Hello, my name is Matthew, today I want to share a story of something that happened to me when I was in high school. About my sophomore year of high school my best friend and her dad invited me to go on a camping trip in Arizona, north of tuba to be specific. Her dad owned a cabin several miles off the highway that was close to some nice camping and fishing spots and wanted to show us a good time. My best friend Kelli and I had been friends since the 5th grade and was someone I regarded as a sister, especially because our parents were close friends. Her dad and my dad were best friends in high school and both married mutual friends so there was a sense of family growing up with Kelli. This year for their camping trip it was just going to be Kelli, her dad Ryan and myself.
We left home for the 6-hour drive and made it to the cabin just before sundown. Because of the approaching darkness all we could do that day was make a fire and cook some dinner so we could get to bed early for the next day’s hike. That night Ryan told us all the trails he had planned for us to backpack and camp at. Kelli and her dad were fairly experienced campers and would go on 2-week camping trips every summer. They had camped everywhere from the Rockies to Appalachia.
Every year they would go alone but this year is the first time they invited someone else to go with them. my Dad wanted Ryan to take me because he thought I’d would do me some good. You see about a year ago I lost a close friend of mine in a hit and run. I sunk into a deep depression and basically disconnected from everyone in my life. My parents tried everything to help me but still I suffered. Dad thought that if I went got away and went on this camping trip it would help clear my mind. I was happy to spend time with Kelli because she’d always been there for me. Kelli and I would often filter into different crowds and sometimes go weeks or months without really talking but no matter how long we spent apart we could always pick up where we left off. Her dad Ryan was almost like an uncle to me. He’d be the one to let show me a movie my parents didn’t approve of or let me sip a beer every once in a while. He was someone I could truly go to if I ever needed help so I knew that he genuinely wanted to help me on this camping trip.
We finished dinner and talked until the fire died down to the glowing embers of what was left of it. With the light of the fire gone it was the first time I had ever looked up and seen the stars without the light of the city obscuring them, it was also the first time I saw how dark the forest can get. Ryan said it was time for bed and handed us each a flashlight. We followed him into the cabin where we would stay the night. The cabin was very rustic as it had no running water or electricity. Ryan shut the door the cabin and hung a battery powered lantern on the ceiling and told us our plan for the next day. We were going to hike about eight miles to a campsite that he picked out for us and said that we needed to go to bed because it we’d have to leave as soon as dawn broke.
The next morning, we woke up and Ryan and Kelli showed me how to pack my backpack and we headed off up the trail. After hiking up the trail for four hours we finally reached the camp site. It was a beautiful lake surrounded by peaks on all sides, there was a flat area where we could set up the tent and make camp. We spent that whole day fishing and exploring the area around the campsite. It really was a therapeutic experience for me, my mind felt free of thoughts of the accident and it felt like my depression was back home and I could be myself again. Ryan taught me how to fish and we even caught a few that we were able to cook that night. It was even warm enough that we could sleep outside the tent under the stars, it was one of the best days I’d had in over year, and it was the last night of peace that I would have for a long time to come.
The next day we packed up and were going to move on to the next camp site, but first we had to return the cabin as the trail to the next camp site crossed paths with the cabin. Ryan let us sleep in because the return trip was downhill and wouldn’t take as long. When we got about halfway down we encountered some berry bushes close to the trail that Kelli spotted and said were edible so we spent a few minutes picking the berries. They were surprisingly sweet for being a wild berry but still had a somewhat bitter aftertaste. After we spent a couple minutes picking berries Ryan sat down his back pack and said he needed to take a leak, so he went only about ten steps away and went behind a tree to relieve himself. As soon as he left our line of site something changed in the forest. Everything went still, no birds chirping no wind, it was dead silent.
Now you’d think that in a silent forest you’d be able to hear the sound of a man’s urine hitting the side of a tree from only a few feet away, but there was no sound to be heard. An eerie almost primal sense passed over me, I knew there was something wrong. After a few minutes Kelli called out for her dad but there was not reply. We quickly wrapped around the tree and Ryan was gone. Not only was the tree completely dry but there were no footprints leading away from the tree and no sign that Ryan had been standing there in the first place. At that point, I started to panic internally and I started to yell Ryan’s name to the forest and Kelli started calling out “dad” as loud as she could.
I looked at Kelli and asked her “what the fuck just happened?” At this point Forest returned to normal but still Ryan was nowhere to be found. I picked up his backpack and left mine behind as he had more useful supplies in his. We spent the next several minutes looking around the area where he disappeared but still could find no trace of him. I look at Kelli and ask her “what do we do?” and she says “we have to get search and rescue up here as soon as possible.” I said “but how? We don’t have our cellphones and even if we did there’s no signal out here.”
Kelli stopped to think for moment then she spoke with an idea “Dad’s truck has a radio in it that we can use to call for help! If we go back to the cabin we can use the truck radio to call for help!” after deciding it was best to try and get search and rescue we start heading down the mountain as quickly as we can. But almost as if nature itself were trying to prevent us from getting help the sky starts pouring rain on us. Thunder and lightning role in as well as some hail. We step off the trail for a moment and use the tarp for the tent as a makeshift umbrella until the rain stops.
It rained for a good 45 minutes and as quickly as the rain came the clouds were broken by sunlight. We took the tarp off of us and just ahead of us there was a small clearing in the forest that was illuminated by beams of light shining between the clouds. We stand up and see a heard of deer come out of the other side of the clearing. I looked over to Kelli to see a small smile grow on her face. After watching the deer for a few minutes, I noticed that Kelli’s expression had gone pure white. She looked at me and said “Matthew, what the fuck is wrong with those deer?” I took a second look and noticed that there was something off about the deer. I haven’t spent as much time outdoors as Kelli has but I have seen my fair share of deer living in Colorado. Something about these deer just moved different than the deer I’ve seen before.
The way I can describe it is as if their movements lacked the grace that deer typically have in their steps. These deer’s movements were stiff and almost mechanical. Also their eyes had colored iris and white sclera, not like human eyes but still something I’ve never seen in a deer before. Then Kelli said something to this day I will never forget. She said it without fear in her voice but still the tone told me she was uneasy. Kelli looked at me and said “the feet Matthew.” I looked at the feet of one of the deer and I saw that these deer lacked the cloven hooves that deer and elk have but instead had what looked like canine feet. I realized in that moment that whatever these creatures where they weren’t deer. Almost as suddenly as I realized this one of the deer looks up and looks me dead in the eyes.
My fight or flight response was instantly triggered and I grabbed Kelli’s hand and pulled her with me and we ran as fast as we could away from the clearing until we got to a safe distance from the deer. I look at Kelli and say terrified and out breath “those weren’t deer Kelli, I don’t know what those were but those weren’t deer.” Kelli looks back at me and says nothing for a minute. My whole life Kelli had been my fearless friend, her mother died giving birth to her and her dad raised her alone. Ryan had taught his daughter to be strong and to never back down from a challenge. But at this moment for the first time I saw true fear in Kelli’s eyes. She finally opens her mouth and says “we need to leave.” She starts down the trail faster than I can respond. I follow her and I keep going on about the deer but she wouldn’t have it. We finally reach the cabin and luckily Ryan left the keys to the truck on his bed.
We called the forest service and they picked us and take us to their local headquarters. We tell the ranger what happened and he says that Ryan must have gotten lost. We both look at him and Kelli says, “how could he get lost walking ten steps to a tree?” The ranger brushed it off as the forest playing tricks on us and give some lecture on how easy it is to get lost in the forest. I tried to mention what happened with the deer but Kelli kept changing the subject every time I tried to mention it so eventually I gave up.
The ranger launches a search for Ryan that lasted 2 weeks. My dad drove up to and put us up in a hotel for the duration of the search and even volunteered to help the search. None of their efforts mattered though because after the two weak search the forest service basically said there was no hope of finding him. The news was obviously devastating to everyone as Ryan meant so much to all of us. He was my Dad’s best friend and Kelli’s only parent. After we got back home Kelli stayed with us for a few weeks until her grandparents eventually moved down to take care of Kelli. A few months later Kelli’s grandparents get a call saying that they found remains on a trail that matched Ryan. This crushed us even more to find out that what we already suspected was indeed true, Ryan was dead. As terrible as the news was it was also relieving to finally know the truth.
something that bothers me to this day about the discovery of his body is that his remains were found on a trail several miles away from the one he disappeared on. The forest service to this day still has not given a good answer to why Ryan’s body was found so far away and still has only given vague answers to the circumstances leading to the recovery. It’s been over 10 years since this happened and after all of this Kelli and I are celebrating a year of being married. Despite being so close to her this is still a topic that we rarely discuss, and after 10 years she still refuses to speak about the deer. I don’t know what the hell happened to Ryan, but so far, no explanation has been able to satisfy me. I spoke to my dad a few years ago about the search he volunteered on, I waited so long because of how close he was to Ryan and I didn’t want to pour salt in an already open wound. He said that search and rescue was really cagey about this one, like you could tell that this was something that they were trying to brush under the rug. What perplexed my dad the most was that the rescue dogs couldn’t pick up a scent something that the handler said he’d never seen them do before.
How did Ryan’s body end up on a different trail? Why was search and rescue so cagey about this case? What the hell were those dear and why won’t my wife speak about it? I still have no answers to give to these questions. Maybe someday the answers will be revealed to me, but for now I’m going to be there for my wife Kelli, and if she ever is ready to talk about that day I may post an update. Also will post updates with any new info I find.