Jacob Gray - Olympic National Park - Washington

April 6th, 2017, a lone cyclist sets out into Washington’s Olympic wilderness, towing a trailer packed with camping gear and determination. Days later, park rangers found the bike and gear abandoned on a remote road, but no sign of the traveler. What follows is a baffling series of search efforts, false leads, and clues scattered across one of the most rugged national parks in the country. With unpredictable weather, dense forests, and towering mountains, this is a landscape that doesn’t give up its secrets easily. Join us this week as we investigate the mysterious disappearance of Jacob Gray.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Thousands of people have mysteriously vanished in America's wilderness. Join
us as we dive into the deep end of the
unexplainable world and try.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
To piece together what happened.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
And you are listening to Locations Unknown. What's up, everybody,

(00:55):
and welcome back to another episode of Locations Unknown. I'm
your co host Joe E. Rotten with me as always
as a guy who can build a snowman from rainfall.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
Mike vander Bogart.

Speaker 3 (01:05):
Ah, thank you, Joe, and thank you once you're welcome. Mike. Yeah,
thanks Joe. Thank you to all of our amazing listeners
for tuning in. Just a couple of announcements before we
go in here, So first like to give a new
Patreon shout out to Craig Cisneros. That's the only one
this week, so sis Naros, So thank you so much
for supporting the show.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
Thank you, Craig.

Speaker 3 (01:27):
And we're going to try a little promotion here. I
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(01:47):
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Speaker 2 (02:00):
So there you go.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
Check it out. But you've got to sign up. You
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So you're just gonna follow us essentially, follow us on
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(02:23):
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Speaker 2 (02:28):
But get all the episodes.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
Yeah, you get to try it out, and we're gonna
be recording a Patreon episode after this episode, so check
it out. Also, if you want to call the show,
you can call two wait, three nine three, leave a voicemail,
or text the show. Check out the other shows on
the Unknown Media group. Network, Peanut Butter and Mountain Podcast,
Off the Trails, The Weirdos we know who runs this park,

(02:51):
and Crime Off the Grid. If you've not listened to
the Crime Off the Grid interview we did with them
during the live stream, check out our podcast feed or
go over to YouTube. The interview was really fun. It
was good, and we're gonna get them back to do
a longer interview because yeah, they have so many cool stories,
all the war stories, all the war stories. And like
I said, you can support us on Patreon, YouTube memberships,

(03:13):
premium subscriptions, on Apple Speaker subscriptions, and if you can't
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Speaker 1 (03:24):
Yeah, take all your loved one's phones and go subscribe
for them. They don't even have to know about. It's free.

Speaker 3 (03:29):
Create five accounts on each of them and subscribe with
all of them.

Speaker 1 (03:33):
I'm kidding, no, Yeah, So all right, everybody, let's gear
up and get out to explore locations unknown. April sixth,

(03:57):
twenty seventeen, alone cyclist that's out into Washington's Olympic Wilderness,
towing a trailer packed with camping gear and determination. Days later,
park rangers find the bike and gear abandoned on a
remote road, but no sign.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
Of the traveler.

Speaker 1 (04:13):
What follows is a baffling series of search efforts, false leads,
and clues scattered across one of the most rugged national
parks in the country. With unpredictable weather, dense forests, and
towering mountains. This is the landscape that just doesn't give
up as secrets easily. Join us this week as we
investigate the mysterious disappearance of Jacob Gray. So we are

(04:47):
going to Olympic National Park.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
Hive hiked there. It's cool.

Speaker 1 (04:51):
I'm going to be going there with my wife and
daughter in a couple months because she's going to college. Yeah,
and we're going to do trips with a kids right
before they go to school. And she wanted to go
hiking in the Pacific Northwest, and I was just so proud.
It brought tears to my eyes that that's what she
wanted to do with her time.

Speaker 3 (05:09):
It's cool. We did a multi day backcountry trip where
we actually camped out on the beach in Olympic National Park.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
That'd be nice.

Speaker 1 (05:16):
We're not doing any overnight camping because we want to
hit so many spots.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
We're actually going to be up in is it is it?
Vancouver's up there.

Speaker 1 (05:24):
Yeah, we're gonna be in Canada and do some national parks,
come down into Washington, Oregons.

Speaker 2 (05:28):
We're hitting a ton of spots. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (05:30):
When I was out there, we did Mount Rainier National
Park and then we did Olympic and it was cool.
You actually have to get tide charts and we had
the track the.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
Tiles so you don't get washed away.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
Yeah, well, or you just can't you can't traverse it.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah, you can try it.

Speaker 3 (05:44):
The weirdest thing was every night when you have a
campfire in the beach and then you can get going,
there would be all these little bugs and they'd hop
along and they'd hop into the fire.

Speaker 2 (05:53):
Oh they're like the sun.

Speaker 1 (05:55):
Like you just look at the sand and hundreds of
them just like bouncing on it.

Speaker 3 (05:58):
They looked like little fleas on and just right into
the fire.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
Sometimes you think of like how do things exist?

Speaker 1 (06:07):
You wonder, you really wonder if there's so many of them,
anyone's listening?

Speaker 3 (06:12):
Who knows what those were? I still to this day
have I probably could have looked it up, but I
never did. Yeah, so even comment on what type of
bug that would have done.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah, that's awesome.

Speaker 1 (06:22):
Alright, So we are at Olympic National Park. As we
said in Washington State. The sub location is Daniel J.
Evans Wilderness. It's roughly six point five miles up the
soul Duck Hot Springs Roads sold Duke sold Duke Hot
Springs Road near a mile post six point three, about
forty feet east of the seul Duke River. It was

(06:43):
established in nineteen thirty eight by President Franklin D.

Speaker 2 (06:47):
Roosevelt.

Speaker 1 (06:49):
It sees about two point nine to five million visitors
per year. That's as of twenty twenty three, making it
the tenth most visited US national park. The park boasts
the local economy of about three hundred and ninety three
million per year and supports over twenty nine hundred ninety
jobs in the region. Saw a little habitation history of
the area twelve thousand plus years ago. Paleo Indians likely

(07:09):
arrived in the Olympic Peninsula region after the Last Ice Age.
Early inhabitants were a hunter gatherers living off of abundant
marine life, game, and plant resources. Archaeological evidence from the
sites like the mannis massed on site that's near Sequam.
It's thirteen point eight or thirteen thousand, eight hundred years old.
I was going to say thirteen point eight million, suggests
early human activity in the area. In pre seventeen hundreds,

(07:33):
the Olympic Peninsula was and remains home to several coast
Leish tribes, each with distinct languages and cultures. It depended
heavily on fishing, especially salmon, and Wales built cedar longhouses
and dugout canoes, and practiced pot latch ceremonies. They maintained
deep spiritual ties to the mountains, rivers, forests, and ocean

(07:55):
seventeen hundreds to the eighteen hundreds, So in seventeen seventy eight,
British explorer James Cook maps the Pacific Northwest coast. Seventeen
nineties to the eighteen hundreds increased visits by fur traders, Russian, Spanish, British,
and later American expeditions. By the mid eighteen hundreds, disease,
especially small pox and land pressures, severely affected the native
populations in the late eighteen hundreds, so eighteen eighty five

(08:19):
to eighteen ninety, explores like Lieutenant Joseph O'Neil and the
eighteen ninety Press expedition traversed the Olympic interior, documenting its
rugged and wild nature. The mysterious and forbidding nature of
the mountains contributed to legends of them being the last
unexplored region in the continental US, Scientific interests and public
fascination with the region's biodiversity began to grow.

Speaker 2 (08:42):
So we'll get into a little bit of the climate.

Speaker 1 (08:43):
It is a western lowland temperate rainforest. Annual rainfall is
one hundred and forty to one hundred and seventy inches,
so winter teps will be from thirty five to fifty
degrees fahrenheit.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
And that is the western So this breaks it up
in the different pieces.

Speaker 1 (08:56):
Okay, so this is the Western Lowlands. Yeah, it's mild
and wet, summer temps fifty to seventy degrees fahrenheit, cool, humid,
and some sun. So some key traits of this area
extremely lush forests with moss and ferns. If you've ever
seen the Twilight movies, that's where they filmed a lot
of that.

Speaker 2 (09:11):
We're gonna we're gonna go hit some Twilight spots.

Speaker 3 (09:13):
Most of the X Files was filmed in the Pacific Northwest.
In Canada, the Twilight movies. Oh, I think of as
excell I'm just a lot of like anything that was
filmed out in a forest was usually the Vancouver area.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
Okay, So yeah, I'm excited to see all of it.
I mean, it just looks beautiful. So I'm so excited.
Frequent rain, overcast, guys. Fog is common in the mornings,
rare snow at low elevations, so the mountain interior this
is Hurricane Ridge and Mount Olympus. Elevations are from three
thousand to eighty feet. It is a alpine slash Subarctic climate.

(09:51):
Sees about thirty five feet annually in some snones of snowfall.
So winter temps are just a bit of snow, just
a bit less than twenty five degrees fahrenheit. Heavy snowfall
in the winter. Summer temps thirty to sixty degrees brief
but dry, so key traits in that area. Long winters
with deep snowpacked. If you didn't know, thirty five feet's
pretty deep. Bury your whole house. Yeah, short hiking season

(10:12):
July to September. Avalanches are common in winter and spring.
Clear skies and wildflowers in the summer. So the rain
Shadow region. This is the northeast, Whim and Port Angelus.

Speaker 2 (10:25):
All this is funny.

Speaker 1 (10:27):
It's not sharing the screen for those listening. For whatever reason,
the TV we have in here is connected to my
ring doorbell, so.

Speaker 3 (10:34):
We've went in. Joe gets a lot of deliveries to his.

Speaker 1 (10:36):
House apparently, and this is like never happen. I don't
know why this is happening, but anyway, Yeah, all of
a sudden, the TV will just to show people at
my front door, like Amazon delivery drivers whatever. My kids
like ordered food. So that's really hilarious. I should have
shared the screen. That would have been funny if it
happens again. First of all, they're having friends sleep over.
They're off of school tomorrow, okay, so they're like getting

(10:57):
pizza and stuff. But anyway, all right, back to this
the rain shadow the rain Shadow region, it's a semi
arid and rain shadow annual rainfall sixteen to twenty inches
only winter temps thirty to forty five degrees fahrenheit, summer
temps fifty five to seventy five degrees fahrenheit. Key Trage
much drier than the rest of the park. Sunnymore often

(11:18):
supports grasslands and drier forests. The terrain the mountainous interior.
The dominant feature is the Olympic Mountains, including glacier covered
Mount Olympus, which towers over seven and eighty feet, has
jagged ridges, creeks, deep glacial valleys over sixty named glaciers.
There are frequent rock slides, steep ascents and avalanche shoots,

(11:40):
high elevation meadows and alpine laks. So it's pretty pretty
rugged mountain.

Speaker 3 (11:45):
We stayed in the western Lowlands and we were there,
and obviously on the coasts, we didn't really venture to
that part of the park.

Speaker 2 (11:52):
Okay, I'm gonna try and get there. We'll see though. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (11:55):
In the temperate or rainforest we have the western slopes,
the locations of ho the keats, the coolne and the
bogash eel valleys.

Speaker 2 (12:05):
Good job, yep.

Speaker 1 (12:06):
Maybe we'll see key features in the area. Low elevation,
flat to rolling valley floors, thick understory with massive sitka spruce,
western hemlock, moss, draped logs, ferns and soft water saturating round.
Frequent drowned trees and obscured trails.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
Watch out for that.

Speaker 1 (12:24):
At the mid elevation. These are the transition zones between
the coast and the alpine areas. So some of the
features are rolling hills to steep forested slopes, dense douglas
fir red cedar maple forests intersected by rivers, creeks and waterfalls,
often muddy and root covered trails. Then that brings us
to the Pacific Coastline. The Western Edge is seventy three
miles of protected wilderness coastline. It has rocky headlands, sea stacks,

(12:48):
tide pools and pocket beaches, driftwood strewn shores, and dense
coastal forests just inland, frequent elevation changes via cliffs and
rope assist routes. Tidal crossings required in some routes. That's
we're talking up before, where you have to like move
at low tide and not be there when high tide comes.

Speaker 3 (13:04):
Yeah, you pick up a tide chart from the ranger's
office and know when you can hike, because you'll just
be stuck.

Speaker 1 (13:10):
You won't be able to keep going forward. Yeah, So
no bueno, No, all right. Some of the animals are
dangers you might run into in the area. Black Bear
mountain goats, Roosevelt, elk, cougars, coyotes, and then there's ticks, mosquitoes,
biting flies, yellow jackets, wasps, and those bugs that jump
into fire when you gonna watch over those because they

(13:31):
just have nothing to lose. No, so steep rugged terrain.
There's loose screen, rock fall and steep slopes, especially in
the alpine zones. Slippery trails from moss roots or wet surfaces.
You can get hypothermia because it's cold and wet, sudden
weather changes, lightning, Jardian bacteria, and there is no cell
service in most of the park's interior unless you have

(13:52):
a new phone that has satellite. Yes, I just got
a phone with satellite. I thought it feels so good.
It's a new pixel.

Speaker 3 (13:58):
I got as sos for satur Yeah, the new iPhone
for I think still you're able to send satellite texts.
They're gonna put us out of business.

Speaker 1 (14:06):
What satellite phones put everyone's cell phone's gonna have satellite
us our show. Oh yeah, no one, if you bring
your phone, you're not gonna go if you go missing satellite,
So all right, yeah, maybe, and don't buy the new phones. Yeah,
don't buy it.

Speaker 2 (14:20):
This is weird. It's like, we want you to be safe.

Speaker 3 (14:22):
Maybe not well, we still have a lot of cases
to cover.

Speaker 2 (14:25):
We have like thousands.

Speaker 3 (14:26):
Yeah, we'll be okay.

Speaker 1 (14:27):
So essentials for safe backcountry travel, topographic map, map and compass.
We always say that GPS our satellite communicator, if you
have a new phone, bear canisters in, bear spray layers.

Speaker 2 (14:39):
For wet and cold weather.

Speaker 1 (14:40):
You want to have the ability to put dry clothes on,
especially if you're camping in your tent, water filter for purifications.
You're not getting the Giardia first aid kit, headlamp, and
knowledge of routes, exit points and weather windows. Mike, how
about you tell us about Jacob Gray.

Speaker 3 (14:54):
Yeah, so the name of tonight's case is Jacob Randall Gray.
He was born November fifteenth, nineteen ninety four, went missing
April sixth of twenty seventeen. He was a male, age
twenty two. Pproximate height was five to eleven. Proximate weight
was between one hundred and forty five and one hundred
and sixty pounds. He had brown hair, hazel eyes, other

(15:16):
features light facial hair, lean muscular frame. He was known
for a quiet demeanor and intense eyes. Clothing gear he
might have been. He was last seen in so He
had a touring style bicycle with a red and yellow
burly cargo trailer. He had a tent, sleeping bag and
standard backpacking provisions. He had a bow and arrows. He

(15:38):
had food lighter, insulated clothing. He had identification with him.

Speaker 1 (15:43):
For those wan oring, intense eyes convey a strong emotional
state or are perceived as captivating or even intimidating.

Speaker 3 (15:50):
Can you maybe pull up a picture of intense eyes?

Speaker 2 (15:53):
I think.

Speaker 1 (15:55):
Know what you're talking important for the people who just
signed up for YouTube.

Speaker 3 (15:58):
Yeah, curious what intense size look like. I'm sure I've
seen intense size.

Speaker 1 (16:04):
I feel like it's gonna be you know when they
talk about smoldering, like when you smolder.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
Yeah, I bet it's gonna be that. Okay, oh yeah,
look at that. You know what?

Speaker 1 (16:13):
These eyes are really intense. Yeah. If you're just listening,
go Google search intense size and you go, oh, yeah.

Speaker 2 (16:20):
I get it. Yeah, Oh she looks crazy.

Speaker 3 (16:23):
Some are more intense.

Speaker 2 (16:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (16:26):
Oh type in intense size Nicholas Cage. Then we'll get
back to the episode.

Speaker 1 (16:33):
Oh weird, that search was already in my search bar,
and I'm just kidding.

Speaker 2 (16:42):
Yep, so that basically.

Speaker 1 (16:44):
First of all, the first one is just googly eyes,
second one is face off.

Speaker 3 (16:48):
Fun little story about that second picture of nick age.
When Joe and I used to work together. I came
in one day and Joe had gotten there earlier and
printed out about a thousand of those and hid one
in every nook and cranny of the office in between folders,
taped it to the backs of like cabinet cabinets. So
every time I opened something for the next three months,

(17:11):
I find a picture of that nick cage.

Speaker 1 (17:13):
And if any of our employees are listening, you just
outed me because I started doing that. Oh you're doing
that again, And I told no one there once again.
They're like any time, No, we're not. Anytime I'm at work,
I have like my tablet that I keep around. Yeah,
I have a hundred of them. Yeah, back there, and
if I have the opportunity to hop one under a
keyboard and an email went out.

Speaker 2 (17:33):
Like from housekeeping.

Speaker 1 (17:35):
Yeah for a while, it's like, whoever is putting Nicholas caves,
please stop? And I went around pretending not upset. Okay, guys,
come on, this is a professional work, Like, who's doing this?
I'm the one like going around doing the witch hunt.

Speaker 3 (17:49):
So that is funny.

Speaker 1 (17:51):
Oh yeah, I love It's called caging, caging, caging. I'm
a huge fan of Nick Cage and caging the workplace.

Speaker 3 (17:57):
And you just real quick, we'll cut this part out.
You have the zoom right on the screen, just zoom check.

Speaker 1 (18:03):
So oh yeah, let's see here. Yeah we're good. Okay,
we're in like the infinite.

Speaker 3 (18:08):
I apologize our previous episode. It's right, okay, yeah, we
had it all goofed up. I'm gonna have to fix that.

Speaker 1 (18:14):
But we'll cut all this out this Yeah, no, we
won't saw the sausage kids. So yeah, basically it's all
the funny, yeah weird faces Nick Cage. And you cut
out just his head and just put in place. And
those are some intense eyes and a lot of these
these are all intense.

Speaker 2 (18:25):
He's an intense individual.

Speaker 3 (18:27):
Take his face off, my face off. This is the
second episode in a row we've talked about Nick Cage.

Speaker 1 (18:34):
I love Nick Cage. I'm a Nick Cage pillow. Do
you really I do have a pillow or it's his face,
it's just this big face. And I got my son
a Nick Cage blanket where the whole blanket.

Speaker 2 (18:43):
Is just his face. Oh my gosh, it's a funny
joke in my life.

Speaker 3 (18:46):
That's a little terrifying though.

Speaker 1 (18:48):
It's yeah, it is, yeah, but it's funny. I'll take
a picture of it and share it on the socials
just so everyone can see.

Speaker 3 (18:53):
Okay, yeah, all right, let's go back to the like
the task, to the actual case. So we were talking
about geary at on him, so he did have an
identifytion on him, He did not have a GPS or
satellite communication on him or that equipment wasn't found. Personality
so he was a quiet, introspective and deeply connected to nature.
Described as highly intelligent, gentle, and contemplative. Often read a

(19:18):
philosophy and spiritual writings. He avoided social media. He was
very private but deeply thoughtful. He believed in testing himself
and seeking solitude. He was extremely independent and confident in
the wilderness, and he was close to family, especially his
father Randy, but he didn't always share his hiking plans.

(19:38):
Medical issues no known physical health issues. Being a young,
fit twenty two year old not uncommon, and he had
no confirmed history of mental illness, but friends and family
did note that he was reflective and possibly going through
an intense period of self discovery and emotional searching. So
just keep that in the back of your mind as

(19:58):
we're going through the timeline. He occupation unknown. Oh is
that a video of him?

Speaker 1 (20:05):
I'm gonna see. You can keep going all volume down
just in case. But yeah, this is like a Jacob
Gray missing page. Oh, I'll start pulling stuff. I'm not
sharing it just yet, and getting things cued.

Speaker 3 (20:15):
Getting things cued. Okay, So we don't know what he
did for work, but he was into wilderness exploration and
long distance biking like we said, he was into reading,
He did surfing and other outdoor adventure sports, and he
was he did practice archery like I said, he carried
a bow with him. So his experience in the wilderness
from everything I read, was pretty high. He grew up

(20:37):
exploring the outdoors in Santa Cruz, California. He had also
previously completed several solo wilderness trips, so this wasn't unusual
for him, and he was very comfortable understanding basic survival
skills and navigating rugged environments experience in this location. It's
not known if Jacob had ever been to Olympic National

(20:59):
Park Prior this trip, he had spent time in the
Pacific Northwest, including Port Townsend, Washington, where he stayed with
his grandmother before departing, and he appears to have studied
the area, but did not share the route with any
friends or family, which obviously leaves uncertainty about whether he
had a destination or specific goal.

Speaker 1 (21:20):
And I have his bike in Burley And if you
don't know what a burley is, it's one of those
like child carriers that you pull behind a bike.

Speaker 3 (21:26):
So he's probably using it for gear obviously, But yeah,
that's what he was using it like.

Speaker 1 (21:29):
It's just kind of not not crashed. But would you
call that strewn about?

Speaker 3 (21:35):
We'll get into it.

Speaker 1 (21:36):
Yeah, okay, I'm sorry, I might I'm getting way ahead,
so you getting way ahead.

Speaker 2 (21:39):
I'm sorry. Here's sure.

Speaker 1 (21:41):
He's a good looking guy, all right, go on. Sorry, Okay,
I did what you did. I know I was better
about it. I know, right, you need to chastise me.
Now it's your turn, all right.

Speaker 3 (21:52):
Well, the timeline starts April fifth of twenty seventeen, which
is a Wednesday. I did find one source that listed
April fourth, but all the other news sources stated April fifth,
so we're going with April fifth of twenty seventeen, Jacob
leaves his grandmother's home in Port Townsend, Washington, heading out
alone on a bicycle trip loaded with camping gear. He

(22:13):
departs in the evening, toying a yellow and red Burley bike,
which Joe preemptively shared early bike trailer. It was filled
with supplies. His plans were to journey through Olympic National
Park and eventually east towards Vermont to visit his brother.
And I don't believe it's Vermont. Is in the state.
There must be a town in the area called Vermont.

(22:36):
Maybe he did plan to ride his bike all the
way to all the way. I don't think that's the case.
We'll have Joe investigate if there's a Is there a
Vermont Washington. I'm sure there is so like I had mentioned,
yes town.

Speaker 1 (22:51):
And wait, no, there's a Washington Town in Vermont, Washington,
Washington Town in Orange County, Vermont. All right, keep going
on there.

Speaker 3 (22:59):
Okay, we'll get to the bottom of this because I
kind of want to know now if he nothing else
I read said he was actually planning to ride cross
country to Vermont.

Speaker 2 (23:07):
Yeah, just keep going. I think it's going to take
me a minute. Okay.

Speaker 3 (23:11):
Like I said in the character profile, he was an experience.
He was experiencing the outdoors. But we don't know if
he had been to Olympic National Park before. It is
now April sixth of twenty seventeen. This is a Thursday.
In the afternoon, visitors in Olympic National Park discover an
abandoned mountain bike with gear with a gear trailer along

(23:35):
the Soldouk River Springs Road near Solduke River, and Joe
is now showing the picture of that bike again.

Speaker 1 (23:44):
Yeah, I don't think there's a Vermont there. He might
have been trying to go to Vermont, Okay, and I'm
not seeing I did a quick Google search, but I
figured if there's a city, I put Vermont Comma Washington State.
I was not finding it, so I don't think there is.

Speaker 2 (23:57):
And if I'm wrong, tell me about it.

Speaker 3 (23:59):
I just asked our friendly overlord's JEDGBT No, just Ai
on Google. There is no town called Vermont, so.

Speaker 2 (24:07):
He must have been going to Vermont.

Speaker 3 (24:09):
So you talk about the pictures, you're quick. I don't
look something up. This is gonna bug me.

