Case Review: Steven Haugen and Jeanette Bauman AI transcript and summary - episode of podcast Culpable

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Episode: Case Review: Steven Haugen and Jeanette Bauman

Author: Tenderfoot TV, Resonate Recordings & Audacy
Duration: 00:43:03

Episode Shownotes

Steven Haugen and Jeanette Bauman were two middle-aged explorers who had developed a budding relationship. Steven, a father to two daughters, and Jeanette, a mother to two sons, shared a passion for exploring the great outdoors. This is what they were doing in the summer of 2005 when their children

received some devastating news - the deceased bodies of Steven, Jeanette, and their dog, Caesar, had been discovered near a campsite in Oregon’s Willamette National Forest. To this day, little is known about their deaths. Now, two families are working together to uncover the truth. Follow Culpable on our socials @CulpablePodcast Visit the website at culpablepodcast.com For early access and ad-free listening, subscribe to Tenderfoot+ at https://tenderfoot.tv/plus To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Summary

In this episode of Culpable, hosted by Dennis Cooper, the mysterious deaths of Steven Haugen and Jeanette Bauman, found alongside their dog Caesar in Oregon's Willamette National Forest in 2005, are dissected. Both victims, devoted outdoor enthusiasts and teachers, had a profound influence on their families, whose bonds have strengthened through their shared grief. The investigation into their untimely deaths remains open, but numerous theories abound, including notions of robbery and the involvement of a 'super hunter.' After 18 years of uncertainty, their families continue to seek justice and closure amidst the unresolved nature of the case.

Go to PodExtra AI's episode page (Case Review: Steven Haugen and Jeanette Bauman) to play and view complete AI-processed content: summary, mindmap, topics, takeaways, transcript, keywords and highlights.

Full Transcript

00:00:00 Speaker_00
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00:01:10 Speaker_03
Culpable Case Review episodes are released on Friday. To binge the entire installment ad-free, subscribe to Tenderfoot Plus at tenderfootplus.com or on Apple Podcasts. Now, let's start the show.

00:01:27 Speaker_09
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the individuals interviewed and participating in the show and do not represent those of Tenderfoot TV.

00:01:37 Speaker_09
All individuals described or mentioned in this podcast should be considered innocent until found guilty in a court of law.

00:01:44 Speaker_09
This podcast contains subject matter such as violence and other graphic descriptions which may not be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

00:02:00 Speaker_04
My dad, he just had that innate ability about him to be calm and supportive. And there's been so many things in the last 18 years since he's been gone that I find myself putting it out there to the universe, like, gosh, dad, I miss you.

00:02:19 Speaker_07
This is Kelly Haugen, the daughter of Stephen Haugen, one of the victims in this story.

00:02:26 Speaker_02
They were great people. Mom was amazing. He was an amazing guy, too. That's what made them a perfect couple, is because they both just cared so much about so many people.

00:02:39 Speaker_07
And this is Gary Bowman, the son of Jeanette Bowman, the other victim in this story. Stephen and Jeanette, ages 54 and 56 respectively, were a couple living their best life together in Oak Ridge, Oregon, where they'd recently moved.

00:02:55 Speaker_07
The pair had a lot in common. Both had children from other marriages, and both were teachers, to name a couple. But when the two were together, one of their true callings was the great outdoors.

00:03:06 Speaker_07
On June 30, 2005, the couple grabbed their dog, Caesar, and drove roughly 20 miles north, where they stopped in Oregon's Willamette National Forest, for a short camping trip together.

00:03:18 Speaker_07
But in a tragic turn of events, what should have been a peaceful excursion for the two, sadly, turned into a nightmare.

00:03:27 Speaker_04
My reaction was just absolute shock. Just running through my head, like, who in the world would hurt my dad and Jeanette?

00:03:34 Speaker_02
I remember being on the kitchen floor, just sobbing. And from that moment, all hell breaks loose.

00:03:42 Speaker_07
A father, a mother, and a dog, all murdered in the thick of a bustling national forest. And the motive? Well, as you'll learn, it's quite difficult to discern. But no matter the motive, 18 years later, their case remains unsolved.

