WANTED: Michael Bullinger
When a pilot murders his wife, his secret lover and her daughter and then vanishes into the Wyoming wilderness, leaving his getaway car behind, a massive tri-state manhunt ensues for the family annihilator. Eight years later, there’s still no sign of Mike Bullinger and questions remain: did he use his survivalist and flight skills to launch a new life or did he meet his end in the forest? And why did he kill the three people he loved the most?
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From left to right: Cheryl Baker, Nadja and Payton Medley.
Credit: Baker Family Photo and Nadja Medley Facebook
Mike Bullinger’s getaway car parked at the Pacific Creek Campground in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Moran, Wyoming.
Courtesy: Teton County Sheriff’s Office
The inside of Mike Bullinger’s getaway car.
Courtesy: Teton County Sheriff’s Office
Mike Bullinger.
Courtesy: Canyon County Sheriff’s Office
Police responding to Mike Bullinger’s home in Caldwell, Idaho.
Courtesy: Canyon County Sheriff’s Office
Police responding to Mike Bullinger’s home in Caldwell, Idaho.
Provided by Canyon County Sheriff’s Office
Cheryl Baker.
Credit: Baker Family Photo
A surveillance capture of Mike Bullinger at a car dealership in Ogden, Utah.
Courtesy: Canyon County Sheriff’s Office
A surveillance capture of Mike Bullinger entering Grand Teton National Park in the white Ford Focus.
Courtesy: Teton County Sheriff’s Office
Sheriff Donahue of The Canyon County Sheriff’s Office.
The empty holster that was found inside Mike Bullinger’s getaway car.
Courtesy: Teton County Sheriff’s Office
A surveillance capture of Mike Bullinger after leaving Caldwell, Idaho in 2017.
Courtesy: Canyon County Sheriff’s Office
The Ruger .357 found by someone hiking up the Pacific Creek trail in 2018.
Courtesy: Teton County Sheriff’s Office
Former Teton County Sheriff’s Detective Dave Hodges points at a map during a hunt for Mike Bullinger’s body with the U.S. Marshals Service.
Credit: audiochuck staff
Timeline:
Mike Bullinger and Cheryl Baker buy the house in Caldwell, ID.
Nadja and Payton Medley move into the Caldwell house.
Cheryl arrives in Caldwell.
Mike allegedly kills Nadja, Payton and Cheryl.
Mike drives to Ogden, Utah. He parks at his house, bikes to the Ford dealership and gets Cheryl’s white Ford Focus, and then leaves for Wyoming.
10:34 a.m.
Mike Bullinger is captured on surveillance entering Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming in the white car.
A welfare check results in deputies finding the bodies of Nadja, Payton and Cheryl in a shed on Bullinger’s Caldwell property.
A camp host manager reports the white car for inactivity at Pacific Creek Campground and law enforcement realizes the car is related to a triple homicide in Idaho.
A family reports they might’ve seen Bullinger hiking up a trail near Pacific Creek Campground in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in western Wyoming.
The Caldwell House
The property where Mike lived with Nadja and Payton. Also, where Nadja, Payton and Cheryl’s bodies are found in a shed.
Ogden, Utah
The city where Mike also lived with Cheryl.
The Griddle
The breakfast spot where Mike eats before heading back to Utah on June 10th.
Grand Teton National Park’s Moran Entrance
Where Mike is captured on surveillance entering Grand Teton National Park in the white Ford Focus.
Pacific Creek Campground
Where Mike’s abandoned Ford Focus is found.
Billings, Montana
Where Mike grew up.
Additional Info:
National Domestic Violence Hotline
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available through the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
Michael "Mike" Bullinger
Michael “Mike” Bullinger is still wanted and considered armed and at large until his body is found. Information about Bullinger’s whereabouts or any sightings of him should be called into the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office in Idaho at 208-454-7510.
Teton County Sheriff’s Office
If anyone hiking near Pacific Creek in Moran, Wyoming, comes across a gun, bones, or clothes that you believe might be relevant to this case, please contact the Teton County Sheriff’s Office at 307-733-2331.
We’d love to speak with you and see how we can support.
If you’re a law enforcement agency or family member of one of the people we mentioned in this episode, or if you’re looking for more coverage on a case, please reach out. You can email us at:
Episode Source Material
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Original reporting by Emily Mieure
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Idaho News/CBS 2 (Boise, ID): Sheriff releases new surveillance photos of Gerald ‘Mike’ Bullinger, by KBOI News Staff. Published July 3, 2017. Accessed May 28, 2025. https://idahonews.com/news/local/sheriff-releases-new-surveillance-photos-of-gerald-mike-bullinger
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Jackson Hole News and Guide (Jackson, WY): Cops won’t quit search or suspected killer, by Emily Mieure. Published August 8, 2018. Accessed May 29, 2025. https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/cops_courts/cops-won-t-quit-search-for-suspected-killer/article_b3591b32-37ff-5462-a87c-5f4af0f156c6.html
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ABC4 (Salt Lake City, UT): Suspect remains at large two years after the murders of three Utah women, by Rick Aaron. Published June 26, 2019. Accessed May 29, 2025.
https://www.abc4.com/news/suspect-remains-at-large-two-years-after-the-murders-of-three-utah-women/ -
People: 3 Women Found Dead in Idaho Shed Belonging to Man Who Is Now Missing: Authorities, by Harriet Sokmensuer. Published June 22, 2017. Accessed May 28, 2025.
https://people.com/crime/three-dead-women-found-idaho-storage-shed/ -
Jackson Hole News and Guide (Jackson, WY): Bullinger is presumed dead in Bridger-Teton, by Emily Mieure. Published July 18, 2018. Accessed May 29, 2025 via Newspapers.com.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/934966987 -
Idaho Statesman (Boise, ID): Wanted: Owner of the Caldwell home where 3 bodies were found this week, by Kristin Rodine. Published June 22, 2017. Accessed May 28, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/692243894
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The Idaho Statesman (Boise, ID): He left behind 3 dead women & disappeared. Friends, family & the law still seek answers., by Nicole Blanchard and Ruth Brown Published June 15, 2018. Updated February 2, 2021. Accessed May 29, 2025 via archive.ph. https://archive.ph/jAP84#selection-821.19-843.25
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Jackson Hole News and Guide (Jackson, WY): Search for Idaho man scaled back by sheriff, by Emily Mieure. Published July 26, 2017. Accessed May 28, 2025 via Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/934964532
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