In September 2020, a group of underground explorers wandered into a remote ravine on the northern slope of Mount Hood and saw something that shouldn’t have been there.

Among the wet rocks, a narrow steel door stood out, built right into the rock.

The lock had been battered as if someone had tried to break out, not break in.

When the door opened, a small concrete cell appeared in the light of the flashlights.

A girl in a red jacket lay tied with ropes on an iron bed.

A geological hammer lay nearby.

Only after the forensic expert illuminated her face did it become clear that this was Erica Bishop, a student who had disappeared here 2 years ago.

The mountains had never given her up.

The bunker remained silent.

There was only one question.

Who had kept her alive here? And why had she never left? On October 14th, 2018, at a.m., cameras at the Mountain Grind Coffee Shop in Sandy captured a young woman in a red jacket.

She was standing at the counter holding a phone in her hand, and according to the barista was carefully comparing a map of the area with paper notes in her pocket.

These images were the first and last confirmation that 21-year-old Erica Bishop had indeed set out on her planned geological route near Mount Hood.

According to police, at a.m., her Subaru Outback drove into a dirt parking lot near the start of the Cast Creek Trail.

A short note in her handwriting was later found in the visitor log book.

Erica B to Zigzag Ridge returned by 400 p.m.

At that time, the weather in the area was clear, albeit cool, and visibility allowed for a comfortable hike.

According to one of the early hikers who had started earlier that day, he saw a girl with a backpack and a geology hammer on the trail, but he could not confirm her identity.

The encounter, he said, was brief, about a mile from the parking lot.

Further events have been reconstructed from investigators reports and family testimony.

When Erica did not return to her dorm room by evening, her roommate initially assumed that she had been delayed in the mountains due to the change in weather.

However, after p.m., when Bishop’s phone remained unreachable and her messages unread, she contacted the girl’s parents.

They filed a missing person report at p.m.

Mount Hood Rangers set out for Cast Creek Trail at dawn.

Erica’s car was where it was supposed to be, undamaged.

Inside the car were a tablet, a change of clothes, a bottle of water, and a notebook with field notes.

There was no evidence of a hasty departure or outside interference.

Footprints in the damp soil confirmed that she had set off up the main trail.

Dog handlers were brought in to assist with the search.

According to official reports, the dogs picked up the scent and advanced about 2 mi uphill, then suddenly lost the trail near an old logging road.

The road had not been used for a long time was overgrown with bushes and according to the rangers appeared on the list of potentially dangerous areas due to fallen trees and cliffs.

It was here in this overgrown branch that Erica could have turned aside either voluntarily or by mistake.

However, there was no direct evidence of this.

The search operation lasted 10 days.

Drones, volunteers, several horse patrol units, and a helicopter were involved.

According to official reports, they combed the area within a radius of several miles from the trail, checking hollows, canyons, meltwater streams, and areas that quickly become covered with snow in winter.

But the snow that fell earlier than forecast significantly complicated the search.

Volunteers recalled that by the third day, visibility in the forest had decreased to a few dozen yards.

trails disappeared under a layer of snow and there were no fresh tracks left at all.

The police officially reported that there were no signs of a struggle, missing items, or traces of blood.

None of the boulders, tree trunks, or visible areas of soil that were examined showed any damage or fabric remnants that could indicate a fall or collision.

The only fact that remained unchanged was that Erica had set out on the trail, but there was no evidence that she had left the Cast Creek trail area.

After the active search phase ended, the rangers and rescuers version became the prevailing one.

The girl had probably strayed from the trail, fallen into one of the numerous ravines, or fallen into a snow-covered meltwater drain.

She could then have been buried, hiding any visible traces.

The family did not agree with this version, but in the absence of evidence, the investigation had no basis for making other assumptions.

The initial reports indicate that the area where the scent disappeared became key to further cardographic reconstructions.

It was there, at the intersection of the trail and an abandoned logging road, that experts noted the so-called root break point, the place where the human trail disappears without explanation.

None of the search operation participants knew at the time that this point would become the center of a mystery that 2 years later would reveal a completely different picture of Erica Bishop’s disappearance.

