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Welcome to Unexplained Extra with 10 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,560 Speaker 1: me Richard McClean smith, where for the weeks in between episodes, 11 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: we look at stories and ideas that, for one reason 12 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: or other, didn't make it into the previous show. In 13 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: last week's episode, Tales from the Cryptid, we heard the 14 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: unnerving story of a group of prospectives who claim to 15 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 1: have been attacked by a number of strange, apelike creatures 16 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 1: in the Cascade Mountains back in the summer of nineteen 17 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 1: twenty four. In nineteen sixty seven, one of the group, 18 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 1: Fred Beck, and his son Ronald, published a full account 19 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 1: of the apparent episode in a book titled I Fought 20 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:23,039 Speaker 1: the ape Men of Mount Saint Helen's, Washington. Though no 21 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:27,240 Speaker 1: conclusive evidence was ever found to confirm Beck's account, the 22 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 1: story remains one of the most loved accounts of an 23 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 1: apparent encounter with Bigfoot in the annals of Cryptozoology. The 24 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: story was, however, given a slight air of credibility after 25 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: the mysterious disappearance of a man in nineteen fifty not 26 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 1: far from where Beck and his team had been working. 27 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:51,480 Speaker 1: Jim Carter was part of a twenty member strong skiing 28 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 1: party enjoying the last of the year's snow at the 29 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 1: top of Mount Saint Helen's when he volunteered to take 30 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 1: some photographs of the group making their way down to 31 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 1: the bottom. Carter told the group to wait thirty minutes 32 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: before they set off to give him time to set 33 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:13,120 Speaker 1: up his equipment, and then promptly skied away. Having watched 34 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: Carter disappear behind a rocky outcrop, the group waited the 35 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,680 Speaker 1: agreed thirty minutes, then one by one shot off down 36 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: the mountain, but Carter never arrived to meet them all 37 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: at the bottom. A search team later found Carter's tracks 38 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 1: and traced them to the rocky outcrop where he'd last 39 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:43,320 Speaker 1: been seen, where they found a discarded film container and 40 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 1: another set of ski tracks pointing straight down the mountain. 41 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:51,920 Speaker 1: Bob Lee, a member of the Seattle Mountain Search and 42 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:56,600 Speaker 1: Rescue team that searched for Carter, recounted years later that 43 00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:01,080 Speaker 1: Carter appeared to have set off at an astonishing taking 44 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:05,400 Speaker 1: chances that no skier of his caliber would take unless 45 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: something was terribly wrong or he was being pursued, even 46 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 1: jumping over two or three large crevasses in the process. 47 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 1: The search team eventually traced Carter's ski tracks to the 48 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 1: edge of the gorge where fred Beck's group had apparently 49 00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:28,359 Speaker 1: had their terrifying encounter, astonished to find that they continued 50 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 1: straight down into the canyon. Despite a two week search, 51 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 1: no sign of Carter was ever found. For Bob Lee, 52 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:41,800 Speaker 1: it was one of the strangest rescue operations he'd ever 53 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 1: participated in. As he said, it was as though somebody 54 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:50,440 Speaker 1: was watching me the whole time. I could feel the 55 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: hair on my neck standing up. It was eerie. I 56 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:58,600 Speaker 1: was unarmed except for my ice ACKs, and believe me, 57 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 1: I never let go of it. Almost every culture, it 58 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: seems as a story of wild mythical creatures living out 59 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: in the woods and mountains, from Bigfoot to Sasquatch, to 60 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 1: the Yetty and the Yawi. These ape like creatures seem 61 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: to supersede folklore, and sometimes they even break out from 62 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:26,560 Speaker 1: the myth to be apparently captured on film, recorded on audio, 63 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 1: and seen in real life, and in eighteen fifty one 64 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:42,600 Speaker 1: was even said to have been caught. The mountainous regions 65 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: of the Caucuses and Pamir in Central Asia and the 66 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 1: Altai Range in Mongolia are said to be home to 67 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:53,760 Speaker 1: a group of creatures known locally as the Almas or 68 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: the Almasty, loosely translated to English from Mongolian to mean wild, 69 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: and the Almasty are believed to be half human half ape, 70 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:08,599 Speaker 1: walking upright like a human, but looking much more