Overview

Official NamUs date: May 27, 2020
Location: Carey Lake area, Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska
Age: 40
Status: Missing; unresolved

There is an important discrepancy in publicly available records. NamUs and sources reproducing its data state that Campbell was flown into the Carey Lake area on May 27, 2020. The Charley Project and some later missing-person publications instead list

Detailed Case Breakdown

Nathan Issiac Campbell: The 2020 Disappearance in Alaska’s Denali Wilderness

Nathan Issiac Campbell disappeared during a months-long solo wilderness trip near Carey Lake in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska, in 2020. More than six years later, his whereabouts remain unknown, and his case continues to be listed as an unresolved missing-person investigation.

Campbell was 40 years old when he entered the remote Alaska backcountry. He was approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall and 190 pounds, with blond or strawberry-blond hair and blue eyes. NamUs identifies his case as MP74840 and records his last known contact as May 27, 2020, in Denali National Park.

Date and Location Last Seen

Official NamUs date: May 27, 2020
Location: Carey Lake area, Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska
Age: 40
Status: Missing; unresolved

There is an important discrepancy in publicly available records. NamUs and sources reproducing its data state that Campbell was flown into the Carey Lake area on May 27, 2020. The Charley Project and some later missing-person publications instead list June 13, 2020 as his missing or last-seen date. The available records therefore should not be interpreted as establishing June 13 as the original flight date.

A Months-Long Solo Trip Into Denali

According to the NamUs-based account, Campbell was flown by charter aircraft into the remote Carey Lake region on May 27, 2020. He intended to remain in the Alaska wilderness for an extended period and was eventually supposed to be picked up on September 15.

Campbell brought camping and fishing equipment, a large amount of food stored in containers, a backpack and a Garmin inReach satellite communication device. Independent Alaska journalist Craig Medred reported that charter pilot Jason Sturgis flew Campbell into Carey Lake and described him as a quiet man who nevertheless discussed an unusual purpose for his trip during the flight.

Campbell reportedly told Sturgis that he wanted to search for the supposed “lost pyramid of Alaska,” an underground structure promoted in conspiracy-oriented media. Medred emphasized that there was no evidence of such a structure or secret government installation around Carey Lake and characterized the alleged pyramid as a myth rather than an established archaeological discovery.

The unusual story surrounding Campbell’s destination has attracted considerable online attention, but it does not establish what caused his disappearance.

Communication Apparently Stopped in June

More recent reporting has added detail about what may have happened between Campbell’s arrival and the eventual search.

A Locations Unknown episode published in August 2026 reports that Campbell remained in contact with his wife through his Garmin inReach until approximately mid-June and then abruptly stopped communicating. The same account says the device was eventually recovered at his campsite.

Earlier reporting based on interviews with pilot Jason Sturgis also indicated that Campbell’s wife became concerned in June after communications stopped. According to that account, GPS information associated with his last communications placed him several miles from Carey Lake. Sturgis reportedly could not land his floatplane at that location and suggested that a helicopter be used to check the area.

Those details help explain why some sources identify June 13 as significant even though NamUs uses May 27 as the official last-contact date.

September 15 Arrived, but Campbell Did Not

Campbell’s planned extraction date was September 15, 2020. He was expected either to arrange an earlier flight out or be retrieved around that date. He did neither.

National Park Service personnel were notified that Campbell was missing in September and began searching the remote northwest portion of Denali National Park. According to contemporary reporting, authorities located supplies he had cached near Carey Lake. Several miles from those supplies they found a collapsed tent.

Inside the tent was Campbell’s diary. The journal had apparently been damaged by rodents, limiting what investigators could recover from it. Authorities described most of the remaining entries as routine descriptions of daily life in camp.

The final readable entry contained one of the case’s most significant clues: Campbell wrote that he was leaving camp to get water.

He apparently never returned.

What Searchers Found — and What They Did Not Find

Searchers recovered Campbell’s campsite, food supplies and other equipment, but no confirmed remains or definitive evidence explaining where he went after leaving the tent.

The 2026 Locations Unknown review reports that searchers found no body, clothing or clear trail that established Campbell’s subsequent movements. It also reports that his satellite communicator was recovered with the abandoned camp.

The terrain surrounding Carey Lake is extraordinarily isolated. Contemporary reporting described dense alder growth, wetlands and other conditions that can make cross-country travel extremely difficult. Campbell’s presumed route after leaving camp has never been publicly established.

Did Nathan Campbell Die in a Wilderness Accident?

The publicly stated theory has generally centered on an accident, injury, exposure or another wilderness-related event.

The Charley Project classifies Campbell as a lost/injured missing person and states that he is presumed to have become lost or injured and died in a mishap within the park. No publicly available evidence establishes a homicide, and no publicly identified suspect or person of interest has been announced in connection with his disappearance.

Denali chief ranger Erica Jostad told Medred in October 2020 that authorities believed it likely Campbell had died somewhere in the wilderness surrounding Carey Lake.

Without Campbell’s remains or other conclusive evidence, however, the precise cause of his disappearance cannot be established from the public record.

The Alaska Pyramid Story

Campbell’s reported interest in the so-called “lost pyramid of Alaska” has become one of the most widely repeated aspects of the case.

Pilot Jason Sturgis told Craig Medred that Campbell referred to the expedition as his “Indiana Jones adventure.” Campbell apparently believed the Carey Lake area might lead him toward a rumored underground pyramid described in fringe media and television programs.

There is no verified evidence presented in the investigation that such a pyramid exists or that Campbell encountered any secret installation. Medred’s examination of the claim found no visible government development within the area that would support the story.

The distinction is important: Campbell’s reported belief may help explain why he chose that remote area, but it does not explain what happened to him after he arrived.

Latest Publicly Available Investigation Information

As of August 2026, Campbell remains publicly listed as missing, with no announced recovery of his remains and no publicly reported resolution of the investigation.

Current NamUs-derived case information identifies the investigating agency as the National Park Service and associates the investigation with case number 2020-02196. NamUs case MP74840 remains the primary national missing-person reference. A July 2026 update on Crime Solvers Central continued to identify the case as unresolved.

The most recent substantial public examination located for this article is the August 3, 2026 Locations Unknown episode devoted to Campbell’s disappearance. It revisits the reported May 27 flight, his inReach communications through approximately mid-June, the September missed pickup, the abandoned camp, recovered communicator and damaged diary. It does not report a new law-enforcement discovery, recovery, suspect or confirmed explanation for Campbell’s disappearance.

Campbell’s disappearance therefore remains an unresolved Alaska wilderness missing-person case whose most important physical clue may still be the final surviving entry in his diary: he had left camp to obtain water.

Main Points of the Case

The case remains unresolved as of August 2026.

Nathan Issiac Campbell was 40 when he disappeared during an extended solo trip in Denali National Park and Preserve.

NamUs records May 27, 2020 as his last contact and identifies his case as MP74840.

Several secondary sources instead use June 13, 2020, creating a documented discrepancy in the public chronology.

He reportedly carried food, fishing and camping equipment and a Garmin inReach satellite communicator.

Campbell reportedly communicated with his wife until approximately mid-June.

He was supposed to arrange an earlier flight or be picked up on September 15, 2020.

Searchers found supplies near Carey Lake and a collapsed campsite several miles away.

Campbell’s damaged diary was recovered from the tent.

Its final readable entry indicated that he was leaving to get water.

No confirmed remains, clothing or definitive trail explaining his fate have been publicly reported.

Public authorities and case databases have generally treated a wilderness accident, injury or exposure as the leading possibility rather than homicide.

The National Park Service investigation is associated with case 2020-02196.