Speaker 1: Hello friends, Steve Stockton here with you. Welcome to our
Speaker 1: latest video. In this episode, we'll bringing strange legends, missing persons,
Speaker 1: and more from Mount Rainier, which is right there behind me.
Speaker 2: Join us. Mount Rainier National Park.
Speaker 1: It's located in the US state of Washington in southeast
Speaker 1: Pierce County and northeast Lewis County, with the Koma being
Speaker 1: its nearest city. Mount Raineer National Park was first established
Speaker 1: on March second, eighteen ninety nine, as the fifth national
Speaker 1: park in the US, preserving more than two hundred and
Speaker 1: thirty six thousand acres of land, including all of Mount Rainier,
Speaker 1: which is a stratovolcano. Stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep
Speaker 1: profile with a summit crater and periodic intervals of explosive eruptions.
Speaker 1: Wouldn't worry too much, though. Mount Rainier last erupted about
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty years ago, rising to fourteen four
Speaker 1: hundred and ten feet above sea level. The mountain is
Speaker 1: the highest point in the Cascade Range and stands as
Speaker 1: an icon in the Washington landscape. Mount Rainier is the
Speaker 1: most glaciated peak in the contiguous US and spawns five
Speaker 1: major rivers. Subalpine and wildflower meadows surround the icy volcano
Speaker 1: cliffs and ancient forest cloak Mountaineer's lower slopes. This diverse
Speaker 1: habitat provides for a large assortment of wildlife. Mountaineer is
Speaker 1: a popular peak for mountaineering, with about ten thousand attempts
Speaker 1: to summon each year and only around fifty percent being successful.
Speaker 1: The park provides plenty of outdoor activities and attractions like hiking, camping,
Speaker 1: bird watching, historical sites.
Speaker 2: And more.
Speaker 1: Over two million people visit the park each year to
Speaker 1: enjoy these activities. Sometimes, though, things don't always go as
Speaker 1: plan for those who venture to Mountaineer National Park. Although
Speaker 1: not actively publicized for obvious reasons. For all the beauty
Speaker 1: the park has to offer, bad things happen on Mountaineer
Speaker 1: and people must seriously go missing from the area every
Speaker 1: year without so much as a trace left behind. In
Speaker 1: this episode, we're going to look at mysteries, legends, and
Speaker 1: strange disappearances from mount Rainier National Park. Let's start off
Speaker 1: with some mysteries and legends. First up, Bigfoot encounters. Before
Speaker 1: we delve totally into this device of topic and uncertain
Speaker 1: existence of Bigfoot, Let's put on our thinking caps for
Speaker 1: a moment and simply consider, is it possible there are
Speaker 1: as of yet undiscovered animal species in the wild. A
Speaker 1: resounding yes. Scientists discovered new species all the time. And
Speaker 1: do we know everything there is to know about this
Speaker 1: world we all share, absolutely not. As such, we must
Speaker 1: at least entertain the idea that there are concepts, events,
Speaker 1: and yes, living creatures out there that we cannot fully understand.
Speaker 2: With that in mind, let's.
Speaker 1: Begin our Mount Rainier National Park journey and cover some
Speaker 1: of the reported signings and potential evidence found in the
Speaker 1: area of the tall, bipedal, hair covered creature most famously
Speaker 1: known as Bigfoot. Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as sasquatch,
Speaker 1: has been spotted all over the United States. Washington State, however,
Speaker 1: is a prime location for sidings of the elusive creature.
Speaker 1: Recorded sightings go back as early as nineteen twelve, when
Speaker 1: a woman saw a tall ape like creature staring in
Speaker 1: the window of her ranch house. Reports continued all throughout
Speaker 1: the nineteen hundreds, ranging from hunters spotting the creature to
Speaker 1: campers being spooked awake by seven foot tall beasts. Some
Speaker 1: of the most notable evidence of Bigfoot in the Mountaineer
Speaker 1: area consists of several photographs allegedly made in nineteen ninety
Speaker 1: five at Wild Creek in the nearby foothills, captured by
Speaker 1: a forest patrol officer, although numerous red flags are noted,
Speaker 1: as by Bigfoot authors Janet and Colin Board, who wrote
Speaker 1: in two thousand and six, with any event where the
Speaker 1: subject is known to be elusive, clear photographs are naturally suspect.
Speaker 1: In this case, we note that Bigfoot seems to not
Speaker 1: have moved from shot to shot, which seems unlikely, and
Speaker 1: the photographer must have been a very brave man indeed,
Speaker 1: have stayed around long enough to shoot fourteen frames of
Speaker 1: an unpredictable monster. Now, this skepticism hasn't stopped reported sightings, though,
Speaker 1: what are considered to be some of the best sasquatch
Speaker 1: footprints ever cast were found near Mount Rainier. These prints
Speaker 1: were found by mushroom pickers near the National Park. Plaster
Speaker 1: cast taken or seven inches by fourteen inches and appeared
Speaker 1: to belong to a large ape like creature.
Speaker 2: The mushroom pickers didn't get.
Speaker 1: Far into their journey when they reported smelling something worse
Speaker 1: than skunkoder, which is often a telltale sign of the
Speaker 1: creatures present. Could Mount Rainier National Park be a hiding
Speaker 1: place for bigfoot? Being a protected land full of wilderness,
Speaker 1: it would be an ideal area for being that wishes
Speaker 1: to remain unseen. Is the creature perhaps to blame for
Speaker 1: some of these strange disappearances in the park? Or sasquatch
Speaker 1: just keeping their distance They meet us no harm. Let
Speaker 1: us know what you think next up flying saucers. Famously,
Speaker 1: on June twenty fourth, nineteen forty seven, Kenneth Arnold saw
Speaker 1: something near Mount Rainier that changed the public's perception of
Speaker 1: extraterrestrials forever. At the time, Kenneth Arnold was thirty two
Speaker 1: years old, married with two children, and lived in Meridian, Idaho,
Speaker 1: where he sold fire extinguishing equipment for a living. He
Speaker 1: was also in the Idaho' Search and Rescue and had
Speaker 1: over four thousand hours of high altitude piloting hours at
Speaker 1: the time. Overall, he lived a typical life and was
Speaker 1: known to be a sincere and trustworthy person. On that
Speaker 1: faithful day June twenty fourth, nineteen forty seven, Kenneth was
Speaker 1: flying from Chehalis to Yakama when he decided to spend
Speaker 1: an hour or so searching for a downed Sea forty
Speaker 1: six marine transport which had recently crashed into the southwest
Speaker 1: side of Mount Rainier. There was a five thousand dollars
Speaker 1: ward for finding the downed aircraft, so that most likely
Speaker 1: was Kenneth's motivating factor. His flight was going well at first,
Speaker 1: though there was no sign of the plane wreckage. Kenneth
Speaker 1: would later recall in an interview. It was a beautiful day,
Speaker 1: just as clear as a bell. But then everything suddenly changed.
Speaker 1: Kenneth remembered it was around three pm, and he says,
Speaker 1: with very bright flash lit up the plane in the
Speaker 1: sky around me. At first he thought it was just
Speaker 1: the sun, perhaps reflecting off another plane in the area,
Speaker 1: but the flash happened again, he said, and that's when
Speaker 1: I saw where it was coming from. It came spasmodically
Speaker 1: from a chain of nine circular type aircraft way up
Speaker 1: from the vicinity of Mount Rainier. I could not find
Speaker 1: any tails on these things. They didn't leave a jet
Speaker 1: trail behind them. I judged their size to be at
Speaker 1: least one hundred feet in wingspan. I thought it was
Speaker 1: a new type of missile. Kenneth observed the multiple aircraft
Speaker 1: and tried to make sense of what he was seeing.
Speaker 1: His plane had a big sweep twenty four hour clock
Speaker 1: on the instrument panel, and by his measurements, the objects
Speaker 1: had covered the distance between Mount Rainier and Mount Adams
Speaker 1: in one minute and forty two seconds. He was stunned
Speaker 1: by this realization. Kenneth said that figured out to something
Speaker 1: like one thy, seven hundred and sixty miles an hour,
Speaker 1: which I could hardly believe.
Speaker 2: I knew that figure couldn't.