In September 2020, almost 2 years after Erica Bishop’s disappearance, a group of researchers of abandoned underground facilities was moving along the northern slope of Mount Hood away from tourist routes.

According to them, they were looking for ventilation shafts of old military fortifications when one of the participants noticed a rectangular outline in the rock.

The outline was unnaturally smooth, completely covered with moss, and only when they got closer did it become clear that it was a steel door cut into the rock.

A padlock hung on a single rusty bracket.

The researchers knocked it off with a metal crowbar.

According to their description, the door opened with a characteristic creek and a cold, musty air came from inside.

Flashlights illuminated a narrow corridor leading to a small rectangular chamber.

The ceiling and walls were concrete covered with soundproofing panels which had slipped in places exposing the porous surface of the concrete.

According to preliminary expert estimates, the structure was homemade, but with elements of industrial fasteners.

In the far corner of the room stood an iron bed welded to the floor.

Human remains lay on it.

The hands were tied with ropes attached to special brackets on the frame.

Only fragments of the ropes remained, but the method of fastening was obvious.

One of the group members told investigators that he was the first to recognize the red fragments of a jacket.

They were lying on the chest and had retained their color despite the passage of time.

A geological hammer lay on the floor nearby.

The researchers immediately went outside, recorded the coordinates, and called 911.

Within an hour, the area was cordoned off by rangers and patrol officers and Clackamus County detectives entered the facility with special lighting.

The inspection was conducted in accordance with the procedure for working with underground shelters, a detailed description of each item, photographing and marking structural elements.

Forensic experts found empty water canisters, packaging from long-term storage products, fragments of insulation, and old ventilation pipes filled with construction foam.

Everything indicated that the structure was built with a specific plan in mind, not as a temporary shelter, but to hold a person.

There were no external signs of the presence of outsiders.

Dust covered the surfaces evenly, and no fingerprints were found.

According to experts, the bunker had not been opened for a long time.

The identification of the remains took place in several stages.

First, the equipment.

Erica Bishop’s parents provided a detailed description of her jacket, boots, and geological hammer handle.

Everything matched.

Next, a dental examination was conducted, which finally confirmed the identity.

Police records indicate that the body was found about 4 mi from where her car was found 2 years ago.

One of the most disturbing details was the inside surface of the door.

It had scratches pointing downward as if someone had been standing or sitting nearby and made them in despair.

Due to a layer of rust, it was impossible to determine when exactly they appeared.

No traces of blood or injuries characteristic of a struggle were found during the initial examination.

According to experts, the temperature inside the bunker could have sustained life for some time, but the complete lack of water and food supplies indicated that the last stage of the girl’s life was long and hopeless.

According to the forensic report, the design of the bed and the way the ropes were tied indicated that the person had been deliberately restrained in a stationary position.

This was key evidence that this was not an accident, but an isolated room created by someone in advance and for a specific purpose.

The bunker had no signs of natural ventilation.

The pipe opening was sealed with a thick layer of construction foam.

Fresh air access was minimal.

Experts suggested that the structure could have been sealed from the outside after a person was already inside.

After examining the surrounding area, investigators noted another important detail.

A few yards from the entrance, they found the remains of a synthetic cord almost completely buried in the ground.

Its origin could not be determined on the spot, but experts noted that the cord could have been used to transport heavy objects down the slope.

For the investigation, which had been working with only hypotheses for two years, the discovery of the actual crime scene marked a new stage.

But the bunker contained no direct evidence that would indicate the identity of the person who built it or who held Erica there.

The only confirmed fact was that she did not die on the day of her disappearance.

She was found alive inside the structure and remained there for some time after the search had long since ended.

Detectives from Clakamus County arrived at the northern slope of Mount Hood on the same day that the bunker was officially registered as a possible crime scene.

The official report states that Detective Mark Reynolds and his partner Sarah Jenkins entered the underground chamber after an initial inspection by forensic experts.

Both worked in the violent crimes unit and had experience in missing person’s cases.

But as they later admitted to reporters, they had never seen this type of structure before.

