Richard Lyman Griffis was last seen on September 20, 2006, in the White River area near Beaver Creek, Yukon, after traveling north along the Alaska Highway to test a bright orange wilderness survival pod he had invented. He had been living in Spokane, Washington, and left some belongings at a lodge near the White River before saying he planned to head upriver toward the Wrangell Mountains, aiming for the McCarthy or Kennicott area.

No confirmed sighting placed Griffis beyond the White River corridor. Months passed before anyone reported him missing because he had told friends he might stay in Alaska through the winter; a missing-person inquiry did not begin until about August 2007. Investigators reconstructed parts of his route from bus records and lodge contacts and searched the White River area, but neither Griffis nor his distinctive orange survival cocoon has been found and no accident site, campsite, or remains have been publicly identified. What information exists leaves the core question open: did anyone encounter him after he left the lodge, and has anyone seen the orange survival pod?