Part 1: Arrival

Summary

Wild Boys: Arrival – Detailed Summary

Introduction

In the “Arrival” episode of Wild Boys, hosted by Sam Mullins and produced by Campside Media in collaboration with Sony Music Entertainment, listeners are transported to the small Canadian town of Vernon, British Columbia, in the summer of 2003. The episode intricately weaves a tale of mystery, community response, and the enigmatic arrival of two young boys whose presence disrupts the tranquility of their tight-knit community.

Vernon, British Columbia: A Brief Overview

Sam Mullins sets the scene by describing Vernon as a quintessential Okanagan town, known for its natural beauty, vineyards, and outdoor recreational activities. Historically middle-class, the region has evolved into a playground for the affluent, yet it retains its small-town charm with a strong emphasis on community events like the winter carnival parade. Vernon's landscape, dominated by features like Kalamalka Lake and the iconic Cal General Store, provides a picturesque yet isolating backdrop for the unfolding events.

The Mysterious Arrival of Tom and Will Green

In the summer of 2003, Sam Mullins recounts his personal experience of encountering two unfamiliar, extremely thin boys walking along the shoreline of Kalamalka Lake Beach. Their unusual appearance and the fact that Vernon is a small town where everyone knows each other immediately raised suspicions.

"They had no place to live... It was more of like an energy or an aura thing. You could look at them in any context and be like, wait, what?" ([07:02])

The boys, later identified as Tom and Will Green, became a constant presence at the Cal General Store, drawing attention from locals who found their behavior odd and enigmatic. Despite their frequent visits, they maintained a low profile, fueling curiosity and concern within the community.

Tammy McDougal Ryder’s Intervention

Tammy McDougal Ryder, a new resident of Vernon and a dedicated mother of three, first noticed the boys while driving through downtown. Unlike others, Tammy felt a compelling urge to help them, motivated by their apparent need and vulnerability.

"I kind of made it a mission to see if I can find them to help them right." ([10:25])

Tammy’s proactive approach led her to investigate their whereabouts, eventually discovering signs of their recent presence in the woods behind the Cal General Store. Her determination culminated in her leaving a note with her contact information at the store’s payphone, a gesture that resulted in the boys reaching out to her.

Community Mobilization and Support

Upon contacting Tammy, Tom and Will accepted her offer of assistance. Tammy swiftly mobilized the Vernon community, enlisting the help of local volunteers to provide immediate support. This included securing temporary accommodation at the Vernon Lodge Best Western Hotel and supplying the boys with winter clothing, grocery cards, and other necessities.

"They were unique, and they would have been worth a sociological study." ([21:26])

Legal assistance was also sought, with local lawyer Dale Kermode offering pro bono services to help navigate the complexities of the boys' situation, particularly their lack of identification and official documentation.

Unraveling the Boys’ Background

As Tammy delved deeper, the boys revealed fragments of their past. They claimed to have been raised in a remote cabin by their parents, Mary and Joseph, in the wilderness north of Vernon near Revelstoke. Their upbringing was characterized by isolation, minimal contact with society, and an obsessive focus on a raw, fruit-based diet.

"They lived in some sort of cabin that was partially or fully underground... They had no access to media." ([19:47])

Their adherence to this peculiar diet explained their emaciated appearances but also raised concerns about potential eating disorders. Tammy observed that while they exhibited an obsession with food procurement and consumption, it bordered on a disorder rather than a mere dietary choice.

Challenges with Integration and Immigration Authorities

Efforts to integrate Tom and Will into society were met with resistance. The boys were reluctant to engage with officials and hesitant to provide verifiable information about their origins, leading to increased scrutiny from immigration authorities. The lack of identification and ambiguous background prompted the authorities to schedule a hearing, adding pressure to the situation.

"Any prying related to their diet, health, or any questions about their parents... was met with stonewalling or sudden defensiveness." ([27:01])

Tammy’s attempt to resolve their status by facilitating a visit to their alleged parents in Revelstoke proved futile. The encounter with their parents turned out to be unproductive, leaving Tom and Will without the necessary documentation to legitimize their presence in Vernon.

Climactic Confrontation and Revelation

As the immigration hearing loomed, Tammy orchestrated a plan to return the boys to their supposed homeland in Revelstoke, hoping to secure the identification they desperately needed. However, this plan unraveled when the boys spirited away, leaving Tammy and their lawyer in a state of uncertainty and anxiety.

