I'm writing this here.

I'm writing this here because I can't go to the police with what I actually think happened.

I already gave my statement, we all did, and what I told them was the truth, just not all of it.

The parts I left out are the parts that don't make sense, and when you're sitting across from

a detective in a fluorescent lit room at the McDowell County Sheriff's Office, and they're asking

you why your friend is gone, you don't start talking about things that don't make sense.

You give them GPS coordinates and timelines, and you describe what gear he was carrying and what he

was wearing, and you say, I he was carrying and what he was wearing,

and you say, I don't know a lot because you genuinely don't, but I need someone to hear the full

version, even if it's just strangers on the internet. My name is Jess. I'm 29, and I work as a

veterinary technician at a small animal clinic in Roanoke, Virginia. I've lived here since I graduated from Virginia Tech in 2017

with a biology degree I've only half used.

I'm not an outdoorsy person by nature.

I grew up in Virginia Beach, spent my childhood at the ocean front,

and didn't see a real mountain until I was 18.

But when you move to Roanoke, the mountains kind of absorb you. The Blue Ridge Parkway is right there.

The Appalachian Trail is right there. Everyone hikes, everyone camps. You either join in or you

spend every weekend alone, and when I was 22 and

new in town and didn't know anyone, I chose to join in. That's how I met the group. There were

six of us who became close over the years, though people drifted in and out. The core was

me, Tyler, Hana, Corey, and two others, Mackenzie and Diego.

We'd been camping together at least four or five times a year since 2018.

...