The strange disappearance of Stefan Bissert from Olympic National Park
Stefan Bissert disappeared January 20, 1992, Sol Duc Hot springs, Olympic National Park, Washington State.
Revised July 2024
Stefan Bissert, 23, lived in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany. He was an exchange student at Oregon State University and a Fulbright scholar. On January 20th, 1992, he and another German student were hiking in the Sol Duc area on the west side of Olympic National Park. They had planned to hike to Deer Lake, located four miles southwest of Sol Duc Hot Springs.
Stefan and his hiking partner separated for some reason, and Bissert tried to hike 23 miles to the Hoh River trailhead. When he failed to arrive, his friend reported him missing on January 21st.
He was not dressed or equipped to camp overnight in the snow, wearing only jeans, a shirt and a windbreaker. He carried a day pack with only a few pieces of fruit for food and had no hat, gloves or equipment for overnight camping. That route would have taken Stefan into the heart of the Olympic high country and into a winter storm that had hit the area all week.
The search included park rangers, mountain rescue teams with dogs, and helicopters. Volunteer searchers, including Kitsap-based Olympic Mountain Rescue members, were deployed.
After five days of intensive searching, they failed to find any clues about the missing hiker, and the search was called off. Search and rescue teams had contended with rain, sleet, hail, snow, cold and extreme avalanche danger.
No sign of Stefan was ever located.
Exclusive articles for members of StrangeOutdoors that are not available elsewhere on the site.
See the latest Exclusive members-only articles on StrangeOutdoors.com
Read other strange stories from Washington
The strange disappearance of Samantha Sayers from Vesper Peak
The strange disappearance of Chet Hanson from Mount Rainier
The strange disappearance and death of James Griffin in Olympic National Park
The strange disappearance of John Devine from Olympic National Park
The bizarre disappearance of Bryan Lee Johnston from the Olympic National Park
The weird disappearance of Richard R Lee from Colchuck Lake
The Strange Disappearance of Eric Lewis on Mount Rainier
The strange disappearance and death of Karen Sykes on Mount Rainier
The disturbing disappearance of Bryce Herda from the Olympic National Park
The mysterious disappearance of Joe Wood from Mount Rainier (Member only)
The amazing survival story of Gia Fuda - found alive after 9 days in the wilderness
The puzzling disappearance of Shirley Baumann near Lake Blethen
The strange death of the cyclist Jacob Gray in the Olympic National Park
Kris Fowler (The disturbing Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) disappearances)
Gavin Johnston - An overview of the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) Deaths
Lake Quinault's mysterious tree fall
The baffling disappearance of the anthropologist Sam Dubal on Mt. Rainier
The bizarre disappearance of Maureen Leianuhea Kelly in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest
The strange disappearance of the landscape painter Alexander Pisch
The Hidden Lake Trail disappearances (Member only)
Sources
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19920127&slug=1472363
http://web.kitsapsun.com/archive/1992/01-27/243473_hunt_for_olympic_hiker_halted.html
