July 1, 2025 • 37 mins
In this episode, we examine the story of Rebecca Vance: one of a mother’s misdirected love, the line between self-determination and mental illness, and the way conspiracy theories can compel us to make very dangerous decisions, even in the name of safety.
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This series is hosted by Mary Kay McBrayer. Check out more of her work at www.marykaymcbrayer.com.
This episode was written by Grace Heerman
Developed by Scott Waxman, Emma DeMuth, and Jacob Bronstein
Associate Producer is Leo Culp
Produced by Antonio Enriquez
Theme Music by Tyler Cash
Executive Produced by Scott Waxman and Emma DeMuth
Special thanks to:
Carter, Stephen L.. Invisible. Henry Holt and Co.. Kindle Edition.
Pre-order Mary Kay's forthcoming true crime book 'Madame Queen: The The Life and Crimes of Harlem’s Underground Racketeer, Stephanie St. Clair' here
SOURCES
The Women Who Walked Away, Elizabeth Weil
“Please I Will Give Anything for You to Come Back,” Ted Conover
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Diversion audio. A note this episode contains mature content and
descriptions of violence that may be disturbing for some listeners.
Please take care and listening. It's early winter at a
(00:30):
campsite in central Colorado. The first snow of the season
is falling, and a thirteen year old boy named Talon
is curled in his sleeping bag trying to keep warm.
The nights have been getting colder. It's so cold now
that Talent has a hard time sleeping. He's wearing his
(00:50):
warmest clothes sweatpants, a long sleeved t shirt, and a
hoodie with the draw strings tied tied around his face.
But it doesn't matter. The sleeping bag and the blue
nylon tent are no match for the mountain air. Talan
is an indoor kid, and so is his mom, so
(01:11):
he was surprised when she said she would take Talan
and his aunt Christine on an extended camping trip. Talan
thought maybe she meant for a long weekend, but now
it was October and they'd been there since August. At first,
it felt like an adventure. The three of them went
to Walmart, loaded up on gear and snacks, and found
(01:34):
a secluded site a few miles from the popular trails.
They brought seed packets, books on foraging and agriculture, and
word puzzles. As the weeks went on, though things got harder.
The weather wasn't the only problem. They were running out
of food. Talan could feel his body shrinking. His hip
(01:57):
bones jutted out, and they brew when he slept on
his side. None of the pants he brought fit him anymore.
He missed his friends, his grandma, his cat. He thought
about his old apartment and his favorite Mexican restaurant. He
was so used to being hungry he almost couldn't remember
(02:18):
what it felt like to be full. But he knew
going back was out of the question. This was the
safest place for them, now, away from the people who
didn't understand. No one would see Talon, his mother or
his aunt until five months later in the spring, when
(02:39):
the snow thawed and hikers were once again exploring the trails.
By that time, their bodies were so unrecognizable that it
took law enforcement months to identify them. Welcome to the
(03:16):
greatest true crime stories ever told. I'm Mary Kay McBrayer,
author of the forthcoming true crime book Madam Queen, The
Life and crimes of Harlem's underground racketeer Stephanie Sinclair. Today's episode,
we're calling the Women who Went Off Grid. It's the
story of a mother's misdirected love, the line between self
(03:39):
determination and mental illness, and the way conspiracy theories can
compel us to make very dangerous decisions, even in the
name of safety. We'll get into all of that right
after this quick break. Listeners, y'all know I'm an anxious person,
(04:15):
so much so that even I was surprised at the
new heights to which my anxiety soared after becoming a mother.
I've definitely heard mothers say before that nothing matters more
to them than their child's safety. But when I heard
it before, it always sounded like a weird flex like
I love my child the most, and to be fair,
(04:36):
that probably is how some mothers meant it. But I
really can't overstate the urgent biological imperative. I was a
compulsive hand washer before this, but when someone came straight
off a plane and tried to hold my pre vaccinated
newborn before washing their hands, I'm not really sure how
(04:56):
to explain the visceral rage that pumped my blood pressure
through the roof like one of those Carnival strong man games.
I can tell you that when she had her first
cold over Christmas, I punished all of the grandparents by
making them watch me suck the snot out of her
nose with that torture device they call the nose frieda.
(05:18):
It's an extreme reaction, but at the very least I
can say that I see dangers now that didn't feel
as pressing before. Getting a cold is not the end
of the world unless it is. Have you ever seen
a baby with pneumonia? Having some solid food won't kill
her unless she's allergic. I had to explain so many
(05:42):
times why she can't have toys in her basinet, and
why she can't have a blanket at four weeks old,
why she needs to lie on her stomach sometimes even
though she doesn't like it. I'm overprotective, sure, mostly because
I couldn't live with myself if something happened to her.
I like to say all the time, I'd take a
bullet for my kid, one bullet, one time, So easy.
(06:07):
But would you claw the eyes out of the person
who made her bathwater too hot? Would you ring the
neck of the auntie who said the twenty four hour
fever after the tea dap shot wasn't worth it. Would
you die on the Hill of No Screens before she's
eighteen months old, even when the Outlander finale is on,
because I have, I have died on all those hills,
and I would do it again, and I will every
(06:29):
second of every day. One bullet, one time is nothing.
You just have to stand still. All that to say
I love my child the most. I'm just kidding. All
that to say there's some kind of biological switch that
gets flipped. The details might be different among parents. You
let your kids have thirty minutes of TV a day,
that's fine, even if it's different from what I want
to do. We're all just trying our best, and that
(06:51):
looks different on different people. It is pretty easy to
get caught up in that defensive feeling if you're not
skilled at determining good advice from someone trying to say
tell you something. There are, of course, mothers who seem
to defy the nature of parenthood as a whole. I'm
not talking about small things like whether you heat up
their milk, warm their wet wipes, or make sure they
(07:12):
don't kick off their socks. Not everything is crucial, I
mean in a big way. Women like Dee Dee Blanchard,
Andrea Yates, and Casey Anthony come to mind, but maybe
you know of others. It's a unique kind of disdain
that we feel for them. Culturally. It's offensive in a
way that being a bad father isn't, maybe because it
(07:34):
so rarely happens, but it does happen. Stories like these
are memorable because they're so black and white. These women
are villains, their children are the victims. Their offenses are
so unimaginable they become infamous. The story I'm going to
tell you today is a bit different. As you heard
in the intro. It involves a child in danger and
(07:56):
a mother whose actions directly led to his death. But
in this story the definition of victim and perpetrator isn't
so clear. That could be the reason this story hasn't
gotten more visibility in the media. The characters don't fit
into the usual boxes we see in true crime stories.
