← Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes
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Hi Crime House community. It's Vanessa Richardson looking for another Crime House original podcast to add to your rotation. You will love Clues with Morgan Absher and Kaylin Moore. Every Wednesday, Morgan and Kaelyn dig into the world's most notorious crimes, clue by clue, from serial killers to shocking murders. They follow the trail of clues, break down the evidence and debate the theories. It's like hanging out with your smart and true crime obsessed friends. Listen to clues on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts. This is crime house. On February 4, 2019, Russian officials held a press conference. They announced that after six 60 years, they were reopening one of the country's most baffling cases. In 1959, nine young Soviet citizens led by 23 year old Igor Dyatlov died during a hiking expedition in the Ural Mountains. In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, Soviet officials declared their cause of death, quote, an insurmountable force of nature. The report was chillingly vague and only deepened the mystery. But. But in 2019, Russian authorities promised answers. With new technology at their disposal, they claimed they were ready to uncover the truth once and for all. There was just one catch. They would only be investigating natural causes. That meant the theories that had been circulating for years, like a secret military experiment gone wrong or a Yeti attack, were off limits. But just because the government wasn't willing to explore every possibility didn't mean the public wasn't either. Because to this day, a lot of people are convinced that whatever happened on the snowy peak was anything but natural. From UFO cults and mass suicides to secret CIA experiments, presidential assassinations, and murderous doctors, these aren't just theories. They're real stories that blur the line between fact and fiction. I'm Vanessa Richardson and this is Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes, a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Every Wednesday, I'll explore the real people at the center of the world's most shocking events and nefarious organizations. These cases are wild and I want to hear what you think at the end of each episode. Leave a comment wherever you listen. First, follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes and subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts for ad free early access. And if you can't get enough true crime, go search and follow Crime House Daily. Our team's twice a day show bringing you breaking cases, updates and unbelievable stories from the world of crime that are happening right now. Today I'm discussing the Dyatlov Pass incident, one of Russia's most enduring mysteries. In 1959 nine young hikers died under very strange circumstances in the northern mountains of Soviet Russia. Their tent was found torn open from the inside. Their bodies lay scattered across the snow. Some were barefoot, some were half dressed, and some had sustained injuries so severe they defied explanation. Investigators found no sign of struggle, no footprints but their own. And more than six decades later, we're still not sure what drove them out into the night or what truly killed them. That is, until 2019, when the answers finally felt within reach. All that and more coming up.
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On January 23, 1959, nine students made their way from their dormitory at Ural Polytechnic Institute, or upi, to the local train station in the Soviet city of Sverdlovsk. Their bags were packed, their skis were lashed together, and their faces were bright with anticipation. The group was ready to embark on a daring trek through the frozen heart of the Ural Mountains. If all went as planned, they'd return home with the highest hiking certification in the Soviet Union, grade three. But nothing went as planned. Their leader was 23 year old Igor Dyatlov, a quiet but magnetic engineering student. As a member of the school's hiking club, Igor was famous for his technical skills and for the way people instinctively followed his lead. But this wasn't just another trip for Igor. It was a test, a trial that would cement his reputation as one of the best young mountaineers in the country. Over the next 16 days, Igor would lead his team across 190 miles of mountainous terrain in an attempt to reach the peak of Mount Otorin. The people he'd chosen to go with him were strong, capable and very smart. 26 year old Alexander Kolevatov studied nuclear physics. 21 year old Yuri Doroshenko focused on radio engineering. And 23 year old Nikolai Tiborino had graduated with a civil construction degree. Georgi Krivonishenko, a 23 year old hydraulics and construction student, also joined them. Georgi was the joker of the group and insisted on carrying his mandolin on the journey to keep spirits high. There were only two women, 22 year old Zina Komolgorova and 20 year old Liuda Dubinina. Zina was another radio engineering student and she was tasked with keeping a diary of their journey. Meanwhile, Liuda studied construction economics, a field that combines engineering, management and finance. Liuda was known for her endurance on long hikes. Once she'd been accidentally shot in the leg during a hunting excursion, then joked her way along her 50 mile rescue trip through Siberia's mountains. The final two members were 23 year old Rustim Slobodin, who'd already graduated with a mechanical engineering degree, and 21 year old Yuri Yudin, who was