Speaker 1: Be entirely accurate, but I'd say it was within a
Speaker 1: couple of hundred miles of accurate. He didn't know what
Speaker 1: to make of this at first, so he continued on
Speaker 1: from Yakima to an air show in Pendleton, Oregon. Then
Speaker 1: the next day, June twenty fifth, Kenneth stopped by the
Speaker 1: local newspaper called The East Oregonian. He asked reporter Bill
Speaker 1: Begett if the military was testing any secret warplanes in
Speaker 1: the area. Bill shrugged, not thinking anything of it. Kenneth
Speaker 1: didn't explain that he was flying his small plane near
Speaker 1: Mount Rainier when he saw those nine bright objects shaped
Speaker 1: like the heel of a floor from shoe flying in formation,
Speaker 1: and that he had timed them at more than twice
Speaker 1: the speed of the world's then fastest airplane. Bill, the reporter,
Speaker 1: still didn't think much of this news, but he typed
Speaker 1: out about four paragraphs to run in the paper. Then
Speaker 1: he left for lunch and Kenneth went on his way.
Speaker 1: When Bill returned from lunch, he realized he had underestimated
Speaker 1: the public's interest in the flying saucers story. Where have
Speaker 1: you been their Sepstance asked, They've been calling from everywhere,
Speaker 1: New York, Portland, Montreal. They want more, She said, more
Speaker 1: on the saucers. Bill hadn't thought the story was that
Speaker 1: big of a deal at first, but after running a
Speaker 1: longer story on Kenneth's encounter, he said it was like
Speaker 1: throwing a lighted match into a field of wheatgrass. The
Speaker 1: story blew up further from there. We would call it
Speaker 1: going viral. Even the vocabulary regarding UFO sightings changed after
Speaker 1: Kenneth's bazarre encounter. The term flying saucers wasn't really around
Speaker 1: before Kenneth's report, but after word got out there was
Speaker 1: a wave of people who came forward to back his story.
Speaker 1: The Seattle Daily Times reported that a lady named Elma
Speaker 1: Shingler had seen strange and shiny, platter like objects on
Speaker 1: two different occasions that were moving at a terrible speed.
Speaker 1: Elma further stated that this was in the last ten days.
Speaker 1: Once Kenneth's encounter came to light, and this was only
Speaker 1: the beginning, the debate about extraterrestrial visits grew rapidly and
Speaker 1: the nation was divided. During the next half century, thousands
Speaker 1: of Americans, including Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, who would later
Speaker 1: become president, observed UFOs. Why would all this fuss have
Speaker 1: come about if it were just a hoax, as some
Speaker 1: people claim, none of it made any sense. Within two
Speaker 1: weeks of Kenneth's story about his encounter near Mountaineer, people
Speaker 1: in twenty eight states and from as far abroad as
Speaker 1: Australia and Afghanistan reported seeing flying saucers. Something was definitely
Speaker 1: going on, something had changed. One publisher offered a bounty
Speaker 1: to anyone who could bring one of the crafts down.
Speaker 1: The Oregon National Guard even launched a fighter squadron to
Speaker 1: have a look about. Many people believe that, rather than
Speaker 1: extraterrestrial in nature, the flying saucers or experimental military aircraft
Speaker 1: being tested by the United States, which wasn't so far fetched.
Speaker 1: Even so, many people still thought the whole thing was
Speaker 1: a hoax, and any official entity which gave validity to
Speaker 1: Kenneth's story was quickly shot down. Why would the government
Speaker 1: want to hide reports of UFOs? Though not only that,
Speaker 1: newspapers and journals began running stories that intentionally made Kenneth
Speaker 1: sound crazy. They would intentionally get the story wrong to
Speaker 1: further the theory that he was some kind of kook
Speaker 1: or a crackpot. It took an emotional toll on Kenneth
Speaker 1: and his family. Eric Lesidas interviewed Kenneth my phone thirty
Speaker 1: years after the incident on June twenty fifth, nineteen seventy seven.
Speaker 1: Kenneth recalled in that interview this one paper in Mexico
Speaker 1: said the sighting was June twenty fourth, nineteen seventy four.
Speaker 1: Then they said that the flying saucers were circling my
Speaker 1: plane and played hopscotch with me in the Cascade Mountains.
Speaker 2: That's not what happened.
Speaker 1: Kenneth also told his interviewer that writing letters through the
Speaker 1: editors was useless because then they would just turn around
Speaker 1: and use that against him as well. He remarked, it's
Speaker 1: impops possible, I tell you. Kenneth was sixty two at
Speaker 1: the time of this phone interview, and his story remained
Speaker 1: the same. He saw what he saw, and he was
Speaker 1: the first report these flying saucers. He was asked if
Speaker 1: it bothered him that for thirty years many people thought
Speaker 1: of him as a coup or crazy. Kenneth responded, I
Speaker 1: didn't make my report because I was interested in newspaper
Speaker 1: publicity or anything else. I can't eat newspaper clippings. I
Speaker 1: made my report because I thought it was my duty.
Speaker 1: It was the only proper and American thing to do.
Speaker 1: I saw what I saw. Other pilots, some of them,
Speaker 1: wishing to remain anonymous, would call Kenneth over the years
Speaker 1: to tell him that they too had encountered flying saucers.
Speaker 1: Kenneth also stated that he had read somewhere that fifteen
Speaker 1: million people in the world had seen UFOs. That number
Speaker 1: has surely grown astronomically by now. Sadly, Kenneth Arnold passed
Speaker 1: away in nineteen eighty four at the age of sixty eight,
Speaker 1: and throughout all those years of worldwide ridicule, Kenneth never
Speaker 1: wavered from his story. He saw something that day. The
Speaker 1: only debate is what exactly they were. Whatever the case
Speaker 1: may be, Mount Rainier is considered the birthplace of the
Speaker 1: flying saucer phenomenon.
Speaker 2: So what do you think Kenneth saw?
Speaker 1: Was it alien visitors, military weapons the public is unaware of,
Speaker 1: or something else entirely Next up, let's take a look
Speaker 1: at some strange disappearances from Mount Rainier National Park. Sam
Speaker 1: du Ball, thirty three year old Sam de Baull, disappeared
Speaker 1: on October ninth, twenty twenty, from Mount Rainier National Park.
Speaker 1: Sam had earned a medical degree and PhD in medical
Speaker 1: anthropology by the time he was thirty one. A year later,
Speaker 1: Sam published his first book. Soon after, he began teaching
Speaker 1: as an anthropology professor for the University of Washington. Sam
Speaker 1: was only one month into his new position when he
Speaker 1: went on a seventeen mile overnight hike at Mount Raineer
Speaker 1: and seemingly just disappeared. Sam was an avid hiker who
Speaker 1: had made trips around the US and even had experience
Speaker 1: in the Himalayas. He held no illusions of how dangerous
Speaker 1: the wilderness can be. He went prepared, hearing a tent,
Speaker 1: a sleeping bag, snow gear, rain gear, a cell phone,
Speaker 1: a charger, and of course another food and water for
Speaker 1: his overnight hike. Sam's described as five feet nine inches
Speaker 1: tall and one hundred and fifty five pounds, as black
Speaker 1: hair and a short black beard. At the time he
Speaker 1: went missing, was possibly wearing a blue jacket. Sam started
Speaker 1: his hike on October ninth, and at least for a while,
Speaker 1: things went well. Officials reported that Sam was spotted that
Speaker 1: same day hiking on Mother Mountain Loop trail near Mowitch Lake.
Speaker 1: Is unknown how much further Sam got into his hike
Speaker 1: when he didn't return home. Sam's family reported him missing.
Speaker 2: The next day.
Speaker 1: His car was found not long after, and several days
Speaker 1: into the search, his water bottle was found. Mountain Air
Speaker 1: National Park Service search and rescue teams conducted an intensive
Speaker 1: search for nine days, with no further clues surfacing. There
Speaker 1: were park rangers, volunteers, canine teams, and helicopter crews from
Speaker 1: the National Park Service and the US Air Force searching
Speaker 1: for Sam. Mark Rangers deployed drones and forward looking infrared
Speaker 1: heat detection cameras. Their search area arranged in elevation from
Speaker 1: two thousand to five thousand feet, with difficult terrain, including
Speaker 1: dense forests, rocky surfaces, subalpine meadows, and various waterways. On
Speaker 1: October seventeenth, nearly a week into the search, the weather
Speaker 1: was good and a fifty person search and rescue teams
Speaker 1: scoured the area. But then, as we often see in
Speaker 1: these cases, the next day, the weather took a turn
Speaker 1: and the crew was limited to twenty six persons. The
Speaker 1: day after, on October nineteenth, there were only six people
Speaker 1: able to go out in search due to the weather conditions.
Speaker 1: October twenty the search crew was back to twenty six members.
Speaker 1: Then on October twenty one and twenty two, misfortunes struck
Speaker 1: again with poor weather which inhibited ground searching, and the
Speaker 1: search was lessly suspended. Authorities presumed Sam had passed away.
