Part 8: Out of the Woods

Summary

Wild Boys – Part 8: Out of the Woods

Podcast: Wild Boys
Host: Sam Mullins (Campside Media / Sony Music Entertainment)
Date: September 11, 2025
Episode Length: ~43 minutes

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Overview

This pivotal episode traces the final stretch of Kyle and Rowan Horn’s remarkable journey. After months spent living on the fringes of a small Canadian town under assumed identities, the boys’ carefully constructed survival story begins to unravel. The episode delves into their struggle to maintain their cover, the emotional cost of their deception, and the dramatic circumstances that ultimately bring their ordeal—and the truth—to light. Throughout, the narrative examines the complicated intersections of family, survival, and the limits of trust, both between the brothers and with the community that took them in.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Discovering “Eden” in Vernon's Fruit Valley

(01:11–03:26)

• Rowan and Kyle arrive in Vernon, Canada, marveling at the abundance of fruit, a paradise for Rowan’s restrictive fruitarian diet.
  • “It was like fruit valley. It was like the fruits were just ripe and juicy…” – Friend/Observer (02:05)
  • They camp behind the Kal Store, surviving on local produce and meager funds.
• The brothers attempt to make money discreetly to avoid drawing attention, first by returning shopping carts for quarters, then by selling sandwiches on the beach without permits (04:59–05:47).

Facing Winter and the Turning Point

(05:56–07:31)

• Their funds dwindle; the prospect of surviving a Canadian winter becomes daunting.
• As they consider returning to California, the Kal Store cashier hands them a note from a local, Tammy Ryder, offering help. This moment dramatically alters the course of their adventure.
  • “We were days, if not hours away from looking at each other and just saying, welp…” – Sam Mullins (07:52)

Crafting the “Bush Boys” Legend

(07:40–13:23)

• Before meeting Tammy, Kyle and Rowan devise a detailed backstory—new names (Tom and Will Green) and an origin as boys raised off-grid in the Canadian bush, with no identification.
  • “It was literally thought at the last second… we just started thinking about what we would say if people asked us where we're from…” – Friend/Observer (10:21)
  • “There's nothing elaborate about what we did.” – Kyle Horn (10:14)
• Kyle steps into the role of protector, taking the lead in interactions and spinning the tale to skeptical social workers.

Living the Lie – Relief and Disconnection

(13:23–15:49)

• As their fabricated story gains acceptance, guilt and impostor syndrome set in.
  • “It sucks to have to lie to anyone. And the better the person, the more it sucks to have to lie to them…” – Rowan Horn (15:16)
• A divide grows between the brothers and the people around them, who are all striving to help.

The Family Back Home

(17:41–22:00)

• Kyle regularly calls their mother, Diana, omitting Rowan’s presence in Canada.
  • “There was nothing on those calls that would be like, that they should know, because I told them, like, Rowan’s not with me.” – Kyle Horn (18:01)
• Diana believes Kyle, convinced by local sightings of Rowan and evidence of his restricted-diet scavenging near home.
• Desperate to reunite her family, Diana writes impassioned letters to CPS, trying to convince authorities that Rowan’s diet isn’t as perilous as they claim, and that government intervention has only worsened the situation.

Cracks in the Facade & Mounting Pressure

(22:36–24:51)

• Local police, especially Corporal Henry Proce, begin pressing them for details and consistency in their story.
  • “Proce’s presence… was the biggest existential threat to their plan.” – Sam Mullins (23:06)
• The effort of keeping their tales consistent grows taxing, and mistakes start to surface.

Kyle’s Frustration and Rowan’s Decline

(24:51–27:37)

• Kyle grows increasingly exasperated as Rowan’s rigid fruitarianism threatens his health, even as authorities and well-meaning neighbors intervene.
  • “When someone’s that skinny…there’s certain cases where in the person’s best interest…you just stop them. You take away the freedom for their own benefit.” – Kyle Horn (26:58)

Rowan’s Hospitalization – A Turning Point

(27:42–29:18)

• Rowan is finally hospitalized after being picked up by Corporal Proce. Contrary to all his fears, the Canadian medical system accommodates his dietary needs and respects his autonomy.
  • “They're not gonna force feed me. They're letting my brother bring me bunch of food from the health food store. What a blessing.” – Rowan Horn (29:18)
• He’s diagnosed with orthorexia (an unhealthy obsession with “pure” eating), not anorexia as previously assumed.

The Exposure: CBC, Family, and the Endgame

(29:28–33:40)

• When the boys agree to a CBC news segment, their faces broadcast across Canada and, soon, the U.S. media.
  • “Why on earth would I agree to have myself videotaped and photographed?…I can't even explain why I was that stupid.” – Rowan Horn (30:20)
• A friend calls Gabriel, the boys’ older brother, who recognizes Kyle and Rowan in the broadcast and alerts their mother.
  • “We found Rowan.” – Gabriel Horn (32:47)
• The family and authorities are finally reunited with the boys, and the “Bush Boys” secret is up.

