People are DYING on Mount Baldy and NOBODY Is Stopping It.

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If you're looking for a better way to save on electricity, both night and day, look no further than TXU Energy Free Nights and Cool Summer. It gives you free energy all night, every night, all year long. Plus a 25% bonus toward your daytime use every summer. It's the only plan that lets you use free energy to get more savings. So while nights are always free, summer days are now always discounted. With savings like that, you'll never look at a free nights plan the same way again. Learn more at TXU.com. Rep number 10004. People are dying left and right on Mount Baldy in Southern California, and no one is doing anything about it. It's really bad. I'll tell you the full story, and then I'm going to tell you about one of the biggest scumbags and most disturbing individuals in the history of hiking. And finally, we'll close out with a bonus story about a bizarre disappearance on the Pacific Crest Trail, one that hardly anyone talks about for some reason. But first, please leave us a five-star review and hit that follow button right now if you've already done this, and I really appreciate it because we're trying to reach 1,000 subscribers. Five-star reviews, that's our goal, but we still have a long ways to go, and so if you haven't left that five-star review, please do it right now and listen on if you dare. What the hell is going on with Mount Baldy lately? A tragic discovery on Mount Baldy. Three bodies. Three bodies. Three bodies. They were found dead on a treacherous trail called Devil's Backbone. That's right. They found three bodies in basically the same spot on the mountain on the exact same day. And if that sounds like a freak, coincidence. Coincidence. Well, I thought the same thing at first, but then I started finding older cases like this man or this woman and this man. It then became clear to me that there is a pattern on Mount Baldy, and it's so undeniable that some people are now even calling for the mountain to be shut down entirely. So we're going to start with the most recent viral story, figure out what the hell happened, and then we're going to dive into what I'm calling the Mount Baldy files, the dark history that nobody knows about. Nobody sees in the fleeting headlines. Now, I don't usually cover recent stories on this channel, but a few weeks ago when my DMs and my email started getting blown up with the story of Marcus Minch Casanova, well, I realized that I needed to make an exception to this rule. And there were two reasons for this. Number one, Marcus's story is just the latest example of Mount Baldy's disturbing pattern. And number two, there is a very important message. That I think needs to be heard now, not years from now, that's related to all this. And so I'll be sharing that at the end of the video. On December 29th, 2025, Marcus Minch Casanova and his friend climbed towards the frozen summit of Mount Baldy. And at the exact same time, over 50 miles away from the mountain and from the comfort of his own home, Marcus's father, Ken, followed their progress on a GPS tracker. For a while, everything seemed normal. The tracker made steady progress up the mountain, a typical pace that a 19 year old like Marcus would keep. But then all of a sudden that little tracker stopped making sense. It wasn't climbing anymore. It wasn't moving along the routes like it had been doing all day. It looked stuck off trail down in a gully, the kind of place that a hiker had no business being stuck in. Ken's brain immediately jumped to the worst possible conclusion. I mean, what else was he supposed to do? And so he started texting Marcus's GPS. He sent multiple desperate messages to his son, hoping to just get any response. But Ken's phone screen stayed frozen. And so did Marcus's GPS tracker. Ken didn't know what had happened yet, but he knew that something must have gone horribly wrong. Marcus Minch Casanova was 19 years old and a freshman at Santa Clara University's business school. He was in high school when he was in high school, but he couldn't get out of school for a month. He was in high school when he was in high school. a thrill. I need to tell you right now, by all accounts that I could find, that was not who Marcus was. Definitely not according to the people closest to him anyways. And so when Marcus told his father that he wanted to hike Mount Baldy over his Christmas break, Ken, his father, didn't immediately shut the idea down. Although to be clear, he definitely didn't love it either. Ken said that a little alarm bell went off in his head when he heard his son's plan. Now Marcus hadn't climbed Mount Baldy before and Ken had already heard about many deaths on Mount Baldy in the past. And so he told Marcus that he thought it was dangerous and that at the very least he should probably research it. And Marcus, to his credit, as well as his friend's credit, you know, his friend who he was hiking with, well, they took this advice, which is actually one of the scariest parts of this story. Marcus didn't go into this hike blind or unprepared. He actually spent considerable time doing research and trying to get ready, trying to make sure he was going to be safe. Ken and his wife researched the hike as well, but what they found only made them even more worried. They read multiple stories of hikers dying on Mount Baldy in the winter specifically, a few of which actually we're going to be covering very shortly. And to make matters worse, they learned that the weather on the mountain could sometimes keep helicopters from rescuing someone if things did go wrong. But again, Marcus and his friend did their homework. This friend was actually a firefighter trained in search and rescue, and the pair tried to get a sense of Mount Baldy's conditions by reading recent trip reports. And through this research, they believed that they could handle the hike with microspikes and trekking poles instead of bringing heavier duty winter gear like ice axes and crampons. And I gotta say, man, I've never hiked Mount Baldy, but you know, just as a they hadn't seen any recent reports specifically calling out icy conditions on the mountain. Hell, they even looked over satellite imagery before they left to validate these reports. And so on paper, they were prepared. But what they didn't know is that over the Christmas period, storms hit the mountain hard, dumping rain and snow. And then it all froze into something incredibly dangerous. Ken later said that the satellite imagery that they looked at was a few days behind. And so by the time they got to Mount Baldy, they were ready to go. And so they were ready to go. And so by the time that Marcus and his friends set out, they were hiking into conditions that were way more dangerous than what they thought they were signing up for. Before Marcus left for his hike, his father obviously wasn't super thrilled with the idea. And Marcus tried to calm him down with a promise. He told his father that if he got up there and it truly felt unsafe, then he would turn around. And that wasn't just a throwaway line to make his father feel better, by the way. That was Marcus trying to do the right thing, trying to respect his parents' fears while still going on the adventure that he so desperately craved. On December 29th, Marcus and his friends started hiking at 640 in the morning. And Ken stayed connected the only way that he could. Once again, he followed their progress on Marcus's GPS tracker. For hours, the little dot slowly moved up the mountain just like it was supposed to. Eventually, Marcus and his friends stopped for lunch right around 8,700 feet up, or about 5,000 feet up. And then they got to Mount Baldy. And so they got to Mount Baldy. And about 2,650 meters. During this break, Ken and Marcus texted each other. Conversation was painfully normal. You know, talking about the temperature, the cold, the kind of casual back and forth that makes you feel like, you know, if you're Ken, he's fine. It's all good. And by this point, the summit was actually very close, close enough that if it was my brain on the mountain, well, I would start thinking in terms of reaching the finish line rather than focusing on safety. I can't speak for Marcus, obviously. That's just how I think I would probably feel if I was in his shoes. Marcus's lunch break ended and they continued hiking up the mountain. And this is actually what brings us back to the moment that I opened up with. Ken was watching the tracker when he noticed that something was wrong. The pointer looked like it was stuck in a gully and he assumed that Marcus and his friend, had left the trail to try to get down the mountain via some alternate route. It just didn't seem right. And so Ken sent an urgent message to Marcus, but of course he received no reply. A few minutes passed and he tried again, but still nothing. And I know that all of you can relate to that, that anxiety of checking your phone every couple seconds, waiting for a text that seemingly never comes. Can you imagine if this was your son on a mountain like this my goodness man ken never got that text back from his son instead he received a phone call from marcus's friend this friend told ken that he was sorry and he told him that marcus had fallen ken and his wife got in the car and they raced towards the mountain um ken also messaged marcus once again because even after hearing that he had fallen his brain you know was still clinging on to some hope so he sent his son a message essentially telling him that help was coming which is just man these stories hit different when they're recent man maybe that's another reason why i don't usually cover these but when they arrived at the mountain the scene was chaotic um crews had been sent out on foot but the helicopter couldn't yet attempt a rescue because the weather was too bad sound familiar but eventually an air medic was lowered down and confirmed that marcus minch casanova had passed away ken would later describe what happened in a way that that made it horrifyingly easy to picture apparently marcus and his friend were crossing a steep icy slope and marcus's friend actually managed to cross safely but then he turned around and he saw marcus sliding ken said that marcus slid about 600 feet and ended up hitting his head on a rock at roughly 30 miles per hour man after this marcus's friend probably in shock did the only thing that he could you know um he hiked down to a place where he got some cell service and then of course he called emergency services starting a business can seem like a daunting task unless you have a partner like shopify they have the tools you need to start and grow your business from designing a website to marketing to selling and beyond shopify can help with everything you need there's a reason millions of companies like mattel heintz and all birds continue to trust and use them with shopify on your side turn your big business idea into sign up for your one dollar per month trial at shopify.com special offer this episode is brought to you by txu energy if you're looking for a better way to save on electricity both night and day look no further than txu energy free nights and cool summer it gives you free energy all night every night all year long plus a 20% discount on all of your energy 25% bonus toward your daytime use every summer it's the only plan that lets you use free energy to get more savings so all nights are always free summer days are now always discounted with savings like that you'll never look at a free night's plan the same way again learn more at txu.com rep number one zero zero zero four my life is booked and busy i don't have time to try on a that's why i get styled with stitch fix my personal stylist sends outfits picked for my size style and budget so i can get dressed and get on with my day feeling confident it's no risk all style free shipping free returns no subscription required get started today at stitch fix.com that's stitch fix.com you're listening to a quick ad you know what else is quick selling your car on carvana just put in your vehicle information and we'll give you an offer done no hassle no negotiation no guy from an online listing lowballing you which means by the time i'm done explaining this you could have basically done it still haven't started hey better late than never sell your car today on carvana pickup fees may apply the real cost of a break-in isn't your valuables it's the feeling that your home stopped being safe simply safe keeps danger away from your family with three layers of protection one smart ai cameras and live us-based agents help stop intruders before they break in two we sound the alarm at points of entry three our agents request emergency response plans starting around a dollar a day right now get 70 off your new system with professional monitoring at simply safe.com spotify outdoor deterrence plans start at 49.99 a month visit simply safe.com licenses for alarm license information and here's the wildest part um as if all of those things all the things that happened on december 29th um weren't devastating enough well that very same day responders located two other deceased hikers in basically the same location on the mountain those two men were later identified as juan lopez and bayron garcia and so by the time the sun went down this became the story of three deaths in one area of the mountain all which happened on the exact same day that's the kind of headline that goes viral which is why a few weeks ago you probably saw mount baldy all over the news just like i did ken was interviewed after his son's story blew up online his message to the world was just so devastating and honestly really really important and i'm going to save it for the end of this video because i think the message will be even more impactful once you like truly understand that marcus's story is just the latest headline it's just the beginning i'll tell you right now it wasn't until i really dove deep into what i'm calling the mount baldy files and really learned about some of these previous cases it wasn't until i really dove deep into what i'm calling the mount baldy files and really learned it wasn't until i did that that i like truly understood how important marcus's father's message is and so without further ado let's get into the files so when i heard about these three deaths on mount baldy in late 2025 it felt so extreme that it almost didn't compute it almost made the whole thing feel like a freak glitch in reality but what's disturbing is that the mountain had already shown up and it was already showing up and it was already showing up and it was already showing us this exact kind of cluster before back in february of 2016 mount baldy didn't take three people in one day but it did take three people in one month the first death was in early february and it was 23 year old daniel win now daniel was hiking on the devil's backbone trail with some friends when one of them started slipping on a steep icy section daniel reached out to try and help him to keep him from sliding and in that split second daniel was able to get out of the split second daniel reached out to try and keep him from sliding and in that split second daniel was able to get out of the split second daniel was able to get out of the split second daniel was able to get out of the roughly 1500 feet the incident was reported early that morning and search crews located him from the air not long after but heavy winds made the recovery difficult and slowed down teams actually reaching him which again might sound familiar tragically by the time ground crews actually did end up getting to him daniel was gone and this one is so sad because daniel's story is far more than just a hiker slipped and had an accident it's a young man making the most human instinctive choice possible trying to save his friend's life and mount baldy punished him for it anyways and then just four days later on saturday february 6th another call came in a 47 year old man named dong shing leo also known as tony was hiking with his wife when they both slipped off the trail and fell about 120 feet down a slope this report came in shortly after 5 p.m and at that exact time the sheriff's department was already dealing with another emergency five other hikers were stuck on a different icy section of trail a helicopter crew located tony and his wife around 7 800 feet in elevation but rescuers didn't reach them until later that night after 8 p.m tony's wife survived but tragically tony did not and so now there were two mount baldy deaths in less than a week and the common thread was steep terrain that had turned into an icy death trap after those first two deaths officials temporarily shut down multiple trails around mount baldy but basically as soon as the trails opened back up it happened again a third fatality on february 20th a 45 year old man from san diego slipped and fell while hiking the devil's backbone trail and searchers eventually located him roughly a thousand feet down the mountain after the rescue effort he was transported to the hospital but tragically did not make it now his name was never released but i did find one very disturbing fact about his story in my research i'm not sure what the first two hikers were wearing on their feet but apparently this third hiker was wearing crampons which is shocking because that's about as hardcore as your winter traction can possibly get and so this story from 2016 shows that even if you're wearing a crampon you're not wearing a crampon wearing literally the optimal traction at least as far as i'm aware you're still at risk on mount baldy by the end of february 2016 you had three