DARE COUNTY, N.C. — The father of a missing Arkansas man last seen on North Carolina’s Outer Banks says his family now believes his son took his own life after learning he was facing a terminal illness, bringing a heartbreaking shift in a case that has gripped multiple states for weeks.

Chris Palmer, 39, was declared missing by Arkansas authorities on January 16 after park rangers discovered his truck abandoned several days earlier on a remote stretch of beach at Cape Hatteras National Seashore. What began as a baffling disappearance quickly turned into a large, multi-agency search across land, sea, and shoreline — one driven by hope that Palmer might still be found alive.

That hope, his family now says, has been replaced by devastating acceptance.

In a social media post shared this week, Palmer’s father, Bren Palmer, revealed that the family recently learned Chris had been diagnosed with a terminal illness prior to his disappearance. The diagnosis, he said, appears to have played a critical role in what the family believes was a deliberate decision to end his life.

“Christopher loved the outdoors and valued his independence,” Bren Palmer wrote. “The treatments ahead would have taken much of that away, and he did not want that future for himself.”

According to officials, Palmer’s truck was first spotted on surveillance video entering Cape Hatteras National Seashore on January 12. The footage showed a blue and white kayak in the back of the vehicle, a detail that immediately raised concern among investigators and search crews. When rangers later located the truck abandoned on the beach, the kayak was gone.

Despite extensive searches by the National Park Service, local law enforcement, marine units, and volunteer groups, no sign of Palmer or the kayak was found in the water. Crews scoured miles of coastline, conducted aerial searches, and monitored shifting tides that could have carried evidence far from the original location.

Over time, however, troubling discoveries began to emerge. Bren Palmer said some of his son’s personal belongings were later found along the coastline, reinforcing the family’s belief that Chris entered the ocean and did not survive.

“With the evidence we have and what we now know about his health, we believe Chris perished in the ocean,” Bren Palmer wrote.

The family’s announcement marked a painful turning point. After weeks of searching and waiting, they formally requested that all active search efforts be halted.

“It’s not an easy decision,” a family friend said. “But at some point, continuing the search becomes reopening the wound again and again.”

Officials have confirmed that search operations have been scaled back at the family’s request, though authorities note that the case remains officially open should new information surface.

Chris Palmer’s disappearance has resonated deeply with those who knew him and even strangers who followed the case online. Friends described him as fiercely independent, deeply connected to nature, and someone who found peace outdoors — whether kayaking, hiking, or simply being alone in wide, open spaces.

That love of independence, his father suggested, became inseparable from his final decision.

“The life ahead of him wasn’t the life he wanted to live,” Bren Palmer wrote, adding that his son did not want his family to watch him suffer or lose the autonomy he cherished.

Mental health advocates say cases like Palmer’s highlight the complex emotional toll of terminal illness, especially for people who define themselves by physical freedom and self-reliance. Experts emphasize that families left behind often struggle not only with grief, but with unanswered questions and the weight of hindsight.

For the Palmer family, the focus now is on honoring Chris’s memory rather than searching for what may never be found.

“We loved him deeply,” Bren Palmer wrote. “And we believe he made the choice he felt he had to make.”

Authorities encourage anyone who may have additional information about Palmer’s final movements to contact local law enforcement, even as active searches have ended.

As the winds continue to sweep across the Outer Banks shoreline where Palmer was last seen, his family says they are holding onto memories of who he was — a man who loved the outdoors, valued his independence, and, in his final moments, was guided by what he believed was an act of love.