People are disappearing at an alarming rate in America’s national parks, with at least 10 people having vanished since 2016 and never been seen again, according to data reviewed by The Washington Post.
One was a hiker whose last message was to tell his son he was on his way to Yosemite National Park.
Another man became separated from his group during a nine-day trip through the stifling heat of the Grand Canyon.
A young river tour guide, to whom he had entrusted his entire life, also disappeared during a group trip.
“No Sign of Man Missing in Colorado River at Grand Canyon Found,” read a local news headline at the time.
At least 1,180 people were reported missing in U.S. national parks between 2018 and the first two months of 2023, according to records obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act.
Grand Canyon Emergency Services works to remove a victim who died near the Yavapai Museum of Geology on February 3, 2021. National Park Service
Most were found safe with the help of search and rescue teams, some were found injured or dead from suicide or accidents, but a small number disappeared completely unexplained.
A Post review of the data found that Grand Canyon National Park has more deaths, more missing people reports and more suicides than any other park.
Most of the fatalities are due to falls down ravines, helicopter crashes or overheating.
“Needle in a haystack”
One disappearance that cannot be easily explained is that of Charles Lyon, who has been missing for over two years.
The 49-year-old man from Tyler, Texas, was last seen on June 10, 2021, at a Best Western Motel in Tusayan, Arizona.
Grand Canyon National Park rangers retrieve a body from a cliff on February 18, 2023. National Park Service
His car was found the next day near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, and police believed he was alone.
Jonghyun Won suffered a similar fate in September 2017, when his car was found parked on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.
According to the National Park Service (NPS), the 45-year-old man did not tell anyone about his plans to be in the area and has not been seen since.
Floyd E. Roberts III, a Florida teacher, went missing in Grand Canyon National Park on June 17, 2016, during a nine-day hiking trip with a group, police said.
The area was experiencing extreme heat when the 52-year-old man became separated from the group.
Charles Lyon is described as 6 feet 3 inches tall, weighing 177 pounds, with brown hair and eyes. NPS
Roberts, who teaches business technology and web design at a Florida middle school, was last seen near Kelly Tank, a remote area west of the Grand Canyon, heading toward the Shanley Springs area, according to WFLA.
Their sudden disappearance is difficult to explain, as their bodies have never been found.
Some people who fall into the canyon aren’t found for years, like Scott Walsh, who went missing in 2015 and whose body wasn’t found until 2021.
Even harder to explain is the disappearance of 22-year-old Morgan Heimer.
He went missing in June 2015 while leading a tour group along the Colorado River near Pumpkin Springs.
Jonghyun Won is described as being 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 121 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. NPS
According to National Park Service records, Heimer was “helping a client jump off a cliff into the water” minutes before he was last seen around 4 p.m. on June 2.
“Once the last client had completed their activities, Heimer and the lead guide were replaced,” the search log report states.
“The lead guide had just spoken to Heimer about taking some time off that afternoon. The lead guide walked off the cliff to talk to a client. When the lead guide turned around, Heimer was gone.”
The guide told searchers he thought Heimer had gone out to rest, but realized something was wrong when he didn’t show up for dinner.
Heimer, from Cody, Wyoming, was described as having “advanced and exceptional skills.”
Floyd E. Roberts III is described as 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing 170 pounds, with brown/gray hair and brown eyes. NPS
He was on day six of an eight-day trip.
Heimer’s family joined search parties in Arizona.
Crews spent six days searching the area before scaling back operations.
Rapid response to missing people in some of the nation’s most dangerous areas is left to search and rescue workers, who are racing against time due to the harsh conditions of the Grand Canyon-like environment.
“When you’re looking for a person, it’s really like looking for a needle in a haystack,” longtime search and rescue expert Ken Phillips said about the search for missing people in Grand Canyon National Park.
Morgan Heimer is described as 6 feet tall, weighing 175 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes.
A now-retired National Park Service search and rescue director told The Washington Post that rangers typically have only a few clues to find people, such as shoe prints on the ground or credit card receipts.
“You have to understand how difficult it is to find one person in such a vast area.”
