The Most Disturbing Photo in Pacific Crest Trail History
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- čas přidán 26. 04. 2023
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Chris Sylvia disappeared on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2015.
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Saw a tent in a campsite years ago. Was abandoned as far as we could tell. Finally looked and a guy had shot himself. You never know. Cops seemed like this was a common occurrence.
17 years in Search and Rescue leads me to believe he committed suicide. When doing an initial interview with family and friends the first question we ask is what was he/her mental state. If they were suffering from depression and especially have tried or thought of suicide in the past it’s almost always a body recovery from a suicide. Especially in men.
My feeling is suicide. The staged scene but mainly the ID left behind. I think he called the friend to meet him there, knowing these items would be found. Years from now some hikers will probably be way off trail and will stumble upon his remains. My overall feeling was one of overwhelming depression and sadness. A very sad story.
Yeah. Did a lot of "camping" in the military, and that gear doesn't look right. That's in my neck of the woods, and there's a variety of random desert rats, drug smugglers, and illegals in the area so foul play is more plausible to me than it would be up North in the Sierras. There have been adult males taken by mountain lions in SOCAL, but I think they'd have found remains in that case.
The gear did look staged. The best friend is what came to my mind. 8 years and no resolution to this case. I feel for the family. 🌻👣
I live fairly close to Mike's Place (El Cajon) and I've never heard this story. This is a very well traveled area but it is in an elfin forest with a lot of large chaparral bushes that could easily hide a body. There are mountain lions in the area but attacks are super rare. Perhaps he went off to poop and was attached by a mountain lion and dragged off into the bushes? It would be really hard to find a body in this case. As a solo backpacker this sort of scenario is always a concern. I hope some answers come for his family's sake.
As a long distance hiker, I can’t see Chris’ gear, being found like it was, would’ve been set up that way by Chris…foul play is what my gut tells me. Looks more like his things, after being gone through, was set out by someone who doesn’t really understand how a backpacker hikes and what his daily life consists of. And someone who decides to make a suicide attempt doesn’t give a shit anymore. You don’t call a friend to pick you up if you intend to take your life. You just go off and do it.
Can’t imagine just not being worried enough about a friend to not do anything when they fail to show in this situation.
My gut feeling says foul play. Think about it. Near southern border, alone, not really experienced and all his stuff was found. Unfortunately most crimes never get solved. The world is a pretty dangerous place so everyone please be careful out there.
The really big red flag is that there were LARGE stones under his mat. That kind of mat gives a little warmth from the bare ground but is basically useless for good sleeping on even mildly uneven or rocky ground. No real hiker would lay a mat like that. It does seemed staged by "someone".
I wonder if the bff's story was ever checked out. They may have been close but there was tension for some reason. And he waited a whole week to report him. I'm very very skeptical. My spidey senses are telling me the bff knows a lot more than he's letting on 🤔😒
His sleeping bag looks like it was just pulled straight out of its stuff sack and laid down on the mat quickly. His whole cowboy camp looks like it was set up by someone completely unfamiliar with camping/hiking and left there as a false lead. I suspect he’s met with foul play.
Sad that these stories exist. You're doing a great job telling them and I'd guess the families are thankful that loved ones are still known about and giving these attention.
I agree that the item placement is suspect. As for disappearing Willingly, there's no reason to leave gear and ID. He has every right to disappear and he can sell/trade his gear later. Cartel activity? They'd just shoot him and leave him nearby behind a Bush. When you mentioned Twelve Tribes having a presence on the PCT, I had to pause. That's a possibility. I don't think he met with random foul play. A bum would take all of his gear to sell, etc. Its a conundrum, for sure.
Just booked a quick camping trip, no better time to psych myself out 😬
I’ve been to that Buddhist temple! It’s called Lieu Quan Meditation Center. The gate is always open so you can just go in. Beautiful place! Mikes Place is like 5-7 miles down that dirt road. It ends at the Lost Valley Boy Scout camp. Definitely some wilderness area. I get a feeling he either took his own life or he was killed. Maybe he really did show up to the temple and the friend went back to his camp and they had a fight? The photo does look staged. I wish his parents got some closure. So sad.
The gear is set up for drying your quilt. But something spooked Chris to run away without grabbing his gear.
If I were Chris' friend, I'm sure I would have tried calling Chris immediately to find out why he hadn't met me at the designated place. Also, curious to know why Chris did not have his ID on him.
You are so thorough and so respectful towards the people in your content. This is really sad and scary. 🧡🙏
I never normally theorise about these cases, but as someone who has suffered with depression and strong suicidal ideation for my entire adult life, as soon as you talked about them finding his belongings I felt sure it was suicide. To someone who has thought about this stuff, all the pieces fit together. He rang his friend because he wanted to make things right because the suicide was planned. His gear was laid out like that because he knew what he was going to do and never intended to sleep there, so the rocks and stuff didn't matter. He left it close to the trail so it would be found easily, and he left his ID with his things so they would know who it had belonged to. He killed himself in this way because he didn't want his loved ones to know it was suicide in case they felt guilty. So in this way, they might just think it was an accident. He probably didn't even consider that they might think it was foul play. I think if someone had killed him, they would have hidden or destroyed his belongings or at least his ID to help cover their trail. If he had just wandered off and had an accident somewhere, they would have found his body. If he'd planned a suicide, he probably thought very hard about how he could guarantee he wouldn't be found. Of course it's possible he joined a cult or ran away to start a new life, but this is the scenario that made the most sense to me, and I didn't hear anything in your video that contradicted it. My heart is with his brother, the roomate, and all his loved ones as I'm sure it's heartbreaking not to have answers. But if it was suicide, I totally get it from his POV.