Speaker 1: By that point, searchers have spent long hours carrying the
Speaker 1: area and not locating doctor Dubal. It's heavy on our hearts,
Speaker 1: said Chip Jenkins, Park Superintendent. We continue to be in
Speaker 1: close contact with doctor Duball's family and will keep them
Speaker 1: updated as new information becomes available. On October twenty third,
Speaker 1: after the search was suspended, Sam's family started a petition
Speaker 1: on change dot org asking that rescue teams continue to
Speaker 1: search for at least another seventy two hours. More than
Speaker 1: forty six thousand people signed the petition. Sam's sister, Dina
Speaker 1: Dubal said in a Twitter post, we cannot bear the
Speaker 1: thought of an abandoned search during this narrowing period of survivability.
Speaker 1: The National Park Service announced the teams had resumed the
Speaker 1: search on the ground after the request from the family.
Speaker 1: Despite the Park Service furthering the search efforts for Sam,
Speaker 1: there were no other traces of his whereabouts. Winter storms
Speaker 1: had blanketed much of the area with snow, and temperatures
Speaker 1: were dropping below freezing even at the lower elevations. The
Speaker 1: weather had been sporadic from the beginning of the search Jeffers.
Speaker 1: The day after Sam began his hike, a storm washed
Speaker 1: out the crossing he would have used to traverse the
Speaker 1: Carbon River. The Anthropology Department at UC Berkeley posted on
Speaker 1: their website, We're hoping that our own Sam de Baull,
Speaker 1: Medical Anthropology, PhD. Twenty eighteen, has been missing in the
Speaker 1: Mountaineer National Park for over two weeks, will return. We
Speaker 1: continue to hope that he will be found and rescued.
Speaker 1: Professor Mary Ann firmay is representing our department by joining
Speaker 1: the voluntary searches.
Speaker 2: Our hearts go out.
Speaker 1: To his family, his students, his colleagues, and his friends.
Speaker 2: In this moment of great fear.
Speaker 1: We know Sam de Ball to be a strong and
Speaker 1: resilient anthropologist as well as a talented doctor. A. Sam
Speaker 1: returned to his family and to the family of men
Speaker 1: and women in anthropology who know him as a dear
Speaker 1: colleague or as a student or a mentor, wrote the department.
Speaker 1: Tributes to Sam poured in on social media. Viing A
Speaker 1: DeVault tweeted on October twenty nine, I'm struck that everyone
Speaker 1: who has sent me messages about my brother, whether they
Speaker 1: know him for years or merely ours, feels and remembers
Speaker 1: the same thing, his kindness. Vina also wrote, Sam, Our
Speaker 1: love for you knows no bounds. Not life, death, heaven
Speaker 1: or earth can keep us from being with you, and
Speaker 1: you with us. The official search for Sam ended after
Speaker 1: fifteen days of intense efforts. Sam's sisters tweeted, we carry
Speaker 1: your prayers, thoughts, and good wishes for Sam de Ball
Speaker 1: as we begin to grieve and celebrate his remarkable life
Speaker 1: and kind soul. On October twenty sixth, Dina and Vina
Speaker 1: du Baal tweeted, after a thorough search, the outer limits
Speaker 1: of time for survivability have passed. Our deepest gratitude to all,
Speaker 1: including the brave searchers and the community. Sam was presumed
Speaker 1: to have passed away and the grieving process began for
Speaker 1: many many people. On the one year anniversary of Sam's disappearance,
Speaker 1: faculty and students from across the University of Washington campus
Speaker 1: gathered at the school's Drumheller Fountain in commemoration. Assistant Professor
Speaker 1: of Anthropology Raphael rabanis colleague a close friend. Sam said
Speaker 1: he wanted to use the tools of anthropology to address
Speaker 1: questions of racism and build an anti racist society and world.
Speaker 1: Though he had just started at the UW, he was
Speaker 1: already having an impact. The University of Washington decided to
Speaker 1: honor Sam's vision and what he hoped to accomplish in life.
Speaker 1: In November of twenty twenty one, the university revealed a
Speaker 1: new endowed fellowship established by Sam's parents by Rat and
Speaker 1: Saraj Duball. The family's gift, combined with support for more
Speaker 1: than four hundred friends, family and community members, established the
Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty thousand dollars Sam Dubau endowed fellowship
Speaker 1: in the Department of Anthropology at UW, which will continue
Speaker 1: Sam's work and allow his legacy to live on supporting
Speaker 1: graduate students focused on racial justice in medicine, health, or
Speaker 1: social movements. During his studies at Berkeley, Sam co founded
Speaker 1: Radical Medicine, an inclusive collective that brings together activist scholars
Speaker 1: and community members, including frontline medical workers, united with the
Speaker 1: goal of rethinking and revisioning medical and psychiatric practice. For
Speaker 1: his doctoral research, Sam conducted intensive fieldwork into the lives
Speaker 1: of former child and youth soldiers in Uganda. This research
Speaker 1: led to a full manuscript. Twenty eighteen, Sam published a
Speaker 1: book titled Against Humanity Lessons from the Lord's Resistance Army,
Speaker 1: which drew from his ethnographic research of the LRA in
Speaker 1: Northern Uganda. Sam's book can be found on Amazon. The
Speaker 1: life and work of Sam de Ball impacted so many people,
Speaker 1: as disappearances left a gaping hole in a family, a
Speaker 1: group of friends, and an entire community. No other evidence
Speaker 1: of what happened to Sam has ever been found, and
Speaker 1: as of this recording, in June of twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1: There have been no further case updates. Vincent G. Twenty
Speaker 1: four year old Vincent G disappeared on June eighteenth, twenty twenty,
Speaker 1: while hiking in the Longmire area of Mount Rainier National Park.
Speaker 1: Vincent had described as five foot five inches tall with
Speaker 1: black hair and brown eyes, and was wearing a blue
Speaker 1: and white tied eyed T shirt, black pants, and carrying
Speaker 1: a dark blue drawstring backpack at the time of his disappearance.
Speaker 1: He was an Indonesian student who was living in Seattle
Speaker 1: at the time. He had recently acquired a master's degree
Speaker 1: in business administration and was working as a production associate
Speaker 1: at West Seattle Foods. He was bilingual and spoke both
Speaker 1: English and Indonesian, with an intermediate understanding of Chinese and
Speaker 1: conversational Japanese. Vincent hiked the Alta Vista Trail at Paradise
Speaker 1: on June eighteenth, and he was last seen in the
Speaker 1: afternoon of Friday, June nineteenth, hiking the Van Trump Trail
Speaker 1: toward Mildred Point.
Speaker 2: When he fail to return home.
Speaker 1: Vincent was reported missing to the Pierce County Sheriff's Office
Speaker 1: on Monday, June twenty second. A Beyond the Lookout or
Speaker 1: BOLO notice was issued by the Pierce County Sheriff's Office
Speaker 1: for his vehicle, which was subsequently found at Longmire within
Speaker 1: Mount Hineer National Park. Dark began an official search for Vincent.
Speaker 1: There were three major searches in the park around this
Speaker 1: time as well, which is a cluster of missing people,
Speaker 1: something we look out for in the missing person's community.
Speaker 1: At that time, most park trails were melted by about
Speaker 1: five thousand feet elevation, with patchy snow on trails and
Speaker 1: in drainages at lower elevation. The park worked closely with
Speaker 1: the Indonesian Consulate in San Francisco, California, as well as
Speaker 1: Vincent's family members. Tacoma Mountain Rescue, Seattle Mountain Rescue, Olympic
Speaker 1: Mountain Rescue, German Shepherd Search Dog Team, Volcano Rescue Team,
Speaker 1: Washington State SAAR Planning Unit, and the Mountaineer National Park
Speaker 1: Search and Rescue teams all participated in the search. Nothing
Speaker 1: else was ever.
Speaker 2: Found after his vehicles recovered on June twenty fifth.
Speaker 1: Technical rescue teams joined the search to assist in searching steep,
Speaker 1: hazardous terrain. Alternative aviation assets were also used during the search,
Speaker 1: but all came up fifty. Vincent's sister Natasha thanked the
Speaker 1: searchers and Vincent's friend in a Facebook post for their
Speaker 1: overwhelming love and support. Despite the extensive efforts, there was
Speaker 1: never any evidence of Vincent's whereabouts. His parents had to
Speaker 1: return to Indonesia without knowing what happened to their son.
