Mesa Verde Mystery Now Solved - The Dale Stehling Disappearance

This video covers new and previously unknown details relating to the disappearance of Dale Stehling in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado.

Link to Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/themissingenigma

E-Mail: [e-mail]

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_missing...

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MissingEnigma

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Hey, there are folks. Well, I didn't expect to be
making this video so soon. And if you watched my
previously released video on Dale staling, then you know I've
been trying for years to get the records on this
case from Mesa Verde. There is so much of that
incident that has been left a mystery. Then all of
the sudden, after years of essentially ignoring me, they decided

(00:41):
to finally just relent and release the records to me.
I gotta admit I wasn't sure that this would ever happen,
much less this quickly after I made my previous video
on Dale staling. But either way, here we are, and
once I got the case file, I knew I had
to drop everything else and release a new video update
on this. And just to a d rest some of
the comments I saw on the previous video, Yes, I

(01:03):
did file a Foyer request for these records after Dale's
remains were found back in twenty twenty one. It really
shouldn't have taken this long, and some folks thought that
I was getting a little too conspiratorial about the NPS,
and that may be true, but it was somewhat warranted.
For example, in twenty twenty two, I was told that
my request was forty sixth in line, meaning that there

(01:26):
were forty five requests ahead of mine. That's not bad,
and I was pretty optimistic about it. However, almost two
years later, when they finally did release the records to me,
they sent me a letter saying I was seventy fifth
in line, but since I had been waiting a while,
they're going to help me out and just fulfill the
request immediately. So again in twenty twenty two, I was

(01:48):
forty sixth in line, and two years later I had
somehow become seventy fifth in line. So after two years,
my request was not moving forward, it was moving back.
I feel it's it's likely that if I had just
left things alone, I probably never would have received a
response at all. Anyway, it's all pretty much irrelevant now
because I got the records, So let's move on. So

(02:10):
the way I'm going to do this is basically go
through their investigation step by step and see what was
going on behind the scenes that we were not privy
to prior to this. I would suggest that you have
watched my recent video on Dale staling, but it's probably
not all that necessary. It would still be helpful to
have some of the background information that's in that video,
and the previous video will undoubtedly have pretty much all

(02:33):
of the on the trail footage that I don't really
have a reason to include in this one. And besides
all that, I think this will be very interesting to
anyone who watched that previous video where we could only
guess at what was happening, because now you get to
hear what was actually going on and see how accurate
or inaccurate the previous video was. You're going to be
getting the same story as the last video, but from

(02:55):
a completely new perspective. I think some folks will be
quite surprised. Anyway, let's get into all the details about
what actually happened to Dale Staling in Masa Verde back
in twenty thirteen. Mitchell Dale Staling was fifty one years

(03:25):
old in June of twenty thirteen. He lived in Goliad,
Texas with his wife, Denen, who worked as a pediatric nurse.
Dale worked for many years as a meat cutter and
market manager for various stores before retiring. The couple had
been married for thirty two years, and during that time
they had raised four children together, two daughters, and two sons.

(03:47):
Dale was a smoker. He reportedly smoked about a pack
a day. He had little or no experience in hiking
or being in the mountains, although he did like to
spend more time outdoors as he got older. He enjoyed fish, gardening, hunting,
and processing his own meat. Dale liked to walk, but
not necessarily hike. His legs would cramp often and he

(04:08):
would need to stop and rest. He would also get
lost easily, and he had a tendency to keep going
when he got lost rather than stop and figure out
where he was. Dale was still a fit man at
six feet tall and two hundred pounds. He often went
on long walks by himself. On Thursday, June sixth of
twenty thirteen, Dale Staling began a road trip with his wife, Deneen,

(04:31):
and also his parents. They left from Goliad, Texas, as
soon as Denean got off work. The trip had been
in planning for around a year, and they intended to
be on the road for about twenty days. The plan
was to see various national parks and monuments throughout New Mexico, Colorado, Utah,
and Wyoming. Dale was especially excited to be visiting Yellowstone

(04:52):
National Park. They were all traveling in an RV, which
was pulling a silver Ford Focus behind it. Eventually they
would make their way out to Oregon, where Dale and
Denied would fly back home while his parents would drive.
They spent the night of June sixth in a town
in West Texas. On Friday, June seventh, they made it
to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the RV started developing some

(05:16):
mechanical problems. Still, they pressed on to Gallop, New Mexico,
where they spent the night. On the morning of Saturday,
June eighth, the RV was taken to a mechanic where
they were told that it couldn't be worked on until Monday.
Since the four pretty much had the entire weekend to wait,
they decided to take some day trips in the Ford Focus.