The forensic expert who examined the remains at the scene found no signs of fractures, stab wounds, or traumatic brain injuries.

The preliminary conclusion was concise.

Death was not caused by mechanical impact.

The expert put it this way.

signs of prolonged exhaustion, probable death from dehydration.

The documents emphasized that the condition of the tissues and the presence of dry deposits suggest that the person remained alive in the room for some time after the bunker was closed.

The exact time interval cannot be determined, but it was not instantaneous.

Detectives began with a detailed study of the structure.

Inside they found the remains of household goods.

Empty tin cans, partially crumpled packages of dry food, and several plastic canisters with dried deposits around the edges.

According to experts, the supplies were calculated for one person and could provide several weeks of minimal nutrition.

The fact that the cans were empty and the water was completely depleted indicated that the person inside did not receive new supplies after the door was closed.

Among the trash, which had been neatly tossed into a corner, forensic experts found a crumpled piece of paper.

They later unfolded it and determined that it was a receipt from the builder’s warehouse construction hypermarket in Gresham.

The date was August 2018, approximately 2 months before Erica Bishop’s disappearance.

The shopping list included hinges for heavy doors, a can of construction foam, and a galvanized steel ventilation pipe.

The purchase amount was $85 paid in cash.

This discovery was particularly significant for the investigation.

It was the only item that pointed to the preparatory stage of construction.

However, there were no unique markings or personal details on the receipt.

Detectives contacted the store management, but according to the manager, the volume of purchases of this type was standard.

Building materials, hinges, and pipes are sold in the store every day.

There are hundreds of buyers and the video surveillance camera only stores recordings for one month.

The archives for August 2018 had long since been destroyed.

Attempts to reconstruct the chain of events using bank transactions were also unsuccessful.

Cash payments leave no trace.

According to store employees, receipts without customer cards are not linked to any individual, so it was not possible to determine who purchased the materials.

Detectives continued to inspect the premises.

Reports indicate that the bunker was built very carefully.

The seams on the walls were treated with sealant, the ventilation pipe was partially insulated, and the ceiling was reinforced with metal plates.

This indicated that the construction was carried out by a person with basic technical skills, not a random tourist.

The bunker showed no signs of leakage and was dry enough for some of the textiles to be partially preserved.

The method used to camouflage the entrance was of particular interest.

According to the rangers, the door was so overgrown with moss and lyken on the outside that it gave the impression of having been neglected for many years.

However, the internal hinges looked much newer.

They did not have the same thick layer of corrosion as the lock.

This meant that the structure could have been opened and closed after the door was installed, and the door leaf was deliberately exposed to water to make it look older than it actually was.

The detectives also noticed some trash that bore the marks of time.

An empty dry ration packet had a printed date of manufacturer, spring 2018.

This matched the date on the check.

A fragment of a water canister had signs of wear consistent with the type sold in Gresham and Portland stores at that time.

But again, there were no personal markings.

Several working conclusions were formulated based on the results of the examination.

First, the bunker was not an improvised structure.

It had been prepared in advance and with purpose.

Second, someone had purchased the materials at the very time when Erica was just planning her hiking season.

Third, the structure was located in a place inaccessible to random passers by.

This ruled out the possibility of it being a random shelter.

However, the only thing that could have given the investigation a foothold, a receipt from the store, turned out to be a dead end.

There were no cameras, no bank records, and no witnesses who could remember the buyer.

Illegal shelters in forests are not uncommon, and the materials purchased for them do not arouse suspicion if they are bought retail for cash.

Detectives Reynolds and Jenkins noted in their report that at this stage, no direct clues leading to the person who built the bunker had been found.

Although the construction was deliberate and the preparations were systematic, the investigators had no identifying information.

All of the items found could have belonged to anyone.

The bunker revealed the truth about Erica’s last days, but at the same time completely concealed who was behind her disappearance.

The search trail ended as abruptly as the scent that had been lost 2 years earlier.

When it became clear that the receipt from the hardware store offered no way to identify the buyer, the detectives shifted their focus to analyzing the bunker’s construction.

The materials used to build it could point to a person who had access to specific industrial parts.

