# 3 True Crime Mysteries: Kimberly Nilson, Big Jim Colosimo, Floyd Roberts III

An episode of [Lazy Chill True Crime](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1815534472), 2 Aug 2025, 35 min.

Audio: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO7569295658.mp3

John me as we discuss the cases of Kimberly Nilson, Big Jim Colosimo, Floyd Roberts III. Chapters: 0:00 Kimberly Nilson 14:14 Big Jim Colosimo 24:22 Floyd Roberts III 👇 Support My Work: 🛍️ Merch: https://lazy-chill-zone-shop.fourthwall.com ❤️ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lazychillzone 👇 Youtube links: Lazy Chill True Crime Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8dVJtzeHcJgd_Z0bHrJTHQ Lazy Chill History Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LazyChillHistory Lazy Chill Zone Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LazyChillZone 👇Social Media Links: https://www.instagram.com/lazychillzone/ 👇 Podcast links: ⚡True Crime Podcast on Spotify⚡: https://open.spotify.com/show/0klIz08pAr7wR4we0Ia4sk?si=68qZxCeAQkysXzMZrHE0Iw 🍏 True Crime Podcast on Apple 🍎: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lazy-chill-true-crime/id1815534472

## Transcript

[0:00] In 1994, Kimberly Nilsson was a 24 year old student on the cusp
[0:04] of a bright future. Little did anyone know, the
[0:08] bizarre and disturbing sequence of events that was about to kick
[0:11] off in August of that year would change everything in an instant.
[0:17] Originally from Alameda, CA, she was a top student at Arizona
[0:21] State University at Tempe and was preparing to begin her final
[0:25] semester as a pre Med major. Despite her outward success,
[0:30] Kimberly was privately struggling with emotional
[0:33] turmoil in the months leading up to her disappearance.
[0:37] She had recently gone through a painful breakup with her
[0:40] boyfriend, reportedly the first time she had ever been on the
[0:43] receiving end of a breakup, and it hit her hard.
[0:47] Diary entries later reviewed by investigators revealed that
[0:50] Kimberly was suffering from depression and feelings of
[0:53] alienation. After the split.
[0:56] In an effort to heal her emotional wounds, Kimberly began
[0:59] reading a book on Native American herbs given to her by
[1:02] her ex boyfriend's grandmother. This exploration sparked a
[1:06] specific interest in a certain psychoactive cactus used
[1:10] traditionally in spiritual rituals.
[1:15] As the fall semester approached, Kimberly's behavior took a
[1:19] bizarre turn. On Sunday, August 21st, 1994,
[1:25] the day before classes were to start, she spent time with
[1:28] several friends, but her actions were described as erratic and
[1:32] out of character. That morning, Kimberly invited 2
[1:36] male friends, Jeff Seliga and Steve Chambers, to join her on a
[1:41] bike ride. During the ride, she confided to
[1:44] Jeff that the presence of Steve made her uncomfortable, though
[1:48] she wouldn't explain why. She then abruptly changed the
[1:52] subject by mentioning a neighbor she suspected of being a Peeping
[1:56] Tom at her apartment complex. Later that day, Kimberly stopped
[2:01] by the apartment of another friend, Tor Staab.
[2:05] Tor would later report that Kimberly seemed preoccupied by
[2:08] something she wouldn't talk about.
[2:11] She even snapped at him in an uncharacteristically rude way
[2:14] when he offered her herbal tea. As that Sunday went on,
[2:17] Kimberly's condition seemed to worsen.
[2:20] By approximately 3:30 PM on August 21st, her roommate found
[2:25] Kimberly at home, hunched over and vomiting in the bathroom.
[2:30] When the roommate knocked to check on her, Kimberly shouted
[2:33] for her to go away and leave her alone.
[2:38] It turns out that the magic psychoactive cactus that had
[2:41] attracted her attention in the wake of the breakup was peyote.
[2:45] This sudden bout of vomiting and agitation has led many to
[2:49] suspect that Kimberly may have followed through with her
[2:51] curiosity about peyote that day. Notably, riding the Cactus Comet
[2:57] is known to cause intense nausea as a side effect, and the timing
[3:01] suggests she could have consumed it earlier, leading to illness
[3:04] by the afternoon. Feeling unwell, Kimberly called
[3:09] in sick to her job that evening and lay down to rest after a
[3:13] nap. Around 5:30 PM, she woke up and
[3:17] had a phone conversation with a friend, Bob Leet.
