Advertise on podcast: Blood Trails

Going public may be the Americans’ only chance of escaping Turks and Caicos—but they’ve been warned that doing so could be a death sentence. With years in prison hanging over them, Ryan Watson, Bryan Hagerich, Tyler Wenrich, and their families launch a campaign to expose their treatment to the world. Their story goes viral, drawing millions of supporters and the attention of the United States Congress. But publicity is a double-edged sword. As bomb threats shut down airports and strangers circulate the Americans’ locations online, the men and their loved ones begin receiving threats of their own. In the concluding chapter of Blood Trails: Paradise Prison, the fight for freedom escalates into an international confrontation involving a congressional delegation, the State Department, British officials, and the Turks and Caicos government. Along the way, troubling revelations raise questions about how the law was enforced—and whether Americans were being treated differently from other travelers. Their strategy has forced the world to pay attention. Now, as the first sentencing approaches, no one knows whether that pressure will bring them home—or provoke the punishment they’ve been fighting to avoid. Want more Blood Trails? Check out the Case File. Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon. Connect with Jordan Sillars and MeatEater MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Blood Trails on Instagram Jordan Sillars on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before Ryan Watson, Bryan Hagerich, and Tyler Wenrich faced the possibility of 12 years in a Turks and Caicos prison, another American had already lived their nightmare. In 2023, Michael Grim forgot a loaded pistol magazine in his vacation backpack. He never intended to bring ammunition into the country, but after a bewildering court process, he became the first American tourist sentenced to His Majesty’s Prison on Grand Turk. In Chapter 2 of Blood Trails: Paradise Prison, Michael reveals what happened after the prison gates closed behind him. Alone in a foreign country, he enters a world of suffocating heat, solitary confinement, violent threats, extortion attempts, strange alliances, and rules that seem to change without warning. As Ryan, Bryan, and Tyler await their own uncertain fates, Michael’s experience offers a terrifying glimpse of what may be waiting for them—and a warning that surviving Grand Turk prison will require more than keeping their heads down. How does an ordinary vacationer adapt when an honest mistake lands him among convicted killers? And what happens when the people who he thought would protect him decide he’s on his own? Want more Blood Trails? Check out the Case File. Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon. Connect with Jordan Sillars and MeatEater MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Blood Trails on Instagram Jordan Sillars on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this explosive Blood Trails miniseries, a dream Caribbean vacation becomes every hunter's worst nightmare. When Oklahoma hunter Ryan Watson is stopped at the Turks and Caicos airport after security discovers four forgotten rifle cartridges inside an old duffel bag, he expects to lose the ammunition and catch his flight home. Instead, he and his wife are taken away by plainclothes officers, threatened with 12 years in prison, and thrust into a justice system that will change their lives forever. As more American hunters are caught in the same legal trap, a disturbing pattern begins to emerge. What initially appears to be a simple customs violation unfolds into a story of harsh mandatory sentencing, questionable law enforcement tactics, filthy jails, and a prison that human rights investigators say is unfit for human habitation. In Chapter 1 of Blood Trails: Paradise Prison, host Jordan Sillars follows the first Americans caught in Turks and Caicos' sweeping firearms crackdown, revealing how an honest mistake became an international incident—and why what happened next was far more complicated than the headlines ever suggested. How do a handful of forgotten hunting cartridges lead to a global diplomatic controversy? It all starts here. Want more Blood Trails? Check out the Case File. Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon. Connect with Jordan Sillars and MeatEater MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Blood Trails on Instagram Jordan Sillars on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Blood Trails is a true crime podcast born in the outdoors--and in this three-part summer mini-series, Paradise Prison, we're going to follow American hunters and gun owners who were trapped in Turks and Caicos in 2024. The story received international media attention, and you might think you know what happened, but trust us, you don't know the half of it. Follow the show now to get notified when Episode 1 drops, Thursday, July 23rd.   Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon. Connect with Jordan Sillars and MeatEater MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Jordan Sillars on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In January 2019, retired archeologist Dr. Jon Young was found dead in the smoldering ruins of the adobe home he'd built by hand outside Taos, New Mexico. The fire marshal found evidence of accelerants in five locations. The autopsy flagged a suspicious hole in his skull. A neighbor saw unfamiliar men outside the house minutes before the blaze. And yet, no one has ever been charged — because, incredibly, no law enforcement agency ever opened a homicide investigation. Host Jordan Sillars traces the cold trail left by a fascinating man whose life's work may have gotten him killed, and asks the question his family has been asking for seven years: what really happened on Mirlo Road? Want more Blood Trails? Check out the Case File. Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon. Connect with Jordan Sillars and MeatEater MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Blood Trails on Instagram Jordan Sillars on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In October of 2024, Dustin Kjersem drove into the mountains south of Bozeman, Montana, to prepare for a romantic weekend of camping. He was never seen alive again. When his girlfriend finally discovered his body, she thought he'd been attacked by a bear. But the truth, it turned out, was far more disturbing. To find Dustin's killer, investigators followed a trail that led through a bloody campsite, a missing axe, two tequila glasses, and a pair of cell phones found by a man who claimed he saw them in a dream. This is a story about finding justice for a man who had never made an enemy — a carpenter, a father, and a friend who welcomed a stranger into his tent without a second thought. Want more Blood Trails? Check out the Case File. Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon. Connect with Jordan Sillars and MeatEater MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Blood Trails on Instagram Jordan Sillars on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Bill Roland went missing from Lake Sam Rayburn in 1997, nothing about the case made sense. Weeks later, his boat turned up hidden in a cove, shot multiple times with a shotgun in an apparent attempt to sink it. His truck was found burned. His trailer was somewhere else entirely. And Bill was nowhere to be found. Investigators were left to piece together a puzzle with missing parts: a fisherman who may have had no enemies… or may have had more than anyone realized. Was this a random encounter on the water or something that started long before he ever launched his boat? Want more Blood Trails? Check out the Case File. Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon. Connect with Jordan Sillars and MeatEater MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Blood Trails on Instagram Jordan Sillars on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tommy Ballard refused to let his daughter’s disappearance fade away. After Crystal Rogers vanished in 2015, Ballard became the face of the search. He organized volunteers, worked with investigators, and publicly called out the man he believed was responsible. A year later, while hunting with his grandson, Ballard was shot and killed. The attack was precise. Intentional. And, to many, not a coincidence. As investigators worked to unravel both cases, one question loomed over everything: was Tommy Ballard murdered because he got too close to the truth? Want more Blood Trails? Check out the Case File. Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon. Connect with Jordan Sillars and MeatEater MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Blood Trails on Instagram Jordan Sillars on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On his birthday in 1971, Wisconsin game warden Neil LaFave went out to post “No Hunting” signs. He never came home. The next morning, searchers found his body buried in a shallow grave. The brutality stunned investigators: multiple gunshots, and a horrifying attempt to conceal the crime. Suspicion quickly centered on a young poacher with a history of conflict with LaFave. But proving it would take something new: one of the first wiretaps ever used in a Wisconsin murder case. What followed was a breakthrough that changed the investigation, and revealed just how far someone was willing to go to avoid getting caught. Want more Blood Trails? Check out the Case File. Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon. Connect with Jordan Sillars and MeatEater MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Blood Trails on Instagram Jordan Sillars on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Timothy Blyth was scouting for a hunt in Florida’s St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge when a chance encounter turned deadly. What started as an argument over access and safety escalated into gunfire. Minutes later, Blyth was found dead in the road. The man he’d been arguing with was gone, along with the weapon he'd used. Witnesses described an aggressive confrontation. Evidence tied the suspect to the scene. But his version of events told a different story: self-defense. Whichever version of events you believe, one thing is clear: Tim Blyth's death left a father without a son, and a group of hunting buddies without the friend they loved. Want more Blood Trails? Check out the Case File. Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon. Connect with Jordan Sillars and MeatEater MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Blood Trails on Instagram Jordan Sillars on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bob Smith stepped into the Maine woods on a November afternoon in 1997 and never came back. His wife heard a single gunshot. Then... nothing. What followed was the largest ground search in the history of the Maine Warden Service. Investigators found clues—a set of boot prints, a strange arrow in the dirt, even a dead moose nearby—but none of them led to Bob. As the search dragged on, rumors surfaced: out-of-state hunters who left early, a story about an accidental shooting, and people who may have known more than they said. Was Bob Smith the victim of a tragic accident… or something far more deliberate? Want more Blood Trails? Check out the Case File. Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon. Connect with Jordan Sillars and MeatEater MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Blood Trails on Instagram Jordan Sillars on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mike Crites wanted to live alone in the Montana mountains. He built a cabin, managed his land for wildlife, and spent his days hunting elk and mule deer. But isolation didn’t mean peace. After years of escalating disputes with neighbors over access roads and property lines, Mike vanished in September 2011. What investigators eventually found was far worse than a missing person case—it was a dismemberment, with remains scattered across both sides of a mountain pass. Two neighbors emerged as key figures. One had a long history of conflict with Mike. The other showed up the day before he disappeared—and later changed his story. More than a decade later, the case finally made it to trial. But even now, the most critical questions remain unanswered. Want more Blood Trails? Check out the Case File. Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon. Connect with Jordan Sillars and MeatEater MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Jordan Sillars on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Blood Trails is a true crime podcast born in the outdoors--and in Season 2, we're going even deeper. From the grisly killing of a mountain man in Montana to the cold-blooded murder of a deer hunter in Florida to the strange disappearance of an angler in Texas, these stories delve into the recesses of the wilderness--and the evil of the human heart. Follow the show now to get notified when Episode 1 drops, Thursday, April 16.   Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon. Connect with Jordan Sillars and MeatEater MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Jordan Sillars on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last year, Wisconsin detectives requested that the four unidentified victims of Chicagoland serial killer John Wayne Gacy be compared to a missing 18-year-old hunter named Bob Christian. We covered Bob's story in Episode 1 of Season 1. Those DNA results have finally arrived, and we have all the details in this Case Update. Want more Blood Trails? Check out the Case File. Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon. Connect with Jordan Sillars, MeatEater, and Blood Trails MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Jordan Sillars on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On November 16, 2018, 68-year-old Chong Mua Yang—a Hmong immigrant, war veteran, and lifelong hunter—was found face-down in the snow, shot in the back of the head. The backpack, knife, and shotgun he'd taken on his deer hunt were missing. His footprints were the only ones leading in… but not the only ones leading out. The investigation would take six years, involve Google geofence warrants, racist text messages, GPS timelines, a can of Scent Killer, and a shocking interview in Miami that turned the entire case upside down. Was this a hate crime? A hunting “accident”? Or something even darker? In this episode of Blood Trails, host Jordan Sillars walks you through every twist and misdirection—from the first frantic phone call to the moment detectives finally identified two suspects whose own words may become their undoing. This is the story of a man who survived war, built a life from nothing, and was taken from his family by someone hiding in the same woods he loved. Want more Blood Trails? Check out the Case File. Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon. Connect with Jordan Sillars and MeatEater MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube Jordan Sillars on Instagram MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.