CA CA - Mark Wilson, 13, Quincy, 4 Nov 1967
- Thread starter Salem
- Start date
I remember the name of the theater. It is called the Town Hall Theater and it's in Quincy California. It is one of the oldest theaters around. The website says it originated in 1874! Here you go:
http://www.quincytownhall.com/
I wish I could find the link to the information, but I distinctly remember reading that this was where Mark said he was going.
Satch
http://www.quincytownhall.com/
I wish I could find the link to the information, but I distinctly remember reading that this was where Mark said he was going.
Satch
We've looked into Mark Wilson on the Keddie Forum, and he's listed on the "Possibly Related Crimes" thread http://keddiemurdersfilm.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=293&p=12944#p12944
My research from a year or two back also said he was hitching from Meadow Valley (located east of town) into Quincy. The Town Hall was/is the only theatre in town, and it's only a couple blocks from the eastern edge of town. Nobody at the theatre recalled seeing him there that day, so the assumption is he never made it that far.
Unlike the four victims of the Keddie Murders of 1981 (three of which attended local schools), both Wilson and murder victim Kathy Ann Howard were given tributes in the school yearbooks. Kathy was 14, disappeared while hitching at Quincy's Cemetery Hill Oct 7 1973, and her body found 6 days later, sexually assaulted, throat slit, head crushed, and right eye stabbed.
Salem, do you recall who you spoke with at PCSO concerning Wilson? Was is [modsnip] by the name of Bill Elliott? IF so, you've been lied to and strung along by a guy that honestly doesn't have the brainpower to remember his name. He's been telling conflicting lies (many of them concerning DNA) about the Keddie case for a looooong time.
My research from a year or two back also said he was hitching from Meadow Valley (located east of town) into Quincy. The Town Hall was/is the only theatre in town, and it's only a couple blocks from the eastern edge of town. Nobody at the theatre recalled seeing him there that day, so the assumption is he never made it that far.
Unlike the four victims of the Keddie Murders of 1981 (three of which attended local schools), both Wilson and murder victim Kathy Ann Howard were given tributes in the school yearbooks. Kathy was 14, disappeared while hitching at Quincy's Cemetery Hill Oct 7 1973, and her body found 6 days later, sexually assaulted, throat slit, head crushed, and right eye stabbed.
Salem, do you recall who you spoke with at PCSO concerning Wilson? Was is [modsnip] by the name of Bill Elliott? IF so, you've been lied to and strung along by a guy that honestly doesn't have the brainpower to remember his name. He's been telling conflicting lies (many of them concerning DNA) about the Keddie case for a looooong time.
Attachments
Greetings Dmac!
Was there anything else in your research on Mark's case that you can share? Like any changes in Mark's behavior or disposition leading up to his difference? Or even the movie that he went to see that day? Did LE at the time believe that Mark had been abducted and horrifyingly killed? Or did they just treat Mark's case as a runaway situation?
In devastating hindsight, this sounds like the tragic case of a small-town kid who was too trusting. I don't understand why anyone would EVER risk hitchhiking? I know times were different back than, but still, it is really sad to think that so many kids like Mark could have been "saved." (Assuming Mark met with a tragic fate.) by simply never hitchhiking or taking rides from strangers under any circumstances!
Regards,
Satch
Hi- I did a lot of scrounging for information when researching Mark Wilson, but there was nothing really to find. I had a folder dedicated to him, but that computer died and fried all my drives, so I had to start from scratch. I remember the circumstances were he lived in MV, which is barely a community NOW, much less in 67. I've recently read about his case at markwilson.projectjason.org (who wrote the personal account found there?), and I never heard about him usually biking back and forth. There's a lot of good info in that account, so let me try to weave what I know in and out of the personal memories found on projectjason.
First, the distance is only a few miles west of Quincy. Here's a link to a map I made dealing with many of the major landmarks in the Keddie Murders from 1981. At the bottom of the map is a cluster of pinpointed landmarks on right, which is Quincy. On the bottom left is a sole blue icon, pinpointing "downtown Meadow Valley" in 1981.
