I remember a segment on Unsolved Mysteries about a man in the military who takes off in a red car and is never seen again. His red car is found in a nearby canyon range/desert near a military base I believe. The man was seen in the days proceeding the disappearance talking to two people in uniforms on base. This ring a bell to anyone?

sounds like Paul Whipkey

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I'm going to say Paul Whipkey because when you said red car, that stood out in my mind from the segment. Strange the things you remember.

Yeah that's it. Thanks. This case was really unsettling.

From The National Archives (retrieved from archives.gov):

Reference Information Paper 90

A Finding Aid to Records Relating to American Prisoners of War and Missing in Action from the Vietnam War Era, 1960-1994


47. CASE FILE RELATING TO PAUL B. WHIPKEY. 1957-92. 1.2 ft.
•Arranged in binders as described below.
•Paul B. Whipkey disappeared while in the Army in 1957 and it was believed that he had left his car, wandered into the desert and died, and that the shifting sands covered his body. His brother Carl Whipkey collected a file on the disappearance, asked to be deposed by the committee, and turned over a copy of his file. Among the materials provided to the select committee by Carl Whipkey: 1) a binder of exhibits identified in two parts as # A through # D5 and #1 through 53 (both parts are prefaced by a documents list); 2) a binder containing FBI file 42-141960-26 on the Paul Whipkey disappearance; 3) a binder labeled "Lt. Paul B. Whipkey: 1983 to 1992 problems with GI insurance, Death Gratuities, Senator Heinz, Spector, Kerry POW/MIA Committee & Synopsis"; 4) testimony before a 1982 Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of Paul Whipkey; and 5) a folder of newspaper stories about Whipkey.



I really don't know what to think about this one. I am usually incredibly wary of "secret mission" military stories, but LT Whipkey's seems more legitimate than many of the others featured on UM. It's simply a coincidence and I by no means believe 99% of what was alleged in the Burgwinkel segment, but I think it's interesting both men disappeared from Ft Ord--where now, there's really nothing but DLI (Defense Language Institute) and NTC (National Training Center).

It is a "desert" base however, and the U.S. military did do an awful lot of atomic testing in the American Southwest in the '40s, '50s, and '60s. There was also a lot of electronic warfare and signals testing going on as well, and a lot of that continues to the current day. I suppose I am more inclined to accept a "job-related" disappearance in the military of the 1950s (especially that of an officer in a high-risk occupation) than one in the "peacetime" organization of the 1980s and '90s (again, especially that of a lower enlisted 92G).


Just an interesting footnote--LT Whipkey's file is listed right above PFC Robert Garwood's--the former Marine and convicted North Vietnamese Army collaborator who caused quite a stir in the early and mid-80s by publicly claiming there were American soldiers still interred in Vietnam.

This year, 2024, since March the first falls exactly like 1991. And on Wednesday April 3rd. 1991, was the first broadcast of the episode that included the case of Paul Whipkey, exactly 33 years ago today, Wednesday April 3rd. 2024. That episode also included the segments of, among others, Richard Bocklage, the Updates of Edward Maynard and of Pat Fagan and her son Brandon Fagan, the search for Gary Bickford & the case of missing Jim Rice and Astarte Davis, the main suspect in his disappearance.

The peculiar thing about this episode, and I always think about it when I watch this episode, even the Filmrise version, which edited some of the segments mentioned above, is that 24 hours after the original broadcast of this episode, on the evening of Thursday April 4th. 1991, Angela Hammond would be abducted in Missouri. Her case wasn't broadcast until the episode of Wednesday February 5th. 1992, 10 months later, but she was abducted 24 hours after the original broadcast of the episode that included Paul Whipkey's case and the other cases I've already mentioned.

