When Carole Sund, her 15-year-old daughter Julie, and Julie’s teenage friend Silvina Pelosso set out for Yosemite National Park in February 1999, they were simply expecting a scenic adventure. Silvina — an exchange student from Argentina who was visiting for three months — was excited to explore the United States. After attending Julie’s cheerleading competition in Stockton, the group headed into the mountains for a short getaway.
Carole, 42, called her husband Jens from their hotel, the Cedar Lodge, on the night of February 15. The park was quiet that day, she told him, and they planned to return the next morning for more sightseeing.
Later that evening, according to reports, the three ordered hamburgers in the hotel restaurant. Carole suddenly paid the $21.13 bill, and the group left — saying they would return to finish their meals.
They never came back.
The next night, on February 16, the three were supposed to arrive home after 10 p.m. Jens waited at San Francisco International Airport — but they never appeared. At first, he believed he might have misunderstood their plans.
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The following day, he learned no one else had heard from Carole either. Even more alarming, Julie missed a scheduled campus tour at the University of the Pacific, a school she was considering attending.
By 7:30 p.m. on February 17, Jens contacted the California Highway Patrol. A widespread search launched immediately.
Four days later, on February 19, a pedestrian in downtown Modesto found part of Carole’s black leather wallet — including her ID and credit cards — discarded on a roadway nearly 90 miles from the Cedar Lodge.
Weeks passed with no other breakthroughs. Authorities described the effort as one of the largest missing persons searches in California history. Carole’s family put forward a $300,000 reward, and dozens of relatives joined the search. Investigators began to suspect the three had been victims of a violent crime near or at their hotel.
To loved ones, the possibility was unthinkable. Carole was known to be cautious and well-prepared — she kept emergency supplies in her car and had once given a friend pepper spray as a gift. Julie had helped organize a local teen group called Girls Against Violence. No one could imagine them becoming easy targets.
Then, grim confirmation arrived. In March 1999 — shortly after news of the case gained national attention — the family’s rental car was discovered. Inside were the burned remains of Carole Sund and Silvina Pelosso. Julie was still missing.
Soon after, a crude map arrived at an FBI office in Modesto. The note implied the killer had enjoyed the crime in a disturbing way. The map included Route 120, Vista Point, and Don Pedro Reservoir. Following those markings, authorities located Julie’s body.
Investigators eventually focused on two half-brothers from the Modesto area. But as they pursued that theory, another horrific murder occurred: Joie Ruth Armstrong, a 26-year-old Yosemite naturalist, was found beheaded.
The case took a shocking turn. A 37-year-old maintenance worker at the Cedar Lodge, Cary Stayner, confessed not only to killing Armstrong but also to murdering Carole, Julie, and Silvina. He was also considered a suspect in other potential crimes.
Stayner had a tragic and infamous family connection: he was the older brother of Steven Stayner, who was abducted at age seven and held captive for seven years — a story that became the well-known television miniseries I Know My First Name Is Steven. Steven died in a motorcycle crash in 1989.
Cary Stayner was convicted in both state and federal court. In December 2002, he was sentenced to death and remains on death row at San Quentin State Prison.
