Beast of Bray Road

Beast of Bray Road is the ninth episode of the third season of the thriller horror docudrama found-footage television series Lost Tapes. It originally aired on Animal Planet on November 2, 2010.

Plot
In Spring (May) 2009, a militia group led by a man named Brian Cavanaugh came under attack by what they suspected were federal agents. In order to thwart future attacks, Cavanaugh hired investigative reporter Randal Steiner and cameraman Mike Monroe for an exclusive interview.

They were driven to the militia's headquarters deep in the woods of Wisconsin. Shortly after arriving, Monroe sees deep scratch marks on a tree which appear to be stained with blood. Steiner and Monroe are brought into a cabin that the militia is using as their base of operations, where they meet Cavanaugh for the first time. Cavanaugh states that he and his militia are simply exercising their Second Amendment rights and plan to take control from big government and return it to the individuals through any means necessary.

They have recently hidden numerous stationary cameras in the woods as well as attached cameras to the scopes of their rifles so that, if a raid is ever instigated, the actions of the federal agents will be documented. When Steiner asks Cavanaugh how he is so certain that the government is behind the attack, Cavanaugh shows him the brutally mauled corpse of Bruce Renfro, a militiaman who was killed two days before.

Steiner notes that the damage looks more like it was inflicted by a wolf or large coyote rather than a government agent, but Cavanaugh insists that an agent with a government-issue combat knife could have created the wounds to look like an animal attack. Just then, they hear loud growls from the woods outside, which Cavanaugh credits to federal agents trying to throw them off-guard. As he checks a computer, one of the stationary cameras suddenly goes off-line and the militia conclude that an agent is in the woods.

Cavanaugh sends Tom Kiniry to investigate, who hears more growling in the woods. Kiniry hears a twig snap and turns around, so he does not see a large shadow looming up in the darkness behind him. Suddenly, another militiaman, Bobby McCrea, runs up and yells at Kiniry to get down before firing his gun. Kiniry is suddenly attacked by something with such ferocity that it tears a piece of flesh off his body and hurls it at a surveillance camera, causing it to short out. Though the creature itself is unseen, it casts a shadow that resembles a werewolf.

Seconds later, another camera fifty yards away is taken off-line as well, which leads the militia to believe that it is a raid. Cavanaugh and Nancy Nyson go to investigate, taking Monroe with them, but Cavanaugh tells Steiner to stay with the cabin and warns that he will personally kill him if he had anything to do with the 'raid.' As they enter the woods, they hear gunshots and Nyson breaks from the group at Cavanaugh's order. Back in the cabin, Steiner begins recording himself as he wonders about what is really behind the attacks.

Meanwhile, Nyson checks a stationary camera. While her back is turned, the shape of what appears to be a wolf emerges from the shadows, crawls across the upper-right corner of the screen and silently disappears off-camera.

Nyson suddenly discovers Kiniry's corpse, which has been mauled in the same way Renfro had been. She discovers fur on his body, and suddenly sees McCrea emerge from the darkness. Nyson questions him about what happened, and McCrea says he is unsure if federal agents or an animal were responsible, and Nyson becomes suspicious because the fur she found on Kiniry looks like the jacket that McCrea is wearing.

While arguing about whether or not he may have accidentally shot Kiniry, they are both suddenly attacked and killed by the creature. Cavanaugh and Monroe hear gunshots and screaming and go to investigate, only to find the two militia dead and partially eaten.

Cavanaugh questions Monroe about having anything to do with the raid, and Monroe says that Steiner might have brought another cell phone with him. Monroe panics as they head back to the cabin and runs, yelling for help. He runs to a car that he finds unlocked, but cannot find the keys before Cavanaugh catches up to him and insists that they get to the cabin.

After hearing another roar in the woods, Monroe begins to seriously doubt that the government is behind the attacks, but Cavanaugh ignores him, and uses Monroe as a shield on the final stretch to the cabin. Cavanaugh catches Steiner making a recording, which he interprets as him breaking their deal for no outside contact. Believing Steiner ordered the attack himself, he forcefully pulls him out of the cabin, ignoring Monroe as he insists that they had nothing to do with the attacks. Cavanaugh threatens the 'feds,' saying that he will kill Steiner if they do not cease and desist at once. Suddenly, they hear a loud growl as the beast lunges at them from the roof of the cabin, briefly appearing in full view of the camera, attacking all three of them, killing Cavanaugh and Steiner, and severely injuring Monroe.

Monroe survived the attack and managed to crawl to a fire road. Information provided by him prompted federal agents to raid the Wisconsin woods two days later. They discovered the mauled bodies of Steiner and the militia, whose deaths were officially attributed to wolf attacks. However, the federal agents and animal control were unable to locate any such evidence.