00:04:00 Speaker_07
And while this tragedy has taken its toll on loved ones, it's also strengthened the bond between these once distant families, who are doing everything in their power to find justice for Steven and Jeanette.

00:04:12 Speaker_04
I think for our families, we really want the individual or individuals responsible for this caught. And for me personally, I just really want to know why.

00:04:24 Speaker_02
We're 18 years into this. We don't have anything. It's unbelievable. To bring us all closure, someone's going to have to say something to somebody. That's my ultimate hope out of all this is just be done and have this thing closed.

00:04:42 Speaker_07
This is a culpable case review of Stephen Haugen and Jeanette Bowman.

00:05:08 Speaker_04
I talked with my mom and sister and just reminiscing and different fun memories. And then I was able to get together with Gary this last Sunday.

00:05:20 Speaker_04
So just kind of going over some of the case details from when we found out and what we were doing and that kind of stuff.

00:05:29 Speaker_02
I was actually pretty surprised to know that she was in Helena, you know, just 30 miles outside of where we live.

00:05:35 Speaker_07
This case review is unique in that there are two victims in it, Stephen Haugen and Jeanette Bowman.

00:05:42 Speaker_07
The two were not married, only dating, and because they like to keep their relationship fairly private, their children, Stephen's two daughters and Jeanette's two sons, hardly knew each other until recent years.

00:05:55 Speaker_07
In this episode, you're going to hear from one of Stephen's daughters, Kelly, and one of Jeanette's sons, Gary.

00:06:03 Speaker_07
While they may not be related, they do have one common yet tragic bond in that they both know the pain of losing a parent at a fairly young age.

00:06:12 Speaker_07
And while 18 years of agonizing uncertainty has done nothing to ease that pain, it has brought these families together for a common goal of finding answers to their parents' deaths once and for all.

00:06:24 Speaker_07
So let's learn more about their stories, starting with Kelly.

00:06:30 Speaker_04
So my name is Kelly Haugen, and Stephen Haugen was my father. I am originally from Park City, Utah. That's where my family lived. That's where a majority of my life I grew up. And my parents got divorced when I was around the fifth grade.

00:06:51 Speaker_04
My dad moved around. He lived in Alaska for a while and loved the fly fishing there and moved to Montana for a while and was a guidance counselor there.

00:07:03 Speaker_07
As the son of a U.S. Navy sailor, change was something Stephen got familiar with as a child. And later in life, after having children and eventually divorcing his wife, his daughter Kelly would also learn a thing or two about change.

00:07:17 Speaker_07
She bounced around various western states over the years, before eventually landing in Montana, where she now works as a psychologist, specializing in children and adolescents.

00:07:26 Speaker_07
Which is really neat when you learn that Stephen had that exact same passion for serving children.

00:07:32 Speaker_04
He really loved helping kids. He was able to find jobs helping kids in school, counseling, being a track coach, and started a lot of outdoor programs, particularly in Montana.

00:07:47 Speaker_04
So he was able to get kids outside, teach them how to fish, teach them survival skills in the wilderness.

00:07:56 Speaker_04
I think it was really just reflective of his personality and just trying to connect kids in a way that they haven't ever experienced a connection before. When he lived in Park City, he started the first BMX track.

00:08:16 Speaker_04
He wanted a place where kids could go and have fun and stay out of trouble. So that was pretty cool. He always just had these visions of things that he wanted to do, and he made things happen.

00:08:31 Speaker_07
You could say Stephen was a pioneer of sorts. He was never one to settle, and he had a passion for getting out in the world and learning new things. Not just for his own pleasure. It was deeper than that.

00:08:42 Speaker_07
Whether he was coaching track or counseling students, what he was really searching for was experiences, relationships, ways to make a lasting impact, And it's no surprise that these same themes played out in fatherhood.

00:08:56 Speaker_07
Stephen exhibited that same caring devotion with his own children from a very young age, creating memories that last a lifetime.

00:09:03 Speaker_04
He taught me to fly fish when I was about three years old, and taught me how to start tying my own flies when I was about four years old. Growing up, his mom still lived in Kalispell, Montana, and they had a family cabin on a lake.

00:09:22 Speaker_04
So they're really fond memories that my sister and I have, dancing on the dock to really crappy music, But this one time, it was getting dark, and I was fishing on the dock. And I caught a little fish, so I'm hollering at my dad.

