Hikers Shouldn’t Just Vanish Off Of Trails
Imagine this: You are out hiking with a friend and they go around a corner ahead of you and are out of sight for a moment. When you round the corner, they are gone. You search, but they aren’t anywhere to be found. They are gone without a trace.
It seems like a spooky campfire tale, doesn’t it? But for David Paulides, the cases of people go missing in National Forests and other wild places under mysterious circumstances, is what inspires his Missing 411 research. So, let’s put on our hiking boots, take our flashlights, and explore this mysterious world!
Who is David Paulides?
Before we explore what goes bump in the night, let’s meet David Paulides. He is not just a person who likes scary tales. David is a former police officer who is good at spotting weird things. After he finished his work as an officer, he started NABS LLC, which stands for North America Bigfoot Search. He then began his mission to find Bigfoot, the famous cryptid.
However, Bigfoot was not the only mystery David cared about. With his son, Benjamin Paulides, David started looking into a series of strange disappearances. These vanishings mainly happened in the national parks he was familiar with. This is how Missing 411 came to be. It is the project of a father and son team trying to show that sometimes, truth can be stranger than fiction.
The Origins of Missing 411 Phenomenon
Imagine a large continent with tall trees, winding rivers, and amazing mountains. This is the wilds of North America. It is a great place for adventure. Sadly, it is also home to some mysteries that remain unsolved.
David Paulides saw a strange pattern. People were going missing in these areas under circumstances that didn’t make sense. It wasn’t just a few people and their cases weren’t being solved. These cases were not simple lost hiker stories. They had unusual details that left even experienced investigators confused.
Defining the Missing 411 Criteria
Sure, people go missing all the time, right? But what makes a case special for “Missing 411”? According to Mr. Paulides, it’s more than just someone getting lost on a hiking trail. These cases aren’t just about people who wandered off after having too many drinks at camp. They include some strange and unexplained things.
- Sudden Weather Changes: After a person disappears, there is often an abrupt shift in weather. Rainstorms, snow, or heavy fog can hinder search efforts, making it more difficult to find the missing individual.
- Dogs Won’t Track: In many cases, search and rescue dogs either cannot pick up a scent or lose the trail abruptly. Sometimes the dogs refuse to track altogether, acting unusually anxious or disoriented.
- Victims Found in Difficult Terrain: When bodies are found, they are often located in areas difficult to reach, like steep mountainsides, dense forests, or near bodies of water. These locations are sometimes far from where the person was last seen, even though they would not likely have traveled there on their own.
- Clothing or Shoes Removed: Some victims are found without shoes or essential clothing, even in harsh weather conditions. Their clothes may be scattered or found neatly folded nearby.
- Near Water: Many of the disappearances occur near bodies of water, such as lakes, rivers, or swamps. Water is often a key feature in the location of the disappearance or where the person is later found.
- Disappearances Near Boulder Fields: A surprising number of disappearances happen near boulder fields, rocky terrain, or granite-rich areas. This recurring element is unexplained but frequently noted in the books.
- Missing Time: Survivors or people who are found often cannot account for long periods of time, with gaps in their memory from when they disappeared until they were rescued.
- Young Children Traveling Long Distances: In some cases involving young children, they are found miles away from their last known location, sometimes in areas that would be difficult or impossible for them to reach on their own.
- High Intellectual or Physical Ability: Many of the missing people are described as being highly intelligent, physically fit, or outdoors-savvy, making their disappearances even more puzzling.
Imagine you’re looking for a missing person in a national park. You would expect to find some clues along the path, like a discarded water bottle or a lost compass. But what if you search and find…nothing? No personal items, no signs that anything happened. It’s as if the person just disappeared.
Then, if you add odd weather patterns, strange behavior from search dogs, or finding clues in places that don’t make sense, you step into the confusing world of Missing 411.
