ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 6, 1996 TAG: 9606060075
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LURAY
SOURCE: DAVID REED ASSOCIATED PRESS
The two young women killed during a hike in the backwoods took all the right precautions: Don't hike alone, and always tell rangers where you plan to hike and camp.
Their fatal error, however, may have been trusting a stranger, Appalachian Trail Conference spokesman Brian King said Wednesday.
``As far as we know, they did everything right,'' said Brian King, spokesman for the Appalachian Trail Conference. ``It's common sense stuff - don't leave your street smarts at home.''
Now, the FBI, the trail management group and park rangers face the difficult task of trying to gather evidence from the woods and track down other hikers who might have seen or heard something that would aid the investigation.
So far, 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 Wednesday 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 trail group set up five checkpoints along the trail to solicit information from hikers who may have seen something, 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 Wednesday, revealing no new details about their investigation.
Williams, of St. Cloud, Minn., and Winans, of Unity, Maine, are the eighth and ninth people killed along the 2,159-mile Appalachian Trail since 1974. Double slayings accounted for six of the deaths.
Investigators continue to examine the campsite and nearby trail for evidence, and
Officials distributed fliers with the women's photos and a number for people who may have seen them to call - toll-free (888) 856-2467.
Teams of ``ridge runners'' with copies of the photos were posted on the trail as far north as Pennsylvania to find hikers who saw the women and whomever might have been with them after they began their hike May 21.
The trail management group and rangers have gone over trail logs, which are left out at shelters and other spots along the route, to determine who was hiking in the area and then track them down, King said.
``We're getting on the hiker grapevine,'' he said. The National Park Service has posted the flier on its World Wide Web page on the Internet, spokeswoman Robbie Brockwehl said.
Park rangers found the women's bodies Saturday near a trail less than a half mile from Skyline Drive, a scenic route that winds through the national park. Both died of slashed throats.
The Washington Post contributed to this story.
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