List of Lost Tapes episodes

On July 5, 2006, the Ramirez family in Nogales, Mexico are celebrating their daughter Eva's birthday, and receive two gifts from Eva's brother in the United States: one is a video camera, and the other is a letter saying that they will be brought across the border into Arizona. Eva's father Carlos is excited about going to America, but her mother and grandmother are concerned about the threats that they may encounter, ranging from wild predators to death from heat exposure. Nonetheless, they prepare to leave for the border. Two days later, they are taken into the Sonora Desert by a hired smuggler and hide in his pickup truck but he suddenly stops at around noon, two hours away from the border: instead of fulfilling his part of the bargain, the smuggler forces them out at gunpoint and abandons them in the desert, taking their money and water with him. With few other options, they decide to try to reach the border on foot; Eva suddenly drops her camera without realizing it, but is reminded of it by Carlos. As she goes to retrieve the camera, she suddenly hears a fierce snarl coming from the brush, but makes nothing of it. At about 8:30 in the evening, at the border area, they begin to hear growling and hissing from foliage nearby; this worries them, but Carlos tells them to ignore it.

Suddenly, they are attacked by an unseen creature and begin running from it. Meanwhile, two American border-patrol agents, T. Valentine and M. Santino, receive a report that the Ramrirez family is trying to cross the border illegally and go to apprehend them; the same thermal images from an unmanned aerial vehicle that show them where the Ramirez family is also showing that their attacker is a strange, dog-like creature. When they arrive at the scene, following conflicting reports of three, then four, and then zero people in the desert, they discover the two corpses, the bodies of Eva's parents. They at first attribute both deaths to either heat stroke or severe dehydration, but suddenly find both of their necks have three unusual puncture marks on them, and the bodies are mysteriously drained of blood. While Valentine reports the deaths via radio, Santino hears bizarre sounds coming from a nearby bush and goes to investigate.

Instead, he discovers Eva, who is terrified but unhurt, and hiding from her parents' attacker. As darkness falls, they take Eva to their car; Valentine tries to console her and acquire information while Santino searches the area for other survivors. He hears strange sounds coming from the darkness, and finds animal carcasses which have been drained of blood in a similar way. After a while, he runs back to the car, telling Valentine to join him so that they can track and destroy the thing that is making the sounds, knowing that it is extremely dangerous. They search in the dark of the brush, and are suddenly confronted by the chupacabra, which is seen only as a pair of glowing eyes, and they open fire, before running back to their car just as backup arrives.

The agents' official report stated that the cause of death for Eva's parents was unknown, but noted the puncture wounds and missing blood. Eva was returned to her grandmother in Nogales, but was plagued by nightmares of the creature. The official report made no mention of any unknown animal, and whether or not the chupacabra escaped or was shot dead by the border patrol agents remains a mystery. For Eva, the encounter was all too real.

Between August 14, 2005, forest ranger Rachel Glen performs a study in the woods, concerning the declining population of black bears in the Pacific Northwest. During the course of her study, recorded with portable and stationary cameras, she not only observed the bears but also heard strange sounds coming from the forest, and had a feeling she was being watched. After setting up a camera trap one day, she hears strange sounds and climbs a hill, only to be snared by an illegal poacher's trap. Unbeknownst to her, she is being watched and taped by a poacher as she disables the traps the poacher had set up. Some of her cameras capture brief glimpses of a large, hairy creature that cannot be identified. Meanwhile, the poacher discovers and destroys a few of her cameras.

She grows more and more suspicious of the strange sounds and unidentifiable subjects in many of her photos. While examining a camera that had been tampered with, she hears more strange sounds and discovers a den in the woods. Inside, she discovers some strange hair, which she sends to the game warden. Over the phone, the warden tells her that the hair belongs to some kind of primate, and warns her to be careful of hostile poachers. After she gets off the phone, she suddenly hears someone call her name and goes to the door, but only finds a threatening sign that says, "WHO'S WATCHING YOU?" pinned to her door with a hatchet.

