National Park After Dark - NPAD X Generation Why

Episode Date: July 17, 2025

In today’s exciting crossover episode we are joined by Aaron Habel from the Generation Why Podcast. We recap four of our most memorable NPAD true crime and mysterious disappearance cases, provide some updates and discuss what makes them so intriguing.  Aaron also brings us a story we have never covered that remains one of the most puzzling cases to ever come out of Yosemite.Listen and follow Generation Why wherever you get your podcasts!Listen to Watch Her Cook on Apple and Spotify! Follow us on InstagramFor a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodesFor the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:Instagram: @nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @nationalparkafterdarkSupport the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!Thank you to the week’s partners!Graza: Add Graza Olive Oil to your summertime patio party arsenal. Visit https://graza.co/NPAD and use promo code NPAD today for 10% off of the TRIO! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Monday AI agents took over my work. And I absolutely love it. Chasing deadlines, writing status reports, updating stakeholders. Agents handle the daily grind now. They live inside Monday.com. So they see the full picture, my work, my team, the whole company. And I don't have to worry about the data. It's safe, which means I'm free to focus on the big stuff,

knowing everything runs smoothly in the background. It's completely shifted the way we work. Create your own AI agent in minutes on Monday.com. Girl, winter is so last season. And now Springs got you looking at pictures of tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cutoffs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders. That perfect hang on the patio sundress.

Those sandals you can wear all day and all night. And you've had enough of shopping from your couch. Done hoping it looks anything like the picture when you tear up on that envelope. It's time for a little in-person spring treat. It's time for a trip to Ross. Work your magic. Hello everyone and welcome back to National Park After Dark. I'm Danielle. And I'm Cassie. And if you are a long-time listener, you're probably thinking, today's supposed to be trail tales. What is happening? Should I be afraid? Should I be concerned? And the answer is no. No, you don't need to be afraid or concerned. We're just switching things up a little bit this week. And we thought that it would be really fun. One, we have a really special guest today that we will jump into. But we thought that it would be fun because we're overfirm. four years into this now to kind of do a backtrack of some of our favorite episodes that we've

covered on the podcast and do like little recaps of some of our favorite mysteries and stories that have happened over the past few years. So we're going to dive into some of those today. Yeah. So today we are going, we chose two each. And then our guest chose a story that took place in Yosemite that is one of Yosemite's actually most infamous cases that we have yet to cover, haven't covered. So there's going to be a little something new. And even if you've heard all of the four stories that we're going to recap. But we decided to stick with the mysterious disappearances and true crime element. So we're going to do like a little flashback episode and have a little something new sprinkled in.

And we just figured, you know, last week we already kind of did a trail tales with our pod boyfriends tooth and claw. So if you're missing trail tales and missed last week's episode, it's right there for you. Yeah. Go check that one out. But for this one, if you are a true crime fan, then you have probably heard of the Generation Wide podcast and Aaron and Justin. Well, today we have Aaron on the podcast. The Generation Wide podcast released its first episode way back in 2012, which truly makes it one of the pioneers in the true crime genre, but also podcasting in general. I mean,

they're creeping up on their 700th episode. That's a lot of episodes. We're not even half that yet. We're getting there. You better imagine because we got a lot more to go. We got work to do, honey. Well, in the Generation Wide podcast, like Cassie said, Aaron and Justin, they're two friends, and they break down everything that we love as well, everything from unsolved murders, controversies, mysteries, conspiracies. I mean, they cover it all.

Yeah. So today, Aaron is here to tell us a story that surprisingly we've never covered on the podcast before and it takes place in Yosemite. So let's dive into this. We're really excited. Welcome to the show, Aaron. All right. Joining me today is Cassie and Danielle from National Park After Dark podcast. Hello.

Hello. Thank you so much for having us. We're excited to be here. Yeah, I'm really excited too. Been listening to some of your content, checking out your website. And, you know, I've covered some stuff in the past on some of my shows about stuff that happens in parks. but not like you have. I mean, your whole show is focused on this.

How did you get started and focused on national parks? Well, Cassie and I have been friends for a number of years, and we met at work when we were veterinary technicians at an animal hospital in New Hampshire. And we found ourselves spending a lot of time outside of work together in the outdoors, specifically in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, just because they were the closest by to us. And we kept having conversations that geared towards the darker events that had happened in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. And we just found ourselves more and more interested in going to more and more locations there because of those stories.

We've always had a darker interest in the macab and morbid and dark history. But in the outdoors, it just kind of was this perfect marriage of our interests. And so when we decided to do a cross-country move, Cassie went to another state and I went to the country to Washington to live for a number of years. We just took the conversations we were already having and started a podcast. And I guess the reason that we decided to kind of specifically center the stories in national parks is because national parks are so universal. They're so beloved. So many people can relate to them. Not everyone has been to or have heard of the White Mountains of New Hampshire, but everyone knows what Yellowstone is. And a number of people have been to Yosemite or

the Everglades. And so we decided to kind of center our stories there not only because of that, but because they have such a long history and so many stories within them. Oh, yeah. So one thing people may not realize is that the parks are not immune to murders, to disappearances. In fact, if you want to talk about disappearances, they're some of the most eerie because someone will be within eyesight. You can see them. You turn and then you look back and they're gone. You can call out to them, and this has happened many, many times, you'll never hear from them again. And despite days of searching, you won't find any evidence of them. Yeah. One of the most recent episodes that we did regarding a disappearance just like that was the disappearance of Trenny Gibson in the Great

