Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/08/04/man-thought-to-have-been-murde.html
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Which is stranger, that the guy hid in the woods, or that he set up a facebook account? Either way, I hope he gets some help.
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The whole “set up in his name” makes me think maybe he didn’t set it up. He certainly had a difficult few years.
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I’m not going to read the story because it sounds like a lot of real wrist-slitters I’ve heard before. I’m guessing he left Lithuania because of some family trauma, then ended up “working for” some grotesque Straw Dogs character who confiscated his passport and made him sleep in a padlocked fridge in a woodland clearing with 3 caravans and 6 pit bulls, keeping his wages and fraudulently collecting cash benefits on his behalf. Did I guess right?
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This sounds a bit like that dude they found living at a lake for 20 years, just more or less camping, nearly freezing to death in the winter, and stealing most of what he needed.
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Must be more to the story for why he was hiding, likely from some unsavory individuals or situation. Five years in a dense forest seems like a pretty amazing time to not be discovered.
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My first thought was that they should’ve left the poor guy alone. If I’d been spending the last 5 years hidden in the woods, I think I’d prefer to keep hiding.
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It occurred to me too, but this guy seems different, the whole “victim of exploitation” thing makes him seem a lot more justified in his actions.
More like Jurgis Rudkus than the North Pond Hermit.
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True, looks to be different reasons, but still just one day up and left and went to live in the woods.
In a normal year maybe, maybe not. But what, “guy you gotta stop hiding in the woods and not interacting with anyone! You need to go into a small apartment and not interact with anyone!”. 2020 really blows goats. I’m just sayn’
Probably not too far off the mark. There aren’t too many details, but the statement says:
“We now believe Ricardas made the decision to run away as he had been a victim of crime, having previously been subject to exploitation.”
This does point to modern slavery, gangs recruiting vulnerable individuals, mostly men, to work on large agricultural site, virtually unpaid and in squalid conditions. Sadly, this sort of situation is not uncommon here in the U.K.
What’s remarkable is this gentleman escaping and managing to survive without detection for so long, it shows a lot of resilience on his part, and hopefully he can find his way, with help, back to a happier place.
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