Brandon Peterson, 38, was last seen in the early hours of December 13, 2015, near his cabin in the Thomas Place area outside Wrangell, Alaska. Earlier that evening volunteers from the fire service found him walking by the roadside and reported he appeared intoxicated; he declined offers of a ride. That encounter is the last confirmed sighting.

Responders returned for a welfare check on December 17 and found the cabin empty. An exhaustive search followed: over 1,000 man-hours, Alaska State Troopers, volunteers, a trained rescue dog, ATVs and boats, and a grid search of the muskeg-and-brush terrain hampered by snow and cold. No sign of Brandon was located and the active search was suspended on December 29, 2015. In April 2016 a Wrangell jury returned a presumptive death verdict, with testimony noting the difficult conditions; the presumption was death by exposure on or about December 14, 2015.

Friends and community members continued private searches after the official effort ended. If anyone saw Brandon in the Thomas Place area in mid-December 2015 or has information about his disappearance, please come forward.