Key facts
- Name: Erin Marie Gilbert
- Born: May 4, 1971, Everett, Washington
- Age at disappearance: 24
- Last seen: July 1, 1995, approximately 6:00 p.m.
- Location: Girdwood Forest Fair beer garden, Girdwood, Alaska
- Height / build: 5’11”, slender; last seen wearing a black leather jacket, a black-and-white shirt, black jeans, and mountain boots
- Status: Still missing — no trace ever found; Alaska State Troopers investigation open
- Case numbers: NamUs MP2938
- Investigating agency: Alaska State Troopers
The first date
She was on a first date, and she never came home.
On July 1, 1995, 24-year-old Erin Marie Gilbert drove south from Anchorage to the Girdwood Forest Fair with a man she’d met a few days earlier at Chilkoot Charlie’s, an Anchorage bar. His name was David Combs. They left Anchorage around 4 p.m. Erin was last seen at the fairground’s beer garden at approximately 6 p.m.
What happened next comes entirely from Combs’ account — and it has never sat right with Erin’s family.
Combs said they walked back to his car and found the battery dead; he’d left the headlights on. He told Erin he was going to a nearby friend’s home to get help. He walked for around two hours, he said, but couldn’t find the friend’s house. When he returned, Erin was gone. He assumed she’d gone back to the fair. He found the car would start after all. He drove back to the fairgrounds and searched for her until about 1 a.m.
The next morning, Combs called Erin’s sister Stephanie to ask whether Erin had made it home. She had not.
That phone call is the last normal thing in this story. Everything after it is search grids and silence.
Who Erin was
Erin Gilbert was born and raised in Everett, Washington. After high school she moved with her father to Baltimore, studied English at community college, then spent time in San Francisco, where she worked for a period as a model. In 1994 she relocated to Alaska, moving in with her older sister Stephanie and Stephanie’s husband at Elmendorf Air Force Base, and took a job as a nanny for a family who were acquaintances of her sister.
She was 5’11”, striking, starting over in a new state. The Girdwood Forest Fair — a beloved, slightly hippie summer institution in the ski village south of Anchorage — must have seemed like a fine place for a first date on a July Saturday.
The search that found nothing
On July 2, Stephanie and her family searched the fairgrounds and the surrounding woods themselves. Then the Alaska State Troopers organized a large search — helicopters, search dogs — joined by Alaska Mountain Rescue and the Nordic Ski Patrol.
They found nothing. Not a jacket. Not a boot print. Not a single trace of a 5’11” woman in a black leather jacket who had last been seen in a crowded fairground beer garden.
In 2017, more than two decades on, Alaska State Troopers lieutenant Randy McPherron put the state of the case bluntly: “We don’t know for sure what happened, if this was foul play or not — we just don’t know. We don’t have any witnesses, we don’t have any human remains, we don’t have a crime scene, we don’t have much of anything, so it’s gonna be very hard, but like I said, somebody knows something.”
At the time, Erin’s family was offering a $35,000 reward. Combs, contacted by reporters, refused to speak to the press.
The case has drawn sustained media attention: the Anchorage Daily News covered it for years, NBC News profiled it in December 2019, the Los Angeles Times included it in a 2005 piece on Alaska’s missing, the podcast Alaska Unsolved devoted a seven-episode series to it in 2019, and The Vanished profiled it in June 2020. In July 2024 — 29 years on — Alaska’s News Source reported the search for answers continues.
Theories: what might have happened
Foul play by the date. This is the theory Erin’s family has never let go of, and the reason is the account itself: a dead battery that later wasn’t dead, a two-hour walk to a friend’s house that couldn’t be found, a young woman left alone at a car in the woods at dusk. Combs is the last person known to have seen Erin alive. What supports suspicion: the inconsistencies in his story and his refusal to speak publicly. What must be said plainly: Combs has never been charged with anything in connection with Erin’s disappearance, and suspicion is not evidence. He is presumed innocent.