people dead in one month on the same mountain and once i realized that baldy had already had a three deaths month before i stopped looking at late 2025's disaster like it was just an isolated incident but it gets even worse because just days before the february 2016 madness i just told you about there was another incident and this one was a little bit different on january 23rd 2016 35 year old jason lopez and his brother-in-law rob wayman set their sights on climbing timber mountain which is in the mount baldy area it's very close timber mountain can be a challenging hike from everything that i've gathered but for two experienced guys like jason and rob it was supposed to be just another long winter day of summiting another great peak And the day actually started out pretty normal for them as they climbed out of Icehouse Canyon, hiking through snow-covered trees and winding their way past the tree line. But above 8,000 feet, the trail changed completely. Slick ice coated the narrow path and the steep slopes below it, turning what had been a routine climb into something far more dangerous. These are the kind of conditions where every single step matters. They continued climbing, trusting in their experience, but no amount of experience could have prepared them for what happened next. As they were making their way up a snow-slicked ridge, Jason's trekking pole got caught. This caused him to lose his balance, and before he could recover, his feet slipped out from under him. And so in an instant, Jason was sliding backwards, completely out of control, down the icy mountainside. Rob could only stand and watch in complete horror, I might add, as Jason plunged roughly 1,000 feet down into the snowy, unknown, below. Rob began yelling Jason's name, but he heard nothing in response. And so he hiked down to the saddle of the mountain where a little bit of cell service was possible. And that's actually where he found a group of other hikers who agreed to go search for Jason on the hillside. After descending roughly 1,000 feet, one of the fellow hikers spotted something that would send chills down just about anyone's spine. It was a trail of blood. The bright red blood stood out on the trail. As the hiker followed this trail, he called out to the rest of the group that he had found Jason. When Rob got there, he could see that Jason was hurt really bad, but by some kind of miracle, he was actually semi-conscious and even moaning a little bit in pain and confusion. The hikers used some of their extra jackets to cover Jason and help prevent hypothermia. And with just one bar of cell service, the group was able to call for help and confirm that a helicopter was on the way. Jason shivered and drifted in and out of consciousness. And after 45 tense, cold minutes, the helicopter was able to extract him. Now, his injuries were staggering. He had a fractured skull, serious brain trauma, among many other injuries. His recovery was described by doctors as a long, uncertain road ahead, but he had somehow survived this treacherous fall. However, as you now know, Jason's survival was nothing short of remarkable. And his story is also a reminder of how quickly conditions can change, even on our favorite mountains, and how survival sometimes depends on the courage and kindness of complete strangers. And so, what happens when no strangers are around to help? Well, that brings us to what is perhaps the most well-known horror story in the history of Mount Baldy, the disappearance and death of actor Julian Sands. Now, I have a whole other video on this, and so I'm going to keep it brief right here. But I mean, you can't talk about Mount Baldy without at least mentioning Julian Sands' wild story. Julian Sands was born in England, and he became a well-known actor, starring in films like A Room with a View and The Phantom of the Opera. And from everything that people said about him, hiking seemed to be his way to kind of take a temporary break from the Hollywood lifestyle. Every now and again, on January 13th, 2023, Julian started up the Baldy Bowl Trail by himself. Now, he'd climbed Mount Baldy about 200 times in the past, including winter since, and he had also climbed in the Alps and the Andes. He was not a novice hiker, is what I'm getting at. Hell, he even had so much experience on Mount Baldy itself. But by 7.30 p.m., he still hadn't returned from his hike. His family failed to reach him, and so they reported him missing, and almost immediately, storms started slamming the mountain with high winds, heavy snow, and near-zero visibility, making searching incredibly difficult. His car was located at the Baldy Bowl Trailhead, and phone ping data placed him on a ridge between Baldy Bowl and Good Canyon. A massive search was launched, but week after week, they kept coming up empty-handed. Mr. Shaq, thank you, Mr. Carvana guy. Can't wait to take it for a spin. Only the best for you, Mr. Shaq. Hey, have you always been so big, tall, and handsome? Not always. I was 6'10 once. Seven days to love it or return it, Mr. Shaq. Not that I would. You never do. No, I never do. So buy your car today on Carvana. Delivery fees may apply. See our seven-day return policy at carvana.com. This holiday, all plans, even unlimited, are just $15 a month. A holiday deal this good obviously deserves an enormously expensive holiday. This holiday song, like, all I want. Right. Okay, we can afford that. You know what? Forget the music budget. We're going to stick with whatever's in the public domain. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. 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It gives you free energy all night, every night, all year long, plus a 25% bonus toward your daytime use every summer. Rep number 1-0-0-0-4. Final search went out on June 17th, 2023, you know, a few months later, with more than 80 volunteers and staff, by the way, and helicopters and drones. But even then, Good Canyon proved to be too difficult and a part of it actually ended up going unsearched. On June 21st, Julian Sands' family thanked everyone, basically accepting that the search was over. His fate was still a total mystery. But then three days later, a group of hikers led by a man named Bill Dwyer descended into Good Canyon and told him that the search was done, and that it was a good idea, and that the search was not going to go unnoticed. And finally, Bill spotted a boot. And then another. And then some trekking poles. A pile of winter clothing. And finally, he found scattered human remains, pulled out a wallet from some of the clothes, and the name on the ID was Julian Sands. Authorities later ruled the cause of death to be undetermined. A full autopsy report was not publicly released, and questions do linger still. I mean, why was Julian Sands located in Good Canyon? It's not exactly where he should have been hiking. And why was he found with micro spikes, but not crampons, and without a helmet, ice axe, or satellite GPS device? I mean, Julian Sands, again, was an experienced hiker. He probably should have known to be carrying those things. I don't know. Clearly, experience is important, but it doesn't eliminate risk. And actually, nothing makes that more obvious than this next story, which is the disturbing fate of the man who is almost certainly the most experienced Mount Baldy hiker in history. I'm not even joking. Many people called Sam Kim the mayor of Mount Baldy. He'd been up and down the mountain so many times that, I mean, it's cliche, but he knew it like the back of his hand. However, when the sun went down on April 7th, 2017, Sam hadn't returned from the mountain, and his wife just got this sick feeling that the mayor of Mount Baldy might be in some serious trouble. Sam's wife, it was used to his erratic hiking schedule, but this time, Sam hadn't called to give any updates, and when Sonny tried his phone in the morning of April 8th, it went straight to voicemail. At 78 years old, Sam Kim loved to hike. He and Sonny had operated a gas station and convenience store in LA, working tirelessly for nine years, hardly ever taking a day off. And finally, Sam retired at the age of 69 and pretty much began hiking full-time. And one of the most astonishing parts of this story is that Sam had climbed Mount Baldy over 800 times. He actually had a personal goal of reaching 1,000 summits before turning 80, hence how he got the nickname, the mayor of Mount Baldy. And so by the early 2010s, Sam was climbing Mount Baldy weekly, sometimes even daily. He was known for starting his hikes at unconventional hours and for hiking in all seasons and all weather conditions. And that's why he was named the mayor of Mount Baldy. conditions, he very quickly became a familiar figure on the mountain usually wearing his iconic blue jacket passing out snacks cliff bars jelly beans doritos and just talking with everyone he passed