studying economics. Yuri was probably the weakest link. He suffered from rheumatism, heart issues and had bad knees. Despite all that, he found freedom in hiking and swore he would be able to make it through the trip. When the nine students boarded the train in Sverdlovsk, they noticed one unfamiliar face among them. A last minute addition. Sasha Zolotagriov was 37 years old, had gold teeth and was covered in tattoos. A hiking instructor and World War II veteran, he bore the weight of experience in his weathered features. If his age or appearance concerned the rest of the hikers, they didn't show it. Igor knew what he was doing. If he was fine with Sasha coming, it must have been because he thought he would make the team even stronger. Besides, you didn't need to be a student to go on the expedition. The hiking certification was given out by the government, not the university, so Sasha was a welcome addition to the group. The next day, in the early morning hours of January 24, 1959, the group disembarked in Serov, a grim industrial town buried in frost and smoke. They'd already been traveling for nearly 11 hours and they still had a long layover before their next train north. The hikers were desperate to get some rest. They'd planned to just nap in the train station, but the staff told them it was against the rules. So the group set out in search of shelter and eventually they struck a deal with a nearby elementary school. They could sleep in a classroom that morning in exchange for giving a talk to the students later that day. And the kids ended up loving them. The group spoke about their upcoming adventure and sang songs. They even promised to stop by on their way home to tell the students all about their journey. When it was time for the group to catch their train, the children poured out of the schoolhouse to wave goodbye as the 10 hikers walked back to the station. That evening they boarded the 6:30 train bound for Evdell, a remote mining town. They arrived about five hours later and spent the night huddled in the station. The next morning, January 25th, they packed up, ate what they could and boarded their last train to the settlement of Viz. In every Siberian town, Igor made a point to visit the forest workers since they knew the land best. In Vigey, that man was 53 year old Ivan Rempel. Rempel warned Igor and the others that the winter winds beyond the ridge were deadly. The kind that could lift a person off their feet and hurl them into a ravine. Igor only smiled. This was what they'd come for. A challenge. He thanked Rempel, copied one of his detailed maps and turned to his friends. They were ready. But not all of them were doing well. Yuri Yudin's old pains had returned. His back throbbed with every step and a familiar stiffness crept down his legs. He tried to hide it, but Igor could see the pain in Yuri's face. That afternoon they piled into the open bed of a truck bound for a logging camp called sector 41. This would be their final stop before beginning their hike. It was a brief, brutal three hour ride through freezing wind and rutted roads. Every jolt of the tires sent a knife of pain through Yudin's spine. By the time they arrived, he knew the truth. He wouldn't make it any farther. On January 28, 1959, Yuri Yudin said goodbye to his friends. The group helped him load his pack for the long trip home. He watched as they skied away into the white expanse, nine figures shrinking into the snow. He was the last person who would ever see them alive. From there, the only witnesses were the hikers themselves, their cameras and their diary. The entries from those first few days of the journey paint a picture of camaraderie, exhaustion and cold. They joked about who got to sleep closest to the stove and talked about how often they had to stop to scrape ice from their boots and skis. For two days, they followed a hunting trail cut through the forest by the Mansee, the indigenous people of the Urals. But on the third day, the weather turned. The wind roared through the trees, snow fell in sheets, and visibility dropped to almost zero. The hikers argued, doubled back, and searched for better ground. As night fell, they realized all they could do was set up camp, share a warm meal, and plan to regroup in the morning. On January 31, eight days after they'd left Sverdlovsk, they began climbing toward the base of Otorten mountain, known as Dead Mountain in the Manses native language. They estimated that it would take about 16 days to reach the peak and come back down. The ascent was steep and the snow was heavy. To move faster, Igor invented a system he called path treading. Each hiker took turns walking ahead to stamp down the snow for five minutes, then fell back to the rest as another person took their place. Still, it was slow going. By late afternoon, they descended into a valley where the trees thinned and the wind softened. They built a fire from damp fir branches and ate dinner inside their tent. Igor wrote in the diary that it was hard to imagine such a cozy place anywhere. The next morning, February 1st, they began building a labaz, which is a storage cache for food and supplies they'd collected on their way back. This meant they could climb the summit without any unnecessary weight in their packs. The hikers left behind spare boots, extra skis, a first aid kit, and Georgie's beloved mandolin. The last photos of the group show them skiing single file in a blinding white snowy haze toward the unknown known as the light faded. They set up camp on an open slope, an east facing stretch of snow that would catch the morning sun. They pitched their tent, cooked a final meal, and settled in for the night. Outside, the temperature plunged below zero. The wind screamed across the mountainside. Igor Dyatlov and his team knew the weather conditions would make their journey even more dangerous. But they were confident in their abilities. They knew deep down that they could overcome any challenge, make their climb, and earn their coveted hiking certifications. Unfortunately, they were wrong.
