1 00:00:05,759 --> 00:00:08,240 Speaker 1: I was eighteen and I had just moved into a 2 00:00:08,279 --> 00:00:12,080 new state to start college soon. I only had a 3 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:15,759 few days before classes started, but I wanted to explore 4 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:20,120 a little while I had the chance. The area around 5 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:23,839 the campus was full of forests and hills with tons 6 00:00:23,879 --> 00:00:27,120 of outdoorsy stuff to do, so I found a trail 7 00:00:27,239 --> 00:00:30,640 that I thought looked nice and drove down one afternoon 8 00:00:30,879 --> 00:00:34,479 to walk it. Online it said it was only a 9 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:38,119 two hour trip, so I didn't bring much, only a 10 00:00:38,119 --> 00:00:42,759 camelback for water. There were no other cars parked at 11 00:00:42,759 --> 00:00:46,280 the specific spot, which made me assume nobody else was 12 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:50,159 on it. But not far in, I walked past another hiker. 13 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:53,399 He was sitting on a fallen tree off the side 14 00:00:53,399 --> 00:00:55,640 of the trail and nodded his head at me as 15 00:00:55,679 --> 00:00:58,880 I passed by. It looked like he was on his 16 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:02,600 way out because he was sweating and looked somewhat dirty, 17 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:07,000 like he'd been outside for a while already. I kept 18 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:10,840 walking for about thirty more minutes, just keeping to myself 19 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:14,719 and listening to music, when out of nowhere, I heard 20 00:01:14,719 --> 00:01:19,959 a man's voice yelling. I turned around and saw that 21 00:01:20,079 --> 00:01:23,799 same person i'd passed waving at me to get my attention. 22 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,200 I stopped and waited as he jogged up to me. 23 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:31,599 He said the trail name I was on in a 24 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:36,280 questioning manner, and I responded, yeah, that's the one I'm following. 25 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:41,359 He then pointed to my right. I looked out, and 26 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:46,159 going into the trees was another trail. It looked pretty 27 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,200 much identical, as neither trail was more than just some 28 00:01:49,319 --> 00:01:53,079 thin line of dirt. People tend to get lost in 29 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:57,640 this section going down the wrong way. I smiled and 30 00:01:57,719 --> 00:02:02,079 thanked him, but it definitely was a bit odd. He 31 00:02:02,239 --> 00:02:05,319 seemed nice enough, though, and not meaning to be anything 32 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,560 but helpful, and as I started walking down the trail 33 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:12,919 he told me to He continued along behind me. He 34 00:02:13,039 --> 00:02:16,039 explained that he's lived here for years and walks this 35 00:02:16,199 --> 00:02:19,360 path almost every day and hates to hear about new 36 00:02:19,439 --> 00:02:23,879 hikers getting lost out there. I guess it made sense 37 00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:26,000 to me at the time, and I kept up with 38 00:02:26,039 --> 00:02:29,360 the small talk, not really having any choice since he 39 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:33,879 was right behind me. But after a few minutes the 40 00:02:34,039 --> 00:02:37,759 conversation fizzled out and we just walked in silence for 41 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:41,960 a while, still right by each other, but just not talking. 42 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:47,039 The trail went straight for a long time, and it 43 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:49,840 was after a good forty five minutes that I realized 44 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:53,599 how far Wheat walked. Knowing it was only supposed to 45 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:56,639 be a two hour trail, I thought by now it 46 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:01,039 would have started looping around. While I was just starting 47 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:05,319 to think about this, I stumbled over something. It was 48 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:09,719 a rusty railroad track, half buried in the dirt. I 49 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:13,599 was surprised and looked back up, seeing not too far 50 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:18,319 away from the trail an abandoned mine. It was this 51 00:03:18,479 --> 00:03:22,039 small hole going into the hill with three old wooden 52 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:26,199 beams around the entrance in some railway tracks going into it. 53 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:31,080 I walked up and looked inside, but the light from 54 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:35,680 outside didn't go very far at all. It was pitch black, 55 00:03:36,039 --> 00:03:39,000 with no way to know how far down it went. 56 00:03:40,599 --> 00:03:43,919 As I stood outside the entrance, the man came up 57 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:48,599 behind me. I turned around and saw him standing just 58 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:51,840 a couple feet from me. But his face was straight, 59 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:55,159 and I don't know how to describe it, but he 60 00:03:55,360 --> 00:04:02,080 no longer had that harmless look. Go, he said, in 61 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:05,960 an eerily monotone voice that was nothing like how he 62 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:12,479 was speaking before. It was demanding and terrifying. I took 63 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:16,079 off running without hesitation. He tried to reach out and 64 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:18,639 stop me, but once I got a few feet away, 65 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:23,480 I didn't hear him chasing me. As I entered the trees, 66 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:28,040 I looked back and the man was gone. He must 67 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:33,480 have went right into the abandoned mine. I ran all 68 00:04:33,519 --> 00:04:35,519 the way back to the first part of the trail, 69 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,319 then got back to my car and left the forest. 70 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:44,319 That being my first real experience outside of my hometown, 71 00:04:44,879 --> 00:04:48,560 was really unfortunate, but I think it taught me a lot. 72 00:04:49,199 --> 00:04:52,720 I blindly trusted a random person I just met, and 73 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:55,399 it could have been the last thing I ever did. 74 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:59,759 If I went into that mine, I don't think I 75 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:18,120 would have ever left. This was in twenty sixteen. I 76 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,879 was living alone in a small home on the countryside. 77 00:05:22,199 --> 00:05:25,360 Rarely would anyone come by my house unless it was 78 00:05:25,399 --> 00:05:29,639 a delivery person. This day, I had gotten out of 79 00:05:29,639 --> 00:05:33,240 work at eight and made the long drive home, arriving 80 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:37,519 around nine. As I went down the dirt driveway and 81 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,680 got up to my house, though a woman was standing 82 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:45,480 at the front door, I was rightfully startled to see 83 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:48,600 someone at my house so late in the day and 84 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:52,560 there wasn't even a car anywhere. I parked on the 85 00:05:52,639 --> 00:05:56,920 driveway and got out cautiously looking around as I walked 86 00:05:56,959 --> 00:06:00,319 up to the front door. The woman looked like she 87 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:03,120 was in her late twenties and had a large smile 88 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,199 on her face, waving at me as I approached her. 89 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:10,279 What are you doing here? I think you have the 90 00:06:10,319 --> 00:06:15,439 wrong house, I said, stepping past her and putting myself 91 00:06:15,519 --> 00:06:19,399 between her and the front door. She said she was 92 00:06:19,439 --> 00:06:22,319 trying to get some directions from here to get into town. 93 00:06:23,639 --> 00:06:26,879 It was a strange request since she had no car, 94 00:06:27,199 --> 00:06:29,720 and it didn't answer the question as to why she 95 00:06:29,879 --> 00:06:35,199 was way out here at my house. Regardless, I told 96 00:06:35,199 --> 00:06:37,879 her to go down to the road and make a left, 97 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:40,040 and that it would take her all the way into 98 00:06:40,079 --> 00:06:45,079 the center of town. She looked at me, still smiling, 99 00:06:45,519 --> 00:06:49,480 and thanked me, but instead of walking away, she tried 100 00:06:49,519 --> 00:06:53,560 to keep talking to me. It was unmistakably in a 101 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:57,879 flirty manner, which in this context was almost creepy in 102 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:03,240 a way. I tried to cut off the conversation multiple times, 103 00:07:03,639 --> 00:07:05,759 but then she asked if she could stay with me 104 00:07:06,079 --> 00:07:09,920 and warm up for a little bit. I obviously said no. 105 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:14,439 She still smiled though, and tried to convince me, but 106 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:17,120 I again stated that I would not let her in. 107 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:21,399 Then I opened the door, going inside and locking it 108 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:26,759 behind me. I even debated calling the police because everything 109 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:32,199 about this was really strange. However, I heard her walk 110 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:35,240 off the porch and watched out the window as she 111 00:07:35,319 --> 00:07:38,360 went down the driveway and faded out into the dark, 112 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:43,759 heading toward the road. Seeing she finally left, I left 113 00:07:43,839 --> 00:07:46,759 the window and grabbed