Disappearances that take place in forests or national parks pose many problems for investigators and rangers, who scour the dense forests and steep mountain ranges in search of the missing. But when people disappear under extremely mysterious circumstances and leave almost no traces behind, everything becomes much more complicated. A YouTube user named Top5s has compiled five of the most compelling and bizarre cases of people disappearing under incredibly mysterious circumstances (watch the video below).
Four-year-old Alfred Beylartz, the youngest of 11 children in the family, went missing in July 1938 while traveling through the Rocky Mountains in a national park in Colorado. The family moved along the river and when the parents turned around to tell Alfred to catch up with them, the boy disappeared. He did not scream, and there were no signs that he could fall into the water. Adults and children called and looked for him. The police who arrived at the scene of the disappearance were convinced that he had fallen into the water and tried to find him down the river.
It was very strange when the dogs took his trail, ascending 150 meters up the mountainside from where his parents lost him. At the intersection of two paths, the trained dogs lost track.
But the most mysterious was the message of tourists, who a day later passed along the old road that runs along the river at an altitude of about 900 meters and 10 kilometers from the place of disappearance of Alfred. They saw a small boy on a rocky ridge in the area of Devil's Nest, which then disappeared from their field of vision. The tourists at that moment had no idea that they were looking for him and that he might be alone. When they returned home and saw the wanted notice, they immediately reported it to the police.
It took the search team two days to get to the indicated place. It was impossible to understand how a little boy could climb such a steep rock. Since no traces or even the boy's clothes were found, he was officially recognized as drowned. But his family is still convinced that he was kidnapped.
Photographer Charles McCullers, who has an excellent collection of photographs, traveled frequently in his Volkswagen. In 1974, he left his car at home, and decided to hitchhike around the United States, leaving his native Virginia for Oregon, where he arrived at the end of January 1975. After staying with a friend, he went to Crater Lake National Park to get some gorgeous winter landscapes. On the way, he went to the store and, as the salesman recalls, was excited about something.
He never came back. Charles's father organized a search group, which included FBI officers. But they found no trace. A year later, two tourists took the wrong path and went out into an unknown canyon, where they found an old backpack, in the side pocket of which they found the car keys, which, as it turned out, were Charles' keys.
The park rangers on horseback examined this place, after which they had many questions. Charles was found 20 kilometers from the lake. It was hard to believe that Charles could have walked in deep, freshly fallen snow over two meters high. It was very strange that socks were pulled over the damaged leg bones that remained in the jeans. The rest of his body was without clothes, which they could not find, as well as expensive photographic equipment.
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It is possible that wild animals attacked him, but what happened to him before that remained a mystery. Investigators concluded that he died of natural causes, but the family did not accept his loss and believe that he died under ominous circumstances.
Geraldine Largey performed a two-month track in the Appalachians with her friend in 2013. The seasoned traveler, following in the footsteps of the writer Bill Bryson, was very well prepared for the journey. A friend, after two months on the way, was forced to leave her due to sudden family circumstances. Geraldine decided to continue on her own and set off on Route 27 to spend the night on it and then meet her husband George. When his wife did not come out to the meeting place, George decided that she was late. Without waiting for her, he organized a search.
She was searched along the 27 route with dogs, horses and helicopters. The search, which covered an area of 50 km, turned out to be the largest in the history of Maine. However, no trace was found. And only in 2015, her body was discovered 5 kilometers from the place where she entered the route.
Investigators assured that they passed through this place many times. Her bright orange tent standing in the forest should have been immediately noticed, but no one saw her. A bonfire was found near the tent and a flag was hung on a makeshift flagpole announcing the accident. The woman stayed in this place for 27 days, according to her last entry in the diary, and, in the end, died of hunger.
There was a road just 10 minutes walk from the tragedy site. No one could understand why the experienced traveler lost her way and could not get out on the road where people walk every day. It is very strange that, having water and food, she remained in the tent for about a month, when a thorough search was conducted around her.
The scout group began their ascent to the summit of Mount San Gorgonio in California in July 1991. Jeremy Grant, 12, who was overweight, trudged at the end of the group and disappeared. The whole group was looking for him and called him. Soon they found similar prints of sneakers and a backpack with beef jerky, sweets and a camera. The film was developed, and on it he photographed himself, presumably after getting lost. Who attacked him, a mountain lion or a bear, is unknown.
On June 14, 1969, six-year-old Dennis Martin went hiking with his parents in Great Smoky National Park. The boys, he with his older brother and two new friends, decided to scare their parents and hide. When the boys jumped out to the frightened parents, Dennis, who was wearing a red shirt, was not with them. After searching, the missing boy's grandfather came down from the mountains for help.
The family and rangers searched for Dennis all day and all night, but the pouring rain washed away all traces. The search lasted half a month, but Dennis was never found. His seventh birthday was only a few days away. Until now, no one knows what happened to the boy, and how he could disappear in a matter of seconds.
Voronina Svetlana