The Suspicious Disappearance of the "GoFundMe Hiker" (What REALLY happened?) 

I have dealt with depression my whole life. At one point, i was in such a deep crisis i did not leave my bed for 3 days. in these 3 days, i drank no water and ate no food, peed myself twice and laid on my own waste until my very worried mother came into my apartment and saved me. I hadnt even realized how long i had been lying there. I was very dehydrated, even though i had all the clean water i could wish for 10 steps away from my bed in the bathroom. Depression is no joke, mental issues are no joke. I would have literally wasted away in my bed and died had it not been for my mother, who snapped me out of the crisis and cleaned, fed and hydrated me again.

i don't know the accuracy of this, but my father participated in some search and rescue activities in the 60s. He said that sometimes missing people got kinda confused/ paranoid and would hide from searchers.

I agree with you, Kyle. Regardless of the circumstances, the sheriff should not have come out publicly without a full investigation first. It’s ridiculous.

It's funny how when things go too well for the missing person, it's hard to believe, even though that's what you ultimately want. Like, it wasn't enough suffering for all the worry lol.

I’ve been severely dehydrated, it’s makes you so so exhausted and unable to go more than a few feet without resting. Which her family said happened. So, they should have called an ambulance for her. I agree that law enforcement should have kept their mouths shut until they had all the facts- or maybe they wanted to shift focus to her so no one would criticize them? Whichever, I’m just glad she was found!

Based on your account, my personal opinion is that mental health issues took center stage for her and those who do not have those issues or loved ones who have those issues have not a clue when minds operate outside of what they may consider norm. Glad she was found and is ok.

The fact that the family said they would reimburse anyone who wanted their money back shows me that they were more concerned with just finding her, rather than the money.

This case really bothered me at the time. Her daughter was acting so strangely. I donated to the GoFundMe and then asked for a refund when the authorities walked her out and said the information didn't add up. I did get my money back.

What bugs me about the whole, "She would have been dehydrated/nearly dead," thing from the sherrif is that she literally was extremely dehydrated and close to death when she was found. Odds are that she wouldn't have survived another day in the state she was found in. Also acting like she was going to be behaving completely rationally when it was already known that she struggled with metal health issues, was in the middle of going through a crisis, and then you add on the fact that she had a major head injury, so it's pretty obvious that she wasn't thinking clearly. She was likely either hiding from search teams because of her fear or paranoia, or she wasn't responding to people calling her name for whatever reason. She was only really discovered when she was too weak to hide anymore. Studies have shown that trauma can impact the brain in the exact same way as a Traumatic Brain Injury, so she was possibly adding a massive concussion to a brain that was already essentially concussed by mental illness. She was obviously not thinking rationally in any way, she was probably defaulting to survival mode. Same with leaving her cell phone. It's pretty obvious that she was in the mindset of wanting to go off into the wilderness and disconnect from the world for a few days, so leaving her phone made sense with her current state of mind. Acting like her behavior was supposed to make perfect sense when she was clearly in a bad place mentally is nonsensical.

I've been through a lot of traumatic things and I could 110% see someone getting lost and being found close to their parking lot. Sometimes thinking becomes extremely foggy and you do random weird things you normally would not. Glad Holly is ok and I hope she is living her best life.

My opinion. She didn’t stage this disappearance for the money. She was a depressed, mentally ill young woman who wandered into the wilderness alone with an undetermined outcome in mind. Not carrying a cell phone with her and not telling anyone her plans was a huge red flag for me.

Your story telling and having a take away of some sort is one of a kind. Respectful with a take away to stay humble and smart.

Even if she did commit fraud, it would be very hard to put her up on trial. The careless statements the sheriff made would of biased any jury pool they would gather in that state. His answer should have been "I cannot comment on an ongoing investigation." and nothing more.

I love how you do these videos, always with respect and no wild judgment. We all have our opinions and these stories are good to learn from.

Lot of crap to go through for a mere 12 grand. Not making light of 12 grand but still to endanger oneself for 12 grand is insane.

