On 8/31/1999 Joel Matthew Thompson had telephoned his father and stated that he was in St. Louis visiting friends and buying hiking supplies for his planned trip to hike the Pacific Crest Trail which runs from Washington state to Mexico. He was going to start in Portland Oregon Area and hike through California. He stated to his father that he would not contact him for a couple of months. After not hearing from him for several months, numerous inquiries and searches were done to attempt to locate him. He has not been seen or heard from since. A subsequent missing persons report was filed by his father.