The investigation into the remains found at Scotts Bluff National Monument in October have been positively identified as those of Chance Englebert, missing from Gering, NE since July 2019. Previous writeup
Briefly, Chance stormed off from his wife's grandparents' home the evening of July 5 after a family argument, texted friends that he was walking 35 miles back to Moorehead, WY, and likely was caught in a severe thunderstorm somewhere on the road. Numerous searches failed to find him until Oct. 10 of the year, when hikers found remains and personal items at Scotts Bluff. Chance was 25 at the time he went missing, and he had a wife, 20, and infant son.
Law enforcement has stated that the cause of death was blunt force trauma from a fall from a significant height, and all evidence points to an accident.
"“The cause of death is listed as ‘a pattern of blunt force trauma most consistent with a rapid deceleration event including, but not limited to, a fall from height,’” authorities stated in their press release. “It was further determined the distance from where the fall occurred ranges from approximately 130 feet at the shortest point to 290 feet.”
According to the joint statement from Gering PD and the Scotts Bluff County Attorney’s Office, “after a full investigation, there is no evidence that the death of Chance Englebert was anything other than accidental.”
I'm glad this has been solved but man, I'm not going to walk 35 miles no matter what emotional state I'm in.
There are a lot of cliffs in the world too. No matter where you live, the odds there’s one within 35 miles of you are pretty good.
Cliffs don't have to that high either. I want to say a 35 ft fall is LD50, ie a fall from 35 feet (10 m) is likely death 50% of the time
I once twisted my ankle and had to lie on the ground for like 45 minutes because the pain hurt so much when I fell… about two feet on a slight slope. That’s all it takes sometimes.
Might be an unpopular opinion but it’s crazy how the internet and the true crime community in general always jumps to conclusions because I recall seeing for a long time how many people said it was “100% the family who did it!”
RIP to him
There was a lot of suspicion on his wife because she wanted a death certificate within days of his disappearance. But this could be from youth, naivete, or the fact that she had a child to care for and bills to pay.
Maybe for insurance purposes
I suspect, given the extent/fervor of anger towards her/her family expressed by many (and the depth of conspiracy theories there) that the cause of death will not be accepted by a lot of folks - which is sad. A lot of people said for a long time that it just seemed impossible for someone like him to have gotten into any sort of accident.
I think you are right.
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I mean, it’s possible. But it’s far more likely that he met with an accident than that his wife or her family managed to find him and kill him in the middle of the storm, and then everyone who knew just kept quiet all this time.
Agreed but it is a possibility
Or because he disappeared while walking drunk during a massive thunderstorm, she assumed he was dead. (Not trying to be snarky.)
Edit: changed snow storm to thunderstorm
*thunderstorm (it was June)
Oops, thank you!
Thanks for not being snarky 😊 ❤️
No prob - tone is hard to read online sometimes and I didn't want you to think I was being a bitch over some poor guy's cause of death
And thanks for being nice too a stranger on the internet a lot of people can learn from you including myself !
Have a great day !
Dang, thank you! Was having kind of a rough day and I really appreciate your comment.
Well I hope it gets better for you ❤️
Agreed and text messages ! 😂
Massive snowstorm yikes
Sure that too
Right. He made a highly impulsive and risky decision (abruptly leaving to walk 35 miles with no preparation and, evidently, with inclement weather on the way), possibly while intoxicated. He took a risk and met with consequences of that risk. It’s very unfortunate, but it doesn’t make anyone in his family (or his wife’s family) a murderer.
Unless...hear me out..the wife & her family said he stormed off..walking drunk in a storm...that's their words...he goes missing, and his found 6 years later...apparently falling off a cliff...Whilst walking 35 miles...not calling anyone??? Or maybe he got bonked on the head, and thrown off a ravine...hopefully an accident, but makes for a pretty clever homicide with a story that makes no sense.
I think it’s a combination of:
People who read a lot of true crime can start to overestimate how common murder is. The cases that are popular in the true crime space are the statistical outliers but if that’s all you read about it can give you a skewed view.
When bad things happen people want there to be someone at fault. I think it’s actually harder for people to accept that sometimes random accidents and bad luck happen than it is to accept major criminal conspiracies where multiple people are carrying on a lie for years with no slip ups.
Similar to the above people also don’t like to think about “mundane” things actually being dangerous. Like alcohol was clearly a factor in this case - but people are often dismissive of the risks drinking alcohol can pose because it’s so normalized.
Good points. Same thing with the cases that turn out to be suicide. So many people can’t believe that this would happen and make it into something it’s not. I can understand why, it’s definitely a hard thing to accept… but it’s the answer in some of these big mysteries that continue to get dragged out.
