What Happened in Craig: Alaska's Worst Unsolved Mass Murder

On a foggy afternoon in September of 1982 the Investor, a salmon fishing vessel, was engulfed in flames near the tiny village of Craig, Alaska. All efforts to stop the blaze were repulsed by the heat and fury of fire--until the blaze had run its course. Eight people, including a pregnant woman and two small children, were missing. On the charred wreck of the Investor, Alaska State Troopers hoped to find evidence that the fire was accidental, and that the crew and family were away from the scene. Instead, they found bullet-ridden bodies. Born in Seattle, Washington, Leland E. Hale started as an avid reader and slowly, but surely, became an avid writer. Blame it on the rain and the persistently gray skies of the Pacific Northwest. His most notable work is Butcher, Baker, the true crime story of serial-killer Robert Hansen. His work on that book turned him into a permanent fan of all things Alaska. That book also served as the inspiration for the film, The Frozen Ground, starring Nicolas Cage and John Cusack. Mr. Hale has written one novel, titled Huck Finn is Dead. His work on that book convinced him that his true love is nonfiction.