Relief, Reflection, and Reunion

(33:40–39:28)

• The unraveling of their ruse comes as a relief, bringing an end to months of anxiety.
  • “Maybe some part of my subconscious realized that I was in a dangerous state…It wanted to be like the Tammy, right? I had a Tammy in my body that is like, we gotta save this guy.” – Rowan Horn (34:23)
• Emotional family reunions unfold in Vernon. Diana is deeply grateful to Tammy for caring for her sons.
  • “I felt she was a lifesaver. I was very grateful. I love her very much.” – Diana Horn (37:44)
• Diana regrets that the boys didn’t trust her enough to involve her sooner; Gabriel also reflects on the limits of trust within the family (39:35–40:13).

The Aftermath – Return to the U.S.

(40:26–41:35)

• Rowan is repatriated to California under police escort, entering the hospital system as a ward of the state. Looming over the conclusion is uncertainty about his fate and the adequacy of the U.S. response.
  • “Whatever freedoms he had as a person were gone.” – Sam Mullins (41:07)
  • “There was like, 10 cops…ushering me to the new hospital, and it would be worse than he felt.” – Friend/Observer / Diana Horn (41:22–41:35)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Fruit-Powered Escape
  • “It was like fruit valley. It was like the fruits were just ripe and juicy and it was all really good.” – Friend/Observer (02:05)
• On Living a Lie:
  • “It sucks to have to lie to anyone. And the better the person, the more it sucks to have to lie to them.” – Rowan Horn (15:16)
  • “The jig is up. Nothing we could do now. It's over. Game over.” – Friend/Observer (33:35)
• On Guilt and Relief:
  • “Maybe some part of my subconscious realized that I was in a dangerous state…and just…wanted to be like the Tammy, right? I had a Tammy in my body…” – Rowan Horn (34:23)
• On the Power of Family:
  • “It is pure bliss, right. Being back with my boy, who I was worried about and missed. We have a very close connection. It was wonderful.” – Diana Horn (36:33)
  • “We found Rowan.” – Gabriel Horn (32:47)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• Vernon “Eden” and Life on the Margins: 01:11–07:31
• Invention of the Bush Boys Story: 07:40–13:23
• Lie's Emotional Toll: 14:53–16:07
• Mother’s Search / Letters to CPS: 18:11–22:00
• Authorities Close In (Corporal Proce): 22:48–24:51
• Rowan’s Decline & Hospitalization: 24:51–29:18
• Media Exposure & Family Discovery: 29:28–33:40
• Family Reunited in Vernon: 33:40–39:28
• Extradition & Return to the U.S.: 40:26–41:35

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Tone & Style

The episode maintains a tone balancing quiet heartbreak, sardonic humor (especially from Sam Mullins), and deep empathy for all involved. The storytelling blends reporter's perspective, firsthand recollections, and reflections from both the Horn family and the Vernon community.

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Takeaway

“Out of the Woods” brings the Wild Boys odyssey to its tipping point, blending the relief of reunion with the bittersweet reality of consequences. It’s a meditation on the burdens and necessity of deception in the face of institutional rigidity, and the fierce, flawed love binding a family together through extraordinary circumstances.

Transcript

[Narrator/Host]

Hi, binge crew. When you're finished listening to this true crime story, go see Hunting Matthew Nichols in theaters. This film has all the elements of the true crime stories we love. A sprawling mystery, intrepid investigators, powerful people who know more than they let on. Two decades after her brother mysteriously disappeared on Vancouver Island, a documentary filmmaker sets out to solve his missing persons case. But. But when a disturbing piece of evidence is revealed, she comes to believe her brother might still be alive. The film is in select theaters now, but you can immerse yourself in the story by going to huntingmatthewnickolls.com right now. That's huntingmatthewnichols.com and welcome to the hunt.

[Kyle Horn]

What is.

[Rowan Horn]

What do you want me to say?

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

You have found Chameleon Season three Wild

[Campside Media Announcer]

Boys, a production of Campside Meat. Oh,

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

a heads up. This show contains discussions of an eating disorder. If you or someone you know is

[Campside Media Announcer]

struggling with eating disorders, please listen with care.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Imagine for a moment that you are a person who loves fruit. You love fruit so much, it's literally all you eat to the point that authorities try to forcibly stop you, tried to take you away from your family. So you run away. And after a dramatic escape and a suspenseful few days on the lam, you wind up in the Okanagan. Seemingly an entire valley and economy built around fruit vineyards, orchards, and berry farms. Everywhere you look is another hand painted sign that says things like peaches ahead, fresh berries or farmer's market open. You think, could I be dreaming? Is this a real place?

[Friend/Observer]

It was like fruit valley. It was like the fruits were just

[Kyle Horn]

ripe and juicy and it was all really good. The food they grow up there in

[Friend/Observer]

Canada, ripe fruits and ripe peaches and the best fruit ever. Really amazing.

[Kyle Horn]

You know, it's always ripe and perfect.

[Friend/Observer]

Almost the best fruit I can ever remember tasting in my life.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

The horns had found their own personal eden. Kyle and Rowan had been hitchhiking around a little bit, trying to find a place to settle to park their run from the law. I imagine them seeing Kal Lake out the window and. And then like everyone who sees it for the first time being like, stop the car. Let me out. And then right there, right next to Kal Lake.

[Kyle Horn]

Kal Lake has that little nice store right there. I mean, what a blessing, you know,

[Rowan Horn]

it was really cool. Really close to a fruit stand. It was like really close to town. Wagga Walk everywhere.

[Kyle Horn]

You can get, like a huge bag of ripe tomatoes for like a buck.

[Rowan Horn]

And it was just really chill.