"As they're driving back from the bush... they know that not a single word of it is true." ([36:40])

The episode culminates with the revelation that Tom and Will have been deceptive about their identities and backgrounds, hinting at deeper, potentially darker motives behind their arrival in Vernon. This twist leaves listeners pondering the true nature of the boys and the extent of their deception.

Conclusion

The “Arrival” episode masterfully captures the complexity of introducing enigmatic individuals into a small community, highlighting themes of trust, vulnerability, and the lengths to which individuals will go to help those in need. Through Tammy McDougal Ryder’s unwavering determination and the community’s collective response, the story of Tom and Will Green serves as a compelling exploration of survival, identity, and the sometimes murky lines between truth and deception.

Notable Quotes

• Sam Mullins [07:02]: "They had no place to live... It was more of like an energy or an aura thing. You could look at them in any context and be like, wait, what?"

• Tammy McDougal Ryder [10:25]: "I kind of made it a mission to see if I can find them to help them right."

• Tammy McDougal Ryder [21:26]: "They were unique, and they would have been worth a sociological study."

• Tammy McDougal Ryder [27:01]: "Any prying related to their diet, health, or any questions about their parents... was met with stonewalling or sudden defensiveness."

• Sam Mullins [36:40]: "As they're driving back from the bush... they know that not a single word of it is true."

Impact and Reflections

Throughout the episode, Sam Mullins intersperses the narrative with personal reflections and interviews, shedding light on the psychological and social dynamics at play. The story not only delves into the mysterious circumstances surrounding Tom and Will but also examines the community’s response to unexpected challenges. "Arrival" sets the stage for subsequent episodes, promising deeper insights and revelations about the elusive Wild Boys and their true intentions.

Final Thoughts

“Wild Boys: Arrival” is a gripping entry into the series, combining elements of true crime, mystery, and human interest. It invites listeners to question appearances, embrace community solidarity, and remain vigilant in the face of the unknown. Whether you’re a long-time follower of The Binge or new to the podcast, this episode offers a captivating narrative that underscores the complexities of helping those who walk into our lives under enigmatic circumstances.

Transcript

[Sam Mullins]

How does a guy working for a fire department go out and snuff out a fucking mobster in front of 300 people and go home the next morning and feel good about himself? Well, you gotta understand this people. All you civilians out there. These people are evil garbage. The world is a better place without them. You have no idea what these people have done and will continue to fucking do. Not unless their lives are snatched from them. So did I feel bad? No. Not one bit. It was just a normal kill. That's all. Because I really believe I did the world a favor. I don't know what else to tell you. And if you can't live with that, grow the up.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

Welcome to Crook County.

[Sam Mullins]

Available now listen for free on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

You get your podcasts.

[Sam Mullins]

What is.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

What do you want me to say?

[Sam Mullins]

You have found Chameleon Season three Wild Boys, a production of Campside Media. Oh.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

A heads up, this show contains discussions of an eating disorder. If you or someone you know is struggling with eating disorders, please listen with care.

[Sam Mullins]

