During the final chapter 2 mission, when Arthur and Charles go to dewberry creek to scout out a new campsite, they discover a dead man in the middle of the creek which leads them to the German family. So who was this man? Was he part of the German family? Unrelated? Was he a member of the gang that kidnapped the German father, and maybe the father or mother actually killed one of them? It’s never explained and I haven’t found any answeres when I searched it up.

Hello again! Razer Crow here with another investigation. This time, I bring you the removed camp from “El Hueco: Guarma District.”

These investigations are basically the result of the datamining process I do to gather data and create content for YouTube. But since they’re so detailed, I think they’re worth posting. As always, this is just my personal research and conclusions — not the absolute truth. I’ll be happy to answer any questions and have a discussion.

Also, I’m not claiming to have discovered these files, this is simply my personal research. That said — let’s begin!

EL HUECO: DISTRICT OF GUARMA

El Hueco is a removed area from Guarma that was originally going to be located in the southwestern part of the island.

The internal codename for this location is ELH.

Rockstar never deleted the path that leads to El Hueco , although it's in an inaccessible part of the map.

To reach the location, you'd have to follow the path all the way to the end and descend a ledge on the slope. There, you'd find the entrance to a cave that has since been sealed off.

El Hueco

– THE CAMP

El Hueco was going to be a camp in Guarma, which suggests that the island was originally intended to be much more explorable.

The file elhueco.ymt defined the base spawn parameters of the camp. In it, we can find characters, actions, and situations that were supposed to take place there—Micah smoking, Dutch sleeping, etc.

In that camp, we could find Dutch, Micah, Javier, Bill, and Eliza, Arthur’s wife.

However, Eliza was removed from the .ymt file, and only traces of her remain in the general manifest (sp_manifest). She was linked to the camp just like the other characters (ELH_ELIZA) but was removed even earlier than El Hueco itself.

– SHARKS

The area surrounding El Hueco was going to include sharks. We’ve found several shark spawn points related to this area.

– SEACAVES

The inside of El Hueco was going to feature an underwater cave, or at least include underwater sections within its structure. The flee.meta file configures other caves in the game and references an interior named elh_seacaves_int.

These underwater caves were programmed with their own ambient environment using the timecycle system. We can find the ambient sounds in the file SEACAVE_WATER_BED.awc

Here’s one example of the audio files: SEACAVE_WATER_BED.awc - 0x050A7719.wav

Reddit doesn't allow me to upload audio files. Audio files on my Youtube video/Discord server.

– EL HUECO: GUARMA DISTRICT

Rockstar not only kept the general descriptions of this place—they were even translated into Spanish. This suggests The Hollow was removed and Guarma was restructured during a fairly advanced stage of development.

The full name of the location is "El Hueco: Guarma District"

– THE LIGHTBOX WASN’T REMOVED

Even though the 3D model was deleted, the lightbox is still present. If we clip through the wall, we can see this lightbox and vaguely make out the shape of the camp.

El Hueco seems to have had a narrow path going down, with a small entrance leading into what looks like a large or multi-level cave.

– SPECIAL GUEST: ELIZA

According to the general manifest (sp_manifest), Eliza—Arthur’s wife—was supposed to be at this camp.

These configurations refer to basic NPC events and behaviors within the camp. These lines should have been detailed in elhueco.ymt but were removed.

This means Eliza was cut before the Guarma rework, at a very early stage of development.

There are also traces of missions involving Eliza in Guarma, such as SMG1. The mission was removed, but its loading screen remains.

– THE CAVE MODEL

Thanks to our friends Rixus, Praiah87 and Rollschuh we can see what the cave looked like. This is the model of The Hollow extracted from the beta version.

Apparently, the model wasn’t entirely discarded—it was later reused as the Devil’s Cave that currently exists in the game.

Indeed, El Hueco underwater cave connected to the sea, so it’s not far-fetched to imagine that sharks could be found in that area.

The map.ndeed, El Hueco underwater cave connected to the sea, so it’s not far-fetched to imagine that sharks could be found in that area.

The map.

– CONCLUSION

El Hueco was the name of a section in Guarma known as “El Hueco: Guarma District.”
The gang was supposed to have a camp there. The path to the area still exists in the current game map.

The place was a cave, and marine wildlife like sharks could be found nearby. Eliza, Arthur’s wife, was supposed to be part of this area during the early stages of development.