[Kyle Horn]

I mean, that store might be the reason we actually stopped and just chose that spot because it's like, I know it's not gonna last forever because of seasons, but a person could just survive on, like, $2 a day or something. Just so much food.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

As they scouted the area, checking out the rail trestle and the beach and the pier, they noticed the treed area behind Kal Storr.

[Kyle Horn]

Yeah, there was literally a perfect little place.

[Friend/Observer]

It seemed pretty secluded, like, where no one could see us. So we found a good place with a bunch of trees kind of covering up an area.

[Kyle Horn]

We didn't have to clear that or anything. You know, you go back and it's like, whoa. It's almost like someone created it. It's a perfect little place to put it in.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

It felt like the universe was winking at them, reassuring them that they were on the right path, Even if they weren't already the type of boys to believe that sort of thing. It was undeniable that everything was coming up horn, brother. How else do you explain Rowan's ability to escape authorities in his compromised physical state? How else could they have literally walked across an international border in broad daylight and end up in a town so perfectly suited to their wants and needs? It was as if they dreamt it up themselves. But into their relief and euphoria seeped reality. As the weeks passed, the $500 their mom gave Kyle for his Canadian adventure was quickly dwindling. But they couldn't just get a job, so they needed to find a way to make money on the down low without drawing attention. They got scrappy and creative. They started hanging out around a grocery store nearby, offering to valet park people's shopping carts. When they were done with them, we

[Kyle Horn]

like, oh, can I return your cart? Because then you get the quarter out.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

I imagine people thought it was cute. Two boys looking to make a little bit of money. Vernon is a town that appreciates nothing more than an industrious and enterprising youth. Must be for school or a good cause. Sure, of course you can take my cart back. The polite people of Vernon would say,

[Kyle Horn]

they'll give you the cart knowing that you get to keep the quarter.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

But you can't really make a living off four shopping carts for a dollar. So they turned their attention to kal beach. They figured, there's a lot of people over there. Maybe some of them are hungry.

[Rowan Horn]

So we started, like, trying to sell sandwiches there, and it was ridiculous. We had no, like, permits or anything. And I think the cops eventually just

[Friend/Observer]

tried to stop us.

[Rowan Horn]

We were just trying to sell sandwiches

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

on the beach, just like buy some bread and some spread from cow's store and like try selling it.

[Rowan Horn]

We like bought bread because we were running out of.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

And then their woes multiplied. On top of their money woes came the changing of season woes. Vernon's like a desert, so the temperature swing between day and night. That time of year can get pretty severe. These kids from California had never experienced a Canadian winter before, but they'd heard rumors. With barely enough money for food, no way to make above the table money, they definitely weren't going to be able to afford to rent a place or even buy proper winter coats. All the signs that had been smiling at them, reassuring them along the way, suddenly looked like stop signs. And so the boys started to ponder the unthinkable. Is this where the adventure ends? Should we go home? As they're pondering this one night, they go into Cal's store to buy some food with their modest shopping cart winnings or their beach sandwich side hustle funds. When the cashier says, hey, someone left a note for you guys. I'm sam mullins and from campside media. This is chameleon wild boys part 8 out of the woods.

[Campside Media Announcer]

You're listening to Chameleon from Campside Media. You're listening to Chameleon from Campside Media.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Rowan and Kyle took the note back to their tent and stared at it.

[Rowan Horn]

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.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

The terrible irony of this is that Roan and Kyle were days, if not hours away from looking at each other and just saying, welp, packing up their bindle on a stick and heading back to California and bypassing the whole circus that was to come.

[Kyle Horn]

Yeah, and it all happened just in time because winter was coming, right? And you know, if it would have gotten so cold, we need to like, leave the area or something because we didn't have enough money to last through the winter. So we probably would have just headed south if nothing, if none of this had happened and just, okay, let's get out of here. It's cold.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

But the note did come. So there they sat, pondering a whole new alternative in this choose your own adventure they were on.

[Kyle Horn]

We talked about it that night, like, do we want to do this? Do we want to just try to leave the area?

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Kyle isn't sure, but Rowan, clearly the one with more on the line, says,

[Kyle Horn]

yeah, we should stay. Just meet Tammy then.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

But if they were going to do this, step out of the shadows on the fringes of town and into the light of Tammy Ryder and company. They needed something they were yet to acquire. A plan. Talking to Tammy could maybe get them indoors for the winter, but it would almost certainly also attract questions. Questions that they'd need to be able to answer fluently so that they wouldn't raise any suspicions.

[Kyle Horn]

Like, it won't fly if we just don't give any information. If we just say, oh, you know, we're not going to tell you anything about us. Right? So I thought, okay, we need to have some sort of story.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

They'd sort of dabbled in the world of fake names while hitchhiking, but they kind of bungled it.

[Kyle Horn]

I remember this person who picked us up, they were like, well, what's your name? I'm like, I forgot my name, Forgot my fake name.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

That might fly with a random trucker Happy to have the company for a few miles, but this was something else entirely.

[Kyle Horn]

When we first got the note from Tammy, that's when I'm like, oh, we're going to need to do something else.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

If they wanted to really make a life in Vernon work, they'd need more than fake names. They were going to need a story. A story so elaborately and methodically planned and cogent in its details that it could withstand the scrutiny of the most prying of hockey moms and the most skeptical of cops.

