18 Hours as a Survivalist’s Bride : Don & Dan Nichols
This Is Monsters
Jiles
4.7 • 1.9K Ratings
🗓️ 11 May 2026
⏱️ 44 minutes
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Summary
Episode 01 : Don & Dan Nichols
Don and Dan Nichols lived off the grid in the mountains in Montana. They believed they had everything they needed except for a wife for Dan. That's when they kidnapped Kari Swenson and attempted to make her his bride.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | On July 15, 1984, Carrie Swenson was in the middle of a six-mile run training to compete for an upcoming biathlon. |
| 0:09.1 | She worked at a nearby ski ranch and used her free time to get in shape for the upcoming competition. |
| 0:15.1 | She was in the mountains in Montana and her biggest concern was a bear that her boss had seen in the area the day before. |
| 0:22.1 | Carrie was experienced in outdoor activities, and, though she thought it would be cool to see a |
| 0:27.0 | bear in real life, she knew to keep her distance. The other thing she needed to focus on was |
| 0:32.5 | the trail in front of her. It was not smooth and was covered in rocks, roots, and holes. She didn't want to |
| 0:39.7 | twist her ankle, so she made sure to keep her eyes glued to where her feet were going. Because of that, |
| 0:45.9 | she didn't notice the two men standing on the side of the trail just up ahead. Once she did notice, |
| 0:52.1 | she quickly became apprehensive about running by them. |
| 0:55.6 | They didn't look like hikers or fishermen, and they had rifles despite it not being hunting season. |
| 1:01.1 | She made the last-minute decision to try to turn around, but it was too late. |
| 1:05.9 | The older of the two men grabbed her, and that would be the beginning of 18 hours in the hands of two men who wanted her to be their bride. This is Monsters. I'm Don Nichols was born on January 20, 1931 in Somers, Kansas. His father, Pat Nichols was born on January 20th, 1931 in Summers, Kansas. |
| 1:47.0 | His father, Pat Nichols, was a coal miner from West Virginia and his mother, Margaret, a Kansas |
| 1:52.0 | native. |
| 1:53.0 | He had an older sister named Betty and a younger brother named Ted. |
| 1:57.0 | When Don was only two years old, the family moved to a small town in Montana called Norris, |
| 2:02.4 | and Pat started mining for gold, though he didn't seem to be successful. |
| 2:07.4 | About four years after moving to Montana, Pat was driving home from a party intoxicated when |
| 2:12.4 | he lost control of the car and crashed into a ravine. |
| 2:16.5 | Pat was killed and the other passengers were seriously injured. |
| 2:21.2 | Margaret remarried pretty quickly to another minor named Steve Engelman, and unlike Don's father, |
| 2:26.8 | Steve was not interested in hunting or fishing. Not only was Don's stepfather not an outdoorsman, |
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