He passed away in 2005. Today, the idea of wild men, more often referred to as feral people, is a common scary story trope which is usually set in the Appalachian Mountains, including West Virginia.

They can be, at least, with all the trees and poison berries and squirrels and… worst of all… the men. Woodmen ... attempt to escape from a clan of feral humans that call the Great Smoky ...