What Happened to Sheila Kearns? Mount Rainier National Park

Summary

Podcast Summary

National Park After Dark

Episode: What Happened to Sheila Kearns? Mount Rainier National Park
Hosts: Danielle LaRock & Cassandra Yahnian
Date: July 13, 2026

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Episode Overview

Hosts Danielle and Cassie revisit Mount Rainier National Park to tell the mysterious and tragic story of Sheila Kearns, a woman who disappeared while working as a seasonal employee in 1996. The episode explores the circumstances of Sheila’s disappearance, the subsequent investigation, the park community’s reaction, and ongoing questions about transparency and safety in national parks. As with many NPAD episodes, the story serves as both a chilling mystery and a contemplative look at the emotional bonds people form with wild places.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Mount Rainier – Setting the Stage

(Timestamp: 00:02–07:01)

• The Mountain's Presence: Danielle reflects on Mount Rainier (also called Tahoma) as a constant backdrop for locals—even when shrouded by clouds—and the emotional connection she feels toward the park.
  • “The mountain has borne witness to a lot of sad things in my life too.” (Danielle, 02:21)
• Personal Ties: Both hosts discuss their own sentimental attachments to national parks, segwaying naturally into Sheila’s story.

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2. Sheila Kearns – Life and Disappearance

(Timestamp: 07:01–14:56)

• Sheila’s Background: Adventurous and well-traveled, Sheila arrives at Mount Rainier in 1996 seeking a fresh start, described as friendly, warm, and introspective.
  • Memorable Quote (Sheila, via her writing):
    “When I am old and all who I can be, I want to be like Mount Rainier. She’s rugged and tough, yet soft and gentle. She creates havoc among those who want to control her, yet she invites anyone with courage enough to come join her.” (Danielle reading, 07:01–09:15)
• Disappearance:
  • Sheila accepts a coveted spot on the winter staff at the National Park Inn in Longmire but never shows up for her first shift (Oct 6, 1996).
  • Immediate search efforts begin; her car is found undisturbed, but there are no signs of her.
  • After three days, bloodhounds find nothing. Weeks later, the FBI joins. Despite a growing reward and national news coverage, no leads emerge. Sheila seems to have vanished without a trace.

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3. The Grim Discovery

(Timestamp: 09:15–16:34)

• Finding Sheila:
  • Seven months later, a park volunteer stumbles upon Sheila’s scattered remains less than a mile from her housing. Remains identified via dental records.
  • The discovery is deeply traumatic for her coworkers and the park community.
  • “This place she loved had suddenly become very eerie.” (Danielle, paraphrasing Alexa Martin's sentiment, 13:58)
• Emotional Impact: The hosts discuss the pervasive fear and distress in the wake of such a tragedy—how it affects not only friends, but all who live and work in the park.

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4. Searching for Answers: Wildlife or Foul Play?

(Timestamp: 16:34–27:33)

• Animal Attack Theory:
  • FBI suggests possible mountain lion attack; animal activity is evident on Sheila’s remains.
  • Fatal cougar attacks are exceedingly rare in Washington; hosts recount local incidents, including a dramatic 2024 mountain lion attack on a group of cyclists (21:45).
  • Doubts remain due to lack of earlier detection by search teams and bloodhounds.
• Suspicion of Foul Play:
  • Coworkers question why Sheila's body wasn't found during initial searches.
  • “It feels like she wasn’t there during the search party.” (Cassie, 23:47)
  • FBI interviews all possible suspects among staff and community; no evidence leads to charges.
  • Theories persist about Sheila possibly having left a troubled past, with coworkers recalling she was “careful and always on edge, like something from her past was coming to catch up with her.” (Ryan Hill, 27:12)

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5. Local Persistence: Dixie Walter’s Investigation

(Timestamp: 27:33–39:00)

• Dixie Walter: Eatonville’s steadfast local journalist, fixates on Sheila’s case, running articles, and conducting her own probing.
  • Publishes a pointed “Open Letter to Sheila’s Killer” (January 2000), pressing the theory of murder by someone Sheila knew.
    • Notable Quote:
      “Not just anybody can stab a woman to death in a national park and elude the FBI for years. I would think if you hadn’t bragged to someone by now. It must be very difficult to keep quiet.” (Dixie Walter, 34:18)
• Dixie’s Theory & Advocacy: Dixie rattles cages, preserves records, and ensures the case stays in the local consciousness until her passing in 2021.
• Impact: Her tireless work supplies critical public details on Sheila’s life and loss.

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6. Lingering Mystery and Broader Implications

(Timestamp: 39:00–47:44)

• Documentary Revisit:
  • Seattle’s NBC airs an “Unsolved Northwest Quest” episode, featuring voices from Dixie’s tapes, most heartbreakingly Sheila’s mother:
  • “I don’t really care about finding who did it. I know I shouldn’t feel that way. Maybe I’ll face up to it better if I just put her to rest.” (Olive Kearns, paraphrased, ~39:30)
• Policy Debate:
  • Controversy: In June 2026, a leaked memo suggests the National Park Service may withhold public information about deaths, ostensibly to protect families but criticized as secrecy.
    • “I get the whole…too many people have found out about loved ones dying via social media and I don’t think that’s right…but there’s also something to be said that the public deserves to know.” (Cassie, 40:39)
  • Hosts debate transparency, public safety, and the value of timely information vs. privacy.
    • “If someone is murdered in the park and the Park Service can’t tell anyone, how are you supposed to ask the public for their help?” (Cassie, 45:41)
  • Call for listener input from park staff or those with insights into the policy.

