WEBVTT
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Hello friends, Steve Stockton here with you. Welcome to our
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latest video. Today we're going to look into the strange,
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strange case of Bobby Bissett. The truth about Bobby Bissett.
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This case has been covered many times. I'm sure most
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of you are aware of it. But are you aware
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of everything in the case? We don't think so. There's
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some pertinent information that's been left out. Join us for
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this sad, strange case. Bobby Bizup was the only child
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born to Master Sergeant Joseph and Constance Bizup on July 4th, 1948.
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Joseph was a member of the U.S. Air Force and
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Constance was a homemaker. Bobby was born almost completely deaf,
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and despite making use of the best technology and hearing
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aids that they had available in the late 1940s, he
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could still hardly hear anything. He relied mostly on sign
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language and lip-reading, but almost no one other than his
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parents could understand him. He shrugged it off when he
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was teased by other children, which he was, a lot.
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One of Bobby's favorite things to do was to go
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away to camp in the summertime. And even at camp,
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despite being almost deaf, Bobby was always not just participating,
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but smiling. And this is despite the intense and constant
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bullying that he had to endure daily at these camps.
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Everyone knows that children can be so cruel sometimes. Unfortunately,
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it was one of these camps that would be the
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center focus of the investigation into what happened to this
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little boy, who was only 10 years old at the
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time of his strange and mysterious disappearance. We just want
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to let you know that this isn't easy to hear.
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There's some things here that you probably haven't heard anywhere
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else regarding Bobby and his disappearance, and it's somewhat shocking.
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You may even realize that your most trusted source for
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information on missing persons purposely left out some of the
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important details. Why? Well, that we don't know. What we
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do know and can promise you is that we pride
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ourselves on not sugarcoating or purposely omitting information. We believe
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that the entire story should be told. Even if it's
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extremely dark like this one. Here's the real story. The
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whole story. and the true story of what happened to
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little Bobby Bishop. Let's start at the beginning. Bobby was
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an only child, and as we said, he was bullied
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relentlessly by the other children because of his hearing impairment.
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He was different at a time when, unfortunately, it wasn't
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okay to be different. Despite everything he faced, every single day,
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you wouldn't ever find Bobby without his crooked and somewhat
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gap-toothed smile. You wouldn't find him on the bench during
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the camp softball games or sitting to the side when
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it was time for fishing. There he would be, every time,
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front and center, and waiting to be a part of
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the other groups of children, despite how they bullied and
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treated him. In August of 1958, Bobby was at one
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of these summer camps. It was no different than all
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the other times he had to interact with other children
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his own age. August 10th, 1958, was the day that
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everything would change forever. Bobby would disappear, and it would
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become a very long-standing mystery as to what exactly happened
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to him. There have been recent developments in this case
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that we will get to later on in this video,
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but first, let's go over what was originally said about
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what happened to this little boy. On this particular day,
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Bobby was fishing by a place called Cabin Creek while
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attending a summer camp by the Catholic Church called St.
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Malo's Retreat. Right around 6 p.m., a camp counselor approached Bobby,
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told him it was time for dinner. Bobby followed the
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counselor down the hill towards where they ate their meals.
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It's important to note here that, later on, this counselor
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was adamant that Bobby was right behind him when he
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turned to walk down that hill. He said he was
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absolutely certain that this little 10-year-old boy was following him. However,
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when he reached the camp and turned around, Bobby was
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nowhere in sight. Now, Mount Meeker's barren summit looms to
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the west of Colorado Highway 7 between Allen's Park and
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Estes Park. High on the eastern face of the 13,911-foot peak,
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Tiny Cabin Creek starts far above the treeline, cleaving a
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slash in the mountain as it tumbles down before meandering
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through the trees as the earth flattens out on the
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eastern edge of the Rocky Mountain National Park. There, the
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crystal clear water trickles through gently rolling forest land before
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finally slipping past St. Catherine of Siena Chapel, the iconic
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church on the rock. Then the creek ducks under Colorado
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Highway 7 and bends south. The land, from the edge
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of the rocky boundary to the chapel, is the home
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to the Catholic Church's camp, St. Malo. And it's hard
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to imagine a more beautiful and bucolic place A headline
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in the Denver Catholic Register in 1957 termed it God's Country,
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and it's easy to see why. Mountain peaks that seem
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to reach the heavens themselves. Forests you may otherwise only
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find in a dream. Babbling brooks and quiet streams where
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you can relax and feel at one with nature, and
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depending on what you believe, God himself or whoever your
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higher power is. Generations of schoolboys spent summer after summer
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at this very spot. They would swim and shoot, hike
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and camp, fish and have fun. The boys will be
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boys mentality was never more fitting than those summers these
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young men and boys spent at this particular camp. At
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least that's what everyone thought was happening at this place.
