National Park After Dark - The Disappearance of Joe Halpern: Rocky Mountain National Park

Episode Date: April 29, 2024

Hundreds of people go missing in US National Parks every year. While many of those cases eventually find resolve, some people, like Joe Halpern, remain missing as the seasons change and the decades pass. Despite the passing of time, loved ones never forget their people who wandered into the woods and were swallowed by the trees - and they’ll do everything it takes to find them.For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials:Instagram: @‌nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @‌nationalparkafterdarkSupport the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!Thank you to this week’s partners!Skylight Calendar: Get 15% off a Skylight Calendar at SkylightCal.com/PARKMad Rabbit:  For 25% off your order, head to MadRabbit.com/NPAD25 and use code NPAD25.Prose: Use our link for a free in-depth hair consultation and 50% off your first subscription order.Zocdoc: Use our link to download the Zocdoc app for free.For a full list of our sources, visit http://npadpodcast.com/episodes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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knowing everything runs smoothly in the background. It's completely shifted the way we work. Create your own AI agent in minutes on Monday.com. Girl, winter is so last season. And now Springs got you looking at pictures of tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cutoffs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders. That perfect hang on the patio sundress.

Those sandals you can wear all day and all night. And you've had enough of shopping from your couch. Done hoping it looks anything like the picture when you tear up on that envelope. It's time for a little in-person spring treat. It's time for a trip to Ross. Work your magic. Historic Route 66, the Pacific Coast Highway, the Blue Ridge Parkway. These are just a few of the scenic routes America has to offer.

These pathways offer road trip enthusiasts, quirky roadside stops, and breathtaking sights as they wind through stunning landscapes, historic landmarks, tiny towns, and sprawling cities. There is nothing quite like the feeling of hitting the open road, leaving the familiar in the rearview mirror while the unknown unfolds before you. The United States is lucky to have so many scenic roadways, which bring adventure around every corner, making the journey just as thrilling as the destination. New highways completed in the early 1900s quite literally paved the way for a rise in cross-country travel. Between the 1930s and 40s, the modern American road trip took form,

and people were seeing this country like never before. Hundreds and then thousands, which quickly climbed into the millions, hopped into their cars or straddled their motorbikes to see the country and all it has to offer. But answering the siren song of the Great American Road Trip is a gamble because not everyone is lucky enough to return from whence they came. Welcome to National Park After Dark. As you're reading that, I realize that we've never discussed what you're going to talk about for this episode today. But from your introduction, I feel like it might be a missing person or a disappearance or something. Yes. Okay. Okay, cool, cool, exciting.

I know, that is funny. We always kind of give each other hints and we quite literally never discuss this. So it's a surprise for everyone. Yay, except for you. Except for me. Well, kind of, actually, because I researched this months ago and wrote all my notes months ago. So we're all learning today. You're like, this is the first time I've ever heard this story.

Yeah. Past me is surprising current me with this story. And it's based, I know we've done this park before, but it's been. based in Rocky Mountain National Park. Oh, fun. We, I mean, we've been to Rocky Mountain, but it's been a really long time. It has, I know. And I know, like, we really are trying to do other locations because every space has some

sort of story, but some areas just have a plethora of them. So it's difficult to kind of break away. I mean, I have many books just based in this park. And I'm like, God, there are so many stories. And this one is one that was mentioned in a completely different book. It wasn't even mentioned in the Rocky Mountain books that I have. And it was just a quick blurb. So I, of course, went and did my own side tangent of research.

And we have our episode today. And it was kind of inspired to be released now because of the episode we did last week with locations unknown. And their whole vibe of missing people and disappearances. So I decided to kind of keep it in that vein and release this. today. So we are going to be talking about an unsolved disappearance within Rocky Mountain National Park. Exciting. I'm I'm here for Rocky Mountain. I love that park. I want to explore it more. I mean, I've been there a couple times, but never stayed for an extensive period of time. And I think it's so beautiful. And I want to learn more about it and hear stories from it. So I'm excited.

And it's so close to you that I feel like we have to talk about it. I know. I know. I love that. It's like within an hour of me. And we did a lot. live show basically in the park at the Stanley, which is literally like feet outside the park. So yeah, that was a cool moment. I loved that show or the two shows, I guess. We did. Yeah, back to back. Back to back. That was a really fun night. And there's just something special about Rocky Mountain and the Stanley and Estes Park and that whole area. It's just a really cool place. Well, I'll bring you there today just briefly, I guess. We don't spend much time in Estes, but that's okay. It's not technically the park. Yeah. It's the gateway. And it's cool. I mean, anyway, okay. It's a cool town. Here we go. So this is actually a bit of an older case and it takes place in the 1930s. In August of 1933, one of the road trips that I was describing in the introduction was proposed by a small family in Chicago. Solomon and Fannie Halpern, along with their son, Joseph Joe Lawrence Halpern, and his friend Sam Garrick piled into their Ford sedan and headed west. It wasn't the full group that they were. were initially hoping for. Joe's brother Bernard and Joe's best friend, Isador, were unable to join them. So Sam went in his brother Isidore's place. So Joe and Isidore were best friends. Isidore couldn't come. So his brother, Sam, went in his place. And Joe was 22 years old at this time

and living with his family in Chicago. He was a University of Chicago graduate. And he was actually continuing his education and working towards the completion of his doctorate in astronomy. His doctorate thesis focused on meteors and shooting stars, and he had just wrapped up a summer's work of worth at the university's observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. And this road trip would serve as a way to explore the world here on Earth instead of the world in the distant skies that he was always kind of buried in. Joe was remarkably brilliant. Math and science were his strong suits, of course, but he was also a skilled linguist. He was fluent in French and German, along with, of course, his native language of American English. And I'm not sure if he was fluent in this, but he could also read and write using the Cyrillic alphabet, which is a writing system that was developed in the 9th century for Slavic-speaking peoples.

