An Extremely Disturbing Camping Story

today's episode is a very creepy and

highly disturbing camping story but

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let's get into today's

[Music]

story on the afternoon of May 6th 2008 a

54-year-old man called Ricky Williams

stood on the River Bank casting out his

line into the Waters of dismal Creek in

Western Virginia Ricky was hoping to get

lucky and catch some trout but he'd been

out here fishing for 30 minutes so far

and there were no bites normally Ricky

wouldn't care because he loved just

fishing for hours and hours at a time

but today he and his dog who was right

with him were really hungry because

they'd been out in these Woods camping

for several weeks now and their food

supply was finally dwindling down to the

end and so if they didn't catch any fish

today they might not eat now for context

where Ricky was fishing dismal Creek

despite its Bleak name it was actually a

beautiful secluded spot on top of a

mountain that was on the Appalachian

Trail the Appalachian Trail is a very

famous 2200m long trail that runs up and

down the east coast of the United States

and why that is relevant is because

there's this special code for people

that hike on the Appalachian Trail and

the code which all hikers know is

basically if you come across another

hiker on the Appalachian Trail it is

your responsibility to help them if they

need help and it is their respons

responsibility to help you if you need

help so it's this community of hikers

that are always looking to help each

other and so Ricky was very aware of

this code on the Appalachian Trail and

he was secretly hoping as he cast his

line over and over again and didn't get

any bites that a hiker or a group of

hikers might come by this area and maybe

they would see him and come down and

learn that he needed food and they might

just give him some of their food but

another half hour passed and no hikers

came by and still Ricky could not catch

any f but then suddenly Ricky's dog who

was right next to him began to whine and

kind of began shifting around like it

was sensing a predator in the area or

something but as Ricky was trying to

calm his dog down he began to hear a

voice in the woods right behind him

somebody was moving towards him and when

Ricky heard this voice on the one hand

he was pretty excited because maybe this

is a hiker who can give him some food

but on the other hand Ricky couldn't

help but feel really uneasy now you need

to understand that Ricky was an older

guy he was kind of frail and over over

the past few weeks that he'd been

camping with his dog you know as his

food supply had run down he had become

skinnier and skinnier and skinnier and

so he really did not pose any sort of

threat to anybody he's like this weak

older man now generally speaking the

Appalachian Trail was a very safe place

but over the last few decades there had

actually been several murders that took

place on the Appalachian Trail and in

fact one of those killings took place

less than 2 miles away from where Ricky

was fishing with his dog and in that

double homicide a very well-known killer

named Randall Lee Smith had stabbed and

shot to death two hikers and so while

Ricky was really looking for help from

fellow hikers at the same time he

couldn't help but feel somewhat

apprehensive because again Ricky was

like this small frail guy and Ricky was

well aware of these murders and he was

well aware of the fact that he was super

close to one of the murder sites and so

Ricky was totally on edge as he's

listening to this male voice get closer

and closer and then finally this man in

his early 30s steps out from the tree

line and he looks over and he sees Ricky

and for a second the two men just kind

of look at each other but then this guy

just grinned at Ricky and said hey how

you doing and immediately Ricky felt

relieved because he could tell just from

looking at this guy that very likely he

was not a threat the man introduced

himself as Scott Johnston and he told

Ricky he was actually camping in the

area with a friend of his and they were

out here fishing just like Ricky and

Ricky pretty much immediately said oh

great nice to meet you do you have any

food for me and Scott was like

absolutely and he dug into his bag that

he had with him and he pulled out a

couple energy bars and a bag of chips

and he threw them over to Ricky and he

also gave some fresh bait to Ricky so he

too could cast out again and for the

next couple of hours Scott and Ricky

just stood on the river bank and fished

together and after a while the trout did

start biting and they did start catching

fish so the day kind of turned into a

great outing for Ricky and it got even

better because as soon as the men were

done fishing Scott asked Ricky if he

wanted to join him and his friend back

up at the camp site for dinner and

