1 00:00:00,896 --> 00:00:02,896 [narrator] Alex Gumm disappeared 2 00:00:02,965 --> 00:00:06,379 on February 22nd, 2018. 3 00:00:06,448 --> 00:00:10,896 One day Alex told me that he was leaving for Kauai. 4 00:00:10,965 --> 00:00:13,482 You're thinking as a parent, "Let him go. 5 00:00:13,482 --> 00:00:14,793 Let him have his time 6 00:00:14,862 --> 00:00:17,448 and... sooner or later he'll come home." 7 00:00:17,896 --> 00:00:19,000 Didn't happen. 8 00:00:20,586 --> 00:00:23,758 [narrator] His family is desperate for answers. 9 00:00:24,620 --> 00:00:27,793 Spiritual seekers and members of cults 10 00:00:27,793 --> 00:00:32,103 have long come to Kauai seeking this sort of 11 00:00:32,103 --> 00:00:36,482 mythological Eden that for some of them isn't mythological, it's real. 12 00:00:37,482 --> 00:00:39,068 [Spenser] As soon as I got off the plane 13 00:00:39,137 --> 00:00:41,172 you just feel this like, weird energy. 14 00:00:41,172 --> 00:00:43,448 That island is scary and dangerous. 15 00:00:45,413 --> 00:00:49,862 We thought, what if he did get involved into a cult? 16 00:00:50,931 --> 00:00:53,000 [narrator reading] 17 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:56,482 retraces Alex's last known steps. 18 00:00:56,482 --> 00:00:58,068 We are gonna go to Hawaii now 19 00:00:58,137 --> 00:00:59,551 and really go look for our friend. 20 00:01:00,793 --> 00:01:03,482 Alex thought he was in communication 21 00:01:03,482 --> 00:01:05,586 with something outside of this world, 22 00:01:05,655 --> 00:01:07,275 extraterrestrial perhaps. 23 00:01:08,482 --> 00:01:10,586 This is not some fun adventure. 24 00:01:10,655 --> 00:01:13,379 This isn't a game like. This is life and death. 25 00:01:13,379 --> 00:01:16,103 [narrator] The more people who know Alex's story, 26 00:01:16,103 --> 00:01:19,068 the greater the chance of bringing him home. 27 00:01:19,137 --> 00:01:21,344 [narrator reading] 28 00:01:23,206 --> 00:01:24,655 Help find him. 29 00:01:43,413 --> 00:01:45,068 My name is Ben Gumm. 30 00:01:45,517 --> 00:01:47,793 I am Alex Gumm's father. 31 00:01:49,275 --> 00:01:51,275 My son disappeared 32 00:01:51,275 --> 00:01:54,689 on February 22nd, 2018, 33 00:01:54,689 --> 00:01:56,689 in Kauai, Hawaii, 34 00:01:56,758 --> 00:01:58,275 and he's still missing. 35 00:01:59,103 --> 00:02:02,275 Alex grew up in North Berwick, Maine, 36 00:02:02,275 --> 00:02:05,068 a very small town, 4,000 people. 37 00:02:06,586 --> 00:02:10,275 I'm Sally McLaren, Alex's mom. 38 00:02:10,275 --> 00:02:14,586 He showed a great aptitude for art at a very young age. 39 00:02:14,586 --> 00:02:17,275 His doodles good. They were like cartoons. 40 00:02:17,344 --> 00:02:19,689 So he was very artistic. 41 00:02:19,689 --> 00:02:23,379 I hear you're looking to find the Holy Land. 42 00:02:23,448 --> 00:02:26,000 I will tell you where to go 43 00:02:26,034 --> 00:02:28,896 and give you the powers that you need on your journey. 44 00:02:30,275 --> 00:02:33,103 [Ben] He was very interested in graffiti 45 00:02:33,103 --> 00:02:37,137 and spend hours and hours and hours 46 00:02:37,586 --> 00:02:40,379 looking at graffiti books, 47 00:02:40,379 --> 00:02:43,000 perfecting what he did. 48 00:02:43,034 --> 00:02:46,379 [Sally] And we let Alex do murals in our basement. 49 00:02:46,379 --> 00:02:50,172 And once he honored me in one of his murals. 50 00:02:50,172 --> 00:02:51,689 He put a heart, 51 00:02:51,689 --> 00:02:54,965 he put the name MOM next to it. 52 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:01,068 [Ben] I tried to get him into all the traditional sports, 53 00:03:01,068 --> 00:03:05,896 but then he gravitated towards skateboarding. 54 00:03:05,965 --> 00:03:08,379 And once he got on his skateboard 55 00:03:08,448 --> 00:03:11,275 that was the focus of his life. 56 00:03:11,275 --> 00:03:14,482 It wasn't long before he met a group of friends 57 00:03:14,551 --> 00:03:18,172 that also skateboarded right in town, that was great. 58 00:03:20,517 --> 00:03:22,172 My name is Ian Davis. 59 00:03:22,172 --> 00:03:26,000 I've know Alex since I was 15 years old. 60 00:03:26,034 --> 00:03:27,586 I met him through skateboarding. 61 00:03:27,586 --> 00:03:30,000 Even though Alex was a few years younger than all of us, 62 00:03:30,034 --> 00:03:31,689 he really stood up because he had no fear. 63 00:03:31,689 --> 00:03:34,482 He would try anything and he would always, like, 64 00:03:34,551 --> 00:03:36,793 miraculously land the things he was trying. 65 00:03:36,793 --> 00:03:38,172 So that earns you respect 66 00:03:38,241 --> 00:03:40,067 in that kind of group, you know. 67 00:03:40,067 --> 00:03:43,172 I'm Spenser Macleod I'm Alex Gumm's friend. 68 00:03:43,241 --> 00:03:45,379 I met Alex, I think I was 15 years old 69 00:03:45,379 --> 00:03:47,379 and Alex was much younger than me. 70 00:03:47,379 --> 00:03:49,896 Me and Alex were really close friends. 71 00:03:49,896 --> 00:03:51,172 But I always looked up to him 72 00:03:51,241 --> 00:03:53,586 because he was so good at everything. 73 00:03:53,586 --> 00:03:56,000 [Ian] Alex seemed a little immature at times. 74 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:57,689 But when you got to talk to him 75 00:03:57,758 --> 00:03:59,482 you knew there was a lot more going on there. 76 00:03:59,551 --> 00:04:01,965 Deep down he was like an old soul I would say. 77 00:04:02,620 --> 00:04:05,172 [Ben] After Alex's freshmen year 78 00:04:05,689 --> 00:04:08,275 all of his good friends 79 00:04:08,344 --> 00:04:10,482 graduated from high school. 80 00:04:10,551 --> 00:04:13,793 So his sophomore year in high school 81 00:04:13,793 --> 00:04:15,896 was very difficult for Alex, 82 00:04:15,896 --> 00:04:20,379 and he really lost interest in school. 83 00:04:20,447 --> 00:04:23,172 [Spenser] I always thought he was like a closet genius. 84 00:04:23,241 --> 00:04:25,275 He was so smart. He was one of those, 85 00:04:25,275 --> 00:04:28,379 those people that they say is too smart for school. 86 00:04:28,379 --> 00:04:30,793 It just didn't intrigue him enough. 87 00:04:30,862 --> 00:04:33,275 He didn't graduate with his class, 88 00:04:33,275 --> 00:04:37,275 and um, obviously we were very disappointed. 89 00:04:37,344 --> 00:04:41,172 But he decided to get his GED. 90 00:04:42,793 --> 00:04:44,965 [Sally] Alex started recording music. 91 00:04:45,379 --> 00:04:47,000 And I was quite amazed 92 00:04:47,034 --> 00:04:49,793 because he got himself a sounding board, 93 00:04:49,862 --> 00:04:52,896 and he would pull things into his room 94 00:04:52,896 --> 00:04:54,896 from around the yard. I mean I remember 95 00:04:54,896 --> 00:04:57,586 he took my chimes off the porch 96 00:04:57,586 --> 00:05:00,172 and he would make all the tracks 97 00:05:00,241 --> 00:05:02,448 and all the sounds of the instruments 98 00:05:02,724 --> 00:05:03,965 by himself. 99 00:05:05,482 --> 00:05:09,896 [Ben] So he was 22 when he went to LA to pursue music. 100 00:05:09,896 --> 00:05:13,379 He gravitated more to folk music 101 00:05:13,379 --> 00:05:16,689 and the music that he wrote was very introspective. 102 00:05:16,758 --> 00:05:19,241 He probably wrote a 100 songs. 103 00:05:19,896 --> 00:05:23,275 This became his real focus. 104 00:05:25,172 --> 00:05:27,000 So the music community over there, 105 00:05:27,034 --> 00:05:30,551 it was very, like psychedelic '60s reborn. 106 00:05:31,103 --> 00:05:32,793 He had found a girlfriend. 107 00:05:32,793 --> 00:05:34,275 He had a job. 108 00:05:34,275 --> 00:05:36,551 Alex was very happy. 