Little do the people of the town knew that Keith was alive and well. He had relocated to another little town in the country where he started writing novels. He kept wearing flannel shirts every day but after a while he got tired of writing so he changed his style to write about the strange dark and mysterious in story format.

One thing I've learned from MrBallen over the years is that, whenever you find yourself wandering into a forest. NEVER GO TO ANY CLEARING.

You know who else is wearing a heavy flannel shirt, likes stories and slowly spiralling into madness?

Ted killed the Tom and his dog and Keith found out so he killed him too...and then he wrote the ending to Keith's book and called attention to it so everyone would assume Keith wandered off on his own

I have a suspicion that Ted was the one to murder both Tom and Keith. He was the last one to see Keith alive. They found no trace of him on or near the mountain where he supposedly told Ted he was going to go. I think that's because he never went there that evening. My theory is that Ted was worried Keith was getting close to discovering what really happened to Tom and his dog so he made him disappear, then edited the ending to his story.

I just felt really bad for Keith's wife and kids, that must have been so hard to just accept. Very strange, dark, and mysterious, indeed.

During his research into Tom, Keith figured out that his friend Ted had killed Tom. So Ted also killed Keith to cover his tracks. Which is why Keith and Ted's last conversation didn't make any sense. Ted actually wrote the ending to Keith's book to strengthen his story about Keith's disappearance, making sure to have other witnesses to the supposed discovery of the ending to the book.

I live in Colorado and I looked up this story. Looks like his family is making a documentary called, Dark Side of the Mountain. It’s in post production. I’ll be on the lookout for when it’s released. What a fascinating story 😢

Watching mr ballen is the best part of my entire week.

Your storytelling only gets better and better, i've been watching since 2020 and even then the storytelling was 10/10.

I really love that when you talk about couples making decisions together, you use words like "blessing" instead of permission. it speaks volumes about couples making decisions together not having to babysit each other! ❤

I like the idea of two people with similar stories staying in the same place met a similar fate, and that there’s a strange coincidence in that which leads us to believe it was somehow connected supernaturally. But I also think it’s strange that Ted was the last one to see Keith alive and the first one to point out the book with that strange ending.

Possibly the first MrBallen story where someone got scared on a trail and they actually went back instead of keeping going...

Mr Ballen has become a subculture and his videos have become a basic necessity. I hope he never stops making videos

Mr Ballen is a legend beyond UKposts Man has served as A SEAL started a foundation thats honest and gives us creepy stories thank you for all you do dor others and your service

I’m glad you covered this case! I’m a Colorado local and this case has always fascinated me and it’s rare to see it covered this will in depth ‼️ ESPECIALLY WHEN ITS MY FAV UKpostsR EVER, I LOVE YOU MR BALLEN

With how strange, dark, and mysterious our planet is, it's no wonder he still hasn't ran out of stories to tell. It's more impressive to me that he still thinks of original ways to torment the like button.

This story is so wild, it’s crazy that it’s real life and not fiction. Really makes you wonder what truly happened to all of them up there in those mountains. RIP to all who mysteriously lost their lives. Hopefully one day we can get some answers.

Hey Mr ballen keep ballin' love re listening to your stories, it's your friend joey b, I'm disabled and have unlimited pain killers but hate them on my guts and get constipated, so can't enjoy food... I've re watched all your stuff for last 3 days n only took 6 pain pills instead of 36, so u take my mind off pain and can eat good food since pills ain't bunging me up... had steak and chicken n stomach don't hurt your stories make my pain leave my brain and probably helping me live longer... I love how u tell stories, thank u , u are literally making me want to live... I'm a country boy n my favorite thing is to get my mom to help me out to front porch and love listening to your scary stories outside and since I'm disabled there is no way I can get inside and tell my family not to get me, so I love being stuck outside listening to scary stories ... someday s I take 18 pain pills on days I'm listening to you I only take 2, thank u, u are literally a miracle worker even told my Dr about u and how u make my pain go away... thank u

I'm not sure what happened to Keith, but as someone who has many mental illnesses, the obsession he seemed to have with Tom (imo) is not normal. Maybe being isolated in a room you know someone lived in who died in nearby mountains under mysterious circumstances got to his mind? The closest thing I could relate to with the obsession is Borderline Personality Disorder (I have this). We commonly have an FP, aka favorite person, whom we don't need to know and can be a fictional person. Regardless, you become obsessed with them, you wake up thinking of them and go to sleep thinking of them, and if something breaks this happy facade you've made of yourself and your fp, it's like your world explodes and you're a wreck. Sometimes this can lead to someone attempting or successfully taking their own life. The more sensitive of us who don't want help can even turn to stalking. Unfortunately it's not a mental illness that can be fixed with medication; only DBT therapy helps you manage it yourself. It's very complicated and you constantly have to adapt to changes within yourself, but it can be done.

