Charles Daniel Samples, known as Rusty, was 37 when he was last heard from on May 1, 1965. He was living a transient life in Tiptonville, Tennessee, traveling the country by freight train and periodically working in towns along the way. The last confirmed contact was a letter to a cousin postmarked from Tiptonville; the cousin’s reply was returned as undeliverable that summer and no further contact followed.

Samples is described as a white male, 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 10 inches, 140 to 160 pounds, with blond or strawberry blond hair, brown eyes, a full head of hair and a scar near his chin. At the time he was believed to be wearing a long-sleeved shirt, pants, a coat, a hat and boots. The Knox County Sheriff’s Office handles the case, which eventually went cold as all his immediate family later died without learning what happened.

Did anyone ever encounter Charles Samples while he was riding the rails or see signs of him after May 1, 1965?