Park Predators

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.

On New Year's Day in 2012 park ranger Margaret Anderson encountered a violent man on an icy roadway in Mount Rainier National Park.

Park Predators Season 2 has wrapped, but Delia is bringing listeners one more story...an active murder mystery in Utah that has outdoor enthusiasts and the world wondering who shot two women in their campsite in August 2021? The FBI and state police are working tirelessly to catch a killer that is still lurking in the La Sal Mountains.

A park ranger in Hot Springs National Park stumbles upon an illegal alcohol operation and pays the ultimate price. His murderers are still unaccounted for, leaving everyone in Arkansas mystified for nearly 100 years. Who really killed National Park Ranger James Cary and is the answer somewhere bubbling just beneath the surface?

Two Dutch women visiting Panama vanish while hiking in the jungle. Cryptic clues, body parts and their camera point to foul play, but the question of what or who really happened to Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon remains unanswered.

A woman’s mysterious death in Grand Canyon National Park in 1993 reveals one man’s horrible secret. Robert Spangler ran from his dark past for years but could not suppress the predator within.

A rafting trip for the Rothgeb family in the summer of 1984 ends with a mother and teenage daughter dead and the father, David, under investigation for their double murder. His hidden lifestyle seals his fate in court, but just like the rivers in the Ozarks, many people are split as to whether the father was framed or a predator remains lurking on the riverways.

A 30-year-old man disappears into the Jefferson National Forest, leaving his beloved dog behind in his car. His body is found at a popular swimming hole and pieces of critical evidence are placed beneath his missing posters months after his murder. Turns out, he isn't the only 30-year-old man to suffer a fatal fate on this section of the Appalachian Trail. The stories of Scott Lily and Chad Austin point to a predator who's gone undetected in the mountains of Virginia for decades.

In the dead of winter 1977 a suspected serial killer moonlighting as a military police officer abducts four teenagers who were out on a double date in the heart of the Ozarks. Johnny Lee Thornton's diabolical mind and dark deeds are revealed when the snow melts and the facade of his seemingly normal personality disintegrates. The question still lingering to this day is, did this predator have more victims in the Ozarks?

For days in the summer of 1982 a predator stalked a family at their campsite in British Columbia, then made his move. The trail of death and destruction David William Shearing left behind is remembered by all who visit Canada's Wells Gray Provincial Park. Sources for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit

At the start of the school year in 1976, 16-year-old Trenny Lynn Gibson disappeared while on a school field trip in Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Clingmans Dome. Did she fall? Was she abducted? The only witness to the awful mystery is the Appalachia itself. Sources for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit

Young lovers, Chynna Deese and Lucas Fowler set out to visit as many national parks in Canada as they could in the summer of 2019. They didn’t make it far before diabolical predators stopped them in their tracks on Alaska Highway 97. Their murders were just the beginning of a homicidal rampage that would leave five people dead and authorities wondering what was really going on in the mind of two troubled teenage boys.

A Labor Day family camping trip in Southwest Oregon launches one of the largest search and rescue operations in the country after the Cowden family fails to show up for a scheduled holiday weekend dinner. Months into the investigation, police uncover a massacre hidden in a cave and a prime suspect emerges but to this day authorities are no closer to catching a suspect still at large.

In 2015, a Canadian tourist and California therapist are slain inside parks surrounding San Francisco, California just a few days apart. The hunt for their murderers leads authorities on a wild chase that reveals a single predator isn't behind the killings, but rather, a trio of young people holds the key.

In 1960, three housewives from Chicago never make it out of Starved Rock State Park alive and police in Illinois quickly realize a piece of nature itself is the murder weapon. The investigation zeros in on a predator who was hiding in plain sight.

On October 1, 1988 two people entered Presque Isle Park and only one came out alive. The question of who killed Paul Girard on a sacred Native American chief's grave may soon be answered. The key to solve the 33-year-old cold case may be buried in Lake Superior or it might be with scientists in Michigan.

A Tennessee man who knew the Great Smoky Mountains National Park like the back of his hand disappears into the forestland that surrounds his 100-acre property. The only clue left behind is an idle ATV, indicating he stumbled upon something sinister and never saw the light of day again.

Two Virginia college students set out for a romantic evening together in Jefferson National Forest but are gunned down in cold blood before they can get out of their car. Who pulled the trigger and why would anyone want to kill Heidi Childs and David Metzler? The answer still haunts visitors of Jefferson National Forest and Virginia State Police.

Park Predators returns for a second season with host Delia D'Ambra on June 1, 2021.

