Knight had been a talented student throughout his school years. His grades were superb and he even graduated early – but never made friends. After high school, he went right to Sylvania Technical School in Waltham, Mass., where he studied electronics. The city, close to Boston was definitely a change of pace from his life in Maine. Yet he still did not make friends. After he finished his nine-month course, he was able to get himself a successful job installing car and home alarms.
Familypedia
He was intent on buying himself a car and eventually obtained a hard-earned Subaru, although it of course came at a price. He took out a loan, with which his brother agreed to assist. However to this day, he still owes his brother for it. Little did he or anyone know that he would soon vanish into thin air.
Dark-haired and bespectacled, Christopher Knight would often try to make himself appear as small and unassuming as possible. He was a middle child, with four older brothers and one younger sister. Growing up, he went on a number of hunting trips with his father and they would all sleep in the back of their pick-up truck. Never in a tent.
Town of Albion Maine (1970s)
His family life was not particularly unhappy or turbulent; they were just very reluctant to share their private affairs with the world. He had four brothers, so naturally sibling rivalry was common. Although not particularly wealthy, Knight’s parents cherished art and knowledge. Every night, they would summon their boys to discuss a poem of some kind. They also reveled in the wonders of science; physics was a popular subject. By 1986, 20-year-old Christopher Knight lived and worked near Boston, Massachusetts. Practical and efficient, he worked in the security industry and expertly equipped homes and cars with state-of-the-art alarm systems. He had a secure job and life seemed to be alright for him.
Nobody could have imagined that Knight would up and leave, separating himself indefinitely from the demands of the world. In fact, he likely never imagined he could pull off such a stunt either. It seemed to just happen for no reason, without an incident sparking such a sudden move. He had so many good things coming to him and a budding career. It was all proving to be too much for Knight.
Kennebec Journal
When he decided to finally leave it all, he didn’t say goodbye to family or anybody else that he knew. He did not put in a two-week notice at work. He simply vanished one day, spur of the moment. In an interview, he recalled: “I had no plans when I left, I wasn’t thinking of anything. I just did it.”
Armed without a compass or a map, Knight followed the sun, still scorching hot in the summer sky, and headed southward, just driving until his car had used up all the gas. He abandoned the car and started walking onward until his shiny new Subaru was nothing but a fleck of metal in the distance. He even left his keys in plain view on the dashboard. It was all part of a world he wanted to leave behind.
Cartype
The most extraordinary thing about Knight’s big decision to leave everything behind was that it was never something he actively planned to pursue. The only possessions he had brought with him were a tent and a backpack. How was he able to survive even a week in these conditions?
Sure, like anyone, he might have fantasized about a life of simplicity, silence, and solitude. But he did not spend months or even weeks preparing for such a dramatic transition. In fact, he’d never before even spent a night sleeping underneath the trees and darkness. As mentioned before, he had never even slept in a tent. For someone with so little wilderness training, it could be incredibly easy to get hurt, starve and die all alone in the woods.
New England Today
His first two weeks, he traversed the Maine forests, guided only by his instincts. However, Knight soon discovered that he could not quell one innate desire. That’s what eventually brought him to turn to a life of crime.
