Compiled list of crime facts on the trail

[CelesteWV]

Before setting out for a large section of the AT with my boyfriend, we are researching anything and everything that has to do with the trail, including history, for help, and because we just love information and we go on researching binges when something new comes into our lives. We've done small sections of the AT here and there, but are planning to do a large 3 wk or month lond one soon.
I just finnished reading "a Walk in the Woods" a very entertaining and informative book. I liked it a lot, he's reading it now.

One subject that I am having difficulty finding concise info. on is the murders that have taken place on or near the trail. This is not an offset for us, we just want to be educated about it. What I am in search of (and I intend to read that book about the two murders) is a sort of list, including the year the terrible act took place, and location on or near the trail, and any motives or lack thereof. I do not wish to be disrecpectful at all, I am merely interested to know the facts.

If anyone has this compiled information and can point me to where it might be, I would be very appreciative. Thanks in advace, and my personal sympathy goes out to all the loved ones of such victims in their healing travels.

[wilconow]

This article has some info at the bottom

http://www.aldha.org/murders.htm

[bulldog49]

Of the thousands of books written about the AT, "A Walk In The Woods" is the last one I would read if I was doing serious research about it.

It's like watching the "Bad News Bears" if you're interested in becoming a baseball player.

[warraghiyagey]

Of the thousands of books written about the AT, "A Walk In The Woods" is the last one I would read if I was doing serious research about it.

It's like watching the "Bad News Bears" if you're interested in becoming a baseball player.
Excellent analogy.

[peakbagger]

Heres a listing from the obs website of fatalities in the presidential range (that the AT traverses). You need to scroll down a bit.
http://http://www.mountwashington.org/about/visitor/surviving.php

I expect if you compare the list to the number of criminal fatalities in the same area,you are much more likely to have a accident than a crime occur

[Appalachian Tater]

The A.T. passes through a lot of jurisdictions so there is no central crime database. The individual jurisdictions don't separate out crimes as "on the trail" & "not on the trail". Most crimes probably involve vandalism or theft. There seem to be a good number of rapes and of course the occasional murder. A lot of time spent googling news sources is probably your best hope, but you're only going to find more major crimes, not busted car windows or stolen packs. It is probably an impossible task.

[shelterbuilder]

The A.T. passes through a lot of jurisdictions so there is no central crime database. The individual jurisdictions don't separate out crimes as "on the trail" & "not on the trail". Most crimes probably involve vandalism or theft. There seem to be a good number of rapes and of course the occasional murder. A lot of time spent googling news sources is probably your best hope, but you're only going to find more major crimes, not busted car windows or stolen packs. It is probably an impossible task.

My thoughts exactly! I'm guessing that the most common crime along the trail would be vandalism of parked cars, because most of the parking areas are unpatrolled rural parking areas. And I believe that the farther away from "civilization" that you walk, the safer you are: most criminals are lazy, and would rather have targets that are easier to find.

The serious crimes that occur along the trail (rapes, murders) tend to get LOTS of media coverage, but the general public forgets that the reason these crimes are SO newsworthy is because they happen on the trail SO infrequently. I've always told my non-hiking friends (who worry too much about my safety on the trail) that I feel safer on the trail than I do in my own backyard!

You might try asking your questions at ATC headquarters, but I'm guessing that they would be reluctant to talk about it, even if they have such information.

[Programbo]

Of the thousands of books written about the AT, "A Walk In The Woods" is the last one I would read if I was doing serious research about it.
It's like watching the "Bad News Bears" if you're interested in becoming a baseball player.

