Hello and welcome to Missing Persons Mysteries!
Thank you for joining us for episode #1 of our new series Lost to Time!
In this series, we'll be diving into some historic cold cases
and mysteries that have been lost to time...
First up we have: Barbara Joe Kelley
17-year-old Barbara Joe Kelley had been going steady with her boyfriend,
Henry ‘Red’ Baird, for two months by June 1950.
Red was a World War II Veteran, and following the war, he found work as a truck driver.
Barbara worked as a waitress in her hometown, Fortuna, California,
and the restaurant's name, the Sweet Shop, matched Barbara’s sweet personality.
Barbara was excited to keep things steady with Red;
who knows, the two may have even been wed months later.
On June 17th 1950, Red left his home in Eureka,
California, and headed for Barbara’s home in Fortuna.
Barbara jumped into his car, said goodbye to her parents and drove off into the distance.
Like many teens in the 1950s, the pair drove out to a secluded area for some privacy.
When the sun rose on June 18th, 1950,
Barbara’s parents screamed in horror when they saw that her bed had not been slept in.
Barbara was considered to be highly religious and respected her parents.
She knew she had a curfew, and it was extremely out of character for her to stay out overnight.
A few hours after Barbara was discovered to be missing,
a fisherman near the waters of Table Bluff beach saw Red’s body floating face down.
He had been shot once in the back of the head, and there was no sign of Barbara.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office was called to the scene,
and they discovered that Red was naked, save for his shoes and socks,
and that his and Barbara’s clothes had been neatly folded into a pile on the beach.
Not ALL of Barbara’s clothes were there, though.
Investigators found that her stockings and shoes were gone, alone with her.
Barbara’s family were desperate to find out what happened to her
and who took the life of her boyfriend, Red.
In 1957, 7 years after Barbara disappeared and Red was murdered,
a similar crime occurred in Marysville, California.
This time, Billy Hale and his girlfriend were attacked on a lover's lane.
Billy, like Red, was shot in the head once, and the attacker went straight for the woman.
Incredibly, the woman was able to escape the clutches
of her attacker after being driven 16 miles away.
She was left outside of a random home and threatened into silence.
Investigators believed that the cases were linked and desperately set about looking for evidence.
Then, in 1963, 13 years after Barbara disappeared and Red was murdered,
Gayle Patrick Irish, a patient at a mental institution [some sources say prison],
had a sudden change of heart and made a shocking confession.
According to reports, whilst locked up, Gayle had found
God and confessed to the Chaplain that he had killed Red, Billy, and Barbara.
Gayle told the Chaplain that on the night of June 17th, 1950 (into June 18th), he came across Red
and Barbara in their car on an isolated road near Table Bluff Beach. He raised his gun and
ordered the pair out of the car. Barbara and Red were terrified to be at the mercy of Gayle,
and they obeyed his every order, even when he told them to strip off down to their shoes and socks.
Red tried to defend his girlfriend, but Gayle shot him in the head once.
Gayle likely shot Red so he could attack Barbara without being stopped by Red.
Once Red was dead, Gayle forced Barbara into a car [possibly Red’s?] and drove her out to
a remote logging road. He ******* assaulted her before shooting her in the back, wrapping her in
a blanket, and burying her body somewhere off the logging road. Investigators knew that the logging
road in question was real and were keen for Gayle to take them to the spot where she was buried.
Gayle was transported to the area, but he could not identify where he had buried Barbara.
As a result, investigators were never able to implicate him in the disappearance of
Barbara or the murder of Red. He escaped punishment for Red’s murder as the police
had somehow ‘misplaced’ the rifle that Gayle had used to shoot Red.
This meant they could not compare the bullets in the rifle to the one found in Red’s head. The case
quickly fell apart due to insufficient evidence, and Gayle came out unscathed.
If still alive today, Barbara Joe Kelly would be around 90 years old. Barbara is described
as a white female, 5’4” to 5’7”, and 150 to 165 lbs. Her sister confirmed that she was wearing a
wristwatch at the time of her disappearance. Anyone with information is asked to contact
the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at 707-445-7251, quoting case number 195003681.
Next up: Mabel Crumback
19-year-old Mabel Crumback was your typical 1950s teenager. She was devoted to her
faith and regularly attended St John’s Baptist Church in York Township, Toronto,
Canada. Mabel was also active in the Church choir and its other social functions. She had
also landed herself a job at the Eastern Steel Co and was on her way to creating a solid career.
Mabel’s mother, Sheldon Crumback, told the Evening Citizen that her daughter was due to be married in
1951 and that she had mostly female friends. Mabel loved sports and music and had big ambitions.
Unfortunately, Mabel’s dreams would be cut short by one fateful night in May 1950.
Over the weekend of May 27th, 1950, Mabel’s parents and one of
her siblings were out of the country at a wedding in Detroit, Michigan.
