Jesse Glen Pinegar: Missing in Hawaii Since 2008 - Unsolved Case

The Disappearance of Jesse Glen Pinegar: An Unsolved Mystery

Details from Utah's Department of Public Safety**: 

"Jesse Glen Pinegar flew to Hawaii from his home in Orem, Utah for a vacation in January 2008. He hiked into the Kalalau Valley and set up a campsite five miles from the trailhead. He stayed in contact with his family by cellular phone. His family last heard from him on March 24, 2008. He told them he was going to take one last hike before coming back home to attend a family event. He has never been seen again. After his disappearance, another hiker found Pinegar’s campsite abandoned with all his personal belongings, including his clothing, camping equipment and iPod, only his wallet, cellular phone and backpack were missing. His case remains unsolved."

Key Details of Jesse Glen Pinegar’s Missing Person Case

Missing Person: Jesse Glen Pinegar
Last-contact date: March 24th, 2008
The area where the MP was last seen: Waiahuakua Valley, Hawaii, likely near the Hanakoa Stream on the Kalalau Trail.
Link to government source: NamUs MP 

VITAL DETAILS

Ethnicity: White/Caucasian
Sex: Male
Age at time of disappearance: 22 years old
Birthdate: October 28th, 1985
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Scar: No scars known
Height/weight: 5'6" to 6'2" and 170 to 185 pounds
Tattoos: This missing person might be identifiable through his tattoos. Please note that he had the following: Celtic Tree of Life, right shoulder, includes only the tree, not the green border. Celtic Boar on his left side.

18 Feb 2021, Thu Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus, Georgia) Newspapers.com

Timeline of Jesse Glen Pinegar’s Last Known Moments

Jesse Glen Pinegar, a missing person, was last heard from on March 24th, 2008 when he was 22 years old. This individual was missing for about 13 years as of the original publication date of this blog post. However, as of 2025, he has been missing for 17 years.

This individual was from Orem, Utah. He was reported missing on April 13th, 2008. That was 20 days after he made a final phone call to his family advising that he was going hiking.

One thing that I noticed while researching this case was that NamUs and CharleyProject gave different heights for the individual. NamUs has him at 5'7" at the taller range and CharleyProject had him at 6'2".

I listed the entire range and decided not to include BMI in this case. Meanwhile, a news source said he was 6'1" so it seems no one knows his exact height.

Of course, if he is found as a John Doe, then having his height correct could definitely help ahead of DNA testing (which can take a very long time to conduct).

02 May 2008, Fri The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, Hawaii) Newspapers.com

This individual appeared to be an avid hiker and nature enthusiast. In his last contact, he indicated that he was going to take "one last hike" before he planned to return to Utah.

That phrase is quoted from NamUs and it's unclear if he used the term verbatim. There are dark undertones with the use of the statement, hinting at suicide in respect to the fact that he has now been unaccounted for since 2008. However, it could also be that he had grandiose plans for his last hike as well, which may have included greater risks as he knew he might not be in the area again.

He is thought to have had his wallet, his backpack, and his cell phone with him during this last hike. Other items he owned were found at a campsite by another hiker. Jesse had been in Hawaii since January 2008.

Exploring the Kalalau Trail: Jesse’s Last Hike

The sources on this missing person case all stated that his campsite was five miles from a trailhead. I believe that trailhead was the Kalalau Trail.

This trail is one that you can 'drop down' on using Google Maps. When I look at the five-mile point, it seems that it was very close to Hanakoa Stream. I did find a newspaper article that said this stream was the five-mile point on the trail. A stream would certainly be a strategic spot to set up camp.

Accordingly, I wondered if this stream was Jesse Pinegar's source of freshwater as he camped. If so, then it should be noted that this stream is known for flash flooding and disappearing people. 

Take a moment to read the articles snipped below as they highlight how dangerous this area is.

24 Jan 1980, Thu The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, Hawaii) Newspapers.com

10 Aug 2014, Sun Honolulu Star-Advertiser (Honolulu, Hawaii) Newspapers.com

There are a lot of missing hikers in the world or missing people that were associated with hiking trails in the events that preceded their disappearances. Perhaps the most famous missing hiker is Paula Jean Welden, missing since 1945 from Bennington, Vermont, and well-covered in this blog.

My understanding of the Jesse Pinegar case was that he was pretty familiar with the area despite the fact that he was from out of state. That's the impression that I got from reading about his case. I think the fact that he set up camp indicates that he was in the area for at least a short time.

Furthermore, he said in his last phone call that he was going for "one last hike." That suggests that he had taken multiple, if not numerous, hikes already in the area. I would say that the phrase has an ominous characteristic as well. It does strike me as strange that he should survive all of his previous hikes before disappearing on what he said would be his last.