An expert in technical forensics, having recorded the condition of the door, drew attention to its surface.

The metal was corrugated with a characteristic pattern used on industrial flooring in old factories in Clackamus County and surrounding areas.

On the inside of the door, a fragment of the marking was preserved, part of the inventory number and production series.

The set of symbols was not complete, but the initial part of the code matched the marking system used by the Sandy Steelworks factory.

This enterprise operated in the town of Sandy for several decades until it was officially closed in 2016.

After the closure, the equipment and structures were cut up for scrap metal and the territory was given over to private development.

Local residents often talked about how parts of the inventory were removed in an uncontrolled manner.

Some items were sold officially while others were sold to illegal workers who dismantled the workshops.

The detectives requested the facto’s archival documents.

It turned out that this type of corrugated metal was used for flooring on the facto’s assembly platforms.

After dismantling, some of the flooring was sold in large batches to scrap metal collection points in Hshamei, but a significant amount disappeared before it was officially written off.

This meant that someone had access to the facto’s materials during the dismantling period and could therefore use them for their own needs.

The police turned to the lists of employees and contractors who worked on the dismantling.

There were dozens of names, but after selecting certain criteria, solitary lifestyle, proximity to the Mount Hood area, welding skills, conflicts with the law, the circle narrowed sharply.

Official documents identified two individuals who most closely matched the profile.

The first was Thomas Reed, a middle-aged man and former welder at the Sandy Steelworks plant.

According to the personnel department, he had worked there for over a decade.

And when the plant was shut down, he was one of those who received a temporary contract to dismantle metal structures.

He was known to live alone on the edge of a forest near the town of Ronnie in an old house that he had inherited from relatives.

In the 1990s, he had a criminal record for domestic violence, not officially related to the current case, but enough for the police to label him as potentially dangerous.

According to his neighbors, Reed hardly communicated with anyone, rarely went into town, and spent most of his time in the workshop behind his house, where he worked with welding and metal structures.

The second was Silas Wayne, younger in age, a handyman who worked on scrap removal during demolition work.

He was hired for short periods, as he himself explained to his colleagues, when there was a need for transportation and physical labor.

Former factory workers described him as an eccentric, quiet man with an interest in survival and isolation.

Police records indicate that Wayne lived in a trailer park whispering pines on the edge of Gresham.

Several residents of the park indicated that he often spoke of the inevitable end of the world and was preparing for it by buying the cheapest tools and materials for autonomous living as he himself said.

However, he had no official offenses on record in recent years.

Detectives consulted with a metallurgical expert who examined the door and fastenings of the bunker.

He noted that the sheet metal from which the door was made had characteristic marks of cutting with an abrasive wheel rather than a factory machine.

There were also small welds from semi-automatic welding on the internal hinges typical of craftsmen working in garage conditions.

This means that someone probably had access to the equipment and could modify the design on their own.

When detectives compared information about the suspects, they noticed a detail.

Thomas Reed was a professional welder who possessed higher level techniques than those used in the bunker.

According to factory records, his work was distinguished by its neatness and precision.

Meanwhile, the welds on the bunker door were rough and uneven, as is often the case with workers who are learning the skills on their own.

At the same time, Silus Wayne did not have official welding qualifications, but former contractors recalled that he often took small scrap metal and tools home after his shift, saying that he would find a use for them at home.

Once he was even asked to leave the factory premises for attempting to take door hinges from the warehouse, but the incident was not officially recorded because the work was chaotic at the time.

In addition, Wayne’s interest in preparing autonomous shelters caused concern among detectives.

Investigation documents indicate that he purchased large quantities of canned food, water, and tools at Gresham stores, often with cash.

The purchases were not illegal, but they fit the profile of someone capable of building a primitive underground shelter.

Detectives did not draw any conclusions at this stage, but noted in their report that both men had access to metal from the Sandy Steelworks factory and worked with materials identical to those used to make the bunker door.

One was a professional capable of working with complex structures.

The other was self-taught and could use the materials as is without excessive technicality.

Among the employees who were questioned, there was no one who could remember whether any of these men had assembled corrugated decking elements or shown interest in thick sheet metal.

