Speaker 1: Today, I want to tell you about a journey that
Speaker 1: I've been on for most of my life. Ever since
Speaker 1: I was a kid, I've heard tales of bigfoot and
Speaker 1: wild men while spending time with my friends and family.
Speaker 1: As I grew older and read more about the paranormal,
Speaker 1: my interest in encryptids and other things strange only deepened.
Speaker 1: That's why I'm so excited to share with you what
Speaker 1: I've personally become involved with the Untold Radio Network. The
Speaker 1: Untold Radio Network is a live streaming podcast network that
Speaker 1: airs a new show every day across all podcast platforms, YouTube,
Speaker 1: and more. They have eight different shows on all sorts
Speaker 1: of exciting topics such as bigfoot, cryptids, UFOs, aliens, and
Speaker 1: much more. I even have my own show called Weird Encounters,
Speaker 1: where I talk about all things strange. This is more
Speaker 1: than just a podcast network. It's a community that allows
Speaker 1: me to meet so many amazing people who share their
Speaker 1: stories and experiences with strange. If you're interested in hearing
Speaker 1: more of these stories and learning more about the paranormal
Speaker 1: and encryptids, make sure you check out the Untold Radio
Speaker 1: Network for all kinds of exciting shows. It's free to subscribe.
Speaker 1: So what are you waiting for visit www dot untold
Speaker 1: radionetwork dot com today.
Speaker 2: Now, what are your reporting? I got a screen going
Speaker 2: on here. Something just kid with my dog, something to
Speaker 2: kill your dog? My dog. We're flying through there, over
Speaker 2: the tree. I don't know how it did it? Okay, Damn,
Speaker 2: I'm really confused. All I saw was my dog coming
Speaker 2: over the fence and name was dead once you hit
Speaker 2: the grill. I didn't see any cars. All I saw
Speaker 2: was my dog coming over the fence. Sat, what are
Speaker 2: you reporting? We got some wonder or something crawling around
Speaker 2: out here? Did you see what it was? It was
Speaker 2: enough here. Look, come new to window now and I
Speaker 2: don't need anything. I don't want to go outside. Hello,
Speaker 2: hit the buddy out here? What quin? I'm out there?
Speaker 2: It's thought of a mention about text nine. I don't know.
Speaker 2: Easy ann out there. Yeah, I'm welcome right heay.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to another installment of our series National Park Nightmares,
Speaker 1: where we continue to explore some of the most disturbing
Speaker 1: disappearances and unsettling mysteries to ever take place in our
Speaker 1: nation's most beautiful and unforgiving wild spaces. These are the
Speaker 1: stories that leave us with far more questions than answers,
Speaker 1: stories where the line between accident and something far more
Speaker 1: sinister becomes impossible to ignore. Tonight, we're starting with a
Speaker 1: case that's haunted the towering peaks and deep forests of
Speaker 1: Colorado for more than six decades. It's the heartbreaking and
Speaker 1: deeply disturbing story of a little boy named Robert Bobby
Speaker 1: bees Up, a ten year old who've vanished from a
Speaker 1: Catholic summer camp in the shadow of Rocky Mountain National Park.
Speaker 1: What happened to Bobby on that summer afternoon in nineteen
Speaker 1: fifty eight has never been fully explained, and the more
Speaker 1: you learn about this case, the more unsettling it becomes.
Speaker 1: This is a story of innocence lost, a massive search
Speaker 1: that turned up nothing, and a grim discovery high on
Speaker 1: Mount Meeker that should have brought answers but instead only
Speaker 1: deepened the mystery. It's a case that stretches beyond simple
Speaker 1: tragedy into the dark shadows of betrayal, cover up, and
Speaker 1: unanswered questions that persist to this day. So settle in,
Speaker 1: because Bobby Bisop's story is just the beginning. In the
Speaker 1: summer of nineteen fifty eight, ten year old Robert Bobby
Speaker 1: Bezup left his home in Denver, Colorado, for a week
Speaker 1: at Camp Saint Malo, a Catholic boys camp nestled at
Speaker 1: the foot of Mount Meeker just outside Rocky Mountain National Park.
