Missing 411 (2016)

A National Park Ranger told writer David Paulides a troubling story. Over his years of involvement with numerous search and rescue operations at several different National Parks, he had detected a trend that he couldn’t understand.

The Ranger explained that during the first 7 - 10 days of a disappearance he would witness massive Search and Rescue activity and significant press coverage. Following this initial week -long effort there was almost always an immediate halt to the coverage, a discontinued search for the victims and no explanation from the search authorities.

It bothered David enough that he began asking questions yet he got no answers. So he conducted research. What he discovered shocked him. People of all ages have been disappearing from National Parks and Forests at an alarming rate, all under similar circumstances. Victims’ families are left without closure and the Park Service refuses to follow up or keep any sort of national list and/or database of the missing people. Thousands of missing people.

David’s instincts told him this was a story that needed to be told. He devoted six years to investigating missing people in rural areas. The result? The identification of 52 geographical clusters of missing people in North America.

These clusters formed the basis for four Missing 411 books that have garnered widespread acclaim and multiple 5 star ratings on Amazon.com. The story has been featured on several primetime newscasts and on hundreds of ratio stations across the country.

A collection of David Paulides interviews is available here.