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Just a wholesome good time at a place where young
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boys could let loose, make friends, learn about the church
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and be themselves. The summer camp closed in the early
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1980s and the property was converted to a Catholic retreat,
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a place visited by Pope John Paul II himself during
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a break from World Youth Day. Now, the landscape and
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buildings have changed dramatically since the days of the summer
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camp where Bobby Bishop disappeared, but remain very clear in
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the minds of most of the thousands of boys who
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have come and gone from its cabins and woods. While
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most of the members of the long-forgotten camp have nothing
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but fond memories and happy thoughts when Camp St. Malo
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comes to mind, There's a deep, dark secret that was
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exposed by some of the boys, all men now, who
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have the complete opposite reaction when being shown pictures of
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or even at the mention of those summer camp days.
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In order to understand the history and also perhaps to
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understand why Bobby's disappearance was never thoroughly investigated, we have
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to start at the beginning and understand just how this
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camp came into existence. Beginning in 1915, the Reverend Joseph
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Bassetti began taking members of the Cathedral High School Choir
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and some of the altar boys on camping trips that
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land east of Mount Meeker. He was inspired by the
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biblical phrase, Upon this rock I will build my church.
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And that church was built, later donated to the Archdiocese
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of Denver. In 1934, a scattering of buildings had been erected,
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and Camp St. Malo was born. The chapel that greeted visitors,
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the famous Church on the Rock, went up the following year,
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and by the 1950s, the camp was an extremely popular
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destination for Catholic boys in Colorado. Back in those days,
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there wasn't much oversight in regards to what actually went
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on at a place like this, no mandates or yearly
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check-ins for the people funding or running it, and no
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safety guidelines for activities or background checks for workers. A
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boy could, almost literally, do anything he wanted. The hiking
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and camping program met twice a week to trek the
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high peaks and visit the glaciers in Rocky Mountain National Park.
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The almost always freezing swimming hole offered an exhilarating break
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from the excruciating summer heat. There was basketball, handball, tennis,
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and badminton courts, as well as archery and rifle ranges,
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and even a craft shop where boys could construct model
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airplanes or take on other projects. Cabin Creek and the
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beaver ponds in the immediate area beckoned the boys and
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their fishing rods. Over the years, a routine was eventually
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established and things seemed, at least from the outside looking in,
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to be running quite smoothly. Camp St. Malo was an
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absolute success. Or was it? The Denver Catholic Register hyped
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the camp incessantly with endless stories about the wholesome fun
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that awaited boys there. One story even reported that, quote,
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big tasty hamburgers are a welcome sight to any growing boy.
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But when they are cooked outdoors over a big fire
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where cool mountain breezes can add more flavor to the burgers,
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there is no holding them back. End quote. Sounds wonderful,
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doesn't it? Now back in 1958, the fee to attend
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the camp was $ 38 per week. Doesn't seem like much now,
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but that's about $ 366 in today's money. Quite a lot
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back then. And if you wanted your son to be
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able to get some horseback riding in, it was just
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a few dollars more. Reverend Richard Heister took over as
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the camp's director sometime in the 50s after Reverend Bassetti
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was no longer able to hold the title. His nephew
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shared some fond memories of his experiences at the camp.
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He went every year as a boy and practically gushed
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as he recounted these memories later on when the camp's
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wholesomeness came under scrutiny. He said things like, It was
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freezing cold. We'd be really cold. We hadn't eaten yet.
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We would have hiked all night because we would leave
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at two in the morning. So I remember that ritual.
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And I remember being there a number of times for
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those twins. sisters' hikes. He talked about how his nose
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had bled profusely after he tried boxing, which is also
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one of the many sports offered and taught by the camp.
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Reverend Heister would say Mass as the sun rose every morning. Most,
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if not all, of the counselors at this camp were
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seminarians who were studying for the priesthood. As the younger
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Richard Heister shared his fondest memories with a smile and laugh,
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there was one memory that stuck out for him above
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all the rest. A memory which made the smile slip
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right off his face and the laugh fade from his voice.
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It was the memory of a boy named Bobby Bissom,
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who was visiting camp for the second time that year,
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as it was only a week at a time for
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most of the boys due to the price being a
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lot back in those days. Bobby had visited three times
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that year alone. Bobby Bishop, the only son of Master
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Sergeant Joseph Bishop, who disappeared seemingly into thin air and
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without a trace, who everyone thought was perhaps swallowed up
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by the mountains themselves. The search for Bobby extended across
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four days, with an estimated 300 people searching over 16
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square miles. The search included airmen from Denver's Lowry Air
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Force Base, where Bobby's father was stationed. Bloodhounds searched the woods,
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and divers even searched the heavier ponds. The search extended
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up Mount Meeker to approximately 11,000 feet and four miles
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in each direction. There was just no sign of him,
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only his bait box, found about a mile from the
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creek where he was said to have been last seen
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by his counselor. The camp director made multiple statements, always
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proclaiming how sure he was that Bobby was just hiding
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and that he would eventually emerge when everything settled down.
