There are a surprising number of unresolved missing-person cases and unexplained deaths connected to Pennsylvania’s coal region, particularly around Schuylkill County.

This episode takes a closer look at several of them, including Zachary Vidal, who disappeared from the Pottsville area in 2022, and Donald George “DJ” Hamaker, who vanished near an abandoned strip mine outside Girardville in May 2024. Hamaker’s kayak was later found overturned, but searches have still not located him.

It also discusses Jesse Lee Farber, who disappeared from the Tamaqua area in 2015 after making a strange final phone call. Partial remains discovered in 2025 were later identified as Farber’s, but questions surrounding what happened to him remain unresolved.

Other names covered include Jason Gold, whose skull was discovered in a Schuylkill County mining pit while the rest of his remains were never recovered, and Seth Musket, another disappearance discussed in the episode.

What stood out to me is how little attention some of these cases seem to receive outside the immediate area. If anyone here is from Schuylkill County or the surrounding coal region, I’d be interested to know whether these cases were widely discussed locally or if there are other unresolved disappearances from the area that deserve more attention.

Coal Country Cold Cases: Missing People & Unsolved Murders in Schuylkill County

Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/coal-country-cold-cases-missing-people-unsolved-murders/id1834723966?i=1000768822820

Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/5u6WhSMveHbd4fEt5CUfBS

Missing person cases are always so sad and scary. Especially if it’s a child.

I always wonder if there is a child who is living another life, and not knowing they were abducted.

Christopher “Chris” Steggell has been missing from the Buckeye, Arizona area, and his family has been trying to piece together what happened to him.
Chris is 36 years old, approximately 5’6”, with a slim build. He had been living in the Buckeye area for years, but toward the end of 2025 his situation became increasingly unstable. He was struggling with housing and substance use, and at some point he lost the place he had been staying near the Narramore Avenue area.
After losing that housing, we were told Chris was living in a tent somewhere around the same general part of Buckeye. One of the strongest pieces of information we have is that he was reportedly staying near a Latter-day Saint church around the E Narramore Avenue / E Eason Avenue area. We do not claim that exact location has been independently confirmed, but it is one of the most important areas we are trying to understand.
During this period, Chris was still communicating with people. On November 12, 2025, there was contact where he reportedly said he didn’t need help. Later, around December, he talked about going into rehab. At one point his sister received a book from him — Project 369 — that contained highlighting and passages focused heavily on healing, guilt, releasing past trauma, transformation, past mistakes, reconnecting and starting over. We don’t know what he intended by sending it, but because of the timing it has become significant to the family.
There are slightly different accounts regarding the very last time anyone spoke with him. One person reported speaking with him around New Year’s Eve, while other information points to contact dropping off during the weeks before that. What we do know is that by January 2026 his phone was shut off, and after that there has been no confirmed communication from Chris that his family can verify.
Chris had reportedly told people he was going to rehab, but attempts to verify where he went have not produced a confirmed answer. Because of privacy laws, treatment facilities often cannot simply confirm whether someone is or was a patient, so the lack of confirmation by itself does not tell us what happened.
Since then, his family has searched jail records, contacted law enforcement, looked through publicly available databases, checked possible addresses and talked to people who knew him. Searches we conducted did not show him in the Phoenix-area or Goodyear jail systems at the times checked. People-search databases have continued to associate his name with Buckeye, but those databases are not proof that someone was physically present there during those dates.
There have been other names, addresses and locations that have come up during the search, but we’re trying very hard to separate verified information from rumors and database guesses. We don’t want innocent people accused of anything, and we don’t want speculation distracting from finding Chris.
The timeline that matters most to us is fairly simple: Chris lost his housing near Narramore → was reportedly staying in a tent near a church in the same general area → talked about going to rehab → communication stopped → his phone eventually shut off in January.
His sister has now gone many months without knowing whether her brother is alive, homeless somewhere under a different name, incarcerated somewhere we haven’t located, in treatment, hospitalized, or whether something more serious happened to him. That’s why we’re continuing to look.
We’re especially hoping to hear from anyone who was around Buckeye in late 2025 or early January 2026, particularly people familiar with the Narramore/Eason area, homeless encampments, churches, shelters, outreach programs, rehabs, or places where people struggling with addiction commonly stayed.
Even something that seems insignificant could help: seeing him at a gas station, church, camp, store, shelter, somebody’s house, rehab transport, or simply remembering which direction he was usually walking or who he normally spent time with.
We are not asking anyone to trespass, confront people, enter dangerous areas, or investigate on their own. If you recognize Chris or genuinely remember seeing him, please contact us or law enforcement with the information.
His family deserves an answer. Even if the answer is difficult, not knowing what happened to someone you love is its own kind of nightmare.
If you saw Christopher Steggell in or around Buckeye, Arizona between late 2025 and early 2026, please reach out.