As you'll hear, this story is nuanced, which I love,
(08:17):
but also makes me uncomfortable in a new way now
as a parent. The questions it brings up poke at
the edges of this genre of true crime. Questions like
where is the line between self determination and mental illness?
Who is to blame when a conspiracy theory inspires actions
that endanger lives? When is it time to step between
(08:39):
a mother and her child? And would you dare to
risk it? Because honestly, the situation would have to be
very dire knowing what I know now. My mother in
(09:00):
our story is named Rebecca Vance Becky to her loved ones,
and anyone who knew Becky inevitably knew her sister Christine
as well. They did almost everything together, lived together, worked
at the same microchip factory, made decisions together. Becky was older,
but the sisters were less than two years apart. Born
(09:20):
in nineteen eighty and eighty two in Colorado Springs. They
looked so similar growing up that Matty thought they were twins.
Both were petite, reaching only about five feet tall, with long,
dark hair and almond skin. Some say their closeness was
forged during a chaotic childhood. When the girls were young,
(09:41):
their mother left their father abruptly and raised them on
her own for seven years. When she remarried, she introduced
them to a whole new family. By all accounts, it
seemed like this new step family was wonderful for the girls.
Their stepfather, Edward, was attentive and devoted to them, and
they gained a steps so of named Trevilla, to whom
(10:01):
Christine was especially close. Even so, it's not hard to
understand how a transition like this would lead to some
stress at home and draw the girls closer to each other.
But despite their closeness, there were clear differences in the
sister's personalities. It was obvious to anyone who saw them
that Becky was the dominant one. Call it oldest child syndrome,
(10:25):
but Becky was the kind of girl who always seemed
to have a plan. She got excellent grades, worked an
after school job, and always seemed to have a vision
for her life. Becky was also dominant when it came
to her relationship with Christine. According to those close to
the girls, Becky seemed to take on some of the
(10:45):
caregiving during their family's turbulent years. She was fiercely loyal
to Christine, and the two remained very close in adulthood.
In their early twenties, both took jobs at the same
tech manufacturing plant in Colorado Springs. They'd wake up put
on their all white smocks shoe covers and hairnuts. Clock
(11:05):
their hours at the factory and returned to their childhood home,
where they lived with their mother and stepfather. According to
her friends, Becky had also always been a recluse. She
didn't have many friends and was content to stay home
and hang out with her mother while Christine went out
for drinks after work. In an article from Outside magazine,
(11:27):
Becky's stepsister, Trevilla says that Becky quote always kept to
herself and never really liked to be around people. I
actually don't think that this is a red flag, not yet.
This tendency toward isolation became even more noticeable as Becky
got older. When the sister's mother died of cancer in
(11:48):
two thousand and seven, Becky took it if specially hard.
She regretted not spending more time with her and not
giving her a grandchild. It seemed like her mother's death
put beckg his life into a different perspective. A year later,
in two thousand and eight, Becky got pregnant. The father's
name was Eric Burdon, a handsome guy she met at work.
(12:11):
The two were never very serious, and Becky had no
problem handling the pregnancy and childcare on her own. She
wasn't interested in having a partner. She wanted a child,
maybe even a piece of her mother. Back. In two
thousand and eight, Becky gave birth to a boy. She
named him Talan. He was a sweet, soft kid with
(12:31):
kind eyes and dark hair like his mom. Although Becky
seemingly boxed Talan's father Eric out of the picture, she
did become close with his mother, Marilyn. Talan would end
up spending lots of time at his grandma Marilyn's house,
and they developed a close bond. Talan loved animals and
was very sensitive to the feelings of those around him.
(12:54):
As he grew up, he also developed a love for
computers and gaming. He would spend hours play playing Super
Mario Brothers and Roadblocks with his friends. He'd even include
Marilyn in his games. In an article from New York Magazine,
Marylyn described the way Talann would put Marylynd's character quote
on his back and carry me in the game because
(13:15):
he knows the areas that I would not do so well. Eventually,
Becky and Talon moved out of Becky's childhood home and
into a unit at the Windmill Apartments in Colorado. Springs.
From their building, they could see Pike's Peak jutting out
like a jewel on the horizon. Christine would end up
moving into the same building shortly after. It was an
(13:37):
idyllic spot close to the foothills, but Becky and Christine
probably didn't appreciate their surroundings as much more than a
nice view. The sisters didn't hike or camp, that is
until Becky started talking about going off grid in November
(14:09):
of twenty nineteen. The Vant's sisters didn't know it yet,
but they were about to face two events that would
send their lives in a direction no one saw coming.
The first was the death of their stepdad, Edward. Even
though he wasn't their birth father, Edward had become a
stabilizing presence for Becky and Christine. Now both of the
(14:32):
sister's parental figures were gone, and their stepsister, Trevilla, could
see that those losses were taking a toll, especially on Becky.
According to Trevilla, Becky had always kept to herself, but
after the deaths of her mom and stepdad, she became
even more reclusive. She told Outside magazine quote, when you're
(14:55):
by yourself for so many years and don't have many
friends or anything. Thoughts can get to you, and the
isolation was only going to get worse. The second life
altering event facing the Van's sisters was the COVID nineteen pandemic,
which was about to rip through the country and upend
their routines. If Becky was reclusive before, the pandemic pushed
(15:20):
her even further inward. In May of twenty twenty, Tallon
received his fifth grade diploma from the seat of his
mom's car. A few months later, Becky called Marylyn to
tell her she was quitting her job. She didn't give
any explanation of what she would do next. Trevla told
New York Magazine she became much more secretive what Becky
(15:45):
was doing, as her friends and family would later learn,
was spending more and more time online. I don't need
to remind you how full of fear we all were
during the early days of the pandemic. Becky was one
of the many Americans who found validation and solace on
conspiracy theory forums and prepper YouTube channels. As the world
(16:07):
became more and more unpredictable, being prepared felt more and
more important. I don't know about y'all, but for me,
During those early days, the line between prepared and prepper
became really hard to identify, but there was a line.
Becky regurgitated stories about Klaus Schwab, the Great Reset, and
(16:28):
the global elite to friends and family. An old acquaintance
of Becky's shared a text message she sent to him
around this time, with a reporter from Outside magazine. It read,
I know I probably sound like a conspiracy theorist, but
there are insane plots to take away our soul and humanity. Soon,
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Becky tipped over the edge from reclusive to fearful. The
more she read, the more convinced she became that the
world outside her door was unsafe, and her isolation and
fear extended to Talan as well. By this time, Talan's
school had gone remote, so he was staying home and
rarely seeing other kids. He played games on his iPad
(17:15):
and switched with his online friends, but Becky forbade Talent
from using the messaging function. Talan had hit puberty now,
and Becky seemed to be having trouble letting go of
her little boy. Christine Trevilla and Talan's grandmother, Marilyn all
voiced concerns about his isolation and lack of contact with
(17:36):
others his age. Trevala explained in New York Magazine that
quote Becky wanted to be with him twenty four to seven.
She was so loving, so sweet. It was cute, but
at the same time it was too much. The women
wondered how Talent would grow up to be a mature
adult if he wasn't learning social skills. In twenty twenty one,
(17:58):
Talan turned twelve. His school opened up again for in
person learning, but Becky kept him at home. Home was
becoming the only safe place. It wasn't just Tallan that
Becky exerted control over. Remember how I said that Becky
was a bit of a mother figure for her sister Christine.
(18:19):
Now that the sisters were living together at the Windmill apartments,
their parent child relationship developed even further. She kept an
eye on Christine the way older sisters do, but now
that they were adults in their late thirties, it was
overbearing and Becky could be a bully. Becky didn't think
Christine should drink or smoke. She didn't think Christine should
(18:42):
date GUIDs who didn't treat her well, and she wasn't
afraid to tell Christine when she thought she could lose
a few pounds. One of the most fascinating sources we
have for this story is Christine's text messages to her
stepsister Trevilla. In one message, Christine wrote, it got a
little frustrating in the car earlier she Becky kept telling
(19:03):
me no drinking. I simply told her I felt like
a rebelling teenager. Becky's influence over Christine extended to her
political and conspiratorial beliefs too. Christine started echoing Becky's talking
points about the Great Reset and the end of the
world as we know it. Yes, this is a thing online.
(19:25):
She would text Trevilla about how Trevilla should stop taking
medications because the government was putting biosensors inside them. Trevilla
could tell Christine was depressed. She said to Christine in
a text message. All I ask is please watch how
she treats you and don't let her manipulate you. You
can live your own life. Christine replied, no, it's cool,
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but you know that's a different kind of love and all.
That's when the talk about going off grid started. It
was Becky's idea if living in modern society meant ex
at the mercy of a corrupt government and a malicious Illuminati.
The safest thing for the health of her family would
be to get out. How do you escape their control?
(20:10):
You go where they can't reach you. You remove yourself
from everything tying you to the ones in power, money, tech, medication, infrastructure,
and address. You skim down to the essentials. You go
back to what's natural. You go back to the land.
But just because it's natural doesn't mean it's safe, especially
(20:34):
in a place like the Colorado Rockies. Christine wasn't convinced
at first. She was worried about her nephew and didn't
trust Becky's ability to take care of them both, But
she also didn't want to be left behind. Becky was
her closest family member, her roommate, her protector, her world,
and eventually Christine came around. Leaving turned out to be simple.
(21:13):
In summer of twenty twenty two, Christine quit her job
and told her coworkers she was moving. She wouldn't be
bringing her cell phone, so she asked a friend from
work to send her a photo of himself to remember
him by. Trevilla grew worried about her stepsisters. She knew
about the off grade plan and didn't approve. No one did.
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But what can you really do to stop someone you
love from doing anything? They were determined. In July, Becky's
communication with friends and family grew distant. She dropped off
the urn of her mother's ashes at Trevilla's house and
gave her cat oreo to one of Trevilla's neighbors. According
(21:55):
to New York Magazine, Becky sent the following text message
to an acquaint as they prepared to leave town. They
really want to merge man with machine and I refuse
to let them do that to me or my son.
I don't know when all of this will happen, but
I think it's important for people to get out while
they still can. To me, these actions giving away possessions
(22:18):
and saying your goodbyes sound like the actions of a
suicidal person. On August first, twenty twenty two, Becky and
Talon stopped by Marilyn's house. Becky handed her a box
containing three of Talon's old T shirts, a few school photos,
a stuffed animal, and a flower pot with a footprint
(22:39):
that he'd made for Mother's Day. Becky told Marilyn they
were moving to West Virginia. Where her birth father lived.
Marilyn was confused. Becky had never mentioned her dad before.
Marilyn offered to let Talan stay with her, but Becky
shook her head. We have to move to be safe,
Becky said, what about their stuff? Would they be in touch?
(23:02):
Would Talan have his iPad? Becky explained that where they
were going there wouldn't be good internet. As Becky and
Tallon prepared to leave, Marylyn turned to Tallan for a
hug goodbye. As Marilyn leaned down, Becky whispered in her ear,
he doesn't know anything. Marilyn felt concerned, confused, and helpless.
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This whole thing was so mysterious, But what could she do?
How long would it be until she saw her grandson again.
From where they lived in Colorado Springs, Becky, Christine and
Tallann drove a hundred and seventy miles about three and
a half hours west to a campground near a mountain
called Gunnison. It was a beautiful drive, weaving around Pike's
(23:49):
Peak and into the rocky mountains. The campground they chose
was called Gold Creek, and it was at just under
ten thousand feet in elevation. Visitors to Gold Creek campground
tended to be summer hikers and backpackers. It was open
from May to September, but once the weather turned cold
(24:10):
and snow covered the ground, the only folks passing through
were hunters. Snow accumulated in October, and cell service was
non existent. It's likely the Vance family stayed for a
few days at one of the well trodden camp sites
with a picnic table and a fire pit, but they
soon went searching for a more secluded area where they
(24:32):
could set up a permanent hidden camp. They found their
perfect spot two hundred yards east across a creek, through
a patch of thick vegetation in a clearing protected by
tall spruce trees. Here, tallon would be safe. Here, there
would be no bio sensors or microchips. Here. They could
(24:54):
live in peace. In those first few weeks probably were peaceful.
Articles about this case describe it as a gentle haven,
clean mountain air. The sound of a trickling creek behind you,
the sun on your face, the warm grasp beneath you,
the government, Claus Schwab, skeptical family members. It all feels
(25:18):
very far away. Back home in Colorado Springs, Marilyn was
growing worried, She left voicemails, not knowing that Becky and
Christine had gotten rid of their phones. She didn't think
to file a missing person's report or called child protective services.
Becky had always been a very dedicated present mother. If
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Becky wanted space, that was her right. Who was Marilyn
to question her parenting. The mountain home the Vant's sisters
created for themselves was later described by investigators as an
eighty dollar wal Mart tent. Underneath it was a tarp
to keep them off the cold ground, but no ground pads.
