Gary Hamilton Missing Person Case

Mar 17, 2020

Feb 01, 2022

Gary

Hamilton

79

69

67 inches

68 inches

170 lbs

American Indian / Alaska Native

Male

In the fall of 2015, in the coastal city of Ketchikan, Alaska, 69-year-old Gary Lloyd Hamilton, a member of the American Indian and Alaska Native community, went missing. He was last seen on November 16, 2015. When he disappeared, he was wearing a dark hooded jacket, two shirts, and blue jeans. Gary was a man with distinct features, including scars on his right forearm, right hand, left cheek, and abdomen. Ten days after he was last seen, with no word of his whereabouts, his family officially reported him missing to the Ketchikan Police Department on November 26, 2015. The disappearance of the 69-year-old man marked the beginning of a long and painful period of uncertainty for his family and the community. The investigation into Gary's disappearance was fraught with challenges from the start. The Ketchikan Police Department pursued various leads, including unsubstantiated rumors that he had been seen in Sitka and Anchorage, but none could be verified. Investigators also heard whispers that Hamilton may have been beaten up before he vanished, but without an official report or any witnesses, they could not confirm the assault. His case was one of three active missing person investigations in Ketchikan at the time, a situation that law enforcement described as highly unusual for the city. Despite community concerns about a possible connection between the cases, police stated there was no evidence linking them. The lack of concrete information and the difficulty in establishing a clear timeline of events left investigators with few avenues to pursue. The emotional toll on Gary's family was immense. His sister, Bert Hamilton, spoke at a community prayer vigil held for the missing men, expressing the deep ache of not knowing what happened to her brother. "When you wake up in the morning your heart is aching and when you go to sleep at night your heart is aching, because you don't know where they are," she shared with the crowd of over 100 people gathered. In May 2016, a glimmer of hope for resolution turned into further disappointment for the Hamilton family when human remains were discovered under a building in Ketchikan. However, the body was later identified as that of another missing man, Thomas Booth. To this day, the disappearance of Gary Hamilton remains an open and active case. With no clear leads or evidence of what transpired, his case stands as a somber mystery, leaving his loved ones waiting for answers and a community reminded of the man who vanished without a trace.

Nov 16, 2015

Ketchikan

Alaska

Ketchikan Gateway Borough

No

77462

Ketchikan Police Department

Ketchikan

Alaska

Ketchikan Gateway Borough

99901

Ty Walker

Sgt.

361 Main Street, Alaska

9072256631

Local

Law Enforcement

https://www.ktn-ak.us/police

15-7869

2015-11-26

Ketchikan Police Department

8367

Gray or Partially Gray

Brown

Brown

07/18/2026