Met Her on the Mountain: The Murder of Nancy Morgan by Mark I. Pinsky

Shelton Laurel Creek is known today as a fabulous trout stream and fly-fishing destination. The community in its watershed is located in Madison County, North Carolina, and was settled by brothers David and Martin Shelton in the 1790s. The 1860 census found 137 local residents named Shelton, by far the majority of valley residents. It was a hardscrabble life, and only four of them were over the age of 40. The community voted 532 to 345 against seceding from the Union and joining the Confederacy, establishing itself as a bastion of union sentiment. Then, the invading Confederate Army terrorized the community in an assault that culminated when they shot 13 apparently randomly-selected local prisoners in what has been subsequently known as the Shelton Laurel Massacre. In 1970, another violent incident put Shelton Laurel again on the map. There, Nancy Morgan, a twenty-four-year-old VISTA volunteer was raped and murdered. A botched and incompetent local investigation was followed, fourteen