The Party

[gentle music] Shortly before 5:00 PM on Wednesday, August 5th, 2020, a woman named Tina Bryson was at work preparing to leave for the day when a text message popped up on her phone that she wasn't expecting.

A young woman named Natalie, who happened to be an ex-girlfriend of Tina's adult son, Michael, had messaged her and asked if she'd heard from Michael recently.

Tina told Natalie that it had been a few days since she'd spoken with her son, and then she asked what was going on.

Natalie then called Tina and told her that she'd been told Michael had gone camping in Umpqua National Forest and had been unaccounted for for about 13 hours.

Right away, Tina was confused and concerned about this news.

She told me that in that moment her heart dropped, and she got this terrible, horrible feeling something wasn't right.

So she quickly left work and went home to speak with her husband, Parrish Bryson.

She told him, like, "Look, we have to get some supplies together, grab some water, pack warm clothing, and get going because apparently our son is missing." Now, the last time Parrish and Tina had seen Michael was two days earlier on Monday, August 3rd.

Parrish told me that he'd come by their house that morning to spend a few hours helping them out in the yard in exchange for some gas money.

Between 11:00 AM and noon, Michael, Tina, Parrish, and Michael's older sister, Krista, hung out and ate a late breakfast together.

Then Michael gathered his stuff and headed out to leave.

He told his parents that he was gonna go camping overnight for a few days at Hobo Camp Campground, but he promised he would be back in touch with them by the end of the week.

He specifically wanted his mom to know that where he was going didn't have cell phone service, so he didn't want them to freak out if they couldn't get ahold of him.

What's interesting is that normally Tina and Krista worked on Mondays, but for some reason that particular day, everyone in the Bryson family happened to be home, which in hindsight for Parrish and Tina is comforting because, you see, when Michael hugged each of them before leaving that day, he told them he loved them, and then he walked out the door.

That was the last time any of them would ever see him again.

A glimmer of insight into what Michael's last known movements had been came from one of his good friends named Ben.

On Monday afternoon, Ben had picked Michael up in Eugene, Oregon, where he lived at the time, and he said that originally Michael's plan was to DJ two music sets at the campground on Monday night and then come home the following morning, Tuesday, August 4th.

Ben said Michael expressed he had plans to attend a completely different music festival that upcoming Friday, so he wanted to get home to prepare for that.

But sometime between Monday night and Tuesday morning, Ben said people at Hobo Camp Campground had convinced Michael to stay another night, so he did.

However, extending their stay required Ben to drive to a nearby town on Tuesday to get some more food and supplies.

When he returned, he said he and Michael partied for several more hours but eventually called it quits early Wednesday morning.

According to Michael's dad, Parrish, Ben said Michael never got around to setting up his tent, so the two guys just fell asleep in the back of a small school bus that was used to transport sound equipment.

At some point, though, after they crashed, Ben said Michael left their bus to join some people who wanted him to party in a larger bus.

That vehicle had been converted into a camper of sorts, with side tables and hammocks where people could hang out.

Now, folks who'd been on that bus told Ben that the last time they'd seen Michael was between 4:00 and 4:30 AM.

[gentle music] Shortly before 5:00 PM on Wednesday, August 5th, 2020, a woman named Tina Bryson was at work preparing to leave for the day when a text message popped up on her phone that she wasn't expecting.

A young woman named Natalie, who happened to be an ex-girlfriend of Tina's adult son, Michael, had messaged her and asked if she'd heard from Michael recently.

Tina told Natalie that it had been a few days since she'd spoken with her son, and then she asked what was going on.

Natalie then called Tina and told her that she'd been told Michael had gone camping in Umpqua National Forest and had been unaccounted for for about 13 hours.

Right away, Tina was confused and concerned about this news.

She told me that in that moment her heart dropped, and she got this terrible, horrible feeling something wasn't right.

So she quickly left work and went home to speak with her husband, Parrish Bryson.

She told him, like, "Look, we have to get some supplies together, grab some water, pack warm clothing, and get going because apparently our son is missing." Now, the last time Parrish and Tina had seen Michael was two days earlier on Monday, August 3rd.

Parrish told me that he'd come by their house that morning to spend a few hours helping them out in the yard in exchange for some gas money.

Between 11:00 AM and noon, Michael, Tina, Parrish, and Michael's older sister, Krista, hung out and ate a late breakfast together.

Then Michael gathered his stuff and headed out to leave.

He told his parents that he was gonna go camping overnight for a few days at Hobo Camp Campground, but he promised he would be back in touch with them by the end of the week.

He specifically wanted his mom to know that where he was going didn't have cell phone service, so he didn't want them to freak out if they couldn't get ahold of him.

What's interesting is that normally Tina and Krista worked on Mondays, but for some reason that particular day, everyone in the Bryson family happened to be home, which in hindsight for Parrish and Tina is comforting because, you see, when Michael hugged each of them before leaving that day, he told them he loved them, and then he walked out the door.

That was the last time any of them would ever see him again.

A glimmer of insight into what Michael's last known movements had been came from one of his good friends named Ben.

On Monday afternoon, Ben had picked Michael up in Eugene, Oregon, where he lived at the time, and he said that originally Michael's plan was to DJ two music sets at the campground on Monday night and then come home the following morning, Tuesday, August 4th.

Ben said Michael expressed he had plans to attend a completely different music festival that upcoming Friday, so he wanted to get home to prepare for that.

But sometime between Monday night and Tuesday morning, Ben said people at Hobo Camp Campground had convinced Michael to stay another night, so he did.

However, extending their stay required Ben to drive to a nearby town on Tuesday to get some more food and supplies.

When he returned, he said he and Michael partied for several more hours but eventually called it quits early Wednesday morning.

According to Michael's dad, Parrish, Ben said Michael never got around to setting up his tent, so the two guys just fell asleep in the back of a small school bus that was used to transport sound equipment.

At some point, though, after they crashed, Ben said Michael left their bus to join some people who wanted him to party in a larger bus.

That vehicle had been converted into a camper of sorts, with side tables and hammocks where people could hang out.

Now, folks who'd been on that bus told Ben that the last time they'd seen Michael was between 4:00 and 4:30 AM.