1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,400 Speaker 1: Hello, it's Richard mccleinsmith here with a quick update before 2 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:06,800 Speaker 1: we dive into today's episode. Unexplained is very excited to 3 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:09,200 Speaker 1: be a part of Crime Wave at Sea this November, 4 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:12,600 Speaker 1: joining forces with some of the eeriest voices in the 5 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: world of true crime and the paranormal four nights in 6 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:19,960 Speaker 1: the Caribbean, with amazing podcasts like Last Podcast on the Left, 7 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: Scared to Death and many more live shows Meet and greets, 8 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:27,920 Speaker 1: Creepy Stories under the Stars and you can be there too, 9 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: but don't wait. Rooms are nearly sold out. Head to 10 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:36,360 Speaker 1: Crimewave Atsea dot com forward slash Unexplained to grab your 11 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: fan coat and lock in your cabin. We'd love to 12 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 1: see you on board. You're listening to the second and 13 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 1: final part of Unexplained, Season eight, episode thirty three. After 14 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: the Sun Comes Rain, No sooner had Denis's body gone still, 15 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 1: Valentina knew only that she had to get away, though 16 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:16,560 Speaker 1: whatever had killed her friends was coming for her too. 17 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: What followed was a blur of exhaustion and panic. First, 18 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: in her confusion, she thinks she can't leave the bodies 19 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:28,840 Speaker 1: on the mountain. With Timor being the smallest, she raced 20 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: over to him and did her best to pick him up, 21 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:35,319 Speaker 1: but he was far too heavy to carry. Still, with 22 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: the heavy pack on her back, she stared down at 23 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:41,120 Speaker 1: the barely visible tree line a mile or so below 24 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 1: and started to run, feeling the adrenaline surged through her body. 25 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:49,560 Speaker 1: She can barely feel the backpack as she moves. With 26 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: every step, she expected to feel the metallic tang of 27 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 1: blood in her throat, expected her legs to buckle underneath her, 28 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: and for her body to be consumed by convolis. She 29 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 1: felt unreal, like she was floating somewhere above herself, waiting 30 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:10,840 Speaker 1: for the end to come, but it never did. Instead, 31 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 1: Valentina ran until her lungs were burning so much that 32 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: she finally had to stop for air, and even then 33 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 1: she kept moving, walking as fast as she could manage. 34 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 1: She walked for hours, as if in a trance. Fueled 35 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: by pure adrenaline. She had no way to process the 36 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:33,400 Speaker 1: horror that she just witnessed, but her gut was telling 37 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 1: her to get as far away from that place as possible. Eventually, 38 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:43,440 Speaker 1: as night approached, exhaustion forced Valentina to stop. When she 39 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: looked around, she saw that she was in a dense woodland. 40 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: She walked over to the base of a huge ancient 41 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 1: tree and slumped down against it, letting her pack slide 42 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:58,520 Speaker 1: off her shoulders and onto the ground. It was only 43 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:02,079 Speaker 1: then that she stopped moving that she realized just how 44 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: exhausted she was. Tapping into the little energy she had left, 45 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: she unpacked her bag and set up her tent. She 46 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 1: was too tired to even think about trying to start 47 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: a fire. She ate the scant supplying she had on her, 48 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 1: a bag of nuts and two energy bars, and then 49 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: crawled into her sleeping bag before the sun had even set. 50 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:30,800 Speaker 1: At first, she was afraid to close her eyes, afraid 51 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:33,680 Speaker 1: that the horrific images of the day would be waiting 52 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 1: for her behind