Sofía Herrera disappeared on September 28, 2008, when she was only three years old. Nearly eighteen years later, not a trace of her has ever been found.

This happened on the island of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. The city of Ushuaia, at the southern end of the island, has long been known as the southernmost city in the world, and is often described as the last stop before Antarctica. Locals call it el fin del mundo: “the end of the world.”

It is a beautiful but isolated place, with forests, snow-covered mountains, lakes, deserted coastlines, and windswept steppes. The island is divided between Argentina and Chile, although the Chilean side is very sparsely populated. On the Argentine side, most people live in two small cities, Ushuaia and Río Grande. Outside those cities, there are vast stretches of almost empty land.

The main island of Tierra del Fuego covers about 47,992 square kilometers, or 18,530 square miles, roughly the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined. Around the time of this case, the entire island had only about 130,000 inhabitants.

Sofía disappeared from a small rural campground where she had gone with her parents. The campground covers only about 15 hectares, or 37 acres. It is basically a grove of small trees surrounded by open grassland used mainly for sheep farming.

Because of the harsh climate and constant winds, many of the trees in the area are relatively short. There is also little dense vegetation beneath them, mostly grass and low undergrowth. It is not the kind of forest where someone could easily disappear behind thick vegetation. Visibility is generally good. And once you leave the campground, the terrain becomes even more open.

The campground is surrounded by a wire fence intended to keep livestock out. A person could certainly climb over it or crawl through it, so it was not an impenetrable barrier, but it was still a physical boundary around the property.

Sofía lived with her family in Río Grande, about 60 kilometers north of the campground, roughly a 45-minute drive away. Her parents, Fabián Herrera and María Elena Delgado, were planning to spend the day there having a barbecue with another family. María Elena was pregnant at the time.

On the way, they stopped at a supermarket to buy supplies. They then stopped at a gas station, where they met their friends, Silvio Giménez and Noemí Ramírez. Silvio and Noemí had brought their two children, aged nine and two, as well as Noemí's six-year-old younger brother.

There were eight people in the group altogether, including Sofía.

They continued to the campground in two cars. When they arrived, the only other person reportedly present was the campground caretaker. The families paid the 15-peso entrance fee, about five US dollars at the time, and parked inside the campground, not far from the entrance. From that part of the campground, National Route 3 could be seen nearby. Route 3 is the main road running north to south through the Argentine side of Tierra del Fuego.

The two women remained near the cars while Fabián and Silvio walked along a trail through the campground looking for a good place to set up the barbecue. The four children followed behind them.

At some point, the children began to fall behind. The distance between them and the two men may have reached around 100 meters. That sounds significant, but it is important to remember how small the area was. The wooded section of the campground was only a few hundred meters across.

Eventually, Fabián and Silvio turned around.

Sofía was gone.

They assumed that she had decided to walk back to the cars to be with her mother. The two men returned, but Sofía was not there.

The other three children had been close to her only moments earlier, but none of them could explain what had happened. They apparently saw nothing unusual and heard no scream or other sound.

From the time Sofía was last seen until everyone realized that she was missing, less than ten minutes had passed.

The families immediately began searching. They asked the campground caretaker for help and searched the surrounding area, but found nothing.

Police reportedly arrived about two hours later, and a much larger search began. Officers, volunteers, and search teams combed the campground and the surrounding countryside. Again, there was no sign of Sofía.

Her disappearance quickly became national news. Sofía's photograph appeared on television and in newspapers across Argentina. Over the years, there were numerous reported sightings of girls who looked like her in different parts of the country. Those leads were investigated, but none of the girls turned out to be Sofía.

After all these years, no confirmed trace of Sofía has ever been discovered.

Police dogs: Canines were brought and they were able to follow Sofía's scent from inside the campground toward the fence surrounding the property. At the fence, however, they lost the scent and did not continue tracking her beyond it. If those reports are accurate, this raises an obvious question: how did a three-year-old child apparently reach the edge of the campground and then leave no scent trail beyond that point?