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Visit blueapron.com terms for more. On the afternoon of February 1, 1959, 23 year old Igor Dyatlov and eight other hikers set up camp on a snowy open slope in the Ural Mountains. They planned to summit Otorten Mountain, then return to the Ural Polytechnic Institute on February 13, where they would earn their grade three hiking certification, the highest in the Soviet Union. But on February 16, three days after they were due home, no one had heard from the students. Igor's sister, 21 year old Rufina, was certain that something had gone wrong. She'd already tried to convince the faculty at UPI to send out a search party, but they quickly dismissed her concerns. They told her that delays happen all the time and that Igor could have decided to extend the trip. Rufina insisted that her brother was an expert hiker and knew how important it was to communicate any changes. If he'd adjusted their plans, one of them would have hiked back to civilization to send a letter or a telegram. The next day, after more pleading from Rufina, the university finally sent a telegram to Vizier, the last known settlement before the mountains. The reply from Vigey arrived at the university on February 18. It read. The Dyatlov group did not return. Suddenly, Rufus Fina wasn't the only one who was worried. Two days later, on February 20, the university launched a formal search. Helicopters took off from Zverdlofs with volunteers and hiking experts, they flew north toward the Urals, scanning ridges and slopes along what they assumed to be the group's trail. But days passed with no sign of the hikers. They expanded the search to include the local Mansi people, who knew the region better than anyone else. But the Mansys were led by tribesman Stepan Kurikov. With their help, the team had their first breakthrough. On February 25th, Boris Slubstov, a 22 year old member of the university hiking club, spotted ski tracks in the distance. He and the others trudged through the snow, following the tracks uphill. They led them to a tent half buried and collapsed. It was clearly the hikers. Inside, everything looked normal. Food was laid out, clothing was folded in corners, and diaries were stacked and organized. At first glance, it seemed like the group had just left to search for firewood or to relieve themselves in the snow. But a closer look told a different, scarier story. The backside of the canvas had been slashed a few times and ultimately sliced open from the inside. Inside, it was obvious the students hadn't calmly left the tent. They ran away from it. The next day, February 26th, more volunteers arrived to look around the area. Approximately 20 yards away from the tent, investigators found several preserved footprints, nine sets to be exact. They extended nearly half a mile toward the valley before eventually disappearing. Strangely enough, the tracks didn't look like they were made by boots, but bare feet. Which meant the hikers had exited the tent without shoes and stepped onto the freezing snow. It was bizarre. And that afternoon, another search party discovered something even more disturbing. There was a spot beneath a cedar tree that looked kind of off. The branches were charred, and there were traces of a small feather fire pit. It was haphazard and had clearly been made in a bind. Just north of the pit, a volunteer spotted something sticking out of the snow. When they approached it, they realized it was a human knee. Eventually, the volunteers uncovered two male bodies. As expected, they weren't wearing shoes, but they also weren't wearing jackets or pants. Whatever they had run from had come on fast food. One man was face down, his arms tucked beneath his head, almost like a pillow. The other was face up on his back. His eyes and mouth had been gouged, probably by a scavenging bird. Despite the destruction to his face, the hiker was still recognizable as Georgy Krivonishenko. The body next to him was identified as Yuri Doroshenko. The first two hikers had officially been found. The searchers moved farther away from Yuri and Georgi. And before Long they came upon Igor Dyatlov, his frozen hands clutching a birch tree, as though he'd been fighting against the storm. Nearby, they discovered Zina Kolmogorova. She was on her right side, face down in the snow, her face dark with dried blood. Like the others, she wore no shoes, though she still had on a hat, ski jacket and ski pants. Several days later, between where they'd found Igor and Zena, searchers found the body of Rustem Slobodin. Rustem was more clothed than the others, wearing a sweater, ski pants, a hat and several pairs of socks. His right leg had frozen beneath him, his right fist pulled to his chest. He looked like he'd been fighting and crawling in the direction of the table tent. A giant bruise darkened the front of his skull, suggesting he'd sustained a powerful blow of some kind. The discoveries led to early theories about what had happened. Perhaps a blizzard forced the hikers from the tent, or maybe they were swept away by an avalanche. But the question remained. If wind or snow drove them