UPDATE FEB. 10, 2022: Bill Ewasko's remains have been found. When more information becomes available I will post an update to this video. z1077fm.com/body-found-in-joshua-tree-national-park-thought-to-be-man-reported-missing-12-years-ago/
Your series on this case was so interesting. I wish you could do more cases like this! More people have gone missing (some have been found) since this gentleman, but it would even be fascinating to trace their steps as you have for this case as a tribute to their final days.
I've thought about doing that, it's difficult in that I no longer live in the United States. I did very nearly do one for Bryce Laspisa, who went missing in Castaic, but after a close look at the evidence I decided it most probably was a walk off disappearance and wasn't really worth doing. One web series that occasionally does that is The Missing Enigma. The guy that narrates it is extremely intelligent and logical. From the outside it looks like a tiresome "Bigfoot took the hikers" channel but it's the complete opposite. I recommend it; they were also very helpful putting together Episode 48 by letting me see the park report.
@karmafrog1 That's understandable given that you are far away now...yes the Bryce Laspisa case is so fascinating and sad for the family, but I'm sure you could have made a really intriguing series about him, too. Yes, Missing Enigma's videos are excellent and well researched. However, your videos really go into detail with regards to the mindset of the person who has gone missing, retracing their exact steps at the location where they disappeared or perished. I live in the Joshua Tree area, and your series has inspired me to do some hiking in that region of the park. The deceptive allure of the desert is calling...great job on the videos!
@@kittycorraler2705 Thank you! The missing Dutch girls in Panama is a path I've always thought about retracing, and it fits in with the international theme of the show. I might still do it one day.
Hey man saw the Reddit post. I've been reading about disappearances for years and Bill certainly has me Intrigued. The amount of work that's gone into finding him with absolutely zero results is astonishing. Please keep these up. One day you may find someone. If you can bring closure to even one family, that would be amazing. Bless.
LOL one day I may find someone even if it's not the person I'm looking for! Seriously, appreciate your watching and there are more determined and more able people taking up the search, which is great. After a broken ankle a few years ago I'm leery of rock-hopping in Joshua Tree anymore. I may have aged out of this pursuit.
The 411 cases are very intriguing. I hope that Bill is eventually found and the mystery is solved. Confusing signs, for sure. Thanks for sharing your hike with us👍💕😊
This is a fantastic video. Im from the UK and we have National Parks but not as vast as what you guys have got out there. Im am intrigued by what happens to people who just disappear off the face of the earth, so to say. We have a small cluster in Scotland around The Ring of Steall where two guys disappeared without trace. Its not a big problem over here like it is out there but there is more porential get lost as your NPs are so huge. Most people who disappear over here in the UK are usually found alive or deceased from exposure or accident but we do have a handful of cases that just dont add up like Tom McMorrow who disappeared in Glenridding. I like your approach and hey you are doing great getting out there, especially in these strange restrictive times. I would not like to form an opinion of what happened to Bill but if I wss to offer one, I think he could have got confused on the trials or he met with foul play. Its hard and i do hope something turns up. Your video is fantastic and keep at it.
Thank you so much and check out some other shows in the series! This is the only one about a mysterious disappearance, but maybe you'll find something else you'll like. Appreciate your watching so much!
We found the same thing you did with the signs. Trails going every which way - hiking, jeep, or maybe even game trails. What looked like a well used trail would suddenly peter out and you'd be left standing in the middle of no trail at all except for the one behind you or you might see a smaller trail heading off in another direction. And in such an unforgiving environment. We had always hiked in the mountains so the desert was a totally new experience. We came across another pair of hikers who had just made it back to their car from a completely different direction than the original trail from the parking area. They had been lost and were kind of panicked but very, very relieved to have made it back to their car. WTH with the signage?
I assume it was different 10 years ago, but I was taken aback how different this walk was from what I expected...and this is after years of studying this case.
@@fantasyEXX Hi, the question in the video was there was a discrepancy between the trail marked on the map and the one marked in real life, and if you were following the one that was marked, a key turn was not signed in any way. Sorry if I did not make that clear enough.
Just saw the update that Bill may have been found - thoughts and prayers for his loved ones, and everyone involved in the search for him. Thanks for your efforts, Adam!