In the summer of 2003, I was a teenager living in Vernon, British Columbia, Canada, the town that I was born in. I was working full time at a video rental place, which at the time was a line of work that existed that summer. I was learning how to drive stick. I just got the cartilage pierced in my ear, and every morning upon waking up, I put on exactly three necklaces, a shark's tooth, a hemp, and a puca shell. For sartorial reference, it's helpful to note that this was the same summer that the OC went on the air. One night after a shift at the video place, I met up with a friend at Kalamelka General Store, which is sort of the center of the teenage universe in Vernon. How we set up this rendezvous before either of us had cell phones is a complete mystery to me. Did we email a day earlier? Call each other's parents landlines? My imagination fails. But we managed it. She showed up, I showed up. We bought slushies and potato wedges and crossed the street to the beach. We cooled off in the water and sat in the sand in our bathing suits, basking in the last bit of sun before it ducked behind the mountain. It was golden hour, so most of the families were packing up to head home. And I remember it was rec volleyball night, so the volleyball courts were kicking up all this dust that made it seem like the light was glowing around us. And that's when I saw them. There were these Two boys walking through the orange haze along the shoreline who I'd never seen before. They looked to be around my age and they stood out for two reasons. One, Vernon is a small enough town where if you don't recognize someone your age, that's remarkable on its own. And two, you couldn't not notice how skinny these boys were, especially the younger one. He was about as tall as me, around six feet, but he looked to be under £100. They weren't doing anything shady or nefarious. They were just walking by. But it was enough to trip this alarm within me that rang out, something is up. I watched them slink by and continue down the beach. I didn't see them again until a few months later, this time in the newspaper. I came down for breakfast and my mom was eating toast and reading the paper and she pointed to the page. Have you heard about them? It was a photo of the boys from the beach. No, what about them? She said, these boys came from the woods. I'm Sam Mullins from Campside Media. This is Chameleon. Wild Boys Part 1 Arrival the boys couldn't have known it, but they showed up in the right place at the right time. In a sense, this only could have happened in Vernon. You need to know about my hometown. Vernon's located in the Okanagan, a region in the interior of British Columbia, sort of halfway between Vancouver and Calgary. Historically, it's been a middle class place, but the whole region has sort of been transformed into an outdoor playground for the wealthy. The Okanagan is known for its vineyards, golf courses, ski resorts, its lakes, and the mythological beast, the Ogopogo, who lives in one of said lakes. Allegedly, Vernon's a white town. It's a hockey town. There's lots of churches, there's lots of retired folks. There's a winter carnival parade every year. And the city has never once held a gay pride parade. The crown jewel of Vernon, and in my opinion, the whole Okanagan is Kalamalka Lake. It deserves a Google image search. Seriously, do that now. So Kal Lake is home to Kal beach. And it's the beach in a town filled with beaches. And right across the street from the beach is the hallowed Cal General Store. If I could distill the vibe of Cal Store into one transaction, it'd be a teenager in a bathing suit buying a slushie and then paying with a wet five dollar bill. And then when the cashier's back is turned, they steal a lighter. That kind of place. And in the summer of 2000. Three strange things were afoot at Cal's store. The boys from the beach seemed to make the store their home base. And people were talking.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

They're kind of odd.

[Sam Mullins]

These two wild children appear in our community.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

They're always together. They're never apart. They're always together. Extremely thin, very skinny. Looked like an alien. You know, you could see his. His collarbone.

[Sam Mullins]

I mean, I didn't know how he walked. Rags on their back.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

And they don't have a home.

[Sam Mullins]

They had no place to live.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

And then I remember thinking that was really odd.

[Sam Mullins]

But it wasn't what they were wearing or what they were doing necessarily. It was more of like an energy or an aura thing. You could look at them in any context and be like, wait, what? They were a wrinkle in the fabric, a glitch in the matrix. No one knew what to make of them. Like, the boys showed up at Cowstore every day. And a woman who worked there at the time told me that the boys would use the payphone sometimes, but she wasn't sure if they were using it or just playing with it.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

You know, like, that was my impression.

[Sam Mullins]

That's Lynn, who managed the produce department in 2003. And while the rest of Vernon's teens were buying or stealing Snickers bars and slushies, these boys were only ever interested in buying one fruit. Only ever fruit. And the other thing was, their relationship wasn't obvious. At a glance, the older boy seemed like he held some kind of power over the younger one, which raised all kinds of other questions, like, did he kidnap the younger one? Was he forcing him not to eat? Is that why the younger boy was so skinny? Are they lovers? Criminals on the run?

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

Yeah. I had no idea what was going on with those two.

[Sam Mullins]

In general, the boys were keeping an extremely low profile for months. The summer was receding, and the nights were getting colder, and the story might have ended there. The boys could have disappeared or moved on to some other town if not for Tammy McDougal Ryder.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

Hello. Oh, geez. Sorry, Elliot. Hello. Sorry, I just stepped on my dog.

[Sam Mullins]

I genuinely can't imagine how all of this would have unfolded if Tammy didn't get involved. Getting involved is kind of Tammy's whole thing.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

I'm just the type of person that isn't going to sit back and, oh, someone else will take care of it. And, you know, I just. I am that person that will take care of it.

[Sam Mullins]

In 2003, Tammy was in her early 30s and had just moved to Vernon with her husband and three young children.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

I was a full time mom. I was just raising three kids, just running up and down Silver Star Mountain for hockey in early mornings and late evenings. And my husband I think at the time was probably working out of town a lot.

[Sam Mullins]

One day Tammy was driving through downtown Vernon with her kids when she saw the boys for the first time.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

I had my kids in the car and I remember driving by the library and I just remember it was kind of slow motion. I remember seeing them going, you just couldn't help but naturally stare like holy smokes, what's up with these guys? Because they looked so different and a little. The one just looked so. He was just so emaciated and it was so scary. It was so scary. And just what they were wearing, it just seemed sort of, I don't want to say cult like, but it just seemed weird. It just wasn't normal.

