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1 Los Angeles Times June 22, 1996, Saturday, Home Edition SECTION: Part A; Page 10; National Desk LENGTH: 56 words HEADLINE: NATION IN BRIEF; VIRGINIA; RENO VOWS WIDE HIKER-SLAYING PROBE BYLINE: From Times Staff and Wire Reports
BODY: Atty. Gen. Janet Reno assured a homosexual-rights group that investigators are considering anti-lesbian bias as a possible motive in the slayings of two campers at Shenandoah National Park. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said in a letter to Reno on June 7 that members felt investigators had disregarded the possibility. LANGUAGE: English LOAD-DATE: June 22, 1996
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| 2 Copyright 1996 The Washington Post The Washington Post View Related Topics June 08, 1996, Saturday, Final Edition SECTION: METRO; Pg. B01 LENGTH: 616 words HEADLINE: Gay Group Seeks Hate Crime Probe in Hikers' Killings BYLINE: Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Washington Post Staff Writer BODY:
A national gay rights organization asked the FBI yesterday to investigate the recent slayings of two young female hikers in Shenandoah National Park as a possible antilesbian hate crime. One Justice Department official said the FBI is not looking into anti-gay motives in the deaths of Julianne Williams and Lollie Winans, but a National Park Service spokesman said nothing had been ruled out. Park officials, who have released little information about the case, have said previously that there were no obvious signs at the scene that the slayings were hate crimes. Williams and Winans were in a relationship and planned to move in together, said Williams's pastor, Rebecca S. Strader, who heads a Burlington, Vt., Presbyterian church that welcomes gay members. The Washington Blade, a local gay newspaper, also quoted friends of both women in yesterday's editions as saying they had a lesbian relationship. "If two women are killed on a trail and no robber is involved and no other motive is appearing, there's a real possibility . . . that could have been a hate crime," said Tracey Conaty, a spokeswoman for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. The group sent a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno asking to meet with the FBI official in charge of the investigation. Williams, 24, and Winans, 26, were found by rangers in a secluded campsite last Saturday evening with their throats slashed. A spokeswoman for Williams's family said that Williams did not discuss her sexuality with relatives but that the family welcomes a hate crime investigation. "We want them to be looking into all aspects of this case," said Sue Mackert, a family friend. Mackert called Williams a "24-year-old girl with lots of female friends, some of them very close." A Justice Department official said yesterday that there is no provision in federal law for the FBI to investigate the slayings as a hate crime based solely on the women's sexual orientation. The FBI also has not determined that the women were lesbians, the official said. "It hasn't been established, and . . . it's not being examined at this time," said the official, who did not allow his name to be used. "We're investigating a murder, and the fact they may have been lesbians is not a factor right now." Strader said Williams recently told her that she was involved in an intimate relationship with Winans. Strader also said Williams had not told her family that she was a lesbian and had told only a handful of her close friends in Burlington, where she had lived since September. "She didn't go around saying, 'Hi, I'm a lesbian,' " Strader said. "But she didn't go around hiding it." Both Winans and Williams spent last summer working for Woodswomen Inc., a Minneapolis-based organization that offers outdoors programs for women. The group advertises in gay publications but attracts both gay and straight clients, said Executive Director Denise Mitten. Winans's grandfather said Winans was not a lesbian. "That lesbian thing is for the birds. There's nothing to that at all," said Donald C. Winans. Winans's parents, Laura Ford and John Winans, could not be reached for comment yesterday. Several gay rights groups have said they believe the slayings could have been a hate crime based on published reports that the women's belongings were not stolen and because a lesbian couple were attacked on the Appalachian Trail in 1988. In that case, hiker Rebecca Wight was murdered, and her lover, Claudia Brenner, was seriously injured by a man who became enraged when he saw them having sex at a campsite in Pennsylvania. Stephen Roy Carr was sentenced to life in prison without parole in the shootings. LANGUAGE: ENGLISH LOAD-DATE: June 08, 1996June 08, 1996
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| 3 Copyright 1996 The Detroit News, Inc. The Detroit News View Related Topics June 06, 1996, Thursday SECTION: Metro; LENGTH: 624 words HEADLINE: Hikers' slayings possibly hate crime BYLINE: By David Josar / The Detroit News BODY:
