Derrick Engebretson was eight years old when he vanished on December 5, 1998, while looking for a Christmas tree with his father and grandfather in Winema National Forest near Rocky Point, Oregon. He was familiar with the mountains but became separated from his family; a passing motorist called 9-1-1 about 4:13 p.m. The search that evening was overtaken by a blizzard that covered tracks, and although searchers found a child’s footprints and a snow angel near the road and later a makeshift fir-bough shelter, dogs did not pick up Derrick’s scent and hazardous sub-zero temperatures forced repeated pauses in the effort.

Investigators and volunteers logged thousands of search hours. Items found a few miles from the last known location — a school bookmark and a candy wrapper — could not be tied conclusively to Derrick. Witness reports later described a man struggling with a young boy that day and an unidentified man in a two-door Honda asking for directions. In 2008 a convicted offender, Frank James Milligan, allegedly confessed to an inmate that he had killed Derrick, then gave a confession to police he could not corroborate and later recanted; he has not been charged. Derrick’s disappearance remains unresolved.

If anyone remembers the Winema National Forest area, the two-door Honda, or saw something unusual that day, can you share what you know?