Speaker 1: The search forum entered limited continuous mode and as of
Speaker 1: this recording in June twenty twenty two, Vincent remains missing
Speaker 1: and there have been no further updates. Eric Lewis fifty
Speaker 1: seven year old Eric Lewis disappeared on July first, twenty
Speaker 1: ten while mountain climbing at Mountaineer National Park. Eric was
Speaker 1: climbing with two companions at the time of his disappearance.
Speaker 1: According to park officials, the theory had been ascending. The
Speaker 1: Gibraltar led his route in poor weather conditions with high
Speaker 1: wind and low visibility. However, the three war experienced climbers
Speaker 1: and everything was seemingly going well despite the storm and
Speaker 1: wintery conditions. The trio were making their way up the mountain.
Speaker 1: The lead climber was a man named Don Storm Junior,
Speaker 1: followed by the second climber on the rope Trevor lane.
Speaker 1: Then Eric was at the end of the line at
Speaker 1: thirteen nine hundred feet lead climber. Don stopped to rest
Speaker 1: and Trevor joined him. They waited a moment, and when
Speaker 1: Eric didn't show up, they pulled the rope up and
Speaker 1: discovered only a coil with a butterfly. Not Eric was
Speaker 1: nowhere to be found, though Don and Trevor had caught
Speaker 1: sight of him only moments before. They immediately began checking
Speaker 1: the slope below, but there was nothing, no sign of
Speaker 1: Eric at all. After they searched as thurly as they could,
Speaker 1: they continued to the summit ridge in case Eric had
Speaker 1: somehow gotten around him on the trail. When they arrived
Speaker 1: and realized Eric wasn't there either, Don and Trevor returned
Speaker 1: to Camp Muir and reported the situation to park rangers.
Speaker 1: Since the ground was blanketed with snow, it should have
Speaker 1: been possible, perhaps even easy, to follow Eric's footsteps, but
Speaker 1: the only prince found with those Eric made while right
Speaker 1: behind us friends. There was no indication of which direction.
Speaker 2: He could have gone.
Speaker 1: His climbing gear was soon found by searchers in an
Speaker 1: ice cave two hundred feet below, where he was reported missing.
Speaker 1: Eric's backpack, climbing harness, and snowshovel were found at thirteen thousand,
Speaker 1: six hundred feet, and they found a small snow cave
Speaker 1: at thirteen thousand.
Speaker 2: Eight hundred feet, but no sign of Eric.
Speaker 1: He did not have a tent, sleeping bag, or any
Speaker 1: food with him. Incident Commander Glenn Castler said two helicopters
Speaker 1: from Fort Lewis assisted the search, as well as a
Speaker 1: dozen skilled climbers. Despite the efforts, nothing else was found
Speaker 1: and had still unknown why Eric unclipped.
Speaker 2: From the rope.
Speaker 1: As of this recording June twenty twenty two, Eric remains
Speaker 1: missing and there been no further update. Joseph Lee Wood
Speaker 1: Junior Thirty four year old Joseph Wood disappeared on July eighth,
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety nine, from Mount Rainier National Park. At the
Speaker 1: time of his disappearance, Joe was a writer in bouquet
Speaker 1: editor in New York City. He worked at a nonprofit
Speaker 1: called The New Press, a publisher in Manhattan. As an
Speaker 1: editor of The New Press, Joe was also one of
Speaker 1: only half a dozen African American editors in the business
Speaker 1: at that time. He was on his way to many
Speaker 1: more accomplishments no doubt. Joe was born and raised in
Speaker 1: the Williams Bridge part of the Bronx. He had made
Speaker 1: Eagle Scout, the highest ranking attainable through the Boy Scouts
Speaker 1: of America, and loved the outdoors. Joe also liked going
Speaker 1: to jazz clubs, eating sushi, and writing, and was even
Speaker 1: starting to write his own fiction. He was educated at
Speaker 1: Riverdale Country School and Yale University. After Yale, Joe had
Speaker 1: started shooting a documentary about African American students at the
Speaker 1: Ivy League Institution. Jacquelin Glover, who worked with them on
Speaker 1: the documentary project, set a scene he really seemed to
Speaker 1: like was when one student who was searching to get
Speaker 1: his haircut, had to go to the black neighborhood. It
Speaker 1: was this great scene being there in these two worlds.
Speaker 1: Joe had flown to Seattle, Washington, on July seventh to
Speaker 1: attend Unity ninety nine, a national conference of minority journalists.
Speaker 1: It was at the first such gathering, held in Atlanta
Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety four, that Joe had met so many
Speaker 1: Segupta reported for The New York Times. They ended up
Speaker 1: living together for several years. However, the two had been
Speaker 1: separated some six months prior to the Unity ninety nine
Speaker 1: conference and had only a brief encounter after the opening
Speaker 1: ceremonies of the conference. Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Bradley was
Speaker 1: also in Seattle for the Unity ninety nine Journalism Conference.
Speaker 1: Joe was one of eight African American journalists to sit
Speaker 1: down for breakfast with mister Bradley at the Western Seattle
Speaker 1: Hotel on July eighth, and it was said that Joe
Speaker 1: had jumped right into asking the toughest questions. The willingness
Speaker 1: to address the difficult issues had on is what helped
Speaker 1: shape his career as an African American cultural critic in
Speaker 1: the predominantly white precincts of New York's publishing worlds. Joe
Speaker 1: had even edited anthology titled Malcolm X in Our Own Image,
Speaker 1: as well as writing major features for Rolling Stone and
Speaker 1: Vibe magazines about actor Denzel Washington and musician sly Stone.
Speaker 1: He was also working on his own memoir like meditation
Speaker 1: on the African American family in America. During his stay
Speaker 1: in Washington, Joe wanted to visit Mount Rainier National Park.
Speaker 1: Bird watching was a lifelong passion of Joe's, so he
Speaker 1: planned to do some hiking and birding at the park
Speaker 1: after attending the conference. On July eighth, he drove himself
Speaker 1: to the mountain and parked his rental.
Speaker 2: Car in a lot at the base.
Speaker 1: He brought a book, note pad, binoculars, and possibly a laptop,
Speaker 1: then presumably began walking up Mount Rainier's rampart Ridge Trail.
Speaker 1: It's unlikely that he was equipped for any serious adventuring
Speaker 1: while at the park, as the only planned to be
Speaker 1: there a short time. The next day, Friday, July ninth,
Speaker 1: when Joe didn't show back up for the journalism conference,
Speaker 1: his friends who were in town were concerned, but they
Speaker 1: didn't think anything was seriously wrong, and Joe had only
Speaker 1: told a casual acquaintance about his hiking plans at all.
Speaker 1: It wasn't until Sunday, July eleventh, when Joe did not
Speaker 1: return to New York, that so Many, Joe's former partner,
Speaker 1: knew something was terribly wrong. She began calling friends and
Speaker 1: family trying to locate Joe.
Speaker 2: But no one had heard from him.
Speaker 1: On Tuesday, July thirteenth, five days after Joe initially disappeared,
Speaker 1: so Many filed an official missing person's report. The next day, Wednesday,
Speaker 1: July fourteenth, park officials located Joe's rental car at the
Speaker 1: base of the mountain in a parking lot. Rangers immediately
Speaker 1: began searching for Joe upon this discovery. According to a
Speaker 1: receipt found, Joe had entered the park at twelve twenty
Speaker 1: nine pm on Thursday, July eighth, although he lacked a
Speaker 1: more sophisticated hiking gear, A receipt found with Joe's belonging
Speaker 1: showed that he had purchased a windbreaker in Seattle.
Speaker 2: This at least was good news.
Speaker 1: However, according to Joe's friends, he had a heart condition
Speaker 1: that had just been diagnosed in October of ninety eight
Speaker 1: after he had a fainting spell at an airport, and
Speaker 1: Joe was considering getting a pacemaker because of the event.
Speaker 1: This was not such good news because it added the
Speaker 1: possibility that Joe might have had one of these fainting
Speaker 1: spells while on the mountain. Throughout the search on July fourteen,
Speaker 1: nothing was found to indicate where exactly Joe had gone.
Speaker 1: Park service organized many search teams comprised of back country rangers, firefighters,
Speaker 1: and general volunteers. The teams fanned out along the southwest
Speaker 1: face of the mountain and scoured the landscape.
Speaker 2: They walked the creek.