Speaker 1 (24:12):
Okay, here's a picture of a bike. Really, what I'll
do is I'm gonna play this video. I don't know
if there's audio on it, but it's from a Facebook page.

Speaker 2 (24:21):
It's a fine thing. Was it called? Yeah, find Jacob Gray.

Speaker 1 (24:24):
So let's get some audio going here and see what
it says. He's just doing selfie phases, all right, He's
just doing a three sixty here. So he didn't say anything,
but okay, it's on the top of a mountain.

Speaker 3 (24:38):
I have an update on the Vermont situate, Vermont Gate,
Vermont Gate, So I probably should have included this detail
because it really bugged me when I just kind of
glossed over. But he actually did plan well. His mother
said that he was potentially planning to bike to Vermont
and that it might take him two years to make
the trip. Oh wow, So clarification. He was actually thinking

(25:02):
about biking all the way to Vermont from Washington State.
All right, Like I said, it's April sixth of twenty seventeen.
It's a Thursday. He visitors in Olympic National Park discovered
the abandoned bike, like I said, near the Selduk River
Springs road near the soul Duke River. Rangers respond and

(25:23):
find the bike and trailer upright and intact with camping
gear spread out on a tarp nearby. The spot is
about six point five miles up the road from Highway
one oh one, and the gear is plainly visible about
forty feet from the road and forty feet east of
the riverbank. Now, this was a dispatch from law enforcement

(25:45):
that was sent out to the public. It said Jacob
Gray's bicycle and gear trailer is found off is found
off soul Duke Road on April sixth, twenty seventeen. Rangers
noted the equipment was in working order and even observed
arrows stuck in the ground near the tarp. Recognizing the
situation unusual, park law enforced rangers conduct a hasty search
of the area that evening, checking the immediate woods and

(26:07):
riverbank for any sign of the cyclist. At this time,
no missing persons report had been filed, so at first
rangers weren't sure whose gear it was. The abandoned gear
included a wallet, id food, camping supplies, and even a
bow with arrows. This ray is concerned that its owner

(26:27):
may have fallen into the cold, fast flowing Soldike River.
It's now April seventeenth, twenty seventeen, which is a Friday.
Park staff identify the gear's owner as Jacob Gray after
finding a list of phone numbers among his belongings. Ranger
Brian Ray contacts Gray's family to notify them of the situation.
That day, rangers widened the search along the Sildic River

(26:49):
Springs Road corridor, checking trailheads and the nearby Seldike River
Springs Resort, but no witnesses there were called seeing the
cyclist and what do we got up?

Speaker 1 (26:59):
Okay, the spot, Yeah, this is at this points to
Selduke Hot Springs.

Speaker 2 (27:04):
Resort up here.

Speaker 3 (27:05):
Okay, So there's like the river, So that's the general
area where he went missing.

Speaker 1 (27:10):
Yeah, it's like northern Northwest Olympic National Park. Okay, near
an Olympic National Forest. So if you're from the area
by Crescent Lake, okay.

Speaker 3 (27:21):
So by now, with Gray still missing and his gear
left behind in good condition, park officials suspect he may
have been injured or swept into the forty degree forty
degree fahrenheit river, and planned to keep searching, though river
conditions were hazardous at the time. According to one rangers report,
there was already speculation that if Gray was in the River.

(27:41):
They might have to check the river in the summer
when the water goes down due to spring runoff levels.
It's now April eighth to April tenth of twenty seventeen,
so this would be Saturday to Monday. Intensive search efforts
continue over the weekend. Olympic National Park search teams concentrate
on the Old River itself, which is running high in

(28:02):
swift with snowmelt. They searched the riverbanks and scan the
water where possible, looking for any sign of Gray. Despite
the challenging conditions, rangers on foot and a swift water
rescue team survey areas along the east side of the
river near where the bike was found, but no trace
of Jacob was there. During this period, Jacob's family begins

(28:23):
traveling to Washington to assist in the search. His father,
Randy Gate Randy Gray, drives north from Santa Cruz, California,
through the night, and other relatives fly in from out
of state. By April eleventh, twenty seventeen, which is Tuesday,
trained mountaineers from Olympic Mountain Rescue, which is a volunteer
search and rescue unit, join the effort to bolster manpower

(28:44):
and expertise. Some sources when I was researching this did
state this happened on April twelfth, and others stated it
happened on April eleventh, so just I wanted to note that.
So by this time, Jacob's father, Randy, and his sister
Mallory have arrived at the park to aid in the search,
and they are dismayed to learn that no large scale

(29:05):
search had been initiated yet by authorities beyond the park's
limited efforts. Taking matters into their own hands, the family
presses park officials for more action. Jacob's not even demands
an intense search and a conversation with a park ranger.
That same day, Randy Gray, an experienced surfer, puts on
a wetsuit and personally begins searching the frigid Soldick River

(29:27):
for any sign of his son. So that's this is
this a constant story We've heard throughout many cases. Obviously,
family really want their loved one found, and it sometimes
doesn't matter how big the search is.

Speaker 1 (29:42):
It's it can seem like it's not big enough.

Speaker 3 (29:44):
And I understand why they feel that way, But I
got you gotta give Randy Gray credit. He like, you
know what, he just put a wetsuit on and started
searching the river himself. We don't have many cases where
the father is doing difficult searching like that. A lot
of people will do ground searches with the rescue, but

(30:05):
no one. I don't think we've had a case where
we've had a family member to do something like that yet. Yeah,
pretty impressive. Really got to give credit to Randy Gray
for doing that. He was diving into pools, he was
checking behind waterfalls, he was scanning under log jams. He
even sustained mild hypothermia and trench foot throughout the process.

Speaker 2 (30:25):
He was in the water a long time.

Speaker 3 (30:26):
Yeah, and when he wasn't in the water, he was
bushwhacking through the dense rainforest along the banks. He refused
to give up. The coordinated search effort also expands on land.
Olympic Mountain Rescue crews methodically scour both sides of the
river and surrounding forests. Notably, they find evidence on the
east banks adjusting Jacob may have slipped on a mossy

(30:48):
rock at the water's edge and fallen in, as well
as possible footprints and disturbances indicating someone climbed out of
the river further downstream on the opposite bank. This clue
prompts searchers to consider that Gray managed to reach the
west side of the Solduck River after the fall. It's
now April twelfth, of twenty seventeen, so search teams extend

(31:10):
their operation beyond the National Park boundary. Olympic Mountain Rescue
volunteers and Kalelam County authorities explore roughly a forest square
mile area on the west side of the Solduke River
into Olympic National Forest land outside the park. The theory
at the time was that if Jacob had exited the
river on the west bank, he may have trekked into
the woods or along old roads there. So Indeed, searchers

(31:34):
discovered weak, old bootprints among the tree tree routes on
the river bank leading toward the west side, and at
the time they presume these to be tracks from Jacob.
They also noted a scuff mark on a mossy boulder
in the river, consistent with someone scrambling out of the water.
Despite these new clues, no definitive sighting of Gray is made.

(31:57):
Family members included Jacob's mother, low Ura, who flew up
from the family's home in Bellevue washing joined the ground
search teams in the field. Morale, though, was tested through
this time by rain and rough terrain, but the discovery
of prints fueled hope that Jacob might be sheltering somewhere
in the vast part of the National forest. So they

(32:19):
weren't giving up hope just yet.

Speaker 1 (32:21):
Sorry, the stupid microphone. It's because you keep touching it.
I know, if you stop flutting with it, it would
just be fine.

Speaker 3 (32:29):
I know. So it's now April thirteenth of twenty seventeen.
We'll cut all that.

Speaker 2 (32:33):
No, we won't.

Speaker 3 (32:34):
It's Thursday. Canine unit is brought in as the search continues.
An Everett Mountain Rescue canine team with a taver dog
searches along the west bank of the Soldiuke River, downstream
of the bike site. By now, it's been nearly a
full week after the disappearance, the search leaders acknowledge they
may be looking for recovery rather than rescue. And that's

(32:57):
pretty accurate assessment based on the fact they believe he
did fall in and then climb back out. And we're
talking the weather. The river was forty degrees fahrenheit. That's
incredibly cold. I don't know if anyone's ever done like
a polar plunge, but I have. It's about that tempt.