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7. Unsolved at Rainier: Other Disappearances

(Timestamp: 47:44–51:19)

Danielle highlights other unsolved cases at Mount Rainier:

• Elaine Robertson (1979): Disappeared with her dogs, never found.
• Joseph Lee Wood Jr. (1999): Young journalist, vanished while hiking—intense search, no results.
• Vincent G. (2020): Recent immigrant, set out from Longmire—massive multi-agency search failed.

All share the theme of people drawn to the mountain, only to vanish and leave behind loved ones searching for closure.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the ineffable allure of Rainier:
  “The mountain is out is a phrase that needs to be experienced to be understood.” (Danielle, 00:58)
• Sheila’s own words about the mountain:
  “When I am old and all who I can be, I want to be like Mount Rainier…” (Danielle reading from Sheila, 07:01)
• Debate on animal vs. human cause of death:
  “If she had been killed so near to where she lived…why did the search team with bloodhounds find nothing?” (Danielle, 23:25)
• Dixie to the imagined killer:
  “It must be frustrating being so clever and being the only one who knows how clever you are.” (Dixie, 35:15)
• Olive Kearns, Sheila’s mother:
  “Maybe I’ll face up to it better if I just put her to rest.” (Quoted in Unsolved Northwest Quest segment, ~39:30)
• On public right to know:
  “There’s got to be nuance to this policy…I think it would lead to unnecessary speculation.” (Danielle, 41:44)

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Conclusion & Reflections

(Timestamp: 51:19–53:45)

• The Value of Retelling:
  • “It’s important to keep stories like this at the forefront of people’s minds…” (Cassie, 51:19)
  • The unresolved nature of Sheila’s case is paralleled by similar disappearances—Danielle discusses the pain of uncertainty and the hope that someday, more information may emerge.
• Open Ending:
  • While Dixie was convinced of foul play, the evidence has not yielded answers, leaving the mystery open 30 years on.
  • Danielle: “She seemed like a really cool lady…just doing, living her life, you know, truly.” (53:33)

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Episode Takeaway

The mysterious disappearance of Sheila Kearns remains unsolved, a lingering scar for her friends, family, and the park community. The episode artfully blends personal perspective, investigative detail, and broader questions about stewardship, safety, and transparency in our treasured public lands.

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For further context:

• Watch the “Unsolved Northwest Quest” Sheila Kearns segment on YouTube ([timestamp: ~39:00])
• Recent articles on the potential NPS non-disclosure policy are linked in the show notes.

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To Listeners:
Danielle & Cassie invite those with insights (especially Park Service workers) to share their thoughts on park information policies—and encourage everyone to keep the stories of the lost alive.

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End of Summary

Transcript

[Danielle]

For most of the year, majestic Tahoma, or Mount Rainier is shrouded due to its frequent cloud cover and atmospheric haze. Many in the Seattle, Tacoma and Puget Sound communities live and work knowing the formidable 14, 410 foot peak is present but not visible for locals. Is the mountain out is embedded in daily conversations. And there are several 24, seven live feeds and interactive maps dedicated to the sole purpose of of reporting and checking the status of the mountain from Seattle. Mount Rainier is only visible approximately 83 days per year. That's roughly once every 4.4 days. But when it is visible, there's no mistaking it. The mountain is out is a phrase that needs to be experienced to be understood. Gazing upon its glaciated peak is mesmerizing and not just because the view is a cherished rarity. Tahoma is the most prominent mountain in the lower 48, meaning no other mountain blocks its view. You can see its massive snow covered summit in every direction for miles around from as far away as Oregon and Canada. There are 20 known Indigenous names for the peak from tribes all across the state, including the Puyallup, Nisqually and Snoqualmie. And unlike some national parks, which require careful planning, travel and effort, millions of people in western Washington can see Mount Rainier as they go about their day to lives. You don't need to spend days backpacking, weeks on a raft or hundreds of miles on the trail in order to feel like you know this mountain. You just need to look out the window. But just because the mountain may be out doesn't mean you can see everything. Welcome to National Park After Dark.

[Cassie]

Foreign.

[Danielle]

Hello everybody.

[Cassie]

I'm Cassie.

[Danielle]

I'm Danielle.

[Cassie]

And we're going to Mount Rainier, which is really exciting because we haven't visited this park in a long time and this is kind of your backyard park for a long time.

[Danielle]

Yeah. And I actually, when I was going through this, my first little bullet here, I just had to note, I said, well, well, well, this park brings a tear to my eye. And I think it's because, you know, Mount Rainier or Tahoma has served as this backdrop to my most cherished memories and also some of the most painful memories I have. So it just gets me a little emotional. I really love this park, but the mountain has borne witness to a lot of sad things in my life too. But yeah, we have not been to this park in a while. I think we've only ever done two episodes on it and I think I did them both, which is kind of

[Cassie]

crazy because so many things have happened in Rainier.

[Danielle]

I know. It's like I just avoid it for now. I'm like, okay. I just. You get me emotional. But we're revisiting it today because this. I'm putting my big girl pants on because I really wanted to share the story of Sheila Kearns because it deserves to be told.

[Cassie]

Well, I'm excited. I've never heard this story before, so I am excited for you to tell it.

[Danielle]

Okay. All right. Well, let's begin. For most national parks, summer is the busy season. So each spring, like migratory birds, seasonal employees flock to national parks. Your rangers, construction crews, restaurant workers, and hotel staff come from across the country and. And throughout the world to make the tourist season possible. And each spring, those seasonal workers get a new home, meet new people, and a new, albeit temporary, little community. For many people, a park job is a rest stop, a place to stay for the summer before moving on to somewhere new. But for some people, in some places, you get hooked and fall in love with the view out the window. And that's what seemed to happen in 1996 to. To Sheila Kearns at Mount Rainier.