(26:01):
Anyone who's done cold weather camping knows that ground pads
are a necessity if you want to get any kind
of sleep. Instead, there was a blue quilt laid out
under their sleeping bags. The sleeping bags themselves were warm,
but not designed for winter weather. The first snow of
the year came in late October. By November sixteenth, the
(26:24):
low Tempts were hovering around zero degrees fahrenheit. To filter
their water, they had life straws, a product designed for
emergency use and back up filtration on light hikes. They
aren't designed to withstand freezing temperatures and not intended for
long term camping for food, they brought multiple seed packets
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to grow things like kiale, herbs, carrots, and peppers. While
those plants can grow in such a climate, they would
require diligent care and something like a greenhouse to protect
them from the yellows. It seems they relied on prepared
food instead, judging by the trash found at their campsite,
(27:07):
which included ramen, noodle packets, canned soup, vienna, sausages, candy bars,
and fruit juice. In October, the trio drove into Gunnison,
forty five minutes away from camp, where they called Becky
and Christine's birth father, Donald. They asked him to wire
them five hundred dollars, which he did right away. It's
(27:30):
likely they spent the money at Walmart on a small
campfire stove, which would burn sticks and leaves and generate
lots of heat. They also bought more food, batteries, and
toilet paper. Then they returned to their shelter. It was
the group's last known contact with anyone. In late November,
(28:02):
the US Forest Service found Becky's abandoned car on the
road leading to Gold Creek campground. After attempting to call
the phone numbers associated with the vehicle, and finding them disconnected,
the car was towed. It's unclear whether Becky ever knew Maryland.
Talan's grandmother continued calling Becky's phone too. She never got through,
(28:27):
but she kept calling anyway until December fifteenth, when she
heard a message that it was no longer in service.
She continued to believe that one day Tallan and Becky
would show up again in her driveway after their stay
in West Virginia. Finally, in July of twenty twenty three,
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nearly a year after Becky, Christine, and Tallan had left town,
Maryland received a call about their whereabouts. An adventurous hiker
had come upon what he called a mine mummy laying
outside a tent at a site near Gold Creek Campground.
Investigators arrived at an ugly scene in unsettlingly beautiful surroundings. First,
(29:13):
they noticed the piles of trash and dried feces. An
awful smell enveloped the camp. The mummy, the hiker described,
lay near a tree a few yards from the tent.
The skin was leathery and part of one arm was missing.
Investigators couldn't determine the sex of the body. It was
(29:34):
too decomposed. They looked inside the tent. The weird thing
was both doors were zipped up. When they peeled them open,
they clearly saw another body in what looked like a
pile of blankets next to it. As they attempted to
access the body, they realized that it wasn't blankets, but
(29:55):
a third body curled up inside a sleeping bag. This
was a situation they had never encountered before. Three bodies,
one outside the tent. They doubted foul play, but couldn't
imagine what had happened at first. The conclusion they came
to was that the person outside had died first. Perhaps
(30:19):
the other two had carried the body outside until they
could bury it or handle it in some way. It
was the middle of winter, after all. Then they returned
to their tent and likely died soon after. Inside the tent,
investigators also found some helpful clothes, Christine Vance's driver's license,
(30:39):
and journals from Becky and Tallinn. That's when they were
able to put a story together. It was later determined
that the first body, the one outside the tent, was Talents.
His remains weighed just forty pounds, and multiple organs were missing.
Taken by the mountains many scavengers, it's likely that Becky
(31:02):
died next. By the end, her ribs were showing and
her ankles were bony. Christine probably died last, curled in
her sleeping bag alone. Hypothermia which develops when a body
loses heat faster than it can replenish. It can look
like shivering and clumsiness at first. Real problems happen once
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the brain gets too cold, speech gets slurred, muscles stiffened,
and hallucinations can begin. Some people feel and urge to
take off their clothes. Blood pressure drops and the lungs
fill with fluid. Eventually the heart stops beating. Starvation can
(31:45):
have a similar effect on the body. Energy drops so
low that the body is forced to slow down, delirium
sets in decision making is impaired. Giardia found in poorly
filtered water, causes diarrhea to the point of severe dehydration,
as well as exhaustion and death if not treated. Any
(32:08):
one of these afflictions could have caused the death of
the members of the Vance family, but it's postulated by
law enforcement that they suffered from all three. Regardless of
the official cause of death. Their camp site and their
remains are enough to tell us that the group suffered immensely.
(32:42):
This case, if we want to call it, that, leaves
a flurry of questions trailing behind it. As far as
law enforcement was concerned, one of the biggest questions was who,
if anyone, was a victim? Was this a homicide? Child
neglect abuse? Looking at the case in retrospect, at the bodies,
(33:03):
at the evidence of starvation, at the poor wilderness preparation,
it's easy to conclude that Tallon was an unwilling victim.
He was a child dependent on his mother for care,
and the decision to go off grid was outside his control.
So was the decision to stay off grid when things
got dire. In that sense, his death was a direct
(33:26):
result of his mother's parenting choices. But the tricky part
here is that, by all accounts, Becky was an attentive mother.
Her mother in law and sisters say this explicitly in interviews.
She wanted the best for her child. In fact, she
was so committed to his safety that she was willing
to abandon everything she knew to keep him out of
(33:47):
harm's way, or at least what she considered to be
harm's way, which points to the other baffling element of
this case, the imminent danger that Becky saw in the
world around her. According to the sources she was consulting online,
the end of the world was coming and fast systems
of power couldn't be trusted. The safest option was to
(34:09):
leave all of that behind and return to the original
safe space the Earth. Reality shows like Alone and Naked
and Afraid are hugely popular in the US, and they
present wilderness survival as more or less doable for the everyman.
Participants suffer, sure, but they make their way. They remind
(34:32):
us of a bygone way of living, the primitive existence
that's always available to us if we choose it. But
what they don't show is the months and years of preparation,
the hard earned wisdom and skill that is required to
make that life work, or the teams of people supporting
the participants in big ways and small. What those end
(34:55):
of the world as we know it YouTube channels don't
consider is how much we rely on one another to survive,
even when we go off grid ask any off gridder.
Being truly self sufficient is a fantasy. We need each other,
which is perhaps the most tragic reality of this story
(35:16):
that Becky in her fear of others, separated herself from
the only people who could truly ever save her. I
(35:40):
like to shout out the excellent sources that I relied
on for this episode. The first is an Outside magazine
article called Please, I Will give Anything for You to
come Back, written by celebrated journalist Ted Connover. It's a
fascinating retelling of the incidents with insights from Conover's considerable
reporting in off grading communities in Colorado and elsewhere in
(36:03):
the US. The other is a piece from The New
York magazine called The Woman Who Walked Away by Elizabeth
wheel It's a touching look at the impact of Talon's
death on his extended family, in the way stories of
leaving the world behind are interpreted differently depending on who
is doing the leaving. I highly recommend both of these articles.
(36:27):
For more information about this case and others we cover
on the show, visit diversion Audio dot com. The Greatest
True Crime Stories Ever Told is a production of Diversion Audio.
