How to Kill a Mermaid: Undercurrent 04/2026

How to Kill a Mermaid

The Linnea Mills Story, a documentary film

from the April, 2026 issue of Undercurrent

Subscriber Content Preview
Only active subscribers can view the whole article here

An emotional new film made a big impression at Montana's Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in early March. It was How to Kill a Mermaid: The Linnea Mills Story, directed and produced by a friend of the Mills family, Damon Ristau.

Previously in Undercurrent, we've extensively covered how the 18-year-old died in 2020 during what was meant to be a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver (AOD) course in Lake MacDonald in Montana's Glacier National Park. A wrongful death lawsuit followed, which was settled out of court. Fellow trainee Bob Gentry and Mills's parents sought up to $12 million in damages for alleged negligence, unsafe diving practices, and training violations by Gull Dive Center of Missoula, its instructor Debbie Snow, volunteer dive assistant Seth Liston, and PADI.

The claims never went before a jury, and no admission of guilt by anyone was ever made.

The events, laid out by this well-made but disturbing documentary, will make any diver alarmed or even squirm with anger, as it reveals new evidence. Some would say that a minimum charge of negligent homicide was possible for this tragic and entirely unnecessary death, but it appears that those involved went away with nothing more than a metaphorical slap on the wrist....

"Snow loaded up Mills with 44lbs of lead."

Subscribers: Read the full article here

;