George Jay Vandermark was 52 when he vanished after turning up in Phoenix in August or September 1976; missing-person records use August 1, 1976 as a formal date but the exact last-seen day is not firmly documented. Known as Jay, he had gray hair, brown eyes, wore black plastic–framed eyeglasses, used hearing aids in both ears, and was described as about 6 feet 2 inches to 6 feet 4 inches and 190 to 200 pounds, with spot-like burn scars on his right elbow and right shoulder.

Vandermark had worked as a slot-machine supervisor at the Stardust in Las Vegas and became central to a 1976 investigation into alleged skimming of casino revenues. Reports place him leaving Las Vegas after regulators searched the Stardust’s slot-counting operation; some contemporary accounts said he went to Mexico, with later reporting naming Mazatlán. He later resurfaced in Phoenix and was connected with the Arizona Manor Hotel near 24th Street and Camelback Road under an assumed name, then was never reliably heard from again.

Did anyone in Phoenix in 1976 remember a man matching Jay Vandermark’s description around 24th Street and Camelback Road?