The Alaska Triangle: Unexplained Disappearances

The American frontier state of Alaska has been the home to many unexplained disappearances throughout its land, but one area in particular has been the subject of more recent questioning. This is known as the Alaska Triangle. The triangle connects the state's largest city of Anchorage in the south to Juneau in the southeast and to Barrow, a small town on the state's north coast. Since 1988, it's estimated that approximately 16,000 people have gone missing in this vast, untouched wilderness. The area consists of incredibly large sprawling forests, icy mountain peaks and desolate tundra. It also contains the Denali National Park, the Gates of the Arctic National Park, the Chugach National Forest and the Glacier Bay National Park. This first and perhaps the most well-known disappearance took place on October the 16th, 1972, when a Cessna 310 with the tail number N1812H disappeared somewhere between Anchorage and Juneau. The plane was owned by the Pan Alaska Airways and was piloted by 38-year-old Don Johns, who was a chief pilot and had a lot of experience under his belt. Over 17,000 hours of flight time to be exact, and he was very highly regarded. However, because of the status of the passengers, they became the primary focus of the reporting. Don's passengers included three individuals, Alaska Congressman Nick Bache, his aide Russell Brown and Louisiana Congressman Hale Boggs, who was also the United States House of Representatives Majority Leader at the time. Their destination was Juneau, in which they were to attend a rally for Nick, but unfortunately, the trio would never arrive, and the aircraft would never be located. Many said that this was strange given that the entire flight plan was known, and a massive search of the route produced no results. Don and the trio set off from Anchorage at approximately 9am. The weather was described as marginal, and though there was fog present, visibility stood at roughly one and a half miles. Once air traffic control came to the realization that the flight had gone beyond its ETA, they notified the authorities and it was quickly declared missing. 325,000 square miles were scoured for 39 days by 40 military aircraft and 50 civilian planes. But even after 3,600 hours of flight time, not a trace was ever located, even 48 years later now. During the search however, the searches were clinging onto a ray of hope in that before this incident, Alaska had passed a law that required small commercial aircraft to be fitted with an emergency locator transmitter. This is a piece of equipment that emits a signal if the plane had gone down, but authorities stated that no signal was ever received and came to the conclusion that there can't have been one on board. This is a central piece that has been hotly debated, many argued that the aircraft was in compliance with the law and that Don was not the type of character who would do that. Others couldn't account for the lack of a signal and stated that it must be because it wasn't equipped. Some made the case that it was strange that the authorities didn't just obtain the records of the aircraft to confirm the status of the transmitter. Regardless, I could find no actual evidence in support of either side, though as an important side note, it is thought that if the plane had entered a body of water, this signal may not have gotten through. Though after reading the original sources, it doesn't appear as though the authorities thought that this was the case. Interestingly, independent ham radio operators stated that they had picked up a transmission from a downed plane, but the origin could not be identified. The FBI did involve themselves with this incident and stated that a search plane had picked up what they thought was a crash locator beacon 40 minutes away from Juneau. Another signal of the same kind was picked up 150 miles northeast of Anchorage a short time afterwards, but again, the planes could not find the source of either signal. This was an interesting development because there were no other accidents reported at the time and it's not clear what was happening with the signals and I could find no further information as to what may have caused them. Searchers did find it odd that they found no clues as to where the plane had gone down and said that they did expect to find wreckage or holes in the clouds which would indicate where they went down. The Abilene Reporter News reported this on the 16th of October 1972. Four military aircraft looking for holes in the clouds continued their search Wednesday for the missing airplane. An Air Force spokesman said that three rescue craft and one helicopter were flying through fairly heavy cloud cover searching for holes in the clouds. The spokesman said the aircraft have flown nearly 3,500 hours making the search the longest in terms of days and flying hours in the history of the state. An aerial search by a top secret supersonic SR-71 and the slower F-4C jets also failed to turn up any clue as to the missing plane. Air Force officials have checked out many reported leads, but there has still not been one concrete piece of evidence to indicate where the airplane might have gone down. Three days later on the 19th, some more information came to light when the Sarasota Herald Tribune reported. Two Coast Guard helicopters were flying to an island logging camp 18 miles southwest of Juneau, where loggers reported that they had heard a loud booming sound. The loggers also said that they heard a light aircraft just before the boom. Unfortunately though, the Air Force could not locate the plane and officials were reported as being visibly frustrated that no further clues seemed to be surfacing, and presumably because they couldn't locate any of the signals or understand why they were coming from opposite directions. In the end, this disappearance was added to the list of more than 