Thank you mr Ballen for hearing our cries and making this episode longer….we love you!

I love how Mr. Ballen created such a loving, happy and supportive fanbase, even though his stories are dark and mysterious

Your videos are so addictive! You're an awesome storyteller.

I have only subscribed about 1 month ago. Your stories are better than most audio books that have, so called, professional narrators. Mr. Ballen, you surpass them in every way. You have a true talent for this and are extremely fortunate to be doing what you love. I am also fortunate to benefit from your talent as well. I am not as lucky to discover a talent in which I am as passionate about as you have displayed.Thank you for sharing your passion with us all, much appreciated.

No matter how many other storytellers I listen to, I always find myself looking forward to your next post. No one can "hold a candle" to you. You make a difficult day much better. Thank you.

As soon as the dead body was mentioned, I was so ready for the reveal of Keith being the murderer... only for the ending to nearly give me a stroke out of sheer confusion.

I love listening to these at work. makes slow days like today less boring.

MrBallen, You have done a great job telling us this story. I look forward to viewing another story you might tell.

I think Ted killed Keith, Tom, and his dog. Ted is the link that binds all the players. He easily could've written that ending for him to "find" later pointing to suicide. It was Ted who convinced Keith to come to town and to write out of Tom's store. The first thing Ted did when Keith arrived was show him the trail that ultimately led to Tom's body. So based on this video, Ted is my number one suspect.

I can’t really describe the excitement I get when I open YT and see a new MB vid. It’s kinda like Christmas morning, only a lot more strange, dark and unusual.

This is one of my all-time favorite videos from this point on because it was so interesting.

I remember this being on Unsolved Mysteries years ago and being very intrigued by it...Mr Ballen retells this story so well!!

I miss when Mr. Ballen would post three, four, even FIVE times every week. He is worth the 6 day wait ❤

This is unlikely to be seen by MrBallen and that’s ok, but I just wanted to thank him for entertaining so many people that love the strange dark and mysterious stories he tells, he is such a nice guy that acts like a dad to his fans. Also he has helped so many families get their stories out to the public and he also has an entire charity just to help people that have been involved in crimes that have damaged them and their family severely, thank you for all you do MrBallen. ❤

You're so amazing Mr. Ballen! Thank you for all you do!!!!

Loved this story!!! One of my faves of the last few months. Mrballen is king!

I truly thought it was Keith’s friend, owner of the cafe, who was the murderer. He rented to both Tom and Keith, knew all their details and he’s the one that randomly walked Keith up the trail into the mountains the first day.

I know A Lot of people are bummed because It takes so long for MrBallen crew to post... But I truly appreciate it how much dedication and hard work you guys put into all your stories for us to enjoy at the end of the week. Thank you and God bless.

You really are the most awesome storyteller. I'm an outdoors person who has climbed lots of mountains. It's so easy for something to happen to an inexperienced, badly equipped person in the mountains. To have a small fall, break an ankle, not be able to move much in rugged terrain, get exposure, die.

Binged all of your videos half a year ago or so. Had to take a break to let them pile up. Glad I came back to the same/ improved quality I expected!

Being from Colorado and just now hearing this story is crazy, I’ve passed through this town so many times.

I'm super upset that his novel was never published.. it sounds super interesting. And considering it's based off true events, it seems like a good way to remember the author :(

God bless you, Mr. Ballen my sister and I love your videos and they’ve actually brought us closer together! God bless you & your family 🥹🔥

After hearing the ammount of details in Keith’s story, even down to him eating his lunch, this was not the ending I expected

I woke up and have honestly been saying to myself, "Where is my Mr. Ballen video?" I look forward to my Sunday story's now and my Monday Podcast story. Anyone else? Love this guy so much.😂

Great story, thank you Mr.Ballen for your fantastic stories and the way you tell them.

You’re the best! I’ve never loved a UKposts channel so much! You’re stories give me chills!

You’ve came so far these last two years mane, glad to have been part of the journey with everyone

I love listening to him draw out a story from the void. It’s like listening to an old man talk about how every blade of grass was feeling and what colour socks he wore and the history of every house on the street just to tell you about that time he had a really good vanilla ice cream cone. The level of detail - made up or loosely based in reality - really puts you inside the characters head. He shares every thought, gesture and word spoken leading up to the event. It’s like experiencing it in real time.

You are an excellent storyteller. Quickly becoming a favorite channel. Thank you.