Speaker 1: Beds, clambered down the ravines, and inspected whatever crooker crevice
Speaker 1: they came upon. Meanwhile, canine search and rescue teams covered
Speaker 1: the hiking trails and helicopters performed aerial searches. The specific
Speaker 1: issue with the search operation was during the winter of
Speaker 1: ninety eight ninety nine, Mount Rainier had been blanketed by
Speaker 1: the third heaviest snowfall in its recorded history. This meant
Speaker 1: that on the warmer and sunny couple of days after
Speaker 1: Joe's disappearance, as much as two feet of snow had
Speaker 1: quickly melted, washing away any tracks or sent that Joe
Speaker 1: might have left fall on the mount Nevertheless, the search continued,
Speaker 1: but sadly came up empty. On Thursday, July fifteenth, the
Speaker 1: last known person to have interacted with Joe came forward
Speaker 1: with the first and only lead in Joe's disappearance. He
Speaker 1: was another hiker named Bruce Gauman, who had met Joe
Speaker 1: around four PM at an elevation of about four thy
Speaker 1: eight hundred feet. There was around two feet of snow
Speaker 1: on the ground, but up ahead where Joe was headed.
Speaker 1: There was snow as high as eight feet. Joe chatted
Speaker 1: with Bruce about the birds he had seen on his
Speaker 1: hike so far. Bruce warned Joe about an unstable snowbridge
Speaker 1: a little ways up the trail, but Joe assured him
Speaker 1: that he was going to turn around soon. The strangers
Speaker 1: parted ways then, and Bruce continued down the mountain and
Speaker 1: left the park. Daniel Abramson, who was a San Francisco
Speaker 1: by his civil rights attorney and had been Joe's roommate
Speaker 1: at Yale, said that Joe didn't own hiking gear, didn't
Speaker 1: have a special jacket. We think he went up with
Speaker 1: books and a writing pad and possibly a laptop. It
Speaker 1: would have occurred first to him to bring books rather
Speaker 1: than a sweater. Daniel would end up joining the search
Speaker 1: party along with five other of Joe's friends. Joe was
Speaker 1: earnest in the best sense, said Matt Wyland, an editor
Speaker 1: at The New Press and one of the editors of
Speaker 1: the journal The Baffler. He admired writers and thinkers who
Speaker 1: thought about American culture and thought clearly and wrote clearly.
Speaker 1: On Friday, July sixteenth, there was a rainfall in the
Speaker 1: area that lowered temperatures, especially had significant elevations. This weather
Speaker 1: shift made the search more dangerous. Nevertheless, the search continued.
Speaker 1: On Saturday, July seventeen, Joe's father, Joe Senior, his mother Elizabeth,
Speaker 1: and his sister Pamela arrived at Mount Rainier. By that point,
Speaker 1: search and rescue leaders weren't hopeful that Joe would have
Speaker 1: been able to survive the ten days since his disappearance.
Speaker 2: Alone in the wilderness.
Speaker 1: Bone calls had come into the park offices from the
Speaker 1: Washington state Governor, Gary Locke, as well as the White
Speaker 1: House Press office in regards to Joe's disappearance. Park rangers
Speaker 1: decided to extend the search another day, citing and improving
Speaker 1: weather conditions. Still, no evidence of Joe was found despite
Speaker 1: these extensive efforts. Sunday, July eighteen, an emotionally difficult meeting
Speaker 1: was held in which rangers explained why they were scaling
Speaker 1: back the official search and rescue operation. The rangers believed
Speaker 1: that Joe had suffered from a horrible accident or perhaps
Speaker 1: a medical emergency, and there have been no trace of
Speaker 1: him after hundreds of hours of location efforts. They didn't
Speaker 1: believe he was alive, and on the move since hypothermia
Speaker 1: would have certainly set in without proper equipment and shelter,
Speaker 1: and they figured if he had a falling accident, searchers
Speaker 1: would have found him lying on the ground. Instead, they
Speaker 1: found nothing. There were no signs of a struggle, no
Speaker 1: equipment was found, nothing at all. It was if Joe
Speaker 1: had simply vanished. Rangers pointed to the mountains various dangers
Speaker 1: being the likely cause of Joe's disappearance. Theo men had
Speaker 1: also been lost on Mount Raineer so far that year.
Speaker 1: The park spokesperson named Maria Jelette did say that rangers
Speaker 1: would send a helicopter and canine teams back up the
Speaker 1: mountains the snow melted otherwise, the official search was concluded.
Speaker 1: Friends and family were understandably devastated. Many people had even
Speaker 1: gotten together to hire a private investigator, but nothing conclusive.
Speaker 2: Was ever found.
Speaker 1: Everyone wanted answers that there was absolutely nothing to go on.
Speaker 1: All they could do was mourn and wait for any
Speaker 1: further evidence to emerge. A final search was conducted in
Speaker 1: September of ninety nine, and again no trace or evidence
Speaker 1: of any kind of Joe was found. After the final search,
Speaker 1: Joe Wood was listed as the sixty fifth person to
Speaker 1: go missing on Mount Rainier without being found. As of
Speaker 1: this recording in June twenty twenty two, Joe remains missing
Speaker 1: and there have been no further updates. And finally, Chet Hanson,
Speaker 1: seven year old Chet Hanson, disappeared on November eleventh, nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety seven, along a day hike in Mountaineer National Park.
Speaker 1: Chet lived in Wilkinson, Washington and worked at Alaska Airways.
Speaker 1: He was known to be an avid photographer who planned
Speaker 1: on taking pictures while in the park. He was hiking
Speaker 1: on the Deer Creek Falls trailhead the day of his disappearance.
Speaker 1: Chet is described as a Caucasian male five foot ten
Speaker 1: inches tall, one hundred and seventy pounds with strawberry blonde hair.
Speaker 1: At the time of his disappearance, he was carrying around
Speaker 1: thirty five pounds of camera equipment with him while hiking,
Speaker 1: including different lenses, camera bodies, and a tripod. He was
Speaker 1: lightly dressed, wearing shorts and a fleeced shirt along with
Speaker 1: hiking boots. The weather was warm and decent on the
Speaker 1: day he went missing, and the area he planned to
Speaker 1: hike wasn't particularly challenging, so there was no reason to
Speaker 1: suspect anything would go amiss. Chet didn't show up for
Speaker 1: dinner that night, but his parents weren't initially concerned because
Speaker 1: they thought he could have been staying with friends. The
Speaker 1: next day, November twelve, when he didn't show up to
Speaker 1: work at Alaska Airlines, his employer contacted his parents and
Speaker 1: they reported him missing around two thirty pm. Friends and
Speaker 1: family found his vehicle soon after, located at the Deer
Speaker 1: Creek trailhead on Highway one twenty three on the east
Speaker 1: side of the park. In the car, it was a
Speaker 1: set of negatives, including one from Highway four ten and
Speaker 1: another from the Tipsu Lake area. There was also a
Speaker 1: set of house keys, his glass's case, and some papers,
Speaker 1: but there was no sign of any camera equipment or
Speaker 1: any indication of Chet's Squarebouts. Authorities launched an extensive search
Speaker 1: of the area, although Chet had left a specific itinerary.
Speaker 1: Helicopter dog teams at about thirty people participated in the search.
Speaker 1: Chet was a strong hiker, and he knew the Mountaineer
Speaker 1: area well. He also tended to do backcountry hiking and
Speaker 1: stay away from the trails. He had recently focused his
Speaker 1: photography on waterfalls and Lakes, which gave authorities at least
Speaker 1: a starting point. Another park visitor, Willard Olsen, and his girlfriend,
Speaker 1: before that they saw someone fitting Chet's description at Shriner
Speaker 1: Peak on November eleventh, at around midday. This helped narrow
Speaker 1: the search area even more. Search efforts expanded to include
Speaker 1: more cane irons, cadaver dogs, and up to one hundred searchers,
Speaker 1: but no further evidence was ever found. As of this recording,
Speaker 1: Chet Hansen is still missing. There's no shortage of disappearances
Speaker 1: and strange occurrences in Mount Rainter National Park. We may
Speaker 1: never know what really happened to these people. Is there
Speaker 1: something other worldly blamed for these bizarre encounters and urban legends?
Speaker 1: What about those who seemed to have simply vanished off
Speaker 1: the face of the earth. Things can change instantly, and
Speaker 1: there's more to our world than meets the eye. That's
Speaker 1: why we recommend that each person who was venturing into
Speaker 1: the wilderness carry a personal locator beacon at all times.
Speaker 1: Such a beacon will transmit a distress signal with its
Speaker 1: coordinates when activated. Remember, the more prepared we are, the
Speaker 1: better our chances of surviving should something go amiss on
Speaker 1: our adventures. Well, friends, what do you think of the
Speaker 1: strange occurrences here on Mount right here? Until we meet again,
Speaker 1: you get yourselves and each other stay safe out here.
