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Seven long years passed. Then, less than a kilometer from his house, in an abandoned cabin that no one suspected, Joshua is found. His body, stuck in the chimney duct, in the curled-up position. Identification by dental fingerprints leaves no doubt. For his family, it is an indescribable shock.
What makes the case particularly troubling is the scene discovered on the spot. His clothes — pants, shoes, socks — had been carefully folded inside the cabin. A heavy wooden cabinet had been repositioned to obstruct the fireplace from the inside. The owner of the premises, Chuck Murphy, says that a wire mesh has been covering the top of the pipe for two decades, supposed to prevent animals from breaking in. According to him, no one could have slipped into it alone.
A relaunched file, uncertainties that remain
The medical examiner Al Born had initially concluded an accident by hypothermia, Joshua having found himself stranded in the duct. But in the face of the many inconsistencies, he decided to reopen the investigation. The position in which the body had been found suggested an introduction head the first, difficult to achieve without external help.
Rumors have circulated: someone would have boasted of placing Joshua “in a hole.” A man with a violent past, seen in the company of the young man just before his disappearance, was subsequently convicted of another case. But no concrete evidence could ever be officially established against anyone.
A puzzle that time fails to erase
For his loved ones, finding Joshua has put an end to years of waiting without offering them the serenity expected. Kate expressed it with simplicity: nothing has logic. Chuck Murphy, owner of the cabin, summarizes the general feeling: * “I believe this story will remain unanswered. One of those tragedies that cannot be explained. »*
Some mysteries resist all explanations, and learning to live with this lack of answer is sometimes the heaviest mourning to carry.