What would you have done?

[AZStickman]

It's been a whirlwind of a year with my employer deciding to shut down their AZ operations and then landing a job that keeps me on the road 60% or more of the time. I'm one of those lucky guys who considers my wife his best friend and it's been real hard on both of us adjusting to the travel. For a get away,we hauled our trailer out into the desert the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and spent 5 great days together camping,quail hunting, quad riding and just getting away from it all. While we were out there something happened that still has me second guessing myself. I thought I'd see what you guys would have done.

4:30 pm Thursday afternoon after we ate Thanksgiving dinner we headed out on the quad to chase down some roads and scout out campsites for future trips. as we headed down one particular road I spotted a passenger car about 150 yards ahead. It seemed kind of odd as we were 6 miles back in off any paved roads and 1/4 mile off the main dirt road. There was a person in the drivers seat and as we approached the car they stuck their face up into the sun visor,I continued on. We both thought it kind of odd but soon dismissed it. About an hour later we were heading back out on the same road and the car was still parked in the same spot. About 200 yards out the person with the car got back in and with the drivers side door opened and bent down under the dash with stocking feet sticking out the door as we approached. I had unholstered my GP-100 at this point and had it hidden but ready as we passed the car.I didn't stop. As we headed back to camp we discussed whether or not we should report the car and occupant but decided the cops would probably not be very interested in a report of a person acting strange in the desert. You meet a lot of strange folks in the desert and this just seemed to be another one.We spent the rest of the weekend having fun and had actually forgotten about the strange incident.

On Sunday we broke camp and were heading out, as we hit the junction of the main road there was a car parked and a young man came out to the road obviously wanting to talk. I had my wife slip me her gun and rolled the window down. The young man asked how long we had been camping and if we had had a young girl come by camp asking for food. I told him no and asked if she was driving a passenger car. He responded yes and described it. I then told him about our encounter with the stranger and their actions. This was when he informed us that the girl( we couldn't tell if it was a guy or girl when we saw them nor does it really make a difference)was his fiance and that she had been reported missing on Thursday and was found dead Friday morning a short ways from where we had seen her. She evidently had some problems and was on medications for depression and had overdosed. The cops figured she had become disoriented and headed out into the desert after dark in her stocking feet and didn't make it through the night.

I've been doing the woulda/ coulda/ shoulda thing in my head ever since and believe that given the same set of circumstances again I wouldn't do anything different. I'm the first to help someone out on a backroad if they need it but not at the risk of my family's or my own safety. There was obviously something wrong in this situation that got my radar up and I chose to move along and let the person who obviously didn't want to be seen alone. I can only wonder if I had just stopped to ask if everything was OK if it all might have had a different outcome. ....... Still kinda hard to take it all in...... Terry

 

[completesportsman]

I would have done exactly as you did. That's tough but like you said you and your family being safe is #1.

____________________________________________________________________
Success is failure that tried one more time

 

[Moondog]

That a tough call. If you encounter someone that is in obvious distress its a different ballgame.

Coming up on someone acting strange in the desert is almost commonplace. I bet had you stopped it would have been a short conversation anyway and in all likelyhood the outcome wouldn't have changed.

If it were me, I'd have been worried about my wife and my own safety first as well.

As tragic as it sounds, the girl had problems that you couldn't have known about so if I were you I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

[ForkWest]

If you focus on the "what if" your mind will usually take you to the perfect happy ending. Reality is that there is a thousand different ways the story could have ended, and likely the perfect ending really isnt't even on the table.

 

[YukonDall]

TERRY......YOU DID WHAT MOST OF US WOULD HAVE DONE....INCLUDING MYSELF. IT COULD HAVE TURNED OUT HORRIBLE BAD FOR YOU/ AND/ OR YOUR WIFE.....THEN HOW WOULD YOU FEEL?? THIS PERSON WAS GOING TO DO WHATEVER SHE WANTED SOME OTHER PLACE OR TIME ANYWAY....YOU KNOW HOW UNSTABLE PEOPLE ARE. YOU MADE THE RIGHT CALL...PERIOD. PLEASE PUT SOME CAMP/ QUAIL PICS UP....SOUNDS LIKE FUN...YD.

 

[AZStickman]

Thanks for the responses guys... It's real easy to start second guessing your self after something like this.....

Here's a couple of Pics from the weekend.... The quail pics were Bit Map formatted and I couldn't upload them but I did have pics of a couple of rabbits I bagged and a couple of shots from camp.

Camp

Rabbit

Sunrises

 

[eurosbyRT]

My step father in law was going home on night and saw a girl on the side of the road that needed help, he called the UHP and told them about her, he went back to help her and when the UHP showed up, he left. The UHP called him back later that night and said that he was very lucky, turned out she had some "problems" and was suicidal, had a gun and was headed out to kill herself.


So you never know what could happen, your family or even yourself could of been in danger, you did the right thing

 

[firemedic56]

I think you did exactly the right thing Terry,....NEVER, NEVER second guess your decision to be safe when it concerns your family....there was a reason that your mind told you to move on by this situation....don't ignore that....we have the best calculator/computer/situation analizer in the world right between our ears, and you did right by listening to yours.

 

[shotgunjim]

Yep, I would of done the exact thing you did. Don't beat yourself up.

And yep, freaks and the desert go hand in hand. Back in the 80s when I was in high school I went to Southern California over spring break one year to visit some relitives. They were into dirt biking. So we went out to the desert around Palm Springs some where to camp and ride dirt bikes. We went on a night ride very late one night, I was riding one of my cousins 3 wheelers. I got seperated from the group and ended up riding up some wash. I came around a bend and in my head lights was some guy standing there looking at me, holding a shovel and a mound of dirt at his feet. The dude was digging a hole in the middle of the desert and in the middle of the night. I flipped a b!tch and got out of there as fast as I could.

 

[shedfinder]

Afer reading your story a couple times I still have a few questions. First, Could the person you saw in the car Thursday, been the boyfriend you talked to Sunday? I thought maybe he might have killed her. Second. If she was found dead Friday, why was the boyfriend still hanging around Sunday asking people what they saw. Sounds suspicious, like he wants to make sure no one saw him. and Third, If she was found dead Friday, why werent there any Sheriffs or other people around doing an investigation? You would think that they would ask people in the area if they saw anything. But most important, YOU DID NOTHING WRONG, had you stopped to help, you dont know what would have happened. You and your familys safety is most important. I doubt this person would have accepted help even if you offered. If he/she needed help, they would have asked instead of hide.

 

[elkantlers]

I thought the same thing, Why was he hanging around on Sunday asking questions?

You didn't do anything that most of us would have done.

 

[Califelkslayer]

You followed your instincts. That's what you should do. Had you chosen another course of action, it would have been because your instincts told you it was OK to do so. Water under the bridge.

Weird the guy wasn't mourning or making funeral arrangements though.

 

[patience]

The only responsibility you have is to protect your wife and you did that. Knowing what you do now would you have helped? If the answer is yes, it's the thought that counts. Don't let yourself hang on this. You sound like a good guy and you probably are.

 

[AZStickman]

I think the kid was legit. He was obviously still very upset and said he was waiting to meet the Sheriff who was going to take him to where she was found. We did pass the Sheriff a few miles up the road but you never know I guess.I kinda wondered about why the cops never came to camp asking questions but we were in a fairly remote spot a few miles away from where this all happened.....Terry

 

[bbgellerman]

The only thing i would have done different is roost her car with rocks and called the cops. Sounds like she was another tweeker freaking out in the desert.

 

[257Tony]

I can only wonder if I had just stopped to ask if everything was OK if it all might have had a different outcome. ....... Still kinda hard to take it all in...... Terry

Yeah, it could have been a drug smuggler, and you could have been shot. Like you already said, not worth your families safety to help somebody who obviously was not looking for help.

 

[Gator]

I would done pretty much the same, But I would of called the cops and had them just come out and check the car because it was so strange,The outcome probaly wouldn't of changed.


"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".

 

[GotBowAz]

As with most of the guy?s here Terry I too would have done the same as you did. There are a lot of strange people around for sure. Not to take from this thread but my wife and I also went to the dessert with our toy hauler for Thanksgiving, spent 4 days out there. Is that a grizzly? It looks just like mine, I have a 2000 600 grizz. We went out to the Queen Valley area up toward Rogers Trough and camped and rode quads. I didn't get a chance to hunt though. Looks like other than the run in with the strange girl/car you had a great time. Nice pictures!!

GBA

 

[AZStickman]

GBA.... That's a 01 Prarie 400..... I like the Rogers Trough area as well....Used to hunt and camp out there quite a bit....Thanks for taking the time to respond guys.... Terry