1 of 6: The Vacation

[00:00:01] Exactly one year before the world was horrified by the disappearance of high school senior Natalie Holloway in Aruba, a teen from Brighton vanished in the waters off the same island.

[00:00:13] My biggest grief is the loss that my son and not knowing what happened to him.

[00:00:18] But Maxi Rees never became a household name, and his 2004 disappearance is still unsolved.

[00:00:26] There are so many cases that I research and investigate that strike me to my core.

[00:00:33] One of those cases dates all the way back to 2004.

[00:00:37] During that time, I was only a teenager.

[00:00:40] But as a mom now, I can't imagine experiencing the loss of a child.

[00:00:46] It fueled a fire in me, a fire so deep, a yearning to no more.

[00:00:53] Seek answers and advocate for this family.

[00:00:57] This case took me to a place I've never been in an investigation, and would haunt me not only as an investigative journalist, but as a mom.

[00:01:07] As I spent countless hours researching this case and carefully putting the pieces together,

[00:01:13] the picture that revealed itself was incredibly dark, and absolutely terrifying.

[00:01:20] Over the course of this series, I'm diving into the unsolved disappearance of 14-year-old Max de Vries,

[00:01:27] and sharing never before heard interviews with his family and friends.

[00:01:31] We'll dive into clues, timelines, and the tragic story of a bright, adventurous young man,

[00:01:38] whose life was cut short by predators who were lurking in plain sight.

[00:01:44] I'm General Rivera, and this is the Unseen Truth, the disappearance of Max de Vries.

[00:02:27] This is episode 1, The Vacation.

[00:02:32] It's May 2004, and 14-year-old Max de Vries, his mommy van, his sister Dominique,

[00:02:39] and his aunt Pat are about to head on a vacation to Aruba.

[00:02:44] Just 18 months prior, Max and Dominique's father George unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack,

[00:02:52] so this vacation was meant to not only be healing, but fun for the family after an extremely difficult 18 months.

[00:03:01] Little does the family know their lives are about to change forever.

[00:03:07] To get the full picture of this case, we need to take it peace by peace.

[00:03:12] So let's take it back to the beginning.

[00:03:15] Where Max's story begins.

[00:03:21] Max and his William de Vries was born on April 18, 1990,

[00:03:26] and was raised right outside of Detroit and Brighton, Michigan.

[00:03:30] His mother Iván was a stay at home mom at the time,

[00:03:33] and focused on caring for Max and his younger sister Dominique.

[00:03:37] His father George was a strategic asset manager for Duncan Donuts,

[00:03:41] and would help business owners open Duncan Donuts franchises across Michigan.

[00:03:46] The family was living the American dream.

[00:03:50] The Diveries family was extremely close, and shared a love for the water.

[00:03:56] From a young age, Max and Dominique were taught by George to pilot their family sailboat

[00:04:00] and would spend a ton of time together on the water.

[00:04:04] At 14 Max was named a charter boat first mate,

[00:04:07] which was a representation of just how skilled he was on the water.

[00:04:13] Outside of his love for being out to see, Max was described by his friends and family as smart, witty and fun.

[00:04:22] William a magnetic personality is Max who is Max.

[00:04:29] And again, he'd come over and we would always enjoy and embrace each other

[00:04:35] and just really could give you a hug when he saw you and gave you a hug when he said goodbye.

[00:04:41] Me and Max went to school together.

[00:04:43] I moved there when I was on fifth grade,

[00:04:45] and I feel like it was more middle school that we really got to know each other.

[00:04:49] Actually, he's one of my boyfriend's back in seventh grade.

[00:04:54] He's harden out to now, just because he just had a presence about him.

[00:04:58] So anytime he was around, you knew it.

[00:05:00] He just kind of lit up a room.

[00:05:03] Like if it's for both boats, they're cool.

[00:05:05] Like that's kind of what he lived by.

[00:05:08] You know, like he just like to live on the water, always fish and doing something by the water.

[00:05:15] You know, he loved his family.

[00:05:16] There was no doubt about it.

[00:05:17] Anytime I was there, you know, spend time with him.

[00:05:20] Even if there was this later on the day,

[00:05:23] it wouldn't be uncommon for him to just come up and give me a hug.

[00:05:25] Max was a smart kid. He just always was.

[00:05:29] Anything to be learned. He picked it up quick.

[00:05:31] Max was fearless. He, you know, he really, first of all, he,

[00:05:37] he, when adults stay in our community quite a bit and whenever adults were gathered out on their patio or whatever.

[00:05:43] He's always enjoyable when Max came out to hang out with us.

[00:05:48] And he was always just, you know, a young boy who could easily talk with us and laugh with us and tell jokes and,

[00:05:59] you know, he could talk about school or whatever was going on in his life.

[00:06:03] You know, played the guitar so sometimes he plays songs for people and just that really comfortable young man.

[00:06:14] Despite the loss of her husband George and November 10th 2002,

[00:06:19] Iván remains extremely grounded and strong for her children.

[00:06:23] Over the course of the next 18 months,

[00:06:25] the family leans on each other and maneuvers through grief and healing.

[00:06:30] At this time, Iván decides to plan a vacation to Ruba with her family after a difficult 18 months.

[00:06:39] Little does the family know,

[00:06:41] this trip will be the beginning of another tragedy.

[00:06:44] A tragedy that begins after meeting two men while on vacation in a Ruba.

[00:06:50] A tragedy that no one expects.

[00:06:54] We're going to revisit where it all began in episode two, the men.

[00:07:00] That episode is available right now.

[00:07:05] Make sure to follow us on social media at unseantruthpodcast and visit unseantruthpodcast.com for more case information.