Father and son identified as deceased Isle Royale campers

Death records released Tuesday identify Michigan residents Bradley Baird, 30, and John Baird, 60, as the two people who were found dead in early June at a campground in Isle Royale National Park.

Officials in Keweenaw County, Mich., released the records after initially declining to disclose the information. The home address listed for both men is in Salem Township, outside of Detroit.

The death certificates give the cause of death for the father and son as “pending law enforcement investigation.” The records say the time of death is unknown.

Contacted for further information about the father and son, a relative told the Minnesota Star Tribune that “the family will need to discuss” before granting any interviews.

The documents list Bradley Baird’s occupation as a self-employed writer. They say John Baird is president of Admitted Carriers, an insurance company. A LinkedIn profile for a John Baird says he was honoring a 12-month noncompete agreement but was most recently president of Ameritrust Insurance Corp.

That LinkedIn profile includes a post from three months ago saying that John Baird and his wife had traveled the country for two months, driving a Jeep over 7,000 miles and visiting 10 national parks, seven national monuments and six state parks.

“Unfortunately the pictures we took do a poor job of representing the amazing views we experienced while hiking these quiet places of our country,” the post says. “The impact left on both of us was significant. Very proud to be an American.”

The deaths of the two campers on Isle Royale drew attention in the Upper Midwest and beyond, as well as questions and criticisms about the slow trickle of information from federal investigators.

Last week, the medical examiner in tiny Keweenaw County, population 2,000, told a reporter at the Michigan news outlet MLive that the suspected cause of death was murder-suicide. He said the people were a father and son, and that it’s not clear who died first.

Examiner Michael McAllister, chief of staff and trauma director at a local hospital, said he completed the death certificates, but autopsies were done in Dane County, Wis., according to MLive.

Dane County officials did not respond to the Minnesota Star Tribune or other news outlets. Neither did McAllister.

On June 8, rangers at Isle Royale got two reports of dead bodies at the South Lake Desor Campground, on the island’s interior, a news release said. Two rangers hiked 11 miles there overnight, finding the bodies the next morning. A plane and a helicopter responded, too.

Keweenaw County officials said last week that federal investigators had asked them to withhold the names of the people who died because releasing them could hamper that investigation, which involves the FBI, “by undermining efforts to assess the accuracy of information obtained through the investigation.”

At a meeting Monday morning, the county decided to release the names and ages of the dead under public records laws once the clerk received the death certificates.

However, Keweenaw County prosecutor Chuck Miller said the medical examiner has indicated it could be weeks or months before other critical information like toxicology and autopsy results arrive, and that Park Service investigators said they don’t plan to release any new information in the near future.