Judson Lanier, 59, vanished after a New Year’s Day dive in Smitty’s Cove, Whittier, on January 1, 2000. He was part of a seven-person group; at the end of the dive the other six returned to their vehicles and found Lanier missing. Dive lights and glow sticks were seen floating in the harbor, prompting an immediate search by those present and later official searches led by the Alaska State Troopers in Anchorage, but no trace of Lanier was found.

At the time he disappeared he wore a black dive suit with hood and gloves, a yellow dive tank and a black buoyancy control device. The circumstances of his disappearance remain unclear and the Alaskan waters where he was last seen posed significant obstacles to search efforts. If anyone was on Smitty’s Cove that day or has information about dive activity there, can you share what you know?