In the winter of 1985, a 41-year-old man from New Orleans named George August Ruiz Jr. vanished while enjoying a day of crabbing in the coastal waters of Mississippi. On either January 6th or 9th of that year, he was last seen near Waveland, navigating the waters off Bayou Caddy in his 27-foot white crab boat. George was a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, but was known to frequent the crabbing areas from Bayou Caddy to Cabbage Reef and the St. Joe Pass area. When he did not return home as expected, the alarm was raised, beginning a long and so far fruitless search for him. At the time of his disappearance, George was described as a white male with black, curly hair, brown eyes, and a beard. He stood at 5'6" and weighed approximately 180 pounds. He had some distinguishing features, including the missing tips of two of his fingers and he wore false teeth.
The circumstances surrounding George's disappearance are shrouded in the mystery of the open water.
He was alone on his boat, and no one is known to have witnessed what may have happened to him. The U.S. Coast Guard was involved in the case, with their Pascagoula Station listed as the agency to contact with any information. Despite what would have been an extensive search of the waters he was known to frequent, neither George nor his boat were ever found. The absence of any wreckage or communication has left his family and investigators with a painful lack of answers. His case is classified as "endangered missing," a stark reminder of the potential peril he may have faced.
Decades have passed since George August Ruiz Jr. was last seen, and his case has grown cold. The initial flurry of searching has long since subsided, replaced by the quiet, persistent hope of his loved ones for some form of resolution. Without any new leads or evidence, the investigation has remained largely stagnant. The official record of his disappearance is preserved in databases for the missing, a digital footprint in place of a physical one. The overview of the case remains as it was in 1985: a man went out for a day of crabbing and never came back. The questions of what happened on that January day—whether it was a tragic accident, a medical emergency, or something else entirely—remain unanswered, lost to the passage of time and the vastness of the Gulf waters.Last Seen: Jan 9, 1985