[Cassie]

Ah, the good old days, the 90s.

[Danielle]

And who's to blame her? I mean, Mount Rainier is the. More I thought about it, and now that I've been, you know, people ask us all the time, what are your. What is your favorite park? It doesn't. My answer has not changed. It is still Yellowstone, But Mount Rainier is probably really high up there.

[Cassie]

A really close second.

[Danielle]

Yeah, a close second. Or at least in the top three or four.

[Cassie]

Yeah. Well, I think it's interesting because even though I think when you look at Yellowstone, I can obviously see that why that would be your favorite. Just with the wildlife that's there and the geology is also amazing and really cool. But when you have a park that you have such a sentimental connection to, it doesn't matter that it doesn't have those things that you like, love from another place, because you have such sentimental value there.

[Danielle]

True. Very, very true. And also, you know, Mount Rainier was my first visit. There was really, like, the spark of, you know, back in. What year was that? 2017, I think, or 16, when I was like, I am moving to the Pacific Northwest one day because I came here, I saw this park, and I'm like, I need to experience life in this part of the country for a few years or I will lose my mind. You know? So, yeah, there's also that, too. And then, anyway, so back to Sheila. She Was described by friends as an adventurous person. She had a wide smile, the kind that reached her dark eyes framed by bangs, which I wish I could pull off bangs, but that's for another time. I'm. I won't. I'm not going through something, but just

[Cassie]

know anyone who can wear bangs. I'm so jealous of any dream of being a girl that can have bangs. Because girls with bangs are so cute.

[Danielle]

I know. Even like the micro bangs to curtain bangs. Doesn't matter what type of bang you have, if you have them, you are always pulling it off, even if you're panicking about them inside.

[Cassie]

Yeah. I mean, you do have to actually style them, which is tough to commit to. But you always look cute. Bangs are so good and they hide your age a little bit because you don't have forehead wrinkles if you have bangs.

[Danielle]

Yeah, well, I have a giant widow's peak, so I would never be able to do bangs bangs because I would just have like a unicorn piece of hair sticking out. But whatever. So my widow's peak.

[Cassie]

Yeah. No, you're unicorn piece of paper.

[Danielle]

So. Sheila graduated from UC Boulder with a psychology degree, went to Africa with the Peace Corps, traveled to hike in Chile, and backpacked throughout Europe. At 43, she decided her next adventure would be a seasonal position working in Mount Rainier National Park. In the summer of 1996, Sheila and her friend Mary visited the paradise region of Mount Rainier, which to that choice, I say absolutely fantastic selection. Because if you have not been to paradise, it is one of those places that just truly lives up to its name in all senses of the word. I mean, there's these beautiful meadows of alpine flowers, there's stunning cascading waterfalls, there's unparalleled views in all directions. The mountain you thought couldn't get any bigger is somehow even larger. Even though you're like on it, it's just. It's really hard to describe. So whoever named that, great job. There's a visitor center up there and a historic hotel called the Paradise Inn, which opened for business in July of 1917. Sheila fell in love with the view, picked up an application for the hotel, and they hired her right away. It was August and some of the Paradise Inns employees had left to go back to school. So Sheila was hired to help close out the season at the front desk. And despite the late arrival, her colleagues quickly grew to like her. Her co worker Jules Hayden, said that Sheila was extremely kind, always making a point to say hi to everybody. She was beautiful, had that contagious smile. Bright eyes that another co worker compared to the mountain streams outside. She was also soft spoken and introspective. Some of her co workers got the impression that Sheila was starting over and rebuilding her life from perhaps some event in her past. But that's a fairly common reason to come to a park as an employee or a visitor, so that detail didn't really stand out to anyone until later. Whatever Sheila was looking for that summer, she seemed to find it. In a yellow lined notepad, she wrote her feelings about being on the mountain. When I am old and all who I can be, I want to be like Mount Rainier. She's rugged and tough, yet soft and gentle. She creates havoc among those who want to control her, yet she invites anyone with courage enough to come join her. Jules Hayden had worked for the hotel company for several seasons and on October 4th threw a farewell bonfire. Last opportunity for the seasonal community to get together before going their separate ways, continuing their migrations to the next job. That night, Jules remembered Sheila was glowing, smiling ear to ear. She had told Jules that she had been offered a position with the winter crew, which meant she got to stay at Mount Rainier for a quick lay of the land. The Paradise Inn is the highest elevation hotel in the park. And while paradise is a popular spot for winter sports, the inn is only open seasonally, so it's only open in the summertime. But if you go to Longmire, which is just about six miles down the road and a couple thousand feet lower in elevation, you're going to get to another hotel and that one is called the National Park Inn. And it's there that Sheila was offered one of the few coveted spots on the winter team. So for her, this campfire was the start of the next great chapter and the chance at a year round life on the mountain that she had come to love so much. A few days later, on October 6th, Sheila had her first shift at the new lodge. Except she never showed up for work. Her manager went to the employee housing in Longmire and checked the room that Sheila had just moved into. But Sheila wasn't there either. Nobody had seen her since dinner at the National Park Inn two days prior. But her car was parked outside of her home, undisturbed. Inside, her bed was neatly made and the only items missing were her door key and the clothes that she apparently had on. Immediately, the park launched a search. Sheila was an active hiker and search teams assumed she'd simply gotten turned around on the trail. But after three days of searching with teams of bloodhounds, they didn't pick up on anything. After three more weeks of unsuccessful search efforts, the FBI got involved. The FBI concluded that if Sheila was lost on a trail within walking distance from her house, these initial searches would have turned up something, some sort of evidence clue to indicate that she had been present there. But if she'd been abducted, that would be a different story. If someone had kidnapped her and taken her from the area, it would explain the lack of results from those searches that had been unfolding for the previous few weeks. The FBI released a picture of Sheila to the press, along with a description. Five foot seven, long dark hair, last seen in a gray sweatshirt and hiking shoes. They also offered a $5,000 reward for any information on the case. Sheila's family hadn't heard anything from her after her disappearance. Her mother, Olive, lived in North Carolina and her brother Jerry lived in southern California. And together they contributed an additional $25,000 to the FBI reward for information. But as days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, nobody called the tip line. No one came forward with any information about the case or any reported sightings of Sheila somewhere else. It was if she had vanished completely. With an uneasy tone, winter at Mount Rainier came and went. By May, spring pushed snow higher up the mountain and woke wildflowers from their slumber. Seasonal employees began to arrive from across the country, preparing for another busy summer. Some of those staff had a navigation course planned as part of their onboarding process, hosted at the Longmire community building. But one day, as a park volunteer was setting up the navigation course, they stumbled upon something unexpected. They found Sheila. Seven months after she went missing, Sheila's body was found just one mile from her Employee housing, or rather, pieces of her body were found. Her remains were scattered across a 300 yard area in the woods near the Longmire community building and were confirmed to be hers via dental records. The discovery was a gut punch to the park community. Not only had their friend and colleague gone missing from within the park, she was found dead in their neighborhood. It was a traumatizing experience. Alexa Martin, the co worker who described Sheila's eyes as clear as the mountain streams, was haunted by it. This place she loved had suddenly become very eerie. Saying later that the fear from Sheila's death limited how she lived her own life.

