S6E9 - “Into The Woods” — Unsubs: A Criminal Minds Podcast (2024)

We open in Harwood State park in PA. We meet Linda and Michael Walker, and their son Sammy Walker. They are lost. It is dark. The vibes are very Blair Witch. Momma and Papa Walker get so lost in the sauce of their map, that for a moment they misplace their son. But don’t worry, Sammy jumps out and goes “BOO!” And both Momma and Papa Walker admonish him for jumping out and spooking them. The whole family hears rustling and chomping sounds and they run into… a black bear! Where I grew up, I’d sometimes be driving around and there would just be a black bear standing by the side of the road. The black bear gets spooked as the Walker family approaches, and after the bear peaces out, the family realizes that what the bear was chomping on was actually… human remains.

Cut to BAU headquarters in Quantico VA. We learn that the body the Walker family found was that of 10 year old Daniel Lanham. Daniel was reported missing when he went on a camping trip with his father last November. Daniel’s body was located just off of the Appalachian Trail, which Reid tells us, covers 14 states, and is nearly 2200 miles long. Daniel’s body was wrapped in plastic which indicates a level of remorse, although this sentiment is somewhat at odds with this unsub be an opportunistic offender.

Cut to Phinney State Park in PA. We meet the Brooks family. Parents are Violet and Frank, and the kids are Ana and Robert. And I’m like, okay, so Robert is a child, but his name is Robert Brooks and he also is my investment profile manager. So Papa Brooks tells Robert to get firewood, and Ana is like “I can help”. She is Robert’s younger sister, and he tells her she can carry “twigs” and it’s a very sibling exchange. But as the Brooks kids are gathering firewood, it’s clear from the audience's perspective that they are being watched. Robert kind of senses it too, and he tells Ana that it’s time to head back to the campsite.

Cut to the BAU private jet! Reid has started a geographic profile based on the premise that the Appalachian trail is the unsub’s hunting ground. As a person who hates hiking and parks, this episode is so scary to me. In more ways than one! We learn that Daniel’s father, Joseph, was originally considered a suspect. He “appeared to be obsessed” with finding his son, but the police were so confident that he was the killer, they wanted to charge him. However, without a body, they could not charge him. We learn that Joseph went into the woods multiple times looking for his son. ALSO PLAID ALERT.

We cut to the Boyd Big Tree preserve. We meet Ranger Walter Turner. Reid, Rossi, and Hotch meet with him to go over the particulars. Hotch’s first move is to interview Joseph Lanham. I love this actor. I love this interview. Apparently, Joseph spent months returning to the scene of Daniel’s abduction, searching trails, looking for his son. But Joseph stopped searching in mid-March, which, the BAU has now learned is around the time Daniel died. So why did Joseph suddenly stops searching for his son? Was he involved? Joseph gives this emotional speech and tells Hotch that he had “a feeling” that his son was dead.

Rossi, Reid, and Ranger Turner discuss how this particular unsub held Daniel for months before killing him. The BAU is now certain that unsub has likely killed before, and they ask Garcia to look back over the past five years to see if any other boys have disappeared along the Appalachian Trail. At Daniel’s crime scene, Prentis and Morgan determine that Daniel’s body was buried in a graveyard, not randomly disposed of. They determine that another body is likely nearby and they find a marker that the unsub has made with an ax to denote the placement of Daniel’s body. Another body is ultimately recovered, Tyler Stolts, who was abducted twenty-three months ago. The unsub abducts children in the fall and keeps them all winter. Or, as Morgan puts it- “It’s like he’s hibernating with them”.

Cut back to the Brooks campsite. Kids Ana and Robert are in a tent together, and Ana wakes Robert up saying that she has to pee. Robert goes with her and they walk only a little ways from the campsite, but they’re really quiet because they don’t want to wake their parents. HOWEVER, we do hear someone cough in the woods. Then Ana says she can’t pee with Robert watching over her which, is valid, so she goes a little farther behind some brush. However, she stops responding to Robert. When he walks back into the brush looking for her, he sees that the unsub has her.

Back with the BAU at ranger headquarters, Reid has done some digging. He went back ten years looking for reports of missing children. Reid has found twelve potential victims that match both Daniel's and Tyler’s victimology. TWELVE! Prentis is like “If he’s been abducting children for ten years, why haven’t we been called in before now?” And Reid says that the unsub walks the entire length of the Appalachian Trail. He stops in random spots and abducts children. Essentially, the unsub has been crossing state lines and no one agency was able to piece the entire thing together until now.

Reid also states that the unsub was hunting and abducting more aggressively. But he has slowed down, either due to old age or an illness. The past two victims the unsub has returned within a thirty-mile radius of where the BAU has set up. He must have a lair somewhere.

We cut to- the unsub’s lair. Ana and Robert are locked in a cage in a cave. Robert is super brave and tells the unsub that their parents will be looking for them, and promises not to tell. Ana is so afraid, and it’s clear that Robert is trying to be brave for his little sister. Honestly, these child actors are so good!

The next day, the BAU is alerted to Ana and Robert’s disappearance. They focus on the fact that this is the first time the unsub has taken two kids and also the first time he’s taken a girl.

Back with Robert and Ana in the cave, it’s now daylight, and the two kids can see that the cage they’re in is FULL of toys. Ana asks “whose toys are these?” The BAU talks to the Brooks parents, who are devastated. As they’re talking to the BAU, Joseph Lanham and shows up. He tells Hotch that he wants to help and that he knows the trails as well as anybody. He says “I’m not out here for vengeance. What those kids are going through, it’s the same thing Daniel went through. I need to be here.” Hotch tells Joseph that he can’t be out searching the trails, but that the BAU will find some way to help him.