Speaker 1: Camp Saint Malo was a place of adventure and reflection
Speaker 1: where boys hiked mountain trails, fished in cold streams, shot
Speaker 1: rifles at the camp range, and took time each day
Speaker 1: for spiritual devotion. It was considered a safe, wholesome environment
Speaker 1: for young Catholic boys to explore the outdoors under the
Speaker 1: guidance of seminarians and priests. For Bobby, Camp Saint Milo
Speaker 1: was a familiar place he had visited several times before,
Speaker 1: despite the challenges he faced. Born to Joe and Connie
Speaker 1: buzz Up, Bobby was their only child. He was nearly
Speaker 1: completely deaf and relied on lip reading, sign language, and
Speaker 1: a hearing aid in his left ear to communicate. Although
Speaker 1: he had difficulty speaking, especially when upset or frightened, Bobby
Speaker 1: was known as a sweet natured, trusting child with an
Speaker 1: adventurous spirit. No one could have imagined that Bobby's visit
Speaker 1: to Camp Saint Milo in August nineteen fifty eight would
Speaker 1: end in tragedy and spark one of Colorado's most enduring
Speaker 1: and unsettling mysteries, a story that more than sixty years
Speaker 1: later would still be raising troubling questions about the circumstances
Speaker 1: of his death and about those who were responsible for
Speaker 1: watching over him. On the afternoon of August fifteenth, nineteen
Speaker 1: fifty eight, Bobby was part of a group of boys
Speaker 1: fishing at Cabin Creek, a short hike from the main
Speaker 1: camp lodge. According to camp staff, the boys had been
Speaker 1: instructed to return to camp for dinner. Bobby was told
Speaker 1: by a counselor to head back early. The councilor later
Speaker 1: claimed that Bobby followed his directions and left the group alone,
Speaker 1: presumably making his way back along the familiar path, but
Speaker 1: Bobby never arrived. By evening. When it became clear he
Speaker 1: was missing, counselors organized a search. What began as a
Speaker 1: routine check soon escalated into something far more serious. Night
Speaker 1: fell and Bobby was nowhere to be found. He was deaf, alone,
Speaker 1: and vulnerable in the rugged terrain of the Colorado wilderness.
Speaker 1: As news spread of Bobby's disappearance, an extensive search and
Speaker 1: rescue effort was launched, it became one of the largest
Speaker 1: in Colorado history up to that time. Searchers included the military,
Speaker 1: National Park Service, personnel, state and local law enforcement, as
Speaker 1: well as hundreds of volunteers from the surrounding areas. Bloodhounds
Speaker 1: were brought in to pick up Bobby's scent, and plains
Speaker 1: flew overhead scouring the forests and mountains for any sign
Speaker 1: of him. The search covered every inch of ground surrounding
Speaker 1: Camp Saint Malo and the slopes leading into Rocky Mountain
Speaker 1: National Park. Searchers on horseback, on foot, and in the
Speaker 1: air combed thick forests, steep ravines, and rocky ledges. Yet,
Speaker 1: despite days and weeks of effort, they found nothing. No footprints,
Speaker 1: no articles of clothing, not even a hint of where
Speaker 1: Bobby might have gone. After an exhaustive effort, the search
Speaker 1: was eventually called off. Bobby was presumed to have gotten
Speaker 1: lost and perished in the wilderness, his body left somewhere
Speaker 1: out of reach of even the most determined searchers. Almost
Speaker 1: a year later, in July of nineteen fifty nine of hikers,
Speaker 1: three councilors, and a handful of boys from Camp Saint
Speaker 1: Malo climbed Mount Meeker directly west of the camp. During
Speaker 1: the hike, one of them stumbled upon a bone and
Speaker 1: a scrap of clothing. The councilor who made the discovery
Speaker 1: was Neil Hewitt, who at the time was in the
Speaker 1: seminary and had been among the last people to see
Speaker 1: Bobby alive. Further searches in the area turned up additional
Speaker 1: bones and more of Bobby's clothing. Dental records confirmed that
Speaker 1: the remains were his. His scattered bones were found more
Speaker 1: than two miles from the camp and nearly two thousand
Speaker 1: feet higher in elevation on the unforgiving slopes of Mount Meeker.
Speaker 1: The location was within Rocky Mountain National Park boundaries, in
Speaker 1: an area that searchers had already canvassed the previous summer.
Speaker 1: At the time, authorities concluded that Bobby had simply wandered
Speaker 1: too far and died of exhaustion and exposure. His death
Speaker 1: was ruled an accident. He was laid to rest at
Speaker 1: Fort Logan National Cemetery by his grieving parents, Joe and Comin,
Speaker 1: who carried the weight of their loss for the rest
Speaker 1: of their lives for years. That was the official story,
Speaker 1: A tragic accident in the wild, but in the decades
Speaker 1: that followed, troubling questions persisted. The area where Bobby's remains
Speaker 1: were found had been thoroughly searched the previous year. How
Speaker 1: could train searchers, the military and National Park rangers have
Speaker 1: missed his body, especially considering how close it was to
Speaker 1: previous search grids. More questions surfaced about the terrain itself.
