I think one of the things I like so much about the Lore Lodge - the history. Dude disappeared in 2008? Let's talk about pre historic native peoples. Love it. Don't change.
It's one of the main reasons why I love this channel, honestly. No one ever talks about the indigenous population and lore beforehand or at all and I find it really interesting to know the background and beliefs
Honestly same. The way my brain works, is if I don’t have all of the foundational knowledge I cannot grasp it and form my own opinion. Knowing everything is so cool
Fun Fact Grady Whitehead found a lost plane, crash, that even the government couldn't find because it was so deep in the mountains by looking at the trees. He is a legend in the Smokies.
@@FearEeatsTheSoul Gradys full name was "Grady Whitehead Sanford." He worked at his fathers Junkyard named "Sanford and Sons." I've seen video footage of this so its absolute fact.
Late to the game, but native Appalachian person here. My family has lived in the mountains for as far back as we can trace. 100% I can tell you that “mountain men” aren’t thought of as myth or anything like that here. They are thought of as fact, but the story we hear is more grounded in reality than what I’ve read online. My grandmother let us play in the forests and the streets, etc, my entire childhood with little to no supervision. We swam in lakes and streams until dark, and ran and biked all over this area. But we were not allowed to approach the Appalachian trail. The SINGLE time I remember her going anywhere near the actual Appalachian trail, she was all over us. She made everyone hold hands. We even went to the bathroom as a group. Everyone had to sit around and wait for everyone else to be done before we walked out. She was the first of her family to live off a reservation, and she was adamant that the mountain men were absolutely in the area, and would absolutely carry off kids or attack lone adults, and had done it for as long as her family could remember. Apparently that’s what everyone “knew” happened to her great uncle, and they knew it was pointless to go to any form of police about it. Just fyi, for what it’s worth.
I know it's difficult for some, but a simple search would tell you that American Media has been writing about Sasquatch, Bigfoot or Hairy Giants for 300 years. Spanish stories from 1600's, Jesuit from 1700's and even Theodore Roosevelt from 1893 are some examples, but there are many stories between and they're constant, all the way up until today. Journalists couldn't write fast enough for British and European readers.
Mike Hearon is my mother's first cousin. Mike's father and my mom's father are brothers. Our entire family, beginning four generations settled in Happy Valley. It's very close to a large lake named Chilhowee Lake. I, along with most of our extended family, live in Maryville now. Just because it's closer to the grocery store, jobs, bank, etc. The condo Mike lived in was only a couple miles from my house. His son's (my second cousins) spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to find him. They were very close to their dad and were devastated when he disappeared. One thing I do know; Happy Valley people know each other because not that many people live there and the ones that do were born there. My point is if a stranger had come into the valley, someone would have seen them. Our family searched every inch of the area Mike disappeared from. And there was absolutely no trace of him anywhere and hasn't been since. If Grady Whitehead couldn't find him, he wasn't going to be found. Our family still holds out hope that one day we'll find out what happened to Mike.
@@SarahGreen523 it wasn't an abandoned cabin.. it was his grandmother's house and he used it when he wud come up here to go hunting.. the house is abandoned now but he was living in the house before he disappeared, he also lived in town during the week.. and his four wheeler was near jr Buchanans house, he knew him.. it's not uncommon for us to ride on each other's property around here.. since we are all kin on this Rd we ride on each other's property..
@@goodplenty534 no he stayed at his grandparents old house, it was his, so he was coming from his grandparents home at the end of Bell Branch rd...ATV was found near the Buchanan home..which is about a mile or so from here..
All I'm going to say is that most locals in that area will tell you not to go exploring in the woods if it's not your property and not to stray far from marked trails in the parks. Lotta shady stuff happens in those woods. Best not to stumble upon it.
@@VMM34 I'm sure they do from time to time, but the park is over half a million acres. It's like trying to hit a fly on the wall with a dart from across the room.
This is true, not 10 years ago, in the mountains there was a property dispute, and one ma shot and killed the neighbor, and got away with it... Grandview ,Tennessee (Rhea County) weird spelling bc when speaking it sounds like Ray, and not bc of our accents..
I'm a local and yep that is true, *except:* there's not a lot of shady stuff. Locals know *it's too spooky* for making anything beyond moonshine and others find out quick enough when they try. I'll say what I've said to everyone else: Be prepared to run into anything from natural creatures to spirits, (especially in the abandoned old cabins and homes) or running into someone who may be hostile and armed, but they aren't protecting anything illegal. They're protecting the entire forest from outsiders. It is sacred ground, no matter what the government says. If you ask the rangers for help they just say "hold my beer" while they throw another log on their fire, then tell you to fk off home outta their woods.
The only real Spooky thing about those areas and what I find the real REAL problem is Wildlife is the most desensitized to humans that I have ever seen despite traveling a lot. Even the birds and friggin Insects like butterflies have zero regard for humans. The geese will block traffic when the light changes to extort people for food forcing you to throw off to the side of the road or miss the light, bears with their cubs walk down the middle of the main street following trash trucks, birds will land right next to you and just look at you waiting for you to feed them your food. While its cool and all such a setup is a recipe for disaster when we are talking someone even mildly away from civilization yet around the same type of critters one sees in the cities like Gatlinburg. Hell... Shit I seen around there I wouldnt be shocked if a bear stole my dudes motor cycle after leading him into a cave with promise of free moonshine and too this day coyotes stand guard and refuse to let the man out so their boy the bear can go on a joy ride.@@AngelfromGenX
Could he have seen something on the road and tried to hide by the cabin, turning his atv off but not turning off the starter so he could turn it on fast enough to flee?
@@TheLoreLodge As for the "drug deal gone bad" angle... maybe the reason the deal went bad... was because a guy who wasn't supposed to be there... was.? It's a thing I've seen in a few cases, and seemingly HAS happened, is that sometimes you're the loose end, YOU are the witness that needed silenced.
as someone who grew up in a very heavily wooded rural area, you really can never count out the possibility of there being random people living in the woods away from others. squatters, addicts, and people who have purposefully broken from society are common and can be dangerous if you come across them and they perceive your presence as a risk to their situation. i'm not from tennessee, but i know meth labs are very common around my neck of the woods. it just seems to be the most likely to me :/ great researching as always! i love how you take such care to go into the native history before starting any of these videos. i'm not sure if it's been brought up before (i'm very new to the channel!) but i would LOVE to see you do a deep dive into the Lost Franklin Expedition. it'd be very fun to see you dig deep into the Inuit cultures at play up there, the oral storytelling of their experiences witnessing the men on the ice, and all the various theories of why and how things went the way they did. keep up the good work, and happy early halloween!
meth comes from mexico now since early 2000s when precursors were made very hard to procure in USA.. nobody makes meth here anymore. they cant because the ingredients arent available.
That would make sense. I'm from Northern Indiana but have lots of friends from Southern IN where meth labs were incredibly common n the hills, but you're right, that was in the early 2000s and the scene may have changed. Still, there are always going to be people out in the woods for whatever reason. It's always something to consider! @@Andy-zj3dc
I mostly agree with Andy, and the other issue with the “squatters doing hard drugs in the woods”’theory is that addicts either 1 need raw materials to produce said hard drugs, which even if available would have to be packed into the woods or they would be making lots of trips to a dealer…which would likely be the case since 99% of hard drugs come in from Mexico…it’s even less likely they were buying in bulk, getting loaded for months on end without having to leave their hidey hole. I think the answer is a lot simpler, it was a mountain lion or other large animal.
Reminds me of the case where the guy who lived in the woods got sick of people using a pond near his property, and stopped three guys on ATVs who were going there and shot them all. Imagine if that guy had hid the bodies and ATVs better (and an extra day+ to do it), the case would sound exactly like this one
I think you should do the old 18th Century English case of Elizabeth Canning. She vanished for a month then reappeared and claimed she was kidnapped but her story had odd discrepancies and it was a HUGE deal, with people taking sides and arguing. I’ve even read a book from the 1940s claiming to have “solved” the mystery. Very interesting case, imo.
@@rollindownhill531 hi there there’s an episode on Elizabeth Canning over on YT channel brief case it’s around 17 mins long. But exactly a book but it’s a good video.
There are a lot of people who live "under the radar" in the large national forests. That doesn't mean they are "wild men" but that they have chosen to be away from people. It is conceivable that having discovered such he was lost in something stupid. It doesn't take the paranormal, there are "regular" people out there.
yep, I've stumbled into a sketchy looking shack area in a national park before while trying to find our camp site in the days before Google maps with location tracking, dogs started barking at us and we got the fuck out of there real quick
Your correct save , except that not every off the grid person is a kiddnapping murderer. Statistically most off the grid people are the opposite of kidnapping murderer.