Federal investigators have no suspects in the Appalachian Trail slayings of a former Grosse Pointe woman and a friend over the weekend, but gay rights advocates fear the attack may have been a hate crime. The bodies of Lollie Winans, 26, formerly of Grosse Pointe, and Julianne Williams, 24, of Minnesota, were discovered by park rangers Saturday in Virginia's Shenandoah National Forest about 25 yards off the famous trail that runs from Maine to Georgia. They had been backpacking over Memorial Day weekend and were last seen May 24. An autopsy performed in Fairfax, Va., found that their throats had been slit, although investigators initially thought their deaths may have been suicides. Winans' mother is Laura Ford, who married into the wealthy Ford family that made its fortune from the BASF company, formerly Wyandotte Chemicals Co. Her father is John Winans of Florida. The women were traveling together and were involved in Woodswomen, a Minneapolis-based adventure tour company that advertises in gay and lesbian magazines although it caters to all women. On Wednesday, members of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, a group of more than 20 organizations that combat anti-gay and lesbian violence, held a conference call to air concern over the slayings. "Given the signs that we see and given the nature of the killings, we just want to make sure that investigators are considering they may have been attacked because someone thought they were lesbians," said Jeff Montgomery, who participated in the conference call as president of the Triangle Foundation, a Detroit group that combats violence and discrimination against gays and lesbians. Montgomery said brutal attacks are typical of hate crimes against gays and lesbians. "Even if this doesn't turn out to be a hate crime, this is a horrible tragedy," he said. According to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, 59 gay men and women were the victims of hate crimes in 1994. Park officials, meanwhile, are telling campers they believe the attack was an isolated incident but will not explain why. A special task force of about a dozen FBI agents and park police officers are investigating the slaying, said Robbie Brockwehl, a National Park Service spokeswoman. She said investigators are chasing several leads but have no suspects. She would not comment if the women were attacked because someone believed they were lesbians. Park service officials said an autopsy found that both women died from cuts to the neck. Gregory F. Stiles, the park's chief ranger, said that when investigators found the bodies, "it took us quite a while" to determine the deaths were homicides rather than suicides or accidents. Winans was enrolled as a student at Unity College in Unity, Maine. She was studying environmental science and had been developing a project to help sexual abuse victims find healing in the outdoors. Williams received a 1994 geology degree from Carleton College in Minnesota and planned to start work June 1 for a water-quality monitoring program in Vermont. Both women had met at Woodswomen as interns last summer to increase their skills as outdoor guides, according to Denise Mitten, Woodswomen's executive director. "We're all shocked," Mitten said. "They were just such wonderful women with such potential. This is a horrible, horrible tragedy. They were very experienced outdoorswomen." Funeral services for Winans will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Christ Church in Grosse Pointe. The William R. Hamilton Funeral Home is handling the arrangements. Winans grandfather, Donald Winans, of Grosse Pointe, said after his daughter moved from Grosse Pointe as a girl, she often returned to visit. LOAD-DATE: June 06, 1996June 06, 1996
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| 4 Copyright 1996 Star Tribune Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) September 18, 1996, Metro Edition SECTION: News; Pg. 3B LENGTH: 470 words HEADLINE: Parents to visit Virginia national park where their daughter was found slain BYLINE: Chadwin Thomas; Staff Writer BODY: Last Wednesday, when Julianne Williams would have turned 25, her parents had hoped to visit Shenandoah National Park, where she and her partner were killed. But a hurricane tore up the place that has ripped apart the Williams' lives, forcing them to postpone their trip. Today, Patsy and Tom Williams of St. Cloud, Minn., finally will get their chance to go to the park in Virginia and issue a plea for someone to come forward with information about the slayings of Julianne Williams and Lollie Winans of Unity, Maine. A park official found the bodies of Williams and Winans, 26, on June 1 at a campsite near the Appalachian Trail. Their wrists were tied and their throats slashed. More than 100 law enforcement officials worked on the case in the six weeks after the bodies were discovered. The case also garnered widespread media coverage, including a feature on Fox's "America's Most Wanted," but investigators have reported little progress. "We haven't had a dramatic breakthrough n the case," said FBI spokesman John Donahue. The case has been difficult to crack because of the remote location of the crime and a lack of physical evidence. "We've had thousands of phone calls and we've conducted hundreds of interviews," Donahue said. "And at this point, no one person has come forward as an eyewitness to the murder." Since the women's belongings weren't taken, investigators