Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave National Park boasts the longest known cave system, stretching 400 miles (644 km) discovered and another 600 miles (966 km) unexplored. In 1839, Dr. Croghan of Louisville, Kentucky, Mammoth Cave for $10,000. With minimal treatment methods that existed for tuberculosis in the 19th century, Croghan purchased Mammoth Cave as a sanatorium, but it proved ineffective.
Located in Edmonson, Hart and Barren Counties with the Green River flowing through the land, Mammoth Cave was first established as a national park in 1941. Since the 1800s, many people have been lost in Mammoth Cave or have gone missing from the park. While some people were later found alive, others were sadly discovered to have died. Another group of people got lost in Mammoth Cave or the surrounding area and were never heard from again. This article examines 10 of the most unusual cases of missing persons in Mammoth Cave National Park.
Related: 10 unexplained mysteries of the national parks
10 Orla Alyne J. Barrick
Orla Alyne J. Barrick was last seen on Laurel Ridge Road in Mammoth Cave on April 12, 1996, when a neighbor spoke to Barrick around 2:00 PM. Barrick lived only close to the Nolin River. After breaking into Barrick’s cabin, police found the lights were out, the carpet was bloodstained, and the couch was out of place. In addition, Barrick’s dentures were found soaked and a burnt cigarette was found on a shelf. Barrick’s dog was found, still locked in a crate.
Barrick’s family takes the dentures as a sign that Alyne was not expecting any more visitors that evening. The only thing missing from Barrick’s apartment was a fitted sheet and her purse. The $400 Barrick kept in a freezer was left behind, suggesting that Barrick’s disappearance was not the result of a robbery. In addition, the amount of blood at the crime scene was not enough to indicate death. There were also no signs of a break-in. However, foul play has long been suspected in Barrick’s case.
On February 7, 1997, a fisherman from Mammoth Cave retrieved clumps of human hair from Barrick in the Green River. Searches of the area found neither Barrick nor additional evidence. Since then, no additional evidence of Barrick has been discovered.[1]
9 Michael Leland Vincent
When he disappeared on May 5, 2011 in Brownsville, Kentucky, Michael Leland Vincent was on parole. He went missing from a burning house he shared with his mother and aunt. Earlier in 2005, Vincent was convicted of assault, unlawful imprisonment and arson.
Some people have wondered if the desire to escape the further fallout of these accusations led to Vincent setting fire to his residence and faking his disappearance, or if something else happened to him. What suggests something else happened to Vincent is that six fires occurred on Oak Grove Church Road between 2002 and 2018. Wildfires caused by natural factors such as lightning strikes and man-made fires are common in national parks such as Mammoth Cave.
Brownsville is in Edmonson County and Vincent lived about 1.5 miles from Mammoth Cave. Vincent was last seen at his residence on Oak Grove Church Road, standing in the driveway of the house. A white man with brown hair and brown eyes, Vincent was last seen shirtless. He can be distinguished by dragon, grim reaper and flag tattoos.[2]
8 Ronald Edward Baudouin
On a weekend in June 2004, Ronald Baldwin and his 12-year-old neighbor were riding four wheels on Baldwin’s 300 acres on Buckner Hill North Road, located in the Bonnieville section of Hart County, Kentucky. This area is less than a 20 minute drive from Mammoth Cave.
At one point, the 12-year-old returned to refuel his ATV, but when he returned to Ronald, he couldn’t find the 54-year-old man. The boy is described as ‘mentally disabled’. Still, it remains uncertain how well the child would be able to communicate with others if he saw something happen to Ronald, who was an experienced outdoorsman.
After Ronald did not return the next day, his girlfriend reported Ronald missing. Ronald’s girlfriend stated that it was not uncommon for him to be away for hours on a four-wheeler. A search party soon discovered Ronald’s abandoned ATV, along with Ronald’s glasses, shoes, and an unfinished whiskey bottle.
No traces of Ronald were ever found. Police do not believe foul play was involved. Unfortunately, Baldwin’s mother passed away in 2015 without ever finding out what happened to her son. Still missing in 2023, Baldwin has tattoos of a naked woman, a flag and a sword.[3]
7 Tony Ray Choate
Tony Choate, who was 25 at the time, went for a four-wheeler ride around noon in September 1993 in Bonnieville. Choate wore cut jeans and his wedding ring. Choate left his father-in-law’s house on his four-wheeler and had to wait for the local bus to drop off his child before starting his ride. Choate never returned and was never heard from again.
Choate routinely left his home and traveled great distances, including field trips to Florida and California, making his disappearance that afternoon seem routine on the surface. Although Choate was believed to have simply gone missing, years after Choate’s disappearance, law enforcement officials gathered evidence that led them to suspect foul play.