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He thought that perhaps all the attention and authorities around
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may have scared the boy, who maybe had been playing
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a game of hide-and-seek to try and scare his counselor.
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And now that the game had gone too far and
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the police were involved and other agencies were traipsing about
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trying to find him, perhaps he was just scared he
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would get into trouble. Or at least the director made
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it clear that's what he thought. A vacationing physician claimed
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to have seen Bobby walking the streets in Estes Park,
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15 miles north of St. Malo's. Clerks at Anastas Park
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hardware store also reported seeing a young boy resembling Bobby
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and even tried asking him questions, but he failed to respond,
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pointing to his mouth and ears. Sounds kind of like Bobby,
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but he quickly left when approached. It wasn't until almost
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a year later, on June 6, 1959, that any additional
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clues were found. Three camp counselors from St. Mallow's, including
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one who helped lead the original search for Bobby, came
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across part of his hearing aid, some scraps of clothing,
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and a few bones, all later confirmed to be Bobby's.
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Right around that same time, more of his remains are
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found in a ravine's heavy underbrush just below the timberline
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on Mount Meeker. The ravine and areas surrounding it had
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all been part of the original search. The question that
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seemed to be on most people's minds, however, is how
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did Bobby get there, and why wasn't he found during
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the original search? Bobby Bizup allegedly disappeared while heading downhill
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to dinner, very close on the heels of a council
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the whole time. Yet his remains were found almost a
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year later, three to three and a half miles away
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from the camp, and 2,500 feet up Mount Meeker. And
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even for the people that claimed to have seen him
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in Estes Park, 15 miles south of Mount Malo, how
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would he have gotten there? It's true that a 10-year-old
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boy can be resourceful, but this particular boy was hard
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of hearing, as we said, and didn't speak much. He
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was said to be very hungry when the counselor approached
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him for dinner and rushing right behind to get to
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the food, yet he disappeared without a trace within the
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couple of minutes it took him to make it down
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the hill to the chow hall. How had the counselor
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not seen or heard anything? How could he possibly not
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have noticed what happened to Bobby? What happened to the
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rest of him? His body? It hadn't been that long,
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after all. Even if eaten by wildlife in the Rocky Mountains,
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It's the opinion of many experts involved in investigating the
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case that there should have been more of him left behind.
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Let's fast forward now, as we know that while some
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of Bobby's remains were found, there is still so much
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mystery surrounding this case. The rest of this story is
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rather hard to tell. It's an extremely delicate topic, and
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in fact, some of your most trusted sources for information
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on the missing purposefully left all this out. We genuinely
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hope that it wasn't left out to try and make
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the case seem more mysterious than it was and exploit
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poor Bobby or his family, but simply because the reasons
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just stated, that being the delicateness of it all. In 2019,
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the Colorado Attorney General reached an unprecedented agreement with the
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Archdiocese of Denver, the Diocese of Colorado Springs, and the
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Diocese of Pueblo that allowed a former U.S. Attorney to
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examine seven decades of church records and publicly exposed priests
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who had been credibly accused of abusing children. The resulting
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report was unflinching, including highly detailed reports on no fewer
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than 43 Colorado priests who abused at least 166 children
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between 1950 and 2019. It documented the systemic failures in
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the church over the decades, from willingly covering up reports
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of abuse to repeatedly failing to follow a state law
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requiring that those allegations be reported to police. The report
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even stained the once glowing reputation of Camp St. Malo,
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finding that its founder, Joseph Bassetti, a revered figure in
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the Archdiocese of Denver, repeatedly abused a teenage boy back
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in 1949 and 50. It left open the possibility that
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there were others, noting that the victim had come forward
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in 2002, but that his report was not contained in
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Joseph Bassetti's file. As a result, the report reads, quoting here,
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We are therefore not confident that there was no other
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abuse by Bassetti or that the Denver Archdiocese did not
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know about it before Bassetti abused the teen. End quote.
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But it wasn't just the camp's founder who was accused.
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That same report exposed abuse on the grounds of Camp St.
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Malo in the 1950s and 1960s. This abuse that was
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exposed was committed by two priests with long ties to
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the camp, men who served as counselors there for years
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while they were studying for the priesthood. One of these
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was later called the most prolific known clergy abuser in
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Colorado history, a man with at least 63 known victims.
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His name? Father Harold Robert White. It's alleged and claimed
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that the Denver Archdiocese knew from the outset of Harold
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White's career that he was abusive in this way. They
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did nothing to stop him, and in fact, if this
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report is true, they handed him thousands of boys to
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do these things to. They gave him free reign, essentially, allegedly.