I vividly remember watching that broadcast while I was visiting my grandparents over spring break. I was in seventh grade at the time. Like this year, Easter fell on March 31 in 1991 and we were on break the entire week after.
That said, as many times as I've seen the Angela Hammond case, I never gave any thought to that date. So her abduction happened 33 years ago within the next few hours.

this is one of the more mysterious military cases where there could have been some type of cover up or wrong doing. Particularly in the way they labeled him a deserter. I don't think it was some type of large conspiracy, perhaps a small one by definition if his death was related to his work and there were higher levels of secrecy that keep the investigation from being made public.

Paul was subjected to ridiculous levels of radiation that destroyed his health. Perhaps his mental health as well. Paul seemed to be under a lot of stress that I would say was abnormal even for military standards. Paul could have died while actively performing his duty, but I think he died from a combined physical/mental health problem after previously being subjected to high levels of radiation. Perhaps it was convenient for his command to label him a deserter, rather than face the truth and properly investigate his ailments and release the truth to the public. and to go a step further, maybe the army don't even know what happened to Paul if he did indeed disappear. If he did disappear, maybe the army did the right thing by changing his status to died in the line of duty so that he and his family receive the proper benefits and recognition for his service.

You know who I am they got rid of him in 1957

I do wonder what the temps were when he disappeared. I noticed that UM mentioned 120 degrees in Death Valley. but it gets hotter than that. many people have died there from heat stroke. my last day of work in Las Vegas we had a record high of 120. that means in Death Valley it was closer to 130. on that weekend a motorcycle rider died from a heat stroke when he drove through Death Valley.

I listened to trail went cold last night. As Robin says in his podcast and Meg in her post above, this is one of the more mysterious military segments. Sometimes there are UM segments where there is not enough information and I go and search for more info, but can't find any. this is one of those segments, I also had that same experience with Patsy Wright although, I think that segment has a little more info outside of UM than this one does.

There are a few theories that I have and will use my own military experience combined with what I've heard about this case.

Did Paul fake his disappearance to take on a highly secretive mission that required him to disappear? My reasoning to believe this theory is that Lt Whipkey was working on sensitive missions that were highly classified. As his commanding officer mentions on the segment, he would have been a candidate to participate in some type of experimental mission with the CIA. There was a witness that said they saw a uniformed member driving Paul's car. If true this changes things quite a bit because it shows that some type of official business was taking place. military members only wear their uniform while on duty or in rare instances for ceremony which is considered duty. Paul left the base in civilian clothes because he was off duty, so this leads me to believe that the witness is not credible. and that leads me to my argument against this theory. If Paul needed to fake a disappearance, why would he or someone else be wearing their uniform somewhere out in the desert? Additionally, Paul was already participating in a high level national security mission, perhaps one of the most secretive and sensitive in our nation's history. and he was suffering from the side effects of the mission. In the UM segment it was mentioned that Paul was stressed and he had radiation illness/teeth extraction. I will point out that health issues whether they are mental or physical, will usually cause a temporary removal from classified positions that involve flying or hazardous material. I am not sure if that was the case for Paul back then. things may have changed. But if you look at Paul's condition and ailments at the time he disappeared, they don't point to him being able to take on a more difficult position than he was already struggling with before.

Foul play? Was Paul escorted to Death Valley against his will and murdered? Aforementioned, in the segment it is brought up that a military member was seen driving his car. Paul left in his civilian clothes, so if accurate, it was most likely not Paul driving the car in uniform. Also the cigarette butts found by his car. Paul was not a smoker. These aspects make it possible that someone did drive Paul's car, but there's little evidence to show that Paul was murdered.