Yeah there's some people in the mountains that value their privacy but they aren't inherently dangerous. They know and understand that killing or abducting someone is only going to bring law enforcement and park rangers into the area. The most they would do is threaten. Also, the feral "wildman" theory has never been really confirmed or proven. Just a myth. There's actuslly more evidence and witness sightings for bigfoot in that area then feral humans.
Starts listening to story about missing person. 15 minutes later: happily cleaning and learning about native American prehistory. Original story starts up again: jolted, mildly disappointed
Im an north american precontact archaeologist and i am always impressed with the accuracy of the general details of his explanation of precontact peoples. It is obvious to me he does his research. He would do well in an anthropology/archaeology degree
As a truck driver, your videos are something I look forward to. I enjoy the good history and the well-done, in-depth investigatory work done by the lore lodge
@@daren7889 My son has been hauling for 10 years now; I get a little nervous with stories about drivers going missing. Be careful out there fellas, No picking up strays No matter how good looking.
Great video and loved the history. My favorite thing about the Appalachian mountains being part of an ancient Pangean range is the Scotts-Irish settling there in a place that reminded them of home and it was once connected to their homeland.
WELSH. The Welsh were the first to come here. The Cherokee called them "the moon-eyed people" due to their gray eyes. The original pilgrims were also Welsh. Wales gets erased in history, but not EVERYthing in history was the Scots or the Irish.
I lived in Maryville when this happened, he was very prominent in the community. Thank you for covering this, I wish I could have met Mike. ❤ Also my dad was involved with the search for Dennis Martin.
My mother was born there in 1946, and Granny took them off the mountain to Florida in the 50s. Growing up, mom told me stories about the hills . One was about some boys gone missing when she was there. She also talked about going for walks with her dad playing hide the bottles ,find the money. On one trip, mom said " her and daddy run up on a booger and daddy shot his pistol in the air to scare it." I asked her what a booger was? Mom told me they" Was giants, that looked like gorilla bears. They were scary looking ." Now mom was only about 4 or 5 years old at the time. And that's how she described it. Mom's family have all told me stories about boogers and hiding in the caves from the tree knockers when they was hunting. Sorry about such a long rant down a rabbit hole but I came across your channel and thought I would listen to it and when you stated about my Mom's birth town. I got interested and it brought back memories from what my mama told me about growing up in the hills and back woods in Tennessee.
Funny thing with this video, I am actually the park historian for cheaha mountain. Its odd hearing all this stuff on a RUclips video when I give out all this info so dang often.
@@mcgbullseye468 pretty good really. Nothing jumped out at me enough to be popping into my head after watching the video. We do pronounce it differently now, just due to the progression of language and the southern drawl kicking in. Instead of "Chee-ah-ha" we now just say "Chee-ha". If you ever get into the area, stop by our Native American museum and mention these comments. I am always around and all of them know how to reach me.
@@flyndutchmn I am not sure what I would collab with, but yeah absolutely. I would love to break into the field of providing info like these guys, just have never had the time or knowledge of computers to jump into it. It would be a joy and privilege to work with these guys though.
Hello fellow Bammer! I've been to Cheaha several times but I was introduced on a school field trip from Greensboro in the late 80's. You can only go to Moundville State Park and the Birmingham Zoo so many times. 😊 "Chee-ha" is beautiful and so rich in many things including culture and resources. It must feel like a gift to be able to work there and educate so many. Kudos to you !
As someone who has grown up in rural parts of middle TN I have heard a lot of wild stories about things that go down in the woods. There was an infamous area neighboring our county where people lived off grid in a commune of sorts and did a lot of hard drugs. I have no idea if these stories are true, but these people were paranoid and territorial of their land. They would hang wire up between trees so that if anyone was riding ATVs on their land they would unknowingly ride into said traps and die or become severely wounded. Probably just a tale to keep the bored high school kids away but could something like this have possibly happened if he had crossed into an area that someone deemed to be theirs? Then just had his ATV dumped, because they're not going to hold onto evidence. My ex has also told me stories of going hunting and walking up on moonshine stills and immediately turning right the fuck around. Never know who or what you will find when you go wandering.
you're so lucky to live in a country that is an entire continent with a low population. I hate being stuck on an overpopulated island filled with fields
Mike was my dads bestfriend. We still go on a “hike for Mike” every year by abrams creek in remembrance. I live in walland about 20 minutes from happy valley and still go up there to fish and camp pretty often. This is something I think about a lot and the case still gets brought up at any family event. Feel so bad for his parents sue and veril. They’re older now and will probably never know what happened to their son. Another thing, police won’t go up there if they’re called now. They just won’t unless they have adequate backup. It’s ridiculous and it seems in this area this case isn’t a concern anymore for anyone who didn’t know him personally. Some sketchy people live right by his property too. Happy valley isn’t the place it used to be
Also, someone knows something. The few people that live up there know everything that goes on. And there’s no way someone didn’t see something. I went to my uncle’s property up there two weeks ago and had three cars drive by and stop by mine several times just because they didn’t recognize it. These people sit outside on their porch constantly there is just no way in hell no one saw something suspicious.
@@TheLoreLodge so I just finished the video, you had asked if anything specific happened that led people to believe it’s a sketchy place. I have a personal experience that happened to me two years ago. That involves the people who live right across from the end of happy valley loop road. If you’ve been there you may recognize it, it’s a house with a huge wooden privacy fence. I was with some friends at around midnight in the summer time, being teenagers we decided to go night swimming at abrams creek bridge, that goes over chilhowee lake. We took the parkway there, jumped off the bridge a couple times, then decided to head back after about an hour or so. On the way back, my friend who wasn’t familiar with the area like I was took the first right instead of the second, which is happy valley road. I said it’s fine because it also leads back to the parkway to go home. (Some preface we were teenagers and teenagers make bad decisions) so on the way back, we passed that guys fence. It has a bunch of random stuff on it, farm things, saws, a BB gun and some old rusty hatchets, stuff like that. One of my friends made the driver stop the car (I was in the passenger seat) and he got out, and took a hatchet off the fence. No dogs barked or anything like that. It all happened fast and I kept yelling at him to go put it back. The driver turned on happy valley loop road after we’d driven off, to make a loop. As we get back to the fence, just as he’s about to hop out of the car and put the hatchet back, a man comes running out from behind it. He had a black bandanna on his face, a pistol, and a pillowcase under the pistol, (I’m guessing to catch the shells) and I tried ducking down, the seatbelt locked up, it FREAKED me out. The driver gunned it and the man with the gun never did shoot. But the fact that all of this happened within 5 minutes, it was 1:30ish AM at this point, he was up, somehow heard us take something off his fence or just heard something in general, and his first response was to put on a bandanna and grab a gun and shoot whoever it was, tells me he has something to hide. That was to this day the scariest moment of my life, I immediately thought of Mike too. And as you can guess, the car ride home was silent.
Also I just texted my dad and asked if he knows the exact location the ATV was found. We literally talked about this last weekend. When he texts back I’ll let you know.
According to James Moony, the Cherokee had a tradition that they had once been part of a larger nation ruled by a priesthood. The priesthood became corrupt, the people rose up and killed them and lost all of the oral traditions the priests kept. They had to rebuild so much of their culture that they lost track of the years and couldn't even tell how long ago this took place.
This happened close to my Grandparent's house. They lived in Six Mile just on the other side of the mountain from Happy Valley. I remember going out with my uncle and walking the woods around my grandparents property to make sure he wasn't out there.
Super awesome to hear you tell this story! I have lived in Maryville, Tn for my whole life! It's a real blessing to live near the Smoky Mountains and be able to enjoy nature. I remember when this happened.....everyone was so heartbroken 😢
In 2008, it was probably a meth lab in another cabin. A well-known meth house near her home has been repeatedly mentioned as a possible factor in the disappearance of a young child in East Tennessee, Summer Wells, and the prevalence of meth has been widely discussed as a result. Apparently it's been an ongoing problem in the mountains and foothills for decades for the same reason moonshine was 100 years ago: lots of empty wilderness and a tradition of not talking to authorities.
Possibility the police have stakes in any moonshine, pot fields or other dealings that may have reduced any enthusiasm for the case and apparent lack of knowledge of the cabin, even know what happened to Mike. Food for thought.
I hadn't even gotten there yet, but you're absolutely right. It could've been Marijuana, or Moonshine, or there could be a different drug being made there, or even just being held there, and he might've gotten too close, or stumbled onto whatever was/is going on by accident. It is possible the police have stakes in whatever occurred, either in trying to stop what's going on, or in keeping it quiet.
Honest question. I know moonshine used to be a huge thing. But is it still anymore? To the point someone would be killed over it? I live in Arkansas, so the thought of a meth lab, yeah dangerous as could be, may be killed. But moonshine? When you can walk to a liquor store now? Truly curious if it’s still that big of a market or people still distilling regularly. (I know a couple people who have made moonshine, one who said he got involved with shady people wanting to buy it, so he took himself off grid to avoid these people)
Love the videos! As an East TN native with family in Blount county, Maryville is locally pronounced Mare-vol 😅 as most southerns do, just ignore all the letters that are actually there and say the word fast with minimal pronunciation. Great video. Keep up the content!
