She Camped Alone in the Woods at 29. Then a Man Appeared and Took Over Her Campsite
She barely made it out alive.
Jordan (@confessionswithjordan) shared how one woman’s trip allegedly went wrong because of a man in the woods. The TikTok storyteller told social media that the woman almost didn’t leave the trail alive.
“I’m a strong, athletic-type tomboy girl, so being alone didn’t scare me,” Jordan read. The confession submitted to her was from a woman who was 29 when she embarked on the supposed camping trip. She had a love for backpacking and decided to go on a backcountry trail for the weekend, wherein camping sites were sprawled ten to fifteen miles apart.
“My campsite was just fifteen miles from the parking lot for a hike. I actually loved that part. The further I got from civilization, the quieter everything became,” the woman said. On her way to the campsite, she said she only passed by two people. While setting up her tent, she admired the peace that came with being off the grid. Camping isn’t always hassle-free, but those who love the activity would even transform a beat-up Honda Civic into the perfect camper car. The woman in this case, however, was enjoying her time off the beaten path.
“I looked back, and he hadn’t moved an inch”
Dinnertime eventually came. The woman said that while she was boiling water on her camp stove, she caught something in the corner of her eye. “There was a man standing behind a thick brush, maybe 30 yards away,” the woman explained. His presence made her jump and yell. But then, embarrassment took over, and she assumed that he was just another backpacker who meant no trouble.
“A minute later, I looked back, and he hadn’t moved an inch,” the woman claimed. She felt her stomach drop, perhaps the same way another woman in Florida did when a strange man followed her into her parking level. Instead of leaving, the man stepped out of the brush and allegedly made small talk with her.
“Long hike, huh?” he allegedly asked with a smile. She agreed and smiled back. Oddly enough, the man asked her if she was camping alone, and instinctively, the woman lied. She claimed that her friend was collecting water, and the stranger glanced at the creek area. He said he hadn’t seen anybody, and she argued that her friend would be back. The man eventually walked into the trees but came back 30 minutes later. He allegedly went into her campsite without hesitation and sat down at a nearby log.
He asked her about her personal details—where she was from, how often she backpacked, whether people knew where she was, and whether or not she had her phone with her. “When I told him I brought my phone, he got insulted and acted as if anyone bringing technology out here in the wilderness made me a bad person,” the woman said.
“You lied,” the man allegedly said as the woman tried ending the conversation. He supposedly continued, “Nobody’s coming back.” He was referring to her “friend” who got water. The man allegedly revealed that he had been watching her campsite hours before and observed that she was alone. Immediately, the woman reached for her pepper spray and pointed it at him.
“I think you need to leave,” she said. The man’s face shifted, and he allegedly lunged towards her. She fired the pepper spray, but because her hands were shaking, the can jerked to the side, and most of the spray blew past the man. The man allegedly grabbed her wrist, picked up a rock beside the fire, and struck her across the side of her head. Her vision went white, and she felt herself hit the ground. As the man was pinning her arms up, she managed to drive her knee into him, making him shift his weight. She squeezed out of his grasp and ran, with warm blood still coming down the side of her face.
“I spent three days completely lost in the woods,” the woman said. The trails started looking the same, and she had none of her items with her. Worst of all, she claimed that she did not bump into other hikers while she was lost. But on the third day, she caught the scent of campfire smoke.
A lucky break
She followed the scent, and by some stroke of luck, the woman made it back to her camp. However, the man was still there. “He had completely taken over my campsite,” the woman alleged as she watched the man cook on her stove. Because she could still see her backpack from a distance, she assumed most of her belongings were still there, and she needed them to get back to her car.
The woman said she stayed hidden, watching him from sunset to sunrise. When he emerged from a tent with a tissue paper roll and a shovel, she sprinted down the hill, grabbed her car keys and phone, then dashed down the fifteen-mile trail to the parking lot.
When she made it to her car, she called 911 and informed authorities about the incident. The man was allegedly caught by the deputies at the campsite later in the day.
“During the investigation, I learned that he wasn’t just a drifter. He was a convicted, violent offender who had disappeared after violating parole,” the woman alleged. She further claimed that the man served prison time for multiple sexual assaults, as well as battery during a gas station robbery.
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