[Sam Mullins]

But unlike everyone else in town, Tammy didn't just mentally note it or forget about it. Where other people sit back, Tammy goes into action.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

I kind of made it a mission to see if I can find them to help them right.

[Sam Mullins]

Tammy couldn't get them out of her head. She couldn't even sleep. As she went through her week, she'd ask anyone she met, do you know where I can find those strange boys? She was struck by how many people knew exactly who she was talking about. She'd only get a few words out of her mouth and someone would be like, oh yeah, I've seen those kids. And one night she was at her kids hockey practice talking about the boys yet again.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

Someone said, I think I've seen them around kal store. And that's where. So then I became five, zero or whatever you want to call it.

[Sam Mullins]

Tammy drove down the mountain and across town to Calstor and parked beside the rail trestle. She got out of her car and tried to find a spot where she could get across the creek. Behind the store is a small but densely wooded area with some unused old railroad tracks. And beyond that sits this large empty field of untamed wild grass. It's a real no man's land back there. The only reason anyone ever set foot in that field was to bury a family pet. Shout out to Maggie and boo. But apparently the boys were living in the woods back there. Tammy brought her husband with her because. Because once you take even a few steps into the brush back there, things get sketchy real fast. It's so well hidden back there. And the combination of the creek and the noise from the road would make it difficult to hear, say a woman screaming. For help. Tammy's husband spotted a fallen log that they teetered across to the other side. And immediately Tammy spotted something through the trees.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

But I remember just going, just ever so far and we did find a tent. There was something set up. And I just knew. I knew I found them.

[Sam Mullins]

On the ground were avocado rinds. And among a pile of books, she found a folded map of the Okanagan. So the boys had clearly been there recently, but right now they were nowhere to be seen.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

So I went into Cal's store and I asked the owners, I just said, have you seen two boys? And they're like, yeah, they come in here all the time and they use the payphone.

[Sam Mullins]

So Tammy asked the cashier for some paper, a pen, and some change in quarters.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

This locale store had a payphone. And I asked them if they would give them this note if they saw them again. And so I wrote a note and just said I really wanted to help them and if you could please call this number. And I left some quarters because back in the day we had payphones and I left quarters for them and told them to call me. And they did. They called me, I think the next day or that day, just right away.

[Sam Mullins]

Were you expecting them to call you?

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

No, no, absolutely not. I wasn't expecting them to call me, let alone call me that right away.

[Sam Mullins]

From the team that brought you up and vanished comes an all new podcast that brings you a weekly dose of true crime cases.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

She's in an unknown area.

[Sam Mullins]

Do you know if she's here now or was she released?

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

They said she was released.

[Sam Mullins]

I'm Payne Lindsey. And I'm Maggie Freeling. This is up and Vanish Weekly. Join me as I talk through cases with special guests and true crime experts. There's gotta be something at the heart of that evidence that they've got. It's gotta be DNA.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

Yeah.

[Sam Mullins]

Tune in as Payne Lindsay lays out the crime in true up and vanished style. A late night knock at the door, a missing car, and a mysterious shadowy figure caught on camera. We cannot see that person's face. Ever. Luckiest person in the world. What new evidence will it take to solve one of Florida's most high profile missing persons cases? Up and Vanish Weekly is available now. Listen for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. I can say to my new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, hey, find a keto friendly restaurant nearby and text it to Beth and Steve. And it does without me lifting a finger so I can get in more squats anywhere I can. 1, 2, 3. Will that be cash or credit?

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

Credit.

[Sam Mullins]

4 Galaxy S25 Ultra. The AI can companion that does the heavy lifting. So you can do you get [e-mail] compatible with select apps. Requires Google Gemini account. Results may vary based on input. Check responses for accuracy. When Tammy's phone rang, the last person she expected on the other end was one of those boys. His voice was so quiet she had to strain to hear.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

He called and he. They were very soft spoken, very soft spoken, which made it really strange too. Like they talked. Like they didn't talk with energy, if you know what I mean. They super soft spoken. And he said he'd love to meet me. And I'm like, oh, okay.

[Sam Mullins]

So as soon as Tammy finds someone to watch her kids, she rushes out the door. They called her so quickly, she thought that they must be in a pretty dire situation. So she gets there as fast as she can, swinging by the grass on the way.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

And I brought my bags of food, you know, cheese and apples and chips or something, stuff that I thought young people would want.