I'm Mary Kay McBrayer and I hosted this episode. This
(36:50):
episode was written by Grace Heerman. Our show is produced
by Leo Culp, edited by Antonio Enriquez theme music by
Tyler Cash, Executive produced by Scott Waxman. And one more
thing before I go. If you haven't already, I'll love
you forever. If you pre order my forthcoming true crime book,
(37:11):
Madame Queen, the Life and crimes of Harlem's underground racketeer
Stephanie Sinclair, there's a link to do it at your
favorite retailer in our show's notes
Diversion audio. A note this episode contains mature content and
descriptions of violence that may be disturbing for some listeners.
Please take care and listening. It's early winter at a
(00:30):
campsite in central Colorado. The first snow of the season
is falling, and a thirteen year old boy named Talon
is curled in his sleeping bag trying to keep warm.
The nights have been getting colder. It's so cold now
that Talent has a hard time sleeping. He's wearing his
(00:50):
warmest clothes sweatpants, a long sleeved t shirt, and a
hoodie with the draw strings tied tied around his face.
But it doesn't matter. The sleeping bag and the blue
nylon tent are no match for the mountain air. Talan
is an indoor kid, and so is his mom, so
(01:11):
he was surprised when she said she would take Talan
and his aunt Christine on an extended camping trip. Talan
thought maybe she meant for a long weekend, but now
it was October and they'd been there since August. At first,
it felt like an adventure. The three of them went
to Walmart, loaded up on gear and snacks, and found
(01:34):
a secluded site a few miles from the popular trails.
They brought seed packets, books on foraging and agriculture, and
word puzzles. As the weeks went on, though things got harder.
The weather wasn't the only problem. They were running out
of food. Talan could feel his body shrinking. His hip
(01:57):
bones jutted out, and they brew when he slept on
his side. None of the pants he brought fit him anymore.
He missed his friends, his grandma, his cat. He thought
about his old apartment and his favorite Mexican restaurant. He
was so used to being hungry he almost couldn't remember
(02:18):
what it felt like to be full. But he knew
going back was out of the question. This was the
safest place for them, now, away from the people who
didn't understand. No one would see Talon, his mother or
his aunt until five months later in the spring, when
(02:39):
the snow thawed and hikers were once again exploring the trails.
By that time, their bodies were so unrecognizable that it
took law enforcement months to identify them. Welcome to the
(03:16):
greatest true crime stories ever told. I'm Mary Kay McBrayer,
author of the forthcoming true crime book Madam Queen, The
Life and crimes of Harlem's underground racketeer Stephanie Sinclair. Today's episode,
we're calling the Women who Went Off Grid. It's the
story of a mother's misdirected love, the line between self
(03:39):
determination and mental illness, and the way conspiracy theories can
compel us to make very dangerous decisions, even in the
name of safety. We'll get into all of that right
after this quick break. Listeners, y'all know I'm an anxious person,
(04:15):
so much so that even I was surprised at the
new heights to which my anxiety soared after becoming a mother.
I've definitely heard mothers say before that nothing matters more
to them than their child's safety. But when I heard
it before, it always sounded like a weird flex like
I love my child the most, and to be fair,
(04:36):
that probably is how some mothers meant it. But I
really can't overstate the urgent biological imperative. I was a
compulsive hand washer before this, but when someone came straight
off a plane and tried to hold my pre vaccinated
newborn before washing their hands, I'm not really sure how
(04:56):
to explain the visceral rage that pumped my blood pressure
through the roof like one of those Carnival strong man games.
I can tell you that when she had her first
cold over Christmas, I punished all of the grandparents by
making them watch me suck the snot out of her
nose with that torture device they call the nose frieda.
(05:18):
It's an extreme reaction, but at the very least I
can say that I see dangers now that didn't feel
as pressing before. Getting a cold is not the end
of the world unless it is. Have you ever seen
a baby with pneumonia? Having some solid food won't kill
her unless she's allergic. I had to explain so many
(05:42):
times why she can't have toys in her basinet, and
why she can't have a blanket at four weeks old,
why she needs to lie on her stomach sometimes even
though she doesn't like it. I'm overprotective, sure, mostly because
I couldn't live with myself if something happened to her.
I like to say all the time, I'd take a
bullet for my kid, one bullet, one time, So easy.
(06:07):
But would you claw the eyes out of the person
who made her bathwater too hot? Would you ring the
neck of the auntie who said the twenty four hour
fever after the tea dap shot wasn't worth it. Would
you die on the Hill of No Screens before she's
eighteen months old, even when the Outlander finale is on,
because I have, I have died on all those hills,
and I would do it again, and I will every
(06:29):
second of every day. One bullet, one time is nothing.
You just have to stand still. All that to say
I love my child the most. I'm just kidding. All
that to say there's some kind of biological switch that
gets flipped. The details might be different among parents. You
let your kids have thirty minutes of TV a day,
that's fine, even if it's different from what I want
to do. We're all just trying our best, and that
(06:51):
looks different on different people. It is pretty easy to
get caught up in that defensive feeling if you're not
skilled at determining good advice from someone trying to say
tell you something. There are, of course, mothers who seem
to defy the nature of parenthood as a whole. I'm
not talking about small things like whether you heat up
their milk, warm their wet wipes, or make sure they
(07:12):
don't kick off their socks. Not everything is crucial, I
mean in a big way. Women like Dee Dee Blanchard,
Andrea Yates, and Casey Anthony come to mind, but maybe
you know of others. It's a unique kind of disdain
that we feel for them. Culturally. It's offensive in a
way that being a bad father isn't, maybe because it
(07:34):
so rarely happens, but it does happen. Stories like these
are memorable because they're so black and white. These women
are villains, their children are the victims. Their offenses are
so unimaginable they become infamous. The story I'm going to
tell you today is a bit different. As you heard
in the intro. It involves a child in danger and
(07:56):
a mother whose actions directly led to his death. But
in this story the definition of victim and perpetrator isn't
so clear. That could be the reason this story hasn't
gotten more visibility in the media. The characters don't fit
into the usual boxes we see in true crime stories.
As you'll hear, this story is nuanced, which I love,
(08:17):
but also makes me uncomfortable in a new way now
as a parent. The questions it brings up poke at
the edges of this genre of true crime. Questions like
where is the line between self determination and mental illness?
Who is to blame when a conspiracy theory inspires actions
that endanger lives? When is it time to step between
(08:39):
a mother and her child? And would you dare to
risk it? Because honestly, the situation would have to be
very dire knowing what I know now. My mother in
(09:00):
our story is named Rebecca Vance Becky to her loved ones,
and anyone who knew Becky inevitably knew her sister Christine
as well. They did almost everything together, lived together, worked
at the same microchip factory, made decisions together. Becky was older,
but the sisters were less than two years apart. Born
(09:20):
in nineteen eighty and eighty two in Colorado Springs. They
looked so similar growing up that Matty thought they were twins.