[3:21] On the call, she downplayed her condition, attributing it to a
[3:25] simple stomach bug, and even chatted about plans to attend an
[3:29] upcoming Lollapalooza music festival.
[3:33] Notably, it was an event she and her ex-boyfriend both had
[3:36] tickets for. At this point, Kimberly still
[3:40] seemed to be looking toward the future, mentioning she'd see
[3:43] everyone at the concert despite her current illness.
[3:48] As night fell on August 21st, Kimberly's actions grew
[3:52] increasingly strange and disoriented.
[3:54] She made a series of perplexing phone calls that evening.
[3:58] In one instance, she dialed a friend in Flagstaff, but spoke
[4:03] to them as if they were her ex-boyfriend.
[4:06] It took her several confused minutes to realize she had
[4:09] called the wrong person, suggesting she wasn't thinking
[4:12] clearly. Around 7:00 PM, Kimberly called
[4:15] Bob Lead a second time, this time in an agitated state.
[4:20] She rambled about a bizarre dream and told Bob that she felt
[4:24] she couldn't trust him or Tor anymore.
[4:27] Confusingly, she then expressed anxiety about having been rude
[4:31] to Tor earlier in the day. Her roommate also observed
[4:36] Kimberly's behavior that night and noted that she was acting
[4:39] irrationally and that her pupils were extremely dilated.
[4:44] This is a physiological sign often consistent with entering
[4:47] the cactus matrix. By approximately 9:30 PM on the
[4:51] 21st, Kimberly's restless energy hadn't subsided.
[4:57] She phoned another friend whose birthday was that day and said
[5:01] she wanted to come by his house to wish him a happy birthday in
[5:04] person. Despite having been to this
[5:07] friend's home many times before, Kimberly inexplicably got lost
[5:12] on route. She left her apartment, then
[5:15] returned shortly afterward, telling her roommate she needed
[5:18] to call the friend again for directions.
[5:21] This was a curious request, given her familiarity with the
[5:24] location. After getting directions,
[5:27] Kimberly drove off once more, only to circle back a second
[5:31] time. Still apparently confused, she
[5:34] left her apartment yet again, this time for good, sometime in
[5:39] the late evening or night of August 21st.
[5:43] These multiple false starts and her confusion about directions
[5:47] strongly indicated that Kimberly was in a disturbed state of
[5:51] mind. Notably, this evening would be
[5:54] the last time her roommate or anyone else ever saw her alive.
[6:00] The morning of August 22nd, 1994 was supposed to mark the
[6:05] beginning of Kimberly's final semester at ASU, but instead it
[6:09] became the day she was officially reported missing.
[6:12] A close friend arrived at Kimberly's apartment around 9:30
[6:16] to pick her up for their first class of the term, only to find
[6:20] that Kimberly wasn't there. Alarmed, the friend and
[6:24] Kimberly's roommate realized something was very wrong.
[6:28] Meanwhile, that same morning, in a quiet, upscale neighborhood of
[6:31] North Scottsdale, roughly 20 miles from Tempe, an unusual
[6:35] discovery was made. At about 9:00 AM on August 22nd,
[6:41] the homeowners at a house near the intersection of Pima Road
[6:44] and Thompson Peak Parkway returned from running morning
[6:47] errands. Curiously, they found a black
[6:50] Volkswagen Rabbit parked in their driveway, partially
[6:54] blocking the entrance to their garage.
[6:57] It was Kimberly's car, and the home owners stated that the car
[7:00] had definitely not been there. At 7:40 AM when they left the
[7:04] house, the vehicle was found abandoned under odd
[7:07] circumstances. The doors were unlocked, the
[7:11] keys were still in the ignition, and inside were all of
[7:15] Kimberly's personal belongings. There were no immediate signs of
[7:21] a struggle, but one eerie clue was noted on the floor of the
[7:24] car. A page was torn from Kimberly's
[7:27] diary that had a hand drawn map to her friend Tor's house on it.
