Without a Trace

Friends of the 92-year-old resident of Whetstone, Arizona, call him "Buck." The kind of routine he kept might ensure most senior citizens' safety, but something went tragically wrong on Friday Jan. 26 when John H. Keuper left his favorite afternoon haunt, Buddy's Bar, sometime between 3:30 and 4 p.m.

Although his home was all of 100 yards away-a short distance he preferred to drive because of bad knees-he's still missing to this day.

Keuper lived alone and was a man of habit. The early hours of Jan. 26 were no different. At 10 a.m. he started his truck to leave the trailer park. One neighbor said he always left at about that time, and she is certain it was Keuper that morning because he revved the engine. He had a hard time hearing the truck's motor, according to his granddaughter, and giving it the gas was the way he determined if it was running.

The rest of his day is pure conjecture, but the last confirmed sighting of Keuper was at Buddy's Bar, where he arrived on schedule at around 2:30 in the afternoon. According to the bartender he had three 8-ounce beers before leaving sometime between 3:30 and 4. He was not in the habit of flashing cash, and according to the bartender she doesn't remember even breaking a $20 for him.

Two regulars who know Keuper had conversations with him that afternoon. All have indicated Keuper left the bar alone, and that because he didn't drive after dark the odds were good he wasn't planning to go anywhere in the fading light.

At 11:30 p.m. that night his abandoned truck was discovered near Shefflin Monument off Arizona State Route 82 by a group of four wheelers. The word wasn't out yet on Keuper's disappearance. Because the keys were in the truck and it was stuck up to its axles, they thought they might help the owner get it out. But all they could find was a set of tracks that headed east for 100 yards. They looked through the vehicle hoping to find the owner's phone number, but ultimately abandoned their efforts assuming the owner would be back to recover it.

When they returned early the next day, Jan. 27, the truck was still there. They speculated that it was stolen, and in their panic one of them used the white towel neatly placed over the steering wheel to "wipe down" any prints they might have left. Keuper's granddaughter explains he was very diligent in placing a white towel over his steering wheel whenever he parked-a habit, she points out, everyone in the trailer park knew.

Later that day the four-wheel enthusiasts offered to take two members of the all-volunteer Tombstone Posse to the scene, an offer that was never taken. No official report was ever made, although one of the volunteers said an unsuccessful attempt was made later that day to locate the vehicle.

Keuper's daughter, who lives in Illinois, contacted the Cochise County Sheriff's Department at 10 p.m. that night to report her father was missing. Part of Keuper's routine included regular calls from his daughters. After they hadn't heard back from Saturday's scheduled call, and neighbors informed them his truck was not at home and the front door was unlocked, she decided to contact authorities.

Oddly, the responding deputy reported the door was locked, although his official report noted when he glanced in the windows, "I did not observe any signs of foul play and the house appeared to be in order." When his granddaughter drove from Tucson, she too found the trailer in order, plenty of food and nothing that might indicate Keuper was planning on taking his own life. He was in good health, no unpaid bills were discovered and, obviously, no note or message was left.

The truck has been recovered, although subsequent searches of the area, including the nearby ghost town of Fairbanks, have been fruitless. With the deep sand, and Keuper's bad knees, if he was in the area he probably couldn't have gone too far. The VA hospital in Tucson has informed authorities that Keuper has not been admitted, nor has ever been seen by the facility. Officials at Patagonia Lake also told deputies that he looked familiar, although he had not been at the lake for some time.

Regulars at Buddy's Bar held a barbecue in Keuper's honor, and the money raised is being offered for information that might help solve this case. Keuper is 5 feet, 5 inches tall, weighs 155 pounds, and has gray hair and blue eyes. His truck is a yellow and brown 1985 Dodge ½ ton with Arizona plates, 884OVN.

Anyone with information is being urged to contact the Cochise County Sheriff's Department in Arizona.