warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This story contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers discretion advised.
In the quiet town of Ketchikan, Alaska, where everyone knows everyone, a series of worried calls drew police to the home of renowned surgeon Dr. Eric Garcia. Known for his kindness and dedication to his patients, Dr. Eric’s sudden silence had unsettled the community.
When the Ketchikan Police finally entered his home, what they found sent shockwaves through the town. It wasn’t just the unexpected loss of a respected figure—it was the unsettling circumstances surrounding his death that left everyone grappling with questions no one seemed ready to answer.
When Dr.Garcia was found dead in his house,it soon made headlines everywhere,but the mystery behind his death was far more harrowing than anyone expected.
But as they dug deeper, this simple welfare check took a terrifying turn when they reaized that the killer was along with them and so close that he was the first to reach the crime scene.
By March 27th,2017,12 days had passed since Jordan J0plin had called 911
multiple times pleading, for a welfare check on his friend, Dr .Eric Garcia.
He ws supposed to attend an important medical conference on March 16th but never showed up,leaving everyone deeply worried for him.
Each time the police came tocheck, they only looked around from the outside before leaving ,but this time, when the Ketchikan Alaska arrived at Dr . Eric’s house, two trucks pulled up along side them.
One of them , was Dr Eric’s Red ford pickup , driven by none other than Jordan, who came all the way from Washington.
Jordan , who had a spare set of keys to the house, helped the police get inside, little did they know what waited for them beyond that door would hold a web of mysteries.
Their first priority was to secure the house and confirm if Dr.Eric was safe,after clearing the ground floor , they headed upstairs and stumbled upon a scene that froze them in their tracks.
Dr Eric , known as one of the most generous and compassionate surgeons was found dead,the discovery was not only heartbreaking , but also surreal.
However ,the toughest part was yet to come, which was breaking the devastating news to his friends ,who were anxiously waiting outside for answers.
While the news was hard to process,the police began piecing together what might have exactly happened.
It was during this process that one of Dr Eric’s friends mentioned that he had been dealing with some health issues.
Could it really be a natural death? the truth was locked away in the autopsy report, which would take days to arrive.
But as the police continued their search they stumbled upon something that painted a chilling picture.
Upstairs , the air was thick with the strange smell of burnt barbecue broquettes.
The deck door was wide open and a cushion had been dropped to let the smoke drift into the house, which was highly unusal.
But there was something even more usettling…
Around the body,there was actually a pill bottle that had Dr.Garcia’s name on it,next to the doctor was a coffee table that was pushed up close to the couch where he was located.
There was an open package of bacon, and there was a partial burned charcoal broquette on the coffe table.
As the police tried to make sense of the strange scene outside , one of Dr Eric’s friends, Bobby Jackson ,grew visibly agitated about something serious.
He pulled them aside and pointed towards a closet door , claiming that it led to a storage area,but in reality , it was where Dr Eric kept his most prized possessions, which was a gold mine for many.
Dr.Garcia had hundreds of mostly silver, he had some gold ,but he collected coins and some of the mint coins.and he had a lot.
when Bobby moved him from his rental to Dr .Garcia’s new house that he purchased it sagged the back of Bobby’s car down.
he had so much gold and silver in there.
With growing urgency , the police rushed to open the dead bolted door, hoping to confirm if the valuable items were still there.
But what they found, however ,was nothing like they expected.
There was no gold,there was no silver found, there were racks and racks that were empty.
It became clear that Dr Eric wasn’t just dead-he had been robbed.
Yet ,strangely , there were no signs of a break in or forced entry into the house or a storage room.
Almost everyone close to him knew about the treasure he kept hidden ,but no one could say if the robbery was connected to his death.
However ,for police, it soon became a key focus of the investigation.
As dr Eric was known for his kindness always giving gifts and dedicating his time to his friends and service.he was very generous and shared things often with those that he loved and was close to,he would share portions of that, alcohol collection that he had, he would gift gold coins.
But for some of his closest loved ones , his selflessness had sometimes felt a bit too much,raising questions they never expected to have to ask.
Just when the police thought they were on to their first lead, another twist came their way.
Jordan called them again.
but this time regarding his growing fears behind Dr Eric’s death.
What stood out as particularly odd was the family’s response.
As they confirmed that Dr Eric had never shown signs of depression or any intention of harming himself, now , finding out the exact cause of Dr Eric’s death become more urgent then ever.
And when the autopsy report finally arrived , it revealed something deeply disturbing,the cuase of death was listed as a morphine overdose.
