Carole sund, her daughter juli and friend silvina pelosso go missing while vacationing in yosemite national park. The theory is that they had a car accident. What begins as a search and rescue operation becomes a chilling case of murder when the bodies of two of the women are discovered in the trunk of their burned out rental car. An anonymous letter to the fbi leads authorities to the body of the third victim – sexually assaulted and murdered by a lake. Confusing and contradictory evidence keeps police off the trail of a sadistic killer until after he strikes again. When they finally catch cary stayner, the handyman at the motel where the women were murdered, he confesses that he used forensic science to mislead and manipulate investigators.