Account
Jan 19, 2012
Jun 19, 2023
Mark
Peal
63
10
53 inches
60 lbs
White / Caucasian
Male
In the late summer of 1971, a family camping trip turned into a lasting mystery that continues to haunt the community of Port Angeles, Washington. On the afternoon of August 26, 1971, 10-year-old Mark Peal and his 13-year-old friend, Kevin Conner, vanished while on an adventure together. The two boys, who were camping with their families at the Agate-Crescent Beach Recreational Area, decided to explore some nearby World War II bunkers. It was the last time they were ever seen. Mark, who was born in Wichita, Kansas, was preparing to enter the fifth grade at Newport Elementary School and came from a family with four older siblings. Both he and Kevin were active members of the Eastside Soccer Association, typical energetic boys looking for some holiday excitement. As the hours stretched into an evening with no sign of Mark and Kevin, a sense of dread began to settle over the campground. An extensive and massive search was quickly launched to find the two missing friends. The Clallam County Sheriff's office led the effort, which at its peak involved a volunteer force of 450 GIs from Fort Lewis. Searchers scoured the Agate Beach area and the abandoned Army fortification that had lured the boys away. The only potential clues discovered were two sets of shoeprints, one with a smooth sole and the other with a patterned one, which the boys' parents confirmed matched the shoes their sons were wearing. A bloodhound named "Deputy Gus" followed a scent from the boys' tent to a log that extended over the water on the west end of the peninsula, prompting a dive team to search the kelp beds, but this lead also proved fruitless. Despite the exhaustive efforts of everyone involved, not a single trace of either Mark or Kevin was found. The days turned into weeks, and with no new leads or evidence, the official search for Mark and Kevin was eventually scaled down. The possibility of foul play was considered by the Sheriff's department, but there was no evidence to support this theory. Left with no answers, the families of the two boys held a memorial service for them in September 1971, a heart-wrenching acknowledgment of the likelihood that they would never be coming home. The disappearance of Mark Peal and Kevin Conner remains an open case, a poignant story of two young friends who went off to play and simply vanished into the coastal landscape of Washington, leaving behind only questions and an enduring sense of loss for their families and the community.
Aug 26, 1971
Port Angeles
Washington
Clallam County
No
11241
Clallam County Sheriff's Department
Port Angeles
Washington
Clallam County
98362
Tom Reyes
Detective
223 East 4th Street, Washington
3604172459
County
Law Enforcement
2012-01118
1971-08-26
Clallam County Sheriff's Department
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
06/22/2026
