The Peculiar Truth about the Hermit in the Maine Woods

• From 1986 through 2013, rural cabins and homes in Central Maine were routinely burglarized.

• The thief wasn’t destructive. He stole mostly food but also clothing, batteries, books, and magazines.

• Some residents weren’t entirely sure they’d been robbed. Many folks blamed rebellious teenagers. Others blamed their neighbors or relatives.

• By the 1990s, though, it became clear that just one individual was committing the recurring burglaries.

• Residents gave a name to the criminal in their midst. They called him the North Pond Hermit.

• For decades, despite countless attempts, no one could capture the burglar in the act or even spot him.

• Wherever he went, the Hermit never left tracks, even in snow and even at night.

• In the early 2000s, though, with advances in technology, video cameras recorded him. Residents got their first look at the Hermit.

• His appearance surprised them. He wasn’t scraggly or bearded or dressed in rags. The middle-aged man was clean-shaven. He wore nice clothes and out-of-fashion eyeglasses. They wondered whether he was a neighbor.

• Yet no one recognized him.

• Authorities finally caught the Hermit in April 2013. His story astonished them.

• His lapsed driver’s license listed his name as Christopher Knight. He was 47.

• He had no home, no vehicle, no job, no college or military experience, and no friends.

• The quiet man was erudite, bookish, and socially inept, but deemed sane.

• When Knight was asked where he lived, he cited a makeshift encampment deep in the woods.

• He had been living alone outdoors for 27 years.

• His “home” was deep in a forest. He fashioned a tent out of rope, tarp, and plastic garbage bags. He covered the ground with a stolen carpet.

• Knight never started fires, partly as a safety precaution but also because smoke would give away his location. He stole propane tanks to cook food and to melt snow for drinking water. He washed his clothes and kept a tidy campsite.

• A radio kept him in touch with the world, and he voraciously read stolen books and magazines.

• His diet consisted of stolen food from local residences. He robbed homes roughly once every 3 weeks without capture for over a quarter of a century.

• He was exposed to the elements and barely survived some cruel winters. Yet he never got sick, he claimed, because he never encountered humans.

• When asked why he vanished into the woods in the first place, Knight said he had no friends, hated his job, and just wanted to disappear from the world. At age 20, he drove from Maine to Florida, free and adrift. On returning to Maine, he abandoned the vehicle and, with no plans whatsoever, sought refuge in the woods. That became his life.

• No missing persons file existed on him because his impassive parents never filed one.

• In his 27 years of solitude he said just one word to one stranger: Hello.

• After his capture, Knight spent 7 months in jail, which left him depressed. He expressed remorse for his 1,000+ burglaries, and all other charges were dropped.

• He is now a free man living in Maine and a model citizen.

• Knight’s story, as told to journalist Michael Finkel, became the bestselling book The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit.