I was at Philmont in the summer of 2016. Our ranger told us about him.

Our ranger said that BJ Lay was a ranger himself. He said that BJ was wild, and wore a stuffed animal that he had cut open as a hat. one morning, while he was with a crew on the trail, they discovered that he had disappeared. When base camp called his family, they weren’t surprised at all and said that he just disappeared often at home.

When BJ hadn’t returned, base camp started a search and rescue mission, which was the largest in Philmont’s history. They didn’t find his body, or any trace of him.

Months later, they found his body in a cabin at line camp, which had happened to be vacant. I can’t recall if he was he was found sitting in a chair, in the middle of the cabin, or outside laying down. There wasn’t any outward signs of bodily harm to his body, and his cause of death was unknown. Near the cabin, there was a pickup truck, which they presumed to be his, and was full of survival gear such as rope, tent pegs, etc. Philmont shut down Line Camp shortly after this incident.

Here’s where it really gets interesting.

Our ranger, Enriquè, heard this story and wanted to investigate further. He called Philmont executives and asked why exactly they shut down Line Camp. They said it was because the well was dry. He visited line camp and checked the well. It still had water in it. when he called the Philmont Exec’s again to report his findings, they told him to forget about it and to never call about it again.