Morbid Outdoors

Today I sit down with Alex Foster, the CEO & Executive Director of Ozark Natural Science Center. In this episode, we discuss what ONSC provides for the community and the environment. Alex even shares her own campfire story about the (possibly) haunted bluff shelters of the Ozarks! I had a blast sitting down with Alex and hearing her story, learning about ONSC, and talking about how important nature is to all of us. If you feel inclined to help ONSC make differences in children's lives, please donate to their nonprofit! Check them out here.https://www.onsc.us/

Join us for this month's fatality incident reports from Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado and Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah.

It's 1997 and yet another person has gone missing while visiting Mount Rainier National Park. A 27 year old took his camera equipment to the park for a photography day on the trails, promising his mom he’d be home by dinner. He was never seen again. Sources:https://www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/2017/11/6/chethansonhttps://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/nov/17/search-for-mount-rainier-hiker-called-off/https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/23010/detailshttps://charleyproject.org/case/vincent-djiehttps://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/news/two-searches-continue-for-overdue-hikers.htmhttps://charleyproject.org/case/ramona-lynn-feyhttps://wheninyourstate.com/washington/mount-rainier-national-park-washington/

A regular contributor to various Arizona outdoor websites such as HikeArizona.com and ArizonaHikers.com took off on a solo hike in a rugged Arizona mountain range and has never been seen since. Sources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazatzal_Wildernesshttps://charleyproject.org/case/joseph-s-dominhttps://www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/gps-joehttps://charleyproject.org/case/david-barclay-millerhttps://www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/david-barclay-millerhttps://www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/mary-sloanhttps://www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/gps-joehttps://vanished.us/listing.php?slug=gps-joe-joe-domin-vanished-off-the-face-of-the-earth

An amateur archaeologist disappeared into the Grand Canyon while searching for prehistoric rock art paintings. He remained missing for 14 years, only recently being found again.Sources:https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/exploration-survival/bill-ott-remains-found-grand-canyon/https://gizmodo.com/an-amateur-archaeologist-disappeared-in-the-grand-canyon-14-years-ago-his-remains-have-finally-been-found-2000789948https://people.com/man-remains-found-after-he-vanished-while-hiking-grand-canyon-to-see-ancient-art-12024781https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/exploration-survival/bill-ott-grand-canyon-missing-hiker-field-notes/

It's the year 2000 and a woman travels to the  Marble Mountains Wilderness to spend time with a Native American spiritualist organization and recover from a personal tragedy. But during this trip, she mysteriously vanishes. The only thing left behind was a tuft of her hair in a bush. She hasn’t been located since. Sources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_Mountain_Wildernesshttps://namus.nij.ojp.gov/case/MP29586https://charleyproject.org/case/rosemary-theresa-kunsthttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90124785/rosemary_theresa-kunsthttps://oag.ca.gov/missing/person/rosemary-theresa-kunsthttps://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/search-is-on-for-missing-female-hiker-2742996.phphttps://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/search-is-on-for-missing-female-hiker-2742996.phphttps://www.siskiyoudaily.com/story/news/2021/09/14/unsolved-disappearances-siskiyou-county-without-answers-2021/5699788001/

 In September 1990, a 42-year-old woman disappeared while camping with her husband in a remote Idaho wilderness area. She had gone on a short hike to a nearby meadow to birdwatch, carrying only her camera and binoculars, but never returned. Despite extensive searches, no trace of her was ever found. More than 30 years later, she still remains missing.Sources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selway%E2%80%93Bitterroot_Wildernesshttps://charleyproject.org/case/susan-seymour-adamshttps://www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/category/Susan+Seymour+Adamshttps://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/gxkn03/susan_adams_disappeared_from_idaho_30_years_ago_a/https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/274880723/martha_susan-adamshttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/274880723/martha_susan-adamshttps://www.newspapers.com/article/austin-american-statesman-obituary-for-s/46374124/https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/case/MP2078

My episodes might become a little more boring and a little bit more ambiguous soon (obviously that's supposed to be a joke.) I’ve noticed a trend of incident reports being less and less detailed over the years, but now a new law might make accidents and deaths in our parks even more vague. Why is the Department of the Interior trying to conceal incidents within the national park service sites?Sources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Park_Servicehttps://www.nps.gov/index.htmhttps://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-06-25/national-park-staff-ordered-not-to-reveal-deaths-as-part-of-new-policyhttps://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/environment/nps-internal-memo-deaths/https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/mortality-data.htmhttps://www.stgeorgeutah.com/life/department-of-the-interior-changes-policy-about-reporting-deaths-injuries-in-national-parks/article_14353bd8-568b-4572-a744-0af9af26c5f3.html