The Lost Child

Crime Junkie

SERIAL KILLER: David Meirhofer

This episode tells the story of David Meirhofer, one of the earliest serial killers caught using FBI criminal profiling. In 1973, seven-year-old Susie Yeager was kidnapped from her family's tent at a Montana campground. Her sister Heidi woke to find a hole sliced in their tent and Susie missing. The case drew parallels to an unsolved 1968 stabbing at the same campground. As FBI agents and local authorities searched desperately for Susie, a mysterious caller began making ransom demands, demonstrating knowledge only the kidnapper would have. The calls came from various locations, tormenting the family with vague promises of contact. Marietta Yeager, Susie's mother, refused to give up despite the family having to return to Michigan without their daughter. She maintained constant vigilance by the phone, recording any incoming calls. The case represented a turning point in criminal investigation as the FBI applied their newly developing criminal profiling techniques. The episode also mentions the disappearance of 20-year-old nurse Donna Lemon in the same area around the same time, raising questions about whether the cases were connected. The investigation stretched from Montana to Wyoming and Colorado as authorities pursued leads and the kidnapper continued his psychological torture of the family.