don't believe robbery was a motive. Among the possibilities law enforcement officials are considering is the women's sexual orientation. In 1988, a man shot two women after they engaged in sex along the Appalachian Trail near Gettysburg, Pa. One recovered, but the other died. The man is now serving a life sentence for the attack. However, if the women were killed for being lesbians, the slayings could not be prosecuted as a hate crime under current federal law, which doesn't recognize crimes motivated by sexual orientation as hate crimes. The federal government has jurisdiction in the case because the slayings occurred on federal property. Williams' parents didn't know their daughter was a lesbian until a national gay and lesbian organization asked the Justice Department to examine whether Winans and Williams' lesbian relationship could have been a factor in the killings. Sue Mackert, a spokeswoman for the Williams family, said Tom and Patsy support the decisions their daughter made. But, she said, they have had difficulties with this issue because it came as a surprise and they didn't get to talk to her about it. Mackert described Williams' relationship with her parents as very close. Law enforcement agencies are offering a $ 25,000 reward and have set up a toll-free number (1-888-856-2467) for people to call with information.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH LOAD-DATE: September 20, 1996
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| 5 opyright 1996 The Washington Post The Washington Post View Related Topics July 20, 1996, Saturday, Final Edition SECTION: METRO; Pg. C03 LENGTH: 415 words HEADLINE: New Details Released in Hiker Slayings BYLINE: Tod Robberson, Washington Post Staff Writer BODY:
The FBI is investigating the possibility that more than one assailant was involved in the killings of two young women on a hiking trip in Shenandoah National Park, according to the agency's regional chief in Richmond. In the FBI's first disclosure of new details in six weeks, Stanley Klein, special agent in charge of the FBI's Richmond office, also said that the women's wrists were bound. One body was inside their tent and the other was outside when National Park Service rangers discovered them June 1, he said. Their throats had been slashed. Klein would not specify whether a knife or some other sharp object was used as the weapon in the killings. Klein acknowledged that it might have been difficult for one assailant to tie up both victims and said he could not "discount the fact that there might be more than one" assailant involved. "We've had hundreds and hundreds of leads to follow," he said. "This has been one of the most exhaustive investigations I've seen, and I've been with [the FBI] for 28 years." In an interview yesterday, he said the bureau also is investigating whether the fact that the hikers were lesbians was connected to their deaths. The bodies of Julianne Williams, 24, of St. Cloud, Minn., and Lollie Winans, 26, of Unity, Maine, were discovered at a secluded, creek-side campsite barely half a mile from the popular Skyland Lodge resort on Skyline Drive. Shortly after the investigation began, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force asked that the FBI investigate the killings as a possible anti-lesbian hate crime, but a bureau spokesman at the time said investigators were not looking into such a motive. "Whatever their lifestyles were . . . we follow it," Klein said. "Absolutely, we are looking into every aspect, whether it involves their lifestyles, hiking habits, family, friends or whatever." Klein said the agency is providing new details in hopes of generating information from any witnesses. Investigators also have cooperated in the filming of a segment for the television show "America's Most Wanted," which will air at 9 tonight on Fox stations. Although the women were last seen in the park on May 23, an autopsy report suggested that the killings occurred on or after May 27. Klein said that investigators do not believe robbery was a motive and that there is no evidence to suggest that any of the women's belongings were stolen during the attack. Their dog was found near the site, running free. LANGUAGE: ENGLISH LOAD-DATE: July 20, 1996
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| 6 Copyright 1996 Globe Newspaper Company The Boston Globe View Related Topics June 8, 1996, Saturday, City Edition SECTION: METRO/REGION; Pg. 19 LENGTH: 277 words HEADLINE: Anti-gay bias feared in hikers' slayings; Group urges US to consider possibility; Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. BYLINE: By Shirley Leung, Globe Staff BODY: The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is urging the Justice Department to investigate the possibility that two women hikers found dead in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park were victims of anti-gay violence. In a two-page letter faxed to Attorney General Janet Reno yesterday, the homosexual civil rights group said New Englanders Julianne Williams and Lollie Winans may have been killed because an assailant believed they were lesbians. "We are asking for your help to ensure that the FBI and the National Park Service are diligent in investigating all aspects of