Ex-Marine Hears A Surprise Voice While Searching for His Daughter on the Hiking Trail

There’s a simple rule that hikers use when on the trail that saves lives: stay together at all times. You see, trails can start out relatively safe but then turn deadly within seconds whenever groups are separated. Loving father John Utsey felt a jolt of dread in his heart after realizing his two children, who were hiking ahead of him, suddenly disappeared.

There are times when even veteran hikers make simple but costly mistakes on the trail. The Utsey family were experienced hikers who’d hiked hundreds of times. Experience can sometimes be a double-edged sword, as people can fall into bad habits.

The Utsey family was hiking in the gorgeous Santa Fe National Forest located in New Mexico. The path they took, known as the Windsor Trail, is very popular. In fact, thousands of families traversed this trail that same summer.

At 11,000 feet above sea level, the Windsor trail’s highest point towered above the Utsey family. To put this in perspective, the distance equals the length of more than 36 football fields! And even at its lowest point, the trail is still 7,000 feet above sea level.

John was busy taking in the scenery as the children played just ahead. The Utsey’s passed a couple of other families on the trail, reinforcing John’s false sense of security and making him feel more at ease about allowing his children to roam a bit.

However, John was not terribly concerned at first. After all, it wasn’t the first time the dad allowed his children to explore a trail. Plus the kids had tons of hiking experience under their belt, not to mention John’s training.

John was a U.S Marine Corps veteran and passed along some of his skills and values to his children, which meant he had the utmost confidence in their instinct to survive. Along with the family’s hiking experience, his children also had a marine as a dad.

After enduring an uncomfortably long silence, John again started calling out for his kids more urgently. The dad knew his 10-year-old son would be walking closely with his big sister, who was 12-years-old.

Once John managed to catch up to his son, he soon discovered his daughter was not with him. The two started a frantic search for the 12-year-old, staying close to each other as they traversed over rocky terrain.

John was also beginning to feel a powerful sense of guilt. He wished he’d instructed his kids to stay closer together, thinking his daughter would be safe had he done so. If anything were to happen to his little girl, John knew he wouldn’t recover.

At first, John believed he’d heard his daughter calling back, so he started shouting her name louder than before.

Legs shaking with fear, John dashed in the direction of the man’s voice. However, it felt like the longest run of his life, as though the journey would never end.

John’s mind was filled with horrific images as he raced to his daughter’s voice, but once he saw that she was safe, relief flooded through his body like a tidal wave.

Before, John had been in frantic dad mode, but now he’d shifted gears to marine mode. After gathering his children, the family searched for the man, using his voice to guide them.

After shouting for over 20 minutes, John and his kids soon came upon a clearing. They’d walked down roughly 600 yards of an incredibly steep trail, which soon led the family to a creek.

John would later tell KRQE News that the man was lying down near the creek. He said the man was not able to move. He also noted how the stranger seemed delirious as his words weren’t making any sense.

John told the news station that the man’s lips were cracked and bleeding. He said the stranger’s tongue was severely swollen, and he was very gaunt.

Using the skills he’d learned in the Marine Corps, John could pinpoint the man’s coordinates. The family then hiked three miles until they came to the trailhead. Once there, they were able to call 911 and give the operator the exact location.

After John returned his children to the safety of their home, John couldn’t stop watching the TV news coverage of the search.

John was able to retrace his steps, and sure enough, he came across the same man again, right where the family had left him. John once again returned to the trailhead and contacted 911.

The unlikely rescue was a pure miracle. First, the man had survived for almost two full weeks without food and water. Thankfully, the rescue crew took things from there and was able to save his life, thanks to John and his children.

You’ve probably guessed by now that the 50-year-old man was hiking by himself. This is why you should only hike in groups, folks! It doesn’t matter how much experience you have, we are only human, and the wilderness out there is unforgiving of mistakes. While the experience of finding solitude and solace within the world of nature is a romantic and even spiritual concept, it’s also perilous.

If you were to ask any of Brad’s closest friends, they would all sing very similar praises about the young man. They would tell you he had a way with people and had one of those personalities that everyone naturally gravitated towards.