Smoky Mountains. And it's just, it's bewildering. She was in the middle of a school field trip. There were dozens of people with her and hundreds of people on the trails that day. And she literally just vanished off of the trail and hasn't been seen or heard from again. And it's stories like that that really capture people's attention because they happen a lot. And there were so many people around, you would think, how does someone go missing on a school field trip? It's bewildering. Yeah. And I think with national parks, of course, when you're seeing these mysterious disappearances and just things that can happen there, sometimes there's a lot of people around. Sometimes you're in these remote areas, but places like the Great Smoky Mountains, there might be a lot of people around and you're on a trail,

but you're in the thick woods of this National Park. And once you step off those trails, I mean, you can really get hidden very quickly. And that's not to say people should be worried. Visiting a national park can be a great experience for you, your friends and family. And there are so many things just to take in. A lot of people find that when they go there, they can just stand and breathe the fresh air and look around in awe at nature. and it's all preserved and protected. Yeah, yeah, it is.

It's all preserved and protected. And, I mean, they say that National Parks are America's greatest idea because Yellowstone, of course, was the first one created. And now it's internationally. Lots of countries around the world have followed suit. And what we found in our podcast and telling these stories, even though some of them are dark, they're not meant to deter people from national parks, actually, exactly the opposite.

because you learn these stories and a lot of them, there's kind of these lessons that are in them of, okay, this happened, what can I do to be safer out here? How can I be a better steward in the outdoors? How can I make sure that I'm safe on these trails? So these mysterious disappearances that are happening or people who are overheating on the trail, no to bring maps, no to take enough water, no resources to reach out if you need help, things like that. So they're really interesting stories and sometimes they get dark, but at the end of the day, they're more to bring knowledge to people and to let them know how to recreate outside responsibly, but also just to get outside and have this experience now that feels richer because you know the history of what has happened there.

Yeah, I think it's so easy for people to get comfortable. A lot of people live in the city. They're not used to walking on a trail that if you get off the trail, just 15 feet off the trail, they may never find that trail again. I know that sounds insane, but that's the truth of it. Yeah, and we see that often. I mean, we haven't covered her case on the podcast, but we have a book club that we do every month with some of our listeners. And we collectively read when you find my body. And that was about Geraldine Large in, or Inchworm was her trail name. Off of the AT, she quite literally stepped off trail to use the bathroom behind a tree, got turned around. And she was eventually. found, but it was it was her body in years later. So people just, I think, really underestimate just how disorienting the wilderness can be, especially if you're not used to it. And even if you are, even if you're a seasoned outdoors person, you spend hundreds of hours outdoors, just knowing where

you are, what to do. And, you know, in these situations, it just could be, could make all the difference. So we hope by sharing stories that are sad and depressing at times that they can be used for good and to maybe change your experience in the future. Yeah, Geraldine Larga, I'm very familiar with that one. It was actually the first episode we ever had for Marooned with Jack Luna and I. And it's one of those cases where if you just know your tips, like know what you should do in certain circumstances. And there's this feeling that Geraldine, even though she was very experienced, she didn't want to mark where she was on the trail with her walking stick because she didn't want anyone to know she was using the bathroom back there. And so if she had just left her walking stick right

there, then people could have known where she went in at. And that would have been helpful. They would have found her most likely. Or if you're lost, you want to bring a whistle because if you have a whistle with you, your voice will give out very early on. But a whistle, you can blow that for, you know, as long as you can walk and talk. And it's interesting. Actually, a lot of backpacks come with on the strap. There's a whistle there. When you go and you are just looking for outdoor gear, a lot of them are fitted with a whistle for that same reason. Yeah, it's very convenient. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session. And this summer, Prime Originals have everything you want. Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book to screen favorites you've already read twice.

Off campus, L. Every year after, The Love Hypothesis, Sterling Point, and more. Low burns. Second chances. Chemistry you can feel through the screen. Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime. So did you want to talk a bit about some cases that have happened in the national parks? I know I brought one. I know you've brought several. So where do we want to start? Do you want to start, Danielle? Sure. So I brought two true crime-based stories that we have covered in the past. One was actually a story that I covered. And one is a story. story that Cassie is covered. And I brought some condensed versions of them and it's hard to choose quote unquote favorites, but these two really stuck with me throughout the last four years. So I guess I'll begin. I'll share one to start off with. And in episode 98, I titled it Unfinished Business. And we discussed one of Oregon's most perplexing and enduring unsolved homicide cases. And that is

the Crater Lake Murders. In July of 1952, two General Motors executives, 56-year-old Albert Jones and 53-year-old Charles Colhane were traveling through Southern Oregon on a business trip. When they failed to meet up with friends and business partners, concern mounted of where they were, their dark green 1951 Pontiac sedan was found parked at a scenic overlook right above Annie Creek Canyon, about three and a half miles from the entrance of Crater Lake National Park. And the car had its front doors open, the keys were in the ignition. It looked like they just stepped out to take in the views. but they weren't there.