Interesting. So he was very, very intelligent. I'm so jealous of people who are linguistically. Yeah. Linguistically inclined because I struggle so hard. I know. The one thing that I really wish, you know, looking back, is that I really, I wish I leaned into language growing up. I mean, obviously, it's offered, I think the first time I took Spanish. Remember, it's like, okay, take Spanish or French. Yeah, and like seventh grade. In seventh grade. And that's when you pick. And of course, I picked Spanish. because most of my friends were picking Spanish. Like there was no real rhyme or reason to my choice other than that. And I just found it really, really difficult to grasp. And I never really stuck with it past the requirements. You know, like you have to take it up into what freshman or sophomore year? You're supposed to like what they say is that it is better to learn as a young child.

So to introduce it when you're a teenager is crazy. And other schools in other countries don't do. that. They grow up from kindergarten on learning other languages, which makes sense, but in the United States, it's like, oh, here, learn Spanish and French when you're 13 or 14 years old and your brain doesn't care about it and doesn't absorb things as easily as they used to. Yeah, unless you grow up with a family that speaks another language, I think for most American children, it's kind of difficult. once that that little time has kind of passed, which was the case for me. But for Joe, it was different. He was very linguistically inclined. He was really, really intelligent. And he had a bunch of different academic achievements. But despite those, Joe wasn't this like serious, studious bookworm type that you may have a picture of in your mind. He was known for his big sense of humor, his mischievous nature. And he was all around known as the ham of it. He was. He was all around known as the ham of the family just kind of like that yeah i i don't know is that something that your family uses that

term like a ham mine does i i don't know if my family does but i know my friends do and i don't know i feel like whenever i hear like a ham i'm either thinking of a dog or i think of a golden retriever like yeah like uh i think of a big pit bull like just a goofy pit bull like what a ham and just like a goofy fun person. Yeah. So that's how Joe's family and friends described him. Solomon, who was Joe's father, he was a Russian immigrant, and he was on vacation from his job as an engineer at the Western Electric Company, and he initially suggested this trip for everyone. Their family had been on road trips before, but they were limited to kind of the Midwest area, the greater Chicago area, and the eastern part of the United States. So this trip going west was going to be the first for the family,

and they were all really excited. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session. And this summer, Prime Originals have everything you want. Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book to screen favorites you've already read twice. Off campus, L, every year after, the love hypothesis, Sterling Point, and more. Slow burns, second chances, chemistry, you can feel through the screen. Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime. Joe drove the entirety of the way and loved being behind the wheel of his Ford sedan as they weave their way throughout the country, leaving Chicago behind and heading west, first to the Black Hills of South Dakota, then they turned south, stopping at Yellowstone, before setting their sights on Rocky

Mountain National Park in Colorado. Fanny, who wrote frequent postcards back to her oldest son, Bernard at home, wrote of the mountains that they were, quote, quote, beyond description. Just the year prior, the CCC workers completed Trail Ridge Road, making travel much easier throughout the length of Rocky Mountain National Park, making travel more convenient and offering increased accessibility to more of the park than ever before. So they're getting there right as this road is completed, and they're one of, you know, in the grand scheme of things,

one of the first groups of people to really get to explore the park in this way through this road. exciting. And of course, like we said, we've definitely covered stories in this park before, so I won't delve into too much of the details. But Rocky Mountain is amongst my favorite, so let's give it a little love here. Roughly 60 miles north of Denver, Rocky Mountain National Park protects a 450 square mile portion of the Rocky Mountain Range that stretches from Canada to Mexico. Given National Park status in 1915, visitors can explore over 100 lakes, over 350 miles of hiking trails and one of the most scenic roads in America. 94% of the park is designated wilderness, meaning that it is protected from construction

like roads or buildings or other type of infrastructure. And because of this, visitors, which number about 4.5 million every year, can explore the park on foot, bike, kayak, or horseback in true wilderness. There are over 60 peaks that reach beyond 12,000 feet in the park, which creates a large portion of tundra-like landscape within the park boundaries. wild life abounds here most prominently the elk which can be seen throughout the park and the gateway town of estes park which is where the famed stanley hotel is located like we said all in all a perfect park for the halperns to choose as their road trip destination the group settled on the glacier basin

campground and pitched their tents the campground offers stunning views of several peaks and glaciers within the park and was probably selected for that exact reason fanny which is Joe's mother had brought along her painting supplies and likely drew inspiration from her surroundings. And all was well for the first couple of dates of their stay here at the campground. And on the third day of their trip, which was Tuesday, August 15th, Sam and Joe embarked on a hike without Mr. and Mrs. Halpern, settling on one of the most popular trailheads in the entire park, located less than five miles from their campground. The two men took their Ford sedan to Bear Lake Trailhead with the goal of summoning flat top mountain. So this particular trailhead serves as the start point for several of the most popular

trails within the park and is usually buzzing with activity. So much so that if you were to visit this trailhead today, especially during peak season, a free shuttle is offered to access the trailhead because parking is usually packed. And it's really difficult to find a spot. Damn. And I don't know if there's a point that's better to bring this up or not, but my mom and I actually, when we came in 2019. We took a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park together and we parked at this trailhead and we took this trailhead to Emerald and Dream Lakes, which is one of the most popular hikes in the park. And we went really early in the morning because of this exact thing. We were there in August and peak season and we knew it was going to get really, really busy. So we went literally,

