CO CO - Maurice Dametz, 84, Pike National Forest/Devil's Head, 29 Apr 1981

[PalmerLakeAnon]

Maurice Gordon Dametz went missing on April 29, 1981 near the Topaz Point picnic area, Devil's Head, Colorado in the Pike National Forest. Dametz was last seen approximately 50 yards west of Rampart Range Road. He and a friend were rock hunting, the friend being approximately 50 yards away from Dametz.

Dametz was in his 80s, had arthritis and a blood disorder. He often went rock hunting with a friend, who would assist him in moving around to his dig sites. Dametz could not walk well on his own.

At approximately 1500, the witness went to check on Dametz, who had been digging for Topaz in a fixed location, and told him they would probably head home soon. The witness returned to his own dig site, then approximately 15 minutes later, went back to check on Dametz, but Dametz was gone. Not even his tools remained. The witness, surprised that Dametz could make it up the hill on his own, checked back at their car, waited, honked the horn a few times, but there was no response; Dametz was nowhere to be found. The site where Dametz was last seen was not disturbed, other than the small pit Dametz was digging out of. No sign of a struggle in the dirt and no blood was present.

The witness flagged down a motorist on Rampart Range Road. Around 2300 that night the Douglas County Sheriff had been notified and SAR teams were at the scene. For the following week, the area was searched with no sign of Dametz. The search dogs could not even pick up a scent.

The information provided in this post was mostly from this video on the case:

 

[PalmerLakeAnon]

SCENARIOS: (IMO)

1) Dametz was kidnapped:
This raises many questions which compromise the likelihood of this scenario. Why would someone kidnap or murder this man? This was in a rugged area, so a kidnapper would have needed to carry the body up the hill, presumably, and to their getaway car. But why would someone do this to an 80-year-old man in the middle of nowhere? There was no sign of a struggle, no cries
for help from Dametz, and no blood. Also, this occured in late April, so traffic on Rampart Range Road would have been light.

2) Wild animal attack:
Again, this is unlikely because there was no sign of struggle, no sign anyone was dragged through the dirt, no yelling for help, and no blood. Also, the bag of tools was gone, so if Dametz was dragged away against his will, the bag would have remained.

3) Dametz wandered off:
The only other explanation (other than alien abduction) is that Dametz walked off on his own. Given his medical condition, he could not have possibly made it far, but given that terrain, he could have easily gotten stuck somewhere or hidden himself in the case of suicide. No accounts of the disappearance that I have found state whether or not Dametz was suffering from memory loss, though given his age, it is possible that he forgot where he was then attempted to find his way out. Otherwise, he may have wandered off looking for a better dig site, or, knowing he was at the end of his life, may have wandered off into the forest to spend his final moments in nature.

4) Murder & Cover-up
None of the witness's account is true, Dametz was never in the area that day, but rather this incident was fabricated to possibly cover up Dametz's murder or assisted suicide. If Dametz was murdered by his friend, what would have been the motive? Why would a younger man kill an 80-year-old who is in poor health? Assisted suicide is probably more likely, but why would Dametz's friend go through the trouble of faking a disappearance in the middle of nowhere? Also, Dametz was a devout Christian and former pastor, so why would he commit suicide (not ruling it out, but it makes it less likely)?

Given these scenarios, IMO, it is most likely that Dametz wandered off and is still missing in the forest.

 

[meanmaryjean]

I think #4 is the likeliest scenario given that the dogs picked up no scent, and his dig site was undisturbed. Now for a motive- who knows. But I suspect he was never there.

 

[PalmerLakeAnon]

In My Opinion:
Given my own experience with a volunteer SAR team, I suspect the following:

1) "Extensive Search" does not mean the search was thorough. A SAR team may be quick to say an area was searched even if that only meant one person was in the general area but did not look over every square foot of ground.
2) SAR teams will often not go in areas too rugged due to risk of personal injury, unless there are clues leading to a particular site difficult to reach. In other words, a dangerous area, like a boulder field, would not be searched in an initial gridding.
3) The dogs sometimes pick up no scent despite the person having obviously been in an area. I have had personal experience with this.

Therefore, I conclude that the search for Dametz probably covered an area larger than necessary, not being searched thoroughly, with no help from search dog teams, only in areas easily accessible. The terrain in which Dametz went missing was pretty rugged, with some places being hard to reach and hard to search (such as boulder field or overgrown valley floors).

