NY NY - Frederick Holmes, 22 mos, Grahamsville, 25 May 1955

Our spotlight no discussion thread for Frederick here at WS:

NY Frederick Andrew Holmes (22 months) - Grahamsville NY, 1955 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

He went by the nickname of Freddie or Tookie.

Freddie's Charley Project page:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/h/holmes_frederick.html

Freddie's NamUs profile:

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/5584/395/

Dental: NA
DNA: sample submitted/tests complete
Fingerprints: NA

Case report:

Frederick Andrew Holmes was last seen walking down the driveway of his rural home at approximately 9:00 AM. When he was last seen, Frederick went by the nickname Freddie or Tookie.

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Archived article:
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091108/NEWS/911080326/-1/news

11/08/09

Frederick Holmes, known as "Freddie" or "Tookie," disappeared on May 25, 1955. Hundreds of men and boys searched the rugged terrain for days. Troopers concluded that the boy fell into one of the gorges that slice across the mountain or that a black bear grabbed him. They could never explain why no remains of the boy's clothing turned up. People searched the crevices and woods for a month. No trace of the baby was ever found.

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more at link.

archived article:
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100613/NEWS/6130325/-1/NEWS

06/13/10

The landlord, a shoe repairman who sometimes stayed with the family, was working in the shed. Freddie peeked inside and the man spoke to him. He was the last to see the boy.

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More at link.

I didn't locate any other articles at this time.

Come home soon.
(pictures from charley project the link is embedded above)

Bumping for Frederick

Freddie is this weeks Flashback Friday on The Charley Project Blog:

Flashback Friday: Freddie Holmes - The Charley Project Blog

Someone in the Charley Blog comments left this link: http://gonemissinginny.com/2012/04/29/freddie-tookie-holmes-2-2/. It has some additional information on the case.

I'm not sure what to think. Either this was a crime of opportunity, where the kidnapper simply happened to notice the boy alone for a few moments and acted quickly, or this was someone who had kept an eye on the family for a while.

I'm curious to know who really saw him first, the cobbler or the landlord? I've read in that blog I just posted about that the search conducted in the house and other houses in the area, in addition to the stolen items, also turned up communist material in the cobbler's shed. I wonder if people simply pinned the blame on him because of his political beliefs or if he was indeed guilty. Or perhaps, the communist pamphlets part was just hearsay spread around the town, remember that in those days people were strongly suspicious of communism, so maybe it just caught on... I wonder. I do think it's strange that apparently, he told Freddie's mother the boy would fetch a good price if sold. Doesn't that sound weird? I wonder if he was just joking, or if such a scenario of children being kidnapped and sold was on people's minds for some reason, and so he joked about it AND such a scenario was also what came to Freddie's mother's mind when she formed an opinion about the case. Or maybe she believed he had done it and that was her way of indicating it.

I wonder about the landlord was well, he seems to have been around when Freddie went missing as well and may have seen Freddie. I wonder how much we know about him? And I wonder if he could have anything to do with the case.

Something I wonder about both is where they were after the disappearance. Did either of them skip town, if even for a while? Go somewhere without explaining where they were instead of always being near the family or their own families?

Either way, my theory is also that Freddie was abducted. I don't think it's likely that wandered off and got lost if people searched so hard for him and nobody found anything. Then again, maybe some small area was overlooked, or someone accidentally stepped on tracks that could have led to him.

If he was abducted, I think there's a big chance he's still alive and was sold to someone who adopted him. Hopefully someone who knows something about the case will see his picture and their memory will be jogged. IMO if he was adopted, it was likely by a family who could pay to "buy" a kid, so IMO there's also a chance that pictures of him as a child would have been taken. Maybe someone looking through their grandpa's childhood photos will spot a resemblance.

The first 2009 article posted by Kat and someone in the Charley Blog comments, talks about a possible connection with the Boy In The Box case. I wonder if that connection ended up being investigated and if so, what came of it?

As usual - this is all my :twocents:, :moo:, etc.

If this was out in the country,,,someone was watching. Not a busy street for a random creeper. Someone could have been watching from the woods knowing moms routine of gardening

I was just thinking of this case the other day.

I agree if somebody took him it was somebody looking for an opportunity to take him. His area sounds like the area I grew up in out in the country. My mom let me play outside alone a lot but nobody was around but our neighbors who were related to us. So if somebody took Freddie it was somebody who knew the family.

Just came across a article on another site saying the sisters provided DNA in hopes of finding him, Wouldnt it be wonderful if they can find him. There is still a chance he wandered into the woods and died there though. He was only little and would be pretty hard to find. But I guess there is hope he was snatched and brought up in another family. or like someone else suggested sold :/

Not a match to The Boy in the Box!

https://bangordailynews.com/2010/03/23/news/womanrsquos-dna-no-match-to-boy-in-box/

Bumping, I hope this boy was raised by someone who wanted a child. Maybe he or one of his descendants will do an ancestry DNA test and the truth will come out.

Bumping for Freddie

@Caring1 hey could you post the exclusion list for Frederick Holmes from NamUs?

John/Jane Doe said:

@Caring1 hey could you post the exclusion list for Frederick Holmes from NamUs?

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20 Unidentified Person Exclusions

Bumping for Freddie! XxxxDNA profile provides new hope to family of boy who vanished 55 years ago

While searching I came across this very interesting comment on a Facebook post about Fredericks case. The comment is under the Facebook post, of a picture someone took of what appears to be a gravestone found under their home! I'll add screenshots but blank out names, I'm not sure if this is any help? Log into Facebook

Fredericks Families obituaries, it appears both Janet and Donna have also passed away!
Roderick H. Holmes (1916-1968) - Find a Grave...

Luce2842 said:

Bumping for Freddie! XxxxView attachment 513144DNA profile provides new hope to family of boy who vanished 55 years ago

While searching I came across thisView attachment 513151 very interesting comment on a Facebook post about Fredericks case. The comment is under the Facebook post, of a picture someone took of what appears to be a gravestone found under their home! I'll add screenshots but blank out names, I'm not sure if this is any help? View attachment 513153 Log into Facebook

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Okay now I'm really curious

Megsc said:

Okay now I'm really curious

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I tried Google image searching on the picture and couldn't find it's original source. The birthdate doesn't match Fredericks but it's interesting that it mentions "Andrew" which is Fredericks middle name and "Holms" which is his surname spelt incorrectly but weird unless it's a hoax by the commenter. I scrolled through her Facebook, she doesn't seem to be that type of person but who knows. :/