The death of Mr. Scott Lilly all in one thread.

[Destiny2012]

I have been greatly disturbed by the death of a fellow Appalachian Trail hiker, Mr. Scott Lilly. I have been reading about this tragic death on the forums, but the news and rumors are spread out across the forum. This is upsetting due to the fact this issue is a current event, and directly effects the community. We do not know how he died, but the FBI has labeled it 'suspicious'. I have read a post that says he was found in a 'shallow grave'. As I know no animal that digs a grave for a human, and then puts the human in it, I am convinced that Mr. Lilly was attacked somehow for some reason by a human. :(

If everyone agrees, should we make this the 'one stop shop' of sorts to follow this issue until it is found out what happened for sure? I think the WhiteBlaze community should take this as serious as possible and follow this story as best we can, and put all info into this thread. I hope we can find a consensus.

- Michael

[Destiny2012]

The FBI has requested the Appalachian Trail Conservancy to send out the following revised press release, dated today, about the Scott “Stonewall” Lilly investigation.


Federal Bureau of Investigation
Richmond Division
1970 East Parham Road
Richmond, Virginia 23228
________________________________________
Public Relations Office, (804) 627-4482
September 2, 2011Media Coordinator: Dee Rybiski


UPDATE OF INVESTIGATION INTO SUSPICIOUS DEATH IN THE
GEORGE WASHINGTON NATIONAL FOREST


On August 12, 2011, hikers reported the discovery of a deceased individual located near a hiking trail in close proximity to the Appalachian Trail, in the Northwest part of Amherst County, Virginia. Investigators from the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office, the Virginia State Police, the United States Forest Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation responded to the scene and the body was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Virginia Department of Health.

Subsequent investigation identified the victim as Mr. Scott Lilly of South Bend, Indiana, known by the trail name “Stonewall.” It appears Mr. Lilly was hiking the Appalachian Trail and the circumstances of his death are suspicious.

While this multiagency investigation is ongoing, and the release of information may be limited, it is important for the public to be aware that no information has been developed by these agencies that would lead investigators to believe other hikers would be targeted. However, hikers are encouraged to continue exercising the usual precautions while on any trail.

Information provided by the public thus far has been extremely beneficial in advancing this investigation. Investigators are now seeking to locate and identify several additional hikers, who while using the following trail names, may have had contact with Mr. Lilly. These individuals are:

“Mr. Coffee”
“White Wolf”
“Papa Smurf”
“Combat Gizmo” and “Space Cadet” (possibly a husband/wife team)

Anyone with information regarding these individuals is once again urged to call the FBI at 1-800-225-5324, option #4 (1-800-CALL FBI, #4).

###


Laurie Potteiger
Information Services Manager
Appalachian Trail Conservancy
799 Washington Street | P.O. Box 807
Harpers Ferry, WV 25425-0807
Phone: 304.535.2200 x128
[email protected] ([email protected])
www.appalachiantrail.org (http://www.appalachiantrail.org/)

13805

[Destiny2012]

Here is the google news link for the various reports on his death.

http://news.google.com/news/story?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=XHP&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&q=Scott+Lilly+Appalachian+trail&gs_upl=3690l11704l0l12705l18l17l0l0l0l0l228l2419l6 .8.3l17l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1600&bih=774&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ncl=duQzclZy1_9MG_MkYqFWGqXABt-XM&ei=uwNpTu26KI-DsAK6-_i1Dg&sa=X&oi=news_result&ct=more-results&resnum=1&ved=0CCMQqgIwAA

[Destiny2012]

Here is a larger picture of the deceased.

13806

[Destiny2012]

And here is the man who the FBI has said is a "person of interest". His trail name is "Papa Smurf". Click to see larger size if needed.

13807
If you see this man, contact the FBI. ASAP.

Federal Bureau of Investigation
Richmond Division
1970 East Parham Road
Richmond, Virginia 23228
________________________________________
Public Relations Office, (804) 627-4482

[MyName1sMud]

Great thread! Keep up the good work! First time i've actually seen what this Papa Smurf fella looks like. I know you can't judge a book by it's cover... but this dude looks like someone I wouldn't pass up judgement on as first in line to actually take a persons life. He's got the "stare"

[Sly]

Since the threads are spread across several different forums it will take an admin to merge them all. However, I think the way the software works, when merging posts go in chronological order, so the first post here would be one of the last.

Also, Papa Smurf was first reported here on Whiteblaze as a dead beat hiker which is a separate issue.

[vamelungeon]

This is a good idea.

