Patrick Francis Carnes

Carnes, circa 2011; Carnes's dog, Lucky

  • Missing Since 04/13/2011
  • Missing From Wells, Nevada
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Male
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 01/30/1925 (99)
  • Age 86 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'11 - 6'0, 180 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A tan jacket, a blue plaid shirt, tan or beige pants, tan canvas shoes and a Toledo Mud Hens baseball cap.
  • Associated Vehicle(s) Green Subaru Forester with the Nevada license plate number 719 SDN (accounted for)
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Gray hair, blue eyes. Carnes may be unshaven. He wears eyeglasses. His nickname is Pat.

Details of Disappearance

Carnes was last seen in Wells, Nevada on April 13, 2011. He was driving a green Subaru Forester with the Nevada license plate number 719 SDN when the Nevada Highway Patrol stopped him for a traffic violation at 9:00 p.m. He had been visiting relatives in Toledo, Ohio and was on his way back home to Reno, Nevada.

When Carnes spoke to the patrolman, he indicated he was following a truck driver and the trucker was going to Elko, Nevada. He has never been heard from again and the truck driver he was supposedly following has never been identified.

Just before 6:00 a.m. the next day, Carnes's vehicle was found abandoned in a rural area at the 205 Pumpernickel Valley exit ramp off Interstate 80 near Winnemucca, Nevada. There was no sign of him at the scene and his cherished pet dog, an eight-year-old male named Lucky, is also missing.

Lucky is a brown Akita/mixed breed was slightly overweight at the time; he weighed about 80 to 100 pounds. A photo of the dog is posted with this case summary. Carnes rarely went anywhere without him.

Carnes's truck had gas in it and was in operable condition when it was found, but it was high-centered and stuck in some sagebrush, and facing the wrong direction. All of Carnes's personal belongings, including his checkbook, were inside the vehicle. There were no indications of a struggle, and only a single set of footprints leading away from the scene.

Curiously, the place where the truck was found is the same exit where Judith Casida's car was located after she disappeared in 2006. Authorities have no evidence that the two cases are connected, however.

Carnes is a World War II veteran who served in the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. He is also a former truck driver. He is close to his family and was in excellent health for his age at the time of his disappearance.

Although there is no hard evidence of foul play in his case, his family and the police believe he came to harm. His disappearance remains unsolved.

Investigating Agency

  • Humboldt County Sheriff's Office 775-623-6419

Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004. Last updated May 23, 2012; casefile added.