Speaker 1: As for me, I'll see you a little farther on
Speaker 1: down the trail. I'm Steve Stockton and I'll talk to
Speaker 1: you next time.
Speaker 2: Hello. Friends.
Speaker 1: Today's video talk about some strange things that have been
Speaker 1: going on in Olympic National Park in Washington State, some
Speaker 1: claim maybe even ritual killings. Very recently, in mid September
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, rumors of resurfaced that there have been
Speaker 1: signs of cult rituals around in Olympic National Park in
Speaker 1: Washington State. This is extremely disturbing, especially to those in
Speaker 1: the paranormal community and those of us who follow missing
Speaker 1: persons cases international parks and forests and in woodlands all
Speaker 1: around the world. Before we get into the recent news
Speaker 1: of the resurfacing of these rumors about these occult rituals,
Speaker 1: let's talk a little bit about the history of the park.
Speaker 1: It's definitely one of America's most beloved and one of
Speaker 1: the most popular for tourists in the whole country. However,
Speaker 1: human hikers and campers may not be the only ones
Speaker 1: traversing these trails and ascending these mountains. There's well known
Speaker 1: rumors that most, if not all, our national parks are
Speaker 1: haunted to some degree, but this one in particular has
Speaker 1: a rich history with ghosts and spirits of all kinds,
Speaker 1: both high and lower, vibrational beings positive and negative.
Speaker 2: Essentially.
Speaker 1: Olympic National Park is a breathtaking park situated on Washington's
Speaker 1: Olympic Peninsula. While it's mostly known for its diverse climates
Speaker 1: and breathtaking scenery, many visitors have experienced something rather otherworldly here.
Speaker 1: One of the main areas where we'll find a haunting
Speaker 1: in this huge park is the Spruce Railroad trail that's
Speaker 1: said to be the location of ghostly sidings. In nineteen
Speaker 1: thirty seven, Halley Latham Illingworth was killed by her husband
Speaker 1: and her body was found decomposed in the lake. Visitors
Speaker 1: have reported siding of this Lady of the Lake wandering
Speaker 1: the eight mile trail searching for help. Whenever murder happens,
Speaker 1: there's bound to be some kind of haunting in the
Speaker 1: area where it took place. Just think of the energy
Speaker 1: there to think about the wilderness and deep dark woods
Speaker 1: in this particular park area, we shouldn't be able to help,
Speaker 1: But wonder is this the spirit of Halle Latham on
Speaker 1: a desperate and everlasting question to free her soul from
Speaker 1: the agony of having been murdered by a man who
Speaker 1: was supposed to love her, a man whom she loved
Speaker 1: very much. There have been many workers around the trails
Speaker 1: who have reported hearing strange noises, a child's giggle, a
Speaker 1: woman's scream, and evil voice demanding the workers get out
Speaker 1: of any specific area. Is this one of the reasons
Speaker 1: these so called cult rituals and activities have been carried
Speaker 1: out here at one of America's most haunted family and
Speaker 1: tourist destinations. It's definitely a possibility. Perhaps whatever's already here
Speaker 1: draws more evil to it. Here's everything we've been able
Speaker 1: to find out about the rituals and what could have
Speaker 1: possibly gone on here. We may even find a clue
Speaker 1: as to what else is lurking about in the woods,
Speaker 1: stalking innocent hikers and families camping. A retired FBI agent
Speaker 1: named Ted Gunderson announced on national television that he believes
Speaker 1: that a Satanic cults burial ground would be unearthed in
Speaker 1: the park in Mason County Washington. A law enforcement official
Speaker 1: for the United States Force Service named Jay Webster wasn't
Speaker 1: surprised at all to this announcement, and in fact, he
Speaker 1: may have even seen it coming. He reported seeing evidence
Speaker 1: that led him to believe a Satanic cult had been
Speaker 1: using the woods southwest of Shelton as their worship grounds.
Speaker 1: Ted Gunderson explained on national television that he was working
Speaker 1: with a civilian task force who'd gotten information from what
Speaker 1: he would only describe as credible sources that there are
Speaker 1: actual burial grounds and dead bodies in the dirt due
Speaker 1: to the sacrifices and worshiping that has taken place here.
Speaker 1: He claimed there are so many sacrifices, the bodies of
Speaker 1: both animals and humans, that it wouldn't be possible to
Speaker 1: dig all them up. The information he received alleged that
Speaker 1: there would be twenty bodies in just one of the
Speaker 1: sacrificial grounds. All of these seem to be located right
Speaker 1: inside the park, in the recreation areas where we hike
Speaker 1: and camp and picnic with our children. In these wooded
Speaker 1: areas where we set up our tents and sleep, along
Speaker 1: the edges of the trails where we go for day hikes.
Speaker 1: And take our selfish to post on social media, even
Speaker 1: right at the creepy stairway that allows entrance to the
Speaker 1: park from the Mason County side. It gives me the shivers,
Speaker 1: said one US Force Service employee of the predictions. Lieutenant
Speaker 1: Howard Armfield with the Mason County Sheriff's Department would neither
Speaker 1: confirm nor deny the rumors and speculation about the burial
Speaker 1: sites or satanic practices becoming a common thing in the
Speaker 1: parks and the woods nearby. Jay Webster, who patrols the
Speaker 1: areas in question and more for the Hoodsport Ranger District
Speaker 1: of Olympic National Forest, stated that despite their now feigning ignorance,
Speaker 1: the Mason County Sheriff's Department is well aware of his
Speaker 1: two very creepy encounters with some sort of backwoods devil worship.
Speaker 1: He recalled it. In June of nineteen eighty seven, a
Speaker 1: Sheriff's detective called him and told him that deputies had
Speaker 1: found signs indicative of a cult ritual having been carried
Speaker 1: out near the Forest Service boundary on a sand bar
Speaker 1: of the south fork of the Cocomish River, which is
Speaker 1: about fifteen miles northwest of Shelton. Mister Webster went on
Speaker 1: to state, in my mind, I knew what the perfect
Speaker 1: site would be for that sort of.
Speaker 2: Thing, and I drove right to it.
Speaker 1: We got there and found pentagrams that are popular with
Speaker 1: these cults, upside down crosses, goats heads drawn in the
Speaker 1: sand with a stick, candles, lots of melted wax aluminum
Speaker 1: foil to backlight the candles. And we found holes dug
Speaker 1: into the sand. I was half afraid to dig into
Speaker 1: them for fear of what I might find in there.
Speaker 1: I did, though, and there were only several layers of
Speaker 1: grass and sand, grass and sand, grass and sand. He
Speaker 1: also said that the year before all this, when Forest
Speaker 1: Service rules were prohibiting campfires because of the fire danger
Speaker 1: in the woods, he found a group of people who
Speaker 1: had built a fire on that same sandbar. However, he
Speaker 1: didn't think the check identification or even issue any citations.
Speaker 1: He simply asked them to put out the fire, and
Speaker 1: they did. He stated of the incident, it was one
Speaker 1: of those situations that I knew better than to get
Speaker 1: in too deep with them. Call it instinct or whatever.
Speaker 1: After all, at this time, he'd been working for the
Speaker 1: Forest Service for twenty two years at that point and
Speaker 1: felt he had great instincts of the job, something you
Speaker 1: need when you're out there all alone for hours and
Speaker 1: hours at night in the woods. Even the most well
Speaker 1: traveled places can seem isolated and dangerous in the middle
Speaker 1: of the night. After all, Jay Webster was almost positive
Speaker 1: that these people he'd come across were one and the
Speaker 1: same as the cult that had left behind all this paraphernalia.
Speaker 1: He goes on to explain that later on that same night,
Speaker 1: he noticed the group had to re lit the fire
Speaker 1: as he saw it from far away while on a
Speaker 1: ridge above the sandbar. Before going back and approaching a
Speaker 1: group that had grown from just a few to now
Speaker 1: about thirty adults and which should relet what was now
Speaker 1: a blazing fire, he had the police on standby and
Speaker 1: asked them to come up there as back up immediately
Speaker 1: if they saw or heard anything go wrong. He says,
Speaker 1: the people that were there were definitely on drugs. There's
Speaker 1: no question in my mind. I didn't see the symbolism
Speaker 1: I'd seen before, but the women disappeared into the shadows
Speaker 1: and left the men to deal with me.
Speaker 2: He remembered.
