Find My Phone Leads Parents to Predator Hiding in the Woods

What crime am I being suspected of?Crime?Okay, well right now it would be a potential f***ing offense.

He was pretty upset.Said he had every right to put my face through my a**.Yeah, there's something weird about this guy.

He liked the attention he got from female students that he worked with specifically.

I'm gonna be honest with you, you f***ed up.This is grooming behavior.

Did you ask him if there was ever anyone else?Other students?Yes.

On April 5, 2023, the Mason County Sheriff's Office in Shelton, Washington is called when a 15 -year -old girl fails to return home after a run.Using Find My Phone, they go to her last known location and discover a grown man hiding nearby in the woods.As shocking as this is, the man's true identity and the scope of his other indiscretions are even more disturbing than anyone could have imagined.

It is her school counselor.

The following is based on official police records released to date, and some of the footage has never been seen before until now.When her daughter didn't come home after a run, the 15 -year -old's mother and stepfather trace her location on Find My Phone to a road near their house, arriving just in time to see the teen walk out of the woods.They soon realize that a man is hiding somewhere deeper in the trees.He only emerges once they've taken the keys to his motorcycle where they had been left in the ignition and called the police.Now that a deputy is on the scene, he approaches the man.

How's it going?You got ID on you?Is there any reason that a school counselor is meeting with a 15 -year -old girl outside a school up in the middle of the woods?

They would have reason, yeah.

Okay.

It's not what they suspected.to be.

Okay, well, here's this job for seven yearsSo, you don't?You really don't think that it's unprofessional that you're up here in the woods with a 15 -year -old girl?

I would say that I cross the line professionally.I would say it's not what I think you're insinuating to me.Okay.

The deputy returns to his vehicle, relaying the information he's uncovered so far.

So, this 15 -year -old girl was up here in booty shorts, and parents came up.found a street bike near where her location was showing.She came out of the woods and some male had ran off and hid in the woods.It's Wes Govey who was initially called in as a welfare that they were worried about the daughter.The reason was is they came up here and found a bike and then a male had ran into the woods.Daughter's wearing booty shorts.

The male finally came out.It is her school counselor.He is 29 years old.It's Samuel Caffey.They've been thinking something was kind of weird between the interactions between him and their daughter.They said he finally came out of the woods after they were up here for quite a while.

He came walking back out to his street bike here.

The girl's parents told the deputy that they had waited for about an hour for Sam to finally emerge from the woods.Her mother had first become uncomfortable with her daughter's relationship with her school counselor in mid -December 2022.She was missing a significant amount of class time and spending it in Sam's office.The first week of January, she went to the school to address her concerns, only to discover that her daughter was with him in his office at that very moment.At the scene, the deputy speaks with the teen's mother and stepdad to establish more of the story about how they ended up here today.

Your daughter's just hanging out in the back of the car.

Yeah, I'm going to kind of go keep an eye on her.I don't believe there's anything she has that she can like herself with, but she's said it multiple times because she didn't want us to find out who she was in the woods with.And we said, hey, if he's an 18 -year -old boy, we'll be gladly giving this piece to his car back and we'll leave.

When you got here,where did they go?

When I pulled in from walk -in, and I said, well, whose bike is this?And she said, oh, I don't know.But then she went and took her phone off of it.And I said, well, you know whose bike it is.Like, whose property is this?What are you doing?

Who are you with?And like, they wouldn't show themselves.They were hiding in the woods, and I thought I was going to come up here.Maybe she got hit by a car.You know, who knows?Somebody pick her up.

I'm freaking out like she's not picking up.Her phone's not even moving.Did she drive up here?No, she said she was going on a run.I don't know if she hopped on that bike and came up here, if he picked her up and brought her up here, or if she actually ran her little butt up here and met him up here.I don't know.