And after calling for them and kind of searching around at a very base level, a formal search was dispatched. Two days later, their decomposing bodies were discovered about a quarter mile into the forest. They had obvious single gunshot wounds

to their heads. They were both shoeless. Their hands were bound and they were both gagged. Both men were wearing their business suits. However, Albert had removed his undershirt and then put his overshirt back on and strips of that undershirt that he had removed were used as the gags that they were that they had.

Both men wore dentures and both of them had been removed and were placed in their front shirt pockets. Their shoes or Albert shoes were eventually found nearby, but Charles were never recovered. And the men's socks showed no signs of dirt, which led investigators to believe that they had been instructed to, you know, take out their dentures, put them in their pocket, remove their shoes directly before they were executed. Autopsy reports indicate both men had been struck or kicked repeatedly in the groin, and the area, as the area showed severe bruising and trauma. Burns and gunpowder residue surrounded the entry wounds indicating the shots were made at a point-blank range, and Albert's skull was fractured. The time of death was estimated to be roughly 4 p.m. on July 19, and investigators scoured the scene but found very little evidence to work with besides two shell casings from a 32 automatic pistol at the scene. The FBI launched an extensive investigation compiling over 2,000 pages worth of reports. They conducted over 1,000 different interviews and performed hundreds of ballistic tests.

There were multiple witnesses that were interviewed, in particular an employee at a local lodge. And he reported seeing four men walking into the woods nearby this Annie Creek area and later heard what he described as two bangs. And the four men, two of them were, quote unquote, gruffy looking and the other two men, men were in business attire. So kind of matched the description of Albert and Charles and maybe two others. Several suspects were considered, including a California gang called the Mountain Mob, but no one was ever conclusively linked to this crime. Despite investigative efforts, potential leads and suspects, the case went cold and to this day remains unsolved, despite captivating public interest for over seven decades. And I covered this story in September of 2022, and that was kind of a

Very brief summary of the hour plus episode on it, but I kind of just refreshing my memory and looking into any updates since that has been published. And there has been a slight development. In 2011, a photojournalist named Monty Oric became really intrigued by this case during a family trip to this national park. He heard about it and just became really invested in it. And he began investigating the murders on his own. And in 2023, he published his findings in the book titled The Crater Lake Murders. And through his research, he reviewed the FBI's extensive case files. He conducted his own interviews and analyzed all the evidence that was available.

His investigation led him to a deathbed confession made in 1966 by a man named Oscar Arell. And Arell reportedly revealed to his wife right before he died that two men named Kenneth Moore and John Wesley Cole were the true killers of Albert and Colhane. after Arell claimed that Moore had confided in him about the murders. Orick believes Arrell's story is credible and that the FBI suppressed this information to avoid some sort of embarrassment because those two men, Moore and Cole, had been in the initial mix of the investigation originally, you know, decades ago. But they died before they could be questioned further. Orix's findings suggest that the murders were a botched robbery committed by Moor and Cole and believes that they were pretty much just opportunistic criminals who saw an opportunity in this isolated setting in this national park and took advantage of it. The FBI has not publicly acknowledged O'RIC's findings and no new arrests have been made, but there's clearly this renewed interest in the case that seems like it's developing a little bit more and maybe this will lead to some eventual new breakthrough.

in this case. But for now, it's one of the state's longest cold cases and it's just, it's so perplexing and it's, there's a lot of information there to have such little, there's no conclusion yet. So I'm really interested to see what comes of this, if anything, because it was quite the story. Yeah, I believe that the interest from the public really helps. It lets the authorities know, this is worth your time. We want to see this brought to a conclusion if possible. Yeah, that feels like a huge break in the case, too. That's so different from when you first originally told the story. I know. I know. And I looked up the book. I, like, I'm, you know, wanting to order. And of course, we're, our library is extensive. But yeah, just because when I did originally research it, one of, I believe it was

Albert's either Albert's daughter or granddaughter. I'm gosh, I mean, it's been two years since I've researched this, but she was really interested in solving this, this case because it was her family, right? So it's cool to see, and she only got so far with the information that she had available. So now with this new set of eyes and this renewed interest and now this whole book being written about it, I'm really interested to see where this is going to go because it was such a violent crime. You know, two people lost their lives. And it seemed like somebody knew something and it seems like that's true. And hopefully it'll come together. And just to drive it home, that is one of the most violent crimes has ever occurred in a national park, is it not? I mean, it's up there. Yeah. We've seen.

It's one of the most. It's one of the most. So, but yeah, this two men being executed point blank range and physically assaulted beforehand is pretty bad. Yeah. Yeah. But it feels like, it feels like a really promising lead there to have someone have a deathbed confession that is linked to someone who is already being questioned back when this case originally happened. It feels like, even if it doesn't come to be that that's exactly what happened, it feels like a smoking. It feels like where there's smoke, there's fire.

And it's going to lead to something. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So I can either go next or unless you want to go Cassie. Cassie should go. Yeah.

I'm happy to go. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Let me see. Well, my next story that I just want to talk about. And as Danielle had mentioned before, she picked two stories that have just stuck with her for the past four years that we've been doing National Park After Dark. And I picked, I kind of.

