About Wilderness Bonescapes Library

  As Springfield residents decorated for Halloween in September 1972, the crime rate in the quiet, affluent township was at its lowest in years. That mood was shattered when the body of sixteen-year-old Jeannette DePalma was discovered in the local woods, allegedly surrounded by strange objects. Some feared witchcraft was to blame, while others believed a serial killer was on the loose. Rumors of a police cover up ran rampant, and the case went unsolved - along with the murders of several other young women. 

Episode 36: Unsolved Tragedy Frozen In Time 

In January 1959, nine young hikers vanished in Russia’s Ural Mountains. When rescuers found their camp, the tent had been slashed open from the inside and abandoned, with boots and supplies neatly left behind. The hikers’ bodies were discovered scattered across the snow—their conditions in which they are found, is unexplainable. The Soviet investigation concluded only that a “compelling natural force” was to blame, but theories still swirl. Over 60 years later, the Dyatlov Pass remains one of the world’s most chilling unsolved mysteries.

Episode 30: Bearly Made it Out: Caught between Mama and her Cubs

On a pristine summer morning in the Alaskan backcountry, Dan and John set off on what should have been a peaceful fishing trip. But their adventure takes a terrifying turn when they come face to face with a massive Brown bear blocking the trail. As they retreat, hoping to avoid confrontation, they find themselves cut off by her cubs just minutes later—unwittingly caught in the most dangerous position in the wild: between a mother bear and her offspring.

The book then delves into Dan's recover and life after recovery. Finding what makes life worth living for. 

   After World War Two broke out and his homeland of Norway was overtaken by German soldiers, Jan Baalsrud trained to be a spy. He was assigned to secretly go into Norway with 11 other men, blow up an airfield tower along with as many water planes as they could, and recruit fighters. Their plan quickly fell apart as they were attacked by German Soldiers soon after arriving in Norway. In their escape, only one of the 12 soldiers evaded capture. Join us as we tell Jan Baalsrud’s survival story as he tries to evade capture by jumping into freezing waters and trekking through the frozen wilderness of Norway. 

 Deep in the Canadian forest lay a plane, upside down, with 10 passengers inside. Four of those 10 passengers survived the crash. Where people are normally found frozen to death before rescue arrives, these men must survive.  Among those four men include the pilot, a provincial housing minister, a cop, and a prisoner. Join us as we recap the arduous survival story of these four men after their plane crashed in the backcountry of the Canadian wilderness.  

 Two friends embark on a biking trip across the United States on the Trans America Trail. Seven days into their trip, they stopped at Cline Falls State Park for the night. With the feeling they were being watched, they climbed into their tent and went to sleep. Only to be woken up as a truck runs over their tent and a man attacks them with an ax. Join us as we tell Terri and Avera’s survival story as they fight to stay alive.  

A Christmas Eve flight home turns tragic after a lighting strike hits a plane.  The plane instantly fell apart as it tumbled to the ground.  Juliane Koepcke fell 10,000 feet (3,000 m) still buckled into her row of seats. Join us as we tell Juliane's survival story in the Amazon Rain Forest after being the sole survivor of a tragic plane crash.  

Lead investigator for the abduction and murder of Meredith Emerson, John Cagle, shares his perspective of the investigation. Join detective John Cagle on his journey to get justice for Meredith while safe guarding her memory.

Six canoers embark on a 600-mile canoeing trip in the Canadian Tundra. On the 29th day, over 100 miles from the closest town, Alex gets attacked by a Grizzley Bear.  Join us as we tell the tale of Alex's survival journey in the wilderness after a Grizzly Bear attack. 

Andrea Lankford, with twelve years of experience, recounts the vivid and sometimes comical experiences working in the vastly extraordinary National Parks in the United States. Through her stories she exposes the unknown world of Park Rangers’ difficulties with safeguarding the Park from the public and the public from the park, and the public from each other.