The Messed Up Truth About The Chameleon Killer Roxane Gruenheid/Contra Costa County Sheriff s Office/Wikipedia
By Cody Copeland/Feb. 16, 2021 1:55 pm EDT
In 1985, Jesse Morgan, 11, and his friends were playing hide-and-seek in Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, New Hampshire. One of his friends suggested they check out a barrel he d seen in the woods, but when they opened it, a smell that he told ABC s
20/20 was absolutely putrid came from it, and they all hightailed it out of there. He and his friends were unaware that the barrel contained the remains of a woman and her young daughters, the victims of a man who would go on to be known as The Chameleon Killer, though their bones would lay anonymous in the Allenstown cemetery for decades before the full extent of the serial killer s crimes were brought to light.
Snowshoeing at Bear Brook State Park, NH Courtesy of the CCC
Winter’s cold temperatures and abundant snow give Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, New Hampshire, a remote feel. At 10,000 acres, Bear Brook is the state’s largest developed state park. Plus, it’s located near the state’s biggest cities and just over an hour from Boston.
The proximity to major population centers is intentional Bear Brook was part of the Recreational Demonstration Area program, a 1930s New Deal initiative to provide urban people an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and escape city life.
With so much of the park’s construction done by members of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), enjoy the fruits of their labor this winter by snowshoeing some of the park’s 40 miles (64 km) of rolling trails in an outing that combines winter recreation with a dose of history.