Tietuo Mountain

So many elderly men have gone out hiking alone in the wilderness and never returned. Some have sadly been found deceased, such as celebrities Julian Sands and Michael Mosley. Many others are still missing.  I want to focus on a particular story about a missing man named Ren Tiesheng, a retired school teacher from Beijing, China. Unlike other missing cases, this one is a total bizarre mystery.

On 30th September 2008, Ren Tiesheng was 61 years old and very fit, with decades of experience in mountaineering. He told his wife that he would be going out to Mount Miaofeng, which was close by where they lived. It was planned he would contact her throughout his trip and send photographs. He packed up food, drink and papers to help tie on trees as a method for finding his way back. He was also looking forward to going to a family celebration that he didn't want to miss. However, his wife heard nothing from him. Worried, she then contacted the police. 

During the search on Mount Miaofeng, the journey of Ren didn't stop there. He ended up going on a trail further away. The search party came across a seller in a shop who claimed to have seen Ren, asking about where to buy nuts. The seller told him there was a place in Wangpin. So after the police visited the town of Wangpin and spoke to more eye witnesses who saw Ren, they were led to a town called Tuofeng. Ren's phone records revealed he was at a village called Zenfang, but further searches found Ren's campsite in the wilderness, with bits of newspaper and a handwritten note. The note was itself was quite baffling.

Many came forward to explain how they disliked hiking on Mount Tietuo because it was treacherous and full of unusual incidents. One of the hikers was approached by a strange group of people that appeared from further up, who simply stared at him and said nothing, making him turn back. Another claimed to see a man running around with an axe. But on searching Mount Tietuo for missing Ren, there was a number of human bones that were discovered. Some say there was a serial killer, that may be, but the bodies come from different eras, as far back as WW2. None of these human remains belong to Ren and he's still missing. Could it be possible that the group of strange people were ghosts of the dead who were later found?

According to travel sites, Tietuo Mountain is dangerous for hiking, It's got old mining pits and some are hidden that can be extremely threatening if someone were to fall in. Some call the location including ancient roads around it from Beijing, a "Bermuda Triangle" type of site. Many people who venture there are still on the lookout for Ren, who's still missing. The search continues.  

She Wolf Night