Overview

Name: Fred Werm Comstock
Age when missing: 19
Last seen: Vogelsang High Sierra Camp area, Yosemite National Park, California
Date: Public records conflict. Several sources list September 1, 1975, while another detailed case account lists November 11, 1975 and states he was reported missing on November 30.
NamUs: MP61579
Case reference: NP19189996
Status: Missing; no remains have publicly been reported recovered.

Main circumstances: Comstock was hiking in Yosemite with a woman he had recently met and her son. At or near Vogelsang High Sierra Camp, the group separated. Comstock was reportedly supposed to hike back toward Tuolumne Meadows, retrieve the woman’s vehicle, drive it to Yosemite Valley, and reunite with them there. He never arrived. His personal possessions, including his wallet, were later found still inside the vehicle.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Fred Werm Comstock Disappearance: 19-Year-Old Vanished in Yosemite National Park in 1975

Brief Case Summary

Name: Fred Werm Comstock
Age when missing: 19
Last seen: Vogelsang High Sierra Camp area, Yosemite National Park, California
Date: Public records conflict. Several sources list September 1, 1975, while another detailed case account lists November 11, 1975 and states he was reported missing on November 30.
NamUs: MP61579
Case reference: NP19189996
Status: Missing; no remains have publicly been reported recovered.

Main circumstances: Comstock was hiking in Yosemite with a woman he had recently met and her son. At or near Vogelsang High Sierra Camp, the group separated. Comstock was reportedly supposed to hike back toward Tuolumne Meadows, retrieve the woman’s vehicle, drive it to Yosemite Valley, and reunite with them there. He never arrived. His personal possessions, including his wallet, were later found still inside the vehicle.

Fred Werm Comstock Vanished During a Yosemite Hiking Trip

Fred Werm Comstock was only 19 years old when he disappeared during a hiking trip in Yosemite National Park in 1975. More than five decades later, his whereabouts remain unknown, and the limited information available about what happened after he separated from his hiking companions continues to leave major unanswered questions.

Comstock was described as a white male with brown hair and brown eyes. Available case information places his height at approximately 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet 1 inch and his weight between roughly 150 and 165 pounds. One distinguishing characteristic was a scar on an unspecified leg resulting from a broken leg when he was about four years old.

The Hike to Vogelsang High Sierra Camp

According to publicly available accounts, Comstock was hiking in Yosemite with a woman he had recently met and her son. The group traveled into the high country and reached the area of Vogelsang High Sierra Camp, a remote part of Yosemite accessible by trail rather than road.

At some point, a plan was made for the hikers to separate. Comstock was reportedly going to travel back toward Tuolumne Meadows, where the woman’s vehicle was located. He was supposed to collect the vehicle, drive it to Yosemite Valley, and meet the woman and her son there.

That separation appears to be the critical point in the case.

Comstock never arrived at the planned meeting location.

Personal Belongings Were Still in the Vehicle

One of the most significant details is that Comstock’s possessions, including his wallet, were reportedly still inside the woman’s vehicle.

That fact suggests he may never have reached the vehicle at Tuolumne Meadows, although the publicly released information does not establish precisely where or when the vehicle was checked or who first confirmed that his belongings remained inside.

No verified sighting of Comstock after the group separated at Vogelsang has been publicly documented in the sources reviewed.

The case therefore centers on what may have happened somewhere after he left the Vogelsang area and before he was able to complete the trip back to the car.

Was Fred Comstock Lost or Injured in Yosemite?

Public case descriptions have categorized Comstock as an endangered or lost/injured missing person. Yosemite’s high country contains steep granite terrain, isolated drainages, boulder fields, changing weather conditions and large wilderness areas where an injured hiker can be extraordinarily difficult to locate.

An accident, fall, exposure or becoming lost are therefore possible explanations.

However, there is not enough publicly released evidence to determine what actually happened.

A more recent wilderness-case reconstruction has raised questions about the unusual logistics of separating the group and the route Comstock would have needed to travel. Those observations are theories rather than official investigative conclusions, and there is no publicly documented evidence establishing that either of his companions was responsible for his disappearance.

Conflicting Dates in the Fred Comstock Case

One of the most important problems for anyone researching the case is the disagreement over the date Comstock disappeared.

Uncovered, which identifies its underlying information as having been retrieved from NamUs, gives his missing date as September 1, 1975. A current wilderness disappearance database likewise displays September 1.

A Websleuths case entry, however, identifies the disappearance as November 11, 1975 and states that Comstock was not reported missing until November 30, 1975. That entry also identifies National Park Service case reference NP19189996 and NamUs number MP61579.

Because the publicly accessible NamUs webpage does not currently render the individual record details reliably in ordinary web indexing, the conflicting dates should be preserved rather than presenting either one as unquestionably correct.

Latest Publicly Available Investigation Information

As of September 2026, I found no newer official National Park Service announcement reporting that Fred Comstock had been located, that human remains had been identified as his, or that an arrest or resolution had occurred.

The National Park Service maintains a current public roster of cold cases being investigated by its Investigative Services Branch. The page includes several unresolved Yosemite disappearances, but a search of the current roster does not return Comstock’s name. NPS specifically advises people looking for a case not appearing on that roster to review its case updates or contact the relevant park directly.

That absence should not be interpreted as evidence that the case has been closed. Public missing-person databases and current case archives continue to describe Comstock as missing. A 2026 wilderness-case archive still lists Fred Werm Comstock among unresolved Yosemite disappearances.

There also does not appear to be publicly released evidence establishing that Comstock was the victim of homicide. At present, his disappearance is more accurately described as an unresolved missing-person case.

Questions That Remain Unanswered

Several fundamental details have never been adequately explained in publicly available records: exactly when Comstock was last physically seen; which route he intended to use between Vogelsang and Tuolumne Meadows; precisely where the woman’s vehicle was parked; when it was determined that his wallet and possessions were still inside; what search operations were conducted in 1975; and whether investigators obtained statements from other hikers or High Sierra Camp personnel.

The passage of more than 50 years makes witness evidence increasingly difficult to obtain, but old missing-person cases can still be advanced through forgotten photographs, journals, correspondence, archived reports, unidentified-remains comparisons and information from people who were never interviewed at the time.

Anyone who possesses information concerning Fred Werm Comstock’s disappearance can contact Yosemite National Park or the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch. The NPS accepts investigative tips nationwide at 888-653-0009.