The Meadow
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Hi everyone, it's Delia D'Ambra here, and I want to tell you about a podcast that's one of my personal favorites that I know you're going to love too. Dark Down East. Hosted by my friend and fellow investigative journalist Kylie Lowe, Dark Down East dives into New England's most haunting true crime cases. From unsolved mysteries to stories where justice has been served, Kylie brings her meticulous research and heartfelt storytelling to uncover the truth behind these cases. If you love the way I take you deep into the details of a case, then I know you'll appreciate Kylie's dedication to honoring the victims. And uncovering their stories. There are so many episodes of Dark Down East already waiting for you, and new episodes every Thursday.
Find Dark Down East now wherever you listen to podcasts. Hi park enthusiasts, I'm your host, Dilia D'Ambra, and the case I'm going to tell you about today takes place in California's Yosemite National Park. If you've ever been to this part of North America, then you know just how iconic and popular it is. Yosemite Valley, Bridal Vale Fall, and the granite rock face El Capitan are some of the more well-known attractions in the park. But there are also a ton of other scenic spots in Yosemite's roughly twelve hundred square mile boundary. I went there a few years ago and really found myself drawn to the wilderness areas and numerous meadows. Summit Meadow, where today's story takes place, is right along a roadway called Glacier Point Road.
During the winter months that route closes to the public, but in the spring and summertime lots of folks drive it to get to Summit Meadow, which is known for being a place you can stretch out, picnic, hike, and take pictures if you're into photography. In late June nineteen eighty three, visitors to this recreation space discovered something unsettling. A human hand. And that discovery led National Park Service investigators into a bizarre mystery. That to this day is as vexing as the day it began. It's my hope that some of you who may recognize any of the places, dates, or names in this episode will give authorities more clues. Clues that might just explain how a woman's hand ended up in one of the most beautiful places in Yosemite National Park.
This is Park Predators.
On Tuesday, june twenty eighth, nineteen eighty three, family and friends visiting Summit Meadow in Yosemite National Park were hanging out and having a picnic when a man in the group, this guy named Tom Day, and one of his friend's sons, walked off to explore on their own. But not long after leaving the larger group, Tom and the boy came across something suspicious in the ground. They dug at it a little bit and suddenly realized it was a human hand. According to the TV series Wild Crime, which produced a four part miniseries about this case. The area of the meadow that Tom and his friend's son found the remains in was kind of muddy and near some running water. Horrified by the discovery, Tom and his group quickly contacted the authorities, and in short order, an NPS Ranger named Don Cuelo arrived on scene.
Don't normal patrol jurisdiction covered Summit Meadow, so that's why he was the first ranger in the area. When he took a look at the hand, he realized he needed to request some backup. So he radioed for another ranger to get to the scene. And one of those folks who came was Kim Tucker, another ranger who worked as a criminal investigator. At the time, the NPS didn't have what is now known as its investigative services branch, or ISB. If it had, Kim Tucker would have worked in that division. Anyway, investigator Tucker processed the scene for evidence and determined that the hand in the mud wasn't just a hand. It was actually a hand and part of a forearm. According to Wild Crimes coverage, there was a band-aid touching one of the fingers, and from the looks of it, the remains appeared to have been there for quite some time.
They weren't skeletonized, but they did show signs of having undergone the process of being frozen and then thawed.
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