One day someone will find Bill. It may be mysterious now but when they do, we'll be kicking ourselves at how obvious it was! That's what I think, anyway.
This is fantastic...I’ve been following this story and the search for years and it’s enlightening to put some places and a faces to what I’ve read. Like many others, I would love to visit the park one day and have the chance to stumble across the answer to this mystery. Thanks for your work on this!
I really enjoyed this video. (Found too by the reddit post) I liked hearing your personal story as a part of the story telling and that’s amazing you did many hikes there also. I’ve read lots of the articles but seeing actual video of the area and retracing his (possible) steps really puts everything into perspective. Its just completely baffling and fascinating at the same time.
Enjoyed that Adam - thanks. Like you, thanks to Tom, I fell down the rabbit hole a couple of years back and got fascinated by the story and keep checking back on the San Jacinto Forum every so often to see if there's been any developments which is where I came across your video. Although I'd checked out the area on Google Earth and seen still photos posted on the Forum your video brought out just easy it would be to just wander off the trail 50 feet and not be seen thanks to the scrub and undulating terrain. Back in March I was planning a holiday to the States and had included a slight detour to visit the famous car park , that's been delayed thanks to Covid, but still hope to do it one day, but your video has slightly scratched the itch until then.
Hey Alan! Great to hear that! If you need another virtual holiday, check some of the other shows in the series. We go (and will go again) all over the world.
Great summary! A couple of thoughts: he was from out of town, therefore may have been of a mind to take greater risks as he might not have wanted to “waste” part of his vacation. Also, 95% sure that sign wasn’t there 10 years ago.
Hi Adam! Thank you for this video and extension of the mystery. Do you have somewhere where you keep the search trail maps like the one you showed on the screen at 17:11? Now that I'm so far invested in this, I'd really love to see the search trails, especially after driving around in Joshua Tree and other National Parks & Monuments last week and being astonished by how confusing the wash systems make roads appear!
Hi Jillian! The keeper of the trail maps and all things Ewasko is Tom Mahood at his site www.otherhand.org. This direct link should start you down a rabbit hole from which you may never reppear! www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/searching-for-bill-ewasko/ Thanks for watching and I hope you'll stick around!
@@karmafrog1 Thanks! I've been living on his website for the past few days after reading all about his work with the German family! I am wondering if other folks have added to search areas since he stopped recording his - but perhaps if they have, they can contact him to have him update it? But that could be a lot of work. Whew! If I lived closer I'd be out to help search too.
@@skrillian There are people still looking, one gentleman in particular who recently just reached out to me has done stellar work. I haven't been in touch with Tom for some time but it does appear he's no longer accepting search tracks for his site (though I don't know this for a fact). The best place to keep track of recent searches is an online message board called the Mt. San Jacinto Outdoor Recreation Board. In fact (since I typed the above) Tom Mahood and I just traded comments there about the current video, so it's worth a look. www.mtsanjacinto.info/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=3554
Nice to see you out hiking again. I've been to JT, a few years ago, but just visited all the main sites along the major roads in both the higher & lower sections. Did some stargazing late one night. I'd never heard of Bill. Interesting mystery. Good show all around, Adam.
Excellent video, thanks for sharing! Saw you on an old reddit thread and followed the link to here. As someone who has spent years working in the deserts of eastern CA, this kinda thing always hits a little too close to home. JOTR is a beautiful place and while not as wild or remote as many other regions of eastern CA, is still not a place to mess with. This is such a strange case. The car turning up a few days later is just too odd to wave away especially because the ranger checked not once, but twice! The cellphone ping, lack of water, the immense and thorough SAR effort that found nothing, how he told no one were he was headed, even going to JOTR at all in the summer just seems like... something else. Perhaps I'd rather believe that for my own peace of mind, as the idea of being lost like that is terrifying but I dunno. Speculation is in rather poor taste so I'll just say prayers for his loved ones and thank you for your effort in trying to find him.
It’s likely a matter of small coincidences that made this into a much bigger mystery. I think too much emphasis has been placed on the cell phone ping. Tom seems to have put a lot of good work into what is probable, and with no signs of Bill in that area, that single ping should be thrown out.
