Fugitive from my city caught/busted in Damascus

[4shot]

Interesting story. Bismarck was on the trail in 2010 when I hiked. Don't know if he completed it or not but I hiked/camped with him a bit through Southern Va. Never saw him again after trail days that year. His trail name came from the fact that he claimed to be from that city in North Dakota. His story was that he was an independent contract engineer who had a 6 month gap in between phases of a very large project. As a former engineer, his story was credible although no one talks much shop on the trail.

My wife has a picture of a pancake breakfast in Franklin. There are 4 of us at the table and Bismarck is one of them. Although I am upset - the same group of 4 split a hotel room in Hiawassee at Ron's hotel there. You would think that a guy with an extra $8-9 million or so could have picked up the tab. I would like to think I would have done so.

as the cliche goes, "he was the nicest guy - would never thought him capable of such a thing". One thing I always remembered, he was the first guy that I ever saw or met who hammock camped. Of course, now they are quite common.

[Traveler]

Bundy wasn't a cannibal. I think you're confusing him with Jeffrey Dahmer.

That said, this guy was a crook, a pretty good one. Stole money, lots of it, but not violent.

Apparently not a great one though.....

[FlyFishNut]

I'd have been in Argentina or Chile - flyfishing and skiing - drinking Malbecs and eating lamb - being from SC, that's where we go like to slip away to for some R&R... ;-)

[rickb]

Although I am upset - the same group of 4 split a hotel room in Hiawassee at Ron's hotel there. You would think that a guy with an extra $8-9 million or so could have picked up the tab. I would like to think I would have done so.

You got screwed.

[JohnHuth]

My son is currently thru-hiking - just north of Harper's Ferry. He hiked a bit in parallel with Bismarck in March, but got ahead of him. I have a photo of him with some other folks at a hostel. When I joined my son on the trail, Bismarck was just one day behind. That's spooky, but I went and checked the number of fugitives who have used the AT as a means of evading the law, and found quite a number.

[4shot]

You got screwed.

not really, I am a "glass half full" kind of guy. I choose to celebrate the fact that he didn't take anything out of my pack.

(OTOH, my gear would probably not be that impressive to a guy who is a multi-millionaire. I don't have anything made of titanium or cuben fiber).

[Turtle Feet]

I have to agree with Jeff at Green Mountain Hostel - I knew Bismark and Hopper from my 2011 thru, then saw them again at the 2013 Trail Days (he btw, was one of the guys that helped pull Rainbow Bright out from under the run-away drivers car). My son and I gave him & Hopper a ride up to Daleville after Trail Days.

I've only ever known Bismark to be a kind and very helpful guy (he was the only person that offered to help Buffalo Bobby's daughters carry his ashes up Katahdin in '11).

It's really difficult for me to reconcile these "two" Bismarks....I'm shocked and saddened.

[Chair-man]

One more article with a little more insight on how he was captured.

It's still not clear to me whether his bank accounts were frozen before he fled or if he actually got away with the money. For a while anyway.

[Cookerhiker]

One more article with a little more insight on how he was captured.

It's still not clear to me whether his bank accounts were frozen before he fled or if he actually got away with the money. For a while anyway.

I wondered how the FBI traced him to Trail Days. Thanks for sharing.

[shelb]

More on what led up to his capture and information on his family:
http://www.sj-r.com/article/20150521...29846/?Start=2

[Wolf - 23000]

I wondered how the FBI traced him to Trail Days. Thanks for sharing.

Does it matter how the FBI found him? If he is wanted by the FBI, then it must be serious.

He may be a nice guy but so are many criminals. Some that have committed some very violent crimes.

Wolf

[vamelungeon]

He wasn't just wanted for stealing money, he was wanted for murder as well.

[TOW]

There is someone someplace, perhaps in your family, neighborhood, or circle of friends that is dodging some kind of bullet that would give you the shirt off of their back, they would feed you, they would rescue you and so forth. One thing I bet the trail did for Bismark was allowed him to be the type of man he wanted to be. And I think with the type of people that had hiked with him some of their goodness and wholesome attitude rubbed off on him and perhaps James Hammes will do the right and just thing and own up to his past and move on toward the Light.

Being on the run for a number of years on or near the Appalachian Trail probably gave Bismark a sense of peace like it has for many of us. The goodness you saw in the man was as genuine as it was possible for him and I hope we hear that he has owned up to his past.

How many of you have something, legal or not, nagging at your soul begging you to face it? How many of you live behind the mask of your trail name knowing the wrong you have done, or continue to do, while pointing your finger?

Sometimes in our lives we are blatant criminals and sometimes we are just blatantly good.