[7:33] It was as if she or someone had been looking for Tor's place.
[7:37] Again, though, Tor lived in Tempe, not near where the car
[7:40] was found. Ultimately, while this appeared
[7:44] to be a significant clue early on, nothing came out of it.
[7:49] Police canine units were brought in, and the dogs traced
[7:52] Kimberly's scent from the car up to the front door of the nearby
[7:55] house. It was almost as if she had
[7:58] walked up and tried to ring the doorbell.
[8:01] However, investigators later questioned this result,
[8:05] suspecting that the scent trail might have been inadvertently
[8:08] carried by an officer who had touched Kimberly's car once.
[8:14] Kimberly Nilsson went missing under suspicious circumstances.
[8:17] A full scale official investigation was launched,
[8:21] drawing in multiple law enforcement agencies.
[8:24] Investigators meticulously searched Kimberly's apartment
[8:27] and belongings for clues. Inside her room they found a
[8:31] small quantity of St. cabbage, but no peyote.
[8:35] They did find the herbal medicine book that had so
[8:38] captivated her with some relevant pages bookmarked
[8:42] suggesting she was indeed serious about her research into
[8:45] the topic. From late August 1994 into the
[8:50] fall, police followed up on hundreds of tips that poured in
[8:53] from the public. In fact, Tempe police logged
[8:57] over 300 tips from people around Arizona and beyond who thought
[9:02] they might have seen Kimberly or saw her distinctive black rabbit
[9:06] in various locations. Every one of her friends was
[9:09] questioned, including her ex-boyfriend.
[9:12] Notably, her ex-boyfriend had been in California at the time
[9:16] of her disappearance, and he was cleared as a suspect.
[9:21] A breakthrough, or at least the next chapter in the case, came
[9:25] in the spring of 1995. On April 12th, roughly 8 months
[9:30] after Kimberly vanished, A startling discovery was made.
[9:34] A ranch hand was out on horseback in a remote desert
[9:37] area of Scottsdale, about two miles from where Kimberly's car
[9:41] had been found. He was checking a barbed wire
[9:44] fence on a cattle range in the late evening when he stumbled
[9:48] upon something disturbing a human skull.
[9:52] The authorities were called and they ended up recovering about
[9:55] 90% of a human skeleton, and with the dental records they
[9:59] were able to confirm this was Kimberly Nilsson.
[10:04] Forensic examination of the bones yielded frustratingly
[10:07] little information. The medical examiner couldn't
[10:10] determine an exact cause of death.
[10:13] There were no obvious signs of trauma on the parts of the
[10:16] skeleton that were recovered. Examiner's found no bullet holes
[10:21] and no fractures to indicate severe blows.
[10:24] However, given the state of the remains, this didn't rule out
[10:28] foul play. Soft tissue injuries, like
[10:31] certain kinds of internal trauma, wouldn't necessarily
[10:34] show up on bones. Unfortunately, the very bone
[10:38] that often breaks in cases of strangling the hyoid was
[10:42] missing. The medical examiner collected
[10:47] bone marrow from one of Kimberly's leg bones and even
[10:50] some hair, and what little desiccated tissue was left.
[10:55] This was done in hopes toxicology tests or other
[10:58] analysis might detect poison substances or other clues.
[11:03] But by then, after months under the brutal Arizona sun, the
[11:08] biological materials were too degraded to yield any results.
[11:13] In the end, the death was officially deemed suspicious and
[11:17] remained unresolved. In the absence of definitive
[11:22] evidence, a number of theories have emerged over the years to
[11:25] explain what might have happened to Kimberly.
[11:28] Investigators and those who followed the case have proposed
[11:31] 2 primary scenarios from the start, foul play versus fatal
[11:37] misadventure. One theory is that Kimberly's
[11:42] experimentation with substances LED her into the desert in an
[11:46] altered mental state where she ultimately succumbed to the
[11:49] harsh environment. The evidence supporting this
[11:52] includes her well documented strange behavior on August 21st.
[11:57] The vomiting, dilated pupils, confusion about phone numbers
[12:01] and locations, and her paranoid statements all point towards
[12:06] someone possibly under the influence.
[12:09] Cactus tripping in particular can cause intense hallucinations
[12:13] and disorientation for many hours.
[12:16] If Kimberly did take a large dose, intentionally or
[12:19] accidentally, she may have become delirious in that state.
[12:24] She could have driven out toward the mountains, parked in a
[12:27] random driveway, and wandered off into the desert in the early
[12:31] morning hours. Tragically, the Arizona desert
[12:35] in August can be deadly. Daytime temperatures soar, and
[12:39] an impaired person without water could quickly fall victim to
[12:42] dehydration, heat stroke, or become injured on the rocky
[12:46] terrain. Alternatively, it's been
[12:49] suggested that the breakup with her boyfriend may have caused a
[12:52] mental break, leading to roughly the same effects and also
[12:56] explaining her bizarre behaviour.
[13:00] The other leading theory is that Kimberly Nilson met with foul
[13:03] play. Proponents of this theory argue
[13:06] that Kimberly's unusual state made her vulnerable to
[13:09] predators. It's conceivable that an
[13:12] opportunistic criminal might have seen a disoriented woman
[13:15] alone and abducted or hurt her. The placement of the car could
[13:19] have been a ruse by an offender to delay investigation or
[13:22] distance themselves from the scene of the crime.
[13:25] While this theory makes sense, it's ultimately entirely
[13:28] circumstantial. This, of course, isn't to say
[13:32] that she didn't meet with foul play, and there's no doubt that
[13:35] she was in an extremely vulnerable state at the time she
[13:38] went missing, opening her up to an attack.
[13:43] Officially, Kimberly Nilsson's case remains unsolved and is
[13:47] classified as an open cold case. Whether she fell victim to a bad
[13:52] trip or something much worse continues to remain a chilling,
[13:55] unresolved mystery. Hey everyone, it's Jimmy here.
[14:02] Just quickly plugging my podcast Lazy Chill True Crime.
[14:06] It's got a ton of my content from this channel and my true
[14:09] crime channel, as well as some bonus content you won't see or
[14:13] hear anywhere else. In the early 20th century,
[14:20] Chicago's underworld had an undisputed king in Big Jim
[14:23] Colosimo. Born Vincenzo Colossimo in 1878
[14:27] in Italy, he came to Chicago as a teenager and rose from shoe
[14:32] Shiner and petty thief to the city's foremost vice Lord.
[14:36] By the 1900s, Big Jim, also known as Diamond Jim for his
[14:41] love of flashy jewelry, controlled A thriving criminal
[14:45] empire. He married a prominent Madam in
[14:48] 19-O2 and befriended local corrupt politicians.
[14:52] Backed by these corrupt city officials, Big Jim consolidated
[14:56] the city's vice operations into a lucrative racket.
[15:00] In doing so, he effectively laid the foundation for what would
[15:04] later be known as the Chicago Outfit.
[15:08] Big Jimmy's power and popularity were notable, and he very
[15:12] clearly wasn't your typical shady underworld figure who
[15:15] attempted to keep a low profile. Big Jim was, to put it simply, a
[15:20] man of big appetites. He was a jovial, outgoing figure
[15:24] who reveled in his success, earning him the Big Jim moniker
[15:29] as much for his personality As for his stature.
[15:32] By the 1910s, he owned the opulent Colosimo's Cafe on S
[15:37] Wabash Ave. a nightclub where Chicago's high society rubbed
[15:41] shoulders with underworld figures.
[15:44] Celebrities and politicians alike dined at Colosimo's
[15:47] establishment, underscoring the influence he wielded in both
[15:51] crime and city politics. That said, with Chicago politics
[15:56] at the time, there wasn't too much difference between the two.
[16:00] Regardless, to guard his growing empire, Big Jim brought in his
[16:06] relative by marriage, Johnny Torrio from New York in 19 O 9.
[16:13] By 1920, Colosimo had spent nearly 2 decades at the top of
[16:17] Chicago's vice world, seemingly untouchable as the city's crime
[16:21] boss. However, the fact that Big Jim
[16:25] isn't a household name while Al Capone is one of the most famous
[16:29] gangsters in history should tell you that Jim wouldn't be around
[16:33] for much longer. The enactment of Prohibition in
[16:37] January 1920 presented a new illicit opportunity, bootlegging
[16:42] booze. Torrio urged Big Jim to
[16:45] capitalize on this lucrative trade, but Colosimo balked.