we drove into the park when it was still dark, parked, and started hiking. And it was pretty freaky because we were alone. Like we saw maybe one or two other cars on our drive into the park. There's no one in the parking lot. A place that's usually very busy. Right. There's something creepy about when it's usually packed and it's vacant is kind of... It's like being in the city and no one's around and it's quiet. It's like, yeah, you're like, what is happening? Um, but anyway, so, we were hiking and my mom was freaking me the heck out because she was like she was afraid of the mountain lions which maybe I put I don't know if I put it into her mind or not I don't know what it was but like she was clapping and like being like we're here and hiking and don't come near us like you

know fair it's dark out and you're in mountain lion country yeah so anyway I don't know it was a cool hike and we reached um emerald was it emerald or dream Like, whatever the lake is the second lake in this hike, which I've forgotten at this point, right for sunrise. And we saw the sunrise coming over. Literally flat top mountain is in the background of this lake. So I have a couple pictures and I'm like, oh my God, I've been to this area where Joe hiked. I mean, obviously in millions of other people, but it's pertinent to the story for that reason. It's fun to have a personal story.

Connected to it, yeah. Yeah. So the hike to Flat Top. Mountain is just under nine miles round trip and takes roughly six hours to complete and gains about 2,850 feet in elevation. It's considered a challenging route, but a particularly beautiful one. It passes through moraine, lakes, and pine groves, and you are rewarded with stunning views of Long's Peak, pagoda Peak, Chief's Head Peak, and Keyboard of the Winds, which are all landmark formations in Rocky Mountain National Park. Joe and Sam reached the summit of flattop around two in the

afternoon, taking in the views, and as they made their descent, they stopped near the junction of Hallett Peak to consider their next move. Joe was all for continuing on, wanting nothing more than to keep exploring the Colorado wilderness. Aside from hiking in the Black Hills on their way to this park, that was like their first stop on their road trip, Joe didn't have much outdoor experience. The two bickered briefly back and forth about what to do, Joe wanting to continue on, and Sam urging them to go back to the trailhead so that they could get back to the campground sooner rather than later. After a few moments of back and forth and greeting a passing hiker, the pair landed on a compromise. Joe would go on in hopes of reaching nearby Taylor Peak,

while Sam would return back to the car and wait. By the time Sam arrived back at the trailhead parking lot, it was nearing 6.30 p.m. knowing that Joe would be at least a couple hours behind him, he settled in and kicked back for the wait, but that as the end, hours passed and the day started bleeding into night and hiker after hiker emerged from the tree line, there was still no sign of Joe. By 9 p.m. Sam was worried, so by 9.30, he had alerted park rangers about his concern. A group was assembled and a formal search for Joe was on the ground and combing through the nearby trails by 10 p.m. Solomon, concerned that the boys hadn't returned to the campground, made his way to Bear Lake Trailhead around this time as well, only to learn of his son's

disappearance when he arrived and saw that there was a search party already out looking for his for his kid. And how old is he again? He's 22 at this time. Okay. By the time the search was mobilized, it was dark, which limited searchers to sticking by the trails and Joe's last known whereabouts, making their way through the forest with electric lamps, shouting his name and scanning the forest. They searched until around 3 a.m. and then resumed again at 9 a.m. the following day. As search efforts continued. Remember when I said that Sam and Joe, when they were bickering, there was a hiker that passed by and they greeted them and had a short conversation. Yeah. So they located that hiker. And so Sam, that hiker, who was unnamed and a park ranger went to the last location that Joe is known to be at,

which was at that intersection where they were having. Where they split off. Yeah, the back and forth of what to do. And it was here that the park ranger asked the two men to go over their statements again, just like tell me the story again, what happened, what did you say, where did he go? And it was at this time that they realized the hiker gave Joe the wrong directions because they asked him which way to Taylor Peak because that is where Joe wanted to go. So when the park ranger realized this, obviously that changes things a lot. Yeah, like where you're going to search. Right. So instead of pointing him to Taylor Peak, the hiker mistakenly sent him in the direction of Chief's Head Peak considerably farther away and even higher in elevation.

So now it was completely unclear which way Joe could have gone. Sam questioned if Joe would have even attempted that and wondered if he had tried to find an alternative route down, meaning that now he could be literally anywhere. Yeah, like he realized he was going way farther than he meant to, and now he tried to find a different way to cut across or whatever to make it back in time. Exactly. So over the next few days, the search expanded.

covering more ground with a larger number of people. Over 150 individuals joined the effort, including park personnel, volunteers, and CCC workers. Attempts were made to get bloodhounds on the ground from the Denver Police Department, Colorado Springs Police Department, and the Colorado State Penitentiary, but none were available, restricting the efforts to horseback and on foot. I'm unsure of why there was no efforts made to search from the skies, because at this time, There was, it wasn't anything, obviously, it's the mid-30s. Yeah.

But there is plain. It's an option. There is options to search by plane, but for some reason, that was not put into play here. So at this point, it's just horseback and about 150 people on foot. Okay. Searchers scoured the flat top area and checked all of the trail registers in the area, including on Taylor Peak and Chiefshead. But Joe's name was not marked in any of the trail register.