(05:36):
That Saturday, they went to the Canyon de Che National
Monument and everything went fine. On Sunday, June ninth, they
took another day trip and visited the Four Corners on
the Navajo Reservation. Afterwards, they began heading to Masaverde National Park.
The group arrived at the Masaverde Visitor and Research Center
around one fifteen to one forty five pm, they talked

(05:59):
to a ranger at the information desk about what they
could do in the park. With about half a day,
Dale bought a baseball cap from the store, and then
the group drove into the park. After entering, they stopped
briefly at one of the many overlooks, spending some time
taking in the view and reading the interpretive signs. They
then began heading to the chap In Mesa, where they

(06:19):
had lunch, with Dale eating a sandwich and a coke.
Reportedly he was also drinking a lot of water throughout
the day and staying hydrated. The chap in Mesa is
one of the two main masas within the park and
contains many of the most popular attractions. At around three
point thirty to four pm, the group watched an introductory

(06:39):
film and then walked through the museum. At the Spruce
Tree Terrace, they saw the Spruce Treehouse cliff dwelling behind
the museum, and Dale decided he wanted to go and
see it up close. Back in twenty thirteen, the Spruce
Treehouse was a self guided area, with a couple of
rangers stationed at the dwelling to answer any questions a
visitor might have to day the area is closed. Denean

(07:02):
and Dale's parents believe that the quarter mile loop to
the Spruce Treehouse would be too much of a hike
for them. Instead, they decided to wait on the balcony
of the Chief Ranger's office, where there was a good
view of the cliff dwelling and also the people inside
of it. Essentially, they figured they could keep an eye
on Dale while he went on the hike alone. Denean
offered to run to the car and get Dale a

(07:23):
bottle of water, but he replied that he didn't need
any of it because he was just going over there.
The family believed that they could even zoom in enough
with their camera to get a picture of Dale as
he went down into the dwelling. One of Dale's parents
remembered asking Dale, are you going to go to the
Spruce Treehouse, with Dale responding well, I'm going to go

(07:44):
do something. Dale started down the trail at four fifteen pm,
and just before disappearing from view, he looked up towards
his family and waved. Deneen couldn't remember if he said
I'll see you in a minute or if she was
the one to make the statement. Dale left with only
his wallet, cell phone, cigarettes, and a lighter. As Deneen

(08:05):
watched for Dale to arrive down at the treehouse, she
noticed that other visitors that had started down after him
were arriving there before him. Denean would later tell rangers
that her husband was not a hiker, but a walker,
so she figured it would take him approximately an hour
to get there, explore, and then get back to the balcony.
At some point, a female park visitor arrived and joined

(08:27):
Deneen on the balcony. The woman was hot, sweaty, and
commented on how tired she was because she had taken
the wrong trail and ended up hiking further than she expected.
The fact that there were other trails leading off of
the Spruce Treehouse trail was news to the Staline family.
Deneen then went to check with a ranger at the
museum information desk, who informed her that there were indeed

(08:51):
other trails leading off from the Spruce Treehouse trail. Deneen
went back to the balcony to tell Dale's parents about
this new information. At approximately five fifteen pm, Deneen went
back to the museum information desk and talked with a
ranger Aragon. She told him that Dale went down to
the Spruce Treehouse about an hour prior and she hadn't

(09:12):
seen him since. Ranger Aragon showed her a map and
explained the trails and distances in the area. He told
her that if Dale had taken one of the other trails,
it could easily be two and a half to three
hours before he got back. Deneen left a note with
Ranger Aragon in case she missed him coming back. It said, Dale,

(09:32):
wait for me here at the museum. At approximately six
fifteen pm, Deneen returned to the museum and checked with
Ranger Aragon again. She reiterated that she was worried about Dale,
before wandering through the museum a bit and returning to
the balcony. At six forty five pm, the museum was closed,
so Denean went to the Chief Ranger's office and talked

(09:53):
to a dispatcher named Samantha. Deneen was again told that
it was not uncommon for people to decide that they
want to go and see the petroglyphs and then head
down the trail, not realizing how long it would take.
The trail that the dispatcher is referencing is the Petroglyph Trail,
which is a two and a half mile loop trail
that runs along a very steep canyon. The highlight of

