When You Find My Body: The Disappearance of Geraldine Largay on the Appalachian Trail

What a captivating story! I’m only at the part where she first goes missing but it’s addictive so far. Poor inchworm!

It is a good book but I would only recommend it to people that only know a little bit about what happened.

This is a very good account of the disappearance and death of Gerry “Inchworm” Largay, while hiking the Appalachian Trail in Maine in 2013. The book provides answers to some questions, relies on suppositions for others and raises issues, for which there will likely never be answers. Largay (in a text to her husband for help, that did not get through) said she went too far off the trail to relieve herself and failed to relocate the trail. The book contends she thrashed around in the dense underbrush for a day and a half, eventually seeking higher ground in search of obtaining cell phone reception Thereafter, dispirited and exhausted from the effort, “Inchworm” followed conventional wisdom and stayed put waiting to be rescued. This is a likely scenario given Largay lacked a good sense of direction and possessed rudimentary outdoor skills (She was afraid to be alone in the woods at night.). The Maine Warden Service and other organizations and people, mounted a massive search and rescue effort, but failed to locate her. Two years later, surveyors stumbled on Largay’s remains. Gerry Largay had made reasonable efforts to prepare for her AT hike. She went to a well-known & credible trail institute for five days, where somewhat inexplicably, she received no instructions on what to do if she lost the trail. Largay took several training hikes and walked with a partner, who had to leave the trail in New Hampshire. Her husband drove a support vehicle, stayed in communication and met her at trailheads. She carried a cheap compass (the author tests an identical model and states it was worthless) a whistle and a trail map. Two questions that will likely never be answered are why Largay didn’t do more to attract the attention of searchers and why she didn’t follow the stream she was camped by, which would have led her, in 43 minutes, to a tote road, that swarmed with rescuers in the days after her disappearance. Neither is it clear why the area Mrs. Largay was camped in, some 2000 feet from the trail, wasn’t checked more carefully. The book correctly emphasizes there was a lot of territory to cover; the Maine Warden who coordinated the search later ruefully commented that the place she was found, “was-kinda the last place we hadn’t gotten to.” Finally, the author notes that the report of the search effort totaled 1500 pages, but does not break down the number of personnel hours and other pertinent statistics of the rescue attempt. Maybe, this was not so much a case of, an individual, not making the right decisions, as making decisions that did not turn out right. It is a sad story and a sobering story.

Interesting story of the Appalachian Trail. The title says it all, she wasn't prepared.

In my opinion the author did research and wrote what was available. My issue with this book is so many questions remain about what the heck happened. It’s such a sad ending for someone who touched so many. It’s hard to think Gerry was incapable of being found when so many people were searching for her. My thoughts are with her family. What a difficult situation they had to deal with.