In June of 2014, 22-year-old photographer Aldrich Wayne and his girlfriend, 23-year-old geology student Marorrow, set out on a hiking trail in the San Isabel National Forest in Colorado.

Their goal was to reach a picturesque plateau with unique rock formations.

They never returned.

For five long years, they were considered missing until in May of 2019, geologist Eliza Reynolds came across a gruesome discovery in a remote tract known as the Stone Claw.

High on the branch of an old spruce tree hung too dark, almost black with time silhouettes.

The forest wilderness had been their last secret hideout for 5 years.

But now the most terrible question remained unanswered.

who and why had turned the dream of perfect landscape photographs into a horrific end to two young lives.

They started their hike at 7 in the morning on June 15, 2014.

Dawn had just touched the tops of the spruce trees, but there were still islands of fog in the crevices of the San Isabel National Forest.

Aldrich Wayne was carefully checking his gear while his girlfriend Ara Marorrow made the last entries in her journal.

Their blue Jeep Cherokee was parked at the Mountain Duth trail head, one of the least visited trails in this part of Colorado.

“We’ll be back Sunday night, no later than 8,” era told her mother over the phone at from the Rocky Mountain gas station in Weserve.

It was their last contact with the outside world.

Aldrich slung his heavy backpack over his shoulders.

The 22-year-old naturalist photographer dreamed of taking a series of pictures of rare rock formations on the plateau at the moment when the evening sun turned them coppery.

These photographs were to be the centerpiece of his first solo exhibition scheduled for July.

Era, a year older than him, took her geological hammer.

She was studying the local rocks for her graduate thesis and planned to collect samples from the upper tier of the plateau where most tourists did not reach.

It’s going to be hot today.

Aldrich took off his denim jacket and threw it in the back seat.

This simple gesture would later become the first proof that they had actually set out on the trail.

The first mile was easy, a wide path stretched between pine trees.

According to the GPS, there were about 8 mi of the route left to the coveted plateau, which was becoming increasingly difficult.

They expected to get there by evening, spend the night, and return the next day.

It was a simple plan that thousands of hikers do every year without any problems.

At the first halt near a small stream, Era took a picture of an unusual rock with her phone.

This photo will remain in her cloud storage as the last moment of a peaceful trip.

Do you hear that? Aldrich suddenly asked, raising his head like the sound of an engine.

There are no roads here.

Era was surprised, but she listened.

Maybe foresters.

They continued on their way, going deeper into the forest where the path became less and less visible.

At 13 hours and 20 minutes, Aldrich made the last entry in his GPS tracker.

They were 4 miles from the trail head near a rocky outcrop where the trail turned sharply east.

After that point, their route became a mystery that haunted rescuers, investigators, and relatives for 5 years.

On Sunday evening, when the young people did not call or return, their parents began to worry.

Era’s mother dialed her number every 30 minutes, but the phone was unavailable.

At , Aldrich’s father called the rescue service.

They are experienced tourists, he explained.

My son is never late.

Something has happened.

However, the official search did not begin until in the morning on Monday, June 16th.

A team of six US Forest Service rangers and four volunteers from the Colorado Rescue Squad arrived at the trail head.

Their Jeep Cherokee was parked in the same spot where the young couple had left it 3 days earlier.

It was locked with no signs of forced entry.

On the back seat was Aldrich’s denim jacket.

There are documents in the glove compartment and a spare water canister in the trunk.

The rescue team split into three parts and began combing the area.

Two search dogs, a black Labrador named Rex and a German Shepherd named Sira, picked up the trail of the car, but lost it about a mile later in a rocky area.

This is exactly where the last entry in Aldrich’s GPS tracker was.

By the evening, the entire known part of the route had been examined.

No trace of the camp, no scraps of clothing or signs of struggle.

The pair seemed to have vanished into thin air.

The next day, a helicopter joined the search.

It circled over the dense forest for 5 hours, but the pilot, Captain Jeffrey Thompson, reported that the dense tree canopy made it impossible to effectively survey the area from the air.

“Sergeant Robert Hayes, the head of the search operation, stood by a map on the hood and circled the areas that had already been checked with a marker.” “You see, Mr.

Wayne,” he said to Aldrich’s father, who was demanding that the search be expanded.

The San Isabel National Forest is almost 400,000 acres of wilderness.

We can’t search it all.

By the end of the week, the search team had grown to 30 people.

It was joined by volunteers from neighboring counties, friends, and colleagues of the missing.

They expanded the search area by 5 mi in all directions from the last known point.

On the 9inth day, the rescuers found an old tourist campsite 2 mi from where the dogs had lost their trail.

There were traces of a campfire, but experts determined that the fire was at least 2 weeks old.

