Donald Johnston was 44 when he boarded a sightseeing flight that vanished over Denali National Park. On June 29, 1997, Donald, his wife Karen, and friends Monte and Linda Parrish left Merrill Field in Anchorage in a yellow and white Cessna 182, tail number N3186U. The group had not filed a flight plan and the plane was last seen over the park before disappearing from view.

An intensive, eight-day search deployed National Guard C-130s and Pavehawk helicopters, Army Chinooks, the National Park Service’s Lama helicopter and as many as 16 Civil Air Patrol planes, but found no wreckage, no signal from the emergency locator transmitter, and no trace of the four people. Radar data suggested an aircraft believed to be theirs was near the Kahiltna Peaks before communication was lost. The official search was called off after eight days and no evidence has been found since.

The disappearance remains unresolved and the families have no explanation for what happened to the Cessna or the passengers. If anyone has information about that flight, the aircraft, or sightings in the Denali area that day, please share details.