During the dismantling period, the chaos was so great that hundreds of structural fragments were taken to the warehouse and control was a mere formality.

Despite this, these two became the first candidates for in-depth investigation.

Both lived near the mountains.

Both had the opportunity to disappear unnoticed into the forest and both had access to materials.

The design of the bunker, the camouflage of the door, and the method of installation indicated that it was built by someone with technical experience and a penchant for isolation.

It remained to be determined which of them could have turned metal into a place to hold a person, and why.

After analyzing the materials in the bunker, the detectives decided to start with the person who seemed the most likely perpetrator.

Thomas Reed fit almost every point in the operational profile.

He knew about metal, had access to tools, lived near the woods, and was known for his withdrawn, sharp character.

In addition, his past convictions provided grounds for assuming that he was capable of violence.

All this made him the first logical target for the investigation.

A search warrant for his house and property was obtained before sunset the next day.

According to investigators, Reed lived in an old one-story house surrounded by a plot of land littered with scrap metal.

In the garage, which he had converted into a workshop, the walls were covered with tools and a welding machine stood in the center.

On the floor lay several sheets of corrugated metal similar to that installed on the bunker door.

One of the investigators noted in a subsequent report that the visual similarity was too obvious to ignore.

Reed’s behavior during the search only reinforced the suspicion.

He reacted dismissively, commented on the detective’s actions, and did not hide his irritation.

According to one of the operatives, he behaved like a person who knows he is under suspicion but does not consider it a threat.

After reviewing the evidence, Detective Reynolds expressed confidence that the suspicions were confirmed.

At first glance, Reed had the opportunity, the skills, and a motive that could have been hidden.

The man was detained for questioning.

the protocol records that Reed initially refused to answer questions, but after consulting with his lawyer, he agreed to provide certain explanations.

According to him, he took the metal sheets from the factory during dismantling like everyone else and did not see anything illegal in this.

He used the welding machine for repairs, and the structures scattered around the workshop were part of an old project that he never finished.

He categorically denied any involvement in the disappearance of Erica Bishop.

Everything changed when the conversation turned to a specific date, October 2018.

The detectives explained that this was when Erica disappeared on the Cast Creek Trail.

The report notes that Reed did not react as one would expect from someone who was hiding something.

He did not become flustered or nervous, but instead stated that he was unable to move independently at that time.

This statement was immediately verified, and it turned out to be true.

Several years earlier, Reed had been treated for a chronic spinal condition that led to serious complications.

According to the medical center in Gresham, in September and October 2018, he was hospitalized after a complex operation.

All this information was confirmed by doctors, medical records, and even insurance fund data.

Medical records showed that during the period of Erica Bishop’s disappearance, he was not only unable to climb mountains, but also unable to stand without assistance.

Detectives compared the facts.

It was physically impossible for Rad Reed to get to Cast Creek Trail, kidnap a person, and build or equip a bunker in a hard-to-reach part of the slope.

His alibi was not just convincing, it completely cleared him of suspicion.

After that, the man was released and the case materials were transferred to the auxiliary category.

The phrase recorded in the report, quoted from the investigator, sounded like this.

I took the medal because everyone was taking whatever they could at the time.

Why would I need to build some kind of underground bunker? This was not a confession or an attempt to justify himself.

Rather, it was a statement that logically explained the presence of metal sheets in his garage.

During the dismantling of the plant, such materials did indeed fall into the hands of many local residents.

The detectives had to admit that they had followed obvious but false clues.

Welding equipment, reclusiveness, a criminal record, metal in the garage.

All this created a picture that looked convincing only until verified documents appeared.

After his alibi was confirmed, the case against Reed was put on hold.

The foundation that had seemed solid that morning crumbled.

They had to return to the list of suspects and move on without any answers, but with the realization that the real perpetrator was still at large.

After Thomas Reed’s alibi was confirmed by documents and beyond any doubt, the investigation returned to Square One.

The only suspect remaining in the spotlight was Silus Wayne, a handyman who was involved in the removal of scrap metal during the dismantling of the Sandy Steelworks plant.