109 00:05:37,620 --> 00:05:38,689 [Spenser] When Alex put out, 110 00:05:38,689 --> 00:05:41,793 like, multiple full-length albums 111 00:05:41,793 --> 00:05:43,896 with different bands and by himself, 112 00:05:43,896 --> 00:05:45,896 it was some really, really awesome music. 113 00:05:45,896 --> 00:05:47,689 We were really excited for him. 114 00:05:47,689 --> 00:05:49,068 And we were in touch with him 115 00:05:49,137 --> 00:05:51,379 back and forth all the time on the phone. 116 00:05:51,379 --> 00:05:54,103 So Alex arranged a night of music 117 00:05:54,103 --> 00:05:57,068 where he would bring in his band 118 00:05:57,068 --> 00:06:00,344 and two or three other bands to perform 119 00:06:00,689 --> 00:06:02,793 and unfortunately 120 00:06:02,793 --> 00:06:05,275 they didn't have a lot of people there 121 00:06:05,344 --> 00:06:08,482 and uh, everything seemed to fall apart, 122 00:06:08,482 --> 00:06:09,862 uh, after that night. 123 00:06:11,482 --> 00:06:12,655 [groans] 124 00:06:13,482 --> 00:06:16,000 He lost his job at the restaurant. 125 00:06:16,034 --> 00:06:18,000 He lost his girlfriend. 126 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:20,793 And he left the band. 127 00:06:20,793 --> 00:06:23,379 [Sally] We got the phone call. "Well, I'm ready to come home. 128 00:06:23,379 --> 00:06:25,275 I think know what LA is all about. 129 00:06:25,275 --> 00:06:27,034 And I miss you guys, so... 130 00:06:27,724 --> 00:06:29,379 pick me up at the airport." [chuckles] 131 00:06:29,379 --> 00:06:31,068 And we went and got him. 132 00:06:31,068 --> 00:06:33,068 Alex came back to Maine 133 00:06:33,068 --> 00:06:37,448 and really with his head between his tail. 134 00:06:38,586 --> 00:06:41,068 He totally changed his demeanor. 135 00:06:41,517 --> 00:06:43,793 And his demeanor at home 136 00:06:43,793 --> 00:06:47,000 reflected a lot of his new-found interest 137 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:48,965 in Eastern philosophy. 138 00:06:49,586 --> 00:06:51,586 He took a mattress off of his bed, 139 00:06:51,655 --> 00:06:52,896 laid it on the floor 140 00:06:52,965 --> 00:06:55,068 and he set up a little temple. 141 00:06:55,137 --> 00:06:57,172 I couldn't go into his room if he was meditating 142 00:06:57,241 --> 00:06:58,896 and he really had this 143 00:06:58,896 --> 00:07:02,172 Eastern way of life at that time. 144 00:07:02,172 --> 00:07:05,000 [Ben] He had become a vegan, 145 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:08,172 and he spent his time writing music, 146 00:07:08,241 --> 00:07:10,448 reading spiritual texts... 147 00:07:11,103 --> 00:07:13,172 all kinds of spirituality. 148 00:07:13,793 --> 00:07:15,379 He read the Bible. 149 00:07:15,448 --> 00:07:18,068 He read the books from Buddhism, 150 00:07:18,482 --> 00:07:20,482 Hinduism, Shintoism, 151 00:07:20,551 --> 00:07:23,344 uh, you name it, he was interested in it. 152 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:26,586 He was also very interested 153 00:07:26,586 --> 00:07:29,896 in the television show Ancient Aliens. 154 00:07:29,896 --> 00:07:33,482 [Spenser] Alex was always interested in aliens and stuff like that. 155 00:07:33,482 --> 00:07:37,172 And uh, we were watching Ancient Aliens on TV, 156 00:07:37,172 --> 00:07:38,689 "Oh, that's real." 157 00:07:38,758 --> 00:07:41,586 He was really interested in like, all that stuff. 158 00:07:41,655 --> 00:07:45,689 [Sally] When he would talk about extraterrestrial beings, 159 00:07:45,758 --> 00:07:49,482 it seemed very scientific that he had researched, 160 00:07:49,482 --> 00:07:50,896 and he had answers. 161 00:07:51,586 --> 00:07:55,586 I discounted his interest in 162 00:07:55,655 --> 00:07:58,896 extraterrestrial to be the minor of all of this, 163 00:07:58,965 --> 00:08:00,275 that his true interest 164 00:08:00,275 --> 00:08:02,586 was more in elevating his consciousness, 165 00:08:02,586 --> 00:08:04,655 but maybe he believed it. 166 00:08:05,896 --> 00:08:09,275 One day Alex came down the back stairs 167 00:08:09,344 --> 00:08:12,379 and he told me that he was leaving for Kauai. 168 00:08:12,448 --> 00:08:14,896 And I thought, "Oh, okay, that's an interesting choice 169 00:08:14,896 --> 00:08:16,275 because..." and I think, 170 00:08:16,344 --> 00:08:19,379 Kauai is a series of inactive volcanoes, 171 00:08:19,448 --> 00:08:23,482 beautiful beaches, so made sense to me. 172 00:08:23,482 --> 00:08:26,379 [Ben] So on the morning of February 22nd, 173 00:08:26,448 --> 00:08:28,896 we drove him to the bus that 174 00:08:28,896 --> 00:08:31,896 goes to Logan Airport. 175 00:08:31,896 --> 00:08:37,034 He was wearing his signature leather broad brimmed hat, 176 00:08:37,482 --> 00:08:39,793 and his parka 177 00:08:39,793 --> 00:08:42,482 that looked like a Mexican parka. 178 00:08:42,551 --> 00:08:44,172 Had his backpack. 179 00:08:44,172 --> 00:08:47,068 [Sally] When we got into the bus station, 180 00:08:47,068 --> 00:08:50,275 he wouldn't even embrace us or give us a hug or bye. 181 00:08:50,275 --> 00:08:53,448 Of course you're thinking as a parent, "Let him go, 182 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:55,586 and let him have his time 183 00:08:55,586 --> 00:08:58,034 and... sooner or later he'll come home." 184 00:08:58,896 --> 00:09:00,103 Didn't happen. 185 00:09:07,379 --> 00:09:08,896 My name is Brittany Lyte. 186 00:09:08,965 --> 00:09:11,103 I'm a reporter of Honolulu Civil Beat, 187 00:09:11,103 --> 00:09:14,482 and I've been covering the Alex Gumm case. 188 00:09:14,482 --> 00:09:17,862 Kauai is the oldest island in the Hawaiian archipelago. 189 00:09:18,793 --> 00:09:22,275 It is commonly referred to as the "Garden Island." 190 00:09:22,344 --> 00:09:24,793 It's so verdant and lush. 191 00:09:24,862 --> 00:09:29,482 It's sort of like another worldly jungle paradise. 192 00:09:29,551 --> 00:09:31,379 And it's no surprise that a lot of folks 193 00:09:31,379 --> 00:09:33,896 who love adventure and want to backpack 194 00:09:33,896 --> 00:09:35,965 and camp, you know, they flock here. 195 00:09:36,793 --> 00:09:38,551 [Sally] He was gone for maybe a week. 196 00:09:39,310 --> 00:09:40,689 So I called him. 197 00:09:40,689 --> 00:09:43,000 And it immediately went to voice mail. 198 00:09:43,482 --> 00:09:45,000 Another week goes by, 199 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:47,275 trying again, this time I leave a message, 200 00:09:47,275 --> 00:09:49,379 "Alex, it's Mom. Haven't heard from you. 201 00:09:49,448 --> 00:09:51,758 Please give us a call. I just want to know you're all right." 202 00:09:53,379 --> 00:09:54,896 Still didn't hear from him. 203 00:09:54,896 --> 00:09:57,586 We weren't overly concerned about this 204 00:09:57,586 --> 00:10:00,896 because he had gone to other places 205 00:10:00,965 --> 00:10:03,448 over the last four or five years. 206 00:10:03,896 --> 00:10:05,241 California... 207 00:10:05,793 --> 00:10:06,965 Oregon... 208 00:10:07,379 --> 00:10:08,379 India. 209 00:10:08,448 --> 00:10:10,896 But we could access his bank accounts 210 00:10:10,896 --> 00:10:14,482 and we could see that Alex arrived safely in Kauai 211 00:10:14,551 --> 00:10:17,689 because there was a charge on his debit card 212 00:10:17,689 --> 00:10:21,000 for a one-night stay at the local youth hostel, 213 00:10:21,034 --> 00:10:22,379 in Kauai. 