Unsolved Wilderness Disappearances

Join Steve as he discusses cases of Unsolved Wilderness Disappearances. Written by Nicole Stockton.

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Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Hello, friends, Steve Stockton herewith you. Welcome to our latest episode.
In this video, we'll be lookinginto some unsolved wilderness disappearances. Each
case, like a complex puzzle,presents a myriad of unanswered questions, leaving
investigators and loved ones alike grasping etelusive threads of truth. Join me,

(00:24):
let's walk and see First up,Derek Luking. One of the most recent
and disturbing disappearances in the Great SmokyMountains National Park is that of twenty four
year old Derek Luking from Louisville,Tennessee. On March fifteenth, twenty twelve.

(00:44):
Derek's roommate, Brian Moulden, becameconcerned after Derek failed to show up
for his orderly position at Peninsula Hospitalin Louisville, Tennessee. When I left,
his alarm was going off and wentoff the entire time I was going
to work, and I thought maybehe'd left and forgot to hit his alarm,
said Ryan. Knowing this was outof character for his friend, he
contacted Derek's parents. After speaking withRyan, Derek's family made an overnight trip

(01:11):
from Virginia to Tennessee to look fortheir son. I never thought we would
lose Derek. It would just beto find him, his father, Tim
Luking said. On Derek's computer,they found that he had searched the Great
Smoky Mountains and booked a micro hotelin Cherokee, North Carolina. On Saturday,
March seventeenth, twenty twelve, atfour am, Derek was recorded leaving

(01:34):
alone on the surveillance cameras of theMicrotail Inn in Suits in Cherokee, North
Carolina. He was carrying a smallbackpack. Police allowed the family access to
the room where Derek had slept thenight before. They found a bible on
the bed and a partially empty liquorbottle on the floor. His dad said
the way the items were positioned suggestedthat Derek was struggling with a decision.

(01:57):
Later that same day, Derek's familyon his white Ford escape parked in the
lower lot of Newfound Gap on theTennessee North Carolina state line. At eight
thirty am. They learned park officialsof his disappearance, and Derek was officially
reported missing. A note containing thecryptic phrase don't look for Me was found
inside his vehicle, along with Derek'swallet and keys. The cryptic note was

(02:22):
not dressed anyone in particular, andeven Derek's distraught family thought it could have
been left for park service employees sothey would not tow his vehicle in his
absence if he were planning to beaway for an extended time. The rangers
asked me if Derek would take hislife, and I sit up until now,
I would have said absolutely not,But there in the circumstances, there

(02:42):
was that possibility, his father,Tim said Earlier that year, Tim noticed
a change in Derek. He starteddrinking a little bit and smoking cigarettes,
which was highly unusual for him.Tim said he wasn't happy with his job
where his life was going. Hisfamily revealed that Derek was a fan,
an avid follower of extreme outdoorsman beargrills, and most likely had enough survival

(03:07):
skills and equipment to endure an extendedstay in the wilderness. Before his disappearance,
Derek purchased park maps and a sleepingbag, but left those behind.
His family stated he took a daypack, granola bars, an acts,
a bear Grills survival tool pack,several pages, several pages of a military

(03:28):
survival manual, and a headlamp.Park spokesman Molly Shore told Knox News that
Derek might have wanted to get lostand live off the land, but got
in over his head. However,it is peculiar that nobody can confirm whether
Derek actually went into the park onthe day of his disappearance. This suggests
that he might have gone missing whilestill in the parking area, before he

(03:52):
had a chance to even enter thepark. Even though park service employee stated
that the Newfound Gap area was busierthan usual that faithful day, not one
person in the park, employees,hikers, or otherwise could recall seeing Dereck.
Even the park service admits it wouldbe highly unusual for someone not to
pass Dereck on the hiking trails.The search for Derek included scores of personnel,

(04:15):
along with canines and helicopters. Thousandsof missing person fires were tacked the
long trails and passed out to hikerstraveling in both directions. Concerns of foul
play arose with another young man,Michael Cochini, went missing on March eighteenth.
Michael's vehicle was discovered along the NewfoundGap road on March twentieth. We

(04:36):
have no idea what happened to them, said park's boastsman Bob Miller. Sadly,
Michael Cochini was later found deceeased inthe park. Despite extensive search and
rescue efforts, no trace of Dereckwas ever found. I'm not blind to
the fact that he could have died. Someone could have taken his life.