like 71 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: a primate with wild, dark hair, a thick set skull, 72 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: and low, stooping brow. In eighteen fifty, in the region 73 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: of Abcacia, an area in the South Caucuses that lies 74 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 1: between present day Georgia and Russia, it was claimed that 75 00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:31,120 Speaker 1: one such wild creature stalked the woods in the snow 76 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: covered foothills of a local mountain range. Incredibly, the creature 77 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:39,840 Speaker 1: was eventually tracked down, where it was then set upon 78 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 1: by a group of men who forcibly bound it to 79 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:46,279 Speaker 1: a log and placed a felt gag in its mouth 80 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:52,159 Speaker 1: before carrying it back to a nearby village. There, the 81 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 1: creature was kept locked up where locals could come and 82 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 1: gorpet it, trading stories about how it could run as 83 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:02,480 Speaker 1: fast as a horn and even swimmed the freezing rivers 84 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 1: at high tide. The creature was described as having dark 85 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 1: skin and was covered head to toe in coarse red hair. 86 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,919 Speaker 1: Tall and muscular at six foot six inches, with a 87 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 1: thick low brow, it was simply like nothing any of 88 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 1: the villagers had ever seen before. After being examined by 89 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: a doctor, the creature was declared to be female and 90 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: given the name Zana. As a subject of intense interest, 91 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:37,479 Speaker 1: Zana was traded between a number of people until she 92 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:41,919 Speaker 1: was apparently bought by a local businessman named Edgi Gannaba, 93 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: who took her home to his estate in nearby Tequina. There, 94 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:51,479 Speaker 1: she was kept shackled in a cage while Gannaba tried 95 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:54,520 Speaker 1: to figure out what exactly he should do with her. 96 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:02,960 Speaker 1: There something interfering with your happiness or preventing you from 97 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,280 Speaker 1: achieving your goals. Better help will assess your needs and 98 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 1: match you with your own licensed professional therapist. Sign up 99 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:12,560 Speaker 1: today and start communicating in less than forty eight hours. 100 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:16,000 Speaker 1: You'll get timely and thoughtful responses. Plus, you can schedule 101 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:18,680 Speaker 1: weekly video or phone sessions so you won't ever have 102 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 1: to sit in an uncomfortable waiting room. You can also 103 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:24,200 Speaker 1: log into your account any time to send a message 104 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 1: to your counselor. Better Help is not a crisis line 105 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:31,760 Speaker 1: nor self help. It is professional counseling done securely online, 106 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 1: with a broad range of expertise available, and with better 107 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: helps commitment to facilitating great therapeutic matches, they make it 108 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: especially easy and free to change counselors to help you 109 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 1: find the right fit. This podcast is sponsored by better 110 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 1: Help and Unexplained. Listeners get ten percent off their first 111 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 1: month at better help dot com. Forward slash unexplained, that's 112 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 1: better help dot com. Forward slash unexplained Join the over 113 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:00,680 Speaker 1: one million people taking charge of their mental health with 114 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: the help of an experienced professional. Better Help wants you 115 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 1: to start living a happier life today over time. Having 116 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 1: realized that Zana was not hostile, Guanaba had her removed 117 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: from the cage and placed an a fenced in enclosure 118 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 1: outside instead, where she was given more freedom and space 119 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:30,440 Speaker 1: to roam about. Attempts were then made to tame Zana 120 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:33,640 Speaker 1: by giving her clothes and teaching her how to speak. 121 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:38,439 Speaker 1: Although she learned to respond to her name, she rejected 122 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:43,680 Speaker 1: the clothes and proved uninterested in learning words, and despite 123 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:48,000 Speaker 1: having the opportunity to sleep indoors, she always preferred to 124 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 1: sleep outside in a pit that she dug for herself 125 00:08:51,679 --> 00:08:55,680 Speaker 1: in the ground. When it was found that Zanna could 126 00:08:55,760 --> 00:09:01,079 Speaker 1: understand simple instructions, she was then incorporated into Naba's workforce 127 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 1: and forced to carry out various manual labor jobs. At 128 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:09,680 Speaker 1: some point, some of the local men on the estate 129 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: started coming to Zarah at night, then plied her with 130 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:18,760 Speaker 1: alcohol and raped her. After falling pregnant and then giving 131 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,640 