I agree..It seems to me most of the books about hiking the AT are to artsy and poetic and looking to find some deep meaning for it all...I prefer books in the older style of Garvey, Ryback, etc which are more just day by day accounts of the hike naming points of interest passed and interesting hike related adventures..You could just picture the hike in your mind and follow along with them..I`ve read some recent "Trail Journal" type things and it`s just page after page of meals,hostels and comical characters which while they may be PART of the thru-hike experience aren`t the only part..I swear I`ve read TJ's and after 500 miles of hiking they only mention actually hiking like 2-3 times....But back to the original question..I am sure there has been a lot more crime along the AT then you may find accounts of from any of the common sources..But even at that I am also sure it is far less than any typical urban area by far

[Wags]

i enjoy reading steven ambrose's "Undaunted Courage" over the winter. that puts my hiking/backpacking trips into perspective. i don't understand why you would do this. are you trying to freak yourselves out? it'd be like reading a city's crime report before driving into it, or reading a state's DMV accidents and deaths report before driving through a state. but i guess whatever works for you :D

[Lauriep]

Eight people have been murdered on or near the A.T. with a clear A.T. connection (that includes Meredith Emerson); in addition, two women were murdered in Shenandoah National Park in 1996 on a horse trail where they were camped. Although this was near the A.T., our understanding from the investigators is that they were doing day-hikes not centered on the A.T., and were last seen at Skyland Lodge. A strong A.T. link has never been proven or disproven.

Each year there are (reported to ATC) typically zero to three deaths by heart attack, zero to three deaths by falls (sometimes involving alcohol), and zero to three deaths related to hypothermia or heat stroke/dehydration. There are a number of non-fatal falls and other injuries. Rapes are relatively rare but several have been reported in the trail's history, including one horrific incident involving four women in Tennessee (1980, if my memory serves me correctly). The last rape was several years ago. There may be others that have not been reported to us.

Vandalism is the most frequent crime, but we estimate only one in four (or fewer) cases is reported to us. Whenever you are a victim of vandalism or you observe vandalism (or any other crime, or even conditions that make you uneasy) please report it to local law enforcement and ATC at incident@appalachiantrail.org.

For information on where vandalism has occurred (that we know about) and tips on preventing vandalism, go to our shuttle and public transportation list at http://www.appalachiantrail.org/transportation.

For general safety tips, go to our website at http://www.appalachiantrail.org/safetyawareness. Overall, crime on the A.T. is about average compared to other national parks, and safer than many communities in the U.S., but there are risks.

On a personal note, I'm getting ready for a hike (on the A.T., of course) so I won't be able to answer any emails or PMs for the next week.

Laurie P.
ATC

[rickb]

This was posted on White Blaze a couple years ago, so it obvioulsy doesn't include Meredith Emerson's name.

_____________________________

November 2001 — [Backpacker 0402] Hiker, Louise Chaput, 52, a psychologist from Sherbrook, Quebec, was found stabbed to death about 200 yards from the Glen Boulder Trailhead at the foot of New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington. Chaput began a solo hike in the area on November 15, 2001, and when she failed to return, officials launched a 3-day manhunt. Searchers located her body about a mile south of the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Pinkham Notch Lodge, where she’d scheduled a reservation but never showed up. Police continue to seek Chaput’s backpack, a dark blue internal frame containing a green down sleeping bag, and the keys to her Ford Focus station wagon.

May 1996 — Two women hikers were found slain June 1st, just off the Appalachian Trail near Skyland Lodge in Shenandoah National Park. The bodies were found on National Trails Day by park authorities that had been alerted a day or so before that the women were overdue from a backpacking trip. Killed were Julianne Williams, 24, of St. Cloud, Minn., and Lollie Winans, 26, of Unity, Maine. They were camped about 1.5 miles from Skyland Lodge, in a spot about 25 yards off the trail near a brook. Their dog, a golden retriever/lab mix named Taj, was found nearby, apparently unharmed. A roll of film found among their belongings was developed, and pictures from that roll have been used in posters seeking information from the public. Investigators said the women's throats had been cut but officials would not say if the women were sexually assaulted. In a story published Saturday, July 20, the Washington Post reported that FBI officials are considering the possibility that the women were killed by two or more assailants, not one. New details emerged Saturday that revealed the women's wrists were bound. The Post quoted Stanley Klein, special agent in charge of the FBI's Richmond office, who said one body was found inside their tent and the other was found outside. The women were last seen in the park on May 23, but an autopsy report concluded they died on or after May 27. Investigators have ruled out robbery as a motive. (SNIP) Six years and 15,000 tips after the murder of two women near the Appalachian Trail sent a chill through hikers everywhere, federal prosecutors say they have the killer and will prosecute the case as a hate crime.
Darrell David Rice of Columbia, Md., was indicted for the 1996 slayings of Julianne Williams and Laura “Lollie” Winans, the Justice Department announced Wednesday. Already jailed on an unrelated kidnapping charge, Rice told authorities the women “deserved to die because they were lesbian (expletives),” according to prosecution documents filed in court.
The bodies of Williams, 24, of St. Cloud, Minn., and Winans, 26, of Unity, Maine, were found bound and gagged June 1, 1996, at a creek-side campsite in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park, about a half-mile off the Appalachian Trail. Their throats had been cut.