(04:57):
It could have been an accident.But we all hoped that we don't know
something and he is out there.Roommate Ryan Molden said, Derek was quiet,
but he wasn't meek. He hada servant heart, went overseas and
helped the poor and those who neededa voice, said Ryan. Tim Luking
said of his son's disappearance, weare still hoping to find out what happened

(05:18):
to him. It's a difficult thingnot to have any closure on the situation.
So what happened to Derek Luking?Did he choose to disappear? Or
was he the victim of foul play? Anyone with any information regarding Derek's disappearance
is asked to contact the National ParkService Investigative Services Branch at eight eight eight

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sixty five three zero zero zero nine. Next up, we have Paul Braxton
Fugate, forty one year old NationalPark Service ranger. Paul Braxton Fugate went
hiking in Shirakawa National Monument in Arizonaon January third, eighteen, nineteen eighty,
around two thirty pm. Ranger Fugatewas wearing his green and gray Park

(06:05):
Service uniform, including the official NationalPark Service arrowhead patch on his upper sleeve
and a gold colored ranger badge pinnedover his heart. On the day of
his disappearance, Ranger Fugate stated thathe was going to check the trails in
the ten thousand, six hundred acrepark southeast of Wilcox. When he failed
to return the next day, searchersfrom several agencies began scouring the area on

(06:28):
foot and with helicopters. A setof footprints found brought forth new hopes of
finding Ranger Fugate, but they weredetermined to be from one of the searchers.
The official search lasted over two weeks, but volunteers continued looking for the
ranger, and the case was ultimatelyturned over to the Cochees County Sheriff's Department.
A five thousand dollars reward was alsooffered for any information in uncovering Ranger

(06:50):
Fugate's fate. Lieutenant Craig E.Emmanuel of the Coachees County Sheriff's Department said,
we hope that the reward will jarsomething loose to the investment mitigation.
We received several leads, but wehaven't turned up anything. Investigators suspected foul
play. Early on, another ParkService employee claimed to have seen Ranger Fugate

(07:10):
leaving the park in a pickup truckwith two unknown men. The employee underwent
hypnosis and described the two men,but officials could not locate them. The
disappearance of Ranger Fugate, which remainsunsolved to this day, has left a
lasting impact on everyone involved. InFebruary twenty seventeen, a new lead emerged,
prompting the Park Service to assign oneof its own agents, Clay Anderson,

(07:32):
to investigate the case. Unfortunately,the information was fruitless. The Park
Service increased the reward, which grewin the year since its disappearance, to
sixty thousand dollars in June of twentyeighteen. Whether Ranger Fugate left his post,
was abducted, or succumbed to theelements of the regged terrain is still
up for debate. Anyone with informationregarding Ranger fugate's disappearance is asked to contact

(07:56):
the National Park Service Investigative Services Branchat eight eight eight sixty five three zero
zero zero nine. Next, wehave Teresa and Beer. Sixteen year old
Teresa and Beer had a difficult childhood. She bounced between several households before her
uncle, John Richmond and Fresno,California, was awarded custody. There,

(08:20):
Teresa met Russell skip Welch, aforty three year old house painter and neighbor
of the Richmonds, who purportedly hada fascination with Bigfoot, claiming he encountered
the elusive creature several times. Onthe morning of June one, nineteen eighty
seven, Will arrived at the Richmond'shome while Teresa was getting ready for school
and offered to give her a ride. Instead, he drove Teresa to the

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Bass Lake area of California, locatedin the heart of the Sierra Nevada Mountain
Range, making a few stops onthe way. Later that morning, Teresa's
uncle received a call from Central HighSchool informing him of Teresa's absence. When
she failed to return home later thatnight, he reported her missing. According

