Frank Wilson Johnson was 17 when he vanished on September 17, 1961, during a hiking trip in Zion National Park’s Virgin River Narrows near Springdale, Utah. He was part of a group of 26 hikers from northern Utah who were overwhelmed by a sudden flash flood; waters were later described as running fifty times higher than normal and swept away several people, including Johnson and his best friend, Alvin Nelson.

Bodies of three hikers were recovered the next day, and searches continued for about a week before being called off. In 2006 a skull fragment was found along the Virgin River and DNA testing in 2012 identified it as Nelson’s. Johnson has not been found, and his body is presumed to remain somewhere in the canyon.

Anyone who remembers that 1961 flash flood, the hiking group, or has information about Johnson’s last known movements is asked to come forward.