[Jim Adams]

While this guy, Papa Smurf IS a total ******* and trash ( yes, I met him in March at the Hawk Mt. Shelter, even gave him a ride to Suches ) I have seen nothing released BY THE FBI that states that he is a person of interest. I also have not seen an FBI release stating that Scott was in a shallow grave however there are animals such as bears, cougars and bobcats that will throw dirt, leaves, grass and sticks over dead prey to attempt to hide it for later consumption.

Papa Smurf definitely has some mental issues...threatening people for food, acting like a badass but just being obnoxious in the end and "bumming" EVERYTHING from whoever he can. I didn't like being around him and he made alot of others uncomfortable also. He does need to be caught up to for the outstanding warrants and dealt with but there is alot of speculation and jumping to conclusions about him. False info can hurt an investigation as much or more than correct info helping. I would like to see him and his kind kept from the trail but unless convicted of crime, he has as much right to be there as any of us. Yes, that is scary but lets just try to stick to the facts until he is found...it will help the FBI in the long run.

geek

[Destiny2012]

Thanks, I think having it all in one place honors Mr. Lilly in a way. He was a human being, who was according to the FBI found dead under 'suspicious circumstances'. No one deserves this fate, especially when you are doing something you love, and are alone.

Right now the info on this case is all over the place on WhiteBlaze and I feel it should be in one place so those who are following this incident will know exactly where to go.

As for Papa Smurf, I would consider him a suspect simply for the fact that he is a known thief, is disturbed, and has shown aggressive behavior towards other hikers. But this thread is not to flame Papa Smurf, even though he is a scumbag that ripped off fellow member Birchy.

This thread is for Mr. Lilly.

I am very eager to see justice for Mr. Lilly.

[jacob_springsteen]

As for Papa Smurf, I would consider him a suspect simply for the fact that he is a known thief, is disturbed, and has shown aggressive behavior towards other hikers. But this thread is not to flame Papa Smurf, even though he is a scumbag that ripped off fellow member Birchy.

This thread is for Mr. Lilly.

I am very eager to see justice for Mr. Lilly.


So who do we call if we see Papa Smurf on the trail?

[Blissful]

Local authorities or 911

[Hoofit]

So who do we call if we see Papa Smurf on the trail?
Just get a bunch of hardy folks together, tussle him to the ground, tie him to the nearest tree, and go call the fuzz......

[Just a Hiker]

So who do we call if we see Papa Smurf on the trail?

Depending on how this plays out, "Mr. Smurf" has probably already spent his last night on the Appalachian Trail, so actually running into him is remote. I say this because it appears that he gets a monthly VA Disabililty check, so he's got money right now and is probably drunk somewhere. He's the type that only hikes when he's broke or nearly broke, and since he got paid last week, he probably has no interest in the trail right now. Also, given his track record, he'll get arrested for public intoxication or some other petty crime long before he gets back to the trail. However, should you run into him on the trail, just keep on hiking until you can get to a phone to call the FBI phone number given in the ATC Press Release.....and obviously be careful, and don't camp with him or hike with him.

[Ladytrekker]

I agree this has me pretty rattled also since I was thinking of doing a short solo and now have thought differently of it. But I do like the idea that his memory is respected among other hikers and can only hope it was not a hiker that has done something tragic. However, there are many ways a person can die it could be natural causes, suicide, overdose, accidental or homicidal so until the FBI or investigating agency gives any details as to the autopsy it needs to be kept into prospective. My heart goes out to his family and friends.

[Tuckahoe]

Thanks, I think having it all in one place honors Mr. Lilly in a way. He was a human being, who was according to the FBI found dead under 'suspicious circumstances'. No one deserves this fate, especially when you are doing something you love, and are alone.

Right now the info on this case is all over the place on WhiteBlaze and I feel it should be in one place so those who are following this incident will know exactly where to go.

As for Papa Smurf, I would consider him a suspect simply for the fact that he is a known thief, is disturbed, and has shown aggressive behavior towards other hikers. But this thread is not to flame Papa Smurf, even though he is a scumbag that ripped off fellow member Birchy.

This thread is for Mr. Lilly.

I am very eager to see justice for Mr. Lilly.

There sure are a lot of amature internet detectives pulling a bunch of bull out of thin air. There is more than one hiker on the trail that is using the noms de guerre "Papa Smurf" and yet everyone seems to be fixed on this particular one named Clay. All the while other threads about Clay and his antics point to the likelyhood that he was no where near that area of Virginia at the time that Mr. Lilly died. I was recently hiking in the Mt Rogers area and read a number of trail logs with hikers using the name Papa Smurf, that were clearly not Clay, and were making entries on dates that would have possibly put them in the same general area as Mr. Lilly about the time of his death.

As also pointed out, the FBI are wanting to talk to these individuals because they may have information that will be helpful, not necessarily because they are "persons of interest." Wild speculations do not help the investigation.

