I mean, we go up that road, straight to the lake and we parked right at the lake.Īnd the old guys literally walked down that road in hundred yard increments. SID: I messaged that we had state land there. Someone made the decision to hunt over by Brant Lake. Kind of just a two-hour thing until evening and we were going to go back to camp and hunt around the camp until dark.ĭAVID: How many guys went up there that day? We were doing just kind of a quick thing.Īlmost lunchtime by the time we ended up going up there. SID: You know, it always pops into your mind. ROB: In fact, it was probably one of his better days I had seen in a long time.ĭidn't seem to even have an ache or pain in him that day. How would you describe your dad's judgment? Out in the woods, we might have a beer or something like that. So, the day when you guys went hunting, did you guys drink when you hunt? Would Tom be the kind of guy who would drink a lot or. He was sort of blind, it wasn't really that great, but he could actually see out of it. I mean, he had a lot of issues over the years, but it never really seemed to slow him down or anything. So, he would say to these kids, 'This is what happens if you're not careful.' He had a 159 stitches in his hand and he lost his eye that way. He taught my hunting class for me to get my hunting license.īEVERLY: He had gunpowder blow up in his face, and that's how he lost. He probably taught every one of the kids around here. ROB: We got a camp up North, not far from Brant Lake, for about a week every year.Ī bunch of guys get together and go hunting.īEVERLY: He taught hunter training for a long time. It was always there because my father always hunted and fished. So, what was your introduction to the outdoors? We all got the same vacation in Norton, so we all took off and went to different places like that. Yeah, we both had trailers in which we used to go trailing all the time, come to think of it.

I knew him probably about 55 years or somewhere around there.ĭAVID: What did you guys like to do together? 'cause he used to work in Norton with me. What did you guys like to do as a family?Īnd the boys loved it and, you know, I was kind of the outsider because they were boys and they hunted and fished and did those things. When I was digging it out, I looked up at him, he had a cup of coffee in his hand and I said, 'Why don't we get a backhoe?' We lifted the house up, put a foundation under it. He was kinda, 'Do what you got to go to get things done.' He loved being in the woods.īEVERLY: He was a very good husband, very good father.Īnd I don't think you will find anybody who ever met him who didn't like him.ĭAVID: And how many kids did you guys have? So, the million dollar question is, why would the FBI arrive on Tom Messick's case? There's a sub-category for the FBI, that they can become involved in the disappearance of extremely young children under a certain set of criteria. One of the most perplexing cases I've examined involves a hunter named Thomas Messick, who in 2015, went missing in North-East New York.ĭAVID: For people who don't know, the FBI doesn't investigate missing adults. Generally speaking, hunters are very experienced, aware, and knowledgeable outdoorsmen.Īnd so, when one vanishes, you know something unusual has occurred. While these cases involve people of all ages and all walks of life, I've chosen to present some of the most intriguing cases involving hunters. I immediately began looking into the phenomenon.Įight years and eight books later, I've now researched 1200 cases that fit the profile we are about to examine. They described strange circumstances over the years involving missing hikers. DAVID: My name is Dave Paulides and I'm a former police detective and current investigative author focused primarily on mysterious disappearances in the North American wilderness.ĭAVID: My journey into the disappearances began when I was visiting a national park and was approached by two park rangers who knew I was an author.

Missing 411 the hunted