The car being “missing”. Again, the likelihood that some nefarious person(s) moved it is less probable than a tired ranger missed it or a negligent ranger didn’t even look. The kind of legal hell that would be brought on the NPS by the family if this is the case would probably mean nobody was fess up should this be true.
So rule out magic/Bigfoot/aliens. It’s not Lilly he would have tried to disappear. After this long something would have turned up proving this. A criminal act is also not likely. A massive search would have drawn much more attention. With so much remote land, a National Park isn’t the ideal place for evil business.
Bill probably got back to his car after a heck of a hike. Over exerted himself. Stepped 30 feet away from the parking lot to relive himself and dropped. With that other Mahood case of the guy who walked across the salt flat only to be found near a parking lot on the other side, it’s more likely Bill met a similar fate.
Having been following this story for pretty much the whole last 10 years I think that yeah, the car misnomers, the bizarre cell phone ping at least a day (if not more) after Bill would have otherwise been completely immobilized by exposure, even if he hadn't suffered any injuries, it seems patently to me obvious he's not there. He did this intentionally, he knows where he is, he knows why he had to do this, and maybe someday some really clever detective will find those things out and we will know too. But probably not. Wherever you are Bill I hope you're happy and well.
On one trip to Smith Water Canyon years ago (with a friend), we actually saw another hiker only 50 meters from us heading in the same direction. It was extremely weird since that's not a heavily traveled area and for some reason I told her to hide and not make our presence known. As he went past I saw that he looked astonishingly like Bill himself. I'm not saying it *was* Bill. If he is still alive seems like it's about the last place he'd show up. Just seemed like a fun place to tell that story. A part of this film that I decided to cut out is this quote: "It wouldn't surprise me if Bill is found 50 feet away from somewhere we already searched...or 50 feet away from me in a bar in southeast Asia." And that's where I stand on it. I can't fault your reasoning, just out of respect for his family, I don't go there. But I can tell you this: nobody's looking for him anywhere other than JTNP.
Well that's entirely creepy, for all we know Bill may be *living* somewhere in Smith Water! Or, it may have been his shade. Actually, that seems more likely; if you see what you'd typically think is an ordinary hiker, but your instantaneous reaction is "OMG hide!" pretty clear indication something weird's going on. Anyway, a million thanks to yourself and all the other searchers who have done so much to try to put this mystery to rest!
@@karmafrog1 I used to use Ryan Mtn trail as a fitness workout. I went almost every day that I wasn’t working in 2008-2009. I would often go at sunset because it was less crowded. I would see people heading down while I went up but never saw anyone on my way down. One time I rounded a corner and was face to face with a guy in all black leather with long hair and jewelry. He didn’t look like a hiker and something about him gave me the creeps. I got past him and ran all the way to the bottom falling and skinning my knees along the way. I got to the parking lot to find my truck and a beautiful touring motorcycle with saddle bags and a bed roll. I felt kind of stupid for panicking, although you never know….
I have a chronic neck condition and a head rest pushes my head forward, which aggravates it on long drives, causing headaches, nausea and drowsiness. So i really have to ditch it or feel miserable all day.
@@karmafrog1 there has to be some way you can rig a head rest to allow your neck and head the motion you need though. The absence of a head rest is very dangerous in accidents.
UPDATE FEB. 10, 2022: Bill Ewasko's remains have been found. When more information becomes available I will post an update to this video.
z1077fm.com/body-found-in-joshua-tree-national-park-thought-to-be-man-reported-missing-12-years-ago/
Your series on this case was so interesting. I wish you could do more cases like this! More people have gone missing (some have been found) since this gentleman, but it would even be fascinating to trace their steps as you have for this case as a tribute to their final days.
I've thought about doing that, it's difficult in that I no longer live in the United States. I did very nearly do one for Bryce Laspisa, who went missing in Castaic, but after a close look at the evidence I decided it most probably was a walk off disappearance and wasn't really worth doing. One web series that occasionally does that is The Missing Enigma. The guy that narrates it is extremely intelligent and logical. From the outside it looks like a tiresome "Bigfoot took the hikers" channel but it's the complete opposite. I recommend it; they were also very helpful putting together Episode 48 by letting me see the park report.