[budforester]

I don't know whether the FBI has located those individuals they wished to contact. I recently saw in Trail Journals that a "White Wolf" had summitted Katahdin on August 18th.

[-Animal]

I don't know whether the FBI has located those individuals they wished to contact. I recently saw in Trail Journals that a "White Wolf" had summitted Katahdin on August 18th.

Don’t bother White Wolf… I contacted him days ago and I’m told that he already talked to the FBI.

[jbsbestfan]

It is kind of disturbing how little information is being made public. I am doing a section hike south of there and would like to know if I need to be on the lookout for a gun toting nut case. Maybe I will take the bear spray. My families' prayers to the Lilly family and friends.

[jeramie75]

Any news on this? I too find it odd that the flow of info has seemingly stopped. Did authorities ever find "papasmurf"?

[Trillium]

In another thread about Scott Lilly's death someone asked if this was being talked about or covered in the South Bend area. I was on the Notre Dame campus this past weekend and we met up with someone who works with my husband and his wife. As we chatted about our various interests, I mentioned hiking the AT. The wife strongly warned me about hiking alone and asked if I had heard about the hiker who was killed. They know Scott's mother. The husband's brother is a minister and has been involved in comforting the family. Very sad.

I hope the authorities can solve this case and the person(s) who are responsible be brought to justice.

[SawnieRobertson]

In another thread about Scott Lilly's death someone asked if this was being talked about or covered in the South Bend area. I was on the Notre Dame campus this past weekend and we met up with someone who works with my husband and his wife. As we chatted about our various interests, I mentioned hiking the AT. The wife strongly warned me about hiking alone and asked if I had heard about the hiker who was killed. They know Scott's mother. The husband's brother is a minister and has been involved in comforting the family. Very sad.

I hope the authorities can solve this case and the person(s) who are responsible be brought to justice.

Trillium, thanks for this report. Once more I get the feeling that the sub-mystery is what the FBI and all others who are privy to the sad details have chosen not to tell us. One thing that is made clear from your post is that at least those so privileged do believe that, if Scott had been wherever he was with a partner, he might be with us today.
His family and friends must be going through additional sadness to think that this could have been prevented so easily in that case. Those who met him on the trail certainly found him a compatable sort of person. It is a tragedy for him, his family, his friends, and the AT.--Sawnie

[4Bears]

In another thread about Scott Lilly's death someone asked if this was being talked about or covered in the South Bend area. I was on the Notre Dame campus this past weekend and we met up with someone who works with my husband and his wife. As we chatted about our various interests, I mentioned hiking the AT. The wife strongly warned me about hiking alone and asked if I had heard about the hiker who was killed. They know Scott's mother. The husband's brother is a minister and has been involved in comforting the family. Very sad.

I hope the authorities can solve this case and the person(s) who are responsible be brought to justice.

There has been very little coverage outside of the initial story about Scott's death in the local papers, in fact there has been more info on this site. It is a truly sad situation for his family, hopefully the case will be solved quickly.

[CoffeeMate]

I am pretty sure that I am one of the people that the FBI has indicated is a person of interest. They said that they are looking for a Mr. Coffee. I go by the trailname CoffeeMate and have already spent a long time with the FBI going over whatever information I could assist with. I never met Scott Lilly but believe that he was a few days ahead of me based on the shelter logs. I also never came in contact with Papa Smurf although I had heard reports of one person in the area who was bumming food off of people.

About two days walk South in the town of Glasgow there is a shelter that was built by the town for hikers. There was a note left there by a person who indicated that he was homeless and landed on hard times and had been helped out by hikers a lot. He was warning about another person who had attempted to rob hikers using weapons. I never met anybody in the Glasgow shelter so can't really say more about it. I did pass this information on to the FBI though.

I am a pretty frequent section hiker of the trail and was amazed at how few people there were hiking. The last three days of my hike to Leesburg I did not see anybody!

[XCskiNYC]

There has been very little coverage outside of the initial story about Scott's death in the local papers, in fact there has been more info on this site. It is a truly sad situation for his family, hopefully the case will be solved quickly.

All the stories that come back from a google news search on "scott lilly" are based on the FBI press release.

[english]

for what it was worth, i left a note about the fbi release in the dicks dome shelter log (near Ashby Gap) on sunday 25th sep, I'll leave another in the ed garvey shelter, MD, this weekend. Rather than speculating ourselves in the shelter logs, I'd suggest printing the FBI release yourselves and adding it to a shelter log if you are able all along the AT

[rickkybobby]

the latest news article
http://www2.newsvirginian.com/news/wnv-news/2011/oct/12/hikers-death-mystery-two-months-after-body-found-t-ar-1379512/

[ChinMusic]

I guess this is comforting.......