her eyelids, but in fact she fell 53 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:42,800 Speaker 1: fast asleep within seconds. Her last conscious thought was the 54 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: desperate hope that she would wake up to discover this 55 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: had all been a dream. Valentina awoke early the following 56 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,480 Speaker 1: morning with her heart pounding, heart, her chest tight, with 57 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 1: a terror that she couldn't immediately understand. Then the reality 58 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,080 Speaker 1: of what had happened the day before hit her like 59 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 1: a freight train. Hideous images of her friends flooded into 60 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: her mind, The horror in their eyes as they'd collapsed 61 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:21,440 Speaker 1: on by one, and the terror of being certain that 62 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: she was next. She forced herself to take deep breaths 63 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: as an eagle screeched overhead. She was all on her 64 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 1: own now, and she had to think rationally, one thing 65 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:39,080 Speaker 1: at a time. Eventually, dawn broke and some of Valentina's 66 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:43,599 Speaker 1: clarity returned with it. She dragged herself from her makeshift bed, 67 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: knowing only that she had to get out of the 68 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:51,080 Speaker 1: mountains and find help. The Snezhnaya River was somewhere near. 69 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:54,680 Speaker 1: If she could locate it, she thought she could follow 70 00:04:54,720 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: its fast flowing current towards civilization. Valentina un zipped her 71 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: tent and walked out into the chilly dawn. Looking at 72 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:08,159 Speaker 1: her supplies laid out on the forest floor, she quickly 73 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 1: realized that she had a problem in her panic. The 74 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:14,960 Speaker 1: day before, she'd brought only the supplies that she had 75 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 1: on her back. The group had divided up the communal 76 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:23,800 Speaker 1: supplies among themselves, including the camping stove, spare clothes, and 77 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:29,360 Speaker 1: most importantly, the food. As it happened, Valentina had very 78 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,000 Speaker 1: little of the food and water in her own pack, 79 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: not even enough to get her through the day. Getting 80 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 1: back down to the base of the mountain would easily 81 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 1: take several days. She also felt the need to take 82 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:45,960 Speaker 1: care of her friends in whatever way she could. She 83 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: began to realize that there was only one solution. At first, 84 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 1: it was unthinkable she couldn't do it, but the alternative 85 00:05:55,760 --> 00:06:00,359 Speaker 1: was certain death alone in the wilderness, and so, with 86 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:04,200 Speaker 1: a pit in her stomach, Valentina set off back up 87 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:08,719 Speaker 1: the mountain, back towards the place she'd just run so 88 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: desperately from. It's hard to imagine the fortitude that drives 89 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:16,719 Speaker 1: her back up the slope to the site of the disaster, 90 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:21,040 Speaker 1: tired and terrified, and aware that all that awaits her 91 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: is horror. As she neared the clearing where she knew 92 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:30,600 Speaker 1: her friend's bodies lay, Valentina's chest began to tighten and 93 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:35,120 Speaker 1: her palms began to sweat. Eventually, she reached what she 94 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:39,480 Speaker 1: thought was the spot, but couldn't see anything. A small, 95 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:42,200 Speaker 1: hopeful part of her wondered if they would still be 96 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 1: there at all. Perhaps whatever had happened to them was 97 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:49,960 Speaker 1: some kind of temporary state, and they'd all recovered later 98 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 1: in the day. Maybe they were even looking for her 99 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 1: right now. But deep down she knew she was lying 100 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: to herself. Then she saw Denis to the rock he 101 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: tried to hide under his blood smeared face, lying up 102 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 1: in the snow. They were all exactly where she'd left them. 103 