The Chilling Disappearance of Emily Sotelo

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Between new routines, and the ultimate group project known as parenting, you need science-backed solutions that work with your life. That's where Oli comes in. Start your mornings off right with multis made to support nutrition and immune health. Choose from our lineup of gut-supporting probiotics, and we've got occasional sleep support to help the whole fam chase their big dreams. Head back to class with the number one gummy supplement brand. Stock up on Oli.com today. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. In today's episode, we're looking at two stories where people, who've entered the wilderness with a plan, but then slowly ran out of every single backup option they thought they had. First, a 19-year-old girl sets out alone in a national forest, but a few missed details turned a dream hike into a nightmare. And then, an entire family leaves society behind for the Colorado wilderness, believing they're protecting themselves from the world, until their escape plan becomes something much darker. Thank you so much for listening, and if you're enjoying the show, please help me get to 1,000 five-star reviews, we're super close, and so please leave that review and follow the show, it really helps our standing with Spotify. I'm Kyle Hates Hiking, listen on if you dare. Listen up, you should never go alone in the White Mountains, or in any national forest. And on November 20th, 2022, 19-year-old Emily Sotelo learned that lesson in tragic fashion. At 4.30 in the morning, Emily and her mother pulled into a dark trailhead parking lot. Emily stepped out of the car, she got ready, she said her goodbye to her mother, and then she set out into the dark forest all alone. Now, this was supposed to be a very special hike, but there was a massive problem. You see, Emily wasn't about to take on just some ordinary trail. No, she was solo hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, a range notorious for claiming lives, especially in November, and especially when you're really far away from help. The White Mountains might not look especially huge, or dramatic from a distance, and that's actually part of what makes them so dangerous. They have a way of waiting until you're fully committed before showing you what they're actually capable of. Just 30 minutes after starting her hike, Emily sent her mother a text listing what she wanted for lunch afterwards. Some quinoa, some chicken, papaya, coffee, and water. It's such a normal little text message, and I think that's what makes it hit so hard. Because at 5 a.m., this still felt like a completely normal day in the mountains. But as Emily climbed higher and higher, the trail began to change. The trees started to thin, the mountain opened up, and eventually she approached Greenleaf Hut, which is a well-known shelter on the route. In the warmer months, this is the kind of place where a hiker can stop, regroup, and maybe get out of the elements for a bit. However, when Emily got there, the hut was locked and shut for the season. If things were already starting to go wrong, by this point in her hike, that hut might have been her last real chance at safety. Later that morning, Emily's mom sent her another simple text message asking how the hike was going. But Emily didn't respond. The silence probably worried her mother a little bit, but Emily was experienced after all. She had hiked these kinds of mountains countless times before. Surely she would be fine. Surely she would text back soon, right? Emily Sotelo grew up in the town of Westford, Massachusetts, which is just about an hour northwest of Boston. Now, by all accounts, she was the type of person who just seemed to succeed at just about everything she did, right? Teachers described her as smart, disciplined, curious, while friends often talked about how kind she was. She had that rare combination of being both extremely motivated and truly compassionate, someone who pushed herself to achieve big goals, but still made time to help the people around her. She attended Vanderbilt University, where she began studying biochemistry and public health, with her long-term goal being to become a doctor. And that totally checks out to me after hearing all about how the people in her life spoke so highly of her. I mean, helping people was just her natural instinct. But somewhere along the way during this journey, Emily discovered something else that she loved as well. She discovered hiking at the age of 17, and she was hooked immediately. And honestly, I know exactly how Emily felt. I grew up in New England as well, and don't let the name of my channel fool you, I actually love hiking. I just want people to do it safely, which is a big reason why I tell these stories. Now, Emily didn't grow up as like a hardcore outdoorsy kid, but once she discovered the mountains of New England, she started to attack her new hobby with serious passion. She just simply wasn't satisfied with doing anything in her life unless she gave it 100% effort. And so, when she read about something called the New Hampshire 48 Challenge, she was all in. The idea behind this challenge is pretty simple. There are 48 peaks in the White Mountains of New Hampshire that rise above 4,000 feet, and hikers try to complete every single one of these mountains, checking them off the list as they go. And this sounds like a pretty straightforward challenge, at least on paper, but trust me, it is not easy. And I can tell you that from experience. It took me about five years and even a few failed attempts to finally complete my New Hampshire 48. And after hearing about what happened to Emily, I consider myself pretty lucky to have racked up all 48 in one piece. In fact, Emily's story really struck a chord with me because I followed pretty much the exact same trajectory as her when I was in my late teens. I discovered hiking around the same formative age, and one of the first challenges I got obsessed with was the New Hampshire 48. Now, I'm not trying to make this video about me, but I'm just saying, like, this one hits me really hard because I did the exact same challenge at the exact same age in the exact same place. The only difference is that I turned out fine and Emily, well, I'll get there. Emily approached the New Hampshire 48 challenge with the same determination that she brought to everything else in her life. Within just two years of starting to hike regularly, she had already climbed 40 of the 48 peaks, which is super impressive, a lot faster than I did it. I mean, that pace would be pretty insane for some of the more experienced hikers I know, especially when you consider how rugged many of those trails are. But Emily was young, athletic, and extremely fast. She was also extremely motivated. She seemed to thrive in the face of the challenge, and she was about to face her biggest challenge yet. Emily decided that she was going to speed run her last eight peaks before her 20th birthday, and the final stretch of summits was about to bring her through the hearts of some of the most uncertain and dangerous terrain that the White Mountains have to offer. Now, the Whites, as we call them, are well-known throughout the hiking world, but from a distance, they really don't look especially intimidating. The absolute tallest peak in the White Mountains is only 6,288 feet in elevation. And so when you compare that to the towering peaks in Colorado, for instance, where the tallest mountain is around 14,440 feet, well, the White Mountains almost look easy. But if you spend enough time in these mountains like I have, or if you talk to the search and rescue teams who patrol them, you'll quickly learn that the White Mountains have a way of almost luring you in with their more like low-key disappearance, and it isn't until you're approaching the summit that they finally decide to strike. To be a little more specific, the weather in the White Mountains is notorious for changing without warning, you know, shifting from calm, clear skies to these hurricane-force winds and blinding snow in just moments. And I'm not being dramatic, by the way. Mount Washington, for example, once recorded wind gusts of 231 miles per hour, which for a long time held the world record for the highest wind speed ever measured on Earth. I'm pretty sure it still holds the record for like North America. And so I'm telling you, these mountains are no joke. They're dangerous. And yet, despite those things, they're very popular, thanks in part to their proximity to major cities like Boston and New York. And year round, they draw hikers in search of adventure. But quite often, those trips take a very tragic turn. As Thanksgiving break was approaching, Emily decided that she had a window of opportunity to complete her challenge. If she was able to plan everything out, just right, she thought that she would be able to knock out the eight remaining peaks during that break. And so she mapped out three straight days of hiking multiple mountains that would end with a celebratory hike and dinner with her mom on her 20th birthday, November 23rd, 2022. Now, this was a very ambitious plan, maybe even a little aggressive, but Emily had already proven that she could move quickly in the mountains. Finishing the New Hampshire 48 before turning 20 was all that she could think of, think about and her first day was going to take her across one the most famously difficult hikes in the entire white mountains that would be franconia ridge franconia ridge is an exposed ridge line that connects several peaks mount lafayette little haystack and mount flume a few others and on a clear spring or summer day the ridge line can be the perfect spot to capture sweeping views across miles of wilderness in pretty much every direction i've hiked franconia ridge at least four times that i can remember and so i i'm telling you from experience here this is the kind of hike that people travel all across the region just to experience it's it's unbelievable but if you're not careful the priceless view at the top of the ridge might just cost you everything and i say that because once you reach the top of the ridge you're completely exposed to the weather there's no trees to block the wind there's no shelter from snow or rain just this open alpine terrain where conditions can turn brutal in an instant this episode is brought to you by state farm listening to this podcast instead of doom scrolling smart move another smart move getting help from one of state farm's 19 000 local agents when you choose to bundle home and auto bundling just another way to save with the personal price plan prices are based on rating plans that vary by state coverage options are selected by the customer availability amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state gray roots entering the chat uninvited garnier's got you garnier color sensation root retouch covers up to 100 of grays in just 10 minutes no ammonia no mess and the color lasts up to four weeks it's as easy to apply as shampoo plus it's vegan and cruelty free 10 minutes sensational color sensational price with those savings your next girl's night is basically free find your perfect match at walmart.com or at a store near you hey friends olivia from ollie between new routines and the ultimate group project known as parenting you need science-backed solutions that work with your life that's where ollie comes in start your mornings off right with multis made to support nutrition and immune health choose from our lineup of gut supporting probiotics and we've got occasional sleep support to help the whole fam chase their big dreams head back to class with the number one gummy supplement brand stock up on ollie.com today these statements have not been evaluated by the food and drug administration this product is not intended to diagnose treat cure prevent any disease you and i want to thank you for watching this video if you enjoyed it make sure you like it and don't forget to subscribe to our channel and hit the bell so you don't miss out on any of our new videos and don't forget to hit the bell so you don't miss out on any of our new videos and don't forget to hit the bell so you don't miss out on any of our new videos and don't forget to hit the bell so you don't miss out on any of our new videos and don't forget to hit the bell so you don't miss out on any of our new videos and don't forget to hit the bell so you don't miss out on any of our new videos our music that hits on named after the color of lemons not a coincidence big lemon has been pulling strings in the industry for years think about it but now seven up is fighting back with their new lime lemon soda now lime comes first seven up flip the sip chronic myocarditis 15 or more headache days a month each lasting four hours or more can make me feel like a spectator in my own life botox on a botulinum toxin a prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine it's not for those with 14 or fewer headache days a month it's the number one prescribed branded chronic migraine preventive treatment prescription botox is injected by your doctor effects of botox may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms alert your doctor 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white mountains and mother nature doesn't care whether you're a high achiever who graduated at the top of your class or whether you dropped out of school it's always gonna do whatever the hell it wants and it pains me to say this but emily was about to find this out the hard way on saturday november 20th the day before her hike emily and her mother olivera stopped to pick up some supplies emily planned to pack a couple snacks for her first trek some granola bars some fruits she was gonna bring some water of course she also packed a portable battery pack so she could keep her phone charged throughout the day to serve as both her trail map and a flashlight if she needed it now i don't know all the nitty-gritty details of exactly what she packed but from the research that i did it seems like she didn't pack super extensively it feels like the stuff that i'd pack for maybe like a casual little loop in like my local park but emily's trip was about to take her a total of 13.7 miles across multiple cold wintry peaks she also planned on wearing a pair of thermal underwear some athletic leggings a light jacket and trail running shoes and i will say november in the white mountains is kind of a tough time of year to pack for because it's not like full-on winter yet with like feet of snow but it's also cold and wintry enough that like your summer gear doesn't really work either it is kind of tricky all i can say is that it's clear to me that her clothing and her gear choices were both better suited for more like casual fall hiking conditions not dangerous alpine winter conditions but then again it was november after all at the lower elevations that time of year it can still very much feel like fall and not winter and so i'm not trying to to blame her here she didn't bring any insulated boots she didn't bring a heavy winter coat she didn't have any micro spikes she didn't pack a ton of extra layers or a hat or any specialized winter gear her only real like cold weather equipment was a pair of heated gloves and again at the time that decision probably seemed perfectly reasonable the weather forecast had only called for temperatures in the low 30 degree fahrenheit range and maybe just a little bit of snow however anyone who's been in the cold weather for a long time has probably seen a little bit of snow during this time of year so i think it's a good thing that the weather forecast is a little bit different and i think it's a good thing i think it's a good thing that the weather forecast is a little bit different and i think it's a good thing that the weather forecast is a little bit different and i think it's a good thing that the weather forecast is a little bit different and i think it's a good thing that the weather forecast is a little bit different and what emily did not realize was that the forecast up at the top of franconia ridge told a very different story up there wind gusts were expected to approach 95 miles per hour and when you combine that with the already freezing temperatures the resulting wind chill can make it feel more like zero degrees fahrenheit and that's why i think it's a good thing that the weather forecast is a little bit different and i think it's a good thing that the weather forecast is a little bit more like zero degrees fahrenheit which is cold enough to freeze exposed skin very very quickly and so unfortunately despite all of her planning emily either didn't notice this critical part of the forecast or she severely underestimated it i'm not sure which one it was that evening emily reviewed her maps she finished some schoolwork and she laid out her gear for the next morning her mother could tell how excited she was about this big adventure i mean she was going to finish the new hampshire 48 before she turned 20 she was going to finish the new hampshire 48 before she turned 20 she was going to finish the new hampshire 48 before she turned 20 she was going to accomplish her goal as far as her mother was concerned she had raised a real life superhero right unfortunately every superhero has their kryptonite and neither of them had any idea that emily was about to step into the biggest battle of her entire life the next morning started extremely early emily set an alarm for 4 a.m and then started gearing up for the big day her mother drove her to the lafayette place campground parking lot near franconia notch and dropped emily off by 4 30. it was still completely dark outside at this time and the forest surrounding the parking lot was very quiet except for the faint crunch of snow underneath their feet before the two said their goodbyes they confirmed that emily's mother would pick emily up in this exact same spot in eight hours then emily turned on the flashlight on her phone and began walking into the woods on a trail called the old bridal path which would take her to the summit of her first peak of the day mount lafayette her mother watched as the small circle of light drifted along the trail for just a moment getting smaller and smaller as it bounced off into the distance and by the time it had disappeared into the darkness emily's mother was beaming with pride for her ambitious daughter i mean how could she not right the thing is though she had no idea that their goodbye in the parking lot there well that would be the last time that she was ever gonna see emily alive 30 minutes later around 5 00 a.m emily sent her mother a text from the old bridal path listing what she wanted for a late lunch once she finished she wanted some quinoa some chicken papaya coffee and some water she was clearly already feeling pretty confident about handing this 13 plus mile hike since she was already focused on lunch or maybe she was slowly realizing that the granola bars she'd packed weren't going to be that substantial and that she was going to be very hungry when this thing was over i'm not exactly sure at first she was going to be like the hike likely felt pretty normal for emily the lower section of the old bridal path winds through dense forest gradually climbing higher as it follows a series of small waterfalls and rocky streams i've done this trail a few times it's it's very beautiful and emily had done plenty of hikes just like this before hell she'd already summited 40 mountains over 4 000 feet just in the state of new hampshire alone i mean she was practically built for this the steady uphill climb the quiet forest the sound of the river the sound of the river the sound of the river the sound of light packed snow crunching beneath her shoes i mean i can practically picture it myself i mean probably because i've been there but even though the weather has been slightly warmer whenever I've been there, I can almost imagine that the winter conditions probably made it feel even more serene and peaceful, even if that peace wasn't going to last for much longer. As she gained elevation, the environment around her quickly began to change. The snow grew deeper, the wind started to pick up a lot more, and eventually the trees started to thin out as she approached the exposed ridgeline near a popular landmark on the trail called Greenleaf Hut. This hut is a well-known and well-used shelter during the warmer months, but when Emily arrived, it was locked up and bolted for the winter. Now, I'm almost certain that she knew the hut was going to be closed. I mean, it's very common for these huts to close off, you know, when it gets colder, but as she stood there very high on the mountain now, and the wind chill continued to make the temperatures feel colder and colder, I'm sure that Greenleaf Hut would have been a pretty nice place to take a moment and warm up and take a break from the storm that was only just getting started. By 11 a.m., it was like. properly snowing, and the winds were already roaring across the ridge at incredible speeds. Oh, and the temperature was hovering near zero degrees. And so, without heavy winter clothing, that cold would have started biting into Emily's skin almost immediately. And it's around this time that Emily's mom sent her a text message asking how the hike was going. She was, again, extremely proud of her driven daughter and was getting excited to celebrate her multiple-mountain trek with a well-deserved late lunch once again. Emily finished. Her mother sent this text and then she waited and waited and waited, waiting for a text back, an update of some kind. Maybe if she was lucky, Emily would even send her a summit selfie or something like that. However, there was no response. And that's when Emily's mother's pride started to turn into deep dread. And her fears only grew bigger when eventually she arrived back at the Lafayette Place campground, the parking lot where she was expecting to meet up with her daughter. And she realized that Emily wasn't there. Now, maybe Emily was just running a little bit behind schedule. Her mother knew that the weather probably slowed her down a little bit. And maybe the weather also limited her cell service. And so, that would explain why she never got a text back. Just like she had done for a response for the text message, her mother waited and waited for her daughter to come striding down the old bridal path with her trademark smile plastered on her face. But Emily still hadn't arrived by the time the sun started to go down. And that's when her mother knew that something had gone terribly wrong. It was at this time that her mother had to make the phone call that no mother ever wants to make or should have to make. She had to call and report her daughter missing. Search teams began to mobilize very quickly. At the height of the search, almost 50 search and rescue crew members and canine teams jumped into action all across the area to try to find Emily. They even had helicopter crews scanning the forest from up in the sky. And this is the moment where this story starts to sound a lot like one from February of 2015 that I covered just a few months ago. The story of Kate Matrasova. Kate was also an experienced and confident mountaineer, even more experienced than Emily, actually, in terms of big summits. Kate got caught between Mount Madison and Mount Adams in the White Mountains, and that's when everything started to go wrong. If you haven't yet, I do think you should go watch that whole story about Kate. But in the interest of time, I'll just tell you that she ended up getting lost in a blizzard. And by the time rescuers found her, she was lying face down in the snow just a few hundred feet off the trail. Her body was essentially frozen where she had fallen. The mountain had just straight up overpowered her. And I couldn't help but compare her story to Emily's because, well, Kate was found just a few hundred yards away from the Madison Spring Hut, a very similar hut to Greenleaf. Listening to this podcast instead of doom scrolling? Smart move. Another smart move? Hey friends, Olivia from Ollie. Between new routines and the ultimate group project known as parenting, you need science-backed solutions that work with your life. That's where Ollie comes in. Stock up on Ollie.com today. Uninvited. Garnier's got you. With those savings, your next girl's night is basically free. The Lemonade has spent decades keeping lemon on top and lime in the shadows. Their lemon agenda has infiltrated everything, even our music. That hit song named after the color of lemons? Not a coincidence. Big Lemon has been pulling strings in the industry for years. Think about it. But now, 7-Up is fighting back with their new lime lemon soda. Now lime comes first. 7-Up. Flip the sip. I get so many headaches every month. It could be chronic migraine. 