Especially when the person disappeared in the great outdoors. Time and again we see that accidents happen and bodies are very hard to find. But people would rather construct elaborate scenarios than accept human fallibility.
Like missing 411 👀
And smiley face killers or Manchester pusher ideas, people don't want to admit how dangerous walking near water can be while drunk.
However in all those there are some cases that are learning foul play but it's upsetting all the accidents get lumped into the those cases and it takes focus away from them
I’m interested in true crime, yet after the Idaho murders I stepped back. I like to read facts. A lot in the Idaho Murder community went nuts. Blaming people and naming them. It was way out of hand. Lives were already ruined and then web sleuths jumped in. It got personal: people contacting their jobs, there were safety issues for these folks. Frankly some of those in that community imo contributed to a lot of harm to the survivors and community. I know crimes have been solved by web sleuths yet the stuff that went on in Idaho groups - not all - but some were nuts.
It becomes dangerous in real-life for the subjects of that type of rumor.
They are nothing but bullies! They read something on the internet and think they know some fact that has eluded law enforcement. It's just a game for these so called "true crime junkies" but they are just bullies.
To well said
Yep. So many cases with wild theories when most of the time it’s the simplest explanation that ends up being right.
This is so true with so many cases. I find it especially interesting in the recent cases where cars have been found in bodies of water after a while - so many wild conspiracies there when really - Occam’s Razor - an accident was to blame.
Asha Degree for example....
Before he was found it sounded suspicious af.
But also having grown up in the region (Wyoming side of the same prairie) I totally get how this could happen.
It's always a family member and best of all when there's a husband to blame.
The true crime community never heard of a guilty stranger, or an accident other than a body of water.
Oh yeah, a popular one did a video on this and had a link to the sheriff department to write them a note to investigate the wife's family.
Well, it’s the Internet, so jumping to the most clickbaity answer is common. People also rarely adhere to Occam’s Razor, and always come up with the most complicated and most unlikely solutions instead of the simpler, more likely ones.
But also, let’s be realistic. In most cases like this, the spouses are behind it. Any time a husband or wife turns up dead, the spouse is the #1 suspect. And most of the time, it ends up being correct.
Back in 2018, when I saw Chris Watts talking on TV, I said “he did it, no doubt in my mind.” I had nothing to base that one other than just knowing how these cases tend to play out.
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I’m not sure how to respond to this lol. Statistically you have a way higher chance of dying from a variety of things that aren’t murder. Although I do understand the circumstances of the case made it more questionable but even still in this thread you have people doubting it. I just think it’s odd how many people want something to be something it’s not.
Not if you are a woman aged 18-44 in the US, I’m afraid.
I'm afraid the actual statistics don't back that up.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr74/nvsr74-10.pdf
See page 25.
Ages 15-19
Accidents 40.5%
Suicide 14.6%
Homicide 9.8%
Ages 20-24
Accidents 44.8%
Suicide 12%
Homicide 8.7%
Ages 25-34
Accidents 39.5%
Malignant neoplasms (cancer) 8.8%
Suicide 8.5%
Heart disease 5.8%
Homicide 4.8%
Ages 35-44
Accidents 27.2%
Malignant neoplasms (cancer) 17.9%
Heart disease 10.2%
Liver disease/cirrhosis 5.3%
Suicide 5%
Diabetes 2.7%
Cerebrovascular disease (strokes) 2.5%
Homicide 2.4%
It’s really suspicious when a spouse goes missing after a fight. More often than not it’s a homicide. Personally I don’t think this is an accident. Why would he storm off and go for a hike up a mountain? I think he hiked up the mountain intending to end up where he did.
I remember that case. So they think he was caught in a thunderstorm and while trying to take cover, he fell off the cliff? Sad, but at least his family will have some closure.
He was really intoxicated when he left and it was dark, interesting they ruled it an accident given how upset he was tbh
What else would they rule it as?
Accidental seems most fitting, but some areas have the option to list a cause as “death by misadventure” like they have in the UK. Usually that is distinguished by an accidental or unintended death that involves elements of risk-taking (including, but not limited to poor choices while intoxicated)
Many areas in the U.S. disfavor this cause of death because it can imply fault by the decedent & is a potential liability for the medical examiner (because it can affect insurance payouts to the family, or it may give cause for the family to sue whoever provided the liquor/drugs to decedents). Contributing factors such as impairment will still be in the medical report for accidents if testing shows sufficient levels of alcohol or drugs.
In the UK there is less litigation & there’s often a formal inquest with evidence presented before the cause of death is declared legally.
Suicide
Being drunk and angry does not automatically equal being suicidal.
You, me, and the Gering PD all agree on this, but let's not pretend it wasn't a possibility.
