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

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This book was brilliant reading. Incredibly interesting and so well researched. I enjoyed this book so much more than I thought I might. Now, I could handle the author mentioning these Bigfoot researchers and conspiracy theorists once or twice— but when the author begins to entertain these ideas a something that he believes in and could be an explanation for the ‘vanishings’ of these missing persons, that was when I had enough and felt like I was wasting my time. What a talent, what a career, what a life, and what a treat to relive it all with this most down-to-earth of demigods.

Amelia Earhart’s disappearance in 1937 during her attempt to circumnavigate the world is deeply fixed in the public imagination. In this fictive autobiography, Mendelsohn imagines the fate of America’s most famous missing person. Stranded on an island with her navigator, Earhart reflects on her life, her marriage to George Palmer Putnam and the pressures surrounding the final flights. The prose is sensuous and lyrical: they flew “like fugitive angels”, she writes, and “spent our days feverish from the flaming sun or lost in the artillery of monsoon rains and almost always astonished by the unearthly architecture of the sky”. Billman looks at the possibility that some people don't want to be found, and disappear purposefully; maybe looking for something unattainable. I have to say, it seemed odd the amount of young white Christian men mentioned, who seemed to have a overt fascination with the bible, raptures, pilgrimage type scenarios. Indeed Billman describes the Jerusalem Syndrome. In with this he looks at the number of cults and sects, some of whom set themselves up along the Pacific Crest Trail and attempt to lure tired travellers in with the promise of energy giving chocolate or food. Perfect for readers of Jon Krakauer and Douglas Preston, this "authentic and encyclopedic" book examines real-life cases of those who vanish in the wilderness without a trace (Roman Dial)—and those eccentric, determined characters who try to find them. 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. This compelling read does showcase some criminal elements, but, doesn’t fall into the true crime category, exclusively.Many, many cases are mentioned here, but the author focuses mainly on a young man named Jacob Gray. Jacob’s bike and supplies are found neatly abandoned in Olympia National Park. When Jacob doesn't turn up, his father, Randy, liquidates all his business capital and devotes the next few years to searching.

More depth for some stories. Billman would mention stories along the way of missing people and I then wanted more information. I understand the way the book is written though and that wasn’t necessarily the focus of the book and if you gave more details for each story, you’d have a neverending book. I’ll definitely be doing some research on my own though. Favorite Quotes 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. There's other cases mentioned throughout the book, but Jacob's - arguably more his family's - is where the focus lies. It's harrowing. It's clear the author's closeness to the family wasn't manufactured for the purpose of securing the story, because he's managed to write into this book the exhaustion, despair, and, yes, the hope of those left behind.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 Through deep research and personal investigation, Jon Billman has crafted the definitive account of the baffling stories of people who go missing in the wilderness. The Cold Vanish is provocative, disturbing, compulsively readable-and a brilliant achievement."

This book has a little bit of everything including true crime, unsolved mysteries, bigfoot theories, psychics, and cults. It is, in a lot of ways, one of the most “Santa Cruzian” books I’ve ever read. I also think, in Jacob’s case, it’s a strong advocate for mental health awareness and treatment. I was so sad and frustrated to read that his parents suspected that Jacob may have endured a schizophrenic break and never sought or encouraged professional help and instead thought it would be a good idea for him to commune with nature. Of course hindsight is 20/20, but I hope that for anyone who reads this, if you or someone you know is struggling with a major life event (in Jacob’s case, his parents’ divorce), please give therapy a try. If you’re not outdoorsy, be prepared to learn new vocabulary. You'll have to google definitions. The author wastes no time explaining what it means to grab the DEET and scramble up a scree.

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As such, his characterization of Jacob was, understandably, incredibly upsetting. Especially when he claims Jacob wasn’t “disciplined,” even comparing him to his brother for this hurtful claim. Jacob maintained great grades at school, excelled at his job, and kept up an incredibly strict and healthy lifestyle. Anyone who knew him would describe Jacob as anything but undisciplined. He was hardworking and had great things ahead of him, we all knew this and respected him. We learn a bit about some of the most eccentric and far-fetched theories such as Bigfoot, aliens, and portals to other worlds. How else do you explain when someone quite literally vanishes? Randy Gray never loses faith in finding his son, even as he consults the crazies, the ones who claim to have had a vision of Jacob alive somewhere. Even as he travels up and down the west coast, from Vancouver to California, asking anyone he can if they’ve seen his son. I’m a believer in Occam’s Razor, that the simplistic scenarios are the likeliest ones. As I’m reading, I know in my heart that Randy is on a forlorn quest, but his determination is critical to his character, and anyone who reads his story will immediately champion his cause.