Decemystery 4: Lost Boy Larry

There's no picture of “Larry”, so here's a picture of a CB Radio.

Hoaxes. They're nothing new. Balloon Boy, the Surgeon's Photo, and pretty much every Bigfoot corpse ever found. Horses are a staple of unsolved mysteries. Still, not every mystery that's accused of being a hoax is proven to be one. There always exists that realm of possibility that, against all odds, it's real.

That's where the story of Lost Boy Larry is unlike the vast majority of others in this miniseries. It's the only one that many have come to a solid, and agreeable, conclusion on. Mainly, that it's a hoax. But is it really a hoax?

Most likely.

Still, I wanted a really good example of a mystery that's likely to be a hoax, but isn't too far out there as to come across as blatantly fake (as you'll see on Christmas Day). So, let's dive into a canyon and see if we can't find the lost boy known as Larry.

It's the 1970s. CB Radio is still popular with truckers and others who are bored and/or in their basement waiting for Reptilians to reveal themselves. One day, a peculiar signal that would later be traced to around Albuquerque, New Mexico is picked up. The person on the other end claimed to be a seven year old boy named Larry. He stated that while he was on a hunting trip with his dad, their car flipped over and landed in a ditch—and that his dad was either badly hurt or dead.

In spite of the fact that the signal was picked up by people states away, nobody could pin where it was coming from. Larry also never gave his last name for reasons unknown. All anyone had to go on was the terrified words of a child until the signal went dead and Travis the Truck Driver returned for his season fifty-two premiere.

With the signal dead and nobody sure of what had just happened, a few took to searching for the boy who called himself Larry. But, just like with the radio, nobody—and nothing—was found. Four decades later and that remains the same. No truck, no skeletal remains, no radio, and no mother or other family members have come forward to say that someone named Larry went missing.

So with nothing other than a strange signal, many have written off Lost Boy Larry as a hoax; perhaps a man with a knack for doing voices or a parent whose idea of quality time with his son is screwing with people via CB Radio. Heck, maybe it was a kid who got a hold of one and decided to pull a prank. Kids, after all, are little devils who disappoint the likes I'd Mr. Rogers and Bob Ross on a daily basis.

Still, there are those that believe that there really was a child in danger on the other end of the radio; one that attempted to contact someone in the hope that they'd be able to save him and his child. One of the biggest counters to this claim is that the radio antenna that would've spread the signal is typically on the top of the car. Had it been flipped, the antenna would have either been crushed or blocked from spreading the signal. Considering it was picked up states away, that's highly unlikely. Unless one of three things happened.

The first is that Larry was mistaken and tbe truck had flipped twice and landed upright and he was in shock from the event. This also assumes the antenna was completely unharmed.

The second is that Larry managed to construct a new antenna and got it all working by some miracle.

The third is that Larry is a dirty liar and should be ashamed of himself for what he's done. No dinner for him and no toys for a month.

The last possibility, and one that I personally pondered for a bit is that Larry mistook a “ditch” for a canyon or ravine, and that the truck had somehow slid down into one without him dying or the vehicle exploding. However, I'm unsure if that's possible and I don't know if there are any canyons or ravines near or around Albuquerque.

As much as I like to entertain the idea that this story was true, there is no real way to prove that the child who called himself Larry wasn’t faking the entire thing. The mountains of evidence that poke gargantuan holes in it make it difficult to do so. However, for all we know, there's the remote possibility that somewhere, hidden away in some area people seldom tread, there's a van with the skeletal remains of a father and son. Until that day, however, it's more than likely that the story of Lost Boy Larry isn't real.