But there was a big problem…
in reality , no morphine was found anywhere in Dr Eric’s house, even more perplexing was that his blood stram showed traces of a prescription sedative, along with dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide.
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless poisonous gas that results from the incomplete burning of carbon-containing fuels like wood, gasoline, and natural gas.
The toxicology report revealed a 9% value of carbon monoxide,now that is four times the normal limit, so this raises the attention of police when you consider all the other aspects of this case that they’ve learned.
Soon, acrucial detail clicked.
The strong smell of grill and charcoal from the house that was far from ordinary.
…side of the house ,that’s the southeast side.southseast side of the house,so no one in Ketchikan who is a resident here in police view would ever have barbedued on the southeast side of their house ,especially not on second floor ,that’s going to get some, wind.
To unravel the mystery, the polcie decided to taked another hard look at the house.
And this time they discoverd soem alarming riddles,the walls werre dotted with strange markings, which were the leftovers what turned ot to be multiple smoke detectors that had been removed.
Every single place that a smoke detector was located or should h ave been was just the base with the wiring harness sticking out ,there was not one smoke detector inside that house. they were all missing.
According to Dr Eric’s friends, he wasn’t the type of person to climb a ladder and remove smoke detectors himself,in fact , they described him as someonewho rarely did anything for himself.
Not even simple tasks like grilling.
This newdetail added weight to their suspicion as the removed smoke detectors, combined with the strange smell ofcharcol and the open deck door, painted a picture far more complex than what it seemed at first glance.
The missing smoked etectors had been removed to avoid triggering an alarm when the barbecue flames were set,but where had they gone?
as the investigation dragged on , finding the missing smoke detectors became increasingly difficult .
intil weeks after Dr.Eric’s death his brother Saul Garcia was walking near the woods not far from his late brother’s house.
And suddenly noticed an odd pile of discarded items tucked among the trees.
This discovery would take the case into a whole new dramatic turn.
Saul wasted no time and called the Ketchikan police who rushed to the woods, there they discoverd six smoke detectors discarded among the trees.
An when they returned to Dr Eric’s house they matched the detectors to the six empty mounting plates on the walls using their serial numbers.
The match was undeniable,someone had desperately tried to dispose ot them to get rid of the evidence, it wasn’t just a robbery, but a planned murder.
The authorities now began to suspect that someone close to Dr Eric might be involved in his death.
As the person would have had easy access to the house, to dig deeper,they started looking into every aspect of Dr Eric’s life,including his financial records.
And that’s when they made a shocking discovery.
Garcia had made wire transfers to several people , including someone named Logan Cruz,where’s all this money going to? who is Logan Cruz?
while it caught them by suprise,they soon realize they already had a clue about this new lead, Logan Cruz.
Although Jordan was familiar to Dr Eric’s firends, he remained somewhat of an enigma to those presente at the scene the day Dr.Eric’s body was discovered.
Jordan claimed to be extremely close to Dr Eric and even drove his pick up truck back to the house with his girlfriend.
however, from the very beginning , his behagvior was questionable, and his demeanor just didn’t sit right with the others.
what made things even stranger was that Jordan was the one who had requested the welfare check,flying all the way from Washington to Kethikan with a key to Dr Eric’s house.
So what is that relationship? who is this guy?
Jordan wasn’t jsut close to Dr Eric, he had been trusted with a power of attorney, giving him significant control over Dr Eric’s affairs.
But when the police asked him about the missing valuables,he claimed to have no idea about them.
the suspicions surrounding him didn’t end there, the very next day, after the police received a search warrant,they decided to inspect Dr Eric’s pickup truck.
And inside the glove compartment, they found a crucial piece of evidence .
… a receipt, a waybill, from a barge company that transports goods all through Alaska along the Coast down to he state of Washington.
In the receipt from Alaska Marine Lines( AML) it clearly indicated that Jordan was lsited as the recipient and Dr Eric’s adress was proved asthe shipper.
The shipment was headed to Jordan’s adress in Maple Valley , Washington, but what was even more suprising was the weight of the package , which was nearly two tons.
What coud possibly be inside such a massive package?
Detectives located a Walmart receipt that was in the garbage in the kitchen.
…notably several plastic bins or totes , things that you would store a variety of items in,just plastic boxes with lids.
Interestingly, Jordan had an explanation for it,as he claimed that during his last visit to Ketchikan on March 15th he and Dr Eric had gone to Walmart together for some shopping together.