No one is scamming go fund me for 12k that leads to them in that sort of condition. Laying there and occasionally drinking some rainwater or w/e is not worth doing for a grand a day pain and suffering. Nope.

Great video. Taking sufficient water, a cell phone and sat phone and a way to filter, even toxic water are essential in these types of hikes. Adding to that, telling someone exactly where you are going is really important. How she survived is at question here. The officer who went public about his doubts did that in an unprofessional way. I’m glad she was found by another hiker and I’m glad that her family got her back. Let us take heed. Be prepared. You can slip and fall, blow out your knee, get lost….many things can happen out there. You are only alone if nobody knows where you are and cannot get to you. Don’t be alone out there.

My dad was sick and in nursing care after almost 3 mo with no food all fluids were stopped. His Dr said he was so weak he wouldn't last a day or 2. He didn't pass until the 11 morning. Dif people can manage to do grand and great things

I think your opinion is correct Kyle, I thought the same!! There's always questions and suspicions when people disappear and when they "return", but unless there's evidence saying different I believe you give the benefit of doubt to the person! As always, thanks for the work and care you put into the stories, your very much appreciated!!

I was in Zion at this exact time!!! It was kind of odd, because the hike she went on or went missing on, was on the west side of Zion, the east side kind of was more open, what I mean is Zion is like a valley, it’s surrounded by massive rock mountains, that’s what Angels Landing is, a large rock mountain on the west side. Then there is the narrows in the north of the park, and that’s a trail between massive rock mountains. I just couldn’t understand how they couldn’t find her, given the trail she went on didn’t really climb in height. And surrounded by mountains. It was during Covid but the Zion park was still absolutely filled with massive amounts of people. There is a hotel in the park, and the hotel was super close to the trail she was lost on. Anyways I was there during her missing episode and there were tons of signs up about her missing. Also there were tons of signs up about the situation in the water, because many dogs had died. We hiked the narrows but were told if we had open foot wounds to not do that hike. We were all very worried though but I never looked into it or even read the reports after her finding so this is all news to me. I also just want to add, that you should never leave a trail, ever. Not only for your own safety but because you are potentially disturbing an ecosystem when you do so. We already impose so much on nature, as humans when we hike through these zones. There are countless signs in every national park telling you not to leave the trail, so just don’t.

That sheriff looks like he'd pull you over for tinted windows without even having tinted windows.

I have a theory. Maybe she freaked out when she realized people were looking for her. She was possibly embarrassed and ashamed, mental illness can exacerbate such emotions and even cause them in some cases. I'm assuming (emphasis on the word "assumption") that she would actively avoid detection during the day when she heard/saw searchers and at night would sneak around to get/find clean water. This is a high traffic area and the only valid accusation is how she survived without clean water. When you add to the story that she was so close to the parking lot she could have scavaged trash bins, used a drinking fountain etc. This behavior would still result in at least minor dehydration. As for the theory that she started a go fund me for profit (mind you it included travel/lodging for family) I'm not even going to bother entertaining the idea. Either way you look at it she has a wonderful family and the sherriff was the bad guy in this story. What a total douchebag.

Quote from an article about the investigation, Fitzgerald being the cheif ranger: '"She is completely detached from reality but not a danger to herself or others so we released her to the family. Crazy," Fitzgerald said.' So yeah, she probably was moving around and ambulatory for most if the time, and potentially drinking from safe water sources. She was just having a rather severe break from reality, from the sounds of it. The details of that wouldn't be released because it's none of our business what mental health diagnosis she may or may not have.

I can absolutely relate to seeking the solice of nature when struggling. I have CPTSD, ADHD, and Autism and have struggled with my mood for many years of my shortish millennial life. The pandemic became the catalyst that got me to explore public land camping, finally! For me exploring down those back roads was hella healing when I was very mentally unwell. I even enjoyed getting my Subaru stuck and having to walk down the road to ask for help from a random camping spot fortunately not far away. Learning from oopsies in nature is a part of the fun and personal growth, when you're prepared to tackle them, but the obvs worst happens sometimes. I relate a lot to Holly and can empathize with what motivated her to seek the glory of nature. The Sheriff dealt with this terribly in my opinion. Considering the mind state of the victim and how that would affect mistakes is just as plausible of a theory to check into as fraud was, if not more plausible. She did not need the suspicion put on her plate when it was obviously already full with depression and newly acquired trauma from the incident.