September 1990 — Thru-hikers Molly LaRue, 25, from Shaker Heights, Ohio, and her boyfriend, Geoffrey Hood, 26, from Signal Mountain, Tennessee, were killed as they woke up at a shelter just off the Trail south of Duncannon, Pa., by fugitive P. David Crews (now under death sentence in Pennsylvania). She was stabbed to death; he was shot. Crews, carrying some of their gear, was arrested eight days later by National Park Service rangers on the A.T. bridge above the Potomac River from Maryland into West Virginia.

May 1988 —On May 13, 1988, Stephen Roy Carr, a so-called mountain man living in Michaux State Forest in south central Pennsylvania, shot two female hikers while they were making love at a campsite near the Appalachian Trail. He proceeded to stalk them as they moved their campsite to a spot off a side trail and shot at them with a rifle from the woods. Rebecca Wight (of Blacksburg, Virginia), 29, died at the scene. Claudia Brenner, 31, of Ithaca, New York, despite five bullet wounds, survived to testify against her attacker. Carr was arrested about 10 days after the crime and sentenced to life in prison.

May 1981 — Thru-hikers Susan Ramsey and Robert Mountford, both from Ellsworth, Maine, and 27, were killed near a shelter in southwest Virginia, 20 miles from Pearisburg, during the night, by Randall Lee Smith, who pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was paroled by Virginia in September 1996. Mr. Mountford was shot at the shelter, and Ms. Ramsey was stabbed to death a short distance away. Although he had made an effort to hide the bodies, Smith was arrested and charged within a matter of weeks.

April 1975 — Thru-hiker Janice Balza, 22, of Madison, Wisconsin, killed by a hatchet wielded by hiker/tree surgeon Paul Bigley, 51, after breakfast at a shelter in northeast Tennessee. He died in state prison in Nashville. He killed her for her pack, a brand he coveted, testimony revealed.

May 1974 — Joel Polsom, 26, of Hartsville, South Carolina, was killed at a shelter in Georgia by Michigan fugitive Ralph Fox, who continued to walk south and then caught a bus to Atlanta, where he was arrested.

[Wags]

10 deaths (11 including merideth) in over 25 years... you probalby have a better chance of winning the lottery than being killed on the trail AMIRITE?

[Appalachian Tater]

10 deaths (11 including merideth) in over 25 years... you probalby have a better chance of winning the lottery than being killed on the trail AMIRITE?Lots of deaths, those are just the murders.

[Wags]

"being killed" is pretty much synonomous w/ murder in my neck of the woods. i guess you could factor in animal attack fatalities

[fiddlehead]

Anybody remember the guy who got killed while sleeping in his tent from a rock that fell on his head when camping at the falls (laurel???) around Hampton, TN? I think he had one arm or something like that? That's some bad luck now.

[notorius tic]

The most crime you might see would be the Shelter Mice stealing your food..other than that the Hiking community in genaral will be there to make shure that you will be OK

[CelesteWV]

Of the thousands of books written about the AT, "A Walk In The Woods" is the last one I would read if I was doing serious research about it.

It's like watching the "Bad News Bears" if you're interested in becoming a baseball player.


I am reading anything and everything that I come across that has to do with the AT, I didn't read an opinionated novel such as this and then pack up my stuff to go. I am an experienced backpacker, and the book was entertaining. I am not stating that this book in and of itself is substantially accurate research, I just read it.

