MN Daniel Patrick Maleska, 32, Grand Rapids, 25 May 1987

[Atombudd]

Daniel Patrick Maleska

• 

Maleska, circa 1987

• Missing Since 05/25/1987
• Missing From Grand Rapids, Minnesota
• Classification Lost/Injured Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 09/29/1954 (67)
• Age 32 years old
• Height and Weight 5'9, 175 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Blue eyes. Maleska is bald.

Details of Disappearance
Maleska was last seen by Gunflint Lake in Grand Rapids, Minnesota on May 25, 1987. He disappeared while on an annual fishing trip with his brother and thirteen other men. He has never been heard from again.

Maleska lived in Princeton, Minnesota at the time of his disappearance. Few details are available in his case.
Daniel Patrick Maleska – The Charley Project

Details: Daniel Maleska is known to have medical problems. He left his lake home in Grand Rapids, MN and never returned.
https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/bca/bca-divisions/administrative/documents/maleskadaniel.pdf
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[chaddylex]

The Vanished Podcast just released an episode about Daniel's disappearance.
<iframe src="Daniel Maleska" style="width: 100%; height: 200px; border: 0 none;" scrolling="no"></iframe>




On Friday, May 15, 1987, 32-year-old Daniel Maleska left his home in Princeton, Minnesota, to travel about three hours north to Gunn Lake in Itasca County, Minnesota. That weekend, Dan, his brother Mike, and several other longtime friends planned a camping trip for the opening of fishing season. Dan and Mike were raised as avid outdoorsmen, and opening weekend was a big deal. While this was their first time visiting Gunn Lake, this annual trip was something they looked forward to all year. The area where the men were camping was very rural and densely wooded. It wasn't a campground with amenities; they were roughing it, but that was how Dan and his buddies liked it. The men set up camp, spent many hours fishing on the lake, drank some beers, and seemed to be having a great time. However, by Sunday morning, Dan had vanished. They found a canoe in the water with some of his fishing supplies still inside. It looked like he had been plucked from that boat, leaving his items undisturbed. Despite extensive searches of the lake and surrounding wilderness, no trace of Dan Maleska has ever surfaced. The circumstances have left his loved ones to wonder if the scene was staged and Dan planned to disappear.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Dan Maleska, please call the Itasca County Sheriff's Office at (218) 326-3477.

 

[Hestia's Fire]

I just finished listening to the Vanished podcast. It seems like every missing persons case has at least one person who says, "Maybe they just staged their disappearance and took off to start their life over somewhere else." Normally I just brush this off because it's obviously the desperate hope of someone who doesn't want to believe their loved one is likely deceased. But in this case, I think it actually sounds like a plausible scenario.

• The strange way he was acting toward his wife and son on the morning he left makes it seem like he knew this was not going to be an ordinary fishing trip.
• The way his friend from Washington state showed up unannounced as a surprise makes it seem like he may have been an accomplice in Daniel getting away. The way Daniel called his other friend four times to confirm the location and directions to the lake before the trip despite this being uncharacteristic behavior for him may have been so he could pass those directions on to this friend and work out some kind of escape route.
• The way his canoe was in the water with all of his gear in it undisturbed, and not full of water like the other boats even though it was raining that morning, makes it sound like a staged scene. Highly unlikely he fell out of the boat without upending it enough to cause his fishing pole and tackle box to fall into the water as well.
• The way he was apparently 'passed out' (drunk or otherwise) relatively early in the evening despite not having much to drink or doing any kind of drugs, to the point that his brother and friend had to carry him into his tent and put him to bed, also strikes me as a possibly staged event. If he were thought to be passed out asleep, it's unlikely that any of the other guys who weren't in on the plot would have gone looking for him and he could have made his getaway whenever it seemed like the coast was clear- possibly while everyone else was enjoying the sauna.

 

[Pennysmom1]

Daniel's mother passed away April 17, 2024

Patricia A. Maleska Obituary 2024 - Dougherty Funeral Home

View Patricia A. Maleska's obituary, send flowers, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.

www.doughertyofhibbing.com

<<She was preceded in death by her son, Daniel Maleska,>>