Christ is king!! There's only one way to Heaven and thats by way of Christ Jesus HalleluYAH!!! we are in the end times. its best to get right with God before its too late!
Army guys can get invested in searching for people, and they definitely would see it as an opportunity for training in search and rescue. Wouldn't honestly be that weird.
Occam’s razor, Mike fell off the atv and suffered a head injury. He drove to the cabin thinking it was his residence and then walked off into the woods in a state of confusion. This is coming from someone that has lived in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains most of my life. It is rare to encounter random people out here, and even more rare that those random people have murderous intentions.
@@greglamphier4430I work for a major hospital. Not every head injury results in a concussion but also you'd be surprised what concussed ppl can do. From car accidents to sports injuries. It's not bonk head, pass out, get found like it's shown on TV and in the movies.
@@greglamphier4430 Your initial point was he couldn't have gotten far enough from the atv not to be found if he was concussed and my response to that still stands. OP and I said nothing about his missing body, in fact OP offered the theory of him wandering into the woods. Dense woods with sparce resources even in broad daylight for an experienced hiker/backpacker can turn dangerous/deadly quickly. If a head injury is in play that increases the risk. I personally believe there was foul play but factor in temperature, wild animals, injury, illness, etc and there are plenty of reasons why his body may not have been found.
@@rogue3145 dude.. that's not what happened.. there was NO blood.. u have approximately 3 days to find a body before the animals get rid of it... Time was against us.. it rained. So the cadaver dogs were useless 😞
The problem with a pot farm is that you don't want a multitude of people searching the area, ether. A still? You'd have time to break that down and move it before a search even got underway. In fact, you could probably move the bulk of it before the guy could return with authorities. So it's unlikely, in my mind, that it was a pot growing operation and if it was a still, he must have seen and known the operator(s). Great rundown, as always.
Aiden, did you try to ask the son who was certain he knew where the ATV and cabin were??? Why not start there? Obviously searchers other than law enforcement saw the location. Good luck. I agree, others should be allowed to have info if "statute of limitations" on disappearances has expired. Good work!!!
The statue of limitation on murder or capital crime such as armed robbery, criminal assault, kidnapping etc was removed.... you can be charged 50 years later if they find you or prove you did it... thus these cases are still active.
Coming from Eastern European country, I find it so weird that someone would kill a person because of moonshining being discovered. I mean, it is just as illegal here as it is in the US, but since we're all alcoholics here no one will ever tell on them :D I can't even tell how many times I have heard about this or that neighbor moonshining and no one has ever done anything about it. The person that moonshines just brings a bottle of their finest and everyone keeps their mouth shut :D
Glad to see you talk about this story, im from the area, and i remember when this happened. I agree with your possible scenarios, i will say that poachers are also a possible option as well to something he could have stumbled across and went horribly wrong. I hope the family finds closure one day.
Very interesting case. The 411 book mentions the sons said the ATV was found in high gear (key in on position, as you mention)...so Mike exited the vehicle while it was moving at high speed. The Sons said he would never leave the vehicle in such a condition.
Mike built my house and was a great man. My wife and I were in our late 20s and he built our custom home and really helped us out. He told us he tries to keep five houses going and we were his bad weather house. Basically. Only working on our house when his crew couldn’t work anywhere else. He was surrounded by a great work crew and he had a contagious smile. He told us we were partners he would give us a deal…then in a few years he invited us to sell our house for profit and he we would start all over and keep upsizing. He disappeared before we could. But we still live in the same house and will never move. We miss you Mike.
The last video featuring Thornberry was awesome, it'd be cool to see him more involved in the videos. The dynamic you guys have in the podcasts is great, but the contrast also works for the more curated videos. Regardless, fantastic content as always, love you guys and greatly appreciate what you're doing.
Man, what a channel! Glad it was recommended for me. I just wish I'd found it earlier. I'll be binge watching 'The Lore Lodge' for the foreseeable future.😮
Happy birthday Aiden. It brings my old bones such joy that you continue to spread the joy of History that I imparted on you during your formative years!
I love the way you constantly implore the ‘officials’, whomever they may be within a case, to get their shit together and start working with and for us, instead of secretively and for who they decide deserves what info. Cudos!
This story reminds me of something that happened to my father in the 70's. Not sure if you've ever heard of the jackson whites in nj, but he was out in the area checking out an area for hunting I believe. he said there was a group of 4 guys that tried to abduct him basically. he only got out because he got to his truck before anything too bad happened to him. There's alot of stories about the jackson whites where I grew up, but I have no idea what was true and what wasn't tbh. Might be a good thing for you to look into because they're supposedly a group of native americans going back a long time living in the ramapo mountains in NJ. The stories make them sound like inbred ferals but I have a feeling that's not exactly the truth.
More about the atv....Also mentions the cabin.....".Matt said, "Once they found it there, I knew whatever happened was not an accident. The 4-wheeler was found in high gear on a steep hill and the ignition switch was left on. with the kill switch off”. Matt said his Dad would never leave his ATV on as it would drain the battery. They were sure he would have wrecked his four-wheeler if he had an accident as they had feared. The brothers saw the ATV and knew right away that it was the one that belonged to their Dad but they had no idea why the four-wheeler would be where it was. They suspected straight away, this was no accident! Matt Hearon said, “Once they took me where the 4-Wheeler was found, I knew right away, I thought, “Yeah. There was foul play involved.” Because it didn’t make any sense where and how the 4-wheeler was left. That he would have put it there or that he… Something happened that wasn’t right. It’s how the 4-wheeler was there. It wasn’t on his property. It was in between his property and the property that I had mentioned that he was mowing for hay for the missionaries, which was probably about a mile and a half, maybe a mile up the road. It was kind of in between those properties. It was a three-minute walk to the National Park. Found this at strangeoutdoors.com....Hope this is allowed...
I get the frustration of not having more information on cases but I also understand the importance of why so often certain information is often kept private in unsolved case, certain details that only the victim and killer will often know are critical to being kept secret so that they can identify the guilty person when they have them narrowed down. There are still often many other ways the public can help solve cases and bring closure. But I am all for a lot of information being kept private because of how often someone is finally convicted because they've known a small detail that they could only know of they committed the crime and how important sometimes that one small detail is to catching someone
Just a FYI the ignition being switched on with the key switch being off will not drain the battery, that's like saying that having your knob for the ac in a car with the key on the seat will drain the battery. Usually people leave the key switched off with the ignition switch on so you just turn the key and press the starter button.
@@TheLoreLodge key switched on ignition switched on still won't drain a battery, nothing to draw current. It would take something like Lights being on for the battery to drain
@jordanmike3479 might not be totally accurate to this example, but if he had the key left on, the fuel pump would've primed and maybe a fault could've left it running thus killing it? I know that's very little power draw and highly unlikely but still. I had an old honda that would do exactly that and flood itself.
If he went out all the time, was within 1/2 mile of his place, and Grady Whitehead knows that area so well, I'm squinting at him randomly running into a still or farm. I suppose you could move a moonshine operation easier than things that grow in the dirt, but I just cant wrap my head around neither he nor Grady would've known something like that was in that general area, not to mention how familiar they'd both be with the people in that area.
Love this channel. As someone who likes going down the rabbit holes it’s refreshing to hear unbiased examinations of said holes 🕳. Thank You @lorelodge
*Maryville, not Marysville(respectfully). This is one of the better coverages I've seen on Mike's case. From what I've heard amongst some other locals, the general consensus is that he came across some squatters out in the woods and it went badly for him. Some people believe he may have come across a grow farm/still as well, but some people reject that theory on the notion that it wouldnt have been enough time for them to pull up stakes and get rid of the evidence of their activities before the law started searching around for Mike. There is another case from a few years ago I haven't heard any coverage on that involved an ATV as well. Ive not looked into it in a while to see if theres been any updates, but last I did, his family still knew nothing. The man's name is Kevin Hamby, he went missing in 2017 in Morgan County, TN. The only things ever found of his were the ATV he was last seen riding off on, and one of his shoes.
I heard your channel be recommended countless times by various creators and now I see it was well warranted! Loved the extra history bits and how you brief in and explain related matters.
I use to live in Maryville TN back then and my dad was also in construction and thought Mike was a great guy. In 2008 the housing market in that area took a huge hit. Heard rumors he might have hurt himself. I completely forgot about the case until I started watching the video!