(10:16):
the trail are the ancient pictographs carved into the cliff wall.
Deneen asked the dispatcher at what point should I start
to worry, and the dispatcher told her to give Dale
about three and a half hours, but if at any
point you start to really worry, let me know and
I will call out a search party. An hour later,
at six forty five pm, Deneen returned to the Chief

(10:38):
Ranger's office and requested a search party from dispatcher Samantha.
She told Deneen that she would have a ranger meter
on the balcony to get more information. At this point,
law enforcement rangers Andrew Mankis and Shane Kemp were informed
of the situation. Ranger Mankiss went and talked with the
family and filled out a missing person's questionnaire and also

(10:59):
completed a search urgency chart. All members of the family
were interviewed about Dale's abilities and proclivities, so I will
just compile some of the important bits here. Deneen stated
that Dale wouldn't want to admit that he has lost,
but would probably stay put after dark. Investigators were told
that Dale was unafraid of steep edges and cliffs, and

(11:20):
that he would be unlikely to scramble up or down
anything steep unless he had to. Deneen also said that
Dale would never harm himself. Dale was not very attuned
to his surroundings and could get turned around in his
own backyard. At home, Dale would walk an average of
five to six miles a day. He liked to camp
at Garner State Park, where there are hills and caves

(11:43):
to explore. Dale would plow through brush, not caring about
the terrain. He will see something and set a goal
to get to it, not giving up until that goal
is reached. Dale always took water on his walks, and
if he knew he would be hiking two point eight miles,
he would have taken some with him. Dale would watch
survival reality shows and comment on what he would do

(12:04):
in their situation. If lost, he would walk until he
found something. If he was hurt, he would go back
the way he came. Nobody in the family believed that
Dale would disappear on purpose. They believed that if Dale
was still able, he would be up and walking not
waiting for rescue. An interpretive ranger Caitlin Kuntz was already

(12:24):
out hiking the Petroglyph Point trail and was at the
Petroglyph panel itself when dispatcher Samantha contacted her and told
her about the missing hiker. Ranger Coontz then began hiking
the trail backwards while looking and calling Dale's name. At
around eight twenty pm, Ranger Mankiss started hiking the Spruce
Canyon Trail backwards from the Hogan Loop. Ranger Kemp responded

(12:47):
to the area and started hiking the Spruce Canyon Trail
forwards at eight forty three pm. At approximately eight forty
eight pm, Ranger Coontz reported that she thought she heard
someone calling for help. However, she later decided that it
was other rangers she heard calling out Dale's name. She
also saw a light, but it turned out that that

(13:08):
was other rangers as well. At nine oh eight pm,
Rangers Kemp and Mankus met at the junction of the
Spruce Canyon Trail and the spring House Trail. The spring
House Trail head south deeper into the canyons. They saw
no one and their calls were unanswered. At this point,
they had covered areas both above and in the Spruce Canyon.

(13:29):
They all returned to the Chief Ranger's office after sweeping
the trails a second time. At this point more assistance
was requested. The Mesa top loop was checked and a
foot patrol was done to the west of the road
by multiple personnel. Chap In Mesa was checked on foot
by two teams of fire personnel. They covered pretty much
every location road and trail up on the Mesa. Ranger

(13:53):
Kemp was stationed at the Petroglyph Point trail and the
Spruce Canyon trail junction for containment purposes. Ranger Mankus was
stationed at the Spruce Canyon Trail exit, also for containment.
After chap and Mesa had been swept, all units were
recalled due to the time of night and safety concerns.
There were no reported sightings or responses to calls. All

(14:16):
responding personnel were out of service by eleven twenty seven
pm and were expected to return by six am the
next day. The Stalin family were taken to quarters within
the park where they could spend the night as the
search continued. Rangers answered their questions as best they could
and showed them on a map all of the areas
that had been searched so far. Starting Monday, June tenth,

(14:38):
a briefing was held at six am at the Chief
Ranger's office, which was now designated as the Incident Command
Post or ICP. Chief Ranger Jesse Farias was designated as
the incident Commander. One of the first things that coordinators
wanted to do was bring in some search dogs, so
Dale's parents went back to Gallup to get some scent
articles and medication from the inc capacitated RV and bring

(15:02):
it back. An interview was done with Deneen Staling as well,
and she was asked multiple questions about Dale, but much
of it has redacted. Based on the few words that
are readable, it appears the discussion is about Dale's health
and also some medication he might be taking. Pieces of
sentences such as Staling has used blank off and on