remember Ricky had no food so this was

an amazing invitation and he said yes of

course I'd love to join you so the two

men packed up their stuff right as the

sun was going down and then they began

walking back into the forest where Scott

had emerged from and as they were

walking Scott's fishing pole got tangled

on a low hanging branch and he was

really struggling to get it out of the

tree and so finally he just told Ricky

to you know go on ahead my campsite is

right up there it's a straight shot just

go up the hill and you'll see it Ricky

asked Scott he was sure and Scott said

no it's totally fine go ahead so Ricky

said okay and he walked the rest of the

way up the hill and then when he walked

out of the tree line into the clearing

where Scott's campsite was immediately

what Ricky noticed was this enormous man

who was like twice the size of Scott and

so four times the size of Ricky kind of

hunched over the campfire and this huge

man who presumably was Scott's friend he

heard Ricky walk into the circle and

remember it's nighttime and they're kind

of in the middle of nowhere and so this

guy he turns his head around and sees

this strange man just standing there and

Scott's nowhere to be found and so this

guy he grabs a club like a piece of wood

and he looks at Ricky kind of menacingly

like what are you doing here and Ricky

who was so caught off guard by just how

big this guy was he put his hands up and

he said I'm so sorry Scott sent me up

here I don't know if this is the right

sight I'm sorry but just at that moment

Scott had finished untangling his

fishing line and he came out of the tree

line and he patted Ricky on the back and

he said oh you've already met my friend

Shawn and as soon as he said that Shawn

looked like he basically let his guard

down you know he put the wood down and

he stopped glaring directly at Ricky but

Ricky felt like Shawn was not happy that

Ricky was in his campsite even though

clearly Scott is the reason that Ricky

is in this campsite and so Ricky just

felt really uncomfortable and at the

same time Scott is ushering Ricky closer

to the campfire to take a seat next to

Shawn you know Sean's a great cook he'll

cook up this fish for us it's going to

be great you know take a seat Ricky felt

kind of annoyed that Scott was really

forcing him to stay but Ricky didn't

want to be rude and just kind of

abruptly leave so he did take a seat

next to Shawn who definitely was not

excited to be sitting next to Ricky and

Ricky just kind of sat there waiting to

see what would happen next and what

happened next is Scott walked over to

Shawn and handed off all the fish that

he and Ricky had caught so that Shawn

could begin to prepare them to cook them

and then as Ricky is still just sitting

there right next to Shawn Scott walked

away from the campfire up to his truck

which was parked right next to Shawn's

Jeep and Scott turned on the radio and

began blasting country music and when

Ricky heard this music he kind of winced

because to him you know part of the

reason the outdoors the Appalachian

Trail you know being out in nature part

of the reason it was so wonderful was

for the peace and quiet and so it felt

kind of like borderline disrespectful to

be out in the middle of this beautiful

place blaring country music and so to

Ricky he just couldn't help but feel

like there's something off about these

two guys they just seem really

disrespectful and kind of pushy and

maybe aggressive and so Ricky is just

not happy but again Ricky didn't say

anything and didn't attempt to leave

because again he's really hungry and so

is his dog and he needs to eat that fish

a moment later Scott walked back from

the truck and took a seat next to Shawn

and then he along with Shawn pulled out

their knives and began deboning the fish

and as they were doing this Ricky again

is just kind of sitting there doing

nothing and so he kind of meagerly asked

you know hey can you give me a knife and

I'll clean a fish but Sean and SC kind

of waved him off and said don't worry we

got this and so Ricky just continued to

sit there nervously it's all he could

watch was the flashing of the light

bouncing off their blades but eventually

Scott and Shawn finished deboning all

the fish and they put their knives away

and at that point they began cooking the

fish over the Open Flame and suddenly

for Ricky it felt like you know the mood

had shifted a little bit at least now

the two men were not fiddling around

with weapons you know it felt kind of

safe again and so Ricky began making

some small talk in hopes that would kind

of you know settle his nerves and so

Ricky told the two men about how much he

loved the Appalachian Trail and how he

came out here all the time for weeks at

a time with his dog and Ricky would tell

the men that you know sometimes he felt

more at home out in the wild than he did