Well shit. So this one caught my attention due to I currently live in Maryville. The wife is from here. In fact, for a little bit after moving here, we crashed with a distant cousin of hers in Happy Valley. One of the many Whiteheads who live there. So, when she returned from running some errands, I mentioned the video. Turns out she is related distantly to the guy who disappeared, too. Not too weird, due to her being related to half the county, but still, well shit. She did mention that they also found his jacket, too, but not sure how accurate that is.
You do a great job of telling a story! I thought cave before you said it, but also sink hole. That possibility doesn't go along with the ATV unless someone comes across it while he's out exploring and takes it thinking I'll stash it, go back in a few days and then get it to a truck for transport and hiding. This could have happened days later.
I like to think he met a nice Lady Squatch and got married and has been sending squirrels with letters tied to them to his family but they aren't allowed to talk to it cause the feds are anti Squatch. . . . Ok but seriously what the hell is so bad about this areas that the gooberment won't give even the slightest clue to potentially help people in these terrible situations?
I honestly love the history parts of your videos. And I love how you skip around a lot and go off topic to touch on other things that are closely related, or Loosely related to what you're talking about. As someone with A.D.D. I can't focus on a long video that's just talking about a single topic. I tend to lose my attention span really quickly even when the topic does interest me. So the way you do your videos makes it so I can stay from beginning to end and I'm interested the whole time. 😊
I like videos about mysterious missing persons cases. I also like videos about precontact native American history. This video is GOLD! More of this, please!
Ok I have to subscribe now. Great job working Mississippian culture into a missing person video. The moundbuilders are my second favorite subject right after true crime. Really excellent!❤
At 2;20 - "Pangia broke up around 270Million years ago.." // Ya I remember when that happened. People around then were hoping that they would come together as a band again.... There were rumors. Still waiting.
The young boy was playing hide & seek and wandered off into the forest. Footprints were eventually found quite a distance from the campsite. And also the odor of human decomposition was also reported later by searchers.
Did they not search the abandoned cabin? Because there might have been something in it, like was there signs someone had been there recently? was something left in it that could help in the search? doesn’t matter if it’s abandoned, places need to be searched thoroughly
Honestly wondering if he blundered near/to close to an illegal grow op and someone got mad, killed him, then stashed the atv somewhere else to throw off searchers.
Since the family said the rest of his belongings were still in the house, it seems like someone attacked him to rob him, realized he had no valuables on his person, then hid the body and the ATV and moved on.
Small correction, annealing copper works the opposite way from annealing iron/steel, copper gets harder from being heated and slowly cooled, you quench it in water, cooling it quickly, to make it softer again.
40:32 your theory doesnt take into account rural and small town society, Mike was from the area and knew it and the people there very well. It is unlikely as much as he traveled the area that he wouldn’t be aware of such things happening in his “neighborhood”. That would make sense if he was say “new to the area but we’re talking within a mile of his house. There likely wasn’t any tree within 5 miles of his house he didn’t know if he was outdoors that much. Just saying it would be tough to surprise him on his turf, but obviously not impossible
The history lessons are at least as interesting as the main topic! I remeber reading a book called Forbidden Archaeology, which contained the stories of pre-clovis arrowheads and other artefects being denied by the establishment and those who spoke about pre-Clovis finds being mercilessly ridiculed by academia, And here we are in 2023 it's all now accepted. Science is strange sometimes.
Nice to hear about the Mississippians more in depth. I grew up in the MS Delta and will one day hopefully be able to see if I do actually have ancestry that ties to this region of the country I find so hard to leave. Whenever I asked growing up it was Irish, Dutch, and probably Choctaw/Chickasaw (I wish I knew which.) without ever going into any further detail. Think I’ll regret not asking my grandfather any more about it when I still had the time for the rest of my life. It was his side that my guts says has the strongest possibility.
I have hiked in the Smoky mountains by myself during the day and when you get real far back in there and it gets dark you definitely start feeling like someone or something is watching you
It is MARYville not MARYSville. Could you call one of the brothers and ask them where the ATV was if the sheriff's department didn't want to tell you? Given the area and time, it was most likely someone making meth in the abandoned cabin. I feel like a grid search would have uncovered a pot field that was big enough to be worth killing to protect, and even though moonshiners are still a thing here in Tennessee, cops aren't going after any of them. Heck most cops I know are friends with a few and get shine from them themselves.
By way of drugs, don't discount meth and opioids, including heroin. Then, there's human trafficking. Not that he was captured for, but rather, saw a handoff.
![KSI - Thick Of It (feat. Trippie Redd) [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/At8v_Yc044Y/mqdefault.jpg)
I think one of the things I like so much about the Lore Lodge - the history. Dude disappeared in 2008? Let's talk about pre historic native peoples. Love it. Don't change.
Fr! Love the way he ties it all together.
It's one of the main reasons why I love this channel, honestly. No one ever talks about the indigenous population and lore beforehand or at all and I find it really interesting to know the background and beliefs
Honestly same. The way my brain works, is if I don’t have all of the foundational knowledge I cannot grasp it and form my own opinion. Knowing everything is so cool
@@Paradox_Incognitowhy would they. It's not related
I love the history lessons introducing the mysteries.
Fun Fact Grady Whitehead found a lost plane, crash, that even the government couldn't find because it was so deep in the mountains by looking at the trees. He is a legend in the Smokies.
Who is Grady Whitehead?
@@tonics7121someone didn’t watch the video
@@tonics7121A legend in the smokies.
@@tonics7121He’s the President of Nigeria.
@@FearEeatsTheSoul Gradys full name was "Grady Whitehead Sanford." He worked at his fathers Junkyard named "Sanford and Sons." I've seen video footage of this so its absolute fact.
Late to the game, but native Appalachian person here. My family has lived in the mountains for as far back as we can trace.
100% I can tell you that “mountain men” aren’t thought of as myth or anything like that here. They are thought of as fact, but the story we hear is more grounded in reality than what I’ve read online.
My grandmother let us play in the forests and the streets, etc, my entire childhood with little to no supervision. We swam in lakes and streams until dark, and ran and biked all over this area. But we were not allowed to approach the Appalachian trail. The SINGLE time I remember her going anywhere near the actual Appalachian trail, she was all over us. She made everyone hold hands. We even went to the bathroom as a group. Everyone had to sit around and wait for everyone else to be done before we walked out.
She was the first of her family to live off a reservation, and she was adamant that the mountain men were absolutely in the area, and would absolutely carry off kids or attack lone adults, and had done it for as long as her family could remember. Apparently that’s what everyone “knew” happened to her great uncle, and they knew it was pointless to go to any form of police about it.
Just fyi, for what it’s worth.
To be clear: I didn’t know that mountain men were a “myth” til the last year or so.
I appreciate your truth, thanks for sharing.
People need to start flying drones to locate these mountain men
Where do these mountain folks come from? Are they native, Caucasian? Where do they mostly live?
Wow that makes sense!
If big foot can avoid all American media for decades, he can drive an ATV.
I brake for Bigfoot. And Bigfoot could drive a flatbed truck w the Loch Ness creature.
Bigfoot could drive a monster truck if it were up to me
I know it's difficult for some, but a simple search would tell you that American Media has been writing about Sasquatch, Bigfoot or Hairy Giants for 300 years.
Spanish stories from 1600's, Jesuit from 1700's and even Theodore Roosevelt from 1893 are some examples, but there are many stories between and they're constant, all the way up until today.
Journalists couldn't write fast enough for British and European readers.
Touché. Touché
Bigfoot is a Wookie. He can drive a spacecraft.
Mike Hearon is my mother's first cousin. Mike's father and my mom's father are brothers. Our entire family, beginning four generations settled in Happy Valley. It's very close to a large lake named Chilhowee Lake. I, along with most of our extended family, live in Maryville now. Just because it's closer to the grocery store, jobs, bank, etc. The condo Mike lived in was only a couple miles from my house. His son's (my second cousins) spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to find him. They were very close to their dad and were devastated when he disappeared. One thing I do know; Happy Valley people know each other because not that many people live there and the ones that do were born there. My point is if a stranger had come into the valley, someone would have seen them. Our family searched every inch of the area Mike disappeared from. And there was absolutely no trace of him anywhere and hasn't been since. If Grady Whitehead couldn't find him, he wasn't going to be found. Our family still holds out hope that one day we'll find out what happened to Mike.
What do you know about the cabin? Was it just a broke down abandon cabin?
Yes, what can you tell us about the abandoned cabin?
@@SarahGreen523 it wasn't an abandoned cabin.. it was his grandmother's house and he used it when he wud come up here to go hunting.. the house is abandoned now but he was living in the house before he disappeared, he also lived in town during the week.. and his four wheeler was near jr Buchanans house, he knew him.. it's not uncommon for us to ride on each other's property around here.. since we are all kin on this Rd we ride on each other's property..
@@JoshuaPennysmokinnthesmokies So where his ATV was found was next to his grandparents old home?