She requests help, but has to wait for it to arrive because of how remote her outpost is. She later finds the poacher lurking outside her outpost and makes him hand over the camera he was holding at gunpoint, which contains pictures where the poacher seems to be stalking her. In the last hours before she leaves, she begins to wonder about the strange creature she keeps seeing, and gets the feeling that it seems to be watching over her. As she is making her final video journal entry at her outpost, the poacher tries to break into her cabin. She suddenly hears screams for help and strange animalistic sounds outside. She discovers the poacher, who has apparently been killed by the creature and is now hanging upside down from one of his own traps. She hears more strange sounds, but finds no other signs of the creature. After the poacher's death, the black bear populations began to rise again, but there is no confirmation of any other unusual creatures in the area.

On July 17, 2007, journalist and outdoor enthusiast Sharon Novak entered the final day of her solo, three-month sailing trip around the world; her boat was rigged with several cameras so that her journey could be broadcast live over the Internet, which she also used to maintain contact with her boyfriend Charles through live video chat. When she was about thirty-five miles west of Monterey Bay in California, the wind died down and Sharon took a moment to thank the people who had given her moral support during her trip. At about noon, Sharon's radio suddenly picked up a distress call via radio from another boat, but it cuts out before the other sailor can tell her what has happened. Sharon tries to raise the ship on her radio, but there is no response.

Using her ship's motor, she sails to the coordinates that were given out by the man on the radio before it cut out. As she heads in that direction, she decides to tell Charles about her plan so that he doesn't worry. As she talks to him, her boat is suddenly hit by something underwater with enough force to knock her sideways and the engine dies. As she goes outside to take a look, one of the cameras mounted high on the boat captures the silhouette of a creature moving just beneath the surface of the water, outside her line of sight. Sharon decides to go into the water to investigate what has happened, which worries Charles, but she assures him that nothing will happen to her. She tethers herself to the boat, as well as attaching a waterproof video camera to her lifejacket, so that she could broadcast whatever she found to her viewers. Minutes later, she re-emerges from the water, having discovered a chunk of flesh that she assumes has come from a whale which was stuck in her motor. Her current problem resolved, Sharon continues to the coordinates given by the distress call, which are located on top of the Monterey Canyon. As she approaches the other ship, she sees no one aboard. She sails around the boat to try to locate the captain, but instead finds blood spattered on the vessel.

Now worried for her safety and the missing captain's, Sharon tries to call the Coast Guard, but fails. As she tries to leave the area--concluding that whatever happened on the other boat is in the jurisdiction of the Coast Guard, not her--she puts on a wet suit and her lifejacket again. Her boat is suddenly rammed again, killing the engine. Growing more and more frightened, Sharon contacts Charles again and confides in him everything that has happened since she got the distress call two hours ago; they both conclude that she will not go in the water again, just to be safe, and that Chares will call the Coast Guard himself while Sharon tries to sail out of there.

In the summer of 2008, Sean Conklin and his classmates Tracy, Tyler, Bruce, and Ruthie decide to spent their last weekend together at a local lake after graduating from high school. Shortly after arriving, they head into the water, but Sean suddenly sees some tentacles splash out of the water, but no one else does and he dismisses it at first. Tyler finds a canoe and proposes that they go out to a floating platform in the lake to spend the rest of the day. Sean and Tracy discuss their future as they row out to the platform. Tyler attempts to scare them by pretending something has grabbed him and pulled him under, but they easily predict when he would resurface. As the day progresses, Ruthie is suddenly pulled underwater, and the group panics, but it turns out to be Tyler playing another trick.

They scold him, and Tyler angrily leaves in the canoe, leaving no easy way for the others to return to shore. Sean tells them not to worry, as Tyler will probably return, but they suddenly hear a yell and see that Tyler is missing again, and the canoe has been capsized. They immediately assume that he is trying to play a prank on them again, but Bruce decides to see if he can find him. After swimming over to the canoe, he says that he cannot find Tyler, and suddenly starts yelling, claiming something is grabbing him from underwater, and disappears as well. Sean confides in the remaining two that he saw the tentacles from before, but they have no way of escaping from the creature and resort to yelling for help as night falls. The raft is suddenly attacked, and Ruthie falls into the water. Sean and Tracy conclude that they have to try to swim to shore, or the creature will kill them anyway, but are attacked as they attempt to make the crossing. However, they were found on the shore, having survived drowning and were treated for exhaustion, shock, and unidentified blister-like wounds all over their bodies. The bodies of Tyler, Bruce, and Ruthie were never found.

