Lost in Red Pine Forest

On October 12th, 2019, forty-three-year-old Daniel Mercer walked into Red Pine Forest

just after sunrise. He told his wife he was “going back to find something he lost,” but he

never explained what it was. He didn’t bring food. He didn’t bring

his phone. He just stepped into the trees with a flashlight and a strange look—like

he was listening to something she couldn’t hear. By noon, he was reported

missing. Search teams moved quickly. At first, they found simple

clues: Daniel’s footprints, a glove, the cap of his thermos. But the deeper they

went, the more unsettling the forest became. Trees bent inward as if pushed by