Episode 3 concentrates on the discovery of the two bodies in extremely impassable terrain near the Crystal Caves. We hear of the strange explanations by the hiker that found them and his puzzling actions before and especially after discovering the bodies. And we hear of statements given by people involved in the events following the discovery and finally shed a light on the insights and conclusions by the police.
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- Rudolph Isler
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Previously on The Crystal Cave Murders.
Narrator:On July 31, 1982, Karen and Bridget vanished without a trace during the final leg of their summer bicycle tour. They were last seen at the crossroads near the Crystal Caves. And not arriving home that evening, their parents reported them missing, prompting the police to launch an extensive search and gather information from people living nearby or along their intended route home. In a desperate attempt to find leads, the investigators discovered the girl's camera on one of their abandoned bicycles at the intersection, and frantically tried to locate the stranger who had taken the ominous last picture of them 2 days prior.
Narrator:With only a few valuable observations being reported, and an unsuccessful search, the police remained without significant leads and basically discontinued their search efforts by mid September. Meanwhile a considerable reward had been made available. On the one hand a private party had offered a generous sum of 10,000 Swiss francs, roughly the same amount in U. S. Dollars, while an additional 25,000 francs had been suspended by the Public Prosecutor's Office.
Narrator:Then on October 2nd, exactly 9 weeks after the girl's disappearance, a 26 year old hiker from the town of Harizau, approximately 40 kilometers or 25 miles away, walked along the trail by the crystal caves. He had been in the area and noticed a distinct foul odor a week earlier while accompanied by a teenage boy. This time, he ventured alone and with a clear purpose. With unwavering determination, he followed the lingering scent and braved the treacherous Hunter's Trail past the cave's entrance. A few moments later he spotted what appeared to be red clothing concealed under a heavy slab of rock. He reached under it and, for a split second, his hand froze as he came in contact with a slimy, decomposed mass of flesh, The remains of Brigitte Meyer.
Narrator:My name is Rudolf Isler and this is The Discovery. Episode 3 of The Crystal Cave Murders, an investigative true crime podcast by Playground Media Productions. All interviews were recorded in German and translated into English. All voice overs were done by speakers that are not related to the case.
Narrator:All individuals mentioned in this podcast must be considered innocent and cannot be prosecuted or convicted as the 30 year statute of limitation for murder in Switzerland was reached in 2012. The presumption of innocence applies. Without inspecting his discovery any further, the horrified hiker hurriedly made his way back to the car at the dance place and drove to the nearby village of Oberyet. However, if you were expecting him to have headed straight to the police station or to the next public phone to report his gruesome discovery, you are mistaken. Instead, he decided to visit the residence of a befriended couple in the village with whom he was acquainted when he was once involved with their daughter.
Narrator:As it was known, they were just about to have lunch when he stormed into their apartment. The following is the statement of the wife of the befriended couple that she gave to the police in 1982.
Wife of friend:Shortly after discovering the body, he arrived at our home around midday. I'm certain it was a Saturday. He was alone and clearly stated. I found one of the missing girls under a slab of rock. Having noticed a distinct odor. 1 week later, he passed by the crystal caves again and once more detected the foul scent, he said. Today, noticing it yet again, he decided to investigate the corpse, which then led him to discover the girl's body. Soon after, the police sergeant arrived and briefly joined us. Once we finished lunch, the 3 of them drove up to the caves in the police car. The area where the body was found was cordoned off, and the police sergeant went back to the village for reinforcements. I distinctly remember he repeatedly emphasized that he had been in the area 3 times consecutively.
Narrator:I cannot but find his behavior rather disturbing and unnatural. Not immediately contacting the police, but, instead, drive to a friend's house and join them for lunch before eventually letting his friend call the police instead of reporting his discovery himself, is more than strange. Adding to the intrigue, additional perplexing information emerged later. According to one source, it was reported that once the 3 men arrived at the location where the body was found, the police sergeant instructed the host to remain next to the decomposed body while he and the hiker went back to the village to get reinforcements. This meant that the man was left alone with the lifeless body for approximately 1 hour.
Narrator:This is rather unusual and becomes significant when the police later determined that certain personal belongings of Bridget Meyer, whose body the hiker had found, were missing. Furthermore, it is very peculiar that a hiker, living in a town quite a distance away, chose to visit the exact same location near the Crystal Caves on 3 consecutive weekends. During his second visit, he was accompanied by an 8 year old boy from his neighborhood. The now 48 year old man had the following recollection of their hike.
