Every Town - The MYSTERIES of The Grand Canyon Are Insane

Episode Date: March 28, 2025

What if I told you that the Grand Canyon, in addition to being one of the 7 Natural wonders of the world, is also the site of a disproportional amount of unexplained disappearances. Over 1,100 people have vanished here since 2018, that’s the highest in any area of the whole United states….And on top of that, really that's just the beginning. 👀 Watch This Episode On Youtube: https://youtu.be/BdARioK0-2s 👁 Check out our movie AN ANGRY BOY for FREE! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvtlOlODQ8g&t=5238s https://tubitv.com/movies/100029672/an-angry-boy International & Other Ways To Watch: https://www.anangryboy.com/ 💀 MERCH: https://scary-mysteries.teemill.com/ 💀 Free 7 Day Trail on Exclusive Episodes, Podcasts & Perks! https://www.patreon.com/scarymysteries   🎧 Our Other Podcast Scary Mysteries: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ZooEZMoZ421WdsOVJhVkT 👁 X: https://x.com/ScaryMysteries1 👁 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrew.fitzg 👁 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewfitzgerald 👁 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scarymysteriesofficial 👁 X: https://x.com/ScaryMysteries1 🗣 Business Inquiries, questions and comments hit us up at [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you love true crime, grab your favorite mug and pour yourself a dose of creepy true crime every single morning with a morning cup of murder. This short daily show is the perfect podcast to incorporate into your morning routine because in less than 15 minutes, you'll hear about a true crime that took place on a day's date in history. Each day's dark history lesson will kickstart your morning with intriguing tales of murder, abduction, serial killers, cults, and everything in between.

With over 20 million downloads, Morning Cup of Murder has something for every true crime lover. One listener describes the show as a small package with a powerful punch of crime. Another writes that the show is an absolute delight in the morning. Support yourself a piping hot cup of murder every single morning with Morning Cup of Murder. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Every town has a dark side. But what if I told you that the Grand Canyon, in addition to being one of the seven natural wonders of the world,

is also the side of a disproportional amount of unexplained disappearances. Over 1,100 people have vanished here since 2018, and that's the highest in any area of the whole United States. And on top of that, really that's just the beginning. Because beneath its towering cliffs, there appears to be secrets here that have been actively buried for centuries. Things like hidden tunnels, ancient artifacts that don't belong, and even evidence of advanced lost civilizations.

So what's this all about? Are these things connected? And what else we'll be hiding right now along all those restricted areas of the Grand Canyon? Hey guys, it's Andrew, and thanks for tuning in to this week's episode of Everytown. We have a pretty good dive here for, all those interested in thinking outside the box. And most of us don't think of the Grand Canyon as a place that could even be riddled with secrets

because it's right there for anybody to visit. And you can take photos, videos, even fly over it. But the reality is that 90% of the Grand Canyon traffic is concentrated on the south end, which means the majority of this place is totally off limits. In an area that covers just about 2,000 square miles well, that's a lot of places people have never seen, or have they? And that's exactly why so many of them are never heard from again.

The Grand Canyon is a natural wonder that's been shaped over millions of years. Its beauty has fascinated us for centuries, and for some time it was a free-for-all in terms of being able to be explored. There was no National Park designation. So, in the Wild West days, for example, if you wanted to, you could wander into whatever cave, cliff, or crevasch you could find. But just around the time that we began getting more sophisticated with our exploring capabilities, but wouldn't you know it, it was time to shut all that down.

It was in 1908 when President Teddy Roosevelt was making the moves to declare the area off limits to mining and logging operations. And after that was established, they could then cut the general public off to wherever they saw fit. And seeing these restrictions, on the horizon, a flurry of adventurous people set out to explore the area before it was too late. And one of those individuals was a man named G.E. Kincaid, who with the imminent closure of the canyon decided to seize the last opportunity to explore its darkest corners in search of precious minerals. Instead, though, he actually ended up triggering one of the most intriguing mysteries

in all of modern history. Riding up the Colorado River in a small wooden boat, Kincaid navigated between the majestic cliffs until he was about 40 miles from the Tover Crystal Canyon. That's when he noticed strange markings on a rock formation above. And these were high up the cliff, so he couldn't tell what they were exactly. Driven by curiosity, he docked the boat and began climbing. After a strenuous ascent, he then discovered a series of steps, carved into the sandstone, hidden beneath desert trubs, and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. And these steps led him to a cavernous entrance, only it wasn't a totally natural formation.

