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Published by OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENT
Forest Horror Nights opens with a truck engine still running, headlights cutting through fog, and no driver in sight—just a foil wrapper on the dashboard that nobody can explain. That is the kind of image this horror show builds every episode around, one complete story at a time, pulled apart piece by piece until you understand exactly how someone walked into the woods and didn't walk out the same. This is a narrated horror documentary podcast with no host chatting in your ear, no banter, no filler. Each episode reconstructs a real case in careful detail: the timeline, the search parties, the physical evidence left behind, the small details investigators can't stop thinking about. You get boots found nine miles from where a woman disappeared, still laced, her feet bare and silent when they found her alive. You get a man whose footprints simply stop on a boulder, as if he stepped out of his own shoes and vanished. These aren't jump-scare stories. They're true horror tales built from case files, witness accounts, and the unanswered questions that make the woods feel different once you know them. The themes running through this horror-driven show are the ones people search for late at night when they can't sleep: creepy encounters on isolated trails, scary true stories from search-and-rescue logs, disappearances near campgrounds, sounds recorded by hikers who never explain what they heard. The forest is the constant thread—not as a backdrop, but as a character that keeps its own secrets, feeding a quiet sense of horror that never quite fades. Every episode asks the same quiet question: what actually happened out there, and why does no one ever fully explain it. New horror episodes drop regularly, each one a self-contained descent into a different case. Subscribe to Forest Horror Nights so you don't miss the next chilling chapter waiting in the trees.
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A woman lost on a locked road finds a winter campsite in a closed burn zone - a tent and one detail: could it explain why a backpacker couldn't walk out? The tent peg that ripped his tibia and trapped him In this episode, we follow how a careful, methodical backpacker ended up immobilized deep inside a six-year wilderness closure and how routine patterns - a weekly board game, a parked truck, a locked gate - shaped the search that followed. What did that tiny campsite detail reveal about his final weeks? Person: Leon Cox Location: Seco Ridge Wilderness, Harwick National Forest Date: December 6, 2017 (final journal entry) Status: Missing person report filed December 9, 2017 Event: Closed-area camping inside a burn perimeter with a closed tibia fracture - Leon was a 47-year-old mechanical drafting instructor from Medford who ran a weekly Tuesday board game for four consecutive years. - He parked at a legal trailhead 4.1 miles from his intended camp, then walked into a closed Seco Ridge burn zone and made an intentional, well-sited campsite. - Investigators dated the campsite to October-November 2017 using carbon traces from his fire ring, suggesting he’d been there for weeks. - On December 5 he missed board game night for the first time in four years; on December 6 he wrote “Leg is bad. Staying put tonight.” and stopped writing. - Gloria Vogel found the tent in February on a road that had been padlocked for six years, and one small campsite detail in the case file remains unexplained. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
A wool peacoat buttoned on a dead mule deer, tagged "Nicole," sits eleven miles from where her boot prints stopped - how did that expose her? A wool peacoat buttoned on a dead deer led searchers to Nicole In this episode, we trace the sequence of decisions, evidence, and anomalies surrounding Nicole Reyes’s disappearance to map how searchers followed leads through the Cascades. Which pieces of physical trace and human action created the baffling eleven-mile gap the team had to close? Person: Nicole Reyes Date: November 10-13 Location: Ridgeback Fork, eastern Cascades Person: Kevin Odell Event: Coat found on dead mule deer - A volunteer search team found a buttoned wool peacoat on a dead mule deer with a handwritten name tag reading "Nicole." - Nicole filed a trip plan for a three-night Ridgeback Fork loop and left a detailed care schedule for her rabbit, Hendricks, before leaving on November 10. - Tracking dog Cass picked up scent at Nicole's car then stopped and sat at Ridgeback Fork junction, refusing to follow the southbound planned route. - Boot impressions consistent with Nicole’s boots headed north from the fork into broken, thick upper drainage for about forty yards before disappearing. - Kevin Odell had a spare key, knew her route, called search and rescue on November 13, and his phone records placed him in Sacramento during Nicole’s absence. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