[16:50] He was content with his thriving underground businesses and
[16:54] feared that large scale bootlegging would draw unwanted
[16:57] federal attention. Big Jimmy may have had every
[17:00] corrupt Chicago politician in his pocket, but the same
[17:04] couldn't be said for the feds. At the same time, Colosimo's
[17:09] personal life was in flux. He divorced Victoria Maresco,
[17:14] who was also Torio's aunt, in early 1920 and quickly married a
[17:19] young singer, Dale Winter, in April of that year.
[17:23] This combination of a personal split and a business
[17:27] disagreement with Torrio may have proven to be fateful.
[17:31] Colosimo's reluctance to embrace the new bootleg liquor racket
[17:35] left his ambitious Lieutenant increasingly frustrated, and his
[17:39] sudden divorce and marriage upset old alliances.
[17:44] The stage was set for a violent change at the top.
[17:47] And as they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.
[17:53] On May 11th, 1920, just weeks after his wedding, Big Jim
[17:58] arrived at his lavish restaurant expecting a business meeting
[18:01] that he would never leave alive. That afternoon, Colosimo had
[18:05] phoned his new bride to say he'd be late for dinner because he
[18:09] had an important meeting with an unknown man at his restaurant.
[18:13] The cafe was closed between meal services, with only a few staff
[18:17] on site. When Big Jimmy swaggered in
[18:20] looking for his appointment. He asked a waiter if anyone had
[18:24] been by, and hearing no, Big Jim went to his office to wait.
[18:28] The ambiance was eerily quiet, No patrons, just the clink of
[18:33] dishes in the kitchen and the shuffle of employees preparing
[18:36] for meal service that evening. After a short while, with no
[18:42] sign of his expected guest, Colosimo grew uneasy and stepped
[18:46] out of his office into the lobby.
[18:49] At that very moment, an assailant was lying in wait.
[18:53] As Colosimo peered through a door toward the street, perhaps
[18:57] looking for a visitor, a figure crept up from behind.
[19:01] A sudden shot cracked through the empty restaurant.
[19:04] Big Jim was struck in the back of the head, hitting the base of
[19:07] his skull. He collapsed instantly, sprawled
[19:11] on the marble floor of his own upscale cafe.
[19:14] The perpetrator had timed the attack perfectly.
[19:18] Colosimo was alone and unguarded in that brief moment.
[19:22] In the aftermath, the shooter slipped out into the afternoon
[19:25] light, vanishing before anyone could stop him.
[19:30] The slaying of such a prominent mob boss sparked immediate
[19:33] theories, and Chicago's rumor mill went into OverDrive.
[19:38] The press originally attempted to tie it all to his
[19:40] controversial divorce and remarriage, suggesting his
[19:43] ex-wife wanted Jimmy cut down to size.
[19:47] While this may have sold papers, there was simply no evidence for
[19:50] it, and other more plausible theories began to emerge.
[19:56] Besides the jilted ex-wife angle, another early theory
[20:00] pointed to the Black Hand, a shadowy network of Southern
[20:04] Italian extortionists in establishing the Chicago Outfit.
[20:09] Big Jim and his boys had ended up piling up members of this
[20:12] loosely organized group into Chicago gutters.
[20:17] Some speculated that those old vendettas had finally caught up
[20:20] to him in 1920, and the authorities knew he was a marked
[20:24] man in these circles. However, these Black Hand groups
[20:28] were already in massive decline by 1920, and no evidence tied
[20:32] these groups to the attack. These accusations helped deflect
[20:38] attention from what would soon emerge as the most likely
[20:40] scenario, an inside job from within Colosimo's own outfit.
[20:46] Scrutinizing who stood to gain from Big Jim's demise LED
[20:50] investigators and informed observers to focus on Johnny
[20:53] Torrio, Colossimo's trusted underboss.
[20:57] Torrio had been loyally running Colossimo's operations and
[21:01] protecting him for years, yet he also had the ambition and
[21:04] foresight that Big Jim increasingly lacked.