This one had been formed by the hand of somebody. Hard and straight edges created a large doorway. Kincaid lit his lantern and entered the cave where what he found defied all logic. The walls were covered with inscriptions that didn't resemble any known language in North America. Instead, the symbols looked a lot like ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, only. a bit different. As he moved forward, the passage stretched so far he couldn't tell where it ended. There were other doorways that led to other halls and rooms. It was some sort of large underground complex, built by what could have only been

an advanced civilization. As King Kay looked around, he documented everything he was finding. The main tunnel was approximately 12 feet wide and tapered towards the ends. Along the sides, passing. branches branched off, leading to rooms carved with geometric precision. Some rooms were as large as a regular living room, but others measured much bigger than 30 by 40 square feet. The entranceways were curved, not straight angles, and the walls were ventilated with circular openings carefully drilled. Inside some of the rooms Kincaid found shelves

filled with glazed ceramic jars, many of which still contained seeds in them. He also found copper tools and described a workshop with remnants of charcoal and slag, evidence that the ancient residents practiced metal smelting. For the most astonishing discovery was a large Rome that Kincaid described as a crypt. There among stone shelves carved into the rock, he found dozens of mummies, each inside its own rocky casing. In the lower levels, the jars were more rudimentary, while those on the upper levels featured more elaborate designs, suggesting a sort of cultural evolution over time. How long had this culture been there? How long would it take to create such a large structure, and how far did it really go?

Overwhelmed, Kincaid needed help, and this was going to change the entire world in all the history books ever written. And sending artifacts and notes to the Smithsonian Institute, he requested financial and logistical support. Within weeks, Professor S.A. Jordan arrived with a team of 40 scientists and workers, and everybody was excited to see what else they could uncover. With more resources, the expedition confirmed that the tunnels converged into a central chamber. And there, they found a giant statue. The figure, sitting with its legs crossed, was holding lotus flowers in both hands, resembling more modern depictions of Buddha.

However, the researchers couldn't definitively identify the culture behind the statue. This was something totally different from anything we knew about. And people were not supposed to have even stepped foot in North America until about 15,000 years ago. And those that did were primitive. And supposedly it stayed that way until Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and over the past 500 years, we've built the America we know. And this site would prove that all of that was completely wrong. The team nicknamed the site the Citadel.

As they explored further, they discovered barracks, grain storage facilities, temples, and workshops. Whoever lived here, while they were making tools and weapons out of copper, bronze, and a gray metal they couldn't identify, and possibly platinum. They also found stone tablets engraved with hieroglyphs, the translation of which, which remained a mystery. The mummies, all male, reinforced the theory that this section of the complex was a military barracks. No women of children were discovered, raising questions about the actual function of the place. Despite the lack of answers, the team concluded that this lost civilization was highly advanced with knowledge of agriculture, metallurgy, and architecture.

The discovery sparked controversy to say the least, as it suggested, the existence of an advanced civilization in North America long before what conventional archaeology accepted. And the similarities to Egyptian and Tibetan cultures were undeniable, but how could that be? Well, unfortunately, we weren't able to find out, or at least us common folk, have not been privy to the findings. The story here took a dark turn when the Smithsonian, after receiving the reports, allegedly denied funding the expedition or even receiving artifacts from Kincaid altogether. This fuel conspiracy theories that exist today, about a cover-up to protect traditional historical narratives. It made Kincaid look like a crackpot, a guy who made up the story entirely,

and maybe that's what he did. But also, maybe the powers to be in this country didn't want this sort of information getting out to the masses. Knowledge, as they say, is power. And if we had to change the entire timeline of world history based on this finding? What would that do to the world in terms of our beliefs? Religions could be questioned, and scientific and archaeological authorities could not be trusted, and that's a big problem if you want to stay in control. And today, there are no official records of Kincaid's findings. However, access to many areas of the Grand Canyon are restricted, leading to speculation about forbidden zones that may hold more secrets. Some believe the complex could be the key to uncovering lost connections between ancient civilizations,

while others see Kincaid's story as nothing but a fabricated tale meant to get attention. So then, what is off limits exactly and why? Well, they're called the forbidden zones, and perhaps you've heard the name mentioned, as it's become synonymous with the Grand Canyon. The caves, for example, are forbidden zones, which, by the way, of the more than 1,000 they've documented in the park, only 325 have properly been mapped and explored, so who even knows what's in the others.

