According to history, in 1846 a caravan of immigrants to the Wild West got stuck in the snow-covered mountains of the Sierra Nevada. The consequences of wintering were terrible, the testimonies of the few surviving eyewitnesses were too incredible and confusing, and over time, grains of facts were overgrown with dubious sensational details... And now, almost two centuries later, the young archaeologist Nora Kelly is leading an expedition to find the Lost Camp - one of the wintering camps - and reveal its long-buried secrets. The search, one might say, was crowned with success, but... the truth turns out to be worse than any speculation. Past and present are linked by a dark secret - which is why FBI Special Agent Corrie Swanson arrives at the excavation site. She is new to the Bureau, but it soon becomes clear to her that her first investigation may well be the last...