It is also important to consider the timing of everything. This occurred in late April. In the following weeks, the forest underbrush would grow its spring foliage. This would certainly conceal a body. Also, within the initial search week, the decomposing corpse would not put off a stench. With this all in mind, anyone searching the area within the first weeks could easily walk right past the body. One would need to be standing right over the corpse in order to notice it.

Even though it is almost 40 years later, clothing, the tools, and maybe even bones would all still be present at the scene of death. Depending on where this is, they may be buried underneath duff or gravel erosion if he died, say, at the bottom of a creek drainage. A metal detector may be necessary to thoroughly search these areas.

 

[PaulR]

2) can also be unlikely because of circumstances. To put it bluntly, why would an 84 year old look at a bounder field (or other obviously dangerous or difficult area to traverse) and say "yeah, I wanna go that way!"

 

[heartgoesout]

Did Mr. Dametz have a considerable sized life insurance policy? Typically without an actual death certificate it would be held up for years though.

Who was his caregiver?

 

[PalmerLakeAnon]

1988 disappearance of Dr. Maurice Dametz, age 84. : UnresolvedMysteries

 

[mrz]

I think #4 is the likeliest scenario given that the dogs picked up no scent, and his dig site was undisturbed. Now for a motive- who knows. But I suspect he was never there.

Agreed.

 

[heartgoesout]

Were dogs trained as vigorously in search and rescue 40 years ago?

 

[Tripod]

One thing that stands out to me in particular is the description that Maurice and his friend apparently dug for topaz in spots far enough from each other, that neither could either see or hear each other....
It'd be interesting to see an image of their location, but being decades ago, I don't know if that info would still exist, or how reliable it was in the first place.

 

[heartgoesout]

Is it typical when topaz digging to be in different areas when you are responsible for an elderly, slow moving companion?
And if they found topaz how much would it have been worth?

 

[PalmerLakeAnon]

One thing that stands out to me in particular is the description that Maurice and his friend apparently dug for topaz in spots far enough from each other, that neither could either see or hear each other....
It'd be interesting to see an image of their location, but being decades ago, I don't know if that info would still exist, or how reliable it was in the first place.

I actually visited the area in mid-July and did some searching. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures.
The terrain close to Rampart Range road is not really steep, but its heavily wooded. The farther from the road (about 100 yards downhill), the steeper it gets, and the gullies get deeper, narrower, and full of boulders. Overall, the section is very heavily wooded.
There are numerous dig sites in close proximity to the road, I would say within 50 yards, no further. Assuming the description in the video is accurate, Dametz and his friend would certainly not see each other, but would be able to shout back and forth to one another, IMO.

 

[PalmerLakeAnon]

Btw, he was last seen wearing a white baseball cap, maroon plaid flannel long-sleeve, blue overalls, brown ankle-high boots, and glasses.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[Tripod]

I actually visited the area in mid-July and did some searching. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures.
The terrain close to Rampart Range road is not really steep, but its heavily wooded. The farther from the road (about 100 yards downhill), the steeper it gets, and the gullies get deeper, narrower, and full of boulders. Overall, the section is very heavily wooded.
There are numerous dig sites in close proximity to the road, I would say within 50 yards, no further. Assuming the description in the video is accurate, Dametz and his friend would certainly not see each other, but would be able to shout back and forth to one another, IMO.

Thanks for that info and your personal perspective! Another thing I wondered about was how heavy his bag of digging tools might have been. I take 2-3 tools when I go to dig around an old foundation on our property, but they really are quite light-weight.
If Maurice couldn't walk well and needed help getting around, why and how could he have taken his tools and left? Those questions, asked earlier here, are probably the ones that will never get answered

 

[PalmerLakeAnon]

Thanks for that info and your personal perspective! Another thing I wondered about was how heavy his bag of digging tools might have been. I take 2-3 tools when I go to dig around an old foundation on our property, but they really are quite light-weight.
If Maurice couldn't walk well and needed help getting around, why and how could he have taken his tools and left? Those questions, asked earlier here, are probably the ones that will never get answered

If I remember correctly, it was a bag of "garden tools." Even if the skeletal remains are long gone, these tools and his clothes would most certainly remain.

