Tyler Rich is a 34-year-old country music star living in Nashville. Over the holidays, he traveled to Massachusetts to spend time with his wife Sabina’s family.
While he was out on the East Coast, he decided to take a run on New Year’s Eve.
As Tyler was running through the beautiful Chicopee Memorial State Park, he happened across something horrific and heartbreaking.
Instagram; pictured above is Tyler, his wife, and their two dogs at Yosemite
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Tyler was trying to accomplish a 4 mile run that day, but around 2.5 miles in, he came across what he thought was a homeless man sleeping face down in the woods.
The man had a plastic bag tied around one of his feet and he was lying on his stomach.
“After running around him, I felt bad for him, he was sleeping facedown and just looked like he was in a bad place,” Tyler said in an Instagram post.
“So, I turned around and went back to check on him.”
Instagram; pictured above is a screenshot of what Tyler shared about his New Year’s Eve run
“I realize he isn’t breathing, and as I get around to the front of him, all I see is a lifeless face covered in blood,” Tyler explained.
“Everywhere. Looked like maybe shot, or blunt force.”
Tyler went on to say that he freaked out and ran as fast as he could up the hill so he could find someone who had a phone on them, since he didn’t have his on him.
He did happen across a couple and was able to borrow their phone to call 911 about the dead young man he had found.
Instagram; pictured above is another screenshot of Tyler’s detailed account
“After some time, the officers found a gun in one of his hands under his body, which means it potentially could have been a suicide…not that there is any type of thing that could help me cope with finding him like this,” Tyler wrote.
“But, for sure knowing he wasn’t there discarded by someone else, and that he was there where he wanted to be, will at least put me a little more at ease.”
“I’m doing what I can to process this, the image, the reality. It’s been a rough 24 hours. Something, I’ll never unsee.”
Instagram; pictured above is a third screenshot from Tyler’s explanation
Just yesterday, Tyler posted again on Instagram, saying, “Still reflecting on this constant feeling that I was in that random part of the park at the exact time I was supposed to be, to find that young man. There are many coincidences that make me truly believe he led me to where he was at.”
“I found him right around noon. About 30 minutes later, I looked down at my watch. My running app had paused once I stopped and found him, and it said my average pace at that time was… 11:11.”
“I told the police and the couple that gave me their phone, to look at my watch, and that maybe that was a good omen.”
Instagram; pictured above is part of Tyler’s second post on the incident
Tyler continued, “Yesterday, I spoke to his sweet mom, which was one of the toughest things I can remember. We talked about the timeline and series of events.”
“She told the last text he was at 11:11. And I found him just 45 minutes later. I truly believe his spirit led me down that random side of the mountain to find him.”
“They say when you see 11:11, that angels are with you, and to wish for whatever you want. To feel at ease.”
“That the universe is on your side. A lot of you know my song “11:11″ is about loss. So anytime I see those numbers, it resonates with me. This specific series of little events is somehow bringing comfort to his family, and myself.”
While the police are continuing to investigate the young man’s body that Tyler found, they are saying they don’t believe any foul play was part of his death.
