Case Study 09: The Disappearance of Mark Sinclair

[Music] you Glacier National Park officials say they will be scaling down the search efforts for a man who vanished more than a week ago in the park the investigation into what happened is 66 year-old Mark Sinclair continues the park says they're still looking for clues as to where he might be Sinclair was last seen July 8th near Logan Pass and the Highline trail the park says searching will still continue but in a limited capacity weather in difficult terrain are hampering efforts to find the missing man anyone with information is asked to report it to law enforcement hello folks welcome back to another case study where I'll talk about and analyze some of the strangest state and national park disappearances out there in this video I'll be discussing a disappearance that occurred in the early part of July and even after a month of intense searches no clues have turned up even though the initial search has ended there are still a handful of folks dedicated to finding some answers this case follows the disappearance of a 66 year old hiker and went missing inside Glacier National Park the same park while several others have disappeared in recent years such as 19-year old Jackson krauser 27 year-old Jason Rigby 82 year old Lee Stockton 27 year old yi jian hua 19 year old san klein and many more on the other hand many others have gone missing only to be found deceased with various types of injuries a sobering reminder just how dangerous unpredictable the park can be even for those experienced tigers so let's begin on the morning of July 8th of this year 66 year-old veteran hiker Mark Sinclair entered the Highline trail between haystack Butte and granite chalet in the park but did not react stents of interviews dan outpouring of information from the public all leads have hit a dead end and no clues have turned up an intense three weeks search was coordinated immediately following his disappearance and involved the assistance of several search-and-rescue outfits and dozens of volunteers search teams also enlisted the help of technical specialists to assist an aerial drone and infrared flights over a vast area of wilderness but before we get into the details of this case let's talk about Glacier National Park just to give you an idea of what both mark and search-and-rescue were up against established on May 11th 1910 Glacier National Park is at 1583 square mild wilderness section located within Montana's Rocky Mountains with glacier carved peaks and valleys spanning all the way to the Canadian border the park covers over 1 million acres contains over 700 miles of hiking trails and many other iconic geological features that attract millions of visitors every year the park is home to more than 70 species of mammals and more than 260 species of birds in terms of geological features and iconic sites you can expect to see rolling foothills to glacial carved peaks with wildflower filled meadows and much more some of the more prominent features include Logan Pass at the Continental Divide 250 mile long going to the Sun Road and the glacier Sun to her the park itself was born thousands of years ago and formed by glacial movements thus giving it the current name every year more than 3 million visitors filter into the park generating nearly 100 million dollars in park revenue while supporting hundreds of jobs within the park system according to figures gathered from online sources the park has claimed around 300 lives since it was added to the registry in 1910 and more than two dozen people have been reported missing since the 1970s dangerous wildlife also roamed the park such as black bears grizzly bears mountain lions and even Timberwolves on the smaller end of the spectrum there are several kinds of poisonous spiders within the part that you should be aware of including orb-weavers the brown recluse wolf spiders and even black widows so as you can see caution and preparedness is a must do while traveling to Glacier National Park so let's talk a little bit about Mark and the circumstances behind his disappearance first I wasn't able to find much of anything about his exact plans and how long he intended to stay out there but based on the evidence gathered from investigators and I'll share that information with you shortly it was unlikely he would have been gone for very long on the afternoon of Monday July 8th the 66 year old traveled to Glacier National Park from his hometown of whitefish and pulled into the Logan Pass Visitor Center parking area according to staff interviews he was spotted by a park employee around 2:30 p.m. that afternoon as he headed out toward the Highline trail this was the last-known whereabouts of mark and it wouldn't be long before a large search-and-rescue effort was coordinated the following morning his car was still discovered sitting in the parking lot and inside authorities found his dog car keys and some other personal effects he left behind it was then the official search kicked off Glacier National Park search-and-rescue assisted by Flathead County Sheriff's Department consisted of ground patrols k9 units a search drone volunteers in the rescue division on the second day to bear error in the US for services provided daytime aerial searches and nighttime infrared flights the US Geological Survey also assisted with drone searches as well the search would last more than three intense weeks involving more than 300 personnel but despite these combined efforts no trace of mark turned up the search focus primarily on trails within the Highline Logan Pass area to goat haunt swift current pass the main loop trail and Hidden Lake all places searchers thought mark may have gone to secondary searches included other associated trail areas attached to the Highline system aerial search has covered the entire spine of the continental divide on both sides from Logan Pass 250 Mountain many hikers were interviewed but no one was able to provide any leads including