Michael Jose Malinowski, 37, left Yardley, Pennsylvania for a short hiking and photography trip and was last heard from by phone on Thursday, October 24, 1996, after checking into the Pine Tree Lodge in Gaines near Pine Creek Gorge. His rented 1995 Nissan Sentra was found on October 27 at the Barbour Rock parking area on the gorge’s west rim. Inside the car were a day pack with a cellphone, jacket, mostly empty water jug, some apples and crackers, and an empty camera case on the dashboard.

At the lodge the manager reported him missing on Monday, October 28; the bed in his cabin appeared used, clothes for a two-day trip were present, his coat was over a chair, and shoes were under the bed. There were no signs of a struggle at the cabin or the car, and no activity has occurred on his financial accounts or Social Security number since his disappearance. Friends and family described him as meticulous, not suicidal, and unlikely to disappear voluntarily. Was anyone in the Pine Creek Gorge area in late October 1996 who remembers seeing Michael or his car?