The "Real Blair Witch" Incident

(ominous rumbling music) (text clanking) (electronic chiming) (people cheering) (dramatic synthwave music) (dramatic synthwave music continues) (videotape player clunking) (static hissing) (tense uneasy music) (dogs barking) - [Danielle] What the ---- is this about? - [Travis] Well, to be honest with you, this isn't really about anything. This is about us.

(tense uneasy music continues) (static crackling) (people chattering) (clothes rustling) Try and get her hands tied up. Danielle? Danielle?

Danielle, I've stopped right now. (bright cheerful music) - [Nexpo] It is a late night. Unassuming.

Quiet. "The Walten Files" blares on your bedroom TV, filling the void of darkness around you. It's peaceful.

Comfortable, even. You scroll through Reddit, searching for something to pass the time before, out of nowhere. .

. (electronic chiming) A lone post by an emeraldspring populates your feed. They're searching for something, some sort of lost documentary called "The Real Blair Witch.

" (soft atmospheric synth music) "There seems to be so little information about this documentary out there, and absolutely nowhere to watch it. I recall it being on TV, and there's one or two references to it out there. It has nothing to do with 'The Blair Witch Project' and is more of a true crime documentary.

I'd love to see it again, and it has frustrated me for years now not being able to track it down. It must be out there in some archive somewhere, but I'm guessing its lack of availability kind of makes it lost? " At first glance, this seems relatively unassuming, yet another lost media mystery with hardly a lead to go on.

Yet the name, "The Real Blair Witch," shrouds it in this weird tinge of dread. I don't know what it is, but something about the way this is framed, the lack of information, something about this has sparked something. Within their post, emeraldspring provides a link to its IMDB page, revealing that there's (computer mouse clicks) hardly anything to go off of.

The page is barren. Just one review, a release year, and director. The only tangible bit of info here is the plot summary: "A group of teenagers from Flint, Michigan, filmed themselves kidnapping and terrorizing a new acquaintance before taking her out to the woods and dumping her in a shallow grave.

They then taunt their terrified and blindfolded victim, asking if she had any last requests before they cut her throat. But was the kidnap real or just a game? What is revealed is an extraordinary and disturbing record of a night when something went terribly, terribly wrong.

" Well, now you've got my attention. (gentle synth music) With such a graphic, visceral description of such an inhumane crime, curiosity in this case took off on Reddit. Comment after comment poured in, expressing interest in tracking this footage down.

Most believed in its existence. Others, not so much. Regardless, though, the common theme here was intrigue.

"The Blair Witch Project," back when it came out, was horrifying, and the implications of someone recreating this in real life to torment a very real person sounds straight out of a nightmare. What in the world did emeraldspring watch back then? What truly is this?

Over the following weeks, whispers about the doc's existence would trickle in. Mentions in online articles. A trailer on a production company called RawTV's own Vimeo page.

But what really sent this mystery into the stratosphere was nearly an entire year later when a Redditor named Transbian8787 would chime in with a revelation that nobody saw coming. (tense mysterious music) "The Real Blair Witch," as it turned out, was very real; however, once Pandora's box was opened and the internet began to sink their collective teeth into it, it was realized that this story is much, much stranger than anyone had imagined. "The Real Blair Witch" isn't just a film.

It's a glance into one of the eeriest, most bizarre incidents that I have ever read about, ensnaring nearly everyone involved. (tense mysterious music continues) (static hissing) - [Announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, in the event of an emergency, please walk to the nearest exit. (alarm chiming) Thank you.

(gentle groovy synth music) - When "The Blair Witch Project" hit theaters in 1999, it didn't just scare audiences, it changed the horror genre. More than just a film, it became a psychological experiment that made people question what was real and what wasn't. The setup was simple: three young filmmakers set out to document an old urban legend, only to vanish without a trace.

What remained was the footage they left behind. But unlike traditional horror films, this story had no scripted feel, no heart-stopping jump scares, just raw, unfiltered horror. The shaky camerawork, improvised dialogue, and eerie silence between panicked breaths all made it feel as if it were set in reality.

And that was exactly the point. The movie, as you'd expect, became an overnight sensation, shattering records and opening the door to a completely fresh, realistic, and raw form of terror. However, its impact stretched well beyond the film industry.

Suddenly, horror fans, amateur filmmakers, and thrill-seekers were heading into abandoned locations and recording eerie footage, and the internet soon became a breeding ground for low-resolution videos claiming to document real paranormal encounters. Some were easily debunked. Others less so.

