Mark and Kelly strong both aged 33 along with their four children ages 2 to 8 were traveling in their van from Seattle Washington to anage Alaska on August 3rd 1993 they made a stop around 10 p.m. on Highway 37 at The maaden Junction in British Columbia to take a break before continuing their long drive they fell asleep but were later awakened to a real life nightmare this is a story Mark told the authorities on August 5th I can't believe I'm sitting here telling you this nightmare I know you won't believe me and I don't really
care but it's what happened it had been a dream of mine to live in Alaska ever since I was a kid I'd found a good job up there and everyone was excited for the new adventure we were about to embark on as late afternoon was closing in on that day we debated before making it to the junction to just stop and get a hotel for the night but it was my decision to push on so we could get to Anchorage sooner we pulled off into the Junction around 10: p.m. because I wasn't able to stay
awake any longer and needed some sleep the started when I was awakened by something what the hell was that where is Mikey I asked my wife with a sigh as I looked in the back and could see he was not in his car seat I looked at my watch and realized we'd been sleeping for about 2 hours he's probably just under the seat said Kelly as she climbed into the back to find him a few seconds later and without warning I heard Kelly cry cry out Mark help me suddenly she was outside pounding on my
window saying let me in let me her words got cut off and she was gone what the hell is going on I said aloud as fear surged through me I was about to rush outside to find Kelly when it felt like something was wrapped around me and in the same second I was outside laying on the ground I laid there shocked and Confused for some time before I became coherent again I stood up and looked around to see if I could tell where I was I could tell I was in the forest and in front
of me a couple hundred yards ahead was what appeared to be light my thoughts turned to my family as I started hurly making my way towards the light the ground was very uneven so it made it difficult to move fast as I got closer I heard one of my kids scream out Daddy help me it's got me it sounded like my little Rachel so I picked up the pace when I came to the top of a small hill I could see our van the doors were still closed and I could see the light was coming
from the gas station we were parked next to it was then I noticed something up and off to the right before it crested the hill and Into Darkness I could see it was something holding Rachel but couldn't make out what it was that was carrying her I ran down to the car to check on my other children and could see through the window the other two were still there but Mikey and now Rachel were gone I was in such a state of panic I didn't even think to use the pay phone to call the authorities
I just ran towards the hill I'd seen the thing carrying Rachel when I made it to the top I stopped and could see the for forest was thick and dark I admit I was scared as I stood there staring into the dark but the thought of my little Rachel pushed me forward I started going through the trees as I hysterically shouted out Rachel Rachel where are you I stopped to listen for her reply but there was nothing but silence I wasn't even sure where I was going I'd walk a short distance stop and Shout her
name but she never responded I'd occasionally look back to see if I could still see the light of the gas station through the trees I knew if I got lost in the forest I'd be in a world of hurt I continued looking for probably another 30 minutes before I decided to head back to check on my other two girls Charlotte and Sophie thick fog rolled in as I made it to the top of the hill that looked down at the gas station and was having a hard time seeing the van as I approached it Charlotte
and Sophie shrieked as I opened the sliding door and got inside daddy what's happening where's mommy asked Sophie I don't know sweetie some took her along with Mikey and Rachel I tried finding her but the forest is too thick and dark I replied I'm going to try calling the police from the pay phone over there you girls wait here and don't get out I said they said nothing just nodded their heads as I quietly cried the fog was really getting thick now and if it weren't for the one bright light on the gas station I
might not have been able to walk 5T when I made it to the pay phone that was attached to the building and lifted the receiver I could see the cord had been ripped out and was dangling there damn it I said out loud as I slammed the receiver back down as I turned around to head back to the van I heard what sounded like the pitter patter of bare feet running across the asphalt who's there I said in a fearful tone scared out of my mind my thoughts went back to my girls as I headed
back even though I couldn't see the van I knew it wasn't too far from my position when I made it and reached out to open the door I heard something running at me from behind before I could turn around to see what it was I was hit so hard knocked me out sending me to the ground 10 ft away when I came to and opened my eyes I was staring up at the stars but something was different as I sat up it took me a minute to figure out what it was but something about the
air and color of everything was different it was off our van was supposed to be turquoise blue but it was now dull gray I closed my eyes wondering if I just hit my head too hard but when I opened them the van was still gray I slowly stood up and realized fog had lifted as well as I looked around it seemed as if everything was now the same dull gray color what's going on this can't be real I whispered to myself my thoughts quickly turned back to my girls who should still be in the van
as I ran up to the window and looked inside I cried out as I pounded my fist no the van was empty I turned around and screamed out Charlotte Sophie where are you it was then I noticed my voice was not caring it it seemed as if everything was void of sound I wasn't even sure if I was talking out loud or if it was all in my head Daddy help us I suddenly heard Charlotte yell out baby where are you I replied again my voice seemed to be void of any sound Daddy it's got
us please help us she again cried out I couldn't pinpoint where her voice was coming from either it was the strangest thing rather than stand there and do nothing I started running around the area to see if I could find them when I ran to the back of the gas station I saw something in my peripheral vision that made me immediately stop I swear to God I saw a set of red eyes looking at me from the forest but when I turned to look straight at them they were not there this can't be happening this
can't be real I thought to myself I continued running until I made my way back to the van to see if maybe the girls were now there they were not I closed my eyes and started breaking down for mental exhaustion as I leaned my head against the van's window window when I opened my eyes I saw something in the van that maybe jumped back there glaring at me from inside the van was what appeared to be a man of sorts except his mouth and eyes were sideways hey I shouted as I ran around to the
sliding door and quickly opened it the van was empty except for the things we taken with us I climbed in sat down and closed the door as I looked at Mikey's car seat I just couldn't fathom all of this was happening where is my family I said to myself I felt like my soul had been ripped from me it was an emptiness that can't be put into words all of a sudden something smashed the windshield and the van started violently shaking I grabbed a hold of the passenger seat in front of me and held on
as everything inside was getting tossed around I remember something hard hitting me in the face which ended up breaking my nose then without warning everything stopped it was calm like it never happened I was about to open the sliding door and get out when something smacked the window to my left my hand that was on the handle about to open the door frozen place as I started trembling I debated whether or not to turn around to see what it was whatever it was though I could hear its loud breathing against the window I slowly turned
around catching just a glimpse of it as it quickly took off I'm certain it was the same thing I'd seen inside the van I wasted no time locking all the doors but figured it wouldn't help much as I was sure I wasn't dealing with something normal I didn't care though it was all I could think of in that moment thoughts of finding my family had turned to self-preservation I was sweating profusely as I sat there looking all around me expecting the manl looking thing to come back when suddenly like before it felt like something was
wrapped around me again in a split second I was laying down in the middle of the forest but somewhere else this time I jumped up fully expecting the thing to be there but it was not it was still somewhat dark but I could see for first light was not far off I decided to sit down and wait until I could see well enough so I could get my bearings and then decide what to do about 30 minutes later when I could see well enough I decided to head east and take my chances I'd run into
the highway after walking all day I came to a big lake that I now know was the maadan lake I spent the night there and the next morning I walked around the lake until I came to the highway and hitched a ride back to the junction when Mark arrived back at the junction the Canadian police were already there and the search had already begun to find them he was taken into custody and questioned a day later Kelly was found by some Hunters wandering through the forest some 20 miles away from the junction her story was
similar to Mark's in the fact she felt like something had wrapped around her then she was suddenly in the forest she had no idea where to go so she just kept walking until she was eventually found the police called in several members of the ncot tribe who had dogs to help aid in the search for the missing children over the next several weeks they found the mutilated bodies of the four children with each child being 5 miles apart from each other when pinned on a map it formed a perfect square one week after the children's
bodies were found one of the natives 66-year-old Billy gunan who dated in the search for the children came to the station that was holding Mark and asked to speak with him he was allowed to speak to him and their conversation was recorded Billy asked Mark to tell him the story of what happened after Mark finished his story story Billy had this to say what you encountered is what my people call anijar it's an evil child stealing Shape Shifter that can slip in between its realm and ours when it's in its human form its eyes and
mouth appear sideways it sounds like you went into its realm and came back growing up I heard frightening stories of my people who got taken to their realm and never came back but for some reason you did Mark and Kelly were held for over two months on the suspicion they murdered their children but there was never any conclusive evidence they did it so they were eventually released Mark and Kelly went to Anchorage and have lived a quiet life since refusing to talk to anyone about what happened for more scary horror stories please subscribe