on the trail this guy was beloved and so on that friday april 7th sam planned to go up and down mount baldy just like he'd done a zillion times before but that day he waited a little bit longer than usual for traffic to die down before heading out he drove to manker flats which is one of the main trailheads for mount baldy and he parked his white land cruiser before starting up the ski hut trail and by that time it was only a couple of hours before sunset and look um i would never recommend anyone start a trek so late in the day like this but again sam he was the king of this mountain he knew what he was getting into or at least he he thought he did not too long after sam started his hike the clouds began to roll in and suddenly the weather reports started tracking rain and snow at the higher elevations on the mountain and the reports only got worse from there strong winds heavy snowfall low visibility and all that sounds bad but again none of this was anything that sam hadn't hiked in many many times before that night sunny kim waited for sam to pull into the driveway or or at least to call with some kind of update this update never came and she would spend the rest of the night waiting and waiting by the next morning april 8th she still hadn't heard anything and so their son david checked in with his mother and assumed that you know sam his father might have stayed the night somewhere near the mountain maybe he'd slept in his car he'd done that before or maybe he was still hiking sunny also contacted one of sam's friends to ask if he had heard from him but of course he hadn't and so by that evening they were starting to get like seriously worried they wondered if sam had been forced to spend the night on the mountain perhaps and that had actually happened before on a previous trip he had to stay out there and he wasn't able to contact his family but he did end up making it off the mountain okay and just to illustrate how how relentless sam truly was he actually returned less than 24 hours later and hiked mount baldy all over again it was also possible that the mayor of mount baldy was just busy helping someone else off the mountain that very same year sam had actually helped him get off the mountain and helped guide lost hikers down from the summit during a storm so that was a possibility but another day passed and on sunday april 9th david kim drove past his parents house to see that the driveway was was still empty and so he immediately began driving down towards mount baldy and on the way he contacted a friend of sam's who lived near the trailhead another mount baldy hiker and this friend confirmed that sam's white land cruiser was still parked at the trailhead so at this point david sped up his car and when he finally arrived at mount baldy village he rushed into the visitor center and he reported that his father was missing the case was assigned to the los angeles county sheriff's department as well as west valley search and rescue and they worked their way up towards the ski hut checking known routes and common off-trail areas the search dragged on late into the night as helicopters were placed on standby until the weather allowed once again seems to be a common theme here it wasn't until 2 10 p.m on tuesday night that sam was able to get off the ski hut on tuesday april 11th that a sheriff's helicopter spotted something that didn't quite look right the odd object was just northwest of mount baldy summit and crew members craned their necks to try to get a better look and they soon realized that that it was a human body which is obviously chilling all by itself but everything changed when they spotted another key feature of the body it was a bright blue jacket that that's right the very same iconic blue jacket that sam kim would often wear while hiking up and down his favorite mountain when they eventually airlifted the body off the mountain it was tragically confirmed to be sam's now his body was located at approximately 8 800 feet in elevation where he was apparently slumped on a steep rocky slope on the north face of the mountain authorities believed that he had summited and then was descending when he lost his bearings possibly due to poor visibility and then fell down the mountain to the left of the mountain a steep icy chute news of sam's death spread quickly throughout the southern california hiking community again this guy was beloved a lot of people had encountered him on mount baldy over the years you know because he had hiked it so many times and and they were shocked and his family even invited hikers who had known sam to attend his memorial and share stories and photographs and while sam was known for tracking his ascents up and down mount baldy and setting you know numerical goals will say his family has said that those numbers themselves were never what really mattered to him he just loved to be on that mountain and his story is a horrific reminder that the mountain might not love you back sam kim's story is yet another example of how even experienced hikers really aren't safe on mount baldy and if that's the case then how are less experienced hikers supposed to fare well i have an example of that too lee fei wong was a 22 year old woman from monte california and on february 4th 2024 she planned to go for a hike in the mount baldy area now she wasn't a super experienced mountaineer like i just said but her friends did describe her as someone who liked to explore nature casually and capture moments along the way around 2 p.m that afternoon lee fei set out on her hike now she wasn't heading for the summit of mount baldy which is the highest mountain in california which is a little different than most of the stories i've told she was just taking a brief trip to the ski hut and back you know a couple short miles but before she started on the trail she actually sent a quick text to her friends and she even recorded a fun little video of the trail to send to her boyfriend and her instagram story but there was a storm brewing on the mountain and by all accounts this storm was borderline historic relentless sheets of rain at where the mountains were swallowed whole and lee fei was in serious danger she just didn't realize it by 11 14 p.m lee fei's loved ones still hadn't heard from her and they knew that the weather was just going to get worse and so they made that gut-wrenching decision to contact the authorities and report her missing the san bernardino county sheriff's department mobilized again west valley search and rescue early monday morning around 2 30 a.m but the mountain was still an unforgiving force of nature in fact it was so bad that i mean it was just straight up dangerous for searchers and they had to pause the search essentially and so it seemed like hope was fading with each passing hour and crews were just left wondering what could have happened but after nearly a week since lee fei had disappeared the search effort finally had a breakthrough and it actually came from one of the most unlikely and even random sources imaginable this episode is brought to you by txu energy if you're looking for a better way to save on electricity both night and day look no further than txu energy free nights and cool summer it gives you free energy all night every night all year long plus a 25 bonus toward your daytime use every summer it's the only plan that lets you use free energy to get more savings so all nights are always free summer days are now always discounted with savings like that you'll never look at a free night's plan the same way again learn more at txu.com rep number one zero zero zero four traditional home security only alerts you after you've saved your 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life is booked and busy i don't have time to try on a million outfits that still don't feel right that's why i get styled with stitch fix my personal stylist sends outfits picked for my size style and budget so i can get dressed and get on with my day feeling confident it's no risk all style free shipping free returns no subscription required get started today at stitch fix.com that's stitch fix.com some personality quirks are really funny like i talked to my left foot more than i talked to my right you know what's not funny and not a personality quirk ocd although the term ocd is widely recognized it's misunderstood by most people it doesn't mean being tidy or clean it's having obsessive fears thoughts and urges you question your character you question your safety that's ocd breaking the ocd cycle takes effective treatment go to no cd.com to learn more on the afternoon of february 10th a random civilian was in the Mount Baldy area flying his personal drone high above all the frosty trees and when he was capturing footage over the upper San Antonio Creek Falls he spotted something very unusual. Now this drone pilot knew