Joseph Helt was 17 and a high school student when he was last seen on January 16, 1987, near an abandoned ski lodge in the mountains outside Ellenville, New York. He’d been out with a group of friends that night and was last observed walking away from a broken-down car to seek help; he never returned.

Local authorities and volunteers searched the rugged, wooded terrain on foot and by air, but no trace of Helt was found. Investigators interviewed the friends who were with him, but conflicting accounts and a lack of physical evidence left few concrete leads. The absence of clear signs of foul play and the remote location complicated the search.

The case grew cold as months passed and no significant breakthroughs emerged. His family organized searches and public appeals, and the investigation has remained open in hopes that new information will surface. Does anyone who lived in or near Ellenville in January 1987 remember that night or have information about the abandoned lodge area?