LONE TRAVELER VANISHED IN OREGON NATIONAL FOREST—3 YEARS LATER FOUND HANGING FROM A TREE: SERIAL KILLER FOREMAN USED HIS BODY AS A WARNING TO ILLEGAL WORKERS
On June 23, 2010, Eric Lawrence, a 27-year-old software engineer from Portland, packed his tent, sleeping bag, and three days of supplies into his blue Honda Civic, seeking solitude in the wilds of Mount Hood National Forest. Eric was quiet, polite, and preferred weekends alone on the trails, escaping the stress of his IT job. He called his mother in Seattle that Thursday, promising to check in Sunday night after his adventure. He mentioned a new route he’d found on a hiking forum—his last conversation.
Friday morning, Eric stopped for gas and energy bars, asking for directions to Route 26. Surveillance footage at 8:43 a.m. captured him—the last images of Eric alive. He drove two hours to the Timberline Trail, parked at a tourist lot, and set out under shifting skies. The plan: hike 15 kilometers, camp by a remote lake, and return in three days.
Eric never checked in. By Sunday, his mother grew anxious, calling his work and the police. Given the circumstances, search teams were dispatched immediately. They found his locked car at the trailhead, a jacket left behind. A mile in, bootprints matching Eric’s shoes led to a strange scene: his backpack hung from a pine branch two meters up, tent and sleeping bag neatly folded nearby. The items were untouched, but the spot was unsuitable for camping—rocky, root-filled, with a clearing just meters away. The backpack’s height and the careful arrangement suggested someone else had handled them.
Search teams combed the woods for weeks. Dogs lost Eric’s scent at a mossy boulder. No further footprints, no broken branches—Eric had seemingly vanished. Helicopters scanned the dense canopy, caves and ravines were explored, but nothing emerged. After a month, the official search ended. Eric’s mother, Linda Lawrence, refused to give up. She posted flyers, offered a reward, and connected with other families of missing hikers. She learned that while most disappearances in the Cascades are resolved, a few—like Eric’s—remain mysteries.
A year later, Linda hired Robert Clark, a retired state police investigator. Clark retraced Eric’s route, interviewed forest workers, and noticed details: the backpack’s height matched Eric’s reach, but the packing was too neat. Clark learned that an illegal logging crew had been working nearby, unrecorded by the Forest Service. Most workers were undocumented and scattered after the job, but Clark found one—Carlos Menddees, a truck driver—who described the foreman, Michael: tall, scarred, brutal, and feared by all.
Menddees described a tense atmosphere in the camp. Michael became paranoid after Eric’s disappearance, keeping workers close, posting night watches, and hanging chains from trees—ostensibly for logs, but in odd places. Tools vanished, and one night, Menddees heard dragging noises and saw furrows leading into the forest. An elderly worker, Pedro, said he’d seen Michael talking to someone in the woods, ending in a muffled cry and silence. Michael threatened workers, saying anyone who talked would “hang from a tree as a scarecrow.” The sawmill shut down soon after, the crew scattered.
Clark passed this to police, but with no last name or address for Michael, the investigation stalled. Linda moved to Portland, working for a missing persons charity, and spent weekends searching the woods. Years passed. Then, in October 2013, hunters Tom and Jerry Harrison found a skeleton hanging upside down by chains from a spruce branch, five meters above the ground. The body, tied at the ankles and wrists, was badly decomposed. Remnants of clothing, hiking boots, and a wallet with Eric’s name confirmed the worst.
Sheriff’s deputies and forensic teams cordoned off the area. The chains were homemade, the rope nearly rotted away. Skull fractures showed Eric had been bludgeoned with a heavy object, likely a sledgehammer. The body had hung for about three years. The location was remote, hidden by thickets, and required at least two people to hoist the body so high. This was no accident—it was a calculated act.
Investigators revisited Menddees’s account. Pedro Gonzalez, another worker, described seeing Eric brought to camp, tied up, and kept in a metal container. Michael forced workers to witness Eric’s captivity, using him as a warning. Ricardo Vasquez, a sawmill operator, recalled Michael photographing his “achievements,” keeping a diary of victims. After Eric vanished, Michael boasted about the photos, threatening workers with “proof” of their silence.
Police traced Michael to Pacific Timber Works, finding records for Michael Royce, a foreman with a criminal history. Royce had rented a warehouse in Portland, where investigators found sledgehammers, axes, and a locked cabinet containing a digital camera and flash drives. The photos revealed scenes of torture and murder, including Eric hanging from the tree. Linda Lawrence identified her son in one image, his face battered and terrified.
Further analysis linked Royce to murders of other lone travelers. His diary detailed seven killings between 2008 and 2012, targeting hikers and campers in Oregon, Washington, and Northern California. Royce used their bodies to intimidate illegal workers, keeping order through terror. DNA evidence matched Eric’s blood to Royce’s tools and clothing.
Royce had vanished, but in January 2014, an informant in California identified him as Mark Johnson, working security at an illegal marijuana farm in Humboldt County. FBI agents planned Operation Lumberjack, arresting Royce in his trailer without incident. Inside, they found more weapons, false IDs, and a diary detailing his crimes.
Royce confessed in writing to killing Eric Lawrence. He lured Eric from the trail, pretending to be a ranger, then attacked him with a sledgehammer, kept him captive for days, and finally hung his body as a warning. Royce’s diary described the murders as “necessary measures” to control workers, and his photo album documented each victim.
The trial in Portland federal court lasted three weeks. Royce faced seven counts of first-degree murder, kidnapping, weapons charges, and criminal enterprise. The defense claimed PTSD and insanity, but evidence showed deliberate, methodical planning. Witnesses, including former workers, described the atmosphere of fear Royce created. Linda Lawrence’s emotional testimony moved the jury, describing the agony of years spent searching for answers.
The verdict: guilty on all counts. Royce was sentenced to multiple consecutive life terms without parole. The judge called his crimes “acts of terrorism,” emphasizing the cruelty and lack of remorse. Royce was transferred to maximum security in Colorado, where he remains in solitary confinement. Appeals are ongoing, but experts predict no chance of success.
Eric Lawrence’s murder became a landmark case, exposing the dangers lurking in remote forests and the exploitation of illegal workers. Oregon tightened oversight of logging operations and improved safety for hikers. Linda Lawrence founded a memorial fund supporting families of missing persons and search efforts. The bodies of Royce’s other victims remain unfound, but the search continues.
This case is a grim reminder: even the most peaceful places can hide monsters. Eric Lawrence vanished seeking solitude. He was found hanging from a tree—his death a warning, his story a call for vigilance in the wild.
