The Pisgah Ritual: A Decade-Long Mystery Solved by a Tourist’s Discovery and a Terrifying Note on ‘Purity’

 

The date was October 22nd, 2023, and the scent was a punch to the gut. It was the rank, suffocating odor of deep decay, rising from a rocky crevice in the remote Graveyard Fields section of North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest. For Michael Renick, a software engineer seeking a solitary autumn hike, the discovery of an old, green-gray tarp was a mere curiosity. But when he pulled it free, the scene revealed beneath the stones and soil brought a chilling, decade-long mystery to a horrifying close.

Buried in that isolated hollow were the remains of Sandra Webb and her 11-year-old daughter, Hannah, who had vanished during a weekend hike in August 2013. The grim discovery not only confirmed the family’s worst fears but exposed one of the most disturbing and ritualistic crimes in state history. Near the remains, investigators found a carefully arranged circle of animal skulls, a gruesome necklace allegedly crafted from children’s teeth, and a chilling, handwritten note detailing a need for “purity and ritual.”

The case of Sandra and Hannah Webb was always destined for the archives—a classic “missing in the woods” file that had stumped even the most experienced investigators. Now, it had exploded into a sensational murder inquiry, defined by a motive rooted in fanatical ideology.

The Agony of the Unknown: August 2013

 

Sandra Webb, a former high school biology teacher, was navigating a new life after her divorce, finding solace in nature with her enthusiastic, art-loving daughter, Hannah. On August 17th, 2013, after saying goodbye to Sandra’s mother, Martha Clark, the pair headed to the Shining Rock Trail. The last contact was a brief, crackling cell phone call from the Blue Ridge Parkway Lot where Sandra confirmed their arrival, with Hannah in the background excitedly talking about butterflies.

When the pair failed to return, a comprehensive search was launched, complicated by the vast, rugged terrain. Their locked red Honda Civic was found at the trailhead, a clear sign they had started the hike but never left the woods.

The search offered early hope, which quickly dissolved into confusion. A search dog located Hannah’s purple shoe about three kilometers in. The discovery suggested they hadn’t gone far, but the trail vanished there. Rescuers found no camp, no sign of struggle, and no witnesses who recalled seeing a woman and child. All accessible areas were scoured, from rocky cliffs to streambeds, but the forest kept its secrets. By the end of the week, the case was handed to Detective Michael Stone, a veteran specializing in missing persons.

 

Chasing Ghosts: The Suspects and False Leads

 

Detective Stone’s investigation soon focused on the few anomalous details available. Financial records showed stability, and Sandra’s ex-husband had a solid alibi. The focus quickly shifted to unusual phone calls Sandra had been receiving.

The caller was Thomas Griggs, a 41-year-old mountain hermit who lived an isolated life kilometers from the forest. Griggs was a former, fanatical member of the “Children of Pure Light,” a religious sect that believed women and children possessed a special spiritual purity and needed to be rescued from the corrupting influence of city life.

Griggs admitted meeting Sandra at the Asheville Library, claiming she was disillusioned with urban life and wanted to move to the woods with Hannah, a story he backed up by showing Stone recent tree stumps and logs on his property that accounted for his time. A search of his cabin revealed maps, religious quotes, and books on child psychology—but no direct link to the Webbs. Griggs was a primary person of interest, yet lacked tangible evidence connecting him to the disappearance.

The investigation continued to chase frustrating leads:

The Crying Child: A couple reported hearing a child crying near the search zone the morning after the disappearance, a detail that fueled hope but led nowhere after further exhaustive searches.
The Planted Backpack: In 2014, Hannah’s pink butterfly backpack was found five kilometers off-trail. Forensics suggested it had been stored and then deliberately placed to mislead investigators, implying an active killer or accomplice was mocking the search.
The Janitor Collector: A neighbor reported a local janitor, Carl Jenkins, who compulsively collected children’s items. Jenkins was arrested and interrogated, but proved to be a harmless collector with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, having purchased the items resembling Hannah’s from a consignment store.

By late 2014, Detective Stone was forced to recommend closing the active investigation. The case was formally archived, a profound failure of justice that left Martha Clark in perpetual torment. For years, she poured her inheritance into private investigators and organized volunteer searches, a mother’s refusal to accept an empty outcome. The forest stood silent, its deadly secret preserved by the rugged terrain and the passage of time.

 

The Final Revelation: A Ritual in the Ravine

 

For nine years, the case remained cold. Then came Michael Renick in 2023. His attention to detail and willingness to explore the remotest parts of the Graveyard Fields led him into a deep ravine, a chaotic space of boulders and stone walls. The discovery of the tarp, and the subsequent retrieval of the sleeping bag containing human remains, sent immediate shockwaves to law enforcement.

The medical examiner quickly confirmed the identities through dental records: Sandra and Hannah Webb. The location, in a remote and almost inaccessible rocky labyrinth, explained why search teams had missed them for so long.

But the most critical evidence lay scattered around the burial site, confirming the most horrifying suspicions: the killer was driven by ritual:

Macabre Ornaments: The presence of a circle of animal skulls and the sickening detail of a necklace made of small, bone-like structures—later confirmed to be children’s teeth—was beyond the scope of a random crime.
The Fanatic’s Confession: The note about purity provided the undeniable link back to Thomas Griggs and the ideology of the “Children of Pure Light” sect. The Webbs had not been victims of a robber or a random attacker; they had been sought out and murdered as a perverse, ritualistic act of “salvation.”

The combination of the macabre tableau, the remote burial location, and the note gave investigators the overwhelming leverage they needed to re-evaluate the mountain hermit. Griggs’s carefully constructed alibi, his philosophical ramblings about “purity,” and his suspicious contact with Sandra had been the truth all along, masked by a lack of physical evidence at the time.

The final chapter in the Webb tragedy was one of justice, decades delayed. The relentless pursuit by Detective Stone, combined with Martha Clark’s unbreakable spirit, ensured the case was never truly forgotten. The Pisgah National Forest had finally given up its dead, and in doing so, exposed the dark heart of a killer whose beliefs twisted the serene wilderness into a site of sacrifice. The chilling reality remains: the fanatic had lured a mother and daughter seeking peace into the very nature he intended to use to “save” them, leaving behind a scene of unspeakable, ritualistic horror.