Mel Nadel, 61, a Santa Fe businessman and fitness instructor, vanished on September 6, 2009, while bowhunting in the Elk Mountain area of the Santa Fe National Forest near Pecos. He stayed closer to camp because of a recent knee injury, then left around 4:30 p.m. with a .44 Special revolver and a Martin bow intending to hunt nearby and return by nightfall but never came back.

When friends returned they found Nadel’s Jeep, phone, GPS unit and other belongings at camp. Extensive searches with ground teams, helicopters and scent-tracking dogs turned up no trace of Nadel or his equipment beyond about 50 yards from the campsite. Investigators noted that he had been lost on a previous hunting trip and usually stayed close to camp, making his disappearance especially puzzling. There is no reported evidence of foul play and no clear explanation for what happened.

Did anyone who hunted or camped in the Elk Mountain area around September 6, 2009, see or hear anything that could help explain Mel Nadel’s disappearance?