“Nobody” doesn’t mean “no body.”

I was taking a stroll around the office recently and happened upon an interesting sight. A man had pulled his pickup truck onto a grassy area beside the road and was furiously digging a hole. I discreetly snapped a pic.

That’s weird, right? It’s not like he was gardening or planting a tree. I’ll admit, my first thought was, he’s burying a dead body! But I quickly dismissed that, because nobody in their right mind would so blatantly dispose of a murder victim in broad daylight. Everyone knows you attend to that sort of messy business under the cover of darkness, deep in the forest.

And then, I quickly UNDISMISSED my dismissal, because:

  1. Killers aren’t of sound mind, and
  2. Burying a body in the middle of the day beside a busy road is actually pretty brilliant.

Think about it. Nobody is going to believe this dude is really digging a hole in which to deposit a corpse. Even if had a misshapen rolled-up carpet sticking out of the back of his pickup, I’d assume he just had hardwood floors put in and, well, maybe he didn’t want to drive all the way to the landfill. Or if there were a bunch of black garbage bags back there, he probably missed that week’s trash pick up, right? Dumping garbage is a dick move, but it’s not a psychotic dick move.

And therein lies the beauty in his twisted little plan. It’s SO brazen, SO reckless, SO wacky, people will immediately write it off as impossible.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m obsessed with Dateline and too many true crime podcasts to count, but I’m also half-convinced I might have inadvertently stumbled upon a crime scene.

Somebody get Keith Morrison on the phone stat.

Yesterday was my birthday. To celebrate, I took the day off work and climbed the highest peak east of the Rockies.

It’s a hike I’ve done several times since moving to South Dakota in 2018 (not to mention when I lived here in the ’80s), though it had been a few years. I think I wanted to prove to myself that I could still complete an 8.5-mile, four-hour hike that’s uphill both ways!

OK, maybe it only felt that way…

But it’s not exactly a stroll in the park, and my calves are paying the price today.

Whatever. Totally worth it! Black Elk Peak is 7,242′ high, and as you would expect, the views from the summit are amazing. The weather was perfect: sunshine, a few wispy clouds, and a temperature near 60°. The only downside? The trail was a little snowy/slushy/icy in spots, but I came prepared with my Stabilicers traction devices. And really, it was more muddy than anything, so I took those off after a mile or so.

Best of all, there were no crowds to contend with. I only passed a handful of people both ways and practically had the summit to myself. That’s certainly not the case during the summer months.

Tara always wonders why I bother taking birthdays off, but as much as I love my job, it can’t compete with this.

37 thoughts on ““Nobody” doesn’t mean “no body.””

  3. Happy Birthday Mark. Perfect way to celebrate a birthday in a rather idyllic setting. Did you take a little walk past the freshly dug and perfectly innocent burial site? I marvel at the notion that one would park their car behind a tree as if to conceal license plate or other identifiers from view yet dig out in the open.

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    1. Thank you, Deb! And I agree with you. What’s the point of hiding your license plate if you’re right out there in the open without at least a ski mask on? No, I have not strolled over there yet.

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  6. Belated happy birthday wishes to a fellow Taurean – yeah, I know it’s all nonsense but 😀 I’ve been taking my birthday off to do something by myself for a while now, because my mother’s birthday is just a couple of days beforehand, meaning family celebrations were always had together, and my mother got to impose her priorities as to how it was celebrated. This year, by dint of bad planning, I have a tele-medical appointment and one with my business coach scheduled for the morning, with the inevitable weekly grocery shop in the afternoon. I may need to take an extra day to do something frivolously selfish 🙂 In fact, I may book that right now! Gorgeous views & photos, thanks Mark.

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  7. Just checked to see if clicking on my name now works (it still doesn’t) but clicking on my profile pic will link to my gravatar where my sites are just a further click away.

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  8. Gorgeous place to spend your birthday. Happy annual trip around the sun!
    As for the gravedigger, when a local housewife is reported missing next week? The police will appreciate your eavesdropping.

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  9. Beautiful views at the top. I think everyone deserved their birthday off! Is it possible the guy owned the property or worked for whatever entity does own it?

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  10. I think you’re onto something with your idea that this guy was burying a body while in plain sight. Obviously your time watching Dateline has opened your mind to possibility. Happy Birthday!

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  12. What an awesome way to celebrate your birthday! Tara must not be old enough to understand what an accomplishment it is to reach another year and therefore Mark the occasion with a day off. Looks like a great hike and I’m impressed that you are doing it in the same time. Wuhoo!

    Happy Birthday!

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    1. I see what you did there.

      And, thank you! She is younger than me, as a matter of fact. But it’s not like I robbed the cradle or anything. Maybe someday she’ll hop aboard that birthday vacation train.

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  13. Happy belated birthday! What a banner way to celebrate: Witnessing a murder coverup and that lovely hike! Congrats on not showing your age with the big hike.
    I need to know: What is that building on top? And what are those colorful things hanging in the trees?

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    1. Thank you! The building on top is a stone fire lookout tower. It’s no longer in use to serve that purpose, but you can take shelter there if the weather turns bad and there’s a ladder you can climb to get a 360º panorama from up top. The colorful things are bandannas that climbers traditionally tie to trees once they’ve summited a peak.

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  16. Happy birthday! I’m with you. I ALWAYS take my birthday off. I like my job, but every once in a while you can have a REALLY BAD DAY. You never know when those days will happen (annoyingly, they don’t announce themselves ahead of time or give you a week’s notice), so I take my birthday off and simply enjoy. Living in Minnesota, I don’t get views like that. Instead, I usually get views of the floor… through the donut-shaped face rest attached to the massage table at my local spa. 😉

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    1. Haha! I was assuming you meant you were face-down on the floor plastered (which I would have respected) until you mentioned the massage table. I’m glad you see my way of thinking though!

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