Friends Like Us On Hulu Unveiling The Mystery With Claire Titley And Eric Finch

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Good. Thank you. Good. Good. Good. I got to ask you a question in the way of how many people

are you meeting that are sitting here going? Do you realize this is how I lived my life as a young

adult and teenager and how am I even alive today because it's stories like this that wake up

that child inside saying you're one lucky son of a gun to be here today.

It was just such a unique era though that it's such a different world now you know that we live

in we're kind of so much more aware of social media and I have a teenager and you know young

teenager and you know I'm constantly bombarded with kind of like positive messages about you

know how to how to look after them online you know how to do this what we should be aware of

and everything else you know it's it's it's something it's a constant conversation but back then

there was there was nothing nobody nobody really. See and that's the thing about like about

today's modern society I mean you know you know we always talk about ghosting and and you know

there's bad things that are happening on social media something happens to somebody very close

to your heart and people like Eric you're going to step up and they're going to make sure that

hey we're going to we're going to cover all bases and we're going to try to figure out what's

going on here that's what I love about modern day technology it's an authentic friendship that

goes below the the surface of your skin yeah yeah I would think that's kind of my big takeaway too

a lot of people like to blame technology but I think technology in a way keeps us all a little bit

more honest it keeps everything out there in the open it's a whole lot more challenging to try

to hide stuff or or to lie and that was especially true 13 14 15 years ago because no one understood

technology so you weren't even trying to hide at that point right see and the thing about it is

though is that we talked about this in the very beginning in the way that I can relate with this

so much and I mean that because because I have done what Skyler did out the window in the car I

did that and the thing about it is though those that check in with this documentary are going to

say the same exact thing and the thing is is we're going to be inspired by people like Eric because

it's like okay if they're doing it then make sure that you give them a gut check and you make

sure that you're you're keeping up to date with them hey you were doing this the other night you

were doing this the other night let's find out what you're really up to

but the the frightening thing about this though was that she was doing that and crawling out of her

window but she was crawling into a car with people that she knew I think that's that that's one of

the frightening the really chilling things about all of this is that you know that it's not

strange danger that it is people that she knew but isn't that what they teach us Eric is the fact

that it is those that we know that we shouldn't trust the most uh I think I think that's

what they teach you later on in life yeah well but I think as kids you're you're taught the stranger

danger kind of thing don't get in the back of a van with candy kind of thing um but and I think

that's probably something that we need to look at more broadly as a society is when that conversations

had um I don't have kids to to kind of even begin to navigate that but I think I think it's a lot of

how we've kind of I don't want to say evolved as a society but it used to always be stranger danger

yes studies show that it's not the strangers that are going to to affect you it's it's your closest

friends and allies it's I think that's something that we probably need to revisit of kind of

uh getting rid of the stranger danger aspect and just uh kind of as terror was the sounds uh just

focus on the danger uh the danger could be a stranger or your best friend and kind of uh teaching

people how to navigate that and uh I don't want to say see the warning signs because there wasn't

really any but uh at least be prepared to to know how to defend yourself and and kind of go

go through life that way please do not move there's more with Claire Titley and Eric Finch coming up

the name of the documentary is friends like these we are back with Claire Titley and Eric Finch

Claire you being a part of this project it is everything what journalism has lifted itself to

because this is more than just storytelling this is effective and I love the way that you're working

with everybody involved in this because it really does show that this isn't about armchair

quarterback sleuths that are trying to solve a case here you really have authentic people and

this should be an eye opener for those that check in well thank you and it is one of the things

we tried we were very very determined that this story was going to be told I mean we say from

kind of like the inside out so it was just it's not just this isn't a police procedural you know

case that kind of unfolds and we're kind of as you said some armchair detectives it's very much

we've tried to tell it from the perspective of her friends from from her community around her

so that um and every every narrative point that we came in on was was was was through that lens

so that you really get a sense of what it was like to be a teenager at that time so that you

remember even just what it was like for yourself to be a teenager and what it's when your brain is

just sort of maybe not fully formed you know your your friendships are so intense um you know

feelings emotions are so intense and you know consequences can feel kind of quite arbitrary and

kind of quite distant sometimes that that's the approach that we've truly tried to take with this

series with all that you know today Eric could you go back to being a teenager again I couldn't

I mean I guess I could I just don't want to exactly yeah I think I think if if I could it

probably be a lot easier knowing what I know now but uh I have no no no desire to go back to

being a teenager what have you learned from this Claire in the way of opening a brand new door

for sharing stories like this because I don't want to just sit there and put a label on it that says

oh this is true crime no this is more than true crime this is reality

I think what I've learned about it or what I've been reminded to do is to kind of keep those lines

of of of communication open you know so when you're talking to your to your kids you know to kind

of like to to make sure that you don't want to spy on your kids all the time but you just want

to make sure that they're able to talk to you about what's going on and that I mean that's a kind

of a life lesson anyway but I you know whether that's with your kids whether that's with your

friends whether you know we all kind of know that social media can be a horrendous thing whatever

age you are you know but it so I think I think that's one of the things that I kind of particularly

took away from this myself that's the important thing Eric how have you changed because here's

a thing I talk with a lot of police officers and lawyers across the country and the one thing

that they're relying on are people like yourself Eric who take a chance to further the investigation

how have you changed knowing you aren't the same person that you used to be I I don't I mean

as far as I've changed I don't I don't know because it's been such it's a decade so it's kind of

it really changed me but it's how it's how it formed me too okay when you're thinking about my

age in the time you know 16 to 16 to 18s really went all this kind of happened or had the biggest

impact and so I think it's more so how it formed me and obviously you had the issues with trust

and navigating those waters I think as far as how it changed me truthfully is I look at law

enforcement a little bit differently because I know that they had with me and early one I know

how far off they were and how over time they kind of narrowed down the scope and kind of figured

things out but I would say that's one part of how it's changed me is to kind of realize everything's

not as it seems on the surface wow 10 minutes with you guys is never going to be enough but I want

people to come to this show friends like these because you are opening up a new door of story

sharing as well as experiences in the everyday world please come back to this show anytime in the

future thank you thank you be brilliant today you two and once again thank you from my soul to yours

for doing what you're doing thank you thanks