Speaker 1: Bobby was a ten year old boy with significant hearing loss,
Speaker 1: unfamiliar with the complexities of the area. How could he
Speaker 1: have climbed so far over such rugged, steep terrain without
Speaker 1: being seen. The answers never came, and with time, the
Speaker 1: story faded into a painful memory until recently, in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one, investigative reporter Kevin Vaughan of nine News and
Speaker 1: the Nine Wants to Know Team brought new attention to
Speaker 1: Bobby's case. Their investigation uncovered deeply disturbing revelations about Camp
Speaker 1: Saint Malo and some of the men who were responsible
Speaker 1: for the boys in its care. Neil Hewitt, who had
Speaker 1: been one of the last people to see Bobby and
Speaker 1: who later discovered his remains, was later accused of molesting
Speaker 1: at least nine boys across four Colorado parishes after being
Speaker 1: ordained in nineteen sixty two. He left the priesthood in
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty two. Other councilors at Camp Saint Malo in
Speaker 1: nineteen fifty eight, Harold Robert White and Gerald Roppola, were
Speaker 1: also later revealed to be prolific child abusers. White in particular,
Speaker 1: became one of Colorado's most notorious pedophile priests, with more
Speaker 1: than seventy known victims. Nine Wants to Know also uncovered
Speaker 1: inconsistencies in the official timeline. Hewitt reportedly found Bobby's remains
Speaker 1: on July third, nineteen fifty nine, yet Father Richard Heister,
Speaker 1: the camp's director, did not report the discovery to the
Speaker 1: National Park Service until three days later, on July sixth.
Speaker 1: The delays, the over lapping testimonies, and the disturbing history
Speaker 1: of those involved prompted federal authorities to reopen Bobby's case.
Speaker 1: Then came an even more stunning development. Early in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one, federal investigators obtained what is believed to be
Speaker 1: Bobby Bisup's skull. For decades, it had been in the
Speaker 1: possession of a Colorado family. Doctor Tom McCloskey of Denver
Speaker 1: came forward and turned over the skull to investigators. He
Speaker 1: revealed that his father, doctor Joseph McCloskey, a prominent member
Speaker 1: of the Catholic Church and a close friend of father Heister,
Speaker 1: had originally had the skull in his possession. After his
Speaker 1: father's death in nineteen eighty, Tom took possession of it,
Speaker 1: knowing only that it was the skull of a boy
Speaker 1: who disappeared from the camp. For years, Tom tried to
Speaker 1: research its origins but found nothing until he watched the
Speaker 1: Nine Wants to Know documentary Mystery on Mount Meeker in
Speaker 1: late December twenty twenty. Realizing the skull might belong to Bobby,
Speaker 1: he contacted authorities and turned it over. The skull had
Speaker 1: been kept in a paper sack in his basement for years.
Speaker 1: DNA testing is now underway to confirm whether it is
Speaker 1: indeed Bobby's, but records from nineteen fifty nine show that
Speaker 1: Bobby's skull was never found during the original recovery. Larry Collins,
Speaker 1: a seasonal National Park Service employee who helped with the
Speaker 1: search that year, confirmed this fact. A Park Service report
Speaker 1: also made no mention of a skull being recovered. This
Speaker 1: discovery adds a chilling new layer to Bobby's story. The
Speaker 1: prevailing theory is that father Heaster took possession of the
Speaker 1: skull after Bobby's remains were found, and later gave it
Speaker 1: to his friend, doctor McCloskey. Father Heaster has since passed away,
Speaker 1: but his nephew told nine wants to know that he
Speaker 1: finds the situation deeply disturbing and incomprehensible. What were they
Speaker 1: hiding for? Long time prosecutor rich Orman? The findings are appalling,
Speaker 1: It's astounding, he said, and to me, it shows a
Speaker 1: guilty mind. I don't think you do something like this
Speaker 1: to a family without a guilty mind. Orman is not
Speaker 1: alone in his belief that there was an intentional effort
Speaker 1: to hide critical evidence in Bobby's case. The Archdiocese of
Speaker 1: Denver has stated they are cooperating with federal investigators and
Speaker 1: have provided all the materials they have from their archives.
Speaker 1: But the troubling legacy of clergy abuse at Camp Saint
Speaker 1: Malo and the unanswered questions surrounding Bobby's death remain. Why
Speaker 1: was Bobby's skull hidden, why did it take more than
Speaker 1: sixty years for it to resurface, and most importantly, what
Speaker 1: really happened to Bobby Bisop on August fifteenth, nineteen fifty eight.
Speaker 1: For Bobby's family, the resurfacing of his story after all
Speaker 1: these years, has reopened old wounds. His cousin, Harriet Dudach said,
Speaker 1: poor Bobby, he needs justice, you know, laid to rest
Speaker 1: and rest in peace.
Speaker 2: It's sad.
