Ashley Flynn: American Idol to Murder (Happening Now) // 587

What is going on to crime fans? I'm your host Tee. And I'm your host, Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Hello everybody. So many of you guys sent us this case. We have been on it for the last couple weeks since it happened because it has only been two weeks since it happened. But I gotta say Ohio, are you guys okay? Oh seriously, this is the third happening now case that we have covered in the past like month, right? Or a little over a month, a month and a half. Yeah. That takes place in Ohio. Exactly. I'm kind of concerned for you guys over there. Yeah, and this one has a really big headline because of the American Idol stuff, but we're going to get all into that in every single detail that is available as of the time this episode drops. Thank you guys for tuning in without further ado. Alright guys, this is episode 587 of Going West. So let's get into it. The former American Idol contestant accused of murdering 37-year-old teacher and mother of two Ashley Flynn. Investigators say officers first rushed to the couple's tip city home around 2.30 in the morning last Monday. After a 911 call from Caleb, reporting what he claimed was a home invasion. In February of 2026, in the middle of the night, a 37-year-old woman was found shot to death in her bed after her husband called 911 for a rather strange conversation. Within days, an arrest was made, shocking the community and country at large. This is the murder of Ashley Flynn. Ashley Flynn was born on February 24, 1988. She graduated from Tippa Canoe High School in 2006 and then headed off to Lee University, which is a private Christian college in Tennessee. With an interest in becoming a teacher, earning her bachelor's degree in 2010. She was extremely community-oriented and loved helping people, which is why she eventually went on to Coach Girls' Volleyball at Tippa Canoe Middle School and work as an elementary school teacher. But most recently, to this story, she was working as a substitute teacher for Tipp City schools and still coaching for Girls' Volleyball all while she raised her two daughters. So let's dive into her family life a little bit. So during college, she began dating a man named Caleb Flynn. He's two years older than her. He was also attending Lee University, which is where they met. And shortly after she graduated while Ashley was in her early 20s, they got married. Caleb Flynn was born on May 13, 1986 and grew up in Minnesota. He attended Bram Area High School in the very small city of Bram, current population about 1700, and it's one hour north of Minneapolis. And there he was a starting guard for the 2004 and 2005 state championship basketball team at his high school. So then like I said, he went on to attend Lee University for pastoral and music ministry until 2010. Now this was always a passion of his because his grandfather and his father were both pastors, so you know, ran in the family. But Caleb wanted to combine this interest with his big music dreams as well. So right after graduating, he and Ashley moved to her native Ohio and Caleb began working as a worship arts pastor at Living Word Church in the city of Vandalia, which like Tipp City is just outside of Dayton. So together they moved back to Ashley's hometown. Ashley she graduated a semester before him in college and got a job back in Ohio. So that is the main reason that they moved there together. While building their lives as newlyweds, Caleb actually auditioned for season 12 of American Idol in Chicago, Illinois when the show was hosted by Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, Randy Jackson and Keith Urban. Yeah, and that is kind of what this whole case is surrounded kind of around that headline. It's like American Idol contested like blah, blah, blah. And it's like, okay, we're going to get into it. Which obviously the header of our episode, I mean, to be honest, the biggest reason we're putting American Idol in the header of this episode is so that it's recognizable to you guys. So you know, this is that case because that's what everybody's talking about. Yeah. And you know, we follow current events religiously. I'm sure a lot of you guys do too. So that unfortunately is what this case is becoming known for even though as we're about to describe that was like, hardly, I guess as big as a deal as it's being made to see him. But anyway, let's just get into it. So originally, he sent a video audition of him singing Lean On Me by Bill Withers in August of 2013 and then producers called him. Now in an interview with the county news review of Minnesota, Caleb explained, quote, I was at a birthday party on a Thursday night when I got a call from American Idol. He told me they liked what they heard and said I had to be in Chicago on Saturday. I'd actually let the call go to voicemail because I didn't recognize the phone number. But then as I listened to it, I turned to my wife and then put the call on speaker phone. It was a complete shock. And actually, Ashley was there with him when he won the judges over with Grenade by Bruno Mars as one of 18 of the 100 auditions who received a golden ticket to Hollywood. Caleb added quote, when I finished Randy Jackson said it was good stuff. Mariah Carey said it uplifted her spirits. Keith Urban said that it was really cool and Nicki Minaj nodded her head and said that it was really nice. I got all four yeses from the judges. And obviously not to