Obscure Occurrences : The Inexplicable Disappearances in Nome

 Nome, a city located in the Northwest regions of Alaska, was established in the early years of the 20^th century, after claims about significant gold deposits lying hidden in the nearby grounds commenced. Countless adventurers and prospectors swarmed to the remote region in hopes of finding a fortune, and as they did so, businesses and associated services were established in the city. As the gold rush slowly faded over time, the investments in the city dwindled along with it. However, thanks to its remote location, it remained an important trade hub. 

Nome (Source: Photo by Kevin G. Smith, alaskastock.com)

Background

 Rumours about inexplicable disappearances have always existed in and around Nome, mostly revolving around the native population. However, it was eventually discovered that most of them were not mere rumours. As the 20^th century was coming to a close, more than thirty townsmen had vanished under mysterious circumstances. While thirty cases over fifty years may not sound particularly concerning, the fact that the city’s population was less than four thousand magnifies this number.

 The families of those who had gone missing had persistently campaigned for external assistance with the investigation, stating that the local police did not put in much effort to solve the inexplicable disappearances. In the summer of 2005, the community finally succeeded in their endeavour, when the mother of Eric Apatiki petitioned the State Attorney in correlation with Eric’s disappearance.

 Eric, a twenty-one-year-old who had his roots in a settlement on nearby St Lawrence Island, had been visiting his pregnant girlfriend at Nome at the time of his disappearance. His family had allegedly warned him not to travel to the city, due to the mysterious disappearances of the members of its community, but he was resolute that he would not be harmed.

 When Eric’s girlfriend informed the family that he had not arrived, a broad search was initiated for the missing man, but no clues about his whereabouts were uncovered. Upon reviewing the case and those of the other missing persons associated with the city, the authorities handed ownership to the FBI following which they conducted a full review.

 In line with their report, they found no evidence that suggested foul play. Instead, it cited the harsh weather conditions and flat open topography that surrounded the city. Furthermore, alcohol was allegedly a factor in many identified cases. It was discovered that most of the victims were males who had been excessively drinking during the time of their disappearance. However, there was no explanation as to how the remains of the missing have never been found.

The Disappearance of Joseph Balderas

 Early in the morning of 27 June 2016, Timothy Smith, an Alaska state trooper posted in the city of Nome, had been in the process of making his first cup of coffee for the day, when his mobile phone began vibrating. Stopping what he was doing to pick up the call, he found himself speaking with Tracie Buie, a clerk from the nearby city Courthouse. After apologizing for calling so early, Tracie went on to ask Smith if he was aware of any missing persons reports that had been filed over the weekend. After checking the logs in his computer terminal, he informed her that there weren’t any, which lead to an awkward moment of silence.

 Tracie had gone on to confess that her colleague, Joseph Balderas, had not turned up for work that morning. The last she had heard, he had been going out hunting for the weekend and was now failing to answer his phone. After promising to look into the matter, Timothy went on to ask his colleagues if anyone had seen the missing man during their rounds over the weekend. Joseph was a popular and easy-going guy who was well-known around the town. Thus, it was not surprising when two local officers recalled seeing his truck parked near Mile 44 on the Nome Council Highway.

 After clearing things with his superiors and giving Tracie a quick update, Timothy grabbed the keys to his cruiser and made his way out of the town towards the reported location. Soon afterwards, as the marker post for Mile 44 came into view, he discovered a dark blue Dodge Dakota parked on a nearby verge. Having checked the parked vehicle was secure and unattended, the state trooper had proceeded to call out for the missing man several times with his loudhailer. However, all he received was an eerie silence that only seemed to grow with each passing moment. Upon checking the Dakota once more, neither did he see any damage nor any tracks leading away into the bushes beside it.

 Upon the insistence of Timothy, additional units with thermal cameras and search dogs in their possession quickly arrived at the scene in question. However, when the hounds had been walked up to the vehicle to catch the scent of Joseph, they had proceeded to track only a little further down the road before abruptly stopping in their tracks. Despite several more attempts and the persistent urging of their handlers, the tracker dogs remained sitting stubbornly on the spot where they had halted. It seemingly appeared as if the missing man had magically disappeared from the very same spot.

 It has been well over six years since Joseph Balderas set out alone to hunt in the countryside around Nome, only to never return. The search for him would last five months, costing tens of thousands of dollars and involving workers from umpteen law enforcement agencies and emergency services. But the search efforts proved to be less than fruitful as no clue pointing to the fate of the missing clerk was ever discovered. Twelve months later, he was declared legally dead by a local court.