Both were petite, reaching only about five feet tall, with long,
dark hair and almond skin. Some say their closeness was
forged during a chaotic childhood. When the girls were young,
(09:41):
their mother left their father abruptly and raised them on
her own for seven years. When she remarried, she introduced
them to a whole new family. By all accounts, it
seemed like this new step family was wonderful for the girls.
Their stepfather, Edward, was attentive and devoted to them, and
they gained a steps so of named Trevilla, to whom
(10:01):
Christine was especially close. Even so, it's not hard to
understand how a transition like this would lead to some
stress at home and draw the girls closer to each other.
But despite their closeness, there were clear differences in the
sister's personalities. It was obvious to anyone who saw them
that Becky was the dominant one. Call it oldest child syndrome,
(10:25):
but Becky was the kind of girl who always seemed
to have a plan. She got excellent grades, worked an
after school job, and always seemed to have a vision
for her life. Becky was also dominant when it came
to her relationship with Christine. According to those close to
the girls, Becky seemed to take on some of the
(10:45):
caregiving during their family's turbulent years. She was fiercely loyal
to Christine, and the two remained very close in adulthood.
In their early twenties, both took jobs at the same
tech manufacturing plant in Colorado Springs. They'd wake up put
on their all white smocks shoe covers and hairnuts. Clock
(11:05):
their hours at the factory and returned to their childhood home,
where they lived with their mother and stepfather. According to
her friends, Becky had also always been a recluse. She
didn't have many friends and was content to stay home
and hang out with her mother while Christine went out
for drinks after work. In an article from Outside magazine,
(11:27):
Becky's stepsister, Trevilla says that Becky quote always kept to
herself and never really liked to be around people. I
actually don't think that this is a red flag, not yet.
This tendency toward isolation became even more noticeable as Becky
got older. When the sister's mother died of cancer in
(11:48):
two thousand and seven, Becky took it if specially hard.
She regretted not spending more time with her and not
giving her a grandchild. It seemed like her mother's death
put beckg his life into a different perspective. A year later,
in two thousand and eight, Becky got pregnant. The father's
name was Eric Burdon, a handsome guy she met at work.
(12:11):
The two were never very serious, and Becky had no
problem handling the pregnancy and childcare on her own. She
wasn't interested in having a partner. She wanted a child,
maybe even a piece of her mother. Back. In two
thousand and eight, Becky gave birth to a boy. She
named him Talan. He was a sweet, soft kid with
(12:31):
kind eyes and dark hair like his mom. Although Becky
seemingly boxed Talan's father Eric out of the picture, she
did become close with his mother, Marilyn. Talan would end
up spending lots of time at his grandma Marilyn's house,
and they developed a close bond. Talan loved animals and
was very sensitive to the feelings of those around him.
(12:54):
As he grew up, he also developed a love for
computers and gaming. He would spend hours play playing Super
Mario Brothers and Roadblocks with his friends. He'd even include
Marilyn in his games. In an article from New York Magazine,
Marylyn described the way Talann would put Marylynd's character quote
on his back and carry me in the game because
(13:15):
he knows the areas that I would not do so well. Eventually,
Becky and Talon moved out of Becky's childhood home and
into a unit at the Windmill Apartments in Colorado. Springs.
From their building, they could see Pike's Peak jutting out
like a jewel on the horizon. Christine would end up
moving into the same building shortly after. It was an
(13:37):
idyllic spot close to the foothills, but Becky and Christine
probably didn't appreciate their surroundings as much more than a
nice view. The sisters didn't hike or camp, that is
until Becky started talking about going off grid in November
(14:09):
of twenty nineteen. The Vant's sisters didn't know it yet,
but they were about to face two events that would
send their lives in a direction no one saw coming.
The first was the death of their stepdad, Edward. Even
though he wasn't their birth father, Edward had become a
stabilizing presence for Becky and Christine. Now both of the
(14:32):
sister's parental figures were gone, and their stepsister, Trevilla, could
see that those losses were taking a toll, especially on Becky.
According to Trevilla, Becky had always kept to herself, but
after the deaths of her mom and stepdad, she became
even more reclusive. She told Outside magazine quote, when you're
(14:55):
by yourself for so many years and don't have many
friends or anything. Thoughts can get to you, and the
isolation was only going to get worse. The second life
altering event facing the Van's sisters was the COVID nineteen pandemic,
which was about to rip through the country and upend
their routines. If Becky was reclusive before, the pandemic pushed
(15:20):
her even further inward. In May of twenty twenty, Tallon
received his fifth grade diploma from the seat of his
mom's car. A few months later, Becky called Marylyn to
tell her she was quitting her job. She didn't give
any explanation of what she would do next. Trevla told
New York Magazine she became much more secretive what Becky
(15:45):
was doing, as her friends and family would later learn,
was spending more and more time online. I don't need
to remind you how full of fear we all were
during the early days of the pandemic. Becky was one
of the many Americans who found validation and solace on
conspiracy theory forums and prepper YouTube channels. As the world
(16:07):
became more and more unpredictable, being prepared felt more and
more important. I don't know about y'all, but for me,
During those early days, the line between prepared and prepper
became really hard to identify, but there was a line.
Becky regurgitated stories about Klaus Schwab, the Great Reset, and
(16:28):
the global elite to friends and family. An old acquaintance
of Becky's shared a text message she sent to him
around this time, with a reporter from Outside magazine. It read,
I know I probably sound like a conspiracy theorist, but
there are insane plots to take away our soul and humanity. Soon,
(16:51):
Becky tipped over the edge from reclusive to fearful. The
more she read, the more convinced she became that the
world outside her door was unsafe, and her isolation and
fear extended to Talan as well. By this time, Talan's
school had gone remote, so he was staying home and
rarely seeing other kids. He played games on his iPad
(17:15):
and switched with his online friends, but Becky forbade Talent
from using the messaging function. Talan had hit puberty now,
and Becky seemed to be having trouble letting go of
her little boy. Christine Trevilla and Talan's grandmother, Marilyn all
voiced concerns about his isolation and lack of contact with
(17:36):
others his age. Trevala explained in New York Magazine that
quote Becky wanted to be with him twenty four to seven.
She was so loving, so sweet. It was cute, but
at the same time it was too much. The women
wondered how Talent would grow up to be a mature
adult if he wasn't learning social skills. In twenty twenty one,
(17:58):
Talan turned twelve. His school opened up again for in
person learning, but Becky kept him at home. Home was
becoming the only safe place. It wasn't just Tallan that
Becky exerted control over. Remember how I said that Becky
was a bit of a mother figure for her sister Christine.