[Sam Mullins]

When Tammy pulled in, she saw them right away, waiting for her. Tammy got out and enthusiastically introduced herself to the boys. They towered over her, both easily over 6ft tall. Next to the store, there's this wooden patio that hangs over the creek with some patio furniture chained together and an ice machine. They sat down and as she sat across from them, Tammy got her first really good look at them. She ballparked the younger one to be maybe 15 or 16, with darker hair, his thin frame swimming in a baggy sweater. And the older one looked to be around 20, with a patchy blonde beard and more of a broad shoulder, athletic build. The boys told her that they were brothers. The older one said, I'm Tom. The younger one, I'm Will. Tom and Will Green.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

Will didn't speak much at all, which was also curious to me. And Tom was definitely more the leader.

[Sam Mullins]

Did you suspect drugs?

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

Not at all. Not at all, no. They were just, I'm telling you, like they were just very different.

[Sam Mullins]

Tammy was taken aback by how still they seemed. They had this remarkable groundedness, not necessarily of a religious person, but of someone deeply convinced of something vague.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

It was very slow and vague and very mysterious. And yeah, it definitely made me very like, this is not normal.

[Sam Mullins]

Beyond their names and that they were brothers, they didn't share any details about where they were from or why they were in Vernon. And Tammy didn't. She didn't want to scare them off before she had the opportunity to help because they clearly did need help.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

And I just said, hey, I want to help. Just get them off the streets or whatever their situation was.

[Sam Mullins]

The boys accepted Tammy's offer, so she got to work immediately. Tammy figured the best way to help them would be to get some social assistance, to get government help. So a few days later, she piled the boys into her car and drove them to the government building downtown.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

I ended up bringing them there, and it was. That's sort of when things. When we brought them there, that's when I realized that's when their story got really big.

[Sam Mullins]

When it was their turn, Tammy explained to the clerk that they were hoping to get some sort of assistance. But when the government agent asked the boys for id, the boys looked at Tammy confused and said, we don't have id.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

And that's kind of where the story spun. Everyone was just like, what do you mean you have no id? So then I'm sitting there dumbfounded as well. Like, I just brought these kids in here, they have no id, what's going on? And they wouldn't really talk to the person.

[Sam Mullins]

So the clerk kind of shrugged and was like, I'm sorry, if there's no id, there's not really anything we can do here. So Tammy and the boys piled back into her car.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

And then, like, when the doors closed, I just remember me being like, what do you guys mean, you don't have id? Like, how do you not have id? Where were you born?

[Sam Mullins]

The boys told her that they were raised in an extremely remote cabin deep in the wilderness, and that this was their first ever contact with society there. In Tammy's car, they told their story for the first time. A story that they would tell cops, lawyers, politicians, A story that would be told in the local and then international media. A story that would begin to buzz through Vernon. Have you heard? Those boys are from the bush?

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

They lived in some sort of cabin that was partially or fully underground, had.

[Sam Mullins]

Apparently never seen a telephone.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

They'd never been to school. They'd never been to dentists. They'd had no access to media. They weren't ever in a hospital, nothing.

[Sam Mullins]

They were unfamiliar with television.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

They were, like, almost non existent.

[Sam Mullins]

The boys said that they were raised by their parents, Mary and Joseph, in the mountains a couple hours north of Vernon, near a town called Revelstoke. They told their parents that they wanted to become vegetarian, an admission that led to this intense ideological fight, culminating with their parents saying that they'd become an alien influence in the home, and they sent them away. So the boys left their Home, left everything that they'd ever known, found a highway, and just hitched a ride south, ultimately, until they saw a beautiful lake out the window, told the driver to stop, and found a spot to camp behind a general store. Suddenly, all the bizarre and mysterious things about these two made a lot more sense. They were Bush boys, but without government help. They were Bush boys without a home, without food, and without clothes fit for the coming winter. But at least the boys had one thing going for them now, Tammy. Tammy got down to work. She was newish in town, but Tammy being Tammy, she of course already knew a lot of people. And when she called, she had a very persuasive enthusiasm that made people excited to step up. People wanted to help. Their situation was intriguing.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

You know, it was like finding the lost tribe in New Guinea. They were unique, and they would have.

[Sam Mullins]

Been worth a sociological study.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

And I think that's what intrigued me.