On the 10th day, a severe thunderstorm forced the search to stop.

When the rain stopped, a new team set out to search.

This time with experienced climbers who examined the rocky parts of the route where the fall could have occurred.

But even this attempt was in vain.

3 weeks after the disappearance, the active phase of the search was officially over.

Sergeant Hayes held the last briefing for the media and relatives.

“We’ve done everything we can,” he said, visibly exhausted.

“It remains to classify this case as a disappearance under unexplained circumstances.

” It was at this point that Aldrich’s father, William Wayne, stood up and said a phrase that would later appear in all the local newspapers.

The forest couldn’t just swallow two people.

Someone knows what happened and I will find that person.

Little did he realize that the answer would come only 5 years later, and it would be far more terrifying than all his worst guesses.

The San Isabel National Forest, hugging the ridges of the Rocky Mountains, has long been a place where people have gotten lost.

But each time there was an explanation, a fatal fall, an encounter with a bear, a sudden change in weather, disappearance without a trace is a rarity that evokes a strange sense of unease, as if something is fundamentally broken in the usual order of things.

The case of Aldrich Wayne and Ara Marorrow went from active to cold slowly, almost imperceptibly as the evening twilight enveloped the forest.

On July 1st, 2014, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Investigations Department officially reclassified the case from missing persons to missing under unexplained circumstances.

We’re not stopping the search, Sheriff Michael Caldwell explained at a press conference at a.m.

But we need to recognize that all standard procedures have been exhausted.

For the families of the disappeared, this statement was like a funeral bell.

But it was not the end of their struggle.

I can’t just sit here and wait for my child to be found in a ravine 10 years from now, said Karen Marorrow, Era’s mother, clutching her daughter’s photo during a meeting with journalists on July 25th.

On the same day, Aldrich and Era’s parents hired a Denver-based private investigator, Michael Thornon, a former Colorado police investigator with 20 years of experience.

Thornton specialized in complex disappearance cases in mountainous terrain and had a reputation for not giving up until he’s checked out the last lead.

The first thing to understand about disappearances in the mountains, Thornton said during his first meeting with the families on August 5th at in the morning is that they are rarely completely without trace.

Even if a person dies in the most remote corner, there’s always something left behind.

A piece of clothing, a footprint, a gas station camera that captured a stranger.

We have to find that clue.

Thornton started the investigation from scratch.

He reintered everyone who could theoretically have seen the pair.

Employees of the Skeleaz gas station, tourists who visited the area in mid June, rangers, and local residents.

The detective spent 14 hours a day reviewing surveillance footage and analyzing mobile traffic in the area.

The breakthrough came in October when Thornon was talking to a local forester who happened to mention that illegal loggers periodically appear in the area.

Most of them are petty thieves who cut down a few valuable trees, the forester explained during a conversation near a lookout at an elevation of 9,400 ft.

They can cut down hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of trees in a few days.

A check of the archives revealed that a week before the couple disappeared, rangers had discovered evidence of illegal logging about 3 mi from the mountain muzzle trail.

The trees bore distinctive markings, and satellite imagery showed areas of sparse forest that had recently appeared.

Thornton found that a team of illegal loggers had probably been working in the forest in June 2014.

But after the couple disappeared, they disappeared without a trace.

No informant was able or willing to point them out.

The connection is obvious, Thornton wrote in his report to the families on November 1st.

Aldrich and Ira could have accidentally stumbled upon an illegal logging site.

And if the loggers thought the tourists could inform the authorities, this version provided a logical explanation, but had no direct evidence.

Months passed.

The families organized a volunteer search on the last Saturday of every month.

Friends, colleagues, and ordinary people who cared would gather at the entrance to the mountain dull trail and comb through more and more areas of the forest.

We’ll find them, Aldrich’s father, William Wayne, repeated every time journalists asked if it was time to come to terms with the loss.

On the first anniversary of the disappearance, June 15th, 2015, a memorial plaque was installed at the trail head.

It was engraved with the silhouettes of Aldrich with a camera and Era with a geological hammer.

The inscription read, “Disappeared in the forest, but not in our hearts.” The case gradually disappeared from the front pages of newspapers.

New tragedies filled the news, but the families did not stop searching.

“If we knew for sure that they were dead, we could bury them and get on with our lives,” said Era’s mother in a rare interview on the second anniversary of the disappearance.

“But living in the dark is unbearable.” “Under Colorado law, a missing person can be declared dead after 5 years.

The families refuse to even think about this possibility.

By the third anniversary of the disappearance in June 2017, private investigator Thornton had exhausted almost every possible line of inquiry.

“I’ve checked out hundreds of theories,” he admitted during a meeting with the families at a Denver coffee shop.

“From bear attack to alien abduction.

