Park Predators

An abandoned campsite, a crashed car, and a trail of ominous clues. What really happened to Sandra Johnsen Hughes in the summer of 2020 in Sierra National Forest and Yosemite National Park? That’s the enduring question Madera County Sheriff’s Office needs help answering.

When a 38-year-old waitress vanished on a weekend trip to Mount Rushmore in August 2013, red flags went up right away for her friends and family. But the road to justice for her case would take many winding turns until finally it ended with a long-awaited conviction.

When a husband and wife from New Hampshire vanish on the beach of Padre Island National Seashore in 2019, all the red flags go up about the vibrant couple’s disappearance. Then, concerning clues begin to emerge that lead investigators to a violent predator bound by love to an accomplice.

When a Central California businessman vanishes while on a fishing trip in Kings Canyon National Park with friends, few clues emerge as to what happened. When his background reveals a substantial windfall decades earlier in his life, the mystery only deepens.

When two soon-to-be newlyweds are found dead on a scenic Northern California beach, the mystery as to why they were killed and by whom is baffling. But when a familiar name to authorities resurfaces, the truth of what happened at Fish Head Beach finally unravels.

Two young people are found brutally shot to death on a remote Canadian beach in 1972, and one man quickly becomes the center of the investigation. However, he manages to elude capture for nearly 40 years and leaves a wake of devastation and other violent crimes in his path.

When a young woman witnesses the cold-blooded execution of her hiking companion on the Appalachian Trail and lives to tell the tale, her chilling story is almost too much for law enforcement in 1974 to believe. Then, as the pieces start to come together, police are faced with a human predator whose criminal career is the stuff of nightmares.

On a quiet mountain in eastern Tennessee, three men ride off on all-terrain vehicles for an evening of exploring, fishing, and swimming but never return. When foul play is revealed, what seemed like a straightforward murder mystery turns into a bizarre puzzle that local law enforcement spend nearly a decade trying to untangle. This is the story of the July 1988 Signal Mountain murders.

When a celebrated Colorado musician disappears in February 2020, law enforcement quickly connects dots between him and a gruesome discovery in Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests. The web of violence that surrounds the victim and a woman he was planning to meet unveils a dangerous third party who carried out the unimaginable.

When two bodies are discovered in the sand dunes of Indiana Dunes National Park, it doesn’t take authorities long to identify the victims as young people who’ve been missing for nearly a week. In a matter of days the mystery of their murders unravels, but the killer is someone who was right in front of investigators all along.

Harold Henthorn loses his first wife in a tragic car accident on the side of a rural mountain road, then his second wife falls off a cliff in Rocky Mountain National Park. Authorities in Colorado feel something is terribly wrong, and a closer look at Henthorn’s past reveals disturbing clues as to how his wives met their deadly fates.

When a mother of three suffers a horrific attack at the hands of her partner while on a family camping trip, her sons witness the unfathomable, and law enforcement is determined to find justice for the victim.

In 1969, when a young boy vanished in a matter of minutes in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, his case set off a series of events that forever changed the way search and rescue operations in the United States and around the world are conducted. The mystery surrounding the disappearance of Dennis Martin is as baffling today as it was all those decades ago.

When a devoted family man and avid hunter disappears while tracking deer in the Sierra National Forest, there are few clues as to what happened to him. Then, when his vehicle surfaces, investigators are faced with even more frustrating questions. If you have any information about the disappearance of Robert Willis IV, please contact the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office at 559-600–3111.

A man on the run lures a Mesa Verde National Park visitor to a tragic end and then flees to the West Coast only to find that the consequences of his lawlessness have followed his trail from the mesas of Colorado to the coast of California.

When a beloved mother and grandmother working part-time as a gate attendant at a popular Atlanta-area park is gunned down during a late-night robbery, authorities are quick to make an arrest… But somehow, 20 years later, her case remains unsolved.

When a woman’s body was found at the base of a 350ft canyon in December 1987, authorities in Yosemite National Park were quick to write it off as an accident. But an important witness comes forward who helps federal investigators nab a cunning killer who had a lot to gain from the woman’s untimely demise.

When a hiker emerges from the Appalachian Trail in Tennessee claiming he murdered a woman with a hatchet, it seems unfathomable… But when investigators discover the brutal truth, they realize they’re dealing with a dangerous man who has a disturbing past in multiple U.S. states.

