Kayaker Disappeared on Arkansas River, 2 Years Later His GoPro Was Found Underground – News

What made investigators lean forward in their chairs was what filled the space.

Tables, dozens of them, arranged in precise rows like some kind of underground factory. Equipment that belonged in laboratories, not caves. And people, at least 6 individuals moving with the quick, practiced efficiency of workers who had been interrupted in the middle of something important.

“Well, shit,” said a voice from behind 1 of the flashlights. “What do we have here?”

Marcus stopped walking.

Even through the poor audio quality, investigators could hear the change in his breathing, the quick, shallow rhythm of someone whose body had just processed what his mind was still trying to reject.

“I’m sorry,” Marcus said, his voice careful now, controlled. “I didn’t mean to intrude. I’m just lost. If you could just point me toward the river entrance, I’ll get out of your way.”

The flashlights moved closer. In their combined glow, Marcus’s camera captured faces. 3 men and 2 women, all dressed in dark clothing, all wearing expressions that made it clear that letting Marcus simply walk away was not an option they were considering.

“Lost, huh?” The voice belonged to a thin man with graying hair who seemed to be in charge. “How’d you find this place, friend?”

“Kayaking,” Marcus said. “I was photographing the river for a book project. Saw the cave entrance from the water. Thought I’d take a quick look. Got turned around inside.”

“Book project?” the man repeated slowly. “You’re a writer.”

“Photographer,” Marcus corrected. “Outdoor photography. Just documenting Arkansas waterways.”

The man stepped closer, and Marcus’s headlamp illuminated a face that investigators would later identify as belonging to Curtis Vernon Briggs, a 47-year-old with a criminal history dating back 25 years. What that history did not include was any previous involvement with the kind of operation Marcus had stumbled into.

“See, that’s a problem,” Briggs said. “Because this is private property, and what we do here is private business, and now you’ve seen it. Which makes you a complication.”

Marcus took a step backward. The camera captured his hands moving slowly toward his equipment belt, not reaching for anything specific, just the instinctive movement of someone preparing to run or fight.

“Look, I haven’t seen anything,” Marcus said. “I don’t even know what I’m looking at. Just point me toward the exit and I’ll forget this place exists.”

“Oh, you will,” said 1 of the women, her voice carrying a flat certainty that made investigators stop the recording and sit in silence for several minutes before continuing.

The next portion of the footage was chaotic.

Marcus turned and ran, his headlamp beam bouncing wildly as he sprinted back into the passage he had come from. Behind him, flashlight beams danced across cave walls and shouted instructions echoed through the limestone chambers.

“Don’t let him reach the water.”

“Block the main passage.”