NY NY - Guy Pyke, 70, Evans Mills, 2 April 1999

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Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
• Missing Since: April 2, 1999 from Evans Mills, New York
• Classification: Endangered Missing
• Date of Birth: January 18, 1929
• Age: 70 years old
• Height and Weight: 6'0, 168 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Gray hair, blue eyes. Pyke wears bifocal eyeglasses with wire frames. He has no teeth. He is bowlegged, his sternum has previously been fractured, and his ring finger was previously broken at the first joint. Pyke has a scar on the bridge of his nose and a surgical scar on his abdomen.
• Clothing/Jewelry Description: A red, green and blue plaid shirt over a maroon sweatshirt, blue Rider jeans, and brown Gobie boots.
• Medical Conditions: Pyke suffers from Alzheimer's Disease and dementia. He gets confused and easily lost as a result. He also has a heart condition for which he takes a prescription blood thinner. He tires easily and his hands shake as a result of his medical conditions; he may appear to be drunk.

Details of Disappearance
Pyke was last seen at approximately 3:00 p.m. on April 2, 1999 in the vicinity of the 2000 block of State Route 11 in the Evans Mills, New York area. He stopped at a cousin's home, but didn't get out of the car. He had driven away his home in the 4900 block of Aitchison Road to visit a relative in Watertown, New York. His family reported him missing two days later when he did not return. Pyke had previously left on short trips and come back on his own, which is why his loved ones did not report his disappearance immediately.

Pyke's vehicle, a dark blue 1989 Chevrolet Blazer with a black top, chrome diamond running boards, and New York license plates numbered FMS 867, is also missing. Photographs of the car are posted below this case summary. It had a full tank of gasoline when Pyke drove away with it on the day of his disappearance.

Pyke had been married for 49 years prior to his disappearance. His wife died in 2012, nearly thirteen years later, and one of their sons is also deceased. Pyke did not have any money with him when he went missing and the only item inside the Blazer was his driver's license. Prior to his disappearance he had spoken of wanting to travel to Florida, but there is no evidence that he went there, and no evidence that he crossed the Canadian border either. His case remains unsolved.


Above Images: Pyke's vehicle

Deputies ask for tips 18-years after man with dementia was reported missing

18-years ago this weekend, Guy Pyke left his home on Aitcheson Road in Onondaga County and headed toward Watertown to visit relatives. He never returned home.

Investigators are hoping a reminder about the cold case may spark a memory or lead to a clue, perhaps someone remembers spotting an old abandoned Blazer...somewhere.

They know families with missing loved ones always want answers, even if they have to wait 18-years.

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Two different stories, but the same ending: They both drove off and were never heard from again - January 2012

Arline Pyke died Jan. 1 of this year at the age of 78. Her obituary in The Post-Standard said she’d “passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her loving family and her four-legged companion, Mazie.”

But without her husband.

The death notice mentioned Arline’s survivors, including two great-grandsons, and “her husband of over 50 years, Guy M. Pyke, who has been missing since April 2, 1999.”

We don’t what happened to Guy Pyke. He’s not been seen by anyone in his family at his home in Howlett Hill in almost 13 years. He drove his car north from Evans Mills in Jefferson County and out of our lives.

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He left his home on Aitchison Road west of Syracuse driving his Blazer, with a full tank of gas, on April 2, 1999. Guy told his wife, Arline, he was headed to Watertown to visit relatives. He had kin north of the Thruway. He’d spent summers in Watertown as a boy.

The last person who reported seeing him was a cousin, who lives in Evans Mills, north of Watertown. The cousin told deputies Guy never got out of his car; a barking dog kept him from going in. He backed out of the driveway and drove north, toward Gouverneur.

The family wishes there had been a water search for his missing car. Pyke’s granddaughter, Jennifer Wood said this is based partially on information given to Arline Pyke by a psychic, who told her “the vehicle is submerged” and that Guy Pyke “is not far from the vehicle.”

Jennifer said the family tried searching for the Blazer themselves “to see if someone might have driven it to Canada” with no results. Evans Mills borders Fort Drum and is not far from the St. Lawrence River.

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Barry Pyke, Guy’s son, has died also. When I wrote about the case in 2007, he told me the family wasn’t happy with the sheriff’s department’s investigation of his dad’s disappearance. At one point, he said the Pykes had to get a court order to see copies of sheriff’s detectives’ files on the case.

I also talked to Arline Pyke in 2007.

“If he’s not here, why should I be here?” she asked. “I get angry some days. How come he just go and not come back? He could not help that. Sometimes, I just need some time to myself for a while.”

Barry Pyke said the family had sifted through many scenarios about Guy’s disappearance. None of them answered the key question: what happened to him?

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15 years later, detectives still actively searching for now 85-year-old Onondaga man - April 2014

- Guy's granddaughter comments at the bottom of the article linked above and writes that her grandfather did not suffer from Alzheimer's.

Search continues for Onondaga man missing for 12 years - April 2011

More information gathered from AWP and Chaos Divers videos of their searches, and talks with his granddaughter & family.

Guy reportedly also mentioned visiting relatives in Brockville, Ontario over the phone on Thursday, which is in the direction he was last traveling. He was last seen by his cousin, where he pulled into the driveway but never got out. A barking dog kept him from going in. He backed out of the driveway and drove North. His vehicle is also missing and is described as a dark blue 1989 Chevrolet Blazer with a black top, chrome diamond running boards, and the NY License plate FMS 867. He had a full tank of gas and his drivers license, but no cash, cards or cigarettes even though he was a heavy smoker.
He was known to drive route 11, and would not take highways like 81. He was also known to be a fast driver.
There was no snow or rain that day.

His family reported him missing two days later, as he often went on short trips and would come back on his own. A year or so before he had spoken of wanting to travel to Florida, but there is no evidence that he went there. He had started traveling in his car more since he retired.
At the time, Pyke was 70 years old. Officials stated he had alzheimers and dementia, however he was not diagnosed with either. He did have an upcoming test that month for dementia, as he would sometimes get confused or forgetful. He was taking blood thinners for a heart condition.

Guy had spent summers in Watertown as a boy and had kin north of the Thruway. He was also familiar with La Fargeville. He had been married for 49 years prior to his disappearance, his wife and one of their sons has since passed away.

== Search Efforts ==

At the time, the sheriff’s department distributed a bulletin throughout US and Canada. Police searches by air and on foot turned up nothing. Police and family checked the Canadian border and surrounding areas, to no avail. His family pleaded with law enforcement to conduct water searches for years.

In September 2022, Adventures with Purpose searched several locations including the pond on Jewett Pl and Route 11, a portion of the Oswegatchie River in Gouverneur, the Pope Mills ramp on 58, Black lake boat ramp and where 58 crosses, the Black River in Dexter, a pond along Snake Creek and Route 11, the Oneida River in Brewerton, and portions of Onondaga Lake. They visibly checked several other locations and were unable to check one by the dam at the Clearwater Paper Corporation.

In 2023, Chaos Divers also searched locations including Onondaga Lake, the south fork of the Seneca River, Oneida Lake at Sylvan Beach and Brewerton, the creek along Route 11 from Philadelphia to Coolidge Road and portions of the other side with remote control sonar, the south side of the Black River Bay to Black River, the Little Salmon River at Mexico Point, the Salmon River at Port Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River from Cape Vincent to Collins Landing.

Map of areas searched: