On June 29, 1997, 41-year-old Karen Johnston boarded a yellow and white Cessna 182, tail number N3186U, at Merrill Field in Anchorage with her husband Donald and friends Monte and Linda Parrish for a sightseeing flight over Denali National Park. The group did not file an official flight plan, and the aircraft’s last known location was over the park. After that sighting, the plane and all four aboard disappeared with no further communications.

Searchers combed the vast, rugged terrain but found no wreckage or sign of the aircraft or occupants. The Alaska State Troopers keep the case open and the official presumption is that the plane crashed somewhere in the wilderness, but without wreckage the exact circumstances remain undetermined. If anyone saw the Cessna N3186U on or around June 29, 1997, or has information about the flight, please share what is known.