Eric M. Apatiki, 21, was last seen in Nome, Alaska, in early October 2004 after traveling from St. Lawrence Island to cash a Permanent Dividend Fund check and to visit his pregnant girlfriend. He was staying at the Polaris Hotel with his mother and planned to return to his village in a few days. On the night he disappeared he wore a red jacket with white stripes on the shoulders, a white knit tank top, white pants, tan leather shoes, and a dark blue baseball cap.

According to his mother, around midnight four young men from other villages entered the hotel room and forcibly took Eric into the street; she said she saw them beat him before he escaped and ran away. He has not been seen or heard from since that night, and his family fears foul play. The case is part of a broader pattern of disappearances and unsolved deaths involving Alaska Native people in the Nome area that has prompted community safety meetings.

Who knew Eric, where might he have gone after leaving the hotel, or does anyone have information about those men seen that night?