FBI (http://www2.newsvirginian.com/topics/types/organization/tags/federal-bureau-of-investigation/) representatives have said they do not have information that would lead them to believe other hikers would be targeted. They have advised hikers to take the same common-sense precautions against crime as they would any other time.

[rickkybobby]

I....guess....

[kselbo]

Here is a link to the latest news. The autopsy indicated suffocation as the cause of death.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=newssearch&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CCwQqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fblogs%2F crime-scene%2Fpost%2Fman-found-dead-on-appalachian-trail-ruled-strangled%2F2012%2F02%2F11%2FgIQA95rn6Q_blog.html&ei=oMBCT5viA6rd0QGh7OHgBw&usg=AFQjCNGjiY_82H7sgi0NTTOgYb1oi6TcsQ

[Turtle Feet]

Any news on this? I too find it odd that the flow of info has seemingly stopped. Did authorities ever find "papasmurf"?

I was hiking north out of the Eckville, PA shelter the morning of July 19th (2011), and distinctly remember running into Papa Smurf (aka Teardrop). He definitely wasn't in VA at the time of Stonewall's death.

[RED-DOG]

I thought they caught some one in the case.

[speedbump]

I was wondering about this case recently too. Anyone have any current info on this?

[Turtle Feet]

I thought they caught some one in the case.

I haven't seen anything to that effect Red-Dog, please post it here though if you find out for sure - I know we'd all love to know.

[rickb]

I haven't seen anything to that effect Red-Dog, please post it here though if you find out for sure - I know we'd all love to know.

No one has been arrested.

[shelb]

No one has been arrested.

Tragic. Scott was very kind to our teen boys when we were with him on the trail.

[dot]

Was thinking about this case today. :( Anything?

[shelb]

Was thinking about this case today. :( Anything?

Not that I know....

[shelb]

DEAD - 3 years - no resolution...

Scott was found dead in 2011. Was nothing new found this hiking season????

[Sailing_Faith]

This is tragic, I hope they find the killer soon.

in the scope of human events, it can be. Argued that this is one man... I would agree. This is however, our community and I hope that somehow this thread could contribute to finding the truth of what happened.

i imagine that would be some kind of comfort to the family, my condolences to them if any should read here.

[Don H]

I met Teardrop (Papa Smurf) the first night of my thru at Stover Creek Shelter. I thought he was ruled out.

[FlyFishNut]

Wow -- You could change all references to "papa smurf" to "Michael Brown" and still be on the mark.

[shelb]

From my understanding, no one has been arrested or charged with this crime.

I met Scott during a 2011 hike... in the week or so before his death (yes, I spoke to the FBI/AT. People back then).

Please, anyone with information - come forward!
This post has several articles with the most recent at the end. (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzpN2dQrl9UfZE0yOGN0U2s0cWtDMjBZaDhOT3BiaDVDZE5n/view?usp=sharing)

[rocketsocks]

From my understanding, no one has been arrested or charged with this crime.

I met Scott during a 2011 hike... in the week or so before his death (yes, I spoke to the FBI/AT. People back then).

Please, anyone with information - come forward!
This post has several articles with the most recent at the end. (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzpN2dQrl9UfZE0yOGN0U2s0cWtDMjBZaDhOT3BiaDVDZE5n/view?usp=sharing)shelb your link just shows a picture of a blisters heel.

[johnnybgood]

It's been 5 years since the Scott Lily murder.


The local news hasn't reported anything on this case in quite awhile.

RIP Scott !

[-Rush-]

I revisited this story a short time ago. Makes me sick and mad. From all of the books I've read, the back-country is one of the easiest places to get away $hit like this. I carry every single time I hit the trail, never let anyone know if I'm injured, and always watch my back. I hope they find the POS responsible one of these days.

[Papa Muskrat]

Case is still open and unsolved.

[Papa Muskrat]

I shared a shelter, outside Roanoke, VA, alone with Papa Smurf, in April 2011 and had severely negative interaction. I contacted FBI last week, after learning this was possibly the same individual wanted for questioning.

[JPritch]

A guy on the previous page says he specifically remembers running into Papa Smurf in PA during that time.

[JNI64]

So sad for the family!! Bad enough this has happened but knowing this piece of crap is still walking around. No one should get away with murder!!

[JPritch]

I still think it's a local, or at least, a non-LD hiker. It was easy enough to vet the thru's and lash's and I'm sure something would have already turned up if this was the case. The fact that some random hiker didn't suddenly appear down the trail using Stonewall's gear, makes me think a local/non-hiker/transient did this.

[turtle fast]

It’s hard to believe that the authorities have yet to solve this case. Makes me wonder what evidence they have, or if they really just have a lack of any. Sad overall.