Some Classic Missing 411 Cases
While David outlines literally hundreds of cases in his book series, here are a few of the more famous Missing 411 cases:
1. Dennis Martin (1969) – Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
Dennis Martin, a 6-year-old boy, vanished while playing hide-and-seek with other children during a Father’s Day camping trip in the Smoky Mountains. Despite an extensive search effort involving thousands of people, bloodhounds, and the FBI, Dennis was never found. Mysterious elements include sudden bad weather after his disappearance and a witness who reported seeing an “unkempt man” carrying something in the area at the time.
2. Stacy Ann Arras (1981) – Yosemite National Park, California
Stacy Arras, a 14-year-old girl, disappeared during a horseback riding trip with her father and friends. After setting up camp, she went to explore a nearby lake but never returned. Only her camera lens was found. Despite the proximity to a populated area, Stacy was never located, and her disappearance remains one of the most baffling cases in Yosemite’s history.
3. Jaryd Atadero (1999) – Comanche Peak Wilderness, Colorado
Jaryd Atadero, a 3-year-old boy, disappeared while hiking with a group near Big South Trail. A large-scale search was conducted, but only a few remains were found years later, including a tooth and part of his skull. The odd aspect of the case is the discovery of his shoes and clothing in good condition, despite the time elapsed and harsh conditions. The shoes seemed to show no wear, which was puzzling given the terrain.
4. Keith Parkins (1952) – Ritter, Oregon
Two-year-old Keith Parkins disappeared from his family’s ranch in rural Oregon. He was found 12 miles away from where he vanished, over rough terrain, 19 hours later. Miraculously alive, the distance traveled and the cold weather conditions make his survival incredible. The case is notable because of the unlikely journey the young boy made in such a short time.
5. The Disappearance of Tom Messick (2015) – Horicon, New York
Tom Messick, an 82-year-old experienced hunter, vanished while hunting with friends in the Adirondacks. He was stationed to watch for deer while his group did a sweep of the area. When they returned, he was gone. Despite a large-scale search, no trace of Tom was found, not even his rifle or clothing. Messick had experience in wilderness survival, and his disappearance remains one of the most puzzling in the Missing 411 cases.
Theories Behind the Disappearances
After investigating hundreds of strange disappearances happening, David Paulides has found some very wild theories. These ideas range from scientific ones to those that are out of this world. We are looking at theories that are crazier than a Bigfoot sighting in a busy city!
Of course, there are common reasons people might go missing. These include wild animals, accidental falls, or perhaps those mysterious feral humans who like to collect humans (just joking, mostly). But get ready, because bizarre things are coming up. We’re discussing alien abductions, doorways to other worlds, and yes, even the chance that Bigfoot might be involved in all this.
People lost in portals
Fasten your seatbelts, conspiracy theorists! We are about to dive into some wild speculations about portals. Yes, those strange gateways that might take people anywhere. It’s a bit mysterious, isn’t it?
Picture this: you are walking in the forest, enjoying your day, when you suddenly see a strange shimmer in the air. One moment you are among tall trees, then poof! You are sitting with interdimensional beings, drinking cosmic tea.
- Some fans of this theory think that strange energy and electromagnetic oddities can open these portals.
- Others believe it depends on special locations, like the ancient energy spots linked to old civilizations (imagine that funny Indiana Jones music playing!).
My suspicion is that here and there the barriers between dimensions get a little thin and we can jump from one to the next without knowing it. I also suspect that this is where some of the odd creatures like the Dover Demon came from. They accidentally stepped through a portal and got stuck here.
Bigfoot abducting people
Let’s face it, we can’t talk about Missing 411 without mentioning the famous Bigfoot! Yes, this big, hairy creature has often been seen as a main reason behind many strange disappearances. Even if you don’t believe in Bigfoot, the idea of him grabbing people from the woods is pretty scary.
Imagine this: a hiker goes off the path, excited to take beautiful nature pictures. They probably don’t realize they’ve stepped into Bigfoot’s home. Is it possible that Bigfoot is responsible for some of these missing cases, taking people to secret spots deep in the wild?
- Some fans of Missing 411 think Bigfoot isn’t just a big friendly creature; they believe he might have a clever mind that we can’t fully understand.
- Maybe, they suggest, Bigfoot takes people for… experiments? Watching them? Or even just for cuddles? The ideas are as wide and mysterious as the forests!