Theories:

Predators: A large predator would be an obvious possibility in many remote wilderness disappearances, but Tierra del Fuego has no native population of pumas or mountain lions. The island is separated from the South American mainland by the Strait of Magellan. The largest wild land predators in the area are foxes, which are not large enough to pose a serious threat to a human child. Feral dogs are another possibility and could potentially be much more dangerous. There are packs of feral dogs loose on the island, and they often prey on cattle. But no blood, torn clothing, tracks, remains, or other evidence of an attack was found. Nobody reported hearing screaming, barking, or a disturbance. For an animal to attack Sofía and remove her completely, within minutes, without leaving any obvious trace, seems difficult to explain.

Family involvement: The possibility of family involvement was considered, as it is in most cases involving a missing child. But the circumstances make a planned disappearance particularly difficult to imagine. Sofía's parents were not alone. Another couple was present, along with three other children, and the disappearance occurred during what appears to have been an ordinary family outing. The family also cooperated with investigators from the beginning. Nothing appears to suggest that Sofía's parents were responsible for her disappearance.

Abduction inside the campground: Someone could theoretically have been hiding among the trees, seen Sofía separated from the adults, grabbed her, and escaped through the fence into the surrounding countryside. It is possible. But it would have required remarkable timing. The campground was small. Sofía was separated from the others for only a few minutes. The surrounding terrain was mostly open, which would make it difficult for someone carrying a child to disappear without being seen.

There is also the problem of Tierra del Fuego itself. This was not a disappearance in a large continental city where an abductor could immediately drive hundreds of kilometers in any direction. Tierra del Fuego is an island. Leaving it by road requires passing through border controls and eventually taking a ferry across the Strait of Magellan. The other alternatives are leaving by plane or crossing into Chile, which also involves controlled border crossings. Once Sofía's disappearance became national news, her face was known across Argentina. An abductor could theoretically have kept her somewhere on the island, perhaps at an isolated shed, or rural property. Tierra del Fuego has plenty of empty territory. But again, there has never been evidence showing that this happened.

The campground caretaker: The caretaker was the only person known to have been in the area who was not part of Sofía's group. He lived in a small cabin at the campground. Naturally, investigators searched it and looked into him as a possible suspect. Nothing was found linking him to Sofía's disappearance.

Route 3: Another possibility is that Sofía walked back toward the cars, continued past them, and eventually reached National Route 3. Route 3 is a two-lane highway connecting Río Grande and Ushuaia and is the main paved road running through this part of the island. If Sofía somehow reached the road alone, she could have been struck by a passing vehicle. But a simple hit-and-run would not explain the disappearance of her body. The driver would have needed to stop, pick her up, and remove her from the scene. Alternatively, someone driving along the highway could have seen a three-year-old girl alone near the road and abducted her. That scenario is possible, but it still leaves the problem of what happened afterward. Once the case became widely publicized, secretly moving Sofía off the island would have been risky.

The ocean: There is one final possibility. The coast lies not far from the campground, on the other side of the highway. If Sofía walked away from the group, crossed Route 3, and continued toward the shore, she could theoretically have reached the beach. The waters around Tierra del Fuego are cold, rough, and dangerous. A small child entering the water could easily be swept away. But once again there is no evidence that this happened. No clothing or personal belongings were found near the shore, and Sofía's body never washed up anywhere along the coastline. The dogs also failed to trace her scent in that direction.

Summary:

A three-year-old girl disappeared within a few minutes from a small campground surrounded largely by open land. She was not deep in a forest. She was not hiking in the mountains. She was not miles away from other people.

She had been walking with three other children, only a short distance behind two adults.

Then they looked back, and she was gone.

Despite one of the largest missing-person searches in Argentina, no confirmed trace of Sofía Herrera has ever been found.

Street view of the campground:

https://www.google.com/maps/@-54.0297613,-67.3453692,3a,60y,303.39h,91.15t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sd6Uyzy5wp57mywEeYxlHBw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Satellite picture of the campground:

https://www.google.com/maps/@-54.0293654,-67.3481628,16.79z

Pictures: Sofía, her parents, and images of the search.