When a 43-year-old medical student’s body turns up in Big Bend National Park, authorities begin to unravel a bizarre case that leads them to a young man with an unbelievable story of death, destruction, and destiny.

When an entire family is nearly annihilated while camping in the French Alps, it takes a team of international detectives to search for an elusive killer. Questions about the victims' backgrounds swirl, and rumors about who the gunman could be abound. This is Part Two of a two-part series detailing the 2012 Lake Annecy murders in France.

When an entire family is nearly annihilated while camping in the French Alps, it takes a team of international detectives to search for an elusive killer. Questions about the victims’ backgrounds swirl and rumors about who the gunman could be abound. This is Part One of a two-part series detailing the 2012 Lake Annecy murders in France.

When a rancher and early settler of Minnesota’s Itasca State Park is shot and killed during a hunting trip, suspicion falls on his partner in the woods who claims a peculiar sequence of events resulted in his buddy’s death. An ominously named ridge in Great Smoky Mountains National Park has a backstory so unsettling, that it takes diving through a trove of historical documents to settle on what is truth and what is fiction.

When two young girls vanish while out for an evening swim in May 2000, police in a southern Norwegian city scramble to find them. As the truth behind what happened to them begins to surface, one man’s story is pitted against the other's.

When a botched home invasion leads law enforcement to pursue two dangerous men into the Idaho wilderness, the fallout is fatal for the one forest service officer who dared to face the fugitives head-on.

When two hunters are murdered within days of one another in nearby popular Florida hunting grounds, law enforcement realizes they may be dealing with a serial killer. Their journey to catch the elusive killer spans years and multiple U.S. states.

A devoted indigenist and a journalist set off into the depths of the Amazon to report on corruption and criminal activity but are never seen alive again. The murders of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira rocked the international community and revealed dark secrets hiding in one of the world's most beautiful natural wonders.

When three fur trappers in Oregon disappeared from their rural outpost in 1924, their family members sounded the alarm about a bizarre scene left in the snow. Authorities launched an investigation that was months behind a killer and found themselves hunting a career criminal who may have pulled off the greatest caper of his life.

When a 21-year-old woman’s lifeless body is found in a popular Toronto neighborhood park, authorities are hard-pressed to find her killer. A mysterious shoeprint becomes a key clue for investigators, but somehow the suspect eludes their grasp.

When a couple is viciously murdered in a shelter on the Appalachian Trail in 1981, their killer is caught…However, two best friends on a fishing and camping trip more than 20 years later discover in the worst possible way that he returned to a familiar hunting ground.

When two women vanish from the same Texas city in the summer of 2006, little attention is focused on their cases. But when a federal probe puts the city’s police department and one officer in particular under the microscope, everyone’s attention shifts. When human remains start showing up in nearby Angelina National Forest, even more questions arise.

When five teens visit a remote Iowa preserve but only one leaves alive, authorities are determined to catch three killers who have seemingly gotten away with a brutal crime.

When a 15-year-old girl vanishes while riding her bike near Indiana Dunes National Park in August 1995, it’s all hands on deck to find her. However, just like the ever-shifting landscape beneath law enforcement’s feet, an elusive predator blends into an alarming wave of violence in northern Indiana and northeast Illinois during the summer of 1995.

When a trio of men enter Cherokee National Forest but only two come out, law enforcement works fast to figure out what exactly happened that left so much bloodshed on the riverbanks.

When two well-known fishermen are gunned down in a secluded state park in Florida, authorities are stumped for clues, but then a theory emerges that leads them to yet another victim of foul play in the same tight-knit fishing community.

When a man vanishes on Christmas Day in 2015, his family’s alarm bells go off, and authorities launch an investigation that reveals a web of violence and a grisly scene in Cherokee National Forest.

When a beloved wife, mother, and grandmother sets out on a life-long dream to conquer the Appalachian Trail, her plans abruptly change. The mystery of what happened to her reveals a harrowing series of events that remain puzzling to those closest to her.

When a 4-year-old girl vanishes from a family picnic in a popular Montana recreation space, authorities stop at nothing to try and find her. Then, years into the investigation, law enforcement gets the break they’ve been waiting for. Someone takes credit for the abduction.

When a Navy veteran and recent transplant to Oklahoma is found stabbed to death at a popular fishing spot, authorities are quick to investigate a mysterious angler seen fleeing the crime scene. What their investigation revealed was not what anyone expected.