out, how was the tent still there? Why were there supplies left untouched? Why were so many of them shoeless? And why did the victims look injured? Unfortunately, the autopsies didn't shed much light on the tragedy. The results came in the first week of March. The coroner ruled that Igor, Zina, Yuri, Doroshenko, Georgi and Rustem had all died of hypothermia. But they also had external and internal injuries, suggesting something more violent had taken place. It was confusing, but investigators thought the other four hikers might be the key to finding the answer. The search continued throughout March and April. It was slow going. But then, on May 3, Stefan Kurikov, the Mansi tribesman, came across some unusual looking branches hundreds of meters away from where the first five bodies were found. The branches appeared to have been cut by a knife. And about six yards away, there sat a disturbed patch of snow. The crew started digging, and before long they discovered a pile of fabric. An inside out gray vest, a pair of knitted pants, a brown sweater, one trouser leg and a long bandage were all bundled together. The volunteers dug around, expecting to find bodies, and instead they only found more clothing. The rest of the trousers and half of a woman's sweater. The clothes definitely belonged to the Dyatlov team. Fellow students recognized them, and they were later compared to photos from the group's cameras. But where were the hikers themselves? The searchers spent several more days digging, until suddenly a shovel hit something solid. The first body they found was nearly unrecognizable from water and snow induced decomposition. Nearby, three more bodies were discovered. The only immediately identifiable person was Liuda, the construction economics student who was known for her strength and positive attitude. She still wore her hat, two sweaters, pants and two pairs of socks, but just on one foot. The other was wrapped in a torn sweater. Liuda's face was battered and her mouth was stained dark red. A closer look revealed something truly disturbing. Liuda's tongue was missing. The other two bodies were partially embracing Liuda, like they had all been huddling together for warmth. Unfortunately, they were too ravaged to identify immediately. On May 8, the bodies were taken to Evdell, the town at the foot of the Ural Mountains. The medical examiner identified the first body as Alexander Kolevatov, the nuclear physics student. He had died of hypothermia. The two men who had wrapped themselves around Liuda were Nikolai Tebo, the civil construction graduate, and Sasha Zolotagriov, the late addition to the group. Liuda, Nikolai and Sasha had all suffered incredibly violent injuries, so their causes of death weren't as clear cut. In addition to her missing tongue, Liuda's rib cage was shattered and her heart had ruptured. Sasha's ribs were crushed inward and Nikolai's skull was fractured. It was clear that these injuries weren't caused by cold or exposure. The medical examiner determined that some sort of large violent force had caused the damage while the victim victims were alive and that those injuries were what ultimately killed them. The source of that violent force, well, that was still a mystery in the days that followed. Lead investigator Lev Ivanov studied the evidence with growing disbelief. The tent had been slashed open from the inside. Nine sets of mostly bare footprints trailed into the darkness. Supplies. Boom. Boots and clothing were left behind. Fires had been lit, but quickly extinguished. The hikers fled into minus 30 degrees Celsius temperatures, which is about negative 22 Fahrenheit. There was no sign of an intruder, no known avalanche, and no physical struggle. By mid May 1959, about three months after the hikers disappeared, their cause of death was announced as, quote, an insurmountable force of nature. Rumors spread quickly through Sverdlovsk. Families whispered about government cover ups. Soldiers hinted that strange lights were seen in the sky that night. Others claimed the hikers had stumbled onto a secret weapons test. But ultimately, the case file was sealed. The mountains were closed to visitors, and the answers to the mystery remained buried too deep to dig out.
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With that extra 5% off when I use my Nordstrom credit card. Santa who join the Nordy Club at Nordstrom Rack to unlock our best deals. It's easy. Big gifts, big perks. That's why you rack. In February 1959, nine hikers died in the Ural Mountains. According to the medical examiner, six had died of hypothermia and and three from violent injuries. The Soviet government ruled that the last three deaths were the result of an unknown, compelling force of nature, then closed the investigation. But that didn't mean the story was over. The victim's friends and family were left with a lot of questions. And the most important one was also the most puzzling. What had caused these experienced hikers to leave their tent in the place first. First place. An attack by members of the Mony tribe was briefly floated. But the Mony were a peaceful people and had helped extensively with the search for the missing students. It didn't make sense that they would target them. Alexei Krivonishenko, Georgi's father, had a different, more supernatural theory. He first heard about it from two other hikers who had recently made their own expedition into the northern Urals. On the night of February 1st, the same night Georgie and his companions presumably died, the hikers wit witnessed an extraordinary light in the sky over the Ural