This name, though, is an official. It's not like the park itself calls places they don't want you to go forbidden zones. That's just what they've evolved into being called in popular culture. Among the most notable of these places are the Hopi salt mines, and these are located at the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers. And this area is sacred to the Hopi and other indigenous tribes because the salt extracted here is used in religious ceremonies dating back hundreds of years.

So access to these mines is restricted. The Anasazi Bridge, constructed with pine logs and located over 300 feet above the Colorado River, This is believed to have been used by the ancestral indigenous cultures as a pathway to cross the canyon. However, access, anywhere around this area, is prohibited due to the instability of the red wall limestone. A furnace flats is a site that dates back to 1050 to 1100 AD. It contains a masonry room with a hearth, a ventilation duck, and numerous artifacts. Excavations have uncovered stone tools here and decorated surrounding surrounding. ceramic fragments. The area is closed to the public to protect its integrity as human traffic

could damage the delicate structures. The list goes on. There's the Maricopa Point area, which is a sanctuary for rare plants. The orphan mine was used for uranium extraction until 1969, and this site is closed to the public due to persistent radiation. Another forbidden place is the bass asbestos mine, closed due to the health risks associated with asbestos. And then there's the infamous Egyptian cave as well that Kincaid found. An article published in 1909 in the Arizona Gazette claimed that an expedition discovered this cave with Egyptian mummies and artifacts in the Grand Canyon. While the story has been, as we mentioned, quote-unquote debunked, the area where this cave

was supposedly found is totally restricted. So the bottom line is, there are. are a lot of forbidden zones you can't go to, a lot of different reasons why. And some of you may think that that all makes sense, but many feel like it's a bit of an overreach, that maybe there's more to the story. And still, though, just because a sign tells you not to go somewhere, doesn't mean that everybody listens. And there are a lot of images online of people blatantly ignoring them in stories of crossing a boundary, only to be met by Black Hawk helicopters coming swooping in to warn of imminent danger if you don't turn back.

Obviously, we don't know how many of these stories are real. But one thing we do know for sure is that the number of disappearances in this place has increased over time and they're only getting more frequent. And is there a connection to these canyons, deep secrets, and the strange vanishings? Well, it's very possible. It's vanished without a trace. It's been six months since a San Antonio man went missing at the Grand Canyon. Drake Kramer's family says he loved nature.

And Drake Kramer was a 21-year-old geology student at the University of Texas. And so by all accounts, he was excited to take a visit to the Grand Canyon to check it out with his own two eyes. On January 31st, he registered in at the Bright Angel Lodge, located on the south rim of the park. In the following day, February 1st, 2015, He checked out, and that was the last time anyone saw him again. By February 2nd with still no word, which was unlike him, his family reported him missing. At that point, the National Park Service launched a search and rescue operation, where authorities conducted ground and aerial searches, including the use of canine teams

and technical explorations in hard-to-reach areas. Despite these efforts, though, no trace of Drake has ever been found. And his story does certainly sound strange. I mean, how could a young guy like that just disappear out of the blue? It's not like a lot of time had passed. He literally could only have gotten so far. The only way really he could have vanished in such a way is if perhaps he didn't want to be found.

And as it turns out, that might be the case. And part of the reason why his family was so quick to call for help was because on the day he went missing, he sent a text back to his family members, one that felt very ominous. His last text to his father was cryptic, saying he needed to be back with Mother Earth and set his soul free. If this were the sad case, then maybe he made his way into a very secluded, even off-limits part of the park, on purpose. Maybe one of those unexplored caves, he did the unthinkable. It's hard to know for sure, but it could make sense why no trace of him.

has ever been found. While Drake's story might not be all that mysterious, others are not so clearly cut and dry. Now search and rescue teams take to the skies as the hunt for the missing river guide Morgan Heimer continues in the Grand Canyon. Morgan Hamer, 22-year-old river guide, disappeared on June 2nd of 2015. About 8 p.m. on June 2nd,

our park dispatch received a satellite call, satellite phone call from a commercial river trip, and that trip reported that one of their guides had been missing. At the time, Heimer was an experienced guide and bringing a group of tourists down the river on a fairly routine trip. And this one lasted a few days, so it would make a lot of stops and camp out at night. And one day, he got separated from the group, and by the time when he wasn't realized, well, that was it. He was gone.