I kind of went on the mysterious side of mysterious disappearances, and I wanted to talk about a case that I covered really early on when we started National Park After Dark because it has, it has to this day remained one of my favorite mysterious disappearances just because I think that there's a lot of questions and speculation that surround this case. So going into like how early I covered this, this was episode 22. So this was back in 2021, some of the first cases that we ever really did. And in this one, I brought us back nearly a century to the dramatic cliffs and roaring waters of the Grand Canyon. Because in 1928, this became the setting of one of America's most enduring mysteries, the disappearance of newlyweds Glenn and Bessie Hyde. Glenn Hyde had grown up in Idaho and was already an experienced riverrunner by the time he married Bessie, an aspiring writer from West Virginia.

Rather than take a traditional honeymoon, the couple set out to raft the Colorado River through the heart of the Grand Canyon. If they succeeded, Bessie would have become the first woman in recorded history to navigate the full stretch of the canyon by boat. They chose an unconventional vessel, a sweep scow. It was flat-bottomed and long and had historically been used to haul mining equipment, not brave whitewater rapids. Glenn had built himself one for this trip specifically, and although friends had warned them about the river's dangers, the inadequacies of the boat that he had specifically built for this and encouraged them that they really needed to bring life jackets. Glenn refused all of the offers of safer equipment and of all of the advice that was offered to him. Undeterred from the warnings and without the life

jackets, the couple launched on October 20th, 1928 from Green River, Utah. Along the way, they successfully passed through more than 200 miles of dangerous river. In late November and on schedule they arrived at Grand Canyon Village and hiked up to the south rim to stock up on supplies. There they met Emery Colb, a photographer who lived and worked on the canyon's edge. He took a portrait of them before they returned to the river, which he couldn't have known at the time, would be one of the last known images of the couple ever taken. And this was also the last time that they were ever seen. When Glenn's father hadn't heard from them by early December, he raised the alarm.

A plane was dispatched to search the river, and on December, 20th, the pilot spotted their boat near River Mile 232. It was upright and fully intact, inside were clean clothes, Bessie's journal, and an undeveloped camera. There were no signs of a struggle and no sign of either of them on the boat. What they did find was Bessie's last diary entry, which was dated on November 30th, almost a month prior to them finding this boat. Search party scoured the area. Glenn's father even hired dozens of indigenous men to help because of their expertise in navigating the terrain there, but they left behind no tracks. They found no sign of a campsite, nor did they find their remains. And what was really peculiar about this finding is how

intact this boat was. If they had capsized, their things would have been thrown over. If they had gotten off the boat, there should be some sign of campsites. So with nothing to follow at all and nowhere to look, eventually the search ended and many assumed that they had just died in the rapid somehow. However, over the years, other theories did emerge. Some people suspected foul play. There were rumors that Glenn had been abusive and Bessie may have killed him and then went on the run. Others speculated the reverse, that Glenn had killed Bessie, then disappeared into the wilderness himself.

In 1971, while a guide told the story of the hides to a group of tourists on a rafting trip, an older woman stood up and claimed that she was Bessie Hyde. She said that she had stabbed her husband after he beat her during the trip. The group was stunned, but later under questioning this woman recanted her story. There were almost no breaks in the case until almost 50 years later. In 1976, a discovery on Emery Colb's property, the photographer who was the last known person to see the couple alive, reignited the mystery. His grandson found a human skeleton tucked away in a storage area on his property.

The remains match Glenn's general description, and there was a bullet hole in his skull. For a time, many believed that the mystery of, have been solved. But forensic tests later confirmed that the remains didn't belong to Glenn Hyde. In fact, they were eventually identified as a man who had died by suicide in the park in 1933. Then came one final strange twist. In 1992, after a woman who was a pioneering river guide in the Grand Canyon passed away, her friends found a pistol, a birth certificate under a different name, and, astonishingly, Glenn and Bessie Hyde's original marriage certificate in her belongings. And I will leave you with that as a little mystery. If you, if you want to check out

episode 22, I dive much deeper into this woman, but it was this very curious. This is still an unsolved mystery. We still don't know what's going on. But I mean, this woman kind of popped up out of nowhere and suddenly had the belongings. Her name was Bessie. She was a river guide. She was in the Grand Canyon. And people have mixed feelings of whether or not she had a connection or not, which I do go into more in that. But it's just this enduring mystery that has really captured the hearts of a lot of people. And if you're on a rafting trip in the Grand Canyon, there's no question that you're going to learn about Glenn and Bessie Hyde. Yeah, I read up on that.

And that's a fascinating situation, just her having some of those items. And I know not everyone's convinced, but there's a lot of mystery there. And it makes it very intriguing. Even if she wasn't Bessie, it adds a lot of question to who was. and why did she have this stuff? And because people just have no idea her connection at all to them. So even if she is not Bessie, which some people say she is, some say she isn't, it just raises even more questions about this. So since we're talking about national parks, you know, I found this case you could say that's set in Yosemite. And Yosemite National Park is obviously one of the most

famous in the world. And I looked into how Yosemite came to be. And, you know, as a federally protected land anyway. And it goes back to 1864 when Abraham Lincoln put that into law. It was the U.Semite land grant. And then there was a man put in charge of it named Galen Clark. And he has a quote that I think is a beautiful quote. He said, I have seen persons of emotional temperament stand with tearful eyes, spellbound and dumb with awe as they got their first view of the Valley from Inspiration Point, overwhelmed in the sudden presence of the unspeakable, stupendous grandeur. I love that quote.