Boy:I am pretty sure he was short of money again. I think he was trying to cash in on the finder's fee that was being offered for information about the missing girls. All I can say is that as we made our way along the bumpy forest path to the small platform near the cave's entrance, he suddenly stopped and asked me if I noticed a strange odor too. I took a deep breath and smelled the air, but I couldn't detect anything, not even after he told me that the scent reminded him of decomposition. He then mentioned that he would return and check out the odor another day, but that it would be too risky for me to come along because it might most likely require some climbing.
Narrator:When questioned by the investigators regarding the details of his discovery and the rationale behind his repeated visits on 3 consecutive weekends, the hiker explained that upon his return home after the second excursion in the presence of the boy, he had told his spouse the possibility of having found the bodies of the 2 missing young girls. Subsequently, he asked her to notify the authorities, to which she promptly agreed and called the police. The police, without giving due regard to her report, dismissed his account attributing the odor to a deceased animal and asserting that the vicinity surrounding the caves had already undergone meticulous exploration. Faced with the authorities' disregard for his renovations, he decided to revisit the caves once more on the following Saturday. This stands in contradiction to the boy's testimony, who stated that, already prior to returning home and his wife alerting the police, the hiker had decided to revisit the area on the forthcoming weekend.
Narrator:In any case, he did receive the initial amount of 10,000 Swiss francs Yet, regrettably, the sum of 25,000 francs eluded his grasp, the reason being that this particular amount was contingent upon the simultaneous revelation of the perpetrator. Years later, the hiker continued to display a deep sense of resentment over this matter, perceiving himself as having been treated unjustly. Nonetheless, he wasted no time in spending the funds he did receive on acquiring a shiny new car, openly parading it. I tried to contact the important witness that was being cautioned by prior investigators about his unpredictable temperament, particularly when mentioning this case. Nevertheless, I persisted and left several voice mails at his current place of residence, But he never returned my calls.
Narrator:The hiker's peculiar conduct and the circumstances surrounding his discovery of Bridget Myers' body may already strike one as quite bizarre. However, matters took an even more perplexing turn when subsequent investigations concluded that, considering the positioning of Pritchett's body amidst the treacherous terrain and its concealment beneath the slab of rock, it became quite evident that more than one individual must have been involved in the heinous act or, at the very least, the displacement and concealment of the body. It was unanimously agreed that a soul person would have faced significant challenges in disposing of the body unassisted. Yet to compound matters, another unsettling revelation emerged years later through the testimony of the innkeeper's wife at the local barred Cobble Least restaurant, her husband being one of the part time cave guides. According to her recollection, an unfamiliar man entered their establishment around noon on the very day the body was discovered.
Narrator:He requested permission to use their phone situated at the counter. Inadvertently, she overheard fragments of the ensuing conversation, leaving little doubt that the stranger was discussing the harrowing find of a deceased body in the woods. For years, she remained resolute in her belief that this encounter occurred on the Saturday when the body was found. Assuming this to be true, it raises a few questions. Whom did the hiker call?
Narrator:His wife? A friend? Certainly not the police, as they would have already been alerted when they called later. So what on earth could have been more important to share than the horrifying revelation he had just made? And why did he not place this phone call from his friend's house as well?
Narrator:Could it be that he needed privacy and avert prying ears, which would have been nearly impossible at his friend's? And why did he not ever mention having gone to the restaurant, neither to his friend nor the police? A lot of unanswered questions. Determined to authenticate her account, I tried to contact a woman who had since divorced her husband. When I finally reached her on the phone, she displayed a considerable reluctance to engage in a discussion regarding the matter.
Narrator:But after much persuasion, she finally consented to respond to 1 or 2 questions. No. No. You're not
Restaurant Owner:okay. I really don't wanna talk about this anymore. But, yeah, there was a stranger that came to our restaurant. He had approached me and asked if he could use our phone, which was located at the counter. I said yes and later overheard him mentioning that he had found something in the forest. It was pretty obvious to me that he was talking about the missing girls. I didn't catch any details though. I'm not totally sure anymore if it was on the same day as the first body was found. I had never seen this man before, and I'm sure of that. That's pretty much all I can tell you.