The reality is that if a territorial or hungry Bigfoot grabbed you, there likely wouldn’t be much evidence of it. Bigfoot is an apex predator and is very hard to find in the woods.
Alien abductions
Alien abductions could explain some of these cases, and occasionally people report seeing strange lights around the time of some disappearances.
A fair number of cases where people are found, either alive or dead, they were dropped from a height and landed in unusual spots or on hills. Often times their clothes are missing as well. Could aliens be doing experiments then just be dumping the bodies?
Take for example Zigmund Adamski who, while he didn’t disappear in the wilderness, walked out of his home at around 3:30 pm on June 6, 1980, saying he was going to the local shops to buy groceries. Five days later, his body was found on top of a 10′ pile of coal. As reported in the Star:
“He was wearing a three-piece suit but its jacket was “improperly” fastened and his shirt had been removed. Adamski’s watch and wallet were never found. His shoes were oddly tied. His hair had been cut short and curiously, despite the five-day disappearance, Adams appeared to have shaved the day before his death.”
Many of the Missing 411 cases have commonalities of people being found in odd locations, missing clothes, or having their clothes on wrong, and no memory of what happened provided they are found alive. Aliens? Sure could be!
Natural Causes and Human Factors
While it is fun to consider strange theories, let’s not forget that the wilderness is not a forgiving place. Not every missing person case needs something strange or supernatural. Sometimes, the simplest answer is the correct one, even if it sounds a bit dull.
Many disappearances can be explained by natural events or just plain human mistakes. For example, a hiker might take a wrong turn, a climber could fall from a dangerous cliff, or someone might stray from a path and get lost. We all know that feeling, right?
Also, let’s think about human choices. Sometimes, people choose to disappear. They want to escape their problems or start a new life. It may not be as thrilling as a story about Bigfoot, but that’s just how real life can be!
That being said, even if human activity explains some of these cases, it can’t explain them all…
The Missing 411 Books
If you want to explore the strange world of Missing 411, check out David Paulides’ series of books. He has created a whole library about Missing 411, with each book looking at different parts of this strange topic.
You can read about creepy disappearances in “Missing 411: Eastern United States” and “Missing 411: Western United States & Canada”. Then, there are the scary stories of hunters who go missing in “Missing 411: Hunted”. Paulides makes a strong case for why these cases are not just bad luck.
The Missing 411 Movies
Do you like mysteries on screen? You’re in luck! David Paulides has what you need. He created the “Missing 411” documentaries that will make you think twice about that solo camping trip.
Missing 411 (2016)
This first documentary explores unexplained disappearances in U.S. national parks, focusing on the cases of Jaryd Atadero and DeOrr Kunz Jr., two young boys who vanished mysteriously. It highlights common patterns like weather changes, search dogs failing to track, and victims being found in hard-to-reach areas. Family members, search experts, and law enforcement are interviewed, shedding light on how these cases defy typical explanations.
Missing 411: The Hunted (2019)
The Hunted examines experienced hunters who disappeared in the wilderness under odd circumstances. Cases like Tom Messick and Aaron Hedges are featured, focusing on men who knew the outdoors well but still vanished without a trace. Mysterious sounds and strange phenomena are reported in some of these areas, and the film explores theories ranging from cryptids to otherworldly forces.
Missing 411: The UFO Connection (2022)
The Hunted examines experienced hunters who disappeared in the wilderness under odd circumstances. Cases like Tom Messick and Aaron Hedges are featured, focusing on men who knew the outdoors well but still vanished without a trace. Mysterious sounds and strange phenomena are reported in some of these areas, and the film explores theories ranging from cryptids to otherworldly forces.
These films are honestly an overview of the total of the cases that are out there. Hundreds of people have gone missing under bizarre and unexplainable circumstances. The cases in these three movies are just the tip of the iceberg!
Conclusion
Whether you believe that the Missing 411 disappearances are the result of mundane human errors, or if there is something more paranormal going on, you have to admit that something strange is going on and we need a lot more answers than were are getting from the government.