harp on the American Idol stuff too much, especially because he was like barely on the show. But this gives some insight into who he appeared to be on the outside, which is this God-loving good boy, if you will. And here's a clip of him on the show where he even briefly talks about his wife, Ashley. My name is Caleb Flynn. I'm from Tip City, Ohio. I audition because I'm sure everybody says it, but music is all I know. It's what I live to do and I love to sing. So that's why audition made my wife kind of nudge me a little bit too. I first thought when I got my golden ticket, honestly all I could do was cover my face because I cried a little bit. Kind of a cry baby. I get it from my mom and my dad. But it was honestly just pure joy, excitement. I tried out for American Idol two or three years ago and I didn't make it. And so to get this was all the more sweeter and all the more meaningful. So it was awesome. The person that inspires me to be an performer, I guess, would say the Lord. I'm a music pastor and so that's my job every week is to go up there and to sing and to connect what I do on stage with the congregation. So first and foremost, obviously is the Lord. Thing that makes me unique, you know, I absolutely love the Lord. I love my wife more than anything. She is very, very pretty. Just woof, I love her. But you know, I'm just a normal person who absolutely loves to sing more than anything in the world. And I think I have a different sound in my voice. I have something to offer. My favorite past idol contestant would probably be Carrie Underwood. She's just absolutely incredible. Love her attitude and just her passion for what she does. And I promise you, if my wife died her hair blonde, she would look just like her. I'm the next American Idol because, you know, I can honestly say one thing about me is I love to learn. And so if I hear something I can do differently or do something that make myself better, I'm going to do everything I can to do it. And so if the judges tell me this is what's going to help, I'm going to do it. And I work harder than anybody I know. And so when I want something, I'm going to go after it. Interesting. Yeah, to say the least. Well, he had actually first auditioned back in 2009. So four years earlier than that, but he didn't make it. And eventually in season 12, he was eliminated before the live shows. So he didn't make it very far then either. Yeah, which is why it is really funny that it's like American Idol contestant because, yeah, you were barely one. It's not like anybody any of us would know. I literally watched both episodes of the auditions in Chicago. He's not even on the episode. So this hometown interview that we just played for you guys is the only time he was actually on TV. Yeah. So definitely didn't even get to see his auditions. Now later, he said, quote, my wife, family, and friends have been my biggest supporters. Now Caleb grew up playing and listening to music with his loving family. And instead of becoming a big time musician and making albums and touring like he'd always dreamed of, he instead focused on his job as a worship arts pastor, then eventually a worship director. Yeah. And this is all happening when the American Idol flop kind of occurred. Like he's working as a worship arts pastor. And then when he didn't really make it, he just continued doing that. I feel like that's probably pretty common with, you know, people, they get into like worship and the church and stuff like that. So it's kind of like almost like halfway being a musician. I want to say, like, you're a musician, but you're also a musician like for the church. But that also feels like that was a better path for him anyway because of his family. And like that was such a passion of his as well. So it's like he was still doing what he wanted to do. But I will say eventually he left his pastoral aspirations behind and focused on music for fun only and started working in life and annuities, sorry, life and annuities insurance. So interestingly, he was a life insurance agent. Then most recently between 2021 to now, well, as of a couple weeks ago, he was the vice president of sales for Richard D Smith and sons in tip city, Ohio, which is a family run single source interior supplier for commercial flooring and worship interiors, which is apparently actually owned by Ashley's father. Yeah. So he like impart helps build or rebuild churches and such. Yeah. Like the stages and all that kind of stuff. But it is known that he was still very active in his church, which is the Christian life center in tip city. And before we move on from his entire work history, I thought that this was kind of ironic. So I wanted to read it in 2014 when he was 28, somebody wrote a recommendation on his LinkedIn saying quote, very talented and passionate worship leader, a bright future awaits this young man. And how wrong that person turned out to be. Yeah. Well, let's get back to Ashley now because like Daphne said, she was a substitute teacher, a seventh grade volleyball coach. And for the past year, she also taught at life wise academy, which is a nonprofit that provides like weekly Bible based lessons to public school students off campus. So it's safe to say that Ashley and Caleb were very involved in their local Christian community. Now there are two daughters are described as elementary school age, most commonly, though a couple sources claim that their middle school age. But either way, this family of four