In November 2018, Chau, a 26 year old American missionary and self described adventurer, knew that North Sentinel Island, located in the Indian Ocean, was considered one of the most isolated places on Earth. He knew that its inhabitants, the Sentinelese, are a pre neolithic tribe that has maintained strict isolation for 60,000 years. He knew their separation from the outside world was their only protection from diseases that would devastate them within days, diseases like the common cold, which his body carried and their bodies had zero immunity to. He knew all this, and he went anyway.

Chau paid local fishermen to smuggle him past the Indian navy patrol zone. He used a small kayak to make the final approach alone, carrying a waterproof Bible and gifts like fish and footballs. His journals revealed a man convinced he was on a divine mission to convert the tribe, completely disregarding both local laws and the biological risks.

His first attempt at contact ended with a clear warning. A young tribesman shot an arrow that pierced the Bible Chau was holding. He retreated to the fishing boat, shaken but determined. He wrote in his journal, asking if the island was the last stronghold of Satan, yet he chose to return the next morning.

The fishermen dropped him off on the beach for the last time. Through binoculars, they later saw the tribesmen dragging his body across the sand. Indian authorities ultimately decided not to recover his body, recognizing that any retrieval effort would force unwanted contact and potentially wipe out the entire tribe with outside germs. A mission framed around salvation ended as a tragic lesson in extreme arrogance.