Though they wouldn't discover this just yet, right before the deputy arrived, the 15 -year -old messaged Sam on Snapchat, writing, they took your keys and got your license plate, and I don't know what to do.Investigators later discovered a note underneath this message, reading, you changed chats to delete immediately.The other messages exchanged between Sam and the student would paint a horrifying picture.

I know I'm being asked to stay, right?I guess I wasn't directly being asked to stay.But I know you have my ID.

You're not going nowhere.

Sure, sure.

There's two detectives on their way up here.They're going to be coming up to talk to you.Sure.So just hang tight over next to your bike.They're going to be here soon.And the detective sergeant is calling a contact in the school to find out as to why you're up here with a 15 -year -old girl hiding in the woods.

and go and wait over next to your bike.

One last question, if I may.

Mm -hmm.

What crime am I being suspected of?

Crime?OK, well, right now, it would be a potential sex offense.

What evidence put me other than just the circumstances?

Is that what it is?Okay, let me, before you try to YouTube lawyer it up, let me inform you right now, based on reasonable suspicion, which is Terry v. Ohio, I can reasonably detain you for the time being for an investigation.You are up here, you're 29 years old, you are a school counselor, you are up here with a 15 year old girl that is wearing Very short shorts.She was hiding from her parents.She came walking out, most likely from the back of the bushes, wherever you guys were.Her phone was sitting on your bike.

You were hiding in the woods for almost an hour.So based on that information at this time, I am telling you, you are not free to go.

Yes.

Okay.Wait next to your bike.Hey Jeff.Yeah.There's something weird about this guy.He is weird.

He's smirking when he's asking if he's free to go.I'm informing him.No, he's asking why not?and he's sitting there smirking.

Following this discussion, a decision is made.

Do you have your cell phone on you?Let me see your cell phone.Based on exigent circumstances and the fact that you could be destroying evidence of a crime, I'm taking your phone for the time being.

You can do that?

Yes.Have you your daughter's phone?

It isn't long before the detectives arrive and the deputy briefs them about the situation.

Let his be.

Sam is brought into a vehicle to speak with investigators.He's mirandized and tells them that he's been a high school counselor at Shelton High School for seven years.He works specifically with the freshmen, overseeing about 400 students.

Because of my age, demeanor, I'm the softest landing, meaning I'm the most approachable.I come from a place of really, like, soft -heartedness.They were like, you should be the freshman guy.So I usually pick a handful of kids that I really deeply invest in.

Sam explains that the 15 -year -old girl is one of those students.

So what brings you then to where we're at here?

Yeah.

One of my students that I've gotten to know really well, who's in my like DBT, dialectical and behavioral therapy group, who's somebody who comes and checks in with me pretty regularly.And so she recently had some kind of abnormal home situations.And so we've been staying in better contract electronically about what's going on.

Sam tells them that the abnormal situation was an argument between the teen and her mother.

She ended up, in her words, punching a tree and showing me pictures of how bruised up her fists were, her right fist was, and then she sent me a picture of her bruised forehead from Her and her mom both said that she had smashed her head into the wall repeatedly because she stated that they were not listening to her.

Sam reveals that this isn't the first time he's been in trouble at work because of his inappropriate behavior with students.

That was a conversation that I had with HR and my evaluator earlier this year, because I was allowing students to reach out to me via Google Voice and Instagram to be able to get a hold of me when they were having problems and going through things.

Investigators reached out to Sam's now ex -wife, Rachel, and she told them she always had an issue with Sam's boundaries with his female students.In an EWU exclusive interview, Rachel discussed a particular incident between Sam and a different student than the one he was caught with.

But she had said a few inappropriate comments, and I had come back with, um, hey, that like makes me uncomfortable, that should make you uncomfortable, why haven't you said anything, um, because letting it slide communicates that you like that attention from her, and she should be, you know, assigned to someone else, and he didn't do it.He would have a game theory over discord late at night.So it was, I think it was late Friday nights or something.Um, but sometimes she would be up until like midnight.I get wanting to like do this thing with your students, but that's.pretty late.