00:09:39 Speaker_04
And then all of a sudden, I see this big shadow come out from under the dock. This huge bass eats my fish! So I'm screaming, I was like, Dad, it's eating my fish! It's eating my fish!

00:09:53 Speaker_04
So my dad comes over and is grabbing me by the britches and helping me reel in the fish that ate my fish.

00:09:59 Speaker_04
So I was always outside with him learning about nature and he always taught me to leave things in a better condition than the way that I found them. Not only in nature, but in anything that I do.

00:10:16 Speaker_07
Kelly has a deep appreciation for her father, both the lessons he taught and the experiences he shared.

00:10:23 Speaker_07
But he also taught his daughter to spread that same love, which is why that same little girl who remembers backpacking by his side as he led her through the wilderness, also remembers as a college student helping lead other young explorers at the outdoor adventure camps where Stephen worked in the summers.

00:10:39 Speaker_07
And now, she provides therapy for at-risk youth. Stephen showed her the way, and she paid it forward, just as he would. For Kelly, losing her father was like losing her guide.

00:10:53 Speaker_04
I miss his advice. He was always just very level-headed in giving advice and guidance, and I think that's what drew so many people to him. He just had that innate ability about him to be calm and supportive.

00:11:12 Speaker_04
And there's been so many things in the last 17, 18 years since he's been gone that I find myself putting it out there to the universe like, gosh, dad, I miss you. I could really use your advice right now. I don't know what to do.

00:11:26 Speaker_07
Whether you were family, a student, or a total stranger, Steven was dependable. And because of that, he was somebody you wanted to be around.

00:11:36 Speaker_07
I'd have to imagine that Jeanette Bowman recognized these same endearing qualities in Steven when the two started dating, to my understanding, sometime in the early 2000s.

00:11:45 Speaker_04
So, when I was chatting with Gary, we were trying to put together a timeline of, like, when did my dad and Jeanette actually, like, start dating? And we weren't exactly, we kind of had different recollections of what had happened.

00:12:01 Speaker_04
I mean, I knew that they were friends.

00:12:03 Speaker_07
Their kids admit that the timeline is a little murky, as the couple kept the relationship semi-private for a stretch. But before we get into the relationship, let's first take a moment to talk about Jeanette and hear her story.

00:12:15 Speaker_02
My name's Gary Bowman. I'm Jeanette Bowman's youngest son. She had two children. I'm the youngest one of the two of us. I was born in Colorado, spent five years of my life in Kansas when I was younger.

00:12:29 Speaker_02
My dad passed away when I was like eight, and my mom remarried, moved up to Montana, then got a divorce. That's kind of what took her to the direction of where Steve's at.

00:12:44 Speaker_07
Like with Stephen, Jeanette also went through a divorce before moving states and landing in Montana, where Stephen was teaching at the time.

00:12:52 Speaker_07
Several years later, her son Gary still lives in Montana, where, fun fact, he works as a middle school teacher. Bless his heart. So I guess the theme of teaching and caring for children lives on in the Bowman family as well.

00:13:06 Speaker_07
But her story really starts in the state of Kansas, where she raised her children. I asked Gary to start back at the beginning, to learn more about his mother. One of the most caring people in the world, he tells me.

00:13:18 Speaker_02
When mom was young, she lived in Kansas, and she got married to my dad, married at age 18, and he passed away in 82. Mom then shortly married after that to a bowman, which is what brought us up to Montana.

00:13:37 Speaker_02
That's where we ended up knowing his home for a lot of years of our lives. Mom really cared a lot about us boys, would do anything for us. She kind of always put everybody else first. She really focused on everything that we were doing in our lives.

00:13:58 Speaker_02
She would always go to sports games for us. She was always in the stands, even when there's maybe two or three other parents up there. She was always there for us when we're growing up through that part of our life. She's very family oriented.

00:14:14 Speaker_07
When Gary says she was always there for her boys, he doesn't just mean taking them to sporting events and cheering in the stands, though he has many fond memories of her doing just that. What he means is she was always supportive in anything, really.

00:14:27 Speaker_07
Always level-headed. Never looking to rock the shit, but rather steady it.

00:14:33 Speaker_02
She never got upset. And don't get me wrong, I'm sure my brother and I had a lot to get her upset about, but she was never a person who would be upset at anybody. Played the piano for church service every Sunday. Hardly ever missed church service.

00:14:54 Speaker_02
She had really close people around her. And, you know, we lived in a small town, so there wasn't a whole lot of people around, but the friends she had were real close friends.

00:15:05 Speaker_07
Gary tells me that while Jeanette didn't have a ton of friends, the ones she did have, she created deep personal bonds with. Because Jeanette was someone who genuinely cared about other people, even people she didn't know personally.

00:15:18 Speaker_07
She just had a big heart like that. To better exemplify this, Gary had a story that his brother had shared with him.

00:15:26 Speaker_02
My brother's mother-in-law was sick. My mom, Jeanette, had never met her at all. She was sick, and mom just wanted to make sure that she knew who she was before she passed away.

00:15:41 Speaker_02
So she stopped everything in her life, just took the train out to Minnesota, just so that she could spend some time and meet Laura's mom. Her mom's name was Carol, and Carol

00:15:52 Speaker_02
Up until even the very end, kind of talked about that moment, kind of called Jeanette her angel. That's kind of the person she was.

00:16:00 Speaker_07
Though her character never wavered over the years, there did come a time that Jeanette went through some life changes, you could say. Gary described his mom as adventurous in her early life, and more of a homebody after settling down and having kids.

00:16:15 Speaker_07
But eventually, her sons Gary and Greg moved out of the house to go to college, and shortly after, Jeanette, who was once a seemingly content woman, decided she needed some change.

00:16:26 Speaker_07
She didn't realize it at the time, but this desire would put her on the fast track to meeting her eventual love interest, Steven.

00:16:34 Speaker_02
When my brother and I went on to college, I think mom kind of had a midlife crisis, you could say. Ended up divorcing my stepdad, wanting to follow this other life I think that she always wanted.

00:16:48 Speaker_02
She went up, enrolled in college up in northern Montana, got her teaching degree, something I think she was always born to do, but never was able to follow that direction of her life.

00:17:02 Speaker_02
I think it is everybody's desire and want to go live your life again. And I really think she was strong enough willed to, I'm going to see what else I want to do. She got a job out in St. Regis, Montana, which is where her and Steve first met.

00:17:19 Speaker_02
I was out there a few times and had met him. Wonderful guy.

00:17:24 Speaker_07
Jeanette and Steven started off with one big thing in common. They were both teachers. Colleagues, actually. But as the two got to know each other, they learned that they had a lot more in common than just that.

00:17:35 Speaker_07
For example, they both had a love for the outdoors. They both wanted to travel the world. Things that Jeanette had desired for years, but just wasn't able to do. Meeting Steven seemed to change all of that. She broke out of the box, you could say.

00:17:51 Speaker_07
And after that, they were inseparable. Where one went, the other followed.

00:17:57 Speaker_07
They'd spend roughly the next four years living a sort of dream life together while moving from Montana to Washington, then to Oregon, where they settled in the city of Oak Ridge in 2005.

00:18:07 Speaker_07
Jeanette continued teaching at Westridge Middle School, and Stephen was there with her, counseling and coaching track. Over time, it became clear to their kids that the two were not just casually dating, as they once thought.

00:18:20 Speaker_07
Stephen and Jeanette were in love, and from the sounds of it, the two were meant for each other.

00:18:26 Speaker_02
They were good together. She loved to be in the outdoors, and he was a very outdoorsy kind of guy. She did a lot of traveling. She made trips over to Europe. She wanted to go back to camping. She camped when she was young.

00:18:40 Speaker_02
When we came along, we didn't have a whole lot of camping. And that's what she's doing when this whole thing erupted and took it away from her.

00:18:58 Speaker_06
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00:20:40 Speaker_02
I remember I was working. We were in the truck driving along in a mountain road. I worked for Forest Service. I saw a message from my mom, so I called her.

00:20:51 Speaker_02
I remember having the conversation of they were going camping, and they were coming back in, and we'd talk over the Fourth of July weekend.

