Authorities confirmed late Thursday that a previously deleted voicemail left by 25-year-old hunter Andrew Porter, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances in the woods last month, has been successfully recovered by forensic analysts.
The audio file — reportedly recorded minutes before his final known moment alive — has sent shockwaves through the investigative team. Sources close to the case describe Porter’s tone as “distressed and barely coherent,” as if he were speaking while running or hiding.
“We only heard seven seconds,” said a senior detective. “But those seven seconds changed everything.”
According to an insider familiar with the recovery, the voicemail contained a distorted background sound resembling an electrical surge or mechanical hum — the same pattern detected on Porter’s camera footage moments before it cut off.
Immediately after the file was retrieved, an emergency alert was reportedly triggered on the local ranger network — the first of its kind since the initial discovery of the hunters’ bodies.
“We don’t know what he saw,” said one investigator, “but whatever it was, he tried to warn someone.”
Police have not yet released the content of the message publicly, citing the sensitivity of ongoing forensic analysis. However, speculation across online communities suggests Porter may have been recording evidence of something happening in the forest moments before the so-called “lightning strike” that authorities initially blamed for his death.
The voicemail, according to investigators, ends abruptly mid-sentence, followed by a short metallic click — a sound experts say does not match any known phone hardware pattern.