Posted on 02/17/2012 9:40:53 AM PST by Teflonic
He's eluded authorities for more than five years, a mountain man who roams the wilderness of southern Utah, breaking into remote cabins in winter, living in luxury off hot food, alcohol and coffee before stealing provisions and vanishing into the woods.
Investigators have clawed for clues, scouring cabins for fingerprints that match no one and chasing reports of brief encounters only to come up short, always a step behind the mysterious recluse.
They've found abandoned camps, dozens of guns, high-end outdoor gear stolen from the homes and trash strewn around the forest floor.
But the man authorities say is armed and dangerous and responsible for more than two dozen burglaries has continued to outrun the law across a swath of mountains not far from Zion National Park.
He's roamed across 1,000 square miles of rugged wilderness where snow can pile 10 feet deep in winter.
And while there have been no violent confrontations, detectives say he's a time bomb.
The coffee and alcohol the survivalist favors plays into some cabin owners' assessment that he could be a castaway from the nearby twin towns of Hildale or Colorado City on the Utah-Arizona border. The so-called lost boys are said to be regularly booted from the polygamous sect there by elders looking to increase their marriage opportunities with young women.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
“I have no use for thieves.”
They make great moving targets.
A scavenger takes what has been abandonded. This guy arrives at your front door intent on entering by brute force, and taking what belongs to you. He arrives heavily armed. By definition he is a predatory thief, a dangerous criminal. It has been an undisputed pattern of criminal behaviour that trespass leads to breaking and entering, to breaking and entering of occupied dwellings, to breaking and entering with extreme violence. There’s no such thing as a harmless burglar.
“Can I get one of them huntin’ licenses?”
This sounds like the work of a decorated Viet Nam vet.
Multiple purple hearts and Christmas in Cambodia will do this to a guy. Anyone seen Lurch? (he was in Viet Nam)
THAT guy is a Bada$$!
Cool story.
Now THAT guy had an attitude and some skills!
Good analysis. It looks to me like he has some stubble, though. He may be out for a few days at a time. The knife could be a new theft or acquisition. Those clothes look like high tech hunting gear to me.
Interesting analysis. It looks to me like he has some stubble, though. He may be out for a few days at a time. The knife could be a new theft or aquisition. Those clothes look like high tech hunting gear to me. Any idea on the discoloration on the back of his left hand?
>A scavenger takes what has been abandonded.
Not always; take racoons and bears — both will get into garbage (which you could view as abandoned, technically) for leftovers, even in active & populated areas.
Also, very small day pack. Very small. Probably only carrying burglar tools. That means either his camp or his means of transport back to town was close by.
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