Lake Artemisia of Prince George’s County, Maryland, is beautiful in the sunlight, quiet except for birdsong and the crunch of leaves underfoot. But the serenity is deceptive. Over the years, the trails that wind around its edges have held secrets darker than anyone wants to admit. And maybe you should avoid night-hiking there from now on…
On Nov. 3, someone found a body in the woods near the lake. Residents spotted police and FBI agents swarming the area, their presence an unusual sight in the peaceful neighborhood around College Park Estates. Little is known: the identity of the person has not been released, the cause of death remains unspecified and whether foul play is suspected has not been confirmed. Officials refused to comment due to the case being an open FBI investigation, leaving a cloud of questions hanging over the trees: who had died? How? And why here, again?
Yes, again. Lake Artemisia has a history. Five years earlier, on a late September night in 2020, a young man named Randolfo Wilfredo Campos walked into the lake around 9:45 p.m. He didn’t resurface. By 11:02 p.m., someone had called the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department. Within minutes, the calm lake was transformed into a scene of urgent activity. For over three hours, rescuers combed the lake and helicopters cut bright lines across the water, but when the search ended, Campos was gone. Authorities treated it as an accidental drowning; no foul play was publicly suspected, and nothing in the reports explained why he had gone into the water or what had led him there.
In the bright afternoon on March 14, 2019, the calm of the lake was shattered. Around 1:30 p.m., a person walking nearby stumbled upon a body tucked among the trees. It was 22-year-old Hector Diaz-Urritia; his upper body bore clear trauma, and police quickly determined that this was not a random act. The killing was reported as gang-related; a planned act that left the woodsy trails feeling suddenly dangerous and unpredictable. The victim and suspect were both affiliated with local gangs, but details about the specifics or motives were never publicly disclosed. By July 5, 2019, authorities arrested 22-year-old Landeverde of Greenbelt, Maryland, charging him with first and second-degree murder. What exactly led Hector and his attacker to that quiet spot remains a mystery, and the natural terrain—dense trees, limited visibility—kept the truth tucked away, just out of reach. The trails that had once seemed peaceful carried yet another shadow.
In 2017, Lake Artemisia claimed lives in quieter, more tragic ways. On the morning of April 1, students participating in a University of Maryland cleanup stumbled across something they weren’t expecting. Along the Indian Creek Trail, adjacent to the lake, a jacket floating in the water caught someone’s eye, hiding what was underneath. The man was 80-year-old Stan Fromovitz, a retired UMD professor who had been missing since March 8. The Maryland Chief Examiner ruled the death accidental: a heart attack complicated by drowning. Police confirmed that foul play wasn’t suspected, but still, the circumstances were chilling. Volunteers weren’t looking for a missing person. The discovery was accidental, and the natural terrain—trails along the creek, wooded areas, water access—meant that risk factors for someone in his condition were high. The weeks he had been missing added uncertainty: when exactly had his heart attack occurred, and when and why had he entered the water? The answers were lost to the lake, leaving only an eerie quiet in the place he was found.
A month later, the lake would claim another. On May 3, 2017, the calm of the trails (or not so calm, anymore…) was shattered again. Around 9:20 p.m., a citizen walking through the woods in Berwen Heights noticed something unusual about 200 yards off the trail—a body. The autopsy would later show blunt force trauma, and the death was officially ruled a homicide. Unlike the quiet, tragic accident of April, this was deliberate, violent, and frighteningly public, given the area’s popularity with hikers and bikers, and the act had gone unnoticed. No suspect information was released, and whether the victim had been killed there or moved to the spot remained a mystery.
Over time, the lake has become a place of both beauty and apprehension. Trails that draw families, bikers and joggers have also seen drownings, homicides, and unexplained deaths. Online discussions continue to reflect this unease, with one Reddit user writing simply: “I do not advise going at night, as it may be a bit creepy.” It’s an understatement, to say the least.
From accidental deaths to gang-related killings, Lake Artemisia’s history is chilling. And now, with the latest November 2025 discovery, Prince George’s County residents are left wondering: Why have these accidents and deaths gone unnoticed for so long? Is there something about the lake itself—its hidden coves, trails covered by trees, deceptively calm waters—that draws tragedy in? Or is it simply a crossroads where misfortune, human error, and criminal intent converge? And perhaps the most unnerving question of all, how many more bodies will the lake claim before its pattern is understood—or someone pieces together the truth? And what will happen next?