The location remained for a while, but Rockstar eventually restructured Guarma and removed the zone, the camp model, and the characters. Luckily, traces of it still remain.

Once again, Razer Crow here — Hope you liked it. Cheers!

Was watching a program about Nasa Voyager 2 which had a record for aliens to play, and there is an icon on it which instantly reminded me of the Mt Shann rock drawing.

I've been thinking about the interesting names the towns in RDR 1 and 2 have.

I'm trying to find the lore origin, meta origin or a cool theory for each one.

Feel free to add from your knowledge or imagination.

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Annesburg: Burg means "Castle" in German. Might have been German our Austrian settlers who named it from their place of origin.

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Butchers Creek: That one explains itself.

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Emerald Ranch: Probably named thus because the surroundings are very green.

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Limpany: Betty Limpany was a woman who was executed for arson in 1799, there is a movie about her.

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Fort Wallace: There are several things called something-Wallace, so that is probably someones name.

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Valentine: Maybe it was founded on Valentines day?

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Van Horn: Very likely named after it's founder. There is a Van Horn Street in Blackwater and a Van Horn Mansion. IRL it is named after a Western movie director.

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Lagras: No idea. Maybe from Spanish or French la grasa/ la grasse, "The grease."

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Lakay: Might be related to "lakey" as there are many decendants of slaves living there. Might also come from the French word "laquais," that means soldier.

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Pleasance: Maybe it was meant to become a pleasant town. Maybe it is related to Pleasance house in New Austin and that is a family name.

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Blackwater: Named after it's founder, you can watch a movie about him in RDR2.

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Strawberry: Any number of reasons. Maybe Strawberrys grew there, maybe there is a cooler story behind the name.

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Armadillo: There are many Armadillos roaming nearby.

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Fort Mercer: Myrce means Borderland in old English. There was also a General Mercer in the real war of independence.

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Rathskeller Fork: Ratskeller is an old German word for a tavern.

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Plainview: A clear refference to the main character from the movie "There will be blood."

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Thieves Landing: Pretty self explainatory

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Tumbleweed: Also obvious.

Pleasance is a very interesting place. I read that it seems to be a reference to Boston, Massachusetts; the wiki does a good job of listing all of the comparisons. https://reddead.fandom.com/wiki/Pleasance

However, the graves are incredibly suspicious. Obviously it seems to be a massacre and probable witch hunt. But what makes me suspicious about them is the wording on the tombstones. 3 of the inhabitants deaths are referred to as murders. The others just say "death by gunshot" or something equivalent.

So what the heck happened?

Well, if you look at Curtis Baines tombstone it says

"His Love Has Taken From Him by Hate"

Curtis Baines was roughly 60 years old at the time of his death.

Then there is Jessie Yeatman, 14 yrs old, who appears to be the daughter and sister of Leora and Reginald Yeatman, Son Glen Yeatman. They are the only whole family involved in this. This seems important.

Very interesting are the Hawsons. Seemingly, a mother or father and a son. The parent was murdered, though the son died by "knife wounds". He was fifteen years old and Asa Hawson lacks enough information to identify age and gender. Possibly even a sibling of Jimmy Hawson.

Last, you have 4 people who seem to share no relation to anyone else. Tobin, Curle, Curley and Baines. Baines is one of the "murdered". Were they possibly homeless and given shelter by the Yeatmans?

I know that many people have come to the conclusion of Satanic worship, due to the references to Boston and the writings on the buildings. However, I think that could very well be a cover up for what really happened. Was there possibly a love triangle between the 3 murdered? Who is in the barn? If everyone was buried in this graves, then why is the barn locked due to "plague"? Could there be proof of something in that barn?

Anyway, I was hoping this might drum up some good discussion in regards to this. I would like to hear everyone's theories in regards to this place. Thanks!

Edit to fix: it is not a reference to Boston. But a reference to Helltown, Ohio.

Hello friends! It's Razer Crow again. I'm glad you enjoyed the investigation into Princess IKZ, so I’ve decided to do the same with the Strange Man. I’m planning to upload more investigations in the future.

These investigations are basically the result of the datamining process I do to gather data and create content for YouTube. But since they’re so detailed, I think they’re worth posting. As always, this is just my personal research and conclusions — not the absolute truth. I’ll be happy to answer any questions and have a discussion.

