Arvin Walter Nelson, 51, was reported missing after a solo backpacking trip in the Ventana Wilderness. A friend dropped him at the China Camp trailhead near Tassajara Road on August 6, 2014, for a planned weeklong hike to Big Sur Station, expected to arrive August 14. Nelson was experienced and lived in Big Sur, but had not hiked the eastern side of the Ventana Wilderness before. He was last seen wearing brown hiking boots and carrying a dark blue backpack.

On the first day he met Jack English and his son Dennis at their isolated Pine Valley cabin and reportedly stayed two days, leaving after the son and father were picked up by helicopter on August 8. Nelson told them he planned to remain until August 9 and then hike 11 miles to Sykes Hot Springs on August 10; he was never seen again. Friends reported him missing on August 16, prompting a large multiagency search that used one airplane, three helicopters and about 30 ground searchers daily. No trace of Nelson or his gear was found. He is still listed as a missing person; authorities have said he may have become lost or injured in the rugged, densely vegetated terrain.

Anyone with information about Nelson’s movements in early August 2014 or who knew his intended route is asked to contact the Monterey County Sheriff’s Department.