Matthew Greene, 39 and a math teacher from Bethlehem Pennsylvania, has literally vanished in thin air -- he was last seen on a mountain trek of the high Sierras in California.
Officially Greene was declared missing on July 29, 2013, following a somewhat convoluted and puzzling saga involving his broken down car: Because the vehicle's blown head-gasket wasn't repaired in time for him to leave with friends who'd accompanied him on the journey they all parted ways around July 16th ... and Greene hasn't been seen nor heard from since.
Greene's fellow hikers informed his brother-in-law Ron Minto that he had told them all that day to "go on without me, I'll catch up with you. My car will be ready in a week."
So his friends left him at the Shady Rest Campsite in the Sierra Mountains, the last place Greene allegedly texted from, Minto reports. Thereafter, when they didn't hear from him again, "they started to get concerned."
Whether the experienced climber disappeared from the high Sierras or somewhere in the nearby town of Mammoth Lakes where his Subaru is presently parked is still not known.
Adding to this baffling mystery are rumors that he may have hitchhiked a ride from that community and, because some of his gear was discovered missing, foul play is also now feared.
Greene's long absence and lack of telephone contact is said to be out of the ordinary for him, so anxious family members and friends have set up a Facebook page and launched their own limited ground searches, whilst California authorities continue to insist they don't know where to begin looking yet.
The treacherous terrain of the Sierra Mountains is also hindering the hunt, but recently a hiker discovered a pair of glasses that might belong to the missing man.
Greene has a unique eyeglass prescription his loved ones say, and they're waiting on tests to confirm whether or not these are his. If so, then they will finally have a location from which police can begin investigating.
Admittedly, it's not very much to go one, and a month without word is a long time for someone to be lost in the wilderness -- or worse.
But, "we're still holding out hope. Miracles do happen," Greene's mother Patricia told reporters this week. "Whatever the outcome, we just want him found and brought home."
Matthew Greene is a youthful and athletic 39-year-old Caucasian male, approximately 6-feet tall and 160 pounds, with light brown hair and blue eyes. Anyone with information concerning his disappearance and/or his present whereabouts should call the Mammoth Lakes Police Department or Mono County Sheriff's Office.
It has been reported today that the glasses are not his.
ReplyDeleteOur thoughts and prayers go out to the Greene family. Although we don't know him personally, we hear such wonderful things about him. My daughter has him next semester for math...we are hopeful...miracles do happen...NAHS misses you Mr. Greene!
ReplyDeleteExpert mountaineers have been painstakingly searching the likely areas where Greene may have gone daytripping with just his axe but no helmet.
ReplyDeleteThey say they are looking in these locations "for remains" not an injured fall victim, which of course, considering the amount of time Greene's been gone and out of contact, does make a lot of sense.
However, this case is more complicated than simply that of a missing climber, because MG was also waiting on his car repairs so to quickly depart from California and meet up with his friends again.
To facilitate that he was also camping a mere mile or so away from the garage -- a perfectly walkable distance for a man in excellent shape.
Factoring in the reputation of the shop in question (poor to fair) and that they made prior inadequate repairs to the missing man's vehicle before allegedly "fixing" it, it's therefore hard to rule out entirely that a confrontation, possibly over the final bill, might have taken place...
Anyone else agree?
E.R.
I guess a confrontation between he and someone from the repair shop is possible, but I wouldn't bet on it. I just think that this mystery is so weird, there have been absolutely no leads at all.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the following things happened to this man who would have been my math teacher this school year:
1) He had a hiking accident
2) He was attacked by an animal
3) He was attacked/kidnapped by another person
4) He intentionally hurt himself
5) He intentionally disappeared
I think numbers 1 and 3 are most likely at this point. I don't think he had any reason to intentionally cause this situation; he loved his family and friends, loved his students, and was without a doubt enjoying his life.
It's possible that he had a hiking accident, but with all the searching that has been done, I'm a little surprised he hasn't been found. I know the area is large and severe, but two other hikers in the area whom had gone missing AFTER Greene did have already been found, with evidence of a hiking accident. Considering Matt only had a few hiking items with him and none of his night gear, he was clearly planning to only hike for a day, probably leaving the morning of July 17th and planning to return to his campground before nightfall. So in that case, he wouldn't have had time to hike very far.
I am still very concerned about this and fear that foul play may have been involved. The man was a very experienced hiker and the even though an accident is always possible, I don't know that that's what happened. It's a shame no leads have been found. I hope we are able to determine what happened to Mr. Greene.
