REVISITED: The Tent

Hi, park enthusiasts. I'm your host, Delia D'Ambra, and this fall, we want to try something new on the Park Predators feed. Every Thursday this month, we'll re-release an episode that features a crime that took place in the summer, and these cases happened all across the United States. They are some of the most compelling crimes that I've covered on the show. From mysterious missing persons to unsolved homicides, I cover it all. And don't worry, on Tuesdays, you'll still get your new episode, as always. I'm your host, Delia D'Ambra, and the case I'm going to tell you about today is a recent one. It's a crime that happened around this time last summer in Makoketa Cave State Park in Iowa. If you paid attention to the news or scrolled through a social media feed last July, you know that the murders of Tyler, Sarah, and Lula Schmidt dominated headlines across America and overseas. The brutal slaying of this young family inside their home. caused everyone to take pause and mourn. But the murders also made many people reconsider whether to ever go camping with their families again, and if staying amongst strangers in the woods was really safe. The horrific nature of what happened to the Schmidts also fueled the ongoing debate about Second Amendment rights in America, and what the future of carrying firearms would look like in the state of Iowa. The big thing you need to know about Makoketa Cave State Park is that. But it's not some middle-of-nowhere destination. According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, it's a very popular state park with tons of trails, picnic areas, and campgrounds that attract thousands of visitors every year. It's a go-to place for families who want to get a taste of the great outdoors, but who don't want to be completely off the grid. The park is about an hour east of the city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is a short drive away from the banks of the Mississippi River. Most visitors go there to check out the vast number of caves dotted throughout the park's six-mile trail system. These unique geologic formations are truly amazing to look at and walk through, because you never know what views you'll see around the next corner. In the summer, shadows from the park's rock formations and trees create a natural canopy over the area, making it an ideal spot for families with youngsters to traverse and not get overheated. Which is exactly what the Schmidt family had plans to do. Before horror visited their tent in the middle of the night and took the lives of everyone inside. Except one. This is Park Predators. Park Predators, a small town in the middle of the state of Illinois, is the home of the Schmidt family, and is one of the highest-growing parkiners in the state of Illinois. According to reporting by Tyler Jett for the Des Moines Register, around 6.15 in the morning on Friday, July 22nd, Park Predators, a small town in the middle of the state of Illinois, is the home of the Schmidt family, and is one of the highest-growing parkiners in the state of Illinois. or permanent. of the campground there where he was first coming out of the park. Okay, is there any more information? Not much. She's with this little boy who came up to her. She said that she thought she heard a shot as well. So we don't really know what's going on beyond that. According to Ryan Foley and Marjorie Beck's reporting for 3 News Now and the Omaha World Herald, the woman who'd called police was Cecilia Sherwin, a registered customer at the campground who'd been camping with her husband and adult son. She told officers that her and her husband, Joseph, had woken up to the sounds of gunshots going off in the campground. And then a few minutes later, a young boy ran up to their campsite asking for help. Two articles specifically say Cecilia said she heard two gunshots, but all the other source material just says gunshots, plural, no specific number. But anyway, Cecilia told 911 operators, that the boy who'd run up to her claimed a man who'd been wearing all black and carrying a small gun had killed his family inside their tent, not far from where the Sherwins were tenting. The Quad City Times reported that at one point during the 23-minute long 911 call, the dispatcher actually spoke with the young boy who Cecilia had called on behalf of. When he got on the phone, the boy told the dispatcher a similar account of what Cecilia had said, which was that some unknown person had called him. One man in dark clothing wielding a small gun had come into his family's tent and hurt his mom, dad, and sister. It only took a few minutes before the first park ranger and then eventually area deputies arrived, and right away, they connected with Cecilia and began checking campsites and tents to try and account for everyone. According to the Sherwins, during all the chaos, they'd been unable to find their 23-year-old son, Anthony. And wouldn't you know it, as officers were making their way through the 23-year-old son's home, they were unable to find Anthony. Shortly after getting on scene, deputies unzipped a canopy about 75 yards away from where Cecilia and her family had been staying. And inside, they found the lifeless bodies of a man, woman, and a little girl. It was immediately clear they were all dead. rquadcities.com and the Associated Press reported that each of the victims had visible gunshot wounds and were covered in blood. Around that same time, Jackson County deputies, Iowa State Police troopers, and other first responders who'd fanned out around the campground to create a perimeter stumbled upon the body of a man who looked to be in his early 20s. WHO 13 News reported that sitting on the ground next to him was a small pistol. He appeared to have a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The source material isn't super clear on how authorities identified this young man, but not long after, they found that the man was dead. Not long after finding