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This makes him one of two seminarians who were counselors
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at Camp St. Malo that summer that Bobby disappeared. who
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have since had accusations of abuse sustained after a 22-month
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examination of church records by investigators working for the Colorado
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Attorney General's Office. The other priest allegedly exposed as this
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kind of abuser while counseling at the camp the day
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Bobby went missing, his name was Neil Hewitt. Neil was
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accused of abusing at least 18 children in this way
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during his priesthood. While Harold White died in 2006 and
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Neil Hewitt left the priesthood in 1980 and married, he
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did acknowledge that he was among the last to see Bobby,
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and was the one who found his remains in a
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gully several miles west of the camp. However, during a
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talk with a reporter in 2019 outside his Arizona home,
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and again on the phone in November, Hewitt said he, quote,
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did not do anything, end quote, to Bobby. Mark Haas,
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a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Denver, which owned and
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operated Camp St. Malo, said there are no records that
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could help explain what happened to Bobby Bisip. Quoting here,
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He says, this tragic situation occurred 62 years ago, and
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no one currently working for the Archdiocese has any direct
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knowledge of it. He went on to state, we are
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not in a position to respond to speculation about something
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that happened six decades ago. Bobby's disappearance was simply treated
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as a case of a youngster who got lost, and
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a coroner even classified his death as likely being the
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result of exhaustion and exposure and termed it an accident.
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It is of note that the Vatican defrocked Neil Hewitt
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in 2018. In May of 2021, though, everything changed dramatically.
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More than 60 years after his disappearance, Bobby's skull was
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turned over to the FBI by a man named Tom McCroskey. Dr.
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McCroskey stated that the skull had originally been in the
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possession of his father, Dr. Joseph McCroskey, a prominent member
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of the Catholic Church and a close friend of the
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priest who was running Camp St. Malo when the little
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boy vanished. He went on to say that his father
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passed away all the way back in 1980, but not
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before giving it to him and telling that it could
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possibly be the skull of a little boy who disappeared
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from the camp. Nobody knows much else, and as far
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as Dr. McCroskey is stating, he doesn't know anything else either.
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There are obvious questions, though. If he was given the
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skull in 1980... and told that it could belong to
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a missing boy then why did he only hand it
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over all these years later? He claims that, throughout the years,
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he figured out that the boy was more than likely
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Bobby Bishop, and that he searched for articles and further
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information regarding the boy and the case. He also claims
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he couldn't find anything in all that time until 2021,
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when he finally came forward to the FBI. He had
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kept the skull stored in a paper bag in his
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basement almost the entire time since his father had given
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it to him all those years ago back in 1980. Nowadays,
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if you visit Mount Meeker, you won't hear the laughing
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of a bunch of school-aged boys playing around in the
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nearby waters and woods. You won't run into them as
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you go down to fish in one of the streams.
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There's no sign at all that way back when there
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was a summer camp here run by Catholic priests. There
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will only be the majesty of the mountains themselves and
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the beautiful silence you can only find on the mountain
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and deep in the woods surrounding them. There is another
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silence we want you to consider, though. The silence of
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the Catholic Church. As it's alleged, they kept those priests
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and seminarians' secrets throughout all these years. The silence of
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the doctor who, though he had the knowledge of a
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little boy who allegedly went missing without a trace on
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his way to get some dinner, chose, or at least
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it seems, to keep that secret to himself for many
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years as well. Maybe, too, the silence of some of
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those aforementioned trusted sources for information on disappearance, possibly in
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the selfish interest of making certain vanishings and deaths seem
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more mysterious and strange. We won't be silent, though, folks.
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Hear the facts and allegations as they've been presented, raw
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and sad and shameful on so many different levels if
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we've come to know them. Our heart goes out to
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any victims of any crime or any kind of injustice.
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To the families who have no answers, despite someone out there, somewhere,
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always knowing what really happened. And to Bobby Bishop and
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his family, for the terrible and incredible justice he and
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they were done and had to endure for all these years.
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It's absolutely unimaginable. It seems there may be hope for
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an answer soon, as the case has been reopened. since
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the FBI obtained what they believed to be Bobby's skull.
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Let's just hope and pray it's not too late for
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justice to be served, and for the spirit of little
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Bobby Bishop to finally be able to rest in peace.
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I look forward to your comments, but please keep it
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friendly and respectful. Be good to yourselves and each other.
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Stay safe out there. If you see something, say something. Somewhere,
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someone knows the truth in a lot of these cases
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we cover. And I'll see you just a little farther
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on down the trail. I'm Steve Stockton, and I'll talk
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to you next time.