that multiple people had gone missing in the Mount Baldy area fairly recently and so he reported this odd finding to the authorities. At about 7 45 a.m the following morning aviation rescue teams managed to hoist medics down to the snow-covered slope and once they got there the medics located this mysterious finding that was spotted by the drone and their darkest fears were confirmed. Right there buried in frozen rock and ice they found Lefe and she predictably was no longer alive. Folks the scary thing is that there are countless other examples of hikers dying on Mount Baldy that I haven't even included in this video. This video could be twice as long if I really wanted it to but I'm pretty excited to tell you something very important. I'm sure that a lot of you noticed this um every single story I just told you including the most recent tragedies in late 2025 that we started with every single story took place in the winter. Now Sam Kim's death was in early April but winter conditions are still present on the mountain during that month and so you get what I'm saying. Mount Baldy is extremely dangerous in the winter and that's probably true of of any mountain but I can't really think of another mountain except for maybe Mount Washington in New Hampshire that has a pattern of deaths like this. I mean it's it's insane and so clearly something needs to be done to increase hiker safety on Mount Baldy at least in the winter and Marcus Minch Casanova's father Ken who you'll recall from the beginning of this video well he has gone public with a very interesting idea. Ken thinks that hikers should be required to obtain the right to travel to the mountain before hiking Mount Baldy and before you get all up in arms about that what he's talking about is a free permit that you obtain by watching a video about the dangers of the mountain before you hike and I have to say this is a very admirable and a very reasonable response especially after everything that Ken has gone through. I mean I wouldn't blame him if he had just outright called for Mount Baldy's trails to be shut down entirely. Ken said that he didn't understand what grief truly meant he lost his son Marcus and he made it clear that after feeling all of that pain he and his wife couldn't just sit quietly and let other families walk into the same nightmare and through this grief they're building something that matches who Marcus was. They created a non-profit in Marcus's name it's called the Marquitos Adventure Club and its mission is to fund outdoor experiences for young people who might not otherwise get access to them. Now I've made a donation to this fund and I'll have it linked below I would really appreciate it if some of you guys could as well even if it's just a couple bucks it doesn't have to be anything crazy and are you now ready for what is probably going to be the most heartbreaking thing that you're going to hear all year well Ken attended Marcus's cremation and he did this because he said that he didn't want his son's final adventure to be something that Marcus did alone that detail stayed with me from the moment I read it as did this other message from Ken. Ken believes that all it might have taken to save Marcus's life was somebody forcing a pause just five minutes five minutes to fully understand what he was about to step into and this is why his call for permits on Mount Baldy could be so effective at saving lives I wanted to save this message until you heard not only Marcus's story but also his story about how he was able to save his son's life but multiple other stories of very similar tragic outcomes I'm usually not to get too divisive but I'm usually hesitant about the the Forest Service introducing permits I don't like the idea of restricting people from accessing their public land the land that they pay taxes to however the pattern of danger is so clear on Mount Baldy that I don't know I think Ken might be on to something once again please subscribe to my channel and I'll see you in the next video please go check out the Marquitos Adventure Club and I actually want to call out another organization that came up a few times throughout this video and that's West Valley Search and Rescue they are a non-profit all-volunteer team and I guarantee that Mount Baldy's death toll would be way higher than it already is without their work and so I've linked their site below and I also encourage you to join me in supporting them again even if it's just a few bucks buy them a coffee essentially I really appreciate you guys and if you want to learn more about Marcus's story I've actually linked a fantastic article by Kieran Southern in the description it was very helpful to me when researching this story and so please check out that too may Marcus as well as the rest of the victims we discussed today rest in peace please show them some love in the comments please keep your comments respectful on this one guys and look if you take anything away from this video I beg you do not hike Mount Baldy in the winter unless you are like an extremely experienced mountaineer and even then I would really think twice about it the word disturbed feels too kind to describe the man that I'll be telling you about in our next story I can think of a number of other descriptors but I don't want to get the show banned and so I I better just get into it on New Year's Day 2008 24 year old Meredith Emerson went on a hike up Georgia's Blood Mountain with her dog the pair set out on the Freeman Trail which links up with the famous Appalachian Trail that hikers can then follow to the summit of Blood Mountain on her way up Emerson encountered an older man and the two allegedly ended up hiking together for a short while eventually though Emerson pulled ahead and reached the top of the mountain without the man but at that point she was only halfway she had to then turn around and go back down the mountain and of course when she did she once again encountered this old man but this time instead of hiking with her he was waiting for her with a knife Gary Michael Hilton was the man's name and after kidnapping Emerson and also trying to use her ATM card he would go on to violently end her life and as the world would soon discover this was not the first time that Hilton had targeted hikers deep in the woods as his victims Gary Hilton was in the middle of a multi-year killing spree stalking parks and trails from North Carolina all the way to Florida and he would ultimately be proven responsible for four homicides however many people suspect that his killing spree went well beyond four victims and we may never know the exact numbers of his carnage this is the story of Gary Hilton the National Forest serial killer so excuse me being a little blunt here but I'm just gonna come out and say it this guy is obviously a total piece of human Gary Michael Hilton was born on November 26 1946 in Atlanta Georgia he was an early child and he was raised in Atlanta until 1958 at which point his family moved to the Miami Florida area not that much is known about Gary Hilton's childhood although we do know that at age 13 he shot his stepfather so yeah we're already off to a pretty bad start here fortunately his stepfather survived the shooting and he even declined to press any charges against Hilton and again I'm not really sure what all the details are surrounding this incident but clearly in hindsight this was a huge red flag in 1964 Gary Hilton joined the United States Army where he served in Germany and received his GED while serving he began to experience a plethora of mental health problems and was ultimately sent to a psychiatric hospital he was treated for some time and then ultimately in 1967 he was honorably discharged from the army he was eventually cut loose a young man with a violent past severe mental health problems and now extensive military training was now roaming the streets unrestricted for the next 40 years Gary Hilton bounced around between Georgia and Florida racking up numerous charges such as DUI theft drug possession and even arson although it's not super clear to me if he was ever convicted of that one in addition to all these arrests he had also gone through three divorces by 2007. so clearly this guy had a troubled past a lot of problems in his life and it seems as though by 2007 Gary Hilton was ready to take his life and his violent tendencies to a whole new level on October 21st 2007 80 year old John Bryant and his 84 year old wife Irene went hiking in Pisca National Forest Southwest of Asheville North Carolina they parked their car on yellow Gap Road not far from U.S Route 276. what was supposed to be just a normal hike for the couple would end in pretty much the worst possible scenario after leaving for this hike the Bryants would never be seen or heard from again after two weeks went by the couple's son was not able to