Mesa Verde Mystery Finally Solved - Dale Stehling
Added 2024-10-13 22:10:28 +0000 UTCComments
Excellent review of the case. I originally read the Missing 411 that contained this case, and it was missing vital information that you covered.
Dawn
2024-11-20 08:33:19 +0000 UTCThe most obvious explanation is usually the correct explanation.
Gary Jones
2024-11-05 19:05:46 +0000 UTCnotice the foil underneath his lighter in the pictures... as well that other piece of foil they found has tell-tale signs of certain activity. I wonder if he sat down to 'partake', finally away from his family for long enough to do so (his almost irrational desire to 'go somewhere' is a pretty big giveaway)... then this other family keeps catching up to him and interrupting his alone time, so under the influence he tries to find somewhere he can be alone, and he ended up too successful. by the way David Paulides published a video on October 17 where he describes this very case as being "very weird" because they found him in a location that has been searched "many many times before"... and that "no one knows why the natives all left" spooky!
Jesse
2024-10-18 22:53:53 +0000 UTCThere’s usually a realistic explanation for these tragic occurrences. It takes a person like yourself to cut through the nonsense. I really like your videos and I appreciate your efforts. Thank you!
Daniel Stadnyckyj
2024-10-16 14:04:57 +0000 UTCI haven’t had a chance to watch this video yet but just wanted to say thank you so much for being so diligent and staying on top of these offices. You are a top notch investigator and human being! I wish you continued success! I’ll be watching this one soon!!
Jenna V
2024-10-15 01:34:53 +0000 UTCWow! Top notch work, as usual. Thank you for pursuing this until you got results. It looks like yet another example of vastly underestimating how far a lost person might walk before succumbing. My guess was that Dale ended up going up Wikiup Canyon, since that trail is and presumably was very well established and obvious. The bad signage at the petroglyph panel is consistent with what my wife and I encountered in that area this last spring. Making and maintaining signs costs money, and the Park Service is perennially underfunded. Signs might be an easy thing to skimp on in that situation. You are correct about making a fire. Smoke or visible fire will get instantaneous attention in a place like that. It would also be very easy to cause a disaster, but you would be found immediately. Many years ago, I read about a search and rescue effort near Moab, probably in or near Arches NP. A 70 year old man took off on a short hike and got lost. It was late afternoon before he was reported missing. The search operation did their best before it got too dark to safely carry on. They set out at dawn, expecting the worst. Instead, they found the guy quickly, next to a trail. He had been carrying food and water, and a space blanket. He knew enough to just stay put for the night. That was on a site or blog called "Silt Happens" and may still be available via the Wayback Machine. There are years worth of interesting incident reports there.
Zack Reuter
2024-10-14 17:26:10 +0000 UTCI'd be curious as to when they removed it. It doesn't appear to be there anyone. I would have seen it. Maybe they took it down after this incident.
The Missing Enigma
2024-10-14 16:53:44 +0000 UTCExactly, I'm thinking it was something more serious than marijuana. Given that he was in pain, I would guess an opiate of some type.
The Missing Enigma
2024-10-14 16:52:57 +0000 UTCAnother great video. I don’t understand the Park services hesitance to sometimes release case files like this (old or solved cases). A lot of insight and wisdom can be learned. My heart goes out to his family. I’m glad he was able to go home.
Tegan.wr
2024-10-14 15:35:12 +0000 UTCSounds like he used cannabis on and off and had it with him in that one blacked out area. Update: Perhaps it was more serious if she was monitoring the bank account when he started again, looking back at what happened in 2013—maybe it involved pills.
Tegan.wr
2024-10-14 14:25:09 +0000 UTCGreat work, once again! I think you've uncovered more on the story than what you say. I think there is every reason to believe that the opaque press release on his discovery and their reluctance to release the case file is related to the fact that they know they made a bad call in the search, and didn't want to draw attention to that. Especially following the information regarding the calls for help that were not reported and existence of a sign that had been made to be misleading. As you say hindsight is 20-20, but I given that it was likely he had ended up in the canyon somehow, it would not be that unlikely that he tried to hike north again and took a wrong turn. Not least given the information on what his family thought it was likely that he'd do. Regarding the sign, I clearly remember the scramble up the hill from when I was there the year after, because it stood out from the rest of the path which was much more "orderly" and clearly marked. Not that it was hard to find, but my wife and I were discussing the different trail marking practices of the US and Norway, and remarked that this was more similar to the way they do it back home. I don't recall a sign, but that doesn't mean much.
Rolf Regensburg
2024-10-14 11:45:46 +0000 UTCExcellent, as always. Isn't the park service responsible for the sign being that easy to get turned?
Regina Worthey
2024-10-14 11:40:00 +0000 UTC
