Bear Lake is a Utah–Idaho border location in the account of the July 24, 1984, burglary of Chloe Low’s home. The Low family was spending the Pioneer Day holiday at its summer home there, a circumstance that left the family’s residence in Highland, Utah, unoccupied when Ron Lafferty and his companions arrived.

Setting and Association

The book locates the Low family’s summer home at Bear Lake, near the Utah–Idaho border. It does not describe the lake itself; its relevance is tied to the family’s holiday stay there and the absence that created at their Highland residence.

Role in the Narrative

The Lows’ trip to Bear Lake explains why nobody answered when Ron Lafferty and Dan Lafferty approached the Highland home. With the house empty, the men entered and stole property, while Ron also destroyed Chloe Low’s collection of porcelain figurines. Bear Lake thus enters the narrative indirectly: the family’s absence from home becomes the circumstance that enables the burglary.