Most of them don’t stand up to fact-checking.” But one detail kept bothering the detective.

Two tourists who visited San Isabel the year before Aldrich and Era disappeared had similar records.

Both mentioned a strange hermit who aggressively demanded to leave his territory.

The tourists described him as a tall man with a gray beard dressed in camouflage.

One of them clearly remembered that the locals called the man Gordy.

The 4th anniversary passed in silent mourning.

William Wayne fell ill and was unable to attend the annual memorial ceremony.

The number of volunteers in the search was reduced to a handful of his most loyal friends.

It seemed that even nature had forgotten about the tragedy.

Young undergrowth had grown where the tents of the search teams once stood.

But the forest did not forget.

It was just waiting for the time to reveal its secret.

In early May of 2019, Colorado Minerals signed a contract with the state government to conduct geological exploration in the San Isabel National Forest.

The goal was to create a new geologic map of the region, marking potential mineral extraction sites.

For this task, several field geologists were hired to work in different parts of the forest.

One of them was 36-year-old Eliza Reynolds, an experienced geologist with a reputation for working in the most difficult conditions.

The 5-year silence of the San Isabel forest was about to turn into the loudest scream.

Eliza Reynolds has been working for Colorado Minerals for 7 years.

She joined the company right after graduating from the University of Denver with a master’s degree and has traveled to the most remote corners of the state.

But even for her, the task of exploring the stone claw tract seemed unusual.

12 mi from the nearest road, her supervisor, Richard Gardner, warned her when he handed her the map on May 17th at a.m.

Can you make it? Eliza just smiled.

She grew up in a family of climbers and believed that the real work of a geologist begins where all roads end.

The next day at in the morning, she was already walking along a forest path carrying a backpack with navigation equipment, tools, and a field diary.

The stone claw tract lived up to its name, a black basaltt outcrop resembled a huge claw stretching into the sky.

Around it was a hollow overgrown with a dense spruce forest.

It was here, according to the company, that deposits of rare metals could be found.

Eliza worked methodically.

She took soil samples, recorded coordinates, and took pictures of rock outcrops, the usual routine of a field geologist.

By noon, she had surveyed the eastern part of the hollow and was now moving toward the western slope.

At 14 hours and 45 minutes, having completed the collection of the last series of samples, she straightened up and stretched, needing her back.

At that moment, the clouds parted and a bright ray of sunlight illuminated the hollow.

Something metallic glinted between the rocks a few dozen feet away.

“At first, I thought it was just trash.” Eliza later said, “Tourists often leave cans or foil, but something about that shine was unnatural.” She came closer and saw that between two large boulders was a climbing carabiner with a piece of blue nylon tape attached to it.

These are used to mark roots in difficult terrain.

The color was too bright for something that could have been here for years, Eliza recalled, and the carabiner was deliberately fixed, as if someone was marking the spot.

The experienced geologist immediately sensed that something was wrong.

The stone claw was not a tourist route.

The nearest trail was a few miles away, and few people dared to deviate from it for that distance.

Eliza walked over to the boulder and picked up the carbine.

It was well secured and obviously set up deliberately.

She looked around trying to figure out what exactly the mark meant.

Climbing the nearest hill to get a better view of the area, she saw it.

In the thick of the spruce forest about a 100 yard away, something dark and motionless was hanging from the branch of a huge tree.

Eliza’s heart beat faster.

She pulled out the binoculars she always brought with her to look at remote geological formations.

What she saw made her shudder.

Hanging from a branch of an old spruce about 20 ft off the ground were two human bodies.

They were almost black with age and their clothes were tattered by the winds and rains.

But even at this distance, Eliza could see a detail that made her cold.

One of the figures was wearing a light pink fleece jacket.

I remembered the news from 5 years ago.

Eliza later said, “A couple of tourists went missing.

The girl was wearing a pink sweatshirt.

I thought at the time, what an impractical thing to wear while hiking in the mountains.” Shaking with shock, Eliza checked the coordinates on her GPS receiver.

She was at an altitude of 8,682 ft above sea level, at a point with coordinates that would later become crucial in the criminal case.

The geologist did not approach the eerie discovery.

As a person working in the field, she knew the rules.

Do not touch anything that could be evidence and immediately notify the authorities.

Looking at the phone screen, Eliza realized that there was no connection.

The closest point where she could make a call was at least 3 mi away at the top of a ridge.

She marked the location on her GPS, took a few photos from afar, and quickly gathered her equipment.

It was 15 hours and 20 minutes, and she had to hurry to reach the communication point before dark.

The climb up the ridge took almost 2 hours.

When Eliza finally saw two bars of signal on her phone screen, it was already 17 hours and 10 minutes.

She dialed the emergency number.

Service 911, what is your emergency? A calm female voice answered.

“My name is Eliza Reynolds.

I’m a geologist with Colorado Minerals.

” Her voice trembled despite her best efforts to speak clearly.

“I found bodies.

Two people.

They’re hanging from a tree.

I think they are the hikers who disappeared 5 years ago.” The operator asked her to stay put and told her that she was sending a search and rescue helicopter to the area.

As she waited, Eliza sat on a rock, looking at the sun sinking toward the horizon, and felt the cold chill her to the bone.

Despite the warm May evening, the helicopter appeared 40 minutes later.

Two officers from the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and a National Forest Ranger descended from it.

They quickly interviewed Eliza and having received the coordinates, went to the location.

I’m going to stay here, she said when the ranger asked her to join him.

She was still shaking.

The officers returned 40 minutes later.

Their faces were stern.

It looks like you’re right, said Sergeant Michael Baker, the senior officer.

It looks like those missing hikers, but we need to wait for experts to confirm.

Already in the helicopter that was taking her to the nearest town, Eliza looked out the window at the forest ranges below, plunging into dusk.

Somewhere there in the wilderness of the Kamemen Kihot tract, the forest had been keeping a terrible secret for 5 years, which people would now have to reveal.

At , the helicopter landed near the sheriff’s office in Weserve.

Eliza was immediately escorted to Sheriff Caldwell’s office where she spent an hour describing her find in detail.

“The strangest thing is the carbine,” she concluded.

It was set up as if someone wanted the bodies to be found like a signpost.

The sheriff nodded, taking notes.

He had aged 10 years in 5 years.

The case of the missing tourists, which had been bothering him all these years, had finally gotten a resolution.

But this solution seemed to be the beginning of an even bigger mystery.

No one slept that night at the sheriff’s office.

Officers were scurrying around the corridors.

Phones were ringing and more and more cars were pulling up to the building.

And in a small motel on the outskirts of town, Eliza Reynolds couldn’t sleep for a long time, thinking about two young people whose dreams and plans were cut short in the depths of the San Isabel forest.

The story she had accidentally discovered was only just beginning.

At dawn on May 19th, 2019, the stone claw turned into a veritable antill.

20 people in uniform and civilian clothes carefully inspected every inch of the territory around the old spruce.

Three specialists in white protective suits were carefully removing the gruesome discovery from the branch.

Investigator Evan Drake, an experienced forensic scientist with 20 years of experience, was in charge of the operation.

He personally supervised every stage of the evidence recovery, taking photos and documenting every detail.

Careful with the rope, he commanded at 20 minutes when the technicians began lowering the bodies onto the tarp spread out below.

5 years in the Colorado climate had changed the bodies beyond recognition.

The skin and soft tissue had long since disappeared, leaving only bones connected by remnants of tendons.

Clothes, once bright, have faded to an indeterminate gray brown color.

But even after 5 years of rain, snow, and wind, some things remained recognizable.

A pink fleece jacket, forensic scientist Dr.

Rachel King noted quietly as the bodies were carefully placed on the tarp.

Looks like the description of Aram Marorrow’s clothing.

The second body had the remains of a dark t-shirt with a logo that could still be made out.

National Geographic.

It was the same t-shirt, according to the parents, that Aldrich wore.

Dr.

King began her examination without waiting for transportation to the lab.

Time was too precious.

Notice the rope, she said, pointing to the synthetic cord that wrapped around the necks of both victims.

This is no ordinary clothes line.

It’s a special climbing cord used for blaying.

The tensil strength is about 4,000 lb.

Evan Drake came closer, studying the knots.

A doubleloop noose, he noted.

Professional, not just a hasty tie.

Meanwhile, forensic scientists examined the area around the tree.

Microfiber brushes were used to carefully walk over the bark.

Metal detectors combed the soil for any metal objects.

Ultraviolet lights searched for traces of biological materials, although after all these years, the chances were minimal.

At and 15 minutes, investigator Drake called a meeting right at the crime scene.

The helicopter was due to pick up the bodies in an hour, and they needed to summarize the preliminary results.

“So, here we go,” he began, opening his notebook.

“Two victims, tentatively identified as Aldrich Wayne and Aram Marorrow, hanging in a noose from a tree branch for approximately 5 years.

The cause of death is likely asphyxiation due to hanging, but an autopsy will confirm this.

No signs of camping or tents in the vicinity.

No personal belongings, backpacks, cameras.

An interesting detail, Dr.

King added.

The male skeleton has trauma marks on the neck that are inconsistent with hanging.

It looks like a blunt force trauma.

Was he unconscious when he was hanged? The young officer asked.

either stunned or dead, King confirmed.

There are no such marks on the female skeleton.

