Oregon cop's offer of a cigarette leads to a confession and a body: "Smokin' and jokin'"
When Aaron Friar, 50, and daughter, Ellie, 15, vanished from their Medford, Oregon, home on Oct. 2, 2017, investigators quickly deduced that there was foul play.
"They saw blood spatter behind the couch, on the ceiling, all the way across the room," said lead Detective Bill Ford. "There was … a potential that this was what we could refer to as a no-body homicide. That there had been a homicide, but we don't have a body."
But who was dead? Was it Aaron Friar, Ellie or both?
Natalie Morales investigates the pair's mysterious disappearance in "First Love, Then Murder" an all-new "48 Hours" airing Saturday, April 19 at 10/9c on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
The search was on.
"We probably had 70, 75 [officers] out on the streets of Medford," says Ford.
Then, just four hours after she had been reported missing, Ellie was located by police. She was alive, unharmed, and had been walking down a busy street with two young men: her boyfriend, Gavin MacFarlane, 19, and Gavin's friend, Russell Jones, 22.
"So, now we know Ellie is safe," said Ford.
But what about her father, Aaron Friar?
Based on the bloody crime scene at the house, time was quickly running out to find him. But could Ellie have been involved? Ford kept an open mind.
Ellie and the two men were separated and brought to the Medford Police station for questioning. Ellie seemed perplexed when she was told by police that her father was missing.
"I haven't been home and now I'm really concerned about what's been going on," Ellie told a detective.
She even offered a suggestion as to where her dad might be: "Maybe he was looking for me."
Around that time, Ford began interviewing Russell Jones.
"He's a talker … very, very talkative," said Ford. "So, I kind of knew if I could get in there and get him talking, he would … have a hard time keeping his mouth shut."
Ford's theory was correct.
Jones was eager to talk, but he wanted something first: a cigarette.
"I talk better when I have a cigarette," Jones told Ford during his taped police interview.
Ford took Russell outside of the station for a cigarette break.
"Just kind of smokin' and jokin' is what we call it," Ford explained.
But Ford was serious about the task at hand: finding Aaron Friar.
"I look at him and I'm like, 'You know, Russell, I don't want a child to find Aaron, Ellie's dad, out there somewhere, come across something like that,'" Ford recalls saying. "I said, 'Can you take us to Aaron?' And he didn't beat an eye. He's just like, 'Yeah, I'll take you to him.'"
Ford was shocked: "Holy smokes! That's a big moment, you know?"
He immediately loaded Jones into his police car.
As the veteran investigator and his suspect began their drive, Jones confessed to Ford.
"He ends up saying he wasn't responsible for Aaron's death, but he helped load the body," Ford recalled.
"You're driving along with him, now he's starting to sing like a canary," said Morales.
"Exactly," Ford replied.
But who had killed Aaron Friar and why?
As their journey continued, Ford says Jones began going off on tangents. But Ford says he didn't mind. It was all part of his plan.
"Keep talking, keep him happy," said Ford. "He even asked for another cigarette … and I said, 'You've had two already. Once we get out there, I'll give you another one.' And that's a tactic."
"He's gotta give us something," said Ford. "Nicotine is a powerful tool."
And then, as they ascended a rural mountain pass 20 miles outside of town, Jones made an announcement:
Ford said, "All of a sudden, Russell says 'Stop! … Stop right here.'"
