SEQUESTERED Podcast | Season 3: The Shenandoah Park Murders
Episode 1: The Beginning of Us
October 13, 2025

Overview

The premiere episode of SEQUESTERED’s third season opens with a deeply personal exploration of Julie Williams and Lollie Winans before retracing the events of their 1996 backcountry trip to Shenandoah National Park. Rather than beginning with the tragic crime, the show foregrounds the vibrant lives, relationship, and passions of the two women at the story’s heart. The episode paints a vivid portrait of who Julie and Lollie were, the world they inhabited, and the meaning wild spaces held for them, setting the emotional weight for the investigation and revelations that will follow in the season.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

A Snapshot of 1996 (01:02)

• Host introduces listeners to May 1996—an era before pervasive digital technology and constant connectivity.
• Julie Williams and Lollie Winans, two young women from Vermont, embark on a much-anticipated road trip with their golden retriever, Taj, to Shenandoah National Park.
• “They came here for freedom, and they never made it home.” (Narrator, 01:44)
• Their brutal murders would eventually send shockwaves through hiking communities and the LGBTQ community, casting a long shadow over both their families and the landscape itself.

Who Were Julie and Lollie? (02:23–07:10)

Julie Williams

• Born January 26, 1968, in St. Cloud, Minnesota, the youngest of five in a loving, energetic family.
• Early childhood spent outdoors, “curiosity and kindness seemed to be stitched into her from the start.” (Narrator, 03:02)
• Achieved in both academics and athletics, notably winning the state doubles tennis championship.
• Studied geology at Carleton College; remembered as a brilliant student whose “sense of purpose, that science and stewardship belong together” inspired professors and peers.
• Found solace and meaning in wild places—nature as “healing, transformative, sacred.” (Narrator, 04:06)

Lollie Winans

• Born August 6, 1969, in Grosse Pointe, Michigan; grew up in a family that prized deep conversation and storytelling.
• Survived trauma in childhood, turning to the wilderness as a source of healing and independence—“her proof that she could survive and still find beauty.” (Narrator, 04:56)
• Studied outdoor recreation and leadership at Unity College in Maine. Described as “magnetic… fearless and gentle all at once. The kind of leader who could guide a group through a storm and still make everyone feel safe.” (Narrator, 05:52)
• Sought not to conquer but to move through nature with humility and empathy; used her love of wilderness to help others, especially women, find confidence and peace.

Woodswomen: Where Their Paths Crossed (09:45–13:35)

• Julie and Lollie meet in Minneapolis in 1995 through Woodswomen Inc.—a pioneering program “founded in 1977…by women for women.”
• Woodswomen taught leadership and self-reliance in the outdoors, providing a space where “emotional safety mattered as much as physical safety.” (Narrator, 10:34)
• The program’s ethos: every woman claimed her own achievements. “It was about trust. There were no sidelines, no one saying, ‘Here, let me do that for you.’” (Narrator, 10:18)
• For Julie, Woodswomen meant service through her love of the outdoors; for Lollie, it was “refuge, a place where she could finally exhale and be herself.” (Narrator, 11:08)
• Their bond slowly deepened, evolving into a romantic partnership. “Woodswomen gave them the language of self reliance and courage, but it also gave them each other.” (Narrator, 11:40)
• The outdoors became their sanctuary from a world often hostile to their love.

Being Out in the Mid-1990s (13:36–16:30)

• Host underscores the chilling realities of the 1990s for LGBTQ people—the Defense of Marriage Act, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and Ellen DeGeneres still a year away from coming out publicly.
• For Julie and Lollie, the backcountry offered rare “pockets of the world where they could exist freely, without having to hide who they were.” (Narrator, 15:46)
• “The woods didn’t ask questions, and the trails didn’t care who you loved.” (Narrator, 15:12)

The Road to Shenandoah (16:31–19:49)

• May 18, 1996: They set out from Burlington, VT in Julie’s red 1988 Toyota Tercel, Taj in the back seat, “chasing quiet” rather than adventure for headlines.
• The show uses evocative imagery to describe Shenandoah: “Virginia’s crown of the Blue Ridge Mountains, nearly 200,000 acres of quiet wilderness where the only signal was birdsong…” (Narrator, 17:50)
• Arriving May 19, they check in at Skyland Lodge, park their car, and begin their hike along the Bridal Trail. Their entry into the forest is meditative and hopeful.

Settling into Backcountry Life (20:19–24:09)

• For five days, Julie, Lollie, and Taj immerse themselves in the rhythm of wilderness: dawns in their tent, day hikes, simple camp meals, and “little routines, familiar grounding that made the wilderness feel like home.” (Narrator, 21:50)
• Observed by other hikers as “smiling, confident, at ease in their environment.” (Narrator, 22:31)
• “For now it was all light, all freedom, all the things they came for. But in the stillness of those woods, something unseen was moving closer.” (Narrator, 23:05)
• The story darkens as the host foreshadows their disappearance and Taj’s solitary return.

The Crime Makes National News (24:09–24:27)

• The episode closes with a somber news clip: “Investigators still search for a killer… The bodies of the women were found in this area of the park Saturday. The women died when their throats were cut.” (News Reporter, 24:09)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “They were strong, kind, brave, and they were in love.” — Narrator (01:29)
• “Curiosity and kindness seemed to be stitched into her from the start.” — Narrator on Julie (03:02)
• “Her proof that she could survive and still find beauty.” — Narrator on Lollie’s healing through nature (04:56)
• “It was about trust. Emotional safety mattered as much as physical safety.” — Narrator on Woodswomen (10:34)
• “The wilderness gave them space to laugh, to dream, and to love openly. Out here, they weren’t outsiders. They were exactly where they belonged.” — Narrator (12:32)
• “The woods didn’t ask questions, and the trails didn’t care who you loved.” — Narrator (15:12)
• “They weren’t chasing headlines or milestones. They were chasing quiet, the kind of quiet that settles into your bones when the world finally stops asking anything of you.” — Narrator (17:09)
• “For five days, it was just the three of them. Julie, Lolly and Taj. The woods their shelter. The mountains their sanctuary. For now, it was all light, all freedom, all the things they came for. But in the stillness of those woods, something unseen was moving closer.” — Narrator (22:45)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:02-02:23 — Setting the scene: Julie & Lollie’s road trip begins
• 02:23-07:10 — Biographical sketches: Who were Julie Williams and Lollie Winans?
• 09:45-13:35 — Woodswomen Inc. and the roots of their relationship
• 13:36-16:30 — LGBTQ realities in the mid-1990s; importance of safe spaces
• 16:31-19:49 — The road trip to Shenandoah; their arrival and start of the hike
• 20:19-24:09 — Backcountry routines; last days together
• 24:09-24:27 — News break: Discovery and national attention

Tone and Approach

The narrative is deeply compassionate and empathetic, taking care to render Julie and Lollie as fully realized people—daughters, friends, leaders, adventurers—rather than mere victims. The tone is gentle, respectful, and infused with a sadness that never feels sensationalized, drawing listeners into the couple’s love of nature, each other, and the transformative power of wild places.

Looking Ahead

The episode ends with a promise to pick up as the tragedy reverberates: “The discovery of Julie and Lolly's bodies sends shockwaves far beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains... hikers changing course mid trail and a park full of families left wondering why they weren't warned sooner... and a country grappling with fear in a place once seen as a sanctuary.” (Narrator, 24:27)

This opening episode of SEQUESTERED, Season 3, sets an intimate, emotional stage for the investigation and public reckoning to follow—grounded in the lives, love, and longing for freedom of Julie Williams and Lollie Winans.