They found Fossey’s cabin in a ransacked mess. Then, they saw Fossey herself, lying face up next to her two beds (she was six feet tall). On the floor next to her were her 9-mm handgun and unused ammunition. “The place was a mess; things were thrown around. Her head was covered with blood,” McGuire later reported.
When McGuire reached down to check her vitals, he saw the slash on her face – one severe, diagonal machete blow. It was soon determined that Fossey’s killer(s) knew the layout of her cabin well and tore away a sheet of tin near her bed.