After his high school graduation in 1996, the former Santa Rosa, California resident decided to travel the world. Brad visited New Zealand, Indonesia, and many more countries. He also loved taking risks, participating in extreme sports all over the world.

Further proof that even the most experienced people can make critical mistakes, Brad had climbed among the upper echelons of athletes within the rock-climbing community in his thirties. In fact, in 2012, the young man was even featured on the cover of California Climber magazine.

Brad had many passions. According to Jerry Dodrill, Brad’s best friend and climbing partner, while people in the rock climbing community saw him as a top climber, he also had another reputation. It turns out that surfers also recognized Brad as a superior surfer, and other yoga instructors regarded him as among the best as well!

In June 2014, Brad’s family and friends were delighted after the 36-year-old shared a surprising revelation on social media. Brad confessed he was head-over-heels in love with a beautiful woman named Jainee Dail.

Jainee also had a strong passion for the outdoors; she was the manager of an online store specializing in outdoor adventure merchandise for women.

The young woman had no idea that her ever-smiling boyfriend was up to something. You see, Brad had a special surprise planned out for Jainee.

While using sturdy ropes, the couple climbed up the mountain for hours before reaching the very narrow mountain peak. The rock at the top could accommodate no more than two people standing on it.

When someone goes through so much effort and trouble to propose, there can be no doubt that they must be deeply in love. And while for over 40 years, Brad chased just about every thrill out there, it’s likely his heart never beat more than during that long split-second silence after he proposed to Jainee.

A few minutes later, as the two were descending the mountain, Brad told Jainee that “this is the happiest day of my life.”

For adventurous souls like Brad, reaching one mountain peak is never enough. The young man’s appetite for a challenge, along with the emotional high he was riding, likely gave him a sense of having lots of energy to burn.

In retrospect, it wasn’t unusual for Brad to leave his new fiancé to climb another mountain. You see, Brad had been training to go on a much bigger climb planned for down the road. However, as he hiked toward Matthes Crest, fellow hikers passing by would later say that there seemed to be something a bit off in the way he was carrying himself.

Cedric Ma was one of the hikers who saw Brad heading to the crest that day. According to Ma, Brad told him that he had a few cramps and felt dehydrated. Ma then saw the young man trek up the northern summit until he “disappeared from view.”

Dehydrated, cramped, and fatigued from climbing Cathedral Peak, Brad took on Matthes Crest, climbing the mountain’s dangerous vertical face. It’s likely his body was screaming, warning him to stop.

To the horror of other hikers and climbers nearby, they watched from afar as Brad, a future groom, plunged 300 feet from the top of Matthes Crest.

The silence following Brad’s fall was not unlike the pause that followed the young man’s proposal to his future bride. However, this was the silence of death, one that was deafening and total. Later, the silence was broken after park rangers hiked over to where Brad’s broken body now lay.

In the morning, Brad’s body was removed from the park. It wasn’t long before Brad’s family and friends learned about the tragic incident. For those who’ve lost loved ones suddenly, the jolt of reality and bewilderment is quickly followed by a hollow pain that never truly goes away. For years, those people will think of the departed during those times they would otherwise have shared with their loved ones.

Brad’s death was a tremendous loss, and those he left behind could find little respite from the pain and grief they felt within their hearts. However, they also knew that Brad would have wanted his death to mean something and be used to create something beautiful.

As time passed, Brad’s family and friends thought of more ways they could honor him. Ultimately, they settled on a memorial service befitting Brad’s adventurous life. Brad loved the water as much as climbing, so they decided to hold a memorial service in the Russian River Mouth not far from Jenner, California.

Once their wounds healed a bit more, Brad’s closest friends decided to travel to Yosemite. Once there, they climbed Cathedral Peak, the same mountain where Brad enjoyed his final happy moment in a remarkable life.

For Jainee, it took a very long time before the pain of Brad’s loss didn’t sting as profoundly. Once again, Jainee sat on the same mountain she shared with her beloved and took time to reflect on everything that happened.

Her beloved left her with an enduring gift for which Jainee said she’s eternally grateful. Jainee continued: “You not only live on in me but continue to live on in others and give them life. And not only life, but that great consciousness of life that reminds us what truly matters…You continue to give me life. And what an awful, stinging irony that is.”