at home it was almost like being out in

nature was a religious experience for

Ricky and he would even tell Sean and

Scott that sometimes when he was out in

nature he would meditate and pray and

even do some chanting like part of a

ritual I mean he was really trying to be

in tune with mother nature but as Ricky

continued to tell Shawn and Scott about

his personal life he noticed the two men

were definitely paying attention and

kind of nodding along at appropriate

points in the story but at the same time

Ricky felt like these two men were also

kind of looking at him like Ricky was

kind of weird as if they were not

prepared to come out and say it but

after hearing all these things about his

life it was like huh what's going on

with this guy and so Ricky suddenly felt

really embarrassed about being so open

with these two guys who once again just

seem like they don't quite like him or

even really want him here but luckily

right at that moment the fish were done

and so the men just sat there in silence

and wolfed down the food by the time

they finished right about 8:00 p.m. it

was very dark outside and Ricky at this

point is just ready to go you know he

just felt so uneasy here and so after

putting down his plate and his

silverware and saying thank you to Shawn

and Scott for their Hospitality he

quickly got up and grabbed his dog and

he began walking into the woods towards

his campsite but after Ricky and his dog

had walked maybe 10 or 15 ft away from

this campsite two things happened in

Rapid succession number one Ricky

suddenly stopped and turned around and

looked back at the campsite and number

two right as he did this there was this

enormous bang sound like a small

explosion that echoed through the

forest okay so if you're not listening

to our show called run fool then you are

really missing out on a truly special

and unique podcast now it's technically

a horror podcast but honestly it's so

much more every episode is a fresh take

on terrifying lore like a modern ghost

story wrapped up in a tightly spun

narrative also remember run fool is a

ball in studios podcast which means

there's always going to be a big plot

twist or reveal at the end Rodney Barnes

is the iconic host of run fo and every

story he tells on there it feels like

this fully immersive horror movie also

the sound design on the show is is like

expert level Barnes really knows what

he's doing even if you never watch the

show you should tune in just for a

second at least once just to hear

barnes's radio voice it is like the best

most soothing voice I think I've ever

heard so if run fo feels like a show you

might like go run and follow the show

and start listening also be sure you

stick around till the end of today's

video because we're going to play a clip

from last week's episode of

runp

about 30 minutes later and about 4 miles

away from where Ricky and Shawn and

Scott had been there were these two

women who were in their house eating

dinner when they heard the sudden

frantic knocking on their front door now

these women live in a very isolated part

of the country and so the women were

very concerned one of them rushed over

to the phone just to be ready to call

the police while the other very

carefully made their way towards the

front of the house and they kind of

peered out the window but they couldn't

see anything outside it was too dark and

so they went to their door which was

still getting pounded on by whoever was

out there and the woman she unlocked the

door and she opened it just a crack and

what she saw nearly made her faint there

was a man standing on her porch who was

absolutely covered in blood as if he had

been fully submerged in a tank of blood

I mean he is all red and the man had his

hand over his neck and the woman who

opened the door she looked at him and

she saw that there was this rhythmic

pulsing of blood pumping out of his neck

that was into time with his heart this

man is clearly bleeding to death and so

the woman she screamed for The Other

Woman to please call 911 we have someone

who's dying here and so she began

calling 911 and then the man on the

porch just said please help me and then

he said something about dismal Creek and

then he collapsed and this was so

shocking for the woman who had opened

the door that she just stood there

staring having no idea what to do but

then she happened to look up and she

noticed there was a jeep that was idling

out on the road in front of her house

that she hadn't even registered until

now and so either this guy got dropped

off or he drove that jeep but before she

could even begin to understand what had

just happened an ambulance and a whole

bunch of police cars came screaming up

and parked in front of her house and

then the Medics got out they rushed up

and they grabbed the bleeding man and

they put him in the ambulance and they