Without wasting any time, the police headed to the only Walmart in the area toreview the security footage what they found on the survellancecameras was a significant breakthrough in the investigation.
What you see is Jordan Joplin moving about Walmart from various different angles,it shows him from the side, it shows him from abow,
…it just showed Jordan Joplin checking out with all these stacked plastic bins in his cart.on one of the camera angle actually shows Jordan Joplin with a huge grin on his face.
He also had an employee who helped him load several bins into his truck,so much so that he needed an extra cart after the items were packed.
After the items were packed Jordan drove off,but what stood out was what wasn’t on the camera , Dr Eric.He wasn’t seen in any of the shots of the camera .
with Jordan’s lies coming to light,authorities were more curous about shipment with Alaska Marine Lines.they quickly went to the shipment company to investigate further.
And the footage they found there only confirmed their growing suspicions.
That’s the point in time where detectives saw video footage of Dr Garcia’s truck and then Jordan Joplin coming and going from the vehicle and unloading items.
Jordan had used plastic crates to load items into shipping containers, which were then sent through AML ,Alaska Marine Lines,but just as the authorities got this major lead,bad news followed.
Those containers had already been shipped ten days earlier and were now on a barge heading to Seattle.
Whatever is inside those containers,detectives want to get their hands on it before Jordan Joplin does.they take off for Seattle, and the clock is ticking.
Everything was unfolding just as they planned,they reached the shipping port inWashington just ahead of Jordan,only to fined that the containers were already set aside ,ready for pickup.
When the authorities opened them, they uncovered what everyone had been searching for.
the gold mine of valuables that had gone missing from Dr Eric’s house.
..it was the key that would blow the entirecase wide open.
there were cases of coins and collectibles , the gold and silver,there were hundreds of bottles,it was a massive collection.
These boxes were so full,it almost seemed like they were overspilling, when detective’s opened them.his entire life,his computers ,personal checks, bank checks in the name of Dr Garcia.
the authorities had finally uncovered thousands of dollars worth of Dr Eric’s stolen treasure.
But this was just the beginning,their next step was to arrest Jordan,a task that wouldn’t be as straightforward as it seemed.
They enlisted the helpf of Seattle law enforcement whos first challenge was to lure Jordan out of his house,making it easier to apprehend him a the shipping port.
Suprisingly , Jordan made their job easier as he was eager to retrieve the containers and quickly agreed to meet at a desingated location arranged by the authorities.
Unbeknownst to him , it wasall a carefully planned trap.
Jordan arrived right on time, and after a brief conversation, he was taken into custody without much resistance,with Jordan’s arrest , the first phase of their plan was a success.
But the investigation wasn’t over yet, the next step was to execute a search warrant at Jordan’s home,where they hope to uncover mre evidence to tie him to Dr Eric’s death.
However, when they arrived at the property,they encountered someone they never imagined,the women who greeted the authorities at Jordan’s house was just the first surprise,and more twists were waiting for them.
They immediately noticed that she wasn’t the same women Jordan had brought to Dr Eric’s house,this unexpected revelation opened new doors in the investigation.
Kristine cowles appeared confused but adamant in her stance that she had no idea why the police where there or what the raid was about.
It quickly became clear that she was unaware of Jordan’s double life and that she’d been cheated on,when questioned aboout the items found in the house, kristine firmly stated that Jordan told her they wertr all gifts from his close friend.
…detectives had found a faraday bag that contained the doctor’s cell phones.
A faraday bag is essentially an electronic bag or device
… from that communication, it hides the signals.
…Dr Garcia’s wallet with his ID.
Kristine wasn’t entirely in the dark about Dr Eric,as Jordan had told her that he was terminally ill ,which was nothing but an explanation for his frequent trips to Alaska , and Kristin had no reason to doubt it at least not at first.
But as the police questioned her and revealed more details, she began to piece things together, slowly ,it dawned on her that Dr Eric had never been ill.
Jordan’s connection to Dr Eric raised serious doubts.
How did a man from Washington become so intertwined with the life of a respected surgeon in Alaska?
And the answer lay in Jordan’s troubled past,he was no stranger to brushes with the law,in 2010 Jordan crossed paths with a women named Jessica Everton.
Who had no idea that his community service work, which seemed so noble on the surface , was actually court mandated ,it was a consequence of being convicted of two felonies.
Jordan wasn’t just a skilled manipulator, he was also quite popular with women , charming his way into their trust and earning a seemingly good reputation among them.
