Brian Douglas Faughnan: Missing in Whistler Since July 2002

Missing Person Fact Sheet: Brian Douglas Faughnan

Name: Brian Douglas Faughnan
Age at Disappearance: 35
Born: June 6th, 1967
Date Missing: July 12th, 2002 (Friday)
Location: Whistler, British Columbia, Canada
Sex: Male

Ethnicity: Caucasian
Height: 6'0"
Weight: Approximately 185 lbs.
Hair Color: Looks brown/blonde in photo
Eye Color: Not specified; likely wearing glasses (clear or prescription sunglasses)
Distinctive Characteristics: Not noted in provided sources

Clothing and Accessories:

• Possibly wearing a lightweight bright red windbreaker or a darker red jacket.
• Likely wearing shorts, but if wearing pants, possibly Columbia Trekker Convertible Pants in "fossil" color (grey-beige).
• May have been wearing a denim baseball cap, particularly in sun-exposed areas.
• Carrying a yellow 50 L Mountain Equipment Co-Op backpack, possibly with a climbing or ice axe lashed to it.
• Source

Occupation: Aerospace engineer and science fiction screenwriter from Montreal.
Family: Brothers John and Steven Faughnan mentioned.
Government Source: RCMP Reference File 02-4306

Transportation

No vehicle details provided. Brian may have been hitchhiking to the Rainbow Mountain trailhead, as speculated by his family, but no confirmation exists.

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Case Overview

Last Known Location: Brian Douglas Faughnan was last seen leaving the Shoestring Lodge in Whistler mid-morning on Friday, July 12th, 2002, after asking for directions to the Rainbow Mountain trailhead. This sighting was on video footage at 9:57am that morning, according to an online source (Brian Faughnan - Summary).

That makes the lodge his last-known location and it was located at 7124 Nancy Greene Drive. In modern times, that would be near Nester's Market on the Sea-to-Sky Highway. The lodge does not appear on Google Maps, to my knowledge, as the intersection only went back to September 2007.

The lodge has been closed for quite a number of years. But it looks like it was a hostel or on the budget-friendly side for sure. I am thinking "Shoestring" might have been a play on "shoestring budget." An article from 2007 in Pique Newsmagazine referenced the closure and budget orientation (Vivian Moreau/July 28th, 2007).

The online source suggested other places are possible areas where Brian was last seen. This included a conversation with a man named Steve, who operated the tour bus that Brian was with. Furthermore, the same article suggests Brian may have gone to a place called Wild Willy's (probably Whistler Village). I think this was a ski shop but for summertime Whistler tourists, maybe it offered services to hikers. There are no definite or confirmed sightings after he left the lodge, to my knowledge, and it’s unknown if he reached the trails.

Comparing Brian Faughnan’s Disappearance to Paula Jean Welden’s Case: History Repeats Itself?

At the heart of Brian Douglas Faughnan’s disappearance in Whistler, British Columbia, in 2002, lies a striking parallel with another missing hiker from across the decades and across the continent. Paula Jean Welden's case shares eerie similarities to Brian's. For readers familiar with Brian’s story, Paula’s case offers a haunting comparison, particularly in their shared dependence on guidance before embarking on their journeys. 

Central to Brian’s last-known activities was his reliance on directions and this shows an apparent disorientation from the outset of his hiking plans. Paula Jean Welden was like this as well and her sustained disappearance for nearly 80 years as of 2025 casts a grim shadow over Brian's case.

Paula Jean Welden was an 18-year-old college student who vanished on December 1st, 1946, while attempting to hike the Long Trail near Glastenbury Mountain, Vermont. Unfamiliar with the area, she relied on directions from others: a man named Lou Knapp dropped her off near Route 9 around 2:45 PM, and another man named Ernie Whitman guided her toward the trail around 4:00 PM, just before sunset.

Like Brian, Paula’s dependence on external guidance highlights a critical vulnerability. Brian needed directions to the Rainbow Mountain trail network and even just The Valley Trail, which runs throughout Whistler. He was lost from the start—not just physically but in his planning. He did not appear ready to tackle a challenging trip in the rugged Coast Mountains, where harsh weather and remote terrain could easily overwhelm a solo hiker.

Both cases also raise the specter of hitchhiking-related disappearances. Paula was known to have hitchhiked the day she disappeared but she survived that part of her day. 

Similarly, Brian’s family speculated he might have been abducted while hitchhiking to a trailhead, given his lack of confirmed transportation after leaving the Shoestring Lodge. While no evidence confirms abduction in either case, the hitchhiking element introduces a shared risk of encountering danger en route.

But, in my opinion, Paula and Brian’s reliance on directions underscores their unfamiliarity with their environments, amplifying the perils of solo hiking. Brian’s apparent disorientation mirrors Paula’s struggle to locate her trailhead, suggesting both were ill-prepared for the challenges ahead. For Brian, this initial confusion paints a bleak picture of his chances in the unforgiving Coast Mountains, much like Paula’s likely fate in Vermont’s frozen wilderness, leaving both cases as enduring mysteries of hikers lost to the unknown.

Brian Douglas Faughnan: Youth Hostel Connections

The "youth hostel" tag does not appear with a lot of missing people on my website. However, I can think of a couple of cases where a missing person's case was associated with one.

Elisa Lam was last seen on footage at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles, which offered hostel-like dorms in some rooms. Also, Angela Hartmann was a backpacker in western Canada who used hostels and has been missing for decades. I think they are a bit riskier to use because the cheaper the place, the bigger the chance is of meeting someone on the clandestine side.