What is going on True Crime fans? I'm your host Heath. And I'm your host, Stephanie. And you're listening to Going West. How the heck are you? How are you Heath? I'm good. How are you? I'm just swell. How's everyone else doing? No answer. Alright.

Good to see you all again in a way. Hope everyone's having a great week and excited for the weekend ahead if you are listening when this comes out.

Today we have a crazy story about how one man went to Alaska off-grid and ended up wiping out a good percentage of a village there.

It's honestly a crazy story and a devastating tale of just senseless violence. Yeah, it's absolutely crazy. I mean, it's not the one you probably are thinking of because there's not a ton of serial killer.

Are you referring to the butcher baker? Yeah, I was going to refer to that one. Yeah, because I can't really know that one. Yeah, yeah, we should cover that. But this one is different.

This is a different, as you can tell from the title of this episode, but still just as devastating as that story. So, yeah, absolutely. So, shall we? Yeah, absolutely. Oh, quickly before we get into that, if you are looking for more episodes of Going West, head over to our Patreon, we have a ton of ad-free full length bonus episodes for you guys to binge.

Yeah, so basically, like if you pay $5 today, you will get access to almost 40 bonus episodes. And then if you pay $10 today, you will have access to over 60 episodes. All of Just Heath and I talking as we do here on Going West doing various true crime cases from around the world. So...

That's Patreon. Yeah, definitely check that out. That's patreon.com slash Going West podcast. All right, enough plugging.

This is episode 198 of Going West. So, let's get into it.

I think that the holidays feel like Frozen Noses. I love walking with the dog for long periods of time.

Hopefully it's snowing and you've got to wrap up warm. So, I think the Frozen Noses and then Sweaty armpits because like your wrap tops so warm, but then you're climbing Hampstead Heath. And you get to the top and you're like, oh, and then you can see the breath. But then your nose is still freezing to top.

Joy in every sip with red cups now back at Starbucks.

Oh, embarrassment. There's nothing quite like it. And our sprites do it best. But I'm here to offer you a safe space. This is the place you can come to share all of those stories of past embarrassment that still keep you up at night.

Let's find a way to laugh at them together and then move on. Remember, there's no judgment here. So, join me in my brand new podcast and finally put those memories to bed.

In 1984, residents in the small Alaskan village of Manly Hot Springs began disappearing when a drifter arrived to town. After nine people were murdered, investigators zeroed in on a 26 year old man who had appeared bizarre and creepy to many of the locals.

This is the story of Michael Silka and the Manly Hot Springs murders.

Michael Allen Silka was born on August 20th, 1958 to parents Betty and Frank Silka in half-Ministered Illinois, which is a suburb of Chicago. And it has a population of about 50,000 people.

Michael was the oldest of three kids, later joined by his brother Steven and his sister Susanna in a very typical suburban American family.

Michael's father Frank was a carpenter and a member of Menza, meaning he had a very high IQ as we have discussed in now at least two other episodes ago and we have.

And Michael's family's neighbor, Forman Hurst, remembered Michael as a good kid and a normal teenager who loved the outdoors, saying that Michael's number one ambition was just to be outside exploring nature.

He and his brother Steven even ran away from home to the Canadian wilderness when they were teenagers, only returning when they had depleted their supplies.

By the time Michael graduated high school, he already had some serious run-ins with the law.

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