Despite the incredibly high temperatures in Colorado during the summer of 2015, 15-year-old twin boys Jason and Ryan McConnell kept begging their parents for a camping excursion in Rocky Mountain National Park.
They were inseparable—athletic, adventurous, but somewhat irresponsible. Their parents reluctantly agreed after the boys assured them they would stay close to clearly marked trails. On July 14, they set off with two companions for a short hike while the rest of the camp group stayed behind. Only Jason and Ryan never returned. Search and rescue crews were dispatched within hours. Dozens of volunteers scoured the forests with dogs, helicopters scanned the ridgelines, and divers examined the lakes.
Investigators were baffled by the complete lack of evidence—no clothing, no broken branches, no equipment, nothing. The twins had apparently lost their way and were gone forever. McConnell’s case quickly gained national attention. News outlets aired interviews with distraught parents, while experts speculated about animal attacks, abductions, or accidents in dangerous environments. But after a few months, the search was called off. The official report categorized the case as an “unsolved disappearance.” For the family, life came to a standstill that summer. The twins’ father, a career firefighter, made an annual trip to the Rockies on the anniversary of their disappearance, with little hope.
Their mother had ended all camp activities. The children’s friends endured the ordeal in silence, each tormented by the possibilities of what might have happened. Family vacation packages Time marched on. The case was periodically referenced on true-crime podcasts, usually categorized with other wilderness disappearances. By 2025, only the residents remembered the McConnell brothers. In late August, a group of young campers from Denver discovered something partially hidden in pine needles, next to a rarely used game trail. The rucksack was weathered, faded but intact. When they unzipped it, they discovered other small belongings—an old torch, a rusty pocket knife, and a folded sheet of paper enclosed in a plastic bag.
The letter contained illegible handwriting marked with squiggles. As the actress put it, “If anyone finds this, we’re in danger.” Let Mom and Dad know we’re trying to get back. The rest of the message was obscured, though one ominous statement remained legible: “He wants us to stay.” The search for the bag has galvanized police enforcement in Colorado. After a decade of silence, there’s finally concrete evidence. Detectives from the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office have reopened the case, and the backpack has been submitted for forensic analysis. The letter has sparked a flurry of curiosity. “He doesn’t want us to leave”—who is he? Some say it has to do with a kidnapper.
Some have argued that it could have been a misreading of wildlife—possibly a territorial individual they encountered in the bush. Investigators initially confirmed the authenticity. Handwriting analysis matched samples from Jason’s school notebooks; however, the strokes were rapid and irregular, indicating stress. The paper and ink were damaged but still legible, due to the plastic bag. The search area was re-surveyed using contemporary technology – drones equipped with thermal sensors, advanced mapping software, and trained cadaver dogs.
Teams focused on the area where the backpack was discovered, which was beyond the initial 2015 search perimeter. The path was steep, isolated, and difficult for the youths to traverse, suggesting the boys may have been guided or forced there. At the same time, police re-examined previous interviews. Inconsistencies were discovered. A local man, Thomas “Tom” Harlan, in his late forties, lived along the park’s perimeter. He was an introverted handyman known for his temper and for evicting offenders from his land.
In 2015, he was briefly interviewed but acquitted due to lack of evidence. At the mention of “he,” Harlan’s name resurfaced. Neighbors reported unusual activity that accompanied the disappearance—lights on in his cabin at unusual times and the sound of banging late into the night. One camper recalled that Harlan had earnestly advised them to “stay on the ridge” weeks before the twins disappeared. The FBI has opened a new investigation, alleging possible kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment. Records indicate that Harlan quickly sold his cabin in 2016 and moved to New Mexico, where he has since lived discreetly. As the investigation unfolded, the McConnell family experienced a tug of relief and apprehension.
It’s heartening that the case has received renewed attention. It’s troubling that the boys’ final statements suggest they may have been imprisoned against their choice, at least temporarily. Family vacation packages In September 2025, a collaborative task force carefully prepared to question Harlan again, this time armed with a decade of advances in forensic science—and the chilling letter that hinted at potential wrongdoing. Agents discovered Thomas Harlan in a remote desert town adjacent to Santa Fe. He lived alone in a trailer, making a living by doing odd jobs. When questioned, Harlan denied any involvement, saying he “never met those boys.” His account was made up, almost scripted. However, detectives had more than his testimony. Soil samples from the backpack matched the mineral makeup of the ridge located behind Harlan’s former cabin—a place where he had previously been imprisoned.
Satellite images from 2015, retrieved from archives, revealed a rudimentary building in the months after the disappearance. A search warrant was obtained. Excavations at the site uncovered wood fragments that suggested a collapsed barn or hut. Forensic teams discovered two small sets of skeletal remains beneath the rubble. Dental records confirmed everyone’s fears—they were identified as belonging to Jason and Ryan McConnell.
The cause of death was harder to determine, but the fractures indicated blunt force trauma. The note on the backpack now paints a grim scenario: the boys survived long enough to make it, perhaps imprisoned by Harlan. “He didn’t want us to leave” served as strong evidence of imprisonment. Faced with the evidence, Harlan eventually gave in. In a complicated confession, he admitted that he had met the twins when they were walking on his land. He was furious with them, but the situation escalated. In a state of panic, he attacked a child and then forced them into a rudimentary shed. He insisted that he had not intended to kill them but had hidden them for fear of being caught.The situation escalated, culminating in disaster within days. The trial began in late 2026, with McConnell’s parents present for every session. Harlan was found guilty of second-degree murder and wrongful imprisonment, resulting in a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The family experienced closure mixed with bitterness. The twins’ belongings—a rusty knife, a worn bag, and the note written in Jason’s shaky handwriting—were returned. It was the closest thing to a goodbye they would ever experience. Ten years after their disappearance, the truth finally emerged—not through supernatural phenomena, but through persistence, evidence, and the accidental discovery of a backpack in the woods. McConnell’s case served as a stark reminder of the dangers of the wilderness and the sinister threats posed by the individuals who inhabit it.