…him into the adult industry,he was a dancer for a while, and then he became a model and an adult entertainer, he was doing movies.
This movies and his new role marked the beginning of his transformation into a new identity :Logan Cruz,but despite his flair for deception, the question remained,what was his connection to Dr Eric?
According to those who Knew Jordan they had never seen him and Dr Eric together, their lives appeared to be worlds apart.
However, little did anyone realize that Dr Eric himself harbored secrets, onces far darker and more complex than the other.
Dr.Eric’s family began to wonder if his inexperience with relationships had made him an easy target,i t all seemed to trace back to a life changing operation Dr Eric underwent in Seattle.
During his recovery, he crossed paths with none other than Jordan ,who wa working as a massage therapist at the time.
That meeting was the start of their connection, and what began as caual appointments soon grew into something more personal.
To everyone’s disbelief, those frequent sessions evolved into a full blown relationship betweeb the two.
Though Jordan and Dr Eric’s relationship was kept hidden from the world,one person in Washington knew the truth.
Amanda Pohlreich a close friend of Jordan.
When the police tracked Amanda down, she had something significant to reveal.
Dr Eric was Jordan’s sugar daddy.
” he would send him money,he wou,ld ship him things,whatever Jordan wanted Jordan pretty much got , honestly.”
It turned out the secrets weren’t confined to Washington, Back in Alaska, investigtors had stumbled up0on a crucial piece of evidence.
A love letter found at Dr Eric’s house,the letter,written by Jordan read ” i love you and i hope you never forget that you were always on my mind and you mean the world to me i hope i make you happy and i hope when you think of me, you smile love always,Jordan.”
But the trail didn’t end there, at Jordan’s house, investigators uncovered another letter,this one written by Dr Eric to Jordan, and unlike Jordan ‘s this message carried a darkly irconic tone.
…it was dated February 14,2017,adressed to Jordan from Eric,i paraphrasewhat i read in that”you are myfirst and only love, not kidding , you will probably kill me but know that i will never let you down .”
The authorities were inching closer to uncovering the truth behind Dr Eric’s mysterious deth.
With Jordan finally in custody, their focus shifted to linking him to the elevated levels of morphine and carbon monoxide found in Dr Eric’s system.
Cops go back to that video of Joplin from walmart where they knew he bought all those packing crates,well ,the evidence also showed that’s not all he bought.
…it was the one other thing other than all these plastic bins that Jordan Joplin purchased that day at Walmart.
Could Jordan have been trying to stage the scene ?
to make it appear as though Dr Eric had inhaled carbon monoxide from the grill to take his own life?
If that ‘s possible, then where did the morphine come from?
As investigators dug deeper, they uncovered that Jordan had approached Amanda his close friend, and asked her a peculiar question”how much morphine would it take to be fatal?”
By now, every clue and piece of evidence had fallen into place, allowing the police to form a theory of what happened to Dr Eric.
On March 15th Jordan had allegedly visited Dr Eric under the guise of love,during that visit, he administered a fatal dose of mophine and meticulously removed all the smoke detectors from the house.
With Dr Eric unconscious,Jordan placed a lit grill on the southeast side of the property,letting the smoke infiltrate the house through the open deck door.
Then being confident that his plan would erase all suspicion,Jordan returned to Washington, setting up a perfect alibi by later calling for a welfare check.
But his carefully laid scheme had unraveled under the weight of the investigation, now, with all evidence pointing squarely at him, Jordan’s plans had crumbled and he was once again headed toward a confrontation with law enforcement.
But this time, for very long time.
… murder in the first degree and also theft in the first degree.
The case had reached itsclimax, and it was time for the final decision,nearly 20 people took the stand during the trial , each offering numerous testimonies countless arguments were laid before the jury.
But the moment that sealed Jordan’s fate came in the form of a single haunting video recovered from his phone.
The defendant , Jordan joplin, took out his cell phone and he took a video of Dr Eric Garcia , unconscious,
…ten days later , on March 27 , 2017, bketchikan police officers found Dr Garcia dead,in the same position as in the video, wearing the same clothes …
The clip was so shocking ,so deeply disturbing that it left everyone n the courtroom in tears.
But after weeks of deliberation ,the Jury reached their verdict.
Guilty of all charges.
On April 9th, 2024 Jordan was sentenced to 99 yeares in prison whitout the possibility of parole,a decision that brought justice for Dr Eric and closure for those who loved him.
For Jordan , it was the end of the road,but for every one effected by Dr Eric’s tragic death ,it was a moment that changed their lives forever.