The Cold Vanish: Seeking the Missing in North America's Wildlands

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An open-minded person, Randy considers every possibility. Maybe Jacob committed suicide or was abducted by Bigfoot. Maybe he joined a cult or was beamed up by a UFO. Maybe he went on a secluded religious journey or succumbed to hypothermia. Maybe he was injured or killed by a bear. Maybe he was murdered. In reality, hope is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs man’s torments.” - Friedrich Nietzsche, not used in the book but entirely applicable. In the wilderness, it's actually not that difficult to disappear. That's what's so fascinating about it - what's difficult is to pinpoint the how/why/where. The timeline of the book is all off. As stated already, when Jacob moved up here, he showed no signs and was the bright young man he’s always been. Billman claims he was sent up here because of mental illness which is a complete and utter lie. He came up here by his own accord for better opportunities and to live with his relatives who all adored him. If he had shown signs at the time, his family would have tried to help him. They loved Jacob and would never want him to suffer in the ways he had. When he did shown signs, his family did everything in their power to try and help him. But under the routine hustle and bustle, there’s another layer: the world of the missing, their loved ones, and the ones who search. And search. And search ...

The Cold Vanish on Apple Books ‎The Cold Vanish on Apple Books

Unlike those books, each of which focuses on a single disappearance, The Cold Vanish: Seeking the Missing in North America's Wildlands presents the stories of multiple individuals who vanished without a trace in wild areas across North America and a few other places on the globe, including Australia, Israel and Hawaii. It is nicely structured, with a narrative that weaves around the efforts of Randy Gray to locate his son Jacob, who disappeared in Olympic National Park in April 2017. Alternating chapters relate the stories of other missing persons and of the individuals who are committed to finding them. I received an advanced copy of this book from Net Galley and the publisher in return for an honest review. The release date for this book was 7 July 2020 The Cold Vanish is renowned journalist Jon Billman’s attempt to shine a light on the vast numbers of people who simply disappear without a trace in the wild outdoors, amongst the lush scenery, leaving their relatives with more questions than answers and a neverending vivid imagination as our minds inevitably jump to all sorts of conclusions when an event is so difficult to come to terms with; it's this not knowing and having no closure on the whereabouts of their loved one that slowly eats away at an individual from the inside. As a true crime enthusiast, I spend many a long hour watching youtube videos and some of those follow the progression of missing person investigations and where I have learned from interviews with relatives and friends of those missing that it is the not knowing that makes it really difficult to move on as they wonder many things such as whether it's possible they fell victim to a killer and even if their loved one is still alive and vanished purposefully perhaps due to financial or personal issues in their lives and do not want to be located. It's these constant speculations that would likely turn me insane if I was on the receiving end of a missing person case. It gets worse, as other conspiracy theorists have theorized that these people who seemingly vanished have entered a portal to another dimension or have been abducted by aliens. Even perhaps, in the case of the Olympic Peninsula and Jacob’s disappearance, Sasquatch. Billman doesn’t give much credence to any of this, but reveals how someone like Randy is willing to follow any lead. He goes along as Randy follows some pretty sketchy possibilities.His portrayal of Jacob was not at all how he was. Jacob was bright and friendly, a light in many people’s lives including mine. Billman claims Jacob was already showing signs when he moved up to Washington which is completely wrong. When Jacob moved up here, he was close with his cousins and made many friends who all loved him. Jacob moved up here not due to mental illness or “his parents not being able to handle him,” but because he didn’t like his options in California. He was healthy and went on hikes and camped all the time, even taking his little cousin on them. They say it's hard to get lost in the modern world. Not when it comes to national forests and parks in the U.S. and Canada. In these vast and beautiful spaces, disappearing forever is easy. Billman looks at many different cases of missing persons and their varied outcomes, but follows mainly the case of young Jacob Grey who abandons his touring bicycle and then seemingly vanishes from the face of the earth. Jacob was not a mentally ill loner with no friends. This representation of Jacob has devastated his family and friends to no end. Jacob was a a wonderful person. He loved everyone deeply and was compassionate. He took his job at the retirement home seriously and his disappearance devastated the residence and his former boss. During the search, they constantly asked me if he was found yet and were heartbroken with the negative outcome. He spent time with each resident, joking with them and listening to their stories. When he delivered food to residents who were bedridden, he would sit at their bedside and spend an extra 10 minutes to talk with them. This was not required for his job as a dishwasher/kitchen helper. While working at the retirement home, he was also attending college. He was trying to figure out a career that would help the most people. He considered law enforcement, Rescue, and even becoming an EMT. But, he decided to major in Kinesiology and transfer to university for a career in Physical Therapy. He loved muscular function, exercise, and was completely obsessed with his health. He was one of the most disciplined people I know. To him, the health of his mind and body was the most important thing to him.

