1993 Camper Massacre

The 1993 Camper Massacre was an event in the Original Mythos and another Slender Man-related deaths.

Incident
Sometime in 1993, three campers went missing in an unknown area. They were later found, completely massacred.

Newspapers
The following reports, taken from what is presumed to be a local newspaper, describe the events.

May 8, 1993
''"Three campers were announced missing today. They had gone on a week long trip into the nearby woods. Their campsite was quickly located, but all that was left were "blood and little strips of flesh[...] all over the ground," according to the leader of the rescue team, Chad Lewis. The official speculation is that the campers were attacked one or more grizzly bears, which then dragged the bodies elsewhere, though the team admits there "weren't any grizzly tracks we could see... just footprints, and we didn't see any dragging marks on the ground. The weird thing is, there are four sets of bootprints, but[...] didn't find any extra boots in the camp." When asked whether this could be the work of a serial killer, Mr. Lewis refused to answer, saying "we don't want to jump to conclusions." A camera was found at the scene, and the police are attempting to develop the pictures despite damage to film."''

May 22, 1993
''"Chad Lewis' team has located the remains of the bodies of three campers who went missing two weeks ago. They had been "impaled in the uppermost branches of a tree, over 200 feet above the ground. “A grizzly couldn't have done that, and there aren't any black bears here. This definitely wasn't an animal, the bodies were[...] limbs torn off, and most of the internal organs had been removed. We found [the organs] at the foot of the tree[...] eight miles from their campsite. It appears that this was a deliberate murder, though[...] extremely odd circumstances. When questioned about details, Lewis shook his head, saying "We can't specify yet. The police are working on it. In the meantime we're issuing a warning people should avoid activities in the woods until further notice."''

May 28, 1993
''"The local police chief has released baffling details of the murders of three campers in a press conference today. “We determined that the men's deaths occurred after they were impaled on the upper tree branches, leading us to believe there were multiple killers, as it would be nearly impossible for one man to have lifted three adult men, all over 150 pounds, to the top branches of the tree. However, there were no marks of abrasion on the arms or legs we recovered that would indicate they had been restrained beforehand. We believe they were drugged, and then transported to the tree.” When questioned as to how the killers had transported the victims, and why they had chosen that particular location to kill them, the police chief said “There would have had to be multiple vehicles, as there was thick forests and a river between the camp and the tree. This tree could possibly have some kind of religious significance to the killers, as there were deep gouges all over the trunk[…] like claw marks, which at one point form an image of an elongated figure of a man” The police report states that the killings were possibly the work of cult. They have managed to recover a single photograph from the camera recovered at the scene. Anyone with information is encouraged to come forward[…]"''

Images
Below is a photo taken from the campers' camera, as well as a photo of the marks on the tree.