Speaker 1: She added that the revelations from the investigation left her
Speaker 1: in shock. Somebody could write a book about this, a
Speaker 1: mystery book, and there would be no ending. That's how
Speaker 1: I feel. All these years, nobody knew anything, and then
Speaker 1: all of a sudden a year or two ago, this
Speaker 1: came up, and it was such a shock. Federal investigators
Speaker 1: with the National Park Service and FBI continue their efforts
Speaker 1: to piece together the truth. They hope that modern forensic
Speaker 1: science and new testimony will finally provide the answers that
Speaker 1: Bobby Bisop's family has long sought. But until then, the
Speaker 1: tragic story of Bobby Bisop remains one of Colorado's most
Speaker 1: haunting unsolved cases, a tale of innocence lost in the
Speaker 1: Colorado Wilderness, of trust betrayed at a place that was
Speaker 1: supposed to be safe, and of a mystery that refuses
Speaker 1: to rest. As we close the file on Bobby's case,
Speaker 1: a young man whose sudden disappearance and the fragments left
Speaker 1: behind have haunted investigators and his loved ones alike, were
Speaker 1: left with a familiar sense of unfinished busines, business, a
Speaker 1: life paused mid sentence, a mystery that resists resolution. And
Speaker 1: while Bobby's story raises countless questions about what can go
Speaker 1: wrong in the wilderness, it's far from unique. There's something
Speaker 1: about remote places, vast stretches of untamed land where the
Speaker 1: rules seem to shift and logic loses its footing mountains,
Speaker 1: forests and open spaces that seem to swallow people whole,
Speaker 1: leaving little behind but theories and echoes. And it's in
Speaker 1: this space, the gray area between fact and folklore, that
Speaker 1: we find our next story. This time we travel back
Speaker 1: to the summer of nineteen eighty one, high in the
Speaker 1: Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, a place known for its
Speaker 1: rugged beauty, steep granite cliffs and crystalline alpine lakes. It's
Speaker 1: a place where nature draws you in with its serenity
Speaker 1: and sometimes refuses to let you go and stay tuned
Speaker 1: for more Sasquatch ott to see We'll be right back
Speaker 1: after these messages. This is where fourteen year old Stacy
Speaker 1: ann Aaris vanished without a trace in what should have
Speaker 1: been a simple afternoon walk during a horseback riding trip
Speaker 1: at Yosemite National Park. But what began as an ordinary
Speaker 1: outing quickly spiraled into one of the park's most puzzling
Speaker 1: and enduring mysteries, and nearly half a century later, we're
Speaker 1: still asking what happened to Stacy ann Aris. In the
Speaker 1: summer of nineteen eighty one, a fourteen year old girl
Speaker 1: named Stacy ann Airis vanished without a trace in one
Speaker 1: of America's most iconic national parks, Yosemite. Her disappearance remains
Speaker 1: one of the park's most baffling unsolved mysteries. Stacy was
Speaker 1: an active, bright teenager from Saratoga, California. She was a
Speaker 1: white female, standing five feet five inches tall, weighing about
Speaker 1: one hundred twenty pounds, with straight shoulder length blonde hair.
Speaker 1: On the day she went missing, Stacy was wearing a
Speaker 1: white pullover windbreaker, a white jaur blouse with a square
Speaker 1: neckline and lace trim shorts with vertical maroon and white stripes,
Speaker 1: along with intermittent sky blue pin stripes and gray hiking
Speaker 1: boots with vibrum soles. She also had a gold tone
Speaker 1: anklet and wore a dental retainer on her upper teeth.
Speaker 1: Stacy and her father were on a special father daughter trip,
Speaker 1: part of a guided four day High Sierra Loop tour.
Speaker 1: The group, totaling ten people, was riding mules through Yosemite's
Speaker 1: breathtaking wilderness. On July seventeenth, nineteen eighty one, they arrived
Speaker 1: at Sunrise High Sierra Camp, situated at an elevation of
Speaker 1: roughly ninety four hundred feet, around three pm. This remote
Speaker 1: camp offers sweeping views of alpine meadows and lakes and
Speaker 1: serves as a stopover for hikers and mule riders. After arriving,
Speaker 1: Stacy took a shower and settled into her cabin. She
Speaker 1: expressed interest in stretching her legs after the mule ride
Speaker 1: and decided to take a short hike. Her plan was
Speaker 1: to walk to nearby Sunrise Lakes, a popular scenic spot
Speaker 1: about one and a half miles from the camp. Stacy
Speaker 1: wasn't planning to hike Alane. She invited a seventy seven
Speaker 1: year old man from their group to a companier They
Speaker 1: started off together, but the man quickly tired and sat
Speaker 1: down to rest not far from the trail. Stacey continued
Speaker 1: walking a short distance ahead. At one point, the guide
Speaker 1: who had led the mule group, who was tending to
Speaker 1: the animals at the camp corral, spotted Stacy standing on
Speaker 1: a rock about fifty yards south of the trail. He
Speaker 1: later said she appeared to be either admiring the view
Speaker 1: or possibly taking photographs. Stacy had reportedly brought a small
Speaker 1: camera on the hike. That brief glimpse was the last
Speaker 1: confirmed sighting of her. When Stacy didn't return promptly, her
Speaker 1: father and others in the group became concerned. By evening,
Speaker 1: a formal search was initiated. The search for Stacy was
Speaker 1: immediate and extensive. Yosemite's search and rescue team was quickly mobilized.
Speaker 1: Over the following days, more than one hundred personnel were involved,
Speaker 1: including ground teams, dog handlers, mounted units, helicopters, and even divers.