Speaker 1: birth to a healthy daughter, Zana is said to have 132 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:25,840 Speaker 1: taken her baby and washed it in the near freezing 133 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:30,240 Speaker 1: waters of a local river, whereupon it died in her arms. 134 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:34,560 Speaker 1: When the same thing happened again, some of the women 135 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: from the local community soon realized it was simply because 136 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 1: she didn't know that the cold waters would kill them. 137 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:45,480 Speaker 1: It is said that Zana would go on to have 138 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: a further four children, with each of them being removed 139 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:54,680 Speaker 1: from her care and adopted by local families. After twenty years, 140 00:09:54,840 --> 00:10:01,080 Speaker 1: enslaved on Gonaba's estate, Zanna died. Little else is known 141 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:04,320 Speaker 1: about her. All four of her children were believed to 142 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:09,560 Speaker 1: have integrated well and been accepted into local society. The 143 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:14,080 Speaker 1: Almusty hunters of Russia continued to believe after Zana's death 144 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 1: that she was either a genuine example of the mythical 145 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:21,520 Speaker 1: almasty or some kind of subset of Neanderthal that had 146 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:25,560 Speaker 1: somehow survived undiscovered in the snowy foothills of the South 147 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:32,880 Speaker 1: Caucuses while humanity evolved around them. The truth, however, was 148 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 1: far more tragic. In June twenty twenty one, as Shot Margarian, 149 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:50,040 Speaker 1: a scientist specializing in the field of ancient human population genomics, 150 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:54,719 Speaker 1: headed a paper titled the Genomic Origin of Zana of Abkhazia, 151 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 1: which stated although the exact location of Zanna's burial site 152 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:04,239 Speaker 1: was unknown, the grave of her son Quit was identified 153 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:08,320 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy one. The genomes of Quit and the 154 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 1: alleged Zana skeleton were sequenced using ancient DNA techniques. The 155 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:19,800 Speaker 1: identical mitochondrial DNA and the parent offspring relationship between the 156 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:26,160 Speaker 1: two indicated that the unknown woman was indeed Zana. Population 157 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:32,320 Speaker 1: genomic analysis demonstrated that Zana's immediate genetic ancestry can likely 158 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:38,040 Speaker 1: be traced to present day East African populations. We speculate 159 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:41,600 Speaker 1: that Zana might have had a genetic disorder such as 160 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:47,559 Speaker 1: congenital generalized hypertrichosis, which could partially explain her strange behavior, 161 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:53,240 Speaker 1: lack of speech, and long body hair. In July twenty 162 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:57,600 Speaker 1: twenty one, Zana's origins were narrowed down even further by 163 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:02,920 Speaker 1: molecular anthropologist doctor Miguel Villa of the University of Maryland. 164 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:09,000 Speaker 1: After analyzing her DNA data, Phila concluded that she was 165 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:13,320 Speaker 1: likely related to the Dinka pastoralist people from South Sadan, 166 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:17,920 Speaker 1: describing them as a marginalized group known to be above 167 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:23,040 Speaker 1: average in height and body size. In short, the so 168 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:27,880 Speaker 1: called Zana wild Woman of the Forest wasn't Almusty at all, 169 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:35,200 Speaker 1: but simply a human of East Central African descent. This 170 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:41,559 Speaker 1: episode was co written by Donna McKay smith. If you 171 00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:44,240 Speaker 1: enjoy Unexplained and would like to help support us, you 172 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:47,520 Speaker 1: can now do so via Patreon to receive access to 173 00:12:47,559 --> 00:12:51,079 Speaker 1: add three episodes. Just go to patron dot com Forward 174 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:55,640 Speaker 1: Slash Unexplained Pod to sign up. Unexplained, The book and audiobook, 175 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:58,719 Speaker 1: featuring ten stories that have never before been covered on 176 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:02,120 Speaker 1: the show, is now of ailable to buy worldwide. You 177 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 1: can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones, among 178 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:10,600 Speaker 1: other bookstores. All elements of Unexplained, including the show's music, 179 00:13:10,679 --> 00:13:14,199 Speaker 1: are produced by me Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and 180 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:17,199 Speaker 1: rate the show wherever you listen to podcasts, and feel 181 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:19,560 Speaker 1: free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas 182 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:22,599 Speaker 1: regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you 183 00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:24,760 Speaker 1: have an explanation of your own you'd like to share. 184 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:28,679 Speaker 1: You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com 185 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:33,920 Speaker 1: or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com. 186 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:36,439 Speaker 1: Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast