Photo provided to the Times Observer St. Marys author James Baumgratz will speak at a Warren County Historical Society event at the Warren County Courthouse on Feb. 1. The discussion will explore his new book “Missing in the Pennsylvania Wilds.”

There’s a morbid fascination for some in exploring missing persons cases.

An author in that space will be presenting at the Warren County Courthouse on Feb. 1.

The Warren County Historical Society will be hosting James T. Baumgratz, author of “Missing in the Pennsylvania Wilds” for a talk on Feb. 1 at 6 p.m.

The book explores missing person cases as well as discoveries of unidentified bodies found in the region.

“Warren County will also be featured in this book and I have discovered many unidentified and missing from the past,” Baumgratz told the Times Observer last fall. “I have been contacted by many relatives, some from out of the country who were so interested in what I have researched.”

“In today’s world, over 600,000 people go missing each year in the United States,”: Historical Society Event Coordinator Laura Mcdonald said. “Most of these people are quickly located either dead or alive, but some remain missing for years or lost forever.”

McDonald said that Baumgratz learned there is no “master list” for people who went missing prior to 1980.

“Through painstaking research, Mr. Baumgratz has spent many hours researching old newspaper accounts and coroner’s reports to make an accurate account of the missing and unidentified people from the Pennsylvania Wilds,” she said.

Baumgratz currently resides in Sr. Marys.