The Disappearance of Alan Wayne Soper, June 1974
Alan Soper was born on April 27, 1952, and is officially missing from Tulsa, Oklahoma. After graduating from college, Alan left home with the intention of traveling around the country. He told his parents that he was working for truck drivers — specifically loading and unloading cargo — in exchange for rides. The Tulsa Police Department site lists Alan's date of last contact as Friday, March 1, 1974; this may be the date he left home.
Alan, 22, last contacted his family on Friday, June 7, 1974, when he called and said that he was in Sacramento, California at the time. According to all databases, he was never heard from again after this phone call in Sacramento, however according to one later clipping, a truck driver told police that after Alan traveled to northern California, he (the driver) dropped him off in Needles, San Bernardino County, CA.
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| Alan Soper. Photo from NamUs. |
Almost exactly three years later, on June 8, 1977, Alan's wallet and clothing were found in Needles by two young boys who were walking in the desert area west of Needles near Eagle Pass Wash. Investigators searched the area for further evidence, but did not find anything.
The wallet contained a substantial amount of money. Both the wallet and the clothing showed extreme weathering, indicating they were likely in the desert for quite some time. Alan's parents identified the wallet and clothing as being his.
Alan is a white male who was 22 years old, 5'11, and 160 lbs at the time of his disappearance. He has blue eyes and shoulder-length brown hair. While he reportedly had no facial hair at the time of his disappearance, there are photos of him with some available. Alan has a cleft in his chin, a dimple in his left cheek, and some freckles. He is right-handed and wears shoe size 10B. He has a scar on one of his wrists (it's uncertain which one) from a cut that occurred when he was two years old. He has previously had a deviated septum that was then surgically repaired. He also once suffered a broken right big toe as a juvenile.
Alan is classified as Endangered Missing, and foul play is suspected in his disappearance. His Doe Network page was previously 1531DMOK, but is now 1531DMCA. The NCIC case number is M724654065. His NamUs page, #MP7770, was created on July 28, 2010 and last updated October 20, 2025.
Both Alan's DNA and his dental records — including his dental x-rays — are available for comparison, while his fingerprints are not. He has sixty-five UID exclusions on NamUs — as well as one repeat — including Aptos John Doe 1974, Twentynine Palms John Doe 1974, and Amboy John Doe 1975, as well as one that has since been identified as Michael Ray Schlicht.
Alan is described as having predeceased his father in the latter's 2010 obituary. Users online have speculated that Alan may have been a victim of a serial killer, specifically William Floyd Zamastil or Randy Kraft.
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| Photo from Oklahoma Cold Cases. |
Sources
Needles Desert Star 8/17/77
The San Bernardino Sun, Sept. 19, 2003 ***
National Missing Person Directory
International Missing Persons wiki
Jan. 2025 ChipChick blog(?) article
List of general CA cases, ZK Ciphers forum
2022 RoseWritesAllDay blog article, with comments
*** Available in this blog's Newspaper Index
Note: While this write-up was originally published on June 23, 2025, I regularly revisit cases, fix any typos or formatting errors, check for updates, ensure that I have exhausted all sources, etc., and then make note of when I last did so, no matter how minor. When edits are extensive, I re-post the write-up entirely. This post was last updated on February 2, 2026.
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