(18:19):
Now that the sisters were living together at the Windmill apartments,
their parent child relationship developed even further. She kept an
eye on Christine the way older sisters do, but now
that they were adults in their late thirties, it was
overbearing and Becky could be a bully. Becky didn't think
Christine should drink or smoke. She didn't think Christine should
(18:42):
date GUIDs who didn't treat her well, and she wasn't
afraid to tell Christine when she thought she could lose
a few pounds. One of the most fascinating sources we
have for this story is Christine's text messages to her
stepsister Trevilla. In one message, Christine wrote, it got a
little frustrating in the car earlier she Becky kept telling
(19:03):
me no drinking. I simply told her I felt like
a rebelling teenager. Becky's influence over Christine extended to her
political and conspiratorial beliefs too. Christine started echoing Becky's talking
points about the Great Reset and the end of the
world as we know it. Yes, this is a thing online.
(19:25):
She would text Trevilla about how Trevilla should stop taking
medications because the government was putting biosensors inside them. Trevilla
could tell Christine was depressed. She said to Christine in
a text message. All I ask is please watch how
she treats you and don't let her manipulate you. You
can live your own life. Christine replied, no, it's cool,
(19:49):
but you know that's a different kind of love and all.
That's when the talk about going off grid started. It
was Becky's idea if living in modern society meant ex
at the mercy of a corrupt government and a malicious Illuminati.
The safest thing for the health of her family would
be to get out. How do you escape their control?
(20:10):
You go where they can't reach you. You remove yourself
from everything tying you to the ones in power, money, tech, medication, infrastructure,
and address. You skim down to the essentials. You go
back to what's natural. You go back to the land.
But just because it's natural doesn't mean it's safe, especially
(20:34):
in a place like the Colorado Rockies. Christine wasn't convinced
at first. She was worried about her nephew and didn't
trust Becky's ability to take care of them both, But
she also didn't want to be left behind. Becky was
her closest family member, her roommate, her protector, her world,
and eventually Christine came around. Leaving turned out to be simple.
(21:13):
In summer of twenty twenty two, Christine quit her job
and told her coworkers she was moving. She wouldn't be
bringing her cell phone, so she asked a friend from
work to send her a photo of himself to remember
him by. Trevilla grew worried about her stepsisters. She knew
about the off grade plan and didn't approve. No one did.
(21:35):
But what can you really do to stop someone you
love from doing anything? They were determined. In July, Becky's
communication with friends and family grew distant. She dropped off
the urn of her mother's ashes at Trevilla's house and
gave her cat oreo to one of Trevilla's neighbors. According
(21:55):
to New York Magazine, Becky sent the following text message
to an acquaint as they prepared to leave town. They
really want to merge man with machine and I refuse
to let them do that to me or my son.
I don't know when all of this will happen, but
I think it's important for people to get out while
they still can. To me, these actions giving away possessions
(22:18):
and saying your goodbyes sound like the actions of a
suicidal person. On August first, twenty twenty two, Becky and
Talon stopped by Marilyn's house. Becky handed her a box
containing three of Talon's old T shirts, a few school photos,
a stuffed animal, and a flower pot with a footprint
(22:39):
that he'd made for Mother's Day. Becky told Marilyn they
were moving to West Virginia. Where her birth father lived.
Marilyn was confused. Becky had never mentioned her dad before.
Marilyn offered to let Talan stay with her, but Becky
shook her head. We have to move to be safe,
Becky said, what about their stuff? Would they be in touch?
(23:02):
Would Talan have his iPad? Becky explained that where they
were going there wouldn't be good internet. As Becky and
Tallon prepared to leave, Marylyn turned to Tallan for a
hug goodbye. As Marilyn leaned down, Becky whispered in her ear,
he doesn't know anything. Marilyn felt concerned, confused, and helpless.
(23:25):
This whole thing was so mysterious, But what could she do?
How long would it be until she saw her grandson again.
From where they lived in Colorado Springs, Becky, Christine and
Tallann drove a hundred and seventy miles about three and
a half hours west to a campground near a mountain
called Gunnison. It was a beautiful drive, weaving around Pike's
(23:49):
Peak and into the rocky mountains. The campground they chose
was called Gold Creek, and it was at just under
ten thousand feet in elevation. Visitors to Gold Creek campground
tended to be summer hikers and backpackers. It was open
from May to September, but once the weather turned cold
(24:10):
and snow covered the ground, the only folks passing through
were hunters. Snow accumulated in October, and cell service was
non existent. It's likely the Vance family stayed for a
few days at one of the well trodden camp sites
with a picnic table and a fire pit, but they
soon went searching for a more secluded area where they
(24:32):
could set up a permanent hidden camp. They found their
perfect spot two hundred yards east across a creek, through
a patch of thick vegetation in a clearing protected by
tall spruce trees. Here, tallon would be safe. Here, there
would be no bio sensors or microchips. Here. They could
(24:54):
live in peace. In those first few weeks probably were peaceful.
Articles about this case describe it as a gentle haven,
clean mountain air. The sound of a trickling creek behind you,
the sun on your face, the warm grasp beneath you,
the government, Claus Schwab, skeptical family members. It all feels
(25:18):
very far away. Back home in Colorado Springs, Marilyn was
growing worried, She left voicemails, not knowing that Becky and
Christine had gotten rid of their phones. She didn't think
to file a missing person's report or called child protective services.
Becky had always been a very dedicated present mother. If
(25:41):
Becky wanted space, that was her right. Who was Marilyn
to question her parenting. The mountain home the Vant's sisters
created for themselves was later described by investigators as an
eighty dollar wal Mart tent. Underneath it was a tarp
to keep them off the cold ground, but no ground pads.
(26:01):
Anyone who's done cold weather camping knows that ground pads
are a necessity if you want to get any kind
of sleep. Instead, there was a blue quilt laid out
under their sleeping bags. The sleeping bags themselves were warm,
but not designed for winter weather. The first snow of
the year came in late October. By November sixteenth, the
(26:24):
low Tempts were hovering around zero degrees fahrenheit. To filter
their water, they had life straws, a product designed for
emergency use and back up filtration on light hikes. They
aren't designed to withstand freezing temperatures and not intended for
long term camping for food, they brought multiple seed packets
(26:46):
to grow things like kiale, herbs, carrots, and peppers. While
those plants can grow in such a climate, they would
require diligent care and something like a greenhouse to protect
them from the yellows. It seems they relied on prepared
food instead, judging by the trash found at their campsite,
(27:07):
which included ramen, noodle packets, canned soup, vienna, sausages, candy bars,
and fruit juice. In October, the trio drove into Gunnison,
forty five minutes away from camp, where they called Becky
and Christine's birth father, Donald. They asked him to wire
them five hundred dollars, which he did right away. It's
(27:30):
likely they spent the money at Walmart on a small
campfire stove, which would burn sticks and leaves and generate
lots of heat. They also bought more food, batteries, and
toilet paper. Then they returned to their shelter. It was
the group's last known contact with anyone. In late November,
(28:02):
the US Forest Service found Becky's abandoned car on the
road leading to Gold Creek campground. After attempting to call
the phone numbers associated with the vehicle, and finding them disconnected,
the car was towed. It's unclear whether Becky ever knew Maryland.