[21:08] With Prohibition in effect, Torrio was eager to dive into
[21:11] bootlegging and rack up fortunes as a booze Baron, but Colosimo's
[21:15] stubborn refusal was an obstacle.
[21:18] Eliminating Colosimo cleared the way for Torio to take over and
[21:22] transform the organization, and almost immediately after the
[21:26] slaying, Torio's behavior raised eyebrows.
[21:31] He took charge of the situation with remarkable poise and
[21:35] organized an extravagant funeral for Big Jim, all while beginning
[21:39] to exercise power in his own right.
[21:42] To many observers, it looked as though the old lion had been
[21:45] felled by an up and Comer, and the pride was now firmly under
[21:49] the control of Johnny and a new generation of mobsters.
[21:54] Or, in this analogy, new generation of lions.
[21:58] But hey, it sounded kind of silly when I read it aloud.
[22:03] The most widely accepted theory is that Johnny Torrio ordered
[22:06] the hit on Big Jim. According to this theory, Torrio
[22:10] privately arranged for a trusted hitman from New York to do the
[22:13] job, keeping his own hands as clean as possible in the
[22:17] circumstances. Torrio had connections to the
[22:21] New York underworld from his earlier days, notably his
[22:24] friendship with Frankie Yale, a notorious Brooklyn mobster.
[22:29] In the spring of 1920, Torrio supposedly reached out to Yale
[22:34] for help eliminating Big Jim, knowing that an out of town
[22:37] professional would arouse less suspicion among Chicago police.
[22:41] By some accounts, Torrio even convened a meeting with New York
[22:44] gang leaders to get their blessing for him to become
[22:47] Chicago's new boss. Once Colosimo was gone, another
[22:53] name inevitably surfaced in the rumor mill.
[22:56] Al Capone. Capone was a young protege of
[22:59] Torrio who had recently arrived from New York to help with
[23:03] Colosimo's enterprises. Later legends accused Capone of
[23:07] very direct involvement in the whacking of Big Jim, with some
[23:11] even claiming that Al Capone himself was the trigger man.
[23:15] However, most historians find this unlikely, as Capone was
[23:18] still an up and Comer at the time and may not have been
[23:21] trusted with such a big job. Further, it remains an open
[23:25] question if Capone was even in Chicago on the day in question.
[23:31] It's more plausible that Capone's role was to help Torio
[23:34] consolidate power after Big Jim was gone, rather than to execute
[23:38] the hit himself. Ultimately, whether or not
[23:41] Capone had any direct hand in the attack, he unquestionably
[23:45] benefited from it. The slaying of Big Jim removed
[23:50] the old guard and opened the door for Torio and Capone's
[23:53] generation to take over Chicago, and the rest, as they say, is
[23:59] history. While the whodunit was never
[24:03] proven in court, the Torio Yale theory remains the most
[24:06] compelling and widely accepted. That said, Big Jim spent his
[24:11] life running up untrustworthy friends and bitter foes in equal
[24:14] measure, so the question can never be answered with complete
[24:18] certainty. In June 2016, Floyd Roberts the
[24:25] Third, a 52 year old high school teacher and former NASA engineer
[24:29] from Florida, would go missing under mysterious circumstances.
[24:34] An avid outdoorsman, he joined two friends for a Backcountry
[24:38] hike in a remote part of the Grand Canyon.
[24:41] Roberts had decades of hiking experience and was well prepared
[24:45] with food, water, and maps for the planned 9 day journey.
[24:51] The group's route would take them across the rugged Chivwitz
[24:54] Plateau and down to the Colorado River, eventually exiting the
[24:58] Canyon on June 26th. For Roberts and his friends,
[25:03] this trek was meant to be a grand adventure, and they had
[25:06] done a similar trip in 2010. But on the very first day of the
[25:11] 2016 trip, Roberts mysteriously disappeared, sparking an intense
[25:17] search and a baffling mystery that remains unsolved.
[25:21] On day one of the hike, June 17th, 2016, the trio encountered
[25:27] a hill near an area called Kelly Tank.