[Sam Mullins]

That's Dale Kermode. He was a lawyer at the biggest law firm in town. Tammy figured she might need some legal help as she tried to get these boys to start existing on paper with government IDs and whatnot. So she called Dale. It didn't take much explanation before Tammy heard the words yes. And pro bono on the other end of the line, who would turn down a chance to advocate for the Bush boys? Not Dale Kermode. So there was a sliver of the legal issue and a large plank worth of curiosity. The scuttlebutt about the Green brothers made its way to the local politicians, who began to wrestle with what to do about them. Daryl Stinson, the local member of Parliament, got a call from one of his case workers.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

And, I mean, she was really worried.

[Sam Mullins]

About the kid that was so skinny.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

Really, really worried. And I said, well, can you get a picture of him? Send it to me. Just send it to me.

[Sam Mullins]

So she did, and I said, no.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

He'S got to get something done with him right now.

[Sam Mullins]

So the MP called the mayor of Vernon, Sean Harvey's office, Darrell Stinson's office, our Member of Parliament, called, saying, look, there's these two young men. Can we provide some emergency aid for them? And then the mayor runs this past his police chief, Randy Kolibaba, and he asked me, what do you think? And the first thing, Randy Kolibaba, being a cop, was skeptical. Like, sure, they're telling us they're children of the bush, but we have no proof they could be criminals on the run. So he told the mayor, I am really leery. There's just too many unknowns I would suggest that the city not take an official position on this. So the mayor, while not taking a position publicly, did manage to free up a little bit of cash for the boys. Just enough to buy the city some time to get a little more information about them. But it turned out that they barely needed that money. Vernonites were volunteering to help left and right. Within 24 hours of Tammy first sounding the alarm, a city council member had arranged for them to be put up at the Vernon Lodge Best Western Hotel. He said he'd pay for them to stay there as long as they needed out of his own pocket. Even so, that was a good start. It was late October by this time, so with the seasons changing, the boys were going to need a full on winter appropriate makeover. So Tammy called Vernon Salvation army who met with the boys and hooked them up with winter coats, grocery cards, even a little cash. A private citizen even gave the boys a credit card that they paid off every month. The community of Vernon was doing the community thing and doing it well. Once she'd triaged the situation, Tammy started thinking longer term. She called up Patrick Allen, the guy who ran the local hostel, and asked, can you put these boys up like long term?

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

He was so kind and said he would help. He was another person that just said, sure, I'll put them up.

[Sam Mullins]

Tammy said she wasn't sure how much money the boys would be able to pay. So Patrick said not to worry. They could do odd jobs around the place in exchange for their lodging. As the boys settled in, Tammy would swing by as often as she could to check on them.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

I was going by there every couple days, sometimes every day and really just felt motherly towards them because I wasn't sure, you know, what the heck is going on.

[Sam Mullins]

Tammy chose the hostel intentionally. It seemed like the right atmosphere.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

Lots of people from all over, lots of different accents, just people coming and going. It was just a really nice vibe. It was good energy and yeah, just really young, cool people.

[Sam Mullins]

The hostel would serve a double purpose. It'd give the boys a safe place to stay for the winter, but also serve as a sort of halfway house where the boys could be gently integrated into modern society, guided by the community of benevolent, open minded and diverse, hostile people. It seemed perfect. But when Tammy would swing by, she was bummed that the boys were never mingling. They were keeping to themselves, mostly staying in their room.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

And it always smelled when I went to see them because there was so much rotting fruit like, or fruit that was kind of, you know, it always smelled like fruit and gas.

[Sam Mullins]

They smell like teenage boys.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

Yeah, but just Frank, from all the fruit that they were eating. Right. Like they never would eat anything else.

[Sam Mullins]

They had a very specific diet. And once Tammy witnessed it, she started to understand how this 6 foot tall kid weighed only 100 pounds.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

They ate only stuff from the ground and raw. They nothing cooked. And I'm talking raw eggs. They didn't cook anything. Yeah, they ate avocados like crazy. Everything had to be pure. Oh, and I don't think things could have a root to them. That was the other thing. Like they were worried of root vegetables because there was issues with roots.

[Sam Mullins]

Any pressure to get them to eat anything besides fruit was met with strong resistance. It felt less like a diet and more like a disorder.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

It wasn't just anorexia like we would see with our children here. Right. Like in the normal realm of teenagers, it wasn't like, oh, I don't want to eat today or I'm just gonna eat vegan. Or it was just, yeah, like something's weird here. They never ate one ounce of anything that was unpure for two kids that.

[Sam Mullins]

Weighed as little as they did. They ironically seemed to have an obsession with food. Procuring it, eating it, talking about it.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

I don't even remember if they had a TV or anything.