Evan Drake visibly tensed.

So, she could have seen her boyfriend being hanged or vice versa.

The doctor shrugged her shoulders.

It’s a question of sequence of events.

Laboratory tests will give the answer.

Meanwhile, one of the forensic scientists approached the group holding a transparent bag of evidence.

found this 20 yards away under some leaves, he said, pointing to a water bottle.

Colorado Springs label.

Old but not 5 years old.

3 or 4 months old at most.

Another fact that did not fit into the overall picture.

Who was in this remote place a few months before Eliza Reynolds found the bodies? The climbing carbine with the blue ribbon also raised questions.

It was thoroughly examined by experts who found that it had been installed no more than 6 months ago.

The paint on the metal was still relatively fresh.

Someone wanted the bodies found, Drake concluded.

But who and why now? 5 years later.

At , the bodies were carefully packed in special bags and transferred to a helicopter on a stretcher.

They were sent to the morg in Colorado Springs where they were to undergo a full forensic examination.

Investigator Drake remained on the scene continuing to search for evidence.

He personally examined the carbine that Eliza had found between the rocks.

It’s strange, he said to his assistant, Detective Ryan Foster, at 240.

Why would the killer hang them in such a prominent place? He could have just killed them and hidden them deeper in the woods where they would never be found.

Maybe it’s a warning, Foster suggested.

You know how they used to hang pirates at the entrance to a harbor in the old days for others to see? Drake nodded thoughtfully, looking at the area around him.

His gaze settled on a rocky outcropping overhanging the hollow.

That ledge overlooks the entire tract, he said.

An ideal vantage point for observation.

Perhaps the killer wanted to admire his work.

The four officers immediately set off for the cliff.

It took them almost an hour to climb as the path was steep and dangerous, but their efforts paid off.

On a small platform at the top of the ledge, they found traces of a camp, stones blackened by fire, energy bar wrappers, and several cigarette butts.

The footprints are old, the forensic scientist said over the radio, but not 5 years old.

I’d say 2 or 3 years old at most.

Someone has been visiting this place regularly.

The discovery confirmed a chilling theory.

The killer had returned to watch his victims.

Perhaps he had sat on this rock many times looking at the bodies swaying in the wind.

At 18 hours and 30 minutes, a message came from the lab.

Dental records confirmed the victim’s identities as Aldrich Wayne and Ira Marorrow.

Notify the families, Sheriff Caldwell ordered.

But don’t give them any details.

Just tell them their children have been found.

At 20 10, private investigator Michael Thornton arrived at the crime scene.

Old with deep wrinkles around his eyes.

He had been searching for 5 years.

Evan Drake met him on the lawn where the temporary headquarters was set up.

I knew we’d find them, Thornton said in a low voice.

But not like this.

Not like this.

He told the investigators about his findings during the 5 years of searching, about illegal loggers, about a strange hermit named Gordy, about his guesses that had no proof.

“It all makes sense now,” Drake said after listening to the story.

“We’re looking for someone who knows the forest well, who could have dragged two bodies up a tree, and who has a reason to kill tourists.” The search at the crime scene lasted until late at night.

Powerful search lights illuminated the tract, turning thick shadows into bizarre silhouettes.

Several times, the officers thought they were being watched from the forest, but checks revealed nothing.

At in the morning, the preliminary medical report came back.

Aldrich Wayne died of a skull injury, Dr.

King said over the phone.

A severe blunt force trauma to the back of the head.

Ira Marorrow died of asphixxiation.

But there’s something else.

She was pregnant.

This news shocked everyone present.

The tragedy took on an even more horrific dimension.

Not two, but three innocent people had died.

“How far along?” asked Drake in a horse voice.

“About 14 weeks,” the doctor replied.

“They probably didn’t know it yet.” On the morning of May 20th, the search at the crime scene continued with renewed vigor.

By lunchtime, the forensic experts had completed the collection of all possible evidence.

The materials were sent to the laboratory and the team returned to headquarters in the city.

Investigator Drake, sitting in his office, opened the old case of Aldrich and Ira’s disappearance.

He flipped through the yellowed pages of 5-year-old reports.

Gordy Kovatch, he read the name in the private detective’s notes.

A hermit who hates tourists.

This was the first serious clue, but the experienced investigator realized that there was still a lot of work to be done before they would find out the whole truth about what happened in the stone claw 5 years ago.

The dawn of May 20, 2019 found the Wesvil Sheriff’s Office in a state of full mobilization.

All officers off duty gathered in the briefing room.

Crime scene photos were projected on a large screen alongside old photos of Aldrich Wayne and Ara Marorrow with their smiling faces.

The contrast was so stark that some of the audience looked away.

We are now officially opening a double homicide investigation.