Speaker 1: When I left, they put the fire out. I went
Speaker 1: back to the hilltop to look down, and they were
Speaker 1: all chanting. I couldn't understand what it was they were saying,
Speaker 1: but it was definitely a chant That place is spooky
Speaker 1: to me now. He said he never found any indicator
Speaker 1: of blood, bones or human sacrifice, though. Residents, however, say
Speaker 1: that they were completely left in the dark about what
Speaker 1: was really going on in the woods up there, and
Speaker 1: that they were shocked and appalled at the news. The
Speaker 1: managing editor of the local newspaper, however, his name is
Speaker 1: Charlie Gay, stated that he had been hearing rumors and
Speaker 1: speculation about forced service agents stumbling upon what he only
Speaker 1: described as satanic remnants, but that has never actually been
Speaker 1: confirmed until now, that is, with the coming forth of
Speaker 1: Jay Webster's accounts after the FBI went on television with
Speaker 1: the news. Charlie Gay did speculate, however, that the FBI's
Speaker 1: prediction of what was going on in the woods of
Speaker 1: Mason County, specifically in Olympia National Park, had something to
Speaker 1: do with the case that was currently being tried in
Speaker 1: neighboring Thurston County. Were three people, two of whom are
Speaker 1: former members of the Thurston County Sheriff's Department were accused
Speaker 1: of multiple counts of sexual assault. These crimes have been
Speaker 1: confirmed to have occurred during a Satanic ritual of some kind.
Speaker 1: There have been many cases of missing people, namely hikers,
Speaker 1: who have vanished seemingly without a trace, in Olympic National
Speaker 1: Park since the so called Satanic Panic era of the
Speaker 1: eighties and early nineties, when the above information was still unfolding.
Speaker 1: Sometimes there are clues, but most of the time there
Speaker 1: are none. We look forward to covering these more recent
Speaker 1: and bizarre cases individually as they relate to these strange rituals.
Speaker 1: What is going on there in Washington? More specifically, what
Speaker 1: is going on in Olympic National Park? Could there really
Speaker 1: be occult rituals being carried out under the cover of
Speaker 1: night right there in the woods where so many have
Speaker 1: gone missing since the initial uncovering of what was before
Speaker 1: that a tightly kept secret by law enforcement. Could animals
Speaker 1: and even human beings really be being sacrificed to Satan
Speaker 1: and his minions? Most importantly, could this be just another
Speaker 1: the many things which are leading to all these strange
Speaker 1: and seemingly unexplainable cases of missing people taking place all
Speaker 1: around the world that has up until recently apparently been
Speaker 1: kept tightly guarded. In the last few years, so many
Speaker 1: missing person cases have come to sit it seems like
Speaker 1: the problem is increasing. We're going to stay current on
Speaker 1: this and hope to bring you some more recent information soon.
Speaker 1: Until then, maybe stay away from the woods and forest
Speaker 1: of not just Olympic National Park, but any national park
Speaker 1: or forest, or at least run away very quickly in
Speaker 1: the opposite direction. Should you happen to hear even a
Speaker 1: whisper of chanting in the darkness while you're laying in
Speaker 1: your tent, what do you think of these bizarre occurrences.
Speaker 1: I really look forward to reading your opinion on these.
Speaker 1: Please keep it friendly and respectful. In the meantime, you
Speaker 1: get yourselves and each other. I'll see you just a
Speaker 1: little farther on down the trail. I'm Steve Stockton, and
Speaker 1: I'll talk to you next time.
Speaker 2: Hello, friends.
Speaker 1: In this episode, recovering the mysterious case of a whole
Speaker 1: village of children that went missing while picking berries in
Speaker 1: your Colt Washington, now your cult Washington, strange place I've
Speaker 1: had the pleasure to visit on many occasions. First time
Speaker 1: I ever passed through there before I even knew anything
Speaker 1: about it. I felt that the place was off, and
Speaker 1: my traveling companion agreed.
Speaker 2: The name your.
Speaker 1: Cult literally translates to a place of evil spirits or
Speaker 1: haunted place and the language of the Kligotat and I want.
Speaker 1: It's certain why the area has such a mysterious name,
Speaker 1: but it speculated that a tribe that occupied the area
Speaker 1: long before settlers came along the click Atat and gave
Speaker 1: it that name. Now, we in this community all know
Speaker 1: that clusters of berry pickers got many of the missing
Speaker 1: person's map. Perhaps none are more mysterious than the story
Speaker 1: of the missing Yicult Washington children. Now, to understand how
Speaker 1: the children went missing, we must first visit the history
Speaker 1: of the area which the incident happened. In nineteen oh one,
Speaker 1: a massacre between two local tribes, the click Atat and
Speaker 1: the Willamie Indians, took place near a lush green forest
Speaker 1: where blueberries and wild strawberries grew in abundance. The click
Speaker 1: Attack claimed the berry area as their own and fiercely
Speaker 1: guarded it. Say journey, there's a tribe once a year
Speaker 1: in a pilgrimage to gather berries. On one occasion, though
Speaker 1: the click Attat found a group of Wlami tribesmen in
Speaker 1: the berry field, and a massacre ensued, with the click
Speaker 1: Attat being the victor of the battle. All the Willami
Speaker 1: were thought to have been slaughtered, but a young maiden
Speaker 1: from the doomed tribe managed to escape into the fort.
Speaker 1: Upon their return the following year, the click Atat heard
Speaker 1: an ethereal female voice singing the Willami death song from
Speaker 1: deep into the forest, and upon entering the area where
Speaker 1: the singing was coming from, saw the ghostly figure of
Speaker 1: the lone surviving maiden disappear into the woods. The singing continued,
Speaker 1: along with the sightings of her at random intervals. It
Speaker 1: was surmised by the Clickitat tribesmen that she was a
Speaker 1: ghost of her people, sent to an act revenge for
Speaker 1: the slaughter of the tribe. As mentioned previously, one of
Speaker 1: the translations of the word your cult is spirit. In
Speaker 1: the early eighteen hundreds, epidemics and plagues swept through this
Speaker 1: area and much of the Pacific Northwest, leaving the settlements
Speaker 1: that were established in the occult area decimated. In some villages,
Speaker 1: they lost up to ninety percent of their people from
Speaker 1: diseases like the black plague, influenza, smallpox, and cholera. Losing
Speaker 1: that many people at once caused the remaining villagers to
Speaker 1: move away from their homes, seeking others to form larger establishments.
Speaker 1: There were so many deceased relatives and neighbors the natives
Speaker 1: were unable to bury them all and had to leave
Speaker 1: the bodies out, exposed to the animals and elements. Over time,
Speaker 1: the homes they built would fall into disrepair, being reclaimed
Speaker 1: by the alments. Much like the bodies. The area would
Speaker 1: soon be barren and perfect for a new village to
Speaker 1: claim and build on, and that's exactly what would happen
Speaker 1: in this case. The first Anglo settlers to move into
Speaker 1: Your Colt were Andrew, Joseph and Charlotte Eaton in eighteen
Speaker 1: fifty two. The Eaton family left Wisconsin in search of
Speaker 1: a better life. Before landing in Your Colt, they had
Speaker 1: lived in a small settlement on the Lewis River. In
Speaker 1: eighteen seventy three, a flood destroyed that home. Having lost everything,
Speaker 1: the family moved west, where they eventually ended up in
Speaker 1: Your Colt. They lived in the area, being the only
Speaker 1: homestead until eighteen eighty seven. The next family to move
Speaker 1: into the area was the Garner family. Shortly after, more
Speaker 1: settlers moved to Your Cult, and the once eaton homestead
Speaker 1: was now growing as a town. The new settlers, Edgar
Speaker 1: Rotchie and the Land and Farger and maccutchen families helped
Speaker 1: to grow to the town's population to fifty by the
Speaker 1: turn of the century. Roschie started to keep a diary
Speaker 1: of the happenings in the town and of its residents.
Speaker 1: It's recorded that at least three of the residents had
Speaker 1: some type of mental issues. Having a good population and
Speaker 1: starting to prosper, the town of Your Cult was becoming
Speaker 1: a popular place to live. It's remembered that the townspeople
Speaker 1: were very welcoming to newcomers, often helping them build homes
Speaker 1: and cooking large meals to feed the volunteers as well
Speaker 1: as the new family. As the town grew, Rotchie continued
Speaker 1: to keep a diary of the curious residents, even writing
Speaker 1: about a man that claimed to be chased by little
Speaker 1: witches and was haunted by a spirit that talked to him.
Speaker 1: Being heavily involved in the gossip and all other news
Speaker 1: in Your Cult, Rochie details to other mysterious cases that
Speaker 1: were rumored to be happening around town. Another of these
Speaker 1: stories had a residence saying that he had visions of
Speaker 1: oil on his land and was also being haunted by
Speaker 1: little witches. The third townsperson was admitted into an asylum.
