Chilling details have emerged about the deaths of a Colorado family who went off-grid after their mother became obsessed with pandemic conspiracy theories.
An investigation by a journalist Ted Conover with Outdoor magazine discovered heartbreaking journal entries written by Talon Vance, 13, after he was taken to the Rocky Mountain wilderness by his mother Becky, 42, and aunt Christine, 41.
Talon weighed less than 40 pounds when their mummified remains were discovered, and their families said they had no survival skills or experience before Becky tried to “escape society.”
As Outside Magazine revealed this week, Talon’s diary found alongside his decomposing remains detailed his mother’s mysterious dependence on him to stay alive, despite being home-schooled and he has only rudimentary knowledge of how to tie a knot.
In his diary, he also wrote that his online friends begged him not to go off-grid and suffered mental breakdowns because “nothing seems the same anymore.”
Talon Vance, 13, wrote heartbreaking notes in his journal about being relied upon to survive in the wilderness and wrote about his friends’ disappearance.
Talon froze to death in the Rocky Mountain wilderness when he was taken by his mother Becky, 42, and aunt Christine, 41 (pictured together)
He meticulously detailed his Roblox friends begging him not to go off the grid. The diary (pictured) was discovered by journalist Ted Conover of Outside Magazine
Talon had previously spent most of his time with his father and half-siblings, until he was taken away with his mother and aunt after Becky was convinced the pandemic was a sham.
An old acquaintance texted her months before she left the network, hoping to catch up. Her response led him to call authorities when she fled into the wild.
After saying she wouldn’t be available because she was leaving Colorado soon, Becky added, “I know I probably sound like a ‘conspiracy theorist,’ but there are some crazy conspiracies out there for us remove our soul and our humanity.
“If you have never heard of the Great Reset, WEF, 4th Industrial Revolution, please check out Yuval Noah Harari, Klaus Schwab and their agenda.”
A final text to another friend read: “They really want to merge man with machine, and I refuse to let them do that to me or my son… I don’t know when this will all happen, but I think it’s important that people get out while they still can.
While planning their getaway, Becky urged her son to learn wilderness skills, including tying knots and building shelters, which he would write down in his journal.
“Note: I hitched the truck on the first try!” “” he wrote in one entry – shortly before telling his online friends on the game “Roblox” that he was leaving.
He wrote down every minute detail of their interactions, including the timestamps of the messages, in which his friends begged him: “Please, I would give anything to have you come back.”
“NOOO COME BACK,” another entry read.
Pictured: The wilderness camp where the three froze to death
Talan was relied upon for his survival skills, even though he was homeschooled and had only rudimentary knowledge of how to tie a knot.
When they left in August 2022, Becky refused to share details of their destination and lied to some family members that they were going to West Virginia to be with her father.
During the trip, they stopped to eat in the isolated town of Gunnison. It was there that, as his diary details, Talan wrote that he had a nervous breakdown because “nothing feels the same.”
“The Arby’s we had was so tasty!” he wrote. Many of the diary entries seemed childish and innocent.
“I also had a mini breakdown at Arby’s because nothing seems the same (sad face). During my breakdown, she took us to Safeway and let me pick out any candy I wanted! I was so sad that nothing really seemed appealing to me anymore.
“So I chose chocolate for mom mainly, and then aunt suggested fruit snacks, so I just said ‘OK.’
They eventually set up camp in the woods, outside a campground, nearly 10,000 feet up in the mountains, in an area known for heavy snowfall.
Although a friend offered her an RV, Becky declined because she wanted to live truly off-grid, including without electricity or a heat generator.
It is not known exactly when they died, and their mummified remains were found deep in the woods in July 2023 by a hiker. The autopsy concluded that they died of malnutrition and hypothermia.
Survival guides and empty cans were scattered across their wooded campsite, according to autopsies from the Gunnison County coroner’s office. No heater was found in their tent which had been covered in snow during the winter.
Investigators were initially intrigued by the discovery, particularly because Talan’s body was located outside the tent where his mother and aunt were found.
They now believe, Conover said, that the 13-year-old died first, and they took him outside so they wouldn’t have to sleep near his corpse.
Rebecca “Becky” Vance, 42, her sister and son were discovered in the Rocky Mountains where they had gone to live off the grid to “escape society.”
The 14-year-old (left) weighed just 40 pounds when he died alongside his mother Rebecca Vance (second from left) and aunt Christine Vance (right). Their half-sister Trevala Jara (second from right) said she begged them not to leave.
In interviews with friends, family members and investigators, Conover wrote for Outside Magazine that it took a while to truly realize how unprepared they were for the brutal conditions.
This included just packing an $80 Walmart tent, along with a fishing rod and seed packets for food.
They made occasional trips to town, until their car was found abandoned in November 2023 and towed by the U.S. Forest Service, leaving them stranded.
Last summer, when they were found, Becky and Christine’s half-sister Tevala Jara revealed she begged them to change their minds.
“At first, Christine didn’t want to go, but she changed her mind. She felt like they had a better chance of living if she went with them,” Jara said. “And she didn’t want our sister and nephew to be alone.”
Jara, 39, added at the time that Talan was naive about the risks associated with his mother’s beliefs.
“He was both scared and excited,” she told the New York Post. “He was only 13 when they left. He had no idea what living off the grid entailed, but he wanted to be with his mother.
Jara also remembers Beckly as a somewhat reserved person, sharp as a whip and capable of reading a 1,000-page book in a few days. Vance’s son was homeschooled and is a math whiz, Jara said.
Christine Vance was more outgoing, charismatic and initially unconvinced about the idea of escaping society, Jara said, “but she just changed her mind because she didn’t want our sister and our nephew are alone”.