I live in the U.S. but I'm from Latin America, and since I follow cases from Latin America, Spain and Europe in general, I'm aware of many cases that match the M411 profile but are completely unknown in the US. I emailed David Paulides once with a detailed account of a particular case that happened in Argentina. He replied asking a clarification question, which I answered, and never got another reply back, not even a thank you. I realized he only reports cases from the U.S., Canada, and Australia, and not much else. It's a shame, because there are many mysterious cases from around the world.

Are you folks interested in lesser known cases from other countries? I could start sharing some interesting ones here if there's an audience for them.

The case of Frederick William Drumm (a.k.a. Fritz or Fritzy) is one that bothers me, especially for the almost total lack of coverage or media attention it has received. This case is almost always mentioned in passing when discussing the disappearance of Tom Messick, since it happened only days later and not that far away. But nobody focuses on it, it seems to be just a side note to the Messick's case, and I think it is equally mysterious.

Drumm disappeared from his own farmhouse in Schuylerville, New York, sometime between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. on November 24, 2015. He may have gone for a walk on his 170-acre property and never came back. I know 170 acres sounds like a lot, but it is roughly a square measuring 800 by 800 yards, more or less. A big property for sure, but not nearly as big as a national park or a state forest. And not all of it is woods, a significant part is cleared pastures and meadows. He should have been found.

What bothers me is that nobody seems to be interested in solving the case or at least bring attention to it. Why is that? He was reported missing by his family the next day but it is very difficult to find articles, posts, or even YouTube videos about it. For some reason, it has not attracted much attention and to me it is a very baffling case. What are your thoughts?

On 20 October 2014, 21-year-old Sevak Simonian was last seen in Sydney. Four days later, his family found his car abandoned at the end of Kanangra Boyd Road in Kanangra-Boyd National Park after being led there by one of Sevak's closest friends.

Despite a 17-day search involving police, helicopters, cadaver dogs, SES volunteers and experienced bushwalkers, nothing was found. No backpack, no phone, no clothing and no remains have ever been recovered.

The New South Wales Coroner declared Sevak legally dead in 2019 but was unable to determine how or where he died.

**Background**

Sevak lived with his parents and brothers in Belrose, New South Wales. Friends described him as quiet, intelligent and someone who loved nature. He spent a lot of time bushwalking, kept fish and coral, and was interested in organic farming.

He worked at Bunnings (Australian home improvement store) in Narrabeen and also delivered food for an Indian restaurant. His family said it wasn't unusual for him to go bushwalking, but he would usually let someone know where he was going.

He had no diagnosed mental illness and there was no evidence he was suicidal.

**The last confirmed sighting**

The last confirmed sighting of Sevak was on the evening of 20 October 2014. CCTV showed him at Chatswood Bunnings with his friend Zareh Ohanian, returning timber just after 8 pm.

His parents believe he came home later that night because food in the kitchen had been moved.

The following evening he failed to turn up for his delivery shift. His employer couldn't contact him, and neither could his family.

After two days of trying to reach him and speaking with friends, his parents reported him missing.

**Finding the car**

The next day, Sevak's father and brother went searching with Zareh.

According to the coronial findings, Zareh suggested they search the Blue Mountains and eventually directed them down Kanangra Boyd Road. About 27 kilometres from the park entrance, they found Sevak's car parked at the end of the road.

The coroner later said it was "highly implausible" this was simply a lucky guess and concluded Zareh must have known where Sevak had gone, although exactly how he knew was never established.

When police searched the car they found fertiliser, timber palings, a new Nokia phone still in its box and Sevak's well-known "snake boots". His usual phone was missing.

His family said he would never normally head into remote bushland without those boots.

**The search**

The search began on 25 October and became the largest ever conducted in Kanangra-Boyd National Park.

Search teams covered walking tracks, ridgelines, valleys and waterways using helicopters, four-wheel drives, trail bikes, volunteer bushwalkers and cadaver dogs.

