John Yates, 82, left Hot Springs, Arkansas, for a fishing trip in Yell County in June 2003 and was last seen on the morning of June 16. He stopped at a convenience store in Hollis between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m., said he planned to head toward Onyx, and was later seen in Story and at a store in Rover before going to a familiar fishing spot near Onyx.

On June 17 authorities found Mr. Yates’s maroon Chevrolet S-10 pickup locked and parked near a stream on County Road #130, off State Highway 314 in Onyx. The truck belonged to him and was in a place he often fished; inside was a gun kept behind the seat. Investigators reported no signs of a struggle or obvious foul play near the vehicle. Extensive searches with the Game and Fish Commission, mounted patrols, search dogs, and police helicopters produced no trace of him, and there has been no activity on his financial accounts since he disappeared.

The disappearance remains unsolved and the reasons for his vanishing are unexplained. Did anyone in Yell County or the surrounding towns remember seeing John on June 16, 2003, or have information about his usual routes to the creek and river?