Garrett Thomas Hughes, known as Gary, was 44 when he disappeared from the Manor House assisted living facility in Georgetown, South Carolina, on November 27, 2003. Fifteen years earlier a head injury left him with left-side paralysis, short-term memory loss and a need for seizure medication; his disabilities made it difficult for him to walk far on his own. While living at the Manor House for about three years he kept a routine of walking to a nearby church and returning by himself.

Garrett was described as a white male, black hair, brown eyes, 5 feet 9 inches, 180–190 pounds, with a scar on his forehead. Reports differ on his clothing that day: either blue jeans and a button-up shirt or a gray sweatsuit with light blue underpants. Searches around the facility near Academy Avenue and Fraser Street and checks in his hometown of Fayetteville, North Carolina, produced no trace.

His family questions whether he wandered off given his mobility limits; a brother suggested another resident who owned a car might have driven Garrett somewhere that day. The Manor House has since closed and no significant leads have emerged.