(09:01):
to Fresno police, Detective Doug Stokes. Police learned that Teresa had not attended
school that day, but had beenseen by witnesses with Welch at multiple locations.
Detective Stokes said she was seen bypeople who know her. They said
she told them they were going tothe mountains to look for bigfoot. She
was described as pretty excited about thewhole thing. Detective Stokes added, we

(09:24):
contacted the Mariposa County Sheriff's Department,US FORTH Service rangers and Maderra County Sheriff's
deputies. Gave them descriptions of Welchand the girl and asked them to be
on the lookout for them. Wealso provided a description of Welch's vehicle,
a two door seventy seven Monte Carlowten Over Brown. Welch's unoccupied Chevy was

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found in a remote area near NorthFork on June five. However, when
authorities returned to check on it severalhours later, it was no longer there.
Welch was eventually located at his mother'shome on June ten. He was
arrested for outstanding wlawrance and brought infor questioning. Detective Stokes said Welch claimed
that he and Teresa had seen Bigfootseveral times before Teresa went missing. While

(10:07):
searching for the creature alone, Welchsaid he searched for for two days before
returning to Fresno, but did notreport her disappearance to anyone. Detective Stokes
stated that Wells alleged that Bigfoot mayhave been involved in her disappearance, or
that she could have left the areawith other campers. Official searched the campsite
area on June eleven and found apurse and some clothing that belonged to the

(10:31):
teenager, but unfortunately, no othertrace of Teresa was found. Detective Stokes
said, we also didn't find anyevidence of any super being, subhuman,
or any unknown creature. The MaderaCounty Sheriff's Department conducted a full scale search
with helicopters and canines on June twelveand thirteen, but no further evidence was
found. Welch pleaded innocent concerning Teresa'sdisappearance and was released on his own recognizance.

(10:58):
After the court further examined the case, he was rearrested and held on
thirty thousand dollars bail. Welch wasthen re released because officials were concerned that
they would be unable to charge himwith a capital crime if they later found
Teresa deceased. Unfortunately, Teresa andBeer was never found, and Welch nor
anyone else was ever tried for herdisappearance. Sadly, she likely did not

(11:22):
survive the camping trip and met anuntimely fate in the Sierras. Anyone with
any information regarding Teresa's disappearance dis askedto contact the Fresno Police Department at five
point five nine six'to one twofive four one. Next, we have
the disappearance of Alfred bill Hearts.Over the Fourth of July weekend in nineteen

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thirty eight, the bill Hart's familywent camping at Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park.
The family, including four year oldAlfred bill Hearts and his older siblings,
camped near Estes Park in the RoaringFork River region. On July three,
the family walked along the trail togo fishing, with Alfred lagging behind.
Around eight am, his parents noticedhe was missing. The family searched

(12:09):
for Alfred but could not locate him, and he was reported missing to park
officials. Over the coming days,more than one thousand Searchers, including canines,
skyed the area for Alfred by dammingupstreams, dynamiting beaver dams, and
searching creek bottoms, but no traceof the young child was found. Speculation
about Albert's fate ranged from a grizzlybear attack to abduction, but authorities assumed

(12:33):
he drowned or was somewhere in thetimbered region. Searchers believed that if he
were in the water, he hadnot been able to pass through the beaver
dams, and if he did,he would not have made it through a
wire net set up by officials Duringthe search, A gauze bandage, which
his parents said had been covering Alfred'sheel, was discovered approximately a mile from
where he was said to have disappeared. This discovery led his father William to

(12:56):
believe Alfred was abducted rather than havingdrowned, as Alfred disliked bandages intended to
pull them off. A new searchtook officials to the hills, with teams
scouring the Devil's Nest region on theslopes of Mount Chaplain for an all day
climb up the mountains south side.William J. Eels and his wife previously

(13:16):
told officials they thought they saw alone figure of a boy standing on a
boulder, which gave credence to thetheory of abduction proposed by Alfred's parents.
Then, a woman named C.A. Lynch informed her brother in law
W. R. Lynch that shehad seen Alfred walking with an unknown man
along the highway while driving with herhusband from Big Spring to Ogalala. This