[Sam Mullins]

Right.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

It was all about nutrition and reading up on food. Always there was an obsession with food, especially with Will.

[Sam Mullins]

But more than what he was eating, it was Will's state that concerned Tammy. And it seemed like it was getting worse. In every description of the boys, people told me two things. Will was just so thin and Tom was the one calling the shots. So Tammy tried talking to Tom about William. Like, hey, we have to convince your brother to let me take him to a doctor. We need to course correct this diet. We gotta get his weight up. But Tom seemed strangely flippant about it all.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

It was like, it was frustrating. Cause I did feel like Tom was holding him back from getting almost like he was basically speaking for him a lot and holding him back for sure. Like, you know, how can you not be concerned? Cause I felt like he was brainwashing him in. There was definitely something going on where he was not letting him speak for himself, but he would. But also I felt like he was convincing him that this diet was the way to go.

[Sam Mullins]

The gang at the hostel would try gently engaging with Will about his diet too. But bubbling below the surface of all of this was the fear that if anyone pushed the issue too hard, the boys might up and disappear back into the bush. Any prying related to their diet, health, or any questions about their parents or the specific location where their childhood home was was met with stonewalling or sudden defensiveness. There seemed to be a deep seated distrust of systems and the outside world in the boys that put those trying to help them on eggshells. So Tammy and the gang sort of bit their tongues and decided to play the long game and work to slowly earn the boys trust by going at a pace that they seem comfortable with. And by and large, the boys did seem relatively happy with the state of things. Slowly, the boys began to offer details about their lives that their mother taught them to read by showing them National Geographics that their home had a water wheel to generate electricity. They think their grandparents are still alive by they've never met them. The boys said that their parents would go into town a couple times a year for supplies, but they didn't know where their money came from. Tammy started to really care for the boys, started to have the same hopes for them that she had for her own children. Education, independence, passions, careers. Every chance she had, she'd take them out into the world to a hockey game or the library. She tried to get them out into the community, just encourage them to be teenage boys.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

Like, I would joke about things like what it could be like to be, you know, living a real life as a teenager or a young adult. Right, right. And you guys could be doing this. You could be, you know, skateboarding or.

[Sam Mullins]

Whatever, and maybe they could have just hung out in a small room with a large amount of fruit indefinitely. If immigration officials hadn't gotten word of the strange bush boys of Vernon, immigration wanted to know, okay, where are you guys coming from? Randy, the police chief, again, they didn't just come from Mars. They had to have come from somewhere. And under the immigration act, they can compel you for a hearing. And in essence, that's what immigration they wanted to talk to. But they were being spirited away. Immigration officials had scheduled an appointment with the boys, but at the time of their appointment, they were being spirited away. They were driving north in a car with Tammy and one of their lawyers, heading away from the immigration offices. They were going back to the bush.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

So I just remember we hatched this plan to get them to go to Revelstoke.

[Sam Mullins]

Revelstoke, the place their parents lived, the place they left. The boys were going home in search of one thing, the one thing that could buy these boys their new life that Tammy dreamt of for them and get immigration off their backs. Their id, their official government Documents, proof that they were Will and Tom Green, Canadian boys who could get driver's licenses or go to school or get a job and just be free to live their lives. The boys were not into this idea at first.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

I'm like, well, let's talk to them. I can help you there. Like, I'm sure we can help them no matter what's happened. Right?

[Sam Mullins]

Right.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

And they're like, no, no, no.

[Sam Mullins]

Their biggest fear was that their actions would leave their parents exposed to the outside world, undermine what their parents had so carefully built. And more than that, things between the boys and their folks had ended kind of dramatically. It was a big ask for them to go back. Dangerous even, knowing that their parents had made clear that they wanted them gone. But Tammy told them, look, either we go to Revelstoke to talk to your parents or the cops. Do you choose?

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

Then we finally did get them to get on board.

[Sam Mullins]

The boys agreed, and a plan was made. They would get in a car with Tammy and one of their lawyers, and they would head to Revelstoke, go into the woods alone and try talking to their parents.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

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[Sam Mullins]

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[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

Your last guy might have missed for free. I could get money back from last year. You could. We'll find any mistakes. Could have really used that two years ago when I dated that mistake for five months.

[Sam Mullins]

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[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

We picked them up so early in the morning to go, and I remember thinking, like, holy smokes, this is actually happening.

[Sam Mullins]

I've done this drive from Vernon to Revelstoke dozens of times in my life. And every time I think of the opening shots of the Shining. As you drive north, it's like the mountains are closing in on you, getting so high you almost need to put your head on the floorboards to see the top of them. It's winter conditions as they get closer to town, the tension growing in the car with each direction the boys give from the back seat.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

Okay, turn here, turn here. When we got into Revelstoke, you know, go down this way, go down this way, and we're heading into the bush.

[Sam Mullins]

It's quiet in the car, broken only occasionally by Tammy rehearsing the plan.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

Just ask your parents for ID Then that's all we need. They don't need to be bothered. And if they have id, awesome. If not, just find out where you were born so we can at least help you obtain that. Right, Right.

[Sam Mullins]

It's the first time Tammy has seen them nervous. Before long, they're on an old logging road outside of town and the boys tell the lawyer who's driving to stop.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

They wouldn't let us come with them at all. They wanted us to stay there and we're like, okay, yeah, that makes sense. They don't. They're protecting their parents, right? Yeah.

[Sam Mullins]

Tammy's heart is pounding as she watches the boys get out of the car and start heading into the bush.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

And yeah, they went in the bush and they were gone for a very long time.

[Sam Mullins]

45 minutes goes by, an hour. Tammy's head is spinning.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

Were they going to come out with this? Mary and Joseph, Right. And a bunch of little kids? Like, I had no idea. Yeah, I was really anxious and I was hopeful that the parents were going to come out.

[Sam Mullins]

Finally, the boys emerge from the woods. There's Will, there's Tom, but there's no one else.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

I'm still thinking, oh, the parents are coming, right? That's what I'm thinking. And, yeah, no, we get there and they just said they don't want any part of this and they don't. They weren't willing to give anything.

[Sam Mullins]

Tammy is devastated and then she's angry.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

Thinking, how can parents do this? Like they've left them with nothing. They're not even going to tell them any information. And, yeah, the parents are so, you know, withdrawn and just don't want them to even have their kids, to even have their own information about themselves.

[Sam Mullins]

As the boys buckle back up, Tammy feels a wave of anxiety. It's one thing to feed and clothe someone in need, but now she's helping them dodge immigration authorities. They'd rolled the dice taking this trip. Their immigration hearing was on the same day, but they were playing hooky from it in the hopes that they'd be driving back to Vernon right now. Sure, having skipped out on immigration, but bearing a golden ticket, the boy's ID and all would be forgiven. But now they were driving back empty handed. And then the lawyer's phone rings.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

On our way back, the lawyer got a phone call, I think from his office of the police or something. It was important. Important phone call.

[Sam Mullins]

There's a warrant out for you guys or a police blockade on the road back from Vernon. I'm not sure. Just the police are looking for you guys. The lawyer gets off the phone and turns to Tammy. You need a lawyer.

[Tammy McDougal Ryder]

At that point, the lawyer had said that I had to attain him as his lawyer, as the lawyer. And he had to say something. And I had to. I remember I had to agree to it verbally to him, like, will you attain me as your lawyer? Or whatever.

[Sam Mullins]

In the several months I've spent interviewing people and learning everything I can about Tom and Will Green, I think of this moment a lot. Because as they're driving back from the bush, back to square one, worried about the boy in the backseat who appears to be dying before their eyes, not sure how to help him, unsure what awaits for them back in in Vernon, an arrest warrant, jail. As they make this drive, Tom and Will Green know something that not Tammy, not the lawyer, nor anyone they've met in Vernon knows. They know that of everything they've said, who they are, where they're from and what they were doing in Vernon in the first place, they know that not a single word of it is true. Chameleon is a production of Campside Media with Sony Music. Wild Boys was reported and written by me, Sam Mullins. It's produced by Abukara Dahn. And our editor is Karen Duffin. Our senior producer is Ashley Ann Krigbom. Sound design and mixing by Hannis Brown and Garrett Tiedemann. Original music by Hannis Brown, Epidemic Sound and Blue Dot Sessions. Our fact checker is Alex Yavlon. Additional production support on this episode by Lydia Smith. Special thanks to our operations team, Doug Slaywin, Aliyah Papes and Allison Haney. The executive producers at Campside Media are Matt Sher, Vanessa Grigoriadis, Josh Dean and Adam Hoff. If you or someone you know is struggling with your relationship with food, please know you're not alone. There are free confidential helplines with people just waiting to help in the US you can call or text the National Eating Disorder association and at 1-800-931-2237. That's 1-800-931-2237. In Canada, the National Eating Disorder Information center hotline is 1-866-633-4220. That's 1-866-633-4220. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next week.