A line of cairns leads a lone hiker nine miles from her car into roadless Oregon wilderness - how did that expose her? The cairn line that lured her nine miles from safety In this episode, we follow the timeline of Frances Sanders’ disappearance into the Ridgecut Wilderness and the baffling pattern search teams uncovered. What decisions, skills, and odd clues shaped those eleven days, and which question matters most now? Person: Frances Sanders Date: October 5-14, 2019 Location: Ridgecut Wilderness, Harlow National Forest, eastern Oregon Occupation: School librarian; former land surveyor Item found: Daypack at mile 2 (waterproof shell, water filter, emergency blanket) - Frances parked a gray 2014 Subaru at Sutter Creek trailhead and walked into the roadless wilderness alone. - She had a decade of professional surveying experience and still carried a baseplate compass in her pack. - For four years she called her son every Wednesday at 5:45 a.m.; that call did not happen the week she disappeared. - Search teams found her daypack intact at mile two, with survival gear deliberately left behind. - On October 14, teams mapped eleven identical five-stone cairns, each about one mile apart, set in a dead-straight line leading north into the backcountry. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
A woman signed the Coldtack trailhead, left a half-signed entry that rerouted the search for Marcia Hayes-how did that partial signature expose them? The half-signed trailhead entry that rerouted the search In this episode, we follow the timeline and evidence gathered after Marcia Hayes left the Coldtack trailhead and vanished in Saguaro Rim National Forest. We lay out the ridge register, the Pale Granite Shelf finds, weather and scent data, and the decisions that redirected search grids-what misread moment tilted the day past the point of return? Person: Marcia Hayes Date: September 8-9, 2017 Location: Coldtack trailhead; Pale Granite Shelf, Saguaro Rim National Forest; elevation 7,240 ft Event: half-signed trail register entry; red 32-ounce Nalgene bottle photographed at 11:24 AM Saturday Status: search-and-rescue operation with cadaver dog alerts logged as inconclusive - Marcia signed the Coldtack trailhead at 6:14 AM, noted a nine-mile out-and-back and a 3:00 PM return time. - At 6:51 AM another hiker signed the register, and between those entries a partial second signature in matching pen pressure was started then crossed out. - A county surveyor photographed Marcia’s full, sealed red Nalgene on bare granite of Pale Granite Shelf at 11:24 AM Saturday with no footprints nearby. - Two trained cadaver dogs alerted sharply six feet from the eastern lip of the shelf, then scent vanished within twenty yards; a deer carcass was later found four feet below the lip. - USFS weather station data from 2.3 miles east logged conditions Friday morning that were not received by the SAR team until Saturday evening, after grids had been run for over twelve hours. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
A woman with a fresh headlamp and full kit is found alive three miles from where dogs lost her scent - how did that headlamp expose her path? The headlamp that ran until the batteries died and left her lost In this episode, we follow the search for Connie Sheridan and the puzzling discoveries that framed her disappearance in the Cascades. The story traces the timeline, the search tactics, and the single detail that refocused every theory - but one question remains open. Person: Connie Sheridan Date: August 9-11 Location: Ridgeback Peak area, Cascades (Sutter Gap trailhead to Coldwater Fork drainage) Status: Found alive with mild hypothermia Item: Headlamp purchased August 6, found fully discharged - Connie signed the Sutter Gap trailhead register at 6:45 and left a clear day plan to summit Ridgeback Peak with a fully packed bag. - Search dogs tracked her scent northeast up through timber to a granite shelf four-tenths of a mile below the summit, where the trail ended and scent disappeared. - Teams ran organized grid searches, standard drainage routes, and summit corridor sweeps over ten hours without finding her. - Robert Underwood found her seated against a downed ponderosa eighty yards from the road, three miles from the last scent marker, with one boot missing and worn sock on the other foot. - Her pack was intact with two full water bottles and an unopened emergency bivouac; her headlamp, fitted with batteries bought August 6, was completely discharged. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
