THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 6, 1996 TAG: 9606060417
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LURAY LENGTH: 60 lines
The two young women killed during a hike in the backwoods took the right precautions: Don't hike alone, and 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,'' he said. ``It's common-sense stuff - don't leave your street smarts at home.''
Julianne Williams, 24, of St. Cloud, Minn., and Lollie Winans, 26, 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. Authorities are withholding details of the case and will not say whether the women were robbed.
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.
The women, who were trained as wilderness camping and hiking guides, pitched their tent about 25 yards from a stream. The sound of the water rushing through rocks would have made it hard for other hikers to hear them.
The back-country camping permit the women filled out warns hikers to be cautious of strangers, especially inquisitive ones, and to never share details of the routes being taken or campsite locations.
``What has happened in some of the previous murders is the victims were nice, experienced outdoors people, and they befriended someone who killed them,'' King said.
Some workers in the Skyland Lodge, about 1 1/2 miles from their campsite, remembered seeing the women in the restaurant and bar.
Carrying firearms is illegal in national parks and on about 80 percent of the Appalachian Trail, which runs from Maine to Georgia. The Appalachian Trail Conference discourages carrying a gun, even on some state and private sections where it's legal.
``If it's inside a pack, it's going to be difficult to get to when you need it,'' King said. ``If you wear it in the open, at best it creates tension in the shelters and at worst it becomes provocative.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
FBI investigators measure a trail Wednesday that leads to the
campsite where the bodies of Julianne Williams, 24, and Lollie
Winans, 26, were found Saturday. The campsite is about a half-mile
off Skyline Drive. by CNB