Speaker 2 (33:12):
I always tried to get you to do with me,
and yeah, he never did.

Speaker 3 (33:15):
I'm not a polar plunged person.

Speaker 2 (33:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:17):
For those watching the screens, I'm just playing a video
his sister put together of like pictures and videos, So
there's no audio, but it'll just be playing the background.

Speaker 2 (33:24):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (33:25):
So, like we said, they are really coming to the
realization that this is probably leaning more towards recovery at
this point than a rescue, and indeed, two cadaver dogs
independently alert to some large logjam in the river about
a mile downstream, suggesting the possible presence of human reins
in or under the tangle of debris. Rangers are unable

(33:48):
to dismantle that logjam safely in the high water, but
they make note of it for later investigation. But aside
from the dog hits, no new clues are found on
this day. Olympic National Park issues press release on April
thirteenth appealing to any hikers or river rafters who might
have seen Jacob Gray to come forward with information. The

(34:08):
NPS release also summarizes the search efforts to date and
confirms Jacob has been missing since April sixth. It's now
April fourteenth of twenty seventeen. This would be a Friday.
After eight days of intensive searching, the National Park Service
scales back the operation. Olympic National Park officials announced the

(34:29):
transition to a limited continuous search, meaning park rangers will
continue investigating any new leads of their eyes, but there
will be no active, large scale field searches going forward.
Acting Park Superintendent Lee Taylor thanks all those involved for
their exhaustive efforts and express sympathy to Jacob's loved ones
during these very trying times, which was quote so effectively.

(34:52):
The formal NPS search is suspended due to lack of results.
The park had no coordinated search crews, dog teams, and
even air observation, so no helicopters were deployed and the
Coast Guard was notably never requested. With the park's operation
winding down, responsibility now shifts more to local authorities and

(35:12):
the Gray family to decide the next steps. So April fifteenth,
twenty seventeen, this is a Saturday. The Clallam County Search
and Rescue Team takes the lead on a final intensive push.
Over the weekend on April fifteenth, the Star Team, deputies,
and dozens of volunteers mobilized to search the rugged train

(35:35):
west of the Souldik River, including areas both inside and
outside the park. The searchers split into ground teams and
grid search the forest west of the river, while others
cover the riverbanks. They post flyers about the missing man trailheads,
park visitor centers, gas stations in port Angels to the east,
and forks to the west, spreading the word to the

(35:57):
community at large. So during this app operation, searchers reportedly
locate a pair of men's shorts a couple miles downstream
from where Jacob's bike was found. The shorts are in
Jacob's size and even the same brand, which was Burnside
as a Peri owned, raising suspicions they could belong to them,
so they actually collected the clothing incentive to wash it

(36:18):
to the Washington State Crime Lab in Seattle for DNA testing,
though later when the results came back, they were inconclusive
or not matching, and the shorts were ultimately not proven.

Speaker 2 (36:30):
To be Jacob's.

Speaker 3 (36:31):
Other minor items impossible traces are documented, but nothing proves
to be a clear breakthrough. By April sixteenth, the County
Star officials also scaled down their active search, having exhausted
the areas of highest probability with no sign of Jacob.

Speaker 2 (36:49):
So at this.

Speaker 3 (36:50):
Point it's been ten days pretty intensive search, though there
was no aerial searching, which is a little unusual. I
guess this is a dense, very rugged, dense areas, so.

Speaker 2 (37:02):
I can be able to see anything.

Speaker 3 (37:03):
Yeah, So timeline fast forward now it's between April and
June of twenty seventeen. In the weeks following the official search,
Jacob's family refuses to give up. Randy remains in the
Olympic Peninsula for some time after the formal search ends,
searching relentlessly on his own with friends. He repeatedly hikes

(37:24):
through the Soduke Valley, rafted sections of the river, and
checks remote forest areas hoping for any sign of his son.
And this is a quote from he said, I lost
track of how many times I searched the Soloduke Valley.
Randy later said of this time, the family still maintains
the family at this time maintains the Fine Jacob Ray
Facebook page to keep Jacob's story in the public eye

(37:47):
and coordinate volunteer efforts. They share updates, memories, and please
for help, garnering support from both the local community and
concerned people online, Jacob's disappearance begins to gain wider notice
among outdoor enthusiasts and missing persons advocates. The case is
discussed on forums like Web Sleuths and Reddit, and it

(38:08):
is noted as an example of the mysterious surrounding people
the mysterious surrounding people who vanish in America's national parks.
Throughout the spring and early summer, volunteer searchers, including members
of Olympic Mountain Rescue, continue periodic ground searches in the
Silduke area whenever conditions allow. By early summer, snow at
higher elevations is melting, which could reveal new clues. The

(38:30):
family remains in contact with local sar authorities and park rangers,
urging that search efforts resume once river levels drop. So
it's now July twenty ninth of twenty seventeen. With the
improved conditions of summer, a massive, coordinated search is launched
to recheck the Sildok River corridor. Local Sheriff's office organizes

(38:52):
the operation, calling over one hundred search and rescue volunteers
from across western Washington. Teams from multiple counties, so Kalalaum, Sonomish, Kitsap, Pierce, Mason,
and Jefferson. Volunteer groups like Olympic Mountain Rescue, Northwest Search Dogs,
and even Inmate search teams coverage converge for a single

(39:13):
day push, one of the largest star operations in the
county's recent history. And did the Facebook page show any
of the search efforts going on? And?

Speaker 2 (39:22):
Yeah, I was playing some of them. I'll go through
it again. There's a little album.

Speaker 1 (39:26):
It was only of the staging area. Okay, so it
didn't really have people out there looking. Yeah, I'll scroll
up and get it going on urin the screen right now,
but I will want a second, gotcha.

Speaker 3 (39:36):
So Jacob's mother, Laura Gray, and other family members join
the searchers at the command center, tearfully thanking everyone who
came out. This was a dispatch from the search, it
said Search and Rescue volunteer. It was a Search and
Rescue Volunteers briefing for July twenty ninth of twenty seventeen
said over one hundred people, including canine units and swift

(39:56):
water teams, participated in one of the largest searches in
the re 's history. The volunteers break into ten ground teams,
eight dog teams, and a swift water rescue unit to
systematically cover roughly a ten mile stretch of the Salduuke
River an adjacent forest. As the search progresses, cadaver dogs
show interest in three separate locations along the river, including

(40:20):
large a large logjam that had been flagged back in April.
Divers and swift water specialist attempt to probe these logjams
and deep pools. Searchers also a fine and catalog about
twenty pieces of possible evidence, things like clothing fragments, a
pair of sweatpants and bandana, socks, and bone fragments, but
nothing definitively linked to Jacob is recovered. A small piece

(40:44):
of bone is found on the river bank, for example,
and it was later examined by anthropologists and determined to
be from an animal not a human. By the end
of the day, no human remains or clear sign of
Jacob is found. This was a quote from one of
the star people can't talk. He said, I was hoping
we could find something. We were able to clear a
lot of areas, so still nothing. Despite the disappointing outcome,

(41:08):
the Gray family expresses their deep gratitude for the unprecedented support.
On the final on the Find Jacob Gray page, they
post thanks to Sergeant Moore for superbly orchestrating the huge search,
and to all the volunteers for their professionalism, skill and kindness.
Randy Gray remarks on how surreal it was to see
so many people looking for a son and holds on

(41:30):
to hope that Jacob might somehow still be alive figuring
out his life somewhere were you able to were able
to find a picture of Randy Gray? Curious with Gray?

Speaker 1 (41:41):
Yeah, the father was taking selfies of us for the
Instagram page.

Speaker 2 (41:44):
Ah, there you go, I will find it. Let's see
Randy Gray.

