A Massachusetts man faces federal charges in the brutal attack Saturday on two Appalachian Trail hikers that left a man dead and a woman hospitalized with severe stab wounds, Virginia authorities said Sunday.
James Louis Jordan, 30, was arrested early Saturday after Wythe County, Va., sheriff’s deputies located him along the trail in southwestern Virginia by tracking an SOS signal triggered by one of the victims, officials said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia said in a statement Sunday that Jordan, of West Yarmouth, Mass., is charged with murder and assault with intent to murder in connection with the attack. Jordan is scheduled to appear in court in Abingdon, Va., on Monday.
The names of the victims have not been released, but law enforcement described the horrific scene that involved multiple agencies in a combined effort to catch Jordan.
It is high season for “thru-hikers” traveling the length of the famed scenic trail, which stretches along 2,100 miles from Georgia to Maine. Hikers typically begin around spring and trek north.
Dunagan’s deputies were the first to encounter Jordan, several yards from the scene of Saturday’s attack. It had been reported that a man wielding a large knife, accompanied by a dog, had threatened a group of four hikers camped out late Friday.
Authorities said Jordan pursued two of the hikers, who fled north, but they eluded him. Those two reached sheriff’s deputies in nearby Bland County and reported the nighttime attack. The other two hikers fled south but were unable to escape. Jordan chased and caught up with them, leading to the attack, authorities said.
Dunagan said the male victim managed to trigger an SOS signal on his phone, and the mobile service provider alerted deputies to his location just north of the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area. The woman — who suffered defensive wounds and was severely injured by the stabbing — escaped.
“She pretended to be dead and when [Jordan] walked away after his dog, she took off running,” Dunagan said.
The woman found help with another group of hikers she encountered six miles away in Smyth County, Va., and was transported to the nearest trauma center, the sheriff said.
The Wythe County Sheriff’s Office tactical team traveled four miles into the woods to locate the wounded man’s SOS signal. They initially came across walkers who described a knife-wielding man known as “Sovereign” who roamed the trail with a dog.
While authorities were talking to the group, a dog ambled over to the camp. Deputies followed the animal, who led them back to Jordan, and he was taken into custody without incident. Investigators later found a 20-inch knife nearby along the trail and soon discovered the male victim.
Jordan, who authorities said they think is “Sovereign,” was
well known to the community of hikers on the trail.
Recent news reports of incidents in Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia describe a man threatening and chasing other hikers with a machete or large knife.
