Director Gilbert Mark Gilman Still Missing in Olympic National Park
Gilbert Mark Gilman, age 47, vanished from the Staircase area of Olympic National Park on June 24th, 2006. Gilman parked his silver 2005 Ford Thunderbird at the ranger station and set out for what he described as a short hike.
He carried only a camera. No backpack. No water. No gear.
He was dressed in a bright blue and green Hawaiian shirt, khaki pants, sandals, and prescription sunglasses—clothing suited for a casual stroll, not a wilderness hike.
A coworker reported him missing the next day when he failed to appear for a meeting. Rangers then noticed his vehicle still sitting in the lot. That’s when the search began.
Who Was Gilbert Mark Gilman?
Gilman had a long, distinguished, and unusually varied career.
Before becoming Director of the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems in April 2005, he had been:
- a Democratic operative in Evanston
- a military intelligence specialist
- fluent in four languages
- a United Nations contractor in China during the Gulf War
- part of a special military program in Iraq searching for weapons of mass destruction
He reportedly left Iraq after his operations center was targeted by a suicide bomber.
Gilman was intelligent, worldly, disciplined, and accustomed to high‑pressure environments. His disappearance is completely out of character.
Searches for Gilbert
The official search began at noon on June 27th, meaning Gilman had already been missing for three days. That’s a long time to survive cold nights in sandals and a Hawaiian shirt.
Search efforts included:
- park rangers
- dog teams
- helicopters
- firefighters from Lake Cushman Fire Department
- two additional canine teams from Grays Harbor
The search area covered roughly 2.5 miles, including rangers spending the night at Wagon Wheel Lake.
Despite the scale of the operation, not a single clue was found.
No clothing. No camera. No sunglasses. No tracks. No scent trail. Nothing.
The camera he carried—large, durable, and easily spotted—has never been recovered.
Vanished.us Says
Gilman’s disappearance is one of the most baffling in Olympic National Park.
A high‑ranking state official. A short walk. A busy trailhead. A camera in hand. And then he’s gone.
The Staircase area is rugged, but not the kind of terrain where a person simply evaporates. Even a fall or medical emergency would leave evidence—gear, clothing, remains, something.
But Gilman left nothing.
This case sits alongside other Olympic vanishings where the pattern is the same:
- brief outing
- no gear
- well‑traveled area
- rapid disappearance
- no physical evidence
Gilbert Mark Gilman walked away from his car on June 24th, 2006, and was never seen again. His camera, his clothing, and his remains are still out there somewhere—or they’re not, which is even stranger.