And that's where things began to take a strange turn, because when an entire generation starts to believe that some of the most terrifying things can be caught on a simple Hi8 tape, it's only a matter of time before someone tries to prove it. (air whooshing) (bright gentle music) All right, guys, before we continue, I'd like to tell you about tonight's video sponsor, NordVPN. All right, so, lately, I've been traveling quite a bit for my ghost-hunting channel, Nick and Ryan, and with us, I've been using public wifi considerably.

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Thank you so much to Nord for sponsoring tonight's video. Now, let's get back to it. (air whooshing) February 2002.

(soft atmospheric rock music) It's a frigid night in the town of Flint, Michigan, and a 19-year-old named Danielle Taylor crosses paths with a 20-year-old Travis Payea, a community college student with big dreams of making horror films. Payea shared a house with a man named Jon Cockerill, another student, and a self-proclaimed horror fanatic. Their house?

It was the spot, per se. The hangout for their tight-knit circle, which included a James Carwile, Christina Lumm, and Derek Faxlinger. At first, everything seemed mundane within their friend group.

Danielle would visit the house a handful of times, and nothing seemed all that out of the ordinary. Just a few weeks later on the night of March 6th, however, their entire dynamic would, out of nowhere, take a dark turn. By complete surprise, Danielle was restrained, blindfolded, handcuffed, and threatened with murder.

And all of it was filmed on a single Hi8 tape. (static crackling) (videotape player clunking) - [Travis] Say hello. - Hi.

- [Travis] Okay, I have a question for you. - [Nexpo] The video opens inside a dimly lit house, bathed in the eerie green glow that can only be provided by an old-school night vision camera. Danielle stands front and center, seeming a bit annoyed that she's being filmed.

Behind the camera is Travis Payea, his voice steady as he asks her a strange question: "What would you say if you knew this was your last day on Earth? " Danielle smirks, brushing off the weird question with a simple, "Fuck you. " There is a heavy undercurrent of something else, though.

Something unspoken. A shadow moves behind her. One of the men steps forward, revealing something in his hands: a blindfold, maybe a gag.

And the mood shifts. Travis prompts Danielle again, this time instructing, to say, "Ready, set, go. " (tense uneasy music) Sensing something off, she refuses.

Someone's behind her. Something is up here. She turns, yet before she can react, multiple hands grab at her.

She barely has time to respond before she's wrestled to the ground. She fights, briefly, but it doesn't take long for her to realize she isn't getting away. Whatever this is, it's happening.

The scene cuts. (car engine whirring) We find ourselves in a car. The lighting is bad.

Again, night vision. Danielle sits in the backseat, blindfolded, scared out of her mind. She's stiff, her face only showing fear.

Christina Lumm, the only other woman to appear in the video, is driving. She doesn't say much, just keeps her eyes on the road. At first, the guys verbally taunt her.

But there's this edge to it. And then we see it. One of them, Jonathan Cockerill, has a knife, and it's pressed right up against her.

They start asking her questions. "Did you have a good life? " "Say your last words to your family.

" "If you could go back in time and change anything, would you? " (tense uneasy music) Danielle hesitates. She tells her mom she loves her.

She says she's sorry for everything. She tells those in the car with her that she has nothing to say to them. Nothing she says will be right anyway.

No one reassures her. No one tells her it's okay. And the video cuts again.

(footsteps crunching) Deep in the heart of the forest, the camera follows as James carries Danielle over his shoulder. The group moves with a sense of purpose, heading straight for a spot they've already prepared: a shallow grave barely two or three feet deep. They set her down before explaining what's coming next.

They're going to cut her before burying her alive and leaving her to die. Travis stands over the pit, knife in hand. The blindfold that had been covering Danielle's eyes is pulled down around her neck.

And she doesn't say a word. Following this, Travis kneels down, brings the blade right up to her. And then.

. . (distortion squeals) Nothing.

He never actually cuts her. He mimes the act of slashing Danielle's throat before she goes completely limp and pretends to be dead. - [Travis] Congratulations, you're dead.

(Christina laughs) Welcome to the afterlife. - [Nexpo] Just like that, the entire mood shifts. The group starts laughing, giving each other pats on the back over what they had just done.

One by one, they turn to the camera, introducing themselves, explaining their "roles" in this so-called film. They even take bows, grinning the entire time. Danielle Taylor, as it turned out, wouldn't die that night.

Contrary to the knife being held to her throat, contrary to her being tied up against her will, contrary to her being thrown haphazardly into a massive hole in the ground, this was nothing but a stunt. A prank for a movie. Funny, right?

