Time Line


Google Map of Hogsback campsite

From oldest to newest (updated May 31 2023)

Friday May 27th 2011

Madison and a female friend went out to Hogsback lake for a party with the intention of camping overnight. It appears there were around 46 people at the party Friday night, mostly 18 to 25 years old, and a few older partiers up to 40 years old. Almost all are from the Vanderhoof area. Madison’s friend who was going to stay with her left the party after midnight (2:30?) with a young man who lives close by in the Hogsback lake area.  Either Madison was left to camp by herself or left with someone else, though information to date says she was left there by herself. The time Madison was last seen has been reported as 2:45 to 3am.

Hogsback lake is located about 24.5 kms South East from Vanderhoof down the Blackwater road. See Google Map. It is a forestry campsite with 3 camping areas, a swiming area and dock. The lake is around 1 km long, and is surrounded by forest, with several trails leaving the campsite including a portion of the telegraph trail.

Saturday May 28th 2011

A couple of the partiers were back at Hogsback campsite the next day cleaning up (10am?) and saw her tent still standing and her truck  but they did not check if she was in the tent. There was no other tents or campers there.

There was a large party of around 150 people at the Hogsback campsite on Saturday night, and no one reports seeing Madison.

Madison’s parents were concerned as they had not heard from their daughter, but she is a responsible 20 year old so they did not report her missing.

Sunday May 29th 2011

With no word from Madison and her not answering her cell phone Madison’s parents went to the Hogsback lake campsite to look for her. They found her truck and her now flattened tent. Her purse was in the truck, but no sign of her and her cell phone. The police were called and the official search and rescue effort began. The RCMP and search and rescue teams from Vanderhoof, Prince George, Burns Lake and Fort St. James directed additional volunteer searchers. Grid searches of the area starting from the campsite began, with helicopter searches, and the lake was searched by boat and side searching sonar.

Monday May 3oth 2011

The official search and rescue team with additional volunteers continued  grid searching the area around Hogsback lake. More helicopter searching was done.  They thoroughly covered the whole area around the campsite and lake and did not see any sign of anyone leaving the area on foot or ATV on any of the trails or through the woods

People in the community make posters and start putting them up.

The RCMP investigation continues, a team of 14 members is assembled and a press release is issued.

Tuesday May 31st 2011

  • Friends, family and other volunteers continue grid searches in the area
  • Roads are searched by vehicles
  • Tails are searched by foot and ATV’s.
  • house to house canvasing begins
  • people across the province are contacted to spread the word and put up posters
  • A facebook group is started, and a temporary website.

Month of June 2011

  • The volunteer search covered so much ground. All the roads from Fraser Lake to Isle Piere were driven and any tracks leaving the road were investigated. Grid searches of all the trails around the hogs back area, nearby gravel pits. Surrounding trails and roads were driven with ATV’s and a lot were walked.  private land and buildings were searched. The Canadian Rangers were out searching for a weekend.
  • Extensive searching in the Hogsback area by helicopter.
  • Posters put up over most of BC
  • RCMP interviewing and polygraphing party goers. Following up on tips, cell phone records.

Since that first year Madison went missing:

  • RCMP continued their investigation with more interviews and polygraphs of party goers, following up on tips, and other leads. The case was reviewed by other RMCP divisions.
  • Lots more private searches in 2012 and 2013
  • Missing signs put up in the interior of British Columbia, small and large.
  • Missing posters sent far and wide.
  • Annual Poker ride 2012 to 2018 at Hogbacks lake to keep awareness and local community involvement. Proceeds went to the local community association, and funding for find maddy awareness campaign.
  • The case of Missing Madison Scott covered by podcast, and missing people sites etc.

2023 May

154 comments

  • Good day. I was watching the story on you tube. My thoughts are with you everyday. Something’s bothering me though, i searched her on facebook to see if there was any news, and i saw her current city (lives in) is Vanderbijlpark? This is a town in South Africa, is this just a coincidence, bcoz the spelling of Vanderhoof to Vanderbijlpark is quite similar?

  • Hi. So sorry this has happened. It is truly heartbreaking.
    I cannot be swayed from the simple probability her disappearance has something to do with someone at that party…. if all were talked to, profiled etc, and lie detected, then look for the physciopath amongst them. Someone who mimics emotion… whose emotion feel… off. Familiarise yourself with what a phycopath or physciopath behave like. Look for crocodile tears. Go with hunches and instinct. Purhaps hire a profiler. You know… you know who struck you as not quite right … purhaps even asked to be the tv show on utube. Purhaps has inflated their relationship with Maddy post her disappearance. Either a single weirdo or something happened and she had an accident that a group of them covered up.
    The answer is there in that party and we all know it. Fresh eyes. Fresh interviews needed. Don’t let this go.

    • That’s a very very good recommendation!! Hope the family sees this and can make this happen!