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Hello friends, Steve Stockton here with you. Welcome to our
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latest video. Today we're going to look into the strange,
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strange case of Bobby Bissett. The truth about Bobby Bissett.
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This case has been covered many times. I'm sure most
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of you are aware of it. But are you aware
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of everything in the case? We don't think so. There's
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some pertinent information that's been left out. Join us for
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this sad, strange case. Bobby Bizup was the only child
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born to Master Sergeant Joseph and Constance Bizup on July 4th, 1948.
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Joseph was a member of the U.S. Air Force and
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Constance was a homemaker. Bobby was born almost completely deaf,
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and despite making use of the best technology and hearing
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aids that they had available in the late 1940s, he
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could still hardly hear anything. He relied mostly on sign
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language and lip-reading, but almost no one other than his
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parents could understand him. He shrugged it off when he
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was teased by other children, which he was, a lot.
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One of Bobby's favorite things to do was to go
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away to camp in the summertime. And even at camp,
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despite being almost deaf, Bobby was always not just participating,
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but smiling. And this is despite the intense and constant
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bullying that he had to endure daily at these camps.
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Everyone knows that children can be so cruel sometimes. Unfortunately,
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it was one of these camps that would be the
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center focus of the investigation into what happened to this
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little boy, who was only 10 years old at the
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time of his strange and mysterious disappearance. We just want
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to let you know that this isn't easy to hear.
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There's some things here that you probably haven't heard anywhere
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else regarding Bobby and his disappearance, and it's somewhat shocking.
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You may even realize that your most trusted source for
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information on missing persons purposely left out some of the
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important details. Why? Well, that we don't know. What we
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do know and can promise you is that we pride
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ourselves on not sugarcoating or purposely omitting information. We believe
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that the entire story should be told. Even if it's
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extremely dark like this one. Here's the real story. The
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whole story. and the true story of what happened to
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little Bobby Bishop. Let's start at the beginning. Bobby was
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an only child, and as we said, he was bullied
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relentlessly by the other children because of his hearing impairment.
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He was different at a time when, unfortunately, it wasn't
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okay to be different. Despite everything he faced, every single day,
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you wouldn't ever find Bobby without his crooked and somewhat
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gap-toothed smile. You wouldn't find him on the bench during
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the camp softball games or sitting to the side when
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it was time for fishing. There he would be, every time,
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front and center, and waiting to be a part of
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the other groups of children, despite how they bullied and
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treated him. In August of 1958, Bobby was at one
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of these summer camps. It was no different than all
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the other times he had to interact with other children
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his own age. August 10th, 1958, was the day that
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everything would change forever. Bobby would disappear, and it would
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become a very long-standing mystery as to what exactly happened
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to him. There have been recent developments in this case
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that we will get to later on in this video,
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but first, let's go over what was originally said about
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what happened to this little boy. On this particular day,
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Bobby was fishing by a place called Cabin Creek while
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attending a summer camp by the Catholic Church called St.
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Malo's Retreat. Right around 6 p.m., a camp counselor approached Bobby,
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told him it was time for dinner. Bobby followed the
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counselor down the hill towards where they ate their meals.
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It's important to note here that, later on, this counselor
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was adamant that Bobby was right behind him when he
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turned to walk down that hill. He said he was
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absolutely certain that this little 10-year-old boy was following him. However,
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when he reached the camp and turned around, Bobby was
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nowhere in sight. Now, Mount Meeker's barren summit looms to
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the west of Colorado Highway 7 between Allen's Park and
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Estes Park. High on the eastern face of the 13,911-foot peak,
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Tiny Cabin Creek starts far above the treeline, cleaving a
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slash in the mountain as it tumbles down before meandering
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through the trees as the earth flattens out on the
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eastern edge of the Rocky Mountain National Park. There, the
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crystal clear water trickles through gently rolling forest land before
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finally slipping past St. Catherine of Siena Chapel, the iconic
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church on the rock. Then the creek ducks under Colorado
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Highway 7 and bends south. The land, from the edge
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of the rocky boundary to the chapel, is the home
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to the Catholic Church's camp, St. Malo. And it's hard
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to imagine a more beautiful and bucolic place A headline
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in the Denver Catholic Register in 1957 termed it God's Country,
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and it's easy to see why. Mountain peaks that seem
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to reach the heavens themselves. Forests you may otherwise only
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find in a dream. Babbling brooks and quiet streams where
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you can relax and feel at one with nature, and
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depending on what you believe, God himself or whoever your
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higher power is. Generations of schoolboys spent summer after summer
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at this very spot. They would swim and shoot, hike
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and camp, fish and have fun. The boys will be
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boys mentality was never more fitting than those summers these
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young men and boys spent at this particular camp. At
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least that's what everyone thought was happening at this place.
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Just a wholesome good time at a place where young
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boys could let loose, make friends, learn about the church
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and be themselves. The summer camp closed in the early
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1980s and the property was converted to a Catholic retreat,
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a place visited by Pope John Paul II himself during
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a break from World Youth Day. Now, the landscape and
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buildings have changed dramatically since the days of the summer
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camp where Bobby Bishop disappeared, but remain very clear in
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the minds of most of the thousands of boys who
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have come and gone from its cabins and woods. While
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most of the members of the long-forgotten camp have nothing
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but fond memories and happy thoughts when Camp St. Malo
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comes to mind, There's a deep, dark secret that was
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exposed by some of the boys, all men now, who
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have the complete opposite reaction when being shown pictures of
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or even at the mention of those summer camp days.
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In order to understand the history and also perhaps to
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understand why Bobby's disappearance was never thoroughly investigated, we have
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to start at the beginning and understand just how this
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camp came into existence. Beginning in 1915, the Reverend Joseph
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Bassetti began taking members of the Cathedral High School Choir
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and some of the altar boys on camping trips that
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land east of Mount Meeker. He was inspired by the
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biblical phrase, Upon this rock I will build my church.
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And that church was built, later donated to the Archdiocese
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of Denver. In 1934, a scattering of buildings had been erected,
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and Camp St. Malo was born. The chapel that greeted visitors,
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the famous Church on the Rock, went up the following year,
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and by the 1950s, the camp was an extremely popular
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destination for Catholic boys in Colorado. Back in those days,
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there wasn't much oversight in regards to what actually went
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on at a place like this, no mandates or yearly
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check-ins for the people funding or running it, and no
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safety guidelines for activities or background checks for workers. A
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boy could, almost literally, do anything he wanted. The hiking
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and camping program met twice a week to trek the
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high peaks and visit the glaciers in Rocky Mountain National Park.
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The almost always freezing swimming hole offered an exhilarating break
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from the excruciating summer heat. There was basketball, handball, tennis,
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and badminton courts, as well as archery and rifle ranges,
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and even a craft shop where boys could construct model
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airplanes or take on other projects. Cabin Creek and the
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beaver ponds in the immediate area beckoned the boys and
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their fishing rods. Over the years, a routine was eventually
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established and things seemed, at least from the outside looking in,
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to be running quite smoothly. Camp St. Malo was an
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absolute success. Or was it? The Denver Catholic Register hyped
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the camp incessantly with endless stories about the wholesome fun
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that awaited boys there. One story even reported that, quote,
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big tasty hamburgers are a welcome sight to any growing boy.
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But when they are cooked outdoors over a big fire
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where cool mountain breezes can add more flavor to the burgers,
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there is no holding them back. End quote. Sounds wonderful,
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doesn't it? Now back in 1958, the fee to attend
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the camp was $ 38 per week. Doesn't seem like much now,
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but that's about $ 366 in today's money. Quite a lot
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back then. And if you wanted your son to be
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able to get some horseback riding in, it was just
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a few dollars more. Reverend Richard Heister took over as
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the camp's director sometime in the 50s after Reverend Bassetti
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was no longer able to hold the title. His nephew
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shared some fond memories of his experiences at the camp.
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He went every year as a boy and practically gushed
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as he recounted these memories later on when the camp's
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wholesomeness came under scrutiny. He said things like, It was
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freezing cold. We'd be really cold. We hadn't eaten yet.
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We would have hiked all night because we would leave
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at two in the morning. So I remember that ritual.
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And I remember being there a number of times for
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those twins. sisters' hikes. He talked about how his nose
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had bled profusely after he tried boxing, which is also
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one of the many sports offered and taught by the camp.
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Reverend Heister would say Mass as the sun rose every morning. Most,
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if not all, of the counselors at this camp were
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seminarians who were studying for the priesthood. As the younger
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Richard Heister shared his fondest memories with a smile and laugh,
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there was one memory that stuck out for him above
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all the rest. A memory which made the smile slip
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right off his face and the laugh fade from his voice.
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It was the memory of a boy named Bobby Bissom,
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who was visiting camp for the second time that year,
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as it was only a week at a time for
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most of the boys due to the price being a
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lot back in those days. Bobby had visited three times
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that year alone. Bobby Bishop, the only son of Master
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Sergeant Joseph Bishop, who disappeared seemingly into thin air and
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without a trace, who everyone thought was perhaps swallowed up
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by the mountains themselves. The search for Bobby extended across
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four days, with an estimated 300 people searching over 16
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square miles. The search included airmen from Denver's Lowry Air
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Force Base, where Bobby's father was stationed. Bloodhounds searched the woods,
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and divers even searched the heavier ponds. The search extended
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up Mount Meeker to approximately 11,000 feet and four miles
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in each direction. There was just no sign of him,
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only his bait box, found about a mile from the
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creek where he was said to have been last seen
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by his counselor. The camp director made multiple statements, always
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proclaiming how sure he was that Bobby was just hiding
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and that he would eventually emerge when everything settled down.