Your list is almost identical with my own, except number three has to be number five on mine -- only because of standard probabilities in most of these types of disappearances.
ReplyDeleteHowever, that chance is still much higher than normal here, IMO, because there is no proof Greene actually went hiking. Whereas, wanting his car fixed ASAP so he could (at last) leave the area and rendezvous with his friends was clearly the man's number one priority on the day he vanished.
And it was solely the fault of the suspect repair shop that he could not do so.
He does sound like a great guy and I feel bad for everyone they cannot at least bring home his body. That makes me believe all the more that it has been hidden someplace, since, wilderness or not, the paths Greene would have taken for a day trip are well beaten.
If he fell from one of these, someone by now would have spotted his remains, especially because they're searching for them high and low.
(Thank you for reading today and for taking a moment to post such a thoughtful comment.)
E.R.
I have a friend who "sees" and here was her take on this just after they found the glasses:
ReplyDelete"without doing any reading about the case.....what do you get from this photo????"
(photo of Matthew Greene)
"I get a swerving, shaking feeling, from left to right......and then impact, near the face, also, a feeling of not being able to breathe and then clear breathing.....i feel the right side of my face and my right ear vibrating....and numb..and tingly....i feel very shaken...like I was tossed around."
"Someone did something to him. Someone he had previous association with"
"I just think if he did have some kind of accident that he'd be found...someone doesn't want him to be found.....
i think the person who is involved with his disappearance is also someone "helping" or...leading them away from finding him until they can hide him permanently....
i'd definitely send it to the family...."
I just don't know how to send this kind of information to his family. It is just so sad......
No leads yet? Just discovered this case thru FB! I think someone from the garage like the owner or mechanic. Too suspicious. Also is he gay? Although not important to me, someone may have harmed him because of it.
ReplyDeleteI live in Mammoth and whether Matt was gay or not would be of no concern here, it's a very gay friendly community. The suggestion that the auto repair shop might have harmed him is similarly specious. Everyone in town knows the shop and everyone there is harmless and not capable of harming a hiker. A year has gone by and my thoughts are he was a victim of foul play. His remains would probably have been found by now. I hike all the time in the area where he supposedly disappeared. People not familiar with the hiking trails here see photos and think everything is rocky and dangerous. It isn't at all, these are very straightforward hiking trails, nothing like the A.T. on the east coast, which is treacherous in spots. I believe Matt sadly was harmed by some visitor to Mammoth.
ReplyDeleteIt's been three years since his disappearance and still nothing no clues definitely foul play I'm guessing he's buried somewhere possibly around the mechanic shop you never know or buried somewhere in the forest or possibly his body was burned in a forest fire but who would do something like that someone who knows the area very well.
ReplyDeleteIt's been three years since his disappearance and still nothing no clues definitely foul play I'm guessing he's buried somewhere possibly around the mechanic shop you never know or buried somewhere in the forest or possibly his body was burned in a forest fire but who would do something like that someone who knows the area very well.
ReplyDeleteThe guy had his mountaineer equipment including a freaking ice axe with him. Do you think someone would try to hurt a random joe hiker or a random joe hiker with an ice axe?
ReplyDeleteI feel He is deceased.He will be found in a deep crevice.I don't think there was any foul play. Rip matt Greene. May you be climbing the mountains of heaven.
DeleteMatt was a mountaineer, he used the trails as approach routes to the peaks and crags he intended to climb. I've done the same in this area, and eventually you go off trail to approach your climb. He took his ice axe, and some pages from a guide book that he tore out for the Minaret's, Mt Ritter, and Mt Lyell area. He left his climbing helmet behind. He most likely headed into an off trail route that involved a climb up/down an ice field like North Glacier Col (Ritter/Banner Col) or Mt Lyell. I climbed in both of these areas after he went missing and we looked for any sign of him. Even an experienced climber can be subject to a rock fall, slip on a steep ice field and disappear into bergschrund, crevice, or ice river draining down into the ice, or lake below. A fall on the rock face can drop you down onto a ledge or crack not on a standard route. In 2018 a pair of climbers on Mt Williamson, got lost off route and discovered the remains of someone who had been there for decades, and was never identified.
DeleteIn Matt's case, unfortunately, there was no one who knew exactly where he was climbing that day. He likely had an accident doing the activity he loved, on some off trail route. RIP Matt, and best wishes to his family and those who loved him.