[Teacher & Snacktime]

He wasn't just wanted for stealing money, he was wanted for murder as well.

Where did that come from? I read nothing about murder in the article. 8 mill is enough to get you on the FBI's most wanted list....you don't have to be violent too. Just be a FEDERAL criminal.

[Water Rat]

Where did that come from? I read nothing about murder in the article. 8 mill is enough to get you on the FBI's most wanted list....you don't have to be violent too. Just be a FEDERAL criminal.

I believe vamelungeon got that thought from page 1 of article Shelb posted. The article opens on page 2.

"Joy was believed to have died accidentally in 2003 in a fire in Lexington. She was so well-known in the charitable community in Lexington that the city's newspaper wrote about her death. But as her mother, Judy, told me for a column in 2012, the family reconsidered Joy's death after Hammes disappeared and was charged."

[vamelungeon]

I believe vamelungeon got that thought from page 1 of article Shelb posted. The article opens on page 2.

"Joy was believed to have died accidentally in 2003 in a fire in Lexington. She was so well-known in the charitable community in Lexington that the city's newspaper wrote about her death. But as her mother, Judy, told me for a column in 2012, the family reconsidered Joy's death after Hammes disappeared and was charged."

Right. I don't think he's been charged but is a suspect in that case.

[vamelungeon]

It was the first sentence in the article- "

• Zoom
  
  James Hammes in 2013. credit: David Milner
  
  » RELATED CONTENT
  
• 
  
  • • Man wanted in $8.7M Ohio embezzlement case arrested; deceased wife was from Waverly...
  
  
• Jane Ryan of Springfield has known since March that the FBI was closing in on the man she suspects murdered her sister, Waverly native Joy Hammes. But she couldn't say anything about it, not even to her parents."

[Turtle Feet]

There is someone someplace, perhaps in your family, neighborhood, or circle of friends that is dodging some kind of bullet that would give you the shirt off of their back, they would feed you, they would rescue you and so forth. One thing I bet the trail did for Bismark was allowed him to be the type of man he wanted to be. And I think with the type of people that had hiked with him some of their goodness and wholesome attitude rubbed off on him and perhaps James Hammes will do the right and just thing and own up to his past and move on toward the Light.

Being on the run for a number of years on or near the Appalachian Trail probably gave Bismark a sense of peace like it has for many of us. The goodness you saw in the man was as genuine as it was possible for him and I hope we hear that he has owned up to his past.

How many of you have something, legal or not, nagging at your soul begging you to face it? How many of you live behind the mask of your trail name knowing the wrong you have done, or continue to do, while pointing your finger?

Sometimes in our lives we are blatant criminals and sometimes we are just blatantly good.

Well said Larry!

Has anyone heard what has become of Hopper? Did she leave the trail? Still hiking? Taken in for questioning?

I liked them both a lot, but Hopper seemed to be supported by Bismark (I could be very wrong about that, but just my sense). Just wondering how she's coping?

[Singto]

There is someone someplace, perhaps in your family, neighborhood, or circle of friends that is dodging some kind of bullet that would give you the shirt off of their back, they would feed you, they would rescue you and so forth. One thing I bet the trail did for Bismark was allowed him to be the type of man he wanted to be. And I think with the type of people that had hiked with him some of their goodness and wholesome attitude rubbed off on him and perhaps James Hammes will do the right and just thing and own up to his past and move on toward the Light.

Being on the run for a number of years on or near the Appalachian Trail probably gave Bismark a sense of peace like it has for many of us. The goodness you saw in the man was as genuine as it was possible for him and I hope we hear that he has owned up to his past.

How many of you have something, legal or not, nagging at your soul begging you to face it? How many of you live behind the mask of your trail name knowing the wrong you have done, or continue to do, while pointing your finger?

Sometimes in our lives we are blatant criminals and sometimes we are just blatantly good.

No, not everyone is as you purport them to be in an apparent attempt to seek self vindication by rationalizing that everyone has been a "blatant criminal" sometime in their life. There are people who have been fine upstanding human beings all their lives and deserve far more credit than those who haven't and are now looking for confirmation.

[greenmtnboy]

There are plenty of people on the AT who would pass a background search, maybe a few traffic tickets or an arrest for anti-war protesting, etc.. But in terms of ethics 90% plus of hikers are clean.

If someone wants to elude the authorities I don't think this trail is the way to go. Most of the books like How to Hide Your Assets and Disappear recommend getting outside US jurisdiction unless you want to get caught. Whitey Bulger and the Unibomber eluded authorities even in US jurisdiction. Love the movie Wronfully Accused with Leslie Nielsen....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JogttpcKFIA