Formerly, this did not give any reason to believe he was involved in the disappearance of Erica Bishop.

There was no direct evidence.

Several former employees described him as strange, withdrawn, with a certain obsession with the idea of self-sufficient living, but these characteristics alone did not constitute a crime.

Detective Sarah Jenkins suggested returning to the small details that were easy to miss during the initial inspection.

She insisted on reanalyzing the debris collected inside the bunker.

Forensic experts reviewed every bag, every fragment that had been noted in the first hours after the discovery of the cash.

It was then, while reviewing microscopic remnants of bedding that one expert noticed a small piece of paper that was initially considered background material, part of the general mass of household waste.

It turned out that this was not a piece of packaging, but a fragment of the local newspaper Sandy Post, which according to the forensic expert was used as a liner on a metal shelf in the corner of the bunker.

The date was clearly visible on the preserved fragment, September 2018.

This meant that the newspaper had been placed there during the period when the bunker was probably being prepared.

In the upper right corner of the newspaper, there were notes made in ballpoint pen.

Someone had circled several ads in the private sales section.

Among them was an ad for the sale of a used gasoline generator.

The seller’s phone number was preserved in its entirety.

The detectives made contact.

The man who placed the ad confirmed that a buyer had indeed come to him several years ago.

He described the visit in words that were later recorded in the protocol.

A stranger, unsociable, spoke little, haggled over every scent, and behaved as if he was afraid of being recognized.

The seller particularly remembered the green pickup truck the buyer had arrived in.

The car was old, rusty, with a homemade bumper.

According to the man, he had a strange feeling, so he wrote down the license plate number just in case.

Once the detectives got this info, it took just a few minutes to check it out.

The number was registered to Silas Wayne, a resident of the Whispering Pines Trailer Park.

Wayne, who had previously been considered only a potential witness, suddenly found himself in the spotlight.

However, this alone was not enough.

Wayne could not be linked to the bunker simply because he had purchased a generator.

A fact was needed that would place him at the time of the kidnapping.

Jenkins insisted on reviewing all records related to Wayne.

minor offenses, administrative arrests, previous arrests.

This is how the police obtained a document that investigators later referred to in their reports as a gold mine.

The Gresham Police Archives contained a report of an incident dated October 20th, 2018, just 6 days after Erica Bishop’s disappearance.

Wayne was arrested at a local bar after he provoked a fight and then assaulted the officer who responded to the call.

The arrest was properly documented and the man received an administrative punishment 6 months in prison.

The fact of the prison term became key.

Investigators checked the dates.

The beginning of the term coincided with the period when Erica was already missing and the bunker, if the detectives assumptions were correct, was already in use.

If Wayne was involved, he could not have returned to the shelter after his arrest.

This meant that the girl could have remained alive for some time, but there was no access to her.

This coincidence of dates explained the lack of food and water in the bunker, as well as the fact that no traces of outside interference were found inside after the initial period.

The person who held Erica captive disappeared from her life, not because he fled or killed her on the spot, but because he was arrested for a minor offense that was in no way connected to her disappearance.

In the case file, detectives noted another important detail.

At the time of his arrest, Wayne was heavily intoxicated.

The officer who arrested him described his behavior as chaotic, aggressive, with signs of paranoia.

This coincided with the description given to him by the residents of the trailer park, a man who had obsessive fears and was prone to irrational decisions.

Now the police had several pieces of evidence that formed a single line of inquiry.

Wayne had access to the metal used in construction.

He had purchased equipment that could be useful for an autonomous shelter.

He appeared in the case because of a newspaper fragment found inside the bunker.

After Erica’s disappearance, he was taken into custody and remained there during the period when the girl was doomed without access to water.

The most painful realization for the investigation was that Wayne’s arrest was an official event that could have attracted attention even then 2 years ago.

But the Erica Bishop case was not related to bar fights or minor offenses.

And the connection between them only became apparent now when the newspaper clipping in the bunker pointed in the direction that had been missing for so long.

After establishing the connection between the newspaper clipping, the purchase of the generator, and the arrest in October, investigators realized that Silus Wayne was the closest lead to the truth.

