There had been disappearances before. Hikers trekking through a thick wooded area, would never be seen again. The people in the nearby town just assumed that the hikers met their demise after an encounter with a bear.

It wasn't until last year that six hikers, three men and three women disappeared. Authorities search the woods inside and out, using tracking dogs and forensics teams to search for clues. 

But nothing turned up. No sign of a struggle, or foul play, or any sort of violence that might have yeilded a clue as to what happened. The tracking dogs would follow the scent of the hikers to the middle of the woods, and then they would stop. The hikers' scent ended there. 

The forensic teams would use their high tech UV lighting to try and detect any body fluids that may have been present, but again, nothing. Absolutely nothing.

The authorities were stumped. They contacted a team of scientific researchers from the nearby University and asked them to investigate. Their thinking was that maybe a new set of eyes and different thinking would uncover what had happened.

Three vans pulled into a makeshift parking lot, and the group of researchers, seven men and three women got out and unloaded their equipment. Everything was tested to make sure it worked. 

The leader of the team, a middle aged man who had a PHD in Unexplained Phenomena, gathered his group to go over final plans for their endeavor. They would hike to the center of the woods by tomorrow. They could have reached it easily by nightfall, but the man wanted his team to be cautious and examine as much as possible.

Any and all findings would be discussed after dinner, so that maybe a working theory could be developed. Then they would retire for the night, and get an early start tomorrow morning.

And so, the investigation began in earnest. Anything and everything that looked out of place or suspicious was recovered and would be analyzed. But the team soon realized that their little discoveries were turning into dead ends. 

Finally, they stopped for the night and set up their tents. A fire was made, and cans of beef stew were opened and dumped into a pot and placed over the fire.

Once dinner had ended, the team gathered to discuss what they had discovered. And, much to their disappointment, they had as much as the authorities had. They couldn't even arrive at a working theory, because they had nothing. So the turned on for the night.

Dawn came, and after a light breakfast, the team took down their tents, made sure the fire was completely out, and made sure any trash was packed up in a bag they had brought. The last thing they needed was to leave food trash behind, and giving a bear that might wander by a reason to follow.

So the journey continued.  And by noon, they had reached the middle of the woods. And each researcher took their equipment and conducted their own examination of the area. But again, nothing turned up. 

Out of frustration, one of the female members looked up to sky and exhaled deeply, to clear her mind. As she brought her eyes down, she saw something, but wasn't sure if her eyes were playing tricks. She blinked, and sure enough, something was there. She pointed out to the other members that she saw something sticking out of a tree trunk, and pointed to the oblect. This raised the curiosity and excitement of the team. A possible clue, which could lead to a breakthrough.