AZ AZ - Paul Braxton Fugate, 41, Ranger @ Chiricahua National Monument, Willcox, 13 Jan 1980

[doublestop]

On January 13, 1980, Chiricahua National Monument Ranger Paul Fugate told another ranger he was going to check the trails to Faraway Ranch, a newly acquired area of the park. He never returned.

When his house was checked, only his ranger uniform and NPS keys were missing.

An extensive search and rescue operation was mounted, but no trace was ever found.

An acquaintance said he had passed a pickup truck that day in which he saw Paul, in his uniform, slumped over in the middle of a pickup truck, between two other men.

What happened to Ranger Fugate?

http://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/16/us/the-mystery-of-a-missing-naturalist-may-lead-to-legal-test-of-dismissal.html

 

[Laughing]

Several more articles available, not much more information:

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2009/03/where-world-paul-fugate

 

[OkieGranny]

NamUs: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/1677

Doe Network: http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/4203dmaz.html

Charley Project: http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/f/fugate_paul.html

 

[Betty P]

I found a little more information in this article from the Arizona Republic on June 28, 1981, when his wife was appealing the Park Service ruling that he left his job. It's a subscription site, behind a paywall.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/121992698

It states the sighting of Paul in a truck near the Monument with 2 strangers took place 5 days after he disappeared. The person who saw him, a personal friend, related he was not wearing his glasses. IMO, I'm not sure it was actually him in the truck. I can't imagine kidnappers keeping someone for 5 days before driving away. Perhaps his friend made an honest mistake, hoping he was seeing his missing friend.

In the article, his wife also states he left behind his wallet, $300, a valuable gun collection, expensive camera equipment and a truck he was restoring. He would have at least taken the wallet and cash if he were leaving voluntarily.

He could have met with foul play, with the killers dumping his body outside the Park. He also could have died accidentally. leaving his body in a remote area or killed by a mountain lion or other wild creature. I hope they find him someday. RIP
.
ETA: Another article in the Arizona Republic stated the friend who saw him in a truck with 2 other men believed he saw him the day he went missing, but didn't recall the memory until 5 days later.

 

[cybervampira]

Reward triples in decades-old disappearance of Chiricahua National Monument ranger - Chiricahua National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)

Almost 40 years after Chiricahua National Monument Ranger Paul Fugate went for a hike and vanished without a trace, the National Park Service (NPS) has raised its reward fund in the case to $60,000. Decades after initial leads in Fugate’s disappearance grew cold, new information has prompted NPS investigators and Cochise County (AZ) Sheriff Mark Dannels to renew their request for the public’s help in solving the 38-year-old mystery.

[...]

 

[doodles1211]

"WILLCOX, Ariz. — Authorities say two human bones have been found in a remote area of the Coronado National Forest in the Chiricahua Mountains in southeastern Arizona.
A search is underway for any more items.
Cochise County sheriff spokeswoman Carol Capas said Saturday the bones were found last week and that no additional information was immediately available.
Capas said there is no indication “at this time” that the discovery is linked to the 1980 disappearance of Paul Fugate, a Chiricahua National Monument ranger."

http://ktar.com/story/2173015/search-underway-2-human-bones-found-southeastern-arizona/

 

[whatsnext]

This is really interesting, I read about his disappearance recently.
So there's at least a chance that his loved ones could get some closure..
Thanks!

 

[JerseyGirl]

Search planned after 2 human bones found in the Chiricahua Mountains

 

[whatsnext]

Search planned after 2 human bones found in the Chiricahua Mountains

Aww, can't read it, since I am in europe . GDPR sucks.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Aww, can't read it, since I am in europe . GDPR sucks.

The search will resume Monday and visitors to the mountain should expect intermittent road closures

There is no indication "at this time" that the discovery is linked to the 1980 disappearance of Paul Fugate.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Name: Paul Braxton Fugate

Missing from: Chiricahua National Monument

Date Missing: January 13, 1980

Description: Age 41 at the time he went missing.