Ive had head injuries from falling off horses. You do very very strange things.

It seems pretty clear to me her mental state before, during and after holds the answer to the mystery. It is possible she went out there with the intention of just laying in her hammock and checking out. It is not clear or mentioned if she had any water with her to start with, maybe a Nalgene or something. If conserved it could keep the clock from ticking for several days. An Austrian bricklayer was accidently left locked in a holding cell for 18 days without water or food and survived. It is in the Guiness Book of World Records.

As someone who travels the back country, I find it a bit weird when people find a lack of cell phone immediately suspicious. I don't know this area, but I've been in plenty of areas where the only emergency use of a cell phone is as a GPS device, and only if one has an offline mapping application. (Regardless, always bring paper maps. I tend to have official maps in my pack, and print out a small map for each day's travel.)

The photo you use for the Kayenta/Emerald pools trail, is actually the subway trail in Zion! both hikes are beautiful. Subway is a permit hike that is much longer. sadly, I just moved to Nebraska, but Zion used to be my backyard when I lived in Utah. Love your videos, Kyle!❤

IMO she didn't stage her own disappearance...There is so many different ways to make money, that is way easier than going into the woods to "get lost" for almost two weeks...Which is another reason I don't think it was staged...I'm sure if she wanted to "be lost" and then "get found", she wouldn't want to "be lost" for close to two weeks, especially with the little bit of water she had...Plus her family offering refunds to any and all who felt like they had been duped out of their donation, and actually got the money back, so I hear, that is not something somebody would do if they were staging an event like that, ESPECIALLY after they were investigated and no charges were ever brought...And to all those who shamed her, and still feel like she staged this, just remember, it's "innocent until proven guilty", not the other way around, and if the sheriffs office investigated and found nothing suspicious, that should be a good sign that nothing fishy is going on...

I was living in the area at the time, and for what it's worth, the sheriff said what many locals, myself included, felt about the whole case. It just didn't add up. Should he have kept it to himself at the time, probably. But his speculations were not unreasonable based on the river (full of Cyanobacteria which affect the liver and nervous system) but she supposedly made it 12 days by not drinking the from the river (?). Also, the terrain right by the river is fairly sandy and not particularly steep with shrubs and trees, and not crazy dense. Then add being that close to an unbelievably crowded trail and trailhead for 12 days and yet, not being seen is stunning. Zion can get almost 400,000 visitors in October alone and the Grotto is one of the most popular trailheads in the park as it's the start to Angel's Landing and also the northern entry to the whole Emerald Pools area. However, I do feel that she was doing an inadverdant, unplanned disappearance in the back country due to mental stress, depression, anxiety, etc. But was it only for a couple of days, weeks, or until she died? Maybe she'll talk about it some day, but until then, there were and are a whole lot of 'WTF' vibes.

Why do we know what the search cost but not what the investigation cost? I hear people complaining about the cost to find "idiots who got themselves lost" all the time but I've never heard the same people complain about frivolous investigations carried out because of rumors or an aggrieved official. Regardless I think the sherrif should have voiced his doubts privately so they could be looked into rather than publicly so randoms could freak out online.

Countless people have gone missing and wind up being found within a mile or less of where they were last seen additionally, they’re found more often than not dead, and they are found in areas previously searched.Regardless… she was found alive and that’s all that matters!

Found this bit of information researching water at Zion Park. It cited cyanotoxins as a health hazard. "Most camping and home water filters and purifiers will not remove these toxins from drinking water. Only reverse osmosis treatment units, and special carbon treatment units certified to remove microcystins (under NSF P477) are known to be effective."

I just looked up how long the police officer training takes in Utah. Assuming that I found the right info (I'm not a native English speaker, nor am I from the USA), the basic training is 12-18 weeks. It's no surprise you get at least some people who don't know when not to talk to the media with that kind of, uhm, abridged education. How the state can rely on someone with a 3-month training to solve critical situations is a mystery in itself.

In Russia we say “put your energy into right route”. That sheriff guy put all his energy into wrong route. It’s ok for him to speculate and investigate. After all it is his job. But he shouldn’t made his concerns public until he had gathered some solid evidence. This attracted too much unwanted negative attention to family that was already going trough a lot.

The saddest part of this story is that we still have natural water systems that are so polluted that it isn't even safe to drink it filtered.

I'm glad that Holly is okay.

I started a GoFundMe for my sister while my young nephew was fighting cancer. It was quite a process and they list in the conditions that they can request proof that the money went where you said it was going. I suppose this could be thru a court order. Then the bank verifies everything so I would think it would be hard to “fake”

The biggest mistakes that national agencies and critics make is assuming that every disappearance is the same. Every disappearance is different there’s no one where that people go missing or a rescue. It’s so sad to see so many cynical people out there that are just ready to judge the problems of other people without knowing anything about about it themselves

Dude! I’m so glad you’re covering this. Not sure if it’s coincidence that I mentioned it to you last week on Instagram but really happy to see this!

I’m an avid hiker and find it really odd that she would take so much with her for just a day hike. That’s not usual. I find it suspicious but that’s my intake on it.

Thanks for the reminder about letting someone know your plans when you hike, even a day hike. Absolutely crucial. And the same goes for kayakers, paddlers, sailors. I never go paddle boarding without making sure my husband knows exactly what route.

Clearly, there are a lot of unanswered questions in this case. So I can understand why people would be skeptical of the details. But I hope everything is better for the survivors.

Love and appreciate how unbiased you are when you report these stories. 😊👍

These cases are so hard to watch!!.I cannot believe what they did to her I’m a mom and it’s totally mindblowing and heartbreaking 💔 😅

I have had to re- subscribe to your channel 3 times now. I am glad I recheck. Not sure what the heck is going on, but thought I would let you know.

❤ as always great work! I appreciate your hard work to make these videos and all you do for the trail community.

Kyle, I just wanted to let you know that for some reason I have had to resubcribe to your channel 20 - 30 times!!! I don't even know why this could be. I first subscribed to you a couple of years ago I think. Your videos always come up in my "recommendations", but almost every time I check, I have to subscribe again! I don't know if it's some kind of clitch with your channel or with RU-vid or what. I just wanted to let you know about it. By the way, I love your content! Keep doing what you do.

We've been to zion and the grotto trail. If I recall correctly, there is water weeping down the walls of this trail. She could have been using this as a water source during her time out there while she was lost due to the head injury. And yes, with all the foot traffic in the virgin river doing the narrows hike, the water is tainted eith feces and urine......

My motto: "Before you go, let someone know!" I teach this to home school kids along with signaling & sheltering. I also teach them "Pack like you don't know what will happen."

Sad story that could have turned out a lot worse. I suppose that cop could have been responding to criticism of their inability to find her for so long given where she was found and got defensive... but no, does not look like he handled it well. I hope she is doing okay now.

Thank you, Kyle. That is a sad story. You always help hikers with your info.

My last name is Courter and the way you pronounced her last name is how many pronounce mine. You’re correct on hers. Mine is pronounced like “quarter”

I agree exactly with your conclusion, it seems so strange I think because she was experiencing a mental health crises than once dehydration and who knows what exposures kick in out there it’s easy to become disoriented.

I had mixed feelings about this case when it was in the news, and I think it's because there have been other instances where a family raised money with a gofundme and a hospital claimed the proceeds. I wondered if the police were going to try suing for the proceeds. It seemed to fit with them talking about the cost of the search efforts. On the other hand I did question why she took so much with her for a couple hour hike, and somehow decided not to bring her van or her phone. I could see MAYBE leaving your phone in the car if it was close by, but who doesn't take pictures with their phone in a place like this. And maybe she had enough water for a day or 2, but not for 12 days. And lastly, if she was somewhere close to where thousands of people walk through the park every day why didn't searchers or other people see her sooner? I think close is a relative term in this situation. And lots of people have been close to a trail or a road but we're still lost and died.

