Find more newsletters on our. The Russian was instantly drawn to the tall, broad-shouldered American man with an eagle tattoo across his chest who said he was living in the mountains. But he was just pursuing a fraud. If I get into trouble or begin to starve, I can hike down to a village and get help or eat. When Rawat joined the porter at an old forest service hut, Alexander hadn’t arrived. The baba is/was suspected to have knowledge on the fate of Justin. Before leaving for Mantalai Lake with Rawat, he joked to Gapon, “If I die, write something nice about me on Facebook.” Alexander mentioned that one day it would be nice if there was a website where peoples' digital trails could serve as a eulogy to their lives. The space was cramped, but Gapon remembers Alexander was keeping it “forest clean.” He had collected wood to keep his pit fire rolling each night and had candles to read by in the evenings. I remember reading about Justin Shetler’s disappearance last Fall and thinking something like “Another adventurous nomad, who didn’t take proper care…”. I also couldn’t help admiring him. Missing in California- brothers Orrin and Orson West; 2020- Jane & John Does that got their names back; Alexander Pisch set up an easel to paint and then vanished *Body Found* Amelia Rose Brooks, 22, missing from Billings, Montana; Bernadette Walker (17) reported missing in … What are you doing here?’” Even long after Alexander disappeared, Lee still saw a window of possibility that the American still might reappear. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Awhile ago, HE published several articles by my friend Justin Alexander. 1 thought on “ Justin Alexander Shetler – my truly Wonderer ” Lily December 6, 2016 at 5:25 pm. And read newspaper clips, and his mother’s crowd funding campaign, to search for him when nobody else cared enough. Many see the Parvati Valley as a stage or even the culmination of their quest for enlightenment. He followed in hope of learning the secrets of the holy man, his magic ways. He once said that his life was about “walking that razor’s edge” between living in modern society and a free existence. i just felt the need to google justin, and found your blog. Not only in the Parvati Valley, but all around us, as we go through life, trekking our own paths of Search. “Some babas are very charming and outgoing, but this baba was rough and crude,” he says. And his path appeared to be one not of disassociation but of action, as if he were the protagonist in his own epic novel. “It’s something I’ve been called to do for years now. I was deeply impressed. When I was apprised of the situation, I began advising family and … The long list of those adventurous travelers who go missing while exploring off the beaten track places. So, he could teach Justin how to end his. Most likely a predator. A spate of missing trekkers (the latest being American national Justin Alexander Shetler) in the upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh has become a matter of acute embarrassment for the External Affairs Ministry. “If there’s one guy who could jump through that window, it would be him,” he says. When he was 16, his mother, Suzie Reeb, withdrew Alexander from high school and enrolled him in the Wilderness Awareness School. “Eventually he pushed the limits a little too far.”. Recently he was on a bike trip around india on a royal enfield motorcycle. But this time was different. In Justin's own words, "If I’m not back by then, don’t look for me " Read all the posts on his blog and many entries on Instagram. But he assures me that he is the real thing.”. “But he partly meant it. It turned out terribly. And he resumed his search. Justin Alexander Shetler disappeared somewhere in the Parvati Valley in 2016. According to deputies, 26-year-old Justin Alexander Carter was last seen in the early hours of September 27 - around 4 a.m. - on River Watch Drive in Greenville County. “Initially, my notion was that he had taken some drugs and gotten lost,” says additional superintendent Nishchint Singh Negi, who has dealt with many of the cases in his green-walled office in Kullu. All I’ve assumed about him was based on his writings and on other travelers’ opinions and interviews. He’s a world traveller and does lots of adventures. The video fades to black. He rode into the foothills of the Himalayas. That part of me that conflicts with my Cartesian mind. At around 13,500 feet, the icy moraine produces no trees for either shelter or firewood. But Alexander was also adept in the more contemplative forms of awareness, including Brown’s practice of returning to a single square foot in the wild, a “sit spot,” to listen and notice slight changes in the environment. In the September 3 photograph taken by the hikers, Alexander is wrapped in his gray shawl. The waters that course from source to valley mouth are perpetually vicious, but when fed by monsoon rains and melting snow, the river morphs into a torrential