Mountains. They said the glow was so bright that they had to shield their eyes. And they weren't the only people who witnessed the mysterious light. Other hiking parties who had been in the Urals between early and mid February reported seeing the same thing. These accounts caught the attention of investigators at the Evedell prosecutor's office, who soon started calling in witnesses from across the region. One by one they talked about strange glowing objects, most often described as slow moving orbs pulsing in the night sky. Were they UFOs? Soviet missile tests gone awry? No one knew for sure and no one could agree. Most witnesses say they saw the lights on February 17, not the first like those two hikers had claimed. Even then, the quantity and consistency of these accounts made the theory hard to ignore. It seemed like whatever had appeared in the sky had something to do with the Dyatlov group's deaths. And soon detectives got even more evidence that appeared to prove this theory. In mid March, about 20 days after they were found, investigators developed the rolls of film recovered from the hikers cameras. The final image on Georgie's film shocked them. The picture was blurry, but it appeared to show a glowing, indistinct light source dominating one side of the frame. To believers, this was proof Georgie must have photographed the orb so many others had reported seeing. Unfortunately, later examination of the photo told a different story. The round shape was nothing more than a lens flare. The blurring was consistent with an accidental exposure, possibly taken when someone had mishandled the camera in the dark. As the orb theory began to lose credibility, the focus shifted to a different, more grounded radiation poisoning. After all, this took place during the height of the Cold War, a time when the Soviet Union was competing with the United States for nuclear power. The Ural Mountains were vast and remote. It seemed like a pretty good place to conduct top secret military experiments. That led some people to wonder if Igor's group had become the victims of a classified Soviet weapons test that ended in disaster. Maybe that would explain their panic and intense injuries. It was terrifying, but possible. Especially because when the hiker's clothing was tested, several garments showed elevated levels of radiation. In his report, Sverdlov's chief municipal radiologist wrote that the level of Contamination exceeded standards for people working with radioactive substances. It was the kind of result that invited speculation and the kind of rumor that Soviet authorities did not want circulating. And so, just as the investigation seemed on the verge of a breakthrough, everything stopped. On May 28, 1959, one day before the final radiation reports were supposed to be released, Lev Ivanov, the lead investigator on the Dyatlov case, received orders to terminate the criminal inquiry immediately. No further tests, no new reports. For the next 51 years, there was no movement in the case. But even then, the mystery of Dyatlov Pass lingered, and there were several still plenty of people who were determined to uncover the truth. Donnie Eiker was an American author and documentary filmmaker. In 2010, he learned about the Dyatlov tragedy and became obsessed with cracking the case. Luckily for him, a lot had changed since those nine hikers perished. In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, and Russia took its place. The new government government was less secretive and more open to outside investigation. That's probably why Donnie was able to get his hands on the original radiation test reports. He sent those to Dr. Christopher Strauss, an associate professor of radiology at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Donnie was eager to learn if the radiation poisoning theory held any water all these years later. And according to Dr. Strauss, it didn't. He said the levels of beta particle decay on the hiker's clothes were completely normal. In fact, those readings would have had to be at least 50 times higher to be considered unusual, let alone harmful. It's not clear if the standards in 1959 were different or if the Soviet radiologist had made a mistake. But Dr. Strauss also had an explanation for why there were even traces of radiation on the hikers in the the first place. He said the contamination probably came from environmental fallout. That winter in 1959, nuclear tests were conducted on the islands of novaya Zemlya, roughly 850 miles north of where the hikers met their fate. Through the air, the snow and water cycle, those particles could have drifted south, settling invisibly across the Urals. So with the radiation theory debunked, Donnie continued his investigation. It would take him across the United States, out to Russia, and ultimately to the very same slope on which the hiker's tent was found 53 years earlier. Along the way, he was able to rule out plenty of other theories that had popped up over the years. One idea was that the hikers might have seen suffered carbon monoxide poisoning inside the tent, that a poorly ventilated stove had filled the air with toxic fumes. But Donnie discovered that the group had not started a fire that night. Their portable stove hadn't been used and still sat unassembled among their supplies in the tent. Plus, there was no smoke damage, no soot, no evidence of heat. There were also rumors of a wild animal attack. Some suggested a bear, a wolf, or even the mythical yeti had torn into the tent, driving the hikers out in terror. But there were no signs that a struggle had taken place. The tent