(15:23):
for the past thirteen years and she is positive he
has blank with him on this trip, and Staling has
been blank for a year but since February has become
more blank. All of this seems to indicate some critical
and private information that could be something that might affect
his decision making process. Deneen told the interviewer that Dale

(15:45):
was a walker, not a hiker, and that he would
be gone for hours and could walk far if something
caught his attention. She said he is not a survivalist,
an avid camper, or an outdoorsman, and she did describe
him as directionally challenged. Something interesting and previously unknown was
that the Air Force was monitoring Dale's cell phone number

(16:06):
every fifteen minutes for the first forty eight hours of
his disappearance, and it appears to indicate that Dale had
worked with the Air Force. They were going to report
if there was any activity on his cell phone. Dale's
affiliation with the military was not something I had previously seen,
but certain parts of the report seemed to mention that
Dale comes from a hard military background. On the investigative

(16:28):
side of things, they were trying to definitively prove that
Dale was in the park and that the incident was
not somehow fraudulent. They showed pictures of Dale to rangers
working in the museum, but none of them remembered seeing him.
When Dale's parents returned to the park, they apparently forgot
to grab scent articles for the dogs, and when interviewed

(16:48):
everything they said fell in line with what Deneen said happened.
Security footage from the visitor center was eventually able to
confirm that Dale had actually entered the park. On Tuesday,
Jun eleventh, Missing Persons posters were made and distributed throughout
the park again. One of the Stalings left the park
early in the morning to go to the RV and

(17:09):
grab some scent items for the search dogs to use.
They arrived back around one forty five PM and the
scent articles were collected and distributed to the search dog handlers.
On this same day, an unidentified group, though almost certainly
retired Judge Jess V. Hill and his family stopped by
the ICP. They had seen the missing Persons posters and

(17:31):
believed they had seen Dale hiking the Petroglyft trail on
Sunday evening. They gave an accurate description of Dale and
confirmed it with him when they were shown a picture.
On the day of the disappearance, the family signed in
on the trail register around four PM, and they saw
Dale around this time. In fact, they saw him bypass
the trail register and just start walking down the Petroglyft trail.

(17:54):
The family saw Dale a second time when they were
on the trail and he was sitting in a small
alcol just above the trail. Dale asked the family members
if they knew how far it was to the end.
They told him he was about halfway. Dale responded that
it was too late to go back now, and after
a minute he got up and started down the trail again.

(18:16):
The family stayed in the alcove a while before continuing
on themselves. At approximately five thirty pm, the family caught
up with Dale once again, this time at the Petrolyft panel.
Dale commented on how fast they walked. He continued on
down the trail shortly after the family arrived. They stayed
to observe the panel for a while before leaving. After

(18:38):
the panel, the family came to a point in the
trail where there was a sign that said museum with
an arrow pointing left. However, since that way involved scrambling
up a bit of rock, they didn't think it was
the correct way to go. They also saw a sign
with a small arrow pointing to the right, so they
went that way. They quickly discovered that this was a

(18:59):
lesser use trail, and they only followed it for a
few feet before realizing they couldn't go much further, so
they turned around before moving on. One of the family
turned the small arrow sign to the left so that
it would point the correct way. They did not see
Dale for the rest of their hike. Now, if you've
already seen the first video on this case, you'll know

(19:21):
how important this information is. This family is definitely Jess
Vihill and his family. They came out later and did
media interviews and showed a picture of Dale on the trail.
I personally do not recall seeing this sign when I
hiked the Petroglyph trail in the last video, and the
fact that there was a sign with an arrow pointing

(19:42):
to the right is very dangerous. The correct path is
to the left, and you have to scramble up quite
a bit. I mean it's a bit of a climb.
Dale did not or could not scramble up and downhill sides,
perhaps due to past injury. So we have a misleading
arrow pointing out in an incorrect direction and Dale's reluctance

(20:03):
to try climbing up steep areas. This is the perfect
recipe for getting someone like him lost. So let's continue on.
After being interviewed, investigators realized that everything the family said
fit with the description of Dale. They also had last
seen him at the petroglyph panel, which put Dale about
a mile and a half further than previously known information.