[25:30] They decided to take two different routes around it and
[25:33] meet up shortly after. His companions climbed over the
[25:36] hill while Floyd walked around its base.
[25:39] When his friends reached the other side, Roberts was nowhere
[25:42] to be seen. They waited and called his name,
[25:46] then retraced their steps back to where they last saw him, but
[25:50] found no sign of their friend. By the next morning, they
[25:53] realized something was very wrong.
[25:56] They hiked until they could get a cell phone signal and called
[25:59] for help. Roberts was officially reported
[26:02] missing to park authorities on June 18th, nearly 24 hours after
[26:07] he had last been seen. The National Park Service
[26:12] launched a large search and rescue operation immediately.
[26:16] The location in the western Grand Canyon was extremely
[26:19] remote and rugged, making access difficult.
[26:23] Park Rangers, volunteer wilderness searchers, and search
[26:27] and rescue teams from 2 counties converged to help.
[26:31] A base camp was established near Roberts's last known location to
[26:34] coordinate the effort. Over the next 6 days, dozens of
[26:39] people scoured roughly 10 square miles of Canyon and plateau
[26:43] country on foot and by helicopter.
[26:46] They faced harsh conditions, an extreme heat wave had
[26:50] temperatures well over 100°, and the terrain was dense with
[26:54] brush, cliffs, and steep ravines.
[26:58] Despite these challenges, searchers combed the area day
[27:01] and night, determined to find any sign of Roberts.
[27:05] Helicopters flew low over ravines looking for the bright
[27:08] red of his shirt or the blue of his backpack, and search dogs
[27:13] were brought in to track his scent.
[27:16] Some potential clues did surface, and at one point a set
[27:19] of shoe prints was spotted in the dirt, but Rangers could not
[27:23] confirm if it belonged to Roberts.
[27:25] No other trace of him or his equipment turned up during the
[27:28] extensive sweep. By June 23rd, after an
[27:32] exhaustive effort, officials had to scale back the search.
[27:36] With no leads left to pursue, the operation shifted to a
[27:40] limited search where Rangers would keep an eye out during
[27:43] routine patrols. In the absence of evidence,
[27:49] several theories have been proposed about what might have
[27:51] happened to Floyd Roberts. The main ideas include an
[27:55] accidental fall, disorientation leading to exposure, possible
[28:00] foul play, and even a voluntary disappearance.
[28:05] One possibility is that Robert suffered A misstep and fell into
[28:09] a hidden Canyon or off a ledge. The area is full of sheer drops
[28:14] and tricky terrain. If he fell and was injured or
[28:17] killed, his body could be concealed in a spot that search
[28:20] teams never checked, which would explain why nothing was found.
[28:25] There have been numerous cases in the Grand Canyon where a
[28:29] missing hiker's remains were discovered only years later in a
[28:33] hard to reach area. Another theory is that he became
[28:37] lost and succumbed to the elements.
[28:40] Facing extreme heat and lack of water, Roberts, despite being an
[28:45] experienced hiker, may have become extremely disoriented and
[28:49] confused. Roberts might have wandered in
[28:52] the wrong direction, seeking a route or water source, and
[28:55] eventually collapsed from dehydration or heat stroke.
[29:00] If he moved beyond the search zone before he died, his remains
[29:03] could still lie undiscovered in the vast maze of side canyons.
[29:08] Alternatively, he may have sought refuge somewhere hidden
[29:12] and perished there. Investigators considered foul
[29:17] play but found no evidence to support it.
[29:20] The authorities considered it unlikely he encountered A
[29:23] hostile stranger in such an isolated area.
[29:27] Further, his hiking companions, who were reported to be a father
[29:31] and daughter who were his longtime friends, alerted
[29:35] authorities as soon as possible. They also cooperated fully with
[29:39] the investigation and were almost immediately ruled out as
[29:42] suspects. Park officials found no signs of
[29:46] a struggle or any other indication of criminal activity
[29:49] at the scene. The absence of any evidence
[29:53] makes foul play a remote possibility, and most observers
[29:56] lean away from this theory. Another theory suggests that a
[30:00] wild animal, such as a cougar could have attacked him and
[30:03] taken him away from the area. However, Mountain Lion attacks
[30:07] are extremely rare, and there was no sign of any encounter
[30:11] between one of these big cats and Floyd.