When an investment banking analyst is stabbed to death on a fall morning along a popular hiking trail in Wisconsin, his murderer seemingly slips out of sight despite multiple eyewitnesses seeing him. To-date the killer remains at-large and authorities need your help. Less than a year later, another family suffers a similar loss when an avid photographer and newly-wed is gunned down by a sniper while hiking outside of one of the busiest cities in the world. Though these two cases are not connected, both victims’ family members all want the same thing: justice.

When a young British photojournalist vanishes in a well-known Kenyan reserve, questions swirl around what happened to her. After her remains are found at a grisly crime scene, her father sets out on a decades-long hunt to bring her killer to justice but is faced with bizarre roadblocks from two nations on different continents.

When a husband and wife are gunned down at their campsite in Ouachita National Forest, the hunt for their killer leads authorities to a man with a peculiar collection of homemade hunting gear.

When a beautiful co-ed is brutally murdered on a popular hiking trail in Prescott National Forest in the summer of 1987, authorities are stumped on who the killer could be. The investigation drags on for decades until finally advances in DNA technology link a serial predator to multiple cases of sexual assault and murder. This is the second of two episodes covering the murder of Cathy Sposito and the identification of Bryan Scott Bennett.

When a beautiful co-ed is brutally murdered on a popular hiking trail in Prescott National Forest in the summer of 1987, authorities are stumped on who the killer could be. The investigation drags on for decades until finally something breaks. This is the first of two episodes covering the murder of Cathy Sposito.

When a young girl vanishes from an upstate New York state park authorities assemble a massive search for her. After an ominous note shows up in her family’s mailbox, the hunt for a predator kicks into high gear and a heroic rescue unfolds in the nick of time.

When a retired couple vanishes on an afternoon walk behind their apartment in New Hampshire in the spring of 2022, it's all hands on deck to find them. When the horror of what happened to them is revealed, it sends investigators down a rabbit hole of clues which lead to the doorstep of a young man with a dark past.

An experienced mountaineer from France is abducted in an Algerian national park and an international incident ensues. World leaders hunt down a group of suspected killers, only to find that many of them have gone underground and continue to evade justice to this day.

When a young mother disappears and her truck is found abandoned at a popular river access in Ozark National Scenic Riverways her family and authorities suspect the worst. A person close to her makes statements that cause investigators to take a second look. What they find is a predator at the heart of their investigation and a crime that spans across a national park and a national forest.

When a Minnesota state park employee is brutally attacked on the job, her murderer is an elusive thorn in law enforcement’s side. Troves of forensic evidence left at the crime scene just needed technology to finally catch up with a killer.

When 61-year-old widower Nathaniel Jones was found brutally beaten to death and bound with tape inside his home’s carport on November 15, 2002, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, his loved ones and the community were devastated by the senseless crime. For two decades, the question at the heart of the case has not been what happened to him, but rather who... who was responsible for such a heinous act?

When a beloved game warden disappears while investigating abrupt gunshots in the Everglades, a tiny coastal village is shocked. A massive fashion industry craze appears to have pushed a poacher to the rarest kind of blood sport.

When a teenage boy with special needs in California disappears without a trace, authorities are up against the clock to find him. However, once his remains are discovered in a shallow grave in a national park amongst some of the most unique plants on earth, investigators set their sights to find a killer much closer to home.

When an experienced naturalist and game warden disappeared into the Alaskan wilderness while on patrol, alarm bells went off. What exactly happened to Hosea Sarber in July 1952 remains a dark mystery, but his descendants reached out to Park Predators to feature his story in the hopes of learning more.

In May 2008 a woman's lifeless body is found in a mess of holly bushes in Queen's Park in Glasgow, Scotland. Law enforcement is left with a bizarre string of clues and a very elusive suspect until finally, justice is served.

When a decomposed body turns up in the desert in June 2018, law enforcement in California work to ID the victim. The web of secrets, sex and lies that unfold reveal a grim picture of what a young man was willing to do for love.

Now an audiochuck original, Supernatural is back! Only this time, it's better than ever... it's So Supernatural. On the night of December 29, 1980, Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum, and Vickie's young grandson Colby were driving through the piney woods of East Texas when they encountered a terrifying sight: a large, diamond-shaped object emitting intense heat and light hovered over the road. As the trio watched in horror, they suffered severe physical effects, including burns, blisters, and radiation poisoning. The incident left lasting scars, both physically and emotionally, and sparked extensive investigations by both UFO researchers and the U.S. government.