They set up two fly camps, which are high elevation camps that served as a food and supply station for the search members. And as the formal organized search ensued, Sam and Solomon joined in. On the fourth day of the search, Solomon wrote to his other son Bernard at home, who had stayed back in Chicago and said, quote, four days of helpless agony and no end to it. There is slight hope that he is only lost and cannot find his way out. Let us hope so. As the days went on, the search fanned out from Joe's last known location to all possible trails between the trailhead and the campground to the town of Grant Lake right outside of the park and covered all the summits in the area. Searchers worried for Joe's condition if he was in fact still alive. Joe loved the outdoors, but like I said, had very limited outdoor experience and would not be described as a skilled hiker. The extent of his abilities were gained while on that road trip during the early stops to the Black Hill.

and to Yellowstone. He was also grossly unprepared for any prolonged time in the wilderness. When he left the campground with Sam, he had a gray knapsack with a couple pieces of fruit, a sandwich, and a 1933 motorist guide to the park. He was wearing heavy boots, lightweight clothing, a blue and white striped shirt, and khaki slacks. Weather was pleasant during the day, but temperatures dipped into the 40s at night. Windstorms and rain also made conditions worse as the search went on. Oof, a T-shirt with wind and rain and 40 degrees at night. I mean, that's a recipe for some serious things to go wrong.

And not having any, I mean, he had a couple pieces of fruit and a sandwich, which they also snacked on together during their hike. So they're half eaten. Right. And does he have water? Not that I could see, could find in the research. But it's really kind of eerie because Sam took his picture on the hike. So you can see him like leaning up against a tree in this outfit, like smiling and happy. And that's the last photo that anyone has had of him because obviously it was hours before he went missing.

Searchers collected anything that they found during their search, including articles of clothing, food wrappers, any piece of litter, hoping that they could connect it to Joe potentially. But unfortunately, nothing bridged that gap. The Rocky Mountain National Park newsletter released on August 18th was the first to break the news of Joe's disappearance to the public at large. From there, reports included varying and sometimes conflicting information. Everything from footprints were found to he fell off a cliff or he was seriously injured to there was virtually no hope. So there's just this flurry of information coming out all of a sudden to the public and stirring up a lot of concern, obviously, but also a lot of confusing information. And I'm sure that's hard on the family, too,

to be hearing rumors that your kid fell off a cliff when none of that is verified. Right, exactly. The park service called off the search for Joe on August 21st, and that same day, Joe's parents and Sam left the park to make the somber return to Chicago. Shortly before leaving, Fannie wrote to Bernard, quote, Take good care of yourself, my dear Bernard, you are all we have. And Sam wrote to his brother, saying in part, quote, I've got some tragic news. Joe Halpern disappeared in the mountains last Tuesday and nothing has been heard of him since.

Everyone has lost hope of ever finding him alive. The last four days, Mr. Halpern and I averaged 15 miles of mountain climbing in our search. Yesterday, we walked and climbed 20 miles. Then a terrific wind, rain, and snowstorm with no results. It is almost impossible for anyone to remain alive for five nights without shelter and food. in a climate so cold and stormy. The past couple of days have been miserable out here with the deadly gloom prevailing.

Mrs. Halpern cries all night long. It is my belief that Joe is not lost in the mountains but must have seriously disabled himself. Oh, like he thinks he got injured somehow and he's stuck somewhere and can't come out, even if that's kind of the worst, I think, is if you're thinking that that person can hear you or they know that a rescue team is far away,

for some reason they're injured somewhere or in the other way maybe they're so injured that they can't hear you or anything like that but that's just kind of the worst to think that they're injured and unable to do anything and you can't find them yeah i mean and just the thought of having to leave is just heart wrenching i mean i felt it's not the same because it's it's uh with a dog but we covered the story of Jade, the dog in Yellowstone that got lost. And, you know, after an extensive search and the family having to leave, you know, and be like, they may still be out there, but we can't stay. And this is, the search isn't going anywhere.

It's just, it's so difficult to even have to imagine pulling yourself away from the person you love most. Knowing that they're there and you've been trying, but there's, there's, a point where you have to go back for so many reasons. Right. Whether that's family, another kid, your job, or, you know, there's just so many things where you have to leave at some point. Right. And that meant, you know, that doesn't mean, like, we'll get into that they gave up their efforts or hope or anything, but physically removing yourself when you just want to stay is unimaginably difficult. Yeah. And so how Sam outlined to his brother that it was his opinion that he must have seriously hurt himself and potentially even perished in some sort of accident. That was kind of the sentiment that most veteran park guides and rangers in the area

had as well. In September of 1933, the park superintendent Edmund Rogers wrote to the helpers. He detailed his and his team's thoughts about what happened to their son. And it was of their opinion that as he descended the slopes of Taylor Peak, he attempted to do so. He attempted to do so. by way of the shortcut through one of the narrow vertical passages in the rock and cliff faces called chimneys. There are hundreds of these rock formations in this area, most of which are passable with climbing equipment, but of course, Joe had none of that, and he wasn't experienced in hiking, let alone climbing. He went on to say that because the search was focused on that area and that hundreds and hundreds of people combed through the space shouting his name.

They believe that Joe was killed in a rock slide or some sort of fall the very first night that he disappeared. And he concluded with the sentiment that they hoped that his remains would eventually be found and give the family some sort of closure. So, I mean, I can kind of understand that too. It's like there's so many people in this focused area shouting his name for days and days and days. And like there's this flurry of activity in the area. he was alive and capable and able to respond in any sort of way, he would have done that if he was alive. Yeah.

So that's kind of the park's stance on what happened. Yeah. Yeah. So I feel like that sounds. Sounds accurate. It sounds on track. Yeah. Yeah.

