Bessie Louise Haley Hyde Missing Person Case

Jan 24, 2026

Jan 24, 2026

Bessie

Louise Haley Hyde

119

22

5'0 inches

90 lbs

White

Female

In the autumn of 1928, a young woman named Bessie Louise Haley Hyde, aged 22, embarked on a daring honeymoon adventure with her husband, Glen. Their plan was to navigate the treacherous rapids of the Colorado River through the vastness of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, a feat that would have made Bessie the first woman known to successfully complete the journey. Glen, an experienced Idaho farmer and outdoorsman, built their vessel, a twenty-foot wooden sweep scow. Bessie, a recently divorced art student, was a relative novice to the challenges of river running. The couple began their trip down the Green and Colorado Rivers in October 1928. They were last officially seen on Sunday, November 18, 1928, after a brief stop to resupply. During this stop, they hiked out of the canyon and encountered photographer Emery Kolb at his studio on the South Rim, who captured their images before they descended once more to the river and boated away below Hermit Rapid. When the Hydes failed to arrive at their destination in Needles, California by early December, Glen's father grew concerned and initiated a search. In mid-December, a search plane spotted their scow, mysteriously adrift and upright near river mile 237. On December 25, searchers, including Emery Kolb, reached the boat. They found it eerily intact, with all of the couple’s supplies still on board, including their coats, hiking boots, food, and Glen's gun. Bessie's diary was also recovered, carefully packed away. Her last entries documented their journey and the rapids they had passed, with the final entry dated around November 30, giving no indication of any trouble. The boat, their belongings, and the photographs developed from their camera were the last tangible traces of the couple. The fate of Bessie and Glen Hyde remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of the Grand Canyon. With no remains ever found, speculation has flourished for decades. The most widely accepted theory is that the couple encountered trouble in a particularly difficult stretch of water, possibly the heavy rapids near river mile 232, and were thrown from their boat into the powerful, cold river without life jackets, which they had declined to bring. Over the years, more sensational theories have emerged, fueled by the romantic and tragic nature of their story. These include rumors of a violent argument leading to a murder and subsequent disappearance. A woman on a rafting trip in 1971 even claimed to be Bessie, stating she had killed her abusive husband, though she later recanted her story and was proven to be someone else. Other leads, like the discovery of a male skeleton on Emery Kolb's property years later, and speculation that famed river runner Georgie Clark was actually Bessie, have been investigated and ultimately dismissed. The case is an enduring enigma, a haunting narrative of adventure and love cut short, leaving only an empty, fully supplied boat as a silent witness in the vast wilderness of the canyon.

Nov 15, 1928

Arizona

Arizona

Arizona

None

09/02/2026