a drink, then sat on the 114 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:50,399 couch and tried to forget about it. I opened my 115 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:53,480 laptop and put on a Netflix show while I wound 116 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:57,879 down for the night. I was really tired and I 117 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:02,199 dozed off maybe fifteen minutes it's in, but shot awake 118 00:08:02,439 --> 00:08:05,920 to a knock at the door. There was only a 119 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:09,720 few seconds before they knocked again, and then a woman's 120 00:08:09,759 --> 00:08:12,560 voice called out, asking for me to come to the door. 121 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:17,000 I knew it was the same woman from earlier, but 122 00:08:17,079 --> 00:08:20,040 I got up and rather than going to answer the door, 123 00:08:20,439 --> 00:08:23,720 I went to the window. I was just going up 124 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:26,879 to confirm it was her before calling the police to 125 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:29,920 take care of this. But when I looked out of 126 00:08:29,959 --> 00:08:34,879 the window, there were almost a dozen men standing outside 127 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:39,279 my house. Some were scattered around in the trees on 128 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:42,759 the side of the driveway, and others were right up 129 00:08:42,799 --> 00:08:47,399 near my house, waiting by the porch. I called the 130 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:51,919 police and was literally shaking as I waited, hearing them 131 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:55,960 moving around the house and talking to each other. One 132 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,440 of them mentioned something about another house, but I couldn't 133 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:03,320 figure out anything else on why they were here. They 134 00:09:03,399 --> 00:09:07,120 never tried to break in, though the woman kept knocking 135 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:11,840 and calling out for me, but that was all. When 136 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:15,600 a patrol car finally came down the driveway, all of 137 00:09:15,639 --> 00:09:19,200 them sprinted into the woods in a direction that led 138 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:26,960 to nothing but denser woods. Eventually, though, three days later, 139 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:32,879 I found out some unfortunate and horrifying news. One of 140 00:09:32,879 --> 00:09:35,639 my neighbors that lived in a house down the road 141 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:40,799 was missing. After no sign of him, they found his 142 00:09:40,879 --> 00:09:45,240 front door unlocked and his house looked normal, like there 143 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:49,440 was no forceful break in. I think he may have 144 00:09:49,519 --> 00:09:53,519 fallen victim to exactly what happened to me, which makes 145 00:09:53,559 --> 00:09:57,960 my encounter with those people even more terrifying, knowing that 146 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:17,399 I could have been missing. Right now. I'm an uber 147 00:10:17,519 --> 00:10:20,320 driver in my city and was working a later shift 148 00:10:20,399 --> 00:10:23,799 than usual this night. I had something come up in 149 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:26,919 the morning, so I didn't get started until well past 150 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:31,440 eight pm. This was my first time ever working this late, 151 00:10:31,879 --> 00:10:34,159 so I didn't really know what to expect as far 152 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:36,840 as how busy or not busy it was going to be. 153 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:41,399 I got my answer pretty quick, though, because by eleven 154 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:45,600 i'd only done four drives. I was even thinking about 155 00:10:45,639 --> 00:10:48,399 switching over to Uber Eats for the night and seeing 156 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:51,799 if I had better luck there. But then another pickup 157 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:55,960 request came through. It was a thirty five minute drive, 158 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:58,799 which was good for me because it meant i'd get 159 00:10:58,799 --> 00:11:03,679 paid more. I accepted it and pulled into the pickup location. 160 00:11:04,639 --> 00:11:07,039 It was a train station a few minutes from me. 161 00:11:08,679 --> 00:11:12,200 I drove through the parking lot slowly looking around for 162 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:14,720 any signs of the person I was supposed to pick up. 163 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:18,399 After making a full circle through the lot and still 164 00:11:18,399 --> 00:11:23,159 not seeing them, I parked and just waited. There wasn't 165 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:25,759 a single car in the parking lot, and I don't 166 00:11:25,759 --> 00:11:28,840 even think any passenger trains were running at this time 167 00:11:28,879 --> 00:11:32,080 of night. I thought they might have even set the 168 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:36,200 wrong location, But before I texted them, I saw a 169 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:39,759 man coming up to my car. He had a dark 170 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:43,399 sweatshirt on with the hood over his head, and aside 171 00:11:43,399 --> 00:11:46,919 from confirming the ride was for him, he didn't speak. 