That's quite a lot. And you feel it. Like for anyone who has been there, I mean, that really, that is everything I wish I knew how to say about it. You know, the first time you go to Yosemite, have you been there? I have not been there myself. I've had family members go there and they've shown me pictures. It's stunning.

Yeah. It is. It's quite something. I will get there someday because it's just when I had the chance to go before, I was a young man and I wanted to go hang out with friends and things like that. Now that I'm older, I want to go check out these national landmarks and be in awe myself. I think we can all relate to that. Yeah, it's an incredible place to be. So thankfully, after Abraham Lincoln signed that into law, John Muir came along.

He's also known as John of the Mountains and father of the national parks because he came along and said, no, we need more protection. for these parks. And so one of the funny things I read about him was he got upset about the grazing livestock that was just chewing up the land. He called them hooved locusts. So he said we need to protect these lands from loggers, from the locusts. And because of his passion and all the writings that he did and the magazines and everything, then in 1890, the land around Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia became part of Yosemite National Park. And the National Park Service was created in 1916. So it just snowballed from there.

And I think the great thing is, is a lot of people would just say, well, there's land over there, there are trees there. There might be a waterfall. Now with these national parks, we have places we can go. And there's a purpose. Because in our daily lives, we get caught up with, you know, doing our work and feeding our families, maybe watching a movie. But when you get out to these national parks, it's a chance to really just leave your

normal life behind and take in that fresh air and get in those views. So my story actually concerns a young woman. In 1981, she was 14 years old. Her name was Stacey Ann Aris. And for some reason, she was going to go on this trip with her dad. They lived in Saratoga, California, and they were going to travel to Yosemite National Park. I think it's about 170 miles. Her dad's name is George.

He actually worked as a building inspector. And they were going to do this four-day trip on what's called the High Sierra Loop at Tuolami Meadows. So there's a group of 10 people. They ride mules on the John Muir Trail heading to the sunrise Sierra Camp. And then when they get there, they rest. And at some point, she, meaning Stacy, takes a shower and she takes a rest. But then she's going to take a mile and a half hike along the trail to Sunrise Lake. She has a camera with her.

She wants pictures. And she has someone to go with her. And this is a guy in his 70s named Gerald Stewart. Now, we don't really know how they met or anything, but he was part of the group. And for some reason, her dad didn't want to go with her. So Gerald agrees to go, so she's not alone. But then as they're traveling there, he starts to get really tired. Now, he's in his 70s.

We're talking about elevation here. So he decides, I'm going to sit and rest. And Stacy, who's wearing flip-flops, not exactly hiking shoes because she didn't want to wear the ones her dad told her to wear for some reason. She decides, I'm going to go ahead and get the pictures I want of the lakes. So she goes on ahead. Now, apparently, people had seen her walk away a bit. And the only person that we know for sure saw her last, apart from Gerald, was the group leader. He was known as a Wrangler or the head guide, but his name was Chris Grimes.

And he said he saw her kind of looking out on a rock towards probably the lakes, I'm guessing, and she had her camera with her. So next thing anybody knows, she's just gone. So Gerald at some point, he's rested. He gets up and he heads down to where he thinks she's going to be and even runs into a group of people. It's a small group. I think there are three people, a woman and two men, I think. And he says, Hey, did you see a young lady on your way up this way? And they said, no, we didn't see anybody. So he continues down. And as he's looking around, he thinks, well, I'm not seeing her on the trail. Maybe she left the trail because she does have a camera with her. She's trying to get good pictures.

Maybe she left the trail to go take pictures of the lakes. But he can't find her. So he heads back. And he has to tell her dad and everyone else, well, Stacey's missing. And they're like, what? So immediately there are staff from the Sunrise High Sierra Camp who head out. And what they do is they just head down that trail. And they're just trying to think, okay, well, she headed down this trail. We should be able to find her because maybe she left the trail for a moment, but she'll be back. They walk all around, but they can't find her. So now they know it's serious.

So they have to get a hold of park rangers, park personnel, volunteers. They get over 80 people. They get six dog teams. They get two helicopters. And they start searching the entire area using grid search. And this, this is what I like about this is it shows the concern, you know, these people immediately put things together to help find this young lady. And, you know, this is understanding what kind of terrain they're dealing with. There are large boulders. The trees are strewn everywhere.

There are crevasses. There are ravines. So, you know, you don't really know what could have happened to her. But at this point, they're thinking she's just lost. They'll find her. But by July 26th, this is more than eight days later. They call up the search. I mean, the sad part is, is when someone gets lost in a national park, there's a lot of territory to cover it because so much is protected. And there aren't people that live there. So they're having to search areas that people might not have been in for a while, too. So they're looking all over from the air, from the land. But also this land is so dry because it's not had any rain in a while that they said it hampers the search for the dog teams.

Because the dog teams need a scent. And they're not getting a scent if everything's so dry. That's what they claim. So they call up the search because of the money and the time that was spent. And they're not getting anywhere. In fact, in that entire time, the only thing that they found that was any evidence of Stacey having been there was the lens cap for her camera. And it was found very close to where she had been standing when Chris Grimes had seen her. So now we have to get into what could have happened to Stacey.

