On a day in early June of 1998, 37-year-old Lawrence Mark Gray, a male of American Indian/Alaska Native descent, embarked on what should have been a routine boat trip from Hoonah, Alaska. He was not alone; accompanying him were his friends, Andrew Jackson and Larry Sanders. The three men, all familiar with the Alaskan waters, set out in an open skiff with a plan to travel to Glacier Bay and were expected to arrive in Juneau a couple of days later.
Gray was reportedly wearing a white and blue pullover long-sleeve shirt, dark blue jeans, and brown rubber boots, and was carrying a dark-colored backpack. He was a man with distinct facial scars and pockmarks, features that would later be used in efforts to identify him.
As the designated day of their return came and went with no sign of the men or their vessel, concern mounted among family and friends. A relative officially reported them missing, prompting the Coast Guard to initiate a search of the vast and often treacherous waters between Hoonah and Juneau. For days, search crews scoured the coastline and the open sea, but their efforts yielded no trace of the missing boaters or their skiff. The hope that they might have taken refuge on one of the numerous islands in the area and were simply unaware of the search began to fade with each passing day. The official search for the three men was eventually suspended, leaving their loved ones in a painful state of uncertainty.
A grim discovery more than three weeks after they were last seen brought a tragic partial resolution to the search. The body of Larry Sanders was located, confirming the gravest fears of at least one of the families. However, the fate of Lawrence Mark Gray and Andrew Jackson remained unknown. The open skiff they were traveling in was never found, leaving investigators with few clues as to what exactly transpired on their journey to Glacier Bay. The case of Lawrence Mark Gray is a somber reminder of the perils of the sea and the enduring pain of those left behind with unanswered questions. With no further evidence or sightings, the disappearance of Gray and Jackson remains an open and unresolved case, a story of a journey that began with friends setting out on an Alaskan adventure and ended in tragedy and mystery.Last Seen: Jun 5, 1998