rushed him off meanwhile not far from

the house police officers were speeding

towards dismal Creek because when the

women called 911 they said you know this

guy who shown up on the porch bleeding

said something about dmal Creek but they

had no idea what it was about and so

instead of trying to wait to figure out

what was even going on police had

basically said let's just go to dismal

Creek and look around and see if we can

figure out you know why someone would

leave that area and show up at this

house covered in blood but as the police

were making their way up this winding

Mountain Road they saw a truck bombing

down the road coming straight at them

and the truck they initially hit their

brakes and did kind of attempt to get

out of the way of the police cars but

after this truck had basically come to a

stop the driver of the truck just hit

the gas all over again and they veered

wildly off the side of the road into an

embankment and they crashed and flipped

several times and then came to a stop

and the police officers who had veered

to the side of the road to avoid getting

hit by this truck you know they just

watched this happen and they couldn't

understand why the driver had gunned it

again after stopping and then seemingly

intentionally drove off the road it

almost seemed like the driver was trying

to crash and so the police they got out

of their car and they approached the

wrecked truck with their guns drawn but

when they looked into the vehicle they

saw there was a single occupant the

driver and he was still somehow alive so

the police got him out of the vehicle

and they called an ambulance but they

actually sent an officer with the

ambulance to escort them because the

police were actually pretty suspicious

of this truck driver because remember

they were going up that road to get to

dismal Creek to see what had happened

there that would lead to another man

showing up on somebody's doorstep in the

middle of the night covered in blood and

now they have this truck driver who

looks like he's speeding away from dismo

Creek who crashes his truck I mean there

was no clear connection between the

truck crash and the Bloody guy but the

police were suspicious that they had to

be connected so they sent the officer to

the hospital as well about 30 minutes

after the truck crash the police left

the scene and continued the rest of the

way up the road to dismal Creek and once

they got up up there the police fanned

out all across the area and just began

looking for anything just any clue that

might explain what the heck happened

here if anything happened at dismal

Creek at all and pretty quickly the

police actually did find something

unique in the middle of the Dismal Creek

area they found a campsite but it was

not the campsite where Shawn and Scott

were staying where Ricky had gone and

shared dinner with them this was a

different campsite and not long after

searching this other campsite police

concluded that whoever was staying here

did not seem like they were mentally

well this seems like a mentally unstable

and potentially dangerous person lives

here so the campsite was really simple

it was just a tent and a campfire but

when the police lifted up the flap and

looked inside the tent they found a

collection of 30 knives along with a

police scanner that basically picked up

police radio chatter in the area so you

could listen to a scanner and basically

know what the police were doing in your

area there were also all these weird pip

piles of clothing some were for kids

some were for adults some were for men

some were for women there were piles of

eyeglasses and there were eight pairs of

women's underwear and then also there

was a map of the Appalachian Trail

inside of this tent and all over this

map along the trail were all these spots

that were circled but there was no

information about what these circles

meant however one of the places that was

circled was dismal Creek and then next

to the map was a radio and inside the

radio was a cassette and so the police

just hit play and immediately what they

heard totally creeped them out because

the tape sounded like some kind of

Satanic ritual it was basically this one

man's voice just kind of howling and

chanting over and over again but by far

the most shocking thing that was found

inside of that tent was a single piece

of paper and this piece of paper was a

birth certificate and the name on the

birth certificate was a name that

basically all police in this area knew

and in fact anybody living in or around

the Appalachian Trail definitely would

know this name and the identity of this

person the name on the birth certificate

was the key to putting together all

these seemingly disconnected events that

had happened on this night from the

explosion when Ricky walked away from

the fire to the bloody man at the house

to the truck crash they were all

