Mount Rainier National Park to reopen Saturday

SEATTLE, WA

The park has been closed since ranger Margaret Anderson was shot to death on New Year's Day trying to stop a car that failed to pull over at a checkpoint requiring drivers to put chains on their vehicles.

A memorial service is being planned for the 34-year-old mother of two who was married to another park ranger.

Authorities say she was killed by Benjamin Colton Barnes, a 24-year-old Iraq war veteran. Investigators found his body face down in a snowy creek Monday with a handgun and rifle nearby. An autopsy Tuesday showed he had hypothermia and drowned.

Copyright © 2025 KTRK-TV. All Rights Reserved.