Mitchell Mitch Todd Hein was 22 when he disappeared after leaving a hotel in Indio, California, in early March 1983. He had been living a transient life since 1980, traveling the country and working odd jobs — rebuilding boats, as a car mechanic and in oil fields — and kept in touch with family by postcard and by returning to Golden, Colorado, each Christmas. He left Colorado between January and February 1983 without saying goodbye, carrying his belongings in a black trash bag; a friend later saw him in Clinton, Oklahoma, and he reportedly rode to California with that friend’s father.

At the time he vanished he was about 6 feet tall, 170 pounds, with naturally curly brown or auburn hair, a full beard and a large scar on one knee. He was last seen wearing tattered blue jeans, a flannel shirt and tennis shoes or work boots, and may have been without identification after discarding his driver’s license and Social Security card. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office continues to seek information about his disappearance.

Did anyone in Indio or along the reported route ever see Mitch around that time, or remember a young man matching this description staying at a local motel?