Sheriff Caldwell announced at in the morning.

Drake stood up from his seat and walked over to the makeshift crime board where photos and documents were already posted.

We know what happened,” he began, pointing to the timeline.

On June 15th, 2014, Aldrich Wayne and Aramaro went hiking on the Mountain Mule Trail.

Their last known GPS tracker entry is dated 13 hours and 20 minutes later that day.

They were approximately 4 mi from the trail head.

Apparently, at that point, they encountered someone who either forced them to change their route or attacked them.

He pointed to the map where the last known position of the tourists was marked with a red marker.

It’s 12 mi in a straight line from this point to the Kamemen Kihot tract where the bodies were found, but there is no straight path there, only steep slopes, gorges, and dense forest.

The real path is at least 20 m.

Drake paused to let this information sink in.

Now, the most important question is, who did this? And why did they leave a sign for the bodies to be found 5 years later? Detective Ryan Foster raised his hand.

Do we have any leads from the previous investigation? This was the question Drake had been waiting for.

He opened an old file folder.

The private investigator, Michael Thornon, hired by the families, has done a great job.

His reports contain several interesting points.

First, he discovered that a group of illegal loggers were working in the San Isabel forest at the time.

Secondly, two tourists who visited the area a year before the disappearance reported encountering an aggressive hermit.

Drake opened several pages of the report looking for the right passage.

Here it is, and I quote, “A tall man with a graying beard dressed in camouflage came out from behind the trees and began yelling at us to get off his property.

He waved his arms and threatened that next time he would meet us with a gun.

The locals in the nearest town said his name was Gordy and advised us to stay away from the eastern part of the forest.

Drake closed the folder and looked around the room.

Our first suspect is a man named Gordy Kovatch.

He’s a former logger with a conviction for assault.

Lives on the outskirts of Florence about 40 mi from here.

At , police cars without sirens pulled up to a small trailer park on the outskirts of Florence.

They stopped a block away from the target to avoid attracting attention.

Drake Foster and four officers in bulletproof vests started walking toward a rusty trailer that stood a little apart from the others.

“Police! Gordy Kovatch, open up!” Drake shouted as he pounded on the trailer door at 42 minutes.

There was no answer.

After three warnings, the officers broke in, but the trailer was empty.

Judging by the unwashed dishes and fresh food in the refrigerator, the owner had been here recently.

“Search everything,” Drake ordered.

“We have a warrant.” The trailer was cramped and cluttered.

Old newspapers, dirty clothes, empty beer bottles.

On the wall hung an old rustcovered shotgun, obviously unused for years.

Under the bed, they found a box of ammunition that had expired in 2010.

The most interesting discovery was made in a small shed behind the trailer.

On a makeshift shelf among the tools was a coil of synthetic rope identical to the one found around the victim’s necks.

“Bingo,” Foster said quietly as he carefully photographed the discovery.

“We have physical evidence.” A neighbor, an elderly woman in a nearby trailer, watched the police with undisguised curiosity.

As the officers began to pack up the evidence, she walked over to the fence.

“Looking for Gordy,” she asked, holding a cup of coffee.

“Drake immediately approached her, showing her his ID.” “Yes, ma’am.

Do you know where he might be?” “He left yesterday as usual.” The woman who introduced herself as Martha Jenkins replied, “He goes to the mountains for a week every month.

He says he hunts, but he always comes back empty-handed.” This information made Drake wary.

“How long have you known Mr.

Kovatch?” “Oh, about 10 years,” Martha replied.

“He lived here when I moved in.

He’s a strange man, but quiet.

Although there was a time about 5 years ago when he was acting really strange.

“In what way?” Drake clarified, taking out his notebook.

“It was in the summer of 2014,” Martha recalled, squinting her eyes.

Nervous.

He was always watching the news.

And then he brought some backpacks, expensive touristy ones.

I asked him where he got them, and he snapped at me to mind my own business.

Drake’s heart beat faster.

Do you recognize these backpacks? He showed her some old photos of the gear Aldrich and Ira had used on their hike.

Something similar, Martha answered uncertainly.

It’s been a long time, but the color is the same, red and blue.

At and 30 minutes, an emergency meeting was called at the sheriff’s office.

Drake reported on the findings in Kovatch’s trailer and the neighbor’s testimony.

We have enough for an arrest warrant, he summarized.

But first, we need to find him.

He’s probably in the mountains right now.

Sheriff Caldwell nodded.

But then one of the senior officers, Tom Harrison, spoke up.

There is one problem.

Gordy Kovatch had knee surgery in May 2014.

We have medical records.

He was in rehabilitation until the end of July.

Physically, he could not walk 20 m over rough terrain in June.

This news puzzled everyone present.

If Kovatch was unable to walk, how did he deliver the bodies to Kamemen Kihole.

Maybe he wasn’t acting alone, Foster suggested.

Maybe he was leading a group of loggers that Thornton mentioned, Drake thought, drumming his fingers on the table.

Or we have the wrong suspect.

Check everyone who worked with Kovatch at the logging company.

At , a technician from the lab arrived at the sheriff’s office.

He brought the preliminary results of the analysis of the samples collected at the crime scene.

“We found microparticles of nickel ore in the soil around the tree,” he reported, showing the results of the spectral analysis.

“Eiza Reynolds, who was still in town, was invited for a consultation.

She studied the data for a long time, comparing it to geological maps.

This type of ore only occurs in a few places within a 50-mi radius, she explained, pointing to the map.

The closest is the old Silver Wind Mine about 2 mi from Stone Claw.

It was closed in the 70s.

This information opened up a new line of inquiry.

The quarry was not included in the initial search area in 2014 because it was too far from tourist routes.

At , a new report came from the laboratory.

DNA analysis of the rope found on the bodies revealed biological material that did not belong to the victims.

Although the sample was severely damaged by time, experts were able to determine that it was a man’s DNA.

Compare it to the database, Drake ordered, and see if we have a DNA sample from Gordy Kovatch.

It turned out that Kovatch was in the database because of a previous conviction.

The comparison took a few hours and at the results came back.

It doesn’t match.

The technician said the DNA on the rope doesn’t belong to Kovatch.

This news forced the investigators to reconsider their entire strategy.

If Kovatch was not the killer, then who was? At , Drake received a call from a patrolman who had been watching Kovac’s house.

The suspect has returned home.

the officer said.

“What should we do?” “Take him in, but be careful,” Drake ordered.

“We need him alive and well.” The arrest went off without incident.

At 20 10, Gordy Kovatch was taken to the sheriff’s office.

The 60-year-old man with a graying beard and piercing gaze did not look surprised or afraid.

“I knew you’d come one day,” he said as he sat down in the interrogation room.

“But I didn’t kill those kids.

Drake, who was conducting the interrogation, was a professional and did not show his surprise that Kovatch knew what he was talking about.

“Tell me what happened on June 15th, 2014,” he asked calmly.

Kovatch took a deep breath as if gathering his strength for a long story.

“I did not see them alive.

I had just left the hospital after surgery, but I know who did it.

The man they call Forester.

His real name is William Baker.

He was in charge of illegal logging at the time and had a camp in the old quarry.

“Why did you keep quiet for 5 years?” Drake asked.

“I was afraid,” Kovatch replied simply.

“He’s crazy.

But a week ago, I found a mark in the woods, a carbine with a blue ribbon.

This is his mark.

He wanted the bodies to be found, and I realized that he was no longer afraid of me.

Where can we find this William Baker? In the quarry, Kovatch answered.

He’s been living there for years in the old attit.

Drake looked carefully into Kovatch’s eyes, trying to determine if he was telling the truth.

Why did he kill those tourists? They saw something they weren’t supposed to see.

Kovatch replied grimly.

Baker doesn’t just cut down the forest.

He’s growing marijuana in those isolated valleys.

And if someone stumbles across his plantations, Kovatch didn’t finish, but Drake understood.

This was a lucrative illegal business worth millions of dollars and a good motive for murder.

At 23 hours and 50 minutes, Drake finished his interrogation.

Kovatch was placed under arrest for complicity in concealing the crime.

The investigator called an emergency meeting to prepare an operation to capture William Baker.

We’re leaving at dawn, he announced to the tired officers.

We’ll take him in the quarry, but be prepared.

A man who killed two tourists and watched their bodies for 5 years is very dangerous.

When the officers left to prepare, Drake was left alone in his office.

He looked at the photos of Aldrich and Ira, their young, smiling faces, and he thought about the baby who was never meant to be born.

We’ll find him,” the investigator promised quietly, closing the folder with the photos.

“I promise.” The dawn of May 21st, 2019 was born out of the fog that enveloped the Colorado Mountains.

At in the morning, eight police cars set off for the abandoned Silver Wind Quarry.

Evan Drake was in the lead car thinking about the strategy of the operation.

The quarry has two entrances, he explained over the radio.

The main one is on the east side and the second one is through the ventilation shaft in the north.

Two groups will block both exits simultaneously.

The cars stopped 2 mi before their destination.

From there, it was all on foot to avoid giving away their presence.

The 16 officers split into two groups and moved through the dense forest, circling the Kamemen Kihot tract in a wide arc.

The place is perfect for an illegal business, Ryan Foster said quietly, walking beside Drake, isolated, forgotten, with underground facilities.

Drake nodded silently.