Speaker 1: Searchers meticulously combed the rugged alpine terrain, covering cliffs, lakes,
Speaker 1: and dense forest areas around the camp and along the
Speaker 1: trail to Sunrise Lakes. Despite the massive effort and ideal
Speaker 1: weather conditions at the time. No significant clues were ever found,
Speaker 1: no clothing, no camera, no personal items, and not a
Speaker 1: single track or sign of Stacy turned up. The search
Speaker 1: was ultimately scaled back after about nine days and Stacy
Speaker 1: was declared missing. Several factors make Stacy's disappearance especially puzzling.
Speaker 1: She was last seen within sight of the camp, in
Speaker 1: an open area, not far from others. It wasn't a
Speaker 1: remote or isolated trail. Her intended hike was a short
Speaker 1: one and a half mile round trip. Stacy was reportedly
Speaker 1: in good physical condition and accustomed to the outdoors. Despite
Speaker 1: thorough search using dogs and aerial support, not even a
Speaker 1: hint of evidence was found, no footprints, belongings, or clues
Speaker 1: indicating where she went. She simply vanished silently, with no
Speaker 1: one hearing calls for help or signs of an accident,
Speaker 1: which is strange in an area where sound travels easily.
Speaker 1: Many theories have been suggested over the years. Some believe
Speaker 1: Stacy fell or became injured in a hard to reach area,
Speaker 1: perhaps falling into one of the steep granite shoots or
Speaker 1: hidden crevices that litter the region. Others wonder if an
Speaker 1: animal attack was responsible, though there were no signs of
Speaker 1: a struggle or remains. More speculative theories suggest Stacy might
Speaker 1: have been abducted, although no evidence supports this theory either.
Speaker 1: Some paranormal enthusiasts have even tied her case to mysterious
Speaker 1: disappearances in wilderness areas, often linked to the so called
Speaker 1: missing four one one phenomena. Officially, Stacy ann ARUs is
Speaker 1: still classified as missing. Her case remains open with the
Speaker 1: now National Park Service and law enforcement agencies. Over the years,
Speaker 1: there have been no credible leads or developments, No remains
Speaker 1: have ever been recovered, and no physical evidence has surfaced
Speaker 1: to shed light on what happened to her. In the
Speaker 1: years since her disappearance, Yosemite officials have been reluctant to
Speaker 1: release detailed reports about the case, which has fueled further
Speaker 1: mystery and speculation among researchers in the public. Stacy's disappearance
Speaker 1: is often cited as one of the strangest and most
Speaker 1: chilling cases of a person vanishing in a national park.
Speaker 1: It serves as a sobering reminder of how quickly and
Speaker 1: quietly someone can go missing, even in the presence of
Speaker 1: others and under seemingly safe conditions. Her family never gave
Speaker 1: up hope, and her story continues to be told in
Speaker 1: an effort to find answers, or at least bring closure.
Speaker 1: The case of Stacy ARUs remains one of the most
Speaker 1: haunting disappearances in the history of our national parks. A
Speaker 1: young woman full of life and potential vanishes se aemingly
Speaker 1: without a trace on a bright afternoon in Yosemite. No
Speaker 1: clear evidence, no definitive answers, just a string of agonizing
Speaker 1: questions for her family and for those who continued to
Speaker 1: search for meaning in these remote wilderness vanishings. And while
Speaker 1: Stacy's story took place in nineteen eighty one, decades before
Speaker 1: and in a different park altogether, it's impossible to hear
Speaker 1: it and not draw comparisons to another puzzling case, this
Speaker 1: one much more recent, but no less mysterious, a case
Speaker 1: that unfolded hundreds of miles away in one of the
Speaker 1: most iconic and treacherous landscapes in America, the Grand Canyon.
Speaker 1: On March thirty first, twenty eleven, Adam Clayton Lyle Jones,
Speaker 1: a twenty three year old from Gulf Breeze, Florida, left
Speaker 1: his family home and embarked on a cross country road trip.
Speaker 1: Like Stacy, Adam was young, independent, and familiar with travel.
Speaker 1: His family described him as quiet but thoughtful, intelligent, and creative.
Speaker 1: His parents, who remained largely private about their lives, raised
Speaker 1: him in a close knit household in the small coastal
Speaker 1: town of Gulf Breeze. Nothing in his background suggested he
Speaker 1: was impulsive or reckless. Yet, for reasons that still aren't clear,
Speaker 1: Adam set out alone, driving west in his light blue
Speaker 1: Oldsmobile Delta eighty eight, a car that was already a
Speaker 1: bit of a relic. Much like his decision to travel
Speaker 1: without a cell phone, he packed light, taking only his laptop.
Speaker 1: He didn't mention any concerns. He simply said goodbye and left.
Speaker 1: For more than a month, no one heard from Adam,
Speaker 1: and then, on May fifth, twenty eleven, his car was
Speaker 1: found abandoned by a park ranger at the South Rim
Speaker 1: visitor Center in Grand Canyon National Park. Oddly, Adam had
Speaker 1: not yet been reported missing. It was the ranger's discovery
Speaker 1: in the subsequent contact with Adam's parents that set the
Speaker 1: official search in motion. Inside his car, searchers found an
Speaker 1: itinerary detailing stops in California and Colorado, but nothing else
Speaker 1: to suggest where Adam might have gone once he reached
Speaker 1: the Grand Canyon. Just like with Stacy, no physical evidence
Speaker 1: has ever turned up to indicate what happened after Adam's arrival.
