Family Vanished While Camping in Alaska — Three Years Later, Found in a Giant Ant Hill

The Discovery That Changed Everything

On August 16th, 2022, deep in the tangled wilds of Chugach National Forest, Alaska, three hunters—Dan, his brother Ryan, and their friend Marcus—were searching for a place to camp before moose season. The forest was ancient, trails nearly swallowed by undergrowth, and the only signs of humans were rotting blinds from the 1980s. About five kilometers from Bertha Creek Campground, where a Seattle family had disappeared three years earlier, Dan spotted something bizarre: a massive dome of earth and twigs, nearly two meters tall and three meters wide.

At first, they thought it was an abandoned blind. But as they drew closer, they realized it was a giant ant hill—far larger than any they’d seen in Alaska. Marcus raised his camera to snap a photo for his blog, but Dan suddenly froze. Sticking out from the base of the ant hill was a white bone—a human femur.

Dan, a former paramedic, instantly recognized it. He shouted for the others to stay back and called emergency services. The signal was weak, but he got through. For nearly four hours, the trio waited, circling the perimeter. Marcus found more bones scattered nearby—some gnawed, some half-buried, and a cracked piece of skull under a mossy boulder.

When state police and forensic experts arrived by helicopter, they brought homicide investigator Brian Harper, a veteran of Alaska’s toughest cases. But nothing had prepared him for what he’d find.

Excavating the Ant Hill of Death

Forensic teams began carefully dismantling the ant hill. Inside and around it, they found not one, but two adult skeletons—bones scattered, partially buried, some showing animal bite marks. But the arrangement was strange: the bodies were wrapped in decaying raincoats, bound with electrical cords, and hidden beneath layers of earth and twigs. This was not the work of nature. It was deliberate concealment.

The remains were evacuated to Anchorage for examination. DNA confirmed the worst: the bodies belonged to Scott Reeves (36), his wife Jenna (32)—the missing family from Seattle. But one detail chilled everyone: there was no trace of their eight-year-old son, Lucas.

Three Years Earlier: The Vanishing

In July 2019, the Reeves family—Scott, a software engineer, Jenna, a schoolteacher, and Lucas, an adventurous second-grader—set off for their dream trip to Alaska. They arrived at Bertha Creek Campground, set up their tent, and settled in for a week of hiking and fishing. Neighbors at the site, Tom and Barbara, remembered Scott as friendly and Jenna as cheerful, Lucas playing with a toy truck.

On July 18th, Scott asked about hiking trails for kids. Tom recommended a simple route to Berts Falls. That morning was the last time anyone saw the Reeves family alive.

Five days later, the rental company noticed their SUV hadn’t been returned. Rangers found their tent undisturbed, full of gear. But the SUV was abandoned on a remote, overgrown road, trunk open, keys in the ignition, wallets and phones inside. No signs of struggle. Only Lucas’s backpack, empty, was found a kilometer away in the bushes.

The search was massive—hundreds of volunteers, dogs, helicopters. But after three weeks, there was nothing. The official theory: a bear attack. But Scott and Jenna’s families refused to accept it. Why was the car so far from the site? Why was everything left behind? Why was Lucas’s backpack empty?

A Chilling Autopsy

When Dr. Emily Chen, a forensic pathologist, examined the remains, she found signs of violence. Scott’s skull was fractured by a heavy blow—possibly a rock or metal pipe. Defensive wounds marked his arms. Jenna’s body showed a sharpened nail driven into her chest, straight to the heart, and her hands and feet bore signs of torture—broken fingers, separated phalanges.

This was murder, not an accident. The bodies, wrapped in raincoats and bound with cords, had been hidden in the ant hill. Animal and insect activity had partially destroyed the remains, but the evidence was clear: the deaths occurred about three years earlier, matching the date of their disappearance.

But where was Lucas?

The Hunt for Answers

Detective Harper began reconstructing the last days. Tom and Barbara remembered seeing a lone man in a dark green or blue pickup truck with a dented door, wearing a camouflage jacket and baseball cap. Rangers recalled complaints about illegal hunters and gunshots that summer.

Harper dug into poaching records and found Randall Hawks, a 48-year-old loner from Hope, Alaska. Hawks had a history of poaching, assault, and lived alone in a cabin deep in the woods. When police searched his cabin, they found children’s clothes—Lucas’s dinosaur t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers. DNA confirmed Lucas’s blood on the shirt.

But Hawks was gone.

The Killer’s Last Words

In October 2022, hunters found an abandoned cabin in the forest. Inside was Hawks’s body—dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. On the table, a note:

“I regret what I did. I never meant to kill. It was an accident that got out of control. I met a family in the woods, argued with the father over poaching. I hit him with a rock. The woman screamed—I panicked. The boy ran into the forest. I tried to find him but couldn’t. I hope someone found him. Too much time has passed. I see their faces every night. I can’t live with it.”

The note confirmed Hawks’s guilt, but left Lucas’s fate a mystery.

A Haunting Mystery Remains

Harper refused to give up. He retraced every step, questioned locals, and followed every lead. One nurse in a remote village remembered treating a silent, frightened boy with an old hermit in October 2022. Was it Lucas? The hermit vanished, leaving no trace.

To this day, Lucas Reeves remains missing. His photo hangs in police stations across Alaska. Harper, now retired, still volunteers, chasing every rumor that the boy might be alive somewhere in the wilderness.

The Legacy of Loss and Hope

Scott and Jenna were buried in Seattle. Hundreds mourned their senseless deaths. Hawks was buried in an unmarked grave, his name cursed and forgotten. But Lucas’s case remains open—a haunting question mark in Alaska’s history.

Some say no child could survive alone in the wild. Others, like Harper, cling to hope. Maybe, somewhere in the endless forests, Lucas Reeves lives—changed, hidden, perhaps not even remembering his past.

Because in the cold, cruel wilds of Alaska, sometimes hope is all you have left. And as long as there’s even the faintest chance, the search will never truly end.

Share this story. Remember the Reeves family. Because some mysteries are never solved—and some children are never forgotten.