Mabel had been left to look after her 8-year-old brother, Gary, and her parents later told
investigators that Mabel didn’t have a key to the house or any money. Mabel was considered
a dependable and sensible girl, so her parents had no worries about being gone for the weekend.
On May 28th at around 12 to 12:30 PM, Mabel was dropped off at her home on
661 Willard Avenue by Jim Bryant, who is believed to have been Mabel’s boyfriend.
Jim told investigators that he saw Mabel closing the door as she entered her home, and that was
the last time she was ever seen alive. Mabel’s younger brother, Gary, later told investigators
that he was awoken at 2 AM by what sounded like Mabel’s voice, along with a dog barking.
He went back to sleep, and when he awoke hours later, his sister was gone.
Jim Bryant turned up at Willard Avenue later that afternoon to have dinner with Mabel and Gary,
but when he arrived, he was shocked to see police cars outside. Gary had run to a neighbor's house
in a panic when he couldn’t find his sister and the police were called. Neighbors came forward
and gave accounts of what had happened the evening before. According to the Daily News, one neighbor
saw lights burning on the porch and a car with three men parked in front of the Crumback home.
Another said they heard screams from the Crumback home but dismissed it as ‘a prowling cat’.
Gary, Mabel’s brother, told the Daily News that it sounded like a ‘dog fight’,
along with his sister laughing. In another report, Gary told investigators he heard
‘thumping’ on the floor and the cellar stairs. Mabel’s parents returned later that afternoon
and were stunned by the news. The Crumback family home on Willard Avenue had two entrance doors,
one that faced onto Willard Avenue and another that faced onto St. John’s Road.
Bizarrely, both of these doors were unlocked, and one of them was open. Mabel’s parents instantly
knew that something terrible had happened. Mabel was an intelligent and sensible girl,
and there was no way she would have left the doors unlocked, let alone open. A search of the home
showed no signs of a struggle, and the lights in Mabel’s bedroom and the kitchen had been left on.
Mabel’s bedroom was bizarrely pristine. Her pajama bottoms were neatly folded and placed under her
pillow, and it appeared that her bed had been slept in and made again. The only things missing
were; a red and blue plaid shirt, a blue plaid skirt, black suede shoes, and her pajama top. Her
handbag [with money] and pocketbook were also in her bedroom. A month after Mabel’s disappearance,
the wife of a tourist camp operator reported that her husband had seen a girl that resembled Mabel
Crumback in Mount Pleasant, 130+ miles from the Crumback home in York Township, Toronto.
This witness described seeing a woman who resembled Mabel, with bleach-blonde hair, in
the company of a man. The woman repeatedly begged for help, shouting to the tour operator that she
was Mabel Crumback and had been forced to dye her hair from dark brown to blonde. She also stated
that she was being held against her will by the man she was with. The woman reiterated that she
was Mabel Crumback, and it appeared to the witness that she was ‘dazed’, possibly from being drugged.
Disturbingly, this witness did nothing to help the woman. It was his wife who decided to report the
sighting to the police, and the fate of the woman, whether it was Mabel or not, remains unknown.
The wife of the tour operator was also present and told the Montreal Gazette,
“She begged me to call the police. But I thought she was drunk,
and to get rid of her, I told her I would call the police after she left.”
She also told the Gazette that the woman was wearing a pink dress, which she referred to as
her wedding dress, and was “alternately crying and singing and smoking a cigarette very nervously.”
The couple only decided to report the incident 10 hours later when they heard of Mabel Crumback’s
disappearance. Another alleged sighting of Mabel was made sometime in June in Hamilton, Ontario.
This witness also described seeing a girl in a pink dress stepping out of
a car and asking passersby where she could get the bus to Toronto. Again,
this witness described the woman as being drunk or drugged, and her speech was sometimes incoherent.
In 1956, the Ottawa Citizen reported that Jim Bryant, the last person to see Mabel alive,
had been placed under hypnosis by the Toronto Police Service.
After being hypnotized, Jim took investigators to ‘a plot in an undergrowth of pine trees,
telling them that Mabel’s body would be found in a shallow grave.
An excavation of the area was carried out, but Mabel’s body was never found.
Her parents passed away in the 1980s, and in the years since her disappearance,
her brothers have stated that they want to forget her. Mabel Crumback is described as a white female
with dark hair, a fair complexion, and standing at 5 '1". At the time of her disappearance,
she may have been wearing a red and black [or blue] plaid shirt, a plaid skirt [or
navy skirt] with black suede shoes. If still alive today, Mabel would be 92 years old.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the
Toronto Police Service at 416-808-2222.
And finally we have:
Richard Colvin Cox
21-year-old Richard Colvin Cox and his 6 siblings had a very strict religious
upbringing in Mansfield, Ohio. His parents, Rupert and Minnie, were Christian Scientists
and believed that God would take care of ailments and everything else in their lives.
When Richard was just 10 years old, his father died after battling type 1 diabetes. He refused
to take insulin and also refused treatment, leading to his death. Richard’s mother, Minnie,
would uphold these values, and when Richard was a teenager, he almost died from an infected wound.