(13:37):
prompted officers in western Nebraska to investigate, but this also yielded no results.
For several weeks after Alfred's disappearance,reports were received claiming he had been seen
by various persons. However, officialswere unable to validate any of these claims.
Months later, the bill Harts familyreceived a ransom note at their home

(14:00):
from a man who shielded his face, requesting five hundred dollars for Alfred's safe
return. The note read, sorryfor your son. The boy doesn't take
to us. We will return yourson if you leave five hundred dollars in
a can twenty feet from thirty secondin Syracuse, one block from your home,
and the note we will return yourson within twenty four hours. Alfred's

(14:24):
father held a family conference and decidedthey would handle the matter themselves without the
police, but after careful reflection,they contacted the authorities. Alfred's father responded
to the note by writing, ifyou will give me any proof that you
have my boy, I will paythe money. He left a note in
a kettle around the corner, andthe police set up a blockade to intercept

(14:46):
any roads leading out of the area. Then they waited. A car carrying
a man and a woman pulled upand circled before stopping at the intersection of
East thirty second Avenue and Syracuse Street. The man out out of the vehicle,
pushed the dog out, and Alfred'sbrother, Matthew, who was waiting
with the authorities, shouted stop.After pushing the dog back into the car,

(15:09):
the man quickly jumped in and spedaway. A detective fired around amid
the chaos, but the vehicle continueduntil it reached the police barricades. The
detectives apprehended the couple, and whenquestioned, the pair claimed that they frequently
took their dogs to the area toquote give them an airing end quote.
Police believed their explanation and subsequently releasedthem. Detective O. A. Nick

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Carter investigated the matter and determined thatthe note was a cruel hoax, he
vowed to do everything he could toidentify the perpetrator responsible for writing it.
Ultimately, when no new leads orevidence, officials concluded Alfred was deceased and
his body was probably lodged between themassive rocks that filled the mountain stream Sadly,

(15:52):
his parents passed away before ever knowingthe actual fate of their son,
so was offered Bill hartzbdug did ordid he drown or succumb to the alments
in the Rockies. Anyone with informationregarding Alfred's disappearance is asked to contact the
National Park Service Investigative Services Branch ateight eight eight sixty five three zero zero

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zero nine. Next, we haveDouglas J. Legg. In July nineteen
seventy one, eight year old Douglasleg of Baldonsville, New York, was
camping with his family at the Melvinfamily estate on the Santinoni Reserve in the
town of Newcombe, located in EssexCounty, New York. The estate was
owned by Douglas's great uncle Crandall MelvinSenior, and was situated on thirteen thousand

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acres in the rugged terrain of theAdirondack Mountains. Around three thirty pm on
July ten, Douglas attempted to followhis uncle Myron Melvin into the woods.
However, Myron instructed him to returnto his parents' campsite, which was one
hundred and fifty yards away and withinside of the main camp via an old
logging trail. Douglas was only wearingshort pants and the area was known to

(17:04):
have poison ivy. When he failedto return, Douglas's father, William mleg
reported his son missing, and amassive ground search ensued, consisting of military
reservists, National Guard units, civilians, helicopters, canines, and dive teams.
A team of thirty one mountain searchpersonnel from California also assisted. Warren

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Bohm, one of the California searchers, said the search in the Adirondacks is
different in some ways from that inWestern states because of the heavy undergrowth,
which limits vision to less than sixfeet in some spots. Trooper Robert W.
Wtwitch said his bloodhound Bow picked upa good scent but lost it at
one point during the search. IntermaitIn rain fell overnight, and war to

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Witch said any new scent bow tractof Douglas would likely be fresh State Police
Captain R. V. D.Play said that searchers had not discovered any
physical evidence indicating where Douglas might havegone. Despite the rain, officials said
they would use helicopters and vehicles aswhether permitted. Dive teams also scoured Newcombe

