Blood Trails

Before Ryan Watson, Bryan Hagerich, and Tyler Wenrich faced the possibility of 12 years in a Turks and Caicos prison, another American had already lived their nightmare.
In 2023, Michael Grim forgot a loaded pistol magazine in his vacation backpack. He never intended to bring ammunition into the country, but after a bewildering court process, he became the first American tourist sentenced to His Majesty’s Prison on Grand Turk.
In Chapter 2 of Blood Trails: Paradise Prison, Michael reveals what happened after the prison gates closed behind him. Alone in a foreign country, he enters a world of suffocating heat, solitary confinement, violent threats, extortion attempts, strange alliances, and rules that seem to change without warning.
As Ryan, Bryan, and Tyler await their own uncertain fates, Michael’s experience offers a terrifying glimpse of what may be waiting for them—and a warning that surviving Grand Turk prison will require more than keeping their heads down.
How does an ordinary vacationer adapt when an honest mistake lands him among convicted killers? And what happens when the people who he thought would protect him decide he’s on his own?
Want more Blood Trails? Check out the Case File.
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In this explosive Blood Trails miniseries, a dream Caribbean vacation becomes every hunter's worst nightmare.
When Oklahoma hunter Ryan Watson is stopped at the Turks and Caicos airport after security discovers four forgotten rifle cartridges inside an old duffel bag, he expects to lose the ammunition and catch his flight home. Instead, he and his wife are taken away by plainclothes officers, threatened with 12 years in prison, and thrust into a justice system that will change their lives forever.
As more American hunters are caught in the same legal trap, a disturbing pattern begins to emerge. What initially appears to be a simple customs violation unfolds into a story of harsh mandatory sentencing, questionable law enforcement tactics, filthy jails, and a prison that human rights investigators say is unfit for human habitation.
In Chapter 1 of Blood Trails: Paradise Prison, host Jordan Sillars follows the first Americans caught in Turks and Caicos' sweeping firearms crackdown, revealing how an honest mistake became an international incident—and why what happened next was far more complicated than the headlines ever suggested.
How do a handful of forgotten hunting cartridges lead to a global diplomatic controversy? It all starts here.
Want more Blood Trails? Check out the Case File.
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MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube
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Blood Trails is a true crime podcast born in the outdoors--and in this three-part summer mini-series, Paradise Prison, we're going to follow American hunters and gun owners who were trapped in Turks and Caicos in 2024. The story received international media attention, and you might think you know what happened, but trust us, you don't know the half of it.
Follow the show now to get notified when Episode 1 drops, Thursday, July 23rd.
Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon.
Connect with Jordan Sillars and MeatEater
MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube
Jordan Sillars on Instagram
MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In January 2019, retired archeologist Dr. Jon Young was found dead in the smoldering ruins of the adobe home he'd built by hand outside Taos, New Mexico. The fire marshal found evidence of accelerants in five locations. The autopsy flagged a suspicious hole in his skull. A neighbor saw unfamiliar men outside the house minutes before the blaze. And yet, no one has ever been charged — because, incredibly, no law enforcement agency ever opened a homicide investigation. Host Jordan Sillars traces the cold trail left by a fascinating man whose life's work may have gotten him killed, and asks the question his family has been asking for seven years: what really happened on Mirlo Road?
Want more Blood Trails? Check out the Case File.
Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon.
Connect with Jordan Sillars and MeatEater
MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube
Blood Trails on Instagram
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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In October of 2024, Dustin Kjersem drove into the mountains south of Bozeman, Montana, to prepare for a romantic weekend of camping. He was never seen alive again. When his girlfriend finally discovered his body, she thought he'd been attacked by a bear. But the truth, it turned out, was far more disturbing. To find Dustin's killer, investigators followed a trail that led through a bloody campsite, a missing axe, two tequila glasses, and a pair of cell phones found by a man who claimed he saw them in a dream. This is a story about finding justice for a man who had never made an enemy — a carpenter, a father, and a friend who welcomed a stranger into his tent without a second thought.
Want more Blood Trails? Check out the Case File.
Follow Blood Trails on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon.
Connect with Jordan Sillars and MeatEater
MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube
Blood Trails on Instagram
Jordan Sillars on Instagram
MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.