Benjamin Franklin Gray, known as Ben or Benny, was a 50-year-old rancher last seen leaving the Chipeta Bar and Cafe in Montrose, Colorado, on May 30, 1978. He leased the top-floor residence there and that night left with an acquaintance intending to go to the family ranch in Gunnison County to lease cattle. The acquaintance later said he drove Gray back to the Chipeta at about 4:00 a.m. on May 31 and watched him go inside, but Gray never arrived at his rooms and was never seen again.

At the time he vanished Gray was described as a white male with brown hair, blue eyes, 5 feet 4 inches to 5 feet 8 inches, 165 to 180 pounds, wearing dentures and black-framed glasses. Distinctive features included a crippled middle finger that would not bend, a knee scar, bowlegged stance and healed broken bones from rodeo riding. He wore a green and white plaid cowboy shirt, blue jeans, cowboy boots, a leather belt and a heavy gold man’s diamond ring. His checkbook was later found on Blue Mesa near the family ranch.

Gray was in significant debt before he went missing and his family subsequently lost the ranch. The acquaintance was questioned and then retained an attorney and stopped cooperating; no concrete evidence of foul play has been confirmed. Does anyone who lived in Montrose or Gunnison County in 1978 remember seeing Benjamin Gray or have information about that night?