Overview

Last Seen: October 4, 2018, at approximately 5:00 p.m.

Location: Spruce Street near her residence in Fort Yukon, Alaska.

Circumstances: Lorraine was seen walking near her home and subsequently disappeared. There have been no publicly confirmed sightings establishing where she went afterward.

Age at Disappearance: 62

Description: 5 feet 6 inches tall, approximately 120 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Lorraine is Alaska Native/American Indian and may also use the surname Englishoe.

Clothing: Reports describe a purple or raspberry-colored jacket, red hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, sneakers or tennis shoes, and knit gloves.

Current Status: Missing. Her Alaska State Troopers case and NamUs record remain publicly listed. No publicly announced arrest, suspect, or resolution was located in current records reviewed for this article.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Lorraine Juanita Ginnis: The Unsolved 2018 Disappearance From Fort Yukon, Alaska

Lorraine Juanita Ginnis was 62 years old when she disappeared from the small Alaska community of Fort Yukon on October 4, 2018. Nearly eight years later, her whereabouts remain unknown, and her case continues to be listed as an active missing-person investigation.

According to NamUs and other case records, Lorraine was last seen at approximately 5:00 p.m. on October 4, 2018, walking near her residence in Fort Yukon. Contemporary news reporting placed the sighting on or near Spruce Street, with one report specifying the area near the GZ Electric customer office.

Very Brief Case Summary

Last Seen: October 4, 2018, at approximately 5:00 p.m.

Location: Spruce Street near her residence in Fort Yukon, Alaska.

Circumstances: Lorraine was seen walking near her home and subsequently disappeared. There have been no publicly confirmed sightings establishing where she went afterward.

Age at Disappearance: 62

Description: 5 feet 6 inches tall, approximately 120 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Lorraine is Alaska Native/American Indian and may also use the surname Englishoe.

Clothing: Reports describe a purple or raspberry-colored jacket, red hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, sneakers or tennis shoes, and knit gloves.

Current Status: Missing. Her Alaska State Troopers case and NamUs record remain publicly listed. No publicly announced arrest, suspect, or resolution was located in current records reviewed for this article.

Lorraine Ginnis Disappears in Fort Yukon

Lorraine lived in Fort Yukon, an Interior Alaska community along the Yukon River. On the afternoon of Thursday, October 4, 2018, she was seen walking close to her residence.

The last known sighting occurred at approximately 5:00 p.m. Contemporary KTVF reporting placed Lorraine on Spruce Street near the GZ Electric customer office. Other sources describe the location more generally as near her Spruce Street residence.

After that sighting, Lorraine seemingly vanished.

There have been no publicly confirmed sightings establishing that she reached another destination, left Fort Yukon, or encountered another person after she was last observed walking.

A Large Search Begins

Lorraine’s disappearance prompted an extensive community search.

By October 10, 2018, approximately six days after she vanished, Fort Yukon Acting Police Chief Sean Martinez described an unusually large local response. Roughly 30 to 40 volunteers were participating each day, according to reporting by KTUU, now Alaska’s News Source. Searchers repeatedly covered the community and expanded their efforts into areas outside town.

Martinez said searchers had gone approximately 12 miles outside Fort Yukon and pushed through heavily wooded and overgrown terrain.

KTVF reported that PAWS search teams with K9 handlers also participated. Despite the manpower, search dogs, and repeated searches of the community and surrounding areas, Lorraine was not found.

No Confirmed Sightings After October 4

One of the most important details from the initial investigation is that police reported no confirmed subsequent sightings of Lorraine.

KTVF reported on October 10, 2018, that a Fort Yukon Police Department press release said there had been no confirmed sightings and that foul play was not suspected at that time.

That statement is important to place in its historical context. It described investigators’ assessment during the first week of the search; it does not establish what happened to Lorraine, nor does it rule out every possible explanation for a disappearance that remains unresolved years later.

Publicly available current records do not provide evidence establishing whether Lorraine became lost or injured, encountered someone, left the immediate area, or disappeared under other circumstances.

Physical Description and Clothing

Lorraine was 62 years old when she disappeared. She is described as an Alaska Native/American Indian woman approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall and 120 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

The Charley Project states that she may use the last name Englishoe.

Descriptions of her clothing vary slightly in wording but are generally consistent. She was reported wearing a purple or raspberry-colored jacket, a red hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, sneakers or tennis shoes, and knit gloves.

These details remain important because Lorraine has never been located.

The Search Produces No Publicly Announced Breakthrough

NamUs states that multiple searches of the area were unsuccessful in locating Lorraine. Her disappearance eventually became one of Alaska’s many long-running cases involving missing Indigenous people.

In August 2020, an Associated Press report discussing the creation of federal cold-case offices focused on missing and murdered American Indian and Alaska Native people specifically mentioned Lorraine among unresolved Alaska cases. The report noted that she had disappeared after being seen walking near her Fort Yukon home on October 4, 2018.

That broader federal initiative should not, however, be interpreted as proof that investigators determined Lorraine was murdered or that a particular federal cold-case office took primary responsibility for her case. Public records continue to classify her as missing.

Lorraine Ginnis Remains Missing

Lorraine’s disappearance has continued to receive attention from Indigenous organizations and missing-person advocates.

The Tanana Chiefs Conference maintains a missing-person page for Lorraine and lists Alaska State Troopers case AK18072321. Its current missing-person listings continue to categorize Lorraine under Missing Person Active.

The Alaska Department of Public Safety’s current missing-person data also continues to include case AK18072321.

NamUs lists Lorraine as MP52903, with the Alaska State Troopers identified among the investigating-agency information.

Latest Publicly Available Case Information

As of August 15, 2026, the publicly available information reviewed for this article does not reveal a resolution to Lorraine’s disappearance.

The Alaska Department of Public Safety missing-person dataset continues to contain her case. The Tanana Chiefs Conference continues to classify Lorraine as an active missing person, and her NamUs profile remains available under MP52903.

Crime Solvers Central’s Lorraine Ginnis case profile was most recently marked updated August 14, 2026, one day before this review. It continues to describe Lorraine as missing and identifies the Alaska State Troopers as the primary law-enforcement agency, with case number AK18072321.

No credible public source located during this review announced that Lorraine had been found, identified a confirmed suspect, reported an arrest, or disclosed a new piece of physical evidence that resolves what happened after she was last seen.

The case therefore remains a disappearance with a fundamental unanswered question: What happened to Lorraine Ginnis after she was seen walking near her Fort Yukon home on October 4, 2018?

Anyone with first-hand information concerning Lorraine’s movements, contacts, or whereabouts around the time of her disappearance should provide that information to law enforcement rather than attempting to investigate individuals independently.