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Territorial Dispatch

Family Seeks Answers 13 Years Later

Jul 13, 2026 04:30PM ● By MPG Staff
missing person

Samuel Pharis is pictured in a family-provided missing-person poster holding a fish while standing outdoors wearing a white T-shirt and ball cap. His family continues to seek information about his disappearance, which remains unsolved 13 years later. Photo courtesy of the California Department of Justice


OLIVEHURST, CA (MPG) - Thirteen years after Samuel Richard Pharis disappeared from Olivehurst, his family is again asking the community to keep his case in mind.

Pharis was 21 when he was last seen June 13, 2013, according to the California Department of Justice Missing Persons database. He is described as 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighs about 150 pounds and has blond hair and blue eyes. The case remains open with the Yuba County Sheriff's Department under case No. 13-2454.

In a handwritten note shared with the Territorial Dispatch, his father, Rex Pharis, wrote that the family still wants Samuel home after "13 years of agony," adding, "We love him and need him with us."

A family flier offers a $10,000 reward for information leading to Samuel Pharis being found. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Yuba County Sheriff's Department at 5300749-7777. Anonymous tips may also be submitted by calling Yuba County's tip line at 530-749-5181.