Search continues Friday morning for this missing sixteen-year-old girl from Cincinnati Ohio.
This is Fauna Jackson she was in Grand Teton National Park with a service organization
when her co-workers say she went to the restroom and did not return...
Crews find their first clue in a massive search for a local girl
missing in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park. Sixteen-year-old Fauna Jackson was last seen
Thursday morning and late last night searchers found her hiking boot but investigators don't
think she was wearing it when she disappeared. The north side girl was doing trail work with
a group called Groundwork USA. Jackson went on a bathroom
break and never returned. Since then more than a hundred
people, dogs, helicopters and planes with infrared imaging have been looking for her.
At this point no one knows for sure what caused her disappearance.
All I can tell you is that we're very concerned for her welfare.
We're concerned about her family
and we hope that she's found as soon as possible and that she's in the best of health.
Jackson who's a 10th grader at Clark Montessori High School was one of
three teens from this area chosen to take part in the program at the Grand Teton.
We're all just so relieved that she's ok! The search tonight is over for a missing
Cincinnati teen who was gone at the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming but the
impact of her disappearance made on those who were with her will not be forgotten...
Hello Friends! Today we'll be discussing the disappearance of Fauna Jackson.
As we've come to know by now, if we've been following the case of people who go missing
and disappear in our world's forests and deep woodland areas it's always a relief when someone
is found safe and relatively unharmed. We all know how quickly something can
go wrong and how being found at all let alone unharmed and uninjured is
somewhat of a miraculous event in and of itself. This case has a lot of unanswered questions but we
decided to bring you all the information we could find on it. Well because it's still an absolute
mystery as to not only why this young woman was found the way she was but also why such extreme
and drastic measures were taken by the authorities involved to protect her after she was found.
Here is the case of the strange disappearance of Fauna Jackson and the aftermath.
Sixteen-year-old Fauna Jackson is from Cincinnati Ohio, United States.
She was a member of The Cincinnati Children's Choir and attended Clark
Montessori High School in Cincinnati.
She was on a volunteer mission in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
With a group of about twenty other young people who were working for
the non-profit organization called Groundwork USA.
Which focuses on environmental and civic projects
which are mainly geared towards working with marginalized groups in local communities.
Groundwork USA teams are formed to work on environmental issues
improve their career skills and take part in conservation and restoration project.
Fauna was a member of the Cincinnati Mill Creek Chapter of the organization
and she and her group were working on what's only being described as a trail project by the media.
This is where she was and what she was doing on the morning of Thursday, August 4, 2016.
When she excused herself to go to the bathroom but then never returned back to the group.
Of course she was reported as missing right away and a search began immediately.
After all this area is known as bear country and everyone was worried about what would
happen to the young woman had she been forced to spend the night outside in the dark woods.
The local wildlife wasn't the only worry either as the temperatures had began dropping to
freezing or below overnight to the park. A search began for the girl in earnest
growing into a group of 60 people then later
on Friday more than 100 searchers combing the area for any sign of her.
The FBI became involved and fears were heightened when a single hiking boot was found.
A discovery The National Park Service reported on Friday evening.
The puzzle of Fauna's disappearance only deepened when officials reported that she was not believed
to have been wearing hiking boots when she left the volunteer group the day before.
Concern was mounting as each minute ticked by about the shape she would be in
if she was eventually found as severe thundered lightning storms had moved over the area the
first night she had spent missing out there. This on top of the aforementioned freezing
or below temperatures and the large bear population were terrifying and left some
feeling very dismayed about a positive outcome. Rangers searched the area and when they
couldn't find her they called in search crews a helicopter dog search teams and
other authorities also took part in the two-day search that resumed early Saturday.
Missing person notices were posted in the area where she disappeared.
Robin Corathers, Executive Director of Groundwork Cincinnati said Jackson was excited about
going to Wyoming to work on the project and there were no indications of any problems.
She did great work she loved working outside and demonstrated leadership potential.
This was unexpected and there were no warning, she said.
The statement came hot on the heels of Fauna being found alive and well and safe on Sunday morning.
Just a little more than 48 hours after she had first been reported as missing.
The Wyoming Civil Air Patrol conducted flights over the park in search of her and a combination
of their surveillance and some reported sightings on the ground led to Jackson being found.
The strange part of this whole situation though is not only how fatal was found
but her strange reaction to the search and rescue teams who actually found her.
It's all a very bizarre story.
You see, Fauna was unharmed, yes. But it seems she had altered her own appearance.
Though no one was able to describe what Fauna was wearing when she was found.
Reports were confirmed that from the point of her disappearance to when she was found
she'd cut her hair died in a different color and was wearing different clothing.
The teenager had a pack with her but it was not yet known
how she spent the two nights while she was missing
she was found in an area of open sage brush close to the hills in The Grand Tetons National Park.
However she was not found on the slopes of the well-known mountains in the park
where search and rescue services are more often called to help hikers or climbers in distress.
She was located only about three or four miles from where she disappeared
on a spot called the Snake River Overlook.
She was a little less than a mile from a highway that leads to Yellowstone National Park
when approached by three Rangers and a Sheriff's Deputy, Fauna actually fled on
foot... she took off running from them and tried to get even deeper into the forest
so to avoid detection and being located again by the very people who were there to help her.
The numerous agencies and volunteers who'd gone out there to search for and
the very same people who were praying for a safe return she was running away from.
After fleeing, however same three Rangers and one Deputy gave chase and managed to catch up
with the teenager very quickly. When they did reach her they
had to physically restrain her she was kicking and fighting and trying to get
out of their grasp and run away again. Obviously she did not want to be found
or returned to her parents or life before she went missing. But why?
Well that's the thing... we still to this day have no answers on that. The authorities placed Fauna
in protective custody and notified family members who immediately set out to go and collect her. Why
had taken these family members more than two days to get the Tetons when their loved one who was
very young in my had had gone missing? Apparently by choice and with a well-prepared plan no less.
Weren't they notified right away? Why was Fauna immediately squirreled away and placed
in protective custody instead of just being detained as a regular runaway would have been?
Why all the extreme secrecy and seemingly cloak and dagger practices on Law Enforcement and Park
Personnel? Why the smoke and mirrors essentially? If this was just your run-of-the-mill teenage
runaway looking to start fresh without thinking it through as Fauna obviously hadn't been,
then why was there nothing more ever reported about any of it?
How had she been able to so drastically change her appearance? And actually how
do we even know it was she who did this? What was the motivation behind Fauna's
disappearance and why has she gone so far as to cut and dye her own hair
These are all questions that still remain unanswered as of the release of this video.
While we are well aware of all the rumor and speculation surrounding this particular case
and its aftermath... keep in mind folks, that we are dedicated to reporting to you the facts.
The best of our ability of collecting them and don't worry about much of all the unsubstantiated
gossip involving any of the missing person cases we cover here on this channel.
We hope that Fauna is doing well as she is now in her twenties and
still hasn't spoken publicly about the incident
Well there you have it! What do you think of this strange case?
I look forward to your comments on this video. But please keep it friendly and respectful.
In the meanwhile be good to yourselves and each other and I'll see you a little
farther on down the trail. I'm Steve Stockton and I'll talk to you next time!