2 Montana mountain men abducted world renowned athelete in wilderness – they were hunting for a ‘bride’

In one of the most bizarre abduction cases in modern American history, Olympic hopeful and world-class biathlete Kari Swenson was kidnapped on July 15, 1984, by two self-styled “mountain men” while training in the rugged Montana wilderness, who said she was being taken to become the younger man’s “bride.”

According to The New York Times, Swenson, then 22 and a rising star on the U.S. biathlon team, was out for a routine training run near Big Sky when Don Nichols, 53, and his 19-year-old son, Dan Nichols, emerged from the forest and forced her into captivity. The pair, who had been living off the grid in the mountains of southwestern Montana, told Swenson they needed a woman to live with them, effectively abducting her to satisfy what they described as a need for a wife for Dan.

Swenson’s ordeal

Don and his son marched Swenson deeper into the wilderness and held her there for more than 18 hours. She was chained to the younger Nichols as the men moved from site to site, trying to conceal their camp from would-be rescuers. Desperate to be found, Swenson dropped personal items along the way and even falsely claimed she was married to discourage her captors from keeping her.

When Swenson’s absence from her summer job at a guest ranch near Big Sky became apparent, coworkers and friends launched a search. On July 16, a search party including Alan Goldstein and ranch worker Jim Schwalbe stumbled upon the Nicholses’ hidden camp.

Swenson, seeing her rescuers, shouted a warning that the kidnappers were armed. In the ensuing confrontation, Dan shot Swenson in the chest with a .22-caliber handgun as ordered by his father, and Goldstein was fatally shot by Don when he attempted to intervene.

The Nicholses then fled deeper into the forest, leaving Swenson wounded and alone. Despite a severe lung injury, Swenson survived the gunshot and endured hours alone before a ground search party located her and airlifted her to a hospital in Bozeman for emergency treatment.

The massive Nichols manhunt

What followed was one of the largest manhunts in Montana history. Law enforcement, aided by search teams, helicopters, K-9 units, and mountain trackers, scoured the sprawling Madison Range in pursuit of the Nicholses. The fugitives evaded authorities for nearly five months, surviving in harsh conditions with hidden caches and foraged food. Finally, in December 1984, Madison County Sheriff Johnny France located the pair at a campsite near Bear Trap Canyon and arrested them without incident after a grueling pursuit.

At trial, Don admitted to abducting Swenson, telling jurors he believed she would adapt to life in the wilderness and accept her role alongside his son. Don was convicted of homicide, kidnapping, and aggravated assault, receiving an 85-year prison sentence. Dan was convicted of kidnapping and assault and was later released in 1991. Nichols was granted parole and released from prison in August 2017 at the age of 86.

Swenson’s remarkable survival and resilience prevented the tragedy from becoming even darker, but the physical and emotional impact lasted years. She returned to athletic competition despite diminished lung capacity and later transitioned to a career as a veterinarian. Just one year after being shot through the lung, Swenson won a bronze medal at the 1985 World Biathlon Championships in Switzerland.

Swenson was a world-class biathlete and a pioneer in her sport, but she never competed in the Olympics because women’s biathlon was not added to the Olympic program until 1992, six years after her retirement.

The extraordinary case garnered national media attention and inspired public fascination, spawning a made-for-TV movie, The Abduction of Kari Swenson (1987), and other documentaries recounting the harrowing events.
Decades later, the case remains a chilling example of wilderness crime and psychological endurance, highlighting Swenson’s courage and the dark motivations behind the Nicholses’ plan.