Quote · Crime, Conspiracy, Cults and Murder
Ep. 112 | The Death Valley Germans
Where this was said
The Accumulation of Reasonable Decisions
At 58:50 · chapter starts 58:20
The host closes the case with a meditation on what makes it so haunting. The wire transfer that went to the wrong bank was a mundane bureaucratic error. The ex-wife who didn't respond to a fax was ordinary friction from a difficult separation. Not consulting a ranger is what most tourists do. Choosing a mountain shortcut shown on a map is what any time-conscious traveler might do. Turning onto Anvil Canyon followed from being turned back at the pass. Accelerating through sand was instinctive. Driving on flat tires was the decision of someone who understood that stopping was the worst case. And walking south toward a military installation was the logical conclusion of a lifetime of understanding what military installations are — an understanding that was entirely correct and entirely wrong about this one desert simultaneously. Quoting Mahood: 'I believe there are sometimes situations in which individuals can end up finding themselves in great peril without making grossly bad decisions.' Georg would be 40 now. Max would be 33. That is the end of the case.
The host closes by noting that Georg Rimkus, 11 in 1996, would be 40 years old today, and Max Meyer, just 4, would be 33 — a sobering reminder of lives cut short.