00:21:02 Speaker_07
Just before the holiday weekend on Thursday, June 30th, 2005, the sun shined bright over the state of Oregon, providing ideal weather for fireworks and other festivities. But for these two middle-aged explorers, it was perfect conditions for camping.

00:21:17 Speaker_07
So they grabbed their dog, Caesar, and drove their GMC Jimmy through scenic byways into the Willamette National Forest. After arriving, they hiked their way into the lush greenery in search of a worthy campsite.

00:21:31 Speaker_07
And finally, they were set for a fun and relaxing stay. But they had no idea that in a matter of hours, this picturesque scene they'd found themselves in would instead turn into a scene from a horror film.

00:21:47 Speaker_07
The next day, Friday, July 1st, campers would find the bodies of Stephen Haugen and Jeanette Bowman and their dog, Caesar, at a campsite just off Staley Ridge Road near Staley Creek, roughly 50 feet from where they'd parked their truck.

00:22:04 Speaker_07
By Saturday, their families would learn what had happened. Kelly remembers it all too well. It was her mom who had to share the difficult news.

00:22:14 Speaker_04
I remember I was working at an assisted living home at the time, and I was getting ready to clock out for work. It was a Saturday, July 2nd.

00:22:25 Speaker_04
And as I was walking with a co-worker to the machine to punch out for work, I saw my mom was calling my cell phone. And I commented to my co-worker, that's really strange. Like, my mom doesn't call this late. It's almost 10 o'clock.

00:22:42 Speaker_04
So I answered the phone and said, hi mom, you know, what's up? And she said, oh, what are you doing? And I said, well, I'm getting ready to clock out of work. What are you doing?

00:22:51 Speaker_04
She's like, oh, well, why don't you just go ahead and give me a call when you get home? And I was like, okay. So when I got home, she said that she had some really difficult news to share with me. And she had said, your dad was found shot.

00:23:14 Speaker_04
I remember the first thought that kind of materialized into words at that point to my mom. I said, but it's not hunting season.

00:23:24 Speaker_04
That's the only context that my brain could fathom is that this was some sort of accident, that it was hunting season and something happened, the gun went off. And she said, no, it was intentional. Your dad and Jeanette and Caesar were found murdered.

00:23:44 Speaker_07
That same night, Gary, who was spending the 4th of July weekend with his wife's family, also received the shocking news. Being an active sleepwalker, as he puts it, he says he remembers trying to convince himself that it was all a dream.

00:23:57 Speaker_07
But reality quickly set in. He placed a call to his brother to inform him. And meanwhile, Kelly was already in the car driving to her mom's home in Park City. From this point, things quickly turned into a whirlwind.

00:24:12 Speaker_04
I remember just a lot of phone calls with the Lane County Sheriff's Department in Oak Ridge and coordinating flights.

00:24:24 Speaker_04
My mom and I flew out there to meet with the detectives, trying to get information, not getting a lot of information, going to the bank, seeing what we needed.

00:24:36 Speaker_04
to be able to close some of his accounts and put holds on credit cards and things like that, coordinating with the funeral home there and talking to them about how we wanted my dad and Caesar's remains cremated.

00:24:55 Speaker_07
Though she didn't realize it at the time, Kelly tells me that Gary and his family were jumping through similar hoops, and eventually they too would meet up with detectives, who took them to the crime scene.

00:25:06 Speaker_02
I don't have great memory of things, but I could still today probably drive right to that spot. It was weird. It was so surreal being able to just drive along a road, come off a main two-lane road, and there's the site.

00:25:26 Speaker_02
Now you're standing on the spot that someone took your mom's life. We then had to make all kinds of these funeral plans and then we had memorials and we're making these trips here and there and having all this stuff.

00:25:41 Speaker_02
It was a summer from hell is what it was. It was just an absolute blur.

00:25:47 Speaker_07
After the families had handled all their arrangements and responsibilities, attention then shifted to the investigation and attempting to learn what really happened to Steven and Jeanette.

00:25:58 Speaker_02
By the time we had gotten out there, we had a lot of facts about where they were at, what they were doing, things that had been taken from the site, things that were still there. They had reported that it was for sure.