had been sliced open from the inside, not the exterior. And the bodies showed no bite marks or claw wounds. The only possible animal interaction was the removal of Liuda's tongue, which investigators assumed was eaten by rodents after she died. The one theory that seemed the most plausible was also the least exciting. The hikers may simply have been victims of an avalanche. They'd pitched their tent high on a slope, so maybe they'd heard the ominous groan of shifting snow above them and fled into the freezing dark, trying to outrun it. In 2012, Vladimir Borkinsov, an aviation engineer investigator and one of the foremost experts on the Dyatlov case, decided to test the theory. Using GPS data, he calculated the mountain slope with precision. What he found left little room for doubt. The run out angle, otherwise known as the distance snow would travel once released, was incredibly flat. Because of this, an avalanche simply couldn't move far enough or fast enough to reach the camp. Even if an avalanche had miraculously occurred, the scenario still didn't hold. The hikers would have had at most 10 seconds to react to the rumblings. There was no feasible way they could have made it out of their tent that fast. Plus, while the tent was partially collapsed, it was still standing and its contents were undisturbed. No avalanche could have passed over it without flattening everything in its path. Even back in 1959, investigators had dismissed the idea entirely. There were no telltale fractures, no debris fields, no displaced snow. And in the years since, Donnie could find no record of an avalanche ever having been documented on that mountain slope. Running out of options, Donnie tried something no one had been able to do. So get in interview with Yuri Yudin. Yudin, now in his mid-70s, had been the last person to see the Dyatlov group alive before he left the hike. Because of his chronic pain, tracking Yudin down wasn't easy. At some point, he'd become a recluse. Whether he was overcome with survivor's guilt, irritated by all the questions about the hikers, or simply grown older, Yuden made it clear he didn't want to be found. But Donnie was Determined, he spent years trying to get in touch with Yuri. And eventually, he succeeded. In February 2012, 53 years after the Dyatlov group went missing, Donnie met with Yuri in Russia for an interview. After covering the basics, Donnie asked Yuri the question everyone had wanted to know. What did he think happened to his friends? Yuri said he didn't think they died in an accident or by natural causes. To him, the explanation was far darker. Yuri believed that maybe the group had crossed into a restricted area and that armed men had found them. He thought they saw something they shouldn't have and were killed because of it. In Yuri's mind, the scene on the mountain had been staged, and his friends were coerced, forced to walk into the forest half dressed and ordered to destroy their own clothing to create confusion, then abandoned to die in the cold. Yuri's main piece of evidence was Liuda's missing tongue. Investigators had always assumed it had either decomposed or had been eaten by animals, but Yuri didn't buy that. He thought that strong willed, outspoken Liuda had been single out. She had talked too much and had been punished for it. There were other small discrepancies that fueled Yuri's theory. Liuda's beloved good luck charm, a tiny stuffed hedgehog she always carried, had not been found on her body. The hiker's chocolate rations were also missing, with no wrappers left behind. To Yuri, these were traces of human interference, signs of looting or concealment. Someone had taken these things, thinking no one would notice. Donnie listened, but he wasn't convinced. After the interview, he looked into Yuri's claims and confirmed what he'd suspected all along. Yuri was almost certainly wrong. The hedgehog toy had been logged as evidence, and Luda's tongue wasn't cut out. It was missing due to natural decomposition. Her body had been lying in the partially melted snow for weeks. During that time, water and microorganisms had eroded the soft tissue. Even the missing chocolate had a mundane answer. When Donnie interviewed searchers from the original 1959 recovery, two of them admitted that they'd found the hiker's chocolate, eaten it, and pocketed the wrappers as they continued on their mission. To Donnie, it seemed like every theory fell apart as soon as it was examined. By 2013, after traveling to Russia, interviewing Yuri Yudin and talking to countless experts, he was almost ready to give up. Then his research led him toward a stranger but even more realistic theory. A phenomenon called infrasound infrastructure. Infrasound is the inverse of ultrasound and exists below the range of human hearing. But even though we can't hear it, we can feel it. These low frequency waves can occur naturally in the world as byproducts of earthquakes, landslides and storms. Man made infrasound is also possible. It can happen via ventilation systems, wind farms and machinery, and at certain intensities. Infrasound can wreak havoc on the human body, producing nausea, disorientation, panic, and in extreme cases, psychological collapse. During his research, Donnie learned that some governments had experimented with infrasound in the past. Nazi Germany had once used low frequency sound to manipulate crowds at political rallies and had experimented with it as a form of weaponized torture. Donnie wondered if the Dyatlov hikers were victims of an infrasound attack, either in the form of a test by the Soviet government or in a