A tale of Detective Work, Mystery Solving and Looking for Bodies
'Bent and Tarno ran in Pretty River Valley Provincial Park this morning. They noticed an older, good quality Jamis mountain bike leaning against a tree just off the Bruce Trail beside a cliff lookout. They yelled a bit in case someone needed help but no one answered. They carried on.
Back home, 'Bent thought about posting the photo in a mountain biking Facebook group. I suggested that he phone the police in case it had been reported stolen.
We figured they'd just make a note but the officer was quite interested. 'Bent was the 2nd person to report this bike. As we thought about it, it was strange that the bike was easily visible from the trail.
- If someone had stashed their bike while they walked somewhere, they would have taken it further into the forest rather than leaving it near a popular trail.
- If someone had pushed their biking partner off the cliff, they would have thrown the bike after them or hidden it.
- There were two sad possibilities that would be consistent with a bike in a visible place: a clifftop selfie gone wrong or a suicide.
The police asked lots of questions about how to get to the bike and how to get below the cliff. We sent a photo of that part of the Snowshoe Raid orienteering map. They were talking about arranging ATVs. As we thought about it, if someone were injured at the bottom of a cliff, we might be able to get to them sooner. We decided to go for a hike.
First we went below the cliff. That trail has been closed so it was partly bushwhacking. 'Bent's memory of the bike's location was a little off so we weren't right below it when we turned back. Next we walked in on the Bruce Trail to see if the bike was still there. From that point, we thought we might be able to look around further. It's a beautiful area but it would be a long way down if someone slipped.
The bike was gone but we weren't sure where it had been. 'Bent had run from the opposite direction and he wasn't expecting to become part of a police investigation so he only had a rough idea of where he'd seen it. So we looked at branches and moss patterns on trees until we found the tree where the bike had been.
It was right beside the most exposed cliff along that part of the Bruce Trail.
We realized that the approximate GPS coordinates 'Bent had given the police were a little off so we got the real coordinates. 'Bent started to dictate the lat/long to Siri to email to the officer but I stopped him.
As we'd gone back and forth short distances on the trail, I'd noticed a middle-aged man with a pony tail who wasn't behaving like a hiker. He barely had anything with him and I'd seen him wandering back and forth to different lookouts but he didn't take photos or appear to enjoy the views. He had walked by us again as we stood at the "bike tree". 'Bent started talking about the police and I noticed the man turn back toward us from 20 meters away. Suddenly, the "foul play" theory seemed more plausible.
With a big, fake, nervous smile, I asked, "Are you looking for a trail?" In a strong Spanish accent, he said sadly, "No, I'm looking for my bike!"
Well, we had a great conversation with Fernando, who is originally from Argentina. Two nights ago, he rode in Pretty River for the first time. The riding is difficult, rocky and slow in places, and he didn't have a map. It got dark. When he realized the trail was running along the edge of a cliff, he abandoned his bike and walked out slowly. His phone had died so he had no light. The trail is rugged and there are deep crevices right beside it. He was lucky. He said he was saved by the white markings of the Bruce Trail, which he was able to see in the dim light. He turned the wrong way (east) on 6th Sideroad and went down the escarpment and through the knee-deep pond at the bottom. He eventually made it to a house where they phoned 911 for him. Paramedics, a fire truck and police came. He mentioned the bike but no one put the stories together - possibly because he isn't super comfortable in English.
Fernando asked if we could explain his story to the police. He pulled out his phone and showed us a photo of himself with the bike in case we had any doubts. We didn't. We relayed his name and phone number to the police dispatcher, who seemed more interested in getting 'Bent's address and birthdate and other information that he hadn't been asked earlier.
Then we all walked out together to our cars. We had no idea if the police had been there. Maybe Fernando's bike was taken by a hiker. At least he knew for sure that he had been looking in the right place and the bike was gone.
His phone rang. It was the constable who had spoken with 'Bent earlier. Fernando wanted us to speak on his behalf once again. The police *had* come out and picked up the bike and spent some time looking for bodies, just like we did. They had the bike at the Collingwood OPP detachment. We texted all the info to Fernando, ensured that he had the right address entered in Google Maps and wished him well.
He wanted to give us something but we said he'd already given us a great story. A while later, this text arrived. :)