(static hisses) Halting the recording, the group unties her, harping on just how realistic, how entertaining her reaction was. Surely, this will seem visceral enough to make it to film. This was their big break, their escape from Flint, Michigan, after all.

For Danielle, though, she was far from fine. Just a few minutes before, she thought she was dying. She had nothing to laugh about here because the entire joke was solely on her.

- [Travis] I can't remember her name. - Danielle. - Danielle!

(groups laughs) - [Nexpo] So far, it's been easy to follow Danielle's state of mind throughout this. A woman trapped by those she trusted, a victim of an inhumane prank. However, that's where our central problem begins because was this really?

Was this all nothing but a sick joke? That is the question that soon becomes the heart of this entire incident. And the answer depends on who you believe.

(light switch clicks) (film projector whirring) (lively upbeat music) - [Announcer] It looks like an ordinary day in the USA, but in the city of Flint, Michigan, all is excitement. Even the small fry buzzing. And the older boys and girls are let out of school.

Oh, this is a day. The whole town's a bustle. Yes, siree, there's going to be a parade too.

And what's a parade without festive bunting and gala decorations? (gentle atmospheric music) - [Nexpo] The city of Flint, Michigan, is undoubtedly one of desolation. It's a place once bustling, lively, full of opportunity, yet today it stands as nothing but a shell of what it once was.

When the automotive industry backed away, it left a void of broken dreams, families with shattered aspirations. It's depressing that something like this can actually happen to those who had no hand in the matter at all. Like we established, "The Blair Witch Project" shattered the world, sending audiences into a frenzy and inspiring loads of those with nothing but a camera to create something horrifying of their very own.

The entire group maintains that they all had hopes, dreams to get out of Flint and to make something of themselves. And while they could've chosen a myriad of ways to do that, the film industry, for once in its near-century-long history, felt like something attainable, a vehicle to a completely new life. (gentle atmospheric music continues) (tense uneasy music) In the following days, Danielle Taylor, reeling from the incident on March 6th, would revisit the Payea home.

It was done on invitation, a night for all of them to rewatch their masterpiece, yet for Danielle, she had other plans. (videotape player clunking) (videotape player whirring) - [Travis] If you scream and you fight, we'll put a gag in your mouth and throw you in the trunk. - No.

- If you relax and accept death and what's coming to you- - [Nexpo] After the tape ran its course, she secretly swiped it, replaced it with another, and after the events of that night had wound down, she set out to report the entire group to law enforcement. Within a week, the lives of Jonathan Cockerill, Travis Payea, Christina Lumm, James Carwile, and Derek Faxlinger, everyone involved in perpetrating this stunt, would change. They were all arrested, finding themselves awaiting trial on kidnapping and assault charges and facing anywhere from seven years to life in prison under Michigan law.

Contrary to their claims of simply aspiring to create a horror movie, Danielle Taylor maintained that she had no idea about any of this. To her, this was all very real, and given our glance at the footage, it's easy to empathize with her. Interestingly, though, support for her wouldn't be unanimous, as once testimonies came out and the footage was given a second look, cracks in the facade began to show.

(static hissing) (static crackling) (air whooshing) Danielle, at numerous points throughout the footage, does things that make no sense. She scratches her nose. She inquires on if the rope is tight enough.

And just minutes after she supposedly thought that she was dying, she can be seen laughing alongside the group. - I survived, and I'm freezing, and my arms hurt. - [Travis] Don't move anymore.

I swear to God, I'm using a blade to do this, all right? (switch clicks) - [Nexpo] A bizarre reaction, especially considering the circumstances. Even still, a Lapeer County prosecutor named Byron Konschuh spoke to the media on Danielle's behalf, maintaining his belief that she did not know that any of it was staged until the end.

"The prank was intended by the participants, but the last party, the victim, was not in on it. " (tense atmospheric music) Conversely, attorneys representing the accused said the tape shows that Danielle, in fact, did know that it was a movie, citing the fact that she never begged the group not to kill her, appeared to smile after the gig was up, and had not once told them to stop. "She pretends to play dead for about a minute," one said.

"If she truly thought she was going to be buried alive, she would have struggled. " As we can see, all we have here is a he-said, she-said situation. No one here ever knew the answer on if she were acting in this stunt.

Not the prosecutors. Not their lawyers. No one but Danielle Taylor.

(switch clicks) In the midst of an intense legal battle, Christina Lumm had turned on her group of friends, accepting a plea bargain on a reduced charge of attempted felonious assault, and received a suspended six-month sentence pending the completion of probation. Derek Faxlinger was ordered to pay a $200 fine. Jimmy Carwile received a four-month sentence, while Payea and Cockerill got eight months, all suspended sentences following the completion of probation.