naturally occurring scenario due to the wind conditions on the mountain. He reached out to Dr. Alfred J. Bidard Jr. He was a senior scientist and infrasonics specialist at the national oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, Colorado, and had spent decades studying how these frequencies behave. If anyone could determine whether infrasound had played a role in the hikers deaths, it was him. When the two men met, Dr. Bedard confirmed that under the right conditions, an infrasound incident could have occurred on the mountain. Then he asked Donnie if he had ever heard of something called a Carmen vortex. Biddard explained that a Karman vortex is a rare meteorological pattern. It forms when wind passes a blunt object of a particular shape and speed, creating alternating spirals of air. These spirals are essentially miniature tornadoes that roll away in two parallel lines. These vortices can create strong vibrations in the air, and sometimes they generate infrasound. As they studied Donnie's photographs of the campsite, and Dr. Beddard noticed something striking. The mountain's summit had a perfectly symmetrical rounded dome, exactly the kind of shape that could produce a Karman vortex under the right wind conditions. The tent's location just below that dome placed the hikers directly in the path of those invisible vortices. In other words, it was a perfect setup for disaster. Donnie was stunned. Biddard was telling him that his infrasound theory wasn't just possible, but probable. Together, they imagined what the hikers might have experienced inside their tent that night. There would have been a sudden gust of wind, then a low thrumming vibration in the ground. Suddenly, a roar as loud as a freight train would have passed from west to east. The canvas walls of the tent would start to tremble, and the hikers chests would be Vibrating with sub audible pressure. Another roar from the north would increase their growing panic. Their breath would tighten, their hearts would pound, and terror would start to override reason. Dr. Bitter believed that this could explain everything. The panic, the confusion, the frantic decision to cut their way out into the cold. The hikers weren't running from an avalanche or an intruder. They were fleeing from sound itself, from the deep, invisible pressure waves of the mountain wind. For more than 60 years, the story of the Dyatlov Pass has haunted those who heard it. Nine experienced hikers vanished into a snowstorm, never to be heard from again. Families demanded answers. Investigators chased leads that faded into the cold. Over time, the case turned into more than a tragedy. It became a legend. Donnie Eicher and Dr. Bitter's infrasound theory offered a logical explanation that bridged science and circumstance. Unfortunately, experts are split on whether infrasound can actually cause this level of psychological distress. And the Russian government seemed to think it couldn't. In 2019, Russian officials reopened the investigation and returned to an old theory that a rare type of slab avalanche had forced the hikers out of their tent, prompting them to run out into the cold. This verdict, like all the others, remains highly disputed. Most experts agree that the conditions weren't right for an avalanche. But as far as the Russian government is concerned, that's what happened. Personally, I'm most convinced by the infrasound theory, but I'd love to know what you all think. Was it the infrasound, a rare avalanche, A secret government plot? Or maybe something supernatural? Tell us in the comments. I'd love to hear. The truth is, we may never know the full story. There are still several details that we can't explain, including the lights in the sky, the burnt tree, and the hiker's extensive injuries. But in our rush to try to understand, it can be easy to forget the true damage that was caused that day. Nine young people lost their lives. They were brilliant students, accomplished professionals, and adventurous spirits. They were all united by their love of the outdoors and their desire to prove themselves. And while we can never bring them back, we can rest easy knowing their journey ended the same way it began. Together. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Vanessa Ran Richardson, and this is Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes. Come back next week. We'll decode the episode together and hear another story about the real people at the center of the world's most notorious cults, conspiracies and criminal acts. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is a crime house original Powered by Pave Studios here at Crime House. We want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, read reach out on social media, Rimehouse on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review and follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference. And to enhance your Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes listening experience, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode ad free plus exciting bonus content. We'll be back next Wednesday. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is hosted by me, Vanessa Richardson and is a Crime House original. Powered by Pave Studios, this episode was brought to life by the Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes team Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benidon, Natalie Przovsky, Lori Marinelli, Sarah Camp, Ellie Reed and Michael Langsner. Thank you for listening. Listening. Here we have the Limu Emu in.
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