She wandered off and succumbed to the wilderness. Girdwood in July is beautiful and unforgiving — dense forest, cold water, terrain that swallows people. If Erin left the car to find her own way back to the fair and got disoriented, the woods could have taken her without leaving a recoverable trace. What undercuts it: the scale of the search — helicopters, dogs, mountain rescue — that found absolutely nothing, in an area that was thoroughly combed within 24 hours.
Abduction by a stranger. The fair drew crowds; the parking areas were dark and spread out. A woman alone at a dead car at dusk was vulnerable. What supports it: the complete absence of any trace, which is more consistent with someone being taken away from the area than with someone lost within it. What undercuts it: no witnesses, no vehicle description, nothing to go on — which is also why the case is still open.
Have information?
Contact the Alaska State Troopers or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST). A $35,000 reward has been offered by Erin’s family for information. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- May 4, 1971 — Erin Marie Gilbert is born in Everett, Washington.
- 1994 — Erin moves to Anchorage, Alaska; lives with her sister’s family at Elmendorf AFB; works as a nanny.
- Late June 1995 — Erin meets David Combs at Chilkoot Charlie’s bar in Anchorage.
- July 1, 1995, ~4:00 p.m. — Erin and Combs drive to the Girdwood Forest Fair.
- July 1, 1995, ~6:00 p.m. — Erin is last seen at the fair’s beer garden.
- July 1, 1995, evening — Per Combs: dead car battery, a two-hour walk for help, Erin gone on his return; he searches the fairgrounds until ~1:00 a.m.
- July 2, 1995 — Family searches; Combs calls to ask if Erin made it home. Alaska State Troopers launch a large-scale search with helicopters and dogs. Nothing is found.
- 2005 — The Los Angeles Times includes Erin’s case in “Alaska, Land of the Lost.”
- 2017 — Lt. Randy McPherron comments publicly; family offers $35,000 reward.
- 2019–2020 — Alaska Unsolved (7 episodes) and The Vanished (episode 227) profile the case; NBC News reports (Dec 2019).
- July 2024 — 29th anniversary coverage; search for answers continues.
- Today — Still missing. No trace has ever been found.
FAQ
Is Erin Marie Gilbert still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Erin Marie Gilbert has been missing for more than 31 years. No trace of her has ever been found.
Was Erin Marie Gilbert ever found?
No. Despite one of the largest searches in the Girdwood area’s history — helicopters, search dogs, mountain rescue teams — nothing belonging to Erin was ever recovered.
What happened on Erin Gilbert’s first date?
Erin went to the Girdwood Forest Fair on July 1, 1995, with David Combs, a man she’d met days earlier. According to Combs, his car battery died, he left Erin at the car to get help, and she was gone when he returned two hours later. Her family has always questioned his account. He has never been charged.
How old would Erin Marie Gilbert be today?
Erin was born May 4, 1971 — she turned 55 in May 2026.
How can I help?
Share this case file. Anyone with information can contact the Alaska State Troopers or NCMEC at 1-800-843-5678. The family’s $35,000 reward remains a matter of public record.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Alaska State Troopers (case listing); NamUs MP2938; The Charley Project, “Erin Marie Gilbert.”
- News: Anchorage Daily News (Tegan Hanlon, Aug 2017; archives via Newspapers.com); NBC News (Andrea Cavallier, Dec 2019); Los Angeles Times, “Alaska, Land of the Lost” (Feb 2005); Alaska’s News Source (July 2024); KTVA/CBS (Daniella Rivera, 2017).
- Reference: Wikipedia, “Disappearance of Erin Marie Gilbert” (retrieved Oct 2026).
- Media: Alaska Unsolved (7-episode series, 2019); The Vanished, episode 227 (June 2020); Unfound (“Erin Gilbert: The Last Place,” 2017; “Revisited,” 2023).
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.