Closer to God
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What upsetting story is discussed in this episode?
Every now and again, I'll find a story that's just really upsetting to me. Now, obviously, a lot of the stories I cover are all quite distressing. But today's story, which is about a missing hiker named Mike Turner, it just really upset me. It actually made it really hard to record this episode. So consider this your warning that I personally believe this is a very upsetting story, but an important story that we would not be covering if there wasn't some real weight behind it. And I think the moral of this story, ultimately, is you really need to treasure your family while they're still around. And you'll see what I mean when you hear the rest of this story. It's heartbreaking. But before we get into today's stories, if you're a fan of the Strange, Dark and Mysterious delivered in story format, then you've come to the right podcast because that's all we do and we upload twice a week, once on Monday and once on Thursday. So if that's of interest to you, on the hottest day of the year, offer to give the Amazon Music Follow button a ride to work.
And when they get in your car, blast the heat on full and refuse to stop. Even though it hurts you, it hurts them too. Okay, let's get into today's story.
Lamont Jones is shattered when his cousin dies just weeks after entering prison. The official report says natural causes, but bruises and missing teeth tell a different story. Wondery presents Death County PA, a chilling true story of corruption and cover-ups. Follow Death County PA on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.
On the afternoon of August 2nd, 1998, a 48-year-old six-foot, six-inch tall hiker named Mike Turner stopped for a moment and took his bottle out of his backpack and took a sip. Mike was standing in a cluster of trees on the side of this mountain about 11,000 feet up inside of an area in Wyoming called the Fitzpatrick Wilderness. The Fitzpatrick Wilderness is easily one of the most visually striking places in the entire world. It's like all of the extremes of nature kind of collided together in this one place. You have these massive, you know, 13,000 foot tall snow-covered mountain peaks, you have glaciers, and then right below them, right at the base of these huge mountains, are all these lush green fields full of tall grass and flowers and animals running around and little streams and lakes. I mean, it's absolutely picturesque. In fact, some of the pictures of this area, they look fake.
Who was Mike Turner and what was his hiking plan?
They're so ridiculous. But the real reason the Fitzpatrick Wilderness was known as this unbelievably beautiful place was because really it went kind of untouched by people because it was so hard to get to. I mean, basically the only people who stepped foot in this very surreal landscape were really experienced outdoors people like Mike Turner, because it took a lot of know-how just to get to this area and to survive in this area. This is a very, very rugged place. But Mike Turner was not content just going to the Fitzpatrick Wilderness. He really wanted to experience the true nature of this area. And so what he was doing while he was out there was hiking off trail. And so he's in this totally remote place, hiking around in an area that was not even marked on a map. Now, to anybody who has not done any compass and map navigating out in the wild, this might seem totally reckless, and to a degree it sort of is, but it's something that people totally have a knack for.
I can speak from my own experience. When I was in the military, we did a lot of compass and map navigating, like in the back country in Alaska and also in California, and I was terrible at it, but I can tell you some of my classmates definitely had sort of like an innate skill to understand where they were in relationship to terrain features. And then if you combine that with proper training and experience, I mean, these guys got really good at just being able to navigate with a map and compass. And so Mike was one of those people that really was an excellent navigator. And so walking off trail like this in such a remote place was sort of routine for him. Now, Mike was not some full-time adventurer.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What upsetting story is discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:53
2
Who was Mike Turner and what was his hiking plan?
2:53–9:00
3
What challenges did Mike face during his hike?
9:00–16:19
4
What happened when Mike’s dog Andy ran off?
16:19–27:38
5
How did the search for Mike Turner unfold?
27:38–30:11
6
What was the outcome of the search for Mike and Andy?
30:11
7
What lessons can be learned from Mike Turner's story?
22:45–37:04