him, they realized he was 23-year-old Anthony Orlando Sherwin, Cecilia, the 911 caller's adult son. That's when reality set in for investigators. Anthony Sherwin was connected to what had happened to the massacred family in the tent at the campground. For the next few hours, detectives from the Iowa DCI and Jackson County Sheriff's Office worked to piece together the evidence and clues they had in front of them. They closed the park and sent people like Felicia and her boyfriend home. A youth camp named Camp Shalom that operated inside the park, not far from where the campground was located, contacted all its campers' families to let them know they had to come get their kids. By 7.30 Friday night, the Iowa DCI released a statement identifying the man, woman, and girl from the tent. They were 42-year-old Tyler Schmidt, his wife, 42-year-old Sarah Schmidt, and his wife, their son, 9-year-old Arlo, had survived and been unharmed by running out of the family's tent at the start of the attack. The source material doesn't explain how authorities were able to identify the Schmidts, but reading between the lines, I must imagine it probably came from police finding their personal belongings in their tent or checking the campground's reservation records. Either way, the department announced that the Schmidts' autopsies had been carried out by police, as well as Anthony Sherwin's, would be conducted sometime over that weekend to determine more information. The Courier reported that Tyler and Sarah had been staying at the campground with their kids for less than 24 hours before they were murdered. They'd gotten there and checked in on Thursday afternoon, July 21st, and less than a day later were found dead. Anthony and his parents had checked in and set up their tents around 7 o'clock Thursday night. When news of what happened got out, it started to get more and more serious. It spread fast and caught the attention of national media outlets almost right away. Iowa's Governor Kim Reynolds tweeted about the tragedy, and the mayor of the town of Cedar Falls, where the Schmitt family was from, also took to social media to express his horror and sadness. Mayor Rob Green's post about the tragedy was shared over a thousand times. His connection to the victims was closer than most people, and to him, their deaths felt personal. He happened to be neighbors with Tyler. Tyler and Sarah and their kids in Cedar Falls. The Green family and the Schmitt family were close. Just days before the murders, Rob and Sarah had been working on a project together at the Cedar Falls Library, where she was a library assistant. The murders impacted people who lived next to or volunteered in the park as well. Residents were shocked that something so violent could happen in a place they cherished as being so peaceful and quiet. One woman who lived a few miles away from the campground. She told the Des Moines Register that in her opinion, the murders had marred the idyllic and safe reputation of the park, and she didn't think things would ever be the same again. She told the newspaper, "You stop and think, this is a small community, nobody's going to do that. Then it dawns on you, the caves themselves are their own community, and people come from all over. You just don't know." End quote. Within 24 hours of the murders, she said, "This is the biggest murder I've ever seen. This is the biggest murder I've ever seen. I don't know how to explain it. This is the biggest murder I've ever seen." This is the biggest murder I've ever seen. Sarah's sister, Janna, wrote on social media that the murders had broken her. She typed, quote, My beautiful, smart, funny, curly-haired sister, her husband, and their six-year-old daughter were victims of a random act of violence while camping as a family in Iowa. She went on to write, I cannot fathom that she will no longer be on the other side of the phone. I cannot fathom that I don't get to see Lula grow up. Please pray for my family. Pray for the first responders. Pray for our culture and society. End quote. Sarah's brother, Adam, told reporters he couldn't understand why Anthony Sherwin had chosen to target his sister and brother-in-law. He told the Associated Press, quote, They gave everybody everything they possibly could. They loved family. They enjoyed the outdoors, enjoyed hiking. And this is just a question mark of why that campground, and that campsite, on that night. End quote. And what was even more puzzling than a motive was what authorities didn't find in Anthony's background. The Des Moines Register and the Associated Press did some digging into Anthony's life and learned that he was from the town of La Vista, Nebraska, where Anthony was born. However, he lived in the same apartment complex as his parents. The police chief in his hometown told reporters for the Register and the Associated Press that Anthony didn't have any prior arrests or criminal record with the department. The only thing that was noteworthy was that his family owned a firearm. Des Moines Register reporter Francesca Block interviewed Anthony's dad, Joseph, via email after the crime. And Joseph vehemently proclaimed that he didn't think his son was the person who'd committed the crime. He told the newspaper that when Arlo had run up to him and his wife on that Friday morning, yelling for help, the boy described the person who'd killed his family as wearing all black. But Joseph told the publication and law enforcement that Anthony had been dressed in green on the morning of the crime. His wife, Cecilia, told news outlets the same thing. She expressed at one point that Anthony had mentioned he was looking forward to going home after their trip to the park. So to her, it didn't make any sense why he would commit such a violent crime and, quote, throw everything away, end quote. She went on to explain that her family had been fully cooperating with police since Friday morning and was extremely devastated by the whole incident. In