was known to be very close to each other and also close to extended family as well. Well in 2021, Caleb and Ashley bought a three bedroom, two bath, 1800 square foot house right there in tip city, located at the end of a cul-de-sac surrounded by other homes, which is exactly where today's story takes place. Saturday, February 14th, obviously was Valentine's Day and the following morning, Caleb headed to church at the Christian life center to lead worship. Heath was saying that he really just enjoyed playing music for fun more so and the way he did this was by performing at various different churches on Sundays. That was how he explored music. Sure. And I grew up in the Christian church and I remember kind of all of this. I remember the different guys that played different instruments for the church and even at one point, I had played music for the church. So it's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I played guitar. I played guitar. I played a Christian rock band. I did. Yeah, no, it was a really shitty band. It was called TNT or Touched in Time. Oh my God. Somebody out there is listening to this episode from like my hometown and probably remembers that shitty band. That's so funny. I'm so sorry if you're listening. So at 2.31am on Monday, February 16th, 2026, just a couple weeks ago, this was President's day. Officers were dispatched to Caleb and Ashley's home after distressing middle of the night 9-1-1 call came in. 39-year-old Caleb was the one to call explaining that his wife had been shot. And because you need to hear this to believe it. Here is an audio clip of that entire call. Oh my God. Oh my God. My mechanic, not alone. Oh my God. Somebody broken in my home. Somebody broken in my home. Somebody broken in my home. Oh my God. Are they still in there? I don't know. Okay. What's the address? Not 9-32 Cuddy-Hampport. Get to your house. Please, please, please, please, please. What are you seeing? My wife is... She got two shots to her hand. She's got two shots to her hand. She's got two shots to her hand. She's got two shots to her hand. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Is there a place where you could be? I need you to take a deep breath, okay? Are you still seeing anybody in the house? No, the door to the garage is wide open. Please, hurry, please. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. My daughters are here. My daughter is here. Where is she at? She's in the bed. She's in the bed. Are you in there? I am in the room. I'm looking at her. Yes, please. You guys have the door locked? We have the door to the garage locked. He's in the house. Yes. Please, please, please. Where is that room out in the house? My partner is getting him dispatched, okay? But I need you to answer my questions. So I can get you help as fast as I can, okay? Okay. What question? Where are you guys at in the house? I'm in the bedroom with her right now. My daughter's in their room. So you're not with the children? I was with the children when it happened. Okay, but you're not with them now? No, they're in their room. They're not even awake. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. They're please. They're heading that way. Okay, I need you to take a deep breath for me. Are you hearing anything? No, I've rubbed her leg and said her name. She's not answering. No, I don't. Okay. Your daughter's not answering you? No. Hold on, I'm putting on her. What do you say? What do you say? Your daughter's not answering you? No, they're in the other room. They're not across the room. Okay. Are you hearing any kind of noise inside the house? No. No, her face is... Oh, so her face is... Why is she going so easily? Okay, who's face? My wife's face. Your wife's face? The one who was shot. She was what? Shot, I said. Okay, whatever she shot at. She's in the head and the head. I don't know if there's not everywhere. Okay, is she breathing? I don't know. I don't think so. Ashley, Ashley, baby, please. Oh, my God. There's no, she's not... Okay, she's not responding to you? No, no. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Okay, do you see anybody in my house now? No, it's black and the doors are locked. The door is just leaving to the garage door with wide open when I ran in there. Okay, do you see any kind of vehicles? No, no. Wait, the door is a side door, hang a garage door that's open by the... Oh, my God. Okay, I need you to just take a depress from me. Okay, they're getting to as quick as they can. Is that the door still open? Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Okay. What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? Is she breathing at all? I don't think so. Okay. Okay. If you are comfortable, I want you to go and find the cloth and I want you to put a cloth on that gunshot wound. Okay. Yes, like it's out, but do not apply direct pressure to it. Just put it on that wood wound. Okay. Okay. Oh, my God. Okay. Okay. Oh, my God. Okay. Just take a deep breath for me. Okay. Okay. Okay. Just get that cloth and I want you to put it on that wound, but don't apply direct pressure to it. Okay. They're coming to you as quick as they can. Okay. I just laid it on your head. Okay. Okay. Are the juveniles, are they okay? Have you checked on them? They're good. I haven't checked on them. Okay. Can you go check on the juveniles for me? The police is here. The police is here. Okay. Can you go check on the juveniles for me? Please, the cops are cold. They're just less. They're