(18:14):
Lake on the whim that Douglas mayhave gone for a swim or fallen into
the water, but still no traceof the young boy was found. Environmental
Conservation Department officer said Macas said,essentially, there's a sign that something is
very funny. I've been looking forpeople up here for ten years and there's
always a sign something a lost sneakermaybe or a torn T shirt. Here,

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there's none after all this time,with all these people looking, there
should be, So what happened toDouglas leg Multiple interviews of family and friends
were conducted, also without result.No foul play was ever indicated. To
this day, Douglas has never beenfound. Anyone with information regarding douglas disappearance

(19:00):
is asked to contact New York StateTroopers at five one eight eight ninety seven
to zero zero zero and lastly,Larry Jeffrey. Six year old Larry Jeffrey
of Henderson, Nevada, went missingon May twenty eighth, nineteen sixty six,
after being separated from his brothers Maniand Franklin Well on a weekend outing

(19:23):
at Mount Charleston in southern Nevada.Larry, who was hearing impaired, asked
his parents, Lee Jeffrey and stepmotherAlice for permission to climb from the family
picnic area in Lee's Canyon to thetop of the mountain to see the snow.
His parents did not permit him,so he joined Mani and Franklin on
another hike. He also asked themif he could climb to the top to

(19:47):
see the snow, but they toorefused permission. Shortly after that, Larry
disappeared, and his parents contacted officialsfor help. Larry only wore blue jeans
and a short sleeved shirt when hewent missing and was without food or water.
The Clark County Sheriff's Office directed morethan three hundred searchers, including volunteers,

(20:07):
over fifty square miles from mountainside overthe following few days. Reserve units
replaced tired searchers to maintain the strengthof the search, bringing the number up
to over eight hundred searchers. ChiefDeputy Ray Gubser said, if the boy
was able to find a cave tokeep warming, he could pull through.
Okay, kids have a lot ofstamina, but this is rough country.

(20:32):
Helicopters carried searches from Nellis Air ForceBase into McFarlane Canyon. A second team
of searchers trudged into Max Canyon ingroups of three. Each canyon is approximately
nine thousand feet above the surrounding desert. The Sheriff's office explained that temperatures on
the mountain at night dropped about fortydegrees fahrenheit. Searchers discovered Larry's footprints shortly

(20:53):
after they arrived, but they disappearedin a loose shale. The track suggested
that Larry like he did not thinkhe was lost, as they followed a
straight path towards the summit instead ofwandering around in circles. On the twelfth
day of the search, the ClarkCounty Sheriff's Office declared they would scale back
the number of searchers to twenty basedon the opinion of three doctors who told

(21:15):
Sheriff Ralph Lamb that Larry could nothave survived twelve near freezing nights on the
twelve thousand foot mountain. Ultimately,the difficult decision to call off the official
search was made. Jeff Ralph Lambsaid calling off the search was one of
the hardest decisions I've ever been forcedto make. If it was possible,
I'd keep my men searching until wefound him Physically, This isn't possible.

(21:41):
Larry was never found despite the intensivesearch in an area with extreme temperatures and
snow, and his parents returned totheir home in Henderson. So what happened
to Larry Jeffrey Theories range from ananimal attack, abduction, or succumbing to
the elements, yet it is impossibleto say without any conclusive vent evidence.
Anyone with information regarding Larry's disappearance desas to contact the Clark County Sheriff's Office

(22:07):
at seven oh two three ninety seventwo six six' nine. In closing,
these unsolved disappearances in the wilderness remaina haunting mystery, leaving us with
more questions than answers. These casesserve as stark reminders of the vastness and
unpredictable nature of our natural surroundings.Well, we may never fully understand what

(22:30):
happened to those who vanished. Theyserve as a reminder to respect and approach
the wilderness with caution. Well,friends, there you have it. What
do you think of these unsolved disappearances? I look forward to your comments,
but please keep it friendly and respectful. Till we meet again. Be good

(22:52):
to yourselves and each other. Staysafe out there. As for me,
I'll see a little further on downthe trail. I'm Steve, and I'll
talk to you next time. Andplease tell your animals I said hi.