There was one parent that had agreed initially, and then at one point they said, yeah, I don't feel comfortable with this anymore.Mr. Caffey dropped an F -bomb, and it sounded like they were talking more as friends than as a counselor.And I was willing to submit records of all the text message exchanges to try to state it, you know, that there was no malfeasance here.And that's not what they were looking for.They just needed to document that they had that conversation, and they reviewed what Grooming policy look like as well as electronic communication and that that would they had asked me to cease electronic communication with students Or else further disciplinary actions would happen and I did that with some students, but not all students.Okay, and that's Kind of what led me to these circumstances here.

In her interview, Rachel shared that even Sam's own friends had noticed something was off.

One of them had said that they always got a weird feeling that he liked the attention he got from female students that he worked with specifically.

So let's talk about these circumstances here.What's going on here today?

Yeah.I talk pretty regularly.

This is a massive understatement, as will soon become clear.Sam reveals that he mostly communicated with the student over Snapchat, but also spoke on Instagram.After the fight with her mom, Sam claims the student said she wanted to talk to him.

I feel like he was kind of like, wanted to be like a white knight and just kind of like save them all, was kind of the impression for a while.

Yeah, I suggested that I come out and check in with her and I initiated that.

Okay.So why the personal check -in when you guys have clearly been communicating via social media?

It's different face -to -face.

Okay.How did you know where to pick her up?

Because I have access to her address and I...

Via the school's database?Okay.

Is that something you're supposed to use for off -duty purposes?No.According to the school's IT department, the last time Sam accessed the school's student database was back in March, meaning that he hadn't recently looked up her address.Tell me about what happened when you showed up.

She said that she was going to go on a run and that she was going to meet me at her mailboxes.

Okay.

And so I drove and sat and saw her run by the mailboxes and she saw me and she ran up to me and then she was worried and we were worried that mom and would come by the driveway and see us and she was worried about that so she hopped on the back and we puttered up here.

Okay.

We pulled off and then we stood and we talked.

Sam claims that they were only speaking for 10 minutes when the girl's mother and stepdad arrived.However, the fact that she was gone long enough for them to become concerned puts this statement in doubt.

And so I stepped forward and hopped into the bushes.

Why'd you do that?

One, mom wasn't aware that we were up here.to my fear was, I've already had a conversation with my district and my HR around student contact, and that this clearly put my job at risk.

Mad Fientist At any time did you come out and say, hey, it's me?

Mike Santos Yeah, that's exactly what I did.

Mad Fientist How far into the conversation was that?

shot his personal weapon into the air twice.

What do you mean personal weapon?

He had a firearm and so he shot his firearm twice on two different occasions.That had to be disconcerting.It definitely was.

Was he saying anything when he did that?

He yelled out, she's 15.According to police documents, they found casings on the ground near the mother and stepdad's vehicle.It was soon after this that Sam finally came out of the woods.I just said, hey, it's me.Let me explain myself.

Did he?

Uh, a little bit.He was pretty upset.

The teen's mother and stepdad reveal that this wasn't the first shocking incident involving Sam.On January 22, 2023, a few months earlier, they had taken their daughter snowboarding when Sam seemed to show up randomly and attach himself to their group.He made three passes down the mountain with them.The stepdad said that he wouldn't let the girl out of his sight during this incident, but saw that at one point the 15 -year -old noticed she lost her nose ring, and Sam took out his earring and gave it to her to wear.He also took a video of her snowboarding on his phone.Are you required to be licensed to be a school counselor?

I have a certificate.

Okay.That's probably in jeopardy because of this contact, which tells me that there's something Profoundly different about this contact or this relationship that you have with a student that you're willing to put all that away And and jeopardize all of that why her why are you risking everything for her?

