Maurice Dametz, 83, vanished from the Pike National Forest on April 29, 1981, while rockhounding for topaz in the Devil’s Head area. He had gone into the field with a friend, David McSherry, who helped him reach a digging spot because Dametz had arthritis. The two worked about 50 yards apart; after checking on Dametz around 3 p.m. and then returning to pack up, McSherry found that Dametz was gone.

A motorist was flagged down and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office was notified by 11 p.m. that night. An extensive five-day search with search teams and dogs turned up no sign, not even a scent trail. There were no signs of a struggle, Dametz’s credit cards were never used after he disappeared, and his wife Myrtle later wrote to the governor saying she suspected foul play but that could not be proven.

The case remains an open disappearance with no clues explaining what happened after he was last seen. Did anyone who knew Maurice or spent time in the Devil’s Head area notice anything unusual that afternoon or in the days that followed?