 Joseph Balderas' case remains one of the most mystifying and frustrating cases in the history of Nome. The thirty-six-year-old was a fit and healthy outdoorsman, who was respected within the local community and was part of a commendable circle of family and friends. He had no known medical issues, physical, mental or psychological, at the time of his inexplicable disappearance and, was planning to marry his fiancée and move to Juneau to settle down.

Joseph Balderas and his fiancée (Source: Juneau Empire)

 Investigators have never been able to come up with a viable theory as to why Joseph would disappear of his own accord. Also, they have not been able to come up with plausible speculation as to how he might have vanished in a state of affairs that was beyond his control. There was no evidence that suggested that he had ever left the immediate vicinity of his parked vehicle. The lack of blood or torn clothing ruled out the possibility of an animal attack and there was nothing to suggest the involvement of possible perpetrators.

The Disappearance of Florence Okpealuk

 The disappearances in Nome have continued over the years, with the most recent having occurred during the summer of 2020 when Florence Okpealuk, a thirty-three-year-old hotel receptionist, had been camping on the West Beach in Nome. On the evening of the 31^st of August 2020, at around 6:30 pm, Florence’s sister reached out to the police after not hearing from her sister for a whole day. According to her sister, it was very uncharacteristic of Florence.

Florence Okpealuk (Source: FBI)

 Later, Florence’s tent was found unattended, with her jacket and shoes neatly folded inside. Immediately, an extensive search involving search dogs and remote underwater vehicles was undertaken. Parallelly, the local police conducted over a hundred interviews with Florence’s friends and family, and those living near the location of her disappearance. It was discovered that Florence was last seen leaving her tent at around 4 on the evening of August 31^st.

 Along with her mobile phone data, hundreds of hours of CCTV footage from nearby cameras were downloaded and analysed by the FBI. The footage revealed that no one had neither entered nor exited the city limits during the time Florence was last sighted. To add on, the only vehicle that was seen in the footage was quickly eliminated from suspicion after police enquiry.

 The area around Florence’s tent was open and flat, and it showed no signs of her having passed through it. The fact that her remains had not been washed back ashore ruled out the possibility of her having been drowned.

 Florence Okpealuk’s case remains open and the authorities are desperate for information that could help them solve it.

The Disappearance of the Palmer Brothers

 Many believe that the large number of UFO sightings in and around the region of Alaska could be tied to the inexplicable disappearances. They cite the disappearance of two brothers from Wasilla as proof of the same.

 On the 14^th of June 1999, a fifteen-year-old boy named Michael Palmer was cycling home from a party with two other boys in Meadow Lake before falling behind. Having halted in order to wait for Palmer, the boy continued on their way assuming that Michael must have cycled to his home after he did not turn back after a long time. After Michael did not return home until the next afternoon, his mother reached out to his friends to check if he was with them but they told her otherwise.

 Michael Palmer was soon reported missing by his mother following which a daylight search discovered Palmer’s discarded cycle lying near the Little Susitna River. Bizarrely, his sneakers were discovered lying open in the close vicinity of a nearby airstrip. Michael Palmer, however, was never seen again, neither alive nor dead.

 On a fateful day in April of 2010, eleven years after the disappearance of his brother, thirty-year-old Chuck Palmer was part of a group riding their snowmobiles towards a cabin near the town of Talkeetna. Similar to his younger brother, Chuck had fallen behind and thus, became separated from the rest of his group. Eventually, the group turned back to search for him, but they were anything but successful.

Chucky Palmer(Right) & Michael Palmer(Left) (Source: Strange Outdoors)

 The authorities were soon alerted and an aerial search was carried out. Chuck’s unattended snowmobile was found in an open patch of snow and there was no trace of the missing rider. Furthermore, there was nothing to suggest why the vehicle had come to rest where it was or to indicate that Chuck had walked away from it. It seemingly appeared as if he had been lifted off the snowmobile following which it had come to rest of its own accord.

 Similar to his brother, Chuck Palmer was never seen again.

Conclusion

 The inexplicable disappearances in Nome and its neighbouring regions have been painful for the families of those involved. Despite the fact that the topography of the region makes it easy to locate evidence suggesting foul play, no such evidence has been found over the years. To add on, the apparent absence of natural causes makes the disappearances more tragic and perplexing.

 The disappearances have not stopped even after the improvement in modern technology and the reason behind them has never been determined. As of now, all one could hope is that the mystery behind the disappearances that had occurred for decades together in the region could be solved one day.