Let's hear any of your strange, true stories in a few paragraphs. I've seen maybe 100 Youtubes by "Mr.Ballen" Jon Allen, the X Navy SEAL. He takes stories from a compilation by David Paulides "Missing 411" documented stories, and tells them in a short 10-minute version. There are thousands of missing persons reports, and hundreds of them are strange. Missing persons are usually skilled, expert outdoor people, or think they are. Here is one that I remember and wonder if anyone saw it? Tell me what I missed. I don't remember exactly, but it was something like this:
A guy and his girlfriend took a cable-tram ride up to a high elevation. It was like Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. After hiking around up top all day they missed the last ride down to base and were stranded on the mountain. They thought they could hike down the mountain side. As they descended the mountain it got steeper and steeper. They came to a drop, maybe a 10-foot cliff, down to a river stream. They realized that if they slid down to the river, they could not go back. They slid and jumped down, and hiked along the river. They saw a single-person tent set up, just a canvas draped over a tree branch. They looked inside the tent and found a sleeping bag and other camping gear, and a calendar with notes written each day like a diary. They saw the last note was dated a few days ago. That means the camper can't be too far away! They hiked down the stream until they made a terrible discovery. There was no way down, just a water fall of 100 feet. Down at the bottom they saw a body and figured it was the camper who tried to climb down but fell to his death. Turns out that is what happened.
Now they were trapped on a ledge with no way down. Back at the tent they discovered, under the sleeping bag, a plastic bag with matches. They could build a signal fire! They also discovered the calendar was ONE YEAR OLD. That camper fell to his death a year ago. They found a big, dead tree that looked like it would burn. It went up like a torch, it was so dry and oily. The big smoky fire was seen and they were rescued, because they found matches!
A guy and his girlfriend took a cable-tram ride up to a high elevation. It was like Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. After hiking around up top all day they missed the last ride down to base and were stranded on the mountain. They thought they could hike down the mountain side. As they descended the mountain it got steeper and steeper. They came to a drop, maybe a 10-foot cliff, down to a river stream. They realized that if they slid down to the river, they could not go back. They slid and jumped down, and hiked along the river. They saw a single-person tent set up, just a canvas draped over a tree branch. They looked inside the tent and found a sleeping bag and other camping gear, and a calendar with notes written each day like a diary. They saw the last note was dated a few days ago. That means the camper can't be too far away! They hiked down the stream until they made a terrible discovery. There was no way down, just a water fall of 100 feet. Down at the bottom they saw a body and figured it was the camper who tried to climb down but fell to his death. Turns out that is what happened.
Now they were trapped on a ledge with no way down. Back at the tent they discovered, under the sleeping bag, a plastic bag with matches. They could build a signal fire! They also discovered the calendar was ONE YEAR OLD. That camper fell to his death a year ago. They found a big, dead tree that looked like it would burn. It went up like a torch, it was so dry and oily. The big smoky fire was seen and they were rescued, because they found matches!