Narrator:It is hardly surprising that decades later, her recollection of the specific day and time had shifted. I'm not blaming her. But I do wonder. Is it really plausible that the event may have occurred on a different day altogether? If so, why would he travel to the restaurant from his home, 25 miles away, just to make a phone call and inform whomever about a discovery he had made days earlier and that was meanwhile common knowledge.
Narrator:To me, it makes much more sense that he indeed visited the restaurant on the day of the discovery to, for example, call his wife. But that this happened after having directed the police sergeant and his friend to the location of Bridget's body. But this is pure speculation on my part. Unfortunately, the hiker was not available for an interview to clarify these inconsistencies. And something else does not add up.
Narrator:How was it possible that this hiker appeared to be the sole individual who noticed the distinct odor, while neither a visitor nor any of the numerous cave guides who were present at the Crystal Caves almost daily did not. Or maybe someone did, but had reasons for not reporting it. But let me return to the facts. On Saturday, October 2nd, 1982, 3 months or 9 weeks after the girl's disappearance, a hiker stumbled upon the decomposed body of Bridget Mayer in a route toll, located approximately 800 metres from the cross roads near the crystal Her remains were concealed beneath a substantial slab of rock. The upper part of her body was fully clothed and showed no signs of harm.
Narrator:Her bra, shirt, sweater, and rain jacket were undisturbed. However, the lower portion of her body was naked from the waist down and her underwear and jeans were found bundled near the lower legs. The examination of her jeans revealed 2 knife cuts on the back side, approximately 50 centimeters in length, running from the hem to the knees, suggesting that the victim may have been lying on their stomach, either unconscious or deceased, when her plants were slit open and pulled down. The following day, the police made the grim discovery of Karen Gatacre's also severely decomposed body. It was found in a foetal like position, within an extremely difficult accessible semi cave just below the crystal caves, and only approximately 50 meters from her friend.
Narrator:The corpse was concealed under a layer of numerous rocks, each roughly the size of a fist. Karen's jeans and windbreaker were fully zipped up, with no signs of disturbance. No evidence suggested any form of sexual assault. Given that both victims still had their windbreakers securely fastened, it was concluded that the assault most likely Karen's belongings were all accounted for, including the folded map that remained tucked in the back pocket of her jeans. However, Bridget's watch and wallet were missing.
Narrator:The retrieval of the bodies presented significant challenges, necessitating the installation of ropes and ladders affixed to the rocks beneath the crystal caves. These aids were crucial for the police, firefighters, and forensic experts to access the remains. Due to the advanced stage of decomposition, the coroner was unable to definitely determine whether the victims, particularly Bridget, with her pants pulled down, had been subjected to a sexual assault. It was also established that in both cases the cause of death was due to a severe blow to the head, inflicted by a heavy object. This ruled out the initial accident theory.
Narrator:Furthermore, it was evident that, a, the girls had not met their fate at the location where their bodies were found and that due to the steep terrain and the meticulous concealment of the corpses, they had not been thrown over a ledge and, coincidentally, ended up where they were found. And yet another detail confronted the police with a great mystery. The presence of a ballpoint pen, 3 felt tip pens, and a pencil next to Bridget Mayer's body. These items did not belong to the girls, but bore resemblance to the writing utensils used by cave guides, which were typically stored in a locker inside the caves. Of particular interest was the ballpoint pen, which displayed the company logo.
Narrator:Did these items inadvertently slip out of the perpetrator's breast pocket, or were they deliberately placed there to divert suspicion towards the cave guides? News of the girl's discovery swiftly spread across the region and the rest of the country, making the headlines of most Swiss newspapers on Monday morning. The country's largest tabloid, Blick, prominently described the perpetrator on its front page in bold letters, being a mountain climber, strong as an ox, familiar with the area, and cold blooded. Finally, having located the bodies, the investigators were confident that the case would now be solved swiftly. Their confidence was such that the local and cantonal police did at no point consider to ask for assistance from specialized homicide units, such as those based in Zurich.
Narrator:Instead, an unfortunate competition emerged among the local investigators, resulting in the withholding of crucial information from one another as each investigator wanted to be the one to crack the case. During an interview with a woman from the village of Oberuit, she recounted an incident that occurred while in the doctor's waiting room. Naturally, the case of the 2 missing girls was being discussed. Suddenly a woman, who had been quiet for a while, aloudly proclaimed that her son was part of the next couple of days. All he still needed, he had told her, was the confession from a suspect.
