Pre-Statement
Statement of Lawrence Mortimer, regarding his hunting trip to Blue Ridge, Virginia.
Case Number
0100912
Audio By
Author
Date of Statement
2010-10-09
Date of Event
2010-11-30 - 2011-12-01
Locations
- Blue Ridge, Virigina
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Release Date
2016-08-11
Statement
Lawrence Mortimer has, for a long time, wanted to go on a hunt for the sense of adventure and thrill of a real adventure. When he turned 50 he decided to do it, organising a trip to the Appalachian Trail in Virginia, with Arden Neeli who lived in Richmond. Lawrence took a Winchester M70, and Arden took a Remington 673. They originally met on a sceptics board.
The first day was unsuccessful and as they set up camp they heard someone whistling ‘A-Hunting We Shall Go’. A man, who was not suitably dressed for hiking, emerged from the trees whistling. The hunters asked if the man needed help, to which he replied no. As the man left them, he seemed to sniff them, saying “Tomorrow will be a good day for a run”, or similar. Later that night Lawrence believed that he heard laughing outside his tent.
The next day, after a day of hunting, Lawrence found an Elk. As he aimed for the beast he heard another gunshot go off and turned to see that Arden had disappeared. He found him a few minutes later in a clearing with his throat torn out and covered in blood and Lawrence dropped his rifle to check Arden’s pulse. He was dead. Lawrence heard that same whistling and saw the man emerge with his right arm covered in blood. He dashed forwards and Lawrence fled.
Lawrence ran clumsily through the woods, eventually stopping to catch his breath. Half an hour after sunset he heard the whistling again, and ran eventually being directed to the clearing that Arden had been left in. The man appeared and Lawrence saw him in the moonlight: everything appeared sharper, his skin, fingers, eyes. He was reminded of a werewolf from ‘The Duchess of Malfi’. The creature swung a lazy strike, which Lawrence was able to deflect, thanks to his R.A.F. training, and was able to pick up his rifle and empty both his and Arden’s clips into the thing. The gunshots were painful to the creature, but not lethal, and he shot it in the heart and head multiple times, and it began to painfully extract the bullets from itself, incapacitated by injury. Lawrence fled and was able to be picked up by the park rangers. They recovered Arden’s body a few days later.
Post-Statement Follow-Up
Jonathan Sims was able to confirm that Arden’s body was recovered on the 1st December 2010 and his death was ruled an animal attack.