“Three men, frozen in time, drifting under ice. A crime without justice.”

Part 1: The Discovery & First Clues

In the winter of 1923‑1924, three fur trappers vanished in the remote Deschutes County of Oregon. Their names: Edward Nickols (50), Roy Wilson (35), and Dewey Morris (25). For months, they simply disappeared into the wilderness. No word came from the trapping cabin; their mink traps were unattended, their food yet to be eaten. Time passed. Snow melted. Rumors stirred. Then, in April 1924, the horrifying truth bubbled up through the ice.

Searchers found bones, frozen remains, a sled stained with dark patches, pools of blood in thawing snow. Near Little Lava Lake, under the ice, the bodies of all three men were discovered. Each had suffered gunshot wounds and blunt force trauma, likely from a hammer.

What made this case especially chilling was how utterly remote the crime was, how little evidence there seemed to be, and how the perpetrators appeared to leave almost nothing behind. No confessed motive. No witnesses who could give reliable testimony. No solid case for conviction. The trappers were found, but the why and the who remained hidden in the forest.

Part 2: The Murders in Detail

Victims & Setting

Victims: All three were fur trappers, living off grid in cabins in the forest. Their livelihood depended on solitude, traps, and survival in harsh winter conditions.

Location: Little Lava Lake, Deschutes County, Oregon. Winter weather, snow, woods—far from towns, far from help.

Timeline: Last correspondence with the men was December 1923. By early 1924, when snow began to recede, locals realized something was wrong. In April, search parties moved in.

The Discovery

The searchers discovered signs of abrupt abandonment: cooks’ pots left on the stove, dinner table set, sled missing or abandoned, traps unchecked. There was a fox pen with five valuable foxes missing, blood‑stained hammer in the pen corner.

Outside the cabin: sled with dark stains, a depression in the ice over Little Lava Lake (where water had been cut through), pools of blood and clumps of hair on a trail.

Cause of Death

One of the victims, Wilson, was shot in the right shoulder and then killed with a blow to the back of the head.

Nickols had his jaw shattered by a shotgun blast; also another bullet wound in his skull.

Morris was shot in the left forearm and suffered skull fractures consistent with a hammer‑type implement.

Possible Suspects & Theories

Early suspicions fell on “Indian Erickson”, a woodsman and moonshiner camped nearby. He was questioned but provided an alibi. No strong evidence tied him to the scene.

Another suspect: Charles Kimzey. He had purchased furs shortly after the murders. However, no one could definitively place him at the scene, or link the furs to him beyond circumstantial evidence. He was eventually charged with an attempted murder in 1923 but not for the Lava Lake murders.

Some theorize there may have been more than one perpetrator; perhaps someone with local knowledge of the woods, someone who could move unseen in snow, someone who could operate without raising alarm. But nothing conclusive.

Part 3: What Makes the Case So Hard

Isolation & Harsh Environment

The deep forest, snow, ice, and long winters meant evidence could be destroyed or hidden. Blood might run into lakes, trails obliterated by snow, clues lost.

Time

By the time the disappearance was noticed, and by the time searchers could access the area, significant degradation of evidence may have occurred. Memories fade. Witnesses move away. Physical traces vanish.

Circumstantial Evidence

Much of what was discovered was suggestive but not conclusive. Furs sold, possible suspects with weak alibis, but no ballistics, no eyewitness to the murders themselves.

Low Resources & Technology of the Time

In 1924, forensic science was rudimentary compared to modern standards. DNA testing wasn’t a thing. Blood analysis crude. Witness interrogation less systematized. Transportation & communication slow.

Cultural & Social Limitations

Remote law enforcement, possibly limited interest or priority given the victims were trappers, potentially marginalized. Local affairs often handled with less oversight. Trails cold, few investigators.

Part 4: Why It Still Matters

Unresolved Justice

The families of the missing trappers never got closure. The case remains officially unsolved to this day.

A Window into Frontier Justice

The case highlights crime and investigation in rural America nearly a century ago. It sheds light on how law, society, and human behavior operated in remote spaces.

Nature vs. Human Crime

This case sits at the intersection of man vs. nature, and human malevolence. The pacific landscape, the winter cold—yet the violence came not from the weather, but from another person.

Part 5: Theories & Modern Re‑Examination

Below are some of the main theories, what evidence supports or contradicts them, and what a modern investigation might uncover.

Solo killer with local knowledge; Someone familiar with the woods, able to approach undetected; sale of furs suggests someone who could move stolen goods locally. No confirmed sightings; disposing of three bodies in such a way requires planning or help; gunshot/hammer use suggests brutality but also risk for the killer. Multiple perpetrators; The nature of violence (multiple types of wounds, blunt force and gunshot) could suggest more than one attacker; moving heavy bodies under ice may require more than one person. No evidence of accomplices; no witnesses; no known motive that would unite multiple people. Financial motive The stolen foxes, furs suggest possible theft, trade; maybe a trapper dispute or rivalry. Valuables like furs hard to trace; who could sell furs without raising suspicion? Also doesn’t explain murder brutality. Random violence / opportunistic crime- Perhaps the trappers stumbled upon something illicit, or were simply in the wrong place at wrong time. The planning involved (removing bodies, staging etc.) suggests more than opportunism.

A modern re‑examination could include:

• DNA testing of preserved hair or bone fragments (if available)
• Ballistic analysis or gun residues if any physical artifacts still exist
• Archival digging: local newspapers, diaries, sheriff records, coroner reports
• Geographic forensics: mapping trails, ice holes, sled paths

Part 7: Reflecting on The Implications

The Lava Lake murders aren’t just a dark footnote in Oregon history.

They speak to broader issues:

• How rural isolation increases vulnerability
• People living off grid, without quick access to legal protection, are often left without recourse when crimes are committed.
• The importance of early reporting & investigation
• The longer something goes unreported, the more difficult justice becomes. Time erases clues. Memory fades.
• Ethics of true crime storytelling
• Telling such stories carries responsibility: to the victims, their descendants, and to readers. Avoid sensationalism. Respect trauma. Seek truth, not just shock.
• The dormant potential of modern tools
• Genealogy/DNA, digital archives, GIS mapping—what could be applied now might surprise us. Some cold cases get resolved a century later; perhaps this one could, with renewed interest.

Part 8: Call to Action & Invitation

If you find cases like this compelling, consider subscribing. You’ll not only get full stories like this, but you’ll help keep research alive. Many of these cold case investigations die from lack of attention.

Together we might unearth new evidence. Or at least, preserve the memory of those who were lost.

Part 9: A Final Thought

Sometimes the coldest cases are not just those with no leads—but those forgotten by time, by distance, by indifference. Even if Lava Lake never yields its full answers, its echoes remain: three trappers, isolated, violently taken, and left under ice. What we owe them is not perfection in justice—but persistence in remembrance. And if we keep asking, maybe someone will one day answer.