Wild Boys True Story Explained: What Happened in 2003
Wild Boys True Story Explained: What Happened in 2003 (Simple Timeline)
In 2003, two young men appeared around Vernon/Coldstream in British Columbia with a story that felt ripped from an adventure movie: they claimed they’d been raised off the grid in the wilderness, with no official records, no schooling, and no way to prove who they were. Locals dubbed them the “Wild Boys” (or “Bush Boys”). The truth, revealed later, was very different.
Quick facts (so you’re not lost)
- They called themselves: Tom Green (23) and Will Green (16)
- Where it happened: Vernon / Coldstream area, British Columbia (often tied to Kalamalka Lake / “Kal Lake”)
- What they claimed: Raised in the wilderness near Revelstoke, BC, by parents “Mary and Joseph Green”
- What made people worry: “Will” was extremely underweight and visibly unwell
- What later came out: They were American brothers Kyle and Roen Horn from Roseville, California
Simple 2003 timeline: what happened (month by month)
| When (2003) | What happened | Why it mattered |
|---|---|---|
| June | In Roseville, California, Roen Horn ran away after child protective services and police came to the family home over concerns about his low weight. Soon after, Roseville police issued a missing-at-risk flyer. | This is the real-world starting point that later explains why the brothers were moving, hiding, and improvising. |
| August | The brothers showed up in the Vernon area, intermittently appearing in town and then disappearing back into the woods. | This is when the “mystery boys” become a visible presence—before the story becomes “famous.” |
| September | A local mother, Tami Ryder, noticed “Will” in a library and was alarmed by how thin he looked. She began trying to locate and help them. She also left notes and money for them at places they were known to visit. | This is where the community-support engine starts: one person helps, then others follow. |
| Fall (late 2003) | The “Wild Boys/Bush Boys” story spreads locally. The brothers present themselves as wilderness-raised and lacking identification. | Their lack of documents becomes both the “proof” of the myth (no records!) and the practical problem (no work, no benefits). |
| Winter (late 2003) | With winter approaching, the situation becomes more urgent: housing, food, health, and official help all collide with the “no ID” problem. | Hard weather and worsening health raise the stakes and draw more attention. |
Note on dates: people often associate this story with 2004 because that’s when big media coverage and identification happened. But the key “arrival + community help + myth-building” phase begins in late summer/fall 2003.
What the “Wild Boys” claimed in 2003 (and why it sounded believable)
When officials and locals pushed for details, the brothers stuck to a tightly controlled origin story. They said their names were Thomas Michael Green and William Anthony Green, gave specific birthdates, and claimed their parents were Mary and Joseph Green.
The heart of their pitch was simple and sticky: they’d grown up “in the bush” near Revelstoke, were homeschooled, lived off the land, and had never needed identification—so now, in town, they were trapped. Without papers they couldn’t work or access normal services, and they insisted that revealing their parents’ location would endanger their parents’ way of life.
Their appearance did a lot of persuasion for them. Multiple reports describe “Will” as shockingly underweight, which made the story feel urgent and real to people who encountered him in person.
How Vernon (and nearby Coldstream) ended up supporting them
This is the part that tends to get oversimplified. It wasn’t just “a town got fooled.” It was a chain reaction of normal, human decisions:
- Someone sees a visibly unwell teenager and offers food or help.
- A few residents coordinate so the boys aren’t sleeping outside.
- People try to connect them with services, but services require identification.
- The lack of documents makes the story more mysterious, and the mystery attracts media.
By the time wider coverage hit, the brothers had already been living on a mix of informal help (community support) and attempted official processes—without being able to “resolve” their identity.
What Reddit discussions reveal about the case
Years later, the story resurfaced in a big way through podcasts and streaming documentaries—so naturally, people started hunting for old footage, local news segments, and original reporting.
Reddit: Does anyone know anywhere where I can see the interviews with the two boys from Chameleon: Wild Boys?
What happened after 2003 (the short version)
In early 2004, media coverage escalated and authorities pressed harder. “Will” ended up hospitalized due to severe weight loss. Reporting in April 2004 connected the “Green” brothers to a missing-person case in California, identifying them as Roen Horn and Kyle Horn. Their parents traveled to Canada, and the story’s central claim—“raised off-grid in the wilderness”— collapsed in real time.
Why this story hit so hard (and why people still argue about it)
- It presses a cultural button: the fantasy of opting out—no paperwork, no surveillance, no systems—just “freedom.”
- It’s a compassion trap: when a teen looks like he’s starving, people respond first and fact-check later.
- It’s a bureaucracy story: modern life runs on documents. When someone has none, every path forward becomes messy.
- It’s a media story: once the narrative is “two brothers raised in the woods,” every outlet wants the exclusive.
The uncomfortable truth is that two things can be true at once: the brothers told a false origin story, and the younger brother’s health crisis was real. That tension is part of why the case refuses to fade.
Related content (if you want to go deeper)
- Wild Boys: Strangers in Town (Paramount+, released February 18, 2026)
- Chameleon: Wild Boys (podcast season released in 2022)
- The original April 2004 reporting in the San Francisco Chronicle (archived via SFGATE) that helped push the identification forward
FAQ
Were the “Wild Boys” actually raised in the wilderness?
No. The “Tom and Will Green” identity and the off-grid childhood story were later exposed as false. They were identified as brothers Kyle and Roen Horn from Roseville, California.
So why do some people say “it happened in 2004,” not 2003?
2003 is when the brothers appear around Vernon and the community begins helping them. 2004 is when the story explodes in broader media and the identification happens publicly.
Where exactly were they living?
Reporting ties them to the Vernon/Coldstream area, including woods behind a store near Kalamalka Lake (“Kal Lake”).
What did they claim their parents’ names were?
They claimed their parents were “Mary and Joseph Green,” and they refused to give more identifying detail—saying it would endanger their parents.