Missing From: Minnetonka, Minnesota
Missing: January 1, 1979
Age at Disappearance: 32
Height: 5′ 10″
Weight: 185
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Distinguishing Characteristics: Scars, Marks, Tattoos: Caucasian male. David suffers from scoliosis, and his brother stated he was suffering from depression and mild delusions at the time of his 1979 disappearance. He is classified as disabled. David has a receding hairline, he may have a beard, and his hair was shoulder-length at the time of his disappearance. His eyes may appear green. He has fractured his right arm and has a scar on his right elbow. He sustained injuries in a car accident in 1964; as a result, Thomson’s left leg is three-eighths of an inch shorter than his right leg, and his left arm was foreshortened when his left shoulder shattered.
Details of Disappearance: David was last seen standing by Highway 7 and Williston Road in Minnetoka, Minnesota on July 1, 1979. He was carrying a backpack, but had no other belongings with him. Later that year, he is known to have worked for very brief periods; his last known employers were Lewmont Drilling Associates in Denver, Colorado and Maverick Construction in Casper, Wyoming. There’s no record of the exact dates of his employment, and there’s been no sign of him since 1979. David worked as a writer and journalist and lived in various European countries prior to his disappearance. He wrote a book called In the Shining Mountains: A Would-be Mountain Man in Search of Wilderness; it was published the same year he went missing. The book is about a man who seeks to live like an old-fashioned mountain man, but finds his dream intruded upon by modern society. David’s loved ones believe he may have simply wanted to drop out of society and live off the land like the character in his book.
Investigative Agency: Minnetonka Police Department 952-939-8500 and Texas Department of Public Safety 800-346-3243
If you have any information on this case, please contact CUE Center for Missing Persons at (910) 343-1131 or call the CUE Center 24-hour tip line at (910) 232-1687. All information submitted to CUE Center for Missing Persons is confidential.