just less. Okay. I need you to go check on the juveniles for me. Okay. Okay. Okay. There's still sleeping. There's still sleeping. Okay. You still see them breathing? You don't see any wounds on them? No. No. The cops are cold. Sir, sir, sir. Sir, sir. Sir, sir. Sir, sir. The cops are coming to you. Okay. I want you to open the door for him so he can get into her, okay? Okay. He's coming to me. Sir, sir. What? I don't know. There's a door to the brothel where wider open. I don't know there's a door to the garage there was wide open. I'm her husband. No, I don't think so. Don't tell me. God bless you. Yes. Are these police officers coming to help you? Yes, they're not. I don't want to see you. I got a shirt to out. Man, man, do you have a microphone here? Why don't you? I went and the door all the way to the right. That one's open. I often find these calls kind of hard to listen to. Sometimes I feel fooled by them because people can be such good actors. But holy shit, this is the phoneiest call we've ever played on the show in my opinion. I completely agree with you. Sometimes we don't like to play the calls because they can be really devastating. This is like a horrific moment in time. Sure, and with specific cases it can be extremely traumatizing to hear that. Yes, but with this one it's like we couldn't avoid it. So let's break down the highlights of this call. I'm sure you guys have a lot of thoughts after listening to that. Including how the operator kept calling Caleb Maum. So when asked what he sees in the beginning of the call, Caleb mentions that Ashley was shot twice. It may not have been impossible for him to tell this that, you know, there were two shots because as we'll get into she was shot with a 9mm gun that entry wounds would have been relatively small then. But with blood, like I would imagine in the dark of night, as he said the house was black, you know, while you're in the chaos and craziness of the moment, you probably would not count the bullet holes. Yeah, I'm assuming that you're not really going to know. Like it would be one thing if you just said, you know, my wife has been shot because you can probably tell that. Yeah, or even multiple times or you know something vague. But the fact that he says two times is already suspicious. Yeah, and he even said there's blood everywhere, which also makes it odd that he claimed her face was white as a ghost. And yet then he goes with the face white as a ghost blood everywhere. She's non-responsive. He goes on to say, actually, Ashley, baby, baby, you know, as though she's going to wake up. Like and the way he's saying it. Like, oh, let me check really good. Ashley, are you there? Are you there? And it's like, what? You just said she's white as a ghost and she was shot in the head. At this point, you know, he probably knows that, I mean, obviously, he knows she's gone. Right. So that is the way that he said that really stood out to me. He also essentially said the only way that he checked her body was, quote, rubbing her leg and saying her name. Like, so weird. When asked, do you still see anybody in the house? Caleb says, no, the garage door was wide open. Yeah, felt like he was already trying to steer to an intruder before even saying that somebody entered the house. Because he's essentially claiming that he didn't see anybody enter. He's not saying there was a masked man in here and, you know, like, I saw him outside for like, there is no mention of the actual perpetrator whatsoever. And that's also not actually answering the question. You're not actually answering the question and saying, no, I don't see anybody you're saying. But the garage door was open though. Yeah. It's like you're pointing towards a direction that's very clear. But that's what's so weird. The only answer would be, no, I don't see anybody and I didn't see anybody at all, but the garage door is open. So I want, you know, you can mention that still, of course, but the fact that he did not say one time whether or not he saw this person is so suspicious. Now, let's get into what is most suspicious to me. He also mentions that he was with his daughters when it happens. He says, I was with the children when it happened, which is like, why? Yeah, it's 2 a.m. It's 2 a.m. Then he says his daughters aren't even awake, even more reason to wonder why he would have happened to be with them when his wife was killed. Because it's not like, oh yeah, we were, you know, we had a late night and I was putting them to bed and my wife was in a room. You're in their bedroom while they're sleeping in the middle of the night. The same moment your wife happens to be shot by an intruder that you didn't see. That's really convenient, Caleb. And then when asked if he had checked on the kids, he said he hadn't checked on them. But then he's saying I was with them when it happened. But then, of course, the operator is like probably thinking there might still be somebody in the house that could have entered that room when you left it. Yes, we got to make sure that these babies are okay. So the operator is pressing Caleb to check on the kids and he acts like he does. Caleb says that they don't have any wounds in their breathing and then immediately continues to say the cops just pulled up. Like he's still looking out the window. Like don't you think it did not sound like he left that window whatsoever? No, he didn't leave that window. That's the thing is the operator is saying, hey go check on the