 

[PalmerLakeAnon]

Page 18 and 19 of this pdf are from a newspaper at the time. This was a lucky find; it states that the McSherry and Dametz were about 300 yards from the car, not 50. Also, does not mention that they were split up.

http://files.afu.se/Downloads/Magazines/United States/UFO Newsclipping Service/UFO Newsclipping Service - 1981 06 - no 143.pdf

...Also, page 15 on this pdf:

http://files.afu.se/Downloads/Magaz...O Newsclipping Service - 1981 07 - no 144.pdf

 

[Tripod]

Page 18 and 19 of this pdf are from a newspaper at the time. This was a lucky find; it states that the McSherry and Dametz were about 300 yards from the car, not 50. Also, does not mention that they were split up.

http://files.afu.se/Downloads/Magazines/United States/UFO Newsclipping Service/UFO Newsclipping Service - 1981 06 - no 143.pdf

...Also, page 15 on this pdf:

http://files.afu.se/Downloads/Magazines/United States/UFO Newsclipping Service/UFO Newsclipping Service - 1981 07 - no 144.pdf

How did you manage to find that? I'm impressed I read the first one but couldn't download the second link yet. I'm glad it sounded as if Maurice's family had come to their own terms and found some peace, whether other folks would believe the same or not.
From the one article, it almost seemed as if both men were getting ready to head back home, and that Maurice would not have picked up his bag and headed away from their car. He would most likely have waited for his friend to come back to help him walk back, anyway. Puzzling.

 

[PalmerLakeAnon]

Here is the map of the general area, which is about 100 acres. Probably overkill, kill in this case, who knows where Dametz could be... I searched the area in green on July 22.
According to the newspapers, McSherry and others were interviewed by law enforcement. If there was any suspicion into any of the friends, I would assume those leads would be pursued. That being said, I have not found anything mentioning potential suspects.
One of the newspapers also stated that 5 square miles had been searched, from Tuesday evening through Sunday evening. I wonder how thoroughly 5 square miles can be covered in this amount of time, even with "hundreds" of volunteers.
Also, if Dametz was dead somewhere in the area during the 5-day search, the corpse would not be giving off a stench yet. Having gone to the area myself, there are lots of places to hide. People could easily walk right passed a fresh corpse, all it takes is being on the wrong side of a tree, or not looking down into a ditch. With no other sensory clues besides sight, this is entirely possible.

This case really reminds me of Kevin Rudnicki's disappearance. No clues, only a few, isolated hits with the SAR dogs, and an extensive search over several square miles with about a hundred volunteers with nothing to go off of. However, we eventually found him after months, in an area that was described on some maps as "already searched."

I am a religious man and do believe in the supernatural. However, we must exhaust all other possibilities before concluding Dametz was "taken by God" or "abducted by aliens."

 

[heartgoesout]

Do you think you could get a good group of volunteer searchers?

 

[Tripod]

Here is the map of the general area, which is about 100 acres. Probably overkill, kill in this case, who knows where Dametz could be... I searched the area in green on July 22.
According to the newspapers, McSherry and others were interviewed by law enforcement. If there was any suspicion into any of the friends, I would assume those leads would be pursued. That being said, I have not found anything mentioning potential suspects.
One of the newspapers also stated that 5 square miles had been searched, from Tuesday evening through Sunday evening. I wonder how thoroughly 5 square miles can be covered in this amount of time, even with "hundreds" of volunteers.
Also, if Dametz was dead somewhere in the area during the 5-day search, the corpse would not be giving off a stench yet. Having gone to the area myself, there are lots of places to hide. People could easily walk right passed a fresh corpse, all it takes is being on the wrong side of a tree, or not looking down into a ditch. With no other sensory clues besides sight, this is entirely possible.
I agree it does have similarities to Kevin's disappearance. I'm still amazed and thankful you found him, sad as it was.
I also am a believer Thanks for that map!

This case really reminds me of Kevin Rudnicki's disappearance. No clues, only a few, isolated hits with the SAR dogs, and an extensive search over several square miles with about a hundred volunteers with nothing to go off of. However, we eventually found him after months, in an area that was described on some maps as "already searched."

I am a religious man and do believe in the supernatural. However, we must exhaust all other possibilities before concluding Dametz was "taken by God" or "abducted by aliens."