172 00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:51,360 I began the drive, and the man stayed quiet in 173 00:11:51,399 --> 00:11:54,720 the back seat, not even taking his phone out or anything. 174 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:59,559 He just sat there looking ahead. I didn't want to 175 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:03,279 be that that always tried to make conversation, so I 176 00:12:03,399 --> 00:12:08,960 just drove and stayed quiet as well. While driving, a 177 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:11,639 couple times I quickly glanced at him in the mirror. 178 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:16,679 His eyes were staring directly back at me. This wasn't 179 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:21,240 an uncommon occurrence when driving people around, but for some reason, 180 00:12:21,279 --> 00:12:25,759 with this guy, it felt really unnerving. He didn't look 181 00:12:25,799 --> 00:12:30,200 away either. He stared at me until I looked away. 182 00:12:32,519 --> 00:12:36,679 After a pretty unsettling thirty five minute drive, I finally 183 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:40,480 got to the drop off location. It wasn't an address, 184 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:44,320 it was a specific location that the man had pinpointed 185 00:12:44,399 --> 00:12:48,399 on the map. This specific location was at the end 186 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:51,320 of an open field that was covered in dense fog. 187 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:55,759 I looked back in the mirror, seeing the guy staying 188 00:12:55,799 --> 00:13:01,799 in the car and not moving get out. Not sure 189 00:13:01,799 --> 00:13:04,440 if I heard him right, I turned my body and 190 00:13:04,519 --> 00:13:07,759 looked at him. He looked me in the eyes with 191 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:14,559 a terrifying stare and set it again. Get out. I 192 00:13:14,639 --> 00:13:17,440 felt my body tense up and before I could think 193 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:19,879 of what to do. I saw from the corner of 194 00:13:19,919 --> 00:13:23,480 my eye multiple other guys running up to my car. 195 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:27,559 There were two or three of them, all holding bats 196 00:13:27,639 --> 00:13:31,519 or knives and wearing dark hoodies that covered their faces. 197 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:35,600 They swarmed my car just as I put it in drive, 198 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:38,200 but they were able to get the two back doors 199 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:41,879 open and tried to jump in. The man inside the 200 00:13:41,919 --> 00:13:44,799 car was yelling at me and trying to reach over 201 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:48,879 and open my door, probably to push me out. As 202 00:13:48,919 --> 00:13:51,799 I started gaining some speed though and getting away from 203 00:13:51,799 --> 00:13:54,799 the group, the man inside fell into the back seat 204 00:13:54,799 --> 00:13:59,000 again and then jumped out onto the road. All the 205 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:04,720 men disappeared to the fog right after that. I kept going, 206 00:14:05,159 --> 00:14:08,360 pulling into a gas station a few miles down the road. 207 00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:13,320 Both of the back doors were still open and swinging around, 208 00:14:13,799 --> 00:14:16,639 and there were dents all over my car that I 209 00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:20,399 think they did while I was driving off. An officer 210 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:23,039 met me at the gas station to take my report, 211 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:26,080 and another went to the field that happened at, but 212 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:30,399 the whole group was nowhere to be found. They did 213 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:33,559 find a phone on the road, though, which was the 214 00:14:33,559 --> 00:14:37,000 one used to book the uber. It probably fell out 215 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:40,000 of the guy's pocket. When he jumped from my car, 216 00:14:40,559 --> 00:14:42,600 but it turned out to be a phone that was 217 00:14:42,639 --> 00:14:46,360 reported stolen not even an hour before I picked up 218 00:14:46,399 --> 00:14:50,519 the guy. This seemed to all be an elaborate plan 219 00:14:50,879 --> 00:14:55,120 to rob a bunch of people, including me. Though it's 220 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:57,360 hard to assume they would have just let me go 221 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:01,159 with no harm done and let me contact the police 222 00:15:01,279 --> 00:15:05,559 right away, they probably would have done something to ensure 223 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:07,639 they had the time to get away in my car 224 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:12,519 without getting caught. I don't know what would have happened, 225 00:15:12,919 --> 00:15:15,600 but I know I barely got away that night.