We appreciate this update - we're gonna hold you to it!! ☝🏾☝🏾

Man, it’s insane that a man who just wanted to start fresh ends up vanishing with no clear answer. Thanks for sharing MrBallen

I really felt a sense of deep compassion for both Keith and Tom, and Gus in this story. I can't believe they all mysteriously went like that. Rest in peace to them

Absolutely love u Mr. Ballen! Thx man!

I love watching you so much you feel like family to me I watch you as often as I can

I’m new here but the only thing scarier than John’s stories is the fact that I’m soon going to run out of these videos to binge 😱

I really appreciate your videos Mr. Ballen 🖤 I also miss the days you had us finding a hidden image in your videos 🥺

You’re a great storyteller and I really enjoy your content!

It's been a while since I've last commented here, but I wanted to say that we appreciate how detailed the explanation of this particular case is. It intrigues as well as surprises you with what's to come.

Kieth either died doing this OR used this as a way to completely disappear. It’s to bad they never published his book. If they published his book his wife and children could have made somewhat of an income since he was now gone. Mr Ballen is such a great storyteller. I could listen to him tell stories all day every day.

The fact Keith walked out of his actual life with his family already indicated he wasn’t exactly the peak of good mental health so I’m not surprised it ended up that way.

Along with being a great story teller, being so easy on the eyes is a bonus 😉

Your voice and storytelling abilities are wonderful. Storytelling was always my favorite in school. To this day I love, listening to storytelling. Can you come to Brooklyn, NY, to read to my babies at work?

This story reminds me of your missing 411 series. Any chance you would start that up again? Those stories were so fascinating.

I miss Mr. Ballen posting 3, 4, even 5 times a week.

yes i love story format, plus you tell the stories really well

I love how your story's have a crazy unexpected twist that's what I call a good story!

💐💐💐💐 RIP Clifford Griffin (2 Jul 1847-19 Jun 1887) (aged 39), Keith Reinhard, Tom Young, and his Black Labrador dog named Gus you will truly all be missed and my prayers go out to you all and your families. 💐💐💐💐

He really knows how to tell a story and keep you interested through the whole video .

Absolutely love this channel, man.

I think the mine industry in the town collapsing shortly after Clifford's death gives a bit of insight to why he committed, he was a mine owner and probably knew his mines were running low on coal. Say he didn't manage his money well or was even in debt, knowing that his mine was on a ticking clock he ended it before everything blew up in his face.

y’all have to realize the 4 or 5 times a week uploads were during c 19 when we were on lock down. he probably had more time back then. i’m glad that he’s still giving us content at all ❤ te aprecio Mr. Ballen ❤

Mr. Ballen is the best part about my Sunday’s.

I always enjoy your stories. I listen to you everyday. Thank you for taking the time to tell us these amazing and wild stories

I am always so impressed how Mr. Ballen finds and researches these stories! I’m from Colorado and have never heard this story. It’s so cool how he dives in and gets all the details, and is such a great story teller!

This!! This is the strange, dark, and mysterious stories, that I've so desperately missed from this channel! I know MrBallen has a lot going on right now, but I've truly missed these types of stories, and this one DID NOT disappoint!! Thank you, once again, for your service MrBallen!! You've reestablished your position as the GOAT!!💯💜

Wow - what a crazy story. I lived about 45 minutes away from there and was in High School (Evergreen) when this happened, I don't remember ever hearing about it (of course my memory isn't what it used to be). Thanks for another intriguing story.

Been watching u off n on for a year. Ur stories are amazing but it’s how u present them that I love. Y I hit that “button” and subscribed. 😂 so look forward to how u tell people to hit that like button. Keep being u!

I can proudly say that i’ve been watching since he posted 3-4 times a week. Even with only one video a week, watching these videos are the highlight of my week❤️

I love the little sound effects added to your videos. It really enhances the already incredible story telling. Shoutout to the editor! ❤ and of course the man himself, MrBallen.

I’m new to this channel and discovered very quickly I’m a fan of Mr Ballen! The Best Story Teller” ever!!

I'll be on my laptop, watching nba playoffs, texting something important, worrying about something that probably won't happen as i usually do with this stupid general anxiety disorder amongst a couple others things.. my mind is going a 100mph all the time and the way that i will stop everything i am doing, pause the game, forget my worries for a minute, and listen to you masterfully tell these stories, you are seriously the GOAT of storytelling. You have surpassed Morgan Freeman in the way you are able to articulate and capture attention every single second of every video. If i could have one wish, other than money, it would be that you are the one to do my eulogy whenever my time comes.

Waiting for a new video from Mr. Ballen on every Sunday night is like waiting for late night shows back when we were kids... Thanks to Mr. Ballen for his hard work and everything he did which gaves us the opportunity to relive that sweet moment we lived before.