In 2007, amateur adventurer Tim Akrin attempted to film the pilot episode of his survival reality show, Stranded, in the Daintree Rainforest of Australia. The premise of his show is he will be dropped into remote locations without any crew or means of contact to civilization and attempt to survive for seven days. On Day 1, he attempts to show the audience how to make a shelter to avoid venomous snakes and rain, and then goes out to look for food. He discovers human bones in the jungle, and mentions some of the dangerous animals in the rainforest before deciding to reshoot the scene. While his back is turned, a large, scaly form bumps the camera as it walks by. When Akrin sees this, he thinks nothing of whatever could have knocked it over. He goes on to demonstrate aboriginal techniques for finding food in the form of grubs under tree bark. He discovers a den in the forest and tries to find out what kind of animal is inside, using another aboriginal technique to do so. However, while he does so, Akrin is suddenly bitten viciously on the arm by an unseen creature inside the lair but he pulls free.

After bandaging his wound, he tries to start a campfire, but is unable to do so because of his injury. That night, it begins to rain and he decides to show the audience what the rainforest is like at night. He hears strange sounds coming from the bush and claims that the creature making the sounds has been prowling nearby for a while. He tries to scare it off, but to no avail. As soon as he wakes up on Day 2, Akrin notes that he feels sick, and his arm has become swollen and discolored, apparently badly infected with some kind of blood poisoning. He concludes that he must try to reach a village a few miles north of his location. As he makes his trek, he hears hissing in the jungle; the creature is stalking him, and he concludes that it is not a crocodile.

On January 24, 2002, Sergeant Carlos Ramos and Corporals Latrel Wade and Derek Sawyer were sent to investigate bizarre interference that had been disrupting a new sonar-based cave-mapping system. The USMC has been using this system at Tora Bora in the wake of an intense bombing campaign in the winter of 2001, and believe that the interference is coming from a new jamming device developed by Al-Qaeda or the Taliban. Ramos was only a few days away from his return to the United States and was looking forward to seeing his wife Danielle and infant son AJ in Chicago, who he sends a video recording to just before going on the mission. After being briefed by their gunnery sergeant on their mission--to locate and destroy the thing that is causing the interference--the three marines made their way to the cave and arrive there shortly before midnight, recording the mission with helmet cameras. After confirming their status with base command, Ramos warns Wade and Sawyer to keep their wits about them; none of them have any idea how deep the caves run, and there could be land mines and improvised explosive device anywhere. Shortly after entering the cave, they hear the squeaking of bats as they try to maneuver their way through the darkness by light provided by their helmets. Suddenly, there is a screech as a huge shadow briefly obscures the light from one of their flashlights. As they travel further into the cave, they come upon a disgusting smell and quickly identify it as guano also known as bat faeces.

Ramos takes out a portable device which he uses to track a signal deep in the cave, which they believe is the source of the interference. As they follow the signal, they hear a strange sound and question what it is; when they hear the squeaks of increasingly numerous bats all around them, they assume that they were the source of the noise to them. Sawyer comments that he is afraid of bats, and Ramos jokingly chastises him, which Sawyer doesn't appreciate given their situation. As Wade joins in on teasing Sawyer, there is a sudden explosion as he accidentally sets off a land mine and plummets into another chamber of the cave fifteen feet below them, where their radios will no longer work. Ramos and Sawyer yell towards him to find out if he's okay; Wade is alive, but his spinal cord is broken. As Ramos and Sawyer climb down to him, Wade hears the sound of wings flapping and suddenly sees a large winged creature fly past him. Once Ramos and Sawyer find Wade, they discover that he is unable to move and he warns them that something else is in the cave. A frightened Sawyer asks what it was that he saw, but Ramos insists that Wade has been so badly hurt that he's delirious; Wade insists that he did see something, which resembled a woman, which spawns a brief argument between Sawyer and Ramos. Ramos' portable device begins pulsing rapidly; the source of the interference is very close-by. Resolving to destroy the source of the interference first and then help Wade, Ramos and Sawyer leave him to finish their mission. Sawyer doesn't like this idea, but Ramos insists that everything will be alright. Unbeknownst to Sawyer and Ramos, as they approach the strongest source of the signal, another, smaller source has appeared on the portable device, approaching Wade. Wade is suddenly attacked by a mostly unseen creature, which resembles a giant bat, and opens fire at the creature.

