TOP 10 UNSOLVED MYSTERIES IN OUR NATIONAL PARKS
By: A. J. Landau
(author of LEAVE NO TRACE)
LEAVE NO TRACE is the first in a series of mystery-thrillers set within, and against the backdrop of, America’s iconic national parks. To commemorate the book’s February 27 publication, we thought it would be fun to list the Top Ten greatest ongoing real-life mysteries that have taken place in national parks, in contrast to the fictional ones we’ve concocted. Our conclusion: sometimes life really does imitate art! The list is presented alphabetically.
THE CASE OF THE MYSTERIES OF CRATER LAKE: Oregon’s Crater Lake National Park features that very lake whose vast depth (nearly 2,000 feet) is equaled only the endless series of baffling occurrences that have riddled it. Maybe the fact that it’s a water-filled prehistoric basin is to blame for the missing aircraft, unsolved murders, clairvoyant visions, inexplicable disappearances and a log that’s been floating vertically since the nineteenth century. That oddity is commonly known as the Old Man of the Lake, a lake the local Native American tribes deem to possess a dark, ominous power. Maybe they’re right.
THE CASE OF THE DISAPPEARING CHILD: In 1969, the Martins and two other families spent Father’s Day weekend in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, spanning Tennessee and North Carolina. The kids decided to play a prank on their parents, so they hid in the thick rhododendron bushes and jumped out when the adults passed by to scare them. Only one of those kids, six-year-old Dennis, had disappeared and was never seen again after that day. Despite the largest search efforts ever undertaken in the park, no trace of the boy has ever been found.
THE CASE OF THE GHOSTS OF GETTYSBURG: Is the site of the most famous Civil War battle in what is now Gettysburg National Military Park haunted by the soldiers who lost their lives? Well, multiple witnesses report horse riding cavalry soldiers thundering past in anything but a cheesy reenactment, and soldiers have been spotted as shadowy outlines in family photographs. Not to mention the spectral figures visitors regularly report roaming the grounds. At some point, the sheer volume of these reports should be enough to give us pause.
THE CASE OF THE HAUNTED HOTEL: Hawaii’s Volcanoes National Park features a nineteenth century hotel called the Volcano House where ghosts appear to be among the regular guests. The hotel takes the existence of potentially malevolent spirits seriously enough to painstakingly confiscate lava rocks pilfered from park grounds by tourists to avoid roiling any vengeful entity upset over the despoiling of the land.
THE CASE OF THE MISSING NEWLYWEDS: In 1928, newlyweds Glen and Bessie Hyde headed to the Grand Canyon for their honeymoon, in part to try out a new Glen had built himself to handle the rapids. The Hydes were last seen on November 18. A month later, that boat, still in pristine condition, was found abandoned with all of the couple’s supplies intact. Unfortunately, the Hydes were missing and no trace of them has ever turned up.
THE CASE OF THE MURDERED PARK EMPLOYEE: In 1996, 43-year-old Sheila Karns had just gotten the good news that her seasonal employment at Mount Rainier National Park had been extended to full-time, when she too vanished inexplicably without a trace. Six months later, when the frozen ground thawed out, a Park Service volunteer found her skeletal remains spread over an area spanning nearly a quarter mile. Despite an exhaustive investigation, that included the latest forensics of the time, no cause of death was ever determined and no explanation for either Sheila’s death or disappearance was found.
THE CASE OF THE SEVERED HAND: In 1983, a family was exploring Summit Meadow off Glacier Road in Yosemite National Park when they discovered the remains of a severed hand. Five years later, a skull was found in the same area, neither of which helped the Park Service identify the victim. Was it murder? The case remains open, but chances are we’ll never know.
THE CASE OF THE SHIFTING SANDS: The tallest sand dunes in North America, some stretching to 700 feet tall and beyond, can be found in Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. But that’s not all that can found at the Colorado site. Sometimes referred to a “the Bermuda Triangle of the West,” weird lights have often been seen in the sky, web-footed horses have been spotted, and reports of the sand swallowing innocent tourists in a scene straight out of a horror movie are not uncommon. Legend? Myth? Folklore? Maybe but all such things have some basis in fact. How much we may never fully know or even want to know.
THE CASE OF THE VANISHED BOMBERS: In 1945, a squadron of five Navy bombers took off from Fort Lauderdale on a routine two-hour training flight. While over the Everglades, the squadron leader radioed the control tower in panic that they were lost. The communications grew more desperate and frantic, before contact with all five planes was lost entirely. Rescue efforts were mounted immediately throughout the area, but those efforts turned up nothing, and no trace of the planes have ever been found. Freak weather occurrence? Bermuda Triangle? The Boogeyman? Your guess is as good as mine.
THE CASE OF THE YUCCA MAN: California’s Joshua Tree National Park has long attracted its share of those on more than just a regular trip. So the legend of the Yucca Man shouldn’t really surprise anyone. The entity in question is massive in size and known for its glowing red eyes and leaving massive footprints in the soft ground. Devotees believe that the area’s well-founded mystical bearing has drawn “shadow” beings along with human ones. Attribute that to the mindset of the many witnesses if you like, but the number of sightings are far too numerous and consistent to be dismissed.