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: None of them had moved, the blood now dried on 104 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:24,480 Speaker 1: their faces. Once again, she braced herself, fearing whatever had 105 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: killed them might still be present. But as the minutes 106 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:32,840 Speaker 1: ticked by, nothing happened. She looked around and felt her 107 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:37,679 Speaker 1: panic begin to fade. Strangely, for the first time since 108 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: this nightmare had started, she didn't feel afraid. She knew 109 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 1: what she had to do. First. Valentina collected a map, compass, 110 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 1: and some food from the various packs. Then she turned 111 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 1: her attention to the dead. Moving from one corpse to 112 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:57,760 Speaker 1: the next, she palmed the lids down over their eyes. 113 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:02,200 Speaker 1: She fetched our paullins from the group supplies, and tenderly 114 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 1: covered each of the bodies up. She didn't know how 115 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:08,840 Speaker 1: long it would take for her to find help, and 116 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:11,520 Speaker 1: she hated to think of her friends lying out there, 117 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 1: exposed to the elements and predators. Their deaths had been 118 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: anything but peaceful, but she felt some solace that at 119 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:24,720 Speaker 1: least they were at rest now. Finding lud Miller's map 120 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:28,360 Speaker 1: in the woman's pocket, Valentina poured over it, trying to 121 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:32,120 Speaker 1: figure out the fastest route back down the mountain. Her 122 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: best chance was to try and make it to the 123 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 1: next stop off point, where they'd been due to meet 124 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:41,760 Speaker 1: Ludmiller's daughter, Natalia the day before. Natalia and her group 125 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:45,080 Speaker 1: would probably still be waiting for them, but leud Miller's 126 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:48,000 Speaker 1: notes and drawings just seemed to swim in front of 127 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:52,800 Speaker 1: her eyes. Valentina looked up and scanned the desolate mountain 128 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:57,640 Speaker 1: slopes that stretched out for miles around. They hadn't seen 129 00:08:57,679 --> 00:09:01,240 Speaker 1: another tourist in days, so wait here in the hope 130 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 1: that somebody might find her was not an option. In truth, 131 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:08,600 Speaker 1: her only hope was to head back into the wilderness 132 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:11,360 Speaker 1: and try to make her way back to the bottom 133 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:16,000 Speaker 1: of the mountain. Valentina took one last look around at 134 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 1: her fallen friends, then hoisted her stuffed backpack onto her 135 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:33,680 Speaker 1: back and began to walk. The first time Valentina fled 136 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:36,720 Speaker 1: down the mountain, she was operating in pure fight or 137 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: flight mode, almost blind with panic in the newly calmed weather. 138 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 1: Out of nowhere, Valentina spots a pair of power lines 139 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:49,679 Speaker 1: in the distance. Knowing they must lead to human habitation, 140 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:53,400 Speaker 1: she decides to follow them. It felt as though some 141 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:57,760 Speaker 1: kind of guiding hand had revealed them to her. After 142 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 1: four days trekking under the power line, on August ninth, 143 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:06,240 Speaker 1: Valentina found herself standing at the banks of the Schneschnaia River. 144 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:10,559 Speaker 1: At first, this seemed like good news. The river was 145 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:14,320 Speaker 1: one of the few landmarks she recognized from Ludmiller's maps, 146 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:16,920 Speaker 1: and she knew that if she followed it, it would 147 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:20,400 Speaker 1: eventually lead her back to the Marino village from where 148 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:24,640 Speaker 1: they'd set out. But this wasn't an official hiking path, 149 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:27,880 Speaker 1: and soon after she set out along it, the river 150 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:32,320 Speaker 1: bank became too steep and treacherous to walk on. By then, 151 00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:36,480 Speaker 1: Valentina had also developed a painful cough and the beginnings 152 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:40,640 Speaker 1: of a fever. She was weak and cold and dirty. 