The Mysterious Disappearance of Bessie and Glen Hyde in the Grand Canyon

TLDR Bessie and Glen Hyde, a newlywed couple, disappeared during their honeymoon trip through the treacherous Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. Despite various theories and searches, their bodies were never found, leaving their fate a mystery.

Timestamped Summary

00:00 The hosts of the podcast are introducing themselves and promoting their upcoming live shows in various cities.
05:01 Bessie and Glen Hyde met in 1927 and got married in 1928, despite not appearing to be a well-matched couple.
09:47 Bessie and Glen Hyde were an adventurous couple who shared a love of trying new things, and Glen had previous experience navigating treacherous rivers in a boxy boat called a Sweep Scow.
15:09 In 1928, only 45 people had successfully navigated the entire length of the treacherous Colorado River through the Grand Canyon by boat, all of whom were men and none of whom were guided.
20:23 Bessie and Glenn's motivation for their trip through the Grand Canyon was not to make money or gain fame, but rather to embark on a unique adventure together on their honeymoon.
25:27 Brad Dimock's book, published in 2003, confirmed the suspicion that Bessie and Glenn Hyde were seeking fortune and fame through their trip, but it also serves as a lesson for historians to be cautious about legends and unreliable sources.
30:30 The newlyweds launched their boat from Green River, Utah, made it into the Grand Canyon, met Emery Colb, resupplied and restocked, and had dinner at a hotel before continuing their journey, with conflicting reports about Bessie's attitude towards the trip; a reporter failed to notice that Bessie was spelling "help" with her foot in the dirt as they were talking, and the mystery surrounding their disappearance is heightened by the fact that there are pictures of them taken by the last person to see them alive.
35:20 Rollin Hyde immediately left for Las Vegas to set up a telegraph campaign to find his missing son and daughter-in-law, organizing multiple river parties, hiring Native American trackers, and even getting military planes to search the Grand Canyon, resulting in the discovery of their boat, which was undisturbed but empty, leading to further attempts to locate them.
40:48 The boat of the missing newlyweds has been found empty, leading to theories that Glenn may have forced Bessie into the trip and she killed him before hiking out of the Grand Canyon to start a new life, with some strange occurrences over the years including a woman claiming to be Bessie Hyde but later being proven not to be.
46:18 Glenn and Bessie Hyde may have drowned at mile marker 232 in the Grand Canyon, and their bodies could have washed ashore in a remote area and been picked clean by buzzards, leaving no trace of them.
51:28 The identity of the skeleton found in Emery Colb's garage, initially suspected to be Glenn Hyde, remains unknown, but it is believed to be a victim of suicide from 1933.
Categories: Society & Culture

Browse more Society & Culture