Keddie Murders Map
Understanding the crime has a lot to do with understanding the terrain and the roads and the era when it happened. The main road through Plumas, where traffic was consistently found, is HWY 70/89. The road to Meadow Valley was a small road (since widened, slightly) that winds through canyons, with occasional small breaks mainly to the north. It expands into a small and sparsely-populated valley area, but the main route between MV and where that road connects to 70/89 (which is also Quincy's Main Street) is thickly lined on both sides of the road with tall pines. I drove the widened version of the road two years back, and I know anyone walking on that road has few places to go in case of trouble. Also, the south side of the road, where he would have been if hitching into town, is often carved out of the mountainside, leaving nowhere to run if he didn't like the look of the ride he'd thumbed down. Literally on the side of the road and nowhere to run where the driver can't jump out and catch you first.
Once you get into Quincy from the road to Meadow Valley, it's only 150 yards (1.3 blocks) from where that road connects to 70/89/Main St. until you hit the theatre.
Click here for a photo gallery I made of Quincy through the decades. Look at the gallery's Main Street section closely, because you can see the theatre was only 150 yards down Main from where the MV road connected to Main Street/70/89. In fact, the Main Street Gallery has many photos taken at that corner where the MV road connected to the corner of Crescent and Main. Those were taken from the corner of where historic Hotel Quincy once stood, which was burnt down by arson months prior in 1966. Also, others were taken next door at the County Courthouse, which housed the Plumas County Sheriff's Office and Jail at the time (I find it very doubtful he disappeared within eyeshot of the courthouse, but PCSO are a pretty corrupt lot...) You can see the theatre on the left (north) side of the road a block down, with the tall, pillar-like sign declaring 'TOWNHALL'. When looking at the gallery, turn on the "i" caption button because I added explanations for many of the photos, including the names of the movies on the marquee on Town Hall photos I could decipher.
Take a peak around the gallery and the map link I gave above. Use Google Maps' Street View to see the layout of Quincy and how the road to MV is still small and winding. If Mark Wilson was hitching and caught a ride, it was long before he hit Quincy, so he was picked up by somebody on a very low-traffic road. 1967? Much lower traffic then, and keep in mind the weather and specific location. The mountains were to his south as he walked to Quincy. Literally at his feet, since he was walking on a cutaway. Quincy is very far north of the equator, so the earth's curvature means the sun is very weak and the azimuth/apex is always very far to the south in Plumas, and it gets much weaker in winter. In 67, there was no Daylight Savings Time, so 6 pm in 1967 is like 7 pm without DST, much darker. Meadow Valley and most of the road into Quincy is already in shade shortly after noon by that time of year, so Mark would have been walking in shade, in low very light, if he left at five. My guess is sundown in Quincy in 67 would have been around 5:45 pm, based on my experiences in England at that time of year. Had it already snowed? It often does by that time of year. It would take time, but would be easy to find the facts about weather and sundown/sunup and other factors to calculate weather circumstances and walking conditions in November 1967, but they were not good circumstances. I did it for the Keddie Case, so test my math and logic by double-checking it here. Even considering how it was a quiet town where nothing ever happened, that road was very dangerous to walk. Period.
The movie theatre was tiny, and still is. It shows two movies, and they are usually 3-6 months old. Quincy couldn't afford premiere, first-run flicks, so they have one theatre, one screen, and two films that are months old. If he was going to the Matinee, it probably meant a cheaper price and maybe both films for the cheaper fee. If you want to know what was playing at the theatre that evening, I would research the Plumas papers from Oct/November 67, or try the Plumas County Library or Plumas County Museum. I don't find the title(s) he was going to see as very important, but I do find it very odd he was not meeting any friends there. Either he loved film, was a loner, or something else was going on.
Looking at films I would expect to possibly be booked at the Town Hall, I'll choose top releases that were hits months earlier and were not too daring or controversial, and usually one was for guys and the other more romantic.
El Dorado (John Wayne), You Only Live Twice (007 Connery), Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Dirty Dozen, The Jungle Book, Wait Until Dark, Cool Hand Luke. I doubt Quincy played top films like Bonnie and Clyde or In the Heat of the Night or Born Losers or even To Sir With Love because they were too controversial or too intelligent, to be blunt. A lot of the times they wouldn't even pick up A-List movies, as you can see from photos posted in the photo gallery. I don't know what it was like in 67, but they often ran b-movies in the 50s and early 60s.