I don't think it's just like I think if you look at who I choose to invest in Like I really I work this job with my heart on my sleeve all the time And so yeah, especially through the last couple months of this year Like, I've maybe overstretched in my professional boundaries, but in a place of, like, I know what I'm doing is supporting kids.I thought having a familiar, comfortable face that she trusted to tell her that it was going to be okay was helpful.

Because I'm going to tell you exactly what this looks like, and exactly what it smells like, and I think exactly what it is, okay?This is grooming behavior, okay?And as a counselor, I know damn good and well you know exactly what that is.Okay.

Soon after detectives arrived, the 15 -year -old girl was transported to the hospital due to the threats she had made.She was then enrolled into a boarding school.psychiatric treatment facility, and according to police documents, she was extremely affected by what had transpired between her and Sam.She couldn't talk about it without having an emotional breakdown.However, she would eventually speak, revealing that the worst details are yet to come.

and a woman, okay?

I think at this point, I would like a lawyer in order to further have this conversation.

Okay, that is your right.After refusing to speak, Sam was eventually released and allowed to leave without charges.However, the investigation continued.Rachel, who had no idea where Sam had been or that he had been meeting a student, became an unlikely wealth of information.

The detective was essentially like, if you want to be done, you can be done.Um, but if you want to see if you can get any information to help our case as well, and you're like, you know, willing to do that, then like, that would be great.And I was completely done before then, but it was kind of like a, I'm going to manipulate the manipulator a little bit to get information from him.

After talking with Sam, Rachel spoke with a detective.

I let him stay with me that night.Oh, because I was worried about him.Oh yeah.Oh yeah.That night he did?Yeah.

There was something that night and then reading the report because I got the report already and I read it.

According to police documents, not only had Sam told the student his plan if they ever got caught, but there had been a timewhen he thought they'd been caught and he almost attempted to carry out his plan.In her interview, Rachel explains that earlier that year, she and Sam had experienced problems and separated before reconciling.During the separation, they had dated other people and later discussed those relationships when they got back together.

He told me he had gone on a few dates with somebody younger than me, but he had said, that things had just gotten like romantic with someone around Valentine's Day.

What Rachel hadn't known at the time was that Sam had been referring to the student.Since her phone had been seized by police, they discovered that the 15 -year -old had written messages to Sam in her notes app.One message seems to confirm this date of Valentine's Day and reads, So I'm always with you." She goes on to say that, never in a million years would I think that this is what was gonna happen.Based on the note, the student would have just turned 15 a month prior.Police also found a photo timestamped February 14th, showing a heart -shaped box of chocolates, what appears to be marijuana, and two vape cartridges.

It was revealed that Sam also bought her a pink sweatshirt, an anime keychain, a stuffed animal, a book, and a hair treatment.Sam also kept her vape pen in his office so she could use it at school and not get caught.

Later, he had told me that he had kissed someone on Valentine's Day.

The student eventually began speaking with a new counselor who told Detective she and Sam would meet on the school campus and go into a closet.In fact, they had also met up at the same location where they were eventually caught on several other occasions.

Did he refer to her as girlfriend?Like after this all?

The student had a contact in her phone named My Love with a red heart emoji.When selected, it opened Snapchat and started calling Sam Cathy.If this wasn't concerning enough, in one note intended for Sam, she wrote, I remember the way you would look at me and the way you grabbed my waist.I remember how you would hold my face and tell me how much you love me." As well in a Snapchat message, she told Sam, I'll always love and support you.I'll never abandon you.

I will never leave you, Sam.

Did he say he loved her?He told me that he had said that.

Though he hadn't cooperated previously, Sam eventually handed over his phone password, telling investigators it was the phrase, what are you doing, kiddo?In Sam's Snapchat data, they found a video he sent to the student where he filmed himself driving and saying, I love you, and yeah, I miss you.I think about you all the time.As horrifying as this was, it was only the tip of the iceberg.Rachel reveals another twisted element, that Sam's pattern of behavior had started much earlier.

I did want to say that I was a current student.Sam's first year.I think you already know that.

While they didn't interact when Rachel was a student, she explains that she had been 19 when they matched on Tinder and he was 26.She also shares that he'd already dated someone from her graduating class before meeting her.

But I remember asking Sam if he had remembered me and he said obviously he did because he looked me up.But he said that he did.and that he had liked the way that I looked at him, even though I'd only looked at him twice.

In her EWU exclusive interview, Rachel reflects on why Sam had dated her when she was 19.

My best friend, I think she put it right.well one day when we were talking about it, and she said that I was probably just the acceptable version of what he wanted.

Did you ask him if there was ever anyone else, other students?Yes.

Though Sam had been caught acting inappropriately with one student already, she wasn't the first.Another student eventually came forward and shared that earlier that same year, when she was a freshman, Sam began calling her into his office to check on her.She said that by December or January they were talking non -stop and had added each other on Discord and Instagram.This student reported that Sam would hug her, which she described as really awkward, because it felt like a romantic hug since his arms were around her tightly and she could feel his hand on her lower back.He also bought her presents, such as earrings, a Nintendo DS, stickers, and snacks.

He had said there was only one other student that he had said, I love you to.

This first student said that Sam told her he loved her and asked, do you love me too?She said she agreed, but didn't mean it in a romantical way.The student said it got progressively worse throughout the following weeks because Sam told her she was his dream girl and that he fantasized about her and saw a future with her.A couple days after her 15th birthday, she walked into his office and Sam told her three more years and that he would wait for her because he saw something in her.She said it just got so gross to the point where I didn't feel safe in the school anymore.

They're actually, what we do know is the two girls are very similar.Yeah.Like the situation and the gifts and the dating and I love you.that she's been extremely messed up to.

This student eventually left the school because she didn't feel safe or comfortable.Returning to the student that Sam had been caught with, there are a few final horrific details.

Then there was a statement of like she told him she didn't want to and he said it would be making love.I saw it.Yeah, and so.15 year old.

The student revealed that she had sent Sam photos of herself and that he had actually been to her house on at least one occasion, possibly more.In one incident, they watched a movie in her bed and Sam performed inappropriate acts on her.Sam was charged with the assault of a child in the third degree, children in the third degree, and distributing a controlled substance to a minor.On June 2nd, he was arrested.

and relax your fingers, and turn around, palms to the ground.Very much.

It was eventually revealed that the reason Sam had gone to see the 15 -year -old student that day was because she was going to stay with her dad, and he came to give her, quote, one last kiss before you go.

Hey, Sam, so I'm not gonna ask you any questions, okay?I just wanted to say something real quick, if that's okay with you.So listen, I know people make mistakes, right?Okay?I'm not, this is not equaling a conviction right now, it's just probable cause, okay?I know people make mistakes.

That being said, it's not the end of life, right?Okay, so if you could please do me a big favor and do everyone a big favor and take care of yourself and not do anything kind of silly and rash because that's gonna put a lot of pain on other people and we don't need that.

Sam later agreed to give a statement where he said that since being in jail, he has done a lot of introspective thinking.He stated he abused his position as a high school counselor and took advantage of his access to the students.However, he also said he wasn't a predator and never committed similar crimes with other students.Despite this, court records note that there is a chance there are possibly more victims.Sam Caffey pled guilty to the charge of assault of a child with an enhancement due to abuse of trust.His educator certificate was permanently revoked.

He was sentenced to 41 months in prison, must register as a defender, and will be under a supervisoryprobationary period of 19 months upon his release.

Yeah, I don't think he was sentenced for long enough and I think he's out already on parole from what I've heard or seen.

Sam Caffey no longer appears as currently incarcerated on the Department of Corrections website.We had to cut many details from this video for this platform.Watch our full videos as they were originally made with no randomly muted words or details cut.We've also dropped brand new EWU videos available only on EWU+.Available now on iOS, Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and Google TV.Download EWU +, and see what you've been missing.