40 open missing aircraft cases in Alaska since 1962. I won't cover any more aerial disappearances in this video, but if you'd like me to make a video on that subject, then do let me know. Now let's take a look at the next disappearance. In 2012, 31-year-old Thomas Sebold, who lived in Three Rivers in Wisconsin, had planned a trip to Alaska. He had taken six months worth of leave from his workplace and set off in June of that year. Thomas had years upon years of survivalist training under his belt and he enjoyed being in the backcountry hiking, camping and generally spending a good amount of time out there. Thomas was originally from Germany and had spent the prior six years from 2007 both teaching and training at the Three Rivers Drum Outdoor School. This is a survivalist school specialising in Native American values and techniques ranging from shelter construction to hunting and gathering. Teachers and the founder of the school himself, Tamarack Song, described Thomas as a highly experienced, competent, individual and a natural in the wilderness. He described him as a wandering spirit. The Daily Sitka Sentinel, who were covering this incident as it was unfolding, gave more information about Thomas' plans. They stated, Thomas had planned to stay in the northwest Alaska backcountry through October and had booked a flight home to Wisconsin, but he never made it to that flight. Thomas first made the trip to an Alaska native fish camp in southeast Alaska before heading north. Tamarack said, Thomas travelled to the northwest Alaska village of Ambler in September, hiking to a cabin about 30 miles to the north up the Ambler River. This area is inside the gates of the Arctic National Park. Nationalgeographic.com describes the area as such. Climb practically any ridge in the heart of the park and you'll see a dozen glacial cirques side by side, serrated mountains that scythe the sky, and storms that snap out of the dark, brooding clouds. Six national wild and scenic rivers, Alapna, John, Kabuk, Noatak, North Fok, Koyuk, and Tineguk. The park lies entirely above the Arctic Circle, straddling the Brooks Range, one of the world's northernmost mountain chains. Thomas had some assistance organising this trip with the help of some members of the school and they put him in touch with the woman who owned a cabin near the Ambler River. This is where Thomas was heading to meet up with her and her son of 13 years who also lived with her. The Ambler River, and specifically the cabin, is located in Brooks Range, which is located right on the border of the gates of the Arctic National Park. It's important to note that Thomas arrived at the woman's cabin home in June, and three months later on the 27th of September is the last time he was seen, though not when he went missing. The daily Sitka Sentinel reported that Thomas, the woman, and the boy canoed down the river to the woman's fish camp sometime in September. Thomas parted ways with the woman and her son on the 27th of September and said that he planned to head back to the cabin. Now to reach the cabin on foot from my understanding means travelling through the gates of the Arctic National Park. Thomas wanted to head back to the cabin because he had planned to hike out 25 miles to Cobourg in October and was supposed to contact someone by the 11th of November. The woman and her child however had planned to remain at the fish camp and didn't plan to return for some time. When Thomas failed to check in with the person he was supposed to contact, said person reported him missing to the authorities. Thomas was supposed to fly back to Wisconsin on the 15th of November, which of course did not happen. It's worth mentioning that Thomas was not new to this type of land and understood the dangers well. As previously mentioned, he was highly trained and experienced with spending time in extreme areas. For instance, he had spent time camping alone in minus 32 degrees Celsius or minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit in harsh northern winter conditions in Norway. The Alaskan authorities deployed aircraft to search from above but said that no sign of Thomas ever turned up. Authorities did make it clear however that they fully expected to find Thomas in good time. While they didn't find Thomas or any sign of him, the pilots did locate the cabin where they landed shortly thereafter. Inside the cabin and around it were no clues to indicate that he was nearby and it was stated that it didn't look like he'd been there for weeks. While bleak, this did mean that Thomas did in fact make it back to the cabin and was able to complete his journey on the 27th of September. During this time, the weather had taken a turn for the worse and high winds in the region started to hinder the search efforts. According to thomassabledsearch.blogspot.com, in a search of the cabin, Alaska state troopers found Thomas's diary. The last entry was October the 7th where he stated that he was preparing to go on a several day exploration. The troopers found no evidence of him being at the cabin after that approximate date. From that information, we can probably come to the conclusion that it was during this several day exploration is where he went missing. Unfortunately, the diary entry was not released so it's unclear if Thomas specifically mentioned where he was going. However, we do know that he had plans to hike to Kubuk, so perhaps that was a possibility. On the 27th of November, the daily Sitka Sentinel reported Whatever happened to Thomas Sable next is a mystery. We believe things may have gone awry for him since Sergeant Duane Stone, supervisor for the trooper post in Kotsbu. He wrote about his plans to hike out for further exploration and that is where the letters ended. Other writings found at the cabin contain vague hints of possible plans. A description of hiking and camping at higher elevations and notes on preparing