Duane Ludwig Winget -- Missing Since February 1962

Missing Person: Duane Ludwig Winget
Last-contact date: February 15th, 1962
The area where the MP was last seen: Fort Lewis, Washington in the Pacific Northwest


Link to government source: NamUs #MP35935

Ethnicity: White
Sex: Male
Age at time of disappearance: 23 years old
Hair details: Red/auburn
Eye details: Blue eyes and wore glasses at times
Scars: None known
Height/weight: 5-foot-5 to 5-foot7- and 145 to 170 pounds
BMI: The missing person was overweight by BMI at the time of the last contact, however, he may have had an athletic appearance.
Details from NamUs*: "SPC Winget was last seen on 02/15/1962 while training at Fort Lewis Military Base. He was participating in a hand over hand river crossing training in the Nisqually River when he lost his grip and went down the river. He was never located."
*Grammar or spelling errors are not corrected from original sources.

Duane Ludwig Winget has not been seen since February 15th, 1962 when he was 23. At about that time, he was known to have been from Fort Lewis, Washington.

What stands out with this case, is the fact that his fate can be reasonably assumed. He was performing a military exercise over a hazard. In this case, he lost his grip and fell into a river. He can be presumed drowned or dead from the fall. A relative of Duane's contacted the site and offered the following location of the incident as well as where search efforts took place.



I found a newspaper article associated with this case. It appeared in the Wasau Daily Herald on February 17th, 1962 (page 2). Apparently, Winget's safety belt failed at the exact moment that he suffered some kind of balance mishap. This lead to him falling six feet into the Nisqually River where he was presumed drowned according to the original journalism in the days after his disappearance.

Sat, Feb 17, 1962 – 2 · Wausau Daily Herald (Wausau, Wisconsin) · Newspapers.com

John Does associated with the Nisqually River are candidates for a rule-out with this missing person but after all this time Winget's remains are likely to be separated. I've wondered if his safety vest might contain metal and be embedded along the shores of the river. From that point of view, a metal detector combing the river shores might help with this case.

Note: when people are missing for several years as this person has been, some of their distinctive characteristics may no longer be relevant as identifiers. This is because many distinctive characteristics such as scars, birthmarks, or tattoos may be lost as identifiers through putrefaction if the person has died.

AuthorShane Lambert (Facebook profile)
Facebook GroupMissing Person Commentary
Twitter@UncoolNegated (Twitter)
PinterestMissing Person Board
Original Time of Writing

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.
I am not a Private Investigator, however, I am currently studying to be one as of February 2021.
Website hashtag: #MPCSL

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