In the early morning hours of January 10, 2003, in the remote and rugged landscape of Unalaska, Alaska, a 25-year-old man named Hieu Phuong Tran vanished. Of Vietnamese descent, Tran was described as having black hair and brown eyes, standing at 5 feet 5 inches tall, and weighing around 160 pounds. On the night he disappeared, he was reportedly wearing a black windbreaker over a gray hooded sweatshirt, along with black Adidas wind pants that had a white stripe.
His life and work were intertwined with the sea, a common reality for many in the Aleutian Islands.
The last known sighting of Tran placed him at the spit dock in Dutch Harbor between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. He was driving a rented 1993 Ford truck and was seen dropping off two fishermen. At the time, Tran was employed on the F/V Retriever, a fishing vessel that was docked near Alyeska Seafoods. The hours ticked by with no word from him, and concern began to mount. The rented truck he had been driving would not be discovered for two more days.
On January 12, 2003, the Ford truck was found abandoned. It was parked near the small boat launch by Alyeska Seafoods, in the same area where his fishing vessel was docked. Since the moment he was last seen at the Dutch Harbor dock, Hieu Phuong Tran has never been heard from or seen again. The case has left his family and community with unanswered questions for years. The investigation into his disappearance, handled by the Unalaska Department of Public Safety, has been hampered by a lack of available details. His sudden disappearance after a routine act of dropping off colleagues, followed by the discovery of his abandoned rental vehicle, creates a troubling overview of a young man who seemingly vanished without a trace from the windswept shores of Unalaska.Last Seen: Jan 10, 2003
