It was March 18, 1976 when a park ranger in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park responded to a report of what appeared to be an abandoned automobile. The station wagon in question was found in a secluded parking lot in the Elkmont section of the Smokies.

Upon further investigation the car was traced to a William Bradford Bishop, Jr. 39, of Betheseda, MD.  GSMNP officials soon learned that an APB had been issued for Bishop 10 days earlier on March 8. He was wanted for questioning concerning the brutal murders of his wife, their three young sons and his elderly mother.

Police had been dispatched to the Bishop home in the upscale Maryland neighborhood after neighbors called and reported the family hadn’t been seen or heard from for several days.  In fact, the last William Bishop had been heard from was on March 1, when he had called in sick to work.

When police officers entered the Bishop home they discovered large amounts of blood smeared on the floors but no bodies.

William Bishop was employed at the U.S. State Dept. as an economic affairs officer and he and his family were well liked by co-workers and neighbors alike. It was mind-boggling to everyone connected with the family that something of this nature had occurred.

On March 2, 1976 a forest ranger in Tyrell County, NC spotted smoke from his fire watchtower and drove out to investigate. Arriving at the scene he found five charred bodies doused in gasoline burning in an open pit. It was soon determined that the bodies were that of three children and two adults. A shovel was found on the scene that was traced to a Potomac, Maryland hardware store. Officials then sent out word to police depts. across the country seeking help in the investigation. It was quickly connected to the Bishop case and the bodies were soon identified as the Bishop family.

Later, after discovery of the abandoned car in the Great Smoky Mountains FBI officials soon arrived on the scene and a massive investigation followed. It was determined that the car had been in the park for around two weeks. Federal agents, state police and park rangers began a massive manhunt for Bishop in the Elkmont vicinity.

A bloodhound immediately picked up a scent at a cabin nearest where the car had been found. No clues were discovered but officials were sure Bishop had been on the grounds.  All of the Elkmont structures were searched but again no evidence was found. The search went on in the park for several days but no clues to his whereabouts emergeda. It was widely believed that Bishop, who was an experienced outdoorsman, simply melted into the forested trails of the Smoky Mountains and later emerged to begin the next leg of his escape.

In the following years there were reports from people who had known Bishop in the past of seeing him in Sweden and also Italy. Investigations turned up empty.

In 2014, authorities in Alabama discovered that a photograph of an unidentified man, a “John Doe” buried in a municipal cemetery, resembled photographs of Bishop. The man was apparently a drifter who had been fatally struck by a car in 1981. The body was exhumed for DNA testing to see if it was a match for Bishop but results turned up negative.

Below is a 1980 video from the show, “Unsolved Mysteries” which features the hunt for Bishop.