But that wasn’t enough to get an arrest warrant on suspicion of murder.

All the evidence found remained circumstantial.

The newspaper could have been brought in by outsiders.

Metal is not unique.

Generators are common goods.

The mere existence of the bunker did not prove that Wayne had built it or kept a person inside.

Detectives Reynolds and Jenkins decided to use a method that was later referred to in reports as controlled psychological provocation.

It was not about coercion, but about creating conditions under which the suspect could reveal his fears and actions that an innocent person would not have done.

To begin with, the police set up covert surveillance of Wayne’s trailer in Whispering Pines Park.

According to several residents, Wayne hardly ever left his home.

The windows were boarded up with plywood, which did not comply with any building regulations, but was not technically illegal.

An old green pickup truck stood in the courtyard.

Near the entrance were two plastic canisters, a rusty tool, and twisted wire.

According to the investigator’s observations, Wayne lived in almost complete isolation.

He only went to the store at dusk, did not talk to his neighbors, and left his trash out at night.

The report stated that his behavior was consistent with that of a person trying to avoid any contact.

But none of these facts brought the investigation closer to direct evidence.

The detectives knew they had to find an item that belonged to Erica Bishop or a tool that had been used in the bunker.

Any item that linked Wayne to the storage facility could be grounds for a warrant.

Then Reynolds suggested a different tactic to make Wayne believe that evidence against him had already been found.

They needed to psychologically destabilize him without breaking the law.

Under a false pretext, the detective came to the trailer park, introducing himself as an officer, interviewing residents of the area about a series of metal thefts.

This pretext was not chosen at random.

There had indeed been isolated thefts in the area, and the conversation did not seem suspicious.

Details of the conversation were recorded in the official report.

According to Reynolds, Wayne initially responded briefly and tensely, avoiding direct eye contact.

He kept his hands in his pockets, but when the detective accidentally mentioned the bunker found in the mountains, the suspect’s behavior changed dramatically.

Reynolds said that modern forensics could take fingerprints even from heavily rusted surfaces, and the results will be ready tomorrow.

This was untrue, but legal.

The detective was not interrogating the man as a suspect, so he was not obliged to warn him of his intentions.

According to the official description, at this moment, Wayne’s hands were shaking.

He turned away and was silent for a few seconds.

After that, the conversation effectively broke down.

Wayne said he had nothing more to say and closed the trailer door.

This was the reaction they had been waiting for.

After Reynolds left, the operatives began night surveillance.

The park was deserted, and in the darkness, Wayne’s movements could only be tracked with technology.

The police used a drone with a thermal imager, which was kept at a height that was out of sight.

Around a.m., the thermal imager detected movement.

Wayne came out of the trailer wearing a hoodie with a large backpack on his back and a shovel in his hands.

He moved quickly, though he kept looking back.

The report states his behavior was consistent with someone trying to hide or move objects.

He headed toward a strip of forest that began behind the trailer park fence.

The drone moved above him, adjusting its route.

After a few hundred yards, Wayne came to a small clearing with an old spreading oak tree that was well known to the local children.

They used to hang swings from it.

The thermal imager recorded Wayne throwing his backpack on the ground, looking back and starting to dig.

His hands worked quickly as if he had done this before.

The ground was dry and the shovel went in easily.

According to one of the operatives watching in real time, his movements were sharp and precise, as if he was trying to bury or extract something before dawn.

The police did not intervene.

They had to wait for the moment when Wayne would take out or put into the hole an object that could be recorded as evidence.

Such actions by the suspect created a legal opportunity for immediate arrest, but only after it became clear what exactly he was hiding.

The drone continued to film.

After a few minutes of digging, Wayne leaned over the hole and began to take small items out of his backpack.

The thermal imager detected individual warm spots, presumably items wrapped in plastic or fabric.

He put them in the hole, looked around again, and continued digging, as if trying to deepen the hiding place.

The operatives understood that if they stopped him too early, they would not know what exactly he wanted to hide.

If too late, he might have time to leave and hide something important forever.

The case file states only one thing.

The suspect’s behavior indicated an attempt to hide material evidence related to the victim.

