Thanks to investigator, David Paulides, we have detailed reports of the disturbing vanishings of people in federal government Parks, National Forests, and Preserves throughout the United States. With 20 years of experience as a police officer, SWAT Team member, and Human Resources official David has authored some incredible data that he presents on a mystery that has gone unsolved for decades and persists to this very day. Americans have falsely taken for granted that when they visit these rural recreation areas that they are relatively safe, within a safe distance of the watchful eye of Park Rangers, or will at least be discovered if they run into trouble. Wrong! For dozens of people every month this is not the case.

Legacy of the unknown

For decades there have been very problematic disappearances of those who have made the mistake of either attending a National Park or remote area without a partner even failing to inform anyone of their intentions, or even with proper precautions have simply vanished without a trace. These people are not clumsy tourists, inexperienced “Green Horns” with little background in the wild, or elderly poor in health, who were too weak to have attempted a trek in the woods. The majority of these disappearances are by experienced hunters, robust hikers, Boy Scouts under supervision, or younger adults who are active and up to the challenge. Yet, having driven a brand new vehicle to a trail head and parked, having attended a family outing, or being among campers in a well-traveled region of a park, they have succumbed to the unknown.

Persistent questions

According to David Paulides, these incidents have not gone without extensive and professionally conducted searches using a hundred volunteers and rescue workers along with cadaver dogs, hunting Hounds, and even helicopter over-flights, with every tool in hand to find those who have vanished, still the unknown leaves a dark shadow of the unexplained in its wake. Some family members, adult women in their prime have wondered off no less than 100 yards from family to snap a few photos only to have disappeared. A mother and her 4 children take a break and decide to have a picnic at a nearby rural park and a child simply disappears within a few steps of his siblings and mother. A boy scout gets fatigued hiking up a trail and stops to take a break as his buddies continue on and is never heard from or seen again despite a massive search and rescue operation! These incidents are typical of the disappearance phenomenon.

Point of separation

David Paulides identifies a common denominator that seems to emerge time and again in many of these vanishings. He calls it the point of separation where the fatal mistake made by the victim seems that when the person decides to briefly break off contact with his party for whatever reason whether it be to throw rocks in a stream, check out something interesting, or to take some photos with their favorite camera if not just to sit down and rest for a few minutes, but it is at this crucial point that the disappearance usually occurs. Even war veterans and first responders simply enjoying retirement or on vacation have disappeared without a trace or with no further clues to their non-existence! Whoever or whatever is taking these people seems to operate with impunity, but this is not the worst of all this!

Not making sense

Rescuers note again and again that those who are found are disoriented, confused, their clothes have been torn, they suffer from amnesia, and have been located in an area that was combed repeatedly hours or days before by numerous individuals! Cadaver dogs refuse to perform and will briefly circle and then lie down. Tracking Hounds will refuse to follow a scent all together. Their handlers say that such behavior would indicate that the missing person has vanished straight up into the air as this is why the dogs circle and then lay down rather than following some kind of scent trail. This occurs quite frequently.

Enigmatic

Brand new SUV’s have been located with personal articles inside, money, and food only to be found abandoned at the foot of a park entrance! Tents well-equipped with supplies and recently set up are found with the owner never located despite a serious search conducted by local officials. Occasionally a belonging will be picked up by either a search volunteer or an unrelated park visitor who turns in the article but it will be miles from the location of the disappearance and far outside search perimeter area. Children have vanished only to be located later but far from where they walked along with their parents separated by rough terrain, steep climbs, or thousands of yards beyond the conceivable capability of a toddler or young child to walk, and are either alive or dead.

More questions

Of course there will be mysterious disappearances due to a bear attack or a mountain lion predating a lone unsuspecting hiker. Perhaps the woodsman or visitor had slipped and fallen down a rocky slope and gotten knocked unconscious, but even these unfortunate circumstances have been solved. What happens when a man, perfectly fit with a great deal of experience in the wilderness goes missing within relative close proximity of family and friends? What about the child swinging who disappears only a few feet from his brothers and sister who didn’t see a thing? The off duty policeman who was just taking a leisurely hike, informing his family where he would be and when he expected to return, and is never seen again?

Without a trace

In many cases highly educated and career oriented individuals disappear. In the very same park over a period of 10 years three physicists all working for universities vanished in close proximity to the same locations where the others went missing only years apart! One might at least accept that disappearances could simply be the unfortunate fate of careless people who weren’t minding their children, weak and unfit hikers who shouldn’t have challenged themselves so severely, or maybe loners who were not mindful enough to notify a family member that they were taking off for a personal sabbatical in the woods for a few days, but this has not been the case. Yes, there have been the loss of those who were not careful of their personal safety, yet the incidents tell us of a much more ominous outcome!

Cover-up

As David Paulides began to write his first of three books on this compelling enigma he noticed a very disconcerting response by the federal government when he tried to get statistical analysis on this conundrum. Cases that were even investigated by the FBI in conjunction with park officials were closed to further inquiry. When he attempted to get further information informing them that he was an investigator conducting his own research they refused all together to help or cooperate! Even telling him they had the files, had all the details, but simply refused to release this evidence to him! Why would these well trained federal agents who were employed by the federal government to assist in the searches and collect data refusing to cooperate with Paulides? Why when he made FOIA requests to the government for case files on specific disappearances considered cold cases were his efforts ignored or intentionally stonewalled?

Unsolved

How does a 2 year old child disappear and despite rigorous search and rescue efforts within an hour or so after the reported incident be found 200 miles away in a short time after the search? Why would a little toddler, missing for a month be found miles from the point of separation on a steep slope that even rescuers had great difficulty getting to having died within the last day? How did the youngster survive a month until shortly before rescuers located them? In some cases individuals even vanish in towns that are in close proximity to the wilderness simply leaving their office and heading for the store only to surface 27 hours later floating in a river face up dead? With an extensive background check these people had no prior arrest nor did they succumb to foul play from a criminal connection. No water in their lungs, no identifiable point of entry to the river, not thrown of jumping off a bridge, wallet still on them, and no outward signs of violence. A total mystery leaving the police dumbfounded!

Why water?

The only other commonality noted by David Paulides is that a body of water seems to be in the vicinity of these strange incidents or where the body is found. Each adult male found is face up in the water, perhaps his cell phone is still in his pocket dry even with ear plugs intact and dry. Most male drowning’s are found with the man characteristically face down, but in these rare and problematic disappearances the man is lying in the water face up on his back with the eyes open in many cases. It could be a doctor, well to do businessman, or teacher. The confounding incidents remain the same and the bizarre happenings endure as a defiant mystery. Many a detective, deputy, or policeman have expressed complete perplexity over these instances they claim that they have never seen any such thing like before or ever since. It has left them baffled.

Plausibility?

Having interviewed a former sheriff’s deputy myself I asked him what he thought of these enigmatic disappearances. The deputy, having served in Oklahoma and having been involved in rural area searches suggested that it could be serial killers abducting people, perhaps those living in remote settings who feel they are beyond the reach of the law, but he did admit in rare cases even Bigfoot or Sasquatch had quietly been considered by the authorities due to the suspect evidence and rarity of the case. Paulides also hints at this possibility sighting the incredible swiftness and terrain capability of the perpetrators. Even well trained Army Rangers deployed to assist in some of these search and rescue operations have admitted that who or whatever it was had better mobility then they did. Others have theorized alien abductions as a possible cause of these bizarre incidents, but there are few aerial anomalies reported or landing site forensics identified by the search and rescue personnel or eye witness accounts. It simply is a confounding set of unexplained events.