After I completed the A.T. in the year 2018 my step-uncle tried to capitalize off of it. It was really embarrassing for me. He thought that newstations would pay me for the story about my hike. My step-uncle had me ask a newspaper for payment for my story. I didn't want to do it as thats not why I was hiking the A.T. or talking to the Newspaper.

*5:45** KUDOS again for also using degrees Celsius!* *Much obliged.*

How much water can you carry to last 12 days? Did she have any water bottles with her and was any water source found close by, these are easily answered questions with a little investigating the sheriff could have found out. Issues of fraud by a hiker should be handled by people who have the expertise to make judgements. I am not convinced she was lost and I think she simply wanted to be off inside herself and be alone. Glad she was found and is doing well. I am from Maine and hike in NH where i buy insurance that covers any mishap requiring search and rescue from the State and would recommend people look into this, as it saves you a lot of money if you need help. At 76 and still hiking I enjoy watching and listening to you, you have that rare gift that allows you to be unbiased and not following popular opinion. My magic ball says you should follow through with media commentaries and make a career of it.

Love your videos and podcasts, Kyle.

All Osprey backpacks include whistles. If a lost hiker can't call out they can use it to alert searchers.

Crazy person eyes are a real thing, and this lady has some of the craziest eyes anyone has ever seen.

Her water consumption ~ after three to five days of no water the brain and other organs begin to fail or shut down, your kidneys will fail and your brain will get brain fog/mental fog which makes perfect sense along with a minor concussion from set head injury and her history of mental illnesses can be the cause of disoriented movements or no movements after three days. The classic rule of 3 is sometimes considered not that accurate as we have documented people surviving without water passes 6 days. Your throat and saliva will be dried af, I'm a person that deals with chronic dehydration every day. It is a very confusing case. I won't comment on anything else. Just wanted to add the water speculation.

FYI--Utah local here. Nobody FROM here calls it "Zi-AWN." That's a dead giveaway for a non-local. It's "Zi-uhn" (rhymes with "lion").

If I ever do any serious hiking, I would definitely bring a solar charger that I could use to power my cellphone. I don’t know if those GPS units with SOS capabilities are rechargeable, but I’d have one of those, too. Kyle has convinced me of this much! Also I’d bring some waterproof matches, signal mirror and something to filter water.

Great video! I like how concise and fast paced you are throughout keeping our interest. Excellent inclusion of photos and texts. Strange case. Glad she survived her ordeal

Thank you Kyle, or providing temperatures in Celsius. We appreciate it.

WOAH- I live in the ADKs and just noticed the 46 banner behind you. That is awesome!!

What I get a kick out of is she didn't even leave the canyon proper. She was lost IN Zion Canyon. Vertical rock walls, with a river and a road, and very little space in between. Every 15 minutes a shuttle bus goes by that you can SEE and HEAR from virtually every spot along the Virgin River in the eight mile long canyon.

Geraldine Largay. She was almost 70 when she walked off trail to use the bathroom, became lost and set up camp to wait to be rescued. She was two miles off trail, survived for 26 days, and she wasn't found for two years. Stranger things have happened than this.

Your storytelling and editing are sooo good! Thank you for the videos.

You have such a levelheaded way of looking at things, it’s really fascinating how people have nothing better to do then believe the media fueled crap.

Her being 800 meters from the parking area as evidence of foul play is also ridiculous. Most people who are lost end up being very close to a trail, road, parking area, etc. Sound does not at all travel far in the forest, and 800 m is almost 1 km, or half a mile. For comparison, Geraldine Largay’s body was also almost exactly 800 m off the Appalachian Trail. She was also literally on the property of a US Navy Survival training facility, and they took part in the extensive search efforts. Half a mile off one of the most popular trails in the world, with a US Navy SERE team searching, and she wasn’t found for over 2 years. She wasn’t incapacitated or injured either; she survived for 26 days and starved to death. The wilderness is massive, and 0.5 miles might as well be 50 if you’re hopelessly lost.