Speaker 3 (41:49):
He also so. Randy also voiced his desire desire that
what they've gone through will lead to faster, larger search
responses in the future National Park missing person's cases. He
was quoted, I hope this changes the whole aspect of
search and rescue, so more lives will be saved. It's
now mid August of twenty seventeen, so following up on

(42:12):
the cadaverdog alerts from July. Officials plan a more focused
search in mid August once water levels drop a bit further.
Around the third week of August, the local star and
search dog teams returned to three specific sites along the
along the Soldouk where the dogs had signaled possible human scent.
These include the massive logjam that we've talked about a

(42:34):
couple times, and two other riverbank spots that could be
thoroughly examined that couldn't be thoroughly examined during the July
twenty ninth operation, smaller teams, so around fifteen to twenty
people with three cadaver dog units spent a couple days
re scouring those areas in depth. Now there we go.
Is that a picture of Randy?

Speaker 2 (42:54):
Yep. He kind of looks as Jacob Little on the
right of mower.

Speaker 3 (42:58):
He reminds me of Oh, what's the guy's name? He
played a character and family guy. He's got a real oh.

Speaker 1 (43:04):
He always plays a southern Yeah, I know you're talking
about I'll find him.

Speaker 3 (43:07):
It was from the beginning of The Big Lebowski.

Speaker 1 (43:10):
Yeah, he's got a really low voice. He always plays like, yeah,
I know.

Speaker 3 (43:13):
He looks kind of like him.

Speaker 1 (43:15):
Yep, yes he does. I thought the exact same thing. Yeah,
I'll find him. Okay, I know you're talking about.

Speaker 3 (43:20):
By now the river is lower, so it's allowing searchers
to get into crevices and under logs that were previously inaccessible.

Speaker 1 (43:27):
Oh there he is Sam Elliott. Sam Elliott, I literally
searched cowboy low voice. So for those of you just listening,
Jacob's dad looks a lot like Sam Elliott. I was
not sharing the screen because I didn't want to, oh
have them see me type cowboy low voice. But yeah,
he the version of Sam Elliott with Oh yeah, he

(43:50):
looks a lot like Sam Elliott, like he could be
his brother. Holy cow, he's a younger Sam Elliott kind
of like it.

Speaker 2 (43:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (44:00):
Wow. Just for anyone listening, you can get a picture
of what his dad sounds. Pretty I mean, he was
scouring rivers, He's hiking a.

Speaker 2 (44:10):
Commitment thing that I was talking to you before.

Speaker 1 (44:13):
You know, I think that Sam Elliott's voice, So for
those listening you might recognize that.

Speaker 2 (44:21):
Maybe not, but.

Speaker 1 (44:23):
Anyway, anyway, he looks a lot like off on Tangents tonight.

Speaker 2 (44:25):
Yeah, we need to stop doing that.

Speaker 3 (44:28):
So unfortunately, this targeted search again turns up no trace
of Jacob. The logjam is broken apart, and nothing is
found beneath scent dogs no longer alert, strongly suggesting that
any trace picked up earlier may have been residual or false,
a false indication. With the last effort exhausted, the active
search for Great Jacob winds down, so as summer twenty

(44:50):
seventeen ends, Jacob's whereabouts remain a mystery. His family, though
devastated by the lack of answers, continue to honor his
love of the wilderness and y the faith that one
day there will be closure. It's now spring slash summer
of twenty eighteen, so more than a year has passed
with no sign of Jacob. The Gray family continues to

(45:11):
keep the story alive through social media and periodic media interviews.
Making the one year anniversary of his disappearance in April
twenty eighteen, Again, the case begins to draw broader public
attention as an example of an unexplained disappearance in the wild.
Outdoor magazine Outdoor magazines and websites mentioned Jacob's case among
baffling National park mysteries, and the author John Billman follows

(45:34):
the family saga closely, and later writes a book about it.
Randy Gray continues to search whenever he can. He extends
his search beyond Washington, following up on any rumors or
possible sightings as far as far away as Alaska and Canada,
still holding out that sliver of hope that Jacob might
have survived and wandered elsewhere. However, throughout this time, no

(45:56):
credible sightings ever materialized. It's August time and now twenty eighteen,
which is Friday, and this is when a breakthrough finally
happened in the case. So in a remote section of
Olympic National Park. It was late in the afternoon on
August tenth, the park wildlife crew. So this would be
a biologist studying Olympic marmots. So not even involved with

(46:17):
the case. They're out there studying markets. We've got some audience,
Oh I do. Yeah, So, yeah, they were out there
studying marmots. Happened upon Green. Yeah, there you go.

Speaker 2 (46:29):
There's like halving a beer in the window.

Speaker 1 (46:30):
Pat's Milwaukee that it's getting warm out.

Speaker 3 (46:33):
It's getting warm out. Well keep going, it's cold. You
get so distracted, I know, Let the show go on.
Won't be doing this too much. They got to take
it in. Yes, we gotta take it in. I can
have our windows for much longer.

Speaker 2 (46:44):
Yes, unless we buy the building. Sign up for patron.

Speaker 3 (46:47):
Yeah right, you've got one month, Like I said. Biologists
studying Olympic marmots happened upon some abandoned equipment and clothing
in a very isolated area high in the mountains.

Speaker 2 (47:00):
You lose your.

Speaker 3 (47:01):
Spot by computer briefly froze there. So they are near
Holle Lake, a backcountry alpine lake in the northwest part
of the park, about ten miles from the Seoul Duke
trailhead and roughly fifteen miles west from where Jacob's bike
was found. The site is off trail on a rocky
ridge above the lake at approximately fifteen fifty three hundred feet.

(47:24):
It would have been snow covered at the time and
avalanche prone back in early twenty seventeen. The bile just
note that the clothing gear seem out of place and
recall the ongoing case of the missing bicyclist. They notify
park rangers of the fine. Due to late hour and
rugged location, a full exam examination has to wait for
the next day. The remote lake area and Olympic National Park,

(47:48):
near where Jacob Praise remains were found in August twenty eighteen.
The site lies in the Daniel J. Evans Wilderness, far
from any road or easy access. So could you pull
up a map and see where this is, because just
look up? Hoh lake?

Speaker 2 (48:05):
Oh, whole lake.

Speaker 3 (48:05):
Yeah, oh lake.

Speaker 1 (48:08):
I feel like we've done. We were just looking at
whole lake, weren't we. Oh this is really far away. Yeah,
if you're watched teen miles from where his bike was found.

Speaker 2 (48:18):
Yeah, if you're watching the screen, it just went way
over there.

Speaker 3 (48:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (48:22):
What was the area again?

Speaker 3 (48:23):
They said, just near that lake. So not in a
lake near the lake. No, And it's in the Daniel J.
Wilderness area.

Speaker 2 (48:31):
I think this whole area might be that.

Speaker 3 (48:34):
It's August eleventh and now twenty eighteen, Saturday, so early
next morning, law enforcement rangers and investigators hike into the
lake area to search around the coordinates provided by the
Marmot research team. There they discover skeletal human remains, along
with personal items that had clearly been exposed to elements
for some time. They find additional clothing, a backpack, and

(48:56):
camping gear that unfortunately matches the description of items Jacob
Gray was carrying when he disappeared. A wallet containing identification
is also recovered, strongly indicating the remains for Jacob's.

Speaker 2 (49:09):
That's so sad.

Speaker 3 (49:10):
The remains superior to have been scattered, possibly by animals
or weather, but there are no obvious signs of foul
plays such as bullet shells or weapons present. The location
is a treeless ridge not far from Hoe Lake, without
evidence of a formal campsit or shelter having been made.
Investigators theorized Jacob made it atop the ridge under his

(49:32):
own power. Notably, at the scene, they find that Jacob
still had ample supplies, including food, an insulated jacket, and
a lighter with him when he died. This suggests he
did not run out of provisions, but may have succumbed
to the harsh conditions. Rangers secured the area and carefully
collected the human remains for analysis, all while keeping the

(49:53):
discovery relatively quiet until a positive identification is made. It's
now April thirteenth, twenty eighteen, which is a Monday, so
news of the discovery is shared with the Gray family,
who at least at last receive a phone call. They
had been both dreading and desperately waiting for Jacob has
been found. The family announces the development publicly on the

(50:18):
Fine Jacob Gray Facebook page and August thirteenth, stating that
Jacob's remains were located near the Lake and Olympic National Park.
The announcement quickly filters to the media. After sixteen months
of uncertainty, the story shifts from a search to a recovery.
And see you're on there that page.

