Patrick Francis Carnes, an 86-year-old World War II veteran, disappeared on a return trip from Toledo, Ohio, to Reno. The round trip began April 12, 2011; by the evening of April 13 he was in Nevada driving a dark green Subaru Forester with his brown Akita-mix dog Lucky. Around 9:00 p.m. near Wells a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper stopped him for a lane violation, let him go with a warning, and that dashcam interaction is the last confirmed sighting.

Just before 6:00 a.m. the next morning Patrick’s Subaru was found abandoned off the Pumpernickel Valley exit ramp, about 20 miles east of Winnemucca. The vehicle was stuck in sagebrush, facing the wrong direction, had fuel and personal items including his checkbook inside, and showed no obvious signs of struggle. Only a single set of footprints led away. Extensive air and ground searches of the area turned up no trace of Patrick or Lucky.

A previous disappearance, Judith Casida in 2006, also involved an abandoned vehicle at the same exit, though authorities have not officially linked the cases. Did anyone in the area at the time see Patrick, Lucky, or that Subaru after the trooper stop near Wells?