Joel Matthew Thompson, 30, was preparing for a long Pacific Crest Trail hike when he made a final phone call to his father on August 31, 1999. He said he was in St. Louis, Missouri, visiting friends and gathering supplies and planned to start near Portland, Oregon, then head south through California. He told his father he probably wouldn’t be in contact for a couple of months; that call was the last the family heard from him.

At the time he went missing Joel was described as a white male with brown, balding hair, blue eyes and a brown trimmed mustache and beard. He was believed to be wearing size 32–34 jeans and brown hiking boots and to be carrying a large 50-pound-capacity backpack, a disposable lighter, a pocket knife, a thin wallet and a disposable camera. Searches and multi-jurisdictional inquiries involving Denver, Suffolk County (New York) and Hood River County (Oregon) have produced no sign of him, abandoned gear or financial activity.

The disappearance remains unsolved and unexplained. If anyone saw Joel around late August or early fall 1999, or remembers a hiker matching his description near Portland or along likely trail access points, please come forward with details.