214 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:24,379 [Sally] I called the hostel 215 00:10:24,379 --> 00:10:26,896 and the woman that I spoke with 216 00:10:26,896 --> 00:10:29,793 remember Alex had been there only one night 217 00:10:29,862 --> 00:10:31,689 and they really didn't know anything more 218 00:10:31,689 --> 00:10:34,034 other than he left. He been there and he left. 219 00:10:34,620 --> 00:10:37,793 After that the trail went dead, 220 00:10:37,793 --> 00:10:42,068 and we had no indication of where Alex was. 221 00:10:43,310 --> 00:10:44,586 I was worried. 222 00:10:44,586 --> 00:10:47,275 But then the two weeks turned into a month 223 00:10:47,275 --> 00:10:52,172 and I thought, "Well, how he was fascinated with aliens, 224 00:10:52,172 --> 00:10:54,793 and that maybe it's culminated 225 00:10:54,862 --> 00:10:56,551 in his trip to Kauai. 226 00:11:00,896 --> 00:11:02,896 [Brittany] Alex was fascinated 227 00:11:02,896 --> 00:11:07,172 with this mythological place called Lemuria 228 00:11:07,241 --> 00:11:09,896 which is this ancient continent 229 00:11:09,896 --> 00:11:12,172 that was inhabited by aliens, 230 00:11:12,172 --> 00:11:14,172 uh, from another star system. 231 00:11:14,241 --> 00:11:17,103 And there's quite a bit of literature 232 00:11:17,103 --> 00:11:20,896 on the Internet that describes the island of Kauai 233 00:11:20,896 --> 00:11:23,275 as being Lemuria, and so 234 00:11:23,275 --> 00:11:26,586 it seems that Alex got the idea that 235 00:11:26,655 --> 00:11:30,482 Kauai was Lemuria and he wanted to come here. 236 00:11:30,482 --> 00:11:35,482 So Kauai is supposedly the modern-day place 237 00:11:35,482 --> 00:11:39,275 where Lemuria was or is. 238 00:11:39,344 --> 00:11:44,275 So, if you believe in that origin story of humanity 239 00:11:44,275 --> 00:11:46,689 and that the aliens had seeded the Earth 240 00:11:46,689 --> 00:11:49,275 and you wanted to connect to that place 241 00:11:49,275 --> 00:11:51,379 it would make sense to pursue that 242 00:11:51,379 --> 00:11:53,586 and to go there and try to do that. 243 00:11:53,655 --> 00:11:57,172 Spiritual seekers and, and members of cults 244 00:11:57,172 --> 00:12:01,172 that worship Lemuria have long come to Kauai 245 00:12:01,172 --> 00:12:03,241 seeking this sort of 246 00:12:03,827 --> 00:12:06,172 mythological Eden that, you know, 247 00:12:06,172 --> 00:12:09,172 for some of them isn't mythological, it's real. 248 00:12:09,241 --> 00:12:13,689 With all of Alex's interest in Eastern philosophy 249 00:12:13,689 --> 00:12:16,896 and extraterrestrial beings 250 00:12:16,965 --> 00:12:20,965 we thought, "What if he did get involved into a cult?" 251 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:31,896 [Ian] So Kauai is supposedly 252 00:12:31,896 --> 00:12:37,758 the modern-day place where Lemuria was or is, 253 00:12:37,827 --> 00:12:40,275 and if you wanted to connect to that place 254 00:12:40,344 --> 00:12:42,172 it would make sense to pursue that 255 00:12:42,172 --> 00:12:44,068 and to go there and try to do that. 256 00:12:49,689 --> 00:12:53,586 Before he went to Kauai he developed the philosophy 257 00:12:53,655 --> 00:12:57,068 that the Earth was populated by aliens. 258 00:13:00,620 --> 00:13:02,103 [Ian] The whole Lemuria thing came up 259 00:13:02,103 --> 00:13:05,689 because we were watching an Ancient Aliens episode, it just came on 260 00:13:05,758 --> 00:13:08,172 and it was about Kauai and how they think that 261 00:13:08,172 --> 00:13:10,482 that's where the ancient Lemuria's actually located. 262 00:13:10,482 --> 00:13:12,000 Kinda like one of those Atlantis stories. 263 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:13,482 That fascinated Alex. 264 00:13:14,758 --> 00:13:17,275 Alex thought that he was... 265 00:13:17,862 --> 00:13:19,482 a Pleiadian, 266 00:13:19,551 --> 00:13:22,482 which is like a certain race of aliens 267 00:13:22,482 --> 00:13:25,482 coming from the star system and they seeded the Earth. 268 00:13:25,482 --> 00:13:27,172 And where they seeded the Earth 269 00:13:27,172 --> 00:13:29,000 was once called Lemuria, 270 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:32,172 and it's now where Kauai is. 271 00:13:32,172 --> 00:13:35,172 Like, so that was, like. an alternative origin story 272 00:13:35,241 --> 00:13:37,689 for civilization or for humanity, 273 00:13:37,758 --> 00:13:39,655 and he subscribed to that from what I understand. 274 00:13:41,275 --> 00:13:44,862 I know that at one point Alex thought he was potentially 275 00:13:44,931 --> 00:13:47,172 in some sort of communication with something else 276 00:13:47,172 --> 00:13:49,068 outside of this world, extraterrestrial. 277 00:13:49,137 --> 00:13:52,448 Perhaps he thought he was communicating with something. 278 00:13:55,103 --> 00:13:58,586 To some people his behavior might bring up questions 279 00:13:58,655 --> 00:14:01,586 and, you know, how is Alex's mental health? 280 00:14:01,655 --> 00:14:05,172 Was he, you know, diagnosed with bipolar disorder? 281 00:14:05,172 --> 00:14:06,482 Or schizophrenia? 282 00:14:08,482 --> 00:14:10,000 [Sally] During all of this, 283 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:12,103 of course it's crossed our mind, 284 00:14:12,103 --> 00:14:15,689 you know, is... is something troubling Alex? 285 00:14:15,758 --> 00:14:16,827 Is he... 286 00:14:18,103 --> 00:14:20,034 disturbed in any way? 287 00:14:30,103 --> 00:14:32,965 [Ian] I would say he seemed 288 00:14:33,793 --> 00:14:35,965 too lucid and like... 289 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:38,379 I don't think it's anything like schizophrenia 290 00:14:38,379 --> 00:14:40,758 but if anything it seems... 291 00:14:40,827 --> 00:14:43,482 like, some sort of manic, bipolar 292 00:14:43,551 --> 00:14:46,034 but not like a schizophrenic. 293 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:52,965 [Spenser] Our friendship definitely dissolves, 294 00:14:52,965 --> 00:14:55,068 me and friends will go all the time. This one was tough 295 00:14:55,068 --> 00:14:58,068 'cause he was definitely like a younger brother to us. 296 00:14:58,137 --> 00:15:02,068 [Ben] I felt that Alex might have needed some help, 297 00:15:02,068 --> 00:15:03,965 but he didn't want to. 298 00:15:03,965 --> 00:15:06,034 Well, obviously we were devastated. 299 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:10,000 Well, that was a little hard to understand 300 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:12,758 but I think he was searching for something. 301 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:19,965 [Brittany] So this idea that Kauai is Lemuria 302 00:15:19,965 --> 00:15:23,068 has certainly attracted uh, pilgrims. 303 00:15:23,068 --> 00:15:25,689 Recently there was a cult that came to Kauai 304 00:15:25,758 --> 00:15:30,172 from the mainland and they apparently believe that it was Lemuria. 305 00:15:30,172 --> 00:15:34,862 It's wholly possible that Alex came to Kauai to join one of these groups 306 00:15:34,862 --> 00:15:37,965 who you know believes that Kauai is Lemuria. 307 00:15:48,275 --> 00:15:50,275 [Sally] I contacted the police 308 00:15:50,275 --> 00:15:53,689 and they did list him on the missing persons list. 309 00:15:55,275 --> 00:15:58,758 [Ben] Then we immediately reached out 310 00:15:58,758 --> 00:16:01,482 to the local media to help us. 311 00:16:01,482 --> 00:16:04,758 And so we contacted the local newspaper, 312 00:16:05,103 --> 00:16:06,862 explained the story, 313 00:16:06,931 --> 00:16:09,586 and, uh, one of the reporters there 314 00:16:09,586 --> 00:16:12,689 was nice enough to write a story 315 00:16:12,758 --> 00:16:15,275 for the local Hawaii newspaper 316 00:16:15,275 --> 00:16:17,655 about Alex's disappearance. 