these crimes, including the possibility that the murders were motivated by anti-lesbian bias," wrote Melinda Paras, executive director of the Washington-based task force. Williams, 24, a St. Cloud, Minn. native who lived in Burlington, Vt., and Winans, 26, of Unity, Maine, were found slain June 1 at a campsite a half-mile from the park's popular Skyland Lodge. FBI spokesman John Donahue told the Burlington (Vt.) Free Press this week that investigators have no indication that the attack was a hate crime. FBI and Justice Department officials reached last night would not comment on the nature of the attack. "We honestly don't know if this is a hate crime," Tracey Conaty, a spokeswoman for the task force, said in an interview last night. "We simply want reassurances that the possibility is being looked at. In fact, we hope it wasn't an anti-lesbian crime." The task force letter cited an article in The Washington Blade, a newspaper that serves gay readers in the nation's capital, that quoted a Burlington, Vt., minister as saying Williams and Winans were lesbians. LANGUAGE: ENGLISH LOAD-DATE: June 11, 1996
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| 7 Copyright 1996 The Washington Post The Washington Post View Related Topics June 07, 1996, Friday, Final Edition SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A19 LENGTH: 653 words HEADLINE: Park Service Investigation Of 2 Slayings Is Criticized; Public Should Have Been Warned, Senator Says BYLINE: Rajiv Chandrasekaran; Tod Robberson, Washington Post Staff Writers BODY:
The director of the National Park Service came under fire on Capitol Hill yesterday for his department's handling of the investigation into the recent slayings of two young female hikers at Shenandoah National Park. Park Service Director Roger Kennedy, testifying at a Senate committee hearing, was asked pointedly why rangers waited more than a day before notifying the public that authorities had found the bodies of hikers Julianne Williams and Lollie Winans on Saturday. "My concern is obvious," said Sen. Frank H. Murkowski (R-Alaska). "We don't want to scare people, but it seems to me if you have people hiking and camping in the area, they should be told as soon as possible if there is a potential danger lurking. . . . Why two days, when other people in the park could have been subjected, theoretically, to the same danger?" Also yesterday, restaurant and hotel workers at the park said they told FBI investigators that they saw two women resembling the hikers at a mountain lodge less than 48 hours before the bodies were found by park rangers at a nearby campsite. Park officials have said the last confirmed sighting of Williams and Winans was May 23, more than a week before their bodies were found. Williams, 24, and Winans, 26, were found by rangers Saturday evening with their throats slashed at a campsite near Skyland Lodge, which is on Skyline Drive. Park officials first told visitors and the news media about the deaths on Monday morning. Kennedy told the Senate committee that the ongoing investigation limits what he can say on the matter, but he said that rangers notified the FBI 40 minutes after the bodies were discovered. Park Service officials have refused to discuss most details of their investigation. But five employees of Skyland Lodge said they have told the FBI that they saw either or both of the women, along with their golden retriever, eating at the lodge restaurant and congregating with backpackers as recently as May 30 or 31. "I definitely remember the brunette [Williams] because she was so pretty. I'm sure it was her," said Becky Knighting, a waitress at the Skyland restaurant, adding that she was "almost certain" she saw them in the restaurant May 30 or 31. Debbie Taylor, another waitress, said she went "running by" two women resembling Williams and Winans as she headed for her evening shift at the restaurant May 30. She said the two women and the dog were standing next to a group of eight to 10 backpackers who had gathered outside the restaurant. Chief park spokesman Terry Lewis said yesterday he could not verify the witnesses' statements. "At this point, [May 23] is the last confirmed sighting," he said. "It's possible that someone would have seen them since that time." An FBI agent who interviewed the employees said investigators were taking their accounts seriously but declined to say whether their recollections matched the time of death estimated by the medical examiner. Park officials have refused to say when the women died or whether they were sexually assaulted. And park officials said yesterday that they could no longer confirm one of the few details they have released: that the women were found inside their tent. "I have no information on whether the people were found inside or outside their tent," Lewis said. The Park Service yesterday announced a $ 25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the women's killer or killers. Park Service spokesmen in recent days have provided conflicting versions of facts about the investigation and crime scene, prompting complaints from tourists and hikers that they didn't know whether to believe official statements that the park was safe. But Kennedy, who promised to report back to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said, "The fact is that you are safer in the parks than you are outside the parks." LANGUAGE: ENGLISH LOAD-DATE: June 07, 1996June 07, 1996
