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Of Mountains & Men: The Kari Swenson Story

Rorie Jane McCormack
After the Fact
Published in
12 min readMay 20, 2024
Image: Rorie Jane McCormack, Propensity: A True Crime Anthology Podcast

In July 1984, a 22-year-old athlete was abducted from a Montana mountain trail during a training run. Her abductors, father and son survivalists living off-grid in the wilderness had decided to steal a bride to establish and grow their very own mountain colony. When the woman didn’t return, her friends alerted authorities and inadvertently set off a tragic chain of events that not everyone would walk away from. This episode covers the abduction of Kari Swenson.

Listen to the podcast episode on this case here:

On the Mountain

Kari Swenson sat up a little straighter. She could feel her muscles tense, and her heart begin to beat faster. She looked to her abductors, a dishevelled older man, and a younger man, and then to the horizon. She was chained and immobilised and had no immediate way to free herself. Her abductors did not see what she saw. Not straight away, at least. She had been found, but rescue would not be possible.

She weighed up her options. Her abductors were armed and had assured her that they would shoot and…

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After the Fact
After the Fact

Published in After the Fact

After the Fact looks at true crime cases, historical crime and dark history.

Rorie Jane McCormack
Rorie Jane McCormack

Written by Rorie Jane McCormack

Lover of words. Creator of things. Curator of dark curiosities. Host of Propensity: A True Crime Anthology Podcast. Writer of Books (Coming 2024).

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