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting four hours or more. If you're in a state where you're not feeling well, you don't want to go to the doctor. If you're in a state where you're in a state where you're not feeling well, you don't want to go to the doctor. Don't receive Botox if there's a skin infection. Tell your doctor your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions, including ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease, myasthenia gravis, or Lambert-Eaton syndrome, and medications, including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. Why wait? Ask your doctor. Visit BotoxChronicMigraine.com or call 1-800-44-BOTOX to learn more. But of course, in the whiteout conditions and the violent winds, that hut might as well have been miles and miles away, right? Which is another like scary similarity to Emily's story. Um, Emily had reached the Greenleaf hut, which could have been a much needed shelter from the wind if it hadn't been locked up for the season. Although to be clear, like they have protocols they need to follow. They can't just leave their huts unlocked all winter. I mean, so I get why they locked it up, but still just, it makes you wonder. The biggest difference between Kate's story and Emily's story was the distress signals sent from Kate's personal locator beacon, which created critical confusion during the rescue. And although the first signal did point rescuers to the correct location, a second faulty device sent these like misleading signals that led teams off course and kind of scattered them across the mountain, right? As conditions were worsening and somewhere in that chaos, Kate kept fighting, but in the end, the mountain didn't give her a second chance. And I really can't shake all the different ways that these two stories overlap. Two, very competent, accomplished women setting out solo in the white mountains, despite the brutal conditions. And they both disappeared near a key Alpine shelter too. And the only reason that Kate even had the slightest chance of being rescued was because she had that personal locator beacon. But the only thing that Emily had on her was her cell phone and the cell phone service way up on Mount Lafayette was spotty at best. And what this means is that unlike Kate, Emily had zero way of calling for help. And by this point, she had been up there missing for two whole freezing nights. If she was going to make it down off the mountain, she was going to have to do it all by herself. And so thinking back on Kate's story, a lot of people wondered if Emily was just like right off the trail, just like Kate had been. Investigators were forced to consider every possible theory if they were going to have any chance to find her, right? Maybe she had simply lost the trail. I mean, Franconia Ridge, in winter conditions, can be extremely difficult to navigate. Snow drifts can bury entire sections of the trail and visibility can disappear when the fog rolls in or the high winds kick up. Normally, hikers can rely on stone cairns to guide them from one peak to the next, you know, the rocks that they stack up above treeline. But in severe weather, those cairns or is it cairns? I don't know. They're pretty much impossible to find when you can barely see two feet in front of you, right? Emily might have lost the trail. And if she was disoriented and facing brutal wind and cold, one wrong turn could have been the difference between life and death. Investigators also had to consider the possibility that maybe Emily had somehow decided to follow one of the small mountain streams that winds throughout the valley near Old Bridal Path. Authorities did search along Walker Brook and Dry Brook to see if either of them held any answers. I mean, if she had gravitated towards the water, maybe she could of the creeks and then froze. However, after further investigation, neither of those two streams showed any sign that Emily had been there which meant that the mystery of her disappearance just continued to deepen. But after two intense days of crisscrossing the area authorities made their biggest discovery yet and it meant that Emily's time might be running out even faster than they had originally thought. The temperature was still in the low single digits Fahrenheit as search and rescue crews headed up Mount Lafayette on the afternoon of Tuesday November 22nd. The wind was still consistently whipping through the area and according to James Neeland a lieutenant from New Hampshire Fish and Game the conditions had made it extremely difficult for his crews to make any progress at all. I mentioned earlier that crews had searched the two streams closest to the old bridle path but after they found zero trace of Emily in either one of them they essentially decided to expand the search area beyond the two streams closest to the old bridle path. The trail itself. Maybe Emily had gone much further off trail than anyone had originally expected. That's what they were thinking and so one of those expanded search and rescue crews were sent to look around a different stream that was a little north of the initial search area and this stream was called Lafayette Brook. That crew navigated the extremely harsh weather and trudged through snow that was almost waist deep which is insane for November and as they were doing this one of the first things they found was a backpack. Now I couldn't tell for sure through any of the reports if the backpack had been found like inside the stream itself or if it had like washed out or anything like that. It was a backpack. Or if it was found like near the stream fully out of the water but I did find a quote from James Nealon that said that they had discovered a few familiar items inside the backpack. Granola bars, a banana, and a water bottle that had frozen solid. They obviously assumed that they had found Emily Sotelo's backpack and her other belongings way out there by Lafayette Brook which was just a little bit north of where they had been searching originally. The crew also noticed a few possible tracks in the snow nearby Emily's backpack. They also noticed a few possible tracks in the snow nearby Emily's belongings but it had taken them almost two hours to travel just 900 feet you know crunching over small trees packed with ice and sinking into the snow. The area was proving to be almost impossible for even these like well-prepared and well-trained crews to navigate and I can only imagine what kind of a nightmare it would have been for someone like Emily who definitely didn't have the right kind of gear for this stuff. The searchers desperately wanted to follow these tracks and see where they ended up. The helicopter above had spotted even more tracks but at this point it was starting to get dark and extremely unsafe and so unfortunately the search was called off for the day. I mean if they were going to have any chance to find and hopefully save Emily they had to hope against hope that she could survive at least one more night in the White Mountains. Early the next morning crews came right back to the area where Emily's belongings had been found the day before. Three different search teams approached from different directions and I mean they weren't going to let the treacherous terrain keep them from getting to the bottom of this desperate search once and for all. It already sucked enough frankly that they had to call off the search the night before and I realize that might rub some of you the wrong way but you have to keep in mind these rescuers were already putting their lives at risk to try to find and save Emily and pushing on through the night spending the night up there on the mountain in the freezing cold in the darkness like that just would have been reckless and so I just want to be clear it's not like they just abandoned the search once it got dark they really had no choice in terms of safety but you know they were back up there the next morning and each team member expertly climbed over icy downed trees pushed through the the powder the snow and followed the rushing waters of Lafayette Brook and it was just a few hours later just after 11 a.m when one of the teams made the biggest breakthrough in the case yet. That particular team was searching the headwaters of the stream aka the place where the river begins essentially and that's where they noticed another mysterious object underneath a nearby tree and this time it was much bigger than just a backpack. They approached it slowly and I can only assume that each crew member was probably beginning to realize that their long dangerous search was over and sadly they were not going to get a happy ending. There they found Emily Sotelo's body right near the headwaters of Lafayette Brook three-fourths of a mile from the trail. She had not survived her battle with the frigid mountain but it was clear that she put up one hell of a fight. Emily was lying beneath the trees curled on her side and dusted with fresh fallen snow. Her jacket was open one of her gloves was missing and strangely one of her shoes was missing as well. These parts of the stories are always hard to read man. Basically everyone's worried about her and she's one of the most intelligent and hard-working people to ever set foot in the white mountains had suddenly become one of its many many victims. And so inevitably everyone started to ask the next obvious question which was why? I mean how had she gotten so far off the trail? How long had she lasted in the below freezing temperatures? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Oh and where the hell was her missing shoe and her glove? Lieutenant Nealon believes that at some point along the ridge between Greenleaf Huts and the summit of Mount Lafayette Emily may have decided to turn back around due to the insane weather and then disoriented and facing brutal wind and cold she likely made a decision that many lost hikers make. She started heading downhill in search of shelter and to get below the tree line where the conditions would be a little bit better. We don't know this for sure. We don't know if she was in the right place or if she was in the wrong place. But I'm guessing she basically abandoned the trail which continued along the ridgeline for a long time and decided that she needed to just get the hell off the mountain essentially and she kind of just went rogue. That's my interpretation to be clear. I don't know for sure if that's what happened but regardless she did wander onto the northwest side of Mount Lafayette which is an area with almost no marked trails and extremely rugged terrain. Like being up there I can't even imagine going off trail in these conditions. Smart move. Another smart move? Bundling. Just another way to save with the personal price plan. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state. Uninvited. Garnier's got you. Garnier comes to you. 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Ask your doctor, visit BotoxChronicMigraine.com or call 1-800-44-BOTOX to learn more. Once she began descending, she eventually took a wrong turn and started to move deeper and into the wilderness rather than towards safety. The terrain started to get even steeper. There's like huge boulders around this area. The weather was just getting worse and the thick forest made it impossible to know where you had been or even where you were going. The deep snow covered rocks and fallen trees, which made every step dangerous and uncertain. Even experienced, well-prepared hikers would struggle pushing through terrain like this. Captain Michael Eastman of New Hampshire Fish and Game had his suspicions on the exact spot where Emily made her deadly wrong turn. He said, quote, there is a 90 degree dog leg on that trail between the hut and the summit. This is a common area where people get waylaid. And boy, does he have a way with words. However, this wrong turn wasn't the only reason for Emily's tragic fate. At some point during her descent, she lost one of her trail shoes, apparently. And it's unclear exactly how this happened, you know, whether it was yanked off in deep snow or if it came loose during like a stumble or fall. But regardless, suddenly one of her feet was left with only a sock as protection against the harsh conditions. But even with that serious setback, she continued moving downhill, determined to press on. And that's when authorities believe that she began following the Lafayette Brook as it wound through the valley, possibly using it as like a natural guide. At some point along this route, Emily appears to have slipped into the icy water, soaking her foot and her lower leg completely. And in freezing temperatures like this, wet clothing is extremely dangerous because it rapidly increases heat loss and significantly accelerates the onset of hypothermia, turning an already dire situation into a straight up life threatening one. But still, I mean, she was Emily freaking Sotelo. She was the star student, the superhuman hiker. She clearly didn't even know the meaning of the words give up. And so even more hours passed as she continued to struggle onward through the deep snow and the thick woods. And every step that she took was draining more and more of her strength and her body heat. Her progress would have been very slow and extremely exhausting. The cold would have been wearing her down as fatigue continued to set in. And as daylight began to fade and darkness crept in, Emily eventually found a small piece of shelter beneath a cluster of evergreen trees. Their low, thick branches created like a natural canopy, offering the slightest protection from the winds and the worst events. And so she was able to get to the top of the mountain, and she was able to get to the top of the mountain, and she was able to get to the top of the mountain, and she there, she curled into a tight ball beneath the branches, desperately trying to conserve what little warmth she had left, her body instinctively fighting to hold on as the cold closed in around her. But heartbreakingly, it was in that exact same spot under those trees, less than a mile from the nearest trail, that search crews discovered her body, which had ultimately suffered from advanced hypothermia. And to make matters even more tragic, the day they found her, was November 23rd, the day of her 20th birthday. The news obviously devastated her family, her friends, and her classmates at Vanderbilt University, where she had been known as a bright and compassionate student with, again, dreams of becoming a doctor. I have like goosebumps thinking about just how much of my story, when I was her age, when I was in these same mountains, like thinking about how much of my story I can see in Emily. I was just as obsessed with the mountains. I was just as obsessed with accomplishing all of my hiking goals as fast as possible back then. I never did Franconia Ridge in November, but I did do Mount Mooselock, another mountain in the area in November. And similar to Emily, I was very surprised at how brutal the conditions were up high on the mountain. I ended up fine, obviously, but like, man, this story, this story just hits really hard for me. The same drive that made Emily remarkable may also have been part of the reason that she kept pushing deeper and deeper into the mountains when conditions were obviously very dangerous. In the months that followed, Emily's parents decided that they were going to finish what she had started. They made the very brave decision to return to the White Mountains in safer weather and retrace parts of the route that Emily had taken. Eventually, they reached the summit of Mount Lafayette. While they were at the top, they knelt down besides a cairn and they carefully placed a small card with a photograph of Emily smiling during a past hike. Today, Emily's story continues to circulate among hikers as both a memorial as well as a cautionary tale. And that includes an organization called the Emily M. Sotelo Safety and Persistence Charitable Organization, which was started by her family in her honor. Emily's mission in life was to find a way to help all children get the experience and opportunities that she had as a child. Emily was born and raised in New Mexico. She was born and raised in a charter school in New Mexico. She had developed an after-school STEM program that meant a lot to her. Emily kept in touch with all the young boys and girls from the school, and she would frequently write to them about the beauty of nature. The organization's goal is to make the world a better place by promoting safe hiking, offering knowledge and resources, and helping the underprivileged. And so if Emily's story made an impact on you in any way, I seriously encourage you to look into their organization and consider joining me in making a donation to them if you can, even if it's just a few bucks. Emily went into the mountains chasing a goal, but the family in our next story went into the mountains trying to escape the world entirely, and that decision would lead to one of the most disturbing campsite discoveries that I've ever covered. During the summer of 2023, a family of hikers parked their car at the Gold Creek Campground in Colorado. Their plan was to go on a hike in the beautiful Gunnison National Forest, which they did. But as they were returning, the father noticed something strange off in the woods. From afar, it simply looked like your typical campsite. But as he walked closer and closer to the blue tent that was in the heart of the campsite, a wave of dread rushed over him. The campsite was covered with trash. This is disgusting, but human feces were all over the tent. The smell of this site was just nothing short of foul. Who had pitched this tent? Why were they there? And what the hell had happened to him? I mean, these are the questions that were bouncing around the man's head as he contemplated what he should do next. Should he unzip the tent door and look at what was inside? It's a good question, and it was surely one on his mind. But as fate would have it, this man was going to have to do something. He was going to have to do something. And that's because out of the corner of his eye, he saw something so disturbing that he immediately fled and called police. That blue tent would end up being opened the following day. And its contents revealed a haunting story, even an enraging story, a story that would raise far more questions than it answered. And so with that said, buckle up, folks, because you're about to hear the disturbing story of the Vance family. I don't usually do this, but I feel like I should start this video with a warning. This is going to be a tough one to hear, folks. It's going to be a tough one for me to tell. It's an absolute heartbreaker, especially because it involves a child. And yet, at the same time, it is morbidly fascinating. And I do think that there's some things that are going to be a little bit more difficult. And I do think that there's some things we can learn from it. So with that said, I'd like to invite you on a virtual trip right now to the beautiful state of Colorado. I'd now like to introduce you to two sisters, Christine Vance and Rebecca Vance, who often went by the name Becky. Christine was less than two years younger than Becky. And these two sisters were absolutely inseparable. Their bond was strong. And maybe that's because they felt like they were all each other had. Becky's family life was very rocky, torn apart before they even reached grade school. When the sisters were just three and five, respectively, their mother left their father and she took the girls with her, leaving Becky to grow up fast and take on the role of, you know, a protector for her little sister. As the family moved place to place with their mother, who was in the Air Force, by the way, we all know that can happen when people are in the military. As they moved place to place, Becky said, her sense of duty only grew stronger. She was Christine's constant, her guardian and guide through all the uncertainty and all the change. So the family's moving around so much, but eventually they would end up settling in the city of Colorado Springs. Smart move. Another smart move? Getting help from one of State Farm's 19,000 local agents when you choose to bundle home. Home and auto. Bundling. Hey friends, Olivia from OLLI. That's where OLLI comes in. Start your mornings off right with Maltese made to support nutrition and immune health. Uninvited? Garnier's got you. 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But shortly before they made this move, Christine and Becky's mother would remarry. And the young girls now found themselves with a stepsister whose name was Trevilla. Trevilla was two years younger than Christine. And as the girls got older, they began to have a relationship with each other. And as the girls got older, they began to have a relationship with each got older and you know went into high school Christine began to grow very close with Trevla you know often joining her as she got into various high school mischief you know things like smoking weed or sneaking out of the house things like that Trevla and Christine grow closer but Becky was actually quite distant with Trevla and that's not to say that the two of them didn't get along or that they didn't like each other it's just to say that Becky was private she never fully opened up to Trevla she would always maintain a sense of mystery a wall that was between them but with her mother it was very different Becky shared a super close bond with her mother one that endured as all three girls Becky Christine and Trevla stayed under the same roof you , and they grew up in a home that for a time at least seemed to be united where the Vance sisters accepted their stepfather and began to settle into a new family dynamic it seemed like they were on track to finally leave their turbulent past behind and build a life that was steady but then in 2007 everything changed in their worlds and not for the better Becky and Christine's mother would tragically pass away in 2007 from cancer and this event straight up just struck the family like a thunderbolt for Becky who'd always been known as reserved and withdrawn this loss was was earth shattering she retreated even further into herself a silence settling over her that seemed to speak volumes the one person who'd anchored her was now gone leaving her adrift and struggling to find her way in a world that suddenly felt far too empty. Trevilla, again, their stepsister, was quoted in an Outside Magazine article saying, Becky has always been a recluse, always kept to herself, never really liked to be around people. Our mom and her were really close, and when she passed away, it took a huge toll on Becky. I think she became a little more of a recluse, and you know, when you're by yourself for so many years and don't have many friends or anything, your thoughts can get to you. The year after her mom died, Becky would become pregnant, and the father was a man named Eric, and the two had met each other while working at Atmel, which is a computer chip manufacturing plant where Christine also worked, by the way. At the time of Becky's pregnancy, the Vance sisters were still living at home with their stepfather and their stepsister. Becky's relationship with Eric and her pregnancy, for that matter, is difficult to describe. When Becky found out that she was unexpectedly pregnant with Eric's child, things easily could have spiraled into chaos. I mean, we've all seen this happen before. A surprise pregnancy outside of a marriage often leads to tension, arguments, and even legal battles over custody or child support money, but that didn't happen here. There was no explosive breakup. There was no harsh, violent, or violent relationship. There was no harsh, violent relationship. There was no harsh, words or dramatic fights, but something still fell off. Becky and Eric's relationship wasn't hostile, but at the same time, it was just weird. I just can't really think of another way to describe it. And take this as an example. So Becky didn't tell Eric when their baby was born. He wasn't at the hospital for the birth of his child. In fact, the only reason he found out his child had been born was because a friend of his texted him and said, to congratulate him. Becky also neglected to put Eric's name down as the father on the baby's birth certificate. Isn't that kind of strange? Becky never like took him to court to try to get money or anything like that, but these actions were very strange. And she did also tell Eric that she, that she didn't want to co-parent their new baby, which was a boy that she named Talon, by the way, again, without consulting Eric. And yet, despite all of these bizarre actions, Becky and Eric remain in a relationship. Becky remained on pretty good terms. She was, she was nice to him, but again, just like she was with her stepsister, she was just kind of distant. And then to add even more weirdness to this situation, Becky struck up an unlikely relationship with Eric's mother, who was named Marilyn. Becky began dropping off Talon at the home where Eric and Marilyn lived, usually when she was on her way to work. As time went on, these, these visits became more regular and Marilyn developed a very close relationship with her growing grandson. It's at this point that for the second time in their lives, things seem to, to kind of stabilize for the Vance sisters. But that was until late 2019 when their stepfather tragically passed away. And then only a few short months later, COVID began spreading around the world. We all remember what this time was like. We all remember the lockdowns, the blurred lines between work and home life, the uncertainty of employment. And we remember kids being pulled out of school and placed into an impossible remote learning environment. The government's response to the COVID pandemic greatly affected the lives of the Vance sisters. Just like everyone else, they were now spending more time online on the internet than ever before. And Becky in particular began to go down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories. All right. I'm going to try to make this as non-controversial as I can. If you read many of the articles about this particular story, they're, they kind of make Becky out to be your classic conspiracy theory nut job, but I'm going to try to be a little bit more careful with the way that I describe her online habits, because I do think that many of us will agree that during the COVID pandemic, there were some things that were called conspiracy theories that I actually turned out to be at least partially based in truth, if not entirely true. Again, I don't want to turn this into a video about conspiracy theories. All I'm saying is that a lot of reasonable people were asking a lot of good questions and I totally acknowledge that. But at the same time, there was a fringe minority of people who took these conspiracy theories way too far and were essentially preying on the fear that the government's response to COVID had caused. And unfortunately, this is