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Copyright 1996 The Washington Post The Washington Post View Related Topics June 06, 1996, Thursday, Final Edition SECTION: METRO; Pg. B01 LENGTH: 789 words HEADLINE: Investigators Face Uphill Climb; Shenandoah's Terrain Slows Probe Into Slaying of Hikers BYLINE: Tod Robberson; Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Washington Post Staff Writers BODY:
With its majestic waterfalls and panoramic mountaintop views, Shenandoah National Park has been described as a camper's dream. But that same isolated, rugged terrain has also complicated the work of investigators probing the slayings of two young female hikers in the park. FBI agents have been unable to get their mobile crime lab truck, a standard resource in such cases, to the scene. Hikers along the Appalachian Trail, who may have seen the two women in the days before their deaths, have scattered as far as 200 miles to the north and south. And the primitive campsite where the bodies of Julianne Williams, 24, and Lollie Winans, 26, were found Saturday night was close to, but well-hidden from, those staying at a nearby lodge on Skyline Drive. "The big thing is that the size of the park and the numbers of trails mean that everything has to be done on foot," said Gregory F. Stiles, the park's chief ranger. "Whereas in the city everything goes boom, boom, boom and falls into place, here things are physically spread out. It's the time exaggeration involved in that." The FBI significantly increased its presence at the park yesterday by deploying more than a dozen agents, who will supplement more than 40 park rangers sent to assist in the investigation, a bureau official said. FBI forensic specialists spent the day painstakingly collecting evidence and taking measurements along the little-used horse trail leading to the campsite. Park rangers and employees of the private Appalachian Trail Conference set up five checkpoints along the trail to solicit information from hikers who may have seen something, conference spokesman Brian King said. "Hikers tend to notice anything unusual as they hike along," King said. "It's part of the change of scenery. It sticks in your mind." Park officials remained tight-lipped about the case yesterday, revealing no new details about their investigation. Although park spokesmen had said earlier in the week that the killings were "an isolated incident," park spokesman Terry Lewis said yesterday that he was "not sure you could draw any conclusions that this couldn't happen again." A law enforcement official familiar with the case said the women likely were killed at least five days before their bodies were found in their tent on Saturday night by a park ranger. The attacker or attackers did not steal the women's possessions, the official said. Officials would not say whether the two women, whose throats were slashed, had been sexually assaulted. Based on interviews with several hikers on the Appalachian Trail, which runs near the scene of the slayings, King said he does not think the person or persons responsible for the crime are still on the trail. "There are so many people on the trail, they probably would have picked up on something," he said. The information checkpoints were set up as far north as where the Appalachian Trail intersects Interstate 70 in Maryland and to the south near the town of Buena Vista, Va. King said officials were considering adding a checkpoint in Pennsylvania today, because investigators are trying to find people who were in the central part of Shenandoah National Park from May 19 to 31. Along the horse trail, which does not even appear on many hiking maps, investigators have used plastic tape and branches to outline potential evidence such as a five-inch length of twine, a large piece of cotton stuffing and a zip-lock plastic bag dropped on the trail. FBI agents and rangers also took the logbooks hikers used to sign in at camping shelters along the trail to help them find potential witnesses, officials said. But hiker Herndon Inge, 46, of Mobile, Ala., said that may be hard to do. "Those people are serious hikers. They cover 25 or 30 miles a day," he said. "And when they're on the trail, they don't use their real names. They use trail names like 'Spider' and 'Turbo' and 'Free Willy.' Half the [investigators'] problem will be finding out their real names." Further complicating the investigation, the campsite that Williams and Winans used is barely a half-mile's walk from the Skyland Lodge mountain center, the busiest location on the entire Skyline Drive. Lodge operators said thousands of visitors came through the area -- including hundreds of hikers who might have come in contact with the victims -- over the Memorial Day weekend, when the two women were camping. "A lot of those people might have information, but they don't even know about this yet," said Lewis, the park spokesman. He said the park began distributing a new flier last night containing photos of the victims and other information. Robberson reported from Shenandoah National Park.
