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

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Jon covers lots of different locations all around the USA, many of them "hot spots" known for people going missing. Sometimes found are bits of equipment, a tent, signs of life at some point. Sometimes bodies are found, many times not. The people that Jon meets on his journalistic exploration is truly fascinating reading. He writes so well that I felt I was there on the trails and the hunt with people.

The Cold Vanish by Jon Billman | Hachette Book Group

Jon Billman is a former wildland firefighter and high school teacher. He holds an MFA in Fiction from Eastern Washington University. He's the author of the story collection When We Were Wolves (Random House, 1999). Billman is a regular contributor to Outside and his fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Esquire, The Paris Review, and Zoetrope: All-Story. He t... Conclusions are few and far between. You'll know this going in. The questions, and the possibilities, are endless. A few things that really got me: I couldn't help but become Randy's friend. It's infectious when, sitting around the little galley table in the Arctic Fox, eating tacos, Randy would map plans to help the search for other missing persons, like Kris Fowler, who went missing on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2016. Or Randy would sketch designs for a new type of swiftwater rescue tool based on a type of lifeguard surfboard he'd seen in Hawaii; some days the current and boulders in the Sol Duc River nearly beat him to death, and he designed a rescue boogie board to help mitigate that. He bought and installed a new toilet in the Bigfoot Barn because the old one wasn't flushing quite right, and it was the least he could do in exchange for free rent. He spent hours on his phone helping friends and family with their problems. All this positive energy while shouldering what many psychologists believe is the heaviest burden a human can bear. But overall, this is a harrowing, heart wrenching journey for all involved. The terrain is magnificent, brutal, and unforgiving- but beautiful- despite the circumstances. 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

Lastly and probably one of my biggest issues with this so I will bring it up again. Billman did not get permission by the people he included in the book. He used full names, locations, and personal anecdotes that they were not informed he would use. It’s even more upsetting as he would make up information about them too. The most simple request I would like to make is that if you MUST continue to print this book, just remove the names and locations. I’m sure everyone would be much more comfortable and wouldn’t care about the lies as much if their names weren’t connected to such misinformation. Billman should’ve just taken inspiration and write a FICTION book if he wanted to use Jacob’s story so badly. Though it's more probable than human abduction, it's less likely that the owner abandoned the bike to go on a trail hike—there isn't a trailhead in the immediate vicinity, he didn't secure his gear, and a hiker won't get very far before hitting snow. The story of Randy’s search stretches through the book with Billman inserting stories of other vanishings between episodes of Randy’s efforts. He joins Randy to describe first-hand many of his searches. 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 Searchers use the acronym POS and sometimes joke that it stands for "piece of shit." It stands for probability of success, finding the missing. At this point the POS still remains high—the bike's owner will come walking out of the bush and greet them with a hello.

The Cold Vanish by Jon Billman | Hachette UK

That said, I would love to read the original magazine article that this book was based on. I think that in smaller doses, this type of reporting would be absolutely fascinating.It was also nice to see people willing to give of their time and lend their expertise- or specialized- talents to help find missing persons- especially when the family has opted to continue searching on their own. Now for a straight up lie Billman pulled seemingly out of nowhere. Billman claims that Jacob’s uncle had walked in on Jacob in the garage with his hands on his head and claimed he “couldn’t figure it out” and was “seeing the color red” everywhere. This never happened. Where did Billman get this? I wouldn’t know. The only thing SLIGHTLY true to this is Jacob seeing the color red, but this is when everyone had already tried to help him and he was with his Grandma. A year after living with us, he ended up getting an apartment, since he was doing well with his job and classes. He would visit us nearly everyday and oftentimes we, HIS FRIENDS, would pile into his small apartment to watch movies and play videogames. This book has a little bit of everything including true crime, unsolved mysteries, bigfoot theories, psychics, and cults. It is, in a lot of ways, one of the most “Santa Cruzian” books I’ve ever read. I also think, in Jacob’s case, it’s a strong advocate for mental health awareness and treatment. I was so sad and frustrated to read that his parents suspected that Jacob may have endured a schizophrenic break and never sought or encouraged professional help and instead thought it would be a good idea for him to commune with nature. Of course hindsight is 20/20, but I hope that for anyone who reads this, if you or someone you know is struggling with a major life event (in Jacob’s case, his parents’ divorce), please give therapy a try. The author's personal involvement makes this tale all the more affecting. Billman shows himself to be just as adept at nonfiction as at fiction." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)