@@goodplenty534 no he stayed at his grandparents old house, it was his, so he was coming from his grandparents home at the end of Bell Branch rd...ATV was found near the Buchanan home..which is about a mile or so from here..
All I'm going to say is that most locals in that area will tell you not to go exploring in the woods if it's not your property and not to stray far from marked trails in the parks. Lotta shady stuff happens in those woods. Best not to stumble upon it.
Are there rangers there? I wonder if they stumble on things
@@VMM34 I'm sure they do from time to time, but the park is over half a million acres. It's like trying to hit a fly on the wall with a dart from across the room.
This is true, not 10 years ago, in the mountains there was a property dispute, and one ma shot and killed the neighbor, and got away with it... Grandview ,Tennessee (Rhea County) weird spelling bc when speaking it sounds like Ray, and not bc of our accents..
I'm a local and yep that is true, *except:* there's not a lot of shady stuff. Locals know *it's too spooky* for making anything beyond moonshine and others find out quick enough when they try. I'll say what I've said to everyone else: Be prepared to run into anything from natural creatures to spirits, (especially in the abandoned old cabins and homes) or running into someone who may be hostile and armed, but they aren't protecting anything illegal. They're protecting the entire forest from outsiders. It is sacred ground, no matter what the government says. If you ask the rangers for help they just say "hold my beer" while they throw another log on their fire, then tell you to fk off home outta their woods.
The only real Spooky thing about those areas and what I find the real REAL problem is Wildlife is the most desensitized to humans that I have ever seen despite traveling a lot. Even the birds and friggin Insects like butterflies have zero regard for humans. The geese will block traffic when the light changes to extort people for food forcing you to throw off to the side of the road or miss the light, bears with their cubs walk down the middle of the main street following trash trucks, birds will land right next to you and just look at you waiting for you to feed them your food. While its cool and all such a setup is a recipe for disaster when we are talking someone even mildly away from civilization yet around the same type of critters one sees in the cities like Gatlinburg. Hell... Shit I seen around there I wouldnt be shocked if a bear stole my dudes motor cycle after leading him into a cave with promise of free moonshine and too this day coyotes stand guard and refuse to let the man out so their boy the bear can go on a joy ride.@@AngelfromGenX
Could he have seen something on the road and tried to hide by the cabin, turning his atv off but not turning off the starter so he could turn it on fast enough to flee?
You know, that one hadn’t occurred to me
You know how many times I forgot to turn off the starter on my ATVs? But its plausible
@@TheLoreLodge As for the "drug deal gone bad" angle... maybe the reason the deal went bad... was because a guy who wasn't supposed to be there... was.? It's a thing I've seen in a few cases, and seemingly HAS happened, is that sometimes you're the loose end, YOU are the witness that needed silenced.
I guess I'm not sold on the key and acc switch issue as lore lodge is.
@@marhawkman303 WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME HAS COST MANY OF US DEARLY!!
as someone who grew up in a very heavily wooded rural area, you really can never count out the possibility of there being random people living in the woods away from others. squatters, addicts, and people who have purposefully broken from society are common and can be dangerous if you come across them and they perceive your presence as a risk to their situation. i'm not from tennessee, but i know meth labs are very common around my neck of the woods. it just seems to be the most likely to me :/
great researching as always! i love how you take such care to go into the native history before starting any of these videos. i'm not sure if it's been brought up before (i'm very new to the channel!) but i would LOVE to see you do a deep dive into the Lost Franklin Expedition. it'd be very fun to see you dig deep into the Inuit cultures at play up there, the oral storytelling of their experiences witnessing the men on the ice, and all the various theories of why and how things went the way they did. keep up the good work, and happy early halloween!
meth comes from mexico now since early 2000s when precursors were made very hard to procure in USA.. nobody makes meth here anymore. they cant because the ingredients arent available.
That would make sense. I'm from Northern Indiana but have lots of friends from Southern IN where meth labs were incredibly common n the hills, but you're right, that was in the early 2000s and the scene may have changed. Still, there are always going to be people out in the woods for whatever reason. It's always something to consider! @@Andy-zj3dc
I mostly agree with Andy, and the other issue with the “squatters doing hard drugs in the woods”’theory is that addicts either 1 need raw materials to produce said hard drugs, which even if available would have to be packed into the woods or they would be making lots of trips to a dealer…which would likely be the case since 99% of hard drugs come in from Mexico…it’s even less likely they were buying in bulk, getting loaded for months on end without having to leave their hidey hole. I think the answer is a lot simpler, it was a mountain lion or other large animal.
@@Flat_Stanley Wasn't he packing heat and staying vigilant in the woods?
Could the mountain Lion have backed the ride??
The lore Lodge not only goes through the main story and the lore. They explain the entire worldbuilding for maximum imersion. 10/10
Agreed, but sometimes way off on tangents. I appreciate the history greatly but at times too much non-relevant to the plot
@@TheRhNegative, That is true, but on the other hand it makes it feel like a conversation you would be part of.
*worldbuilding" ?? you need to put down the video games , and get out of the basement .
Reminds me of the case where the guy who lived in the woods got sick of people using a pond near his property, and stopped three guys on ATVs who were going there and shot them all. Imagine if that guy had hid the bodies and ATVs better (and an extra day+ to do it), the case would sound exactly like this one
I remember watching that segment on Unsolved Mysteries
That case was also in Tennessee
@@petegorman9547I also came to comment that I remember that on Unsolved Mysteries!
Yo to be Honest I'm tired of this guy's shit
That was a local story
I've lived in both Maryville and Signal mtn. area, so crazy.
I think you should do the old 18th Century English case of Elizabeth Canning. She vanished for a month then reappeared and claimed she was kidnapped but her story had odd discrepancies and it was a HUGE deal, with people taking sides and arguing. I’ve even read a book from the 1940s claiming to have “solved” the mystery. Very interesting case, imo.
Wow that does sound like an interesting story
Let's hope he will cover it sometime.
Email 'em it so they actually see this
That sounds interesting. I’m actually looking for something different as I am getting bored of the usual stuff Cheers
What was the book called
@@rollindownhill531 hi there there’s an episode on Elizabeth Canning over on YT channel brief case it’s around 17 mins long. But exactly a book but it’s a good video.
There are a lot of people who live "under the radar" in the large national forests. That doesn't mean they are "wild men" but that they have chosen to be away from people. It is conceivable that having discovered such he was lost in something stupid. It doesn't take the paranormal, there are "regular" people out there.
yep, I've stumbled into a sketchy looking shack area in a national park before while trying to find our camp site in the days before Google maps with location tracking, dogs started barking at us and we got the fuck out of there real quick
Your correct save , except that not every off the grid person is a kiddnapping murderer. Statistically most off the grid people are the opposite of kidnapping murderer.
Yeah there's some people in the mountains that value their privacy but they aren't inherently dangerous. They know and understand that killing or abducting someone is only going to bring law enforcement and park rangers into the area. The most they would do is threaten. Also, the feral "wildman" theory has never been really confirmed or proven. Just a myth. There's actuslly more evidence and witness sightings for bigfoot in that area then feral humans.
I’m more afraid of the living
@@neryxeldra5093I’d like to think I’m not a kidnapping murderer. Not far enough off the grid to have internet. Lol. Just a nature lover.
Starts listening to story about missing person.
15 minutes later: happily cleaning and learning about native American prehistory.
Original story starts up again: jolted, mildly disappointed
Right!?👍🏼
I think it is time for another road trip with Wendigoon... Find the cabin!
“Lets talk about this guy who went missing near the great smokies.”
“Here’s the population of tnochtetlon.”
Amazing flow never change aidan
Im an north american precontact archaeologist and i am always impressed with the accuracy of the general details of his explanation of precontact peoples. It is obvious to me he does his research. He would do well in an anthropology/archaeology degree
As a truck driver, your videos are something I look forward to. I enjoy the good history and the well-done, in-depth investigatory work done by the lore lodge
I am about to start truck driving, I was thinking the same thing. 👍🏼
Thanks for your service! Truck Drivers are essential workers! The USA depends upon Truckers ! 🤗🇩🇪🇨🇭🇺🇲
@@daren7889 My son has been hauling for 10 years now; I get a little nervous with stories about drivers going missing.
Be careful out there fellas, No picking up strays No matter how good looking.
Great video and loved the history. My favorite thing about the Appalachian mountains being part of an ancient Pangean range is the Scotts-Irish settling there in a place that reminded them of home and it was once connected to their homeland.
WELSH. The Welsh were the first to come here. The Cherokee called them "the moon-eyed people" due to their gray eyes. The original pilgrims were also Welsh. Wales gets erased in history, but not EVERYthing in history was the Scots or the Irish.
