This episode centers on an interesting, yet scary cold case. The year is 1959; the place is the Dietlov Pass; somewhere in the frozen wilderness of Siberia. Nine Soviet Union students embark on a camping trip excursion; little did they know, they would never return. Search parties were dispersed to meet them all dead, scattered along the mountain – with broken bones, having their eyes and some of their tongues cut out. They were found without their clothes in the cold Siberian weather. What’s strange is the fact that their clothes were neatly folded and stacked in their tents, their stove, un-assembled despite the freezing temperature, and their tent was slashed from within.
Wild theories emerge: an attack from indigenous locals, a government weapon’s test gone wrong, or maybe they were killed by an escapee from a prison a few miles out. The official cause of death however is ‘’an unknown compelling force.” This obviously makes the incident raise more curiosity. Now, on the 60th anniversary of this great tragedy, Josh finds out two different people who know a lot about that incident and could prove that it was no accident. They mount an expedition to get answers, and Josh joins them all in the hopes of solving the coldest case of all time.
First, Josh heads to the city of Yekaterinburg, Russia. Yekaterinburg during the cold war was known for being the centre of Russian’s military force. Josh heads to the state technical university where the nine students schooled in. To learn more about the incidence, Josh meets Yuri Kuntsevich. Yuri is one of the world’s most leading enthusiasts of the case and greatly believes that there’s more to the case than meets the eye. He explained to Josh that the government tried to hush the incident when it happened and even tore down posters of the students mourning their fallen colleagues. There was no press release or any media coverage of any kind. This leads most to believe the incident was actually a government weapon’s testing gone wrong, followed by a cover up to save face. The files that do exist are incomprehensive and incomplete even after the fall of the Soviet Union. Officials simply recorded the cause of death as ‘’an unknown compelling force” and closed the case.
Yuri has in his possession several materials used by the students in and for their camping trip, including their journal where they give detailed descriptions of their trip up until February 1st 1959, their last day. From their cameras, developers were able to make out up to 120 photos taken by the nine students, haunting visual clues of their unfortunate expedition. Most peculiarly is the fact that one of the materials Yuri has in his possession is what is believed to be a piece of a rocket found close to the campsite of the students. Josh cuts out a piece for testing to ascertain if this was from a rocket or not. This fuels the theory that the students were killed either by a rocket launcher or for witnessing a weapon test they shouldn’t have. That and a lot more other theories, Josh would set out to find out the truth! Yuri gives Josh a gift that will help him in his travels – a journal from one of the students, documenting their entire journey, feelings and emotions, alongside some of their photos taken during their journey. He believes it would provide clues to what really happened at Dietlov Pass 60 years ago.
Josh sets out on a ten hour train ride to the edge of the world where he is going to meet two researchers manning an expedition to the Dietlov Pass. On the train, he reads through the journals and is struck again by how young the victims were, tugging at the strings of the emotions. Ten hours later, Josh and his crew arrive at the remote town of Ivdel ready to get to work. Josh meets a visiting researcher, Theodora Hadjiysk, referred to as Teddy, the world’s foremost researcher on the case. She has compiled all the documents related to the incident, translated it to English before putting it on the web for members of the public to analyze. Both would set out on this wild expedition to discover the truth of the Dietlov Pass. They would meet up with another researcher further along the way, in a smaller town called Vijay.
A few hours later, they arrive at Vijay and meet with Michael who would lead the expedition. His experience in mountain climbing and navigation would come in handy. They all get on snowmobiles and head into the wilderness, towards the direction of the Dietlov pass. They are at risk of freezing to death, even more so as their journey goes deep into the later hours of the day. Once the sun sets, it’s going to get too cold to continue. They stop by at a small encampment of some locals who give them a warm meal and a place to rest till the next morning. This strikes out the theory that the students were attacked by the locals – investigations all those years ago even disconnected them from the incident. They are kind, warm, and accommodating, too.
The next day, the team sets out again and eventually arrive at the mountains where they have to walk the remaining way. In the freezing cold and plagued with fears and hopes of what they might find, they move further into the abyss that mysteriously claimed nine lives sixty years ago.
What happened to those students? Why were their organs gouged out? Why did the government attempt to cover it up? What would Josh and the other researcher find? The questions are as haunting as the expedition itself.