beast. A part of me that I’ve kept hidden (even from myself) all my life. In 2008, Arizona woman Jodi Arias drove to her former boyfriend’s home and murdered him in cold blood, leaving behind overwhelming pieces of evidence. Justin Alexander Shetler is missing. For years, he had dreamed of driving over one of the highest motorable mountain passes in the world, the 17,582-foot Tanglang La, and into the remote region of Ladakh, the northernmost tip of India. She knew he would’ve called at the soonest opportunity. “He wants to mentor me in the ways of the Sadhu; of Shiva—The First Yogi,” Alexander wrote in his final blog post. He dropped out of school. He was clearly in a hurry to get to his belongings as soon as possible. Rawat sent the porter ahead to begin preparing food, Alexander followed, and Rawat held back because his knees were hurting. But one that calls for caution. When Young brought Alexander, a promising survivalist, to the New Jersey school, the teenager arrived with starry-eyed idealism and befriended 22-year-old instructor Tom McElroy. Some of the missing are presumed murdered; in 2000, a British man, his fiancée, and her teenage son were brutally attacked while camping above the Parvati Valley. Was Justin simply too curious to have noticed it? What's become of Justin Alexander Shetler? i was very close to justin. Or maybe he was searching for his most inner Self, whatever that may be (aren’t we all searching for that, one way or another?…). “He says most babas are fake, that they enjoy money, women, and posing for tourist photos for cash; basically fake-holy-man bums. Skeels and Kunwar scrambled down the scree and slippery rock to the riverbank. He has not been seen since September 3rd, when he was photographed returning from his trek. That was when Justin’s story started to haunt me. He met a Naga Baba (a sadhu of the Naga sect), while he was up there. Many other travelers have disappeared, over the years. Walking alongside was an American man, 35-year-old Justin Alexander, a seasoned traveler and experienced outdoorsman who’d impressed Gapon with his wilderness survival skills, having just spent weeks living in a mountain cave. And to his travels and incredible personal experiences. The pair leapfrogged along the left riverbank, scanning the boulder-strewn turns and grassy slopes for anything out of the ordinary. In fact, he disappeared barely one year ago and he already became just another name on a list. “The only time I’ve been freaked out and anxious was when he was in India,” she remembers. i didnt know we were gonna cry wolf for the last time.. or maybe i did.. Most likely. Rawat told Alexander he had cut off his penis in an extreme repudiation of lust. I have traveled in the past and was always a concern of mine, not for me but for my family. Now he killed himself while in custody so really no conclusions can be drawn, but the whole thing is shady as fuck. The Parvati River thundered below. Now he knew that might never happen. Midway through the trip, on July 22, he entered the Parvati Valley. One of his favorite books growing up was Joseph Campbell’s 1949 classic, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, in which the author presents an archetypal “hero’s journey.” The first step is a feeling or call to adventure, Campbell writes. “I think he was at a time in his life when he was asking himself some questions and didn’t know what direction he wanted to go,” Lee says. The Baba had passed by the hikers, some time earlier. But this doesn’t mean one should not go to the Parvati Valley. It brings forth the buried, from the deep layers of our psyche.”. Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison (25) receives congratulations from tight end Tyler Conklin (83) after he-scores a touchdown against the … If Justin really thought the man was a danger to him, he shouldn't have gone with him. What are the motives of these fake holly men killing tourists? Alexander didn’t have a stove or cooking fuel, so Gapon pressed something into his hand, a fitting parting gift to someone who valued both practicality and minimalism: a red windproof butane lighter. Telling his last story. As a teenager, McElroy remembers, Alexander wanted to live a near-mythological saga. Reeb was devastated. Only the man survived. That is, until I received the “Roads and Kingdoms” (those of you who follow my facebook page already know it’s my favourite blog) newsletter and read the post “Death on the Hippie Trail”, by Ariel Sophia Bardi. He has not been seen since September 3rd, when he was photographed with some hikers while returning from his trek. Missing trekkers have cast a shadow on Himachal Pradesh's booming tourism business A spate of missing trekkers (the latest being American national Justin Alexander Shetler) in the upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh has become a matter of acute … (Photo: @adventuresofjustin/Instagram), Still, the American man visited Rawat’s hut