In the spring of 1982, Douglas 'Doug' Edward Meer, a 25-year-old student at the University of Colorado-Boulder and an employee at a local King Soopers, made a decision that would leave his family with unanswered questions for decades. On March 26, 1982, he departed from his home in Boulder, Colorado, for what seemed to be a spontaneous vacation. He traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada, arriving the following day. The last known communication from Douglas was a phone call to his mother on March 29, 1982. In that call, he stated that he had run out of money and was making his way back to Boulder. However, Douglas never returned home, and this final phone call marked the beginning of a long and painful mystery for his loved ones.
The timeline of events following his last contact with his mother is pieced together from a few key discoveries. A subsequent call was made to his family sometime after Easter in April 1983, where he mentioned he was en route to Los Angeles, California, and requested that money be wired to him in Baja California, Mexico. His family complied, sending the funds via Western Union, but they never heard from him again. A significant break in the case came in June 1983, when Douglas's late-model Datsun truck was found in an impound lot in Ensenada, Mexico, located about fifty miles from the California border. Inside the vehicle were all of his personal belongings, including a full bottle of his prescribed medication. Adding to the distress, dog food was found in the truck, indicating that his dog, Pepper, had been with him, but both Douglas and his canine companion were gone.
The circumstances surrounding Douglas Meer's disappearance remain unclear. At the time he went missing, he was described as a white male with brown hair and brown eyes, standing between 5'8' and 6'0' and weighing between 200 and 225 pounds. He had distinctive features, including severe acne on his back and face and a ten-inch-long abdominal scar. It is known that he was taking the psychotropic medication Lithium at the time of his disappearance. Seven years after he was last heard from, Douglas Meer was declared legally dead, though his remains have never been located. The discovery of his truck in Mexico with his possessions intact raises more questions than answers. The case continues to be an open investigation with the Boulder Police Department, a haunting reminder of a young man who vanished without a trace.
Last Seen: Mar 29, 1982