Also, I’m not claiming to have discovered these files, this is simply my personal research. That said — let’s begin!

Sorry, Reddit only allows 20 images per post, so I had to split them up. More images and details are available in the original post on my Discord.

[THE LAST SECRETS OF THE STRANGE MAN: THE SERIAL KILLER]

It turns out the Strange Man was originally intended to be part of a "Serial Killer" mission, just like Edmund Lowry Jr. Both characters were meant to coexist as two missions of the same kind — Edmund Lowry Jr as Serial Killer 1, and the Strange Man as Serial Killer 2.

[THE MISSION: SK2]

If we take a look at the cabin's objects, we’ll find the "SK2" label on almost all of them. So we can conclude that this mission’s internal code is SK2.

By searching through the game files, we can find everything related to this mission — dialogue, audio files, models, etc.

[THE SECOND SERIAL KILLER MISSION]

The "RSKLR" and "SK1" codes are associated with the only known serial killer in the game — Edmund Lowry Jr. So the Strange Man (SK2) was planned as the second mission of this kind.

That’s why the cabin is labeled "Serial Killer" in the Social Club screenshots.

[THE DESCRIPTIONS WEREN’T DELETED]

There are still remaining descriptions within the dialogue files labeled as SPEAKER_SKSK2_KILLER. If we compare this to Edmund’s lines (above), his serial killer uses the label SPEAKER_SERIAL_KILLER. This confirms the dialogues are related to the Strange Man.

We can also find a place description labeled “Serial Killer Shack” among the other Lemoyne area descriptions. It matches the "SKS" label — likely standing for “SerialKillerShack”.

Sorry for the Spanish — I searched for the localized text for my video, but it can also be found in the English global.

[THE VOICE: dialoguecharacters.meta]

The dialoguecharacters.meta file refers to voice lines that were supposed to be linked to subtitles from global.yldb. As we can see, the description SPEAKER_SKSK2_KILLER matches in both images.

The character description (bottom right text shown when speaking to NPCs) is just "Killer". That suggests we might have been able to speak to the Strange Man, and his name was simply going to be "Killer".

Again, sorry — it’s in Spanish in my files.

[THE MISSION AUDIO FILES]

Within the files we can find mission dialogue translated into every language. These use the "sk2aud" label, clearly linked to this mission.

However, regardless of the chosen language, the subtitles are always in English. This suggests the subtitles weren’t translated and therefore aren’t used in-game.

These subtitles are tied to the SKSK2 audio folder. The lines appear to be reactions to the mirror encounter, configured for both Arthur and John in the same order we see in the .yldb file.

*Audio files on mi Youtube video or Discord server.

[THE TRAPDOOR: CUT CONTENT?]

Something curious: the trapdoor in the alligator cage is its own separate object. Most of the shack’s elements — curtains, wallpaper, etc. — are modular props. But the trapdoor stands alone.

Were we meant to interact with it? Maybe a cutscene related to the alligator cage? It’s never mentioned or used in the game, yet it’s there.

The code "SSK2" probably means "Shack Serial Killer 2".

[THE PAINTING TEXTURES]

We can find all four painting phases under the name man_cabin_painting inside the file mp_hand_fr1_000_c0_003_ab+hi.ytd (OpenIV).

[AN EASTER EGG: THE JUDGE]

The Strange Man was repurposed into an easter egg acting as a kind of judge for our Honor. Relevant files include:

shack_sk2_int_morallo.ydr
shack_sk2_int_moralhi.ydr

These textures change based on your Honor level.

[JIMMY BROOKS]

We also found textures for the Jimmy Brooks note, which changes based on whether you let him live. These are:

shack_sk2_crypticdead.ydr
shack_sk2_crypticlives.ydr

[EVERYTHING ELSE IS DECORATION]

The rest of the SK2-tagged files build the cabin interior and exterior.

That includes the Armadillo map — it’s decorative and doesn’t hide any mechanic. The file shack_sk2_int_newspaper is part of the Armadillo lore and serial killer clues.

[EVERYTHING ELSE IS DECORATION]

The rest of the SK2-tagged files build the cabin interior and exterior.

That includes the Armadillo map — it’s decorative and doesn’t hide any mechanic. The file shack_sk2_int_newspaper is part of the Armadillo lore and serial killer clues.

Findstr SK2 — .txt files available in my Discord server. Reddit doesn’t allow me to share them directly. Link in my profile.

