Chilling details have emerged over the deaths of a Colorado family that moved off-the-grid after their mother became obsessed with pandemic conspiracy theories.
An investigation by journalist Ted Conover with Outside Magazine uncovered heartbreaking diary entries written by Talon Vance, 13, after he was whisked away to the Rocky Mountains wilderness by his mom Becky, 42, and aunt Christine, 41.
Talon weighed less than 40 pounds when their mummified remains were discovered, and their families said they had no survival skills or experience before Becky tried to ‘escape society.’
As revealed this week by Outside Magazine, Talon’s diary found next to his rotting remains detailed his mother’s mystifying reliance on him to stay alive, despite him being homeschooled and only having rudimentary knowledge of how to tie a knot.
In the diary, he also wrote of his online friends begging him not to go off-grid, and suffering mental breakdowns because ‘nothing feels the same anymore.’
Talon Vance, 13, wrote heartbreaking final diary entries where he was relied upon for survival in the wilderness and wrote of missing his friends
Talon froze to death in the Rocky Mountain wilderness when he was whisked away by his mom Becky, 42, and aunt Christine, 41 (pictured together)
He meticulously detailed his Roblox friends begging him not to go off-grid
Talon had previously spent most of his time with his father and half-siblings, until he was taken with his mother and aunt after Becky became convinced the pandemic was a sham.
An old acquaintance texted her months before she went off-grid, hoping to catch up. Her response led him to call the authorities when she fled to the wilderness.
After saying she wouldn’t be available as she was soon leaving Colorado, Becky added: ‘I know I probably sound like a ‘conspiracy theorist,’ but there are insane plots to take away our soul and humanity,
‘If you’ve never heard about the Great Reset, WEF, 4th Industrial Revolution, then please look up Yuval Noah Harari, Klaus Schwab, and their agenda.’
A final text to another friend read: ‘They really want to merge man with machine, and I refuse to let them do that to me or my son… I don’t know when all of this will happen, but I think it’s important for people to get out while they still can.’
While still preparing for their getaway, Becky urged her son to learn wilderness skills, including knots and shelter building, which he would write about in his diary.
‘Side note: I did the trucker’s hitch first try!!’ he wrote in one entry – shortly before he told his online friends on the game ‘Roblox’ that he was leaving.
He jotted down minute details of their interactions, including timestamps of messages, where his friends begged him: ‘Please I will give anything for you to come back.’
‘NOOO COME BACK,’ read another entry.
Pictured: The wilderness camp where the three froze to death
Talan was relied upon for survival skills despite him being homeschooled and only having rudimentary knowledge of how to tie a knot
When they left in August 2022, Becky refused to share details of where they were going, and lied to some family members that they were going to West Virginia to be with her father.
During the trip, they stopped for food at the remote town of Gunnison for food. It was there that, as detailed in his diary, Talan wrote how he had a mental breakdown because ‘nothing feels the same.’
‘The Arby’s we had was so tasty!’ he wrote. Many of the diary entries appeared to be childish and innocent.
‘I also had a mini breakdown at Arby’s because nothing feels the same anymore [sad face]. During my breakdown, she took us to Safeway and let me pick out candy of my choice! I was so sad, that nothing really sounded appealing to me anymore.
‘So I picked out chocolate for mommy mostly, and then Aunty suggested fruit snacks for me, so I just said ‘OK.”
They eventually set up camp in the woods outside a campground at almost 10,000 feet in the mountains, in an area known for heavy snow.
Despite being offered an RV by a friend, Becky declined as she wanted to live truly off-grid – including without any electricity or heat generators.
It is unclear when exactly they died, and their mummified remains were found deep into the woods in July 2023 by a hiker. An autopsy ruled that they died of malnutrition and hypothermia.
Survival guides and empty food tins were scattered across their wooded campsite, according to the Gunnison County Coroner’s office autopsies. No heaters were found in their tent which had been covered in snow during the winter.
Investigators were initially mystified by the discovery, not least because Talan’s body was outside the tent where his mother and aunt were found.
They now believe, according to Conover, that the 13-year-old died first, and they moved him outside so they didn’t have to sleep by his dead body.
Rebecca ‘Becky’ Vance, 42, her sister and her son were discovered in the Rocky Mountains where they had gone to live off-grid to ‘escape society’
The 14-year-old (left) weighed just 40 pounds when he died alongside his mother Rebecca Vance (second from left) and aunt Christine Vance (right) Their stepsister Trevala Jara (second from right) said she begged them not to leave
In interviews with friends, family and investigators, Conover wrote for Outside Magazine that it took some time to truly realize how unprepared they were for the brutal conditions.
This included only packing an $80 Walmart tent, and only a fishing pole and seed packets for food.
They would make occasional trips into town, until their car was found abandoned in November 2023 and was towed by the US Forest Service, leaving them stranded.
Last summer, when they were found, Becky and Christine’s stepsister Tevala Jara revealed that she begged them to change their mind.
‘At first Christine didn’t want to go, but she changed her mind. She felt like they had a better chance at living if she went with them,’ Jara said. ‘And she didn’t want our sister and nephew to be alone.’
Jara, 39, added at the time that Talan was naive over the risks of his mother’s beliefs.
‘He was scared and excited at the same time,’ she told the New York Post. ‘He was only 13 when they left. He didn’t know what living off the grid entails at all, but he wanted to be with his mom.’
Jara also remembered Beckly as a bit reserved, sharp as a whip, and someone who could read through a 1,000-page book in days. Vance’s son was homeschooled and a math whiz, Jara said.
Christine Vance was more outgoing, charismatic and wasn’t at first convinced on the idea to escape society, Jara said, ‘but she just changed her mind because she didn’t want our sister and nephew to be by themselves.’