Key facts
- Name: Wojciech Fudali (“Wojtek,” “Tek”)
- Born: Poland; grew up in Wilbraham, Massachusetts
- Age at disappearance: 22
- Last seen: December 6, 2008
- Location: East Shore Road / Galilee Bird Sanctuary, Narragansett, Rhode Island
- Height / build: 5’11”, 200 lbs, brown hair, blue eyes; gap between upper front teeth; black-eagle tattoo (yellow/green background) under left ribcage
- Status: Still missing — Narragansett Police open case; foul play ruled out by authorities
- Case numbers: Narragansett PD 08-19200F; NamUs MP5446
- Investigating agency: Narragansett Police Department — (401) 789-1091
“Trust me”
Sometime after 5 a.m. on December 6, 2008, the guests at a party house on East Shore Road in Narragansett woke to an impossible sight: their friend Wojciech Fudali, 22, standing naked in the room, striking himself with a metal pole pulled from a bedframe, saying two words over and over. “Trust me.”
Nobody called the police. Nobody called an ambulance. They calmed him as best they could, and eventually everyone went back to sleep.
When they woke that afternoon, Wojtek was gone. The clothes he’d worn the night before were neatly folded on the floor. His sneakers, car keys, cell phone, Massachusetts driver’s license, debit card, and $86 in cash — all left behind. His friends figured he’d gone for a walk.
He had. Neighbors saw him at 8:30 that morning, sitting on a dock, naked or nearly so. Two hours later, a friend spotted him running — still nude — near Galilee Escape Road, on the grounds of the 128-acre Galilee Bird Sanctuary. It was about 30 degrees outside. Nobody has seen or heard from him since.
Who Wojtek was
Wojciech Fudali was born in Poland and raised in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. Earlier in 2008 he’d graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a bachelor’s degree in international business and decided to stay in Rhode Island, living with friends in Newport. By every account he was bright and capable — which is why the change in him, in the weeks before he vanished, alarmed the people around him.
He’d become deeply religious and fixated on nature, spending hours reading the Bible. He started under-dressing for the cold — walking outside barefoot, in December, in New England. He talked about trying a simpler life, even mentioned a bread-and-water diet. He’d been prescribed anti-anxiety medication and had stopped taking it. About a week before he disappeared, Newport police were called after he was spotted walking the Cliff Walk in pajamas, no shoes, a Bible in his hand. The responding officers decided he seemed fine and sent him on his way. His mother spoke to him three days before he vanished and noticed nothing wrong.
The investigation
Searches swept the Galilee Bird Sanctuary and the surrounding shoreline. In 30-degree weather, naked, a young man’s survival window was measured in hours — and yet no body was ever found. Not in the sanctuary’s 128 acres, not on the beaches, not in the water.
Authorities have ruled out foul play. What remains is a case defined by its strangeness: the folded clothes, the two words, the friends who went back to sleep, the officers who let a shoeless young man with a Bible keep walking the Cliff Walk a week before the end. Every decision point in the story is one where a different choice might have changed everything — and that’s what makes it linger.
His family has offered a reward and kept the case alive for 18 years. The file stays open with the Narragansett Police Department.
Theories: what might have happened
Hypothermia / exposure. The leading explanation and the grimmest math: naked, 30 degrees, hours unaccounted for. What undercuts it: extensive searches of the sanctuary and shoreline never recovered a body.
Mental-health crisis with an unknown ending. The stopped medication, the religious fixation, the “trust me” episode — all consistent with a break from reality. He may have wandered farther than search grids covered, or entered the water. This is less a competing theory than the frame around the exposure theory.
Foul play. Authorities have ruled this out, and nothing in the evidence supports it — the sightings trace a lone young man moving on foot, observed by multiple independent witnesses.
Have information?
Contact the Narragansett Police Department: (401) 789-1091 (Det. Sean Corrigan; case #08-19200F). In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- 1986 — Wojciech Fudali is born in Poland; family later settles in Wilbraham, MA.
- 2008 — Graduates from the University of Rhode Island (international business); stays in Rhode Island.
- Late November 2008 — Friends notice erratic behavior; Newport police encounter him shoeless on the Cliff Walk with a Bible.
- December 5, 2008 (evening) — Attends a party at a friend’s home, 70 block of East Shore Road, Narragansett; stays overnight.
- December 6, 2008, ~5 a.m. — Found naked, hitting himself with a bedframe pole, saying “trust me.” Friends go back to sleep.
- December 6, 2008, afternoon — Friends wake; Wojtek is gone; belongings folded and abandoned.
- December 6, 2008, 8:30 a.m. — Seen sitting on a dock, naked or nearly so.
- December 6, 2008, ~10:30 a.m. — Seen running naked near Galilee Escape Road / Galilee Bird Sanctuary. Last sighting.
- December 2008 — Searches of the sanctuary and shoreline find nothing.
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is Wojciech Fudali still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Wojciech Fudali has been missing for nearly 18 years. No trace of him has ever been found.
Was Wojciech Fudali ever found?
No. Despite extensive searches of the Galilee Bird Sanctuary and surrounding areas, neither Wojtek nor his remains have ever been located.
Why was Wojciech Fudali naked?
In the weeks before he vanished, friends said he’d stopped taking prescribed anti-anxiety medication and was behaving erratically — reading the Bible constantly, under-dressing for cold weather, talking about a simpler life. The “trust me” episode at 5 a.m. suggests a mental-health crisis.
Why didn’t his friends call for help?
They tried to calm him and eventually went back to sleep — a decision that has haunted the case. Nothing suggests they acted with malice; they appear not to have grasped the danger.
How old would Wojciech Fudali be today?
Born in 1986, he would be 40 in 2026.
How can I help?
Share this case file. Anyone with information should contact the Narragansett Police Department at (401) 789-1091.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Narragansett Police Department, case #08-19200F; NamUs MP5446.
- News: Crimesolverscentral.com, “Wojciech Fudali Missing Person Case” (updated 2026).
- Reference: The Charley Project, “Wojciech Fudali” (retrieved Oct 2026); International Missing Persons Wiki.
- Media: Midday Missing, S2E3 (Doreen Marfeo & Wojciech Fudali); True Case Files (2022).
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.