Terrence Shemel Woods Jr. grew up in Capitol Heights, Maryland, with his parents and three siblings. After graduating from the University of Maryland he moved to England and attended The American International University in London.
By the age of 26, Terrence had traveled extensively with different production teams. He helped produce numerous documentaries and TV shows, including The Voice UK.
In October of 2018, Terrence traveled to Orogrande, Idaho, with Raw TV, a London based production company. They were making a TV series about an abandoned gold mine, Penman Mine, called Whitewater. Including Terrence, the crew consisted of 12 people.
Terrence was supposed to be in Idaho working on the documentary until mid-November, however, he texted his father telling him he was going to be home on October 10. He did not explain why.
Other than him cutting his work trip short, which he had never done, Terrence’s family says he had been acting normally.
On October 5, the crew spent the day filming in the mountainous area of Penman Mine. Terrence was reportedly acting strangely and was noticeably quiet.
As they were wrapping up for the day, Terrence inexplicably dropped his two-way radio and started running. According to the crew, he approached a steep cliff and ran down the hill.
Several people saw him run off but no one knew what to do. A couple of the crew members went after Terrence but soon lost track of him. They called the authorities shortly after.
Authorities were contacted at 6:41 PM and thus were only able to conduct searches the next morning. Various search teams were formed and they faced some difficulties due to the snowy weather.
There were people searching on foot, with ATVs, and authorities used dogs and helicopters with infrared technology. No sign of Terrence was found and after one week, the searches were called off.
Terrence’s parents, Valerie and Terrence Woods Sr., flew to Idaho and distributed flyers. According to them, authorities and the film crew gave them conflicting reports of how Terrence disappeared. They were told that some of the crew members thought Terrence had fallen off a cliff, however, when they got there, he was 15 feet down the cliff running.
Terrence Sr. recounted to Idaho News what one of the crew members told him:
“Now you say you ran over there and my son was already 15 feet down running like a hare, I said what do you mean and he said your son is so fast, I was told to go down after him, they told me to get a car and meet him at the road, so I kept running after him and he disappeared into the woods and he stopped yelling and didn’t want to scare him anymore.”
Raw TV also provided a statement about the incident:
“We can confirm that Terrence Woods, a member of one of our production teams, went missing on Friday, October 5, in Orogrande, Nez Perce National Forrest, Idaho. The Idaho County Sheriff’s Office was immediately informed, and they implemented a Search and Rescue operation.
Mr. Woods is a well-liked, valued member of the production team, and we have been working closely with the Sheriff’s Office which has been leading the search. Mr. Woods’ family are in direct contact with the Sheriff’s Office. All inquiries regarding the status of the search should be directed to the Idaho County Sheriff’s Office.”
Valerie and Terrence Sr. believe he may have been afraid of a crew member, perhaps he saw or heard something he shouldn’t have. This could explain why he wanted to leave without finishing the documentary. According to his family, Terrence did not suffer from any mental health issues and had never had a panic attack.
The Orogrande Sheriff’s Office has since refused to speak to Terrence Sr. about the case after he told the media they were being racist and lying about what happened to his son.
It has been over a year since Terrence Woods Jr. disappeared and there are still no clues as to his whereabouts.
