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SERIAL KILLER: David Meirhofer

June 01, 2026 • 50m

Summary

⏱️ 8 min read

Overview

This episode examines the chilling case of David Meyerhofer, a Montana serial killer who abducted 7-year-old Susie Yeager from her family's tent in 1973. The investigation became one of the first cases where FBI criminal profiling proved instrumental in catching a killer, despite the suspect passing multiple polygraph tests. Meyerhofer's reign of terror included at least four confirmed murders, taunting phone calls to victim's families, and a disturbing collection of trophies from his crimes.

Susie Yeager's Abduction from Montana Campground

In June 1973, 7-year-old Susie Yeager was abducted from her tent while camping with her family at a Montana state park. Her 12-year-old sister Heidi woke at 5am to discover a gaping hole sliced through the tent and Susie missing, with her stuffed animals scattered on the ground outside. The FBI quickly discovered this wasn't the first attack at this location—5 years earlier, a 12-year-old Boy Scout had been stabbed in his tent at the same campground, creating an ominous pattern that would haunt the investigation.

  • 12-year-old Heidi Yeager woke to find a hole sliced in tent and sister Susie gone at 5am
  • Susie's stuffed animals were found on grass outside tent; no one heard anything during the night
  • 12-year-old Michael Rainey was stabbed in his tent at same campground 5 years earlier in 1968
  • Footpath in dew led from tent toward parking area; rock with reddish-brown stains found
" As I stumbled around the campground searching, I was gripped by a terrible sense of separation, panic, and hopelessness in my inability to see. I remember looking up at the black night sky and begging God to send the sun. The darkness was unbearably frustrating. "

Ransom Calls and FBI Investigation

The investigation took a bizarre turn when ransom calls began coming in, first to the FBI's Denver office demanding $25,000, then escalating to $50,000. The kidnapper demonstrated he genuinely had Susie by revealing she had slightly deformed fingernails on her index fingers—a detail so minor even her parents had forgotten it. The calls would become a psychological torture for the Yeager family, with the kidnapper taunting them for over a year while investigators struggled to trace the calls and identify their suspect.

  • First ransom call came to Denver FBI office on June 30th demanding $25,000
  • Second call raised ransom to $50,000 and proved kidnapper had Susie by mentioning her deformed fingernails
  • Kidnapper gave specific instructions to leave money at Denver bus depot men's restroom
  • Phone tap placed on Deputy Brown's phone but kidnapper never picked up the ransom money
" He says that Susie's fingernails, like on her index fingers of each hand, are humped a little, like slightly deformed. And this is true of Susie. And it's also true that a stranger wouldn't know that. "

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