153 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:46,000 Speaker 1: Valentina turned around and retraced her steps back to a 154 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:49,680 Speaker 1: place where she could sit safely on the bank. She 155 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 1: slumped onto the ground, defeated. She couldn't follow the river 156 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:57,839 Speaker 1: and it was too wide for her to get across. 157 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 1: Completely stuck, she began to accept that she would die 158 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:06,440 Speaker 1: here alone, but she can't help thinking about her parents 159 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:10,520 Speaker 1: and how she will look when she's found. Summoning her nerve, 160 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:14,600 Speaker 1: she stripped off her clothes and entered the river, letting 161 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:20,080 Speaker 1: the freezing water sleek the dirt from her skin. Finally cleansed, 162 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:24,560 Speaker 1: she emerged from the river and got dressed. Reinvigorated by 163 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:27,840 Speaker 1: the icy cold water, she once again picked up her 164 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:32,480 Speaker 1: pack and continued along the river bank. Eventually, too tired 165 00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:35,640 Speaker 1: to go on, she sat down and fell into a 166 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:40,440 Speaker 1: sleep of pure exhaustion. A few hours later, as she 167 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:43,800 Speaker 1: drifted in and out of consciousness, she heard something in 168 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:48,839 Speaker 1: the water. It sounded like laughter. At first, she thought 169 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:52,560 Speaker 1: she was imagining it. After everything that had happened, she 170 00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:57,080 Speaker 1: was finally losing her mind out there in the wilderness alone. 171 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 1: But then she heard it again. She sat up sharply 172 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:05,720 Speaker 1: and watched with amazement as a sequence of obscenely bright 173 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:10,640 Speaker 1: catamaran rafts appeared from around the next bend of the Schnezhnaya. 174 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:14,440 Speaker 1: At first, she tried to wave and shout, but no 175 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:17,680 Speaker 1: sound would come out, as though she'd been drained of 176 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:22,000 Speaker 1: all remaining energy. But as the faces of the rafters 177 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:26,440 Speaker 1: came into focus and they appeared to be passing her by. Finally, 178 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:31,559 Speaker 1: a great wail burst from her lips, and suddenly, without warning, 179 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 1: she was saved. The rafters secured Valentina on board one 180 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:47,360 Speaker 1: of the catamarans, then pushed off from the shore as 181 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:50,080 Speaker 1: fast as they could. They made their way down river 182 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:56,280 Speaker 1: toward the town of Slutyanka, where they'd ultimately been heading. Valentina, 183 00:12:56,559 --> 00:13:00,839 Speaker 1: trembling throughout, seemed unable to speak, so they gave her 184 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:06,080 Speaker 1: Valerian and courvalon herbal sedatives to help calm her nerves. 185 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:09,640 Speaker 1: She explained that she'd been part of a group trekking 186 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 1: through the mountains, but all the others were dead. The 187 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:18,280 Speaker 1: rest of the journey continued in a haunting silence. After 188 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:22,880 Speaker 1: arriving in Sludyanka, Valentina was taken to the nearest police station. 189 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:27,319 Speaker 1: But where before she was suffering from shock and exhaustion, 190 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: now the full force of everything that had happened came 191 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:34,960 Speaker 1: rushing back to her. The magnitude of it all was 192 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 1: too much for her to process, rendering her semi catatonic 193 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 1: and mute for several more days. When Valentina finally began 194 00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:47,960 Speaker 1: to speak again, it said that she was barely coherent 195 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:52,840 Speaker 1: and unable to articulate what she'd experienced. Her recall of 196 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:56,600 Speaker 1: specific details was hazy, and she was unable to give 197 00:13:56,679 --> 00:14:00,800 Speaker 1: clear directions for where her friends had died. In any case, 198 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:04,160 Speaker 1: the storm weather had continued to sweep across the region, 199 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:07,760 