ISOLATED
INITIAL INVESTIGATION REPORT — 10/28/19: Led by Sedona Police Dept in conjunction with National Forestry Service.
ANNUAL FOLLOW-UP INVESTIGATION REPORT—- 11/15/2020: Investigations & Interviews conducted by Detective Joseph Stouts
ANNUAL FOLLOW-UP INVESTIGATION REPORT—- 11/ 7/2021: Open Investigation led by Detective Reese Arbor
11/14/2021 — My first step is to review the evidence found at the site. I am starting with viewing the video supposedly taken by the cell phone owner. The video has the date and battery amount displayed in the corner.
96% – 10/19/2019
“God! I feel so stupid. I never would have thought I would be doing a ‘found footage’ video, but here I am.” The man on the video spoke angrily and then scanned the surrounding rocks and empty desert landscape about him.
“Okay. Sorry. Let me start again. My name is Merritt Thomas. It’s Saturday afternoon. Or is it already Monday? I kind of lost track after my fall,” he said and then paused to take a deep breath. He is in athletic shape with short blonde hair, light green eyes, and pale but sun-burnt skin. He wore a red rain poncho and a green Coyotes Hockey Team beanie cap. A scabbed-over, bloody laceration ran across his forehead and partially down his left cheek.
“If you are watching this… man, that phrase sounds so weird! I mean I have seen all sorts of ‘disturbing videos’ on YouTube where someone begins their tale with those words, but how did I even get into this position? It’s all so surreal. Anyway, if you are watching this video then that means I may not have made it out of this damn crevice.” He stopped again and looked up off-camera.
“The crevice isn’t that wide, maybe five or six feet wide, but at least seventy feet deep. I was camping by myself which I never normally do. My best friend Marc Gordon had to bail on the trip at the last minute. It’s not your fault, man. Don’t even think of blaming yourself. I chose to come out here alone. It took me a lot of finagling to arrange this time off from work, so I just couldn’t pass it up. I wasn’t going to miss it. In hindsight, I guess, it wasn’t my brightest decision.”
The shadows cover a lot of the area around him. A small pair of cacti grow behind him and a softly babbling stream is somewhere nearby off-screen.
“Friday night went well. I beat the rush hour traffic out of town and came north, near the Sedona region. Hiked till sundown, then made camp. It was perfect weather, no rain, clear starry skies. You’ll see my collection of photos on the phone here.” Birds squawked above in the distance as they flew over the crevice’s opening.
“I made dinner. Caught a pair of bass actually using those new lures you got me for my birthday, Mom.” He laughed, smiled, and then teared up for a second. “Mom, Dad, I love you so much. I really do! I’m sorry I didn’t always make a lot of effort to show you that. I have been so focused on my work and trying to go up in the chain at Phillips & Grant. It’s not an excuse, but I wanted you to know it was not ever my intention. I’m so sorry if I ever made you feel I didn’t value all you’ve done for me and all the support you have given me through law school.”
He wiped away a couple of streaking tears from his cheek. Then grinned again at the camera. “See, look at me! Already letting my fears get away from me. Well, not this time. I am going to find a way to get home. We can watch this dumb video and laugh at my stupid ass all together. Promise! Anyway, it’s getting dark. Going to try and sleep, I’ll update again in the morning. Lucky me I bought one of those battery rechargers. I should have enough energy on this phone for at least a couple more days or maybe till Wednesday if I am careful. Night.”
Video stops.
93% — 10/20/2019
The video started again. It’s nearly pitch black. There is a raspy sound of cloth moving, perhaps his poncho.
“I am so scared,” Merritt whispered. “I don’t know what it is, but I keep hearing this sound. It’s like a growl, but almost as if it is a person is doing it too. Like someone trying to howl or copy the coyotes out here. On Friday night about 2 AM or so in the morning, I think it was what woke me up originally.”
He paused to listen. Except for the cadence of crickets and other nocturnal insects, there are no other noises in the video. He craned his neck to look up and seemed to scan the surrounding rock. “Anyway, I woke up. I am not a sound sleeper, and this wasn’t the best ground to camp on. Since I was awake, I decided to go take a piss. Again, as I was coming back to the tent, I heard this howling noise. Whatever it was sent chills up my spine. It sounded big too. I sprinted back to the tent and grabbed my phone and my flashlight. If it was a bear or a wolf around, I wanted to scare it off. Didn’t want to get a surprise later when I slept, you know.”
Merritt brought the phone around and spoke again to the camera. “I waited to hear its howl once more. When it did, it was further down the trail than before. I ran after it. I guess I just needed to see it. That’s when I made out these voices. Male voices. Somewhere camping north of me. It was definitely two people having a conversation. One had a deeper tone and sounded older than the other which was a male child. I couldn’t make out the whole conversation, but just some words. I think they were in English. After fifteen minutes of looking for the Howler or maybe the two other campers, I decided to turn back. It was getting cold. On the way back, I stumbled over a root and dropped the flashlight. I didn’t know where it went. It bounced then shut off. It must’ve rolled a bit down the slope and then into this crevice.”
He stopped, shivered, and then wiped beads of water from his forehead. “Crap! Starting to rain again. It’s been off and on since yesterday morning. Well, at least from when I woke up from the fall. Yeah,” he laughed and shook his head in seeming disbelief. “I made the classic, ‘Big No-no mistake’. Went off trail looking for the flashlight in the dark and like an idiot walked right off the edge and fell down here.”
He cleared his throat. “I want to warn you before I turn the camera around to show you the result. This isn’t pretty. Uh, Mom, don’t look!”
The camera shifted and a sudden flash of light showed his legs and feet. His left leg was angled madly off to the side, obviously broken. The white sneaker on his other leg was splattered with blood and a belt was cinched tightly above the ankle on his calf. “Broke both of my legs. Snapped the bone out above the ankle here.”
He then panned the camera showing the small muddy bank of a stream with deep russet-orange rocks and boulders. Sparse river grass and cacti also made up the majority of the landscape.
Above him, off-camera, a horrid grunting and growling howl echoed all about the crevice. The flashlight clicked off. He angled the camera to focus on the bit of sky shown above. It was night, but dark gray clouds mainly blotted the limited light. Nothing appeared to move, and no other sounds were repeated. The night crickets had stopped. Merritt stopped the video.
90% — 10/21/2019
“I am not sure I captured that sound, the howling, or not on video. I don’t want to waste power trying to find out by reviewing.”
It was morning, sunlight lit up the rocky background behind him. His hair was greasy and stuck up on one side. He looked haggard and exhausted. Most likely he didn’t sleep since the last part of the video.
“It just stopped raining a few minutes ago. May even be sunny up there but it’s not truly getting much in here. The Howler went away after about an hour. It could’ve been hunting this small pack of coyotes I saw the other day on my hike. Not sure—“ he stopped as a spasm of coughing caught him by surprise.
“Well…that’s a bad sign. I might have the flu or worse starting. If this is Monday, then some people at work should notice I’m out or maybe Marc might be wondering why he can’t reach me by now. Either way, I’m looking at another long day and night in here or even two days. I’m in the elements for sure but not out under the sky completely.”
He paused, rubbed at his stubbly chin with a pained expression, then looked at the camera. “I’m thoroughly soaked from head-to-toe by the rain and yet I’m severely dehydrated.” He chuckled weakly.
Merritt rotated the camera around to video the length of the crevice. The small stream ran about a dozen feet from him and cut through the cliff rock. “I am going to try and crawl over there. I want a sip of that stream so badly!”
The camera flipped back to him. “Should I keep the recording going? Do you want to witness the greatest endurance test I’ve ever taken? Or… No. On second thought, I might do some serious screaming and using some choice words that would upset Mom.” Another half-hearted attempt at humor.
The video stops.
82% — 10/21/2019
Merritt faced the camera again. His face looked more haggard and with thicker stubble. Mud smeared down one side of his head to the base of his shoulder. His jacket had been torn. The green beanie was also missing.
“It is right after sundown. The good news is I got to the stream, drank some, and even managed to find an old water bottle to drink from later. The water tastes terrible, but it’s cool and probably filled with every known variant of parasites in existence.” He sneezed hard. Sneezed again and once more. He then trembled. “That’s part of the bad news. I dragged myself through the mud bank by arm strength alone. Hurt so bad! Never would have thought pain could get that intense, but I battled through it. I had to take the rest of the day though to recover. My right leg is getting, uh, what they call Compartment Syndrome.”
He shook his head, a frustrated and pained expression crossed his face. “I have to get help soon! The Syndrome causes swelling under the wall of muscle due to the extreme injury. Basically, blood is welling up, cutting off the oxygen in the leg. Muscle and nerves will die permanently. I may never walk again!”
He stopped, coughed, and choked up with emotion.
“Sorry. Can’t right –” He then reached for the phone and the video ended again.
73% — 10/22/2019
The video restarted but there wasn’t any image. It was pitch dark, but the water still babbled in the background.
A pair of pale orange, almost red eyes opened. They were not near but seemed above his position. Then a soft purring echoed down the cliff walls. It was a striking, odd noise, not cat-like or even feline-like from a lynx or cougar. It had a whining pitch that paired with the purring cadence.
The purring ended and a voice spoke out from above. It was hollow, monotone, and somewhat slurred. The voice was very similar to Merritt’s.
“Sysssdrrrum caws mussel swallin…sssdrem cacawsez mussel swelling… ssyndome cause muscle swelling –” The words cut off as a coyote howl pierced the night. A pair of other coyotes joined in chorus with the first.
