Lost Camper Went To Extremes To Survive Six Months In The Woods Alone
National park rangers felt a pang of panic when they discovered an abandoned car with little trace of its owner. Piecing together the clues, they feared the mystery camper was alone in the wilderness facing the threat of dangerous wildlife, harsh weather conditions, and a laundry list of potential survival problems. Racing against the clock, they tried to locate the camper before it was too late — but what eventually came to light was far different than anything they could have predicted.
Finding the car
It was a chilly November day in Utah when Forest Service officials stumbled on an abandoned car in one of their lots. How long had it been sitting there? More importantly — where had the owner gone? The officials began to panic. After all, this wasn't the first time someone had gone missing in one of their parks only to never return.
Tent of death
Spanish Fork Canyon is the main attraction in Spanish Fork, Utah. Visitors come to view the breathtaking canyons and spend the night on the campgrounds. In 2014, a camper realized he hadn't heard from his neighboring camper in a few days, so he went to check on his tent. That's when he picked up a peculiar odor.
Smell that?
The man approached his fellow camper's tent, then immediately stopped short. The smell was absolutely atrocious. He tried yelling out the camper's name, but received no reply. He called the authorities and deputies were immediately dispatched. By the time they approached the tent, it was easy to tell by the odor that they wouldn't find good news.
Body found
Deputies unzipped the tent and found the body of 63-year-old Kyle Bryant. His cause of death was never confirmed, but investigators believe he'd died of natural causes. Even still, when park officials were faced with the abandoned car several years later, they were determined to avoid another death on their watch. But where had this latest camper vanished?