Thank you and hello from Scotland

Doing all that, risking life and limb, for $12K? That doesn't seem very likely.

thanks for doing the celsius conversion for us!

Well the money was raised for pay for search parties and equipment to look for her and anything left over would go back to everyone who donated... It was never for her personally and should not go directly to her that would be ridiculous.

She got them 'crazy eyes'...god knows what's going on in some people's head!

“If she drank from the virgin river she’d be extremely ill or passed by now” Her: extremely ill, weak, and injured

Besides enjoying the podcast, the background scenery is awesome

I have a theory that could explain everything: "Atypical Depression (Major Depressive Disorder with Atypical Features)." She started the hike optimistic and fully intending to be back in time to catch the shuttle back. Did she trip and fall only a few hundred feet in, frustrated and in pain? Once she found herself alone, the hazy fatigue caught up with her very quickly. The weather was crisp and cool, she wouldn't have been sweaty. Setting up her hammock in a lovely, pleasant place, just far enough from the parking lot that she wouldn't be interrupted, she crawled in to rest until the shuttle returned. When she realized that she had missed the shuttle, well, she didn't want to get up yet anyway. She might as well wait until morning to muster the energy to find a different way back. Or maybe afternoon, she might be able to muster the energy by then. Succumbing to the sleeping/catatonic state characteristic of a depressive episode, her body quickly switched to starvation/radical energy conservation mode and shut down non-vital systems. No hunger, no thirst, no need to go to the bathroom. No more burning calories to move, or think, or care about anything at all. This state can easily last for several days in a row, burning multiple pounds of lean muscle to minimize oxygen consumption and water loss. Usually, when a person slowly rouses from this state, they're in their own bed. Food and water are within easy reach and energy conservation leaves them with enough stamina to function normally. For this hiker, food and water were so far away that the effort didn't seem worth it, or even possible. Did she trip and fall every time she got up, bumping into every rock and every tree limb before turning around to rest until the pain faded? The best option would be to fade back into a depressive fugue instead of worrying about it. When rescuers showed up and her family came to bring her back to safety, this jump-started a temporary mood boost and gave her the will to walk with them all the way back to safety. Her mouth was glued shut, saliva production had long since been sacrificed in favor of her heart and lung function. No, she would not want to talk about her ordeal. Neither would her family. Better for people to believe that she faked getting lost just for the attention. People would be FAR less forgiving if they thought she was merely "sad" and inconvenienced that many people "just for the attention." Yes, the rescuer was (almost) right. A lost hiker would have died of dehydration long before that. The adrenaline-fueled efforts to ensure survival and try to alert rescuers would burn through all their reserves very quickly. But a lost person can survive without water much longer than that if trapped in a cave or shipwrecked in the middle of the ocean. If you have nothing better to do than lie still and conserve energy, you can stay alive far longer.

Andreas Mihavecz survived locked in a jail cell without food or water for 18 days. The need for water within two to three days is out dated. There are many variables involved.

I remember this. Us lodge employees were speculating that she was hiding in Springdale. That’s the town next to Zion. She was hiding in plain sight. Everyone was wearing surgical masks so it was easier to go unnoticed. She was hiding along side the Virgin river.

as a mentally ill individual, sometimes i disappear off the face of the earth. it’s not really intentional, i know people will be worried about me, but on the off chance im able to go somewhere i tend to not come back for days at a time. it freaked my loved ones out at first, they reported me as missing the first time, and it resulted in me not coming back for even longer once i realised they were looking for me. i don’t really understand my own emotions a lot of the time, especially when i get like that, but i remember being too scared to go back because it was technically my own fault that i was “missing”. once i did go back i faced hell for what i did. i just needed to get out. staying where i stay with the people i stay with drives me insane. but i cant change that part yet, so i take breaks when i need it.