@karmafrog1 That's understandable given that you are far away now...yes the Bryce Laspisa case is so fascinating and sad for the family, but I'm sure you could have made a really intriguing series about him, too. Yes, Missing Enigma's videos are excellent and well researched. However, your videos really go into detail with regards to the mindset of the person who has gone missing, retracing their exact steps at the location where they disappeared or perished. I live in the Joshua Tree area, and your series has inspired me to do some hiking in that region of the park. The deceptive allure of the desert is calling...great job on the videos!
@@kittycorraler2705 Thank you! The missing Dutch girls in Panama is a path I've always thought about retracing, and it fits in with the international theme of the show. I might still do it one day.
Loved this one Adam!
Hey man saw the Reddit post. I've been reading about disappearances for years and Bill certainly has me Intrigued. The amount of work that's gone into finding him with absolutely zero results is astonishing. Please keep these up. One day you may find someone. If you can bring closure to even one family, that would be amazing. Bless.
LOL one day I may find someone even if it's not the person I'm looking for! Seriously, appreciate your watching and there are more determined and more able people taking up the search, which is great. After a broken ankle a few years ago I'm leery of rock-hopping in Joshua Tree anymore. I may have aged out of this pursuit.
The 411 cases are very intriguing. I hope that Bill is eventually found and the mystery is solved. Confusing signs, for sure. Thanks for sharing your hike with us👍💕😊
This is a fantastic video. Im from the UK and we have National Parks but not as vast as what you guys have got out there. Im am intrigued by what happens to people who just disappear off the face of the earth, so to say. We have a small cluster in Scotland around The Ring of Steall where two guys disappeared without trace. Its not a big problem over here like it is out there but there is more porential get lost as your NPs are so huge. Most people who disappear over here in the UK are usually found alive or deceased from exposure or accident but we do have a handful of cases that just dont add up like Tom McMorrow who disappeared in Glenridding.
I like your approach and hey you are doing great getting out there, especially in these strange restrictive times. I would not like to form an opinion of what happened to Bill but if I wss to offer one, I think he could have got confused on the trials or he met with foul play. Its hard and i do hope something turns up.
Your video is fantastic and keep at it.
Thank you so much and check out some other shows in the series! This is the only one about a mysterious disappearance, but maybe you'll find something else you'll like.
Appreciate your watching so much!
Subscribed
We found the same thing you did with the signs. Trails going every which way - hiking, jeep, or maybe even game trails. What looked like a well used trail would suddenly peter out and you'd be left standing in the middle of no trail at all except for the one behind you or you might see a smaller trail heading off in another direction. And in such an unforgiving environment. We had always hiked in the mountains so the desert was a totally new experience. We came across another pair of hikers who had just made it back to their car from a completely different direction than the original trail from the parking area. They had been lost and were kind of panicked but very, very relieved to have made it back to their car. WTH with the signage?
I assume it was different 10 years ago, but I was taken aback how different this walk was from what I expected...and this is after years of studying this case.
@@fantasyEXX Hi, the question in the video was there was a discrepancy between the trail marked on the map and the one marked in real life, and if you were following the one that was marked, a key turn was not signed in any way. Sorry if I did not make that clear enough.
Thanks for the video. Speaking of Tom Mahood, any idea why he stopped updating his website? (Not just the hunt for Bill.)
None. My best guess, based on an only glancing knowledge of the man, is he just stopped feeling like doing it and got interested in something else.
Just saw the update that Bill may have been found - thoughts and prayers for his loved ones, and everyone involved in the search for him. Thanks for your efforts, Adam!
One day someone will find Bill. It may be mysterious now but when they do, we'll be kicking ourselves at how obvious it was! That's what I think, anyway.
Very possibly true!
Exactly.
This is fantastic...I’ve been following this story and the search for years and it’s enlightening to put some places and a faces to what I’ve read. Like many others, I would love to visit the park one day and have the chance to stumble across the answer to this mystery. Thanks for your work on this!
You are very welcome!
I really enjoyed this video. (Found too by the reddit post) I liked hearing your personal story as a part of the story telling and that’s amazing you did many hikes there also. I’ve read lots of the articles but seeing actual video of the area and retracing his (possible) steps really puts everything into perspective. Its just completely baffling and fascinating at the same time.