317 00:16:18,896 --> 00:16:20,172 [ringing] 318 00:16:20,172 --> 00:16:22,068 [Sally] Every time the phone would ring, 319 00:16:23,068 --> 00:16:25,586 we'll say, "Maybe that's Alex. Maybe that's Alex." 320 00:16:25,586 --> 00:16:28,172 He's gonna say, "Hey, Dad, can you come pick me up? 321 00:16:28,172 --> 00:16:29,172 I'm at the airport." 322 00:16:29,172 --> 00:16:31,482 But that just never came to be. 323 00:16:32,965 --> 00:16:36,827 I mean that was the epitome of my frustration. 324 00:16:38,068 --> 00:16:40,034 Anyone who's been a parent 325 00:16:40,379 --> 00:16:42,068 or is a parent 326 00:16:42,137 --> 00:16:43,689 knows how they love their children, 327 00:16:43,758 --> 00:16:45,689 and I can't find Alex. 328 00:16:47,689 --> 00:16:49,000 So at this point there'd been 329 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:50,379 lots of tips that have come in, 330 00:16:50,448 --> 00:16:51,862 but nothing has panned out. 331 00:16:53,896 --> 00:16:55,379 [Sally] We were not in a position 332 00:16:55,379 --> 00:16:57,586 physically or business-wise 333 00:16:57,586 --> 00:16:59,758 to be making that trip to Kauai 334 00:16:59,827 --> 00:17:01,862 and you know you go out there... 335 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:05,275 and you know, how much time do we spend? 336 00:17:05,344 --> 00:17:06,275 What if we haven't found him? 337 00:17:06,275 --> 00:17:08,482 How do I get on that plane to come home? 338 00:17:08,482 --> 00:17:09,758 I can't. 339 00:17:09,758 --> 00:17:11,586 So I can't even go. 340 00:17:11,586 --> 00:17:15,689 But I did go through his room looking for any possible clue. 341 00:17:15,758 --> 00:17:19,068 I found a map of Kauai in his computer desk 342 00:17:19,068 --> 00:17:21,275 with a couple of places circled, 343 00:17:21,344 --> 00:17:23,172 couple of the towns. 344 00:17:23,241 --> 00:17:25,068 But I couldn't go on the computer 345 00:17:25,137 --> 00:17:27,550 because I'm not computer savvy. 346 00:17:30,275 --> 00:17:34,896 And then one of his skateboard friends contacted me to help. 347 00:17:34,896 --> 00:17:36,965 [Ian] Nobody's heard from Alex for over a year 348 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:40,482 and I was working with Hunter, Spenser's brother, 349 00:17:40,551 --> 00:17:43,172 and he said, "Did you know Alex Gumm is missing?" 350 00:17:43,172 --> 00:17:46,896 And I said, "What do you mean Alex Gumm is missing?" 351 00:17:46,896 --> 00:17:49,000 So I immediately pulled my phone out, 352 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:50,482 searched his name... 353 00:17:50,551 --> 00:17:53,172 missing and articles popped up. 354 00:17:53,172 --> 00:17:54,965 And it was... it was very shocking, 355 00:17:55,482 --> 00:17:57,103 and very concerning. 356 00:17:57,103 --> 00:18:00,172 And that's when we decided to... to get involved. 357 00:18:04,275 --> 00:18:06,379 [Spenser] We started digging through his stuff 358 00:18:06,448 --> 00:18:07,551 and I'm just like... 359 00:18:08,310 --> 00:18:10,689 "Sally and Ben, how deep did you guys go?" 360 00:18:10,689 --> 00:18:12,655 For us we know how to dig in. 361 00:18:16,206 --> 00:18:18,379 So, we went through his search history 362 00:18:18,448 --> 00:18:20,482 and wondering about the whole cult thing. 363 00:18:22,172 --> 00:18:25,482 [Spenser] We were trying to dive into, like, his google searches 364 00:18:25,482 --> 00:18:27,655 and get into his computer and... 365 00:18:28,275 --> 00:18:31,000 as much as we could we... 366 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:33,172 we gathered a lot of information. 367 00:18:33,241 --> 00:18:34,689 It's like I couldn't believe it. 368 00:18:40,448 --> 00:18:44,068 [Spenser] So we were looking through, you know, Alex's computer, 369 00:18:44,068 --> 00:18:46,034 the stuff that came up on the search 370 00:18:46,034 --> 00:18:47,965 was like foraging for your own food 371 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:49,000 and... and stuff like that, 372 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:50,344 and him being a raw vegan 373 00:18:50,413 --> 00:18:51,689 in a place that's 374 00:18:51,689 --> 00:18:52,689 tropical island 375 00:18:52,689 --> 00:18:54,344 you can live off the land so. 376 00:18:56,482 --> 00:18:57,448 He's not someone who would be 377 00:18:57,517 --> 00:18:58,482 falling under the spell of, 378 00:18:58,482 --> 00:18:59,448 like, a cult leader. 379 00:18:59,517 --> 00:19:01,689 But this off-the-grid thing... 380 00:19:01,689 --> 00:19:04,655 I mean anything is possible with the story. 381 00:19:06,034 --> 00:19:07,655 [Ben] So his friends tell us 382 00:19:07,724 --> 00:19:11,275 that maybe Alex had gone off-the-grid. 383 00:19:11,275 --> 00:19:13,896 And that he was emailing 384 00:19:13,896 --> 00:19:17,448 um, outfitter of businesses 385 00:19:17,517 --> 00:19:19,000 in Kauai 386 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:21,137 prior to him leaving. 387 00:19:21,137 --> 00:19:24,965 Alex wasn't a roughing-it type of guy. 388 00:19:24,965 --> 00:19:29,034 But he was looking to buy camping equipment. 389 00:19:31,103 --> 00:19:33,655 Alex had researched it, looked into it. 390 00:19:33,724 --> 00:19:36,551 You know, researched edible fruits and berries. 391 00:19:36,551 --> 00:19:40,724 He was preparing himself for living independently... 392 00:19:48,862 --> 00:19:53,379 Kauai has long attracted free-spirited, hippie, 393 00:19:53,379 --> 00:19:55,551 counterculture holdout types, 394 00:19:55,551 --> 00:19:57,344 who wanted to live off-the-grid. 395 00:19:57,344 --> 00:20:00,551 It's completely possible that Alex is living off the land, 396 00:20:00,551 --> 00:20:03,068 living off-the-grid, doing his thing 397 00:20:03,068 --> 00:20:05,517 that he, you know, seems wanted to do. 398 00:20:07,448 --> 00:20:10,551 I can see him just being like, "I could be self-sufficient out in the jungle." 399 00:20:10,551 --> 00:20:12,344 Like, I could see him totally living that life 400 00:20:12,344 --> 00:20:13,931 and being okay with that. 401 00:20:22,379 --> 00:20:25,103 [Sally] We thought that Alex was living off the grid. 402 00:20:25,379 --> 00:20:27,172 And about si... 403 00:20:27,172 --> 00:20:30,068 six months after Alex went missing 404 00:20:30,068 --> 00:20:33,482 the private investigator contacted us 405 00:20:33,482 --> 00:20:35,758 and offered his services. 406 00:20:38,275 --> 00:20:39,551 My name is Brian Fujiuchi. 407 00:20:39,620 --> 00:20:41,241 I'm a private investigator on Kauai. 408 00:20:42,172 --> 00:20:43,965 I was hired by... 409 00:20:44,379 --> 00:20:46,000 Ben and Sally Gumm 410 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:49,620 to find their son who went missing in Kauai. 411 00:20:51,793 --> 00:20:53,689 I don't know if Alex wanted to be found, 412 00:20:53,689 --> 00:20:56,448 but I think he wanted to be by himself. 413 00:20:56,448 --> 00:20:58,241 If you wanted to be by yourself 414 00:20:58,310 --> 00:20:59,758 you could just walk into one of the valleys 415 00:20:59,758 --> 00:21:01,034 and pitch a tent, 416 00:21:01,034 --> 00:21:03,448 or build a house, a treehouse, whatever, 417 00:21:03,448 --> 00:21:05,551 and you can, you can survive. 418 00:21:05,551 --> 00:21:07,758 I've known and spoken to a gentleman who lived, 419 00:21:07,827 --> 00:21:09,689 you know, in a valley for 12 years, 420 00:21:09,689 --> 00:21:11,034 you know, by himself, 421 00:21:11,034 --> 00:21:13,103 by catching rain water and surviving. 