@@myse7enkidsWRONG, it was mainly Germans and Scotch-Irish and some Italians
@@myse7enkids Thank you for that!!! I never knew
I lived in Maryville when this happened, he was very prominent in the community. Thank you for covering this, I wish I could have met Mike. ❤ Also my dad was involved with the search for Dennis Martin.
What were his feelings about the Special Forces being there ?
My friend just moved to maryville it is cool over there?
Yep
I can't stand how he pronounces it.
My mother was born there in 1946, and Granny took them off the mountain to Florida in the 50s. Growing up, mom told me stories about the hills . One was about some boys gone missing when she was there. She also talked about going for walks with her dad playing hide the bottles ,find the money. On one trip, mom said " her and daddy run up on a booger and daddy shot his pistol in the air to scare it." I asked her what a booger was? Mom told me they" Was giants, that looked like gorilla bears. They were scary looking ." Now mom was only about 4 or 5 years old at the time. And that's how she described it. Mom's family have all told me stories about boogers and hiding in the caves from the tree knockers when they was hunting. Sorry about such a long rant down a rabbit hole but I came across your channel and thought I would listen to it and when you stated about my Mom's birth town. I got interested and it brought back memories from what my mama told me about growing up in the hills and back woods in Tennessee.
Funny thing with this video, I am actually the park historian for cheaha mountain. Its odd hearing all this stuff on a RUclips video when I give out all this info so dang often.
Out of curiosity how did he do?
@@mcgbullseye468 pretty good really. Nothing jumped out at me enough to be popping into my head after watching the video. We do pronounce it differently now, just due to the progression of language and the southern drawl kicking in. Instead of "Chee-ah-ha" we now just say "Chee-ha". If you ever get into the area, stop by our Native American museum and mention these comments. I am always around and all of them know how to reach me.
Can you collaborate with him to do an indeepth dive?
@@flyndutchmn I am not sure what I would collab with, but yeah absolutely. I would love to break into the field of providing info like these guys, just have never had the time or knowledge of computers to jump into it. It would be a joy and privilege to work with these guys though.
Hello fellow Bammer! I've been to Cheaha several times but I was introduced on a school field trip from Greensboro in the late 80's. You can only go to Moundville State Park and the Birmingham Zoo so many times. 😊 "Chee-ha" is beautiful and so rich in many things including culture and resources. It must feel like a gift to be able to work there and educate so many. Kudos to you !
As someone who has grown up in rural parts of middle TN I have heard a lot of wild stories about things that go down in the woods. There was an infamous area neighboring our county where people lived off grid in a commune of sorts and did a lot of hard drugs. I have no idea if these stories are true, but these people were paranoid and territorial of their land. They would hang wire up between trees so that if anyone was riding ATVs on their land they would unknowingly ride into said traps and die or become severely wounded. Probably just a tale to keep the bored high school kids away but could something like this have possibly happened if he had crossed into an area that someone deemed to be theirs? Then just had his ATV dumped, because they're not going to hold onto evidence. My ex has also told me stories of going hunting and walking up on moonshine stills and immediately turning right the fuck around. Never know who or what you will find when you go wandering.
you're so lucky to live in a country that is an entire continent with a low population. I hate being stuck on an overpopulated island filled with fields
Bro I would 100% listen to you ramble about history for hours, please make Lore Lodge teaches history videos
This would be a GREAT IDEA!!!! ❤❤❤
The funniest part of people saying Teddy Roosevelt wanted to hide the wendigo, when we all know he would have hunted the thing for sport.
I've been binging this channel for about a month now. Don't know why the algorithm suddenly suggested it, but thrilled it happened.
Mike was my dads bestfriend. We still go on a “hike for Mike” every year by abrams creek in remembrance. I live in walland about 20 minutes from happy valley and still go up there to fish and camp pretty often. This is something I think about a lot and the case still gets brought up at any family event. Feel so bad for his parents sue and veril. They’re older now and will probably never know what happened to their son. Another thing, police won’t go up there if they’re called now. They just won’t unless they have adequate backup. It’s ridiculous and it seems in this area this case isn’t a concern anymore for anyone who didn’t know him personally. Some sketchy people live right by his property too. Happy valley isn’t the place it used to be
Sorry didn’t mean to comment this so many times didn’t think it was going through
Also, someone knows something. The few people that live up there know everything that goes on. And there’s no way someone didn’t see something. I went to my uncle’s property up there two weeks ago and had three cars drive by and stop by mine several times just because they didn’t recognize it. These people sit outside on their porch constantly there is just no way in hell no one saw something suspicious.
That last bit leads me to believe the police know more than they’re letting on
@@TheLoreLodge so I just finished the video, you had asked if anything specific happened that led people to believe it’s a sketchy place. I have a personal experience that happened to me two years ago. That involves the people who live right across from the end of happy valley loop road. If you’ve been there you may recognize it, it’s a house with a huge wooden privacy fence. I was with some friends at around midnight in the summer time, being teenagers we decided to go night swimming at abrams creek bridge, that goes over chilhowee lake. We took the parkway there, jumped off the bridge a couple times, then decided to head back after about an hour or so. On the way back, my friend who wasn’t familiar with the area like I was took the first right instead of the second, which is happy valley road. I said it’s fine because it also leads back to the parkway to go home. (Some preface we were teenagers and teenagers make bad decisions) so on the way back, we passed that guys fence. It has a bunch of random stuff on it, farm things, saws, a BB gun and some old rusty hatchets, stuff like that. One of my friends made the driver stop the car (I was in the passenger seat) and he got out, and took a hatchet off the fence. No dogs barked or anything like that. It all happened fast and I kept yelling at him to go put it back. The driver turned on happy valley loop road after we’d driven off, to make a loop. As we get back to the fence, just as he’s about to hop out of the car and put the hatchet back, a man comes running out from behind it. He had a black bandanna on his face, a pistol, and a pillowcase under the pistol, (I’m guessing to catch the shells) and I tried ducking down, the seatbelt locked up, it FREAKED me out. The driver gunned it and the man with the gun never did shoot. But the fact that all of this happened within 5 minutes, it was 1:30ish AM at this point, he was up, somehow heard us take something off his fence or just heard something in general, and his first response was to put on a bandanna and grab a gun and shoot whoever it was, tells me he has something to hide. That was to this day the scariest moment of my life, I immediately thought of Mike too. And as you can guess, the car ride home was silent.
Also I just texted my dad and asked if he knows the exact location the ATV was found. We literally talked about this last weekend. When he texts back I’ll let you know.
According to James Moony, the Cherokee had a tradition that they had once been part of a larger nation ruled by a priesthood. The priesthood became corrupt, the people rose up and killed them and lost all of the oral traditions the priests kept. They had to rebuild so much of their culture that they lost track of the years and couldn't even tell how long ago this took place.
If true that could well be the Mississippians. Very interesting!
Sounds like our politicians of today. Most are corrupt and traitors
the cherokee?? where do u get ur info 😂
@@beautifuldisaster139
"according to James Mooney"...
This happened close to my Grandparent's house. They lived in Six Mile just on the other side of the mountain from Happy Valley. I remember going out with my uncle and walking the woods around my grandparents property to make sure he wasn't out there.
Our theory was illegal gensing poachers.
@@GrunkyMcSaucy first I've heard that theory, but it could be top reason in that area.
Super awesome to hear you tell this story! I have lived in Maryville, Tn for my whole life! It's a real blessing to live near the Smoky Mountains and be able to enjoy nature. I remember when this happened.....everyone was so heartbroken 😢
I am going to take a long shot here !!! Have you heard anyone by the name Mary Sumner or Fred Sumner ,,, yes you live in a beautiful state
As someone who lives in East TN hearing you say “Maryville” instead of “Muhrville” is throwing me off
Me too. I was about to comment
In 2008, it was probably a meth lab in another cabin.
A well-known meth house near her home has been repeatedly mentioned as a possible factor in the disappearance of a young child in East Tennessee, Summer Wells, and the prevalence of meth has been widely discussed as a result. Apparently it's been an ongoing problem in the mountains and foothills for decades for the same reason moonshine was 100 years ago: lots of empty wilderness and a tradition of not talking to authorities.
Sounds like "Winter's Bone" with Jennifer Lawrence
@@richardevans9003 there are no romantic, heroic, or attractive characters in the Summer Wells story....
and they have every right to make whatever substance they desire
Possibility the police have stakes in any moonshine, pot fields or other dealings that may have reduced any enthusiasm for the case and apparent lack of knowledge of the cabin, even know what happened to Mike. Food for thought.
I hadn't even gotten there yet, but you're absolutely right. It could've been Marijuana, or Moonshine, or there could be a different drug being made there, or even just being held there, and he might've gotten too close, or stumbled onto whatever was/is going on by accident. It is possible the police have stakes in whatever occurred, either in trying to stop what's going on, or in keeping it quiet.
@laurenmclain6378 The police have no interest in stopping their gravy train- either through civil forfeiture or direct criminal involvement.
