Stephen Packard was 18 when he was last seen on June 10, 1974, while hitchhiking along the California coast with a friend, Linda Lovell. The pair planned to hike the Pacific Coast Trail from Mexico to Oregon, with a stop at the World's Fair in Spokane and then a visit to Lovell’s family in Missoula, Montana. Packard made a final phone call to his family from Stinson Beach on June 10; the last tangible trace came ten days later when a traveler’s check in his name was cashed at a store in Westport, California.

Both Packard and Lovell were experienced with outdoor travel, which deepens the mystery of their sudden disappearance. Packard was described as 6 feet 3 inches, with blond hair and brown eyes, and had recovered from a broken hand sustained about six months earlier. Authorities classify the case as endangered missing and searches failed to turn up further evidence.

Did anyone travel with Packard or Lovell along the coast in June 1974, or does anyone remember seeing them or that cashed traveler’s check?