kids. He's like, okay, yeah, they're fine. I checked on him and it's like, oh, and there's the cops. I see them. They're coming to the house. It's like you didn't leave that window. Did you? Because it seems like he knows for very very intimate reasons that his children were not harmed. Now, of course, this is a suburban neighborhood. It would have been very risky to fire a gun here. So I assume that the killer must have used a silencer because neighbors, by the way, did not report hearing any gunshots. Either the kids slept through the entire situation. You would imagine that if there were two shots going off from a 9mm handgun, probably would have made enough sound for the kids to wake up. And he's saying, yeah, no, they're still asleep and nobody else heard anything. But again, even more reason for it to not make sense that you were in their room when this happened. Because it's not like there was all this chaos and there's an intruder or multiple people running into the house and you go to check on the kids to make sure they're okay. And you guys are locked in there, imbarricated, and then you come out and your wife is shot to death. That is not at all. What are you saying? Yeah. He's saying someone shot my wife and she's dead and I was with the kids when it happened. Why? Well, because it's not, none of it's really adding up here. But let's get back to the crime scene at hand. So police did assess the scene and sadly they pronounced 37 year old Ashley Flynn dead at her own house. Within minutes of arriving, homicide also arrived on the scene because from the jump it was at the very least clear that somebody had killed Ashley. They did not believe that this was something that Ashley did to herself. So she was found lying in bed and she and Caleb shared master bedroom possibly as though she was shot while she was sleeping. After that the house was then cleared for any threats because they're like we don't know if somebody's still in this house or they're hiding somewhere. And then the children were taken out of the house as the investigation went underway. And then of course the scene was cordoned off to preserve evidence. Like even medics were told to hold and only one was actually allowed to go inside because they really don't want to contaminate this scene at all. Which is great. You know, this is kind of a smaller city. So it's amazing that they they did that a lot of police officers don't know to do that. Yeah, they had the foresight to actually do things by the book, which was awesome. And actually when the police arrived, they found the two Flynn daughters to still be asleep, meaning that they did not wake up during this attack. And they were also unharmed. I'm sorry to harp on this, but I got to make one more point like this still makes it so suspicious why Caleb would have claimed to be in their bedroom when his wife was shot. Or even to have checked on them. Yeah, they're still breathing. They don't have any wounds. Okay, the cops are here. Like if you're he was talking really loudly in that phone call. Sure. So wouldn't they have woken up when you're like, yeah, they're fine. They've got no wounds like yeah. And he's also not saying he's also not saying that hey, I was, you know, I heard the shots and then I immediately went to their bedroom. He's saying exactly no window shots were fired. I was in my daughter's bedroom with them at 2 a.m. And I can only wonder what he explained the reasoning was for that when he talked to police. I mean, that's got to be one weird ass story that he's probably spinning. Well, two shell casings were actually located on the bedroom floor by the foot of the bed. So between this and the two wounds that were eventually confirmed in Ashley's head, what Caleb had said on the phone was proven to be true. At least that, you know, there were two shots to her head. Well, investigators found the side garage door open as Caleb had also said, but strangely, investigators describe that there was a large refrigerator in front of that open door that would have needed to be pushed aside to get past. So obviously that was pretty weird. While explaining what happened and showing police around the house, investigators also took note of the two vehicles that were at the scene, which was the Flynn's 2024 Ford truck and 2016 Chrysler and get this. The Ford truck center console was open. And guess what? This is where Caleb told them that he usually kept his gun, but according to reports, it was somehow missing. Now, obviously if it was missing, that would suggest that someone came to the house, checked his truck, grabbed his gun, then got inside the house using the side garage door that was apparently obstructed by a fridge, then went into the house and shot Ashley and only Ashley in the head. While Caleb was, for reasons that are still totally unclear, in the bedroom of his sleeping daughters. I mean, that's the scene that this guy is painting here. Yeah. Well, since Caleb was home when it happened and he's already looking a little bit suspicious here, he agreed to voluntarily head down to the tip city police department at 4-30 that same morning. To tell the full story on the record. Now throughout that same day, investigators identified the firearm used in Ashley's killing as a 9-millimeter handgun, which is the gun that Caleb owned. So three days later, on Thursday, February 19th, 2026 at 5pm, 39-year-old Caleb Flynn was arrested for the murder of his wife, 37-year-old Ashley Flynn. He