[Cassie]

Yeah, I can only imagine having someone that you know and work with and like and. And to have a person and to have them found where you live and work and recreate and love, I mean, that's so traumatizing. And I. One of the things I was thinking the whole time that you were describing the search efforts for her and how they immediately sent out search teams when she didn't show up was how awful it must have been to be one of the people surrounding her, who work with her, and to be the ones trying to find her. That's just. It's a lot.

[Danielle]

And then the ensuing months of no answers and then suddenly this discovery and, you know, that brings some sort of resolution like, okay, we know where she is, but what happened? What happened to her? You know, so now there's this whole other part of the story that is just beginning.

[Cassie]

Yeah, and what happened to her. But also, are we safe? Are we next? Picture this. It's the middle of the week, you've had a long day, you're hungry, and all you want is a home cooked meal. I don't know about you, but that's usually when I default to making the same few dinners I know how to do. Or I'll just opt for girl dinner, which might be ice cream and some potato chips.

[Danielle]

Chips.

[Cassie]

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[Danielle]

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[Cassie]

I slightly, but no, not really. I kind of remember

[Danielle]

took over my life. It was my Roman empire for a while. It's. The story is absolutely insane if tooth and claw have not covered it. I don't know if they have, but this is my formal petition for that. I think just because for so long a lot of my algorithm was Washington coded. You know, I got fed a lot of Washington news and this one was just all over the place. But I mean these women literally there's photos of this mountain lion pinned underneath one of their bikes. They it so it attacked this woman mid bike ride. Her friends, there's four other people there are actively beating it, slamming it with rocks, trying to get it off this woman, it's not letting go. They finally get it off her, they pin it under their bikes. They're literally standing on top of their bikes after like almost a half an hour long struggle trying to get this mountain lion off. And then they have it pinned under there until officials can come euthanize it. And it swallowed one because it had the woman's face and it swallowed one of her earrings and, and in the necropsy they got the earring and the woman took it back and wears it like a badass bad ass.

[Cassie]

And what good friends also get you a group of girlfriends that are going to protect you in the midst of a mountain lion attack.

[Danielle]

Truly. Yeah. So anyways, so there's that one. And then if we're going to kind of obviously I'm not going to go over every attack. That's not my job. But more specifically kind of narrowing it down to national parks, there was one that came from this time around July of 2025. So last year, there was a four year old child was attacked while hiking on Hurricane Ridge with his family. And the child's father managed to act quickly and pull his son out of the animal's jaws. And Hurricane Ridge is an Olympic national Park, by the way.

[Cassie]

Whoa.

[Danielle]

The child was airlifted to a hospital and ultimately survived. But officials were like, yeah, this child would likely have not survived this if the dad didn't leap into action as quickly as he did. So it could have had a very different outcome. And of course, both of those cougars involved were euthanized. But back to Sheila. So given all of that information and that knowledge of cougar behavior, the history of cougar incidents in the state of Washington, and the evidence that animals did clearly disturb Sheila's remains, that's all well and good, but no one could be sure that that was her exact cause of death, or if scavenging simply happened after another event.

[Cassie]

Gotcha.

[Danielle]

Co workers were also incredulous about the wildlife theory. If she had been killed so near to where she lived, whether from a black bear attack or a cougar attack, and was cached, why did the search team with bloodhounds find nothing and she was only a mile away from her front door?

[Cassie]

Yeah, it feels like she wasn't there during the search party.

