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Michelle Sutton and Kristen Chase died within weeks of each other in the summer of 1990 in Wilderness Therapy programs in Utah.

In response, Utah passed new safety regulations for Wilderness Therapy programs.

In both Summit Quest and Challenger were refused licensing and had deceased operations in Utah.

And then there were the criminal investigations. Steve Cardisano, the founder and director of Challenger,

was charged with negligent homicide for the death of Kristen Chase, along with nine counts of child abuse.

But the investigation into Michelle Sutton's death led nowhere.

The case was closed and neither Gail nor any of the counselors at Summit Quest were criminally charged.

For Kathy and Bob Sutton, this was a difficult reality to face.

As far as criminal charges, I just felt like they were criminally charged with something negligent homicide and how about this manslaughter?

We called every day to the Sheriff's Department trying to find out what was going on.

And what they told us is that it's a small county and they can't afford a trial.

Michelle's group had wandered across the border into Arizona and that is where she died.

Therefore, the criminal investigation fell under the jurisdiction of the Mojave County Sheriff's Office in Kingman, Arizona.

She was from California and died in Arizona in a program that was operated out of Utah.

So there was all these different areas that they just wouldn't do anything.

The Sutton's never got a satisfactory answer as to why Gail Palmer was never charged with the crime.

But Kathy said over the years she's had to let it go.

I don't think it ever would have been criminally charged to anyone person.

So kind of let go of that.

Did you not hold Gail responsible?

I hold a responsible for selling the program. Yes, I hold a responsible for her lies.

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