Now we have… a scene where the unsub separates Robert and Ana. Robert initially tells the unsub that he doesn’t want to go, but the unsub offers the pair a flashlight if Robert goes with him. So Robert goes with the unsub, and we see him walking away and we cut to black. I really like the way this is done because the implication is really terrible, but the episode is very specific about what is shown and how it is shown. And for that, we’re really grateful.

PROFILE

• The unsub hunts for, abducts, and keeps his victims in the woods

• He left civilization and forged a home for himself in the wilderness

  • This means that he’s lost any societal or moral restraints

• He’s devoted his life to taking children and he’s found the perfect place to hide them

• He’s found or made a shelter which is difficult to find

  • It allows him to withstand harsh weather

  • It’s secure enough to keep his victims from escaping

  • It must be sizable, underground, or on a mountainside

    • For this reason the BAU points out that sometimes the voices of trapped children get drowned out by search parties calling for them.

    • They ask the searchers to call out Ana or Robert’s names and to leave pauses in between to listen for responses

And the search doggos are out there!

Back at ranger headquarters, Reid talks to Joseph Lanham. Joseph asks Reid if he thinks that Daniel ever heard his father calling for him in the woods. Reid says “Even if he didn’t, I’m sure he knew you were looking for him”. Joseph is really beating himself up about failing to find his son. Reid tells Joseph that he knows this area better than anyone, and Reid impresses on him that he can help find these children. Joseph and Reid work together to narrow down the geographic profile. Reid tells Joseph that the unsub might be holed up in a cave, as caves maintain a set temperature, even in the winter.

Back in the cave, Robert and Ana are reunited. Robert tells Ana that the next time the unsub comes for Robert, Ana should run off and go for help. Ana tells Robert she doesn’t want to go by herself and honestly, these kids are pulling at my heartstrings. Robert and Ana both tell the unsub that they need to use the restroom, which is a rouse, because Robert hits the unsub and Ana takes off and runs out of the cave. As Ana has almost climbed out, the unsub climbs up behind her, and Robert saves the day by pulling the unsub back so Ana can get out.

So now Ana is running through the woods, but don’t worry, the search doggos are on it! They quickly find her and she’s taken to safety. She reunites with her family and her parents reassure her that she did the right thing. She talks to Hotch and tells them what she remembers about the unsub and the place where she and her brother were kept. She also points out that the unsub walked with a limp.

After Ana escapes, the unsub drags Robert out of the cave and through the woods. They actually pass right by search doggos and searchers, but the unsub puts his hand over Robert’s mouth and says “no matter how bad things get, they can always get worse.”

The BAU finds the cave the unsub has just abandoned (or, more accurately, the doggos find it). Unfortunately, the unsub has abandoned it, but they do find the cage and the toys. The unsub left money, rations, pills, and flowers? Prentis texts Reid a picture of the flower, and it’s called “devil’s claw” which is a homeopathic treatment. Reid also notes that the flower would likely help but not completely diminish the pain the unsub must be in. Meaning that the unsub must be medicating in other ways.

Reid believes the unsub is from the area of Jonestown PA, because his first abduction occurred around there. Reid is doing so MUCH for this case! Reid is ON IT! We cut to a halfway house or something of that sort. The unsub brings Robert to meet his friend, Brandon Stiles, no relation to Harry. We learn that the unsub’s name is Shane. He negotiates more pills in exchange for trading Robert to Brandon Stiles, again, no relation to Harry. Brandon offers three months of pills and Shane is like THAT’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH. He finds more pills, and cash, and tells Brandon he can have an hour.

Garcia comes in to work her magic. She identifies the unsub, whose full name is Shane Wyland. He was imprisoned for, you guessed it, child sexual assault. She also finds a halfway house in Jonestown that is like… the hip place to be if you’re a sexual predator.

Meanwhile, Brandon and Robert have a scrabble, and Brandon knocks Robert unconscious. But he thinks he’s accidentally killed Robert.

The BAU show up at the Hotbed for Sexual Predators in Jonestown, and they meet the property manager, who is so done with everyone, including the BAU. He sees the BAU show up and just goes “whoever did it- just take ‘em!” He doesn’t know Shayne Wyland, and when the BAU shows him a picture of Robert he goes “anyone under 18 walks in here- I got the cops on speed dial.” Guys. Charlie is an ally. Charlie tells the BAU that the only tenant who has lived in the building for long enough to have been friends with Shayne when he was released from prison, was Brandon Stiles, no relation to Harry.

So the BAU got to Brandon’s room, but he’s not there. Meanwhile, they swarm the scene. Shayne returns to the building, looking to pick Robert up. He sees the police presence and leaves. Meanwhile, this is terrible, Brandon tries to move Robert’s body out of the building, but because of the police, he can’t leave. So he brings Robert down to the basem*nt and Robert wakes up and runs away. And just as Robert is about to get away, Brandon Stiles, no relation to Harry, catches Robert, but the BAU catches Brandon!

So Robert reunites with his family, and Brandon is going back to prison, but unfortunately, Shayne gets away. Reid gives Joseph Lanham a jacket that belonged to his son, and it’s bittersweet. Because while his son died, Joseph was instrumental in saving Robert’s life. The BAU reflects on how, although Shayne got away, this is a win, because Robert is back with his family!

Rating Criteria:

• Criminal/Serial Killer: 10/20

• Character development/ character arcs: 14/20

• Forensics/Context: 15/20

• Script writing: 15/20

• Background characters: 20/20

Overall: 74/100