00:26:16 Speaker_02
foul play, murder, that they were shot. It wasn't an accident. So there wasn't a whole lot to report to us that we didn't already know. We were in pretty close contact with the department out there in Lane County.

00:26:32 Speaker_07
Authorities with the Lane County Sheriff's Office processed the scene, but actual information was scarce in order to protect the investigation. So as far as the crime scene goes, really not much is known.

00:26:44 Speaker_07
Both families say that the Lane County Sheriff's Office have continued to keep a lot of that information close to the vest. But over time, they did pick up a few more details. Here's what Gary was able to share.

00:26:56 Speaker_02
So this campsite was long, maybe 50 yards long, 30 yards across. So an open area and these woods everywhere, water and a creek right next to it.

00:27:08 Speaker_02
So I'd imagine they came out of the woods or somehow shot was made from 50 yards and then they came up close and shot. I don't know who went first. You know, there was a dog involved as well. So there had been minimum of three.

00:27:29 Speaker_02
I would bet six, eight shots if I was to guess, but I, like I said, I don't know. All I know is there was a long range shot first and then a closeup shot.

00:27:44 Speaker_07
In 2015, 10 years after the murders, local news station KVAL reported that investigators found shell casings from both a high-powered and a low-powered weapon, suggesting the pair had been shot from a distance and then shot again from a closer range of five to seven feet, as Gary depicted.

00:28:03 Speaker_07
As for the motive, Chief Deputy Carl Wilkerson with the Lane County Sheriff's Office implied the killer probably didn't know the victims and that they, quote, did it for killing's sake.

00:28:14 Speaker_07
But outside of that, it's been nearly impossible for experts to nail down a motive, which has left the families theorizing over who could have killed them, and more importantly, why.

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00:32:12 Speaker_04
There's been a lot of different theories. Maybe it was a robbery that had gone bad, that my dad and Jeanette and Cesar were walking down this road that kind of turned into a trail.

00:32:25 Speaker_04
And as they were walking back to the vehicle, somebody may have been trying to take their things. I think there's been a lot of speculation whether this was the works of one individual or potentially two individuals.

00:32:41 Speaker_04
I mean, it's in such a remote area that it's hard for me to envision one person being in that remote of an area and taking on two adults and a dog. It seems more likely to me that it was the work of probably two people.

00:33:01 Speaker_04
It sounds as though there were probably two different styles of guns used in the crime. And my understanding is those did not match my dad's weapon.

00:33:15 Speaker_07
While the theory of a robbery gone wrong is intriguing in this case, it's not a theory that detectives have seen to put a lot of stock in.

00:33:23 Speaker_07
But interestingly, there were several items that are thought to have been taken, various camping and fishing gear, and possibly Stephen's handgun, as it was never recovered from his home.

00:33:33 Speaker_07
And authorities were certain that one other item was stolen that day, a rather odd item at that.

00:33:39 Speaker_04
I remember them telling us that the license plate on my dad's car had been removed and that they were actively trying to search for those, search in the body of water nearby, search the forest along the roadways.

00:33:58 Speaker_04
So for a long time, I remember anytime I saw a Crater Lake, Oregon license plate, I'd be scanning and looking for the numbers. I think there's part of me that's always kind of wondered, did somebody take the license plates like as a souvenir?

00:34:16 Speaker_04
Is this potentially the work of a serial killer? And this was their trophy, something that they took from the killing.

00:34:26 Speaker_07
And to Kelly's point, several years ago, authorities did look into a serial killer by the name of Israel Keyes, who is believed to have committed multiple murders in the early 2000s. But eventually, that theory fizzled out.

00:34:39 Speaker_07
Kelly says that after authorities narrowed down the timeline of events and compared it to Keyes' alibi, it was clear that he couldn't have been responsible for the murders.

00:34:48 Speaker_07
Kelly tells me that authorities also attempted to connect this case to another case that happened in the neighboring state of Washington, in which a mother and her daughter were murdered, but no clear connection was ever made.

00:35:00 Speaker_07
Over the years, this case has had its fair share of persons of interest. And Kelly tells me they've continued to eliminate them one by one. So who could have been responsible for such a horrific crime in such a remote area that lacks a clear motive?