You are by far my favorite story teller of all time! You are simply the G.O.A.T. of all things strange, dark, and mysterious.

I found you on TikTok. I don't know how I didn't know about this channel before that. Everything is excellent

The stuff you add in that isn't 100% real like what people were thinking as things happened, all the little details you add that are normally all so plausible that they seem like they were in a police report or something about the case like it adds so much value to these stories and really is the thing that sets u apart and above any other story telling streamers or pages like you have a real gift I appreciate being able to have these videos to listen to I can't wait to share them with my son someday soon. Thank you for this page Mr ballin there's been days where I was depressed and having like a bipolar episode and I just binged watched your channel and it got me through the day and I felt better... It means a great deal to me please never stop

He is and will remain a success because MrBallen maintains the same level of character as when he first started on this amazing journey.

I found this channel a year ago. Watching it grow is like watching Mt Rushmore being made. Epic.

I remember seeing this on Unsolved Mysteries way back in the early 90s and after a couple of minutes into this video it all came back to me Really good story

This was my favorite episode from you guys, great job! :)

Im so happy MrBallen is doing these mysterious stories again. The trye crime ones are cool, but only john Ballen can spin these stories like this

who else falls asleep at night to mr. ballen’s strange, dark, and mysterious?

I m so glad i found your channel keeps me engaged everyday...❤

I love how MrBallen just casually glossed over the detail of it being a shop that the store owner had "abandoned for a vacation in Europe" meanwhile I'm over here knowing that there's some ominous foreshadowing happening.

This story is creepy, mysterious and very sad at the same time. It's also somewhat fantastic, and it could probably be made into a very successful screenplay/film. The worst thing is to know that those responsible for the demise of Tom and his dog, and Keith's disappearance is still free and hidden in this world. My sympathies to Tom, his dog, Keith, and his family.

This was a great story about these guys in my state of Colorado! My uncle that lived in a fairly small town of Minturn, Colorado, actually told me about this years ago. He did embellish things here and there to make it more scary for some teenagers camping outside in the Rockies. Thanks Mr Ballen for another banger of a video!!!

I've been a fan for a while now and after watching some of your older vids on sleep paralysis I kind of want to share a few times that I have had it. Some experiences feel more like dreams but others I really cant tell. It first started with the whispering. I was sleeping in the down stairs bed room of my grandparents house and I was just starting to wake up sometime around 2-4am. As I lifted my head off the pillow still half asleep I started to hear two voices having a conversation coming from inside the closet. The voices both sounded like little girls trying their best to be quiet while also giggling. As I fully lifted my head off the pillow and sat up I heard one of the girls say "shh, he`s waking up". After hearing that I didn't sleep for the rest of the night. The second and first real time I had sleep paralysis was when I fell asleep in the same room of my grandparents house. It started with me getting up in the middle of the night to go get some milk from the fridge. As I opened the fridge I started to hear something from my left, and when I turned I saw a dark shadow figure with long hair. After seeing it the figure reached at my chest and started to burn my heart, and then out of no where I woke up in my bed unable to move with this black figure now kneeling on top of me reaching at my chest. It was almost as if me and this thing just teleported back to my room together. After a while the figure started to fade away and I was able to move, but what still haunts me about that how my chest was still in pain for about 10 minutes after I had woke up, and I was in my teenage years so the chances of it being a heart attack were slim. Third but sadly not the last thing I experienced was the worst so far. I was at my grandparents again sleeping in the front room on the couch this time. I woke up too pee that night and after I did I reached in to the mirror cabinet to grab something. When I closed it my heart suddenly skipped a beat because of what I saw in the mirror. Behind me in the mirror was what I can only describe as a snarling demon. It looked into my eyes with so much hate that I felt paralyzed, after staring at the demon for what felt like hours I suddenly woke up and saw the Christmas wreath on the front door fall. I was freaked out about what I had seen but felt like putting the wreath back would help me calm down. But as I reached down to grab the wreath I felt paralyzed again. staring at me from the center of the wreath was the head of the same demon in the bathroom giving me the same evil look. After another horrible stare down I woke up again and saw that the wreath was actually on the ground. I didn't even think about getting up to grab it though. I just pulled the covers over me and started to pray, and eventually the night passed. I have been seeing shadows on and off from sleep paralysis since these events and I've sadly just got use to it. while writing this post its actually been quite some time since my last experience, but I know hes just waiting for the right time.

This is the only youtube channel i watch when i get on youtube.. I just love these real life stories..😮❤

I love how Mrballen telling us different type of stories instead of all murders and crimes.

I hate it when the episode ends, knowing I have a whole week til the next! Thank you for being the best narrator of all things Strange, Dark and Mysterious!