267: Madness in McCarthy. Wrangell - St. Elias National Park. Part 1.

National Park After Dark

Audioboom Studios

True Crime, Places & Travel, Wilderness, Society & Culture, Sports

4.8 • 4.6K Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2024

⏱️ 102 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When the Pilgrim family ventured to the remote Alaska town of McCarthy, they were in search of a simple life, free from the constraints of the modern world. However, it wasn’t long after their arrival that they began to clash with the National Park Service. What seemed to be a loving family, soon would reveal some very dark secrets.

*Trigger Warning: This episode contains domestic and sexual abuse.*

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Transcript

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0:00.0	McCarthy, Alaska is famously known as a historic mining town in the remote wilderness of Rangel St. Elias National Park.
0:11.0	Its name was unfortunately seen across the country in 1983 when a deranged man went on a killing spree and murdered almost half the town's population.
0:20.0	That event has never been forgotten
0:22.3	by locals or foreigners. Despite its painted history, it's a beautiful tundra and serves as an
0:29.2	escape from the technological world for many people. When the Pilgrim family arrived one day to make it
0:34.9	their home, locals assumed they were here for the incredible
0:38.2	landscapes and simple way of life. Unbeknownst to them, they were welcoming a man who ran his
0:44.4	family like a cult, was linked to a possible murder, thievery, and abuse, and he was about
0:51.2	to wreak havoc on the little town of McCarthy, Alaska, and the National Park Service that governed there.
0:57.0	Welcome to National Park After Dark. All right. So you are returning to a place you've already done an episode.
1:28.1	Yeah, yeah, I am.
1:29.6	We did, I did exactly that story that I mentioned in the intro for if people remember there was this guy.
1:36.2	His name was Lewis Hastings and he went into McCarthy, Alaska.
1:40.0	And he went there and was upset with how the government was running Alaska.
1:45.1	And he decided to take it out on the people of McCarthy.
1:48.5	And he went to the airstrip where they all go get their mail because there's very limited resources there.
1:54.2	And he actually started shooting and killing people.
1:57.6	And I did an entire episode on it.
1:59.8	And it was a really, really devastating time for the area.
2:03.4	And then I came across this story, which is also crazy that it happened in the same spot.
2:09.1	I mean, it's totally different story, completely unrelated, but it's crazy how much stuff has gone down in this little town with almost no people in it.
2:16.8	Right. Well, I'm excited to hear it,
	...

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