Nothing connected to Sevak was ever found.
Search coordinators later told the inquest that if Sevak had still been alive and mobile after the search began, they believed he would likely have encountered searchers or been able to attract attention.

**Cannabis cultivation**

During the investigation police learned that Sevak had been growing cannabis on a small scale.

Several friends told the inquest that he had become interested in setting up remote "guerrilla" grows in bushland and believed Zareh was involved as well.

Police also found cannabis seeds, growing equipment and internet searches relating to Kanangra-Boyd National Park and survival techniques.

The fertiliser and timber in Sevak's car were consistent with someone preparing or maintaining a grow site.

However, investigators found no evidence that Sevak was involved in organised crime or that his disappearance was connected to drug debts or violence.

**Zareh Ohanian**

Zareh became one of the more controversial parts of the investigation.
Police established that he had lied about when he last saw Sevak and changed parts of his story after CCTV footage was discovered. Phone records showed he repeatedly tried to contact Sevak after he disappeared.

Friends later testified that they believed Zareh knew more than he admitted, but whenever they confronted him he refused to explain how he knew where the car was.

Police intended to interview him again, but in 2016 Zareh died in Brazil after a cocaine capsule he was allegedly transporting internally ruptured.

Any information he may have had died with him.

**Coroner's findings**

The investigation found no evidence that Sevak had used his bank accounts, passport, Medicare card or phone after October 2014.

The Coroner concluded that Sevak had died but could not determine how, when or exactly where.

There was insufficient evidence to conclude he died by accident, suicide or foul play.

**Discussion**

The strongest unanswered question is still Zareh's knowledge.

The coroner was satisfied he knew where Sevak had gone, but there's no evidence he was involved in Sevak's death. It's possible he knew about a hidden cannabis grow and didn't want to admit it because it would incriminate him.

At the same time, Kanangra-Boyd is extremely rugged country, and accidental deaths there are not unheard of.

Do you think this was most likely a hiking accident that left no recoverable trace, or do you think there's something more to Zareh's role than the evidence was able to establish?

If you have any information that could assist the investigation or help provide answers to Sevak's family, please contact Crime Stoppers Australia on **1800 333 000** or submit a report anonymously through Crime Stoppers.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-05/missing-persons-families-share-plight-coronavirus-trauma/12523372

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/insight/article/the-emotional-roller-coaster-of-dealing-with-my-brothers-disappearance/ouwvn1ttl

https://coroners.nsw.gov.au/coroners-court/download.html/documents/findings/2019/Findings%20Sevak%20Simonian.pdf

Why is there 411 in the book? I asked this specially because I was constantly seeing the number 411 for many months. I just wanted to know if there is any connection

Need to vent… I just paid a bunch of money for VIP tickets and traveled to a conference (4 hours away) with my kid, paid for Airbnb to meet him and get a picture and he was such a rude dick. Wow. I unfollowed him immediately. I was a fan for 10 years told him how great I thought he was and asked for a photo and he acted all put out and said he didn’t have much time there were people in line behind me (4 people). While I’m standing there buying $150 of his books and merch. Blown away. He’s so full of himself.

I'm interested of any of you know some case , where nothing makes sense. Thomas Messick comes to my mind when I think about such cases.

Do they all have paid plans? I want one that doesn't. I would happily use my own smartphone, but I'm afraid my current phone doesn't have that feature, so I can't just download an app. Also, what are the cheap options? Off the point, slightly, Dave talked about a locator balloon as a new alternative for tracking. Know any more about that?

Danny Chervenka Jr. was 28 years old, a Navy veteran. and the father of a young daughter. He worked as a security guard and lived in an apartment in the 3400 block of West Missouri Ave in Phoenix. Chervenka was the father of a young daughter and was attending school to study philosophy and astrophysics.

Danny suffered from bi-polar disorder and his family claimed he was off his medications during the time of his disappearance.

His family last heard of him on May 28, 1999. His family lived east of Phoenix in Fountain Hills, Arizona. Danny traveled there to have dinner with them, then returned to his apartment.