was booked into the Miami County jail in Dayton, Ohio and charged with murder, aggravated murder, felony murder, two counts of feloness assault, two counts of intimidation of a witness, obstructing justice, and two counts of tampering with evidence because police believed he staged the scene to look like somebody had broken in when he was responsible. And I wonder if allegedly, well, he was responsible according to the charges, but obviously innocent until proven guilty, right? Yes, that trial is still coming. And I can only wonder if the two counts of intimidation of a witness was his daughters, like if he had said, like, hey, don't say anything here with you guys or something like that. Exactly. I mean, I have no idea, but that's just where my mind goes. Well, the criminal complaint states that Caleb purposefully caused Ashley's death, that her death occurred in the early morning hours of February 16th, shortly before Caleb called police, and that Caleb had the firearm, quote, under his control. Now, there is a lot of speculation surrounding Ashley being pregnant, and that seems to stem from the fact that the complaint reads, quote, one Caleb Flynn in the city of tip city, county of Miami, state of Ohio, did purposely cause the death of another or the unlawful termination of another's pregnancy. But this terminology is just how section 2903.01 of aggravated murder in Ohio law is stated, so that does not mean she was pregnant, like I said, it said, or. Yeah, this is just how it's laid out in the law book. I seem like he more likely purposely caused the death of another because that is the first portion of that law. Now, in court documents that are tied to a search warrant affidavit in this case, investigators detailed extensive communication between Caleb and an unidentified woman from his church, and I mean extensive. So there is another woman, one who worked at the church that Caleb spoke to a lot, which I think either way is not a very good look because you're married, you have kids, why are you talking to this other woman? Yeah, that is not your relative constantly. And I say unidentified because her name is redacted, but like we know who she is, her name is everywhere online. She's a 23 year old worship leader at Christian Life Center in tip city, which is one of the churches that the Flynn's attended. So yeah, we've got 39 year old Caleb talking to this 23 year old worship leader at his church. Yeah, not a good look Caleb. Well, interestingly, Christian Life Center removed their staff directory just days ago after the internet began connecting one of these worship leaders or one of their worship leaders to Ashley's case or more specifically to Caleb. And by the way, Caleb was not on the staff, so he would not have been on this page, even though he did, like I said, play music there during service sometimes as well as at other churches. But as we know, he worked for the church flooring company, so he specifically is not the reason this page was removed apparently. It was removed because people were taking this young woman's photo and putting it everywhere, accusing her of having an affair with Caleb and potentially even knowing about a plot for Ashley's murder. Now at this point, these are still completely baseless theories, honestly, mostly based on rumors from within the tip city community itself and people who are apparently close to these people. Yeah, of course, people around town are going to talk, you know, it's not a very big place. So rumors are going to be swirling around. Yeah, so there are people posting on Facebook many in and out of this community pointing out that she has deleted her Facebook and that they've known each other for at least a few years and they've played music together at church and performed together during worship because she is also very musically inclined. She's a very talented singer. But again, we're not going to give her name unless there is evidence to suggest that she knew something nefarious or was in a relationship with Caleb, but you know, people online are understandably looking for a motive and this may be it, but right now we just don't know. Obviously, if you feel so inclined to go find out that information yourself, you can go do that on the internet because it's there. But let's get back to those documents that you were just talking about, Daphne, because they suggest some pretty, I want to say some pretty nefarious things because Caleb sent this girl or someone else a text message at 12.42 a.m. saying quote, it's almost done. So I think we'd all be very interested in knowing more about this text and other communications of Caleb's from around the time of Ashley's murder. I mean, if he really did send that text, what the hell? That's some pretty damning shit. I mean, you've got to be kidding. But more on potential infidelity because earlier when I ran through Caleb's entire job history and said that he worked as a worship director, this was at free chapel. This church is in Spartanburg, South Carolina. So he worked there for about five and a half years before working local as that life insurance agent for about 11 months and then ultimately returning to tip city Ohio in November of 2021. So he and Ashley lived in South Carolina for years. Now, we almost didn't want to mention this, but multiple people who reportedly knew Caleb in South Carolina claimed that he resigned as worship director and then eventually returned to Ohio because he was cheating on Ashley