To see more of the case, watch "First Love, Then Murder" an all-new "48 Hours" airing Saturday, April 19 at 10/9c on CBS and streaming on Paramount +.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
TV Ratings: ‘Squid Game' Rules, But Broadcast Series Make Strong Showing in Multiplatform Rankings
With streaming now the platform of choice for the largest share of TV viewers in the U.S., it would seem logical that a streaming show would top the ratings rather than a traditional network show. As it turns out, that's correct: Netflix's Squid Game is, by a sizable margin, the most-watched series of the 2024-25 season. But in Nielsen's multiplatform ratings, which measure viewing over five weeks and across all outlets, a number of broadcast series are still commanding large audiences. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Squid Game' Final Season Trailer Restarts the Games After Failed Rebellion Streaming Ratings: 'White Lotus' Hits No. 1 Ahead of Season 3 Finale Streaming Is Now Just As Crowded With Ads As Old School TV Of the top 20 shows through March 15 (the most recent date for which the 35-day ratings are complete), eight originate on broadcast networks — six from CBS and two from ABC. All of them average at least 11.5 million viewers per episode across their network showings and streaming over five weeks. CBS' Tracker is the top network show and fourth overall with 17.6 million viewers via CBS and Paramount+. Squid Game, whose second season premiered in late December, racked up 27.1 million viewers in the 35-day window. Netflix's Adolescence (19 million) and Prime Video's Reacher (18.1 million) rank second and third, and two other network series, first-year breakouts Matlock (CBS) and High Potential (ABC), are tied for fifth overall at 16.1 million viewers. This season is the first in which Nielsen has released multiplatform data showing how outlets compare. In the broadcast landscape alone, CBS leads the pack (as it does in linear ratings) with 9.1 million viewers in primetime. NBC is second at 7.2 million viewers, followed by ABC (6.9 million) and Fox (4.3 million). ABC has the biggest gain from Nielsen's linear ratings (which are measured over seven days), rising by 61 percent with streaming and the longer window. CBS improves by 59 percent with the longer multiplatform measure, while NBC grows by 41 percent and Fox, whose shows stream on Hulu but which doesn't have its own platform, adds 12 percent. The top 20 shows (including ties) for all platforms and just on broadcast in Nielsen's 35-day multiplatform ratings are below. Sports and specials are excluded. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise 'Yellowstone' and the Sprawling Dutton Family Tree, Explained
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Mission: Impossible' Movies Ranked From Worst to Best
For almost 30 years, Tom Cruise's 'Mission: Impossible' has supplied moviegoers with the most consistent and thrilling spy-themed adventures of any Hollywood franchise outside of the James Bond films. More from Variety Tom Cruise in 'F1' Over Brad Pitt Would've Been 'Scaring Us More,' Says Joseph Kosinski; Action Supervisor Quips: Tom 'Terrifies Me' and 'We'd Have Had a Crash' 'Lilo & Stitch' Outpaces 'Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning' as Box Office Surges in U.K. and Ireland Tom Cruise Rejoices Over 'Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning' Box Office Record Amid Speculation the Franchise Is Over: Thank You Paramount for 'Years of Unwavering Support' For the first entry, David Koepp and Robert Towne adapted the 1966 television show of the same name for the big screen with a screenplay that, with a handful of granular exceptions, has become a blueprint for every subsequent installment. Anchored by the indefatigable Ethan Hunt, the Impossible Mission Force is given data about — and the choice of whether or not to try and prevent — a calamity of some significance to the U.S., the intelligence community or even the entire world. Almost always, the team is disavowed and finds themselves being chased — not only by their enemies, but their purported allies too. After eight chapters, Ethan Hunt's tenure with the IMF appears to be coming to an end. To commemorate the occasion, filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie has pulled out all of the stops to deliver 'The Final Reckoning' — a finale that he hopes lives up to, and possible exceeds, the almost endless string of nail-biting scenarios that he and his predecessors conceived over the last three decades. Did he succeed? Each viewer's mission, should they accept it, is to determine that for themselves. In the meantime, Variety takes a look back at the eight 'Mission: Impossible' films and ranks them — let's say, from 'I wouldn't watch it without wearing a mask to disguise my identity' to 'I'm willing to HALO jump out of a plane to see it again.'Rightly the chapter in this series with the lowest Tomatometer score (a generous 57% fresh), this follow-up to the original 'Mission: Impossible' overcompensated for criticisms that its predecessor was too complicated by telling a story that is just plain dumb. Perhaps emboldened by the silliness of his (fun) previous Hollywood movies 'Broken Arrow' and 'Face/Off,' director John Woo leans heavily into his visual playbook to create a film full of balletic imagery trying to disguise absolutely preposterous storytelling and action choreography. But most of the story boils down to a fight over a girl (a hard-working Thandiwe Newton). Villain Dougray Scott, looking like an artist's rendering of a genetic splicing of Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen, isn't up to the task of intimidating Tom Cruise — an insult added to the injury of losing out on playing Wolverine in 'X-Men' as a result of taking the a set up to what's meant to be the coup de grace for the series, 'Dead Reckoning' is unfortunately a bit of a slog, even if it replicates with great energy and dexterity the elements that have made earlier chapters so entertaining. Particularly because the film only ever addresses Ethan Hunt's origin story obliquely but also because of the villain's penchant for tiresome self-seriousness, Gabriel (Esai Morales) is a fairly underwhelming final boss, necessary though he may be since his counterpart — the Entity, a rogue AI — is an oscillating electronic eyeball. Putting new recruit Grace (Hayley Atwell) through her own reluctant hero's journey takes too long — almost to the point of exasperation. But then again the whole film is kind of like that: the Rome car chase, the Venice fight, the build to Ethan's mountain jump, even the number of cars they have to climb through after stopping a runaway train — each sequence takes one or two more beats than feels necessary. Also, revealing the Sevastapol in the first scene (rather than where it belongs, in the first scene of 'The Final Reckoning') means that Ethan spends the whole movie chasing after something viewers already know about, marking the first time in franchise history where it feels like the audience is ahead of the assessments that characterize this J.J. Abrams film as a glorified episode of his TV series 'Alias' aren't completely off base, but the future 'Star Trek' and 'Star Wars' fan-disappointer manages something more sly and nuanced with this franchise's mythology than he does later in his career: Abrams dismantles and deconstructs its core iconography, from a malfunctioning mask-maker to the multiple times Ethan Hunt fails to do his job or save the lives of those closest to him. An absolutely ruthless Philip Seymour Hoffman remains one of the best adversaries Cruise faces in the series, and as much as Abrams likes to cute-ify Ethan Hunt's life in between missions, he creates the super spy's purest civilian relationship with Julia Meade (Michelle Monaghan), which elevates every subsequent film from (basically) a James Bond riff to a saga with meaningful emotional connections — and conclusion to Ethan Hunt's story is already dividing audiences — a debate that undoubtedly will continue as the world moves forward without his essential but frequently disavowed brand of heroism. In the years to come, what will carry more weight with viewers? The first half of this film, chock-full of endless, wildly overserious exposition? Or the back half, featuring two of the most thrilling set pieces in the history of the franchise (and arguably cinema itself)? The film's derring-do is enough that the tedium of the build-up to it kind of washes away. Certainly, the entire ensemble's relentless determination to characterize Ethan Hunt as the only man on Earth with the right moral compass to defeat the Entity fails to yield new insights about him, them or the world they inhabit. It feels especially repetitive since the previous chapter already overexplained the challenges the IMF faces, and the stakes if they fail. But with its climactic piggybacking of a (literally) slow-rolling hunt through a wrecked submarine back-to-back with an aerial fight so urgent and visceral that it feels, well, impossible to believe it's real, 'The Final Reckoning' sticks the landing and then his own live-action feature debut, Pixar stalwart Brad Bird translates Abrams' snarky wit as an ironic counterpoint to tension-relieving humanity, with the series' biggest action canvas yet. Introducing Jeremy Renner as a 'no, we promise he was never supposed to be a replacement' co-star for Tom Cruise, the film's success revitalized 'Mission: Impossible' at the time, eliminating the need to even consider swapping out (or letting free) its tireless star. But as a high-stakes tentpole film with a well-modulated sense of humor about itself ('Mission accomplished!' triumphantly — if mistakenly — shouts Ethan at one point), 'Ghost Protocol' firmly and permanently roots the series in the realm of adult entertainment by finding a perfect balance between briskness and nail-biting intensity — something that the best subsequent installments not only carried forward, but further it looks almost quaint in comparison to the ambitious, muscular chapters that followed, O.G. auteur-turned-crowd pleaser Brian De Palma delivers a franchise-starter that codifies all of the essential ingredients needed for a 'Mission: Impossible' film (with proportions to be determined by each subsequent director). The vault heist remains an all-time gold standard for action set pieces (here or elsewhere), and it's where Cruise first really began to hone the smoldering, delicately-cheeky intensity that has made him an A-list mainstay for decades. Those old enough may remember David Koepp and Robert Towne's script absolutely bewildering audiences at the time of its release, but in retrospect not only was it deceptively — and delightfully — complex, but ultimately a template for intriguing misdirection that, like so many other elements in the film, has become a franchise oversized version of its predecessor 'Rogue Nation,' 'Fallout' gives you the sense that Christopher McQuarrie had not only gotten his sea legs beneath him, but started running with the speed of Ethan Hunt. Bringing back Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson) as a frenemy yet again feels just a bit like the filmmaker walking back what he previously accomplished just to keep her around as a simultaneous screen magnet and plot device, not that anyone minds because Ferguson is just as good here as before. But Henry Cavill absolutely lights up the film as August Walker, a double operative who thrillingly — and unambiguously — hates Ethan on sight, resulting in a friction that overshadows the elaborate machinations of the terrorist groups he leads. Meanwhile, the set pieces are unilaterally great here, from the HALO jump to the nightclub fight to the breakout of Solomon Lane to the helicopter chase that wraps the film. But after the tightly-plotted perfection of 'Rogue Nation,' the freedom the filmmakers indulge here leaves audiences feeling like they've just eaten an especially rich meal: satisfying but just a tiny bit apotheosis of Tom Cruise's collaboration on the franchise with any of its directors, Christopher McQuarrie's 'Rogue Nation' delivers massive (and in one case literally) operatic set pieces in a story that operates with Swiss-clock precision. Introduced unforgettably in this film, Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa Faust remains the second-best character ever created for 'Mission: Impossible,' and her role creates a thrilling dynamic that gives Ethan an adversary who's also a friend, both to complicate the plot and enhance its emotionality. In an 'embarrassment of riches' quandary, it's a toss-up whether the opening plane sequence, the opera assassination, the underwater vault or the motorcycle chase is the best sequence in the film. But McQuarrie's seemingly inexhaustible creativity strengthens all of the characters and supercharges the world they operate in, turning a film series into a bona fide saga. Best of Variety All 23 Best Picture Nominees Directed by Women in Oscars History 'The Last of Us' Season 2 Cast Guide: Who's Who From the Video Game? The 15 Best 'Black Mirror' Episodes, Ranked
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Ford Issues Massive Recall for 1.1 Million Vehicles This Week
Ford Issues Massive Recall for 1.1 Million Vehicles This Week originally appeared on Autoblog. Ford is recalling 1,075,299 vehicles in the U.S. over a software error that potentially prevents the rearview camera from displaying a proper live feed. More specifically, the rearview camera's images may delay, freeze, or not display at all when affected vehicles are in reverse, according to the NHTSA's report. The recall applies to Ford's 2021-2024 Bronco, F-150, Edge, and 2023-2024 Escape, Corsair, F-250, F-350, F-450, F-550, and F-600. The 2022-2024 Expedition, 2022-2025 Transit, 2021-2023 Mach-E, Lincoln Nautilus, 2024 Ranger, Mustang, and the 2022-2024 Navigator are also impacted. A dealer or over-the-air software update will soon solve the problem with the vehicles' accessory protocol interface module (APIM) software, which serves as an operating system for a car's dashboard. This operating system helps a vehicle's infotainment system control programs, including but not limited to apps and navigation maps. There are no warning signs before the described rearview camera problem occurs. Documents related to the issue report that Ford is aware of one minor crash associated with the software problem, resulting in property damage, but no injuries or deaths. The automaker was initially contacted by the NHTSA about the issue in January after receiving three dozen complaints for 2021-2023 Ford F-150 models. Potentially affected owners are scheduled to receive a notice of the recall by mail between May 19 and May 23, whereas dealers were informed of the recall on May 12. Those driving impacted models compatible with over-the-air software updates must be connected to Wi-Fi to successfully complete the remote upgrade or visit a dealer. Ford's recall represented this week's largest recall order, with Toyota coming in second place at 443,444 vehicles. The Michigan-based automaker also leads all manufacturers in 2025 recalls at over 50, and the gap between first and second place is significant, according to CarEdge data. Through May 15, the Volkswagen Group has the second-highest number of recalls in 2025, at 14. General Motors and Stellantis North America are tied for the third-most at 11. Mercedes-Benz and Honda are tied for fourth with 9 recalls through May 15. Stellantis had the most recalls last year at 71. Ford models like the Explorer, Aviator, and Expedition have all undergone seatbelt recalls. The Volkswagen Group had one of the most unique recalls this year when its electric van was recalled due to a third-row bench seat that was deemed too wide for the van's number of seatbelts. Volkswagen dealers are responding by installing trim parts that reduce the rear seat's usable width. While Stellantis dethroned Ford's 2023 position as having the most recalls in 2024, the automaker has recaptured this undesirable status, and the competition isn't even close this year. The Michigan-based automaker has also issued the most recalls out of any manufacturer in history, with the F-150 pickup being the model most associated with its recalls. As bad luck would have it, the truck is yet again making an appearance with its inclusion in the NHTSA's list of vehicles potentially impacted by the rearview camera defect. Ford Issues Massive Recall for 1.1 Million Vehicles This Week first appeared on Autoblog on Jun 1, 2025 This story was originally reported by Autoblog on Jun 1, 2025, where it first appeared.