often. Justin Alexander Flores Samaro, is a Missing Person / Runaway Juvenile who was last seen in the 1300 blk of Major Hill Rd., Snow Camp, N.C., at 9:45 a.m., Friday September 4, 2020. A spate of missing trekkers (the latest being American national Justin Alexander Shetler) in the upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh has become a matter of … Maybe Alexander’s realization wasn’t about himself but about the man he trusted to guide him—that he came to see the holy man as a fraud, unable to offer what he sought. A Nepali man, arrested by Kullu police in connection with the disappearance of US national Justin Alexander Shetler in the Parvati Valley, allegedly committed suicide on Saturday. The eerie series of clips opens with him sitting on a rock, draped in a gray shawl like a monk, surrounded by silhouettes of pine trees fading into the fog. I’m going to put my heart into it and see what happens... Maybe Baba Life will be good for me.” In his gray daypack, Alexander packed a kilogram of rice, some oats, nuts, raisins, tea, sugar, and flour. The valley’s hillside hamlets and postcard mountain vistas attract tens of thousands of tourists every year, but those who come here are different from those who speed through the Taj Majal on a Golden Triangle tour or backpack from vibrant temple to sparkling beach as the mainstay of India’s tourism. It really touched me. He was walking alone. Although I never met him, I felt deeply touched by his story and travel / life experience. Even though it has been told by so many people before, all of whom better writers and journalists than me. Many sadhus live in the valley or accompany travelers there in warmer months, but Rawat stood out because of the large growths on his knees, wrists, and elbows, some as large as a lemon. The nature-based educational program near Seattle, Washington, was co-founded by Jon Young, a protégé of Tom Brown Jr. who established the internationally acclaimed New Jersey–based Tracker School. It was August 22, 2016. If I’m not back by then, don’t look for me ;).”. At the trailhead outside Kalga, a village of guesthouses and orchards where the road fades to footpath, Alexander handed Gapon his iPhone and asked him to take his picture to mark the “beginning of a spiritual journey.” The men hugged, and Alexander walked up the path into the forest. He was an holly man. Warning tales of travelers’ death and disappearance are constantly brought to us by the media. Every summer, the valley hosts a Rainbow Gathering, a counterculture congregation that promotes anti-consumerism and utopianism. "They are holy men but wild, and are even above the law in India. To inspire active participation in the world outside through award-winning coverage of the sports, people, places, adventure, discoveries, health and fitness, gear and apparel, trends and events that make up an active lifestyle. A sick soul. “Over the next two weeks we became friends,” Alexander wrote on his blog. Justin Alexander Shetler is missing. She boarded a plane to New Delhi on October 9, connecting with a friend of Alexander’s, Jonathan Skeels, en route in London. Reading about him, trying to understand him and writing about it. Following her friend online, Tracy Frey had noticed a shift in the tone of Alexander’s photos and writing. The lake lies in a broad basin relentlessly tormented by winds and subfreezing temperatures. In December 2013, at age 32, Alexander announced his retirement. Young and innocent and older and disillusioned. Alexander the Great's body did not decay for six days after his supposed death, leading the Ancient Greeks to claim this proved he was a god. I think Justin was seen by some hikers after he left the baba. Mind me, I never met Justin. The 35-year-old US national was last seen on September 3 trekking through the Parvati valley in Kullu district, Himachal Pradesh, and reported missing … Instead, many referred to him as a “business baba.” (Baba is often a colloquial word for sadhu.) In early November, as the official investigation waned, Skeels drove the motorcycle, with Lee and McElroy following in a support vehicle, along the cliff-cut roads heading out of the Parvati Valley towards the 17,582-foot Tanglang La, the pass into Ladakh, to continue their friend’s journey. On the surface, Alexander embodied the “I quit my job to travel” trope, and he amassed a horde of followers—more than 11,000 on his Instagram account alone. The one where he describes the man who enticed him to tag along. Strapped to the back of the motorcycle, with a white star painted over each ear, was Alexander’s helmet. Lee remembers discussions with Alexander about whether he was selling his adventures, posting them online for an audience rather than fully living them. An extremely alluring and appealing part of the Valley’s trekking experience. And he was last seem by a group of trekkers, on his way down from Mantalai lake, on the 3rd of September. All the gruesome details