[30:15] Some have speculated that Roberts chose to deliberately
[30:18] vanish. This would mean using the trip
[30:21] as an opportunity to leave his life behind and start anew.
[30:25] However, those who knew him saw no indications of this.
[30:30] He had a stable job and family ties and was excited about the
[30:34] hike. Further, no motive or any proof
[30:37] of planning ever surfaced. Thus, this theory is generally
[30:41] considered the least likely by the authorities.
[30:44] Nearly nine years have passed since Floyd Roberts went
[30:47] missing, and the National Park Service still lists his case as
[30:51] an open investigation. Ego death, a concept often
[31:00] associated with mysticism, psychology, and psychedelic
[31:03] experiences, refers to the temporary or permanent loss of
[31:08] 1's sense of self or personal identity.
[31:11] It's been discussed in the context of yoga, Buddhism, and
[31:15] the esoteric practices of Western occultism.
[31:19] Ego death has deep historical roots across multiple belief
[31:22] systems. In Eastern traditions such as
[31:25] Buddhism, the concept of no self is central, emphasizing that the
[31:31] sense of an enduring eye is an illusion.
[31:35] Early Christian Mystics like Meister Eckhart described a
[31:39] similar process of detachment from personal identity in order
[31:43] to unite with the divine. Psychedelic culture, especially
[31:48] during the 1960s, popularized the term ego death in the West.
[31:55] Influential figures like Timothy Leary wrote extensively on how
[31:59] substances such as LSD might dissolve the boundaries of self,
[32:04] catapulting users into states of cosmic union or profound
[32:08] insight. One of the primary principles
[32:11] underlying ego death is the dissolution of the boundaries of
[32:14] personal identity. In everyday life, we typically
[32:18] operate within a sense of me and mine.
[32:22] During ego death, this self referential mindset drops away
[32:27] or is radically altered. The individual may experience a
[32:31] sense of vastness, oneness, or unity with all that is.
[32:36] This can be liberating as it reveals the extent to which the
[32:40] ego is a mental construct, but it can also be terrifying as it
[32:46] threatens one's accustomed sense of control.
[32:50] Another core aspect of ego death is the loss of personal
[32:53] narratives. Our identities are partially
[32:56] shaped by stories we tell about ourselves, our past experiences,
[33:01] future ambitions, and subjective opinions.
[33:05] When these narratives no longer hold sway, a person might feel
[33:09] they're losing everything they know about who they are.
[33:13] However, proponents argue this temporary loss of identity can
[33:18] result in a deeper understanding of reality, unfiltered by
[33:22] conditioned beliefs. From a psychological
[33:25] perspective, ego death may resemble experiences of ego
[33:29] dissolution, which have been studied in clinical settings.
[33:34] Researchers investigating the therapeutic potential of
[33:37] psychedelics report that individuals who undergo these
[33:40] events often describe it as one of the most meaningful
[33:43] experiences of their lives. Within esoteric and occult
[33:47] traditions, ego death is sometimes viewed as an
[33:50] initiation into higher mysteries.
[33:54] Practices associated with ceremonial magic and certain
[33:57] forms of mysticism often encourage the adept to move
[34:01] beyond the personal self in order to access higher planes of
[34:06] consciousness. By transcending the ego, the
[34:09] practitioner may communicate with angelic or elemental
[34:13] forces, connect with archetypal symbols, and gain knowledge from
[34:17] non ordinary sources. While ego death can be
[34:21] transformative, it's important to approach it with caution.
[34:26] A sudden, unprepared dissolution of identity may lead to
[34:29] psychological distress, confusion, or disassociation.
[34:35] Individuals who pursue ego death experiences, either through
[34:38] psychedelics or intense spiritual practices, are
[34:42] generally advised to have a strong support system and a
[34:45] clear intention. It's also vital to note that ego
[34:49] death isn't about permanently eradicating 1's sense of self,
[34:53] at least not generally. Rather, it's most often
[34:57] described as recognizing the constructed nature of the ego.
[35:01] By seeing through it, individuals may learn to use the
[35:05] ego skillfully without being entirely governed by it.

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