Shrouded in Viral Mystery, Kai the Hitchhiker Gains a Cult Following

And on the eighth day, to quote a famous speech, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a caretaker."

So God, to paraphrase said speech, made Kai.

That's Kai the hitchhiker. Kai the hatchet-wielding saver of lives. Kai the longhaired viral sensation who's become known around the globe despite an off-the-grid lifestyle that's left him apparently oblivious to his burgeoning fame.

See, last Friday, down in Fresno, Calif., Kai helped save a man and a woman. He helped save them from an epithet-spewing, Jesus-invoking mountain of a man hell-bent on violence and destruction. The man had purposely ran his car into an African American utility worker then attacked the woman when she tried to intervene. His attack didn't stop until Kai, a drifter simply thumbing his way through town, went at him with a hatchet. The man lived, but the attack ended.

Kai then gave an all-time classic interview about the incident to KMPH FOX 26 reporter Jessob Reisbeck. The clip, featuring an epic "Smash! Smash! Suh-MASH!" hatchet reenactment, has since gone wildly viral online. (Check it out at the top of this post.)

Reisbeck's report and an unedited version of Kai's profanity-laced interview have been viewed on YouTube more than 1.6 million times since Saturday. People from as far away as Ireland and Australia have lauded Kai and his ebullient personality — part adrenaline-jacked stoner, part existential bodhisattva — as a paragon of positivity. Multiple Facebook Pages have sprung up in his honor. Reisbeck says a producer from Keeping Up With the Kardashians has even called his phone in hopes of getting in touch with Kai.

But there's just one problem.

Aside from a sporadic series of Facebook updates, Kai has disappeared from public view almost entirely. He's a chosen vagabond, largely cut off from communication, digital or otherwise. For now, at least, he exists apart from the mainstream world that so badly wants a piece of him.

"He's kind of like a superhero," Reisbeck tells Mashable. "He's impossible to get ahold of because he has no phone and he's this mysterious guy, but he has this hero status."

* * *

"Do you have a last name?" Reisbeck asked Kai during their Friday interview.

"No, bro," Kai said. "I don't have anything,"

* * *

The deed — some might call it a miracle — that made Kai famous almost went unnoticed.

Reisbeck is a sports reporter who's been helping out on the news beat for KMPH while the station looks to fill a position. He's all set to leave for a sports shoot Friday afternoon, when a call comes over the scanner. Someone's crashed into a utility worker. A drunk driver maybe? Then the next call comes over the scanner: a homeless guy with a hatchet is going after man with the car.

Reisbeck skips his sports shoot and heads over with a crew to investigate.

He's interviewing people, trying to piece together just what happened. Then the woman who was attacked by the crazed driver says, "There's the hero right there who saved my life."

Reisbeck gets the interview. Other news stations show up at the scene and look to get their five minutes with the longhaired, bandana-wearing hitchhiker who's apparently a hero. Reisbeck knows he has the first interview, but still his stomach sinks.

But Kai has one more trick up his sleeve.

"After the interview, all the other stations came up and he just lifted his hands said, 'No comment, bro,'" Reisbeck says. "In sports they say to win a major or to win a Super Bowl you need a little bit of luck. That was my little piece of luck."

Reisbeck's report goes viral.

* * *

Reisbeck's Kai coverage has since been featured on CNN, Jim Rome, The Soup and The Colbert Report. Cartoons and memes have been made in Kai's honor.

But until meeting with Reisbeck on Wednesday for a follow-up interview set to air later this week, Kai himself has had virtually nothing to say. No one, it seems, can get ahold of him. (Believe us, we've tried.)

A Facebook update from Monday:

Kai's most recent post, also from Monday:

* * *

Christian Worzalla lives in Wisconsin. He's 32 years old. He's never met Kai. He's one of the admins of the "Kai of Dogtown fanpage" on Facebook. He also runs a GoFundMe campaign that aims to raise $1,500 for Kai.

"There's people that see him as just just another meme — 'Hey, look at this guy. Crazy personality. Haha. Look at him,'" Worzalla tells Mashable. "Then you have the other group that really sees Kai as who he is and who they want him to be. His personality. That's what's garnered the most interest and support for him.'"

In two days, 32 people have donated $321 to the GoFundMe campaign.

"The Internet's an amazing place," Worzalla says.

* * *

During Reisbeck's second interview with Kai, on Wednesday, the one that will air later this week, they went back to the scene of the crime.

A man in a pickup truck drove by. "Kai! Is that you?" he yelled. The man — "star struck," according to Reisbeck — pulled over to take photos with Kai. But Kai still may not understand just how famous he's become.

"I don't think he has a total grasp on it," Reisbeck says. "It's only a matter of time before he does, but then he might never. I have no idea if he ever will. He doesn't have a smartphone, he's rarely near a computer, and those are the same type of people he's always around."

Rest assured, more "Smash! Smash! Suh-MASH!" autotunes will come. Kai's viral fame will grow. Maybe that producer from The Kardashians will finally get in touch, and who knows what he has to say.

But for now, little has changed, according to Reisbeck. Kai has designs on getting up to Humboldt County, but that's about it for the time being.

"He's just doing the exact same thing he's always done," Reisbeck says. "Living a homefree life, as he calls it. He's living the same homefree life that he's always lived, man."

Homepage image by hi5viralnews5 via YouTube