Inside the Mind of Thru Hikings Most Devious Con Man. On a Thursday in late April, Melissa Trent, a single mother in Colorado Springs, Colorado, logged into her account on the dating website Plenty of Fish and had a new message from a user called lovetohike. I cant believe a woman as pretty as you is on a site like this, he wrote. Trent clicked open the mans account. The photos showed a smiling, clean shaven guy in a Marmot puffy with chunky glasses and shaggy hair curling up from under a baseball cap. BibMe Free Bibliography Citation Maker MLA, APA, Chicago, Harvard. The Movie Genreredefining scifi from the Wachowskis. Pepsi Man Game Xp. What is the Matrix Thats what Neo Keanu Reeves wants to know and then he discovers that the world around. A hedge is an investment position intended to offset potential losses or gains that may be incurred by a companion investment. In simple language, a hedge is used to. This is a list of feature films that are based on actual events. Not all movies have remained true to the genuine history of the event or the characters they are. What is narrative nonfiction Narrative nonfiction goes under many names, including creative nonfiction, literary journalism, and factbased storytelling. Country Classic Cars in Staunton, Illinois, is a wellknown seller of vintage cars, with an inventory of over 600 cars, primarily American, ranging from the 20s to. Trent thought he looked cute. There were shots of him atop Pikes Peak, hanging out with thru hiking buddies at a hostel in Seattle, and climbing into a tractor in Montana. I love adventure, he wrote in his profile. Anything in the outdoors. His interests included hiking, biking, skiing, craft beer, and the occasional toke. Download the Audm app for your i. Phone to listen to more longform titles. Trent, who is in her 4. He was smart and good looking and she especially liked that he was outdoorsy. On a Thursday in late April, Melissa Trent, a single mother in Colorado Springs, Colorado, logged into her account on the dating website Plenty of Fish and had a new. After exchanging a few messages, she gave him her number. When he called that evening, he introduced himself as Jeff Cantwell. He said he was born on Kodiak Island, Alaska, and had recently moved to Colorado Springs, where he was training to be an arborist. Most guys Trent had spoken to from dating sites were gross, bringing up sex during a first phone call. Jeff didnt do that, she says. I/5162DKRTY7L.jpg' alt='Krakauer Brothers Serial Number' title='Krakauer Brothers Serial Number' />Do you love that sensation of suddenly being hurled forward when you have to abruptly slam on the brakes If youre in a selfdriving car, the effects apparently. Barnes Noble welcomes Borders, Waldenbooks and their customers to discover their next great read at Barnes Noble. Krakauer Brothers Serial Number' title='Krakauer Brothers Serial Number' />He wanted to know about my favorite flower. They ended up talking for ten hours. Two days later, Trent and Cantwell met for burgers. The connection they made on the phone seemed to deepen in person. They talked about Pikes Peak, which he claimed to have climbed over 2. When the bill came, Cantwell paid. A few days later he came over and made spaghetti with meatballs for Trent and her two daughters. Over the next week, they texted and talked every day. To Trent, it seemed like they grew closer with each conversation. She asked if he had ever been married, and Cantwell revealed more about his history of heartache and loss. During the car accident that killed his parents, his fiance, and his five month old baby were also killed, he said. He enlisted in the army and deployed to Afghanistan, where he was the victim of a severe knife attack. He apparently found some consolation in nature, however. He showed Trent tattoos on his calves that he said he earned for completing hikings so called Triple Crownthe Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, and the Appalachian Trail. Courtesy of Jeff CaldwellThat weekend, when Cantwell said his bank card had stopped working, Trent lent him a couple hundred dollars. She trusted him. On Monday morning, when she let him borrow her blue Audi A4 to go get a new bank card, she figured he wouldnt be gone long. About 3. 0 minutes later, however, Cantwell texted that hed need to go to the branch in Denver, more than an hour away. He asked if he could use the credit card she left in the car to get gas. Trent gave him the go ahead, but now she was getting nervous. She didnt remember leaving her card there. Cantwells behavior grew stranger that afternoon. He claimed the bank in Denver had already closed by the time he got there. Ill have to sleep in the parking lot, he told Trent. She knew something wasnt adding up, but she didnt want to believe the worst. I thought we had a connection, she says. When Cantwells texts became increasingly erratic that night, Trent finally called the El Paso County Sheriffs Department. They used Cantwells cell phone number to identify him as 4. Jeffrey Dean Caldwell, a Virginia native whod been locked up in three states for seven felonies, including burglary, writing bad checks, and attempted escape. Most recently, hed been paroled in September 2. Colorado for identity theft. But in April, shortly before he met Trent, he had stopped reporting to his parole officer. Still, Trent couldnt quite convince herself that the man shed met had such a dark side. Can I hear your voice one more time she begged him in a text. Part of her wanted to trick him into returning the car. Part of her still believed the man shed fallen so hard for had to exist somewhere. I dont want you to go to prison. We have to figure out a way out of this. Can we leave the stateCaldwell did call her one last time, but when she started sobbing, he hung up. Im sick in the head, he texted her. Write to me in prison. The cops put out a warrant for Caldwells arrest, but he wasnt known to be violent and no one expected hed be locked up any time soon. These con men are transient and move around a lot without any way to track where they are, says Lieutenant James Disner of the Larimer County Sheriffs Office, which had arrested Caldwell almost a decade ago. I have been successful in a few of these types of cases, but only by reaching out to the communities they prey on. Caldwells victims typically fell into one of two communities elderly people and women, whom he often found by participating in Facebook and Meetup groups for hikers, by using the website Couchsurfing. By the time he met Trent, he had been traveling across the West, presenting himself as a free spirited outdoor archetype, for over a decade. On his Couchsurfing account, he used the name John Mc. Candless, the same middle and last name as Christopher Mc. Candless, the charismatic wanderer profiled by Jon Krakauer in Into the Wild. Cartea Junglei Desene. A pattern emerged with each of Caldwells cons, too. Hed scope out a victim, share his tale of woe, then enthrall her with his adventures 3. Im buying land. 1. You can come stay with me. Next, hed give her a sentimental giftsay, an Alaska shot glass or an Appalachian Trail patchand send her selfies from the mountains. Finally, he would orchestrate a personal crisis that ranged from the plausible to the bizarre, and finish it off by asking for a small loan or else hed just steal what was lying around. The con might be over within days. In a few cases, he was able to stretch out such a relationship for years. At the end of each con, he would apparently be wracked by regret, sending messages to victims that often began with him sounding apologetic and self pitying, then switching to angry and entitled. You were a means to an end. Adios, he wrote one woman. No crime done, just sniveling broads. The moment the authorities caught Caldwell, he would confess everything. As I learned about Caldwells exploits, I wondered if there was something about the outdoor community and our sympathy for such wanderers that may make us especially easy marks. When we see a man with a trail worn Gore Tex jacket and a decade old Dana Designs backpack, we instinctively trust him. We cant help but envy his authenticity, his freedom. Hes not just a weekend warriorhes living the life we want. Or at least, thats how it seems. For six weeks, I texted Caldwell at a number that Trent had given me, but he never responded. Then, on June 2. 7, he finally sent me a text along with a photo of himself sporting a blue flannel shirt while lounging on a rolled up fleece in a pine forest. When we spoke on the phone a couple days later, I could hear birds chirping. At first he told me he was in northern Arizona. Later, he claimed he was near the popular Barr Trail on Pikes Peak. I know Pikes Peak, he said, I can hide on this mountain for a long time. He agreed to speak with me because he hoped that, by coming clean in public, he wouldnt be able to take advantage of anyone ever again.