You know, some people point at Gerald, the 70-some-year-old man who was supposed to go with her. Did he sit and rest? It seems like he did, you know, but could they have had an argument and he got angry and did something to her? We just don't know, you know, but no one at the time seemed to indicate they thought he was suspicious or at least anybody that's spoken about this because there is a report on this. And I'll get to that in a minute. But another idea was she'd been missing her boyfriend. She'd also been reportedly having troubles at home and school. So maybe this trip was her and her dad getting away. It's almost like an intervention. Like, hey, let's get you out of your situation. Let's go on a trip together. Let's bond. Like, maybe that's what she needed, but maybe she was still missing her boyfriend. So maybe she decided to leave. That seems unlikely because there are park rangers that, you know, will check with you going in or out. And as we know, Yosemite is quite popular. There's a trail of cars to get in. So the other idea, though, and we talked about this earlier, is if you're on a trail in a national park, then you can easily get lost. Because if you just head off the trail. It doesn't take long before you're looking around and everything looks the same.

You don't see the trail. It's not like it's painted orange. So if you leave that trail, you could get injured. You could fall into a ravine. You could break your ankle. You could get a concussion. You could get knocked unconscious. And by the time anybody looks for you, you've already succumbed to the elements. I mean, it gets really cold at night, freezing temperatures. And that's even during the summer. So the other idea was, what if an animal got to? Or we know there are cougars out there. There are bears. But the amount of people who've lost their lives to animals out there is quite low. So it's probably not even worth bringing up. It's just a very outside possibility.

So you bring it up. But one of the things I found most interesting is there's a channel on YouTube. It's hosted by Nick Kyle. It's called The Missing Enigma. And what I liked about his take on this was he went into how Yosemite has a case file. And it's 2,000 pages long or so. And he talked about David Politis wanted this case file. and he submitted FOIA requests.

He's not the only one. But he actually took it pretty far and tried to get them to release it. And they keep denying him. And they are not going to release it, they say, because it's an active investigation. Now, that seems unlikely. I mean, have they done searches in the past 30 years? I mean, I don't know. But it's their right to hold on that case file.

But the major thing that we learned from this because of the denial of the appeal was that Yosemite lists this as a homicide case. And so there's this idea. there that with this huge case file, they might know something more than we know. And there might be some indication that tells them that something bad happened to Stacey Eris that no one's mentioned yet, or maybe as mentioned, but not to the detail that they have. That's so interesting. I mean, of course, any mysterious disappearance is intriguing and makes you wonder and consider all of those options that you just outlined. But it's very telling, to me at least, that the National Park

service is listing this as a homicide. They don't do that for no reason, especially when it feels like the most probable thing that happened was she got lost or succumb to the elements in some way or injured that led to her death or, you know, any of those things, which we see in the vast majority of cases, especially the mysterious disappearances that finally get a conclusion decades later. After all of these options are put on the table, it winds up being something like that. They got lost. and died either of an injury, the elements or starvation, dehydration, things like that. So for them to list this as a homicide, they would not do that unless they had some sort of evidence that they're withholding for probably very good reasons that is telling of that.

So I'm just, I did not know that. I'm familiar with her case a little bit, but we've never covered it at length. So that's really interesting. Yeah, I hope the case file gets released. I mean, there is some hope because the Dennis Martin case file was released a few years ago. And that was quite a lengthy report. I don't know that we really learned a lot, but it was really cool to see all of the stuff that they had included. And so there's hope that maybe one day they released this other file, but with it being listed, at least their suspicion is homicide, there must be a good reason.

So I know there's a lot of debate over that, but we just want answers. and even though her family is gone now, essentially, I think she has siblings left. Her father actually died. He was the last parent to pass. And let me look up the date here, but he passed April 12, 2003. His wife had died some years earlier. They never found out what happened to their daughter. And that's the tough part about these cases is we feel empathy for the families.

We want them to have some kind of answers. And, you know, like the case you brought up, when there are breaks, maybe we get enough information. and we feel like, okay, we finally have some understanding here. And that's got to help. Yeah. And I think that it's pretty common for, like Danielle was saying, that sometimes things aren't released. But of course, as the public, we want to know, especially when you're looking at a homicide, is there a danger for the public? Or what happened to your, you know, like, how could this have been prevented?

And it's interesting that you chose this story because another story that I chose is very similar in this where the park service. went on in, or I should say the investigation team because it wasn't just the park service. They labeled this disappearance as a homicide that I was going to bring to this episode, but they never released why they thought it was a homicide. So there's a lot of questions around it. So I think that's a good segue to go into my next story. So in a bonus episode that is available on our Patreon and Apple subscriptions, I covered the story of Stephanie Stewart. She was a wide. Wildfire lookout who vanished without a trace in 2006 from a remote fire tower just outside of Jasper National Park in Canada. Despite her disappearance, sparking a major investigation, no one has ever been charged and her case remains unsolved to this day.

Stephanie Stewart was 70 years old when she disappeared, but don't let her age fool you because she was in great shape and she was incredibly active. She hiked Mount Kilmenjaro, she cycled across Canada, and for 13 summers she worked alone at the Athabasca Fire Lookout. The lookout tower offered sweeping views of the Rockies and sat along a remote hiking trail. Stephanie lived in a small cabin at the base and spent her days scanning the forest for smoke. She'd check in over the radio with her supervisors multiple times a day and she rarely missed a call. So on the morning of August 26, 2006, when Stephanie failed to check in, her co-worker suspected something was wrong. Her supervisor tried to radio her but couldn't get through. At one point, he heard someone pick up on the other end, but there were silence and then the call dropped.