Joe is not the first and unfortunately will likely not be the last person to become lost within the park. Dozens of people ranging from children to adults. day visitors to locals, inexperienced to professional trail runners, have all vanished here. Some of these individuals are found, or their remains are recovered, during the initial search. However, many are not discovered until many years later, sometimes many decades after they initially disappeared, when their remains are stumbled upon by other hikers or climbers or people visiting the park. According to an interview in 2018, Joe Evans, one of the park's retired chief rangers, stated that Joel Helpern is one of four documented people who have vanished and have not been found within Rocky Mountain National Park. And that was in 2018. There's been people since that have vanished. That number is really difficult to track, of course, because more people have disappeared. And conversely, others who had been missing for years have had their remains discovered. So it's always kind of.

of that number's kind of fluctuating a lot. Sure, that makes sense. For example, skeletal remains and personal effects were found in an area called skeleton Gulch that matched those of Rudy Motor, a skier experienced winter mountaineer, and whom served in the German army when he was visiting the area in February of 1983. Aside from his pack being found after he was initially reported missing, no sign of him was found until his remains were discovered 38 years later in 2020. Wow, that's a really long time. It is. I know. And, you know, like we're talking about Joe right now, obviously the center of the story saying he's an experience. He doesn't have supplies. He probably doesn't know what to do. And yet, you know, Rudy Motor, he has all the experience in the world. And like this type of thing can happen to anyone given, you know, particular circumstances and accidents happen and things like that.

Yeah. So as of right now, when we're recording in April of 2024, there are seven missing persons in Rocky Mountain National Park who have not been recovered. Are they recent? Some of them are. They're like a mixture of both. Yep, there's a mixture, so I'll give you the breakdown. Alfred Bealhearts was just four years old when he vanished while on a fishing trip with his large family in 1938 within the park near the Lawn Lake Trailhead. In October 1949, Colorado A&M students Bruce Gurling and David DeVitt separated from their hiking group in the same area of Flat Top Mountain. In March of 2019, Tennessee resident James Pruitt went missing in the Glacierier. or Gorge area of the park, which is also close to the Bear Lake Trailhead. In April of 2023, El Paso County Deputy Sheriff Kevin Seifer was last seen in the park after willingly walking away

from a car he was traveling in near Copeland Lake and he remains missing. In September of 2023, seasoned outdoorsman and trail runner Chad Palanch entered the park with the intention of an epic 28-mile trek across the Continental Divide when he went missing. And Chad's family posts updates on the search efforts on their GoFundMe page, and I'll link that in the show description. He also has not been located. And of course, there's Joe. So as of right now, all those people went missing within park boundaries and have not been located. So that ranges from 1938 to 2023.

Or I should say 1933 because Joe is 1933. Yeah. Regardless of what the park officials thought about Joe and how he disappeared and what happened to him. the Halperns couldn't help but hold out hope for their son and how could you blame them? While they agreed that Joe could have died, they also thought that perhaps he developed some sort of amnesia after some sort of traumatic fall or head injury. When Solomon returned back to Chicago, he reported Joe missing to the police departments both in Chicago and before he left, he reported Joe missing to the local Colorado police departments in close proximity to the park. So covering the bases, like in case he wanders out of the park. If anyone sees him in Chicago, if anyone sees him in East towns, if you come across someone who seems confused, who is just in Rocky Mountain, maybe there's some ties here.

Exactly. So he does that. And then Isadore, Joe's best friend, provided his parents with letters that Joe had written him in the years prior, which gave them reason to perhaps suspect that Joe disappeared intentionally. In one of those letters, Joe alluded to becoming a transnational. saying, quote, and so I stare face out at the cruel, harsh, economically depressed world, and I'm waiting for the day when I'll be a hobo, end quote. And another, while working at the observatory, he wrote, quote, the sun falls in the deep northwest, and soon again the stars will be free to shine on me as I harness their feeble rays for the benefit of science. Patiently, I will hold them minute after minute, hours and hours, and their impression will be preserved for the perpetual future. enormous volumes of imperfect observations for the use of imperfect observers. Happy is the life of an astronomer. A way, far away from the banalities of man detached in the beautiful soliloquies of

comprehensiveness and unity, the mortal cares, worries, being, loves, vanish into insignificance before this formidability of nature. So basically, Isidore is suggesting that he's kind of like growing weary of life and wanting to start something new or start a different life or kind of disappear into nature. But at the same time, because his parents kind of latch on to this and they're like, well, look at what he's wrote. Like maybe this is something, he took an opportunity away from us to go off on his own and start a different life. But despite the words in his letters, Isidore was adamant that Joe wouldn't have left that. way by hurting his family.

Like he wouldn't have ever... You would have told someone. Right. And I feel, I think that it seems a little unlikely just because of how I'm prepared and how random the circumstance was. I mean, they had planned to hike together. He was with another person. It just happened that they split up.

That wasn't a pre-planned thing. Right. It's not like he was at home in Chicago packed a bag and was like, I'm out of here, you know. Or like, he was like, hey. I'm going on a hiking trip. I'll be back in a few days and then had all these letters that said things. And people, I mean, I think about things that I've written or said. And it's like, I just want to escape the world and go live in the woods or go live off

the land and not have to deal with taxes and a job. And, you know, so I feel like those are regular conversations that people have that just because of the lack of preparedness and the random opportunity that it is for him to do that, I struggle to think that that would be something that would happen. I totally agree. And I think that it logistically and logic, it makes sense, obviously, to an outside observer. But for his parents, any hope that he perhaps is alive. Of course.

