A missing teenager was discovered trapped inside a chimney after a search that lasted seven years. The strange case finally gave the family answers, but left behind even more questions.
Back in May of 2008, eighteen-year-old Joshua Maddux left his home in Woodland Park, Colorado for a walk. He told his sister Kate he was going out and she thought nothing of it, but he never came home. His father Mike called around and searched everywhere, and when nothing turned up he filed a missing person report five days later.
The community searched the forests and neighborhoods near their small town. Months went by, and then years with no sign of him. His sister hoped maybe he had gone to live a quiet life or travel with a band, and the family held on to the idea he might return.
It was a hard time for the family since Josh’s older brother Zachary had died by suicide two years before. His father believed that loss had hit Josh hard. Still, people close to him said Josh had been happy and doing well before he disappeared.
In August of 2015, construction workers found something terrible while demolishing an old cabin less than a mile from the Maddux home. Inside one of the chimneys they found a body curled up and wedged inside. Dental records later confirmed it was Josh.
The discovery shocked everyone since the cabin had been nearby the whole time. Strangely, Josh was wearing only a thermal shirt and his other clothes were folded inside the cabin. A heavy wooden bar had also been dragged to block the fireplace. The coroner did an autopsy and found no signs of trauma or drugs and first ruled it an accident, saying Josh likely got stuck and died of hypothermia.
Chuck Murphy, the cabin’s owner, said that was impossible. He said: “There’s no way that guy crawled inside that chimney with that steel webbing. He didn’t come down the chimney.” He explained that when the chimney was built years before, a thick steel grate was placed inside to block animals and it would have stopped anyone from climbing down.
The coroner later reopened the case and said the way Josh’s body was positioned raised doubts. He admitted it would probably have taken two people to put him inside head first. He changed his ruling to say it could have been an accident, murder, or undetermined.
He also said: “This one really taxed our brains. We don’t know why he took his clothes off, took his shoes and socks off, and why he went outside, climbed on the roof and went down the chimney. It was not linear thinking.”
Police also received tips that someone bragged about putting Josh in a hole. One man with a violent history was even mentioned, though the details could not be confirmed. Investigators admitted the case left many loose ends.
Murphy remembered smelling something odd in the cabin years earlier but thought it was animals. He said he never would have guessed what was really inside. The cabin was remote, so even if Josh had called for help it is unlikely anyone would have heard him.
For the family, the discovery ended the waiting but not the pain. Kate said it made no sense since they imagined him off somewhere else living his life. Murphy summed it up when he said: “All I know is he did not go down that chimney. I think it will remain a mystery. One of those sad stories.”
