Hey, everyone. I first heard this week’s Mystery Monday years ago on the television show Unsolved Mysteries. You may or may not have heard of this story, but it is an intriguing mystery.
Glen and Bessie Hyde met in 1927 while traveling on a passenger ship to Los Angeles. They married on April 10, 1928, one day after Bessie’s divorce from her first husband was finalized.
Glen and Bessie Hyde
Glen Hyde was from Twin Falls, Idaho and had some experience with river running. The couple went to Green River, Utah with the idea of running the Green and Colorado rivers as a honeymoon trip. Glen built his own boat, a twenty-foot wooden sweep scow. He and Bessie departed Green River on October 28.
Twenty-six days later, they arrived at Bright Angel Trail in the heart of Grand Canyon where they met famed photographer Emory Kolb. Supposedly, Bessie was tired of the trip. Kolb asked them to stay with him through the winter and warned then of the dangers ahead.
Glen refused to heed any warnings and declined the loan of Kolb’s life jackets. November 18, 1928, was the last time anyone saw the couple.
Weeks later, when the couple failed to appear, a search team was organized. They located the boat floating intact near an area called Diamond Creek. Bessie’s diary was inside, with the last entry made on November 30. Nothing indicated the couple was in distress. A more extensive search yielded no clues. The search team never located their bodies.
That’s when speculation began. Some claimed Bessie killed Glen because she was unhappy and wanted to get out of the trip.
In the early 1970s, a group rafting down the Colorado stopped for the night near Diamond Creek. The guide relayed the story of Glen and Bessie. An older woman claimed she was Bessie and that she killed Glen. She later recanted the story.
After the death of Emory Kolb in 1976, a man’s skeleton was found in his boathouse. Many thought it to be Glen Hyde and that Kolb killed Hyde because he was in love with Bessie. But experts compared the skull to a photograph of Glen and determined the skeleton didn’t belong to him.
In 1992, a famed rafter named Georgie Clark passed away. Friends discovered her first name was Bessie, and she had a copy of Glen and Bessie’s marriage certificate. However, Georgie Clark had no resemblance to Bessie Hyde. It’s unclear why she had these items.
The mystery of the Hyde’s disappearance will likely never be solved, but it does make for a good story. Especially if rafting along the Colorado River and stopping for the night at Diamond Creek.
23 Responses
An true mystery. I’ve never heard this story, Joan. I wonder if they did an DNA test on Georgie, in case she changed her looks?
That’s an interesting thought, Denise. If I recall, Georgie’s whereabouts were well documented during the time of Bessie’s disappearance. However, it’s interesting she had their marriage certificate and other things.
That does make you wonder why.
What a great mystery tale, Joan. Thanks for sharing. Like Denise, I too wonder what modern DNA testing would discover on the buried skeleton in the boathouse and on Georgie’s remains. Reblogged this on: https://harmonykent.co.uk/glen-and-bessie-hyde-mysterymonday/
Modern DNA would certainly answer a lot of questions. The skeleton was later thought to be a hiker who disappeared in the canyon decades later. It’s still a mystery at why Mr. Kolb had it in his boathouse.
I think Georgie knew something if she wasn’t actually Bessie. Too bad no one got a chance to interview Georgie before she died. What an interesting (and sad) mystery!
Certainly sounds suspicious, doesn’t it? This is another one of those mysteries that likely won’t ever be solved.
Another mystery for speculation. Maybe someday. But, some things are better left to the imagination.
I agree!
What a strange story. It would make a neat ghost story as a modern person tries to unravel the mystery with a bit of supernatural help. People have to take the wilderness seriously. There might not be anything nefarious here, but the wilderness can be cruel and unforgiving.
These real life events do make good fodder for fiction. You’re right about the forces of nature. Lots of things can happen.
I heard this story on a rafting trip through the canyon a few years ago. It is intriguing each time I hear it! I’m guessing it is one of those forever mysteries!
How neat that you’ve rafted the Colorado! I’ve only seen it from the rim of the canyon. I agree, this is probably one of those mysteries we’ll never know the answer to. Thanks for the visit.
I’ve never heard this story before, Joan. Fascinating and sad. It’s very weird that Georgie had the marriage license belonging to Glen and Bessie. Surely she must have encountered them (or one of them) at some point. Was she related in any type of way?
The other thing this makes me think of is an ongoing mystery about how thousands of people have disappeared from National Parks across the country without explanation. Most likely due to inexperience in the wilderness, but there are a host of conspiracy theories out there.
A fascinating Mystery Monday!
It is strange about Georgie. These disappearances made for some great story ideas.
That is fascinating and frightening. It could happen to any of us.
So true. People disappear all the time in the wilderness. Even in modern times b
Georgie’s part in all this makes me wonder more than the missing couple. I’ve never seen it, but would guess the Colorado is a big, fast-moving river, it would be easy for drowning victims to travel quite far before settling into a nook or cranny somewhere- not necessarily together. Then, with animals preying on the remains, they could be stretched out even further.
But, Georgie… that has me wondering 🙂
Jacquie, you are right, the Colorado River is fast-moving with lots of rapids. The Hyde’s disappeared at one of the roughest areas to navigate. But I do wonder what Georgie may have known.
This is such a great story, Joan. I am really enjoying this series. So creepy, especially as it is true.
Thanks, Robbie. I enjoy writing them as well. I’ve learned a lot and stories make good ideas for fiction.
[…] Mystery Monday: Glen and Bessie Hyde […]
[…] This year, I’ll feature more unexplained disappearances in national parks. One of the most mysterious was the story of Glen and Bessie Hyde in the Grand Canyon. In 1928, the Hydes attempted to raft the Colorado River. Their story was one of my first Mystery Monday posts. […]