CA CA - Gene Hatfield III, 16, Belmont, May 2, 1977

[victoriarobinson642]

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Photo from Carlmont HS 1976-1977 school year
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Missing Age - 16 Years
Current Age - 63 Years
Legal First Name - Gene
Middle Name - Paul
Legal Last Name - Hatfield
Biological Sex- Male
Height - 5' 11" (71 Inches)
Weight - 175 lbs
Hair Color - Brown
Eye Color - Brown
Scar/mark - Suffered from mild to severe facial acne per the original case report.
Clothing - Last seen wearing a blue corduroy jacket, jeans, and black "desert" boots.
Race / Ethnicity - White / Caucasian
Date of Last Contact - May 2, 1977
Location - Belmont, California 94002
Circumstances of Disappearance - On 05/02/1977, Gene Paul Hatfield III was reported missing to the Belmont Police Department. Hatfield was last seen on 05/02/1977 leaving his residence in Belmont to collect money from his paper route. Hatfield's vehicle was located unoccupied at the Golden Gate Bridge Vista Point.
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[cenazoic]

Belmont CA to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is about 30 miles; Vista Point is on the other side of the bridge in Sausalito. Surely not on his paper route?

 

[heartanium]

Possibly this UP? He was found about 30 mins from Belmont, same county.

UP10640
Date: December 18, 1977
Age: 10-20 Years
Estimated PMI: 2 months
Circumstances: Hiker located the remains on the rocky area at the Point Montara Lighthouse. Small amounts of blue denim Levis material was found around the decedent's waist.
Clothing: Remnants of blue denim material was found around the waist

I did want to add I found a news report that said he was dismembered

His head wasn't found so unfortunately dental records can't be compared, probably would need DNA.

 

[dogperson]

My first thought is that maybe he went there to commit suicide, that this was his intention and that the story about going out to collect the money is just what he told his parents so he would have a reason for being away from the house for a while. I noticed that his description says he had "mild to severe facial acne" and I wondered if possibly he was bullied about the acne or felt despondent over it. At that time there weren't many options for treating it. There were some teen brothers who rode the bus with me in the 70s (I was in elementary school but the high school kids in my neighborhood rode the same bus) and they had some of the most severe acne I've ever seen and I seem to recall they endured some bullying from other high schoolers.

I may be way off base but the mention of the acne made me think about how devastating it has been for some teens.