422 00:21:15,103 --> 00:21:17,034 [Sally] Brian suggested that 423 00:21:17,034 --> 00:21:20,379 many people who go to Kauai to drop off-the-grid 424 00:21:20,379 --> 00:21:22,724 and they can get along very well, 425 00:21:23,103 --> 00:21:25,586 uh, living off the land. 426 00:21:25,586 --> 00:21:27,068 And our hope goes up again. 427 00:21:27,068 --> 00:21:29,758 That maybe Brian, he's just gonna find him. 428 00:21:31,793 --> 00:21:34,862 So the investigation starts backwards, 429 00:21:35,482 --> 00:21:36,586 what... what happened? 430 00:21:36,586 --> 00:21:37,758 You know, where did he go? 431 00:21:37,827 --> 00:21:39,758 Yeah, I went down to the Salt Pond Beach Park 432 00:21:39,827 --> 00:21:41,758 just to canvas there, put up a flyer. 433 00:21:43,965 --> 00:21:45,275 [Brittany] Salt Pond Beach Park 434 00:21:45,275 --> 00:21:47,482 is on the island's western shore. 435 00:21:47,482 --> 00:21:50,655 It's frequented by tourists as well as local residents, 436 00:21:50,724 --> 00:21:54,448 and there is often a community of homeless folks 437 00:21:54,448 --> 00:21:56,103 who are living there as well. 438 00:22:02,344 --> 00:22:04,103 [Brian] I started putting up the posters 439 00:22:04,103 --> 00:22:07,758 and a local lady, she'd one cold night 440 00:22:07,758 --> 00:22:09,137 made a big pot of soup 441 00:22:09,137 --> 00:22:11,241 and brought it down to the Hanapepe's, 442 00:22:11,310 --> 00:22:14,103 uh, Salt Pond Beach Park and so she saw this... 443 00:22:14,103 --> 00:22:16,344 uh, young man sitting at a table reading a book. 444 00:22:16,413 --> 00:22:18,448 She said, uh, the book appeared to be 445 00:22:18,448 --> 00:22:20,896 some kind of a religious book that he was reading. 446 00:22:20,896 --> 00:22:22,758 So she asked him, "You want some soup?" 447 00:22:23,482 --> 00:22:25,689 And he said, "What's in it?" 448 00:22:25,689 --> 00:22:27,068 And she said, "Ham." 449 00:22:27,068 --> 00:22:28,862 And he said, "Oh, I... I can't have any." 450 00:22:29,689 --> 00:22:31,000 Because he was a vegetarian. 451 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:32,068 And at that time she noticed 452 00:22:32,068 --> 00:22:33,448 the tattoo on his hand. 453 00:22:35,482 --> 00:22:37,275 A tattoo can be like a fingerprint 454 00:22:37,275 --> 00:22:39,344 because if it's one of a kind 455 00:22:39,344 --> 00:22:41,241 then it's easy to identify the person. 456 00:22:42,034 --> 00:22:43,241 And so she was said, 457 00:22:43,310 --> 00:22:44,896 well, describe the tattoo, 458 00:22:44,896 --> 00:22:48,379 and she was, "blue, kind of like a triangle shape." 459 00:22:48,379 --> 00:22:51,827 That was almost a 100% proof that that was Alex. 460 00:22:53,896 --> 00:22:55,586 [Brittany] This was a pretty credible tip 461 00:22:55,586 --> 00:22:58,137 because she saw him down with the same tattoo, 462 00:22:58,137 --> 00:23:00,275 the fact that he didn't wanna take the soup 463 00:23:00,275 --> 00:23:01,448 because he doesn't eat meat. 464 00:23:01,517 --> 00:23:03,448 All of these things made this tip 465 00:23:03,517 --> 00:23:04,931 very, very credible. 466 00:23:06,655 --> 00:23:08,793 [Brian] This area is known as Hanapepe. 467 00:23:08,793 --> 00:23:11,482 And this beach park in particular 468 00:23:11,482 --> 00:23:13,758 is called the Salt Pond Beach Park. 469 00:23:13,827 --> 00:23:17,655 Well, because the information was relatively new and fresh, 470 00:23:17,655 --> 00:23:19,137 I came down here right away. 471 00:23:21,586 --> 00:23:25,413 Checked around, and there was nobody that fit his description. 472 00:23:27,137 --> 00:23:29,551 So I started going to each tent 473 00:23:29,551 --> 00:23:30,862 and talking to people. 474 00:23:30,862 --> 00:23:32,793 And one of the guys that I talked to said, 475 00:23:32,793 --> 00:23:36,000 "Yeah, there's a... He stays with this girl, 476 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,344 you know, in a white car." 477 00:23:38,344 --> 00:23:40,448 And I saw a white car is in the parking lot. 478 00:23:42,034 --> 00:23:43,344 So I looked in the white car 479 00:23:43,344 --> 00:23:45,172 and the back seat 480 00:23:45,172 --> 00:23:48,103 filled with religious books. 481 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:50,482 So, I'm thinking, "Wow, yeah, maybe... 482 00:23:50,482 --> 00:23:52,344 maybe Alex, you know, made a friend 483 00:23:52,344 --> 00:23:54,758 and was using-- riding the car." 484 00:23:54,758 --> 00:23:56,448 So I then came back to the park, 485 00:23:56,517 --> 00:23:58,344 walked around and the same guy 486 00:23:58,413 --> 00:24:00,655 that I talked said, "Hey, you looking for that couple?" 487 00:24:00,724 --> 00:24:02,793 I said, "Yeah." He said, "They're right here in this tent." 488 00:24:02,793 --> 00:24:05,241 So I went up to the tent and the guy that came out 489 00:24:05,310 --> 00:24:06,862 was a tall, tall gentleman, 490 00:24:06,931 --> 00:24:09,551 slim, you know, with slight, slight beard. 491 00:24:09,551 --> 00:24:11,482 And so I asked him, you know, "What's his name?" 492 00:24:11,482 --> 00:24:12,551 And he gave me his name. 493 00:24:12,551 --> 00:24:14,000 And so I, "Do you have any identification?" 494 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:16,793 He said, "Why?" I said, I'm looking for this, 495 00:24:16,793 --> 00:24:18,000 you know, showed him the pictures. 496 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:20,482 So, "Oh, no, that's definitely not me." 497 00:24:20,482 --> 00:24:21,965 So he showed me his hands. 498 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:23,448 No-- He had tattoos on his arm 499 00:24:23,517 --> 00:24:25,344 but not on his hand. 500 00:24:25,413 --> 00:24:27,896 So I said, "You guys ever see this boy around?" 501 00:24:27,896 --> 00:24:29,103 He goes, "No, but you see, you know, 502 00:24:29,103 --> 00:24:30,793 we're not here every day all day. 503 00:24:30,793 --> 00:24:32,137 So, you know, he may have come 504 00:24:32,137 --> 00:24:34,137 and left, you know? 505 00:24:37,482 --> 00:24:39,758 So I put up more flyers in the town, 506 00:24:39,758 --> 00:24:41,862 hoping that somebody else would call me, 507 00:24:41,931 --> 00:24:43,655 to say that they've seen him. 508 00:24:43,724 --> 00:24:46,862 But then as time went on the tips stopped coming in. 509 00:24:56,586 --> 00:24:58,758 [Ian] So by the fall of 2019 510 00:24:58,827 --> 00:25:02,965 uh, we decided to start running social media ad campaigns 511 00:25:02,965 --> 00:25:05,551 with missing posters of Alex, 512 00:25:05,620 --> 00:25:08,137 targeted for the entire island of Kauai, 513 00:25:08,137 --> 00:25:10,758 trying to generate leads about where he might be 514 00:25:10,827 --> 00:25:13,034 in order to conduct our search effectively. 515 00:25:15,137 --> 00:25:17,655 So a guy reached out to me on Instagram 516 00:25:17,724 --> 00:25:19,689 and he said, "Hey, I think I've seen your buddy. 517 00:25:19,689 --> 00:25:21,862 I think he stays at Donkey Beach." 518 00:25:21,931 --> 00:25:25,103 It's a beach, I thinks it's 20 minutes north 519 00:25:25,103 --> 00:25:26,965 of where the airport is. 520 00:25:26,965 --> 00:25:28,965 Not too far. Not too hard to get to. 521 00:25:28,965 --> 00:25:30,896 This guy said, "Yeah, I think he... 522 00:25:30,896 --> 00:25:32,758 he's camping on Donkey Beach, 523 00:25:32,758 --> 00:25:34,241 and I'm pretty sure he goes to a food pantry 524 00:25:34,241 --> 00:25:36,586 every Wednesday, in Princeville. 