[CelesteWV]

The A.T. passes through a lot of jurisdictions so there is no central crime database. The individual jurisdictions don't separate out crimes as "on the trail" & "not on the trail". Most crimes probably involve vandalism or theft. There seem to be a good number of rapes and of course the occasional murder. A lot of time spent googling news sources is probably your best hope, but you're only going to find more major crimes, not busted car windows or stolen packs. It is probably an impossible task.


This is basically the impression I was under. Makes sense.

[CelesteWV]

i enjoy reading steven ambrose's "Undaunted Courage" over the winter. that puts my hiking/backpacking trips into perspective. i don't understand why you would do this. are you trying to freak yourselves out? it'd be like reading a city's crime report before driving into it, or reading a state's DMV accidents and deaths report before driving through a state. but i guess whatever works for you :D


I am interested in it, that's all! As I am interested in all the other aspects of the trail's history.

[CelesteWV]

Eight people have been murdered on or near the A.T. with a clear A.T. connection (that includes Meredith Emerson); in addition, two women were murdered in Shenandoah National Park in 1996 on a horse trail where they were camped. Although this was near the A.T., our understanding from the investigators is that they were doing day-hikes not centered on the A.T., and were last seen at Skyland Lodge. A strong A.T. link has never been proven or disproven.

Each year there are (reported to ATC) typically zero to three deaths by heart attack, zero to three deaths by falls (sometimes involving alcohol), and zero to three deaths related to hypothermia or heat stroke/dehydration. There are a number of non-fatal falls and other injuries. Rapes are relatively rare but several have been reported in the trail's history, including one horrific incident involving four women in Tennessee (1980, if my memory serves me correctly). The last rape was several years ago. There may be others that have not been reported to us.

Vandalism is the most frequent crime, but we estimate only one in four (or fewer) cases is reported to us. Whenever you are a victim of vandalism or you observe vandalism (or any other crime, or even conditions that make you uneasy) please report it to local law enforcement and ATC at incident@appalachiantrail.org.

For information on where vandalism has occurred (that we know about) and tips on preventing vandalism, go to our shuttle and public transportation list at http://www.appalachiantrail.org/transportation.

For general safety tips, go to our website at http://www.appalachiantrail.org/safetyawareness. Overall, crime on the A.T. is about average compared to other national parks, and safer than many communities in the U.S., but there are risks.

On a personal note, I'm getting ready for a hike (on the A.T., of course) so I won't be able to answer any emails or PMs for the next week.

Laurie P.
ATC


Thank you A lot for the info.

[CelesteWV]

This was posted on White Blaze a couple years ago, so it obvioulsy doesn't include Meredith Emerson's name.

_____________________________

November 2001 — [Backpacker 0402] Hiker, Louise Chaput, 52, a psychologist from Sherbrook, Quebec, was found stabbed to death about 200 yards from the Glen Boulder Trailhead at the foot of New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington. Chaput began a solo hike in the area on November 15, 2001, and when she failed to return, officials launched a 3-day manhunt. Searchers located her body about a mile south of the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Pinkham Notch Lodge, where she’d scheduled a reservation but never showed up. Police continue to seek Chaput’s backpack, a dark blue internal frame containing a green down sleeping bag, and the keys to her Ford Focus station wagon.

May 1996 — Two women hikers were found slain June 1st, just off the Appalachian Trail near Skyland Lodge in Shenandoah National Park. The bodies were found on National Trails Day by park authorities that had been alerted a day or so before that the women were overdue from a backpacking trip. Killed were Julianne Williams, 24, of St. Cloud, Minn., and Lollie Winans, 26, of Unity, Maine. They were camped about 1.5 miles from Skyland Lodge, in a spot about 25 yards off the trail near a brook. Their dog, a golden retriever/lab mix named Taj, was found nearby, apparently unharmed. A roll of film found among their belongings was developed, and pictures from that roll have been used in posters seeking information from the public. Investigators said the women's throats had been cut but officials would not say if the women were sexually assaulted. In a story published Saturday, July 20, the Washington Post reported that FBI officials are considering the possibility that the women were killed by two or more assailants, not one. New details emerged Saturday that revealed the women's wrists were bound. The Post quoted Stanley Klein, special agent in charge of the FBI's Richmond office, who said one body was found inside their tent and the other was found outside. The women were last seen in the park on May 23, but an autopsy report concluded they died on or after May 27. Investigators have ruled out robbery as a motive. (SNIP) Six years and 15,000 tips after the murder of two women near the Appalachian Trail sent a chill through hikers everywhere, federal prosecutors say they have the killer and will prosecute the case as a hate crime.
Darrell David Rice of Columbia, Md., was indicted for the 1996 slayings of Julianne Williams and Laura “Lollie” Winans, the Justice Department announced Wednesday. Already jailed on an unrelated kidnapping charge, Rice told authorities the women “deserved to die because they were lesbian (expletives),” according to prosecution documents filed in court.
The bodies of Williams, 24, of St. Cloud, Minn., and Winans, 26, of Unity, Maine, were found bound and gagged June 1, 1996, at a creek-side campsite in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park, about a half-mile off the Appalachian Trail. Their throats had been cut.