of the affair pointed to foul play. “I was fighting for my son’s life,” Reeb says. Others were drawn to what his adventures represented: Alexander was minimalist but not rejectionist. The travelers who feel drawn to the Parvati Valley, more than a full day’s bus ride north of New Delhi into the Himalayas, quickly settle into a pace of life common in this remote corner of India: a blur of weeks or months spent meditating, practicing yoga, and consuming copious amounts of hash grown in clandestine plantations or from plants that sprout wild along river and road. Alexander arrived determined to head into the mountains, not to smoke away the days in some grubby hostel until his visa ran out. And a restless one. Learn how your comment data is processed. He would sit on mats around the sadhu’s fire pit smoking chillum, watching him perform complicated yoga asanas, and, when a Hindi speaker was present to translate, learning from him. “I was fighting for them to consider that he was really missing.”. Distraught loved ones post stories of the missing on social media, online message boards, and travel forums with scattered details and few clues. He left with a local holy man on or about the 24th of August, leaving most of his belongings in Kasol. In 2002 a Baba was arrested, accused of Italian traveler Alessandra Verdi’s death. (Photo: @adventuresofjustin/Instagram). In fact, he hoped that it would turn out simply amazing. But the glitz of the job didn’t impress Alexander for long. He believed he was chasing the Truth. On one occasion, Alexander told his followers online, shortly after he arrived in Khir Ganga, a sadhu named Sat Narayan Rawat beckoned him into a smoky, stone-walled hut just below the hot springs. “There was a smile,” says Gapon, referring to the winking emoji Alexander used as punctuation at the end of his final blog post. When Lee and several other friends confronted him, the sadhu became angry, saying, “Justin is crazy.” Rawat claimed the American had left him after they met some trekkers near Mantalai Lake and that Alexander headed higher up the valley with them. The Baba ended up being arrested by the local police. “Maybe he was a great person, but there was something that was very hard and very aggressive with this spirit.” He warned Alexander to be careful. He arrived in the city of Varanasi, one of the country’s strongest spiritual magnets, where Hindu pilgrims bathe in the holy Ganges River to have their sins washed away. But according to one person close to the search, the district police were “unequipped and unmotivated” to fully investigate and only made an effort to appease the family and the U.S. embassy. No other details were released. In the Parvati Valley, this desire compelled Alexander higher. Gapon was impressed. They gave him food and invited him to stay with them. McElroy thought of his friend’s legendary survival skills. I won’t die.” Alexander wasn’t after complete solitude, but he wanted the space to quietly meditate and actively test his mettle while living in a cave with few supplies. Justin’s mother is not aware of any friends or family that Justin would go see other than … India: Update on Justin Alexander, missing in Parvati Valley since 04 September 2016. Others might have been targeted after being caught up in the lucrative drug trade, buying hash at the source and selling it to tourists. The potential of the experience was huge! In the first post on his travel blog, Adventures of Justin, he wrote: “I am running from a life that isn’t authentic…I’m running away from monotony and towards novelty; towards wonder, awe, and the things that make me feel vibrantly alive.” He spent the next two-and-a half years on the road, backpacking through South America and Asia, and driving his motorcycle around the United States. Skeels was struck with the man’s gentle character, his compassion, and his adventurous spirit. Then, in a dramatic twist of events, he hung himself in jail, with his loincloth. (Photo: Courtesy of Andrey Gapon), On July 28, Andrey Gapon met Alexander in Khir Ganga, a ramshackle camp of wooden pole, tarpaulin, and corrugated aluminum structures that many Parvati Valley visitors see as the end point of their informal pilgrimage. “I think.”, Over his stay in the valley cave, Alexander’s curiosity in the sadhu way of life turned deeper. Some arrive with an emotional or psychological issue in their life and succumb to a heady mix of culture shock, overwhelming unfamiliarity, alluring exoticism, and, in most cases, drugs. Most simply vanished without a trace in this one sliver of the subcontinent. He kept looking for the next experience, the next trip, the one that would allow him to learn, to grow, to understand, and, ultimately, to be Who he was, to feel free, not just physically, but spiritually. The police effectively closed the case of Justin Alexander—just one more disappearance in the Parvati Valley. 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