On September 3, 2016, Justin Alexander Shetler was traveling through India’s Parvati Valley with only a walking stick that he had turned into a flute and a wool blanket.
The Oregon native was never seen again.
Currently, the case of the missing survivors is being featured on the Tenderfoot TV podcast. “Status: Untraceable” The show, hosted by Liam Luxon, aims to find out what happened to the now 43-year-old.
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The disappearance of Justin Alexander Shetler is the subject of the Tenderfoot TV podcast “Status: Untraced.” (Tenderfoot TV/Instagram)
“The story itself is so interesting and bizarre,” Lacson told Fox News Digital. “Justin is a survival expert, so if anyone was living off the grid, it would be him. He has all the training for that. He can even speak bird language, which is amazing. He lived in a cave. He can make fire from anywhere.”
“One of the last things he wrote on his blog and on social media was, ‘I should be back, but if I’m not back by then, don’t come looking for me,'” Lacson said. “It was weird. It was all really weird.”
Justin Alexander Shetler was last seen on September 3, 2016. (Tenderfoot TV/Instagram)
For the podcast, Lacson got in touch with many of Shetler’s loved ones, including friends, family and wilderness survival trainers and mentors.
Justin Alexander Shetler disappeared in 2016. He was 35 years old. (Tenderfoot TV/Instagram)
“I know a lot of people are mentally prepared to believe what they believe,” Lacson said. “Certainly, there have been a lot of theories put forward. We’ve ruled some out during our investigation. I don’t know how other people feel. But I personally believe I know what happened, and I think most of his loved ones believed they knew what happened as well.”
Several adventurers have gone missing in the valley. (Tenderfoot TV)
according to Outside OnlineOnly one road leads in and out of the Parvati Valley, and it’s so narrow that drivers have to swerve sharply to allow a bus to pass, leaving just inches to maneuver. In some places, the cliffs drop hundreds of feet into the Parvati River, whose waters, named for the Hindu goddess of fertility and faith, can be “mighty and violent” despite its deceptively placid, blue surface.
“We got a lot of first-hand testimony from people who were with him,” Lacson said. “For the last month that we know where he was, he was living in a cave in a camp in the Himalayas. It was an amazing place. It was like a medieval military town. He was staying just outside the camp, but it was four hours away from the nearest road. The only way to get there was by hiking.”
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Justin Alexander Shetler transformed his walking stick into a flute. (Tenderfoot TV/Instagram)
“There he met an Indian holy man,” Lacson continued, “who invited him to trek up a mountain where the Hindu god Shiva is said to have meditated for about 3,000 years. It’s a very sacred place. I know he hiked up to this mountain. He hiked with two people… It’s not uncommon for people to get lost in the mountains. But this was the message he wrote beforehand: Don’t look for me.”
It wasn’t until mid-September that one of Schettler’s friends began contacting a mutual friend and asking Schettler what had happened. Something was wrong.
There is no evidence that Justin Alexander Shetler ever returned to the United States. (Tenderfoot TV/Instagram)
“Justin’s mother and a friend flew there to get more information,” Lacson said. “They arrived in October. Other people passed him along the way. They said Justin was coming down and there was only one way up and down. I’ve walked that path now and it definitely seems like he made it to the camp. Also, this guy is a survival expert. He didn’t spend days deep in the desert with no water and nothing around him. He should have made this journey. Nothing added up.”
Parvati Valley, India. (Tenderfoot TV)
Parvati Valley is a popular haven for travelers on a spiritual quest, many of whom come here to meditate, practice yoga, or simply enjoy solitude.
But the valley also hides a dark secret.
Over the past 25 years, at least 24 foreign tourists have died or gone missing in and around Parvati Valley, according to official and unofficial reports, Outside reported. It’s common for distraught family members to post stories of missing people on social media, online messaging forums and travel message boards in the hope that anyone with information will come forward, the outlet said. Since then, the tourist destination has earned the nickname “Valley of Death.”
The disappearance of Justin Alexander Shetler has given rise to several conspiracy theories. (Tenderfoot TV/Instagram)
Since Schetler’s disappearance, numerous conspiracy theories have emerged trying to explain what happened to him. Some claim he was murdered, others that he was the victim of the local mafia. Many believe Schetler may have slipped and fallen into the river. Others claim that some tourists just don’t want to be found. Schetler may have been one of them.
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On the podcast, Liam Luxon tried to follow in the footsteps of Justin Alexander Shetler. (Tenderfoot TV)
“The area he’s in is notorious for international travellers going missing,” Lacson says. “They say it’s rife with the mafia and drug trafficking… But Justin had given up everything. He didn’t have a job anymore. He was trying to raise money for a school in Nepal that he was helping to rebuild after the earthquake. He was travelling at his own expense… But that’s what made him such an inspirational figure.”
Liam Luxon told Fox News Digital he has a deeper appreciation for Justin Alexander Shetler’s life and work. (Tenderfoot TV/Instagram)
“The fact that he’s still missing is hard to accept,” Lacson acknowledged. “He’s been trained for this. He trained Marines how to survive in the wilderness. He knows what he’s doing. The question of what happened to him is one that I’ve been asking throughout the show, and I think anyone finding out about his disappearance for the first time has that same question: What happened to Justin? I don’t know if that question will ever be fully answered.”
Lacson said there’s no denying that Shetler had a deep passion for travel, but he also had a longing for escape.
Justin Alexander Shetler once lived in a cave. (Tenderfoot TV/Instagram)
“I am fleeing a life that is inauthentic… fleeing monotony for novelty, for wonder, awe, and for what makes me feel alive and alive,” Shetler writes in his travel blog, Justin’s Adventures.
At one point, he joked to a friend: “If I die, write something nice about me on Facebook.”
Liam Luxon spoke with people who encountered Justin Alexander Shetler before he disappeared. (Tenderfoot TV)
While Shetler’s iPhone, which he used to document his trip on social media, has yet to be found, his belongings were found scattered around Parvati Valley, Outside reported. National Missing and Unidentified Persons System There is no indication that Shetler has returned to the U.S., the newspaper reported. The Lake Oswego Police Department is handling the case, the newspaper said.
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Liam Luxon hopes the podcast will lead to answers about the disappearance of Justin Alexander Shetler. (Tenderfoot TV/Instagram)
Lacson hopes the podcast will shed new light on the case.
“One of the strangest things about this is grieving someone I never met,” Lacson said, “but now I feel like I know him. I’ve spoken to his loved ones for hundreds of hours. It’s hard, but Justin changed my life.”
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“… One of the things I learned from his family and friends is that he wanted to inspire people to find themselves. That’s his legacy. He wanted people to find purpose. I hope people take that from his life. Also, everyone is human. Even your heroes are human. Don’t be afraid to care about how they are.”
