For almost two decades, Bernadette Vander Meer’s death was treated as a tragic hiking accident. She was killed on August 22, 2006, when she fell from a cliff on the Angels Landing trail in Zion National Park, Utah, while hiking with her husband, David Vander Meer, to mark their wedding anniversary. This week, U.S. media reported a dramatic reversal, David Vander Meer, a former church youth leader from Las Vegas, was arrested by marshals and charged with murder and insurance fraud.
Court records say the reopened investigation began after a former senior figure at the church where Vander Meer worked approached authorities and said he believed Bernadette’s death “was not an accident” and that David pushed her. Bernadette was 29 when she died. Vander Meer, now 48, was being held this week at the Clark County detention center in Las Vegas, and it was not immediately clear when, or whether, he would be extradited to Utah.
Angels Landing is one of Zion’s best-known and most dangerous routes, a narrow, exposed trail with steep ridges and deep drop-offs. The cliff is about 450 meters high, and investigators said Bernadette fell roughly 350 meters. Vander Meer told police they set out before dawn with headlamps, reached the summit before sunrise, and he moved their backpacks before taking pictures. When he turned around, he said, his wife was gone. He claimed he heard her scream, then ran for help. Her body was found hours later at the base of the cliff.
Investigators initially noted suspicious circumstances, but the case was closed as an accident because of a lack of evidence. Reports on the renewed probe also say no signs of violence or struggle were found in the couple’s hotel room. The case later resurfaced because of allegations that Vander Meer had a sexual relationship with a teenage girl from his youth group, identified as SH, who said the relationship began when she was 16. She told investigators he allegedly said they could only be together if Bernadette “was not alive.”
Court documents also point to a possible financial motive. They say the couple’s life insurance policies were increased shortly before Bernadette’s death from $150,000 to $600,000 each, and Vander Meer received a life insurance payout of about $567,439 in 2007. Bernadette’s father, Richard Goodenkauf, said he never accepted the accident explanation, telling the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “She was like a mountain goat. For her to fall off a cliff? No.”
