A Marine and his friend vanished in ‘The Desert.’ The mystery lingers despite discovery of the friend’s bones

Editor’s notice: This text is No. 3 in a collection as The Vault studies on lacking individuals in North Dakota, whose circumstances are logged in 

a brand new database

from the North Dakota Workplace of the Lawyer Common.

Marine Sergeant Bruce Falconer was on depart in his hometown of Bismarck when he and longtime good friend Timothy Jewell hit the city to rejoice.

Falconer was contemporary off his promotion and simply days away from a switch that might take him south to Yuma, Arizona.

Life for the younger Marine appeared promising.

Falconer and Jewell have been final seen driving away from a Bismarck bar within the Marine’s Chevrolet Blazer on the night of Feb. 20, 1981. 5 days later, the automobile they have been driving was found alongside the Missouri River in an space identified by locals as “The Desert.”

Massive-scale search efforts carried out by surrounding legislation enforcement departments and the Air Nationwide Guard within the days, weeks and months following their disappearance didn’t flip up any clues.

After exhausting all leads, the case went chilly — till 12 years later, when there was a monumental break within the case.

Jewell and Falconer have been reported to have been at a number of bars the night earlier than they went lacking.

Primarily based on interviews with witnesses who noticed the younger males out, investigators decided they possible drove to The Desert at round 1:30 a.m. on Feb. 21.

Regardless of not coming house that weekend, the 2 weren’t reported lacking till Feb. 24. Bruce Falconer’s mom, Dorothy Falconer, made the decision to authorities.

His mom informed authorities that her son was in an excellent place in life, and certain wouldn’t stroll away from all of it. He additionally had paychecks at house that he had but to money. All indicators pointed to one thing being terribly unsuitable.

Her motherly instincts have been appropriate.

The following day, the automobile they have been driving was positioned in what is named “The Desert,” alongside the Missouri River. The Blazer was discovered coated in mud, in line with a Bismarck Tribune article written within the following days.

The invention prompted a scouring of the realm, by each land and sky. There have been theories that the 2 younger males obtained out of the automobile and tried to make their technique to the closest shining lights, which might have taken them throughout the icy river. In line with that idea, they might have fallen in.

Leads additionally poured in to the Burleigh County Sheriff’s Workplace. In the end, they have been all dismissed.

Burleigh County Sheriff Bob Harvey stated in a 1981 Bismarck Tribune article that the main idea was that the 2 younger males obtained out of the automobile and tried to make a hearth to remain heat. From there, they might have succumbed to the icy parts that outline winter in North Dakota.

Lower than one month later, Harvey theorized that the 2 younger males possible didn’t make it out alive.

“We have now to attract the idea they’re in there (the Desert someplace,” Burleigh County Sheriff Bob Harvey stated in a 1981 Bismarck Tribune story. “And if they’re within the space they’re now not alive.”

By November, Harvey gave up hope altogether.

“We’re happening the idea that they’re useless. It simply doesn’t appear very logical that two guys simply up, stroll away and disappear,” Harvey stated in a Bismarck Tribune article.

Jewell and Falconer have been each thought-about legally useless 5 months after their automobile was found.

Nonetheless, the division saved the case open to new discoveries.

Greater than ten years later, they discovered solutions — at the least for members of the family of one of many younger males.

In December of 1993, a hunter stumbled upon skeletal stays in the identical space the place the 2 males’s automobile was found. The story made headlines in native newspapers, but Harvey was hesitant to make any connection between the stays and the case of Falconer and Jewell till a forensic evaluation was full.

By April, forensic evaluation confirmed that the stays belonged to Jewell. There have been no indicators of harm. It was believed he died of pure causes.

On the time Jewell’s stays have been found, his household had already held a memorial service. But, the 1993 discovery allowed the household to carry a graveside service, which they did weeks after the invention.

“Tim has been in our hearts and prayers because the date of his disappearance and can proceed to be missed by all who knew him,” Jewell’s obituary said.

After the confirmed discovery, the sheriff’s division made continued efforts to search out the stays of Bruce Falconer. To today, his stays haven’t been found.

In case you have any data associated to the disappearance of Bruce Falconer, lease contact the Burleigh County Sheriff’s Workplace at 701-222-6651.