Overview

Last Seen: September 12, 2018
Location: Green Top/Greentop, Yakobi Island near Pelican, Southeast Alaska
Age When Missing: 58
NamUs: MP55571
Alaska State Troopers Case: AK18072470
Status: Missing; Eric and his wife Pamela were granted presumptive-death declarations on June 11, 2019. Their remains have not been located.

Main circumstances: Eric and Pamela Bealer traveled to their remote cabin on September 12, 2018 and were expected home by the end of that month. When friends checked the cabin in early October, the couple was gone. They found a written message stating that Eric and Pamela had intentionally ended their lives and had deliberately concealed their bodies. Alaska State Troopers searched their properties and the surrounding area but found no trace of either person. The search was later suspended.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Eric Richard Bealer: The 2018 Disappearance and Presumed Death in Alaska

Brief Case Summary

Last Seen: September 12, 2018
Location: Green Top/Greentop, Yakobi Island near Pelican, Southeast Alaska
Age When Missing: 58
NamUs: MP55571
Alaska State Troopers Case: AK18072470
Status: Missing; Eric and his wife Pamela were granted presumptive-death declarations on June 11, 2019. Their remains have not been located.

Main circumstances: Eric and Pamela Bealer traveled to their remote cabin on September 12, 2018 and were expected home by the end of that month. When friends checked the cabin in early October, the couple was gone. They found a written message stating that Eric and Pamela had intentionally ended their lives and had deliberately concealed their bodies. Alaska State Troopers searched their properties and the surrounding area but found no trace of either person. The search was later suspended.
Case associated: Pamela Bealer

Eric and Pamela Bealer Disappear at Their Remote Alaska Cabin

Eric Richard Bealer was a 58-year-old artist, carpenter, woodworker and boat builder whose intricately carved wood engravings were well known throughout Southeast Alaska. He and his wife, Pamela “Pam” Bealer, lived an unusually self-reliant life in the wilderness outside the small community of Pelican, Alaska. Their home, known as Sea Pony Farm, sat amid the remote landscape of the West Chichagof-Yakobi Wilderness.

Eric and Pamela were both artists. Eric became particularly recognized for wood engravings portraying the forests, wildlife and waterways of Southeast Alaska, while Pamela worked with fiber and natural materials. Their lifestyle revolved around wilderness, art and living largely by their own labor.

September 12, 2018: The Couple Goes to Green Top

On September 12, 2018, Eric and Pamela traveled to their summer cabin at Green Top, also written as Greentop, on the outer coast of Yakobi Island near Pelican. The isolated cabin was accessible by boat and surrounded by rugged wilderness. They were expected to return by the end of September.

They never returned.

When the end of September passed without contact, friends became concerned. By early October, two friends traveled by boat from Pelican to check the Green Top cabin.

Friends Find the Cabin Empty and a Message on the Door

When the friends arrived, they found no sign of Eric or Pamela.

A note had been left on the cabin door. According to reporting based on the Alaska State Troopers investigation, it stated that Eric and Pamela had chosen to end their lives and had intentionally hidden their bodies because they did not want anyone searching for or recovering them. The note also indicated that their dog had gone with them and that their chickens had been released.

The circumstances at the cabin suggested extensive advance preparation. Boxes and letters had reportedly been prepared for friends and other people close to the couple, and the Bealers had completed handwritten wills.

Eric’s artwork was left to Eugene Solovyov, the owner of a Sitka gallery who had represented his work for years. The remainder of the couple’s estate—including property and boats—was directed to a wilderness fund associated with the Sitka Conservation Society.

Pamela’s Health and Earlier Conversations About Death

Pamela lived with multiple sclerosis, and accounts provided by friends indicated that her health had been deteriorating. Several people told investigators or reporters that Eric and Pamela had previously discussed ending their lives together if Pamela’s illness eventually became too difficult to manage.

