Mystery on Isle Royale: Murder-Suicide Suspected After Bodies Found in National Park

BY WILL BRENDZA

The two 911 calls were made separately, but both reported the same thing: Two bodies were at a remote campsite in Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park. Around 4 p.m. on June 8, two National Park Service (NPS) rangers responded to the calls, hiking 18 kilometers overnight to the remote location. When they found the scene, an investigation was opened, the FBI got involved, and despite identifying the bodies, no one yet knows their names.

Now, Keweenaw County Medical Examiner, Dr. Michael McAllister, has revealed to Michigan news outlet MLive that murder-suicide is the suspected cause of death. According to McAllister, the two victims appear to have been father and son, although it’s still unclear who died first.

Aircraft had to be used to extract them due to the remoteness of the location at South Lake Desor Campground. Both the NPS Investigative Services Branch (NPS-ISB) and the FBI are investigating the case.

Photo: Screenshot via Google

An email shared with our sister site, GearJunkie, by the Keweenaw County Clerk shows that the Board of Commissioners is denying Freedom of Information Act requests for death records related to this case. The Keweenaw County Attorney said that “the County does not have any autopsy or testing results or other medical records.”

McAllister said he completed the certificates of death for the two victims on June 24. The cause and manner of death are pending.

NPS-ISB is also withholding the individuals’ names, as it said, releasing them could “hamper the investigation.”

While information remains thin, details are slowly emerging, painting a dark picture of what may have happened that night at Isle Royale’s South Lake Desor Campground.

Screams in the night

Photo: Shutterstock

Late on June 8, a Reddit user named redblackrider made a post on the Isle Royale subreddit titled, “Screams at Desor South on 6/6/25.”

“Was anyone else in the campground last night and heard all the commotion?” the user wrote. “It was kind of frightening, and we’re wondering if anyone knows what was going on.”

They described hearing the latrine door slam several times before yelling started.

“It was repetitive, filled with threats of self-harm and violence toward others. And it was relentless,” they wrote.

The Reddit user said they became so uncomfortable and felt so unsafe that they packed up and left at around 11 pm, nighthiking to another campsite.

“We ran so many scenarios through our heads in the moment and regularly questioned if we were doing the right thing as we hiked. None of us are qualified to handle what was happening.”

The user found a high point with cell service and called 911 to report what they’d heard. Later, they said they were contacted and interviewed by the FBI.

Desor South Campground: Isle Royale NP

Photo: Shutterstock

Isle Royale is one of Michigan’s least-visited national parks. It is on Lake Superior and only accessible by ferry, seaplane, or private boat. Annually, it sees about 20,000 to 29,000 visitors. The Greenstone Ridge Trail is a popular hike on Isle Royale. It traverses much of the island and passes right through South Lake Desor Campground.

According to the supervising park ranger at Isle Royale, Elizabeth Valencia, the South Lake Desor Campground is very remote and challenging to reach. There are no roads accessing the area, and much of the terrain is variable, overgrown, and often wet.

Photo: Screenshot via Google

“It’s a challenging environment,” said Valencia. “The trails are rugged and rocky. People get overextended, they hike too far. In the summer, a lot of times, people will get heat exhaustion, or don’t get enough water, things like that.”

Still, despite the natural hazards, Valencia said, deaths in the area are rare. There have been several in the last few years, but they were all accidental or natural causes.

“This is not a common occurrence for us,” she said of the suspected murder-suicide.

This story first appeared on GearJunkie.