    • Jerry seinfeld

      The behavior of law enforcement in Madison’s disappearance reeks of complicity and corruption. It is quite obvious that someone at the party was involved, but Im afraid no one is looking for a psychopath and no one is hiring a profiler to find out who did it. Why do we get no update on any interviews whatsoever? None. We have been given no details about any person of interest, and law enforcement has DONE NOTHING. There is a reason for this. They might as well be screaming “We know what happened but sure as hell will protect the perpetrators at all cost.” It is a cold world and Ill be thinking about Madison and hoping for justice.

      • I can’t help but agree with you on some of these comments. Why has there been no updates, nothing, and no suspects either, I don’t understand how there could be that many people there and not one, not one single person saw or knows anything, I just can’t believe that is true myself as I sit here and watch the documentary etc. I will comment that the two girls who spoke seemed like they were almost holding something back, or covering something up. The girl with the glasses commented how they had talked all week about getting together, then Maddy texts her and says oh sorry I’m going to a birthday party. That to me seemed like she was almost angry with her, so on that night was she angry enough to just turn up and argue with her. They said that they all knew each other so why didn’t that girl go to the party with Maddy? Did she turn up later without anyone really taking notice and have a fight with Maddy, did she turn up the next day when nobody was there and have an argument with her? The other friend who just left her there because she got to drunk said that Maddy was already in her tent and in bed so didn’t want to leave, so I can’t help but feel that maybe Maddy was uncomfortable with all those that turned up that they didn’t know, her friend got drunk with them and her boyfriend, and Maddy went to bed to get away from them all. I don’t feel that they have spoken to every single person from that party, they said people turned up who they didn’t know, so if they didn’t know them, how do they know that they’ve spoken to everyone who was there? It would of only taken one or more bad apples to get drunk, see a girl alone, a young beautiful girl alone in a tent, for them to take advantage then panic and do something stupid to try and cover it up. Her friend with the dark hair who left her there that night said she went to the tent Sunday morning, there was no Maddy in the tent just everything pushed to the sides all around the inside of the tent. If the tent was flattened, how would she know that? Who flattened the tent? Could her phone and everything of been there and they were stolen?
        I can’t understand why if you are someones “Best friend” then why why would you even for a second leave her? If you had hurt yourself you could of gone got it sorted then gone back. I think that her so called best friend was more bothered about spending time with her boyfriend and more likely dumped Maddy that night which is why she stayed in the tent, she would of been upset I would of thought.
        Whatever happened its been what 7 years now, her family need to know what has happened to her.

        I have no idea who reads this, but I want to say this:
        Whoever you are, whatever you know, one day you will have children then you will know what that love and bond truly feels like. Then put yourself in Madison’s families shoes. How would you feel if something happened to your child? You would want everyone looking, everyone helping, and everyone telling the truth, the whole truth, no matter who it got into trouble, you would need to know what happened and where your child was. This family have been through 7 years of hell, her mother must be walking round with a tonne of bricks on her shoulders, carrying so much worry, guilt, fear about what has happened to her daughter. They need to know, she needs to know so she can bring her baby home no matter how.
        If you have any kind of conscience please ring and tell someone, if you care about yourself more then do it anomalously, but do it, give this family peace, because you are also carrying a secret that will eat away at you and drive you crazy, it will eat at your soul if you have one so do the right thing, do it for Madison because she needs to be home with her family, she needs to be home safe where she belongs, Please do the right thing by her because after 7 years its the least you can do. If someone else knows something too and they are telling you to keep your mouth shut, just think again about what I have said and when you are alone, make that call, if your not saying anything to protect someone, then hear this, if they are the type of person who can do something awful, then put a family through hell for 7 years, one day they will do the same to you. If they can hurt so many people so much, do you really honestly think they will be true to you? I think not, I think if it all comes out, whether she is found alive and tells the truth about what happened or worse and her body does the talking (which it will) then whoever you are protecting will turn on you in an instant to protect them self.

        I don’t know this family but after watching the documentary and doing some research I can’t help be feel that someone at one of those parties knows where Madison is, knows what happened to Madison. No matter what I look at, I come back to the parties each time.

        For Madison’s family. I lost my daughter for a year and knew where she was. She was taken from me while I battled with cancer and I fought for a year to get the person in court to get my baby back as she should of never been taken. The pain I felt in that year, I thought was going to kill me, and the only thing that kept me going was the thought that one day my baby girl would come home to me and for me I was lucky enough to have her returned to me instantly. I wish with all my heart that your girl is found and if I lived in the US I’d be on my horse looking anywhere and everywhere I could for you.
        My dream was to move to a tiny town where I could live with a couple of horses at my side, but sadly after my illness it left me in a wheelchair so I’m no longer able to work which means I can’t afford to do the move, however I will keep a look out on the internet for any news and I do hope that one day your girl will come home to you too. I wish you all peace and I wish I could take your pain away, I hope with all my heart that Maddy is safe and well and one day she will walk through your door once more. My love from the UK x

      • What do you expect to be done? Have you been to the area? Until you have seen the area you have no idea what kind of terrian people have searched

  • I just watched the YouTube video. My heart is breaking for everyone involved. I would like to become active in the search to find Maddy. I’m working on a blog site right now and would like to dedicate a post to this story.

