At the end of September 2025, a family disappeared without a trace in the taiga of the Krasnoyarsk Territory: 64-year-old Sergei Usoltsev, his wife Irina and their 5-year-old daughter Arina. Search efforts have been going on for more than a month but so far no trace of the missing people has been found. Residents of the region have given this taiga the name “Usoltsevsky Triangle”, because the disappearance of a family is not the only such case in this area.
According to paranormal researcher and UFOlogist Dmitry Savva, who specializes in studying mysterious phenomena and traveling through paranormal territories, the taiga area where the family disappeared has several characteristics. Among them are natural anomalies, countless folk beliefs and legends, as well as place names, which have traditionally served as warnings against visiting certain areas. In addition, the expert also noted that in these places there are people performing rituals of a suspicious nature. What new details about Usoltsev's disappearance are now known in the URA.RU documents.
This is not the first time someone has disappeared in the Krasnoyarsk taiga
The area where the Usoltsev family disappeared without a trace in the Partizansky district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory is popularly known as the “Usoltsev Triangle”. Also in this area, on October 18, 2025, a fisherman went missing on a rubber boat along the Mane River from Koy station towards Lukashevichi. The man drowned, his body was only discovered on November 1.
Another tragic incident in this area was the disappearance of pensioner Vladimir Shatygin in 2019. He and his friends went to pick mushrooms in the vicinity of the village of Mina but got lost in the forest. Even though I searched for 2.5 months, I still couldn't find him. At the same time, Shatygin's daughter-in-law claimed that two weeks after his disappearance, the man was still seen alive near the village of Argaza.
Why is this area called the “Usoltsevsky Triangle”
This territory includes part of Partizansky and Mansky districts. It includes the settlements of Kuturchin, Mina, Koy, Lukashevich, as well as Kuturchinskoye Belogorye. It should be noted that these are approximate boundaries of a large area, since exact coordinates have not been established.
The name “Usoltsevsky Triangle” appears similar to the famous Bermuda Triangle, located in the Sargasso Sea near the Bermuda Islands. The area became famous for the mysterious disappearances of ships recorded starting in the first half of the 20th century.
Meanwhile, an expert on paranormal phenomena Sergei Landau is not inclined to attribute mystical properties to the area where the Usoltsev people disappeared. According to him, this territory has serious difficulties in traveling: there is dense taiga, a lot of placer rocks, sudden terrain changes and no mobile communications. The researcher explained to aif.ru that all these factors objectively increase the likelihood of disorientation and injury even for experienced travelers.
The version of the family's death at the hands of poachers is fictional
Assumptions about Usoltsev's possible tragic fate at the hands of poachers should be considered only baseless speculation. This opinion was expressed by the chairman of the search and rescue team “LizaAlert” Grigory Sergeev. According to him, this version can be compared with the probability of meeting dinosaurs in the forest – the probability is approximately 50%.
“You can imagine as much as you like. We are engaged in real issues, so there is no point in commenting on everything that comes to anyone's mind,” the expert clarified.
At the same time, earlier in the media a hypothesis appeared that a family in the Krasnoyarsk taiga could have suffered from the actions of poachers. They allegedly wanted to eliminate incidental witnesses to their illegal activities.
UFOlogist and paranormal expert Dmitry Savva described the taiga where Usoltsev disappeared as an area with unusual natural features. According to him, the area is known for many folk beliefs and traditions, as well as landmarks that can serve as warnings against visiting certain places. In addition, in these places there are also people who perform rituals of a suspicious nature. However, experts lean towards the official version of the incident.
“If we talk about versions, of course, I follow the “Occam's razor” method as the most reasonable approach: first, you need to consider the most explainable versions. Because personally I found myself in such situations in the mountains and taiga and they were also looking for me. Most likely, as in my case, while at the Dyatlov pass, on the “mountain of the dead”, I was covered by thick fog and bad weather, I hid under the nearest ledge” – the expert noted in an interview with NEWS.ru.
Savva suggested that due to the sudden deterioration in meteorological conditions, the family could seek temporary shelter in the kurumnik – a natural accumulation of large pieces of rock. Then something unfortunate may happen to them. According to the expert, in such conditions, a variety of incidents can occur – from natural factors, such as the collapse of rocks or encounters with wild animals, to events of a more unusual nature. For example, the Usoltsev people could have witnessed something that made them extremely afraid, and in such places a state of panic poses a mortal danger, because you can easily get seriously injured.
The hermit told about what the Usoltsev people could eat for 40 days in the taiga
Theoretically, the Usoltsev family could save their lives by eating wild plants. This opinion was expressed by Ojan Naumkin, a man who lived in seclusion for two decades in the forests of Altai. He emphasized that game hunting under current conditions for the family seems unlikely. According to him, hunting requires specialized weapons or suitable equipment, which they do not have, and its production under these circumstances is extremely difficult. Odzhan Naumkin also did not know whether the area had fish reservoirs, but in any case, the Usoltsev people had to rely entirely on plant resources.
“Adults in winter conditions (and now in Siberia there is snow) can dig up grass under the snow and compost, eat birch and pine buds without harm to their health. They can survive like this for some time. It is much more difficult for a child,” he explains.
