I have been on many calls that are unbelievable. I have seen some of the craziest things imaginable in my professional life. I often tell people of some of these events, and if they are outside of the emergency fields, often, they just cant believe some of the things I tell them. Some, I have articles and reports, even video... Some, they just have to take my word. On 8-22-19, I experienced something I never have seen before. I have to admit, I was blown away, super impressed, and was completely intrigued by what I witnessed.
In my duties, I am a support person for our County Coroner, since they are a very small department, and are constantly running calls. I have no issues with bodies and dead people, so I am always willing to help where, and how I can.
On 8-22-19, I was helping the Deputy Coroner in transferring a deceased person from his vehicle to the Morgue and he was discussing a scene that the Coroner was on up in the forest where they had found remains of a body, and were trying to figure out what happened. While he was explaining the scene to me, I just became more and more intrigued.
He explained that there was a cave this person had built, and was apparently living in it. He stated they thought the person had committed suicide and had been in the woods for 3 years before being discovered. Apparently the person was skilled at survival and had been living out there for some time. He stated he was going out to the scene to help, and I asked if I could come along. I had no idea what I was about to see...
For those of you that know the area, this was in a forest service area, near Terryall, in Park County (Lost Creek Wilderness Area to be more precise). This was just shy of 10k feet in elevation and about 12 miles in on a service road. At the time I was there, this is what was thought to have taken place based on the reporting party and the discovery.
We think this guy moved out to the woods in 2013-2014. His shelter was only about 300 yards off the road.
Some people out gathering wild mushrooms stumbled across the shelter, saw bones, and called it in. We know very little about this event at this point but think he has been deceased for about 3 years. The animals had the bones scattered everywhere.
The shelter is amazing. About 4.5 feet deep with a 2" high ceiling, 12x12 probably, double reinforced walls and ceiling with cut trees mud, and tarps. From a short distance, you would never see this shelter.
He put heavy blankets on the walls, and then emergency blankets (that's the foil looking stuff) lining the walls. He had solar run batteries that were placed in a hole in the ground to keep them out of sight. Power cords run into the shelter and he had rechargeable batteries and a small lightbulb inside on a powerstrip.
He had improvised explosives (box with green wire in it) he had made from hobby rocket engines. Stockpiles of ammo, traps, guns, knives, flashlights. He had a bed inside the shelter and plenty of room to be very comfy and cozy.
He had trees marked with arrows (still not sure why) and it was clear this guy knew his stuff.
If the ID we found is this guy, he was born in 1960. The ID has never been run from any police agency in the US ever.
There were at least 6 campsites within 100-400 yards from the shelter...
Wanna get creeped out??? Just think how many people this guy watched from the woods and campers never knew. It would have been very easy for him to stay concealed with campers just a few hundred yards from him; with all of this, he could have easily watched people from the shadows of their campfire.
Once you were about 5-10 yards from the shelter, you would never be able to see it.... so, he was living a stone's throw from visitors and no one ever detected he was there.
It is an intriguing investigation with a lot of questions that still need to be answered, but I have never seen anything like this, and have to admit, I was VERY impressed!!
The entrance and the Coroner gathering evidence
All of this was inside of that shelter
Entrance and steps down into the shelter
Shelter floor and gathering evidence. About 3"of rat and other rodent excrement to sift through
She is a go-getter
Battery Pack with wires from solar panels and wires to shelter. Buried to hide, or to keep cool, or both?
Gathering evidence
The roof of the shelter
Various flags marking evidence
You can see the road from here, but cannot see the shelter from the road
More of the roof of the shelter and evidence gathered
Roof of the shelter
Evidence was scattered throughout the area and had to be marked for documentation
More of the battery pack set up
Improvised explosives from craft/hobby rockets
More of the contents of the shelter. .22 rounds and .410 rounds...Lots of them
The shelter would easily disappear just yards from it. It was camouflaged very well
Me going into the rat den
As I step down into it
Air mattress with built frame. Emergency blankets lining the walls
His power source. Rechargeable batteries and a light bulb on a power strip
More of the bed and frame
Blankets and emergency blankets lined the walls
I am 5'11" and you can see the clearance of the roof. Notice the trees in the support of the roof
The trees were cris-crossed, two rows thick and mud packed
Solar panels
Those people are standing at the entrance of the shelter. Notice how its very hard to see now
Its becomes harder to see as you get away from it. Notice no trees are cut down near here
Search and recovery team taking a much needed break
Man, that altitude is a beast!! No, those are not the coordinates of the shelter... lol
Dedicated!!! LOVE our volunteers! SOOO many people that are never even known about.