Thank you so much Kathleen.
Enjoyed that Adam - thanks. Like you, thanks to Tom, I fell down the rabbit hole a couple of years back and got fascinated by the story and keep checking back on the San Jacinto Forum every so often to see if there's been any developments which is where I came across your video. Although I'd checked out the area on Google Earth and seen still photos posted on the Forum your video brought out just easy it would be to just wander off the trail 50 feet and not be seen thanks to the scrub and undulating terrain. Back in March I was planning a holiday to the States and had included a slight detour to visit the famous car park , that's been delayed thanks to Covid, but still hope to do it one day, but your video has slightly scratched the itch until then.
Hey Alan! Great to hear that!
If you need another virtual holiday, check some of the other shows in the series. We go (and will go again) all over the world.
I was waiting to see your reaction when you reached for the CD player, only to find that new models only have Sirius XM now! Good one, good sir.
Great episode, Adam! Really finely put together! Excellent!
Hey Adam! Glad to see you were able to get back out to JTNP to look for Bill.
LOL I got scared I'd accidentally released the video early!
Great summary! A couple of thoughts: he was from out of town, therefore may have been of a mind to take greater risks as he might not have wanted to “waste” part of his vacation. Also, 95% sure that sign wasn’t there 10 years ago.
Yeah, it's more like 100% on the sign! Very recent addition.
Hi Adam, Mamo here, admin of the facebook group "Travel vlog". Thanks for posting your video there, keep up the good work. Just subscribed.
Thank you!!
@@karmafrog1 no problem
Hi Adam! Thank you for this video and extension of the mystery.
Do you have somewhere where you keep the search trail maps like the one you showed on the screen at 17:11? Now that I'm so far invested in this, I'd really love to see the search trails, especially after driving around in Joshua Tree and other National Parks & Monuments last week and being astonished by how confusing the wash systems make roads appear!
Hi Jillian!
The keeper of the trail maps and all things Ewasko is Tom Mahood at his site www.otherhand.org. This direct link should start you down a rabbit hole from which you may never reppear!
www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/searching-for-bill-ewasko/
Thanks for watching and I hope you'll stick around!
@@karmafrog1 Thanks! I've been living on his website for the past few days after reading all about his work with the German family! I am wondering if other folks have added to search areas since he stopped recording his - but perhaps if they have, they can contact him to have him update it? But that could be a lot of work. Whew! If I lived closer I'd be out to help search too.
@@skrillian There are people still looking, one gentleman in particular who recently just reached out to me has done stellar work. I haven't been in touch with Tom for some time but it does appear he's no longer accepting search tracks for his site (though I don't know this for a fact).
The best place to keep track of recent searches is an online message board called the Mt. San Jacinto Outdoor Recreation Board. In fact (since I typed the above) Tom Mahood and I just traded comments there about the current video, so it's worth a look. www.mtsanjacinto.info/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=3554
Great video! Man why don't you have more subscribers.. Keep up the good work!!
Thank you! I think people just are drawn to shorter, simpler videos...I appreciate the comment so much!
Nice to see you out hiking again. I've been to JT, a few years ago, but just visited all the main sites along the major roads in both the higher & lower sections. Did some stargazing late one night. I'd never heard of Bill. Interesting mystery. Good show all around, Adam.
Excellent video, thanks for sharing! Saw you on an old reddit thread and followed the link to here.
As someone who has spent years working in the deserts of eastern CA, this kinda thing always hits a little too close to home. JOTR is a beautiful place and while not as wild or remote as many other regions of eastern CA, is still not a place to mess with. This is such a strange case. The car turning up a few days later is just too odd to wave away especially because the ranger checked not once, but twice! The cellphone ping, lack of water, the immense and thorough SAR effort that found nothing, how he told no one were he was headed, even going to JOTR at all in the summer just seems like... something else. Perhaps I'd rather believe that for my own peace of mind, as the idea of being lost like that is terrifying but I dunno. Speculation is in rather poor taste so I'll just say prayers for his loved ones and thank you for your effort in trying to find him.
All good points and thank you so much for watching.
It’s likely a matter of small coincidences that made this into a much bigger mystery.