The Dangers of Hiking Alone on the Kalalau Trail

But I decided to focus on the dangerous trail in this case. My research into the Kalalau Trail found that there are cases of missing people on it from time to time. However, in a couple of cases I looked at, the people were found. Hiking is never perfectly safe and hiking alone is a no-no according to hiking safety manuals. 

05 Sep 2020, Sat The Garden Island (Lihue, Hawaii) Newspapers.com

My former blog is a hiking blog and I will say this: experienced hikers can suffer mishaps. That's especially the case for someone hiking alone as Jesse seems to have been. But, if we throw out suicide, my guess is that it wasn't hiking trails that disappeared Jesse but the ocean.

Could Rogue Waves Explain Jesse Pinegar’s Disappearance?

In my research of the area where he went missing, I understood that the beaches had instances of rogue waves. These kinds of waves are not tidal waves. However, they can claim people from beaches or rocks. They are random in the sense that their occurrences cannot really be predicted. If there are rogue waves known to affect the region, then it stands to reason that there can also be large waves. 

Kami Vollendroff is an individual that's missing from Oregon whose case is covered in this blog. She and her friend were thought to have been claimed by a large wave as they walked beachside. It could happen to anyone that walks along the ocean side.

To investigate the chance that a large wave or rogue wave might have claimed Jesse, we do need to presume that his final hike before heading back to Utah would have been to the beach. I can think of no way of proving that.

However, Utah, his home, is inland and mountainous. Take it or leave it, but I think he's more likely to take one last look at the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii before heading back to Orem than do a mountain trail.

Why the Kalalau Trail Remains a Dangerous Mystery

I had another look at this case in March 2025. There had been another disappearance in the area, one that affected Lauren M. Cameron, a 32-year-old woman from Anchorage, Alaska.

She was at Hanakāpīʻai Beach on the Kalalau Trail in Kauai, Hawaii, and her disappearance serves to underline the enduring danger of the greater area. 

On December 11th, 2024, around 3:00 PM, Kauai officials were alerted to a swimmer in distress at Hanakāpīʻai Beach, just two miles from the Kē‘ē Beach trailhead. Reports suggest Cameron entered the water, possibly to rinse off after a hike

But this was only to be swept away by powerful currents. That she was hiking and ended up lost to the ocean is a stark similarity to the theories that Pinegar, who was a hiker in the area, may have been claimed by the ocean. 

Her boyfriend tossed a flotation device in a futile attempt to save her, and she was last seen in a blue bikini, clinging to rocks 100 yards west of the beach before vanishing into the surf. Unlike Pinegar, whose campsite was found abandoned with belongings intact, Cameron’s disappearance unfolded in real-time near the water, yet both cases point to the trail’s lethal mix of isolation and unpredictable coastal hazards.

Furthermore, the terms "Kalalau Trail" and "rogue wave" produced some hits in Newspaper.com's archive. Notably, a rogue wave made news in 2020 along the trail with people displaced due to its force. I think Jesse might have been affected by a large wave in 2008, even if it wasn't a rogue wave.

02 Jan 2020, Thu The Garden Island (Lihue, Hawaii) Newspapers.com

Furthermore, the Kalalau Trail, in my research, struck me as more dangerous than most trails. The area has steep and unstable surfaces that seem to lead to hazards below. In fact, this trail was named as a top-ten trail for danger in 2008 by Backpacker Magazine. That's the same year that Jesse went missing. It really seems that there are a dozen ways to meet danger on the Kalalau Trail. I recommend clicking and reading the snipped article below.

22 Jun 2014, Sun Honolulu Star-Advertiser (Honolulu, Hawaii) Newspapers.com

If Jesse was lost to the water, then the chances of finding him are remote. If he's in the forest, then it stands to reason that he'll eventually be found. However, one look at the following Youtube video and you will get a great idea of just how dangerous this trail is for hikers.

One source I found said that he had previously fractured his ankle and arm. Honestly, I don't like the source that much but it appeared to have copied and pasted a previous version of Jesse's NamUs profile. Bone fractures are important when comparing missing people to unidentified remains so they are worth noting.

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Author: S.K. Lambert (Blogger Hobbyist and Freelance Writer)

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

S.K. Lambert (Blogger Hobbyist and Freelance Writer) is not a Private Investigator, however, he is currently studying to be one as of March 2021.

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*For BMI values, I use the UPPER or HIGHER ranges that are given for height and weight.
**Text might be paraphrased. If taken verbatim, then grammar or spelling errors are not necessarily corrected from original sources.
Disclaimer: Whenever possible, government sources are preferred for getting the details of a missing persons case. However, any source that the article writer deems reputable may be used.

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