A single leather boot on a Plumas National Forest trail points rescuers toward a missing fire lookout-what happened to her? The single leather boot that led rescuers off the trail In this episode, we follow the early hours of a disappearance in the Plumas National Forest and the unusual traces that guided the search. What did a lone boot, a locked lookout, and a nine‑oh‑two log entry reveal about where Wendy Marsh went - and what happened in those missing hours? Person: Wendy Marsh Location: Plumas National Forest Date: August 8-9 (evening of August 8 to morning of August 9) Event: disappearance of a fire lookout Evidence photo: single leather boot photographed by Gail Vogel - Gail Vogel photographed a hummingbird and later found, centered in the frame, a single upright leather boot with laces tied and toe pointing back toward the trailhead. - Wendy Marsh, a forty‑two‑year‑old with eleven seasons in the lookout, radioed an eight forty‑seven PM check‑out but has no memory of writing a nine‑oh‑two PM log entry or of the following fourteen hours. - The fire lookout was found locked from the outside with Wendy’s truck parked as usual and no sign of her at the tower the next morning. - Pete Calloway, the district road maintenance supervisor, saw a thin smoke column northeast of the tower around nine PM and was the last person known to have spoken with Wendy that day. - Search and rescue arrived at the trailhead July-sorry, August ninth morning with twelve volunteers, two dog teams, and coordinator Dale Ferris, beginning a grid search for a disoriented subject moving down the trail. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
A hiker's red fleece is left in a trailhead parking lot-car present, owner gone. How did that expose them? The hiker's red fleece limped into the parking lot and vanished In this episode, we follow the first seventy-two hours of a missing-person search that begins with a carefully placed pack and a blank stretch in a trail register. The story traces every lead, witness statement, and odd detail as investigators try to understand where a prepared, experienced hiker went and why memory itself becomes part of the mystery. Person: Alice Campbell Date: June 13-14, 2019 Location: Spur Creek Trailhead, Deschutes-Ridgeline Wilderness, Morrow County, Oregon Item: hiking pack with red fleece and gray long-sleeve Witness: Diane Marsh, Tom Shelby, Kenneth Cox, Gary Bowers - Kenneth Cox found a neatly placed hiking pack with hip belt buckled and a three-quarters full water bladder at 6:40 a.m. - Alice had signed the trail register at 7:04 a.m., listing Broken Spur Ridge as her destination and an expected return time. - Alice’s car remained in the Spur Creek parking lot overnight, prompting her roommate Petra Voss to file a missing-person report at 11:00 p.m. - Search dogs trailed from the kiosk then stopped on the asphalt in the middle of the parking lot; the scent did not continue past that point. - Diane Marsh reported assisting a limping woman in a red fleece at about 2:15 p.m., who sat by the tree line and said someone was coming. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
A lone backcountry beacon beeps from inside a buried culvert 1,300 feet below the snow-how did Jean’s emergency transmitter get there? The beacon kept beeping - it led rescuers to Jean's culvert In this episode, we follow the search for Jean Adams from the moment she missed her routine Tuesday booth to the day a tracker found a transmitter beeping inside a sealed culvert. The episode traces the decisions, routes, and physical clues that guided searchers through an eleven-thousand-foot alpine maze and asks how a dry beacon ended up where no one expected. Person: Jean Adams Person: Dennis Okafor Person: Judith Hill Location: culvert buried under snowpack at 11,200 ft Date: disappearance in mid-February - Jean kept an identical backcountry traverse for eleven consecutive years and filed a fourteen-mile route with the ranger station. - Her personal locator recorded a waypoint at 11:43 a.m. placing her 400 feet off her assigned traverse line toward steeper terrain. - Search dogs lost Jean’s scent on a featureless mid-slope at 11,200 feet, the exact elevation later tied to an old drainage channel. - A 1967 hydrology survey revealed an unmapped culvert installed during mining operations, decommissioned by the 1980s. - Judith Hill descended into the sealed culvert and heard a steady green-beeping device transmitting a live signal despite being buried under over a quarter mile of compacted snow. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
