Ranger Discovers Abandoned Funeral Home in Alaska—Linked to Dozens of Missing Tourists

Deep in the wild heart of Alaska, where glaciers carve the land and silence hangs heavy, Ranger Daniel Harper made a discovery that would haunt him—and the nation—for decades. What began as a routine patrol in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park became the unraveling of one of the darkest criminal networks in American history.

A Hidden House of Death

On a crisp July morning in 1995, Harper, a former Marine turned park ranger, found himself drawn to a weathered two-story building on the edge of the forgotten Copper Creek settlement. The sign above the door read: Evernorth Memorial Services—a funeral home in the middle of nowhere.

Inside, the air was thick with the stench of formaldehyde and decay. At first, everything looked normal: a dusty reception desk, catalogues of coffins, a faded calendar. But as Harper ventured deeper, the ordinary gave way to horror.

The workroom was an operating theater. Surgical tools gleamed in the gloom, a cremation oven stood open, and three freezer chests lined the wall. Inside, Harper found organs—livers, kidneys, hearts—each meticulously preserved, labeled, and dated. Bones, skulls, limbs. All catalogued. All for sale.

The Basement of Nightmares

Unable to reach dispatch, Harper pressed on. In the basement, he found a diesel generator powering eight transparent capsules. Inside each, bodies floated in a bluish chemical bath—men, women, a teenager, even a child. All had been expertly dissected, their organs harvested with chilling precision.

Documents littered the room: lists of names, coded bank transfers, and faxes from a shadowy company called Polaris Bio Transport. Orders for “children’s material” and instructions for keeping bodies fresh. Harper realized he’d stumbled upon a global organ trafficking ring.

Missing Tourists—Found at Last

As authorities descended on the scene, the scale of the crime became clear. Twenty-six bodies were identified, many matching missing persons reports from the previous decade: a fisherman lost at sea, a hitchhiker from Oregon, a student from New Mexico. All had vanished in the park, their disappearances written off as accidents or misadventure.

But now, the truth was undeniable. The funeral home had been a collection point for victims—tourists, travelers, loners. People whose absence could go unnoticed, whose organs could fetch a fortune in the black market.

The Man Behind the Mask

The mastermind was revealed: Richard Elden Hayes, a disgraced pathologist who vanished just as authorities began to close in. Hayes had run Evernorth Memorial Services as a legitimate business, but beneath the surface, he orchestrated a grisly trade in human lives. He disappeared in 1994, his trail ending at a cleaned-out van in Vancouver. The millions he earned vanished into offshore accounts, and the web of shell companies stretched across continents.

Hayes was never found. Some believe he was silenced by his own network; others think he escaped justice, living under a new name in a distant land. His crimes remain a chilling testament to the darkness that can hide in plain sight.

Legacy of Horror

The funeral home was demolished, the ground replanted, but the scars remain. Eight bodies were never identified, buried under simple headstones marked “Unknown Victim.” The families of the missing finally received answers, closure after years of torment.

For Ranger Harper, the experience changed everything. He left Alaska, unable to shake the memory of those bodies in bluish liquid, a reminder of how fragile civilization truly is.

A Warning from the Wilderness

The case of Evernorth Memorial Services stands as a stark warning: monsters don’t just exist in nightmares. They walk among us, hiding behind polite smiles and professional facades. In the vastness of Alaska, dozens of lives were stolen, organs sold to the highest bidder, and justice remains elusive.

Richard Elden Hayes is still on Interpol’s most wanted list. The reward for his capture stands at $250,000—but with each passing year, hope fades. If he is alive, he is an old man, carrying secrets to the grave. If dead, the world will never know the full extent of his crimes.

But the victims are not forgotten. Their stories, once lost in the wilderness, now echo as a chilling reminder: in the shadows of civilization, evil can thrive, unseen—until someone is brave enough to open the door.

26 confirmed victims. Countless lives changed forever. And one ranger who dared to look deeper.