Chris McDendlis was a young man who insisted on going alone in the harsh Alaskan wildlife of 1992. 132 days later he was found dead, but 27 years later there are still many unanswered questions.
Christopher, or Chris McDendlis, was born on February 12, 1968, in California. He was the first child in Walter and Wilhelmina's family. Later, his sister was born. His father also had 6 children from a previous relationship who lived with his mother. In 1976, the family moved to Virginia. Chris went on a trip to California in the summer of 1986 to connect with friends and relatives. It was then that he learned that his father had not yet divorced his previous wife when Chris and his sister were born. Walter lived a kind of double life before moving to Virginia. It is believed that such news had a serious impact on Chris. In May 1990, Chris earned a bachelor's degree in history and anthropology. After graduating from university, he donated $ 24,000 to OXFAM, an organization working to reduce global poverty. He started a stroller's lifestyle, working in a restaurant or on a farm if necessary. Before going to Alaska, he had made several long hikes and stretches in the Colorado River by canoe.
'' Attention, potential guests. I need your help. I'm hurt, close to death and too weak to get away from here. I'm all alone, this is not a joke. In the name of God, please stay to save me. I've gone near picking berries, I should come back tonight. Thank you. '' On September 6, 1992, a couple of elk hunters found a sign like this on an old, rusty bus. It has been 132 days since Chris was last seen. This bus near Denali National Park was not uncommon. It was well known among hunters and travelers, serving as a stopping point for visitors to the area. However, this crumpled sheet of paper, which had been pulled out of Gogol's short story, was unusual at the bus door. It was signed by Chris McDendlis with the date ''? '' Boarding the bus, the hunters felt a strong odor, attributing it to rotten food. Then they found a sleeping bag containing Chris' 30 kg lightweight body and called the police. Most likely, Chris had already died in 19 days.
Despite the fact that there was quite a lot of information about McAllley's other travels, little is known about the young man's life in the Alaskan wildlife. He wrote a diary, but the closer he was to death, the less clear the information was. A week before his death, he made the last entry, which read, "Wonderful blue berries." From then until his death, he only celebrated the days. It is known that in April 1992, McAlliss made stops from South Dakota to Alaska. The driver, Jim Geiliens, a local electrician, was released at the end of Stampid Road on April 28. Chris said he wants to go hiking in Denali National Park. Geiliens recalled questioning the traveler's ability to survive in the harsh wildlife of Alaska. McAlllis, who presented himself as Alex, did not have the appropriate equipment, but he insisted that everything would be fine. Geiliens said the boy had a light backpack, poor quality walkie-talkies, a weapon and a pair of boots given by the driver. He offered to go to Anchorage to buy equipment and food, but Chris refused. McAllliss also refused to help with the hike, but took two sandwiches and corn chips. It is not known who stopped Chris's hike. It is possible that he realized that the equipment was not suitable for the long hike the man had planned. He boarded a bus nearby. The paint had peeled off, the tires had long since blew up, and the bus was almost taken over by plants, but Chris considered it a good place to stay. Staying here, he gave up his plan to go to the Bering Sea (they would be about 550 km). For 113 days, McDendlis lived on this bus, feeding on 4.5 kg of rice he took with him, surrounding plants and small game such as white grouse, squirrels and geese. Once he managed to hunt a moose, but it broke down before Chris was able to use it all. Diary entries show that Chris did quite well, but that has changed in the last month.
After living in the wild for 3 months, McLendl wanted to return to society. He collected the belongings and went back. The trail was flooded with melted snow, so he was unable to cross the road and returned to the bus. From then on, the recordings became gloomier and smaller until the last day.
The cause of death has been under discussion for a long time. The first assumption was quite logical, considering that Chris died of starvation. His rice stocks ran out, so he had less and less energy to go berry picking or hunting. In his book Into the Wild, John Cracower put forward two possibilities. The first was due to the fact that Chris did not eat enough fat in his diet, eating almost exclusively lean meat. This could lead to a phenomenon called "rabbit starvation" or protein poisoning. The second option was that Chris ate the poisonous seeds of Hedysarum alpinum, which would not normally do much harm to humans, as the human body would overcome it, but McDowlis' digestive system may have been too weak. '' Extremely weak. Potato seeds are to blame. Great difficulty even just getting up. Great danger. '' Another theory was that improperly stored seeds in a humid environment were taken over by mold, which killed Chris after eating the seeds. However, a laboratory test in 2007 confirmed that no toxins were present in these seeds. In 2013, a new hypothesis was put forward. Ronald Hamilton noticed a connection between the symptoms described by McAlllis and the poisoning of imprisoned Jews in a concentration camp in Vapnark. He suggested that McAlllis suffered from paralysis of the legs caused by latirism, a neurological disease caused by eating certain legumes of the genus Lathyrus. This prevented him from going out and collecting food. Latirism can be caused by ODAP acid from Hedysarum alpinum or wild potato seeds. ODAP was not previously noticed because the seeds were tested for toxic alkaloids. This amino acid would not harm a well-fed person, but it is toxic to someone who is malnourished and stressed. This diary entry confirms this. This was done on July 30. The study found that the seeds contained 0.394% ODAP, which is sufficient to cause latirism, although this explanation was questioned by other chemists. In February 2015, Krakow published an article stating that the report showed high levels of L-canavanine in seeds. This was probably the reason for his death.
In 1996, Krakow wrote the book Into the Wild. In 2007, a film with the following title was made. Ron Lamot's documentary "The Call of the Wild" was also shot that year. The hunters also found a camera with photos taken by McAllley. The photographs showed a deterioration in physical condition. His body weakened before his eyes, but he continued to live in solitude, seeking help only at the last minute. Despite many studies, there are still more questions than answers. What was a happy, healthy, young man looking for in the wild alone? Why did he refuse help so quickly? Why didn't he do more to get help on time? Who, then, is really to blame for his death? We will probably never know the exact answers to these questions.
