A Boy Vanished Into the Pines, but the Skull Found Months Later Bore the Marks of a Primal Predator
The mountains of Colorado are a place of breathtaking beauty, but they also harbor a silence that can be predatory. In the autumn of 1999, that silence claimed a three-year-old boy named Jaryd Atadero. What began as a simple family outing in the Roosevelt National Forest transformed into one of the most baffling and chilling mysteries in the history of the American wilderness. This is the complete account of the disappearance, the impossible discovery, and the shadow that still hangs over Poudre Canyon.
I. The Morning the World Stopped
On October 2, 1999, the air in the Roosevelt National Forest was crisp and calm. Allyn Atadero, who ran a family inn at the base of the mountains, was awoken by a knock from his son, Jaryd. The boy, full of toddler energy, wanted to join a group of Christian hikers staying at the inn for a trek up the Big South Trail. Jaryd’s six-year-old sister, Joslyn, was already prepared to go.
Allyn was hesitant. The trail was a 22-kilometer stretch of steep, rugged terrain—a challenge even for experienced adults. However, after the hikers assured him they would keep the children safe, Allyn relented. “Stick with the adults,” he warned. It was the last time he would ever speak to his son.
As the group set off, Jaryd was in high spirits, often running ahead. Near a river valley, he stopped to talk to two fishermen. They asked the three-year-old if there were any bears around; he chatted with them briefly before the hiking group caught up. The fishermen would later be identified as the last people to see Jaryd Atadero alive.
II. The Scream and the Vanishing
About an hour into the hike, the group realized the unthinkable: Jaryd was gone. He hadn’t just lagged behind; he had vanished from a trail where he had been visible only moments before.
Some members of the group later reported hearing a sharp, high-pitched scream that cut through the mountain air. When they rushed toward the sound, there was nothing but the swaying of the pines and the rushing of the river.
The search that followed was monumental. Within days, over 200 rescue workers, bloodhounds, and a dive team were scouring the canyon. A rescue helicopter even crashed on the mountaintop during the operation, leaving the pilot with a severe concussion and halting aerial efforts. Despite the massive deployment of resources, not a single trace of Jaryd—no scrap of clothing, no footprint, no scent—was found. The forest had swallowed him whole.
III. The Impossible Discovery
Four years passed. The case had grown cold, and Allyn Atadero had moved into a state of perpetual, agonizing grief. Then, on May 6, 2003, two hikers exploring the Powder Canyon area—a steep, treacherous section far above where Jaryd was last seen—stumbled upon a sight that defied logic.
Lying on the ground, in near-perfect condition, were Jaryd’s belongings: a pair of small sneakers, a brown wool jacket, and blue athletic pants. The pants were turned inside out. A single tooth and a fragmented human skull were found nearby.
The location of the discovery was the first great mystery. To reach that spot, a three-year-old boy would have had to navigate a 45-degree slope, push through dense, thorny vegetation, and climb 2,000 feet in elevation. It was a physical feat deemed impossible for a child of his age, especially in a forest teeming with predators.
IV. The Mystery of the Inside-Out Pants
When Sheriff Bill Nelson examined the clothing, the chills began to set in. “Animals don’t remove someone’s clothes and turn their pants inside out,” he noted.
Forensic analysis of the clothing revealed no bloodstains, no animal DNA, and no sign of a struggle. If a mountain lion had taken Jaryd, the jacket would have been shredded and the abdomen of the pants torn. Instead, the clothes looked as though they had been carefully removed. The only damage was to the edges of the pants, where birds had eventually pecked away fibers to weave into nearby nests.
Independent investigator and survival expert Lester Trottier offered a theory that the authorities were too afraid to voice. Trottier, who had spent years in these forests, believed Jaryd had been taken by something intelligent, massive, and stealthy.
On October 12, 1999—just days after the disappearance—Trottier had captured photos of bare, humanoid footprints in the area that were far larger than any human track. He spoke of “something” throwing rocks and sticks at him to drive him away from certain ridges. He believed Jaryd had been snatched by a Sasquatch—a creature capable of moving with silent speed, carrying a child up an impossible incline, and “peeling” the boy like fruit before leaving the remains in a high, isolated location.
V. The Roosevelt Connection
The forest bears the name of President Theodore Roosevelt, who established it in 1908. In a strange twist of historical irony, Roosevelt himself was one of the first prominent Americans to document an encounter with the creature now known as Bigfoot. In his book The Wilderness Hunter, Roosevelt describes a harrowing account of a “furred, man-like beast” that terrorized a camp and killed a hunter by snapping his neck.
For investigators like Trottier, the Atadero case was a modern echo of those ancient legends. The “Inside-Out” nature of the clothing suggested a level of manual dexterity that no bear or lion possesses, yet the lack of human footprints or evidence of kidnapping suggested something that didn’t belong to the civilized world.
VI. A Shrine of Pain and Love
Today, the case remains officially “undetermined.” No one has ever been charged, and the Christian hiking group that lost the boy has long since moved on, leaving Allyn Atadero to carry the weight of the truth alone.
Allyn kept Jaryd’s bedroom exactly as it was. He created a shrine for his son, where he eventually placed the fragment of the skull that was returned to him. “Pain is the most direct manifestation of love,” Allyn once said, cradling the only part of his son that the mountain saw fit to return.
The Roosevelt National Forest remains 90% unexplored, a vast kingdom of peaks and valleys where 9,000-foot summits hold their secrets close. The story of Jaryd Atadero serves as a stark, terrifying reminder: in the deep woods, the rules of the world we know no longer apply. You are never truly alone, and sometimes, the things that watch from the shadows are not looking for a friend—they are looking for a reset.