[Danielle]

Right, and that's kind of what is getting people's eyebrows to raise, because that part is a big red flag to that theory. So without any definitive proof either way, the wildlife theory remained plausible, but there were still questions around it. The other explanation, though, was that a person killed Sheila. There was no evidence at the crime scene of another person, no silver bullet DNA evidence that identified a culprit. So the FBI started by interviewing everyone close to the case. They spoke to all of her co workers, including Jules Hayden, who hosted the bonfire, and Alexa. Martin Longmire is a quiet and close knit place. So the list of suspects included the people who knew her and the people who didn't. Hotel staff, park staff, anyone who could be plausibly connected. But yet again, nothing definitive came up. Just like with the wildlife theory, the FBI couldn't guarantee that the human suspects were innocent or guilty. No one was charged, and the case stayed open. Years later, an FBI special agent would clarify that if new information emerged in the future, they'd be able to act on it and even charge some of the suspects they had cleared in the past. But nothing would change until something new came to light. While the FBI searched, the people who knew Sheila were left grasping at straws trying to make sense of what happened. It's hard to swallow the explanation of a wildlife attack, because with a human killer, there's a motive and a face that you can condemn and bring to justice. But with wildlife, there's the uncomfortable reminder that nature doesn't care what happens to you. Along with investigators, those closest to Sheila were doing their best to uncover anything that could lead to a suspect. They replayed their memories of her, teasing out anything suspicious. And remember earlier when I was saying that some of the co workers got the vibe that maybe Sheila was, like, starting over in her decision to, like,

[Cassie]

she had a weird past, but it wasn't really. Everyone had a past, and that's why she was there.

[Danielle]

Yeah, right. Like, there was no definitive evidence of that. It's just something that people got the feeling that she was like, oh, just starting over fresh. And then they started thinking, okay, is she. Is she running from something? Is she running from someone? Is she rebuilding her life because of something tragic that happened? Like, they're just trying to think of anything that they could deduce from conversations or just weird things that may have

[Cassie]

happened, and especially if they're leaning towards a person did this, trying to find any link to her past life.

[Danielle]

Right. And some people recalled that before she worked at the park service, Sheila had been married. And according to one memory, she had paid to put her husband through medical school only for him to leave her after he got his degree. Which is a dick move.

[Cassie]

Such a dick move.

[Danielle]

But so then. So now people are like, is it the husband? Was there bad blood there for some reason? Like, did they?

[Cassie]

Sounds like, if anything, she should have murdered him. Not condoning murder, but if it was like, it sounds like if anyone had a gripe, it was probably her.

[Danielle]

Not right? But they were like, okay, is there some tension going on here?

[Cassie]

Yeah.

[Danielle]

Another co worker named Ryan Hill described Sheila as careful and always on edge. Like, quote, something from her past was coming to catch up with her. So, again, leading to more questions. If she was running from something or

[Cassie]

hiding out, she's kind of always looking over her shoulder, like, are they going to find me?

[Danielle]

In the end, these theories led nowhere. No new leads, just more questions. And without any answers, Sheila's case went nowhere. Technically still open within the FBI, but with no announced suspect or even a definitive cause of death. Because, remember, they still don't know that. For most, it would be easy to lose hope. 30 miles east of Longmire, you'll find the town of Eatonville, one of the last towns along the road. Between Seattle and the Nisqually entrance to on the southwest corner of Mount Rainier National Park. And it's also home to the Northwest Trek Wildlife Park. I just had to shout them out. They're AZA accredited and they're a really cool spot to see some iconic North Pacific Northwest wildlife. So if you're in the area and you're going to Mount Rainier and you want something to do, I definitely recommend it. But anyway, back to Eatonville and why we're there, not for the park. Dixie Walter was born in Eatonville, a town of less than 3,000 people. She was raised in military family that moved all across the country when she was a kid. And supposedly she went to 22 different schools before she graduated. So she moved around a lot. But as an adult, she made her way back to Eatonville, started a family and never really left. Once back in her hometown, Dixie became a fixture in the community. She started a local craft fair and started writing columns for the local paper, now called the Eatonville Dispatch. She wasn't a trained journalist, but nonetheless grew from a calmness to a reporter and eventually up into the editor for the newspaper. In the words of her husband Bob, Dixie was petite and precocious. She covered small town news like ladybug infestations and in small town fashion wound up in arguments with people that, like, they would send in letters to the editor and she would kind of go back and forth with them. Yeah, you know, because it would be me.

[Cassie]

If someone ever wrote anything mean to me, they'd never hear from me, ever. I just feel like that's not true. That's my red flag. It's like anyone who critiques me or criticizes me at all, I'm like, that can't be true. That's not.

[Danielle]

I mean, that couldn't be me. I take everything personally. Well, one of the Eatonville residents who wrote in to her and like, kind of complained about her, she was upset because the photo that Dixie used in each of her columns was her posing with her cat. And that person didn't like it. So she was like, how dare you?

[Cassie]

What do they have against cats?

[Danielle]

Cats. I know and see, that's dumb. But I would be like, do you want to talk about this? I love my cat. I would write back, see, I would

[Cassie]

look at it and I'd be like, stupid.

[Danielle]

