Overview

Last Seen: November 4, 1967
Location: Meadow Valley/Quincy, Plumas County, California
Age: 13
Classification: Endangered Missing

Main circumstances: Mark left his Meadow Valley home shortly after 2:00 p.m. intending to hitchhike to Quincy to see a movie. He never returned and has never been heard from again.

Major later development: Three human-remains detection dogs independently alerted at an abandoned well near the area where Mark had lived. Investigators pursued the location, and potential DNA evidence was later collected, but publicly reported testing did not produce usable DNA establishing that Mark was there.

Current status: Mark remains missing. No publicly confirmed cause of disappearance or death has been establish

Detailed Case Breakdown

Mark Wendell Wilson: The 1967 Disappearance of a 13-Year-Old Boy in Plumas County, California

Thirteen-year-old Mark Wendell Wilson disappeared on November 4, 1967, after leaving his home in Meadow Valley, California, intending to travel to nearby Quincy to see a movie. Nearly six decades later, Mark has never been found, and his disappearance remains an active unresolved missing-person case.

The case has endured through generations of investigators, searches, publicity and advances in forensic science. One of its most significant developments came decades after Mark vanished, when multiple human-remains detection dogs independently alerted at an abandoned well near the area where he had lived.

The Disappearance of Mark Wendell Wilson

Mark Wendell Wilson was born October 4, 1954. At the time he disappeared, he was 13 years old and an eighth-grade student at Quincy Junior-Senior High School.

On Saturday, November 4, 1967, Mark left his family’s home in Meadow Valley shortly after 2:00 p.m. He told his parents that he planned to hitchhike into Quincy to see a movie.

Mark reportedly had only about $1 with him. His family was unaware of problems that would have given him a reason to deliberately run away.

He never returned home.

Mark has never been seen or heard from again.

What Mark Wilson Looked Like

Mark was approximately 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighed about 110 pounds. He had blue eyes, with his hair variously described as dark blond, blond or brown.

One of his distinguishing characteristics was a slight dimple on one of his earlobes. He was also wearing a dental retainer when he disappeared, and dental X-rays are available.

Descriptions of Mark’s clothing vary slightly among sources, but authorities generally describe him as wearing dark pants, a dark sweatshirt, a white jacket or parka, and tennis shoes.

His friends reportedly called him “Wilson.”

The Initial Search

Mark’s disappearance prompted a law-enforcement response almost immediately.

Contemporary information later reported about the investigation indicates that the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office issued an all-points bulletin to law-enforcement agencies in the region. Then-Sheriff W.C. Abernethy reportedly traveled throughout California following potential leads, and missing-person flyers were eventually distributed nationwide.

Mark’s mother, Betty Wilson, also offered a $500 reward for information that could help locate her son.

Despite those efforts, investigators did not develop a lead that conclusively established what happened after Mark left home.

A Case That Refused to Completely Go Cold

Decades passed without Mark being located, but the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office continued revisiting his disappearance.

The case received renewed attention in 2013 and 2014 after human-remains detection dogs were brought into the Meadow Valley area.

An abandoned well on private property became the focus.

According to reporting about the investigation, three different trained dogs independently alerted at the well. Then-Plumas County Sheriff Greg Hagwood considered the repeated alerts significant enough to warrant further investigation.

The location was particularly noteworthy because it was near the area where Mark lived when he disappeared.

However, a dog’s alert alone could not establish that human remains were actually present, much less that any remains were Mark’s.

FBI Assistance and the Proposed Well Excavation

By 2014, investigators were considering a forensic excavation of the well.

The Associated Press later reported that the FBI had offered forensic assistance. The proposed excavation presented a major obstacle, however: digging up and subsequently restoring the privately owned property was expected to cost approximately $96,000.

The county did not initially provide the necessary funding.

Despite that obstacle, Sheriff Hagwood publicly indicated that the repeated alerts were something investigators could not simply ignore.

The investigation continued.

DNA Evidence Collected From the Well

There was another development in March 2016.

Two students from California State University, Sacramento reportedly collected potential DNA evidence from the Meadow Valley well as part of efforts to determine whether the location might hold an answer to Mark’s disappearance.

Subsequent reporting discussed in contemporary case records indicated that the material ultimately did not produce usable DNA capable of resolving Mark’s case.

That meant the well investigation, despite the repeated canine alerts and years of interest, did not provide the long-awaited answer.

No publicly available evidence establishes that Mark’s remains were ever recovered from the well.

Was Mark Abducted, Injured or Killed?

No publicly established explanation accounts for Mark’s disappearance.

Because Mark intended to hitchhike from Meadow Valley toward Quincy, the possibility that he accepted a ride and encountered someone who harmed him cannot be excluded.

An accident is another possibility. Plumas County is heavily rural, mountainous and wooded, and abandoned wells, mining areas and wilderness terrain have also contributed to theories that Mark could have suffered an accident.

The well investigation created another possibility, but the available forensic work did not establish that Mark was ever inside it.

For those reasons, it would be inaccurate to describe Mark as a confirmed homicide victim.

He remains a missing person.

Latest Available Case Information

As of the latest publicly available records reviewed, Mark Wendell Wilson remains missing and his case remains unsolved.

The California Department of Justice continues to maintain an official missing-person entry for Mark. The agency lists the Plumas County Sheriff’s Department as the reporting agency and case number 673583.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children also continues to maintain an active missing-child poster for Mark. NCMEC lists him as missing from Quincy, California, since November 4, 1967, under NCMEC case number 903108 and NCIC number M534120107.

NCMEC’s current poster shows Mark age-progressed to approximately age 59. Had he survived, Mark would now be in his early seventies.

NamUs-related records identify his case as MP6818.

The Charley Project, which most recently updated its Mark Wilson case page on October 24, 2025, continues to classify him as endangered missing and states that his case remains unsolved.

No credible publicly available announcement was located indicating that Mark has been found, that remains have been identified as his, or that a suspect has been charged in connection with his disappearance.

Very Brief Case Summary

Last Seen: November 4, 1967
Location: Meadow Valley/Quincy, Plumas County, California
Age: 13
Classification: Endangered Missing

Main circumstances: Mark left his Meadow Valley home shortly after 2:00 p.m. intending to hitchhike to Quincy to see a movie. He never returned and has never been heard from again.

Major later development: Three human-remains detection dogs independently alerted at an abandoned well near the area where Mark had lived. Investigators pursued the location, and potential DNA evidence was later collected, but publicly reported testing did not produce usable DNA establishing that Mark was there.

Current status: Mark remains missing. No publicly confirmed cause of disappearance or death has been established.