[Kyle Horn]

There's nothing elaborate about what we did.

[Rowan Horn]

Yeah, we came up with that over the course of, like, 30 minutes to an hour at some park.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Right.

[Kyle Horn]

It was literally thought at the last

[Friend/Observer]

second, we were, like, sitting on some park bench or whatever, and we just started, you know, thinking about what we would say if people asked us where we're from, who we are.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

First, they brainstormed fake names, names they could remember this time.

[Friend/Observer]

So we. Kyle came up with Tom Green, I think, which is that funny comedian.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Yeah, funny Canadian comedian Tom Green. So that would be easy enough to remember. Rowan came up with the name Will using a kind of mnemonic device.

[Friend/Observer]

I think I kind of, you know, used my obsession with the diet and how healthy I was gonna eat. I used that as, like, kind of a way to boost my self esteem. Like, look how much willpower you have. Look how good you are. You know, you're able to resist all these temptations or able to be on this super strict diet.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Okay, cool. So they were Tom and Will Green. That's a good start. But who exactly are Tom and Will Green? What's their deal?

[Kyle Horn]

We just wanted to basically say as little as we had to to say something that would be accepted.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

And the hardest thing for people to accept would be that they couldn't prove who they were.

[Kyle Horn]

We wanted to make sure it made sense. You know, just, why would people have no identification?

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

It was almost like solving a riddle. Who are people that exist but not on paper? Who is born to parents? Who raised them without ever giving the government a heads up and are from a place that would be impossible to find? Who would that be? What if we were from the bush? I imagine the two of them looking at each other being like, that's it. That could work.

[Kyle Horn]

I mean, it's plausible. It's plausible.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

There on that park bench, after a very phoned in brainstorm session, the infamous Bush boys of Vernon were born. They went back to their icy cocoon of their tent for their final sleep as Roan and Kyle horn before metamorphosing into the brothers green. The next morning, they teetered across a log, put a quarter in the payphone, and dialed Tammy Ryder. As Kyle and Rowan waited for Tammy to arrive at the store, running through their story. It's here where the power dynamic everyone in Vernon observed Kyle in charge, Roan sitting back. This is where that got established.

[Kyle Horn]

I said, I'll take the lead. I'll answer most stuff. You know, I'm the older one. It just makes sense. So, yeah, yeah, I took the lead on that. Still wasn't 100% sure if we'd need to use it, but as soon as we met Tammy, she was there with the social worker. And it's like, you know, oh, God. And they're asking us all these questions. Okay, we're gonna need to tell this story.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Tammy didn't remember bringing a social worker to that first meeting, but Kyle does. Tammy also remembers the boys first telling her the full Bush boys story outside the government office. Not this first meeting. It's been nearly 20 years, so there are a few small detailed differences like that. But whoever was there, they were witnessing the debut performance of the Bush Boys. We grew up in the woods. No tv, no school, no nothing. Our parents kicked us out for being vegetarians. They want nothing to do with us. But it was also very amicable. You don't need to investigate them. As Kyle spins the yarn, Rowan sits back and watches Tammy.

[Rowan Horn]

I remember just being, you know, I'm very. I think I have a high degree of emotional intelligence.

[Friend/Observer]

Very good at judging, like, character.

[Rowan Horn]

So immediately like someone like Tammy, I

[Friend/Observer]

just, I quickly, like, I get Tammy, like, immediately what she's about.

[Rowan Horn]

Like, get Her.

[Kyle Horn]

She's good.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

They trusted Tammy right away. In a lot of ways, she made them feel at home.

[Rowan Horn]

She has a lot of the same qualities of my mom. Just very empathetic, sensitive.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

And it seems like this empathetic stranger is believing their story, which is a relief. But also, for the first of many times during their stay in Vernon, this other feeling starts to settle in.

[Rowan Horn]

When you have to tell a lie

[Kyle Horn]

that big, it's like, yeah, right.

[Rowan Horn]

It just makes you feel, in a sense, that you're not trusting of anyone. You just feel like this imposter phony. So there's this big wall between you and everyone.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

So bringing Tammy and others into the fold came with this odd mix of relief and disconnection.

[Rowan Horn]

It sucks to have to lie to anyone. And the better the person, the more it sucks to have to lie to them. Right? You don't want to lie to. Lying in general is not good. But if you needed to lie for your survival, I think it's justifiable. You know, for most people lie to save their own life.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

The lie was a necessity. And while it brought them food and shelter, it didn't bring them peace of mind. As each person stepped in to help them, it just made things feel messier.

[Friend/Observer]

I remember being really worried about that. Like, I remember being worried that if we involve ourselves too much with people who are trying to help us, that maybe our story would get found out. And then I remember, I think Kyle just, you know, tried to kind of ease my fears about that.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Kyle wasn't afraid because selling Vernon the story bought Kyle the one thing he wanted. Time. The story the people of Vernon would come to tell about Kyle was that he didn't care about Rowan's health. But actually, for Kyle, getting Rowan healthy was the entire point of this whole escapade.

[Kyle Horn]

My intention was to give Rowan the

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

time he needed, the time Rowan needed to get back on the right track and heal himself. Rowan had run out of time in California. The alarm had sounded, and it was Kyle who had reached out to hit the snooze button. While Kyle is putting on an unconcerned front to the people of Vernon. Roan. Skinny, huh? Didn't notice. I think he's fine. I'm not too worried about it. Behind the closed doors of their hostel room, amid the fruits and nutritional volumes, Kyle was sounding a lot like the other adults trying to get through to his brother.