connected through this single person a

few hours earlier after Ricky had gotten

up and walked away from Shan and Scott's

campsite and then after barely making it

onto the trail he had turned around and

there was that loud explosion well at

that point in the story Ricky who's now

looking back at the campsite and looking

at Shawn and Scott he can see that the

two of them they've heard the sound too

and they were now staring at each other

with looks of absolute shock and Terror

on their faces but then Ricky watched as

Shawn reached up and touched his face

and he put his hand out in front of his

face and it was covered in red and the

reason for that was because Shawn had

just been shot in the face because is

that loud explosion was the sound of

Ricky shooting his gun at Shawn and as

Shawn and Scott stood there staring at

each other in absolute disbelief Ricky

who's still in the tree line ran towards

the fire and just kept on shooting and

so Shawn at this point as he sees Ricky

coming into the campsite he stands up

and kind of staggers back and falls on

the ground but Scott who's not hurt at

this point he just gets up and starts

running away from the campsite and Ricky

turns his attention toward W Scott and

he shoots at him and he hits him

straight in the neck and also in the

back but somehow Scott just kept on

running despite these horrible wounds

and so Ricky watched as Scott

disappeared into the woods and then

Ricky turned back to Shawn who's laying

on the ground and can't go anywhere he's

been shot in the face and Ricky just

casually raised his gun and shot Shawn

right in the chest but amazingly Shawn

after getting shot this second time it

created what must have been the most

extreme Adrenaline Rush ever because he

jumped up up to his feet and right in

front of his attacker he just turned and

sprinted to his Jeep he hopped inside

fired it up and just sped away as fast

as he could and when Shawn flipped on

his headlights and turned a corner after

getting away from the campsite he looked

down the road and he actually saw his

buddy Scott who would run away first

come tumbling out of the woods onto the

road and so Shawn who's Gravely injured

you know drives over next to Scott and

he stops the Jeep long enough for Scott

to climb inside and they shut the door

and they speed the way towards the

nearest help which happened to be that

house where those two women lived and so

it was Scott who looked like he was

drenched in blood who knocked on the

women's door Shawn was down in the Jeep

out on the road but he was just too weak

to get out and come up to the door as

well but when the ambulance and police

arrived they would find not only Scott

up on the porch but also Shawn in the

Jeep and both men would be taken to the

hospital via helicopter and then as for

the man who was driving the truck down

the road away from dismal Creek who then

crashed right in front of the police

well the driver of that truck was Ricky

Williams however that was not his real

name there was no Ricky Williams that

was the name he just used his real name

which was on the birth certificate that

police found in that other campsite

inside of the tent was Randall Lee Smith

the same Infamous Randall Lee Smith who

had murdered those two hikers not far

from dismal Creek that double homicide

had happened in 1981 and Randall was

caught in and convicted but he was

paroled 15 years later in 1996 for good

behavior and for 10 years after that

Randall lived with his mother and he

wore this electronic bracelet and you

know he followed the rules but by 2008

his electronic bracelet had came off and

even though Randall had attempted to

continue living with his mother it just

wasn't tenable he didn't have enough

money and so ultimately he packed up his

things grabbed his dog and moved out

onto the Appalachian Trail and on May

6th 2008 when Shawn and Scott arrived in

dismal Creek to go fishing Randall was

waiting nobody has any idea why Randall

murdered those two hikers back in 1981

or why he targeted Shawn and Scott in

2008 all we know is that Randall Lee

Smith was very mentally unwell and very

likely viewed the Appalachian Trail as

like his sacred place this is his home

this is the place he loves more than

anything and so maybe you know he felt

like Shawn and Scott had somehow

disrespected the appalation Trail and

that was enough to attack them now we

know Shawn and Scott did not do anything

intentionally disrespectful to Randall

because amazingly Shawn and Scott

survived this attack and they would say

that when they saw Randall they just

felt bad for him they thought he was

like this alcoholic Drifter who didn't

have a home of his own and so he was

just living out in the woods on the

Appalachian Trail and so they didn't

judge him instead they really did just

want to give him some food and spend