I bet the abandoned cabin probably disappeared like suspiciously got burnt down
Back then they knew better than to mess with them they stayed out of their for the most part
Honest question. I know moonshine used to be a huge thing. But is it still anymore? To the point someone would be killed over it? I live in Arkansas, so the thought of a meth lab, yeah dangerous as could be, may be killed. But moonshine? When you can walk to a liquor store now? Truly curious if it’s still that big of a market or people still distilling regularly. (I know a couple people who have made moonshine, one who said he got involved with shady people wanting to buy it, so he took himself off grid to avoid these people)
Love the videos! As an East TN native with family in Blount county, Maryville is locally pronounced Mare-vol 😅 as most southerns do, just ignore all the letters that are actually there and say the word fast with minimal pronunciation. Great video. Keep up the content!
I came here to say just that! Lol
In East TN, at least, it's even more simplified: "Mur-vul"
When I first moved to the area it took me months to realize "Murvul" and Maryville are the same place 😅
Good times when Aidan posts a video right as I get on the games. It’s gonna be a good one!
Christ is king!! There's only one way to Heaven and thats by way of Christ Jesus HalleluYAH!!! we are in the end times. its best to get right with God before its too late!
@SavingSoulsMinistries couldn't you at least look for videos where that would at least be on topic?
@@SavingSoulsMinistriesoh you’re in the wrong place. We idolize demons and the supernatural here
Army guys can get invested in searching for people, and they definitely would see it as an opportunity for training in search and rescue. Wouldn't honestly be that weird.
Occam’s razor, Mike fell off the atv and suffered a head injury. He drove to the cabin thinking it was his residence and then walked off into the woods in a state of confusion.
This is coming from someone that has lived in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains most of my life. It is rare to encounter random people out here, and even more rare that those random people have murderous intentions.
Don’t you think they would have found him by now then? If he’s that concussed he couldn’t have gotten too far from his ATV…
@@greglamphier4430I work for a major hospital. Not every head injury results in a concussion but also you'd be surprised what concussed ppl can do. From car accidents to sports injuries. It's not bonk head, pass out, get found like it's shown on TV and in the movies.
@queenfree85 doesn’t matter how its depicted on TV or in the movies the point still remains.. where’s his body?
@@greglamphier4430 Your initial point was he couldn't have gotten far enough from the atv not to be found if he was concussed and my response to that still stands. OP and I said nothing about his missing body, in fact OP offered the theory of him wandering into the woods. Dense woods with sparce resources even in broad daylight for an experienced hiker/backpacker can turn dangerous/deadly quickly. If a head injury is in play that increases the risk. I personally believe there was foul play but factor in temperature, wild animals, injury, illness, etc and there are plenty of reasons why his body may not have been found.
@@rogue3145 dude.. that's not what happened.. there was NO blood.. u have approximately 3 days to find a body before the animals get rid of it... Time was against us.. it rained. So the cadaver dogs were useless 😞
The problem with a pot farm is that you don't want a multitude of people searching the area, ether. A still? You'd have time to break that down and move it before a search even got underway. In fact, you could probably move the bulk of it before the guy could return with authorities. So it's unlikely, in my mind, that it was a pot growing operation and if it was a still, he must have seen and known the operator(s).
Great rundown, as always.
Aiden, did you try to ask the son who was certain he knew where the ATV and cabin were??? Why not start there? Obviously searchers other than law enforcement saw the location. Good luck. I agree, others should be allowed to have info if "statute of limitations" on disappearances has expired. Good work!!!
Could just be a standard he keeps, these people are all ready hounded by true crime types.
Anything they could've said is likely out there.
The statue of limitation on murder or capital crime such as armed robbery, criminal assault, kidnapping etc was removed.... you can be charged 50 years later if they find you or prove you did it... thus these cases are still active.
Coming from Eastern European country, I find it so weird that someone would kill a person because of moonshining being discovered. I mean, it is just as illegal here as it is in the US, but since we're all alcoholics here no one will ever tell on them :D I can't even tell how many times I have heard about this or that neighbor moonshining and no one has ever done anything about it. The person that moonshines just brings a bottle of their finest and everyone keeps their mouth shut :D
Yes but we have a lot of lazy thieves here in the US.
Lololololololol
Glad to see you talk about this story, im from the area, and i remember when this happened. I agree with your possible scenarios, i will say that poachers are also a possible option as well to something he could have stumbled across and went horribly wrong. I hope the family finds closure one day.
Very interesting case. The 411 book mentions the sons said the ATV was found in high gear (key in on position, as you mention)...so Mike exited the vehicle while it was moving at high speed. The Sons said he would never leave the vehicle in such a condition.
I worked for Mike back in the day.... We did hardwood floors in a few of the houses he built in Davis (Ford) Acres. He was generally a happy fella.
Mike built my house and was a great man. My wife and I were in our late 20s and he built our custom home and really helped us out. He told us he tries to keep five houses going and we were his bad weather house. Basically. Only working on our house when his crew couldn’t work anywhere else. He was surrounded by a great work crew and he had a contagious smile. He told us we were partners he would give us a deal…then in a few years he invited us to sell our house for profit and he we would start all over and keep upsizing. He disappeared before we could. But we still live in the same house and will never move. We miss you Mike.
The last video featuring Thornberry was awesome, it'd be cool to see him more involved in the videos. The dynamic you guys have in the podcasts is great, but the contrast also works for the more curated videos. Regardless, fantastic content as always, love you guys and greatly appreciate what you're doing.
YESSSS I was longing for another missing 411 video! Thank you for posting this.
Man, what a channel! Glad it was recommended for me. I just wish I'd found it earlier. I'll be binge watching 'The Lore Lodge' for the foreseeable future.😮
Happy birthday Aiden. It brings my old bones such joy that you continue to spread the joy of History that I imparted on you during your formative years!
Look at what you started!!! Great job!!
My dad did part of the search for Dennis as part of National Guard..he said it was like looking for needle in hay barn.
I love the way you constantly implore the ‘officials’, whomever they may be within a case, to get their shit together and start working with and for us, instead of secretively and for who they decide deserves what info. Cudos!
This story reminds me of something that happened to my father in the 70's. Not sure if you've ever heard of the jackson whites in nj, but he was out in the area checking out an area for hunting I believe. he said there was a group of 4 guys that tried to abduct him basically. he only got out because he got to his truck before anything too bad happened to him. There's alot of stories about the jackson whites where I grew up, but I have no idea what was true and what wasn't tbh. Might be a good thing for you to look into because they're supposedly a group of native americans going back a long time living in the ramapo mountains in NJ. The stories make them sound like inbred ferals but I have a feeling that's not exactly the truth.
Throwback Natives attacking, had to be because of his last name! lol,
More about the atv....Also mentions the cabin.....".Matt said, "Once they found it there, I knew whatever happened was not an accident. The 4-wheeler was found in high gear on a steep hill and the ignition switch was left on. with the kill switch off”. Matt said his Dad would never leave his ATV on as it would drain the battery. They were sure he would have wrecked his four-wheeler if he had an accident as they had feared. The brothers saw the ATV and knew right away that it was the one that belonged to their Dad but they had no idea why the four-wheeler would be where it was. They suspected straight away, this was no accident!
Matt Hearon said, “Once they took me where the 4-Wheeler was found, I knew right away, I thought, “Yeah. There was foul play involved.” Because it didn’t make any sense where and how the 4-wheeler was left. That he would have put it there or that he… Something happened that wasn’t right. It’s how the 4-wheeler was there. It wasn’t on his property. It was in between his property and the property that I had mentioned that he was mowing for hay for the missionaries, which was probably about a mile and a half, maybe a mile up the road. It was kind of in between those properties. It was a three-minute walk to the National Park.
Found this at strangeoutdoors.com....Hope this is allowed...
I get the frustration of not having more information on cases but I also understand the importance of why so often certain information is often kept private in unsolved case, certain details that only the victim and killer will often know are critical to being kept secret so that they can identify the guilty person when they have them narrowed down.
There are still often many other ways the public can help solve cases and bring closure. But I am all for a lot of information being kept private because of how often someone is finally convicted because they've known a small detail that they could only know of they committed the crime and how important sometimes that one small detail is to catching someone
Listening to more and more of these makes me wish I had the time and resources to go and do some searching and digging into these cases.
I might have to watch this again later - I could barely hear Mattis over the sound of "Country Roads" looping in my head. THANKS FOR THAT
Just a FYI the ignition being switched on with the key switch being off will not drain the battery, that's like saying that having your knob for the ac in a car with the key on the seat will drain the battery. Usually people leave the key switched off with the ignition switch on so you just turn the key and press the starter button.