Speaker 1: preventing any efforts to mount a search and rescue mission 200 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:13,319 Speaker 1: to recover the bodies. Eleven days after Valentina was rescued, 201 00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:16,640 Speaker 1: a helicopter crew on the lookout for another group of 202 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:20,480 Speaker 1: hikers who'd gone missing on the mountain spotted what looked 203 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:24,840 Speaker 1: like an abandoned camp with six bodies scattered around it. 204 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 1: Another crew, led by much respected Russian search and rescuer 205 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:35,640 Speaker 1: Eure Golias, was immediately dispatched to the location. Seeing the 206 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:39,600 Speaker 1: bodies scattered beneath them as they came into land did 207 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:42,840 Speaker 1: nothing to prepare them for the reality of what they 208 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:47,240 Speaker 1: eventually found. The first to be examined was a semi 209 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:52,280 Speaker 1: clothed temor lying exactly where he'd fallen. The rescue team 210 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:57,520 Speaker 1: recoiled at the sight of him. Despite Valentina's best efforts, 211 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 1: he'd been exposed to the elements, not to mention all 212 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:05,320 Speaker 1: manner of voracious insects and animals for nearly two weeks. 213 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:10,920 Speaker 1: The eyes had long since disappeared, Worms crawled in the sockets, 214 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:15,520 Speaker 1: Dried blood was still streaked across the gray, pallid skin, 215 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:21,280 Speaker 1: his mouth still open in a spine chilling, silent scream. 216 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:25,360 Speaker 1: It was the same for the other five. Each were 217 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:29,120 Speaker 1: carefully wrapped up in body bags and packed onto the helicopter. 218 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:34,040 Speaker 1: The bodies were flown back to nearby Siberian city ulan 219 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:39,280 Speaker 1: Oot for further examination. Golias described the smell in the 220 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:44,560 Speaker 1: chopper as unbearable. By now, Valentina had been able to 221 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:48,680 Speaker 1: relay her full story to the police. She recounted everything 222 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:52,240 Speaker 1: she'd witnessed in detail, how the group had all fallen 223 00:15:52,320 --> 00:16:02,000 Speaker 1: one by one, exhibiting the same bizarre and violent symptoms. 224 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:09,400 Speaker 1: In ulan Ud, a pathologist carried out the autopsies despite 225 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:13,480 Speaker 1: everything that Valentina had said. In the end, their conclusion, 226 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: perhaps somewhat surprisingly, was that all five students had simply 227 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:22,920 Speaker 1: died from hypothermia, or, as they put it, froze to 228 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 1: death whilst hiking. Leud Miller is determined to have died 229 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:31,160 Speaker 1: from heart failure, despite her being the fittest and most 230 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:35,800 Speaker 1: hardy of the group, The only unusual finding, according to 231 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:39,520 Speaker 1: the autopsy, was that all six victims had bruising on 232 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:44,240 Speaker 1: their lungs and were suffering from protein deficiency or malnourishment, 233 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:48,480 Speaker 1: which was assumed to have exacerbated the effects of cold, 234 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:52,760 Speaker 1: and with that, there was nothing left to do but 235 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:57,320 Speaker 1: buried the dead. A mass funeral was held in the 236 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:01,520 Speaker 1: victim's hometown of Petra Pavel, where it said that almost 237 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:05,679 Speaker 1: the entire city's two hundred thousand population turned out to 238 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:10,560 Speaker 1: say their good byes. It wasn't long after news of 239 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:13,720 Speaker 1: the tragedy broke in the press that people began to 240 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:18,120 Speaker 1: question the official version of events. For one, the hike 241 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:21,800 Speaker 1: took place in the height of Siberian summer. The mean 242 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:26,960 Speaker 1: temperature in August is around fifteen degrees celsius at elevation. 243 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:30,040 Speaker 1: In the rain, it would have been much colder, but 244 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:33,399 Speaker 1: the group were well prepared and well dressed for the mountains. 