Description: On July 19, 1991, Jared Negrete, a 12-year-old boy from El Monte, California, traveled to Camp Tahquitz in the San Bernardino National Forest. He was going on an overnight camping trip with his Boy Scout troop and they were planning to hike to the top of the 3,500-meter (11,500 ft) Mount San Gorgonio. As the troop neared the top the summit, Jared wandered away and disappeared after apparently straying onto the wrong trail. When the troop discovered that Jared was missing, an extensive search was conducted of the area by rescue teams. They found a lot of matching shoe prints and some items which belonged to Jared including his backpack, beef jerky, and candy wrappers. In spite of these clues, they could not find any trace of Jared.
This story would probably be a straightforward and tragic case of a boy succumbing to the elements after getting lost in the wilderness, but Jared managed to leave behind one very haunting image. Jared’s camera was also found in the woods, and its film contained 12 recent photographs which were eventually developed. Most of the pictures were landscape shots which were taken before he disappeared, but the last photo was a self-portrait which Jared had taken of himself. Since Jared’s arms were too short to hold the camera out very far, the photo only wound up capturing his eyes and nose. It seemed clear that Jared looked scared and that the mysterious picture was taken after he went missing. This self-portrait of Jared Negrete remains the last existing trace of him.
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