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.Laura Susan “Su-Su” Ramsay Tribute. Sims Family Cemetery. View source material and photos for this episode at: parkpredators.com/the-loner Park Predators is an audiochuck production. Connect with us on social media:Instagram: @parkpredators | @audiochuckTwitter: @ParkPredators | @audiochuckFacebook: /ParkPredators | /audiochuckllcTikTok: @audiochuck
What happened at the Wapiti Shelter on the Appalachian Trail in 1981?
Hi, park enthusiasts. I'm your host, Delia D'Ambra. And the story I'm going to tell you about today is harrowing. It takes place along Dismal Creek, which intersects with a portion of the Appalachian Trail on the border of Virginia and West Virginia. In that area is the AT's Wapiti Shelter, a small wooden structure that's widely used as a camping spot by hikers traversing the famous trail.
It's technically located in Giles County, Virginia, but we're not talking about a place that's a hop, skip, and a jump from the nearest town or anything. It's out there, in thick woods, intentionally placed in a remote location, but easily accessible to hikers wanting to take a rest.
The National Park Service's website for the AT warns that enjoying the trail and all its beauty requires visitors to have a certain level of vigilance and awareness of the terrain and people around them. The 2,000-mile-plus trail is generally considered safe, but as you all know from previous cases I've covered on this show, it has seen its fair share of violent crime over the years.
An NPS warning online states, quote, Acts of kindness and trail magic are so common on the AT that it's easy to forget you could encounter someone who does not have your best interest at heart, or who may even seek to harm you. This is more likely to occur near roads or occasionally at shelters, but it can happen anywhere, end quote.
Bye.
On Friday, May 29th, 1981, a few days after Memorial Day weekend, a group of hikers staying at a hostel near the Appalachian Trail in Parisburg, Virginia, were growing increasingly worried. Two fellow travelers they'd expected to arrive nine days earlier had still not shown up. The overdue hikers were 27-year-old Robert Mountford Jr.
and 26-year-old Laura Susan Ramsey, who it appears was most often referred to by her middle name, Susan. So for the rest of this episode, that's what I'm going to refer to her by. At some point on that Friday, the folks at the hostel got so concerned about the pair that they contacted their families to let them know what was going on.
Susan's parents, Jenny and Bud Ramsey, lived near Cleveland, Ohio, and Robert's family was in Dover, Foxcroft, Maine, though Robert himself lived about an hour southeast of there in Ellsworth, Maine.
Media coverage at the time reported that investigators learned from store operators in the area of Crandon, Virginia, which is near the AT in nearby Bland County, that Robert and Susan had been spotted at that shop on May 19th.
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