245 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:38,520 Speaker 1: After all, Ludemiler's daughter, Natalia's group were also in the 246 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:43,120 Speaker 1: mountains at the same time and suffered no adverse effects. 247 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:47,200 Speaker 1: When her mother failed to arrive at their designated meeting point, 248 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:51,240 Speaker 1: Natalia didn't consider that the weather had played any part 249 00:17:51,359 --> 00:17:57,480 Speaker 1: in the delay. Valentina also stated clearly that the group 250 00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:00,800 Speaker 1: had plenty of food and had eaten break regularly through 251 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:04,680 Speaker 1: the trip. Her friends had died two hours after they'd 252 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:10,240 Speaker 1: eaten breakfast. The idea, as the autopsy claimed that they 253 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:16,160 Speaker 1: were all severely malnourished, didn't make any sense. Hypothermia could 254 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:19,520 Speaker 1: explain some of the bizarre behavior that the hikers showed 255 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:23,200 Speaker 1: before dying. It's known to cause some victims to strip 256 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:27,520 Speaker 1: off their clothes in what's called paradoxical undressing, and it 257 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:31,760 Speaker 1: can cause convulsions and seizures, but it doesn't cause bleeding 258 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:35,360 Speaker 1: from the eyes and ears, and it definitely doesn't make 259 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:38,480 Speaker 1: a person bash their own head in against a rock, 260 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:44,080 Speaker 1: as Valentina claimed to have seen Tatiana do. Pulmonary edema 261 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:48,320 Speaker 1: can cause those things, a condition caused by the build 262 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:51,600 Speaker 1: up of excess fluid in the lungs. It's a known 263 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:56,639 Speaker 1: risk at altitude. Ordinarily, however, it's mostly only considered a 264 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:00,720 Speaker 1: risk around thirteen thousand feet, not so and a half 265 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:05,600 Speaker 1: thousand where lud Miller and her team were hiking. They 266 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:08,560 Speaker 1: were seasoned hikers who had all climbed as high as 267 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:14,040 Speaker 1: the Retranslator Mountain on several previous occasions without any issues. 268 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:19,120 Speaker 1: One of the rescuer team, Valerie Tartanikov, was an expert 269 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:22,840 Speaker 1: tour instructor in the area. He built a career guiding 270 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:27,200 Speaker 1: tourists through the region. The death of the Corovinites, as 271 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:30,840 Speaker 1: they became known, is a big mystery, he wrote. The 272 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:35,440 Speaker 1: Tiger forest is not a desert, not polar ice. If 273 00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:40,080 Speaker 1: you're experienced like Ludmiller Coravin, if you're in the forest 274 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,359 Speaker 1: in the summer, then it's impossible to die from the cold. 275 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:57,479 Speaker 1: Twenty minutes to make a fire and you're saved. A 276 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:00,720 Speaker 1: few days after the funeral, an article published in the 277 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:07,240 Speaker 1: daily Russian paper Komsomolskaya Pravada accused the group's leader, Ludmiller Coorvina, 278 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:12,600 Speaker 1: of being responsible for the deaths. Celebrated Russian rescuer euy 279 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:16,879 Speaker 1: Go Elias did the same. According to him, when they 280 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:20,760 Speaker 1: arrived at the group's dilapidated camp, they found only one 281 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:24,160 Speaker 1: can of stew that he surmised had been divided up 282 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:28,200 Speaker 1: between the seven hikers. There were no snacks or quick 283 00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:33,400 Speaker 1: protein fixes that climbers usually took on such arduous journeys. 284 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:39,560 Speaker 1: Ludmiller was apparently well known for encouraging survivalist instincts among 285 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:43,199 Speaker 1: her students, meaning she preferred to keep rations to a 286 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:47,080 Speaker 1: minimum to force them to find their own food while outdoors. 287 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:52,160 Speaker 1: Valentina seemed to hint at this when she told investigators 288 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:56,399 Speaker 1: that they'd stopped frequently to harvest the nutrient rich gold 289 00:20:56,480 --> 00:21:02,800 Speaker 1: root or rodeola rosea that grows abundant in the area. Ironically, 290 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:08,119 Speaker 1: it's particularly prized for its ability to help control stress. 