Hello and welcome to Missing Persons Mysteries
For some, a walk in the wilderness can be the perfect getaway from everyday
life and a chance to reconnect with mother nature.
For others, the great outdoors can be a dangerous place and unfortunately,
it is a place where many people meet their end or mysteriously vanish.
Let's take a look at these four cases of people who mysteriously disappeared into the wilderness.
But before we begin...
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At Number 4, we have:
Bryan Skilinski
40-year-old Bryan Skilinski was at a turning point in his life, he was
admittedly in the midst of a mid-life crisis and was desperately seeking answers and a purpose.
He told CBS Denver “I was trying to find motivation for the next 40 years of my
life. I wanted to exert myself. I didn’t want to go to the extremes that I did.”
In a bid to clear his head and reconnect with mother earth,
Bryan headed out into the Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve.
What should have been a life-changing expedition almost turned into a tragedy.
On February 11th Bryan entered the Great Sand Dunes National Park, headed for the Cold Creek
drainage, which would have seen him hiking 10 miles around the perimeter of the park.
The Cold Creek drainage is located at the base of Mt. Herald and would have
provided Bryan with speculator views and the perfect amount of quiet time to clear his head.
Some time into his walk, the conditions changed and he encountered snowdrifts.
Any other person would turn around and head back to their car, but Bryan had other ideas.
In an interview with CBS Denver, he said “I said this isn’t going to
stop me. Three feet isn’t going to stop me. Four feet isn’t going to stop me.
I’m going to keep going. Why? I couldn’t tell you.”
Unfortunately, this mistake would almost cost Bryan his life.
After becoming stranded, Bryan soon realized the mistake he had made.
He had no shelter, no clothes, and only two small meals, meant to sustain him for one day.
As
the sun rose on the second day, Bryan desperately tried to continue and fight to find his way home.
The freezing temperatures and snow did little to help and by the third day,
he had to cut the laces and tongues out of his boots as they had frozen over.
Now with damaged boots, no food, no water, and no warm clothes, Bryan carried on walking.
To make matters worse, Byran had gotten lost and had found himself on the sand dunes.
His absence hadn’t gone unnoticed though and by the 5th day of him being missing,
Rangers from the park noticed that his car had been parked there an unusually long time.
After failing to make contact with the owner, they set about looking for him.
Park Rangers along with volunteers, horse, and aerial units began scanning the park,
looking for any sign of the missing man, but there was nothing.
Sniffer dogs were even brought in and whilst his footprints and scent were found, Bryan wasn’t.
As the 5th day was drawing to a close, the outlook
was looking bleak and Bryan’s chance of survival was growing slimmer and slimmer.
Then, a miracle happened. He told CBS Denver “I had given up on my mission to the stars. I
saw a road and that’s when I was discovered by rescuers.” He was escorted to the Great
Sand Dunes Visitor Centre. He said “I walk in there and I see a picture of myself on the
bulletin board and a map. To be honest with you I didn’t even think people were looking for me.”
It was a miracle, Bryan had been found alive and well, after surviving for 5
days in below-freezing temperatures and without food, water, or shelter.
His extremities had suffered from frostbite but he refused to accept medical treatment.
Instead, all he asked of his rescuers was to help him get back home to New York.
Bryan’s story doesn’t end here though,
this wouldn’t be the last time that he would disappear into the wilderness.
In early May 2017, Bryan Skilinski would hit the headlines once again
when he disappeared from the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.
According to reports, Bryan went missing and again,
Park Rangers discovered his car in a picnic area and tried to track him down.
When they failed to do so, they got together a search and rescue
team but this time, the outcome wasn’t as bright.
Unfortunately, bad weather prevented the search teams from conducting a thorough search,
and on June 28th, 2017 his body was discovered, covered with deep snow.
Number 3: Randy Rascoe
On November 19th, 2015, Park Rangers at the Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky
noticed that a car had been sitting in the car park for around 2 weeks.
This immediately set alarm bells ringing and after doing some digging,
they discovered that it belonged to 44-year-old Randy Rascoe.
As the car had been there for some time, the park rangers set about
searching for Randy right away but when he couldn’t be found in or near the car park,
they opened an investigation and widened their search.
Park Rangers and investigators contacted Randy’s family to see if they had spoken
to him but chillingly, they had been out of contact for a few months.
According to his sister, Sherry “Up until May 2015, everything was normal,
on a regular basis he was doing his normal things. Hunting. Fishing and
kept in contact with our brother who lived close to his Bowling Green apartment.”
Then one day out of the blue, he packed up his belongings,
quit his job, had his post forwarded to another address and then just left.
Sherry said that they filed a missing person report after they found out he
had just fled and were worried as he had recently gotten divorced.
For a month, the Rascoe family waited for any news and in June,
he was found safe and sound in Washington state.
Randy made it clear that he didn’t want to speak to his family at that time and wanted to be alone.
