Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Two campers discovered dead on a remote island on Lake Superior have been identified as area residents.

The deceased have been identified as 60-year-old John Baird and 30-year-old Bradley Baird of the Northville/Salem Township area. The father and son are believed to have died by murder-suicide.

On June 8th around 4pm, park rangers at Isle Royale National Park received two separate reports of two persons found deceased at a remote backcountry campground within the park. Two rangers hiked overnight 11 miles to the campground to assess the situation, arriving early that Monday morning - confirming two unidentified persons found deceased. Additional ground and aviation resources responded.

MLive.com reports local officials in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula voted to allow the release of public records this week containing the names and ages of the two campers. The Keweenaw County Medical Examiner has said murder-suicide is suspected but it is not clear who died first. A link to that article is provided.

FOIA requests by MLive and other news outlets requesting death and police records were initially denied and the identities were kept closely guarded until just recently. Agencies stated the release would threaten the investigation.

Investigations are continuing by the FBI and the National Park Service.