wood at the cabin for upcoming weather. However, despite these clues, searchers could still not figure out where he'd gone. By the time the search concluded, searchers had scanned over 3,500 square mile area of mountains, canyons and river drainages. One pilot stated that he had witnessed a circle marking on gravel around 8 miles north of the Ambler River. Thomas' colleagues said that the circle has such a strong meaning to Thomas that we think there's a high likelihood that he etched the sign. One theory speculated that he knew that he was in trouble and perhaps was denoting a place to drop provisions. Another theory stated that the etching was of a spiritual significance, though it is important to note that a search of the area found no indication of Thomas' presence. Searchers said that they have seen animal tracks but no human tracks anywhere in the area. It's also important to note that the circle, despite its significance to Thomas, may have been completely unrelated to him. Sergeant Stone said that the circle is the only sign of a human traveler in the area and it was expected that they would find human footprints nearby or at least a sign of human activity, but that wasn't the case. ThomasSeboldSearch.blogspot.com posted this on the 14th of December 2012. The National Park Authorities have stopped searching for Thomas. Just like the Alaska State Troopers, they also say that they would continue the search if it was their loved one who was missing. It seems at this point, loved ones, family members, friends and colleagues continued their own independent search and hired pilots to fly over the area. To conclude, all search efforts failed and no sign of Thomas has ever been found. Searchers could find no evidence of animal predation or a struggle. No belongings or a campsite were ever found. Search dogs never picked up a scent and the aerial searches also provided no results other than the etched circle. It's unclear where Thomas went or what took place. Now let's have a look at another. 48-year-old Sharon Bees disappeared sometime in mid to late May of 2014 whilst on a solo hike in the Mount Robert area near Juneau. Sharon herself was a physical therapist that resided in Juneau and was said to be very fit, presumably because she was a highly experienced hiker that engaged in her favourite activity a lot. In the past, she had biked from Alaska to Canada and had recently been on an ice camping trip in Greenland. All in all, Sharon was a bit of a health and fitness buff. Unfortunately though, it appears that Sharon may have relied too heavily on her experience as on this particular spontaneous hike on Mount Roberts. She had failed to let anyone know where she was going. Anne Johnson, a close friend and hiking partner of Sharon's reported her missing as Sharon had failed to attend a pre-planned hike with her on the 24th of May. The pair were set to hike with the Alpine Club to Hawthorne Peak on the morning of the 24th. Anne told the press that it was very unusual for Sharon to miss a hike as she had never done so previously and was left with a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. According to the Sitka Daily Sentinel, Miss Bees, 48, was reported missing Saturday night. She didn't tell anyone where she was going and her car was found at 9.30pm on the 24th of May next to the Mount Roberts Trailhead. Additional search teams have been deployed and two helicopters scoured the area on Tuesday, one over Mount Roberts and the other over Mount Juneau. People headed up Mount Juneau or Perseverance Trail sometimes park at the Mount Roberts Trailhead. The area features an extensive trail network and is popular with hikers. Some teams have gone over the expanse, some portions of it repeatedly. The search for Sharon began the following day at 1am with Alaska State Troopers leading the search. Involved were local search and rescue teams, volunteers, southeast Alaska dog teams, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Alpine Club and many of their friends and family. When the dogs couldn't locate a scent, additional aircraft fitted with thermal imaging technology were deployed. Searchers told the press, we've been all over those hillsides and again assessing where it's likely she's been. We have thoroughly searched that area and then we've searched and double-searched areas outside of that and then search again areas that she could have gone but isn't likely. Even those areas have been double-checked. According to strangeoutdoors.com, search dogs are also used but they have not picked up a scent. Dogs showed interest which is different and more ambiguous than alerting to a scent. This was in two different areas on Mount Roberts on Sunday and on Tuesday. Nothing more came of these incidents however. The search efforts failed and the searchers were left confused as to where she might have gone because there were no clues to indicate a direction of travel. Similarly, animal predation was suspected but no evidence of that was found which should have been easily trackable. Searchers said that they had no idea where she could have gotten to. Three months later, discussions were still taking place and this incident was still in the minds of the local population who wanted to know what had happened to her. An expert on Juneau mine shafts came forward and stated that it is possible that while hiking she could have fallen into an old mine on the side of Mount Roberts, close to where she was thought to have gone given the discovery of the car. A man named Brian Weed came forward to lead a small team down into the abandoned mine shaft. He said that while he didn't want to give anyone false hope, there are two mine shafts in which Sharon could have accidentally fallen into. However, after an extensive search, it was concluded that she hadn't entered the mine shafts. On the 28th of November, 2014, the Fairbanks Daily News Minor reported. Even after the official search ended, there are still those that look for her to this day. An Alaska State Trooper said, I just had a guy come up to me and tell me that he was still looking for her yesterday. People still keep an eye out for her when they're on hikes. Sharon's disappearance puzzled everyone who knew her. She was a capable outdoors woman who had gone on many epic adventures. Her adventures spanned across her favourite summit, Mount Meek on Douglas Island to the Glacier Bay National Park and beyond. Sharon's case remains open with the Juneau Police Department as a missing persons case. Now, in one of the final videos I made before Christmas, I said that I was going to be researching disappearances in Alaska in the new year. However, I underestimated the inherent limitations of researching this particular area. One of the problems with Alaskan wilderness disappearances is that there is often a severe lack of information, and the official investigations prove to be very difficult and costly for prolonged periods of time. Another problem is that in some instances, sufficient information is not released to the press for whatever reason, though in fairness, this is also a problem that I noticed with some UK disappearances too. In many instances, the circumstances are not thoroughly discussed or shared, such as the condition of the body when found, among other specifics that you might imagine to be important. I imagine, at least in the UK, some of this information is withheld to prevent panic among the relevant communities, which is probably also true for Alaska. So this often means that while we understand that a disappearance has taken place, there is frustratingly very little information, which is an inherent problem in trying to research disappearances in Alaska. This is a topic we'll have to revisit again, and I'll try to find more cases that contain more information. But for now, here are some other examples of cases that I've come across where very little information is available. 62-year-old Dervish Adili went missing on the 13th of August, 1992, from Tok, Alaska. The precise date of his disappearance is unknown, but eight years after the fact in June of 2000, his wallet, among various pieces of identification were found. Similarly, some of his camping supplies were found at a campsite off Taylor Highway in Alaska. Bizarrely, Dervish was reported missing in October of 2006 by a relative, six years after the discovery of his belongings. The circumstances behind his disappearance remain a mystery. 36-year-old Albert Scott O'Gathluck went missing from Emanac, Alaska on the 16th of November, 2006. According to charlieproject.org, Albert was last seen at 4pm on the 16th of November, 2006, leaving Emanac on his snow machine. He was on his way to Alakanuk, but never arrived. After his disappearance, searchers found his snow machine in the Yukon River. There was a hole in the ice and his white bunny boots and one of his black gloves were floating in the water there, but there was no sign of Albert at the scene. It's important to note that the hole and the river were searched, but he wasn't there. His case remains unsolved. David Jonathan Allen went missing from Nikitski, Alaska on the 26th of March, 2005. He disappeared from his residence in the vicinity of the 50,000 block Independence Street in Nikitski. The week afterwards, a positive sighting was made in the Saldotna, Alaska area, and from there he was never seen again. His abandoned car was found on a highway in Cooper Landing on the 11th of May, 2005. There was no sign of him, and the case remains open and unsolved. 51-year-old Cora Anderson went missing from Palmer, Alaska and was last seen leaving the Eureka Lodge at Mile 128 of Glen Highway in Alaska. After this sighting, she was never seen again. Her abandoned vehicle was found at Mile 58 of Glen Highway at Moose Creek Campground nine days after her disappearance. No sign of Cora was found, and her disappearance remains a mystery. This next one is just bizarre from the limited amount of information available. Earl Ashworth, 56 years of age at the time of his disappearance, went missing near Anchorage. Earl was last seen near Mile Marker 56 on the Sheward Highway of Anchorage. He and four of his friends went to explore a gold mine. Because of his age, Earl opted to stay behind with his dog Cruiser near their vehicle while the rest of the group went inside the mine. When the rest of the group returned, Cruiser was alone next to the vehicle and Earl was nowhere to be found. The group searched the area but found no trace of him. Earl has never been seen or heard from again. Finally, Roy Victor Banhart disappeared from Ketchikan in Alaska. Roy was 38 years old at the time of his disappearance. On the 29th of December 2014, he took a taxi to the 49er Bar on Water Street and then left He got a taxi but was reported as being obnoxious and nasty to the driver who made him get out, but unfortunately he was never seen again. Ketchikan is on an island and is only accessible by air and water, of which there are no records of him leaving the island. His case remains unsolved, with the only theory offered was that he must have entered a body of water somewhere. Thank you for watching. If you found the video interesting, then please do leave a like and subscribe if you haven't already, it helps me a lot. And if not, then feel free to leave a dislike, I'm just looking for your honest opinion, so do share your thoughts. And if you enjoy hiking or camping, then please do put the extra effort in to be careful. I'd also just like to say a special thank you to my Patrons who keep this channel moving forwards, so thank you very much for your support. And if you'd like to have a look at my Patreon, then you can do so in the description. I hope that you've had a good day or evening depending on where you are, and I'll see you next time. Peace.