And then I would literally never think about it ever again. Oh, I want to be you. I really do. Dixie was also deeply invested in Eatonville's history and its future. She uncovered the history of Japanese Americans in Eatonville before World War II tackled politics and covered crime. So when Sheila Kearns disappeared in 1996, Dixie latched onto the story. She ran multiple advertisements about the thirty thousand dollar reward in the Eatonville Dispatch, always providing the phone number to contact the FBI and only counting the articles that I could find digitized online. In four years, she wrote about 20 articles, all about Sheila's case. With headlines like FBI Search for Missing Woman in Park, all possibilities remain open in Sheila Kern's case and Kern's body found Foul play suspected. In time, she was doing more than just offering publicity about the Kearns case. She was leading her own investigation into it. Dixie interviewed everyone she could from Sheila's life. Co workers like Jules Hayden, her mother Olive Kearns, her brother Jerry, and her lifelong friend Mary, who was traveling with Sheila that initial time that she went into the hotel and asked for an application. Dixie saved tape recordings of each interview, collected letters Sheila sent, and copied writing she'd made during her time at Mount Rainier. Altogether, Dixie's reporting across articles in the Eatonville Dispatch offers more detail into this story than any other publicly available record. And as she did more and more research, she came to a conclusion. And here are some direct quotes from a piece that Dixie published in January of 2000, titled An Open Letter to Sheila Kern's Killer. I think it is quite possible you will read this at some point. You should know Sheila Kearns was finally laid to rest November 13, 1999, in Florida, 36 months after you killed her. What little remained of a once lovely and loving woman was buried in a child's metal casket. Her mother, Olive Kearns, wrote before the service, I will be surrounded by friends, which I am thankful for, but seeing the casket I know is going to bring home to me how she died. And I try not to think about that. In the open letter, Dixie aimed a stream of questions at Sheila's supposed murderer, probing at their mindset. Do you have a sister, wife or daughter? Does a killer care about the anguish they cause? Is Sheila Kearns your only victim? She also used the opportunity to provoke the killer in what seemed like an appeal to their ego, saying, not just anybody can stab a woman to death in a national park and elude the FBI for years. I would think if you hadn't bragged to someone by now. It must be very difficult to keep quiet. It must be frustrating being so clever and being the only one who knows how clever you are. Dixie believed that Sheila was murdered not because she found some smoking gun that the FBI had missed. But based on how she saw the story, Jerry Kearns said his sister attracted men like a magnet. And in a letter Sheila wrote while visiting her brother, she said that she liked walking his Rottweiler because she could use the dog as an excuse for to not get close to her. Dixie argued that the Longmire area was rather obscure for the average visitor, and Sheila was a savvy, immature woman who wouldn't have followed a stranger into the woods. And considering the FBI was still offering a reward for her death, Dixie believed that Sheila had walked into the Longmire area with someone she knew well, and that person stabbed her to death. Sheila's scattered remains seven months later were from animals that arrived after her death. Dixie closed her open letter to the killer with a warning. So far, it looks like you got away with murder. But somewhere, someday, you may get a tap on the shoulder, turn and be face to face with the FBI. Only then will justice serve Sheila Kearns and her family. I hope that day comes soon. But that day never did come. Dixie Walter passed away in 2021, and Sheila's case remains unsolved. Today, I am officially marked safe after that New England heat wave. But that doesn't mean my outfits are all just tank tops and shorts. As you know, I travel a lot, and summer nights get pretty chilly, especially out West. So I always pack my alpaca hoodie from Pakka. Pakka makes performance apparel from Alpaca Fiber, one of the world's most sustainable natural fibers. Their best selling hoodie is softer than cashmere, warmer than wool, and breathable. It's thermoregulating, odor resistant, durable, and made to last. Every single time I wear my paca, I get compliments on it. Either the style or how comfy it looks or how soft it feels. Each one is handcrafted in Peru by artisans who stitch their name into the tag, a personal signature of quality and care. Mine was made by Sarah. Thanks, girl. I absolutely love it. This is one of my staple closet pieces, which I am so proud to be building. I have a need for it in every season, and it never fails me. But Pak also has other sustainable, breathable, organic clothing like socks, underwear, and t shirts. Over 250,000 people have already picked up the Paca hoodie, and now it's your turn to grab your Paca hoodie. Go to www.pacaapparel.com. that's www.pakaapparel.com. i look forward to laying down in bed at night almost as soon as I get out of bed in the morning. And if you feel the same and are looking for a certified organic mattress that uses a uses healthy, natural materials that helps you sleep, cool, relieves pressure and supports your body so you can enjoy a deep, restorative sleep. You need Avocado Green Mattress I've been hearing such good things about Avocado's best selling mattress. 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That's avocadogreenmattpress.com npad avocadogreenmattrush.com npad in the 2000s, Dixie turned her attention to other problems in Eatonville and even started her own website in 2022 called the eatonvillenews.net and while you're there, if you visit it, you'll find all sorts of local stories like banks changing names and a school bond failing to pass. But you can also find articles about Sheila suggesting Dixie never did forget about the Kearns case. While Sheila's death remains unsolved, Dixie's dedication to the case kept it alive. In 2023, a documentary team at Seattle's NBC season produced a piece about Sheila as part of their Unsolved Northwest Quest series. They tracked down and interviewed Sheila's old co workers, spoke to FBI special agents, and they got access to Dixie Walters interviews. Dixie had recorded each conversation she had with Sheila's friends, family and co workers. And in the Unsolved Northwest episode, which you can watch for free on YouTube, they play some of those old tapes, including a heartbreaking exchange with Sheila's mom, Olive, who says, I don't really care now about finding who did it. I know I shouldn't feel that way. Maybe I'll face up to it better if I just put her to rest. The Unsolved Northwest piece does a really nice job summarizing the story as we know it, but if there's something that really stands out about it is that we don't really know anything. In total, this two part video about Sheila Kearns is less than 10 minutes long. It's been 30 years since Sheila disappeared at Mount Rainier. The odds of learning more now feels pretty slim. But if we fast forward to present day, I think this is a pretty good opportunity to discuss something that just made headlines this last month. The headline of a Washington post article from June 24, 2026 reads internal memo orders Staff not to reveal Deaths in National Parks. Reportedly, the Department of the Interior instructed park employees not to confirm deaths, the severity of injuries, or other related such details in national parks. The DOI argues that this guidance is to maintain consistent and professional communications in parks that share jurisdiction with local law enforcement. A clear process will help avoid headaches, and this policy will also ensure that no information is released to the public about a victim before the victim's family is informed. And they insist that this is not intended to conceal fatalities or other information from the public. Several current and former park employees have called BS on that when someone dies in a national park, NPS policy has long been motivated by public safety, with an approach described as maximum disclosure minimum delay. For example, if someone in the Grand Canyon dies of heat exhaustion on a specific trail, the park can warn other visitors and the warning can either steer someone else away from getting in trouble themselves or encourage them to prepare better. Now, according to this reported memo, staff have to stay quiet about deaths or talk around them if visitors ask them directly about them.

