Wonder if trail registers in shelters will be reviewed? Not only thoughts of other hikers but if this guy visited shelters and entered his own rants?
He was leaving bat****, nonsensical entries in the shelter registers. It was like reading schizophrenia.Originally Posted by chknfngrs
A tragedy for all- families, friends, the AT community. The victim bravely called SOS, and, by giving his location, he helped law enforcement apprehend the perpetrator before anyone else was hurt. People will respond here with anger, sadness, and bargaining. Be patient as we grieve.
Prayers with each step,
Ardency
"Its who we are" just posted this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZyirf318sM
They were evidently directly involved and escaped the attack.
Thank you for posting this youtube video and I'm just glad that these two (That's Who We Are) survived, because it sounds like they were being tracked-targeted.
Its just hard to process this endless violence in the U.S. or how this guy ended up on the AT and committed murder. I'm sure we'll hear a lot about mental illness (especially untreated), the CJS, violent crime, etc regarding this murder.
The AT has always been a great community of hikers and that will certainly continue and again, I'm glad that these two young hikers survived and will continue to live their lives the way they wish to.
Last edited by double d; 05-13-2019 at 09:01.
"I told my Ma's and Pa's I was coming to them mountains and they acted as if they was gutshot. Ma, I sez's, them mountains is the marrow of the world and by God, I was right". Del Gue
Thank you Ardency, well said.
"I told my Ma's and Pa's I was coming to them mountains and they acted as if they was gutshot. Ma, I sez's, them mountains is the marrow of the world and by God, I was right". Del Gue
this place and time is one of, if not the, most safest places and times in all of human history.
its our perception and how much we hear about violence, not the actual rate at which violence occurs, that are the issue.
i once worked a customer service job. i sat all day everyday answering an unending stream of complaint calls from angry customers. hundreds a day. must be a crappy company if they have so many unhappy customers, right? one of the first things the person who trained me did was show me how to look through all the records of the tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of people who were customers for 25 years and never called to complain once. the company was actually great, they just hired enough people to answer the amount of calls they received and to keep us all busy instead of sitting around.
the way we perceive the violence level of our society is sort of like that.
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Sovereign was clearly exhibiting common signs of schizophrenia. The Unicoi County Sheriff is responsible for this tragedy. Sovereign should have been transferred from jail to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation. This is an example of a clearly preventable tragedy, which occurs all too often.
Well said tdoczi. This was clearly a tragedy, but our perceptions of the level of violence do not match the reality. I think the internet is partly to blame. Bad news spreads faster than good.
here's an article with more information..
https://wcyb.com/news/local/court-do...-to-stay-alive
i like to lay most of the blame on CNN starting a chain of events that turned the news into a product to be sold and profited from.
I'm afraid the ability for authorities to involuntary commit someone who is showing signs of being mentally ill is severely limited.
“For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”
John Greenleaf Whittier
whats better, to leave some people free who should be committed, or to commit people who should be left alone? once you correctly realize perfection is not possible, thats the choice you're left with. which do you prefer? i know my answer, and not by a little bit. not even debatable.
This is very true. The present day is one of the safest periods in the last 60+years.
some people who like to argue against me may point to some data that shows a slight uptick the past couple of years, meaning like 2016 was slightly safer than 2018. to the degree this is even true to claim that the hysteria over how violent our society is a product of this possible slight recent uptick is a silly argument to try and make.
Based on your last few posts, you're a wise person.
I would add that we shouldn't judge the choices made by others in this case unless we know the full scope of their constraints and potential outcomes. For example, should the thru-hikers stayed and testified? Who knows? We'd have to know the likely result as understood by them at the time. Stick around for two weeks so the guy could be fined more and given a longer probation period? Perhaps that's all that was available. I doubt he'd have been locked up very long no matter what. We don't really know. Also, keep in mind that even what we think we know might contain a good bit of misinformation.
The hands of the police are often tied in matters like this. If he is a paranoid schizophrenic (sounds like he is, but I didn't stay at a holiday in express last night), then I have more questions for his family who let him wander around in the woods untreated, or society at large which now sends people like this home with a handful of pills to keep them sane. I always err on the side of personal freedom, but I think there's a strong case to be made that paranoid schizophrenics are a danger....and I highly doubt the Unicoi police were the first to observe that behavior.
Having dealt with mental illness and involuntary commitment with a family member, I can say that the entire system is screwed up. Law enforcement often times aren't trained properly, or they are understaffed, or there isn't bed space in a mental facility to take the person. Too often, It's a no win situation for all involved.
Based on the information in this article, the location of the attack was most likely the well-used campsite at Reed Creek, about 2 miles south of Tilson Gap on the AT.
The article said "the four made camp in Wythe County", where only a short segment of about 4 miles of the AT runs between Little Brushy Mtn and Tilson Gap, with the campsite at Reed Creek near its center. The article also said "The victim received assistance to help her hike six miles into Smyth County", which is SOBO on the AT. The nearest road SOBO is VA 617 which is about 6 miles from the campsite at Reed Creek.
Most likely the victim ran SOBO because she'd been hiking NOBO and when panicked and hiking in the dark it makes most sense to reverse course. Would have been quicker to head NOBO where to VA 610 with hostel nearby after only 4 miles, but she probably wouldn't have known this unless she'd been planning to stop there.
Very unfortunate situation - my condolences to the victim's family.
It's all good in the woods.
Details of the criminal complaint from the Daily Beast. The article includes a quote from Sovereign's brother's fiancee. (Although this article doesn't give the brother's full name, CNN Wire identifies him as Dustin Wildes.)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/appala...james-l-jordan
Here is the criminal complaint: https://www.masslive.com/capecod/201...ian-trail.html
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