Not everyone close to them believed such a decision was imminent. Avery Simmons, one of the friends who discovered the note, told investigators that he had not recognized signs that they were preparing to take their lives. Other friends, however, said Eric had spoken about the subject for years.

Only weeks before the disappearance, in August 2018, writer Matt Hainstock visited the Bealers at Greentop and later recalled a conversation in which Pamela spoke calmly about accepting death when her time came. The account provides additional context but does not establish exactly what occurred after the Bealers were last seen.

Alaska State Troopers Search for Eric and Pamela Bealer

The Alaska State Troopers investigated the disappearance and searched both of the Bealers’ properties—their residence near Pelican and the Green Top cabin on Yakobi Island.

Troopers also conducted an aerial search around the harbor and surrounding area. According to Alaska Public Media’s reporting on the investigation, Trooper Branden Forst reported finding no sign of Eric or Pamela either from the air or during the ground search.

No bodies were found.

The official search was eventually suspended. A trooper spokesperson said investigators had found no evidence indicating where the couple had gone and that, because of the explicit nature of the written material they left, locating them might not be possible.

Presumptive Death Declared in June 2019

Although investigators believed the circumstances pointed strongly toward the deaths described in the couple’s written message, the absence of remains created a legal problem for settling their estate.

Proceedings were initiated in Sitka District Court seeking presumptive-death declarations.

On June 11, 2019, Sitka Magistrate Amanda Browning granted presumptive death for both Eric and Pamela Bealer.

That ruling allowed the legal consequences of their deaths to be addressed even though neither person’s remains had been recovered.

What Happened to Eric and Pamela Bealer?

The evidence publicly reported in the case supports investigators’ conclusion that Eric and Pamela probably died intentionally somewhere in the wilderness surrounding their remote property. Their written preparations, wills, farewell material, previous conversations with friends and absence of any subsequent confirmed contact all support that interpretation.

However, there is an important distinction between a presumptive-death ruling and physical confirmation of a death.

Eric’s remains have never been publicly reported as recovered, nor have Pamela’s. Their precise location and the exact circumstances of their deaths therefore remain physically unconfirmed.

There is also no credible public information establishing that Eric Bealer was the victim of a homicide. Public records continue to categorize the matter as a missing-person case associated with the apparent intentional deaths of Eric and Pamela.

Latest Case and Investigation Information

As of August 2026, Eric Bealer continues to appear in current missing-person resources rather than as a resolved recovered-person case. The federal NamUs record identifies him as MP55571, and Alaska Department of Public Safety data continues to associate Eric and Pamela Bealer with Alaska State Troopers case AK18072470.

Alaska’s current Missing Persons Clearinghouse also remains available for information about active missing-person cases, and the Department of Public Safety describes its missing-person database as its list of active missing people in Alaska.

CrimeSolvers Central’s Eric Bealer case record was updated on August 8, 2026 and continues to report that his body has never been found. It lists Alaska State Troopers as the primary investigating agency and case number AK18072470.

No publicly documented new search, recovery of remains, arrest, suspect identification or homicide investigation involving Eric Bealer was located in the current records reviewed for this article.

The most significant official development therefore remains the June 11, 2019 presumptive-death ruling. The unresolved element is not primarily who caused Eric’s disappearance, but where Eric and Pamela went after leaving their cabin and where their remains are located.

Eric Bealer’s Legacy in Southeast Alaska

Eric’s disappearance also left behind a significant artistic and environmental legacy.

The Sitka Conservation Society received the couple’s property through their estate and has preserved their connection with the wilderness. Since 2020, the organization says it has used Sea Pony Farm as a creative retreat and field station for artists, writers, activists and others working in and around the Tongass National Forest.

Eric’s wood engravings continue to circulate and remain closely associated with the Southeast Alaska landscapes that shaped his life. For those who knew the Bealers, their disappearance remains an unusual and deeply personal case in which considerable evidence points toward death, yet the wilderness has never yielded the physical answer of where Eric and Pamela ultimately went.