fbpx
Search
Close this search box.

The Berman’s

Barry Berman checks a guidebook

The Berman’s

Gone to the vanishing point

On January 5, 1986, a couple on a romantic trip in the Death Valley region of eastern California left a two-lane state highway and turned onto a rough dirt road that led into the surrounding wilderness.

After braving fifty miles of challenging, off-highway driving, Barry and Louise Berman reached clothing-optional hot springs in northeastern Saline Valley – a counterculture mecca. They parked at a campground called Palm Spring.

 Palm Spring in Saline Valley
 Palm Spring in Saline Valley.
Wizard Pool in Saline Valley.
Wizard Pool in Saline Valley.

That evening, Barry and Louise lounged in Wizard Pool, one of the concrete soaking pools at the hot springs. Also sharing the tub were two motorcycle riders from Modesto, California, and a military man named Mike.

Early the next morning, the Bermans set out on a stroll, wearing tennis shoes and carrying daypacks. Another camper saw them heading up a jeep and hiking trail known to locals as the Corridor.

Barry and Louise never returned.

Trail leading away from camp.
Trail leading away from camp.

A massive search comes up empty

The Inyo County Sheriff’s Office initiated a search that would grow to become the largest search and rescue effort in county history, involving multiple aircraft and trained teams from around Eastern California.
Download the PDF – Missing Persons Report (Jan. 1986)

Missing Persons Report (Jan. 1986)]
The cabin used by Wolfman.
The cabin used by Wolfman.

The sheriff’s office searched a mining cabin frequented by a prospector called Wolfman, who had a reputation for being snarly. A stone slab covered in blood proved to be a chopping block for butchering jackrabbits, and investigators later learned that Wolfman was in jail in Las Vegas when the Bermans disappeared.
Download the PDF – Sheriff’s Supplementary Investigation Report

Despite herculean efforts to find Barry and Louise, the search failed to uncover a single clue. Some spacey Saline Valley regulars speculated that they were victims of a UFO abduction.

Newsletter about the search.
Newsletter about the search.

Deputy Boyer looks for a man named Mike

Deputy Leon Boyer formed a theory that someone the Bermans encountered at the clothing-optional hot springs did them harm, perhaps due to a deviant sexual motivation. The motorcycle riders who soaked with Barry and Louise proved to be guileless and cooperative witnesses, so Deputy Boyer turned his attention to finding the military man named Mike who also shared a tub with the Bermans.

Deputy Leon Boyer (ret.) in 2014.
Deputy Leon Boyer (ret.) in 2014.
Boyer drew a composite of the man named Mike.
Boyer drew a composite of the man named Mike.

Deputy Boyer, a natural born sketch artist, penned composite drawings of Mike and posted them at the hot springs in Saline Valley. He also ventured into the valley on his own time and spoke with other campers.

Shariff's Department - Missing Persons

The extraordinary detective work by Deputy Boyer led to the identification of Michael Joseph Pepe as a possible suspect. When interviewed by investigators ten months after the search ended, Pepe gave inconsistent accounts about where he was and what he did on the day the Bermans disappeared. But the absence of bodies or other clues hampered the investigation.
Download the PDF – interview of Michael Pepe

An excerpt from the interview of Michael Pepe.
Copyright Tom Ganner 1988.
Copyright Tom Ganner 1988.

By the time a hiker stumbled across the shallow grave where Barry and Louise’s bodies had been hidden, the degraded state of their remains meant the crime scene yielded little by way of clues. By then, nearly three years had passed since the couple walked away from the campground in Saline Valley.


The author reveals a sex crimes connection

In 2014, I began investigating the Berman murders. The project stretched over nine years and involved multiple crime scene visits and dozens of interviews – plus records requests, online research, and all the other digging that comes with investigative journalism.

The author near the grave in 2014.
The author near the grave in 2014.

Along the way I published articles about the case, including an LA Weekly cover story, which helped raise awareness and stir up new information.

LA Weekly cover
LA Weekly cover

My LA Weekly story revealed a chilling connection between the Berman murders and sex crimes committed by a part-time professor who lived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The part-time professor who bound, raped, and tortured underage girls was Michael Joseph Pepe, the suspect in the Berman case.

Michael Pepe arrested in Cambodia.
Michael Pepe arrested in Cambodia.
The prostitute who was Pepe’s procurer.
The prostitute who was Pepe’s procurer.

Fifteen years of courtroom dramas

After ICE agents hauled Michael Pepe from Cambodia to the USA to face federal charges, his victims flew to Los Angeles to testify about the horrors he inflicted upon them.

For more than fifteen years courtroom dramas played out in Southern California and Cambodia – with mind boggling twists and turns along the way.

Opinion News clipping.

https://lbpost.com/news/crime/michael-pepe-cambodia-sex-crimes-sentence/

https://lbpost.com/news/crime/michael-pepe-cambodia-sex-crimes-loses-appeal/

Share This With Your Favorite Detective

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Tumblr
Pocket
WhatsApp
Email