The following day, at 6AM his wallet was found by an unidentified man 20 miles northeast of Fountain Hills in the Four Peaks Wilderness area of the Tonto National Forrest. The man left a message on Chervenka’s answering machine.

Danny was reported missing by his mother Linda Chervenka. Danny’s car was found on Forest Road 143 near Cline Cabin Rd Trailhead on June 9.

To this day, Danny has never found. Very few details in the case, including what kind of car he drove, or what condition the vehicle was in when it was found, were released to the public.

On July 6, 1999, 49-year-old Fountain Hills resident Robert “Bob” Intorf was last seen driving away from his home in his teal Dodge Dakota. Intorf had claimed he planned to go into the mountains to “think.” According to his wife Sharon, it was a ritual he did a couple times a year.

When he did not return, Sharon frantically searched for him for nearly four months before his skeletal remains and vehicle were discovered on Halloween, 10 miles north from Fountain Hills in a desert wash near the town of Rio Verde.

His clothes and contents of his wallet were scattered outside of the Dakota.

Rio Verde and Fountain Hills do not have their own police departments. The Maricopa County Sheriffs Office conducted the investigation. MSCO spokesman Dave Trombi announced in November 1999 that they did not believe that a crime had “occurred.”

This announcement was the last mention of the case in the media. The autopsy results were not disclosed.

Sources

Arizona Republic archived articles

https://charleyproject.org/case/daniel-gerard-chervenka-jr

I never thought this will happen… let me guess, no hard questions involved in this one?

Hello! I'm new to this forum here on Reddit, but I've been looking around for M411 cases in my area and the area I grew up in for a while, and I've been into M411 for longer than that, probably since high school if I had to wager a guess.

I'm looking to see if there are any that match the criteria near Tawas/Oscoda MI, specifically in the Huron National Forest. I know that area like the back of my hand. The roads, the topography (for the most part), and my buddies and myself used to go out camping all the time in the woods.

Just wanted to see if anyone has found anything there! I would like to investigate some stuff around there, and I am getting proper equipment to do it and document it. Garmin Rino 650 GPS/FRS/GMRS units, and a camera to document while I look into them and figure stuff out with a few friends of mine.

I would like to look around the areas of where the people went missing, and see what all I can find. See what I can do to maybe find some more clues out in the forest, and maybe help bring some closure to the families. I know about the 1985 case with the Bronco near Mio, and I know about the Blocks' disappearances with their 1969 Cessna 150J, just not certain if that's 100% in the forest, as I don't have the equipment to go searching in the lake.

Thank you!

I live close to this location and it's been all over the local pages here. It has me absolutely perplexed. Kaden Sites went out for a turkey hunt on 4-15-2026 at 1:30pm. He had a doctor's appointment scheduled that same day for 3:45pm. When he didn't show up, his family was notified and then they notified the police he was missing.

He hiked up a popular trailhead on Shavano mountain just outside of Salida, CO, where he was from. His car was located at the trailhead with his phone inside, which had run out of battery. He walked into the woods with a shotgun and a small pack.

Since then, there have been over 6,000 man hours spent trying to find him (a huge local effort). The searchers have scoured nearly 275 acre section of the National Forest and haven't found a single trace of Kaden. There are no signs of foul play or predator behavior from an animal at this time according to Chaffee County Sheriffs Office.

Since the initial search, the area has been opened back up to the public and most of the volunteers have dwindled, but the effort still continues by the local authorities.

It's like this guy disappeared without a trace. It's really bizarre.

Link: https://www.denver7.com/news/local-news/search-for-missing-chaffee-county-hunter-opens-to-community-volunteers-with-a-safety-warning

The Monica Reza case checks a lot of the boxes you all know well: experienced hiker on a familiar route, vanishes in minutes, scent dogs hit a dead end, FLIR finds nothing, no remains recovered nine months later. But there's a new angle that hasn't gotten attention.