A retired cartographer vanishes on Watcher Ridge and her soaked journal turns up eleven miles downstream under a culvert - how did that expose them? The journal Ruth wedged under a culvert brace washed eleven miles away In this episode, we follow the disappearance of Ruth Jones, a sixty-three-year-old cartographer who left Watcher Ridge for a planned three-night hike and never returned. The episode covers the timeline from her last confirmed movements through the search effort, the discovery of a water-swollen journal miles from her last known position, and the difficult questions her family faces about what the entries mean. Person: Ruth Jones Date: April 6-12, 2019 Location: Watcher Ridge, Ochoco National Forest Status: Case closed May 3, 2019; cause of death listed as hypothermia, accidental exposure Discoverer: David Meyer - Ruth was a retired cartographer who planned multi-night solo trips and always carried a printed topo, compass, satellite communicator, and a journal in her hip-belt pouch. - She left the trailhead on April 6 at 6:40 a.m., planned three nights, and missed her weekly map club meeting on April 9, prompting her daughter to call authorities. - A K-9 followed Ruth’s scent 2.1 miles up the trail to a creek crossing where the scent line stopped at the water’s edge and did not continue. - The creek was running 40% above seasonal average on April 10 (10 cubic feet per second vs. a typical ~6), fast, turbid, and audible - a factor in Ruth’s April 11 journal note about heading downhill toward the sound of water. - On April 14, utility lineman David Meyer found Ruth’s water-swollen journal wedged under a culvert brace eleven miles from her last known position, with entries dated April 10-12 including a final April 12 entry her daughter refuses to describe. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
A forgotten GPS pinged from 6,950 ft and redirected the search for a missing backcountry skier. How did that ping expose them? A forgotten GPS device pinged from 6,950 ft and redirected the search In this episode, we walk through the sequence of decisions, data points, and weather that shaped a six-day search for a missing skier. We trace how verified evidence and routine choices funneled teams uphill - and what question about the lower mountain finally forced them to look back down. Person: Marilyn Myers Date: March 7-11, 2019 Location: Saddlehorn Range Status: Missing Event: Search and rescue operation redirected by GPS data - Trailhead log entry at 6:10 a.m. on March 7 listed Marilyn’s route to Flat Elk Bench and expected return the same day. - GPS device recorded a last confirmed ping at 11:40 a.m. on March 7 at elevation 8,600 ft, showing her still ascending. - A storm from March 8-9 dumped 22 inches above 8,200 ft, altering terrain and prompting a search focused above the snowline. - Dogs and teams searched the upper corridor; air-scent teams stopped at 8,400 ft where the trail ended without explanation. - A forgotten, overlooked piece of equipment pinged at 6,950 ft and forced a reassessment of six days of search decisions. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
A meter reader finds quartzite stones around an empty pack at an alpine trailhead-how did that expose Mark Callahan’s disappearance? The Parking Citation That Cost the Search Twelve Hours In this episode, we go through the sequence of observations, records and decisions that shaped the first seventy-two hours after a geology professor vanished in a winter talus field. The episode traces the timeline from the trailhead parking citation to the search grid that followed-what happened that cost investigators nearly half a day? Person: Mark Callahan Person: Ronald Stein Person: Paula Mercer Location: Harker Basin, Sennett National Forest Date: February 11-14, 2019 - Ronald Stein found a perfect forty-foot circle of two hundred quartzite stones flipped pale-side up with a lone pack at the edge on the morning of February 14. - Mark Callahan, 47, a geology professor, had been on a solo field experiment in Harker Basin and made a final call to Paula Mercer on the night of February 11. - Mark’s last notebook entry on February 11 ended mid-sentence: "sublayer movement - do NOT-", and his instrument array and ice axe were reported at the slope. - A parking citation at the Millstone Trailhead was logged as February 12, creating a false timeline that shifted the initial search grid. - A department log later corrected the citation’s date to February 11, forcing the search team to reset their timeline roughly twelve hours into the operation. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
