Case file · Anomaly hotspot
David Gonzales, Big Bear
A 9-year-old boy walked away from his family's campsite at Hanna Flat in the San Bernardino Mountains on 31 July 2004; his remains were found in May 2005.
2004 CE · 34.29, -116.98 · status: explained
The account
David Gonzales was camping with his family near Fawnskin when he went out of his mother's sight. A nine-day search with hundreds of people found nothing. In May 2005 hikers found his skull and other bones in a ravine about a mile from the campground. Authorities looked at whether a mountain lion had killed him; the cause was never formally settled.
The sceptical view
The remains were close to the camp in steep, brushy terrain where a search can miss a small body.
Connections in the atlas
- Bruce Kremen, Angeles National Forest
- Tommy Bowman, Arroyo Seco
- Jaryd Atadero, Big South Trail
- 'Missing 411' and Yosemite