Talan's grandmother continued calling Becky's phone too. She never got through,
(28:27):
but she kept calling anyway until December fifteenth, when she
heard a message that it was no longer in service.
She continued to believe that one day Tallan and Becky
would show up again in her driveway after their stay
in West Virginia. Finally, in July of twenty twenty three,
(28:48):
nearly a year after Becky, Christine, and Tallan had left town,
Maryland received a call about their whereabouts. An adventurous hiker
had come upon what he called a mine mummy laying
outside a tent at a site near Gold Creek Campground.
Investigators arrived at an ugly scene in unsettlingly beautiful surroundings. First,
(29:13):
they noticed the piles of trash and dried feces. An
awful smell enveloped the camp. The mummy, the hiker described,
lay near a tree a few yards from the tent.
The skin was leathery and part of one arm was missing.
Investigators couldn't determine the sex of the body. It was
(29:34):
too decomposed. They looked inside the tent. The weird thing
was both doors were zipped up. When they peeled them open,
they clearly saw another body in what looked like a
pile of blankets next to it. As they attempted to
access the body, they realized that it wasn't blankets, but
(29:55):
a third body curled up inside a sleeping bag. This
was a situation they had never encountered before. Three bodies,
one outside the tent. They doubted foul play, but couldn't
imagine what had happened at first. The conclusion they came
to was that the person outside had died first. Perhaps
(30:19):
the other two had carried the body outside until they
could bury it or handle it in some way. It
was the middle of winter, after all. Then they returned
to their tent and likely died soon after. Inside the tent,
investigators also found some helpful clothes, Christine Vance's driver's license,
(30:39):
and journals from Becky and Tallinn. That's when they were
able to put a story together. It was later determined
that the first body, the one outside the tent, was Talents.
His remains weighed just forty pounds, and multiple organs were missing.
Taken by the mountains many scavengers, it's likely that Becky
(31:02):
died next. By the end, her ribs were showing and
her ankles were bony. Christine probably died last, curled in
her sleeping bag alone. Hypothermia which develops when a body
loses heat faster than it can replenish. It can look
like shivering and clumsiness at first. Real problems happen once
(31:25):
the brain gets too cold, speech gets slurred, muscles stiffened,
and hallucinations can begin. Some people feel and urge to
take off their clothes. Blood pressure drops and the lungs
fill with fluid. Eventually the heart stops beating. Starvation can
(31:45):
have a similar effect on the body. Energy drops so
low that the body is forced to slow down, delirium
sets in decision making is impaired. Giardia found in poorly
filtered water, causes diarrhea to the point of severe dehydration,
as well as exhaustion and death if not treated. Any
(32:08):
one of these afflictions could have caused the death of
the members of the Vance family, but it's postulated by
law enforcement that they suffered from all three. Regardless of
the official cause of death. Their camp site and their
remains are enough to tell us that the group suffered immensely.
(32:42):
This case, if we want to call it, that, leaves
a flurry of questions trailing behind it. As far as
law enforcement was concerned, one of the biggest questions was who,
if anyone, was a victim? Was this a homicide? Child
neglect abuse? Looking at the case in retrospect, at the bodies,
(33:03):
at the evidence of starvation, at the poor wilderness preparation,
it's easy to conclude that Tallon was an unwilling victim.
He was a child dependent on his mother for care,
and the decision to go off grid was outside his control.
So was the decision to stay off grid when things
got dire. In that sense, his death was a direct
(33:26):
result of his mother's parenting choices. But the tricky part
here is that, by all accounts, Becky was an attentive mother.
Her mother in law and sisters say this explicitly in interviews.
She wanted the best for her child. In fact, she
was so committed to his safety that she was willing
to abandon everything she knew to keep him out of
(33:47):
harm's way, or at least what she considered to be
harm's way, which points to the other baffling element of
this case, the imminent danger that Becky saw in the
world around her. According to the sources she was consulting online,
the end of the world was coming and fast systems
of power couldn't be trusted. The safest option was to
(34:09):
leave all of that behind and return to the original
safe space the Earth. Reality shows like Alone and Naked
and Afraid are hugely popular in the US, and they
present wilderness survival as more or less doable for the everyman.
Participants suffer, sure, but they make their way. They remind
(34:32):
us of a bygone way of living, the primitive existence
that's always available to us if we choose it. But
what they don't show is the months and years of preparation,
the hard earned wisdom and skill that is required to
make that life work, or the teams of people supporting
the participants in big ways and small. What those end
(34:55):
of the world as we know it YouTube channels don't
consider is how much we rely on one another to survive,
even when we go off grid ask any off gridder.
Being truly self sufficient is a fantasy. We need each other,
which is perhaps the most tragic reality of this story
(35:16):
that Becky in her fear of others, separated herself from
the only people who could truly ever save her. I
(35:40):
like to shout out the excellent sources that I relied
on for this episode. The first is an Outside magazine
article called Please, I Will give Anything for You to
come Back, written by celebrated journalist Ted Connover. It's a
fascinating retelling of the incidents with insights from Conover's considerable
reporting in off grading communities in Colorado and elsewhere in
(36:03):
the US. The other is a piece from The New
York magazine called The Woman Who Walked Away by Elizabeth
wheel It's a touching look at the impact of Talon's
death on his extended family, in the way stories of
leaving the world behind are interpreted differently depending on who
is doing the leaving. I highly recommend both of these articles.
(36:27):
For more information about this case and others we cover
on the show, visit diversion Audio dot com. The Greatest
True Crime Stories Ever Told is a production of Diversion Audio.
I'm Mary Kay McBrayer and I hosted this episode. This
(36:50):
episode was written by Grace Heerman. Our show is produced
by Leo Culp, edited by Antonio Enriquez theme music by
Tyler Cash, Executive produced by Scott Waxman. And one more
thing before I go. If you haven't already, I'll love
you forever. If you pre order my forthcoming true crime book,
(37:11):
Madame Queen, the Life and crimes of Harlem's underground racketeer
Stephanie Sinclair, there's a link to do it at your
favorite retailer in our show's notes
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