A scent-tracking team followed Carol Morris’s trail - five miles later a single boot was found on a locked Forest Service truck; how did that happen? The scent dogs proved she crossed the creek - and notches five miles away In this episode, we lay out the timeline and evidence from the day Carol Morris vanished at Harmon Creek and the moments that redirected the search. We describe the scene, the decisions made by searchers, and the puzzling discoveries that forced investigators to change course - what questions did those choices leave unanswered? Person: Carol Morris Date: January 12, 2019 Location: Harmon Creek Temperature: 19°F Distance: 5.2 miles - Tom Riggs and Carol fished opposite banks; at 9:52 a.m. Tom called her number from the east bank and her phone rang from a vest on a boulder twelve feet away. - Carol’s rod remained propped with the reel still releasing line, gloves laid flat toward the water, and no signs of struggle at the west bank. - Boot prints matching Carol’s size led northwest across mud for about forty feet, then vanished on an exposed limestone shelf where prints do not register. - Scent dogs run from the boulder tracked downslope, into the creek, and across thirty feet of fast, January water, prompting teams to flip the search grid from northwest to east. - Five days later volunteer Michael Casey saw Carol’s right boot, laced and upright, on the tailgate of a locked Forest Service truck 5.2 miles north of where she vanished. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
A retired hiker disappears into a one-mile slot canyon; her empty pack and a missing mylar blanket raise a single question: how did that expose them? The mylar blanket she pulled out and vanished from the canyon In this episode, we follow the search for Darlene McCarthy, a 52-year-old retired postal worker who left the Harlow Creek trail alone and did not return. The episode traces the timeline, the strange handprints found in the mud, and the critical gap between where scent dogs stopped and where her pack was located - what does that gap mean? Person: Darlene McCarthy Date: December 9-10, 2011 Location: Harlow Creek corridor, Sutter National Forest Condition: Handprints pressed two to three inches into mud Item missing: Mylar emergency blanket - Entered trail alone at ~2:10 PM; last confirmed with brother-in-law in parking lot. - Warren Fisk called Keller County Search and Rescue at 3:40 PM when she failed to return by 3:30 PM. - SAR team reached trailhead before 5:00 PM; first sweep to mile 1.1 halted by darkness. - Search dog Bess tracked to mile 1.1 then sat - scent described as “ending,” not fading. - At 9:50 AM next morning Cynthia Campbell found two deep adult handprints on south bank and later a trail pack unzipped at mile 1.4; the mylar blanket was missing. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
A wool cap snagged on a trotline hook near a trail camera restarts the search for a high school teacher-how did that expose him? A wool cap snagged on a hook that restarted the search In this episode, the team walks through the sequence of small, concrete events that kept Bill Edwards within reach yet out of sight for nine days. What did a grain elevator photo, a sled of empty scent on sandstone, and a wool cap on a hook together reveal about his last movements? Person: Bill Edwards Date: November 16, 2019 Location: Dunbar Ridge State Forest; Mile Marker Nine; Dunbar Creek access road Status: Missing for nine days before the cap was found Person: Dean Hoffman - A trail camera captured Bill walking east on the Dunbar Creek access road at 3:47 AM, nine days after he was last seen. - Bill’s last confirmed phone photo was logged at 6:02 AM on November 7, eight minutes before his wife last saw him. - His pickup was parked at the trailhead with a cold engine and his hiking boots left in the back seat. - Dog teams tracked a scent 1.7 miles into the forest that abruptly ended on a dry sandstone shelf with no trail or water crossing. - Retired trotline operator Dean Hoffman found a wool cap hanging on a trotline hook about 200 yards downstream from the Mile Marker Nine camera. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