get in contact with them and so he reported them missing shortly thereafter investigators discovered the couple's parked vehicle but no sign of the couple they didn't know what happened maybe they had gotten lost in the woods somewhere maybe they had been attacked by an animal nobody knew but the case did take a disturbing turn when investigators discovered that Irene had actually attempted to dial 9-1-1 on her cell phone on the same day that they were last seen and the same day that they had started their hike due to lack of signal obviously the call never went The forest was searched by cadaver dogs, numerous volunteers, and helicopters, but they found nothing. That is, until November 9, 2007. On this day, searchers found the body of Irene Bryant hidden underneath some leaves near the Barnett Branch Trail. It was clear that she had been killed violently, and so now authorities were desperate to figure out where her husband John was. It was soon discovered that one of John Bryant's bank cards had been used to make a withdrawal in Ducktown, Tennessee, and cameras at the bank captured images of a person wearing a yellow rain jacket trying to use the card. It's the only plan that lets you use free energy. With savings like that, you'll never look at a free night's plan the same way again. Learn more at TXU.com, rep number 10004. A holiday deal this good obviously deserves an enormously expensive holiday song like All I Want. Right. Okay, we can't afford that. You know what? See terms. Done. No hassle. No negotiation. No guy from an online listing lowballing you. Which means, by the time I'm done explaining this, you could have basically done it. 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On December 3rd, 2007, a few months after the Bryants had disappeared, co-workers of 46-year-old Cheryl Dunlap grew concerned when she didn't show up for work at Florida State University. That was her employer where she worked as a nurse. They reported her missing the next day and her car was located abandoned on US Route 319, just north of the Wakulla County line. A massive search party of roughly 180 people. People began looking for her, but they found nothing. But the authorities did find some evidence of something that had to do with her disappearance. And I'm not going to lie, it is pretty chilling. Authorities recovered images of a masked person trying to use her ATM card. Then, nearly two weeks later, hunters in Apalachicola National Forest made a gruesome discovery. Just off of a forest service road, the hunters found the slain body of a woman who was lying on the ground. She was later identified as Cheryl Dunlap. And it wasn't long after that that investigators alerted the public to be on the lookout for a quote, unique looking green truck, which prompted the public to submit numerous tips. And many of these tips were about a bizarre homeless man who was driving a Chevrolet Astro van. No arrest was made at the time, but in hindsight, we can say that the public was certainly on the right track. And that's because it would later go on to be proven that this van, in fact, belonged to the National Forest Serial Killer. And then the killer struck again, this time on New Year's Day, 2008. This time in Northern Georgia was the location of his rampage, Blood Mountain to be more specific. You really can't make this stuff up, folks. Blood Mountain is literally the name of where he chose to attack next. It's a very unfortunate foreshadow of what was about to happen. Blood Mountain is located within the Chattahoochee National Forest. And is a pretty famous mountain due to the fact that the Appalachian Trail runs directly over its summit. In fact, Blood Mountain is one of the first big peaks that northbound thru-hikers will cross. It's less than 30 miles into the trail. As many of you know, I hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2018 and I remember Blood Mountain very well. There's a stone cabin at the top of the mountain. There's some limited views up there and then the trail takes a steep dive down into Neal's Gap, which is another very famous spot on the 2,000 mile footpath. Bordering the National Forest and the mountain itself is Vogel State Park, which contains side trails that link up with the Appalachian Trail, allowing alternate routes to access Blood Mountain. On the very first day of 2008, 24-year-old Meredith Emerson had left a note for her roommate stating her plans to go hiking. The University of Georgia graduate grabbed her dog Ella and traveled to Vogel State Park and hiked out on the Freeman Trail, which links up with the Appalachian Trail below the summit of Blood Mountain. At some point during her hike, she encountered 61-year-old Gary Hilton. Emerson and Hilton allegedly hiked together for a little bit, but eventually Emerson's pace was just too fast for Hilton, so she and her dog continued ahead without the man and eventually reached the summit of the mountain. Everything seemed to be going fine up until this point, but then when they turned around and started hiking back down the mountain, all hell broke loose. When Emerson and her dog encountered Hilton again, he was waiting for them with a knife. He demanded that she give him her ATM card, but Emerson refused and began fighting for her life. Hilton was later quoted saying, "She wouldn't stop. She wouldn't stop fighting and yelling at the same time, so I needed to both control her and silence her." Hilton ended up breaking his hand during the struggle, but eventually he did subdue the desperate woman. Once again, he told her that all he wanted was access to her ATM card. Hilton immediately led her and her dog back down the mountain, avoiding any established trails so as not to raise any suspicion. And when they got down the mountain, he led them both into his van. When Meredith Emerson failed to return home from her hike, she was reported missing. It didn't take long before witnesses reported encountering her during her hike of Blood Mountain. And these witnesses also encountered an elderly man who was following her. Because of this, a description of the man was released to the public, which soon began pouring in. After kidnapping Emerson and her dog, Gary Hilton began driving around various places in Georgia, south of Blood Mountain. He tried numerous times to use her ATM card, once in Gainesville, Georgia, and then again in Canton, Georgia. But my understanding is that he wasn't able to use it. In order to try and buy herself some time, Emerson kept giving Hilton incorrect PIN numbers to her ATM card. And it almost worked, because by this time, authorities were starting to close in on Hilton. One of Hilton's former bosses had actually recognized the description of the man that the police had put out. This boss also knew that Hilton would often frequent the woods around Blood Mountain. And so he kind of put two and two together and reported him. Around this time, the authorities were also starting to link Hilton to the murder of Irene Bryant and the disappearance of her husband. Because Hilton's description and yellow rain jacket he was seen wearing on Blood Mountain matched what investigators had seen in the bank surveillance video of him using the Bryant's ATM card. So investigators were closing in on him, and they were closing in fast, but ultimately they would end up being too late to save the life of Meredith Emerson. On January 4th, 2008, about three days after she had been abducted, Gary Hilton took her to the Dawson Forest Wildlife Management Area near Dawsonville, Georgia, and he took her life. The National Forest serial killer had claimed yet another victim. However, Meredith Emerson would prove to be Hilton's mother. The same day that he senselessly took her life, his rampage would finally come to an end. After killing her, Hilton once again began driving around Georgia and ended up stopping at a gas station in the town of Cumming, Georgia, to ditch incriminating items that would link him to the murder. Some of these items were Emerson's clothing, her wallet, and her University of Georgia ID. Hilton then began driving again, this time towards Atlanta, where he eventually stopped at yet. Another gas station. When stopped here, he began cleaning up his car, frantically trying to hide evidence by vacuuming the inside and washing the inside with bleach. As I said a few minutes ago at this point Gary Hilton was a wanted man. His face had been plastered all over the news and because of this for whatever reason at this particular gas station a number of people recognized him called the authorities and reported his location. It didn't take long before the authorities followed up pulled into the gas station and found him there in the middle of cleaning his van where he was arrested. Finally. But this isn't the end of the story because investigators still didn't know where