Ranger Paul Fugate, Chiricahua
A 41-year-old park ranger left the Chiricahua National Monument visitor centre for a hike on 13 January 1980 and was never seen again.
1980 CE · 32.00, -109.36 · status: unexplained
The account
Paul Fugate set out in the afternoon toward the Faraway Ranch area, telling a seasonal colleague to close up if he was not back. Repeated searches of the monument found no sign of him. The Park Service says investigators suspected foul play early on; in 2018 it raised its reward to $60,000 and, with the Cochise County Sheriff, renewed the appeal for information. Rumoured later sightings elsewhere were never confirmed. He is one of the few rangers ever to vanish on duty.
The sceptical view
The agency itself treats the case as possible foul play rather than a wilderness mystery.
The researched reading
Treated by the agency itself as a likely crime rather than a wilderness mystery; unresolved.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Undetermined | 69% | The Park Service says investigators suspected foul play early on and keeps the case open with a $60,000 reward; no one has been charged. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 20% | An accident on a solo winter hike is possible, but repeated searches of a small monument found nothing. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 10% | A voluntary departure was rumoured, with unconfirmed later sightings. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 1% | Nothing points beyond ordinary causes. |
Official position: Open case with the NPS Investigative Services Branch and Cochise County Sheriff; reward up to $60,000; foul play suspected early on.