GRAPHIC: Photo, ap/steve helber, FBI agents collect evidence on a trail leading to the campsite in Shenandoah National Park where two women were found with their throats slashed. The pair had been hiking the Appalachian Trail. LANGUAGE: ENGLISH LOAD-DATE: June 06, 1996June 06, 1996
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| 9 Copyright 1996 Times Mirror Company Los Angeles Times June 5, 1996, Wednesday, Southland Edition SECTION: Part A; Page 13; National Desk LENGTH: 886 words HEADLINE: MURDER INVADES IDYLLIC WORLD OF BACKPACKERS; CRIME: TWO WOMEN ARE KILLED ON THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL. SLAYINGS ARE PART OF A TREND OF INCREASING VIOLATIONS OF THE LAW IN THE WILDERNESS, NATIONAL PARKS. BYLINE: RICHARD A. SERRANO, TIMES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON BODY: Julianne Williams and Lollie Winans were killed doing what they loved most, their bodies discovered last weekend along the awe-inspiring Appalachian National Scenic Trail in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park. They had ventured into the wilderness on foot, 80 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., two accomplished hikers who had met last year working as intern guides for hiking tours in the Midwest. They sought nature's beauty. They found something far different. Park police and federal law enforcement agents would say only that each woman suffered an "incised wound to the neck" but refusing to disclose how long they may have lain dead along the mountain crest road known as Skyline Drive. And for hikers and hiking organizers, the murders have brought home the reality that even the idyllic world of nature cannot escape crime. "I've been a hiking leader for 20 years," said Jack Goldberg, who at 72 leads tours through Southern California's Angeles National Forest and the San Gabriel Mountains. "I've had people break an arm or leg from a fall. I've had one person have a heart attack. No, two people have had a heart attack. And you're always falling down in the brush and ripping your pants. "But is crime now coming to the wilderness? I guess it's unavoidable. There's crime in the streets, for crying out loud, so I guess this looks like nothing different than two women walking down Broadway and Main at night." The summer season's recreational trips in the wilderness and in national parks now are beginning in full swing. In recent years, the number of hikers and guided hiking tours has increased sharply, bringing more and more city dwellers into the woods and mountains for weekend getaways. But this new interest has come with a high price. According to the National Parks and Conservation Assn., an independent group of national parks users, the number of park visitors has increased by 10% over the last decade--just as crime is rising. Homicides in the national parks have almost tripled since 1971. Car thefts have doubled. Assaults are up by more than 60%. Rape and larceny are up 30%. Officials said Tuesday that safety is still their No. 1 priority in the 83 million acres that make up the National Park Service system. "The parks are relatively safe," said David Barna, a spokesman at Park Service headquarters in Washington. "But they are also a microcosm of our society. We have drunk drivers and we have assaults and we have all the other problems people face in the cities." Barna said the Shenandoah killings are a reminder of the importance of park safety. "As a fad or an exercise, hiking for the last 10 years has become a very big recreational activity. In fact, outdoor recreation has grown overall in this country in the last decade," he said. "We are aware of that," he said. "So the safety of our visitors and the strength of our law enforcement is our prime concern." Williams, 24, of St. Cloud, Minn., and Winans, 26, of Unity, Me., were the eighth and ninth people to be murdered in the last 22 years along the Appalachian trail, which runs south from Maine into Georgia. The last murder occurred in 1990, when a drifter shot one hiker in the head and stabbed another as they slept in a camping shelter near Harrisburg, Pa. In Richmond, Va., where FBI agents are coordinating the investigation into the latest deaths, officials said that the bodies were found Saturday night. Relatives of the victims said the women were scheduled to leave the trail by Memorial Day after a five-day hike. They had gone into the woods with a golden Labrador retriever named Taj, who has been found alive. Authorities arrested a man Monday who was walking on the trail without a backpack or other hiking gear. He was not implicated in the murders but was being held in connection with an unrelated offense in New York, officials said. "Every lead is being investigated," said National Park Service spokesman Paul Pfenninger. "Back-country users are being advised of the situation, and are being reminded of safe practices." Williams and Winans met last summer while conducting tours for Woodswomen Inc., a Minnesota company that sponsors hiking and other outdoor trips. Denise Mitten, executive director of Woodswomen, said: "We don't know anything more than anybody else. We've heard all kinds of rumors, but nothing concrete. "Is it an isolated thing? A grudge against them? A random act? Who knows what it was?" Mitten said that the women were not afraid to go into the wilderness alone or together. She said that they had taught outdoor programs in Minnesota, including hiking, backpacking and canoeing. "They were wonderful, extremely dedicated outdoorswomen." Winans would have graduated this year with a college degree in outdoor recreation. Williams had earned a degree in the natural sciences. "They loved the outdoors so much because they felt safe and they felt good when they were out there," Mitten said. "They felt healthy. They just enjoyed being with nature." Goldberg, the Southern California hiker, said: "What inspires us? It's the outdoors. You get a warm feeling of beauty and well-being. You get oxygen in your lungs. You come home tired and you feel good. "And you never think about not making it home." LANGUAGE: English LOAD-DATE: June 5, 1996
Document 7 of 10.