I think suicide usually coincides with those things. This is the first time I’ve heard of this case, for what it’s worth. But an already suicidal person being drunk and angry increases their chances of actually going through with it.
I think most departments would hold off of a verdict of suicide unless they have actual evidence of intent. Being drunk and stupid isn't sufficient. People die of stupid accidents all the time.
Wouldn’t the obvious answer to your question be suicide? How the hell does a comment like yours end up with more votes than the rational comment made before you?
I always figured he wandered out and died of exposure or drowning. It's good that his family has answers now.
So sad but thankfully the families and friends have his remains to memorialize and can peacefully remember him as they deal with the loss.
It’s not often you hear about someone in western Nebraska dying from a fall from heights. I’m just glad this case is resolved - it seemed like it would be an accident but people here love going full conspiracy theory when there’s unknowns.
I think people also forget that he disappeared during a massive storm that swept through the area
Some people in another sub were already saying it’s probably foul play because investigators and CSI went up there with shovels so they concluded he was definitely buried after someone dragged his body up there just to throw it off the cliff.
The remains were there for years and through multiple seasons so bringing equipment like shovels, brushes etc doesn’t seem so unusual.
I’ve spent time in that part of the state, and yeah, it’s dry and the wind blows enough that stuff gets buried just by existing.
Don't forget a violent storm can dump millions of gallons of water which turns all that dirt to mud the will flow and cover a body up. Then you factor in all the weather after death until the remains are found it's not hard to see how the body would be covered up.
Just a (friendly!) heads up - the info in this main post is incorrect:
According to his wife who was able to make contact with him, he was walking back to Kimball, NE (42 miles south).
However some friends of his said he told them he was walking toward Torrington, WY (35 miles NW of his location).
He then called a friend asking to be picked up, but said friend was in Moorcroft, WY (220 miles away).
Sourced from the previous writeup linked above.
Such a sad story, guy walked off angry to blow off steam at literally the worst possible time. Given where he was found I’m surprised suicide wasn’t considered, but given the conditions and assuming he wasn’t familiar with the area, I could see why they’re going with an accident here.
Might also be better for the family. Sometimes life insurance doesn't pay out in the event of suicide.
this is only if the policy is new. the time period varies but it’s only to prevent someone from opening a massive policy and then killing themselves the next day.
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Do you have a good recipe for lasagna with bechamel sauce?
Manner of death was accidental. Sorry, it's one of my pet peeves. 😆
Yes, I thought of that after I wrote the subject line. Cause of death was blunt force trauma.
One thing that bothers me is that his injuries were consistent of a really, really, long fall. Meaning he would have had to climb up the monument to even fall that far. Was he seeking shelter? Plenty of trails to follow, so why be exposed to a 100’+ fall?
Disoriented perhaps, and kept walking? I think it's a more gradual climb versus climbing a steep hill.
It mentions the monument specifically, which is a very steep vertical face for that kind of fall. I don’t know enough about the area other than when I drove through as a kid and google earth. 😅
Alcohol plus anger tends to makes even otherwise intelligent and rational people do really stupid things especially if testosterone is also part of the cocktail. Trying to figure out what someone was thinking in that state is a losing battle quite often.
Also, most laypersons overestimate how long a fall has to be to produce catastrophic skeletal injuries. The injuries in this case he sustained are entirely consistent with where he was found. There's nothing about that to be bothered by.
I worked on a case where the local rumor mill had the guy getting pushed off the roof of the building (seven or eight stories IIRC) because of his injuries which turned out to be incorrect as there was security footage showing that he fell off a second story catwalk.
I work in vertical construction, and Im more afraid of a 20’ fall than a 300’ fall. Lower heights are so very unpredictable, like you said. Could absolutely be a factor here for sure.
You have a brass pair my friend. 😆 🤣 There is no way I could do that kind of work.
Wasn’t his final text to her some kind of gibberish? It would be a shame if he fell because he was texting and not paying attention to where he was going.
Cause of death: annoying ass in-laws
The real secret and quiet killer!
If only
Was where he was found along the route he would have taken home? Weird he didn't just hunker down and let the storm pass but instead kept walking to fall 100 plus feet. Was he found by a cliff?
A violent storm in the middle of the prairie? Where exactly is he going to hunker down? Behind a bush?
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They likely tried to stop him, can’t force him though. And likely thought he was coming back soon with no need for a hotel. They didn’t know.
Yeah, if someone storms out angrily from a gathering, I can't say that "I should book them a hotel" is foremost in my mind
His wife went out in the car to find him but couldn't find him. About 15 minutes after he left, he texted her that he was making for a town that was in the opposite direction to where he was walking. It's a messed up situation.
Of course, if he doesn't want to be with her he sends her in the other direction.