They really, uh, they really hung on to. And like Isidore said, he's like, they wouldn't have, he wouldn't have hurt you in this way. You wouldn't have done it this way. And despite, you know, that sting of potentially thinking that he essentially thinking that he essentially abandoned his family and kind of just struck on his own. Heard or not, they were happy to have this raft of hope to cling on to. Joe's family eventually moved to a farm in LaPort, Indiana, but we're sure to keep on top of communications with the Park Service, the local police, and even the FBI, constantly writing

to them asking for help in finding their son. The FBI put Joe's fingerprints, which were on file from a savings post office account that Joe had opened for some reason they had his fingerprints. on file for that. They used to take your fingerprints if you opened the savings account. That's interesting. So they had him on file. And just in case he showed up down the line or somebody came in and the fingerprints matched up, but they informed the helpers that they couldn't initiate an investigation as there had been no evidence of a violation of any federal law. So the FBI is like, we can keep his fingerprints on file, but we can't open any sort of formal investigation because the crime

criteria doesn't match what they would normally investigate. Right. The requirements for an investigation. The Halpern's hopes continued to fluctuate with more supposed leads. In 1934, a family acquaintance who was unaware of Joe's disappearance, let alone who Joe even was at all, came to their home. When they saw a framed photo of the family, he pointed to Joe and said he recognized him. Apparently, this acquaintance said he had seen this person begging for food outside of a restaurant. in Phoenix, Arizona in the winter of 1933, months after his initial disappearance. Fannie and Solomon immediately reached out to that restaurant and the owner kindly offered to help. After sending the owner a photo of Joe, he took it to the Phoenix Police Department

who then created a poster that read the following. $50 reward for information as to the present whereabouts of Joseph L. Halpern, who disappeared in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado, August 14, 1933, was reported as last seen in Phoenix, Arizona in December, 1933. Description, age 24. Okay, so he's 24. Sorry, I think he said 22 earlier. Height 58, hair brown, right eye crossed with a slight scar above it.

Light complexion, University of Chicago, graduate, proficient in French, German mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, is a good chess player, does not smoke, usually goes without a hat. may travel under an assumed name. If located, please notify S. Halpern, Laporte, Indiana. So the police brought this poster to several homeless encampments throughout the area because, like this acquaintance said, he was seen looking for food. So their thoughts led them to some encampments of people experiencing homelessness around the area. And some of the men claimed that Joe had, in fact, been staying there several months prior, but was going by a different name.

And there was even talk of the possibility that Joe had joined the CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corps. But none of those claims, whether he was at the encampment, he went by a different name, that he joined the CCC, none of those were ever substantiated with any validity. Okay. In 1936, a California man named Sam Greenfield, who claimed to be an old childhood friend of Joe's, wrote to the FBI stating it was his belief that Joe was working. for the Lewis Brother Circus and was going by the name Louis Hollenbuck. Tracking the man to a religious commune in Michigan called the House of David, he was not a match to Joe due to a difference in age. So they even, they're like, all right, I guess we're tracking down this guy named Lewis Hollenbuck.

And so they at first, the family was like, oh, maybe he just like ran away and joined a religious movement. And it was just hopeful. Yeah. And obviously that was. a dead end. As the nation entered World War II, Joe's father even wrote to the U.S. War Department inquiring to see if anyone with Joe's name was serving in the military. When that answer came back as a no, he then wrote to Jay Edgar Hoover pleading to match Joe's fingerprints to military

men in hopes that maybe they matched someone who enlisted under an assumed name. Writing, quote, all we want to know is that he is alive for the sake of his mother who was ill from constant worry. We appeal you to help us in locating our son. So they are doing everything that they can think of. And this sounds like this is going on for years. Is that right? Yes. Yes. Time went on and the helpers moved to Florida. In 1950, they went to probate court and filed for the legal presumption of death. But their efforts in finding him continued in the years beyond that. In 1960, Bernard, Joe's brother, raised questions as to if Sam, Joe's original hiking companion that day, knew more about his disappearance than he originally reported.

A theory that some of the Forest Rangers presented during the initial search in 1933, but Solomon quickly squashed, perhaps as a protective measure for a family friend who was clearly distraught. So initially the Forest Rangers were like, does Sam know more than he's leading on to? Which I think is a fair question given he was the last person to see him alive. Right. But right away, the dad was like out of the question. Like he's just upset as everybody else, maybe even more so because he was the last person to see him and kind of maybe feels like this survivor's guilt or sense of responsibility for this whole entire thing. Like if I just stayed with him, this wouldn't have happened, et cetera, et cetera. So this too, like every other theory kind of just went nowhere. It is unclear if authorities ever questioned Sammed further in regards to this big question. question mark as if he had more to do with it or not, and the Halperns did not keep in contact with him in the long term. Sam Garrick went on to live most of his life in the Chicago area. He graduated from medical school, became a physician and a surgeon. He had a family. He served in the

military during World War II and passed away in 1976 at the age of 64. But remember, Sam's brother Isidore was Joe's closest friend and he kept in touch with Fannie and Solomon, even sending them over 100 letters that he exchanged with Joe in the previous years in an effort to help them uncover any potential clues that may have been hidden within the letters. He expressed how deeply he missed Joe and how often he thought of him, but was adamant that his brother had nothing to do with Joe's disappearance

and stated that sadly it was as simple as what the park rangers originally proposed. So now it's Isidore's opinion that some sort of accident happened. He just wasn't found. As sad and simple as that. Yeah. Solomon and Fanny Halpern passed away in the mid-1960s, and Bernard, his brother, passed away in 1998, all going to their graves not knowing what happened to Joe. However, Joe still had family that deeply cared about finding out about what happened to him.