Law enforcement excavated concrete, searched nearby Mammoth Park caves, and never found Choate, alive or dead. Choate’s family remembers him as a young man who had the potential to be a sincere person.[4]
6 Josephine Poteet
In the late 19th century, Josephine Poteet was born on her family’s farm in an area that later became Houchin’s Ferry Road. Today, most of Houchin’s Ferry Road lies within Mammoth Cave National Park and is managed by the National Park Service. Josephine, the third child in a large family, grew up along the Green River.
After Josephine’s father died, the Poteet family faced financial difficulties. Josephine also gave birth to three children while unmarried, which resulted in Josephine being ostracized from the community.
In 1914, Josephine left Edmonson County. How Josephine traveled is not known, but she probably took the surname of the man she traveled with. The man later returned to Edmonson County without Josephine. When asked what had become of her, the man said he had last seen Josephine on the banks of the Missouri River.
Josephine’s family was unsure what had happened to her for some time, until a search of Missouri marriage records revealed that after leaving the area, Josephine married a man in Missouri and took the new name Thena Williams.[5]
5 1973 Barren County Jane Doe
While the Watergate hearings were underway, on November 2, 1973, the decomposed body of a deceased Jane Doe was found by a truck driver along Interstate 65 about a mile north of Park City. This location is only a few miles away from Mammoth Cave, suggesting that the Jane Doe may have passed through the area before being discovered. Forensic experts later determined that Jane Doe’s body had lain at the site for three to 10 weeks prior to its discovery.
The Jane Doe was also determined to have been killed by a single shotgun blast to her chest. More puzzling than who or what led to this murder is why there were keys next to the body. Two of the keys are strangely engraved with “114”.
The Jane Doe had red-brown hair and was somewhere between 20 and 50 years old. This is notable because the Barren County Jane Doe matches the identified victims in the “Redhead Murders,” a series of murders that stretched from the 1970s to the 1990s. The “Redhead Murders” are said to have taken place in several states, including Kentucky. The unknown killer targeted white women with red-brown hair.[6]
4 Walter Greg Fowler
Maintenance worker Walter Fowler was reported missing in June 1999 by his wife, Debra. After helping Walter load his small aluminum “Jon” boat into his van, Debra claimed she never saw Walter again. Later, Debra claimed to have seen Walter’s empty boat drifting down the Barren River while looking for him. Law enforcement believe Walter’s disappearance was the result of foul play.
Some details in Fowler’s case suggest that multiple people were involved in the disappearance, including Fowler’s weight of over 200 pounds (91 kg). For example, Walter’s vehicle and trailer were found abandoned on Osborne Ford Road, which is close to Barren River. Fowler’s boat was found about 2.5 miles downstream. Police have even received claims that Walter is hiding in Mammoth Cave.
What further suggests that Walter’s disappearance was the result of foul play is the fact that Walter and Debra were in debt at the time of his disappearance, and Debra was the beneficiary of Walter’s life insurance policy. However, Debra claims to have first heard about the policy in 2015. As of April 2023, no charges have been filed and Walter’s case remains unsolved.[7]
3 “Lost John”
Many mummies of the remains of intentionally buried natives have been discovered in Mammoth Cave. An exception to these deliberate burials is the discovery of the mummy, “Lost John”, in 1935. Lost John was crushed by a falling boulder and his face is trapped in an eerie frozen scream, which he probably released shortly before. the boulder fell on him.
Alonzo W. Pond, a former National Park Service archaeologist, discovered Lost John in the 1930s. Pond concluded that the man was probably an Indian who was using a rock-cutting tool in the cave when he lost his life. Pond was also the one who retrieved “Lost John” from Mammoth Cave.
To lift the boulder from John’s body, archaeologists built a wooden tower, tied straps to the boulder, and lifted the boulder. John’s body was found under the boulder, face down in the sand. Who John was or what Indian tribe he belonged to remains uncertain.[8]
2 1998 Green River drowning victim
On May 30, 1998, two people in a group of four took a boat on the Green River in Mammoth Cave National Park. Both men fell into the Green River after their boat capsized. One man made it safely to shore, while the other disappeared. The next morning, park rangers began a search involving dive teams and dogs.
The following week, park rangers found the missing man’s body along with accompanying personal items. The driver of the boat was determined to be intoxicated at the time of the accident. Still, it remains uncertain what exactly happened to the man who fell overboard and drowned.[9]
1 1984 Barren County Jane Doe
In 1984, a deceased elderly woman was found in the Barren River Reservoir in Glasgow, Kentucky. Two fishermen discovered the woman’s body off Narrows Boatramp Road, about 12 miles from Glasgow.
An autopsy revealed that the woman died of asphyxiation after being gagged. After being dumped into the reservoir, the woman’s body is said to have been in the water for two to three months. The body showed signs of natural childbirth and the woman was wearing a Harvey Benard shirt and ankle-high stockings. No killer has ever been identified.[10]