CONSERVATION NEWS * PUBLIC LANDS & WATERS

SUSPECT ARRESTED FOR MURDER OF TEEN CAMPERS IN TONTO NATIONAL FOREST



JORDAN SILLARS
Oct 8, 2025

A suspect has been arrested for murdering two teenagers who were camping in Arizona in May of this year. … Thomas Henry Brown, 31, is being held on a $2 million cash bond for two counts of first-degree murder after authorities say he shot and killed Pandora Kjolsrud, 18, and Evan Clark, 17, on May 26, 2025. The murders took place at a campsite on Mt. Ord, which is part of Arizona’s Tonto National Forest.

{snip}


Mugshot of Brown via MCSO.

Clark and Kjolsrud had gone camping on Mt. Ord on Sunday, May 25th, according to Clark’s mother, Sandra Sweeney. But when they didn’t return home by the next day, Kjolsrud’s mother called the Gila County Sheriff’s Office to report that her daughter was missing.

Deputies arrived on the scene and found Clark’s vehicle, a 1998 Mercedes-Benz SUV, and noticed blood on the rear bumper. The rear door was unlocked, and they also found a bloody pillowcase inside.

They found the teens’ campsite a short time later and followed what appeared to be drag marks in the dirt heading towards a fenceline. They crossed the fence and found the bodies of the two victims 10 to 20 feet away. … Both Clark and Kjolsrud had been shot multiple times and were pronounced dead at the scene.

{snip}