I think too much emphasis has been placed on the cell phone ping. Tom seems to have put a lot of good work into what is probable, and with no signs of Bill in that area, that single ping should be thrown out.
The car being “missing”. Again, the likelihood that some nefarious person(s) moved it is less probable than a tired ranger missed it or a negligent ranger didn’t even look. The kind of legal hell that would be brought on the NPS by the family if this is the case would probably mean nobody was fess up should this be true.
So rule out magic/Bigfoot/aliens. It’s not Lilly he would have tried to disappear. After this long something would have turned up proving this.
A criminal act is also not likely. A massive search would have drawn much more attention. With so much remote land, a National Park isn’t the ideal place for evil business.
Bill probably got back to his car after a heck of a hike. Over exerted himself. Stepped 30 feet away from the parking lot to relive himself and dropped.
With that other Mahood case of the guy who walked across the salt flat only to be found near a parking lot on the other side, it’s more likely Bill met a similar fate.
Great mini doc Adam! UFO abduction maybe?
Oh I'm sure some will suggest that. I'd rather keep my feet on the ground, although some might suggest my U-Haul theory was only slightly less wacky.
@@karmafrog1 There is NO ground.
@@TheManInBlueFlames Sweet
Gopher Snake at 13 22
Having been following this story for pretty much the whole last 10 years I think that yeah, the car misnomers, the bizarre cell phone ping at least a day (if not more) after Bill would have otherwise been completely immobilized by exposure, even if he hadn't suffered any injuries, it seems patently to me obvious he's not there. He did this intentionally, he knows where he is, he knows why he had to do this, and maybe someday some really clever detective will find those things out and we will know too. But probably not. Wherever you are Bill I hope you're happy and well.
On one trip to Smith Water Canyon years ago (with a friend), we actually saw another hiker only 50 meters from us heading in the same direction. It was extremely weird since that's not a heavily traveled area and for some reason I told her to hide and not make our presence known. As he went past I saw that he looked astonishingly like Bill himself.
I'm not saying it *was* Bill. If he is still alive seems like it's about the last place he'd show up. Just seemed like a fun place to tell that story.
A part of this film that I decided to cut out is this quote: "It wouldn't surprise me if Bill is found 50 feet away from somewhere we already searched...or 50 feet away from me in a bar in southeast Asia." And that's where I stand on it. I can't fault your reasoning, just out of respect for his family, I don't go there. But I can tell you this: nobody's looking for him anywhere other than JTNP.
Well that's entirely creepy, for all we know Bill may be *living* somewhere in Smith Water! Or, it may have been his shade. Actually, that seems more likely; if you see what you'd typically think is an ordinary hiker, but your instantaneous reaction is "OMG hide!" pretty clear indication something weird's going on. Anyway, a million thanks to yourself and all the other searchers who have done so much to try to put this mystery to rest!
@@karmafrog1 I used to use Ryan Mtn trail as a fitness workout. I went almost every day that I wasn’t working in 2008-2009. I would often go at sunset because it was less crowded. I would see people heading down while I went up but never saw anyone on my way down. One time I rounded a corner and was face to face with a guy in all black leather with long hair and jewelry. He didn’t look like a hiker and something about him gave me the creeps. I got past him and ran all the way to the bottom falling and skinning my knees along the way. I got to the parking lot to find my truck and a beautiful touring motorcycle with saddle bags and a bed roll. I felt kind of stupid for panicking, although you never know….
*THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE THEORY IS REAL!!!*
If only I could walk there we could find out
Your drivers seat was missing the head rest! Dangerous if you get rear ended!!! Sorry I don’t mean to nag like a momma lol
I have a chronic neck condition and a head rest pushes my head forward, which aggravates it on long drives, causing headaches, nausea and drowsiness. So i really have to ditch it or feel miserable all day.
@@karmafrog1 there has to be some way you can rig a head rest to allow your neck and head the motion you need though. The absence of a head rest is very dangerous in accidents.
@@karmafrog1 I wonder if you could bend the posts of the head rest so it leans back a little
@@WeekendsOutsideFL In my own car, perhaps, but not in a rental I have for a few days.
@@karmafrog1 yeah they would probably not enjay such modifications lol