Bernard had a son named Roland, so Roland would have been Joe's nephew. Growing up, Roland didn't know much about his uncle Joe, except for the warnings his normally stoic father would dish out about being safe in the woods. His dad would say, don't go hiking alone. That's what happened to my brother and he disappeared. So after his father's death, Roland discovered the quiet efforts he had taken in hopes of finding his brother. Tucked amongst his personal files between the pages of books, Roland found detailed writings of his father's passion and yearning to find his brother, his frustrations about the lack of answers and dead ends and several photos of Joe. There were also copies of letters that he had sent to the Park Service and the FBI decades after

Joe's disappearance and the death of their parents. So he kind of picked up the torch from his parents and continued the constant communication like, hey, don't forget about Joe and is there any developments and what can we do? Never giving up. Despite being born 20 years after Joe disappeared, Roland has now taken up the torch from his father, who took it from his parents after their deaths. Oh, wow. He has undergone the monumental task of collecting, organizing, and digitizing all of the letters, documents, maps, official reports, and correspondence regarding Joe's disappearance that his father had collected over the years, saying, quote, he really wanted to solve this case for my grandparents

before they died, and he wasn't able to do that. and I just thought, you know, wouldn't it be nice to at least know what happened? Roland has spent years going over all of the different theories with a fresh pair of eyes, has poured over the letters and searched for any detail that was potentially overlooked or not seen during previous formal investigations in hopes of finding the missing piece that may solve the mystery of what happened to his uncle and has worked tirelessly to verify or refute the various theories that have surfaced over time. He has filed for Freedom of Information Act requests to gain access to previously sealed documents related to Joe's case, and he has been in contact with various agencies.

I'm talking the FBI, the Rocky Mountain region of National Archives, the Park Service, the Sheriff's offices around the park. Like, he has been talking to everybody. In 2009, when the National Missing and Unidentified Person System was started by the National Institute of Justice, he entered Joe. The National Park Service is listed as the contacting agency and Joseph's identifying information as well as a profile of familial DNA, thanks to Roland, is now on file to be matched to any unidentified remains. And Joe is actually the oldest missing persons case entered into the NAMIS system of dual databases that match missing persons and unidentified remains. Like in the entire system? Yeah. Wow.

In the summer of 2010, a few months prior to what would, have been Joe's 100th birthday, Roland took his own son on a hike of the Taylor Peak area. Today, Joe would be 113 years old, if alive. Through his research, Roland discovered the cemetery that his grandparents are interred in. He contacted the cemetery in Florida and was able to purchase a nearby plot in hopes of laying Joe to rest if his remains are ever discovered. Sylvia Petam, the author of the book Cold Case Chronicles, Mysteries, Murders, and the missing, who has a chapter dedicated to Joe Halpern's case, theorizes that perhaps Joe wanted to linger longer atop the peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park that night to watch the stars. The annual

per said meteor shower peaks in the northern hemisphere every August and would have been on full display during his trip. Maybe Joe wanted to stay and watch the star show high above the tree line in a corner of the world devoid of light pollution, a view that any astronomer would revel in. As of this recording, no trace of Joe, his remains, his clothing, or any of his belongings have ever been located. If you are in the park and happen across anything that you find suspicious here or in any other park for that matter, there's a number that you can call or text and it goes to the National Park Service Investigative Services Bureau tip line, and that number is 888653-0-0-09. And that is the story of the disappearance of Joseph Halpern. I just have to say,

that the story of you said his nephew or would have been his nephew. It would have been his nephew. Yeah. Going through all of those links to try and help solve this case for a person he's never met before, a person who disappeared long before he was born. That's just so kind. And I know it's his family and everything, but still to go that far out of your way for someone that you don't personally know is, It's incredible. And it sounds like he really did a lot of work to set people up if they ever do find clues for him or his remains, that they will have all that information readily available to figure out who he is. Yeah, exactly. And there had been a couple of, I didn't include it in here because there are a couple more details. But essentially, like as, you know, he was initially entered into that system. And there have been remains, like I kind of mentioned, that have been found over the years within Rocky Mountain. National Park and there was always kind of this spike of hope like are they Joe's you know and so Bernard son I should say um has gone through Roland has gone through a lot you know just like

emotional roller coaster and obviously like the foundation had been laid by his grandparents Joe's parents and of course Bernard Roland's father with all of this information but if you have ever seen anyone try and digitize and organize boxes and boxes of documents that may or may not have any sort of organization to them, especially over so many years and moves and things like that. Like, it's a monumental task. Not easy. So to do that and like you said, set up Joe in his case in a way that it's easily cross-referenced in the future. It's like you said, it's incredible.

and not everyone. A lot of people would just kind of be like, yeah, there's a, I had an uncle or a family member that went missing and we never know what happened to them. And it's like a family story, not a family ongoing thing that you're like really care about and are trying to solve. And he even went, not only did he organize all of this stuff and digitize it, but he also bought a plot for him in the hopes that he will be found and laid to rest back with his family, which is incredible. And it's. incredibly thoughtful and preparing for something that he doesn't even know it's going to happen or not, which is, it's just, it's extremely kind and it makes you feel for the family even more than you already do because you're like, wow, there's still people right now who care about this so deeply. Yeah, I know. And there's just like there's something about an unsolved, you know, like we say all the time, like humans crave closure and we like an ending, even if it's a difficult ending, at least it's solid information. Yeah.

