A teen went for a walk in the woods and vanished without a trace. 7years later his mummified remains are found in a chimney

In 2008, 18-year-old Joshua Maddux set off on a walk around his local area. As he stepped outside on that bright May day, nobody was expecting it to be the last time they saw him alive.

Maddux was a big lover of nature so it wasn’t unusual for him to venture off on long nature walks around the Colorado woodland. But this time was different, this time the teen never returned from his walk. He vanished into the forest without a trace and despite vigorous search efforts, no clues to his whereabouts ever came up.

For seven long years what happened to Joshua remained a mystery. The hope his family had of a safe return slowly dimmed as the tragic reality that he might be dead began to set in. Of course, without a body there would be no closure, no confirmation that he was dead. Well in September of 2015, the family got the answer they were looking for as Maddux’s body was discovered in the most unusual of places.

Where was Joshua Maddux?

What’s even more tragic is the fact that the teen was actually a lot closer to home than anyone would have expected. His body was found less than one mile away from his house, in an abandoned wood cabin, as per the Daily Mail.

The mummified remains were found by pure chance after the owner of the property, which had been abandoned for more than a decade, decided to knock the old structure down. Construction workers found the body inside the chimney of the old cabin. The body had to be identified by dental records due to the level of decomposition.

What happened?

A body stuffed in a chimney may come across as a suspicious death but it seems authorities were content to rule it as accidental. Teller County Coroner, Al Born, stated that the teen, who was tall and skinny, had likely tried to shimmy down the chimney and gotten stuck. There was a wood burning insert which would have prevented him from crawling back up, and the fireplace was blocked by a large piece of furniture.

This meant once Maddux was in the chimney, he likely wouldn’t have been able to get himself back out. Reports stated that the knees were above the head of the corpse, so he may have gotten stuck in a rather difficult position. Being in the middle of the woods meant nobody would have been able to hear him if he called for help either.

As for why Maddux would climb down the chimney, it was theorized he was trying to gain access to the old building, perhaps it was curiosity that lured him there, or maybe it was a genuine accident. Either way, Joshua Maddux’s story is a tragic one. 

His sister, Kate wrote a touching tribute for her brother, “Sometimes in life, our stories don’t have happy endings. I’m sorry to say that this is one of those stories…” she begins, before explaining how she had hoped her brother had simply started a new life elsewhere. She ends her statement by expressing gratitude at being able to give Joshua a proper memorial.