Mystery of missing Appalachian Trail hiker still vexes wardens, locals one ... - Bang

[Traveler]

OK, so as for John B & Don H's question....

There are plenty of AT experts here (I mean that in every good sense of the word), so with all our collective knowledge - has there ever been a documented case of a hiker vanishing without a trace from the AT???

Sure; Geraldine Largay, Cecil Worster. Renald Poulin. Si “Tobi” Lam all in 2013 and in ME. Lots of documented instances of this type on the AT and other long distance trails. Fortunately the number of these are very small percentage of those who walk in and walk out safe and sound.

[rocketsocks]

The AT is but one of many long distance trails that people have gone into and not recorded coming off of. A link of some of these instances can be found on Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...d_mysteriously). I don't think the ATC keeps a record of these events or the deaths on the trail, that would be something you'd find in local papers. Some 120 people have died or are still missing on Mt Washington NH alone over the past 100 years. Serious business out there, with perhaps a bit of monkey business if you consider the disgraced Governor of SC who went hiking on the "ol' Appalachian Trail", only to encounter pesky Argentinian nationals who lured him into a life of tawdry sex and deceit.

Interesting listings...this I did not know.

• 1611 – Henry Hudson was an English explorer and seafarer. He discovered New York Harbor for the Dutch East India Company. In 1611, mutineers set him, his son, and six others adrift in a small boat in what is now Hudson Bay. They were never seen again.

[rocketsocks]

Interesting listings...this I did not know.

• 1611 – Henry Hudson was an English explorer and seafarer. He discovered New York Harbor for the Dutch East India Company. In 1611, mutineers set him, his son, and six others adrift in a small boat in what is now Hudson Bay. They were never seen again.

I mean the part about being set adrift.

[rickb]

OK, so as for John B & Don H's question....

There are plenty of AT experts here (I mean that in every good sense of the word), so with all our collective knowledge - has there ever been a documented case of a hiker vanishing without a trace from the AT???

I think it is possible that someone might disappear from the Trail without any of us ever hearing about.

While many hikers whereabouts are know to friends and family, that is not always the case. When the skeleton of a man with a day pack and hiking boots was found in 150 yard from AT in SNP some years ago, he surely disappeared from somewhere. Was he a hiker?

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/full_report/6303

I can't help but wonder if long distance 2011 section hiker Scott Lilly's body had been buried deeper would we have ever heard reports of him vanishing? And if we had, would it have been for long or we have all assumed he just had left the trail to peruse other things.

[Don H]

Paula Weldon - Day hiker on the AT/LT. Not an AT thru-hiker
Cecil Worster - Found in the Penobscot River near the coast. Not an AT thru-hiker.
Renald Poulin - Car found near Millinocket. He was from Quebec and had been in the US 2 days. Not an AT thru-hiker.
Si Tobi Lam - Disappeared from his home. Not an AT thru-hiker.

There are many cases where people have gone to the AT to disappear. In fact there were two different cases in GSMNP at almost the same time two years ago. Neither were thru-hikers but had driven to the park and left their cars. Also those who have been victims of crime. Usually those instances happen near roads or trail heads where there is easy access.

Still waiting for an example of an AT thru-hiker who went missing, other than Inchworm.

[Gambit McCrae]

I don't recall reading of anyone vanishing while hiking the AT. Would you please provide a brief list of names, etc? I'd like to read more about such instances.

This wonderful American liked to abduct what he percieved to be helpless hikers for petty cash, when he drained their atm accounts he would cut their hands, feet and head off and dump the bodies


Dennis martin 1969 Spence Field


Dont Hate on this guy he has made no asumptions of what has happened to these people, but he has 3 books of over 400 pages depicting hundreds of missing person cases



****Here is a nice fella****

Another homicide occurred in May 1996, when two women were abducted, bound and murdered near the trail in Shenandoah National Park. The primary suspect was later discovered harassing a female bicycler in the vicinity,but charges against him were dropped, and the case remains unsolved.

[Traveler]

Paula Weldon - Day hiker on the AT/LT. Not an AT thru-hiker
Cecil Worster - Found in the Penobscot River near the coast. Not an AT thru-hiker.
Renald Poulin - Car found near Millinocket. He was from Quebec and had been in the US 2 days. Not an AT thru-hiker.
Si Tobi Lam - Disappeared from his home. Not an AT thru-hiker.

There are many cases where people have gone to the AT to disappear. In fact there were two different cases in GSMNP at almost the same time two years ago. Neither were thru-hikers but had driven to the park and left their cars. Also those who have been victims of crime. Usually those instances happen near roads or trail heads where there is easy access.

Still waiting for an example of an AT thru-hiker who went missing, other than Inchworm.

I never mentioned AT thru hikers, only that there are documented instances of folks missing who were out on trails, the AT being one of them. Some may have walked out into a new life, most likely found their fate in other ways.

[imscotty]

I think it is possible that someone might disappear from the Trail without any of us ever hearing about.

While many hikers whereabouts are know to friends and family, that is not always the case. When the skeleton of a man with a day pack and hiking boots was found in 150 yard from AT in SNP some years ago, he surely disappeared from somewhere. Was he a hiker?