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He thought that perhaps all the attention and authorities around
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may have scared the boy, who maybe had been playing
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a game of hide-and-seek to try and scare his counselor.
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And now that the game had gone too far and
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the police were involved and other agencies were traipsing about
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trying to find him, perhaps he was just scared he
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would get into trouble. Or at least the director made
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it clear that's what he thought. A vacationing physician claimed
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to have seen Bobby walking the streets in Estes Park,
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15 miles north of St. Malo's. Clerks at Anastas Park
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hardware store also reported seeing a young boy resembling Bobby
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and even tried asking him questions, but he failed to respond,
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pointing to his mouth and ears. Sounds kind of like Bobby,
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but he quickly left when approached. It wasn't until almost
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a year later, on June 6, 1959, that any additional
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clues were found. Three camp counselors from St. Mallow's, including
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one who helped lead the original search for Bobby, came
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across part of his hearing aid, some scraps of clothing,
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and a few bones, all later confirmed to be Bobby's.
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Right around that same time, more of his remains are
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found in a ravine's heavy underbrush just below the timberline
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on Mount Meeker. The ravine and areas surrounding it had
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all been part of the original search. The question that
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seemed to be on most people's minds, however, is how
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did Bobby get there, and why wasn't he found during
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the original search? Bobby Bizup allegedly disappeared while heading downhill
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to dinner, very close on the heels of a council
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the whole time. Yet his remains were found almost a
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year later, three to three and a half miles away
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from the camp, and 2,500 feet up Mount Meeker. And
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even for the people that claimed to have seen him
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in Estes Park, 15 miles south of Mount Malo, how
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would he have gotten there? It's true that a 10-year-old
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boy can be resourceful, but this particular boy was hard
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of hearing, as we said, and didn't speak much. He
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was said to be very hungry when the counselor approached
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him for dinner and rushing right behind to get to
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the food, yet he disappeared without a trace within the
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couple of minutes it took him to make it down
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the hill to the chow hall. How had the counselor
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not seen or heard anything? How could he possibly not
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have noticed what happened to Bobby? What happened to the
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rest of him? His body? It hadn't been that long,
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after all. Even if eaten by wildlife in the Rocky Mountains,
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It's the opinion of many experts involved in investigating the
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case that there should have been more of him left behind.
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Let's fast forward now, as we know that while some
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of Bobby's remains were found, there is still so much
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mystery surrounding this case. The rest of this story is
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rather hard to tell. It's an extremely delicate topic, and
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in fact, some of your most trusted sources for information
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on the missing purposefully left all this out. We genuinely
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hope that it wasn't left out to try and make
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the case seem more mysterious than it was and exploit
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poor Bobby or his family, but simply because the reasons
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just stated, that being the delicateness of it all. In 2019,
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the Colorado Attorney General reached an unprecedented agreement with the
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Archdiocese of Denver, the Diocese of Colorado Springs, and the
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Diocese of Pueblo that allowed a former U.S. Attorney to
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examine seven decades of church records and publicly exposed priests
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who had been credibly accused of abusing children. The resulting
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report was unflinching, including highly detailed reports on no fewer
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than 43 Colorado priests who abused at least 166 children
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between 1950 and 2019. It documented the systemic failures in
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the church over the decades, from willingly covering up reports
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of abuse to repeatedly failing to follow a state law
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requiring that those allegations be reported to police. The report
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even stained the once glowing reputation of Camp St. Malo,
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finding that its founder, Joseph Bassetti, a revered figure in
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the Archdiocese of Denver, repeatedly abused a teenage boy back
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in 1949 and 50. It left open the possibility that
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there were others, noting that the victim had come forward
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in 2002, but that his report was not contained in
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Joseph Bassetti's file. As a result, the report reads, quoting here,
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We are therefore not confident that there was no other
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abuse by Bassetti or that the Denver Archdiocese did not
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know about it before Bassetti abused the teen. End quote.
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But it wasn't just the camp's founder who was accused.
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That same report exposed abuse on the grounds of Camp St.
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Malo in the 1950s and 1960s. This abuse that was
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exposed was committed by two priests with long ties to
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the camp, men who served as counselors there for years
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while they were studying for the priesthood. One of these
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was later called the most prolific known clergy abuser in
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Colorado history, a man with at least 63 known victims.
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His name? Father Harold Robert White. It's alleged and claimed
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that the Denver Archdiocese knew from the outset of Harold
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White's career that he was abusive in this way. They
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did nothing to stop him, and in fact, if this
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report is true, they handed him thousands of boys to
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do these things to. They gave him free reign, essentially, allegedly.