there. So if it turns out to be true that he was, you know, having like extra marital relations with this worship leader in tip city, it may not have been his first time. But also, it could give us a little bit of insight into possible motive. But let's get back to the case. So allegedly, multiple houses on their street and coldest sack have cameras and no other vehicles were seen entering or exiting the neighborhood around the time of Ashley's murder. So as we mentioned, the gun was allegedly missing from the center console of Caleb's truck. But during a thorough search of the property, police may have found it buried under the shed in the family's backyard. Police stated that they used a backhoe to lift up that shed and found something very crucial there, though they have not specifically released yet that it was the gun. Now we can imagine that they found the murder weapon to be able to secure this arrest, which is, you know, obviously why many people are speculating that the gun was found under that shed because they're like, okay, they had to have had enough to actually go and charge him. You're like, what else would have been under the shed? Right. But presently, the available reports don't mention any weapon being uncovered. So we're not totally clear on that just kind of speculating so far. Because they also haven't said a weapon was not found, but it's just there, there's obviously still a lot that they're not releasing to the public. Of course, because obviously they need to keep the integrity of the investigation before, you know, a hearing or potential trial. While in his February 20th, the rainment Caleb Flynn pleaded not guilty to the charges against him as usual. So he can defend his case. When asked if he understood the charges against him and if he was a flight risk, Caleb said, tearfully quote, sir, I just want to take care of my daughters. I'm not a risk. A preliminary hearing was actually scheduled for February 26th to determine if there was enough evidence or probable cause in the case to go to trial, but his attorney apparently needed more time. So the hearing has been pushed one month out to March 26th. Currently, Caleb remains held in the Miami County jail on a $2 million bond. But it doesn't seem that anyone is fighting against the charges besides, of course, Caleb himself because last week, Ashley's family posted an obituary which we detailed throughout this episode. Though we will note that Caleb, for good reason it seems, is not named in it. They then released a statement regarding the unprecedented killing of their incredible daughter and sister Ashley. It reads quote, Our family believes this arrest was made carefully and not without serious consideration. After speaking with both local police and federal authorities, we trust the proper steps were taken and the process is being handled appropriately. We kindly ask for privacy as we work through this complex situation. We are clinging to our faith just as Ashley did each and every day. So right now, that is all we have. New information really hasn't been released in the past week. So I don't know how much is really going to be coming out before that preliminary hearing and how much will even really come out there because sometimes nothing comes out until a trial happens. So we'll definitely see and we'll update you guys and we encourage you to follow us on socials because that is where we do kind of smaller updates, whether in a video or like a text post. So check that out. And if you have any information that could bring more answers to the murder investigation of Ashley Flynn, please contact the tip city police department at 937-667-3112. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. Hopefully there will be some more updates. Please make sure that you go follow us on our socials. We're on Instagram at Going West Podcast. We're also on Facebook as well as TikTok. And I just got to say our hearts really go out to Ashley's family because this is just such a devastating and unconscionable tragedy. Yeah, and they're poor children. You know, it's always so devastating when this happens. We cover so many cases where a spouse is charged with murdering the other spouse. And it's like the kids lose both parents. Yes, exactly. And it just feels like if the motive was an affair, like it's just you and I always say like just get a divorce. Yeah, yeah, a fucking divorce. And many people speculate as well like online. You see so many comments and it's like there's they're all baseless and unless there's actual evidence to back them up. But so many people are like she was drafting the divorce papers. And I'm like, what is she though? Like we don't know yet. So we'll see. And even if she was, she should have been allowed to do that. Ashley seemed like such a wonderful hardworking, amazing woman and mother and friend and daughter. And she just didn't deserve for this to happen to her. So we are definitely looking forward to more updates. So thank you everybody who sent this into us on socials. Yeah, a lot of you guys sent tons of emails in about this case specifically. Yeah, and like we said, you know, Heath and I are very invested in current events. Obviously. So we love doing happening now stories and kind of getting to talk about what's going on in the world with you guys as it's happening. So so thank you so much. And we will see you again on Friday. All right, guys. So for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. You