He was a very good actor. Rip. Its amazing how many people go missing on hikes. Even an experienced hiker such as him can obviously run into trouble.
I once went on a Lehigh gorge rafting trip where a good-sized group stayed at a campground the night before. I felt like a little hike before dinner and went out on a fire trail and figured I'd make a little loop.
Got to a point where I decided to cut through the woods proper and I kept an eye out for any snakey-looking things ahead when I sensed motion in the distance. It looked like some dude was walking in the woods with 3 Dobermans.. based on the coloring.
But when they stopped, looked up the hill toward me and climbed trees... the "dogs" that is, not the "dude".. I realized it was a momma bear and her cubs. I reversed fast back up the hill.
I was lucky that I started out on a fire trail I could follow back because when I hit that trail I was okay.
But what if I had started out in the deep woods and some imaginary shortcut back to camp was.. interrupted like that. Pick the wrong direction to flee from possible dangers and.. well.. that could be that.
On the other hand, you have stories like this....