(20:26):
This detailed interview with Jess Vehil provides far more information
than we previously knew about his experience running into Dale
on the trail on Wednesday, June twelfth. It was already
suspected that the search would now be about the recovery
of a body. A bolo or be on the lookout
was put out for Dale in the unlikely chance that

(20:46):
he had walked his way outside of the park. Investigators
also attempted to speak with Dale's doctor, and after overcoming
some issues with Hippa, they were able to do an interview,
the contents of which are unknown. On Thursday, June thirteenth,
an investigator stopped by the family's housing quarters and spoke
to a family member, likely Deneen, in order to pursue

(21:09):
the idea that Dale may no longer be in the park.
Deneen said that Dale had no money with him and
that she had been monitoring their financial situation closely when
she discovered the drug use. So that's an interesting point
and might be a hint about some of the previously
redacted conversations investigators had with Deneen. The investigator asked Deneen

(21:31):
how Dale purchased the baseball cap at the visitors center,
and she said she had given him a bank card,
which he had given back. Deneen was asked to check
her purse, and she did so. The card was not there,
indicating that Dale still had it. And before we continue,
I want to briefly talk about this. I don't reveal
this information lightly. I always try to put myself in

(21:53):
the position of if I was a family member and
I saw this video, how would I feel about it?
But I have to balance that with information that might
be relevant to the disappearance itself. Addiction is something a
lot of people suffer from. I'm in recovery myself, so
I'm very sensitive to the topic. If there wasn't a
possibility that it was relevant to the disappearance, I wouldn't

(22:17):
bring it up. As it happens, it might be despite
the fact that we know very little details about it.
I hate to even speculate about it, but he could
have gotten hurt while in the military and then hooked
on pain pills, and it's as simple as that it's
happened to a lot of people. One note in the
file says that Dale was pain free and feeling good

(22:37):
while at the visitor's center. I think that's just another
clue that this was a man who was suffering. Sometimes
mental health issues can play a large role in the
causes of disappearances. It was a big issue in the
Aaron Hedges disappearance for those who remember that. To leave
out the addiction aspect of that case is to basically
hide the explanation for what occurred. I don't know if

(23:00):
it's the same here. It might not be, but I
do think it's worth mentioning. Moving on, investigators received Dale's
cell phone log from AT and T on this day
as well. They saw the last outgoing call was at
two thirty pm, the day before he disappeared, and the
last incoming call was at one eleven PM, six minutes
before he was on camera at the visitors Center. The

(23:23):
call went to voicemail and was from one of Dale's friends.
They called this friend and interviewed him. He described Dale
as a loner who loved nature and his family. He
believed that if Dale took a good fall of eight
to ten feet, then he wouldn't be able to move
very well. He believed that if Dale was lost, he
wouldn't quit and he would keep moving. Hey, folks, while

(23:45):
editing I found something that I wanted to throw in here.
I discovered a post made online by Dale's sister, Marcy Staling.
In it, she states that Dale was not in the military,
but his father was, and that he did have a
bad injury that left him in pain. Given that information,
I do wonder why Dale's phone would be monitored by

(24:07):
the Air Force. But then again, trying to interpret records
that have heavy redactions can lead to this kind of thing.
I am also fairly certain this is genuinely Dale's sister,
because she has numerous posts online detailing her experience and
feelings surrounding her brother's disappearance. So FYI, it appears that

(24:27):
Dale was not in the military after all. After June thirteenth,
there is no updated incident report, which indicates to me
that the search was scaled back after that day. Still,
searches for Dale would occur periodically, and those were documented
in the report. For example, one occurred in July of
twenty seventeen, where personnel went out to the petroglyph panel

(24:50):
and made their way down slope. Searching the canyon area below.
They found nothing except a non human animal bone. On
another search and roughly the same air, they found some
pieces of tinfoil. Plenty of other searches occurred, sometimes involving
canine units that were trying to sniff out human remains,
and there was the occasional hit of something. One is

(25:12):
documented as being to the south of the intersection of
Spruce and Navajo Canyon. Another canine search showed mild to
moderate interest down Navajo Canyon. The presumption of the handler
was at whatever peaked the dog's interest, it was significantly
further down Navajo Canyon. Still, it appears that most of
the searching was done in areas south of Spruce Canyon

(25:36):
based on the reports and labeled maps. One thing I
was surprised to see, or rather not see in this
case file was the story of Jody Peterson. Jody was
a woman who wrote an article about how she had
hiked the petroglyph trail the day after Dale disappeared, and
that she had heard someone calling for help down in
the canyon when she was near the petroglyph panel. Jody

(25:59):
then returned to the Spruce Terrace and went to the
chief Ranger's office to report what she had heard. She
describes the chief ranger as being relieved, and he told
her that someone had heard calls for help in that
same area the day before. Jody left the area believing
that Dale would be found, but he wasn't. I couldn't
find an interview with Jody or anything even remotely resembling

(26:21):
her testimony in the over three hundred page case file.
I find that kind of strange, and you can deduce
one of two things from that. Either Jody made this
story up for some reason, or the park Service chose
not to create a supplemental report about a witness who
had cries for help in the area where someone disappeared.

