Where Are the Moms of the Bakersfield 3 Now? All About Their Lives Since Their Children's Mysterious Deaths and Disappearances

The mothers of the Bakersfield 3 are still searching for answers.

Baylee Despot, Micah Holsonbake and James Kulstad make up the Bakersfield 3 — three friends from Bakersfield, Calif., who went missing or were murdered within one month of one another in the spring of 2018.

Over the years, the trio’s mothers — Baylee’s mom Jane Parrent, Micah’s mom Cheryl Holsonbake and James’ mom Diane “Di” Byrne — have all been doing their own investigating. After making connections between their children, the women banded together to share leads and raise attention for the cases.

The Bakersfield 3 and their mothers became the subjects of the 2023 podcast The Bakersfield Three. On May 11, the three-part Investigation Discovery true crime docuseries The Bakersfield 3: A Tale of Murder and Motherhood (which is based on Marie Claire’s 2022 feature, “Of Murder and Motherhood”) debuted on Max.

Here’s everything to know about the Bakersfield 3 and where their families are now.

Who are the Bakersfield 3?

The Bakersfield 3 is made up of friends Baylee Despot (a.k.a. Baylee Cheyanne Parrent), Micah Holsonbake and James Kulstad.

Micah, then 34, went missing in March 2018, and Baylee, then 20, disappeared in April, per Marie Claire. On April 8, James, 38, was shot to death in a driveway in South Bakersfield. No suspects or leads have been named in that open case.

James was a surfer and inventor living in San Diego when he was hit by a car in 2007. He became addicted to opioids, then Fentanyl and heroin, and moved back to Bakersfield. He had two daughters, Camryn and Autumn.

“James was a bright light, the moment he walked in the room,” his mom told 23ABC, adding, “He was an amazing father and a great friend.”

Micah was a veteran who became addicted to opioids after a 2003 surgery to remove a benign growth in his throat, per Marie Claire. He lost a banking job and began building guns in a garage with friends for extra income.

Baylee — who is still missing — got married in Las Vegas after high school. She was involved in a car accident in 2017 — the same year her husband filed for divorce and she was arrested twice. She diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 20.

In May 2020, Baylee and her ex-boyfriend Matthew Queen were charged with dozens of crimes, including the murder and torture of Micah. In 2022, Queen was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison, plus 56 years, KGET reported.

When were Micah Holsonbake and Baylee Despot last seen?

Micah was last seen on March 23, 2018, per KBAK. His arm was found in a bag in the Kern River in August 2018, and his skull was discovered in the river in August 2021, according to Marie Claire.

Baylee was last seen on April 24, 2018, and reported missing soon after.

About one month after she went missing, some of Baylee’s belongings were located by a friend’s front door with a note reading, “Tell Baylee that I love her, but I cannot be with her.” From security footage, Jane identified Queen as having dropped them off, according to The Bakersfield Three podcast.

The Kern Secret Witness program has offered a $16,000 reward for information on Baylee’s disappearance and a reward of $10,000 each for information on James’ death and Micah’s disappearance and death.

What were Matthew Queen and Baylee Despot charged with?

In May 2020, Baylee — who is still missing — and her ex-boyfriend Queen were charged with more than two dozen crimes, including murder and torture. The duo were accused of torturing and killing Micah in March 2018 in the garage of Queen’s friend Matthew Vandecasteele over a missing gun dispute, then dismembering Micah and disposing of his body parts.

“Although Baylee Despot has been reported missing since 2018, there is no known physical evidence that definitively confirms her possible death,” prosecutors said, reported KGET. “As a result of the filing of charges, an arrest warrant will be issued for Baylee Despot’s arrest.”

Vandecasteele was charged with kidnapping and conspiracy, among other charges. On March 27, 2018, Vandecasteele searched “how long does it take to dissolve a human body?”, Marie Claire reported. Vandecasteele took a plea deal in 2021, accepting a four-year prison term in exchange for testifying.

In May 2021, Queen was ordered to stand trial on 34 charges, including murder and torture, per KGET.

According to KGET, Queen “admitted to cutting up a body and scattering the remains across Kern County, illegally putting together AR-15 rifles with parts he bought online and sending macabre messages he passed off as jokes or exaggerations.”

Is Matthew Queen in jail?

In May 2022, Queen was found guilty on 24 of 35 counts, including second-degree murder for Micah’s death, reported 23ABC.

During his trial, Queen’s defense team claimed Micah had originally threatened Queen and a hit from Baylee was the one that killed Micah.

“As [Prosecutor] Eric Smith commented to us, it’s murder. It’s significant and it’s murder, and we said that we would get him for that, and we did,” Micah’s mom Cheryl told 23ABC after Queen was found guilty. “There is a sense of relief that somebody is being forced to take the accountability for the part they played in his death and the kidnapping of the other individuals this is someone who traumatized a lot of people.”

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In June 2022, Queen was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison, plus 56 years, KGET reported.

“I can never make your family whole again, and I’m sorry,” Queen said in a statement ahead of his sentencing, according to the outlet. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think about that day, and how I should have done things differently.”

Queen has long maintained that he did not kill Micah and was not involved in Baylee’s disappearance.

Why did the mothers of the Bakersfield 3 join forces?

After their children’s disappearances or deaths, the mothers of the Bakersfield 3 began their own investigations.

“We just knew — our mama gut and instinct told us that something wasn’t quite right,” Di told 23ABC in 2022.

James’ mom Di was the first to link James and Micah, since she heard the two would hang out from time to time, Marie Claire reported. The moms later heard about Baylee’s disappearance from some of Micah’s friends.

Frustrated with trying to get the police to take the disappearances of their adult children seriously, the three compared notes, leaned on each other and uncovered leads, going as far as to raise their own money to fund new equipment for search and rescue efforts, according to Marie Claire.

“Early on, we realized, that all the names we were getting, when we were reaching out to our adult children’s friends, a lot of the names were the same names,” she told 23ABC. “So, we knew that there was this big circle of acquaintances and we needed to connect the dots. And we still have a lot of dots to connect.”

Jane told Marie Claire that the three were “stronger together.”

Where are the moms of the Bakersfield 3 now?

Since their children’s disappearances or death, the moms of the Bakersfield 3 remained passionate about solving their cases — and those like it. In April 2019, the mothers founded the Bakersfield 3 Charity, a nonprofit that helps families search for missing children and supports crime-solving efforts in Kern County. Proceeds benefit the Kern Secret Witness Program.

Di died on April 23, 2024, of ovarian cancer, per KGET. She was 68. The Bakersfield native left behind her husband, six children, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

At the time of her death, Di did not know who killed her son, James. During an April 2025 appearance on The Tamron Hall Show, Baylee’s mom Jane shared that she promised Di “on her deathbed” that she “wouldn’t stop fighting for justice for James.”

Jane and Micah’s mom Cheryl continue to seek answers. The Bakersfield 3 Facebook page is regularly updated by Jane: On April 25, 2025, she captioned a video from 2018, “Today is 7 years! I am still searching for Baylee.”

Cheryl still lives in Kern County and remains involved with sharing information on missing person cases.