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Missing for four decades: Unsolved park ranger mystery lingers in Southern Arizona

Paul Fugate disappeared at Chiricahua National Monument in 1980
Posted: 2:52 PM, Nov 09, 2022
Updated: 2022-11-09 16:52:10-05
Paul Fugate disappeared in 1980. His body has never been found.

COCHISE COUNTY, Ariz. (KGUN) — Paul Fugate was a park ranger at the Chiricahua National Monument in Southeastern Arizona until he disappeared on Jan. 13, 1980.

That day, Fugate left the Chiricahua visitor center to go for a hike in the Faraway Ranch area.

He never returned. Searches in the area in the days, months and years since haven’t discovered any sign of him.

“Everybody who’s in this family is in pain, and will be until we find Paul,” Dody Fugate, Paul’s wife, told KGUN 9.

She says the search for her husband has become a search for closure that’s now lasted more than 40 years.

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Paul Fugate left the Chiricahua visitor center on Jan. 13, 1980 to go for a hike in the Faraway Ranch area. A location linked to drug trafficking. He was never seen again.

“I feel as though a part of me has just been sliced off,” Dody said. “And I want to know where it went.”

As for what happened the day he disappeared, Dody and others suspect foul play.

“He walked into something that he certainly had not expected,” she said.

This remains an open case for National Park Service investigators, who in 2018 raised the reward for information to $60,000.

This fall, an NPS spokesperson told KGUN, “we have no new information and respectfully decline to interview at this time.”

Paul and Dody’s longtime friend Barbara Elfbrandt admits the mystery is often on her mind. Given how long ago Paul disappeared, doubt is beginning to creep in.

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This remains an open case for National Park Service investigators, with a $60,000 reward for information. Call the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office at 520-432-9500 or 800-362-0812, or call or text the National Park Service - Investigative Services ISB Tip Line at 888-653-0009 with any information you think may help.

“I don’t have the belief that I did originally that it would be solved,” said Elfbrandt.

Paul disappeared in an area linked to drug trafficking, leading to theories that he ran into the wrong group that day.

The complicated case with several layers, but still no answers.

“All the good clues or breakthroughs have led to walls. Which [investigators] could never, couldn’t get through,” said Elfbrandt.

The story also gets more complicated given Paul's history with the National Park Service. Elfrbandt says there was tension between the laid-back ranger and his more buttoned-up supervisors with the NPS.

Years before his disappearance, Paul was fired, only to get his job back after a legal battle with NPS, according to Elfbrandt. She says another legal battle then ensued over Dody's compensation after Paul's disappearance—a dispute that made it all the way to then-Arizona senator Barry Goldwater's office.

KGUN spoke with a recently retired federal agent who spent his own time investigating this case. He believes it can still be solved, even with the lack of physical evidence.

The former agent claims people in multiple states have relevant information, but need to be properly interviewed.

Dody is raising money to hire a private investigator, hoping to push this case closer to clarity.

“Paul and I were sort of like two halves of one person,” she said. “And so the other half of me is buried somewhere.”

“I know that Paul didn’t just leave on his own,” said Elfbrandt. “And I would like to know what happened to him. And it would be closure. It would be peace.”

If you have any information about this case, please report it to:

Cochise County Sheriff’s Office:

(520) 432-9500 or (800) 362-0812

National Park Service - Investigative Services:

Call or Text the ISB Tip Line: (888) 653-0009

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Ryan Fish is an anchor and reporter for KGUN 9 and comes to the Sonoran Desert from California’s Central Coast after working as a reporter, sports anchor and weather forecaster in Santa Barbara. Ryan grew up in the Chicago suburbs, frequently visiting family in Tucson. Share your story ideas and important issues with Ryan by emailing ryan.fish@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.