the corner of the internet that Becky got wrapped up in after COVID Becky began spending way more time online. And I find her increase in internet activity kind of ironic because we all know, at least on some level, that spending a ton of time on social media isn't really the best thing. The reason I say that it's a bit ironic is because of the way that Becky handled her son Talon's privileges with COVID. Becky herself was spending a lot of time on social media but she was firm about keeping Talon away from it. She didn't allow him to have any accounts. He didn't have a cell phone and she tightly controlled his internet access. And while there's nothing wrong with caution when it comes to social media and young kids, I'm not saying that's a bad thing. Becky's strictness stands out against some of her other parenting choices. By early 2021, when schools in Colorado Springs finally reopened for in-person learning, Becky made a surprising choice. Instead of sending Talon back to school, she decided to keep him isolated at home, continuing with remote learning, even as life around them was beginning to open back up. Keeping Talon home from school shut down one of his very few chances at social interaction. And sadly, he really didn't have many others. Talon's father, Eric, once suggested signing Talon up for the Lord of the Rings. But he didn't. He was a little too busy with his work, so he decided to go to the local soccer team. But Becky dismissed this idea, showing little interest in Talon joining any activities outside the house. Once in a while, he would play with the neighbor's kids. But those moments were very rare, leaving Talon with an isolated, solitary life for such a young boy. His only consistent social outlet was online gaming, where he forged some quiet friendships with other gamers that only knew him for a short period of time. Meanwhile, Becky grew more and more paranoid, and eventually she made the surprising decision to just quit her job. This left her with even more time on her hands to sit on the internet and dive deeper into the world of conspiracy theories. I'm talking about conspiracy theories that were full-on, like the world is coming to an end, society is going to collapse, they're trying to put microchips inside of us. I'm talking about those kinds of conspiracies. But with that said, 99% of the time, even the truest believers of these kinds of conspiracy theories don't actually take drastic measures in response. Sure, they might prep a bit, you know, they might stock up on supplies and stuff like that, but they're not keeping themselves informed. But it's not like most of them quit their job and then move out into the wilderness with no connection to the outside world. Those are obviously very extreme actions. But for Becky, it turns out that that's what she believed she needed to do in order to save her life and the lives of her family. Towards the end of 2021, right at the heights of the division over masks and big pharma and all the other COVID stuff, Christine Vance, sent a text to her stepsister Trevilla that said this, quote, you would never guess what Becky wants to do. She wants to live off the grid. I'm not sure how seriously Christine took this idea at first, but eventually this chilling reality set in for her. Becky was dead serious. She meant business and she wanted Christine and her son Talon to come with her. Initially, Christine did not want anything to do with this. She did not want to join Becky. She thought the idea was insane, and she worried that their lack of outdoor experience would lead to certain disaster. However, Becky played the long game. And over the course of a few months, Christine did a full 180 on this idea. Christine would text Trevilla very often, venting about the struggles that weighed on her. Christine was unhappy with her body. She was wrestling with self-doubt, and she was also feeling the toll of age pressing down on her as she hit 40. Depression seemed to cloud her daily life, and it's likely that this feeling of despair played a role in her eventual decision to embrace Becky's radical plan to live off the grid. For Christine, leaving it all behind must have seemed like a chance to kind of start fresh, a way to escape from the situation. But she didn't. She didn't. She didn't. She didn't. She escaped the spiral that she felt trapped in. By the summer of 2022, Christine's outlook had taken a very dark turn, mirroring many of the conspiracy theories Becky had come to believe. When Christine told Trevilla that herself, Becky, and Talon would be leaving to live off the grid, Christine refused to tell Trevilla where they were going to go. Trevilla was immediately concerned, and she urged her to reconsider. But unfortunately, these objections fell on deaf ears. Christine and Becky's decision was made, and no amount of reasoning could seem to shake them from their plans. Desperate, Trevilla even tried to take action on her own to prevent them from doing this. Trevilla made an offer to Christine and Becky. So Trevilla and her husband owned this undeveloped plot of land up in the mountains west of Colorado Springs. And she said, I'm going to go to the and she said that the Vance sisters and Talon could go live on this plot of land. There was a camper parked on the property, which would provide them with some comfort and safety. You know, they could go live there and they could just drop this idea of going somewhere else, somewhere even more remote with no shelter available. Becky did not want to hear it. To her, this location wasn't even close to remote. She said, I'm going to go to the mountains west of Colorado Springs. And she said, I mean, it had road access after all. It had a mailing address. In Becky's mind, safety meant going to a place so remote, so out of touch with society that not even her close relatives would be able to find her. Weeks would go by and the Vance sisters made preparations to head off into the mountains to give their cat away. Christine even tried to gift Trevila her car. And at some point, Talon, the son, who is now 13 years old, was informed of their plans because he too started to prepare for his departure. At Becky's insistence, Talon began learning various bushcraft skills, you know, things like tying knots or building lean-tos and trying to identify edible plants, things like that. And she said, I'm going to go to the mountains west of Colorado and Talon also began saying his goodbyes, which is very sad. His goodbyes both to his online video game friends and to the family cat. Talon wrote over 20 pages in his journal, quoting his online friends' responses to his planned departure. One user wrote, quote, no, come back. Another wrote, hi, if you see this, I'm crying. And perhaps the saddest response, Talon recorded, quote, Roblox is no fun anymore. It always makes me lose my best friends. But as if that wasn't sad enough, Talon also journaled about his cat, which was named Oreo. He wrote, quote, Oreo always plopped on our laps when we were on the couch. On the 29th of July, Oreo plopped between me and mommy as we were practicing ropes and knots. During online school, I would work on the couch a lot of the time. Because of that, Oreo would plop on me. On the 29th of July, Oreo plopped on me for the last time. A few days after this journal entry, Becky, Christine, and Talon stopped by the house where Eric and Talon's grandmother, Marilyn, lived. Christine waited by the car as Becky greeted Marilyn with Talon in tow. Becky gave her a small box filled with bits and pieces of Talon's life, things like school portrait photos, t-shirts, and other items that she had gathered from Talon's childhood. She then told Marilyn two big lies. Becky told her that they were no longer safe in Colorado Springs and that they would be moving to West Virginia to be close to Becky's biological father. Marilyn's follow-up questions were met with vague, unhelpful answers. And then Becky leaned in and she told Marilyn not to ask Talon about her life. She told her that she was going to be a father to Talon, but she was going to be a mother to Talon, but she was going to be a mother to Talon. She told her that she was going to be a mother to Talon, but she was going to be a mother to Talon. She told her that she was going to be a mother to Talon. She told her that she was. As the car disappeared down the road, she didn't have a choice. She was left completely powerless. And as fate would have it, she would never see the Vance sisters or her grandson ever again. The group drove away, leaving Colorado Springs behind, venturing deep into the rugged and unforgiving Rocky Mountains. For over three hours, they