Missing 411 by David Paulides comes in 2 books: a Western and Eastern edition. SOTT discussed the theme of these books and showed a video with the author in an article last year. In basic terms, the author spent 3 years doing research on missing people from National Parks and Forests. In many cases, people disappeared and were never found. Many of the cases involve children under 10 that are found in remote and difficult locations. The case by case narrative is fascinating to read and spooky when some of the people were only yards or feet away when they disappeared. The author discusses some unique factors regarding the disappearances:

1) Rural settings:All of the missing in the books were located in rural settings. There were usually no witnesses, significant cover, and difficult terrain.

2) Dogs: Dogs play a major role in many of the disappearances. Sometimes the dogs disappear with the victim and are found later with the person; other times dogs disappear and return home without the person; sometimes dogs disappear and are never found.

3) Bloodhounds/canines can't track scent: The dogs were given the person's scent via a worn shoe or shirt; they were brought to the location where the person was last seen, but they either refuse to track or can't pick up a scent. This behavior happened too many times to ignore, though it's not understood why it occurs.

4) Storms: Soon after a person goes missing, reports of storms hitting the area of disappearance seem to occur more than would be normal. This has happened in all four seasons, even when a storm would seem unusual. The storms have caused delays in starting the SAR (Search and Rescue) and have eliminated tracks and scents for tracking.

5) Afternoon disappearance: The most common time for a disappearance is between 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM.

6) Swamps and briar patches: Many of the missing are found in the middle or on the perimeter of a swamp and/or briar patch. Some rescuers commented on the unusual locations where children in particular were found; they simply don't understand how they got there.

7) Conscious or semiconscious state: I understand that when a person goes missing for an extended period of time without food or water, hallucinations can occur; however, these conditions were prevalent even when those factors did not exist. You will read about cases where the missing were found unconscious, lying on the ground, and when questioned later, have no recollection of how they went missing. In some cases the missing do recall facts surrounding their disappearance, and those facts make for interesting reading.

8) Berries: The fact that berries and berry bushes play a common role in many disappearances is quite intriguing.

9) Clothing removed: In numerous cited cases, the missing person is found and at least one major piece of clothing has disappeared or they are inexplicably completely naked.

10) The missing person is found in an area previously searched: Searchers are often adamant that the area where the person was found had been thoroughly searched numerous times in the past.



Some of the cases discussed include children who disappear and hundreds or thousands of people have scoured the area over a period of days and weeks. Search dogs, helicopters, infrared, and in a couple of cases the green berets and FBI got involved. The biggest hotspot in the West was Yosemite Park and in the East it was the Great Smoky Mountains. A lot of high strangeness abounds. If you're interested in buying the books I would go directly to the author's website to order vs. going to Amazon because it is much cheaper to buy. The website is nabigfootsearch.com. A truly fascinating read.