A blaze-orange hunter's vest hangs seven feet up in a pine in the Bitterroot Range - how did that hunting trail vanish? The inside-out vest that pointed the trail that vanished In this episode, we follow the timeline and decisions around a November hunting trip that left one man missing and a puzzling set of clues in the snow. What do the vest, a dog team's sudden stop, and an unexplained two-and-a-half-hour gap tell us about where the trail went? Person: Carl Hicks Location: Bitterroot Range Date: mid-November (Friday departure, expected return Sunday at noon) Event: volunteer found an inside-out blaze-orange hunting vest hung seven feet in a pine with undisturbed snow beneath Status: two companions returned, one missing - Three experienced hunters signed the trailhead register at 7:40 a.m., one truck, planned return Sunday at noon. - A trained search dog hit the creek crossing then circled twice and sat - indicating the scent ended at the water. - A two-and-a-half-hour gap exists between a 4:40 p.m. gas receipt and the time Hicks was reported missing that the companions cannot fully reconcile. - Stanley Green, a volunteer, climbed above the assigned corridor into unbroken lodgepole pine and found the vest hanging seven feet high, inside-out. - Photographs show a rifle standing upright on a rounded boulder in a snowfield, left alone and unattended. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
A retired hiker vanishes on Harrow Ledge; a GPS track climbs straight up-how did a hidden chimney expose her route? The four‑foot crack that hid a chimney and let her climb a two‑hundred‑foot face In this episode, we lay out the sequence of events, equipment, and terrain that led to Heather Holmes’ unexplained sixty‑minute climb and eight‑day survival gap, and we ask how the landscape itself concealed a route. Listen for the decisions, search tactics, and the feature that changed the search - and what questions those facts leave open. Person: Heather Holmes Date: September 6, 2019 (GPS start) and September 4, 2019 (trailhead sign-in) Location: Harrow Ledge, Callow Basin Wilderness, central New Mexico Status: Missing eight days; device recovered with her alive; fractured and dehydrated Person: Marcus Teel - Heather was a fifty‑four‑year‑old retired librarian and experienced hiker who signed the trail register on September 4 and carried no climbing gear. - Her Garmin inReach Mini recorded a continuous uphill GPS track beginning at 11:14 AM on September 6 showing steady vertical movement up a 200‑foot, 5.11 sandstone face. - Search began when Heather missed a weekly meet; SAR deployed grid searches, then dogs on September 13 that tracked to the base of Harrow Ledge and found her left glove. - A four‑foot‑wide chimney, completely hidden behind a truck‑sized boulder and invisible from normal approaches, runs up the southeast corner of Harrow Ledge. - The GPS record shows no dropout or device error, yet Heather reports remembering only the base of the cliff and a juniper tree one and a half miles away, with a thirty‑eight‑minute gap between. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
A birdwatcher finds a missing fire-watch volunteer seated against a cairn - how did that visitor log entry send searchers the wrong way? The visitor log entry that sent searchers the wrong way In this episode, we follow the sequence of decisions and small details that shaped a 26-hour high-country search for a missing seasonal fire-watch volunteer. What choices, notes, and scent lines sent teams south while the sole witness and a caretaker’s brief journal entry pointed north? Person: Jean Burke Date: August 11, 2019 Location: Sable Ridge, Harlow National Forest Person: Brenda Barrett Person: Doug Merritt - Jean Burke signed the Crestline trailhead log on August 6 with destination Sable Ridge and estimated return August 9. - Doug Merritt, Dellwood Cabin caretaker, wrote on August 8 at ~3:45 PM that a young woman in a green jacket with a blue pack left heading north and added, “Something about her made me want to remember.” - SAR leader Gina Sawyer activated teams August 10, staged dogs at Crestline, and constructed a search grid directed south and below the ridge. - Scent dogs stopped 0.3 miles above Dellwood Cabin on a dry trail; handlers retried positions but the scent ended on open terrain with no environmental cause. - At 9:07 AM on August 11, birdwatcher Brenda Barrett photographed Jean seated upright against a granite cairn at 7,100 ft with boots off, side by side, laces tucked. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