I've learned a lot about the Plumas/Quincy area over the years I've spent working the Keddie case, and the area is beautiful. Between 67-81, that "wonderful community" sure went to hell.
I'll talk about other aspects, if anyone's interested, but look into what I've posted above because this case cries "LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!" A very weird place AND wrong time of year AND wrong time of day to grab a ride from someone you don't know. Who else would be on that road between MV and Q?
First, the distance is only a few miles west of Quincy. Here's a link to a map I made dealing with many of the major landmarks in the Keddie Murders from 1981. At the bottom of the map is a cluster of pinpointed landmarks on right, which is Quincy. On the bottom left is a sole blue icon, pinpointing "downtown Meadow Valley" in 1981.
Keddie Murders Map
Understanding the crime has a lot to do with understanding the terrain and the roads and the era when it happened. The main road through Plumas, where traffic was consistently found, is HWY 70/89. The road to Meadow Valley was a small road (since widened, slightly) that winds through canyons, with occasional small breaks mainly to the north. It expands into a small and sparsely-populated valley area, but the main route between MV and where that road connects to 70/89 (which is also Quincy's Main Street) is thickly lined on both sides of the road with tall pines. I drove the widened version of the road two years back, and I know anyone walking on that road has few places to go in case of trouble. Also, the south side of the road, where he would have been if hitching into town, is often carved out of the mountainside, leaving nowhere to run if he didn't like the look of the ride he'd thumbed down. Literally on the side of the road and nowhere to run where the driver can't jump out and catch you first.
Once you get into Quincy from the road to Meadow Valley, it's only 150 yards (1.3 blocks) from where that road connects to 70/89/Main St. until you hit the theatre.
Click here for a photo gallery I made of Quincy through the decades. Look at the gallery's Main Street section closely, because you can see the theatre was only 150 yards down Main from where the MV road connected to Main Street/70/89. In fact, the Main Street Gallery has many photos taken at that corner where the MV road connected to the corner of Crescent and Main. Those were taken from the corner of where historic Hotel Quincy once stood, which was burnt down by arson months prior in 1966. Also, others were taken next door at the County Courthouse, which housed the Plumas County Sheriff's Office and Jail at the time (I find it very doubtful he disappeared within eyeshot of the courthouse, but PCSO are a pretty corrupt lot...) You can see the theatre on the left (north) side of the road a block down, with the tall, pillar-like sign declaring 'TOWNHALL'. When looking at the gallery, turn on the "i" caption button because I added explanations for many of the photos, including the names of the movies on the marquee on Town Hall photos I could decipher.
Take a peak around the gallery and the map link I gave above. Use Google Maps' Street View to see the layout of Quincy and how the road to MV is still small and winding. If Mark Wilson was hitching and caught a ride, it was long before he hit Quincy, so he was picked up by somebody on a very low-traffic road. 1967? Much lower traffic then, and keep in mind the weather and specific location. The mountains were to his south as he walked to Quincy. Literally at his feet, since he was walking on a cutaway. Quincy is very far north of the equator, so the earth's curvature means the sun is very weak and the azimuth/apex is always very far to the south in Plumas, and it gets much weaker in winter. In 67, there was no Daylight Savings Time, so 6 pm in 1967 is like 7 pm without DST, much darker. Meadow Valley and most of the road into Quincy is already in shade shortly after noon by that time of year, so Mark would have been walking in shade, in low very light, if he left at five. My guess is sundown in Quincy in 67 would have been around 5:45 pm, based on my experiences in England at that time of year. Had it already snowed? It often does by that time of year. It would take time, but would be easy to find the facts about weather and sundown/sunup and other factors to calculate weather circumstances and walking conditions in November 1967, but they were not good circumstances. I did it for the Keddie Case, so test my math and logic by double-checking it here. Even considering how it was a quiet town where nothing ever happened, that road was very dangerous to walk. Period.
