The On Sunday, May 19, 1996,

24-year-old Julie Williams and 26-year-old Laura Wynens embarked on a hiking trip through the Shannon Della National Park in Virginia.

Accompanied by their golden retriever, Tosh, the pair planned to spend a few days enjoying the tranquility of the park.

Their journey, however, ended tragically as they were brutally murdered at their campsite.

Despite initial suspicions pointing towards a man from Columbia, Maryland,

the case against him fell apart, leaving the crime unsolved for years.

It wasn't until June of 2024, 28 years after the murders, that authorities announced a significant

breakthrough.

Re-evaluating the evidence and conducting advanced DNA testing revealed that a convicted

rapist Walter Leo Jackson,

senior, who was already deceased, was responsible for the brutal slings of Julie and Laura.

His identity as the perpetrator behind the crime in this otherwise serene park was confirmed,

finally providing a measure of closure for the victim's families.

Laura Lolly Wynans was born into a privileged family in Michigan, but chose a different

path in life. Friends described her as a down-to-earth person and very adventurous.

And after dropping out of college, Lolly moved to Maine in 1994,

where she attended Unity College and worked as a wilderness guide.

Known for her love of microbrews, fish, and the outdoors, Lolly was unapologetically herself,

embracing a lifestyle far removed from societal expectations.

Julie Williams, who preferred to be called Julie, was passionate about sports and geology.

A high achiever, she won the Minnesota State Double Tennis Championship in high school and traveled to Europe in college to study dinosaur extinction.

Graduating summa cum laude, Julie was fluent in Spanish and worked in a bookstore in Burlington, Vermont.

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