The Cold Vanish by Jon Billman | Hachette UK

It’s a haunting, unsettling book, but at least some families were able to find those elusive answers and are now able to move forward, and hopefully find peace.

Many, many cases are mentioned here, but the author focuses mainly on a young man named Jacob Gray. Jacob’s bike and supplies are found neatly abandoned in Olympia National Park. When Jacob doesn't turn up, his father, Randy, liquidates all his business capital and devotes the next few years to searching. It made me both want to visit wild natural landscapes and at well away at the same time. The main story within the rest is sad yet somehow uplifting and I dont think any of these people will leave my mind easily.

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I’m a life-long resident of the west where vast areas of public land are common. I’ve read many articles about people who go missing in forests, canyons, and on mountains and assisted in a search for one of those missing. Because of that I have some awareness of wilderness disappearances, but after reading “The Cold Vanish” I realize how little I actually know. The book focuses on the disappearance of Jacob Gray in Olympic National Park and covers all the aspects of the search for him through both rational and questionable means. Interwoven are accounts of others who have gone missing in wild places. Bellman writes with eloquence, empathy, and insight about the heartbreak endured by family and friends of the missing. They live a life composed of searching, waiting, questioning, and enduring until answers come, if they ever do. Informative, heartbreaking, engaging, alarming, propulsive, and extremely well written, this is a book not to be missed, particularly for those interested in true crime or wilderness explorations. Jacob strove to help people. He bounced between potential careers considering law enforcement, rescue, and even becoming an EMT. He decided to major in kinesiology because he had a passion for exercise and understanding muscular function. He believed he could help people in this way. Required reading for anyone concerned about the missing, Billman's authentic and encyclopedic book leads us across the landscapes of the vanished with a journalist's acumen and a searcher's sympathy. It's both true and useful, a storytelling textbook I wish I'd read before my own son went missing."―Roman Dial, author of The Adventurer's Son It boggles the mind how many people are reported missing on any given day. The stories behind each one is tragic and frustrating.I eagerly dipped into the book because I thought this was going to be about the various serial killers who seem to emanate from the Land of Rain. Not that I thrill off reports of murder but because there always seems to be a new report of another vanishing. However, the book is mostly about the search for Jacob Gray, who vanished while on a bicycle trip in 2017 within Olympic National Park. The star of the book is Jacob’s father, Randy Gray, who refuses to give up in the search for his missing son. He travels all over several states in the hope his son travelled incognito and just wanted to be by himself. That’s another of the many reasons people vanish…the denial of civilization. It isn’t necessarily that a missing person is dead as it is so much that a missing person wants to go missing on purpose.

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This compelling read does showcase some criminal elements, but, doesn’t fall into the true crime category, exclusively. I saw the title and cover, then read the blurb, and my interest was peaked. I had to know what Jon Billman had to say in this true story of the missing across the country.The mystery of these lost souls is compelling and often very strange indeed. You wouldn't think in this technological world that it would be possible to disappear without a trace, sometimes in plain sight but the in depth research Jon Billman undertook in this book shows that it happens more often than its comfortable to think about. He himself is deeply affected by these random tragedies and that comes across with every passing chapter. Rangers perform what's called a "hasty search." Some search-and-rescue personnel hate the term hasty search, preferring to call it the Reflex Phase of a search. "Hasty" implies half-assed, a lazy afterthought. At any rate, rangers don't find anything other than the bike, trailer, and gear; they don't know anything more than anyone else about where the cyclist could be. This is becoming a head-scratcher even to trained rangers.