All of them inevitably served their time and got out; however, in the end, another affliction entirely would befall them. (tense uneasy music) (wind whistling) (static crackling) (notification chimes) Travis Payea, the group's "ringleader," passed away on Tuesday, April 18th, 2006. Derek Faxlinger passed away on Monday, February 12th, 2007.

And Jonathan Cockerill lost his life on Wednesday, February 19th of 2014. All of them were less than 35 years old. (tense uneasy music) Almost like a curse, three of the four men involved in "The Real Blair Witch incident had died before their lives could even get off the ground.

And any information surrounding them, barren. All that seemed to exist was hearsay, notably on the website MyDeathSpace, in which Travis Payea's cause of death was speculated to have been caused by drug use. Furthermore, mentions of Derek Faxlinger come up in reference to an MLive article, which states that he passed from an epileptic seizure and had his organs donated to those in need.

Even still, though, nothing definitive on whether this came from the fallout of "The Real Blair Witch" ever came up. Onlookers then were just as conflicted, just as confused, as all of us today. (car engine whirring) (light switch clunks) For a while, it seemed like this was the end to "The Real Blair Witch" saga, a lost media legend turned criminal battle that resulted in the loss of three lives.

(windshield wipers clunking) However, an entire year after the original Reddit post was made, a user named beefbrothel emerged out of seemingly nowhere, shedding light on the deaths of their friends: (soft atmospheric music) "Derek, Jon, and Trav have all passed away. Derek had a seizure in the shower and sadly passed from that. His organs were donated and saved quite a few people.

He was an extremely kind person and gave great hugs. Travis had a terrible tooth infection, and I'm not sure if that was the cause, but it was a contributing factor in his death. Jon was depressed; I cannot deny that.

His mother died, and they were quite close, so his partying ramped up during the period after her passing. Another friend was with him that night; they were celebrating his new apartment, and it was simply an accidental overdose. He was one of my best friends, and I'm still angry at him for being so careless, especially because things were moving in such a positive direction for him.

None of their deaths were because of the pressure of the case. Jim and I still talk occasionally, but he moved to another state and lives a private life. He's a good man, and I think he was affected the most by this situation.

The girl apologized to them after the fact and insisted that she never wanted any of this to happen. She was known to our graduating class as a notorious exaggerator before any of this ever happened, so there's that. Plus, she was young and was being told by a lot of authority figures that she had to go along with this prosecution.

She claimed after the fact that she believed taking the video from the house would prove that it was just a joke and everyone would just get off the hook. She didn't realize Jon was pausing the recording between shots. Part of me thinks she initially enjoyed the initial attention, but it spiraled way out of control.

If I didn't know these guys participated in these types of pranks on all of our friends weekly, made a dozen backyard horror films with them, spent all of my free time with them for years, I would think they were psychos, too. That's just not the case. 'Jackass' and 'Blair Witch' were huge at this time, so it was kind of like a mashup of the two genres to them.

We all knew that if you went to Rancho, you could get pranked. It was just how things were. They did almost the exact same thing to another friend a week or two before, and she was the one who suggested they film it next time.

Unfortunate. This was a devastating time for our group of friends, their families, and loved ones. Visiting them in jail was bonkers.

I will never forget how sad they all looked and how many people came to see them. Everyone knew that they did not do this maliciously, except the prosecutor, and he was a real asshole. Long story short, it was always a prank, and everyone except the law knew that.

" (tense uneasy music) - [Travis] Say hello. - Hi. - [Travis] Okay, I have a question for you.

You just said, "Hi,' but if you had one thing to say, if this was your last day on Earth, what would it be? - Fuck you. - [Nexpo] "The Real Blair Witch" incident is a bizarre, unsettling chapter in the history of lost media, a story that serves as both a reflection of our deepest fears and a reminder of the human capacity for cruelty.

How far would you go for a chance to escape a place in which you have no future? Was Danielle in on things, or was she truly terrified for her life that night? I've always said that lost media, by nature, carries this enduring sense of mystery, and in my opinion, this one is no different.

It is, and will always be eerie, a look into the lives of intensely conflicted individuals. But, if there's one thing to take away from all of this, it's that we may likely never, ever get our hands on the full original tape in its entirety. The story of Danielle Taylor will forever live on through the lens of new reports and documentaries, and in its wake, an unsolvable question: Did she truly know?

Perhaps we never will. A lost media mystery that may never find a resolution.