It seems to me that there have been other missing persons or deaths in that area associated with the stranger in the yellow coat.
Wonder what the take would be if they began finding those drunks, druggies and derelicts along the AT? Human nature being what it is, I’m surprised that there isnt a citizen uprising in that area.
Unfortunately, in American society today, drunks, derelicts, and druggies have become the citizens of choice for many, many state and local governments. They bring in federal funds (food, housing, medical care, and they employ lots of fat-butted social workers. All at taxpayer expense, of course. So, the local governments make believe there’s nothing they can do about them (even to the point of refusing to enforce loitering laws). And the politicians and their protected vermin live happily ever after. While we foot the bills and suffer the crimes and degradation of our homes. Pretty sich, huh?