navigated a maze of winding roads, each turn pulling them further away from civilization. The pavement eventually gave way to a dirt and gravel as they entered the remote wilderness of Gunnison. National Forest following the desolate path of Forest Service Road 771. The road climbed steadily, the air growing thinner with every mile, until they found themselves nearly 10,000 feet or around 3,000 meters above sea level. And at the very end of this lonely, forgotten road, they reached a place called Gold Creek Campground. This would be the place that they chose to disappear from the world. Gold Creek Campground is run by the United States Forest Service, and it consists of a few designated campsites, a pit toilet, and pretty much nothing else. It doesn't even have a permanent employee or a caretaker. The Van Sisters and Talon claimed one of the established sites, and they then spent the next few days scouting the wilderness surrounding the campground, searching for a more secluded and permanent spot. They eventually built a campsite that was about 150 to 200 yards east of Gold Creek Campground, and it was hidden in some dense forest with a stream and a pond nearby. It was here that the family settled in, setting up their $80 Walmart tent, along with a tarp and a few other basic pieces of camping gear. They also built a small lean-to, and this was going to be their makeshift home for what they believed to be a self-reliant life off the grid. But noticeably absent from their gear were sleeping pads. Instead of using sleeping pads, they just put down a few blankets underneath them, which is, by the way, a glaring sign that the Vance family was not going to be prepared for the cold weather that would await them in just a few days. Not only would it be incredibly uncomfortable to sleep on the ground without a pad, but it would also be very, very cold. You see, sleeping pads provide essential insulation to keep you warm during chilly nights spent outside. Other choices in their gear raises even more questions. For instance, the family brought along a few life straws to help filter their water and to protect them against Giardia and other parasites. And this would have been a wise choice for a normal short summer camping trip. But life straws lose their ability to filter if they freeze. Even worse is that if the filters do freeze, my backpacking viewers know this, they give no indication that they're no longer safe to use. And this meant that the family could unknowingly consume contaminated water, which was a potentially deadly mistake. They did have sleeping bags, but they weren't rated for winter temperatures. Again, they're at 10,000 feet in the Colorado mountains. They're going to need some warm bags. They didn't have any big knives and they didn't have any guns. If something were to go wrong for them, they would be all alone in the wilderness with no cell service to call for help and nobody to turn to. It was clear that the Vance family were setting themselves up for failure. And the scariest part is that they didn't even know it. Despite their poorly chosen gear, the family did manage to scrape by for the first couple months. They made occasional trips into the nearby town of Gunnison to restock supplies, which was an experience that Talon described in detail in his journal. His entries reveal a boy caught in this emotional tug of war, we'll say. On one side, he felt the pressure to support his mother, and on the other, he felt the pressure to support his mother, and on the other, he felt the pressure to support his father and his aunt, wanting to live up to their expectations and share in their vision of this off-grid lifestyle. But on the other hand, it's clear that Talon was deeply unhappy with the situation that he was trapped in. His words paint a picture of a child trying to balance loyalty with his own growing discontent, a heartbreaking glimpse into the past, and how he feels about how Christine had taken him to the fast food joint Arby's. He wrote, quote, I also had a mini breakdown at Arby's because nothing feels the same anymore. And then he put like a frowny face. During my breakdown, she took us to Safeway and let me pick out candy of my choice. I was so sad that nothing really sounded appealing to me anymore. So I picked out chocolate for mommy mostly, and then auntie suggested fruit snacks for me. So I just said, okay. In October, the family made another trip into the town of Gunnison, and Becky called her father with a strange request. She asked him to immediately wire her $500, which was a request that he complied with. The Vances bought a camping stove, some food, some matches, toilet paper, and a few other items. And then they just returned to the wilderness. The brief phone call that Becky had made to her father, would go on to be the last time that anybody heard from the Vances. A month later, a Forest Service ranger was on a rare patrol of Forest Road 771 when he noticed the Vances car parked off to the side. To this ranger, the car seemed like it had been abandoned. And so he briefly searched the area to try to locate the owner. And this proved unsuccessful, obviously. And then the police, ran the license plates, and they actually tried to call Becky and Christine, but their numbers had both been shut down. Marilyn, again, Talon's grandmother, had also been consistently trying to reach out to the Vance sisters, you know, wondering when they would be returning from West Virginia, but she too was never able to make contact. The Vances car was soon towed out of the wilderness, just as winter was finally settling in. Nobody knew what had happened to the Vances. Until the following July, when a chilling discovery brought the entire story to light. It was on July 9th, 2023, that the father I mentioned at the very start of this video stumbled upon the horror that was the Vance campsite. Before this hiker could even open the tent, his eyes locked in on the shocking sight of Talon's mummified body curled into the fetal position. On the ground. Overcome with dread, this hiker didn't dare venture any further. Instead, he simply fled the scene, and immediately reported it to the authorities. The very next morning, a team of police officers, search and rescue personnel, and a coroner arrived at the remote campsite. Talon's body lay approximately 13 feet in front of this weathered blue tent that they had been sleeping in, a grim prelude to what awaited in this tent. When they unzipped the tent, they were met with a terrible sight. They found the mummified remains of both Becky and Christine. Becky lay partially exposed, kind of on the top of her sleeping bag, while Christine's body was entirely covered by her bag, even her face, as if she was seeking shelter from the inevitable. This scene was one of utter despair. There were trash piled up all around the campsite, and there was also a massive pile of human waste, you know, just a few feet outside of the tent. Among the items recovered was Christine's driver's license, which helped confirm the identities, and also Talon's heartbreaking journal. Reportedly, this journal still smelled like campfire smoke. Autopsy results were released the following month, and they were met with a wave of media attention. The official cause of the deaths, was listed as malnutrition and hypothermia. It's speculated that during the month of December 2022, Talon died first, and then the Vance sisters placed his body outside the tent. Becky likely died next, after which Christine zipped herself inside her sleeping bag and just laid there until she too met her inevitable death. As this terrible story went viral, the world wanted to know the answer, but it didn't. The world wanted to know the answer, but it didn't. The world wanted We're never gonna know exactly what happened in those woods outside of Gold Creek Campground. There's really just no way to know. I really hope that none of you ever go into the wilderness as dangerously unprepared as the vance family was and i also hope that all of you please keep them in your hearts as well as all of their surviving friends and family members my give back call out this week is going to be western mountain search and rescue who were actually part of the initial response and investigation after the campsite was discovered i've made a donation to them and i encourage you to do the same because this group is made up of 100 volunteers if you've got a few dollars to spare it doesn't have to be a crazy amount or anything i've linked their website in the description and i would just love it for you to join me in my efforts of giving back to search and rescue who are the unsung heroes of the backcountry