Joe Christopher Lee, who went by Joe, was 44 years old when he was last seen in Williston, Williams County, North Dakota, on June 1, 2013. Online missing-person sources identify him as a White/Caucasian male with black hair and hazel eyes, standing between about 5 feet 9 inches and 6 feet tall and weighing roughly 210 to 215 pounds. He has been described as having tattoos on his back and left shoulder, with some sources also noting tattoos on both arms.
Joe was reportedly from Arizona, but he was in Williston at the time he disappeared.
According to public case information, Joe borrowed a vehicle from a friend or acquaintance in Williston on June 1, 2013. He was expected to return the vehicle either that evening or by the following day, but he did not come back, and there was no further confirmed contact with him. The friend reported both Joe and the truck missing on June 2, 2013. The circumstances were immediately concerning because Joe’s disappearance was tied to an unreturned borrowed vehicle and a sudden lack of communication.
The borrowed truck was later found abandoned on private farmland near the Epping/Springbrook Dam area, east or south of the dam depending on the source description. Joe was not found with the vehicle. About 200 yards away, near a creek, searchers located his boots and socks. That discovery deepened concern for his safety, as it suggested he may have left the vehicle on foot under unclear circumstances, but it did not explain where he went or what happened after he was last in that area.
Search efforts focused on the creek and surrounding area. Public summaries state that the creek was searched by a rescue dive team, a sonar robot, and cadaver dogs, but no additional sign of Joe was found. Despite the discovery of the truck and footwear, the searches did not produce answers, and available online sources do not establish whether Joe entered the water, walked away, encountered someone, or suffered some other emergency. His disappearance remains described as unclear and unresolved in public missing-person summaries.
In March 2023, the Williams County Sheriff’s Office publicly renewed attention to Joe’s case, stating that detectives remained hopeful that advances in technology and wider information sharing could help uncover new information useful in locating him. The sheriff’s office identified him as José Christopher Lee, known as Joe, and said he had initially been reported missing on June 2, 2013, after borrowing a vehicle in Williston on June 1. That renewed appeal shows that investigators continued to seek answers nearly a decade after he vanished.
Joe’s case is listed in NamUs as Missing Person case MP21351, with the Williams County Sheriff’s Office identified as the investigating agency. The public case data provided does not list a case resolution status of Alive or Deceased, and the available online sources reviewed do not indicate that he has been found. Anyone with information has been directed to contact the Williams County Sheriff’s Office at 701-577-7700, with public sources also associating the case with agency case number 131-625.Last Seen: Jun 1, 2013