But to confirm this, they had to wait until he finished what he had come to the old oak tree to do.

When the task force received confirmation that Silas Wayne was digging a hole under the old oak tree, the decision was made to act immediately.

According to one of the officers, they waited for the moment when the suspect would kneel down and lose control of the space around him.

This minimized the risk of resistance.

The report states that the arrest was made without the use of force.

Wayne, hearing the officer’s call, froze and then raised his hands as if realizing that he could no longer escape.

In the hole he had dug, they found a medium-sized sealed plastic container.

Its surface was covered with a layer of earth and leaves, indicating that the container had been there for at least several months.

After removing and opening the container, forensic experts immediately realized that this was the long- awaited connection to Erica Bishop.

Inside were her student ID with her photo, a cell phone in a cracked case, and the keys to the padlock that secured the bunker door.

All items were in a condition that allowed for examination.

This was a turning point for the investigation.

Items belonging to the victim were kept in the suspect’s private hiding place.

Official reports state that after his arrest, Wayne behaved in a depressed manner, but not aggressively.

During transport, he repeated phrases whose meaning was unclear.

In particular, he mentioned a trap, a hike that went wrong, and something about a message from above.

Only during the interrogation did it become clear that these words referred to his own beliefs.

Wayne’s interrogation was conducted in the presence of a lawyer and recorded in the minutes.

According to Detective Reynolds, the suspect broke down almost immediately after being shown the seized container.

As stated in the document, his face changed, his gaze became vacant, and his hands began to tremble.

Silus Wayne explained that for many years he had been convinced of the inevitability of a global collapse, natural or man-made.

He collected materials and equipment, learned how to build shelters, and wanted to create a place where you could survive the first waves of chaos.

According to him, he met Erica on the wrong day when he was ready to test the system.

The protocol quotes his words as told by the investigator.

I wanted her to be my companion so that I could teach her to survive.

She would be grateful when it all started.

None of the experts could call this position rational.

Wayne’s lawyer tried to present it as a manifestation of mental disorder, but a forensic psychiatric examination showed that the suspect was aware of his actions and was not in a state of acute psychosis during the abduction.

When the conversation turned to Erica’s death, Wayne began to justify himself.

According to the transcript, he repeated several times, “I didn’t kill her.

I left her water.

I was on my way to her, but then the cops took me away for that fight.

I didn’t think it would be for long.

She had to find a way.

I hoped everything would be fine.

All these words did not change the main thing.

He kept the girl tied up in a room without access to food and water and then due to his own arrest, left her to fend for herself.

Death from dehydration and exhaustion did not make the crime any less serious.

The investigation established that he kept the container with Erica Wayne’s belongings as a souvenir, a symbol that he had allegedly made the right choice in his twisted view of the world.

The discovery of a student ID card and a phone indicated that he had not only kidnapped the girl, but also stolen her personal belongings, and the lock from the bunker was evidence of a direct link between him and the place of detention.

After the investigation was completed, the case was transferred to the district court.

At the hearing, the prosecutor emphasized that Erica Bishop’s death was an accident only in terms of the physical mechanism, but not in terms of responsibility.

Wayne was aware that he was holding a person in conditions where survival was only possible with constant access to resources.

He left no means of escape, did not notify any services, and did not give her the opportunity to get out on her own.

The jury studied the case materials for several days.

The report later noted there were no voices of pity in the courtroom.

The physical evidence found under the oak tree, the detectives testimony, the experts conclusions, and Wayne’s own words painted a clear picture.

The verdict was announced in the presence of Erica’s parents.

Silus Wayne received a life sentence without the right to parole.

The judge noted in her comments that society must be protected from people who are capable of depriving others of their freedom and life under the pretext of their own fantasies.

The final police report mentions that a few weeks after the verdict, Erica’s parents returned to Mount Hood.

Together with the rangers, they walked through the forest to the place where the bunker once stood.

At that time, the structure had been covered with earth by order of the authorities to prevent stalkers and accidental visitors from appearing.

On a small clearing, the parents installed a metal plaque with their daughter’s name.

It became the only marker of what had happened in this forest.