In 1946, Richard joined the United States Constabulary, a branch of the U.S. Army
that acted as police in states facing turmoil and political unrest. Richard found himself
posted in Coburg, Germany, and was assigned to the East/West German border skirmish.
Richard and other troops were to supervise the border and ensure that nobody tried to sneak in
or out without the proper permission. He quickly rose the ranks, obtaining the rank of Sergeant.
His potential didn’t go unnoticed, and in 1947, a year after he had joined the Army, Richard was
sent to West Point in West Point, New York, one of the most prestigious Army Academies in the U.S.
Only the best of the best are sent to West Point, and each year, thousands of soldiers battle it
out to obtain a recommendation to the school. Richard was thrilled by this new appointment.
He packed his bags, said goodbye to his fellow troops in Germany, and headed back to the U.S.
His fiancee, Betty Timmons, who was soon to be his wife, was thrilled to have her
partner back in the U.S. Unfortunately for the love birds, the joy would be short-lived.
Throughout 1948, 1949, and early 1950, Richard trained with the best of the
best. He ranked average in his class, and the teachers saw great potential in him.
He and Betty were planning their wedding and were even talking about adding another member to the
family. Then, on January 7th, 1950, a student at West Point received a call that would change
Richard’s life forever. A classmate of Richard’s answered the phone and spoke to a man who only
called himself George. George requested to talk with Richard, but the classmate said he was busy.
The classmate later said that George sounded irate and ‘almost insulting’.
George explained that he and Richard knew each other from his time in Germany and that
he wanted to meet up with him as he was in the area. The classmate noted the phone call
and assured George that Richard would call him back, but that would not be necessary.
The phone call had been placed at around 4:45 PM, and 45 minutes later,
an unknown man stormed into a hall at West Point, demanding to see Richard.
It was George. Witnesses described George as being just short of 6’ with fair hair and complexion,
wearing a belted trench coat. Richard’s reaction to George was somewhat mixed; some sources state
that Richard appeared happy to see his old friend, whilst others noted that he appeared apprehensive.
Nevertheless, Richard signed out of West Point and went with the mysterious man. The next day,
Richard revealed more information to his classmates about George. He alleged that George
had killed many Germans during their assignment, and he appeared to take joy in doing so. He would
brag to anyone who would listen about his sexual prowess and his affinity for killing Germans.
The more Richard spoke, the less he began to like George. After returning from his trip with George,
Richard altered the entry logs to make it appear that he had returned hours before he actually did.
At one point, Richard even flippantly remarked that he hoped he never had to see George again.
7 days after George had first arrived at West Point, he made another appearance.
This time, witnesses described George as having dark hair and looking somewhat disheveled.
That evening, Richard signed out of the base for what would be the last time.
Before he left, he told his roommate that he was going to ‘dine’ with George.
During the two other visits, George and Richard had done anything but dine.
The two spent their visits drinking alcohol and talking about the past.
The alarm was raised when Richard failed to return on January 15th, 1950. It wasn’t
unusual for soldiers to defy orders and stay out all night drinking,
but Richard’s record was spotless. He was determined to rise through the ranks,
and he would not have jeopardized his career. Superior Officers contacted the State Police
and the FBI, and West Point quickly became flooded by the squad and detective cars.
A soldier had never disappeared from West Point, and nobody has ever disappeared since.
The FBI, State Police, and the Army Criminal Investigation Command set about searching the
grounds of West Point for Richard, but there was no sign of him. Extensive searches were carried
out, and the media was alerted to the missing soldier, but tips and leads quickly led nowhere.
When he disappeared, Richard left behind $87, his civilian clothes, and all of his personal
belongings. Records and logs were scrutinized, but no record of ‘George’ was ever found.
Experts combed through military records and noted
every person Richard had served with in Germany, but none matched George.
No expense was spared in the search for Richard, but decades later, we are still none the wiser.
There are three major theories at play.
Richard left to start a new life. - This was somewhat discredited as Richard left money,
clothes, and other personal items behind. He was also due to marry his sweetheart, Betty.
Richard was murdered by ‘George’. - According to Richard, George had
bragged that he had gotten a woman pregnant during his time in Germany.
He also claimed to have murdered this woman because he did not want the baby.
George also confessed to committing numerous other atrocities during his tenure. Is it possible
that Richard was going to spill the beans on ‘Georges’s activities, and George wanted revenge?
Richard was recruited by the CIA (or another government agency). - Richard was allegedly
unhappy at West Point, and there are rumors that George had been sent to recruit Richard
into the CIA. It would explain why Richard left hastily, and no trace of him has been
found since. If he were a CIA agent, he would have needed to remain anonymous,
especially if he was operating in the Soviet Union (which rumors say).
Ultimately, the truth of what happened to Richard that evening is known by only
two people, Richard, and the mysterious George.
What do you guys think of this new series in these historical cases?
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I'm your host Bob and I'll see you in our next video!