[Rowan Horn]

Yeah, he would try to say, you know, yeah, you should eat more this or that.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Like, maybe just eat some nuts, Rowan. Those are good for you. And they have lots of good fats. If you gain some weight in the right way, people will leave us alone. Problem solved.

[Rowan Horn]

And I'm just like, nope, nope, I know what I'm doing. I've researched it. Because at that point, I've just studied it. I was researching fruitarianism, and I'm like, well, there's all these fruitarians. There's so many fruitarians. I'm not the only one. I'm like, there's all these fruitarians all over the world.

[Friend/Observer]

They're fine.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Like he had with everyone else who tried to convince him before this, Rowan ignored Kyle and stuck to the fruit. Throughout all of this, Kyle would still be calling home, regularly updating his mom on some version of his life in Canada, leaving out one big detail. Of course, there was no quote, you

[Kyle Horn]

know, like, wink, wink, I have Rowan. Like, there was nothing on those calls that would be like, that. They should know, because I told them, like, rowan's not with me.

[Diana Horn (Mother)]

I didn't feel he was being cryptic. I really had no idea. He might call once a week or once every two or three weeks to let me know how he's doing. No, Rowan's not here. Yes, I'm doing fine.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

And Diana believed him. Yes, Kyle had coincidentally taken his vaguely discussed but never very seriously planned trip to Canada right when Rowan went missing. But she had a few other reasons to believe Kyle didn't take Rowan. First cousin Jared. She knew that he drove Kyle north. So when he got back, she asked her nephew straight up, was Rowan with you guys?

[Diana Horn (Mother)]

He insisted, no. No, Rowan was not there.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

I don't know if you guys have heard, but cousin Jared is fucking solid. Plus, for Diana, there were other clues that seemed to indicate that Rowan was still in the area.

[Diana Horn (Mother)]

I'd go around to the servers who give samples out at Costco and say, have you seen him? And one of them said, yes. And then another one said, yeah, he was home from a Walmart and people were giving him money.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

They searched the Greenbelt park area where there were some new homes that were under construction.

[Diana Horn (Mother)]

And we would see half a cantaloupe rind or an avocado rind. We're like, he has been here. He has been here.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

So she was pretty sure Rowan was not in Canada with Kyle, but where he was, she had no clue. And with every day that passed, she grew more distraught.

[Diana Horn (Mother)]

Every day I was focused and obsessing on either looking for him or being on the computer. I think by day I would look, and by night I would be on the computer. Till two in the morning. And I was typing out two whole huge documents.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Diana's in this weird catch 22 situation. She really wants to find Rowan, but also she knows that if and when they do, Child Protective Services will immediately take them to the mental hospital and she and Roger will lose custody. That threat hadn't gone away. She was convinced that Rowan would never come home if he thought the authorities were just going to try and take him again.

[Diana Horn (Mother)]

If I could just get the Child Protective Services to back down and give me another chance to fatten them up and not have the mental hospital be the only alternative, you know, maybe I could get him to come home.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

So she starts writing a letter to CPS to try and persuade them to back down. Every night, she logs onto her computer and types. Late into the night, she says, you guys have it all wrong. His diet actually is healthy. I've researched it.

[Diana Horn (Mother)]

I was diligently researching every single nutrient, every vitamin, every mineral to say all. Well, look it, if he eats berries, he's filling in these gaps. He's getting this, this and that. And I was trying to see, does he possibly have a well balanced, sustainable diet on this thing?

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

And Diana's like, furthermore, my son didn't come up with his ideas because he's crazy. He's doing what I taught him to do.

[Diana Horn (Mother)]

He's not that mentally ill. He's just reacting to his upbringing. We taught him not to. And he was just trying to, you know, deal with his spleen and his acne.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

In conclusion, we are not the problem. Cps, you are the problem.

[Diana Horn (Mother)]

These people don't understand. They've made. They've made my son a runaway. And so I'm telling the Child Protective Service, if you back down and if he calls and I could tell him it's safe to come home, then his life can stop being threatened because if he's out there alone, he's in danger. Who knows what could happen? I want my boy home. Please back down so my boy will come home.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Xoxo Diana Horne and the Child Protective

[Diana Horn (Mother)]

Service specifically told me, no, this is his problem. His bed. He made it. He can lie in it.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

You know, they tell her, nope, if he does come back home, we're coming to get him.

[Campside Media Announcer]

You're listening to Chameleon from Campside Media. You're listening to Chameleon from Campside Media.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Back in Canada, pressure was starting to mount. Cracks were beginning to appear in their story. Corporal Henry Proce was on the scene now, poking his head around, being a thorn in their side.

[Friend/Observer]

I remember the main, like, sheriff, I can't remember, but I can like kind

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

of picture him, but I can't remember. Henry Proce.

[Friend/Observer]

Yeah, Proce.

[Rowan Horn]

Yeah.

[Friend/Observer]

Uh huh. I remember he was a nice guy, you know, like you could tell he's a genuine good guy.

