Four-year-old Max Meyer disappeared in Death Valley in July 1996 while on vacation with his mother, Cornelia Meyer, her boyfriend, Egbert Rimkus, and Rimkus’s ten-year-old son, Georg Weber. The group was last seen July 22, 1996, when they bought an informational booklet at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center; a July 23 guest book entry at an abandoned mining camp read 7-23-96. Conny Egbert Georg Max. They are believed to have been attempting to cross Mengel Pass.

On October 26, 1996, a park ranger on aerial surveillance found the family’s rented Plymouth Voyager abandoned and stuck in sand in remote, closed-off Anvil Spring Canyon. The van had three flat tires and passports, wallets and airline tickets were missing. An initial search was called off that day. Despite searches over the years, no trace of Max or Georg has been found.

In November 2009 hikers found skeletal remains in a remote area; in June 2010 the male remains were identified as Egbert Rimkus and the nearby female remains are presumed to be Cornelia Meyer, though DNA confirmation was not possible. Max Meyer’s remains have never been located and he is presumed to have died from extreme desert conditions.

Did anyone in the area at the time remember seeing a minivan or a small child near Mengel Pass or Anvil Spring Canyon in July 1996?