Speaker 2 (50:37):
Round face page. IM go to the August thirteenth. There's
August thirty.

Speaker 3 (50:42):
First.

Speaker 2 (50:43):
I wonder if they don't have it on here anymore.

Speaker 3 (50:46):
Huh, well that could have been. Oh that's oh, we
gotta go to twenty eighteen.

Speaker 2 (50:50):
Oh twenty eighteen.

Speaker 1 (50:51):
Yeah, oops, good call, No worries. They were sharing a
lot of stuff about other people that went missing too.

Speaker 3 (50:57):
Yeah, a lot of these pages will do that, which
is pretty cool.

Speaker 2 (51:01):
Yeah, we're getting close. It was August sixteenth, thirteenth thirteen.

Speaker 1 (51:06):
I want to pass it then, yep, with a broken heart,
I want to let you know that Jacob's body was
found this weekend at Whole Lake and the Olympics. There
are a lot of unknown details at this point, but
it has hit the news and people are finding out.
I wanted to post personally and thank each of you
for your love and support and.

Speaker 2 (51:20):
Help through this nightmare.

Speaker 1 (51:22):
I'll update this page as more information becomes available.

Speaker 3 (51:25):
In her mind, it made sense that he stayed in
the willerness rather than attempting to hike out to civilization.
She describes herself as a rack emotionally, but finding her
son provides at least an answer and the possibility of
a proper goodbye. On August fifteenth of twenty eighteen, a Wednesday,
the Clallam County Corner's Office and King County Medical Examiner

(51:46):
confirmed the identy of the remains. They use dental records.
The skelt and the skeletal remains were officially identified as
Jacob Gray. The King County Medical Examiner's forensic anthropology just
examines the bones for any indications of cause of death
or injury. There were no signs of traumatic injuries such
as a fracture from a fall or marks from an

(52:10):
animal or weapon were present on the remains. Olympic National
Park Superintendent Sarah Creechbaum issues a public statement offering our
deepest sympathies to the Gray family and friends. In a
difficult time. The Park Service, along with the Clalham County officials,
also state that there are no indication of foul play
at the scene. All evidence points to an accident or

(52:32):
misadventure in the wilderness. With the identification complete, Jacob's body
in the form of recovered bones is turned over to
the family so that they finally got their closure. It's
now late August of twenty eighteen. In the week's following discovery,
officials work to determine how Jacob died on that remote ridge.
A forensic anthropologist from King County Medical Examiner's Office conducts

(52:56):
a detailed analysis of the remains. By late August, the
clalam County's Assistant coroner reports that the exact cause and
manner of death are undetermined, which means could not be
determined due to skeletal condition of Jacob's body. Hypothermia was
strongly suspected. Jacob likely died of exposure to the elements,

(53:17):
but the anthropologist cannot say that with one hundred percent
certainty given the evidence. She would go on to say
there were no injuries or signs of foul play, so
the death is considered probably from natural causes, meaning an
accident related to the environment. Coroner's office rules the cause
of death as inconclusive, with the most likely scenario being
that Jacob succumbed to the hypothermia and the freezing snowy

(53:37):
conditions high above the lake. It's worth noting that Jacob
had been well equipped with food and gear, but he
still potentially got lost and succumbed to hypothermia. Exactly why
he went so far into the mountains and what happened
in his final days still remains unknown. The National Park
Service keeps the case open, penning the final written for

(54:00):
Forensicks report, but with no evidence of a crime, the
act of investigation soon's wind soon winds down September of
twenty eighteen. With Jacob's remains identified, the Gray family proceeds
with layam the rest. They organize a memorial service in
Santa Cruz, California, the city where Jacob grew up and
the where the family has deep roots, on Sunday, September second,

(54:22):
twenty eighteen. Around around this date, family and friends gather
on the Santa Cruz coast for a traditional surfers paddle
out ceremony in Jacob's honor. Randy Gray paddles into the
ocean on a surfboard, along with others, forming a circle
beyond the breakers and placing flowers on the water to
say goodbye to Jacob, who had been a passionate surfer.

Speaker 2 (54:43):
Use a picture of it.

Speaker 3 (54:44):
Oh wow, that's cool.

Speaker 2 (54:45):
Yeah, look at how many people are out there. Yeah,
that's really cool in out.

Speaker 3 (54:50):
So this was followed by a memorial service where loved
ones celebrate Jacob's life and share memories. The family uses
the occasion to thank the many volunteers, park rangers, and
rescue profession who never gave up on searching for Jacob.
In lieu of flowers, the Gray family asked supporters to
donate to search and rescue organizations that helped in the
effort to find Jacob. They specifically highlighted the Clalham County

(55:14):
Search and Rescue, Olympic Mountain Rescue, and the Red Cross. So,
after a sixteenth month ordeal, the family finally had closure,
though a lot of questions remained. I'll jump right into
theories before I opened the floor to what you think happened? Okay, So,
like I said, the leading theory in this one is hypothermia.

(55:37):
So Jacob potentially attempted to hike from the Soldook River
area into the backcountry during bad weather and succumb to
hypothirtia hypothermia. Evidence that supports this was His remains were
found in late August twenty eighteen at a remote ridge
over ten miles from the road where his bike was discovered.

(55:57):
He's still had food, a lighter in slat, clothing and gear,
indicating he wasn't unprepared, but likely overcome by cold and fatigue.
The area where he's found was snow covered, it was
steep prone avalanches, this time in April, and like I
had mentioned, the forensic investigation found no evidence of foul play,
traumatic injuries, or animal attack, and they listed the cause

(56:21):
of death as inconclusive but suspected hypothermia. How did he
get up there? He may have become lost or intentionally
sought higher ground, underestimating the difficulty of the train or weather,
and died from exposure. And another theory was he got disorientated.

Speaker 2 (56:40):
Is that right? Disoriented?

Speaker 3 (56:42):
Disoriented or disorientated? It does it does work, But yeah,
you're wrong. How'd you say it disoriented? Disoriented? There we go?

Speaker 1 (56:50):
So another do you say? Worceschster Shire Worcester. Yeah, Worcester. Yeah,
how is it spelled worcester Shire. So you seem like
because you say disorientated, you might say worceschester Shire.

Speaker 3 (57:03):
No, it was Worster.

Speaker 2 (57:05):
Okay, so you say that one, right, Just want to
make sure, all right.

Speaker 3 (57:09):
So the second theory is kind of ties into the
first one, is that he got disoriented. There you go
after a river accident, so he might have attempted to
cross the river fell. It's pretty absulting.

Speaker 2 (57:22):
Those signs that they found were probably from.

Speaker 3 (57:24):
Probably from him. It appears that he had fallen into
the river near his campsite, survived and he was either
confused or injured, and began wandering deeper into the park
until he passed away.

Speaker 2 (57:37):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (57:37):
So like he had gear on him, yeah, which would
have made it difficult to get out.

Speaker 3 (57:41):
Yeah, he had. And where they found his remains like
he had insulated clothing, he had food. Evidence supporting this
theory was search team has found signs, Like I said,
someone had likely fallen and exited the river. Dog teams
later we alerted to a logjam downstream, which could suggest
he may have fallen into the went downstream in the

(58:02):
water a bit until he hit that logjam, and this
theory clearly fits with all the footprints and scuff marks
they found during the initial search, and it could explain
he crossed the river and continued walking. That would explain
maybe why he was up there. But the problem with

(58:23):
this theory is that it's unclear why he would then
hike uphill an off trail into heavy snow in the
high country rather than going downriver to safety.

Speaker 2 (58:33):
Sure that Okay, I have opinions.

Speaker 3 (58:36):
But it could do Yeah, it could just be because
he was just confused from being cold. Another theory was
intentional solitude spiritual quest. So, like I mentioned very early
on in this episode, he may have deliberately chosen to
venture deep into the wilderness for personal, spiritual, or psychological reasons,
possibly as a test of survival, retreat, or self discovery.

