Is Untamed based on a true story? Yosemite National Park’s dark past might shock you

Netflix’s new miniseries, Untamed, has grabbed viewers' attention with its mysterious and realistic narrative about an unknown body discovered in the Yosemite National Park. Eric Bana’s Kyle, an ISB special Agent, looks into the death of the unknown woman as she ends up getting entangled in the ropes of a couple of mountaineers making their way up the El Capitan.

While it might appear to be a believable story, Untamed is not based on a true story. Although fictional, Yosemite National Park has had numerous unfortunate incidents due to the untamed nature of the terrain. From accidental deaths to murders, there have been several similar incidents over the years.

While talking to Netflix, co-showrunner Mark L. Smith also shared about how they wanted to depict this dangerous nature of the beautiful park and said:

"Everyone thinks of Yosemite as this beautiful place with all the vistas and all the scenery, but we were trying to touch on the dangers that are just beyond that."

More on this in our story.

Just like Jane Doe in Untamed, El Capitan has seen many such incidents

While the case of Jane Doe, who fell from El Capitan in the show, is fictional, it does draw some elements from real-life incidents that took place in the vertical rock formation in the Yosemite National Park. As per the reports, more than 1000 deaths have occurred in the terrain of the National Park since its inception in 1890.

According to the boutique law firm, Roberts and Spiegel, there were many cases like Jane Doe in the El Capitan. The website states:

"There have been over 30 recorded climbing deaths on El Capitan between 1905 and 2023. In the last decade, there have been 7 climbing deaths on the prolific rock face."

Most of these deaths were speculated to be of the mountaineers who tried to climb the walls of the rock formation. Other than climbing, social media was also stated as another cause due to the fairly recent death of a couple in Taft Point, who died in 2018 while trying to take a selfie from the dangerous peak.

The drug smuggling narrative of Untamed is not unknown to Yosemite National Park’s lore

While trying to investigate the death of the woman in the show, Eric Bana’s Kyle discovers a larger and dangerous plot about drug peddling in the National Park.

While not proven, the Park has an alleged history of drug trafficking, as reported by Moviedelic. The series uses this lore to create a fictional story about drug trafficking through the unused mines of the park. The narrative has no connection to the reality of the National Park.

Untamed uses the murder trope

While most of the deaths in the National Park are accidents, murders, which are a rare occurrence, have also been reported in the wild terrain of Yosemite National Park. For instance, according to Moviedelic, in the late 1990s, four women were reportedly murdered in the National Park by a serial killer, who was later dubbed the Yosemite serial killer.

The murderer, named Cary Stayner, later confessed to brutally killing the women.

All these speculations and reports might have inspired Untamed to narrate a tragic and mysterious story about lies beyond the beautiful national park, but the plotline itself is purely fictional.

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