Speaker 1: He had no phone on him, no way to communicate
Speaker 1: if something went wrong, and the Grand Canyon, much like Yosemite,
Speaker 1: is a vast and unforgiving wilderness where a wrong step
Speaker 1: or a sudden change in weather can mean disaster. Yet
Speaker 1: in Adam's case, there were no signs of distress, no
Speaker 1: reports of someone fitting his description seen on the trails,
Speaker 1: and no personal belongings were covered in any nearby areas.
Speaker 1: The similarities are hard to ignore. Both cases involve young
Speaker 1: adults who vanish without a trace in popular national parks
Speaker 1: under circumstances that defy easy explanation. In both cases, there
Speaker 1: were thorough searches, yet nothing substantial was ever found, and
Speaker 1: both cases have left families grappling with the ache of uncertainty,
Speaker 1: still searching for answers all these years later. But Adam's
Speaker 1: case also raises some unique questions. Why was his car
Speaker 1: parked at the visitor center for days, maybe weeks before
Speaker 1: anyone noticed. Did he follow his planned itinerary or did
Speaker 1: he veer off course? Was he perhaps seeking solitude or
Speaker 1: something spiritual, as some have speculated, or was he the
Speaker 1: victim of a tragic accident or something more sinister. Some
Speaker 1: even wonder whether foul play could have been involved, although
Speaker 1: there's been no direct evidence of that. Others theorize he
Speaker 1: may have chosen to disappear intentionally, but his close ties
Speaker 1: to his family make that theory harder to believe. Today,
Speaker 1: Adam Clayton Lyle Jones remains missing. His case, much like
Speaker 1: Stacy ann Aris's, is a chilling reminder of how easy
Speaker 1: it is to vanish in the wild, even in places
Speaker 1: that are supposed to be safe and well traveled, And
Speaker 1: for both their families, the hope for answers has never faded.
Speaker 1: As we close the chapter on the strange and unsettling
Speaker 1: case of Adam Jones, a young man whose vanishing act
Speaker 1: left more questions than answers, we moved now to another case,
Speaker 1: one that echoes with many of the same eerie silences,
Speaker 1: baffling details, and lingering mysteries. But this time our story
Speaker 1: winds its way into the misty heart of one of
Speaker 1: America's most visited, and some would say most haunted wildernesses
Speaker 1: the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was early spring
Speaker 1: twenty twelve. The Smokies were just beginning to stir from
Speaker 1: their long winter. Hush ice gave way to trickling streams,
Speaker 1: and leafless branches stood like dark fingers against a gray sky.
Speaker 1: On March the seventeenth of that year, twenty four year
Speaker 1: old Derek Joseph Luking, known to his friends as DROC
Speaker 1: or simply DJ, stepped out of his hotel room at
Speaker 1: the Microtail Inn in Suites in Cherokee, North Carolina. It
Speaker 1: was around four am, and security cameras captured his final
Speaker 1: known movements as he left quietly into the still dark mourning,
Speaker 1: carrying only a small day pack on his back. No fanfare,
Speaker 1: no witnesses, no clear destination. What followed was a mystery
Speaker 1: that has tormented his family, baffled investigators, and sparked endless speculation.
Speaker 1: But before we get to that, we have to ask
Speaker 1: who was Derek Luking. Born and raised in northern Virginia,
Speaker 1: Derek was a kind hearted, introspective young man. He graduated
Speaker 1: from Johnson University in Knoxville, Tennessee with a degree in
Speaker 1: Bible studies and worked as an orderly at Peninsula Behavioral
Speaker 1: Health Center. His friends and family described him as dependable
Speaker 1: and easy going, though in the months before his disappearance
Speaker 1: they began to notice subtle changes. His father, Tim Luking,
Speaker 1: observed that Derek had started drinking, smoking, behaviors out of
Speaker 1: character for a young man who had once held himself
Speaker 1: to a stricter moral code. He was restless, uncertain about
Speaker 1: his future, and, as many recent graduates can attest, grappling
Speaker 1: with the weight of adulthood's expectations. Still, nothing could have
Speaker 1: prepared his family for what would come next. On March fifteenth,
Speaker 1: Derek didn't show up for work. His roommate, Ryan Molden,
Speaker 1: was the first to raise the alarm after Derek failed
Speaker 1: to answer repeated calls and texts. Concern turned into dread
Speaker 1: as Ryan contacted Derek's family, who immediately left their home
Speaker 1: in Virginia and drove through the night to Tennessee. Searching
Speaker 1: Derek's computer and personal effects, they discovered his plans searches
Speaker 1: related to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and hotel
Speaker 1: reservations in Cherokee. It seemed Derek was heading for the wilderness.