When two young American tourists set out to explore a fairytale castle in Germany during the summer of 2023, one of their lives is cut short by a ruthless predator. Police quickly apprehend the perpetrator, but his motives leave everyone perplexed.

When two college students are attacked in Talladega National Forest, the hunt for the suspects involved comes to a swift end but the reason for the crime leads investigators down a rabbit hole of bizarre beliefs that raise more questions than answers.

When a woman’s headless body is found on fire in a picnic area of a popular Illinois recreation park, the news shocks everyone. The brutality of the crime was difficult to comprehend, but even more confounding, the fact that she could not be identified and remained a Jane Doe for more than a year. Eventually, justice came knocking on the door of the predator who discarded her like trash.

When an outdoor enthusiast and remote hunting camp cook disappears into thin air, authorities worry what might have befallen her. When a young man in the same region is reported missing the same day as her, investigators are stretched thin to find answers fast. The stories of Connie Johnson and Terrence Woods Jr. may not be formally connected, but to tell one, you must tell the other.

When a beloved wife and mother of three falls to her death inside a Michigan national park in 2006, authorities immediately begin looking at her husband. His changing stories and scandalous secrets seal his fate, but the couple’s children remain convinced their father is an innocent man.

When a pioneer and one of his companions are gunned down in cold blood while prospecting for silver in the great American west, the sole survivor of the attack is quick to blame a group of Native Americans for the crime... but evidence emerges that raises questions about whether the survivor and possibly more white men hungry for power and riches might have been responsible for the mysterious case of double murder.

When a devoted father and outdoorsman is found shot to death near Potholes State Park on Mother’s Day weekend in 1999 his family is left with more questions than answers. Law enforcement immediately finds a promising trail of clues and surveillance video only to have their investigation fizzle out. If you know anything about the unsolved murder of Jesse Guy Loman, call the Grant County Sheriff’s Office in Washington, USA.

When two pals from Boston, Massachusetts go for a hike in the New Mexican desert and only one makes it out alive, questions begin to swirl about what happened. Was it the elements that overtook one of the men or perhaps a much darker secret that forced his friend to turn into an enemy?

In 2016 when a couple ventured into Kafue National Park in Zambia, Africa for a luxury hunting trip and only one of them returned to America alive… red flags started popping up. But it would take years before the truth of what really happened inside their safari cabin would come to light and a killer finally brought to justice.

On Valentine’s Day in February 2020, the body of a young woman turned up dead in Olympic National Forest. The family man responsible for her death is quickly identified and leads authorities down a rabbit hole of lies that ended in horrific bloodshed.

When a middle-aged couple camping alone in the Oregon woods in 2003 is gunned down in cold blood, the sole survivor is left to point police in the direction of a ruthless shooter... but an unexpected second attack complicates the case, and two mysteries are left unresolved.

When a biologist disappears into the Texas marshland he's charged with protecting, law enforcement comes together to find answers. When the truth finally surfaces, a murderer's cover up unravels, and a beloved game warden is avenged.

When a 24-year-old New Hampshire woman is found gunned down outside a state park while walking her dog, police embark on a massive manhunt for her killer. The young man responsible would nearly escape their grasp… twice.

When a beloved caretaker is murdered in the remote Australian bushland of Alpine National Park, authorities suspect another employee of the homestead is to blame... but when a second body turns up, a harrowing reality sets in. A vicious killer is on the loose. More than 100 years later, the identity of the perpetrator remains a mystery.

When a young Japanese tourist turns up dead inside one of the world’s most unique geologic formations in Arizona, a sacred Native American paradise becomes the epicenter of international media attention. The truth about who murdered Tomomi Hanamure is far darker than anyone knows.

When two friends sitting on a bench in an Ohio park are gunned down in cold blood, the investigators responsible for solving they murders are left dumbfounded.

One of the worst crimes to consume British headlines in 1986 leads authorities on a search for a killer who was in the thick of a murder investigation the entire time.

When an elderly couple on a romantic camping trip in the bushland of Australia vanished from their burned-out campsite, authorities quickly identify a suspect.

At the dawn of the 20th century, two brothers prospecting for gold hoped to find their fortune in the Northern region of Canada.

A solo backpacking trip in Asia turns dark when a 23-year-old woman fails to return to her family in Colorado.