Great interesting video !! …..glad the lady is ok

IMO she didn't stage her disappearance for $12k go fund me cash. She had well documented mental health issues and therefore her family shouldn't have allowed her to take that trip to Zion on her own. At the very least she should have detailed the route she was going to take on the trip.

Whenever I go downtown, I always notify my loved ones of where I intend to go, how long I'll be gone, the routes I intend to take, stops I intend to make (McDonald's, gas station, etc..) and at what time to start the search and rescue. (and/or recovery efforts)

I have no real idea what happened. But I'd like to make the point that I've been lost in the woods for a couple hours during an Army training event (I was a new, foolish Soldier) and the sheer amount of embarassment alone made me unable to really think. Thankfully, I learned my lesson and got really good at reading my compass and map eventually.

You earned my sub. Your careful wording and respect is very cool

Very fishy... The thing that gets me is the sharpie and the marks on the tree limb. Why do that? It's like she wanted to prove she had been there. Why bring sleeping gear on a short day hike? So many questions... And she was in a canyon, how do you get lost in a canyon, seriously?

Crazy Eyes 👀

Its hard to imagine getting lost in that part of Zion, you can see and or hear the main road from just about everywhere. It is indeed heavily trafficked. There are some springs and seeps. I think she could have found water.

From the bottom of the canyon where shuttles run, the Virgin River and road runs alongside each other. No way to get lost. She would have to hide on purpose. Canyon is not very wide

bryan, you are very fair and compassionate to all parties regarding holly’s story. thank you.

Spiritual posession is ascribed to a handful of disappearances. Call it what you will, people are sometimes led into the wilderness. Some are found. Regardless of what anybody thought, if you have a search it only makes sense to have a medical exam. Her after picture looks pretty shaky. Best wishes.

I have spent the night in the Narrows twice hiking from top to bottom. I drank a lot of Virgin River water. There are a lot of cows on the top end and a lot of tourist wading in the water at the bottom. The water is not toxic. One of my pet peeves is authority figures that tell you water is toxic when it may need treatment. If I got thirst enough I would drink Virgin River water.

My family was actually visiting the park while the search was going on and I remember seeing the missing person posters everywhere so I followed this case pretty closely. A couple things to add. There isn’t any cell service in the park. There is a bit at the front visitor center, but once you travel up the canyons, there’s nothing. So having a cell phone with her wouldn’t have done much good. Second, this park is BUSY! Or it was at that time during 2020 when traveling to national parks was pretty much the only thing to do. I remember walking near the area she was found and it was crowded. It makes sense that no one spotted her sooner. When there’s so many people, you kind of tune them all out and so seeing someone in a hammock wouldn’t be anything special. There’s still so much that doesn’t make sense about this case and I don’t think the family is doing themselves any favors by not sharing more, particularly about where she found water. But I don’t think this was a setup to rake up a bunch of money off go fund me. $12,000 isn’t that much, considering the search for her cost $60,000. If it was something nefarious, she didn’t do so well.

While I have no idea what actually happened, I do have a question and observation. It has to do with the river. What a shame that the river was so polluted, but I'm wondering with what. It looks like a river in the middle of nowhere. Also, could a filter like the Sawyer make this water safe to drink? Just curious.

You do such a great, totally professional job with these videos!

Dehydrated people do some very uncommon things. Your brain will cease to operate properly. I tanked one time and I literally ran from people trying to help including paramedics. I was in a bad way and in my mind I was dying. Every person I encountered I deemed in the moment to be hindering my aid and need to get to a hospital asap. I felt so close to death that I was on auto pilot in flight. I felt any delay would result in my death so I begged a deputy to bring me and he did not mess around. Lights and sirens all the way to the er. I pissed root beer at the er. I couldn't articulate what I was feeling during this event properly so to the casual observer on scene I looked absolutely crazy but I wasn't. I was scared to death of death. I survived but I have a strong desire now to help people understand that what you may see sometimes as far as behavior goes on scene may not always be the full story. I suspect this happens more than we know. God bless

Love the channel!