(26:42):
And to be honest, I have to think it's the latter,
because Jody's story contains a bit of information that nobody
could confirm until now. Jody said that the chief ranger
mentioned someone else hearing cries for help the night before,
and that turns out to be true. But how would
Jody know that this incident occur word Obviously, the first
person who thought they heard Christ for help would later

(27:04):
decide that they were coming from rangers calling Dale's name. Still,
it appears to me that Jody's story is legitimate, but
it's nowhere to be found in the case file. I
was curious what the NPS did in response to her
hearing christ for help near the panel, but we'll probably
never know before we get into the discovery of the remains.

(27:24):
You may recall from the last video that there were
really only two theories that I presented. One was the
theory that Dale was found in a remote and off
limits part of the park. This theory was based on
a description given by the park spokeswoman after his remains
were discovered. She said his remains were found in a
remote and off limits part of the park west of

(27:45):
the town of Durango. Many people took this to mean
that Dale was found somewhere to the northeast of his
last known location, and I would interpret it that way
as well. That is really the only direction where the
park becomes remote. But how could some and get somewhere
like that. There's so many canyons that he would have
had to cross. It seems totally undoable. Some say it's portals.

(28:08):
The other option, the Okham's razor option, as I put it.
You know, basically, the simplest, most obvious explanation was that
Dale fell into the Spruce Canyon and walked up north
into one of the many offshoot canyons. But these areas
wouldn't really qualify as remote as described by the park
They're all near Maine roads. He would have had to

(28:29):
pass or cross trails at the bottom of the canyon,
and he could have easily walked back up Spruce Canyon
and returned to the terrace. Maybe you had a different
theory about what happened. I saw some people said that
maybe he left the park completely despite what the Park
Service said. I thought that was a valid theory as well.
And once again we finally get to know the answer

(28:50):
to this question, and the answer is there is a
reason they call it Oukham's Razor. On September sixteenth of
twenty twenty Masa where at a Chief Ranger, Jess Ferias,
was contacted by the Investigative Services Branch about possible information
concerning the disappearance of Dale's staling. The ISB received an

(29:11):
anonymous tip on their online tip form from someone stating
they had found Dale's remains while hiking in the East
Fork Canyon. Of the park. This area is closed to
the public. The individual stated that the remains were in
the middle of a river bed and not hard to find.
The original online tip form was included in the case file.

(29:32):
In it, the submitter has to describe the what, where,
and when of the tip. The tipster says they did
not disturb the site at all and identified the body
by a debit card that was sticking out of his wallet.
They say they didn't take anything or even open the wallet,
and that a cell phone was nearby, along with a
belt and both shoes. They give some coordinates, but punching

(29:53):
them in you quickly discover they are incorrect. Usually when
this happens, it's because they messed up a single number
and I quickly figured out which one it was and
found the correct spot where the remains were discovered. This
location is quite a ways up Navajo Canyon, but practically
right next to the Farview Sites, a location I visited

(30:14):
when I was in Mesa Verde. Basically, in my opinion,
this location is about as far from remote as you
can get. It's maybe a mile from a popular tourist site.
On September seventeenth, at twelve forty pm, agents and rangers
hiked into the East Fort Canyon via the Farview site
to investigate the report. The investigators also discovered the coordinates

(30:38):
were incorrect, but figured things out anyway, and the remains
were found at approximately one forty five pm. They were
about four point two miles from where Dale was last
seen back in twenty thirteen. A Texas driver's license, credit card,
and social Security card indicated that the remains were presumably
those of Dale, staling no indications of foul play we

(31:00):
were discovered in the immediate area. As the coroner collected
the evidence and the remains at the scene, rangers searched
the area for more evidence or bones that may have
been scattered due to weather and animals. The investigation was
completed and all human remains collected around five pm that day,
at which point the team hiked back out of the

(31:20):
canyon towards the Farview site. The coroner's report indicates that
the skeleton was mostly complete, with some bones missing. Portions
of the report are redacted, mostly relating to Dale's medical history.
Some of the bones showed evidence of animal predation. In
the end, the remains were consistent with the mail of
roughly Dale's age and height. In the end, I think

(31:50):
we really got a full explanation in this case. In
other cases, even when remains are found, we don't always
get that we have Dale staling. He's a pretty good
walker on flat terrain, but his body is in pretty
rough shape. He's in pain, maybe from some past injury
or something else. He could be addicted to some substance,
maybe pain pills, but we really don't know. There's a

(32:13):
big question about how this might have affected his behavior
and decision making, but that information has all been redacted.
Other than that, Dale is directionally challenged and would try
to walk his way out of a situation like being lost.
His family describe him almost like a terminator or something,
a guy who just keeps walking without regard for directions

(32:33):
or where he's going. He just keeps walking and plowing
his way through whatever is in front of him. I
think it's important to keep all of this in mind
as we go through the timeline of Dale's disappearance. I
also want to clearly show the layout of this location.
The Spruce Tree Terrace resides atop the Spruce Canyon. The
Petroglyph Trail runs along the side of the Spruce Canyon,

(32:56):
to the left of Spruce Canyon, there are wickup and
Nava cans. These are his only other options for a
northward direction of travel. You could go south in this
area and follow the canyon for seven to eight miles
and you would eventually reach a road. But for anyone
winding up in the canyon here, the best and most
obvious direction should be to go back up Spruce Canyon

(33:19):
where there are trails, people and safety. Let's get into
the timeline. Dale leaves his family at the start of
the trailhead at the Spruce Tree Terrace. He walks down
the paved walkway towards the Spruce Treehouse. He is seen
by the Vihill family while they are signing the Petroglyff
Trail register. He casually bypasses them, walking down the Petroglyff

(33:42):
Trail and away from the Spruce Tree House. Everything about
their description makes it sound like Dale was not paying
attention to what he was doing and where he was going.
So Dale starts down the trail. Eventually he stops to rest,
which is very consistent with what his family says about him.
It's a member of the Vihill family. How much further

(34:02):
he has to go, they tell him he's about halfway,
and he says it's too late to turn back. This
is more indication that he had no idea what trail
he was on, where it went, or how long it was.
Dale is again seen by the Vihill family at the
petroglyph panel. He doesn't say anything of substance, but they
see him walk off after they arrive. This is the

(34:24):
last time Dale is seen alive. But I think the
most important part is what the Vihill family describes. Next,
they come to the end of the canyon portion of
the trail. This is where you have to actually climb
up some large stones. I didn't really get any good
footage of it while I was there because I needed
to be able to use my hands. Anyway, you come

(34:45):
to the end of the trail and you have to
climb up the canyon wall to the left. I don't
recall seeing any sign being there. I just remember looking
around and recognizing it was the only real way to
continue on. But I was there over a decade after
after this incident, the sign was likely removed, and I
knew the shape of the trail, the length of it,
and I had a GPS. When the Vihill family was

(35:08):
there in twenty thirteen. There was a sign that said museum,
which makes sense because the loop trail takes you back
to the museum. There was also an arrow sign, but
it was pointing the wrong way. It was pointing to
the right. The Vihill family instinctively went down this incorrect
path because it seemed to make more sense to them
than having to climb up the rock face, but they

(35:31):
quickly realized that the trail they were on was old
and incorrect. I would bet my money that Dale did
the exact same thing the Vihill family did, but he
kept going. In my last video, I mentioned that All
Trails shows a short spur trail right in this area
that leads down into the canyon. I didn't see it
while I was there, but it is evidence of a

(35:52):
trail in that area, and it seems highly likely that
it was the trail that Dale took, and one way
or the other, it took him down into the canyon.
Once he was down there, he would have lost the
trail completely, and all of his family seemed to indicate
that he was not in good enough shape to scramble
up rock faces if he fell or got lost. Dale

(36:12):
going down the wrong path seems to make more sense
than a fall. You would think if he fell, he
would have immediately called for help, and the judge and
his family would have been right there in the area,
but they heard nothing. I think that perhaps Dale was
just wandering down the spur trail when he went off
trail and was just not paying attention. Eventually he must
have got to the bottom and that was that. Calls

(36:35):
for help may or may not have been heard in
this area later on in the evening and into the
next day. We can't really confirm what those people heard,
but Deneen seemed to think that Dale would stay put
after dark, so maybe he did, and that's why calls
for help were heard by Jody the following day. But
ultimately Dale's family did seem to agree that if he

