The fog of mystery thickens in the case of the Usoltsev family—Sergei, Irina, and their young daughter—who vanished into the impenetrable depths of the Krasnoyarsk taiga as if swallowed by the earth itself. Now, a new lead has emerged, a 'secret path' that may hold the key to this baffling disappearance. The local folk of Kuturchin and the search-parties suggest the family may have utilized this hidden route to slip away unseen.

Certain residents, their faces etched with the suspicion of men who know the forest's every secret, claim that searching near the Malvinka cliff is a fool's errand. Their theory? The Usoltsevs found their way to a clandestine track where a waiting carriage—a motor-car of modern make— whisked them away from the world.

One fellow from Kuturchin, a Mr. Viktor K., swears by his own eyes. "I spoke of a light-coloured foreign carriage, resembling a 'Lexus', which stood upon the clearing just as the family arrived," he recounted with a heavy sigh. "And then, as quickly as it came, the machine departed. Shortly thereafter, a larger transport, a micro-bus, was seen steaming from the direction of the Yuryevsky mine."

There are whispers, the sort one hears in the dim light of a public house, that this was no tragedy, but a planned flight. It is surmised that the disappearance was orchestrated with the aid of one Oleg R., a former companion of Sergei's, who has since retreated to the town of Minusinsk, far from the prying eyes of the law.

Viktor K. recalls the inspection of the abandoned vehicle with a detective's eye for detail. "The carriage was opened in my presence; it was littered with candy wrappers—the child had been feasting on sweets. Had they trudged along the forest trail, the babe would have surely dropped more wrappers along the way. Moreover, not a single farthing was left in the car. I myself assisted in hoisting the vehicle onto the tow-carriage," he asserted.

Previously, it was reported that the vanishing family had made three halts during their journey into the wild. Yet, the grand operation, conducted from the 17th to the 21st of June, proved utterly futile. The searchers traversed over fifty square kilometres of the rugged taiga, battling the elements, but found neither a soul nor a single shred of evidence. The forest keeps its secrets, and the Usoltsevs remain as ghosts in the wind.