Murders in Strangmoor Bog

With its sixteen square miles of flora practically floating on water, Strangmoor Bog seemed to the killers like the perfect place to hide bodies. They did not, however, foresee the perseverance of two fourteen-year-old boy scouts intent on earning their Geology Merit Badges.

When Robby and Red probed into the peat bog for core samples, they also unearthed the well-preserved finger of a man who had been murdered decades earlier. This led to further excavation by the authorities, which produced several additional bodies.

Tensions ran high when the FBI took over the investigation. Detectives Jack and Kate Handler, who also happened to be the boys’ legal guardians, butted heads not only with the Feds, but also with local law enforcement.

The killers were more sophisticated than most, and so were their weapons and tactics. Of course, when circumstances dictate they made use of whatever was available. But given time and opportunity they preferred such things as drones, electro-magnetic pulse devices, bombs, and STOL airplanes.

String bogs (the word “strangmoor” actually means “string”) are a peculiar type of peat bog. Representing subarctic patterned bog ecosystems, which are generally thought to have been created by the rapid glacial melt-off, they are characterized by alternating strips of dune highlands and wetlands that run in a terraced fashion along very gradual inclines.

Located in Michigan’s central Upper Peninsula, and within Seney National Wildlife Refuge, Strangmoor Bog was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1973. It represents one of the largest undisturbed string bogs in the country.

One of the most fascinating characteristics of peat bogs is that decomposition within them often takes place in slow motion. So, when a body falls into a peat bog, whether it be the body of an animal or a human, it can be preserved virtually intact for long periods of time–sometimes for thousands of years.