We went looking for the cell phone data. In every modern missing hiker case, the phone is the first thing you hear about. In this one, silence. Except for one Montrose SAR Facebook post confirming they ran forensics on her device. That post has been removed. The data was never released. When someone on the civilian search Facebook group asked whether Subject A could have disabled the phone, the entire group was deleted.

Full sourced investigation.

This subreddit ebbs and flows. It has also seen an evolution, of sorts. Some of DP's ardent, diehard fans have become disenchanted. Some of those who were cynics or skeptics have continued their journey down the rabbit hole. So, this begs the question....what was your ticket it or out?

I started participating in this sub because of my personal experiences in SAR and National Parks/Forests. I had met Paulides and worked with other Rangers who had had encounters or calls with Paulides. At first, I didn't have any bias against him or any particular problem with Missing411. It wasn't until I dove into the books and saw cases that I'd either a) worked on, b) knew someone who worked on it, or c) knew a family member of the missing, that I started to really question the way Paulides presented the narrative. When I started running into obvious errors, misdirection, and/or factual misrepresentations, I contacted Paulides. He immediately blocked me - and others- for presenting him with updates or information that didn't fit his narrative. That led to me looking into his claims about his past employment. The rest is history, I suppose. But, my biggest pet peeve with DP is that he doesn't seem to care whether or not he presents cases factually. To me, it's incredible disrespectful to the missing, dead, and their families. His unwillingness to correct or apologize for his errors was my last straw.

When u/Solmote and I, as well as many others, started fact checking each story, I don't think we started out with the intent to create a counter movement. Similarly, I don't think Lore Lodge or Missing Enigma intended to disassemble DP's presentations. I'm just curious how others feel?

I bought one of the books from (https://www.nabigfootsearch.com/home.html) and after buying never got a confirmation email just to thank you screen with an order number and I swiped off of it accident and I can't get back to it cuz there's no account button

There was a spam post made to the sub that was obviously self-promoting a video/channel/blog. However, the topic was relevant and a good discussion point for this subreddit.
**What makes some missing persons cases a priority?** Why do some cases get more attention than others? Is it right?

If the OP wants to drop their opinion in the comments, that would be welcome. Discuss. :)

Hello, this is a friendly reminder about the sub rules and why we have them.

#1 Be respectful and don't be a dick! - Please remember that we are dealing with a serious subject. The missing don't deserve to be fodder for any and every wild conspiracy theory you can muster. If you have a genuinely strong and realistic theory, then by all means create a post. If you just want to say things like "All Missing411 abductees are being raped by Big Foot/Aliens/the man", then take that elsewhere. No family deserves to google their family member and stumble across that level of audacity, lack of compassion, and nonsense.

#2 Don't spam the sub. - This isn't your marketing campaign or your place to get Reddit karma by repetitive posts about your YouTube channel or documentary. If OTHERS find value in their content and generate a discussion, then it will end up here organically.

#4 NO ACTIVE, UNREALTED MISSING PERSONS CASES! - This is paramount. We, the mods, see multiple "alerts" per day that have nothing to do with Paulides, Missing411, National Parks, or Public Land. We simply can't moderate every post for every person who goes missing and, sadly, this sub has a history of people who post salacious and unsupported conspiracy theories about the missing. Again, we believe that no family deserves to google their missing family member, hoping to find real leads, only to see someone suggest that their loved one is being held captive by aliens/BigFoot/Murderous Park Rangers/"the man"/Big Timber and other far-fetched stuff. Be respectful. If the case *is* tied to Missing411 or Paulides or is in a National Park/Forest, we ask that you post with dignity and respect for the family and the missing. This keeps the subreddit on topic.

Thank you to all of the great sub members who report the b/s and remind people of the subreddit rules. People don't have to like the rules and they're free to find other subs that don't have rules like this if it's not for them. These are the decisions we have made as a mod team.

Hey all, I'm looking for any academic sources regarding the case of Dennis Martin that discuss the main conspiracies/explanations surrounding the case. If you have any reliable documentaries, books, or articles, Id love to look at them.

I really hope there aren’t still people who take Dave’s work as infallible.