The Army bungled Paul's disappearance? In the segment it is mentioned that the Army did not search for Paul, at least initially and they classified him AWOL and a deserter straight away. This is where we need more information. No one from the Army (in an official capacity regarding the investigation of Paul's disappearance early on) spoke about this. I think the information was relayed by UM 2nd hand. So we don't have details. For example, in the Justin Berwinkle case we hear more detail where on the first day that Justin did not report to work, he was given a grace period before they considered him AWOL. This means that it was more likely that Justin did leave unannounced and his disappearance was a surprise. This most likely happened with Paul as well, barring some type of unimaginable conspiracy. But what did the Army do after they realized Paul was gone and not coming back? Did they just give up on him and not search because they thought he committed suicide? Did they do a half hearted search? Did they break protocol and contaminate the investigation by moving his car and personal belongings? Was it incompetence? What was the protocol for the investigation of a disappearance back then? If this happened today, especially with someone in Paul's line of work, there would be a formal CID investigation. It is also possible that the Army did not want to go on the record about anything because they wanted to avoid inquiries regarding Paul's position. I would imagine back then it would have been easier to not talk to the public than compared to today's media coverage. By not talking and avoiding the public, the services open themselves up to vast conspiracy theories.

Last and most likely theory. Paul left on his own accord and disappeared in Death Valley. This is the most logical explanation, while less dramatic, it is still perhaps just as mysterious as any other theory. It can be possible that Paul was severely impacted by his job in a negative way to the point where he burned out and needed to get away to recharge or wanted to escape. The Army should still take some responsibility if this was the case. This is where I want to clarify a key point. "Died in the line of duty." This is convoluted term especially for someone who's not been in the military. when a person disappears and is never found they are not considered dead. anytime a military member dies, while on active duty, a line of duty determination is made for the purpose of insurance and military/veteran benefits. active duty members are considered on duty 24/7, 365 days a year. it's easy to understand a soldier dying in a war being "in the line of duty" but it's a little less known that if a member dies in their sleep from natural causes, that is considered dying in the line of duty and they receive full death benefits. The tricky situation here is that Paul disappeared and was never found. So it would have been difficult for the Army to do a LOD determination until perhaps he was considered legally dead after initially being considered a deserter. If he remained a deserter in perpetuity, then his family and his service legacy would have been scarred for eternity.

This brings me to my final thought. I do think that Paul went to Death Valley on his own accord and disappeared. Perhaps died from exposure. Why did he go there? Did he go there to commit suicide? Did he go there for pleasure to get away because he was lured by nature? Death Valley has military airspace ranges where experimental and training flights take place. I imagine that Paul would have flown over the area before, perhaps regularly, and wanted to go there on foot and explore. it's not an uncommon place for people to visit in spite of its life threatening and unsurvivable elements in the summer. on many of my hikes near Vegas in the spring mountains I could see Death Valley and Telescope Peak in the horizon and it is amazingly beautiful. but it's not a place someone should visit in the summer. So this is where mystery comes into play. Did Paul go there to take his life or did he go there to temporarily escape from his job and was not fully prepared and died in the elements. Did the Army handle the investigation correctly given the scope of Paul's job? Did they stay quiet about Paul in hopes of keeping his past from being made public? In spite of the stigma that comes with the topic of suicide, the military will pay out death benefits if a member commits suicide. but will not give benefits for someone who is AWOL or a deserter. This is what makes it significant for Paul to have had his status updated to died in the line of duty. In my opinion this could be more about honoring Paul's service and allowing his family to receive benefits, then it is the Army admitting that Paul left on a secret mission and never came back. There is stigma and controversy with military and veteran suicide rates. they are very high and I suspect worse than reported. at times UM counters suicide to portray an alternate more mysterious scenario. the military services are not proud of high suicide rates. so if anything, there could be reason to believe that the services would prefer to avoid the suicide topic as much as possible, which contradicts the way they are often portrayed on UM. That said the services often withheld information regarding crime and assault. So there is reason not to always give them the benefit of the doubt. There are a couple of other disappearances that come to mind that are similar to Paul's. David Stone and Keith Reinhard. Both left to go hiking outdoors. both were going through some things in their personal lives and perhaps were trying to escape from reality. In Stone's case they mentioned a vision quest. both most likely died in the elements from exposure. Stone was found many years later in spite of a thorough search early on.