[Kyle Horn]

He's the kind of guy you want. He's a good man. Good police. Yeah, you want someone like him.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Try to guess what the Horne brothers think about anything at your own peril. Proce's presence in their life, sniffing around, was the biggest existential threat to their plan. So in their room at the hostel, they'd have to cross reference their stories to make sure everything was lining up.

[Rowan Horn]

So we had to. Sometimes we had to talk amongst ourselves and make sure, get our story straight and make sure we're keeping on the right track. And like, I heard you say something like that, but should you have really said that? And we had conversations about that.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

It was like they were trapped in a five month long improv scene and they had to stay on top of the scene math. Wait, did we establish that we're lions on Mars or did we say that we were tigers on Jupiter? Things would slip. Things that made it harder for people to buy the bush boy story. Sorry guys. I forget. Have you never used electricity before or have you watched every pop. Culturally relevant movie of the past two decades?

[Rowan Horn]

I think we got way too comfortable. We just started like living this life and you know, and yeah, certainly sloppy.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

The whole purpose of this high maintenance story was to buy time to get Roan's weight up. But things were getting frustrating for Kyle. He wanted to just get a job so that he could disengage, disentangle himself and his brother from all these good Samaritans. And there wouldn't even be good Samaritans to disentangle themselves from in the first place. If his brother would just have some sense, make some better choices. But as Roan's health deteriorated, the malnutrition made it hard for even Kyle to get through to him.

[Rowan Horn]

Because my brain at that point was just. I think my brain was already separated. Nutritional deficiencies. I wasn't thinking right. I don't think my brain was in the right state.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

So Rowan starts not only resisting weight gain, he starts thinking this weight loss that's slowly killing him is actually working as he hoped it would.

[Rowan Horn]

They'd say, you'll go through a cleansing process, you'll lose all your weight. That's your body shedding its toxins. But then once you shed all your toxins, then your body Will finally start putting on the weight back on. But it said, you need to go through that cleansing process.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Rowan's resistance turns into paranoia.

[Rowan Horn]

Afraid even driving anywhere. I was probably thinking I might be driving to the hospital.

[Friend/Observer]

For all I know, I may be

[Rowan Horn]

driving right into the handcuffs. Or who knows, like, you know, that's the type of mind I had. Just paranoid thinking anything.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

So while rowan sees a mental hospital around every corner, Even Kyle can't get him to do the one thing that would keep him out of the hospital

[Kyle Horn]

through all those months, even up till march, he hadn't really changed anything. Despite going to that naturopath, despite everything, you know, at that point, he knew he had all the information to say, you know, yeah, you're right. I should, you know, this experiment's gone long enough. Let me gain ten pounds or whatever.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

You can hear the depth of his frustration. Even now, 20 years later. The impressive confidence in will of Kyle horn is no match for a teenager in the throes of an eating disorder. So Kyle takes an unexpected turn, One no one could have predicted and the people of Vernon certainly never knew he took behind closed doors. At least Kyle started to side with the authorities.

[Kyle Horn]

I told rowan, your grace period's over. What can I do for you? Because he really didn't want to be force fed some garbage that they would put tube down your throat and put some garbage into your throat, your stomach. So if he really didn't want that, he should maybe just play along. You know, gain some weight. What's the big deal?

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Live free or die. Kyle turns into Rowan. Just live, please. Even if that means giving up your freedom.

[Kyle Horn]

You know, when someone's that skinny, you know, just like when someone's on drugs and there's an intervention, like, well, you should have the freedom. You know, there's certain cases, people just don't care about freedom anymore, and that's fine, you know, as long as society stays within certain bounds. You know, there's certain cases where in the person's best interest is suicidal people. Person's best interest, you just stop them. You take away the freedom for their own benefit. And the end result ended up Rowan seemed. It was good because Rowan started eating. So no one could argue that it was bad.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

At that point, Kyle's kind of like, let go and let Vernon.

[Kyle Horn]

Yeah. At that point, he was in the community because it's not like just him and me camping anymore. He's sort of in the community.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Kyle knew that he couldn't protect Rowan, but he also knew that protection wasn't what his little brother needed anymore. That day in March, Corporal Henry Proce parked his police cruiser on Main street and turned his eyes toward Nature's Fair, where Rowan was in the checkout.

[Friend/Observer]

I just remember walking out, like, I think. Yeah, I just remember walking out with my bags of groceries right after I'd bought them. And then I saw Pro Se walking up towards me, you know, and that time, I wasn't gonna run. Like, there's no way I was weak and no. No way I was gonna run. So I just went. Went with them.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

So Procey drives him to Vernon Jubilee, taunting him about how they're gonna make him eat burgers when they get there.

[Rowan Horn]

That's a mean thing to do. I mean. I mean, that's.

[Friend/Observer]

I forgive him.

[Rowan Horn]

I'm not. I'm not holding a grudge on Pro Se to this day. I'm just saying for part of the story, for truthfulness, for authenticity.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

As they pulled into the hospital, it felt like Roan's worst fears were about to come true.

[Friend/Observer]

I remember being terrified. I remember being terrified. I thought, oh, God, I ruined. I. I thought I was ruined. I thought I had failed the whole thing, the whole mission, because it was just gonna destroy everything I've been working so hard for.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

He gets checked in and taken to a room, and he waits for a nightmare that never comes. There's no burgers, no intubation. He quickly realizes, oh, these people are reasonable.

