Key facts
- Name: Alfred Edwin Beilhartz
- Born: circa 1934
- Age at disappearance: 3–4
- Last seen: July 2, 1938
- Location: Fall River area, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado — hiking with his parents on a trail along a creek
- Height / build: A small child of 3–4
- Status: Still missing — missing for 88 years; never found
- Case numbers: Not applicable (1938)
- Investigating agency: National Park Service (historical); Denver Police (ransom-hoax investigation, 1938)
The boy who fell behind
The Beilhartz family was on vacation. They’d gone to Estes Park to fish — William Harvey Beilhartz, his wife, and their children, Alfred the youngest-ish among eleven siblings. On July 2, 1938, they took a hike along a trail that ran beside a creek in the Fall River area of Rocky Mountain National Park.
Alfred fell behind. When the family turned around, he was gone.
What followed was one of the great searches of the Depression era. Park rangers, believing the boy might have drowned, dammed the creek and dragged it. Nothing. Then a land search: bloodhounds were brought in, but they stopped after walking only 500 feet. Nothing. After ten days, the search was called off.
On July 4, 1938 — two days after Alfred vanished — The New York Times ran the headline: “BOY, 4, LOST IN ROCKIES; Wanders Away From Family on Week-End Outing.”
Eighty-eight years later, he is still lost.
The sighting on Devils Nest
The strangest thread in the case came from hikers in a different part of the park. They reported seeing a small boy on an elevation called Devils Nest on Mt. Chapin, along Old Fall Road. The boy, they said, sat on the edge of the elevation for several minutes — and was then jerked back by someone off to the side, someone the hikers never identified.
Park officials sent climbers to search the clifftop. They found nothing. But the report was taken seriously enough that the search party swelled to 150 men plus members of the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Some time later, Alfred was supposedly sighted walking along a road with a man in Nebraska. That lead, like the others, dissolved.
Then the artifacts: a bandage found in an abandoned cabin was tested, because Alfred had been wearing a similar one when he vanished. And five months after he disappeared, a ransom note arrived demanding $500 (about $11,400 in today’s money). Denver police investigated and determined it was a hoax — a cruelty inflicted on grieving parents, and a reminder that even in 1938, a missing child attracted predators of a different kind.
Alfred’s father never accepted the wilderness explanation. He believed his son had been abducted — and was still alive. A year after the disappearance, the Amarillo Globe-Times ran the headline: “Some Day Alfred Will Come Back.”
He never did.
Theories: what might have happened
Drowning. The rangers’ first theory, and the reason they dammed the creek. A 4-year-old beside fast mountain water. What undercuts it: they dragged the creek and found nothing — and a child’s body in a dammed, dragged creek is hard to miss entirely.
Exposure in the wilderness. A small child, lost, in the Rockies. What troubles it: the scale of the search — 150 men, the CCC, bloodhounds, ten days — that found not a shoe, not a scrap. The mountains are vast, but a search that big usually finds something.
Abduction. The father’s belief, and the theory the Devils Nest sighting feeds: a boy seen on a clifftop, jerked back by an unseen someone; a boy seen walking a Nebraska road with a man. What supports it: the total absence of physical trace, which is more consistent with removal than with death in place. What undercuts it: the sightings were never confirmed, and the ransom note was a hoax.
Have information?
This is a historical case. Anyone with family records or local history relating to the Beilhartz family can contact Rocky Mountain National Park or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- Circa 1934 — Alfred Edwin Beilhartz is born.
- July 2, 1938 — The Beilhartz family hikes along Fall River in Rocky Mountain National Park; 3–4-year-old Alfred falls behind and vanishes.
- July 2–12, 1938 — Rangers dam and drag the creek; bloodhounds search; 150 men and the CCC comb the park, including Devils Nest on Mt. Chapin after hikers report seeing a boy jerked back by an unseen person. Nothing is found. The search is called off after ten days.
- July 4, 1938 — The New York Times: “BOY, 4, LOST IN ROCKIES.”
- July 1938 — Reported sighting of a boy with a man on a Nebraska road.
- November–December 1938 — A $500 ransom note arrives five months after the disappearance; Denver police determine it is a hoax.
- July 1939 — Amarillo Globe-Times: “Some Day Alfred Will Come Back” — the father’s belief that Alfred was abducted and alive.
- 1939–2026 — The case endures as one of America’s oldest national-park disappearances (HowStuffWorks, Reddit’s UnresolvedMysteries).
- Today — Still missing, 88 years on.
FAQ
Is Alfred Beilhartz still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Alfred Beilhartz has been missing for 88 years. He was never found.
Was Alfred Beilhartz ever found?
No. Despite a ten-day search involving 150 men, the Civilian Conservation Corps, bloodhounds, and a dammed creek, no trace of Alfred was ever located.
What was the Devils Nest sighting?
Hikers reported seeing a small boy sitting on the edge of Devils Nest on Mt. Chapin; the boy was then jerked back by an unseen person. Climbers searched the clifftop and found nothing, and the identity of the other person was never established.
Was there a ransom note in the Beilhartz case?
Yes — a $500 ransom note arrived five months after Alfred disappeared. Denver police investigated and determined it was a hoax.
How old would Alfred Beilhartz be today?
Alfred was born around 1934 — he would be about 92 years old.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: National Park Service (historical); Denver Police Department (1938 ransom-hoax investigation).
- News: The New York Times, “BOY, 4, LOST IN ROCKIES; Wanders Away From Family on Week-End Outing” (July 4, 1938); The Press Democrat / The Times Recorder (creek damming, July 1938); The Waco News-Tribune (bloodhounds, July 1938); Greeley Daily Tribune (Devils Nest search, July 1938); The San Bernardino County Sun (Nebraska sighting; ransom hoax, 1938); Amarillo Globe-Times (“Some Day Alfred Will Come Back,” July 1939); Corpus Christi Caller-Times (ransom note, Nov 1938).
- Reference: Wikipedia, “Disappearance of Alfred Beilhartz” (retrieved Oct 2026); The Charley Project, “Alfred Beilhartz.”
- Media: HowStuffWorks, “10 Mysterious Disappearances in National Parks” (2015).
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.