Right. This open-endedness and to just not know what happened, but despite all of these different offshoots of theories of everything from the circus to joining a religious commune to like different things or going into the military under an assumed name or whatever, like I think it is kind of a cut and dry as difficult as it is. that something unfortunately happened to him. He either got lost, got injured, or whatever. But like, I kind of look back to the case that I did of, oh my God, I'm going to forget this name.

The guy. The guy. The kid, the little kid on Katodin. Yes. Lost on a Mountain in Maine guy. I'm so sorry. I feel like I just recorded that, even though it's been months. Anyway.

If it makes you feel any better, I cannot remember his name right now either. Okay, great. But I know the story. Well, remember how that was a huge search and they thought they knew where he was going to be, but he had gone a completely different way and was way out of rain. And they weren't even searching close to him. He didn't even like see that? Or he saw, didn't he see a plane or something at some point? He heard a plane at some point.

But he never heard people yelling for him. He never heard. He never heard any of that because he had gotten lost. He went in a completely different direction than they, the same. searchers would be like, okay, logically he's going to be in this area. So I can't help but kind of think of Joe's case and maybe that something similar happened there. Like he just got so disoriented or lost, whether he stayed longer and lingered and was turned around at night or he fell and injured himself. And because, well, actually now I think about it, he was the search for

Joe started a few hours after he disappeared. So, but, but, he could still get far enough away that perhaps he didn't hear them. I also think he could have just gone in a direction where you say they searched where logically they thought he would have been based on them having knowledge of the mountain where he went up there and had limited knowledge. He could have gotten off trail headed in a direction that wouldn't have even made sense to someone who knew the mountain and they might have just not searched there. Right. Because for them it didn't make sense. Right. That's what I'm thinking and maybe he just at that point, you know, because in the main story, I mean, that kid survived, but barely, barely.

He only survived because he came across a cabin and people helped him and called help. Right. So I'm thinking, you know, yes, an accident makes sense, but they never recovered anything of his. Not to say that that's impossible because there are so many cases that, you know, they're just a couple dozen yards off trail and you don't find their remains until much later. But you feel like maybe they've just never actually been to the area that he has he disappeared to. That's kind of like my initial thought. I think that is a valid question or thought to. Yeah. Especially if it's off trail and like even though this area is so popular within the park,

99.9% of the people are on trail. True. You know what I mean? Like if he got lost and went off trail, the chances of finding him are so slim or even just stumbling across him. So I don't know, that's just kind of my thought. I mean, if you think about it when you're hiking, a few hours is plenty of time to get out of your shot of hearing people call you. Or depending on where you are, maybe you could hear them, but they couldn't hear you. Or, you know, like there's just.

Yeah, there's so much. I mean, it kind of also reminds me of a story that people have been begging us to cover, which we can. But Geraldine Large. Yes. On the AT. disappeared on the AT and they found her tent very close to the trail. So close. And I think she just went off trail to pee, right? Or to like relieve herself and she got turned around. Yeah, she got turned around. And they found her very, they found her remains very soon

after she died too. I think it was days. No way. Or don't quote me because maybe that's not true. Because I know the story and I've read articles about it, but it's been years. But I would say it was years later. Really? I thought they found her. Let's Google this before. Or maybe there was a journal entry that was like, yes. There was something. There was something where they came across. Well, she, well, the book is called When You Find My Body and that is an excerpt from her journal that she was keeping. And I know that they, okay, now we officially have to do the story on it because we're talking out of her ass about this. Talking extensively about it. But yeah, like she had a journal. They think that she may have survived on her own like a month or so. because she was a nurse. Yeah. And she had supplies. You know more about this than I do. Yeah.

And she didn't move from where she was originally. She knew to stay put. And there was a search for her because her husband was waiting for her. Yeah. Like there was this big search for her and she was not far off trail at all. So it just goes to show that you think like sitting here in our homes, you know, in hindsight, we're like how hard can it be? Like how hard can it be?

Things are so much different when you're out there. there though. Right. With elements and direction and if you don't have a compass and you don't even know what direction you're looking at and you don't know where you are, it's just so easy to get disoriented even if you're close to a trail. If you don't know that you're close to a trail, how do you- It doesn't feel like you're close to a trail. It doesn't feel like you're close to a trail and how do you know what direction to go if you have no idea. So yeah, and even from the searcher's perspective, you know, like looking back on it, you know, it's probably like, God, we are so close. But again, it's so difficult. And all right, now we officially have to do that story. I'll put it on my

list. I was going to say, you have the book. So you'll, you'll have to take that one and teach me about it. Because I've heard of it. I don't know the details. I don't know all the details either, clearly. Yeah. But yeah. So that was Joe's case. And hopefully, you know, not only for him, but for the other individuals I outlined earlier in the episode, hopefully their remains are recovered and there is some sort of, I hate the word closure, so I won't say it, but some sort of answers for the families because there's, in my opinion, there's nothing worse. Not only are you dealing with, in your heart of hearts, you know they're not no longer living, which is one thing, but not being able to have any sort of answers as to their whereabouts or their final moments. That's a whole other grief to handle. And knowing, I mean, for him, it was his father who passed away having this agony over his brother for years and years.

and not having those answers and then his parents and to still be like, I'm trying to figure this out for my family members that really cared, which I'm sure is a really big part of it. It's just I hope that they get answers and figure out what happened or find some type of clue that gives them the answers that they're looking for. Yeah, me too. All right. Well, that's it for today. Hope everyone enjoyed learning about Joe's story and we hope you enjoy the view. But watch your back. everyone. Bye. Thank you so much for joining us again this week. If you have a trail tale or story suggestion, send us an email at Stories at NPADPodcast.com. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at

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