[Rowan Horn]

They're not gonna force feed me. They're letting my brother bring me bunch of food from the health food store. What a blessing.

[Friend/Observer]

These people are awesome.

[Rowan Horn]

Good on Canada.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

It was there, at Vernon Jubilee Hospital that Rowan finally gets accurately diagnosed. Not with anorexia, as most people assumed, but orthorexia. And the doctors he'd been so terrified of are willing to work with him to figure out a diet that still feels pure, but is much more balanced. And everything's going smoothly until the CBC shows up. And honestly, this is a part of the story that has always baffled me. It baffles Tammy. It baffles a lot of the people I talk to. Rowan was getting healthy. The hospital wasn't as bad as he thought it'd be. Their secret identities were still intact. They were inches away from being out of the woods. So why, in this moment, did they agree to appear on national television? What was the thinking? What was the play?

[Rowan Horn]

I can't even explain why I was that stupid. Why on earth would I agree to have myself videotaped and photographed? And why wouldn't I? Wasn't I smart enough to connect the dots and realize those can go to America. And then I would get caught. I can't even explain why I was that stupid.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

And when the camera was pointed at Rowan, he immediately regretted it. Even before everything fell apart, they were

[Friend/Observer]

just treating me as, like, more of a spectacle than a person they wanted to interview because I don't remember being interviewed.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

The disclosure crew weren't allowed to come in with their cameras to interview him, so they sent Kyle in with the camera. But however it was, it didn't feel good to Rowan.

[Friend/Observer]

It felt more just kind of exposed and vulnerable and, like, kind of embarrassed, you know, for being in this hospital and, like, the eyes are on you, like, in this, like, patient, and you're this ill person in the hospital. So, you know, now I think I've gotten over most of that embarrassment over the whole thing, But I think, remember feeling that. Remember feeling some kind of, like, awkwardness about being this patient, right? Because no one wants to be thought of as mentally ill.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

The boys real downfall wasn't just from them appearing on CBC alone. It was also from a decision they made much earlier in their journey, all the way back when they were sitting on that park bench in their first days of Vernon, thinking up their backstory, they tried to make the story as true as possible so it would be easier to remember and retell. So when people asked what their parents origins were, we said, our parents from

[Kyle Horn]

California, or we said our parents had basically come up from California without understanding.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

It was that grain of truth that prompted Proce to call the San Francisco Chronicle, which led to a Bay Area TV station picking up the story. And suddenly, 1,000 miles away from Rowan in his hospital bed, a kid in California sees the Horn brothers on his TV screen and calls his friend, the boy's big brother, Gabriel.

[Gabriel Horn (Brother)]

I was going to school in Oregon. I received some message from one of my younger cousin's friends who had become a friend of mine. And so he messaged me, hey, I think I saw your brothers on this thing. Then I did the search. Oh, my gosh, there they are.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Gabriel immediately picked up his phone and

[Diana Horn (Mother)]

called his mom and said, we found Rowan.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Diana hangs up and calls the TV station.

[Diana Horn (Mother)]

I'm like, I hear you ran a show about my son. I'm his mother. And they're like, you're kidding me.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

A couple calls later, Diana's connected with Tammy.

[Diana Horn (Mother)]

And I'm like, tammy, I'm the long lost mother, you guys, you know, and we have a dad here. You guys have been trying to figure out who are the Parents of these kids who supposedly grew up in Revelstoke and Mary and Joseph.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Tammy hands her phone to Kyle in the parking lot.

[Kyle Horn]

Yeah, she. You know, her sweet, like, hi, Kyle. Uh, yeah, my mom has a nice voice.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

And as Kyle hears his mother's nice voice, Eight months since Roan ran out the back door, since he tapped on Kyle's window, he knows the jig is up.

[Friend/Observer]

That's. That's the word. The jig is up. Nothing we could do now. It's over. Game over.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

And what Kyle and Rowan could not have anticipated when they ran for Rowan's life was that getting caught would feel like a relief. It felt like some part of them wanted this. How else to explain how lax they'd gotten with the story and their willingness to go on national TV for anyone

[Rowan Horn]

that didn't want to get caught? Right. We didn't do the best job. So maybe some part of me in my psychology or my subconscious was so stressed out about the whole thing and so done with it all that it just wanted to get caught because we made some real dumb decisions if we didn't want to get caught. Maybe some part of my subconscious realized that I was in a dangerous state and just.

[Friend/Observer]

It wanted to be like the Tammy, right? I had a Tammy in my body that is like, we gotta save this guy.

[Campside Media Announcer]

You're listening to Chameleon from Campside Media. You're listening to Chameleon from Campside Media.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

As they start to coordinate the logistics of CBC flying the horns to Vernon to reunite with their sons, Diana, Roger, and Gabriel are starting to learn the details of what their sons and their brother had been up to for the past year. It's all over the Internet. It's on tv.

[Gabriel Horn (Brother)]

I'm just watching this unfold like it's on tv, like it's somebody else's family, really. It's what it felt like for a while. I had no idea, like, a lot of the stuff that was happening until I read about it or saw about it at that point. So it was a very chaotic time.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

What did you make of the bogus story thing?

[Gabriel Horn (Brother)]

So, Kyle, I mean, like, yes. Not surprised that this was their story.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Like, it's like, what makes you say that? So Kyle just.

[Rowan Horn]

He's. He's.