He tried again, then the same thing happened, and then nothing. Now, very concerned, he drove out to the site. When he arrived, he saw that Stephanie's truck was still there, but when he went inside the cabin to find her, she was gone. Strangely, he noted that there was still a pot of boiling water on the stove. He then checked the fire tower, which was empty, and saw that the radio had been unplugged. Authorities were notified with the police arriving shortly after, and they found troubling signs at the scene. Blood on the door and stairs. Missing items, including her bedding and a gold watch, but there were no signs of a struggle outside.

Early theories included a possible accident, an animal attack, or even a voluntary disappearance, but none of those really made any sense. Stephanie knew the area well, so it was unlikely that she would get lost. She had no personal issues or debts that she needed to escape from, and she had just spoken to her daughter the night before, and everything seemed fine. Despite no other real evidence, police quickly shifted the case to a homicide investigation. Over 100 searchers combed the area by land and air, but found nothing. No clues, no footprints, no signs of her at all.

In the following weeks, when there were still no signs of Stephanie, her disappearance raised serious concerns about safety precautions that were being taken to protect fire lookouts. She'd been alone. She had no access to a portable radio to carry with her in case she needed help when she was away from the tower. And the location of the lookout wasn't exactly common knowledge, but it was very close to a popular hiking trail and would be easy for outsiders to access. Public pressure led to changes, new safety equipment, locked gates at tower sites, and improved communication tools for workers. Despite the progress with the newly implemented safety protocols, the search for Stephanie ended and her case went cold. Then, in 2010, a separate case made headlines.

Lyle and Marie McCann, an elderly couple, went missing while traveling in their RV. Their vehicle was found burned and a man named Travis Vader was later convicted in their deaths, though their bodies were never recovered. Vader had a long criminal history and was known to be in the area near the Athabasca lookout around the time that Stephanie had vanished. Though never named as a suspect, some have speculated about a connection, especially since Stephanie's watch was missing, possibly taken in a robbery in which Vader had a history of committing. The case remained cold, but in 2018, 12 years later, the police conducted a large-scale search in the region again. They never explained why publicly, even though people did ask, and once more, nothing turned up, or nothing was reported.

Today, Stephanie Stewart's case remains open. There is a $20,000 reward available for anyone with information that leads to solve. her case and her missing person's flyer is still pinned on the wall at the fire lookout tower where she once stood watch. Anyone who knows anything is encouraged to reach out to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and let them know. But again, I cover this in more more in depth on our Patreon and outsider subscription, but it just really reminded me of the story that you just told as well, just because it has, they've never released a lot of this information publicly. They've never released some of the stuff that they found at the scene and they've never released why they did

this extra search. So there's a lot of public question of what's going on here and a lot of missing answers. Yeah, I think one of the ongoing debates is why are these case files being held on to guarded so closely if so much time has passed? On a lot of these cases, whoever might have been involved is probably not even living anymore. At this point, we're just trying to fill in the story. And that's helpful to descendants, you know, the children of these people or the children of these people or their cousins or their other family members and friends that remember them. But it seems like there is this holding on of information. And I just hope they have good reason for it. Because sometimes I wonder if they're doing it because they can. Well, in my final story, we do have some answers. And even though

those answers leave some more questions as to motive and, you know, lack of maybe justice that you would think, we do have at least some information. And this episode was, you know, covered by Cassie in episode 72, and she titled it A Martyr and a Murder, and it took place in Everglades National Park. And again, this is one of my favorite stories ever told on National Park After Dark, especially because it has big ties to conservation. And that is one of our big themes in the show. But it is true crime themed as well. And it is the murder of Guy Bradley. Born in April of 1870 in Chicago, Illinois, Guy Bradley moved to Florida, with his family at a very young age and grew up in the Everglades.

He fell in love with the area. He became intimately familiar with its ecosystem and its wildlife. And he particularly loved its population of various species of beautiful birds. The Everglades was and remains a hotspot for wild birds. It plays a crucial role in supporting a diverse population of them that numbers around 350 different species, many of which are rare or endangered. Back in Guy's day, the plume hunting industry was at an all-time high, as demand for bird feathers used in women's fashion was all the rage, especially in big, beautiful hats. Guy witnessed the devastating impact of overhunting on bird population's firsthand and became an advocate for bird conservation.