Narrator:Not surprisingly, locals began to express criticism and the media openly questioned the competence of the authorities. Amidst the growing scrutiny and turmoil, there was one group that remained conspicuously silent: the parents of the 2 girls. They never once ventured to the site where their daughters disappeared, nor did they provide any statement to the press or television. They did not participate in the search or issue appeals to the public or the perpetrator. While it can be understood that they were in a state of shock and had been advised not to engage with the press, it is still difficult to comprehend why they made absolutely no effort, especially prior to the discovery of the bodies, to contribute in any way to the case.
Narrator:In December 2022, I mustered the courage to call the father of 1 of the victims. To my surprise he did not end the call abruptly but responded in a calm and polite deep voice stating that he had absolutely nothing to say. He did not then and he certainly will not now. The investigators' apparent lack of thoroughness in their search, the oversight of leaving a man alone with Richard Myers' lifeless body, the failure to meticulously document and evaluate local testimonies, and their inability to locate the stranger who took the last photograph, raised serious doubts about their competence. And there was yet one more detail that was largely overlooked, an oversight that was of significant importance, the slab of rock that concealed Bridget Myers' remains.
Narrator:Surprisingly, this pivotal piece of evidence was left untouched at the crime scene and was never subjected to proper examination. Its apparent insignificance to the investigators at the time was a glaring oversight. Years later, when they finally realized the gravity of this negligence, the slab of rock had vanished without a trace. It appeared to have been washed down in a landslide, split, or sunk into the depths of the earth. Its examination could have provided valuable insights into determining whether 1 or 2 individuals were indeed involved in the murder.
Narrator:Based on photographs, witness recollections, and geological analyses of the rock formation, experts' estimations of its weight range between 60 300 kilograms. Again, let me remind you to visit our website at thecrystalcavemyrtles.com to see a photograph of the rock. Furthermore, criticism was also directed towards the dark handlers during the investigation. After the discovery of the bodies, the following explanation was given by an investigator.
Dog Handler:Well, you see, dogs don't really pick up on the scent of dead people that easily. And to make things even worse, the bodies were actually laying in a spot where nobody really suspect them. The dogs simply couldn't catch a whiff of those bodies. This is, of course, frustrating. That's the truth.
Narrator:This statement may appear somewhat ambiguous today given the advancements in our understanding of canine capabilities and specialized training. Nowadays, we have a variety of highly trained dogs, each with their own specific task. Some are trained specifically for locating missing persons, while others are trained as cadaver dogs, adept at detecting the scent of deceased individuals. But, mind you, 40 years ago these distinctions were not as well defined or widely known. Hence, it is indeed possible that the dogs utilized at the time may not have possessed specific training to detect the scent of the missing girls.
Narrator:Yet there is something undeniably peculiar about this statement that warrants further consideration.
Dog Handler:The bodies were actually laying in a spot where nobody really suspect them.
Narrator:This remark somewhat suggests that since they did not expect the bodies to be in that particular area, it was not searched at all, be it with or without dogs. Or could it be that the killer had cunningly concealed the bodies elsewhere, only to transport them to their final resting place later? Or perhaps there was a lapse in the police search efforts, a crucial oversight that allowed the killer to elude detection. The enigma deepened and the search for answers became more desperate each day. What really happened during those critical hours when the girls went missing?
Narrator:Were they murdered and their bodies concealed else where and only brought up to the caves later? The Shroud of Mystery surrounding this case seemed to grow thicker with each elevation, Leaving one to ponder the unimaginable possibilities that lay hidden within the shadows of the crystal caves. Stay tuned for Episode 4, The Suspects, when the investigators find themselves trapped in a web of mounting pressure as they focus their attention on 4 prime suspects. They are convinced that one of them holds the key to unraveling the truth behind the double murder and will eventually crack under the weight of guilt. Meanwhile, time passed and more baffling new revelations continue to emerge, adding to the enigmatic nature of the case.
Narrator:My name is Rudolf lsler. I'm a documentary filmmaker and producer. And this was The Discovery, episode 3 of The Crystal Cave Murders, an investigative true crime podcast brought to you by Playground Media Productions. Please do visit our web site at thecrystalcavemurders.com for additional information, including maps, photographs, videos, and even details on how to support the makers of this podcast. Available on Apple Podcasts or most any platform of your preference.