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| 10 Copyright 1996 Times Mirror Company Los Angeles Times June 5, 1996, Wednesday, Home Edition SECTION: Part A; Page 13; National Desk LENGTH: 694 words HEADLINE: MURDER INVADES IDYLLIC WORLD OF BACKPACKERS; CRIME: TWO WOMEN ARE KILLED ON THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL. SLAYINGS ARE PART OF A TREND OF INCREASING VIOLATIONS OF THE LAW IN THE WILDERNESS, NATIONAL PARKS. BYLINE: RICHARD A. SERRANO, TIMES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON BODY: Julianne Williams and Lollie Winans were killed doing what they loved most, their bodies discovered last weekend along the awe-inspiring Appalachian National Scenic Trail in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park. They had ventured into the wilderness on foot, 80 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., two accomplished hikers who had met last year working as intern guides for hiking tours in the Midwest. They sought nature's beauty. They found something far different. Park police and federal law enforcement agents would say only that each woman suffered an "incised wound to the neck" but refusing to disclose how long they may have lain dead along the mountain crest road known as Skyline Drive. And for hikers and hiking organizers, the murders have brought home the reality that even the idyllic world of nature cannot escape crime. "I've been a hiking leader for 20 years," said Jack Goldberg, who at 72 leads tours through Southern California's Angeles National Forest and the San Gabriel Mountains. "I've had people break an arm or leg from a fall. I've had one person have a heart attack. No, two people have had a heart attack. And you're always falling down in the brush and ripping your pants. "But is crime now coming to the wilderness? I guess it's unavoidable. There's crime in the streets, for crying out loud, so I guess this looks like nothing different than two women walking down Broadway and Main at night." The summer season's recreational trips in the wilderness and in national parks now are beginning in full swing. In recent years, the number of hikers and guided hiking tours has increased sharply, bringing more and more city dwellers into the woods and mountains for weekend getaways. But this new interest has come with a high price. According to the National Parks and Conservation Assn., an independent group of national parks users, the number of park visitors has increased by 10% over the last decade--just as crime is rising. Homicides in the national parks have almost tripled since 1971. Car thefts have doubled. Assaults are up by more than 60%. Rape and larceny are up 30%. Officials said Tuesday that safety is still their No. 1 priority in the 83 million acres that make up the National Park Service system. "The parks are relatively safe," said David Barna, a spokesman at Park Service headquarters in Washington. "But they are also a microcosm of our society. We have drunk drivers and we have assaults and we have all the other problems people face in the cities." Barna said the Shenandoah killings are a reminder of the importance of park safety. "As a fad or an exercise, hiking for the last 10 years has become a very big recreational activity. In fact, outdoor recreation has grown overall in this country in the last decade," he said. Williams, 24, of St. Cloud, Minn., and Winans, 26, of Unity, Me., were the eighth and ninth people to be murdered in the last 22 years along the Appalachian trail, which runs south from Maine into Georgia. The last murder occurred in 1990, when a drifter shot one hiker in the head and stabbed another as they slept in a camping shelter near Harrisburg, Pa. Authorities arrested a man Monday who was walking on the trail without a backpack or other hiking gear. He was not implicated in the murders but was being held in connection with an unrelated offense in New York, officials said. Williams and Winans met last summer while conducting tours for Woodswomen Inc., a Minnesota company that sponsors hiking and other outdoor trips. Denise Mitten, executive director of Woodswomen, said the women were not afraid to go into the wilderness alone or together. She said that they had taught outdoor programs in Minnesota, including hiking, backpacking and canoeing. "They were wonderful, extremely dedicated outdoorswomen." Winans would have graduated this year with a college degree in outdoor recreation. Williams had earned a degree in the natural sciences. "They loved the outdoors so much because they felt safe and they felt good when they were out there," Mitten said. "They felt healthy. They just enjoyed being with nature." LANGUAGE: English LOAD-DATE: June 5, 1996
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