A biology teacher’s hiking log stops mid-entry at 8:00; her boots sit outside the tent, pointing back down the trail-how did that expose them? The Boots She Left Outside Pointed Back to the Trail In this episode, we lay out the scene found in the Harlan Creek Wilderness Area and follow the documented routine that made Linda Stroud’s disappearance immediately suspicious. We track the timeline, the odd cell pings, and the physical traces at camp to ask what happened between a logged insulin dose and an empty line in her notebook. Person: Linda Stroud Date: July 14-17, 2011 Location: Harlan Creek Wilderness Area, Okafen National Forest Item: Camp logbook and insulin entries Situation: Blank 8:00 entry; warm fire; boots outside tent - Linda, a 38-year-old biology teacher who hiked solo for three years, kept meticulous twice-daily insulin records for her diabetic dog. - She left the trailhead on July 14 at 6:10 p.m.; cell data shows movement uphill at 6:30 p.m. - At 7:22 p.m. the same evening, a cell tower 11 miles south of camp registered a ping from her phone-geography and time make both pings impossible on foot. - On July 17 a worker found the camp with coals still warm, indicating the fire had been fed within 24 hours despite Linda being gone for nearly three days. - Linda’s boots were found outside the tent, heels together and toes pointed toward the trail, contrary to her strict habit of stowing boots inside the vestibule. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
A county grader operator finds a hand-drawn map in Sablewood National Forest - how did that map expose a vanished hiker? The journal blade-lift that revealed the hidden map and saved him In this episode, we follow the morning a grader operator uncovered a dry, open journal on bare rock and the six days Sablewood County search-and-rescue spent piecing together the puzzle around a missing hiker. We trace the discovery, the odd found gear, and the precise map that shouldn't have existed - and ask what route led Roger Hoffman to vanish and reappear with unexplained injuries and ink-stained hands. Date: June 14, 2019 Person: Roger Hoffman Location: Harrow Creek Canyon, Sablewood National Forest Person: Frank Ramsey Status: Missing seven days before journal discovery - At 6:10 a.m. grader operator Frank Ramsey lifted his blade and exposed a dry, open journal on bare rock four-point-one miles from Roger Hoffman’s vehicle. - The journal lay open to a hand-drawn map showing a fork in Harrow Creek Canyon that appeared on no official survey or topographic record. - Search teams had earlier found Roger’s pack 2.2 miles from the trailhead, leaned upright against a boulder, with 40% of his water and untouched food. - Search dogs followed Roger’s scent confidently for 1.8 miles before the trail stopped abruptly at the canyon’s second bend; teams worked the area twice with the same result. - Within nine hours of the journal’s discovery, search-and-rescue found Roger three-tenths of a mile below the journal’s location with a fractured left arm, 31 hours unaccounted for, and blue ballpoint ink on his right hand. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
A hiker’s dry boot sits six feet up a locked transformer in a sleetstorm, his pack left miles away-how did that expose him in the forty-minute window? The Dry Boot That Stopped the Dogs and Broke His Trail In this episode, we follow the timeline and evidence of Jerry McCarthy’s disappearance on May 9, 2019, focusing on the physical clues found along Coldwater Ridge Trail and the puzzling placement of a single dry boot. What happened in the short window between his last text and the clear trail a passing couple found? Person: Jerry McCarthy Date: May 9, 2019 Location: Coldwater Ridge Trail, Sutter National Forest Finder: Donald Slater Evidence: boot upright on transformer housing; pack at mile 2.1; dogs’ scent stopping at mile 2.6 - Jerry signed the trail register at 9:14 AM and replied to a text at 9:51 AM, creating a tight movement window. - A passing couple at about 10:15 AM found the trail ahead clear, narrowing the disappearance to roughly twenty minutes. - Search dogs followed scent past mile 1 and mile 2 but hit a hard stop at a granite outcrop at mile 2.6. - Jerry’s pack was recovered at mile 2.1 with a dry scorecard notebook and intact contents. - Three days later Donald Slater climbed a locked Forest Service transformer housing and found an unlaced boot, upright and dry inside, six feet off the ground past a locked gate. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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Observed September 10, 2026. Cached outside the daily freshness window; the positions keep the date they were taken on.
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