On Friday night December 23rd at 9PM Central time the Joey Boots podcast aired on Podtrash.com, minus Joey himself. Joey’s co-host and fellow Stern Show caller Gonzo and producer Maxwell began the show with both assuming Joey might be oversleeping a nap. Shortly into the broadcast fellow Stern show caller, friend and building neighbor to Joey, High Pitch Eric, called in to the show and spoke with different callers to the show. One caller named BoboFromCA, offered High Pitch Eric some takeout to unblock him on twitter, and as part of the deal Eric had to knock on Joey’s apartment door (located on a different floor).

On air Eric knocked on Joey’s door several times, and one of the host of the podcast (Gonzo) called Joey’s phone which Eric could hear through the door. Eric was worried because as he stated, Joey had never missed a show. Eric's call ended shortly after that. Several minutes later Eric called back and requested the show be stopped. Eric reported that the building manager did a safety and well-being check on Joey in his apartment. The building manager informed Eric that he found Joey in a chair, cold to the touch and with no pulse. Eric also reported an ambulance had been called.