Drone shots
Crazy the clarity
Drone
Its amazing how thick the woods are around the shelter
Bathroom... Downhill from the shelter
Can you see it??
Pretty incredible
All the batteries and battery operated items were still charged
This is the hole the batteries were buried in
Getting the bed out
Dewalt Power Tool, still working!
In 2011, this gentleman was involved in a dispute with family over an estate of his parents. As a result, he decided he was going to detach from them, and fled from Michigan to Colorado. He moved to Woodland Park and although he was detached from his people in Michigan, he would still speak to them from time to time, but it was not a regular type of interaction. He had a son who he was also estranged from that lived in Michigan. We knew he had a truck that was a leased vehicle but we couldn't find it. What we did discover is that he had leased the vehicle, it was scheduled for repo, and we think he knew that, so in Dec 2016, he took the plates off the vehicle and parked it at Terryall Reservoir and abandoned it. It was towed from there as abandoned, recovered for the repo, and resold. We think he abandoned it, and rode his bike back to the campground. We discovered that the equipment we found at the scene was his fathers and he got it all in the estate settlement. We THINK he started to escape to the woods in 2013 as we were able to locate a place he rented in Woodland Park up until Nov 2015, and found a message in 2016 on his phone that said "Im going off grid" and nothing further. We are pretty sure he committed suicide, and the body parts recovered were wrapped in ski bibs, so we think he did it in the winter of 2016 since this was the finality of his truck, his phone, contact, etc.. The rodents and animals destroyed the shelter he made, so if there was any note, our journal, the packrats made a nest out of it. We think he was checking messages up until 2016. There was no signal where he was, but we think he would check messages from time to time and get to a spot to return calls. When we reached the various people we could that were connected to him, they stated "I figured he was done with dealing with society and was just living in the woods" His son said he called every year for holidays and birthdays but once his phone was shut off, he just figured he didn't want any contact anymore; he never suspected he was deceased, so he never made a missing person report. We have no knowledge of why he committed suicide, but from the reports, it sounds like he was a pretty unhappy person and didn't have many people in his life, so he just ended it...But who knows? He could have gotten cabin fever, maybe he was injured, or poisoned and didn't want to suffer... Not sure we will ever know those answers. We think he started to build this shelter and prepare to escape in 2013, maybe visiting the shelter, building it, and staying out there for short periods? He clearly thought out his space and how to keep it undetectable. He used a LOT of trees to build the shelter, but took no trees near the shelter to preserve its camouflage. So, he cut trees in different areas to drag back and build the shelter. Remember, this was a 12x12 shelter, with double log enforced walls and ceiling. That has to be over 50-100 trees he cut down and used to build it?! He had his bathroom set up down hill from his shelter. He had his solar panels camouflaged, his batteries in a hole in the ground, covered by a camouflaged trap door. He had the inside well insulated and was probably very comfortable in all seasons in the shelter. There would be no way to see this was a shelter when you got a few yards from it, it blended in very well. For me, its very intriguing. Why would this guy go through such efforts to escape society, prepare for as long as he did, then off himself shortly into the escape? Not sure we will ever know the whole truth, but I can honestly say, this is the most impressive scene I have ever been on in regards to escaping and self preservation. I have no doubts there are hundreds of people in the backwoods of Colorado who are doing the same thing...And honestly, as I get older and more experience with people and society, I cant blame them one bit. May this Mountain Man rest in peace, and I truly hope he found the peace he was looking for in this escape. I will surely remember this scene and story!!
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