Not only are the bodies difficult to find in already treacherous terrain, but they are also often exposed to extreme weather conditions, including dry heat, which is known to accelerate deterioration.
In cold climates, snow often makes it harder to find bodies and any evidence left behind, and bodies may be eaten by wild animals.
This case in the vast Grand Canyon National Park is one of just a handful of settlements across the country.
Members of the Yosemite Search and Rescue Team train for a whitewater rescue operation on the Merced River in Yosemite National Park in Yosemite, California, on Thursday, June 13, 2019. Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images
“No signs”
Mysterious disappearances have also been occurring in other national parks across the country.
Barry J. Tragen, 68, visited Glacier National Park in Montana in late July 2020.
His location was alerted five days later when rangers noticed his vehicle still parked near Lake Kintla, according to the National Park Service.
Rangers searched for signs of the man from Columbia Falls, Montana, for several weeks and found a pair of sunglasses they believed belonged to him.
A police dog was brought in and showed interest in the area at the outlet of the lake.
Barry Tragen is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing approximately 220 pounds, with gray hair and hazel eyes. NPS
Searchers used boats, ground search teams and underwater equipment but “no trace of Tragen was found,” authorities said.
The National Park Service scaled back its search efforts as of August 10, 2020, and Tragen remains missing.
The National Park Service was notified of the disappearance of Matthew Silveira, a Beverly, Massachusetts man, in July 2020 and was called in to assist the Wellfleet Police Department after local police officers found his car abandoned just a few miles from the Cape Cod National Seashore, according to reports from the National Park Service and Boston.com.
Camping equipment and a cell phone were found in the vehicle, according to a National Park Service report, which also noted the 32-year-old man had a history of “suicidal statements.”
Silveira’s car was found more than 120 miles from his hometown, but his whereabouts were unknown.
Search and rescue workers search the area of Lake Hiyahha for James Pruitt on March 6, 2019. Courtesy of Rocky Mountain National Park
“No clues have been found.”
On February 28, 2019, James Pruitt drove 1,400 miles from his hometown of Etowah, Tennessee, to Rocky Mountain National Park.
According to the National Park Service, the 70-year-old man parked his vehicle in the parking lot at the Glacier Gorge trailhead.
Park rangers spotted his vehicle on March 3 but became suspicious because the car did not have an overnight parking permit.
Police said Pruitt’s family told rangers they didn’t know where he had planned to hike in the national park and had not heard from him since 10 a.m. on February 28.
Pruitt also said he had not planned to spend the night in the park.
But police said that by the time rangers learned of Pruitt’s disappearance, two feet of snow had already fallen in Glacier Valley, complicating an already difficult search.
According to the National Park Service, rangers searched 15 square miles until March 11, when they “entered a limited continued search operation.”
A 40-person search team resumed operations in October after months of small, sporadic searches over the summer, but by that time most of the bodies may have been eaten by wild animals, leaving no trace behind.
In California, Peter Jackson texted his son on September 17, 2016, saying he was heading to busy Yosemite National Park.
He was staying at White Wolf Campground and had paid parking fees until September 21, 2016.
Search crews look for signs of James Pruitt. Pruitt is described as 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds, with blue eyes and gray-brown hair. Courtesy of Rocky Mountain National Park. Peter Jackson is described as 5 feet tall, weighing 155 pounds, with blue eyes and gray hair. YosemiteNPS/Facebook
Authorities say the avid hiker’s backpack was found Aug. 19 in the area of Ackerson Meadow and Aspen Valley, but neither he nor his body have been found.
On the other side of the country, John Squires was rafting with friends on June 20, 2018, when his boat capsized in American Creek in Katmai National Park, Alaska.
According to the National Park Service, Squires and the other crew members were thrown into fast-moving water when the raft they were on struck an underwater object and was last seen floating downstream trying to reach shore.
His friends were eventually able to swim to safety, but they couldn’t reach Squires.
He remains missing nearly five years later.
John Squires is described as 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 195 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.
Chad Hewitt told Outside Online that his friend was “the real deal.”
“His heart was in Alaska.”
