Scenic inn employee charged with killing co-worker on hike

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A woman working a summer job at a North Carolina mountain lodge was out hiking when, authorities say, a co-worker attacked her and left her lifeless body steps from a famed scenic highway.

The death at the height of summer tourism along the Blue Ridge Parkway devastated a group of young, seasonal employees who come to work among breathtaking vistas at the remote Pisgah Inn. Located along the highway that draws visitors from around the world, the inn at a 5,000-foot (1.5 kilometers) elevation was named best national park lodge by USA Today readers in 2015.

“People are walking around in shock and disbelief and really shook up,” Bruce O’Connell, who owns the inn, said of his 100 employees.

Sara Ellis, a 29-year-old cook from Florida who arrived at the Pisgah Inn in May, was found dead Tuesday, hours after she was reported missing along a path near the inn’s employee dorms.

The man accused of killing her was another young employee: 20-year-old Derek Shawn Pendergraft, according to court documents. The Asheville resident had been working as a housekeeper at the inn, the owner said.

Pendergraft, who’s in custody, made an initial appearance in federal court Thursday on a second-degree murder charge, which carries a maximum of life in prison.

Pendergraft was the one who reported Ellis missing, according to court documents. Rangers and other investigators found her partially nude body off an embankment close to a trail near the parkway.

Initially, Pendergraft told investigators that he and Ellis went for a hike after they both finished work around 4 p.m., but she decided to return when it began to rain. Agents write that he returned from his hike and told his managers that she was missing, saying then that he had found her umbrella lying on the ground.

But the next night, an inn manager called investigators and told them that Pendergraft had come to her office and confessed to the killing, according to court documents.

Investigators say Pendergraft told them that he blacked out during the hike and next remembers staring at the woman’s lifeless face.

Court documents noted bruising on her neck and head, but didn’t specify the cause of death. There were no signs of bullet or blade wounds.

A defense attorney for Pendergraft didn’t return an email seeking comment.

O’Connell, who operates the inn under a contract with the National Park Service, said he believes that Pendergraft and Ellis, who’s from Seminole, Florida, were both first-time employees at the inn that’s open each year from spring to fall. Both were living in the on-site employee housing at the site that’s about 30 minutes from surrounding towns, he said. He said he didn’t know whether they had been friends.

About half of the inn’s employees live in the housing described on the website as dorm rooms with twin beds and shared dressers and closets.

Like other National Park lodges, the inn attracts seasonal workers from around the country, O’Connell said. It’s not uncommon for workers to travel between ski resorts and summer attractions to work outdoors year round. Many are young, but some are also retirees.

He said that a couple of guests have canceled, but otherwise the staff doing its best to keep the inn running.

“There are grief counselors here right now,” he said. “A lot of tears being shed.”