His screams compel the other two marines to return and try to help him, but arrive too late; he is dead. Sawyer starts sobbing at the loss of his friend, saying that they never should have left him behind. Ramos believes that it was the work of insurgents hiding somewhere in the cave and insists that they go and destroy the source of the interference once and for all. As they again approach the deepest part of the caves, they hear louder chirps and other bizarre sounds; unknown to them, in the darkness all around them, at least five smaller sources of interference are lurking about. The portable device starts beeping constantly as they find themselves at the heart of the interference: not a terrorist hideaway, but some kind of nest. They are suddenly attacked by several large, flying monsters which are only seen as shadows and brief glimpses of leathery wings and teeth. Screaming in terror, the marines open fire as their flashlights are destroyed. Nine hours afterward, in the morning on January 25, a rescue team located Ramos near the cave entrance; he had suffered severe blood loss, but survived and was taken to a military hospital for treatment of a rare form of rabies, and was reunited with his wife and child after several months in quarantine. The bodies of Wade and Sawyer were never recovered, and Ramos' injuries--including a large bite wound on his neck--were too large, severe, and extensive to have been caused by any known species of bat.

In 2007, paranormal investigators Peter Grey and Jolene Sharrock were called to a church in a small California town of Fallview; according to the locals, a mysterious winged creature, which they believe to be the source of demonic activity, is haunting both the church and the forest in the surrounding area. The investigators are well-known for both their serious research into paranormal events such as ghosts for a popular television show; Jolene works a video camera to record their findings. While looking for the local church leader, they are suddenly startled by an old woman, Hazel Van Lear, who appears to be mentally unstable. She begins to tell them of the demon, but a man interrupts her as he approaches them.

On November 16, 2007, brothers Kevin and Cole sneak away from their home to meet up with their friend Paxton and film a skateboarding video of themselves with their parents' video camera at a place called "The Ditch." Paxton doubts the abilities of Cole, the younger of the brothers, but Kevin convinces him that they should take him along. They enter a restricted area of a national park to do so. As night falls, they leave the paved road and enter the forest itself. Cole goes to relieve himself in a bush as Paxton taunts him about being scared. Strange calls can be heard, but Kevin and Paxton ignore them until a large shape swoops down on them, blocking out the remaining sources of light for a brief moment. Cole returns, but thinks they're trying to scare him when they tell him about the bird. A short while later, they discover a dead possum in a tree, which they poke with a stick before leaving. They finally come to The Ditch at about 8:30 at night, and Paxton decides to tell them a ghost story about a kid simply disappearing in The Ditch. They begin filming their video, re-energized from finally reaching their destination, but Paxton startles Cole as he tries to perform a skateboarding trick, which causes him to fall and break his leg. They reluctantly leave Cole to get help, but leave behind a cell phone for Cole to use. As they head for help, Paxton tries to come up with excuses so that he and Kevin do not get in trouble, but they suddenly hear a screech from above them and receive a call from Cole, who is asking for help before they suddenly hear a screech over the phone. They run back to find Cole is missing, though his shoe is hanging from a tree branch. Cole was found the next day at the bottom of a freeway overpass half a mile from The Ditch, battered and bruised but still alive. He has no recollection of what happened to him, and the creature was never found.