It was too late that evening to do any sort of searching. So we did aerial searches yesterday with the helicopter. And today we have three ground teams searching, as well as one team on the river. But no trace of them was ever discovered. The case of Floyd Roberts is another deeply unsettling one. In June of 2016, the 52-year-old separated from his group during a hike on the remote Shibbets Plateau in the western side of the Grand Canyon. During a descent, Roberts fell behind his companions just a little bit.

Something that happens from time to time, but it shouldn't be a big deal. Need catch up while they waited. Only, he never came. And so they doubled back to get him, but by then Floyd was gone. On Saturday afternoon, the National Park Service received a call from a member of Robert's backpacking group. that he was missing. The search and rescue effort for Roberts was one of the largest in the park's history. What makes his case particularly strange is that these guys were in a remote area.

In other words, nobody else was around. You would think there would be some sign of him being there over the course of several days, no matter what happened, and yet there was nothing. The area where Roberts went missing is rugged and covered in thick brush, and it takes several hours for rangers to get in and out. Add in the extreme temperatures and searchers know they are in a race against the clock. Some theorized that Robert succumbed to the harsh conditions and his remains were hidden somehow by the unforgiving terrain.

But others believe he could have encountered someone, or really something, that led to the whole mysterious disappearance. A more recent case involves 66-year-old Martha Overholzer. At this hour, a search underway in the Grand Canyon National Park for a woman who went missing from Mather Point on the South Rim last week. Sixty-six-year-old Martha Overhulzer was last seen. Witnesses reported that she seemed to be enjoying the view before walking west from Mather Point, possibly towards the Bright Angel Lodge or Hermit's Rest. However, when she did not return, an immediate search was initiated. A specialized team scoured the area for days using drones and mapping technology.

but found no trace of her whereabouts. Her disappearance raises serious questions about how somebody could vanish without a trace in such a heavily trafficked tourist area. And there are many, many more stories just like this, and people who are here one minute and gone the next, and nobody ever finding a shred of evidence as to where they went or what happened. It does seem to be a bit odd, there's no question. And so the many strange theories people have as to what's going on is understandable. And there are those who will say it has something to do with the ancient civilization that Kincaid found that's been covered up. That the land itself is alive in a way that we don't understand, which is why they built there in the first place. And this land or the spirits or

the civilization that still lives there in these forbidden zones has something to do with all these people going missing. In the same vein as this idea is the one that has had park rangers noticing something peculiar in recent years. And people who, after taking stones, fossils, or even fragments of plants from the park, going on to experiencing a series of unfortunate events in their lives. And these stories vary, but many claim that those who take souvenirs from the canyon feel as though they are being followed by bad luck or suffer an explicable accident. This phenomenon has become so common that some tourists move by the belief that the

objects they removed or cursed, have returned them to the park, often accompanied by letters apologizing for taking something they now feel has brought the misfortune. Then again, maybe all that's made up of the park rangers themselves in order to deter people from taking things from the canyon, which they strongly urge against. The only history that we know is the one we go discover on our own time. The one that's presented to us is not history. It's all mothers will say that our government in an effort to keep the ancient secrets under wraps has a heavy presence in the canyon that we cannot see, maybe even occupy some of the caves that are decked out in modern tech and tech beyond modern perhaps, like another area 51.

Then there are those who look for a more granted explanation, and those who think that, yeah, the canyon is huge and rocky and very hot and dangerous. But if you go messing around there, then anything can happen. All bets are off. And the very reason people are not found is because this place is so dangerous and cavernous and big, which people forget because of its beauty. The Grand Canyon is absolutely stunning and amazing, and it's hard to know what the truth is about this place.

It is magical, but not necessarily in the ways we talked about. Just in that, if you see it for yourself, it forces you to drop your dead. jaw and awe. It makes the mind wonder, and within all that, fantastical stories can be created to help explain those feelings. The canyon does have secrets. It's been around for millions of years and has seen all sorts of things in its lifetime, and so when you look down into it, you can get a true sense of that and want to know everything that it does. It will make people hike further than they normally would just to see what's around the bend, and I can get you in trouble. It's one of the seven natural wonders because it makes you wonder. And likely, that's why

there's so much mystery surrounding it. And then again, if they were proof of some ancient civilization here, I wouldn't put it past our overlords to keep that secret at all costs. So that's it for this week's episode of Everytown. I hope you all enjoyed it. Check out some more of our right here for exclusive episodes that are dark and you can't find anywhere else, check us out on Patreon for a free trial. Remember to come on back next week for another episode filled with scary, strange, and mysterious stories, because you never know.

Maybe your town will be next.