“Syndrome causes muscle swellling do-due to the exxksteen…” The words continued as the pair of orange-red eyes moved closer.
“ He-heello? Hi?” The voice asked aloud in the dark.
Merritt didn’t answer or couldn’t.
“Hi? Help you?”
Still no response or movement.
There was a rustling in the brush at the top of the opening then a pair of lupine growlings could be heard. The pack was exploring at the top.
A loud sigh then the glowing orbs climbed back up the rock walls. The soft purring returned. At the ledge, a flash of ivory skin was caught on the video. It was fast and blurred, but it proved that Merritt had definitely not been alone in the crevice.
The video stopped again as the battery slipped to 59%.
46% — 10/22/2019
“I might be delusional, but I think someone was calling my name. I was in and out of sleep all night.” It was daylight and Merritt was recording another entry. His eyes were bloodshot and swollen. His left eye was completely red from a broken blood vessel.
“At least it sounded like my name. And it sounded like a real person. Was that a rescue party?” he wondered aloud. “Not sure what that was last night.” He brought the camera close and whispered intimately. “I mean that happened right? Or was that a hallucination? Did I just record the night air or did you guys hear that voice too?”
His voice sounded raspy, thick, and strained. His eyes had large dark patches under them. His hair stuck out at the sides and his lips were scanned with sores.
“I don’t…I don’t think I am going to make it much longer. If they don’t find me before dark—“ his words were chopped by a series of harsh coughs rattling deep inside his chest. He grabbed the phone and ended the video again.
28% — 10/23/2019
“Hi? Hello? Merritt?”
It was the monotone voice again only slightly more animated and sounded even closer to his voice more than ever.
“Yes. Yes, I’m here. Thank God, you found me!” Merritt called out. His gravely words were barely audible on the recording. Night had fallen in the desert.
“You need help? Where are you?” it asked.
“By the water.”
“Who were you talking to?”
Merritt laughed at the question. “No one. I’m alone with just my cellphone.”
“Stay there. Do not…worry… I’ll help you.”
“I’ll turn on the flash so you can see your way down better.”
The flash of his phone blazed to life. Looming above his prone body was a long, lanky creature. It had a snakelike body with twin legs and clawed arms protruding and gripping the stone walls. The head was elongated with spikey, blonde hair and tan skin. The face was evolving into Merritt’s!
When the brilliance hit its almond-shaped, green eyes it screeched and lashed out with a set of elongated fingers. The camera bounced wildly and then splashed into the mud. The flash was buried but the camera kept recording.
Merritt screamed and thrashed as the creature fell upon him.
“Stop! Help you! Stop moving! Must have you! Help I am.”
Merritt’s blood-curdling screams suddenly stopped. A gurgling sound can be heard over the stream’s noises.
“Merritt. My name is Merritt. I…I was camping.” The voice was muffled as if it were full. “I fell but I am okay now. Don’t worry Mom. Don’t worry or look for Merr-me. I’m fine. Going on vacation. Come home soon.”
The video stopped. The Video Tech clerks surmised it ran out of battery.
Merritt Thomas is still missing. His raincoat, boots, tent, and of course his phone were all eventually located.
It is not clear if Merritt had fallen victim to foul play or if this is a very complex hoax perpetrated for the Internet. Some speculate he had faked this to avoid a possible gambling debt but no evidence to that claim has ever been found. Due to remarks made in the video, in my professional opinion, I am inclined to think this is an elaborate setup to gain some recognition or attention. Merritt had a busy Instagram account and a propensity for pranks per friends and family interviewed. However, no financial transaction or credit card activity has been reported since his disappearance. The family insists that this is not within Mr. Thomas’s character, and he had a great bond with his young sister and parents.
To date, with no remains or body ever found, thus the case must remain open.
*Addendum –
2/19/2022: WITNESS SIGHTING REPORT
On 2/11/2022 a married couple while hiking a trail in the northern tip of Fishlake National Forest in Utah, claim they saw a white man, in his mid-twenties matching the description of Merritt Thomas. They stated that they had been living in Phoenix, Arizona, at the time when Thomas was first reported missing in the news. Upon seeing the couple, this male subject left the trail and went deeper into the forest without any response. He did not have any backpack or camping gear with him.
4/23/2023 WITNESS SIGHTING REPORT
During the evening of 4/15/2023, three men were attacked and severely beaten by a white male in his mid-twenties, after the men entered a cave to go spelunking in Spring Cave Park near Buford, Colorado. Police investigated the cave site and only found animal remains. One worn-out ID bracelet with the only readable letters as TT was collected. Days later, one of the victims came across an image of Merritt Thomas posted on a Missing Persons’ website and identified him as the individual who attacked them.
Detective Reese Arbor
The Official Website of Author Derek Barton 