Meredith Emerson was and they were still in the process of linking Gary Hilton to the murders that had occurred in Pisgah National Forest. Three days after he was arrested Hilton admitted to the killing of Emerson and led investigators to her body in exchange for a deal that allowed him to avoid the death penalty. This is the point where things really started to unravel for Gary Hamilton. On February 3rd 2008 John Bryant's body was finally discovered off of a Forest Service road in Nottahalla National Forest and investigators were able to uncover evidence that linked Hilton to that murder and the murder of Bryant's wife. And finally less than a month after Hilton pled guilty to the murder of Emerson he was indicted in Florida for the murder of Cheryl Dunlap. Gary Hilton would go on to be sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Meredith Emerson. Then a few years later he was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Sheryl Dunlap. A few years later in 2011 he was extradited to Florida to face justice for the killing of Sheryl Dunlap and in this case he was given the death penalty. In 2012 the family of John and Irene Bryant received justice when Hilton was convicted of their killing as well. In this case he was given an additional life sentence but ultimately out of all these sentences the death sentence is the one that matters the most and as a result Hilton is sitting on death row in Florida still to this day. Though he was brought to justice for the four murders I covered in this video there remains a large possibility that Hilton has not been brought to justice for other murders that he committed. Many people are suspicious that he was involved with the disappearance of Jason Knapp who went missing after a hike in Table Rock State Park in South Carolina back in 1998. Gary Hilton is also strongly suspected to be involved with the disappearance of Rosanna Milani who went missing in 2005 in Cherokee Napa. He was also suspected to be involved with the disappearance of Rosanna Milani who went missing in 2005 in Cherokee Napa. Shortly before she disappeared she had spoken to her father on the phone about taking a hike on the Appalachian Trail and she was last seen at a store purchasing a backpack accompanied by an unidentified elderly man. And those are just two examples of potential disappearances or murders that he could have been involved in but was never charged or obviously convicted for. Let me know if you guys want me to do an update video going over some more of these cases in greater detail. We will likely never know exactly what the extent of Gary Hilton's rampage was but we do know that it's over and that he will pay the ultimate punishment for his crimes. I'd like to remind everybody that while these stories are real and they are definitely scary every single year in the United States millions and millions and millions of people go hiking and are completely fine. It's good to hear these stories. It's good to have them serve as a reminder to always keep your wits about you when you're on the trail. But also never forget your chances of being a victim of a violent crime are significantly I'm talking way way higher walking down just about any street in any city. Despite these stories I promise you that you are safe when you're hiking as long as you use common sense. My heart goes out to the victims of Gary Hilton, their friends and their families. Thank you for watching. This next story is one that has stuck with me for years. I mean many people know about the beauty of the Pacific Crest Trail which is great but not many people know about its dark side. The real cost of a break-in isn't your valuables it's the feeling that your home stopped being safe. Plan starting around a dollar a day. Right now get 70% off your new system with professional monitoring at simplisafe.com/spotify. Visit simplisafe.com/licenses for alarm license information. 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Thank you, Mr. Carvana guy. Shaq. Hey, have you always been so big, tall and handsome? Not always. I was 6'10" once. Shaq. Not that I would. You never do. No, I never do. Some personality quirks are really funny. Like I talk to my left foot more than I talk to my right. You know what's not funny and not a personality quirk? OCD. Although the term OCD is widely recognized, it's misunderstood by most people. It doesn't mean being tidy or clean. It's having obsessive fears, thoughts and urges. You question your character. You question your safety. That's OCD. Breaking the OCD cycle takes effective treatment. Go to nocd.com to learn more. September of 2022, I was hiking through the woods of northern Washington on the Pacific Crest Trail. I came upon a beautiful viewpoint right off of a remote dirt road. All of the other hikers I knew were miles behind me and I was all by myself. As I stopped to take in the view, something caught my eye. It was this. A poster with information about a hiker, who had gone missing in the area. These types of posters are, unfortunately, somewhat common to see at trailheads along well-traveled roads, but this was not a normal trailhead. And the more I've learned about Chris Fowler's disappearance, the more I've realized that this is not a normal disappearance. In 2016, Chris Fowler disappeared in Washington State while through hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. He hiked into the woods, a severe storm came through, and then he was never seen again. When you put the story like that, it sounds like straightforward disappearance. However, the more I've researched into this story, including extensive conversations with Chris's stepmother, Sally, the more I've come to the conclusion that things just don't add up to me. I'm not here to push any particular theories. I'm not here to even try and solve this case. I'm just here to simply tell Chris Fowler's story and along the way, ask some important questions and cover some important details that I personally feel have been overlooked by the public when they were covering Chris's case. In the spring of 2016, Chris Sherpa, which was his trail name Fowler, set out to through hike the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs over 2,600 miles from the Mexican border through California, Oregon, and Washington, all the way to the Canadian border. A lot of you watching probably know that I attempted to through hike the Pacific Crest Trail this past year in 2022. I did most of it, but I didn't finish. So I can tell you firsthand how difficult of a feat of through hike like this is. And despite the difficulty, Chris made it all the way to central Washington by mid-October in 2016, leaving less than 400 miles left until he finished the hike at the Canadian border. On October 12th, the last confirmed sighting of Chris happened at the Cracker Barrel store near White's Pass. And this is a very common spot for PCT hikers to send packages of supplies because it's literally right off of the trail. I sent a box there when I hiked through in 2022. When Chris left the Cracker Barrel store, it's assumed that he was heading back onto the trail to continue hiking north. However, there was a severe storm approaching, and according to reports, most other hikers in the area had decided to leave the trail in order to avoid this storm. In fact, some of the last hikers that Chris spoke to indicated that he was kind of debating going back and forth about whether he wanted to hike out into the storm or whether he wanted to get off the trail like a lot of other hikers were doing. Ultimately, Chris decided to continue hiking, and after he left White Pass, he was never confirmed to have been seen again. About an hour after he left, his cell phone was pinged from a nearby tower for the last time. This means that he most likely turned his cell phone off for reasons that we don't know, but you know, it's not unheard of for hikers to turn their cell phones off because they want to preserve battery. That evening, the storm rolled in, bringing heavy rain, wind, and even some snow at the higher elevations in the area. And about a week later, Chris's family became concerned, and they contacted the authorities. A massive search was conducted, landing across multiple agencies and counties in the state of Washington. Though much of the PCT in Washington was searched. It seems as though the most likely area that Chris had disappeared from was the 28-mile stretch of trail from White Pass, where he was last seen, north to Chinook Pass at Highway 410. I honestly don't know the correct pronunciation. Is it Chinook? Chinook? My understanding is that they focused on this area because if Chris had made it all the way to Chinook Pass, he almost certainly would have used the road there to bail into town and seek refuge. And as someone who has through-hiked thousands of miles on the PCT and lots