[Cassie]

Yeah, that's an interesting policy and I, I guess I just don't know too much about the nuance behind it. And I get the whole I think too many people have found out about loved ones dying via social media and I don't think that's right at all. That's horrible. But there's also something to be said that the public needs deserves to know what's going on. Especially when you're talking about the murder of someone like this story today, or if you're talking about heat exhaustion or a grizzly attack or something like that. There are ways people can prepare and to know if you're safe. I mean, if there's someone on the loose who just murdered someone, the public deserves to know, especially if they're recreating in that area. And then of course, if there's a grizzly mauling and you're planning to do that trail, you deserve to know that there's a bear there. And same thing, there is a level of being prepared. But I do think that there also needs to make sure that you are keeping people's identity before. At least until the family is informed. But I think that law enforcement is pretty good about doing that.

[Danielle]

I agree, and I think I would really get it. I think it would also lead to a lot of unnecessary speculation because you don't know anything. And if some little detail gets out, but nothing can be confirmed because park staff are being advised to not say anything, then the rumor mill is just going to get out of control and maybe go in a completely different direction than what reality is. So those against the guidance point out that the park already protected sensitive information, like you just said, and cooperated with local law enforcement pretty well to begin with. And they argue that this policy could lead to increased visitor deaths, erode public trust in the park system, and make staff look stupid. You know, because you're like, hey, so what's going on? Like, I don't know. Can't talk about it.

[Cassie]

I don't know, can't tell. Yeah. And I think that's a great point, what you just said about the trust factor. I mean, how are we supposed to trust our local government and trust the people within the National Park Service if you can't be honest? And I think, think again. This has nothing, of course, keeping people's identity private, especially before the families are notified. But there has to be some level of communication here. It can't just be like, can't tell you. You're here, you're right near where this happened, but you have. You don't deserve to know.

[Danielle]

Right. Because the other thing is, you know, not all of this is going to happen in a bubble. So say someone dies, but you don't hear about it, but someone nearby sees something. A coroner's vehicle, you know, yellow tape, crime scene, some sort of something to indicate that something just went down. But no information is released, and no one is telling anybody anything that one person is going to tell other people. Hey, I saw that over there. And then it's going to just get out of control. So I would be very, very interested to hear from our listeners that are working in the Park Service or have any insider, you know, information or feelings about this, you know, because we clearly.

[Cassie]

Is this an official policy now, or is it just on the table?

[Danielle]

This is something that is on the table right now.

[Cassie]

Okay.

[Danielle]

And it's just made news because it's, like, moving forward.

[Cassie]

That's. So I just don't see the. I guess I just don't see the point of it. I think I would need more information about, like, what's been happening that makes them want to change this policy. Like, have there been so many deaths that have been getting out that family members have not been notified and now they're trying to make a change in that? Or is that truly just how you said? People are calling BS on this, but if people are calling BS on it, what is the point of hiding all these deaths? What is the point of not telling people?

[Danielle]

Right.

[Cassie]

So, yeah, I would love to hear from people who firsthand have firsthand experience here and. And what?

[Danielle]

Because it doesn't make sense to us. And if there is a world in which there's a very good reason for it, we would love to know. I'm just saying that this is something. I'm not arguing for or against it. I'm just saying that this is something that's big news right now and really impact. It impacts visitors, but it also impacts us. Not that we report on current. You know, we try and stay away and respectful from anything. Anything relatively recent. But, yeah, just wanted to. To say that. But because we know so little about Sheila. Sheila's case, I wanted to, because like you said, you mentioned a little bit, you're like, you know, if someone's murdered, like Sheila, and we don't know if she was murdered, no one knows what happened to her. Her case is still unsolved. That's pretty. All the information I have on it is what I just told you. There is no resolution.

[Cassie]

Sorry. I just thought of another thing. If someone is murdered in the park and the Park Service can't tell anyone, how are you supposed to ask the public for their help in identifying a person that might have been with this person or find out this person's last movements or who last saw them?

[Danielle]

Yeah, I.

[Cassie]

If you can't tell anyone anything, Right.

[Danielle]

I don't know. I don't. So I don't know if it's. They can't notify people because I don't see a world in which if someone truly had their life taken by another individual on a trail, that there wouldn't be a massive effort to remove other people from that area. And by doing that, you're informing someone who. That somebody else just got killed.

[Cassie]

Like removing people from the area, but also trying to find out who did it.

[Danielle]

Right.

[Cassie]

You know, how are you supposed to get the public help? You know, if you find this woman, you don't know who she is, you need to identify her. But you can't tell anyone that she was murdered.

[Danielle]

There's gotta be nuance to this policy. I don't know.

[Cassie]

Yeah, yeah. It's just like, yeah, someone tell us because we're confused. Yeah.

[Danielle]

And just so you know, you know, I brought it up because it's in the news and it's relevant and it pertains to, you know, this case and others like it now and in the future if this does go through. But just because I brought it up, we're allowed to have conversations if we don't know something. You know, we do all the research, research we can, but there are no

[Cassie]

times it seems like we know everything. And that is mostly true. But occasionally we do want to learn new things and we apologize for not knowing everything as you would like us to.

[Danielle]

All the time. All the time about every subject.

[Cassie]

I usually do. If you ask Al, I know everything.

[Danielle]

I'm right about everything being right out about everything. I can say, yes, we are. All the time.

[Cassie]

All the time.