(36:56):
could walk, he would walk, So I imagine that at
some point Dale just started walking, and because searchers were
not stationed at the mouth of Navajo Canyon, or even
Spruce Canyon for that matter, Dale was able to walk
right by the search perimeter. Normally, you'd think that a
person in this position would have just been able to
walk north back along Spruce Canyon and link up with

(37:18):
one of the many trails in the area and make
it to safety. But instead, it appears Dale walked north
into Navajo Canyon, crossing the spring House Trail, and moving
four miles up the canyon before dying. Had he stayed put,
he likely would have been found. Had he moved back
up Spruce Canyon, the same canyon that houses the Petroglyph Trail,

(37:40):
he would have certainly been found. But Dale was directionally challenged.
His family makes it sound like he would just walk
without thinking about it too much. Originally, I couldn't see
how Dale could miss the obvious path back up Spruce Canyon,
but now I'm thinking that maybe he could, based on
everything his family said about it. He really tried to

(38:00):
walk his way out of there, but Navajo Canyon is long,
and he didn't know enough about the park and its
layout to realize that he wasn't walking in a good
direction and to really give you a good image of
the path Dale took. This video is of me at
roughly the midpoint of the Petroglyph trail, right where the
canyon part of it ends, and you're forced to climb

(38:22):
up to the mesa to get the shot. I walked
off trail a bit and stood on a large boulder.
The big canyon in the top right corner is the
direction Dale went. He must have gone down the steep
hillside around here and walked into the mouth of that canyon,
which splits shortly after entering it. He would have ended
up taking the right hand canyon, which is Navajo. From

(38:45):
this bird's eye view, I can't help but think how
difficult it would be for me to get confused and
walk that direction if I went down into the canyon.
But then again, I'm sure things seem different when you're
actually down there. Maybe Dale really did lose true of
which canyon he came out of. The Park Service, for
their part, seemingly chose to withhold information for absolutely no reason.

(39:08):
I mean, this location is not remote, it's right next
to a road, it's not inside any protected ruins, It's
in a dry river bed, So the Park Service lost
a bit of credibility with their complete misdirection. They also
stated that this area was searched before, but I can
literally find no evidence of that. Everything I've seen shows

(39:29):
that the search was all in and around the Petroglyph
trail area. But given the information they learned about Dale
and his willingness to walk himself out of being lost.
I do think they should have sent people up those
canyons when the search was happening. And I hate to
make comments like that, you know, hindsight is twenty twenty.
I wasn't there on the ground at the time and

(39:50):
all that, but given what they were told about Dale,
you would think it would cross their minds that he
could have walked north up one of those canyons after
getting stuck down there. And there's also something to be
learned here about staying put and trying to signal people
instead of moving. I mean, the one thing that crossed
my mind that I would have done in this situation,

(40:11):
and if I knew nothing about the layout of the
park or where I was, is use the lighter. It
has mentioned multiple times that Dale had a lighter with
him for his cigarettes, and he could make fire. There
is a ton of dry brush down in that canyon.
I'm not suggesting he start a wildfire or anything, but
I would clear out a large circular area of anything burnable,

(40:35):
create a big space that is all dirt or even rock,
and then make a small pile of some dry brush
and light it up. The searchers would have probably seen
that fairly quickly, and you can really minimize the risk
of creating a wildfire if you do things properly. I
wonder if it ever crossed his mind to try and
set a signal fire somewhere. Ultimately, I think it was

(40:58):
Dale's desire to handle thinks himself that may have killed him.
So many disappearances end in death because the individual attempts
to walk their way out without really knowing where they're
walking to. Instead, it's far more beneficial to stop and
think your way through the situation. What do you have
to work with that can help you? If you know

(41:19):
you're still near a trail, then stay put instead of
wandering around and hoping to find it. It would seem
that a lot of factors combine to create this incident,
but that's how it almost always is. You have Dale
known as the walking man, maybe not paying attention. You
have misleading signage. Dale is only good on flat terrain.

(41:40):
It was a recipe for disaster. But once again we
have a case where the lack of information made it
seem strange or unnatural. This is a missing four to
one one case where it was suggested that Dale fell
into a portal or something and got transported somewhere else.
This was a case where the NPS released misleading in information,

(42:01):
but in the end, when all of the information comes out,
a scenario forms that really kind of makes sense. I
could see how the scenario I described could have happened,
and it all comes down to the flaws and the
way people think, the way they act, and even the
terrible signage used by the NPS. Either way, we now
know the truth about the disappearance and death of Dale Staling.

(42:24):
As is often the case, the cause is very human.
So until next time, thanks for watching.