Upright Kayak, Empty Suit: How Teresa Survived the Chute

Life or Death: Survivor Stories · Oct 20, 2026 · 14m

Upright Kayak, Empty Suit: How Teresa Survived the Chute

Cold water, an orderly kayak, and a missing paddler - a professional river technician disappears while her boat returns pristine through Class IV rapids; what could leave a drysuit empty and a paddle perfectly stowed in 38°F glacial water? How did someone trained to read rivers vanish where gear is placed like a deliberate portage and not a chaotic capsize?

In this episode, we walk through the timeline from Teresa Simpson’s last logged float plan to the raft teams and helicopter search, the daylight photographs that changed everything…