Kari Swenson (born 1961) is a veterinarian in Bozeman, Montana and former biathlete who earned a bronze medal as a member of the 1984 U.S. relay team competing in the first women's Biathlon World Championships in Chamonix, France.

Swenson placed fifth overall in the women's 10-km final, which, at the time, marked the best performance for a U.S. biathlete of either sex in 26 years of international biathlon competition.

[4] Swenson placed fifth overall in the women's 10-km final, a record performance at the time for a U.S. biathlete of either gender in 26 years of international biathlon competition.

On July 15, 1984, while on a training run in the Ulerys Lakes area, Swenson was abducted by Don Nichols and his son Dan.

Swenson's friend Alan Goldstein and another ranch worker, Jim Schwalbe, paired up during the search and stumbled onto the camp.

[7] As the two rescuers approached, Don Nichols fired a single shot from his rifle, killing Goldstein with a gunshot wound to the face.

The younger Nichols was released on parole in 1991 and he stayed out of trouble until 2011, when he was arrested on drug charges and sentenced to four years in prison.

[17] Swenson and her family were not pleased by some of the coverage in the press because they felt it glamorized her abductors as mythical "mountain men," and stereotyped her, a champion athlete, as a "proper Belle.

"[3] "Using this description in conjunction with these two crazy misfits is truly maligning the mystique and legends of the mountain man," wrote Swenson in a 2012 op-ed.

"[8] A two-hour made-for-TV drama titled "The Abduction of Kari Swenson", produced by NBC aired on March 8, 1987.

[20] Her story was also featured on Investigation Discovery in the TV series Your Worst Nightmare, season 3, episode 9 titled "Into the Wild" premiering on February 11, 2017.