He couldn’t help but notice one more detail.

The quarry was located in such a way that its upper level offered a panoramic view of the tract where the bodies were found.

An ominous confirmation of the theory that the killer wanted to watch his victims.

At , both groups reached their positions.

Drake gave a signal on the radio and the officers simultaneously moved to the quarry entrances.

“Police, come out with your hands up!” Drake shouted into the loudspeaker as the group reached the main entrance.

There was no response, only the echo of his own words and the rustling of leaves in the wind.

The officers cautiously entered the dark attit, lighting the way with powerful flashlights.

The smell was the first thing that hit their nostrils.

A mixture of dampness, mold, and something sweet that resembled marijuana.

He was here, whispered one of the officers, shining his flashlight on the remains of the fire on the floor.

The ashes were still warm.

In the depths of the attit chambers, they found a real living space.

a cot, a forced air stove, water cans, and a shelf of canned food.

On the wall hung a detailed topographic map of the area with several red marker marks.

Look at this.

Foster pointed to one of the marks.

This is exactly where the bodies were found.

Drake carefully removed the map from the wall.

In addition to where the bodies were found, it marked several other points scattered throughout the forest.

Maybe these are other victims, he suggested quietly.

Or hiding places.

In the far corner of the attic, under a stone ledge, the officers found the most ominous discovery, a notebook with a worn leather cover.

Drake carefully opened it, illuminating the pages with a flashlight.

In neat, almost calligraphic handwriting, observations of the forest, animals, and people were recorded.

Today, two people walked along the upper path.

They didn’t see me.

The guy was taking pictures of rocks.

The girl was collecting stones.

They will be back soon.

Read the entry dated June 13th, 2014.

And then on June 15th, they are back.

The guy was taking pictures of my hiding place.

They were not supposed to see it.

No one else will know about this place.

The last entry dated May 18, 2019 was short.

5 years time to let them go.

Left assigned.

At in the morning, Drake called Eliza Reynolds to the sheriff’s office.

She was supposed to return to Denver, but agreed to stay.

“We need your help as a geologist,” Drake explained, laying out a map with labels and samples collected from the quarry in front of her.

These nickel ore particles could be the key.

Eliza carefully examined the samples under the microscope, then checked her field notes.

Interesting, she said, pointing to a particular shade of minerals.

Only one vein in the quarry has this composition, the north addit, which was closed due to instability in the 60s.

Drake nodded as he took notes.

Can you explain how these particles ended up near the bodies on the shoes? Eliza answered confidently.

The man walked regularly between the quarry and the crime scene, carrying the particles on his souls.

She opened her field notebook.

I found something else.

A special kind of lykan grows in the stone claw, which is found only there and near the northern addit of the quarry.

So, our suspect has been taking the same route all along, Drake realized.

How often do you think? Eliza thought about it.

Judging by the concentration of particles at least once a month for several years, this information confirmed the eerie picture.

The killer regularly visited the place where he had left his victims.

But why did he suddenly decide that the bodies had to be found? “There’s something else,” Eliza added, pointing to a strange note in her diary.

“I found seeds of a plant near the bodies that doesn’t grow in those places.

It’s dura stramonium common dope.

It is a hallucinogen.

Drake recalled the findings from the quarry.

There were traces of this plant growing there.

The picture was becoming clearer and clearer and more eerie.

Noon on May 21st.

The search team returned to the quarry with reinforcements.

A helicopter with a thermal imager surveyed the surrounding forests.

William Baker, now wanted for a double murder, had disappeared.

“He knew we were coming,” Drake said, looking at the suspect’s camp.

“The question is why he left the evidence.

” In the northern attitens experts found a real cash, boxes of ammunition, food, medical supplies, and most importantly, a metal box with Aldrich and Era’s personal belongings.

There’s their phones, their camera, their wallets.

Foster listed.

A small dope plantation was found in a separate compartment of the Adidit.

Next to it was a homemade laboratory for the extraction of hallucinogens.

He’s not just a killer, Drake said quietly.

He’s a man who’s completely out of touch with reality.

In the deepest corner of the attit.

Send his picture to all the services, he ordered.

But it’s unlikely they’ll catch him.

A man who lived 5 years invisible to the whole world will disappear completely.

2 days later, the bodies of Aldrich and Ara were handed over to their families.

The case was officially closed as solved, although the killer was never caught.

He left a sign and a confession because he knew he wouldn’t be found, Drake said at the final meeting.

The Silver Wind Quarry was sealed with concrete blocks.

The spruce tree on which the bodies had been hanging for 5 years was cut down.

But even now, many years later, locals try to avoid the stoneclaw tract.

Some places in the Colorado mountains are forever branded with terrible secrets that the forest is in no hurry to reveal.