525 00:25:36,586 --> 00:25:38,655 At the end of the day, like, we got to do something, 526 00:25:38,655 --> 00:25:40,551 and that what we decided to do. 527 00:25:42,793 --> 00:25:43,896 We're gonna go to Hawaii now 528 00:25:43,896 --> 00:25:46,068 and really, go look for our friend and, 529 00:25:46,068 --> 00:25:48,344 so it's myself, uh, my brother Hunter, 530 00:25:48,344 --> 00:25:50,448 uh, one of my best friends Ian, 531 00:25:50,517 --> 00:25:51,965 uh, our friend Alec, 532 00:25:51,965 --> 00:25:53,551 who was along for the ride, 533 00:25:53,620 --> 00:25:57,103 and we convinced our really good friend, Shane in LA, 534 00:25:57,103 --> 00:25:59,241 the night before we're flying out to join us. 535 00:26:00,068 --> 00:26:01,137 That was the group. 536 00:26:01,896 --> 00:26:03,793 Growing up and filming Alex 537 00:26:03,793 --> 00:26:06,862 and being in that whole way, documenting his life, 538 00:26:06,862 --> 00:26:09,275 we decided that we're gonna search for Alex 539 00:26:09,275 --> 00:26:12,172 and film this and turn it into a documentary, 540 00:26:12,172 --> 00:26:14,000 in a... in a bigger project. 541 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,103 It just felt like the right thing to do. 542 00:26:16,103 --> 00:26:18,758 Just to get us who are willing to go on this adventure 543 00:26:18,827 --> 00:26:20,448 to find our friend because we do-- 544 00:26:20,517 --> 00:26:22,448 We knew he was out there. 545 00:26:22,517 --> 00:26:23,551 We really, really did. 546 00:26:30,034 --> 00:26:35,000 Alex Gumm was last seen February 22nd, 2018. 547 00:26:36,034 --> 00:26:39,655 If you have any information, please visit 548 00:26:39,655 --> 00:26:42,137 searchingforalex.com 549 00:26:52,034 --> 00:26:56,344 [Ian] As we're coming in you see just how Kauai is absolutely remote 550 00:26:56,344 --> 00:26:59,862 and lush and just staggeringly beautiful. 551 00:26:59,862 --> 00:27:02,448 Everything about it seems larger than life. 552 00:27:03,448 --> 00:27:05,448 And there's something about it seems kinda like 553 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:07,862 mysterious I guess. 554 00:27:07,931 --> 00:27:09,965 It feels like there's some sort of like 555 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:12,551 natural beauty and power to that place that's... 556 00:27:13,551 --> 00:27:14,758 There's something there, 557 00:27:14,758 --> 00:27:16,931 like beyond, like, what you see, I would say. 558 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:20,344 [Spenser] As soon as I got off the plane, 559 00:27:20,413 --> 00:27:21,448 you just feel this like, 560 00:27:21,517 --> 00:27:22,758 weird energy. 561 00:27:22,827 --> 00:27:24,551 Not that it was bad. It was just weird. 562 00:27:25,655 --> 00:27:27,000 [Ian] The plane lands in and I'm like, perfect. 563 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:28,241 We'll post up in Princeville, 564 00:27:28,241 --> 00:27:30,758 at the food pantry, like a stake out, 565 00:27:30,758 --> 00:27:33,551 Alex will come out to get his weekly rations 566 00:27:33,620 --> 00:27:36,758 and we'll walk up and say, "Hey, man." Like, "What's going on?" 567 00:27:37,551 --> 00:27:39,137 But I get a message from the same guy 568 00:27:39,137 --> 00:27:40,758 and he's like, "Hey, I had a chance 569 00:27:40,827 --> 00:27:42,344 to talk to that guy. It's not him." 570 00:27:42,965 --> 00:27:44,862 It's just kinda like... 571 00:27:44,931 --> 00:27:48,068 "Okay, so there goes this lead where we really thought, 572 00:27:48,068 --> 00:27:49,551 like, we know where he is." 573 00:27:49,551 --> 00:27:52,379 I was so convinced going there that we're gonna find him 574 00:27:52,379 --> 00:27:55,000 and be like, "Okay, we can confirm he's alive, 575 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:57,655 find out why he went, solve the mystery." 576 00:27:57,724 --> 00:27:59,862 So that was really deflating when we landed in 577 00:27:59,931 --> 00:28:02,034 and this lead is, like, was immediately gone. 578 00:28:02,758 --> 00:28:05,310 It is sad because we had just got there. 579 00:28:06,482 --> 00:28:11,068 I mean none of us had ever conducted, like, a search for somebody. 580 00:28:11,068 --> 00:28:13,103 But we are just trying to create a plan. 581 00:28:13,103 --> 00:28:16,000 I do remember that from his search history he was looking-- 582 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:17,448 At YouTube he's looking at 583 00:28:17,448 --> 00:28:19,206 a couple of different monasteries in Kauai. 584 00:28:19,862 --> 00:28:22,275 Alex was interested in being a monk 585 00:28:22,275 --> 00:28:23,965 and going through the whole steps in that. 586 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:25,896 So there is monasteries 587 00:28:25,896 --> 00:28:27,551 on that island specifically 588 00:28:27,551 --> 00:28:30,551 and that's definitely something Alex was interested in. 589 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:37,551 [Brittany] The hostel where Alex spent his first night when he arrived on the island 590 00:28:37,551 --> 00:28:39,379 is only about a 20-minute drive 591 00:28:39,379 --> 00:28:42,655 from the Hindu monastery here on the island. 592 00:28:42,724 --> 00:28:44,551 So it is possible that he came here 593 00:28:44,620 --> 00:28:47,241 with the intent to perhaps join the monastery, 594 00:28:47,310 --> 00:28:50,275 or at least try to make some inroads there. 595 00:28:50,275 --> 00:28:53,068 And when you're a monk, at least from my perspective, 596 00:28:53,068 --> 00:28:55,137 you cannot have any ties back to home 597 00:28:55,137 --> 00:28:57,275 and you got to leave your life behind. 598 00:28:57,275 --> 00:28:59,241 He could be doing that right now. 599 00:29:02,344 --> 00:29:04,965 We ended up going to a monastery there. 600 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:08,344 We asked if they knew Alex. 601 00:29:08,862 --> 00:29:10,103 They said, "No." 602 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:12,172 We all got the same vibe 603 00:29:12,172 --> 00:29:14,344 that they kinda didn't want us there. 604 00:29:14,344 --> 00:29:16,344 They weren't helpful. We showed a picture 605 00:29:16,344 --> 00:29:18,241 and they weren't really interested in looking at it 606 00:29:18,310 --> 00:29:20,655 and just kinda say, "Yeah, he's not here." 607 00:29:20,655 --> 00:29:23,655 So we left there just kinda, like, unsatisfied with that answer. 608 00:29:23,724 --> 00:29:25,103 Um, there was something about it 609 00:29:25,103 --> 00:29:26,344 that was just off-putting. 610 00:29:27,172 --> 00:29:28,758 Maybe they don't want to be 611 00:29:28,827 --> 00:29:29,862 forthcoming with information. 612 00:29:29,931 --> 00:29:31,241 They're a little cagey because... 613 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:33,586 perhaps... 614 00:29:33,586 --> 00:29:36,689 they respect that, that person made that decision to join. 615 00:29:36,689 --> 00:29:37,862 That makes sense. 616 00:29:39,448 --> 00:29:43,068 But at this point we only covered the surface. 617 00:29:43,068 --> 00:29:45,448 It was just like, "Let's keep going. 618 00:29:45,448 --> 00:29:47,034 We need to find him." 619 00:30:19,241 --> 00:30:23,275 [Spenser] A lot of the locals kept talking about this Kalalau Valley 620 00:30:23,275 --> 00:30:25,862 and there's a community out there. 621 00:30:25,931 --> 00:30:30,103 I could see Alex joining a group of like-minded people for sure 622 00:30:30,103 --> 00:30:31,655 that are living off the land 623 00:30:31,655 --> 00:30:36,034 and have no rules. There are no tie to society. 624 00:30:36,034 --> 00:30:39,724 And so we are, like, "We need to go look there." 625 00:30:42,482 --> 00:30:47,862 Kalalau is an extremely isolated beach and valley on the island of Kauai. 626 00:30:48,689 --> 00:30:51,344 Kalalau Beach is surrounded by 627 00:30:51,413 --> 00:30:54,068 2000-3000 ft tall cliffs. 628 00:30:54,068 --> 00:30:57,862 Just a cathedral of volcanic mountain peaks 629 00:30:57,931 --> 00:31:01,103 and just soaring cliffs with razor-sharp edges. 630 00:31:01,896 --> 00:31:03,448 You cannot drive there. 631 00:31:03,517 --> 00:31:05,310 You cannot take a helicopter there. 632 00:31:06,103 --> 00:31:09,206 And for that reason it's sort of this, uh... 633 00:31:11,275 --> 00:31:12,758 alternate universe. 634 00:31:12,827 --> 00:31:14,034 [birds chirping] 635 00:31:14,034 --> 00:31:15,655 [Brittany] There are... 636 00:31:15,655 --> 00:31:18,862 clean streams that you can drink from and bathe in. 637 00:31:18,862 --> 00:31:21,896 There are folks who do farming there. 638 00:31:21,896 --> 00:31:22,965 Grow their own food. 639 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:24,965 There are pigs you can hunt there. 640 00:31:24,965 --> 00:31:27,137 So there's sort of always been this 641 00:31:27,137 --> 00:31:30,000 illicit off-the-grid community 642 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:31,448 living in this valley. 643 00:31:32,896 --> 00:31:35,655 It is a 16-mile trail through the jungle. 644 00:31:36,172 --> 00:31:38,103 And it's up and down cliffs 645 00:31:38,103 --> 00:31:39,862 and many mountains 646 00:31:39,931 --> 00:31:43,000 and in and out of wetlands, drylands, the whole way. 647 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:45,448 It's not like you're walking down a nature trail. 648 00:31:45,517 --> 00:31:47,206 It's very, very dangerous. 649 00:31:49,068 --> 00:31:51,448 The problem is we had very limited time, 650 00:31:52,172 --> 00:31:53,965 so we couldn't hike out there feasibly, 651 00:31:53,965 --> 00:31:56,344 and we didn't have any gear. 652 00:31:56,413 --> 00:31:58,965 And that's when, um, we are put in contact 653 00:31:58,965 --> 00:32:01,551 with somebody who can drive us in a boat up there, 654 00:32:01,620 --> 00:32:03,241 cut down the whole hike and make it 655 00:32:03,310 --> 00:32:05,517 so we can just enter the valley from the beach. 656 00:32:07,689 --> 00:32:09,448 So we got in the boat. 657 00:32:14,586 --> 00:32:16,689 It's like an hour-plus boat ride. 658 00:32:16,689 --> 00:32:18,586 It's gorgeous. I mean, it's amazing. 659 00:32:18,586 --> 00:32:21,172 You're in what-- It's like Jurassic Park. 660 00:32:21,172 --> 00:32:24,448 It's like so isolated, it's so beautiful. It's a jungle. 661 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:28,241 But what they didn't tell us is when 662 00:32:28,241 --> 00:32:30,034 the boat brings you there... 663 00:32:31,103 --> 00:32:33,620 they can't bring the boat right up the shore... 664 00:32:34,689 --> 00:32:36,344 because waves are so big. 665 00:32:40,241 --> 00:32:42,275 We're like a football field away 666 00:32:42,275 --> 00:32:44,689 and he's like, "When I go in 667 00:32:44,689 --> 00:32:47,241 you guys all have to jump." 668 00:32:47,310 --> 00:32:49,344 That's when like the nerves really hit. 669 00:33:03,275 --> 00:33:04,344 [speaks indistinctly] 670 00:33:05,172 --> 00:33:07,241 [Ian] I realized my shoes are still on. 671 00:33:08,103 --> 00:33:10,551 I have a trash bag full of camera gear. 672 00:33:10,620 --> 00:33:12,206 I'm just not prepared. 673 00:33:14,448 --> 00:33:15,965 [laughing nervously] 674 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:17,862 Oh! 675 00:33:17,931 --> 00:33:21,172 And I'm now in the ocean. There's no turning back. 676 00:33:22,068 --> 00:33:23,586 [gasps] 677 00:33:27,689 --> 00:33:31,862 I caught the wave but I just got thrown head first into the water. 678 00:33:31,931 --> 00:33:35,206 I was completely vertical, like head facing down. 679 00:33:37,275 --> 00:33:39,655 Tossed around underneath the wave. 680 00:33:39,724 --> 00:33:40,862 This is really happening. 681 00:33:40,931 --> 00:33:42,448 This is not some fun adventure. 682 00:33:42,448 --> 00:33:43,551 This isn't a game. 683 00:33:43,551 --> 00:33:45,241 This is life and death. 684 00:33:51,896 --> 00:33:53,551 I was under for, I don't know how long 685 00:33:53,620 --> 00:33:55,931 but it felt like a long time, waiting to come up. 686 00:33:58,034 --> 00:33:59,655 [coughing, gasping] 687 00:34:02,551 --> 00:34:04,448 [Spenser] This is straight chaos. 688 00:34:04,517 --> 00:34:06,000 I look over at Ian 689 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:07,551 and he's white as a sheet, 690 00:34:07,551 --> 00:34:08,931 like, he just puked. 691 00:34:12,172 --> 00:34:14,241 [Ian] We'd felt like being on a different planet. 692 00:34:15,482 --> 00:34:17,068 I was getting really overwhelmed, 693 00:34:17,068 --> 00:34:18,447 like emotionally. 694 00:34:18,516 --> 00:34:20,447 We had a huge area to look for. 695 00:34:22,379 --> 00:34:25,137 This is the trail based on the map. 696 00:34:25,137 --> 00:34:28,585 Heading into the valley, we kinda have the loosest trail 697 00:34:28,585 --> 00:34:31,551 and we're like bushwhacking it through the jungle. 698 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:34,241 [splashing] 699 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:43,172 Oh, it's so hot. 700 00:34:44,551 --> 00:34:46,172 That's how far we got and... 701 00:34:48,965 --> 00:34:51,241 [Spenser] Alex, we're out here. We really wanna find you. 702 00:34:51,585 --> 00:34:52,862 Give us a sign. 703 00:34:53,482 --> 00:34:54,655 Where the hell are you? 704 00:34:55,172 --> 00:34:56,172 [gasping] 705 00:35:01,379 --> 00:35:03,448 [Spenser] We did as much as we could 706 00:35:03,448 --> 00:35:05,241 to try and find people out there. 707 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:07,965 But we couldn't find Alex. 708 00:35:09,379 --> 00:35:12,862 So we ended up going back to the beach 709 00:35:12,931 --> 00:35:14,758 and I remember turning at the end of the trail, 710 00:35:14,758 --> 00:35:17,862 turning and seeing the waves and my heart sunk. 711 00:35:17,862 --> 00:35:20,517 The waves are huge and I'm horrible at swimming. 712 00:35:21,482 --> 00:35:23,000 I don't know exact distance 713 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:27,000 but like, couple of 100 feet to swim, 714 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:29,034 from like the beach to the boat 715 00:35:29,034 --> 00:35:31,241 which with huge waves 716 00:35:31,310 --> 00:35:34,965 it's just like, pretty, you know, intense. 717 00:35:34,965 --> 00:35:38,068 [sighing] I'm like, "All right, I'm either gonna have a panic attack right now 718 00:35:38,068 --> 00:35:39,551 or I'm gonna try and do this." 719 00:35:41,586 --> 00:35:45,379 I dove through the wave and I just timed it wrong, 720 00:35:45,379 --> 00:35:47,586 and it just threw me down. 721 00:35:47,586 --> 00:35:51,551 I never felt the sensation of being drowned by a wave before. 722 00:35:51,551 --> 00:35:54,241 But you feel that over and over again 723 00:35:54,241 --> 00:35:55,655 and then as soon as you can, 724 00:35:55,655 --> 00:35:57,689 you know, get deep down in your body 725 00:35:57,689 --> 00:35:59,413 to push off the bottom... 726 00:36:00,862 --> 00:36:02,448 and jump back up 727 00:36:02,448 --> 00:36:04,965 when you could barely gasp a air 728 00:36:04,965 --> 00:36:06,862 and you get dropped back under again, 729 00:36:06,862 --> 00:36:09,862 and so I got really, really rocked. 730 00:36:09,862 --> 00:36:11,896 And I nearly drowned. 