The Mad and the Macabre

On May 21st, 2008, seven graduate students in Religious Studies set out from the University of Colorado in Boulder in search of God. Armed with only their faith and the scriptures, they rented a small cluster of cabins on the western side of the Continental Divide, twenty-eight miles northwest of the nearest town of Pine Springs. Their website allowed their friends and family to track their progress via daily video blog updates, the last of which was made on July 11th.

None of them were ever heard from again.

On July 14th, a forest ranger was dispatched to check on the students at the urging of their concerned families. He found the cabins abandoned, though all of their belongings remained, as though they had simply walked away and never returned. Forty-eight hours later a formal inquest was instigated. Rangers and volunteers combed the surrounding National Forest beneath the thunder of the Search & Rescue helicopter, while policemen tore apart the cabins looking for clues. After ten days, only the families remained to wander the woods in futility. A week later, even they were gone.

On July 11th, 2009, a ten-foot cross was erected on the summit of Mount Isolation. The bronze placard affixed to its base listed seven names above the inscription: Seek and ye shall find.