The Cold Vanish: Seeking the Missing in North America's Wildlands

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These are the stories that defy conventional logic. The proverbial vanished without a trace incidences, which happen a lot ... I saw the title and cover, then read the blurb, and my interest was peaked. I had to know what Jon Billman had to say in this true story of the missing across the country. Searchers use the acronym POS and sometimes joke that it stands for "piece of shit." It stands for probability of success, finding the missing. At this point the POS still remains high—the bike's owner will come walking out of the bush and greet them with a hello.

The Cold Vanish by Jon Billman | Hachette Book Group

A compassionate, sympathetic, and haunting book sure to make you think twice before stepping out into the wilderness alone. Kevin Fedarko, author of The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon There are many holes, but they aren't worm holes. Karst formations have plenty of small sinkholes. Step into one and you can disappear forever. There are many thousands of prospecting holes over most of our national forests and ither public lands. Most of those were either never capped or done poorly. Again, its easy to disappear if you step into the wrong prospecting hole or even old unmarked mine shaft. This memoir about the mystery of Cumming’s mother’s identity and her abduction when she was three years old is beautifully descriptive yet reads almost like a thriller as the past unspools. With her mother, Cumming sifts through objects, photographs, police reports, and shadows of memories as they piece together the story of the missing persons in her mother’s life and her missing past. She quotes St Augustine: “The dead may be invisible, but they are not absent.” A stunning reflection on how we forget, remember and love, even those who have been missing all our lives.Jacob was not a mentally ill loner with no friends. This representation of Jacob has devastated his family and friends to no end. Jacob was a a wonderful person. He loved everyone deeply and was compassionate. He took his job at the retirement home seriously and his disappearance devastated the residence and his former boss. During the search, they constantly asked me if he was found yet and were heartbroken with the negative outcome. He spent time with each resident, joking with them and listening to their stories. When he delivered food to residents who were bedridden, he would sit at their bedside and spend an extra 10 minutes to talk with them. This was not required for his job as a dishwasher/kitchen helper. While working at the retirement home, he was also attending college. He was trying to figure out a career that would help the most people. He considered law enforcement, Rescue, and even becoming an EMT. But, he decided to major in Kinesiology and transfer to university for a career in Physical Therapy. He loved muscular function, exercise, and was completely obsessed with his health. He was one of the most disciplined people I know. To him, the health of his mind and body was the most important thing to him. For readers of Jon Krakauer and Douglas Preston, the critically acclaimed author and journalist Jon Billman's fascinating, in-depth look at people who vanish in the wilderness without a trace and those eccentric, determined characters who try to find them. Then there are the psychics who offer their services, and myriad wild theories explaining why someone vanished – “Hell’s Angels. Aliens from space. Russian mafia. Portals to other dimensions. Aliens from the hollow earth. String theory. Satanic cults.” This is just one of the many lies he made up. Even making up quotes and situations that family members never told him (because they aren’t true). The way he portray those who were in Jacob’s life is also inaccurate. At least characterize them correctly at the very least. Unlike those books, each of which focuses on a single disappearance, The Cold Vanish: Seeking the Missing in North America's Wildlands presents the stories of multiple individuals who vanished without a trace in wild areas across North America and a few other places on the globe, including Australia, Israel and Hawaii. It is nicely structured, with a narrative that weaves around the efforts of Randy Gray to locate his son Jacob, who disappeared in Olympic National Park in April 2017. Alternating chapters relate the stories of other missing persons and of the individuals who are committed to finding them.

The Cold Vanish by Jon Billman | Waterstones

Required reading for anyone concerned about the missing, Billman's authentic and encyclopedic book leads us across the landscapes of the vanished with a journalist's acumen and a searcher's sympathy. It's both true and useful, a storytelling textbook I wish I'd read before my own son went missing." - Roman Dial, author of The Adventurer's Son Jacob worked at the retirement home for over a year. He did not quit because he couldn't handle the death. He worked there for over a year. Jacob loved every resident and he was beloved by every resident. When he brought food to those who couldn't leave their beds, he would spend an extra 10-20 minutes to talk with each bedridden individual. He didn't have to do this and he knew he'd fall behind with work, but he was compassionate and wanted to let each person know they were important. He would listen to their stories and share his own tales.Now for a straight up lie Billman pulled seemingly out of nowhere. Billman claims that Jacob’s uncle had walked in on Jacob in the garage with his hands on his head and claimed he “couldn’t figure it out” and was “seeing the color red” everywhere. This never happened. Where did Billman get this? I wouldn’t know. The only thing SLIGHTLY true to this is Jacob seeing the color red, but this is when everyone had already tried to help him and he was with his Grandma. Though it's more probable than human abduction, it's less likely that the owner abandoned the bike to go on a trail hike—there isn't a trailhead in the immediate vicinity, he didn't secure his gear, and a hiker won't get very far before hitting snow. While watching an old episode of ‘Disappeared’ on Discovery plus recently, an anguished mother described her life as living somewhere between hell and hope. I think that may be the most apt description of being caged in the relentless trap of 'not knowing'.

The Cold Vanish (豆瓣) - 豆瓣读书 The Cold Vanish (豆瓣) - 豆瓣读书

I was familiar with one of these cases, having seen it featured on a true crime show several times. While the author seems to have made up his mind about that case- I’m still on the fence about it. Park rangers see the full spectrum of human behavior—it's possible the rider decided bike touring is not for him or met someone interesting and caught a lift to Seattle. We learn about this while we follow the author as he focuses on this one specific case of a young man that has seemingly abandoned his bike and the small trailer he was hauling and just vanished and has yet to be found. The author tags along with this missing young man’s father as he tirelessly searches for his son- all the while the park service won’t commit resources to help look for him. Sophocles’ story about a sister who buries her brother against a state decree has an enduring legacy, particularly in Latin America where the unburied body of a brother and a sister sent out of the world still living seems an apt metaphor for the disappeared in the wake of state violence. Antígona is a verse play written by the Peruvian poet Watanabe in collaboration with Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani and Teresa Ralli in the aftermath of two decades of civil conflict. Ralli interviewed families of the disappeared and was the first to perform the play. The narrator remains unnamed until the end when she symbolically tries to bury her brother: “And these late libations are from my little spirit full with remorse.” It is Ismene, sister of Antigone and Polynices, who has survived. Antígona powerfully resists the efforts of the state narrative to efface Peru’s disappeared and serves as a vehicle for those left behind to forgive themselves. I am a relative of Jacob Gray's and my family is incredibly upset about the publication of this book. First off, Billman did not interview or talk to any of the family and get permission to use our full names and location.It is more of a portrait of a family’s unrelenting search for a missing loved one once traditional search and rescue missions have ceased. It’s also a story of survival in the elements, man against nature, in a way. I enjoyed this book and learned a lot about the number of people who go missing without explanation or resolution. Which was surprising to me and sad. I recommend this for non fiction fans, but especially those who have enjoyed Jon Krakauer and other similar writers.