[Danielle]

Okay, that's up. Anywho, well, to wrap up that little sidebar about the policy, if you do want to learn more about it and have a better understanding then we do, you can read and judge for yourself. I'll include some links in the show notes for you if you want to look at the policy a little more. But I want to just quickly go over a couple of other unsolved cases in Mount Rainier. There are many, so I'm not going to go through and list them all out. I just want to highlight three really quick. Just because Sheila's isn't the only unsolved death and or disappearance in the park.

[Cassie]

Gotcha.

[Danielle]

On Memorial day weekend in 1979, a 24 year old woman named Elaine Robertson arrived in Mount Rainier with her dogs. She borrowed a tent for the night from fellow campers at the Sunrise campground. But the following morning she and her dogs were gone. Her stuff was still with the tent and a hundred person search team went out looking for her. But neither she or her dogs were ever located. In 1999, a 24 year old journalist named Joseph Lee Wood Jr. Was visiting Seattle for a journalism conference. He was an up and coming reporter on race and culture in America. And he was also a former Eagle Scout and passionate birder. During a break in the conference, he rented a car and drove to Mount Rainier but never returned. A hiker had encountered Joseph on the trail near some steep terrain and that helped rescue teams know where to begin their search. But a five day search Effort came up empty. Wood's agent even hired a private investigator to look into his disappearance further. But his body was never located. And finally, just a few short Years ago, in 2020, a 25 year old man named Vincent G. Disappeared after going on a hike in the park. The young Indonesian immigrant had just completed a master's degree in Seattle and set out hiking from Longmire. An enormous multi agency search team with helicopter and German shepherd crews combed the mountain, looking with infrared cameras for signs of body heat. Again, they found nothing. No clothing, no gear, and no body was ever found. Like Sheila, each of these people were drawn to Mount Rainier. They looked up at the mountain and in some way found meaning. It's hard to find meaning in an unsolved death. Often it's hoping that something might change in the future. Someone could come forward with new information, or the missing person could re emerge somewhere else. The kinds of details that lead to a 10 hour docu series, not a 10 minute news program. Elaine, Joseph and Vincent were all loved. Sheila was loved. Their friends and family mourned them, even without the closure that some people receive after a loss. They cried in their cars on the way to the grocery store and wiped away tears at red lights. They waited by the phone for the police to call. They got tired of well meaning co workers asking, how are you today? Whenever they came into a room. They wondered how to plan a funeral without a body and laid awake at night wondering, hoping that their loved one was still alive. Sheila's mom eventually chose to accept the uncertainty that surrounded her daughter's death. She had stopped looking for answers if that meant she could lay her daughter to rest at last. And that is the story of Sheila Kern's mysterious death in Mount Rainier.

[Cassie]

Wow. Well, thank you for telling it because I think like you mentioned at the beginning, that it's a story worth telling. And you know, it's been 30 years and I know after so much time has passed, the likelihood of something else coming up kind of dwindles. However, you never know who's out there, who's listening, who might have seen something, who might know something that will come forward. And I think it's important to keep stories like this at the forefront of people's minds and remind them and you know, maybe in conversations, if you're listening and your parents were in Rainier at this time, or your friend's parents, parents worked in Rainier at this time, you know, someone might have something that they might know.

[Danielle]

Yeah. And I mean, Dixie made it pretty clear that she was on board with somebody killed her. You know, she was very in the camp of this was a murder and that the murderer was local and reading the news and keeping track of the case or at least hoping for that. Right. You know, she tried, she tried every tactic to get that person to come forward and of course they never did. But that doesn't mean that she was wrong and that Sheila wasn't murdered. You know, I'm not sure if I have a gut feeling either way. I think that it is plausible that she was attacked by wildlife, but her not being located by the search teams and bloodhounds seems suspicious. I don't know. It's tough. It's really tough. But that's it. That's the case. And hopefully there comes a resolution in some way, shape or form. Because we do love to know, you know, what happens to mysterious cases like this and whether she had a medical event. Maybe, you know, she could have just had a medical event and then was scavenged on by animals. There's so many different possibilities and yeah, but anywho, she seemed like a really cool lady. She did a lot of cool things. Africa, Europe, South America, national parks, just doing. Living her life, you know, truly.

[Cassie]

Yeah.

[Danielle]

Well, thank you everyone so much for listening and we will see you next time. In the meantime, enjoy the view, but watch your back. Bye bye.

[Cassie]

Thanks for joining us for another episode. We hope you learned something new and have another location to put on your your list. If you want more NPAD content, make sure to follow along with our adventures on all socials at National Park After

[Danielle]

Dark for more stories just like this one with the added bonus of exclusive content. You can join us on Patreon or Apple Subscriptions. If you prefer to watch our episodes, head over to our YouTube channel. And if you're enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe on your favorite listening platform, Foreign. You're listening to this podcast, so I know you've got a curious mind. Here's a helpful fact you may not know yet. Drivers who switch and save with Progressive save over $900 on average. Pop over to progressive.com answer some questions and you'll get a quick quote with discounts that are easy to come by. In fact, 99% of their auto customers earn at least one discount. Visit progressive.com and see if you can enjoy a little cash back. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates national average 12 month savings of $946 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2024 and May 2025 Potential savings will vary. Monday AI agents took over my work, and I absolutely love it. Chasing deadlines, writing status reports, updating stakeholders. Agents handle the daily grind. Now they live inside Monday.com, so they see the full picture. My work, my team, the whole company. And I don't have to worry about the data. It's safe, which means I'm free to focus on the big stuff. Knowing everything runs smoothly in the background. It's completely shifted the way we work. Create your own AI agent in minutes on Monday dot com.