When a joyful festival rolled through a small Oklahoma town outside of Platt National Park in 1975, a young woman's dead body was left in its wake.

When a family is slaughtered inside their tent at a popular Iowa park during the summer of 2022, news of the tragedy spreads far and wide.

In the summer of 1989 a husband and wife on vacation at their favorite hiking spot in Wales fall victim to a vicious killer.

In 2017, avid cyclist Tim Watkins was gunned down and buried in a shallow grave off a popular trail in Mount Herman, Colorado. Identifying the shooter has led authorities on a puzzling and frustrating journey for justice in Pike San-Isabel National Forest.

When a family man is found alone, shot and beheaded in Australia's Royal National Park in 1975, no one could fathom the brutality of the crime.

A devoted conservationist and a journalist set off into the depths of the Amazon to report on corrupt and criminal activity but were never seen alive again.

In 2004, 9-year-old David Gonzales vanished from his mother's sight in San Bernardino National Forest.

In 2010 an elderly couple set out on a road trip across Canada only to have their travels and lives cut short by a ruthless killer.

A teenage girl disappears while on a horseback riding trip in Yosemite National Park during the summer of 1981.

The brutal shooting deaths of two college students in a Florida forest in 2006 reveal a budding serial killer was on the loose for years before anyone stopped him.

An attempted assassination of the warden of Africa’s oldest national park reveals to the world the dangers and violence lurking inside one of the most beautiful landscapes on earth.

A vicious serial killer terrorized and hunted young backpackers in Australia’s Belanglo State Forest in the early 1990’s. The impact of his heinous crimes still resonates with residents to this day. How he committed his crimes made even the most seasoned investigators shudder and the true number of victims he’s suspected of murdering may never be known.

An elderly woman working alone high up in a fire-spotting tower in the Canadian wilderness disappears while on-duty. Evidence at the scene points to foul play but police investigators remain baffled as to who climbed the tower to get her and why?

When a toddler vanishes from a campground in Joshua Tree National Park, her name becomes a national headline overnight. The decades-long investigation to determine what happened to her leads authorities in many directions and a father to the brink of his sanity.

When two women are viciously gunned down in a Pennsylvania state forest, authorities are left chasing a man who knows the mountains like the back of his hand. The motive behind the slaying is dubbed a hate crime and the lone survivor ensures the world knows it.

Two young girls vanish into thin air along the boundary of Glacier National Park in Montana. Their disappearance plagues a small Montana community for years, until a ruthless predator strikes again, leading authorities to the doorstep of a sadistic man who claimed to have no memory of his horrific deeds.

A Canadian park ranger and his wife are gunned down inside their cabin in Riding Mountain National Park. For 90 years the suspect has eluded Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigators…and the reason may be hiding in several pages of the lawman’s diary that the killer removed from the scene of the crime.

When two young lovers are found brutally murdered in a designated park shelter on the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania, authorities work quickly to capture their killer. The man they come face-to-face though with has a dark past and list of even more victims across two U.S. states.

In 1991, a Montana man and his beloved dog failed to return from a 4-day hike searching for shed elk antlers in Yellowstone National Park. Questions surrounding what happened to them range from accident to animal attack to murder and the truth of what really happened to Daniel Campbell remains hidden even three decades later.

In the summer of 1958 a ten-year-old boy vanished from a Catholic church camp in Rocky Mountain National Park. The mystery surrounding what happened to him seemed straight forward, until horrific secrets of the camp he loved surface and sent investigators into an entirely new direction.

Acadia National Park may exist on an island but in the late 1970's a human predator showed up there and started hunting. The identity of the killer has remained unknown for more than four decades and the mystery as to who killed Leslie Spellman is still waiting to be uncovered.

In 2012 the disappearance of a young man working in the trucking and oil industry of North Dakota raised alarm for citizens...but the saga of events and murder-for-hire plots that followed left everyone in this portion of the badlands baffled and bewildered.

In 2015, when a young man shows up dead in a doorway of a historic church in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, rumors about who stabbed him to death run rampant in communities surrounding Cherokee, North Carolina. The identity of the predators who took his life surprise those closest to the victim and people living on the sacred land they considered to be a sanctuary in its own right.

In 2018, two seasonal workers at an inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia set out on a hike and only one returned alive. The reality of who was behind the demise of Sara Ellis is incomprehensible and to this day remains a horrific case for investigators and the victims' family to relive.