Speaker 1: The reasoning for this is unknown, although it seems there
Speaker 1: was something off about the town even then. As if
Speaker 1: these stories weren't weird enough, there were several illnesses that
Speaker 1: swept through the small community, affecting many citizens, such as cancer,
Speaker 1: the origin of which no one could explain. Becault was
Speaker 1: also known as the Town of Fire. It appears the
Speaker 1: town was cursed from the First Battle of the Natives
Speaker 1: until the turn of the next century. One of the
Speaker 1: worst fires in Washington's history struck the area and raged
Speaker 1: from September eleventh through the thirteenth of nineteen oh two.
Speaker 1: Dry winds upwards of sixty miles an hour blowing through
Speaker 1: three counties aided in the fire that destroyed just shy
Speaker 1: of three hundred thousand acres and taking the lives of
Speaker 1: thirty eight people. At least one hundred and forty six
Speaker 1: families homes were burned, displacing these citizens. Many grabbed what
Speaker 1: they could loaded their wagons, most barely escaping with their lives.
Speaker 1: Now that you cult proper was mostly in touch with
Speaker 1: the fire. Buildings survived a little to no damage. However,
Speaker 1: several farms were leveled and their animals perished. There were
Speaker 1: only a few families left after the fire had devastated
Speaker 1: your Cold. They would not yield to the fire's terar,
Speaker 1: rebuilding the town and deciding to stay. The circumstances surrounding
Speaker 1: the fire were mysterious, but it did provide a unique
Speaker 1: opportunity for their remaining residents. There were a lot of
Speaker 1: scorched and dangerous trees, known as widow makers. A man
Speaker 1: of the name of Frederick Wierhauser decided to make a
Speaker 1: business using the trees for timber to help rebuild the town,
Speaker 1: and business was good. Defected trees covered much of the
Speaker 1: surrounding lands and they were there for the taking. This
Speaker 1: also helped keep people safe, as these trees were dangerous
Speaker 1: and could fall at any moment. Building so many trees
Speaker 1: required a lot of help. Loggers came from far and wide,
Speaker 1: hoping to work for Wirehouses company. The town was rebuilt
Speaker 1: and the surface of trees were sold to paper mills.
Speaker 1: About the same time the lumber business was taking off,
Speaker 1: the Yakima Railroad finished an extension of track running from
Speaker 1: Battleground to Your Cult. This caused the population to explode,
Speaker 1: and it was now easier to move the trees on
Speaker 1: trains across the country. In nineteen oh eight, Your Cult
Speaker 1: became an incorporated town. Now, let's visit more about your
Speaker 1: Cult and the supernatural. As we've explained, it's no secret
Speaker 1: that your Cult is a mysterious area, and it has
Speaker 1: had many tragic events in its history. One resident, just
Speaker 1: eleven years old named Chloe Zafont started to see apparitions
Speaker 1: in her home. It started with a ghostly woman that
Speaker 1: would visit her bedroom and a red eyed man that
Speaker 1: would thump up and down the family's home stairs and
Speaker 1: stand at the foot of her bed, staring at her
Speaker 1: while she slept. Another tale talks of a ghost that
Speaker 1: likes to shake the tables of a town pub right
Speaker 1: in front of customers. I've been in this establishment and
Speaker 1: it does indeed have a strange feeling. Fact to the
Speaker 1: owner at the time told me that she often heard
Speaker 1: children laughing and running up and down the stairs at
Speaker 1: night when there was no one in the restaurant. Downstairs,
Speaker 1: I talked to another lady who claims that on her
Speaker 1: way home from school as a child, should often be
Speaker 1: chased by Native American braves that were only about three
Speaker 1: feet tall in an empty field behind her house. Now,
Speaker 1: these stories pale in comparison to the children that went
Speaker 1: missing while picking berries in the forest. So what happened
Speaker 1: to these children and where did they go? On a misty,
Speaker 1: rainy day, as many are here in the Northwest Territory,
Speaker 1: the click Atat tribes sent their children out to pick bears.
Speaker 1: They often used these berries to barter with other tribes
Speaker 1: for items they needed or wanted. As the children picked
Speaker 1: up their baskets and said their goodbyes, the adults would
Speaker 1: have no way of knowing this would be the last
Speaker 1: time they saw their children. Off into the forest. The
Speaker 1: kids went singing songs and talking amongst themselves. They needed
Speaker 1: to get back before dark, and the very patch was
Speaker 1: a couple of miles away. The rain made from Israbel Walk,
Speaker 1: and there was no time to play as they usually
Speaker 1: liked to do. Reaching the berry patch, they focused on
Speaker 1: filling their baskets when in the distance there was a
Speaker 1: woman singing a song. The woman from the legend, the
Speaker 1: children all simultaneously dropped their baskets full of the wonderful
Speaker 1: juicy berries and walked towards the singing. One by one,
Speaker 1: they disappeared into the forest. Hours passed, and the elders
Speaker 1: of the tribe began to worry. The children never took
Speaker 1: this long, and especially on a dreary day like this.
Speaker 2: Some of the.
Speaker 1: Native younger men formed a group and started toward the
Speaker 1: bury patch in search of the children. On reaching the
Speaker 1: very patch, the ministry deepened. They looked all around and
Speaker 1: called out for the children by name, but received no answer.
Speaker 1: The forest was eerily silent. The men decided to split
Speaker 1: up into two groups. One would stay in search, and
Speaker 1: one would return to the settlement to tell the elders
Speaker 1: of the trouble. They also needed to tell their medicine man.
Speaker 1: These medicine men were often used to find lost members
Speaker 1: or attract the missing well. While the others were gone,
Speaker 1: the first group continued to search. One of the men
Speaker 1: heard a faint crying sound coming from the trees in
Speaker 1: the distance. As the men cautiously approached, they could tell
Speaker 1: it was a child's sobbing. In fact, they seemed to
Speaker 1: recognize the voice of a boy from the village. The
Speaker 1: boy's father was fetched and he was able to lure
Speaker 1: the child from the trees. The child was found to
Speaker 1: be in shock. They rushed him back to the settlement
Speaker 1: and for days tried to get him to tell what
Speaker 1: had happened and where the other children were, But all
Speaker 1: the boy would say was they left me for the
Speaker 1: singing woman. The tribe members at this point knew the
Speaker 1: children were most likely lost to a churl. She's the
Speaker 1: type of spirit in the forest that likes to sing
Speaker 1: to lure unsuspecting souls, where she sucks their life force
Speaker 1: or kills them. She can shape shift and latches onto trees,
Speaker 1: which she can become one with. She's said to be
Speaker 1: the spirit of a woman that had died during childbirth.
Speaker 1: Blaming men for her plight, she targets them or the children,
Speaker 1: as the men are strong and the children youth. She's
Speaker 1: an extremely ugly creature with a forked tongue that's also
Speaker 1: black and uses it to cast spells to lure kids.
Speaker 1: She also has a pot belly and closs her hands. However,
Speaker 1: she can make herself beautiful through shape shifting. This is
Speaker 1: how she lures people in children. She usually lures by singing.
Speaker 1: Not long after the tragedy of that rainy, miserable day,
Speaker 1: the click Atat tribe completely vacated the area, calling it
Speaker 1: evil and cursed. Every settlement that came to the land
Speaker 1: there after was doomed to suffering. Each turn of a
Speaker 1: century saw the town people go missing, But unlike the
Speaker 1: group of children, they would just disappear one at a time.
Speaker 1: Many more tragic circumstances would ensue, strange deaths, crop failures,
Speaker 1: and as we spoke of the fire known as the
Speaker 1: Occult Burn that threatened to destroy the entire town. Today,
Speaker 1: Your Cult, Washington is a thriving little town, having tripled
Speaker 1: in size since the nineteen hundreds. Their stores, coffee shops,
Speaker 1: places where you can purchase art. You can even visit
Speaker 1: local farms for fresh meat and produce, although there have
Speaker 1: been some big foot sightings in the area recently. But
Speaker 1: your Cult will always be known for the mystery of
Speaker 1: the missing children of the click Atat tribe who disappeared
Speaker 1: while picking. Well, there you have it, folks, what a
Speaker 1: strange tale. If you're in this area of the Pacific Northwest,
Speaker 1: be sure and visit your cold see if you don't
Speaker 1: get a strange feeling inside the town. I look forward
Speaker 1: to your comments, but please keep it friendly and respectful.
Speaker 1: In the meanwhile, be good to yourselves and each other,
Speaker 1: and I'll see you just a little farther on down
Speaker 1: the trail. I'm Steve Stockton, and i'll talk to you
Speaker 1: next time.