a statement to the newspaper, she wrote, quote, I didn't think we had any tears left, but we still find ourselves breaking down and care deeply for the little boy and the loss of his family. She also said regarding her son, Anthony was not capable of this sort of violence, end quote. Joseph told the Des Moines Register that during his family's camping trip, they kept two guns in a locked box under the backseat of their car. And he said the only thing that made sense to him was if Anthony heard gunshots around the time they did and then he'd gotten the idea to retrieve their firearms for protection. It's important to note, though, that law enforcement later confirmed Joseph and Cecilia's relationship were staying in a separate tent next to Anthony while they were all at the campground. So it's not like they had eyes on their son the entire time they were there. And it's unlikely they would have noticed if he left his tent early. In the end, the Sherwins wrote in their emailed statements to the Des Moines Register, quote, we refuse to believe the news. We are deeply saddened as he had so much to live for and gave us no indication that anything was wrong, end quote. But police investigators rejected that notion and told the press that they'd uncovered information and evidence that proved Anthony Sherwin and Anthony Sherwin alone was the perpetrator. Officials didn't provide details, though, as to what specifically had led them to that conclusion. While the investigation continued, people from Cedar Falls held a celebration of life service for the Schmitz on Tuesday, August 2nd, about a week after the crime. The service drew many people from the community who knew and loved the family. Around that same time, something the news media was quick to ask law enforcement was whether the Sherwins had permits for the firearms they said were kept in their car and whether it was one of those guns that was used in the murders. Reporters were eager to know if the family's firearm was the same gun police had found next to Anthony's body. And at first, investigators wouldn't confirm anything. But then later, the Courier reported that law enforcement had ruled out the Sherwins' registered firearms as the murder weapon. Neither had been used to kill the Schmitz family. KHQA News reported that law enforcement eventually released some information about the weapon recovered next to Anthony's body. And they confirmed it was a 9mm pistol that officials referred to as a ghost gun. Essentially a handgun that was made up of various parts from different manufacturers. Which police presumed Anthony bought online and pieced together himself. Ghost guns are definitely a real thing. There are entire websites dedicated to tutorials and videos on how to make them. The fact that they exist is personally kind of concerning, but that depends on which side of the gun debate you find yourself on. Ghost guns don't have serial numbers, which means they're untraceable. And in a crime like this, you can see why it being involved drew so much attention. But more information about the killings and the type of weapon used was officially confirmed when the autopsy reports for Tyler, Sarah, Lula, and Anthony were released by the medical examiner's office on August 4th. According to a press release by the Iowa DCI, each of the Schmitz family members had been shot at least once. And both Sarah and Tyler had suffered sharp force injuries, a.k.a. been stabbed. Six-year-old Lula, had been shot and strangled. Anthony's cause of death was ruled suicide, and police once again confirmed his injuries were consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police have never revealed what kind of weapon they believe he used to inflict the sharp force injuries to his victims. And detectives have never said why they think he killed Tyler, Sarah, and Lula, and spared Arlo, or let him get away. The only thing authorities have said to date is that their investigation has found, quote, indications as to what the motive was, end quote. But beyond that, we're all left to wonder. In November 2022, voters in Iowa approved a constitutional amendment that enhanced protections for Second Amendment rights. This new addition to the state's constitution was geared to make it harder to pass gun restriction laws or reform existing ones. U.S. News reported that this will, make it more challenging for courts to account for things like how many guns a person can own and how they can use that firearm. It's also projected to make it more difficult for courts to keep up with more thorough background checks or even outlaw certain types of guns. Groups who were in opposition to this change claim the amendment would make citizens less safe and likely result in an uptick in gun violence and gun-related crimes in Iowa. Who is right or who is wrong in that debate? It's something we as a society have to choose for ourselves. As I'm recording this episode, things are continuing to evolve in this case. Law enforcement in Iowa is still working through the details and I'm sure more information about what Anthony's motives were and what little Arlo witnessed that terrible morning in his family's tent will be released as time goes on. But what I want to leave you with to bring your attention back to what I think matters most in this story, which are the victims, are the words of Sarah's sister, Jana. She made several posts on social media shortly after the crime and ended one particularly beautiful message with a statement that I think we should all let sink in and serve as a reminder of how we ought to live our lives. Jana wrote, quote, Please don't take any time for granted. Go outside today. Breathe. Sarah would have wanted that. End quote. Park Predators is an Audiochuck production. You can view a list of all the source material for this episode on our website, parkpredators.com. And you can also follow Park Predators on Instagram, at parkpredators. I think Chuck would approve. Bark!