(58:59):
Evidence is support this was obviously he was known to
be introspective and interested in philosophy and wilderness solitude. He
was reportedly reading spiritual and philosophical material in the months
before he vanished, and his family noted that he didn't
share any detailed plans with anyone, which might point to
a personal mission or withdrawal. Points against this theory. There's

(59:20):
no hard evids he intended to die or to disappear,
and his preparations suggest he planned to survive. He brought food, gear,
a survival bow. That's not the behavior of someone planning
to walk into their own death.

Speaker 2 (59:35):
I agree with that.

Speaker 3 (59:35):
So another theory that people have made was some type
of mental health crisis. Jacob experienced mental health crisis, possibly
triggered by isolation, exposure, or personal factors, leading to erratic
behavior and ultimately death in the wilderness. Some of the
evidence that might suggest this so solo wilderness travel can

(01:00:01):
exacerbate or unmask mental health struggles and people. Some disappearances
in national parks have been linked to psychological breakdowns or confusion,
and Jacob's actions leading up to this, So leaving his gear,
crossing a crossing dangerous train, traveling without clear direction could
reflect disorganized or irrational behavior. However, he never showed any

(01:00:26):
prior history of mental illness, and that his behavior before
his trip from those who saw him and were with him,
didn't raise any red flags. Now, obviously you've said this
lots of times. That doesn't mean anything, but yeah, it's
still he.

Speaker 1 (01:00:41):
Maybe you have obvious signs it pushes it more towards
the direction.

Speaker 3 (01:00:44):
And everything he were showing of him the videos, like
he looked happy.

Speaker 1 (01:00:48):
Yeah, it doesn't always mean everything, but like the people
that are around him, if they didn't notice any changes,
I think that well, the spiritual thing, but usually but.

Speaker 3 (01:00:55):
That doesn't seem like a mental health problem.

Speaker 2 (01:00:57):
I won't say.

Speaker 3 (01:00:57):
Usually because I'm not an expert at this, but no, yeah,
I think that just seems like a young guy like
trying to figure himself out.

Speaker 2 (01:01:03):
Yeah, like we've all went through those phases.

Speaker 3 (01:01:05):
Yeah, that's not mental and he had no prior history
of any mental illness. Now that doesn't mean he wasn't
suffering from something, but I just don't think.

Speaker 1 (01:01:14):
I think questioning things like that, especially spiritually, is a
sign of intelligence. Like he's he was twenty two, twenty two,
and he's already thinking about those types of things. Yeah,
I don't think that were meaning of life exactly, Like
that's what I'm thinking about stuff like I was not,
So I doesn't say like like, I think there's a
little bit of a signs of intelligence there, not saying
he wasn't. But that's a little bit more mature than

(01:01:34):
I was.

Speaker 3 (01:01:35):
Yeah, and he's Still he went out there very prepared.

Speaker 2 (01:01:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:01:40):
Again, this wasn't something he just did on a whim.
We've covered cases where it probably is some kind of
mental health issue and those people tend to not prepare
very well for their hike. Yeah, it's more of something
they do on a whim.

Speaker 1 (01:01:56):
Yeah, they just do it like he could have been
going out there to introspect.

Speaker 2 (01:02:00):
Yeah, a little bit.

Speaker 3 (01:02:01):
And I don't even know if just because he was
reading books on philosophy and things like that doesn't necessarily.

Speaker 2 (01:02:06):
Mean I read books on philosophy.

Speaker 3 (01:02:08):
Yeah. A lot of people read Yeah, so it's just
a theory. I wanted to put it out there because
he was trying to connect with that side. So I
don't think that's a very likely theory, and.

Speaker 2 (01:02:17):
I agree with that.

Speaker 3 (01:02:18):
Finally, the least likely theory was foul play, and this
is a there's really no evidence to support it. There
is a lot there are crimes that happened in the
wilderness to go undetected, but there was no evidence suggesting
of assault, robbery, a conflict. His gear was undisturbed and
valuable items were left behind. There were no wounds on

(01:02:39):
the bones, no no disturbance, and there were no witness
reports or rumors from others in the area. So I think,
and then I'll you can tell me what you think.
I think he accidentally fell into the river. It's spring,
it's flowing, the snow melts, the snow is melting. The
rivers up there get real old quick. Yeah, at that time,

(01:03:03):
cold cold as hell. Yeah, and he fell in and
it wouldn't take it wouldn't take you long. That haves
hypothermia set in at forty degree water.

Speaker 1 (01:03:13):
Yeah, and that's I'm one hundred percent on your train
in that one.

Speaker 2 (01:03:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:03:16):
I think with the distance that was covered where they
were finding like attempts to get out or things like that,
he was soaking wet and like I probably told it
like forty times in the show, but I've experienced bad
decision making from people who are suffering mild hypothermia.

Speaker 2 (01:03:31):
Yeah, just in the rain.

Speaker 1 (01:03:33):
Yeah, so not soaking head to toe from a river
of freezing water.

Speaker 3 (01:03:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:03:38):
So that's where I see, Okay, he gets out of there.
If he's already suffering kind of the consequences of that,
you're not gonna do things that make sense if you're
in hypothermia, Like he might be thinking high ground is
something like you can't even put logical reason.

Speaker 2 (01:03:53):
If you're suffering from.

Speaker 1 (01:03:53):
It, you can start doing things that are absolutely would
seem insane to somebody who's not in that state.

Speaker 2 (01:03:58):
Yeah, so yeah, maybe he just.

Speaker 3 (01:04:00):
The rational thing would be to go downstream.

Speaker 1 (01:04:05):
Yes, try and go back to where you fell in
because that's where all your stuff is.

Speaker 3 (01:04:09):
Oh and if you can't get across the river, just walk,
keep going downstream, get to lower elevation.

Speaker 1 (01:04:16):
That would help with someone else got hit by a scooter.
That would have been a great way to he had
one off.

Speaker 3 (01:04:24):
Yeah, you're the rational thing would to go down get
to lower elevation. The weather will be less severe the
lower you go. The last thing you'd want to do
if you're soaking head the toes, hike up onto a
treeless high ridge it's covered.

Speaker 2 (01:04:38):
In snowy Completely agree.

Speaker 3 (01:04:40):
Yeah, I think sadly that fall into the river, assuming that.

Speaker 1 (01:04:44):
Was him, I seemed highly likely based on like how
remote the area is, led to hypothermia.

Speaker 3 (01:04:51):
Because he was still young, fit guy, he was able
to cover a lot of distance in that condition.

Speaker 1 (01:04:56):
So I look this up because I was assuming that
kind of from the beginning. The one thing that I
always try and look for any type of silver lining.
Is overwhelmingly the assumption is it's a very painless death. Yeah,
so like I'm a fall or an injury, Like you
just get sleepy until you fall asleep permanently from hypothermia. Yeah,
so there's one caveat is like he's in a beautiful

(01:05:18):
place doing the thing in love. There's the accent there,
but it was probably very painless outside of the cold.

Speaker 3 (01:05:25):
Would you say to your state of mind isn't the
same levelious.

Speaker 1 (01:05:29):
So you're probably not realizing it, so you like none
of the doom. Maybe maybe you just feel cold. I've
been very cold, And it would be.

Speaker 3 (01:05:36):
Really interesting to talk to someone who survived extreme hypothermia
to get that perspective from it.

Speaker 1 (01:05:42):
Yeah, if anyone's listening that has had that or know
someone that has, Yeah, that would I would be very interesting.

Speaker 3 (01:05:47):
It would be interesting to hear the phases of it
and when what phase has to hit When you kind
of check out consciously from it, you're still like moving
around and doing things, but like almost I don't know.
Maybe it's like you hit you have a short term
memory loss, you don't remember what happened.

Speaker 2 (01:06:07):
I would be very interested that.

Speaker 3 (01:06:08):
I'd be very curious to see and hear from someone
firsthand who's experienced it like extreme hypothermia.

Speaker 1 (01:06:15):
Yeah, I think we're in agreement with probably everybody else.
But thanks again for tuning into our show. We appreciate
you all for listening and sharing locations and known with
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(01:06:36):
can subscribe to her patron account and on YouTube and
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you get extra special stuff yep. And lastly, when enjoying

(01:06:57):
the beauty of nature, whether backpacking, camping, or some taking
a walk, always remember to leave no trace. Thanks and
we will see you all next time.