Case Info: Almost 40 years after Chiricahua National Monument Ranger Paul Fugate went for a hike and vanished without a trace, the National Park Service (NPS) has raised its reward fund in the case to $60,000. Decades after initial leads in Fugate’s disappearance grew cold, new information has prompted NPS investigators and Cochise County (AZ) Sheriff Mark Dannels to renew their request for the public’s help in solving the 38-year-old mystery. On January 13, 1980, Paul Braxton Fugate, then age 41, was working in the monument’s visitor center in southeastern Arizona. At about 2 p.m. that day, he left the building to hike a park trail and was never seen again. Ranger Fugate was wearing his “green and gray” Park Service uniform, including the official NPS Arrowhead patch on his upper shirtsleeve and a gold-colored ranger badge pinned over his heart. Although search teams combed the surrounding area extensively multiple times, they found no sign of the missing ranger. Investigators suspected foul play early on, and a formal missing-person case remains open. During the first few years after Fugate’s disappearance, the reward fund grew to $20,000. With this renewed focus, the NPS is now offering up to $60,000 for information leading to Fugate’s whereabouts and/or the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for his disappearance.

Cold Cases - Investigative Services (U.S. National Park Service)

 

[elframo]

This case has long interested me ..bumping..

 

[kemo]

Years ago, I saw a poster about this missing Ranger in Churicahua National Monument so I did a bit of checking. He had been a well regarded ranger with the National Parks Service with no problems until someone in the upper ranks got wind of the fact that he had sorta long hair. He was “ directed” to get it cut and he refused, so he was fired.

He did have Civil Service Rights, so he appealed. Under those regulations, he could be fired either because he was incompetent or because he had violated some regulation. There was nothing in the Civil Service Regulations that said a thing about Hair Length however. The Service could have simply reinstated him based on the fact it had all been a mistake, but they hung tough. The Service fought it for something like three years before they were forced to reinstate him with full back pay. People were pissed but they had no choice but to pay up and give him his old job back.

When he disappeared in 1980, the Service took exactly the same approach they had taken when they tried to fire him. They listed his status a AWOL and tried to deny his wife any survivor benefits; with the same results. They eventually had to pay up as they had in every other employee who had disappeared on the job. What they never established was what happened to him.

He vanished from a routine check of a trail that had recently been acquired and was quite popular with hikers. The trail itself,however, was fairly close to the entrance road and while tourists might run into trouble along it, a ranger who was quite familiar with the area, shouldn’t have gotten lost. Yet, he was never found.

There was a lot of drug smuggling in the region but there was no indication of any in the immediate area. A local who knew Paul claim he saw him being driven away in a pickup but LE was skeptical that someone would be recognized under those those conditions. There is always the suspicion that Paul either committed suicide or took off to start a new life. No body was ever found and there was no evidence that he was still alive. In the end, it is written off as an unsolved mystery that the National Park Service has never regarded as anything other than a voluntary take off/scam to collect benefits although they were compelled to pay the widow as if he died in the course of his work.

I don’t really know what to make of it. I can see no obvious reason someone would want to kill him. Suicide is always a possibility but there is really no evidence pointing in that direction. Just as easily, he could have gotten lost and sought shelter where he eventually died where his body was never found.

 

[Aescwynn]

The Search for the Only Park Ranger Who Was Lost and Never Found

Investigators, family, and friends are still trying to close the case of Paul Fugate, a naturalist at Arizona’s Chiricahua National Monument who vanished without a trace in 1980. What keeps them motivated to stick with a mystery that may be unsolvable?

 

[elframo]

Locations Unknown is a podcast specifically about those that have gone missing in America's wilderness...
The first episode is about Paul

EP. #1: Paul Fugate — Locations Unknown

In episode 1, Co-hosts Mike Van de Bogert & Joe Erato discuss the strange disappearance of Paul Fugate who went missing on 1/1/1980 in Chiricahua National Monument Park in Arizona.

locationsunknown.org

 

[Pennysmom1]

10 Cold Cases of Missing People in National Parks - Listverse

The National Park Service in the United States preserves untouched natural beauty. The Grand Canyon, for example, is considered one of the Modern Natural

listverse.com

Park Rangers are standard in the National Park Service. They are who you contact when someone is hurt or lost. Paul Braxton Fugate was a Park Ranger at Chiricahua National Monument, a National Park in Arizona. So it was shocking when Fugate disappeared at the park himself. Fugate finished his shift at the visitor center around 2:00 pm and went for a hike. He was still dressed in his uniform as he went out to check a trail. He mentioned to one coworker that they could start closing duties without him if he wasn’t back by 4:30. He was then seen starting down the trailhead.

That was the last any person spoke to him or saw him.

His disappearance was immediately realized when he did not return to close the park. He was the only permanent staff member at the park and would not have left the other seasonal employee to finish that job. Unfortunately, Fugate would’ve been the natural expert in a search and rescue mission at the park. But the Cochise County Sherrif’s Department and the National Park Service had to work without him.

To make things more difficult, Chiricahua has 17 square miles of canyons, treacherous terrain, and wildlands. The search and rescue teams found absolutely nothing related to the Park Ranger. When this effort failed, a reward for information that led to Fugate’s whereabouts—that eventually reached $60,000—was offered to the public. This disappearance took place in January of 1980. It has been 41 years since Fugate disappeared at the age of 41. The NPS had him listed as missing but told his wife that they believed he walked off the job and therefore was terminated.

This left Fugate’s wife, Dody, unable to collect his pension or any survivor’s benefits. They even demanded she repay the $6,000+ that they had paid her over the time he had been missing. Fortunately, in 1986, five years later, the case was reviewed again, and Dody did have access to his benefits after that time. While this means the National Park Service agreed there was no reason to believe Frugate was still living, the search for him is still ongoing.

 

[Pennysmom1]

I wonder if the bones found in 2018, have been identified yet? I can't find an update.

Nov 9, 2022

Missing for four decades: Unsolved park ranger mystery lingers in Southern Arizona

Paul Fugate was a park ranger at the Chiricahua National Monument in Southeastern Arizona until he disappeared on Jan. 13, 1980.

www.kgun9.com

April 1, 2021

The Search for the Only Park Ranger Who Was Lost and Never Found

Investigators, family, and friends are still trying to close the case of Paul Fugate, a naturalist at Arizona’s Chiricahua National Monument who vanished without a trace in 1980. What keeps them motivated to stick with a mystery that may be unsolvable?

www.outsideonline.com

 

[Betty P]

I wonder if the bones found in 2018, have been identified yet? I can't find an update.

Nov 9, 2022

Missing for four decades: Unsolved park ranger mystery lingers in Southern Arizona

Paul Fugate was a park ranger at the Chiricahua National Monument in Southeastern Arizona until he disappeared on Jan. 13, 1980.

www.kgun9.com

April 1, 2021

The Search for the Only Park Ranger Who Was Lost and Never Found

Investigators, family, and friends are still trying to close the case of Paul Fugate, a naturalist at Arizona’s Chiricahua National Monument who vanished without a trace in 1980. What keeps them motivated to stick with a mystery that may be unsolvable?

www.outsideonline.com

From the Outside magazine article regarding the Faraway Ranch (now part of the National Park):

One of the Faraway’s former owners, Lillian Riggs, died in 1977, at 89, blind and partly deaf. During her ownership, the house was inhabited by a string of caretakers, including one who hemorrhaged and died on the couch. After Riggs’s death, the place was converted into a museum. A friend of hers, Sally Klump, vanished without a trace from a nearby ranch in 1978. In 2014, a Park Service employee named Karen Gonzales was assaulted and nearly killed at the Faraway by an alleged drug smuggler from Mexico. Finally, there were the human bones that turned up in the surrounding Coronado National Forest, where on separate occasions, both in 2015, two adults had gone missing under suspicious circumstances.

Paul's wife Dody said she had seen sketchy characters around Faraway Ranch in the past.

JMO, its ridiculous to think Ranger Fugate walked away of his own volition. He had no extra clothing, no money or ID, no vehicle, nothing but the clothes on his back.

ETA: The Outside Magazine article is well worth reading. It's very thorough and names several suspects, highlighting some of the activities happening around the park and the Tucson area at the time. Some very shady people. One of the suspects owned a plane back in the late 70's and 80's that he used frequently for trips to Mexico. Another of the suspected drug dealers from Tucson owned a dune buggy that he used to ride out in the desert.