Probably got up to pee, and a nocturnal predator ate him. 🤔
Years ago I was backpacking and set up my tent in the dark and then walked over to the stream I could hear nearby. Lots of brush and wet spots to snake through for quite awhile until I got to the stream.
Returning to camp my little penlight got dimmer and dimmer until it went out. Go to the dark shape of a pine tree where my tent was - no tent. So I wandered over to the next dark shape of a tree. I don’t recall how many times I did that, but was starting to get a bit panicked. It would be a chilly mountain night with only my pants and shirt. I’m not even sure I had a lighter or knife on me. (I do now, all the time).
I can still see and feel the emotion when I walked around a tree and saw the outline of my tent in the dark.