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This makes him one of two seminarians who were counselors
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at Camp St. Malo that summer that Bobby disappeared. who
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have since had accusations of abuse sustained after a 22-month
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examination of church records by investigators working for the Colorado
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Attorney General's Office. The other priest allegedly exposed as this
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kind of abuser while counseling at the camp the day
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Bobby went missing, his name was Neil Hewitt. Neil was
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accused of abusing at least 18 children in this way
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during his priesthood. While Harold White died in 2006 and
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Neil Hewitt left the priesthood in 1980 and married, he
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did acknowledge that he was among the last to see Bobby,
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and was the one who found his remains in a
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gully several miles west of the camp. However, during a
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talk with a reporter in 2019 outside his Arizona home,
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and again on the phone in November, Hewitt said he, quote,
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did not do anything, end quote, to Bobby. Mark Haas,
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a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Denver, which owned and
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operated Camp St. Malo, said there are no records that
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could help explain what happened to Bobby Bisip. Quoting here,
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He says, this tragic situation occurred 62 years ago, and
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no one currently working for the Archdiocese has any direct
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knowledge of it. He went on to state, we are
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not in a position to respond to speculation about something
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that happened six decades ago. Bobby's disappearance was simply treated
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as a case of a youngster who got lost, and
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a coroner even classified his death as likely being the
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result of exhaustion and exposure and termed it an accident.
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It is of note that the Vatican defrocked Neil Hewitt
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in 2018. In May of 2021, though, everything changed dramatically.
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More than 60 years after his disappearance, Bobby's skull was
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00:19:00.869 --> 00:19:05.369
turned over to the FBI by a man named Tom McCroskey. Dr.
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McCroskey stated that the skull had originally been in the
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possession of his father, Dr. Joseph McCroskey, a prominent member
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of the Catholic Church and a close friend of the
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priest who was running Camp St. Malo when the little
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boy vanished. He went on to say that his father
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passed away all the way back in 1980, but not
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before giving it to him and telling that it could
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possibly be the skull of a little boy who disappeared
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from the camp. Nobody knows much else, and as far
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as Dr. McCroskey is stating, he doesn't know anything else either.
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There are obvious questions, though. If he was given the
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skull in 1980... and told that it could belong to
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a missing boy then why did he only hand it
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over all these years later? He claims that, throughout the years,
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he figured out that the boy was more than likely
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Bobby Bishop, and that he searched for articles and further
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information regarding the boy and the case. He also claims
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he couldn't find anything in all that time until 2021,
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when he finally came forward to the FBI. He had
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kept the skull stored in a paper bag in his
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basement almost the entire time since his father had given
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it to him all those years ago back in 1980. Nowadays,
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if you visit Mount Meeker, you won't hear the laughing
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of a bunch of school-aged boys playing around in the
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nearby waters and woods. You won't run into them as
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you go down to fish in one of the streams.
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There's no sign at all that way back when there
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was a summer camp here run by Catholic priests. There
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will only be the majesty of the mountains themselves and
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the beautiful silence you can only find on the mountain
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and deep in the woods surrounding them. There is another
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silence we want you to consider, though. The silence of
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the Catholic Church. As it's alleged, they kept those priests
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and seminarians' secrets throughout all these years. The silence of
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the doctor who, though he had the knowledge of a
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little boy who allegedly went missing without a trace on
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his way to get some dinner, chose, or at least
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it seems, to keep that secret to himself for many
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years as well. Maybe, too, the silence of some of
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those aforementioned trusted sources for information on disappearance, possibly in
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the selfish interest of making certain vanishings and deaths seem
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more mysterious and strange. We won't be silent, though, folks.
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Hear the facts and allegations as they've been presented, raw
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and sad and shameful on so many different levels if
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we've come to know them. Our heart goes out to
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any victims of any crime or any kind of injustice.
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To the families who have no answers, despite someone out there, somewhere,
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always knowing what really happened. And to Bobby Bishop and
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his family, for the terrible and incredible justice he and
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they were done and had to endure for all these years.
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It's absolutely unimaginable. It seems there may be hope for
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an answer soon, as the case has been reopened. since
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the FBI obtained what they believed to be Bobby's skull.
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Let's just hope and pray it's not too late for
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justice to be served, and for the spirit of little
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Bobby Bishop to finally be able to rest in peace.
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I look forward to your comments, but please keep it
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friendly and respectful. Be good to yourselves and each other.
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Stay safe out there. If you see something, say something. Somewhere,
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someone knows the truth in a lot of these cases
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we cover. And I'll see you just a little farther
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on down the trail. I'm Steve Stockton, and I'll talk
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to you next time.