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/full_report/6303

I can't help but wonder if long distance 2011 section hiker Scott Lilly's body had been buried deeper would we have ever heard reports of him vanishing? And if we had, would it have been for long or we have all assumed he just had left the trail to peruse other things.

Interesting case RickB. If this was a day hiker then you would think a car would have been found at a trailhead. Could have been a homeless/ carless vagrant, but it looks like he was wearing conferable shorts/ pants. Sounds like hiker clothing to me. Wish they had listed contents of the pack.

Possibly hikers have been lost who did not let anyone know where they were going. Grandma Gatewood did not tell her family when she left to hike the AT.

[imscotty]

To Don H's narrow question/comment. It does look like Inchworm is the only AT thru-hiker to be vanish without a trace. Hopefully in time this mystery will be solved. Prayers to her and her family.

[rickb]

Wish they had listed contents of the pack.

My error. Looks like there was no pack of any kind. As for the zip off pants with a bandana in the pocket, relatively expensive biking boots, t-shirt and no ID or keys, well that would have been a good description of what you would find on me had I ever perished after becoming separated from my pack. I wouldn't have had a belt though. Not sure if any backpacker would. As perplexing as that report is, I think it equally interesting that few (if any) have heard of that before-- especially since it was around the time of the super high profile double murder in SNP. Or if we did hear about, how quickly we put it out of mind.

[John B]

To Don H's narrow question/comment. It does look like Inchworm is the only AT thru-hiker to be vanish without a trace. Hopefully in time this mystery will be solved. Prayers to her and her family.

It does indeed seem that her case is the only known instance of an AT thru-hiker just vanishing. About her disappearance, I don't know what to think. Given her experience, the number of people who've searched for her, and her having a cell phone and other survival gear, I'm more inclined to agree with Lone Wolf that foul play was involved.

[Don H]

It does indeed seem that her case is the only known instance of an AT thru-hiker just vanishing. About her disappearance, I don't know what to think. Given her experience, the number of people who've searched for her, and her having a cell phone and other survival gear, I'm more inclined to agree with Lone Wolf that foul play was involved.

So if this is the case than what can we conclude?
I see only two possibilities, either she decided to disappear on her own or she was the victim of a crime.

[Turtle Feet]

She didn't walk off to start a new life - she had 3 new grandchildren to enjoy, her own children, the freedom of travel...she was loving life - her life. Remember the look on her face in that last picture .com took. Gerry was at the top of her game.

When you think about it, the people that "disappear", that need to run out on their lives, to make a clean break aren't 66 year old housewives leading a comfortable retirement, partaking in church prayer circles and quilting blogs.

[Don H]

Yep, kinda hard to believe she would willingly walk away.

Can we also conclude that she is not near the trail between Poplar and Spaulding since those areas have been searched?

[Traveler]

So if this is the case than what can we conclude?
I see only two possibilities, either she decided to disappear on her own or she was the victim of a crime.

The third possibility is she went off the trial to get water, use a latrine, or photograph something (pick a reason) and ran into a hazard of some kind or was disorientated and went the wrong way to the point she could not be found near her last sighting.

[John B]

So if this is the case than what can we conclude?
I see only two possibilities, either she decided to disappear on her own or she was the victim of a crime.

Sadly enough, probably the latter.

[Gambit McCrae]

So if this is the case than what can we conclude?
I see only two possibilities, either she decided to disappear on her own or she was the victim of a crime.

I certainely agree. I would like people to remember that for one she was at the end of her long hike, and two she was meeting her husband which I think is awfully strange. Im not familiar with how close to the end she was but I know she was in Maine. So this is what I think,

If she disapeared on her own will it would make since because she had had 13 states to think about it, and this could have been her last oppurtunity to do so before the end/ next time she saw her husband.

other opinion, if foul play, why Inchworm? I believe it to be a big coincidince that she disapear, with her husband waiting for her, and he not see signs of something going ary. Perhaps "Someone" saw it as their last chance to execute foul play on her hiking trip....

And how easy would it be to make a pack full of gear disapear? Not too hard huh? Between goodwill, LSN, hiker boxes, whiteblaze and ebay you could pretty quickly disperse a whole bunch of stuff all over the country, or burn it.

I believe we have eliminated a bog. So that leaves kinda 2 options...the ones listed above and kinda a third of "getting lost" which as an experienced thru hiker I just dont see that as an option.

My vote is foul play, specifically for life insurance policies. Just MY opinion though

[Lugnut]

Sounds to me like you are accusing her husband. This isn't the place for an accusation so repulsive as that.

[Siarl]

She could probably still be right off the trail and no one would see her. An entire season has passed with leaves covering any evidence. Animals, bacteria and nature take care of things pretty quickly. It's a very sad case and I feel for her husband and family. I can see how easy it would have been for her to wander off the trail. I don't know about anyone else but when I hike, it's many times on my own and I carry a camera. I look at the trail around me and I get distracted with what I see. Pretty soon I'm way off from where I was headed and am taking photos or exploring a new plant, flower, view etc., that I've encountered.

[Gambit McCrae]

Sounds to me like you are accusing her husband. This isn't the place for an accusation so repulsive as that.

I’m a realist. It isn’t pleasant but is it not a possibility?