As painful as it was, his family respected his boundaries and
assured him that they would welcome him back with open arms when he was ready.
For the next few months, it is believed that Randy traveled around the US,
all whilst maintaining his privacy and secrecy.
His family didn’t know that anything was wrong until the Mammoth Cave National Park
Rangers contacted them to let them know that his car had been found abandoned.
With this second disappearance, his family hoped that there would be a
positive resolution, but unfortunately, as of 2022, Randy is still missing.
Search crews, volunteers, and The Civil Air Patrol all joined in in the search for Randy,
scouring the over 53,000 acres of land in the park.
Despite their best efforts and multiple searches, no sign of Randy has ever been
found and his car is the only clue we have in terms of his mysterious disappearance.
Randy Rascoe is described as a white male, 6’2” with black hair,
hazel eyes, and a slim athletic build.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the
Mammoth Cave National Park Watch on 888 219-1599 and leave a voicemail.
Number 2: Maureen Au Kelly
19-year-old Maureen Kelly embarked on what she thought would be a spiritual adventure
of a lifetime, however, this adventure quickly turned sour and she has been missing ever since.
On June 9th 2013, Maureen and a group of friends arrived at the Canyon Creek
Campground in the Gifford Pinchot National Park, ready to camp and hang out together.
The friends were relaxing and taking in the natural beauty of the park when
Maureen abruptly announced that she was going on a “spiritual adventure”.
She took off all of her clothes, removed her shoes, and was equipped with nothing
but a bum bag that is believed to have held a pocket knife, a compass, and a few matches.
After declaring that she was going on a spiritual adventure,
Maureen headed out into the woods, never to be seen again.
Maureen didn’t tell her friends how long she was going to be or even where she was headed but they
figured she would be back within a few hours to tell them all about her spiritual journey.
As darkness rolled around and Maureen still hadn’t returned, the group of
friends alerted the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office and she was officially reported missing.
There were added concerns about her welfare due to the fact that she had left without clothes,
shoes, food, and water, and within hours, a huge search and rescue mission began.
Volunteers, park rangers and search and rescue coordinators combed through the park,
looking for any sign of her but despite their best efforts, she had vanished into thin air.
One clue did surface though and as search teams were looking on the ground,
they came across footprints that were the same size as Maureen’s.
Working on this clue, sniffer dogs were brought in, in an attempt to
trace her scent but due to rainfall, they were unable to pick up anything.
The footprints showed that Maureen had perhaps headed north towards Forest Service 54 Road but,
as previously mentioned, the trail ended where the road began.
Helicopters were unable to search for Maureen in the initial hours and days
following her disappearance due to severe weather conditions.
19-year-old Maureen Kelly remains missing and the Skamania County
Sheriff’s Office is still no closer to finding out what happened to her.
Many believe that she succumbed to the elements that night,
but as her body has never been found, we do not know for sure.
Maureen is described as an Asian Pacific Islander with black hair,
brown eyes, 5’7'', and 150 - 160 lbs.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office at 509
427-9490 quoting case number 13-04081.
Number 1: at Hammontre
On April 11th 2019 68-year-old Kat Hammontre, her dog Tootsie, her husband, her daughter and
a group of other hikers set off into the San Felipe Desert in Baja, California, Mexico.
The group were either headed for or near the Diablo Canyon when tragedy struck.
According to the Seattle Times, Kat had lived in Mexico for the past 20 years
and would often make the trip to Seattle, Washington to visit her friends and family.
The details surrounding Kat’s disappearance are sparse, but here is what we do know.
According to Kat’s daughter, Desiree Blair, about 10 minutes into the hike,
Kat complained that she had hurt her foot or ankle
and told the group that she would take a quick break whilst they continued.
Her husband later commented that the injury seemed severe and he
believed that Kat had broken her foot or ankle.
The group left Kat and her dog, Tootsie behind as they made their
way to the waterfall and as they circled back around, Kat was nowhere to be found.
Her husband, Warren Sundquist went and waited at their car,
thinking that perhaps she had headed there, but she never showed up.
Hours passed and as there was no sign of Kat, the group and her family reported her missing.
Kat was very familiar with the area and showed no concerns about being
left alone whilst the others finished their hike.
She also apparently showed no signs of distress, making her disappearance all the more mystifying.
After Kat was reported missing, search and rescue crews, volunteers, and the Mexican
Armed Forces all pitched in to help find her, but as of 2022, nothing has ever been found.
The authorities in San Felipe did believe at one point that
someone in the hiking group may have been responsible, however,
everyone present was extensively questioned and no charges have been brought about.
One theory suggests that Kat perhaps stumbled across cartel
activity and that she was taken out for what she saw?
Another theory is that Kat was attacked by a wild animal, but the first attending
officers noted that the scene was devoid of any signs of a struggle and there was no blood.
Kat Hammontre remains missing and her family are desperate for answers.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the San Felipe Police Department on 686 577-1134.
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