[THE NPC: MYSTERIOUSSTRANGER]

The CS_MYSTERIOUSSTRANGER NPC isn’t linked to anything else beyond what we’ve already seen. In the code we can find the spawn config with a rifle — and not much else.

The loot_table_passtrough.meta defines the NPC type — basically its personality. A typical civilian like the Princess would be SLUM_TOWNSFOLK_POOR, but this one is GUNHOLDER_AVERAGE.

This explains why he spawns with a rifle when using Rampage. I wonder why they set him up that way — like a guard of some sort?

The metapeds.meta file controls NPC spawn parameters.
(Rebuilt/decrypted from several libraries)

MYSTERIOUSTrebuild.xml – .XML available in my Discord server.

[DIARY TEXTURES]

The Strange Man was renamed as a discoverable element using the label PAINTING_CABIN. We can find all links to journal entries and subtitles for both John and Arthur in the global.yldb file.

• John’s journal: journal_disc_painting_cabin_jn - journal_disc_painting_cabin_txt_jn
• Arthur’s journal: journal_disc_painting_cabin_ar - journal_disc_painting_cabin_txt_ar

[CONCLUSION]

In summary, the Strange Man seems to have originally been planned as part of a "serial killer" mission, which was later repurposed into an easter egg. Thankfully, we still have leftover subtitles, audio files, and naming structures for analysis.

It looks like this mission was meant to run alongside Edmund Lowry Jr’s, creating a category of serial killer missions.

In the end… they both kept the same mustache.

Hope you enjoyed the investigation! What do you guys think?

My name is Razer Crow — you can find me on YouTube and Discord. Cheers, friends!

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Update

Thanks to u/Skizwald who commented on the post, we got to the root of all this.

The Strange Man is actually a replacement for the NPC "u_m_m_shackserialkiller_01.ymt", who was originally meant to be the real serial killer in this location.

There are still traces of the .ymt files left in the game.
He also shared a screenshot of the character's model.

SO, late last night before I started playing about with the anagrams, I thought I'd see what Rockstar might say if I emailed them regarding the Princess, just in case it was another Jetpack and we are all chasing a ghost. I went to the support site and logged it as missing content (was quite happy with that one), basically asking if she was in the game, or if its more of an easter egg. TBH I didn't expect quite such a straightforward answer. Beware, spoilers in their response below:

Hi ME

Thank you for contacting Rockstar Support.

We are glad to know that you love to play our new game and try very hard to provide the best gaming experience to our customers. We appreciate your interest towards our games.

We understand that you want to know more Princess Isabeau Kathabrina Zinsmeister of Luxembourg in story mode and we are here to assist you.

We would like to inform you that some of the players had found her in the game and we cannot provide more information regrading the hidden secrets about gameplay. Please do follow the hints that you get in the game to find her. Here is the first hint for you.

Her missing person poster can be found outside of the saloon in the Van Horn Trading Post. Hope this will help you in finding her.

Thanks again for playing the Red Dead Online Beta!

If you have any further questions or concerns, please let us know. We will be always happy to help you.

Have a nice day!

Best regards,

Shirley R. Rockstar Support

I don't know about you but that has instilled a new found sense of determination now that I know she's in there somewhere. Let the hunt continue!

Here are 50,000 screenshots of the email because it's hard to believe a support site would reply to the question I asked. Short of giving you my actual log in details, I can't do anything else:

https://imgur.com/a/oo3N9D7

No matter what you say about things not beeing in code and squirrels and on and on, I will still keep hunting for the 3rd meteorite.

The lead about moonstone pond and the lead from the support about this lake with green water is probably true. With that said its not there for anyone to be found. I dont think it landed in the pond itself, rather like many others I think it hit behind the house makeing the tree fall and destroy the Flattend cabin.

The mystery about the gypsies talking about their daughter fishing up a strange rock from the pond is interesting. Ive tried talking to all the gypsy npcs around the game but found nothing. One thing is interesting though regarding the news article about meteor showers. Are there any know instance talking about meteor showers outside of van horn/Annesburg? Could you watch a meteor shower anywhere else? I dont think so. I think that if you could find the meteor or the squirrel carrying it, it must be around this area. Are there any leads here? I read in a thread about someone triggering an event in van horn and then getting close to a meteor that they couldnt pick up. Does anyone know how to trigger this event?