[Gabriel Horn (Brother)]

He's eccentric, right? In the way he thinks. And, you know, it wasn't surprising that they came up with that story. And it wasn't surprising that them. Because they're on kids, right? Like, them telling the story, people are going to believe it. It's like, yeah, There is something different about you. I bet you did grow up in the woods. I totally like. It's like.

[Rowan Horn]

It's just.

[Gabriel Horn (Brother)]

Yeah. So knowing that it was them, like, how different Kyle thinks as well as how people would perceive him, I was like, yeah, it's an exceptional story, but, like. And weird, but it makes sense.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

When Diana and Roger arrived in Vernon, they reunited with Kyle in the parking lot, did an interview, and finally, Diana was taken up the hill to the hospital to see her baby boy for the first time in months.

[Friend/Observer]

It was finally great to be. Not have to hide from them anymore,

[Diana Horn (Mother)]

you know, it is pure bliss, right. Being back with my boy, who I was worried about and missed. We have a very close connection. It was wonderful.

[Rowan Horn]

That's the thing that shines over everything. I think I just miss my mom and her love and her energy. So just having my mom back and just being with her, that was. That was the big relief.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Rowan climbed onto his mom's lap in the hospital chair, and she held him like he was a baby again, his fragile body in her arms, almost weightless. Kyle and Roger had left town quickly, so it was just Diana and Rowan. As Rowan's health continued to stabilize, she stayed at the hostel, sharing the same space her boys had occupied for several months. I can only imagine the conversations in the common room when Diana would pass through, smiling sweetly and saying hello to the other tenants. At long last, Diana also got to meet the woman who'd been caring for her sons all this time. Tammy. I asked Diana if it was awkward as the real mom to meet the surrogate mom.

[Diana Horn (Mother)]

No, no, no. I was just so grateful because I didn't know where he was, and I wasn't doing that role in. And I knew how skinny he got. You know, I felt she was a lifesaver. I was very grateful. I love her very much.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

With Kyle gone, Diana would be the one going around town picking up the supplements and the smoothies to bring to Rowan. Armed with her newly acquired months of devoted study and knowledge gathering she'd done in Rowan's absence, she knew Rowan would need all this strength for what was to come, because this was not the end of the story. Her efforts to persuade Child Protective Services to back off had gone nowhere. So she knew that as soon as her newly found son touched down in Sacramento, she would lose him again. Roan would be forcibly taken to the mental hospital. Diana and Roger would lose custody. Diana sat beside Rowan as he slept and wondered if maybe there could have been a better option, if maybe Kyle had asked her for Help.

[Diana Horn (Mother)]

When he saw that his little. His little experiment in trying to rescue Rowan, when he saw it wasn't quite working out, I am surprised he didn't reach out to me at that point. You know, mom, what should we do? Okay, here's the truth. I do have Rowan, and he's not doing well. He's really getting skinny. Maybe you better come out and see what you can do for him, you know, because they could have invited us to come up there and, you know, get an apartment and shelter them and make sure Rowan eats, and they'd still be safe from America.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

This made me think of something their brother Gabriel said when I asked him if he was offended that Rowan only trusted Kyle.

[Gabriel Horn (Brother)]

I'm a little surprised that he would have been, you know, so sure that he couldn't trust his whole family, right, collectively, that he couldn't get, you know, get in front of us all, speak his piece, and then have us all conspire with him. He probably could have convinced my parents to do pretty much anything.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

It doesn't seem impossible that, given the chance, if Rowan had tapped on dianys when instead or if Kyle had made that call, Diana would have also run to Canada for Rowan.

[Diana Horn (Mother)]

I could have showed up as Mary, right? Hey, as Mary, you could have showed up as Joseph. They didn't have to know we were from Roseville. A few weeks ago, we didn't even think of that.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

In an alternate universe, Mary and Joseph and Tom and Will Green played out the rest of their days in Vernon. Going to Vernon Vipers games, skiing at silver Star, growing weed in their front yard with the rest of us. But what the horns would face next would be a lot more menacing than that. Arrangements were made for Rowan to be flown to California. Diana wasn't allowed to fly with him, so Rowan said goodbye to his mom for now and to Vernon forever. The plane touches down in his home state.

[Friend/Observer]

They usher me out of the jet when I get to America, and like, all the cops, you know, just so they make sure I don't run away

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

this time, like the night Rowan first ran away, he was by himself. He entered the hospital he'd been running from all this time as a ward of the state. Whatever freedoms he had as a person were gone.

[Friend/Observer]

There's tons of costs. There was, like, 10 cops, like, following me or, you know, ushering me to the. The new hospital,

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

And it would be

[Diana Horn (Mother)]

worse than he felt.

[Producer/Host]

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, Garrett Tiedemann, Epidemic Sound and Blue Dot Sessions. Our fact checker is Alex Yablon. Special thanks to our operations team, Doug Slaywin, Alia Papes and Allison Haney. The executive producers at Campside Media are Matt Sher, Vanessa Gregoriadis, 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 at 1-800-931-2237. That's 1-800-931-2237. In Canada, the National Eating Disorder Information Centre hotline is 1-866-633-4220. That's 1-866-633-4220.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

Thanks for listening.

[Producer/Host]

We'll see you next week.

[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

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[Producer/Host]

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[Sam Mullins (Reporter/Narrator)]

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