291 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,160 Speaker 1: But even if that were all true, a small degree 292 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:16,119 Speaker 1: of protein deficiency does not result in anything like what 293 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:21,879 Speaker 1: Valentina apparently witnessed. She also continued to insist, with no 294 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:25,399 Speaker 1: genuine reason to say otherwise, that they had more than 295 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:31,520 Speaker 1: enough food to complete each day's hiking. When Galina Nikolayevna, 296 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:36,200 Speaker 1: Timor's mother was contacted many years later by the same 297 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:41,400 Speaker 1: Komsomolskaya Pravda who blamed Ludmiller for the deaths, she refused 298 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:44,680 Speaker 1: to speak to them, saying only that she had complete 299 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:50,040 Speaker 1: faith in Ludmiller to look after her son. In the 300 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:54,600 Speaker 1: decades since the Khmad Duban incident, many explanations have been 301 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:59,200 Speaker 1: put forward to explain the bizarre event. Because the Russian 302 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:02,639 Speaker 1: military had been known to use the Siberian Mountains to 303 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:07,639 Speaker 1: conduct testing. Some have speculated that the hikers stumbled onto 304 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:10,960 Speaker 1: something they weren't supposed to see and were killed for it. 305 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:15,520 Speaker 1: Others have pointed out that Leod Miller was an avid 306 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:19,600 Speaker 1: forager who taught the craft to her students. Perhaps one 307 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:23,399 Speaker 1: of the group gathered poisonous mushrooms by mistake then fed 308 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:26,560 Speaker 1: them to the others, leading to the mania displayed in 309 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:30,640 Speaker 1: their final moments. One rumor was that the group had 310 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:36,000 Speaker 1: unwittingly stumbled onto an old Soviet Union chemical weapons test site, 311 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:39,920 Speaker 1: and that Valentina had in fact been rescued by state 312 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:44,320 Speaker 1: security officers and forced to sign a non disclosure agreement. 313 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:48,760 Speaker 1: One possibility is that the group were poisoned by a 314 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:52,840 Speaker 1: nerve agent like novi choc, but was somehow trapped in 315 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:57,240 Speaker 1: the soil and vegetation, or carried unexpectedly through the air 316 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:07,639 Speaker 1: by the storm. Novichok was developed by the Soviet Union 317 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:11,120 Speaker 1: in the nineteen seventies and has been used against Russian 318 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:16,240 Speaker 1: individuals in many high profile instances, perhaps most strikingly in 319 00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:20,440 Speaker 1: twenty eighteen, when it was used to assassinate Russian enemies 320 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:25,160 Speaker 1: of Vladimir Putin in the United Kingdom. In March twenty eighteen, 321 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:30,520 Speaker 1: former Russian spy Sergey Scripple and his daughter Julia were 322 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:35,200 Speaker 1: found unconscious on a bench in Salisbury, South England, after 323 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:40,120 Speaker 1: being exposed to novichok. The UK government accused Russian Military 324 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:45,880 Speaker 1: Intelligence GRU of carrying out the poisoning, identifying two suspects, 325 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:50,600 Speaker 1: Alexander Petrov and Russlin Boshirov, who were later revealed to 326 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:56,560 Speaker 1: be GRU officers. The attack triggered a major international crisis, 327 00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:01,439 Speaker 1: leading to mass diplomatic expulsions and sanctions against Russia, but 328 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:07,760 Speaker 1: several others were also unintentionally affected, including police officer Nick Bailey, 329 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:13,000 Speaker 1: and months later, two civilians, Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgis, 330 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:18,160 Speaker 1: who had accidentally handled a discarded perfume bottle containing the novichoc. 331 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:24,679 Speaker 1: Dawn Sturgis died from the exposure. The incident marked the 332 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:28,320 Speaker 1: first known use of a chemical weapon on European soil 333 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:32,480 Speaker 1: since World War II, and raised a global alarm about 334 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:39,520 Speaker 1: state sponsored assassination attempts abroad. A potent nerve agent, novichoc 335 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:43,280 Speaker 1: could account for many of the symptoms that the hikers exhibited, 336 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:49,399 Speaker 1: including convulsions, foaming, at the mouth and cardiac arrest. They 337 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:52,760 Speaker 1: might also have been paralyzed by the novichoc and then 338 00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:57,040 Speaker 1: later succumbed to hypothermia, which would explain the coroner's findings. 