Police 'flabbergasted' after finding out what one man has been doing in an Arizona forest for 8 years ⁠44%

By Andrew Chapados⁠47%

7/10/2026, 12:00:11 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 20 faulty reasoning types, including Negativity Bias, Biased Writer Voice, and Confirmation Bias, with Appeal to Authority as the most egregious example at 27.2% saturation with 160 hits. Analysis detected 1,098 faulty-reasoning hits from 589 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 47.3% and a BS Rank of ⁠44% (11,592 of 20,499 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 56.50% of the article peer group.

An unmarked dirt trail in the Tonto National Forest once gave police an indication of what was going on in the park, and it turns it out was much worse than they thought. 
In 2025, an acre of land was being investigated, with an officer describing it as one of the "worst" cases he has ever seen. 
This June, forest rangers were not prepared for how things had progressed. 
'I was flabbergasted by the amount of debris in the area.' 
Garbage in 
Two U.S. national forest rangers came upon an illegal site in Tonto National Forest in central Arizona in June, and with it was 65-year-old Mark Aaron Gatz. 
According to documents acquired by ABC News , Gatz was operating an illegal campsite that contained not just a wood-burning fire — a huge problem in itself — but also 1,000 pounds of trash. 
Gatz's encampment was entrenched in garbage that had built up over two years of him living in that location, with the man telling officers that he had been living in the forest for eight years in total. 
WCNC-TV reported that the trash was scattered over about half an acre of forest service land and was causing permanent damage to the ecosystem. 
The garbage included items like tires, plastic bags, regular trash bags, aluminum cans, and more. 
Aside from finding Gatz's illegal campfire, they also saw he had made a canopy to go over his SUV that was parked in the forest. 
"I was flabbergasted by the amount of debris in the area," a responding officer reportedly wrote in response to the mess. 
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Bless this mess 
This latest discovery was part of an extensive rap sheet that had been built by the older male; police soon discovered Gatz had six outstanding federal warrants from previous forest-related violations. 
The citations go back to May 2025 when forest officials followed a dirt trail to a campsite littered with clothes, tools, plastic, and other trash. 
Authorities determined it was there for at least a month. 
In early July 2025, officers reportedly responded to complaints of a "large messy campsite" that contained years' worth of trash. 
It was described at the time by one officer as "one of the worst residential cases" he had seen in the entire forest. 
Gatz was cited for unsanitary conditions due to his household trash being scattered around the land. 
Then, in February 2026, forest officers found a red and white trailer that was surrounded by tarps and string used as clothes lines, seemingly to dry towels, sheets, and sleeping bags. 
This belonged to Gatz, who was also allegedly operating a 3-foot campfire made of stone and clay. 
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Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis/Getty Images 
Camp scamp 
The serial camper has been in violation of U.S. 
Department of Agriculture rules surrounding camping in a national forest. 
The rules state that camping for more than 14 days in a 30-day period or more than 30 days in a 365-day period is prohibited. 
According to ABC News, Gatz pleaded guilty to a violation of fire restrictions for his recent activities, along with residential use of the forest without a permit. 
He was sentenced to three years of probation. 
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Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 10.9%Andrew Chapados: 3.3%Blaze Media: 5.5%Confirmation Bias10.9%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 3.2%Blaze Media: 0.6%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 10.5%Andrew Chapados: 4.1%Blaze Media: 3.1%Availability Heuristic10.5%This article: 4.2%Andrew Chapados: 0.9%Blaze Media: 1.0%Representativeness Heuristic4.2%This article: 2.0%Andrew Chapados: 1.0%Blaze Media: 0.8%Hindsight Bias2.0%This article: 1.7%Andrew Chapados: 1.4%Blaze Media: 1.5%Overconfidence Bias1.7%This article: 7.0%Andrew Chapados: 7.4%Blaze Media: 9.7%Framing Effect7.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.7%Blaze Media: 0.4%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 1.5%Blaze Media: 0.5%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.0%Blaze Media: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 4.4%Blaze Media: 1.7%Optimism Bias0.0%This article: 10.9%Andrew Chapados: 2.1%Blaze Media: 1.5%Pessimism Bias10.9%This article: 26.5%Andrew Chapados: 8.4%Blaze Media: 9.6%Negativity Bias26.5%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 1.3%Blaze Media: 1.4%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 9.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.7%Blaze Media: 1.0%Fundamental Attribution Error9.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.0%Blaze Media: 0.2%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.4%Blaze Media: 2.8%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.0%Blaze Media: 1.5%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 1.9%Blaze Media: 2.7%Halo Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.1%Blaze Media: 0.3%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.0%Blaze Media: 0.1%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 1.3%Blaze Media: 1.1%Recency Bias0.0%This article: 6.8%Andrew Chapados: 0.6%Blaze Media: 0.5%Primacy Effect6.8%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.0%Blaze Media: 0.1%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.0%Blaze Media: 2.6%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.0%Blaze Media: 1.1%Straw Man0.0%This article: 27.2%Andrew Chapados: 8.7%Blaze Media: 3.8%Appeal to Authority27.2%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.4%Blaze Media: 2.3%False Dilemma0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.4%Blaze Media: 1.3%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.0%Blaze Media: 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 9.2%Andrew Chapados: 4.3%Blaze Media: 9.1%Hasty Generalization9.2%This article: 2.5%Andrew Chapados: 1.6%Blaze Media: 0.8%Red Herring2.5%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.1%Blaze Media: 0.9%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 9.3%Andrew Chapados: 5.9%Blaze Media: 8.0%Appeal to Emotion9.3%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 2.0%Blaze Media: 1.5%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 3.1%Blaze Media: 2.5%Post Hoc (False Cause)0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.0%Blaze Media: 0.2%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.4%Blaze Media: 1.0%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.0%Blaze Media: 0.3%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.0%Blaze Media: 0.3%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 1.9%Blaze Media: 2.6%Anecdotal0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.0%Blaze Media: 0.3%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 10.0%Andrew Chapados: 1.7%Blaze Media: 2.0%Ambiguity (Equivocation)10.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.0%Blaze Media: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.0%Blaze Media: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.0%Blaze Media: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.6%Blaze Media: 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.4%Blaze Media: 0.4%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 5.4%Andrew Chapados: 2.3%Blaze Media: 2.7%Unattributed Quote5.4%This article: 8.5%Andrew Chapados: 1.9%Blaze Media: 2.2%Quote-first Misdirection8.5%This article: 15.1%Andrew Chapados: 7.8%Blaze Media: 10.5%Biased Writer Voice15.1%This article: 2.9%Andrew Chapados: 1.3%Blaze Media: 4.6%Indoctrination2.9%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.0%Blaze Media: 0.4%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Andrew Chapados: 0.4%Blaze Media: 7.3%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 6.8%Andrew Chapados: 4.7%Blaze Media: 2.7%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…6.8%

589 words analyzed.

Speakers

3speakers21%attributed speech467writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 18 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 33 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 24 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 2 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 27 words • 0.0% coverageABC News • 34 words • 0.0% coverageMark Aaron Gatz • 37 words • 0.0% coverageWCNC-TV • 24 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 15 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 25 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 1 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 3 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 31 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 25 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 20 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 23 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 31 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 17 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 6 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 3 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 2 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 25 words • 0.0% coverageABC News • 27 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 8 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 3 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 17 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 100.0% coverage
Selected voice

ABC News

100%flagged-word coverage
61 attributed words50% of attributed speech83% writer coverage
0%10.0%20.0%Biased Writer Voice-19.1 ptsWriter: 19.1%ABC News: 0.0%0.0%Quote-first Misdirection-10.7 ptsWriter: 10.7%ABC News: 0.0%0.0%Attempt to Sell a Product -8.6 ptsWriter: 8.6%ABC News: 0.0%0.0%Unattributed Quote-6.9 ptsWriter: 6.9%ABC News: 0.0%0.0%Indoctrination-3.6 ptsWriter: 3.6%ABC News: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.