David Paulides, a former lawman turned investigative journalist, joined George Knapp for the entire 4 hour program to update us with even more bizarre stories of missing persons in national parks and forests throughout the United States, as well as other countries. He described additional victims, new locations and circumstances, while outlining several new geographical clusters where people have vanished without a trace. "There's almost a hopscotch effect on the missing people-- there aren't a lot in one location within a short period of time because that would really raise awareness" and suspicion, he noted. The biggest cluster in the world is Yosemite-- "there's something about being in a boulder field, or being around granite that can be dangerous. A lot of people disappear in those areas," he continued.
Victims typically either having a high intellect or conversely some kind of disability, are often found semi-conscious or unconscious, running a low grade fever, and in an area where search teams had previously thoroughly searched, he detailed. While Paulides makes a point not to approach victims or their families, so he's not perceived to capitalize on their loss, he is sometimes contacted by those involved in cases. This happened with Allyn Atadero, the father of a three-year old boy who mysteriously vanished in 1999 in the Poudre River area in northern Colorado. When the boy's remains were found four years after his disappearance, there was no evidence of a mountain lion attack, but among the oddities were the condition of his shoes, which looked almost new, and one of his teeth was found sitting atop a bed of pine needles.
The case of a missing park ranger at the Rocky Mountain National Park, Jeff Christensen, was also strange. In the middle of the seven day search for him, they heard gunfire within the park, and unusual radio clicking (Christensen had carried a radio with him). Several days after the search ended, his deceased body turned up in a boulder field, but his head had been bandaged. "I asked myself, if you're that injured-- because he died of a skull fracture supposedly-- why not get on your radio and call for help?" Paulides pondered. He reported on several cases from Australia, which mimic incidents in the United States, including one of a boy who was found alive and in decent shape, after being without food or water for 11 days. He also recounted the Myles Robinson case, a 23-year old who disappeared in the middle of the night in a small town in the Swiss Alps. His body was found seven days later on a cliff in another town where there was no transportation to at the time of his disappearance.