I may have had them reversed, either way Matt was clear that the position it was left in would have drained the battery
@@TheLoreLodge key switched on ignition switched on still won't drain a battery, nothing to draw current. It would take something like Lights being on for the battery to drain
@jordanmike3479 might not be totally accurate to this example, but if he had the key left on, the fuel pump would've primed and maybe a fault could've left it running thus killing it? I know that's very little power draw and highly unlikely but still. I had an old honda that would do exactly that and flood itself.
If he went out all the time, was within 1/2 mile of his place, and Grady Whitehead knows that area so well, I'm squinting at him randomly running into a still or farm. I suppose you could move a moonshine operation easier than things that grow in the dirt, but I just cant wrap my head around neither he nor Grady would've known something like that was in that general area, not to mention how familiar they'd both be with the people in that area.
Love this channel. As someone who likes going down the rabbit holes it’s refreshing to hear unbiased examinations of said holes 🕳. Thank You @lorelodge
I walked out of work to the video 10 mins in, loving your content man. Really scratches that itch
Men* don’t forget tech Aidan he’s a cutey too! 😂
*Maryville, not Marysville(respectfully). This is one of the better coverages I've seen on Mike's case. From what I've heard amongst some other locals, the general consensus is that he came across some squatters out in the woods and it went badly for him. Some people believe he may have come across a grow farm/still as well, but some people reject that theory on the notion that it wouldnt have been enough time for them to pull up stakes and get rid of the evidence of their activities before the law started searching around for Mike.
There is another case from a few years ago I haven't heard any coverage on that involved an ATV as well. Ive not looked into it in a while to see if theres been any updates, but last I did, his family still knew nothing. The man's name is Kevin Hamby, he went missing in 2017 in Morgan County, TN. The only things ever found of his were the ATV he was last seen riding off on, and one of his shoes.
I heard your channel be recommended countless times by various creators and now I see it was well warranted! Loved the extra history bits and how you brief in and explain related matters.
I live close, how have I not heard about this. Thank you aidens, much love 🤘🏽
I use to live in Maryville TN back then and my dad was also in construction and thought Mike was a great guy. In 2008 the housing market in that area took a huge hit. Heard rumors he might have hurt himself. I completely forgot about the case until I started watching the video!
That look on your face when you said he used to go into caves alone 😂 I felt that so hard
Well shit. So this one caught my attention due to I currently live in Maryville. The wife is from here. In fact, for a little bit after moving here, we crashed with a distant cousin of hers in Happy Valley. One of the many Whiteheads who live there. So, when she returned from running some errands, I mentioned the video. Turns out she is related distantly to the guy who disappeared, too. Not too weird, due to her being related to half the county, but still, well shit. She did mention that they also found his jacket, too, but not sure how accurate that is.
You Mentioned your video with wendigoon, and it made me realize just how lucky we are to get to see you guys together. Two of my favorite RUclipsrs!
You do a great job of telling a story! I thought cave before you said it, but also sink hole. That possibility doesn't go along with the ATV unless someone comes across it while he's out exploring and takes it thinking I'll stash it, go back in a few days and then get it to a truck for transport and hiding. This could have happened days later.
Mike's soft cozy dad energy honestly hurts my heart he hasn't been found, i literally can't imagine the families pain
God bless you and your work,respect from Croatia-Europe 💚❤💚💛❤💛
I like to think he met a nice Lady Squatch and got married and has been sending squirrels with letters tied to them to his family but they aren't allowed to talk to it cause the feds are anti Squatch.
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Ok but seriously what the hell is so bad about this areas that the gooberment won't give even the slightest clue to potentially help people in these terrible situations?
I love your deep dive into missing cases.
You sure do, you have 100+ comments on this channel. They must be one of your favorites.
Beautiful profile pic and name. So pretty.
I honestly love the history parts of your videos. And I love how you skip around a lot and go off topic to touch on other things that are closely related, or Loosely related to what you're talking about. As someone with A.D.D. I can't focus on a long video that's just talking about a single topic. I tend to lose my attention span really quickly even when the topic does interest me. So the way you do your videos makes it so I can stay from beginning to end and I'm interested the whole time. 😊
I like videos about mysterious missing persons cases. I also like videos about precontact native American history. This video is GOLD! More of this, please!
Ok I have to subscribe now. Great job working Mississippian culture into a missing person video. The moundbuilders are my second favorite subject right after true crime. Really excellent!❤
At 2;20 - "Pangia broke up around 270Million years ago.." // Ya I remember when that happened. People around then were hoping that they would come together as a band again.... There were rumors. Still waiting.
I ABSOULTLY ENJOYED THIS VIDEO - YOU ARE ONE OF THE BEST YOU TUBERS I HAVE SEEN - VERY GOOD RESEARCH - KEEP UP GOOD WORK
Glad you enjoyed!
"This is called drip, its different..."
That got me to laugh out loud at work, ty
The young boy was playing hide & seek and wandered off into the forest. Footprints were eventually found quite a distance from the campsite. And also the odor of human decomposition was also reported later by searchers.
I live in Pennsylvania and remember hearing something about this when I was 9 back than
Did they not search the abandoned cabin? Because there might have been something in it, like was there signs someone had been there recently? was something left in it that could help in the search? doesn’t matter if it’s abandoned, places need to be searched thoroughly
Honestly wondering if he blundered near/to close to an illegal grow op and someone got mad, killed him, then stashed the atv somewhere else to throw off searchers.
Great video as always, thanks for giving us so much Native American history along with your informative videos!
Since the family said the rest of his belongings were still in the house, it seems like someone attacked him to rob him, realized he had no valuables on his person, then hid the body and the ATV and moved on.
FYI it’s not Marysville, it’s Maryville “Mare-Ee- Ville/vuhl”.
We locals call it Murvull lmao
Lived there for years.... kinda miss it.
Loved the loafer bit!!!! ❤️❤️❤️ Hillarious!
Small correction, annealing copper works the opposite way from annealing iron/steel, copper gets harder from being heated and slowly cooled, you quench it in water, cooling it quickly, to make it softer again.
That’s very interesting, Mr. Robinson.
The deep dig into the history of the geography and cultures surrounding the area in question, keeps me coming back to your videos.
Kudos 👌
40:32 your theory doesnt take into account rural and small town society, Mike was from the area and knew it and the people there very well. It is unlikely as much as he traveled the area that he wouldn’t be aware of such things happening in his “neighborhood”. That would make sense if he was say “new to the area but we’re talking within a mile of his house. There likely wasn’t any tree within 5 miles of his house he didn’t know if he was outdoors that much. Just saying it would be tough to surprise him on his turf, but obviously not impossible
I love hearing non Tennessee say Marysville correctly. Meanwhile I’m here screaming murravul
Who would wear loafers in the woods? Crazy giants, like wendigoon 😂
I was apart of an excavation at Cahokia mounds in summer of ‘23. Amazing culture!
The history lessons are at least as interesting as the main topic!
I remeber reading a book called Forbidden Archaeology, which contained the stories of pre-clovis arrowheads and other artefects being denied by the establishment and those who spoke about pre-Clovis finds being mercilessly ridiculed by academia, And here we are in 2023 it's all now accepted. Science is strange sometimes.
Nice to hear about the Mississippians more in depth. I grew up in the MS Delta and will one day hopefully be able to see if I do actually have ancestry that ties to this region of the country I find so hard to leave. Whenever I asked growing up it was Irish, Dutch, and probably Choctaw/Chickasaw (I wish I knew which.) without ever going into any further detail.
Think I’ll regret not asking my grandfather any more about it when I still had the time for the rest of my life. It was his side that my guts says has the strongest possibility.
Have you talked to Wendigoon? He seems to be having a rough time. I'm worried about him.
I have hiked in the Smoky mountains by myself during the day and when you get real far back in there and it gets dark you definitely start feeling like someone or something is watching you
It is MARYville not MARYSville. Could you call one of the brothers and ask them where the ATV was if the sheriff's department didn't want to tell you? Given the area and time, it was most likely someone making meth in the abandoned cabin. I feel like a grid search would have uncovered a pot field that was big enough to be worth killing to protect, and even though moonshiners are still a thing here in Tennessee, cops aren't going after any of them. Heck most cops I know are friends with a few and get shine from them themselves.
Tried to contact the brothers, and didn’t hear anything.
@@TheLoreLodge Aidan is on the job covering all bases
Maryvull*
Also, Mike used to work for the parks services, clearing and maintaining trails.
Me at the mountains: "Mr. Paulides I don't feel so good"
Lol
Live within 3 mile of happy valley tn . and i have known ( like most of us here do ) if your not from happy valley you dont belong in happy valley!!
By way of drugs, don't discount meth and opioids, including heroin. Then, there's human trafficking. Not that he was captured for, but rather, saw a handoff.
18:02 that kinda scared me because right when he said “to make matters worse it started raining” it started raining outside my house 😅
You should collaborate with Wendigoon again