339 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:01,879 Speaker 1: Others have theorized that infracy might be to blame a 340 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:06,000 Speaker 1: super low frequency audio that can prompt terror and panic. 341 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:10,320 Speaker 1: It's a theory often applied to the Diatlov past mystery. 342 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:15,080 Speaker 1: Proponents of the idea in the Kama Daban case wonder 343 00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:18,040 Speaker 1: if the power lines that Valentina followed to the river 344 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:23,040 Speaker 1: may have been omitting the requisite electronic frequency to cause chaos. 345 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:27,480 Speaker 1: The truth is, it's unlikely we will ever know what 346 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:31,280 Speaker 1: really happened on that horrifying morning high up in the 347 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:36,679 Speaker 1: wilderness of the Kahma D'aban Mountains. As for Valentina, the 348 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:40,720 Speaker 1: soul survivor, after her friends were brought down from the mountain, 349 00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:44,800 Speaker 1: she returned to her hometown of Petro Pavel without speaking 350 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:49,240 Speaker 1: to the press. There, she remained silent even to her parents, 351 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:55,280 Speaker 1: before revealing only minor snippets. Years later, after completing college, 352 00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:59,640 Speaker 1: she left Kazakhstan entirely looking for a fresh start where 353 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 1: nothing could remind her of the nightmare In the mountains. 354 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:08,080 Speaker 1: She's only spoken to the press once since, back in 355 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:13,560 Speaker 1: twenty eighteen, when a reporter from Komsomolskaya Pravda tracked her down. 356 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:18,160 Speaker 1: He found her living in a dormitory for food industry workers. 357 00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:22,679 Speaker 1: It's a somewhat depressing place, with thirty eight rooms to 358 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:26,760 Speaker 1: one bathroom that seems to encapsulate the haunted life that 359 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:31,879 Speaker 1: Valentina has lived. Angered at having her privacy so rudely 360 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:36,719 Speaker 1: invaded at first, she refused to speak to the reporter entirely. 361 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:40,800 Speaker 1: When pressed to give her conclusions on the whole event, 362 00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:45,760 Speaker 1: she replied, simply, what's the point now? It's all useless. 363 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:54,960 Speaker 1: We can't bring them back. This episode was written by 364 00:26:54,960 --> 00:27:01,320 Speaker 1: Emma Dibden, Neil McRobert and Richard McLean Smith. Thank you 365 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:04,600 Speaker 1: as ever for listening. Unexplained as an Avy Club Productions 366 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:08,840 Speaker 1: podcast created by Richard McClain smith. All other elements of 367 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:12,280 Speaker 1: the podcast, including the music, are also produced by me 368 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:17,040 Speaker 1: Richard McLain smith. Unexplained. The book and audiobook is now 369 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:21,200 Speaker 1: available to buy worldwide. You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes 370 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:25,720 Speaker 1: and Noble, Waterstones and other bookstores. Please subscribe to and 371 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:28,960 Speaker 1: rate the show wherever you get your podcasts, and feel 372 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:31,560 Speaker 1: free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas 373 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:34,679 Speaker 1: regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you 374 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:37,240 Speaker 1: have an explanation or a story of your own you'd 375 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:40,040 Speaker 1: like to share. You can find out more at Unexplained 376 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:43,320 Speaker 1: podcast dot com and reach us online through X and 377 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:48,600 Speaker 1: Blue Sky at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com, 378 00:27:48,640 --> 00:28:30,600 Speaker 1: Forward Slash, Unexplained Podcast, Bold Connold Down. 379 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:54,640 Speaker 2: Down Down Down, Down Down Down. 380 00:29:00,080 --> 00:30:21,040 Speaker 3: Bold, boldn. 381 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:06,960 Speaker 2: No no no no