News IndexGateway Virginia
5/24/97 1:12 PMThousands 'Take Back the Trails' on anniversary of campsite murders
By DAVID REED
Associated Press Writer
STONY MAN MOUNTAIN, Va. (AP) -- Julie Williams and Lollie Winans were devoted, experienced hikers in their mid 20s and they knew the Shenandoah National Park is a splendid place to hit the trail this time of yea r.The warblers are beginning to arrive from the south and nest in the hardwoods. Violets and droopy, yellow orchids are beginning to poke through the brown leaves on the mountain ridges, and the air is crisp and fragrant.
The views of the Shena ndoah Valley several thousand feet below are spectacular because the green leaves on the oaks and maples are still filling out. The deer are not hunted and nearly tame, so it's common for a doe to continue munching on wild oats while you pass by.
Du rin g the Memorial Day weekend one year ago, they pitched their tent on the eastern face of Stony Man Mountain near the Appalachian Trial. Patsy Williams, Julie's mother, said the spot was perfect: secluded, framed by small blooming dogwoods and close to a st ream.
But sometime during the holiday, the lesbian couple was attacked at the campsite. Their hands were bound and their throats were slashed. Their bodies were found on June 1, but the killer or killers disappeared without a trace.
This holid ay weekend, Mrs. Williams is retracing her daughter's final hike in the Shenandoah National Park, to be with her in spirit, to see what Julie saw in those final days and to spread a message.
''I guess I want people to know that I wouldn't want this to stop anybody from going out into the woods,'' Mrs. Williams, 50, of St. Cloud, Minn., said. ''I don't want anybody to feel intimidated. Julie would not have wanted that, either. It almost feels like an act of defiance.''
She won't be alone in the great outdoors. More than 20,000 hikers are commemorating the anniversary by hitting the trails over the holiday weekend in every state, according to the coordinator of the ''Take Back the Trails'' campaign, Nina Roberts.
"There is an escalation of fear," Ms. Roberts said. ''Not for all women, but some women now hike in large groups now instead of alone or with one other person. Some women have told me they haven't been backpacking or camping in the past year, but this (campaign) has sparked a sense of confidence in them.''
Rosemary Mirocco lives about seven miles from the campsite where the women were killed, and she is taking a group of women hiking in the area over the weekend.
''The fact that the murders are unsolved preys on everyone's mine,'' Ms. Mirocco said. ''Violence against women is extremely prevalent, but for it to follow you all the way into the woods, where you expect to be safe, is enraging.''
The slayings had a deeper impact in the lesbian community, said Tracy Conaty of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force.
The group asked Attorney General Janet Reno if the FBI was investigating the slayings as a possible hate crime. Reno wrote back that the FBI was ''pursuing all motives, including the possibility that th e crime was motivated by the sexual orientation of the victims.''
In 1988, Claudia Brenner was on a weekend camping trip with her lesbian lover on the Appalachian Trail when a fugitive hiding out in the forest shot them with a hunting rifle. Rebecca Wight died, but Ms. Brenner survived five bullet wounds. Stephen Roy Carr was caught and sentenced to life in prison.
''This crime was a chilling reminder of what happened in 1988,'' said Ms. Conaty, who is a friend of Ms. Brenner. Both are joining the Take Back the Trails campaign.
''It's sad but necessary now that this thing happens in the back woods, which is supposed to be a sanctuary from the violence we face in everyday life,'' she said.
However, the Appalachian Trail and national parks remain relatively safe.
The crime has not caused a decline in visitors or backcountry hikers at Shenandoah National Park, spokeswoman Lynn Rothgeb said. Nine people have been killed on or near the Appalachian Trail since 1974, which is used by m ore than three million people a year, and this is the only one that remains unsolved.
All of the visitor stations in Shenandoah National Park still display the posters offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. But the pictures of Ms. Williams and Ms. Winans, smiling as they sit together on a mountain crest, are fading.
''We're all realistic that the trail is cold,'' said Tom Williams, Julie's father. ''There is somebody out there who is a pretty damn cold hearted killer. The FBI is concerned about that and so are we.''
Next to the reward posters are notices to hikers describing the crime and warning them to follow safety procedures such as being cautious when strangers approach and pitching tents out of sight of trails and roads.
Jeanne Vandeweile, 40, of Eue Claire, Wisc., was undeterred by the slayings and will be finishing a two-week vacation in the Shenandoah National Park on Monday.
She was hiking with just her dog, a fluffy cocker spaniel, and stopped at an overlook, 3,200 feet above the valley. She planned to meet her mother at the end of the day at a designated camping spot.
''It scares our families and friends,'' she said. ''They say, 'Don't you know you can get killed out there?' I say that it's more dangerous on city streets. I can disappear and find my way out of here if I need to.''
Ms. Vandeweile said she drew courage from the story of a woman who was raped in 1959 while attempting to hike he entire length of the Appalachian Trail, from Maine to Georgia. ''She finished the hike and then did it two more times. I've had a pretty good life. If something happens, it happens.''
Mrs. Williams planned to hike with about 10 people in the Shenandoah National Park, including several of her daughter's friends.
''When dealing with grief, you try to find a positive outlet,'' she said. ''This not only keeps Julie and Lollie's memory alive, it keeps attention on the case. Maybe it will spark someone's memory from last Memorial weekend.''
Copyright 1997, Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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