September 1990 — Thru-hikers Molly LaRue, 25, from Shaker Heights, Ohio, and her boyfriend, Geoffrey Hood, 26, from Signal Mountain, Tennessee, were killed as they woke up at a shelter just off the Trail south of Duncannon, Pa., by fugitive P. David Crews (now under death sentence in Pennsylvania). She was stabbed to death; he was shot. Crews, carrying some of their gear, was arrested eight days later by National Park Service rangers on the A.T. bridge above the Potomac River from Maryland into West Virginia.

May 1988 —On May 13, 1988, Stephen Roy Carr, a so-called mountain man living in Michaux State Forest in south central Pennsylvania, shot two female hikers while they were making love at a campsite near the Appalachian Trail. He proceeded to stalk them as they moved their campsite to a spot off a side trail and shot at them with a rifle from the woods. Rebecca Wight (of Blacksburg, Virginia), 29, died at the scene. Claudia Brenner, 31, of Ithaca, New York, despite five bullet wounds, survived to testify against her attacker. Carr was arrested about 10 days after the crime and sentenced to life in prison.

May 1981 — Thru-hikers Susan Ramsey and Robert Mountford, both from Ellsworth, Maine, and 27, were killed near a shelter in southwest Virginia, 20 miles from Pearisburg, during the night, by Randall Lee Smith, who pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was paroled by Virginia in September 1996. Mr. Mountford was shot at the shelter, and Ms. Ramsey was stabbed to death a short distance away. Although he had made an effort to hide the bodies, Smith was arrested and charged within a matter of weeks.

April 1975 — Thru-hiker Janice Balza, 22, of Madison, Wisconsin, killed by a hatchet wielded by hiker/tree surgeon Paul Bigley, 51, after breakfast at a shelter in northeast Tennessee. He died in state prison in Nashville. He killed her for her pack, a brand he coveted, testimony revealed.

May 1974 — Joel Polsom, 26, of Hartsville, South Carolina, was killed at a shelter in Georgia by Michigan fugitive Ralph Fox, who continued to walk south and then caught a bus to Atlanta, where he was arrested.


Thanks very much for the information.

[CelesteWV]

I agree..It seems to me most of the books about hiking the AT are to artsy and poetic and looking to find some deep meaning for it all...I prefer books in the older style of Garvey, Ryback, etc which are more just day by day accounts of the hike naming points of interest passed and interesting hike related adventures..You could just picture the hike in your mind and follow along with them..I`ve read some recent "Trail Journal" type things and it`s just page after page of meals,hostels and comical characters which while they may be PART of the thru-hike experience aren`t the only part..I swear I`ve read TJ's and after 500 miles of hiking they only mention actually hiking like 2-3 times....But back to the original question..I am sure there has been a lot more crime along the AT then you may find accounts of from any of the common sources..But even at that I am also sure it is far less than any typical urban area by far



Have you read "A walk in the woods"? I didn't find it "artsy" or "poetic" in the least. All it was about was a guy who tried to thru-hike, then decided not to, gives you a good amount of natural and social history of the AT and it's geological perspectives, and that's about it. He made it a point to talk about how hard it was and incredibly not poetic the whole experience could be. I thought it was interesting to hear a personal opinion about hiking some of the trail, whether or not that was what my opinion was.