In 1902, the Florida Audubon Society appointed him as one of the nation's first-ever game wardens. His role was to patrol the vast and remote Everglades region, enforcing laws that prohibited the hunting of birds, particularly egrets and herons, whose feathers were highly sought after. His position was not a secret, and his stance on plume hunting wasn't either. He had several altercations with plume hunters over the years within the Everglades, and a target was pretty much put on his back for his advocacy and protection as a warden. On the morning of July 8, 1905, Bradley heard gunshots near his home in Flamingo, Florida. suspecting illegal hunting activity, he set out on his small boat to investigate where he encountered Walter Smith, a notorious poacher along with Walter's two sons. The Smith family had a history of poaching offenses and Bradley had previously arrested Smith's eldest son, whose name was Tom, on several occasions. Bradley attempted to arrest one of the young men for illegal hunting, which they were doing, but an argument erupted, and Smith, who had previously threatened to kill Bradley if he ever arrested his family.

family again, opened fire with a rifle, fatally wounding the game warden. Bradley's body was discovered the following day, a drift in his boat, approximately 10 miles from the scene of the shooting. He had blood to death from his injuries. And Smith did eventually turn himself into authorities in Key West that following day, but despite evidence presented by the prosecution, including the fact that Bradley's weapon had not been fired during the incident, despite Smith claiming self-defense, the jury found Smith not guilty. He served only five months in jail during which Bradley's brothers-in-law took matters into their own hands and burnt down Smith's home in Flamingo. The acquittal of Walter Smith and the circumstances surrounding Guy Bradley's death sparked a national outrage.

The case received widespread media attention with detailed stories published in prominent newspapers. Conservationists and women's groups, particularly those involved in the suffrage movement, rallied against the use of bird feathers and fashion. The Florida Audubon Society played a pivotal role in these efforts, organizing campaigns and raising funds to support Bradley's family. In the following years, after his murder, several significant legislative actions were taken to curb the plume trade. In 1910, the New York legislature passed the Audubon Plumage Act, which prohibited the sale of bird feathers. And this law was followed by different measures in other states. And in 1913, Congress passed the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which provided federal protection for migratory bird species, which was just a huge leap when it comes to conservation. Guy Bradley's legacy as a martyr for environmental conservation is commemorated through various honors and memorials.

In 1988, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation established the Guy Bradley Award, which is presented annually to wildlife officers who demonstrate exceptional service and dedication to conservation law enforcement. is a trail within Everglades National Park leading from the Flamingo Visitor Center to the Flamingo Campground, named in Guy Bradley's honor. And the Flamingo Visitor Center itself was actually later renamed to the Guy Bradley Bradley Visitor Center where his gravestone is on display along with a plaque, which reads, quote, Audubon Warden was shot and killed off this shore by Outlaw Feather Hunters, July 8, 1905. His martyrdom created nationwide indignation strengthened bird protection laws and helped bring everglades national park into being. So that is one of my favorite stories, not only because of the conservation aspects, but because it kind of tells this origin story for national parks. And a lot of times there are dark stories like this that do

serve as the foundation for why national parks exist. And that is lost on a lot of visitors because Because sometimes it's, I mean, Everglades has a great job at commemorating Guy Bradley and named a lot of things after him. But sometimes you have to search extra hard for those stories, but they do exist. And when you know them, you just, there's just such a greater appreciation that you get for the places that you're in. So that's why that's definitely one of my favorite stories that we ever shared. Yeah, there's just the interesting aspects that we would cover if it's a missing person or a mur, but then there's that other story of this, involved a person who was making a difference and continue to make a difference even after they're gone. So human interest stories is really what we're looking at. Yeah, absolutely. It was one of my favorite stories to learn about because I actually first heard of that story while I was on a trip to the Everglades and I took a boat trip into the waters and into all the marshes and stuff and the groves and saw the birds that he had been protecting. And the ranger there actually told the story while we were riding through these mangroves and seeing all these birds. And it was just really incredible. And after that, I bought a book

that told the story in full. And it's also one of my favorite stories that I've researched. Well, excellent. Well, let's wrap this up. My website is genypod.com. And we're on all of the podcast apps. I know it's funny. Spotify has become the number one podcast app. Is this surprising to you? Not to me. I'm a Spotify girl. I love Spotify. Yeah, there's something about the way they allow you to these lists and things, then at the end of the year, they tell you your top podcast, your top bands, top songs and all this. And I hope this creates more of an interest in the parks for the listeners. I know my goal is to get to Yosemite and some of these other parks around the country around the world if I can get there. So thanks for being on and I look forward to hearing from you again.

Yeah, thank you so much. This was really, it was fun to look back on all these stories. and it was interesting to learn the one that you brought. So thank you. Yeah, thanks so much. Well, thank you, Erin, for joining us today. It's been great having you here. If you guys are interested in listening to the Generation Why podcast, you can find them wherever you listen to your podcast. And you can also follow them on Instagram at Generation Y Podcast. And for everyone else, we will see you back here next week. In the meantime, enjoy the view. But watch you're back. Bye, everyone. Bye.

Thank you for joining us again this week. If you love National Park After Dark and want to hear exclusive bonus stories, join us on Patreon or Apple subscriptions. Patreon subscribers have access to our National Park After Dark book club, live streams, discord, and much more. If you prefer to watch our episodes, video episodes are now available on YouTube. If you're enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate, review, and subscribe on your favorite listening platform. And to follow along with all our adventures, you can find us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and X at National. Park After Dark. You're listening to this podcast, so I know you've got a curious mind.

Here's a helpful fact you may not know yet. Drivers who switch and save with Progressives save over $900 on average. Pop over to Progressive.com, answer some questions, and you'll get a quick quote with discounts that are easy to come by. In fact, 99% of their auto customers earn at least one discount. Visit Progressive.com and see if you can enjoy a little cash back. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $946 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2024 and May 2025.

Potential savings will vary.