the records we got access to and confirmation from Detective Prest, we've discovered that an ex-girlfriend of Burton called police and asked them to do a welfare check on him at his house. From what we gathered, it seems like she was worried because she hadn't heard from him.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Apparently, he had a history with substance use, and for some reason that night, she was afraid he might hurt himself. The responding officer found, quote, all people at the house lucid, end quote. There was also a note about both subjects being sober at the time of the police visit, but again, names are redacted. There's nothing else of note in the documents we have.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
We asked Detective Prest if he knew anything more about it, and he said although it's not clear in the files, he spoke to the responding officer who took Wojtek's missing persons report. And when he showed up, he remembers being aware that police had already been to that same house in the wee hours of the morning for the wellness check.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
But there's no documentation in the report about him confronting Burton with this information, or if it even came up in their conversation at all. Although it feels like a super important detail to disclose about that night, it doesn't seem like Burton brought it up when the officer was taking his statement.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
However, it does appear Sean mentioned it when he spoke to an officer during the early days of the investigation. Either way, whatever happened, the focus then was on finding Wojtek and hopefully finding him alive and well. Starting the very next day on December 7th, more intense searches were organized.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
During a cold 30-something degree afternoon on December 6th, 2008, a patrolman was dispatched to a house on East Shore Road in Narragansett to take a report about a missing man. Pulling up to the quaint New England-style home in a nice neighborhood on a Saturday afternoon, I can only imagine why the first response wouldn't have been five alarm.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
Per the case files, there's a witness who saw Burton and a few of his friends loading up his truck to go surfing the morning of the civilian search for Wojtek, which we believe took place on December 13th.
The Deck
Wojciech Fudali (3 of Spades, Rhode Island)
There isn't much context, but it seems like this person felt like instead of heading to the beach, Burton should have been participating in looking for his friend, especially since Wojtek went missing from his house.