00:35:15 Speaker_07
Well, years ago, Lieutenant Randy Smith of the Lane County Sheriff's Office theorized that it could have been a crime of territory. Sounds kind of strange, right? I mean, this isn't someone's house we're talking about. It's a forest.

00:35:29 Speaker_07
But the FBI seemed to align with this idea, that Steven and Jeanette may have been killed by what they have dubbed a super hunter.

00:35:37 Speaker_07
In a report from KVAL, Captain Spence Slater of the Lane County Sheriff's Office spoke on this matter in more detail, saying, quote, a super hunter is someone who moves into a national forest and calls it their own.

00:35:50 Speaker_07
The FBI has said they are territorial and can kill. They sometimes take a few items from the deceased as a token.

00:35:57 Speaker_07
But in that same report, Slater stated that it's unknown if this was the work of a super hunter, and it's also unknown if the person acted alone, adding, quote, to shoot two people and a dog to death just to take their stuff?

00:36:10 Speaker_07
I mean, it's hard to get your mind around something like that.

00:36:13 Speaker_07
And if I'm being honest, I'm not sure that it can be said any better than that, because this whole thing seems utterly senseless, so much so that it's difficult to even envision the scene itself, let alone the motive.

00:36:26 Speaker_02
Were they camping there? Were they coming back in from camping and stopped at this place and scouting out other camping spots? That's what outdoorsy people do, right? They're always looking for the next trip that they're going to go on.

00:36:41 Speaker_02
And they were camping and stopped by this campsite and were probably out walking around. And maybe Steve was fishing. Mom was sitting, hanging out and, you know, spending the afternoon, let the dog run around.

00:36:55 Speaker_02
a little bit before they went back into town. It seems like just a we were in the wrong spot type deal. This is really out there into the woods of Oregon.

00:37:08 Speaker_02
The only thing that really would make sense if some crazy hopped up on some drugs, stumbled across them, and shot them. That's the only thing that even remotely makes sense.

00:37:23 Speaker_07
After 18 years of investigating, speculation still run rampant in this case, as not many facts have been revealed to the public.

00:37:31 Speaker_07
But while Kelly and Gary are understandably frustrated over the lack of resolve in this case, they do still maintain some faith in authorities. They know they haven't given up on this case.

00:37:41 Speaker_04
They don't have a lot of manpower in the county that they're in, and I think that they expended a lot of resources initially really trying to get to the bottom of this.

00:37:51 Speaker_04
And as time went on, it naturally kind of dwindles, that they get fewer and fewer leads to follow. less resources to dedicate to older cases.

00:38:04 Speaker_04
And I think it was a pretty heart sinking moment when we learned that it was going to be turned over to the cold case unit. So overall, There's been a lot of ups and downs. They've tried to be as open and honest as they can.

00:38:20 Speaker_04
There's been times in conversations that I've felt that the detectives would like to tell me more, and I also have never pushed for it. I very much respect that.

00:38:33 Speaker_04
There's certain information that only the detectives and the people or person who killed them are going to know. And I understand that that can't get out if we really want a solid case when we catch these individuals.

00:38:49 Speaker_07
In talking with Gary about the police work in this case, he echoed a very similar sentiment.

00:38:55 Speaker_02
Was the police department out there, were they prepared for something like this? No, they weren't. Did they do a great job? No, they weren't prepared for this. It doesn't make sense that whoever did this has not been found.

00:39:14 Speaker_02
Is that the police department's, the detective's fault? Back then, yeah, and we all make mistakes and we don't do things right. Are they still trying? Yeah. I'm amazed on how much correspondence we kids have with the detectives still.

00:39:36 Speaker_02
We have been even recently contacted by some retired detectives working on the case as well.

00:39:43 Speaker_02
You know, as DNA gets to be better and better, they're still opening this up and looking at it and making phone calls and trying to find answers to this crime.

00:40:00 Speaker_07
So there's one other important item to touch on here regarding this case and the evidence collected in it, and that is DNA. As technology has advanced, authorities continue to look into DNA that was collected from the scene.

00:40:13 Speaker_07
Authorities have spoken with the families about this, not going into great detail, of course, but enough to bring them some renewed hope.

00:40:20 Speaker_07
Recently, they received a grant to do phase one of additional testing, and they'd love to make it into the next phase. There's just one problem.

00:40:28 Speaker_02
Everything costs money, and the detectives are working on it now. I don't think they're getting paid. I think they're working. This is what they live their life for. And we appreciate every bit of that. But it still costs money to do DNA testing.

00:40:42 Speaker_02
I mean, I don't know how much. They threw out $35,000 just to get through the first phase.

00:40:51 Speaker_07
As the family holds on to hope for the future, whether it be funding for new DNA testing or a new tip from the public, the fact of the matter is, it's been a very hard 18 years for these people.

00:41:02 Speaker_07
But they're dedicated to keeping Steven and Jeanette's story alive until the day that they're finally given some answers.

00:41:09 Speaker_04
It's been just very surreal and just an emotional roller coaster and times feeling hopeful and then times that it just seems like this case is never going to be solved.

00:41:26 Speaker_04
I think for our families, we really want the individual or individuals responsible for this caught. I mean, even life in prison, I don't think would be justice enough for all that we have lost.

00:41:40 Speaker_04
But it certainly would be a start and bring some peace of mind knowing that the person or people aren't still out there.

00:41:49 Speaker_02
Kelly talks about a lot. My brother talks about having closure. And I didn't really know what that means, but I get it now to be able to be done, have closure with this and be, say, yeah. We're done. And that's the hardest thing.

00:42:07 Speaker_02
I mean, I'm almost 50 years old. Am I going to be 70 years old and still never be closed? Am I still going to be talking to somebody else on a new podcast?

00:42:18 Speaker_02
That's the hardest thing about this, I think, for my brother and for Kelly and myself, is this idea of closure. It just doesn't exist. And somebody out there knows something. If I had a chance to talk to them, I would want to know why.

00:42:37 Speaker_02
I could only imagine what is going through their mind. Would I be angry? Yeah, of course. Would I forgive them? I suppose. My mom would.

00:42:56 Speaker_07
The Haugen and Bowman families ask that you please take the time to share this story with others, to help them in their fight for justice.

00:43:04 Speaker_07
If you see an Oregon license plate CL-47763 with Crater Lake in the background, or if you have any information regarding the deaths of Stephen Haugen and Jeanette Bowman, please contact the Lane County Sheriff's Office tip line at 541-682-4167.

00:43:23 Speaker_07
There's a $10,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest or conviction. That's it for this episode. Thanks for listening.

00:43:50 Speaker_09
Culpable is a production of Tenderfoot TV in partnership with Odyssey, written and hosted by Dennis Cooper. Executive producers are Donald Albright and Payne Lindsey. Our senior producer is John Street. Our producer is Jamie Albright.

00:44:05 Speaker_09
Supervising producers are John Street and Tracy Kaplan, with additional production by Eric Quintana, Annie Rustin, and Jordan Foxworthy. Editing by Jaja Muhammad and Sydney Evans. Mixing, mastering, and sound design by Dayton Cole.

00:44:21 Speaker_09
Our theme song is by Dirk Pour Robbins, with additional scoring by Makeup and Vanity Set and Dayton Cole. Our cover art is by Drew Bardana. Sources for this episode include Oregon Live, The Chinook Observer, NBC16, and KVAL.

00:44:38 Speaker_09
Special thanks to the teams at UTA, Beck Media and Marketing, and the Nord Group. You can follow us on social media at culpablepodcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please take time to follow, rate, and review. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

00:44:54 Speaker_09
For ad-free listening and exclusive content, subscribe to Tenderfoot Plus at tenderfootplus.com. Thanks for listening.

00:45:37 Speaker_03
Thanks for listening to this episode of Culpable Case Review. Tune back in for additional episodes releasing each Friday. For ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content, subscribe to Tenderfoot Plus at tenderfootplus.com or on Apple Podcasts.

00:45:56 Speaker_01
They called it the happiest place on the high desert, home to a tight-knit group of 30-somethings who like to party. It starts as a Playboy Channel fantasy, but this is real life.

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Where passion leads to murder, and a killer seeks God's help with the cover-up. I'm Josh Mankiewicz, and this is Deadly Mirage, an all-new podcast from Dateline. Listen to new episodes for free each week, wherever you get your podcasts.