A year after our episode on fugitive pilot Michael Bullinger first aired, a new tip sent investigators, and our team, back into the Wyoming wilderness to search for answers.
In June, 2017, three people were shot to death at a home on KCID Road in Caldwell, Idaho: 56-year-old Cheryl Baker, 47-year-old Nadja Medley, and Nadja’s 14-year-old daughter, Payton Medley. Cheryl Baker was the wife of career pilot Gerald “Michael” Bullinger, and Medley was his girlfriend …two women who, according to police, had no idea the other existed.
Bullinger became a person of interest and disappeared almost immediately. Surveillance video placed him at a car dealership in Ogden, Utah on June 10, 2017. The next morning, June 11, 2017, at 10:34 AM, he drove through the Moran entrance of Grand Teton National Park. Weeks later, his abandoned 2007 white Ford Focus (Utah plate 129UMP) was found at the Pacific Creek Campground in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Inside the trunk: his ID, nearly $3,600 in cash, a loaded revolver, an empty holster for a second still-missing gun, and personal belongings, including phones and purses, tied to all three victims.
On July 16, 2017, the Teton County Sheriff’s Office, Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the U.S. Forest Service, the FBI, and the U.S. Marshals launched a massive multi-agency manhunt across northwestern Wyoming. It was suspended eight days later, on July 24, 2017. Bullinger has never been found, and to this day no one knows for certain what happened to him out there.
But, after our episode on Michael Bullinger premiered on September 22, 2025, new information we uncovered during our reporting helped spark a renewed, large-scale search of the Bridger-Teton wilderness, the first of its kind in years. Investigators invited us to be part of it.
Host Ashley Flowers sent Crime Junkie reporter Emily Mieure, along with team members Tate and Luke, into the backcountry to document the search on the ground: taking a helicopter to the search location, hiking with K9 teams, splitting into North and South search groups, and working alongside investigators like Captain Chuck Gentry of the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office and Detective Call. What the teams found in June and July of 2026, and what it could mean for the case, is something we want you to experience exactly the way we did.
Special thanks to:
Captain Chuck Gentry at Canyon County Sheriff’s Office
Detective Landon Call at Teton County Sheriff’s Office
Jon Bourke, Director of Aviation Operations & crew at Teton County Search and Rescue
Bret Sayer & Kacy Robinson at Fide Canem Cold Case
Everyone involved in this search effort
This case remains open. If you have any information about the whereabouts of Michael Bullinger, no matter how small it may seem, email tips@audiochuck.com, or contact the Canyon County, Idaho Sheriff’s Office or the Teton County, Wyoming Sheriff’s Office directly.
Watch our original investigation on @CrimeJunkie youtu.be/jjTyVkyuMFw
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Crime Junkie is created anAmerican Idol Contestant Arrested For Murder!? The Case Of Ashley Flynn d hosted by Ashley Flowers.
About Ashley Flowers
Ashley Flowers is the top female podcaster in the U.S. and the host of Crime Junkie, the #1 podcast among women and the #1 true crime podcast globally. As the Founder of Audiochuck, she has built a top-tier podcast production company that has garnered over 2.6 billion downloads, captivating audiences with its gripping storytelling through 10+ chart topping podcasts. Ashley and her team are dedicated to creating responsible true crime content that respects victims and their families.
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@annieelise Exposing JP Miller’s Shady History: Years Of Abuse, SA Allegations, and More https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhvyc_PBHBo
@kallmekris He Said The Devil Made Him Do It https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snx8HZi9zJU
@KendallRae She Texted “Good Morning” Then Vanished … Where Is Arelie Garcia? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6blVJEvBx9s
@bellafiori The Staudte Family Murders https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1gYy3EFtwk
Watch Crime Junkie true crime podcast dedicated to covering the cases we just can’t get out of our heads. Every Monday, host Ashley Flowers on SloppBoxx.Com.
More of this content type please
I will no longer be listening to or supporting Crime Junkie. And I’ll be vocal about it to anyone who will listen. Yall don’t even pay your employees a livable wage. Money definitely changes people and it’s changed you for the worst Ash. The audiochuck team is hanging on by a thread these days, when most people use to love coming to work now it’s nothing but stress. Go take care of your kid and stop benefiting off peoples misery.
Idk 🤷♀️ he probably killed himself he’s selfish
This is a great effort to find the guy!
If I read “deep dive” on your clickbait title and your video is less than an hour, you’re not doing a deep dive.
Completely unrelated, I love Emily’s topo bag 😍
24:01 Shouldn’t he be wearing gloves to avoid fingerprint and other contamination?