Murder, memoir and the Ozark Mountains: A Q&A with 'Cave Mountain' author Benjamin Hale

Murder, memoir and the Ozark Mountains: A Q&A with 'Cave Mountain' author Benjamin Hale

“Cave Mountain” author Benjamin Hale Credit: Rachel Collet In April 2001, 6-year-old Haley Zega mysteriously vanished on a hike with her grandparents on Cave Mountain, along the trail to Hawksbill Crag above the Buffalo National River. As days passed, her disappearance became “the largest search-and-rescue mission in Arkansas history.”  The girl is a cousin of writer Benjamin Hale, who in 2023 detailed her disappearance — and ultimate rescue — f…