Wedding bells had barely stopped ringing by the time 21-year-old Jordan Graham pushed her husband of only eight days off of a cliff in Glacier National Park. The couple’s hike was meant to bring their budding marriage closer together, but ended horrifically for Cody Johnson. The events and stories that would unfold after this lethal act changed the fabric of a small religious Montana community and became one of two only documented murders in modern history to occur inside the massive park. Sources for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit https://parkpredators.com/bonus-episode-the-newlywed/

A ruthless and tactical predator posing as a photographer in Los Angeles’s Westside lures young women to their deaths with promises of fame and fortune. The capture of William Bradford may solve two murders, but his collection of work reveals to authorities there are even more victims to unearth in the canyons of California’s mountains and sands of the Mojave Desert. Sources for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit https://parkpredators.com/episode-11-the-photographer/

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 of 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. Sources for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit https://parkpredators.com/episode-10-the-husband/

In the 1990’s one of the most well-known and liked men in West Yellowstone, Montana became one of the most notorious names in western U.S. history. Larry Moore’s crime of murder reveals to authorities a seemingly endless pit of sociopathic mayhem brewing inside this wealthy businessman, who’s hell bent on covering up his crimes and convincing others to kill. Sources for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit https://parkpredators.com/episode-9-the-friend/

National Park Service ranger Paul Fugate vanishes into the mountains of Chiricahua National Park in Arizona. What was supposed to be a routine patrol hike through the sacred monument grounds turns into one of the largest and longest running missing persons cases in National Park Service history. Sources for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit https://parkpredators.com/episode-8-the-unknown/

The beauty of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is marred when beloved community figure Arman Johnson’s bullet-ridden body is found dumped on a trail. Few leads emerge and FBI agents are left to wonder if drug trade on Hawaii’s Big Island is to blame. Sources for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit https://parkpredators.com/episode-7-the-volcano/

In May 1990, the resort town of Banff, Alberta Canada was gearing up for a busy tourist season, but the horrific stabbing of a young female taxi driver brings everything to a screeching halt. The perpetrator remains on the loose for nearly two years. Detectives in a race against the clock to find their killer never expected this monster would have the face of a teenager. Sources for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit https://parkpredators.com/episode-6-the-passenger/

A man trying to pull off an intricate and complex double life in Idaho commits an unspeakable triple murder, then takes off into the wilderness of Grand Teton National Park. Investigators realize catching their killer will take outsmarting him in the vast forests and mountains he knows like the back of his hand. After years of searching, this killer remains at large...but is Gerald Bullinger still in the woods alone or has he conned his way back into another alternate identity? Sources for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit https://parkpredators.com/episode-5-the-survivalist/

In the winter and summer of 1999, a serial killer struck four times in the span of six months inside Yosemite National Park. His spree of brutal murders left FBI agents and local law enforcement searching for leads across the state of California. Taunting letters from the perpetrator revealed clues about this killer’s twisted mind. Authorities and the victims’ families could never have imagined that this sinister slayer, Cary Stayner, whose family name was once known across the nation, was operating right beneath their noses. Sources for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit https://parkpredators.com/episode-4-the-predator/

The case of who murdered Julie Williams and Laura Winans at their campsite by a peaceful mountain stream inside Shenandoah National Park in 1996 still remains a mystery. The brutality of this couple’s slaying has baffled state and federal investigators for 24 years. Several key suspects have emerged over the years, but still no one is behind bars for these women’s murders. The nature of the crimes have the classic signatures of a sociopathic serial killer, but without help from the public, the case continues to grow cold. Sources for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit https://parkpredators.com/episode-3-the-hikers/

In 1983, one man’s kind gesture to give a hitchhiker and his dog a ride into Glacier National Park, ends in murder and a manhunt that spanned from California, to Canada and eventually Mexico. Scott David Steel’s hopscotch pattern of crimes throughout the 1980’s and 2000’s leads investigators down a dark road of robbery, renegade behavior and remorselessness that spanned almost 40 years. Sources for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit https://parkpredators.com/episode-2-the-hitchhiker/

In a matter of four months between late 2007 and early 2008, drifter Gary Michael Hilton went on a killing rampage in national parklands across three states on America’s East Coast. He left a 4-victim body count for authorities to piece together. He used the cover and isolation of park trails and campgrounds to stalk and murder his victims. However, even after his arrest, authorities became convinced that his murderous crimes could go back much further than anyone ever thought. Sources for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit https://parkpredators.com/episode-1-the-hunter/

Park Predators is an 11-part series hosted by Delia D'Ambra coming on July 7th, 2020.