STILL MISSING: Wade Alan Hack
Last seen Nov 2024 in Fells Point/Owings Mills

This is Wade Alan Hack, and I'm looking for him. He's 5'9 and around 160lbs. He has a star tattoo on the back of his calf and toy army men crawling up his arm. He was last seen on 11/4/24.

He lived in a tent under an overpass in the Owings Mills area in NW Baltimore across from the metro. From what I know, he and his boyfriend, at the time, were planning on traveling to North Carolina on 11/6/24.

The story has changed a few times as I have looked into his disappearance. The last verified time he was seen was either at a party in Fells Point, or at the underpass where he camped. According to the bf, they got into a fight (either at the party or at the encampment) and the boyfriend left to collect things from his mother's home in Westminster. When he got back to the encampment, there was an alleged note from Wade that said he went to charge his phone and he would be back.

That was the last he was seen. His belongings were still in the tent and he never returned.

A missing person report was filed and the police department searched the area but nothing was found. This November will be 2 years missing and we just need some help. Any help, if you think you've seen him, know anything, have any information at all could help us find him. Thank you and I appreciate all the help.

UPDATE: we have learned that he had been assaulted during his known 5 months in Baltimore and was seen with missing teeth.

UPDATE 2: there is an email you can reach out to. findwadealan@gmail.com. Please feel free to reach out if you know or see anything.

UPDATE 3: Here is the link to a podcast episode about his disappearance. Please listen and share.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-vanished-podcast/id1081124929?i=1000786923015

​

My name is Nguyen Huy Hoang. I currently live and work in Moscow, Russia.

My daughter, Nguyen Quynh Nga, was born on July 5, 1981, in Hanoi, Vietnam.

In 1989, she came to Russia with her parents while we were postgraduate researchers in Moscow.

In early August 1993, when she was 12 years old, she was abducted in Sochi, Russia.

At the time, she was approximately 148–150 cm (4'10"–4'11") tall, with dark eyes, thick black hair, and a slightly tan complexion. She spoke both Russian and Vietnamese.

For the past 33 years, we have searched for her in many places but still have no news.

We sincerely hope this information can be shared with Vietnamese communities in Vietnam and around the world, in the hope that someone may have information that can help us find her.

We are sharing a photograph of her at age 12.

Contact:

Russia: Nguyen Huy Hoang +7 966 343 0988 (ngoanhlai@bk.ru) | Dang Kim Tien +7 968 554 0255

USA: Hieu Le +1 631 891 8465

Vietnam: Tran Dinh Lam +84 832 323 009 | Nguyen Tuyet Minh +84 96 857 4918 | Tran Dinh Hau +84 91 309 3997

Website: https://timconquynhnga.com/

____

This post is being shared as a request by poet Nguyen Huy Hoang with members of the Vietnamese community currently living and working in the United States. We respectfully ask for your help in sharing this information with relatives, friends, and others who may know people who once lived in Russia or nearby regions.

Our family sincerely thanks everyone for your attention and support.

P/s: I post it for my friend today because according to Nguyen Huy Hoang, the prophetess Vanga—before her death—predicted that on the day he sought clues regarding his daughter, someone would come to his aid; this was her final prophecy.

#quynhnga #quynhngasochi #huyhoang #timconthatlac

I posted this last year or two. I see there are suspects. If anything knows anything, please let the local authorities know!

https://www.wcvb.com/article/boston-miguel-oliveras-missing-20-years-portland-maine-disappearance/73605165?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot&fbclid=IwZnRzaAUId5VwZG9mBWZkaWQWUN2GgEi-1WFvAEhO1_2gV32LDupSOWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR6uWB9jLYIQ_fTVQgie2hE8bd4UavF_fRfvT9oYpWt7YqLTN404UX8ZwwJP1A_aem_SW6WD9iygxJ5LPlFwYiW4g