of other long-distance trails, this absolutely makes sense to me. If you're out there and you get hit with like a storm that's bigger than expected and it really, you know, beats the crap out of you, you're probably going to be soaked, exhausted, and cold. And if you have a chance to cross a road and bail into town, you're going to take that opportunity. Despite the authorities extensively searching the area for weeks on foot and also using helicopters, no sign of Chris was ever found. And this is where I need to start raising a few questions. First of all, since Chris was through hiking, he almost certainly would have been sticking to the PCT or at the very least other established trails in the area. I really highly doubt he would have been purposely going off trail. This means that if he did succumb to the elements during the storm, how is it that his body wasn't recovered on or very close to the PCT? I'm just surprised that nobody found him, honestly. And obviously a major storm definitely complicates things, maybe he became disorientated or maybe he lost the trail because of low visibility or something. This is definitely possible, but still the PCT is very well traveled and very well marked. I mean, the trail is very wide. It's hard to miss. So again, if there's a storm, you never know what can happen, but I don't know. I just, it just seems bizarre to me. And here's another question. What happened to all of Chris Fowler's gear? Chris was known to be carrying a green Therm-a-Rest Z-Lite sleeping pad, a bright blue tarp, a big Agnes Fairview 1 tent, which is a very large tent, by the way, it definitely would have stuck out if it was set up close to the trail, a black and orange ULA backpack, among many other pieces of backpacking gear. And interestingly enough, Chris was also carrying a spot GPS device, which has an SOS button on it. But unfortunately he had not activated the subscription service to the GPS device, which meant he was unable to use it and unable to call for help. None of his gear has ever been recovered. Which I just think is super bizarre. Every year since his disappearance in 2016, hundreds of thru-hikers would have hiked through that exact area he went missing. And that's just the thru-hikers. There's also going to be hundreds of day hikers, weekend backpackers, and section hikers. And despite all of this foot traffic going through that area, none of his gear has ever been found. And here's the clinker. There are some possible explanations as to why this is the case. There have been three unconfirmed sightings of Chris Fowler's gear, and they have been found in the outside of the section of trail that he went missing on, that section from White Pass to Chinook Pass. And the interesting thing about these unconfirmed sightings is that two of them have been given little to almost no coverage by the media, despite being of interest to Chris's family. And one thing I want to say here is that I know a decent amount of people watch my channel that will be on the PCT either next year or sometime in the future. So if that's you, just please keep an eye out for any random gear on the side of the trail that might be missing from that section of trail. So if you have any questions, just let me know in the comments below. And I'll see you guys in the next episode of Unconfirmed. And if you do find something, Chris's stepmother Sally has very specific instructions for what she wants you to do. I spoke with her about this. She asked that you stand directly over the items, take pictures, and get the coordinates of the location. Also take photos of the surrounding areas and contact her. You can do that through this Facebook group I have on the screen right now. I will also have a link to it in the description of the video. So back to these unconfirmed sightings. I read through almost every news article I could find about his disappearance while researching for this video. And in all of those articles, I only found one unconfirmed sighting of Chris that was consistently reported on. And so when I started to chat with Sally, Chris's stepmother, in order to get more information for the video, I was really surprised to learn that there's actually two more unconfirmed sightings of Chris that have received very, very little attention from the media. The sighting that did get some attention was by two hunters who, supposedly, spoke with Chris near Blowout Mountain on October 22nd. Blowout Mountain is about 60 miles north of White Pass, where Chris was last seen. Despite this unconfirmed sighting, there have been a lot of inconsistencies in these hunters' stories. So most sources don't really consider this sighting to be credible, and that includes Chris's stepmother, Sally. The next unconfirmed potential sighting happened in the town of Greenwater, Washington. According to Sally, a bartender at the Greenwater Tavern said, "I don't know if this is true, but I'm not sure that this is true, but I'm not sure that this is true. I don't know if this is true, but I'm not sure that this is true. I don't know if this is true, but I'm not sure that this is true, but I'm not sure that this is true, but I'm not sure that this is true." Greenwater Tavern said a man came in on around October 13th or October 14th, looking wet and tired, and gave the trail name Sherpa. Again, that was Chris's trail name. The bartender offered him a free meal, but he turned her down. And when the bartender went into the back room, the man left the restaurant, and that was the end of it. Obviously, there's no way to confirm that the man in the bar was, in fact, Chris, but the bartender has never wavered from her story. And the timeline of this also checks out, because Greenwater can be accessed from Chinook Pass, and it makes sense that Chris could have been there only a day or two after leaving White Pass. The last unconfirmed potential sighting of Chris happened in the town of Mazama, Washington around October 15th. Again, I think Mazama is how you say that. I'm not exactly sure, so bear with me. This town is much further north than White Pass. It's very close to the end of the PCT near the Canadian border. According to an employee at the Mazama store who was interviewed by Chris's stepmother Sally, a man came into the store, and while he was making a purchase, he exchanged trail names with that employee and gave the trail name Sherpa. In addition to this, it's known that Chris shipped a resupply box to another store in Mazama, and that store is called Goat's Beard. And this box was never found at the store after Chris went missing. This means that it was either lost by the store, it was picked up by Chris. Unfortunately, the store did not keep records of which boxes were being picked up, so there's really no way to verify which of those three options is correct. So this sighting would seem somewhat credible, but unfortunately, there are a few pieces of evidence working against it as well. Supposedly, when Chris was at that first store, there were some other hikers there that he was speaking to. This is all according to that employee, but all of those hikers were later interviewed, and none of them remember talking to Chris or any other hiker. Another thing to note here is that because Mazama is pretty far away from White Pass, it just seems unlikely that he would have been able to make it all the way up there by October 15th. However, when I was talking with Sally, she told me that Chris had been known to hitchhike, and so it's definitely possible that he got a ride further north in order to go and finish that last section of the trail before the season ended, before it got too cold and snowy. I want to once again reiterate that neither the Greenwater or the Mazama potential sightings are confirmed, and in addition to that, there was no activity on Chris's cell phone or his credit card in either one of those areas after he disappeared. My understanding is that both of these unconfirmed sightings were investigated by the authorities at the time, but they were ultimately ruled as unreliable. But it's just strange to me that the unconfirmed sighting by the hunters was pretty largely talked about in the news, but these other two unconfirmed sightings, which seem to be a little bit more credible than that first one, have mostly been ignored. And there's just so many unanswered questions about what happened to Chris Fowler. Why hasn't his gear been recovered? Despite the storm coming through, I'm sure there were still some other hikers on the trail, so how was he not seen by anybody after he left White Pass? And ultimately, the big question is, what could have possibly happened to him? We may not know the answer to that question, but I am confident that Chris will be discovered someday soon. Shipping, billing, admin, payroll, marketing. 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