731 00:36:11,896 --> 00:36:15,862 I came up like a dead fish on the... on the sand. 732 00:36:15,931 --> 00:36:18,448 Just like, no strength, 733 00:36:18,448 --> 00:36:21,206 shaking, like, water coming out of my nose. 734 00:36:24,896 --> 00:36:27,827 And I was the only one who didn't make it back on the boat. 735 00:36:30,448 --> 00:36:32,758 And so I, like, got up. 736 00:36:34,344 --> 00:36:37,344 I'm like trying, like, to signal to the boat... 737 00:36:37,413 --> 00:36:38,758 I'm just like, "I'm done." 738 00:36:46,689 --> 00:36:48,241 [Ian] So we had to just accept the fact that, 739 00:36:48,241 --> 00:36:50,655 "Okay... Spenser is staying the night 740 00:36:50,655 --> 00:36:52,344 and hiking out by himself." 741 00:36:53,137 --> 00:36:54,448 Like, it was just overwhelming 742 00:36:54,517 --> 00:36:57,448 with the fear of what could happen. 743 00:36:57,448 --> 00:37:00,551 I dragged these guys out here and we're trying to find Alex 744 00:37:00,551 --> 00:37:02,000 and now we're gonna lose another friend. 745 00:37:04,793 --> 00:37:06,758 Didn't sleep a wink that night. 746 00:37:06,758 --> 00:37:08,344 I'm thinking it's hopefully it's a chance 747 00:37:08,344 --> 00:37:10,206 to keep looking for Alex in the morning. 748 00:37:14,241 --> 00:37:16,965 I got up at 4:00 in the morning and it's still dark. 749 00:37:17,862 --> 00:37:20,344 And I had my backpack 750 00:37:20,344 --> 00:37:21,862 and my shorts on 751 00:37:21,862 --> 00:37:25,379 and have to start the 16-mile hike... 752 00:37:25,379 --> 00:37:27,862 up and down, in and out of the jungle. 753 00:37:29,275 --> 00:37:32,379 Every turn and every little, you know, stopping point, 754 00:37:32,379 --> 00:37:34,000 I'm like, "There Alex could be." 755 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:36,103 And I'm just gonna have to take a selfie with him, 756 00:37:36,103 --> 00:37:38,448 just so everybody knew that I had found him. 757 00:37:38,448 --> 00:37:42,034 And, I'm like head down hiking up this steep hill, 758 00:37:42,655 --> 00:37:43,758 and I hear... 759 00:37:44,758 --> 00:37:46,034 "Hey, brother." 760 00:37:47,655 --> 00:37:49,379 I'm like, "Wait a minute." 761 00:37:49,379 --> 00:37:52,241 Wait, I thought, I mean, Alex... 762 00:37:53,758 --> 00:37:55,241 But he wasn't there. 763 00:37:55,241 --> 00:37:57,965 My brother Hunter had hiked in two miles 764 00:37:57,965 --> 00:37:58,965 to catch me. 765 00:37:58,965 --> 00:38:01,068 [bleep] How're you man? 766 00:38:01,068 --> 00:38:02,896 [speaking indistinctly, laughing] 767 00:38:02,896 --> 00:38:04,827 That's crazy, bro. 768 00:38:05,275 --> 00:38:07,241 [Spenser] And I looked... 769 00:38:07,241 --> 00:38:10,344 I'm like, dude, what are you doing here, like, you know... 770 00:38:10,793 --> 00:38:12,241 breaking down in tears. 771 00:38:13,275 --> 00:38:15,379 It was really good to see them. 772 00:38:15,379 --> 00:38:17,448 And then we hiked back the two miles 773 00:38:17,448 --> 00:38:21,551 and... finally got back to society and civilization. 774 00:38:22,172 --> 00:38:24,862 It was quite a... quite the journey. 775 00:38:27,172 --> 00:38:28,551 [Ian] We left the island feeling like, 776 00:38:28,620 --> 00:38:30,862 we put in a valiant effort to try to find Alex. 777 00:38:30,931 --> 00:38:34,896 Everything we did, we're just... just you know, five guys 778 00:38:34,896 --> 00:38:36,862 in their 20s just trying to do 779 00:38:36,862 --> 00:38:38,517 what they could to find a friend. 780 00:38:45,793 --> 00:38:48,758 [Ben] They were all very, very disappointed 781 00:38:48,758 --> 00:38:51,379 in not being able to find Alex. 782 00:38:51,379 --> 00:38:55,965 We are very, very grateful to the young men 783 00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:57,758 who went to Kauai. 784 00:38:59,034 --> 00:39:01,103 [Spenser] That island is scary and dangerous. 785 00:39:01,103 --> 00:39:03,551 There's a lot of risks there and... 786 00:39:04,344 --> 00:39:06,103 many people visiting 787 00:39:06,103 --> 00:39:09,379 either drown or get lost, and fall off the cliff. 788 00:39:09,379 --> 00:39:12,344 [Ian] This is not a place where you can go and it's a ride. 789 00:39:12,413 --> 00:39:16,448 This is real life and it's very dangerous and treacherous. 790 00:39:16,517 --> 00:39:18,551 That being said, Alex is a really smart, 791 00:39:18,620 --> 00:39:19,965 resourceful guy. 792 00:39:19,965 --> 00:39:21,620 An accident can happen to anybody. 793 00:39:22,137 --> 00:39:23,586 Bur something tells me like 794 00:39:23,586 --> 00:39:26,000 he would be too careful for that to happen. 795 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:27,448 He's too calculated. 796 00:39:29,172 --> 00:39:31,275 [Ben] From the very beginning 797 00:39:31,275 --> 00:39:34,655 we knew that the possibility that Alex had died 798 00:39:35,241 --> 00:39:38,000 was a very real possibility. 799 00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:40,758 But as every day goes by... 800 00:39:41,482 --> 00:39:44,206 and a body has not been found, 801 00:39:44,655 --> 00:39:46,344 we have more hope. 802 00:39:48,379 --> 00:39:51,172 [Ian] Did he go there and shave his head and become a monk? 803 00:39:51,172 --> 00:39:54,931 Or is he just on the beach playing the guitar? 804 00:39:55,379 --> 00:39:56,965 Both are possible. 805 00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:59,655 There's evidence for both I would say, arguably. 806 00:40:01,068 --> 00:40:02,413 But we don't know. 807 00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:09,758 [Spenser] Alex Gumm has been missing for five years, 808 00:40:09,758 --> 00:40:13,482 and I do still feel like he's alive and out there, 809 00:40:13,482 --> 00:40:14,758 in need of somebody to say, 810 00:40:14,758 --> 00:40:16,620 "Say hi to your mom. Give her a call." 811 00:40:18,172 --> 00:40:22,241 [Ben] If anyone knows how we can contact Alex, 812 00:40:22,793 --> 00:40:25,344 please contact us. 813 00:40:25,344 --> 00:40:28,965 We would be forever grateful. 814 00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:32,034 [Ian] So we built a website called "searchingforalex." 815 00:40:33,896 --> 00:40:36,896 And the whole idea is, like, if you have any tips or any information, 816 00:40:36,896 --> 00:40:38,965 please, you can be anonymous. 817 00:40:41,379 --> 00:40:43,344 [Sally] I would say, "Alex, we love you... 818 00:40:43,344 --> 00:40:44,862 [voice breaking] more than you know." 819 00:40:45,344 --> 00:40:46,655 Give him the wiggle. 820 00:40:48,275 --> 00:40:49,758 And you are a gift. 821 00:40:50,965 --> 00:40:53,758 I picture him just living a quiet life. 822 00:40:54,793 --> 00:40:56,137 But I keep praying that 823 00:40:56,137 --> 00:40:57,655 somewhere there's a little voice 824 00:40:57,655 --> 00:40:59,448 inside of his head that's gonna say, 825 00:40:59,517 --> 00:41:02,551 "It's time. Call Mom and Dad. 826 00:41:02,620 --> 00:41:04,000 Get in touch with them." 827 00:41:19,172 --> 00:41:21,034 -[bagpipe playing] -It's like he disappeared 828 00:41:21,034 --> 00:41:22,482 off the face of the Earth. 829 00:41:22,482 --> 00:41:25,241 He started doing drugs, and he didn't know how to stop. 830 00:41:25,310 --> 00:41:28,758 My fear is just that he ended up owing these people money. 831 00:41:28,758 --> 00:41:30,448 [man] The longer time goes on, 832 00:41:30,517 --> 00:41:32,172 it becomes a challenge to find him. 833 00:41:32,172 --> 00:41:34,379 It is the worst feeling as a mother, 834 00:41:34,379 --> 00:41:36,000 to not know where your child is.