guests at the granite Park Chalet and even backcountry over night campers however the park has not ruled out the possibility that marked may have traveled further from Logan Pass but evidence doesn't seem to be pointing to this either I wanted to talk a little bit about the Highline trail just to give you an idea of what Mark was up against if he was in fact on that trail as reported by the park employee at the visitor center now just prior to Mark's disappearance that same trail was forced to close temporarily after young grizzly bear charged visitors and one or two close to more popular areas in addition that same bear what reappeared during the search for Mark and proved to be problematic for search and rescue personnel the bear would eventually retreat back into the wilderness before any further action was needed I do need to mention that Park spokeswoman Lauren Ally stated there was no evidence that mark was attacked by Barrie during all investigations the Highline trail is a scenic hiking trail spanning seven point six miles from Logan Pass to Granite Park Chalet and continues another 12 miles from there at a 50 mountain campground the trail follows the garden-wall ridge and a Continental Divide for most of its length it is one of the more popular hikes in Glacier National Park and for a good reason at every step of the way hikers enjoy stunning views of wildflowers wildlife and geological features however the trail does have some more challenging areas that have proven to be fatal at roughly 1/4 of a mile from the trailhead hikers will arrive at an area with a terrifying reputation where the trail tightly hugs a sheer 150 foot drop off and lasts for nearly half a mile a couple miles for the rub hikers are met with the only major climb of the trail roughly 275 feet up one long switchback stretch of an elevation of 7,500 feet from there the terrain varies and is a bit more accommodating at about eleven point two miles into the hike hikers will finally arrive at the bottom of the descent at the Packers roost rail junction thus giving you the option to either loop back toward the trailhead or continue on a little further out it is strongly recommended for those who take the Highline trail to make a lot of noise and to carry bear spray to prevent the chances of surprising of black or grizzly bear it is also a good idea to stay in groups of three or more and check with the Ranger on bear activities in the area prior to setting out finally I should also mention that all trails are clearly marked and well-maintained and if anyone were to accidentally wander off they probably wouldn't get too far due to the extremely rough terrain surrounding those trail systems since 1967 there have been 10 bear related fatalities in the park with most victims on solo hikes in the high line trail area again be prepared to encounter dangerous wildlife when you're out there and that includes mountain lions and wolves as they are frequently spotted in the park as well now let's talk a little bit about what may have happened mark out there on the trail this is another one of those tough cases where little evidence is presented another didn't the observation by the one park employee there is nothing else to go on I was unable to find any information regarding marks health or state of mind on the day he went missing but judging by the fact that he left his dog in the car he probably wasn't playing on hiking the entirety of the Highline trail as it would have taken a good portion of the day to do so it was noted however that mark was an avid hiker who went out on solo adventures on a regular basis so what happened and why aren't we able to find him well it's obvious a number of things could have happened out there on the trail ranging from an accident medical emergencies or animal predation we all know about the bear problem and is it possible he was attacked and dragged out of the search zone I find that unlikely due to the fact that there was no evidence point to the scenario he should have been found or at least some clue like an article of clothing or perhaps some personal effect mark was known to wear a backpack during his day hikes and it is a bit unnerving that searchers are unable to even locate this I believe the next possibility is that mark wanted to disappear we really don't have a lot to go on other than speculation but if something didn't happen to him on that trail and he may have intended to disappear on his own and leave searchers astray it wouldn't be the first time the hiker decided to vanish on their own accord there could be a whole number of reasons why someone would want to leave Society mark just may have been dealing with some stressful physical or financial situations that drove him to the edge was he suicidal did he start a new life somewhere else was the park employee mistaking his observation for mark when it was really someone else they saw is it possible mark was unknowingly abducted outside of the park and his car was stolen all need to be abandoned at the trailhead unfortunately there are too many possibilities and we need to consider and based on the total lack of evidence and search results there just isn't a whole lot we can do at this time I'll continue to follow the story now keep you updated should anything come forward of course if you have any facts or details you'd like to contribute please do in the comment section below thank you for joining me in this segment and may we never forget the sad and strange disappearance of hawks and clear [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Rusty West

Views: 64,420

Rating: 4.8143783 out of 5

Keywords: rusty west, rusty west disappearances, mark sinclair missing, glacier national park disappearances, new david paulides, new rusty west, david paulides, david paulides missing people, missing people in national parks, david paulides 2019

Id: Klb5YW9SWMc

Length: 16min 1sec (961 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 16 2019