Kayak Found Abandoned on Beach, Footprints Believed to Be Chris Palmer’s Spark Hope in Outer Banks Search
The relentless Atlantic winds whipped across the dunes of Cape Hatteras National Seashore on a crisp January morning when a routine patrol made what could prove to be the breakthrough everyone had been waiting for. Near the remote stretch of beach close to Buxton, search teams stumbled upon a blue-and-white kayak half-buried in the sand, its hull scuffed and paddle missing. Just yards away, fresh footprints—small boot prints consistent with a man’s size—trailed toward the low maritime scrub and then vanished into the thicker vegetation. Authorities believe these belong to Christopher Lee Palmer, the 39-year-old Arkansas man who has been the focus of an intense, multi-agency search since his red Ford F-250 was found abandoned on the same beach more than a week earlier.
The discovery has injected fresh momentum into what had been a frustratingly quiet effort. For days, rangers, volunteers, and family members had combed the barrier island’s shifting sands, marshes, and hidden inlets, guided primarily by cell phone pings from January 10 near the quiet village of Avon and January 11 closer to Cape Point in Buxton. Now, with the kayak located—matching the blue-and-white one seen in Dare County traffic camera footage from January 9—and footprints suggesting recent human presence, officials are cautiously optimistic. “This changes things,” one NPS ranger told reporters off the record. “We’re seeing signs of life where there were none before. It’s the most positive lead we’ve had.”
Palmer vanished under mysterious circumstances. Last heard from by family on January 9, he had mentioned heading toward Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia, not the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Yet here he was—or had been—more than a thousand miles off course. His truck, mired deep in soft sand between Ramp 43 and Cape Point, showed no obvious signs of struggle inside the cab. The German shepherd, Zoey, believed to be traveling with him, was nowhere to be found. No blood, no note, no clear indication of foul play. Just an empty vehicle, a missing kayak, and silence.
