Topic: National Park Service

Clarence Dutton, a polymath and reported member of Yale's Skull and Bones, led the American Geographical Society's efforts to map the Colorado Plateau. The organization is described as a deeply occultic group that sought out power spots and hidden knowledge under the guise of government exploration. This exploration led to the National Monument Act and the federal seizure of lands like the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone.

David Paulides explains that Yosemite National Park remains the largest cluster of missing people in his research. He details the difficulty of obtaining information from the National Park Service, noting that they initially denied having any lists of missing persons despite standard police practices. After nine years of Freedom of Information Act requests and public pressure, Yosemite finally released a list, though other national parks and monuments continue to withhold such data.

Host Greg Carlwood introduces David Paulides and his Missing 411 research series, which documents thousands of unexplained disappearances in national parks and remote areas. The discussion contrasts these cases with typical conspiracy theories by highlighting the abundance of victims and evidence despite a lack of logical explanations. Paulides' background in law enforcement and his four-volume book series serve as the foundation for exploring these global phenomena.

David Paulides describes his organization, the CanAm Missing Project, and its difficulties obtaining records from the National Park Service through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Despite having a large federal law enforcement contingent, the Park Service claimed they do not keep a centralized list of missing persons across their 183 locations. Paulides argues this lack of transparency is suspicious given the agency's meticulous tracking of other park resources.

Paulides describes a conversation with a retired National Park Service special agent who attributed the agency's evasiveness to a "complete lack of integrity." The discussion suggests the Park Service prioritizes maintaining a safe image and protecting park revenue over providing transparent information to the families of the missing. This institutional culture of silence has left many families, like the Martins, deeply distrustful of the government.

Paul Serup recounts his failed attempts to get his book stocked at the Ford's Theatre and National Park Service bookstores, citing a lack of response as a form of soft censorship. The conversation then turns to the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, described as a system of institutionalized slavery for "fallen" women. Serup notes that the last of these Irish convent prisons did not close until 1996.