A wild incident that took place in Vernon, B.C., in 2003, which was the subject of a popular podcast, will soon be released as a TV mini-series and documentary.
The documentary, called Wild Boys: Strangers in Town, will be released next week on the American streaming app Paramount+. Details on the Canadian release are expected soon after.
Even without access to the documentary, you can still listen to a couple of the episodes from the podcast, called Wild Boys, for free on Spotify, or the full podcast with an Apple Music subscription.
If you’re interested in the series or the podcast, be advised that this article contains some spoilers about the incident.
According to the podcast, which is hosted and narrated by a Vernon resident, in 2003, two young men suddenly appeared in the small city of Vernon. They caught the city by storm and immediately intrigued many of the residents.
Strange happenings like that didn’t happen in a place like Vernon—the kind of city where everyone knows each other.
When they arrived in Vernon, the two young men claimed that they were raised in the B.C. wilderness.
The two men were brothers, and the younger brother raised concerns for residents due to appearing malnourished. One of the town’s residents, Tami, became a sort of protector for the two boys.
The younger brother claimed to be on a fruititarian diet and refused to eat anything but fresh fruit. He was reported as looking dangerously thin.
A police investigation and media involvement raised suspicions about the origin story of the two brothers.
Again, minor spoiler alert.
It turns out that the two boys weren’t raised in the wilderness, and that a majority of their story was fabricated, with the older brother acting as the ringleader.
Wild Boys won a podcast of the year award in 2003 and features interviews with the brothers long after the incident.
You can watch the trailer for the upcoming Paramount series here: