The Retired FBI Agent Who Became an “Apple Detective”

When Dave Benscoter retired from the FBI, he probably did not expect his next mission to involve hunting for forgotten apples.

But a chance discovery during a day of yard work in Washington state sent him down an unusual path that has lasted more than a decade.

In 2012, Benscoter was helping a fellow church member with her orchard when he noticed that several apple trees looked different from varieties he knew. Some could be identified, but others were a mystery.

Curious, he began searching old records, newspapers, nursery catalogues and family histories for clues. He soon discovered that the Pacific Northwest once had hundreds of apple varieties that had disappeared from commercial farming and were becoming increasingly difficult to find.

His retirement hobby gradually became a serious search.

Benscoter began travelling through eastern Washington, western Idaho and northern Oregon, looking for old trees that could have survived from the early 20th century or even earlier. He worked with apple identification experts who could compare unusual specimens and use DNA testing to help determine their identities.

The effort eventually became the Lost Apple Project, which Benscoter founded with fellow enthusiast E.J. Brandt.

So far, the project has helped rediscover about 30 apple varieties that had been considered lost.

Among the discoveries are varieties with unusual names such as Fall Jenneting, Nero, Streaked Pippin, Sary Sinap and Kittageskee.

One discovery was particularly meaningful. A farmer in Arkansas had spent years hoping to taste a Kittageskee apple, a variety that had disappeared from the state. Benscoter’s team eventually found the variety growing in southern Idaho and sent fruit to people interested in it.

For Benscoter, the work is about much more than finding unusual fruit.

The project also propagates the rediscovered trees so the varieties can survive for future generations. Branch cuttings are grafted and grown into new heritage trees, helping preserve a small piece of agricultural history.

What began with a few mysterious trees in an old orchard has therefore become a long-term mission to recover pieces of the past before they disappear completely.

And Benscoter is still searching.

After spending years investigating people and evidence as an FBI agent, he has found a new kind of mystery — one hidden among forgotten orchards and century-old trees.

Sources

• Good Good Good
• Times of India
• The Saturday Evening Post