Speaker 1: By March seventeenth, Derek's family found his white Ford Escape
Speaker 1: parked in the lower lot at Newfound Gap, a scenic
Speaker 1: overlook straddling the Tennessee North Carolina state line. Newfound Gap
Speaker 1: is a place where the Appalachian Trail crosses the mountains,
Speaker 1: offering both awe inspiring views and beyond the trailheads a
Speaker 1: vast unforgive wilderness. But what they found inside Derek's vehicle
Speaker 1: only deepened the mystery. The suv contained more than one
Speaker 1: thousand dollars worth of newly purchased survival gear, a tent,
Speaker 1: sleeping bag, pack, axe, compass, pocket knife, knife, sharpener, lamp,
Speaker 1: granola bars, one hundred feet of black parachute cord, a
Speaker 1: survival belt with a multi toool, flashlight and firestarter. He
Speaker 1: had pages torn from a military survival manual, his wallet
Speaker 1: with cash still inside, and five empty Walmart bags from
Speaker 1: recent purchases. The car keys were there. Everything he would
Speaker 1: have needed for an extended stay in the wild had
Speaker 1: been left untouched. It was as if Derek had carefully
Speaker 1: gathered the tools for a serious backcountry adventure and then
Speaker 1: changed his mind at the last second. Then came the note,
Speaker 1: simple cryptic, don't try to follow me. Those five words
Speaker 1: sent a chill through his loved ones and would shape
Speaker 1: the trajectory of the search to come. Was it a farewell,
Speaker 1: a warning, a misdirection? No one could say. Despite the
Speaker 1: ominous message, Derek's family and park rangers pressed on. Search
Speaker 1: and rescue teams mobilized quickly. They combed the area around
Speaker 1: Newfound Gap with dog teams, helicopters, and trained personnel. Rangers
Speaker 1: spoke with campers, hikers, and anyone else who might have
Speaker 1: crossed paths with Derek that day, but no one had
Speaker 1: seen him. On what was a sunny, bustling day in
Speaker 1: the park, Derek Luking might as well have vanished into
Speaker 1: thin air. Some speculated that he left the trail immediately
Speaker 1: after parking, possibly heading off trail to avoid being seen.
Speaker 1: Others wondered whether he might have attempted to emulate his
Speaker 1: survival hero bear grills, testing himself against nature with minimal gear,
Speaker 1: something his family feared he wasn't equipped to do. Despite
Speaker 1: his interest in survival shows, Derek wasn't known to be
Speaker 1: an experienced outdoorsman, and the Smokies beautiful as they are,
Speaker 1: are dangerous place to get lost, and stay tuned for
Speaker 1: more sasquatch ot to see, We'll be right back. After
Speaker 1: these messages, rugged terrain, unpredictable weather, and dense rhododendron thickets
Speaker 1: can disorient even the most seasoned hiker. There was a
Speaker 1: potential siding along Newfound Gap Road shortly after his car
Speaker 1: was discovered, but it led nowhere. Search teams walked over
Speaker 1: seventy miles of trail in the surrounding areas, often pushing
Speaker 1: deep into impassable brush and cliff side ravines. They used
Speaker 1: every clue and hunch they could find, Yet no footprints,
Speaker 1: no clothing scraps, no broken branches or disturbances. Nothing. Weeks
Speaker 1: passed than months. The case took another strange twist when,
Speaker 1: during the continued search for Derek, rangers discovered human remains
Speaker 1: in the park. At first, there was hope grim though
Speaker 1: it may be that Derek had been found, but the
Speaker 1: remains belonged to another missing young man, Michael Giovanni Cocchini,
Speaker 1: just twenty three years old, who had disappeared only days
Speaker 1: after Derek. Couccini's car was found parked along Newfound Gap Road,
Speaker 1: and his skull fragment was later located less than a
Speaker 1: mile from his vehicle. Like Derek, Cocchini had seemingly wandered
Speaker 1: into the wilderness and never returned. Two young men similar
Speaker 1: ages disappearing within days of each other from the same
Speaker 1: park pure coincidence or was something more sinister at play
Speaker 1: in these mountains? For Derek's family, theories abound. Some believe
Speaker 1: he planned to end his life, marking his grandfather's death
Speaker 1: anniversary with his own vanishing act. But why buy so
Speaker 1: much survival gear? Why leave behind tools that might have
Speaker 1: helped him survive? Others suspect foul play. Was Derek forced
Speaker 1: to leave the note? Did he meet someone in the
Speaker 1: woods that day who wished him harm? Despite hundreds of
Speaker 1: miles of trail searchesmultiple dog teams, helicopters, and persistent efforts
Speaker 1: by both park rangers and volunteers, no definitive trace of
Speaker 1: Derek Luking has ever been found. His family still holds
Speaker 1: out hope. They maintain a Facebook page help find Derek
Speaker 1: Luking and continue to spread awareness, hoping one day a hiker,
Speaker 1: a camper, or perhaps even Derek himself might come forward
Speaker 1: with answers. His father posted a letter regarding his son's
Speaker 1: disappearance on Help Find Derek a Facebook page, saying I
Speaker 1: know many of you have questions concerning Derek's disappearance and
Speaker 1: have seen conflicting information in the news reports. I have
Speaker 1: put together the following information in the hopes of clarifying
Speaker 1: questions you may have. Derek went missing Wednesday, March fourteenth,
Speaker 1: from his home in Louisville, Tennessee. Over the next two days,
Speaker 1: he purchased over one thousand dollars in camping supplies from
Speaker 1: Bass Pro Shop, Knife Works, and Coalman's. We believe he
Speaker 1: stayed at the Motel six on the fourteenth, Smokemont Campground
Speaker 1: in the Park on the fifteenth, and the Microtail Hotel
Speaker 1: and Cherokee on the sixteenth. His car was found March
Speaker 1: seventeenth at eight thirty am at Newfound Gap in the
Speaker 1: Smoky Mountains after family saw him leave the Microtail Hotel
Speaker 1: alone in Cherokee, North Carolina through video footage at four am.
Speaker 1: A note stating only don't look for me was found
Speaker 1: in his car, along with wallet and car key. The
Speaker 1: note was not addressed to anyone, so it could have
Speaker 1: been for us or the rangers. The Great Smoky Mountain
Speaker 1: Park Service has never quit searching for Derek, as they
Speaker 1: repelled down some high cliffs March twenty ninth and did
Speaker 1: not find anything. The rangers, park employees, volunteers, and trail
Speaker 1: runner continue to look for him. Rangers are also still
Speaker 1: looking into the investigation aspect of this case, following up
Speaker 1: purchases he made and trying to find out if there
Speaker 1: are any other significant clues in the recent past. We
Speaker 1: are extremely grateful for their continued efforts. Derek was a
Speaker 1: of the survivalist Bear Grill's TV show, and theoretically he
Speaker 1: did have the necessary supplies to live in the woods
Speaker 1: for a long period of time, but he did not
Speaker 1: take all the camping gear he purchased. We believe he
Speaker 1: had at least a backpack, a waterproof watch, a Bear
Speaker 1: Grills survival tool pack including a multitool, small flashlight, firestarter rod,
Speaker 1: a gerber pack axe, several pages of a military survival manual,
Speaker 1: a knife sharpener, a compass thermometer, one hundred feet of
Speaker 1: black parachute cord, a headlamp, pocket knife, iPod touch, and
Speaker 1: some granola bars. He also purchased additional supplies from Walmart
Speaker 1: for cash. Five empty bags were found in the car
Speaker 1: with open packaging listing Walmart, but we have not been
Speaker 1: able to confirm what he purchased. Appalachian Trail hikers who
Speaker 1: have talked to the family have said that Derek could
Speaker 1: survive for a long time with the supplies he had.
Speaker 1: Searchers have hiked hundreds of miles of trails the weeks
Speaker 1: after his disappearance, which include using multiple dog scent trackers,
Speaker 1: three different days using helicopters, and one night helicopter. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: no significant clues were found leading to Derek, but rangers
Speaker 1: still believe he is in the park somewhere, possibly off trail.
Speaker 1: The Park Service initially asked our family not to search
Speaker 1: directly for Derek to avoid contaminating clues, and wanted trained
Speaker 1: Park Service searcher on the trails, so we handed out
Speaker 1: a flyer with Derek's picture to everyone who hit the trails.
Speaker 1: As the Park Services direct search wound down, we started.
Speaker 1: Our family and friends, along with other concerned people, gathered
Speaker 1: the twenty fourth and twenty fifth of March to search
Speaker 1: for Derek. A total of over sixty people show up
Speaker 1: to hike and hand out flyers. Hikers that showed up
Speaker 1: hiked a total of about one hundred and seventy five
Speaker 1: miles of trail, and people handed out about three thousand
Speaker 1: flyers to people in the park and the surrounding areas.
Speaker 1: There is still the possibility that Derek is not in
Speaker 1: the Great Smoky National Park. We would like to make
Speaker 1: sure the information about him is available to the public.
Speaker 1: The family has not given up hope on finding Derek
Speaker 1: and is doing anything in their power to work with
Speaker 1: and help the rangers who are investigating, as well as
Speaker 1: trying to make sure the information is out in the
Speaker 1: world as well. There is a Facebook page Find Derek
Speaker 1: Luking that the family is keeping up to inform anyone
Speaker 1: interested about the case. Please help spread the word to
Speaker 1: anyone hiking in the Smoky Mountain area to keep an
Speaker 1: eye out for Derek, and so the Smoky Mountains keep
Speaker 1: their secrets. The fog rolls in at dusk, swallowing the trail,
Speaker 1: The wind whispers through the ancient trees, and somewhere out there,
Speaker 1: Derek J. Luking's story remains unfinished. To do in sh
Speaker 1: to p