  • I am so sorry to hear about this tragic event. I hope in earnest that those family members and friends do receive some form of closure in the near future. There is much I don’t know however. For instance, has the search been limited to that one region all these years? Seems to me that she was taken far away and probably hasn’t even been in B.C. since that same weekend in 2011.

    • Your right, she can be any where i the world. Not to ling ago they found a ciuple of missing girls after 10 years in peru. So every share is something.

  • I can’t stop thinking her friend she went up with has much more info than she has reported. Many things don’t add up.
    *The boy she started dating that same night….
    Did he come up alone in his car?
    * Maybe both tents were intended to be used?
    * was she actually in the tent during the party? Drugged? Injured in tent and assumed to be asleep by friends or told by her friend.
    * Jordy left her alone claiming Maddy didn’t want to leave her stuff? If she set up at night she didn’t have much stuff, the ice chest and purse in truck makes it even more odd that would be the reason Maddy would use to it head home. If she were drunk maybe but claims are she was not drunk. Why wouldn’t the friend ask Maddy to take her home and help her load the stuff?
    *friend was too busy to look for her Sat morning while coming to get her stuff? If the tent was open that wouldn’t concern someone? If you are in a rush to go to work what’s the urgent need to get camping stuff you dont need right away? Why not call Maddy to pick it up at her house later unless you know the police will take it later and Maddy isn’t going home. Is it evidence conveniently gone through prior to missing person report? Why go back but not confirm your friend is ok. Excuses to be at a crime scene in case of witnesses?
    *when the friend went back Sat am I think she was with the boy Tyler, were there any other people there? They were just starting to date that night yet they seem to have been together all night?? What is there alibi??? Where were they? Confirmed or not?
    * could swear Jordy said she fell in fire on tv and that’s why she had to go home but then said she was really drunk and that’s why, I may be wrong maybe I heard wrong. I feel like drunk people crash , they don’t suddenly change plans that are more inconvenient for them after having a set up tent. And if you are rational enough to plan to get home cause you are too drunk surely you take your stuff too.
    *sister saw her truck at the camp Sat. Evening and that didn’t send out an alarm? Why would she not locate her sister? And that wasn’t how the parents figured out something was wrong? So many unanswered questions makes it hard to understand some of the circumstances.
    *some info may be incorrect to begin with if people are leading you to hide something. I think e is way too many weird situations here.
    * many questions for her friend and others? Info is missing for sure.
    *

  • Comments above are quite valid, Maddy’s friend’s story does not add up in so many ways. My guess is that the police have a good idea what really happened but don’t have enough evidence as of yet to have a good chance at prosecution. They are biding their time in hopes of attaining additional evidence.

  • I don’t think her friend is involved. I think they “camped” out at this spot quite often. That way they could drink, and not worry about driving. I think her friend was drunk, and wanted to leave with the boy she met, one night stand? Maddy had her own vehicle, maybe the friend thought she’d see her the next day.
    I think this event does center around this party. Either someone camping somewhere else heard the noise & the music and wandered over OR someone brought this person to the site.
    This area is off a logging road. It’s rugged, and isolated and densely forested. The fact that her vehicle was left behind, we don’t know the circumstances of how she left. Did she follow someone to somewhere else? Was she forcibly taken to another place? Was she moved and isn’t in this area at all?
    I suspect it’s someone who knows the area, because they live there, or knows the area because they work there.
    Someone knows something, they just may not know they hold that one piece of evidence.

  • From what I can see, my guess is that Madison was too drunk to drive and faced with the decision to leave with her friend or to stay and sober up and not to have to leave all of her belongings and truck behind she made the decision to stay assuming that there would be others around camping and partying through the night so she would not be left alone out there. At some point a sexual predatory male ( who may have somehow came across the party on facebook maybe due to stalking either Madison or another female he had been stalking on facebook ) He likely waited till there were very few people left and blended in and looked to see if he could find a vulnerable female he could abduct or lure to get into his vehicle. That is my best guess on what happened in this case.

  • I’ve watched this story on YouTube I’m so sorry for your pain and loss of your daughter. As a Canadian I am very experienced camper as well I have a theory of my own. Could it have been bylaw or park rangers that went to check on the site since this was a big party. I’ve been to parties at campsites and bylaw gets called and they come and check they also do random drive arounds. Could this be possible that a ranger/Rangers went to check on this party and found no one but Maddie ? I mean they would know the park in and out or could it have been police themselves ? Someone who is a pro at leaving no evidence. Not sure if this was looked at all..but doesn’t hurt to share. Also her phone wasn’t found is it possible to see which tower her phone had it’s last singnal from if she was driven out of then campground.

  • If there was no signs of stuggle could have been someone that came to check on her that she trusted .. offered to drive her home because she was found drunk and alone.. she decided just to take her phone and keys because most valuable and maybe she was told by who checked on her that they will come back and get the rest of her stuff and ended up taking her elsewhere

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