Missing 411: The National Park Vanishings
Since 2012, former police detective David Paulides has documented over 1,700 unexplained disappearances in North American wilderness areas. Victims vanish without trace, often within sight of companions, leaving behind patterns that defy conventional explanation—and a National Park Service that claims it keeps no centralized record of the missing.
The National Park Service acknowledges that missing persons cases occur within park boundaries but maintains these incidents are consistent with statistical expectations given the 312 million annual recreational visits to federal parklands. Individual cases are entered into the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS) and managed by appropriate jurisdictional authorities. Skeptical analysis by researcher Kyle Polich, published in Skeptical Inquirer (2017), concluded that after examining Paulides' data, "not a single case stands out nor do the frequencies involved seem outside of expectations." The NPS notes the absence of a centralized missing persons database reflects distributed case management across federal, state, and county jurisdictions rather than deliberate omission.
- Undetected Serial Predator
- Cryptid Predator / Bigfoot Abduction
- Statistical Noise and Selection Bias
- Extraterrestrial Abduction / UAP Connection
- Fae Folk / Interdimensional Portals
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