The movie theatre was tiny, and still is. It shows two movies, and they are usually 3-6 months old. Quincy couldn't afford premiere, first-run flicks, so they have one theatre, one screen, and two films that are months old. If he was going to the Matinee, it probably meant a cheaper price and maybe both films for the cheaper fee. If you want to know what was playing at the theatre that evening, I would research the Plumas papers from Oct/November 67, or try the Plumas County Library or Plumas County Museum. I don't find the title(s) he was going to see as very important, but I do find it very odd he was not meeting any friends there. Either he loved film, was a loner, or something else was going on.
Looking at films I would expect to possibly be booked at the Town Hall, I'll choose top releases that were hits months earlier and were not too daring or controversial, and usually one was for guys and the other more romantic.
El Dorado (John Wayne), You Only Live Twice (007 Connery), Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Dirty Dozen, The Jungle Book, Wait Until Dark, Cool Hand Luke. I doubt Quincy played top films like Bonnie and Clyde or In the Heat of the Night or Born Losers or even To Sir With Love because they were too controversial or too intelligent, to be blunt. A lot of the times they wouldn't even pick up A-List movies, as you can see from photos posted in the photo gallery. I don't know what it was like in 67, but they often ran b-movies in the 50s and early 60s.
I've learned a lot about the Plumas/Quincy area over the years I've spent working the Keddie case, and the area is beautiful. Between 67-81, that "wonderful community" sure went to hell.
I'll talk about other aspects, if anyone's interested, but look into what I've posted above because this case cries "LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!" A very weird place AND wrong time of year AND wrong time of day to grab a ride from someone you don't know. Who else would be on that road between MV and Q?
Thanks for all the research and information! Below is data from Farmer's Almanac.com concerning the weather on the day Mark left to go to the movies:
Weather History Results for Meadow Valley, CA
November 4th, 1967
« Previous Day - 11/3/1967 11/5/1967 - Next Day »
On November 4th, 1967, the closest available weather station to Meadow Valley, CA (BEALE AFB, CA), reported the following conditions:
High Temp: 79F
Low Temp: 52F
Average Temp: 61.4F
Dewpoint: 43.7F
Wind Speed: 1.9 Knots
Precipitation Amount: 0 Inches
Snow Depth: n/a
Observations: n/a
Weather History Results for Quincy, CA
November 4th, 1967
« Previous Day - 11/3/1967 11/5/1967 - Next Day »
On November 4th, 1967, the closest available weather station to Quincy, CA (BEALE AFB, CA), reported the following conditions:
High Temp: 79F
Low Temp: 52F
Average Temp: 61.4F
Dewpoint: 43.7F
Wind Speed: 1.9 Knots
Precipitation Amount: 0 Inches
Snow Depth: n/a
Observations: n/a
They seem to be the same. It appears to indicate a nice day when Mark left that afternoon. Cool to mild cold that night. No snow. I wonder what would have happened if Mark would have rode his bike into town? I remember someplace that said he often did that, but didn't do that on this day because he would be coming home after dark.
Most likely, Mark left between 1-2 PM to see a 3-4 PM show. Good call on the lack of Daylight Savings' Time. 5-6 PM (when the movie probably let-out.) would be 7-8PM under DST today and very dark. It's also important to consider the excellent points made above, that Mark either enjoyed movies, or was a loaner, (or both.) All indications are that he went by himself. This whole tragedy could have been avoided if a family member or close friend of Mark's could have simply taken him to the movies and picked him up on that day. Or even if Mark had rode his bike that day.
Satch
The closest weather station to Quincy at the time was Beale AFB, which is where the reading comes from. Beale is on the desert floor, 65 miles SSE from Quincy, and only 100 ft above sea level. Quincy, on the other hand, is in the middle of the Sierras, at 3500 ft. Beale's weather info couldn't be less relevant if it was from another planet.
Also, I'd consider 4 pm to be closer to when he left. I don't believe the Town Hall ran an early matinee... the town wasn't big enough to support it, so it probably only had 3 showings on weekends and two on weekdays. 5, 7, and 9 pm. If era papers could be located on smalltownpapers.com, etc (they can't), there may be an advert. The Plumas papers (all owned and operated by the same company) only ran once a week, with slightly different front pages for the headers for the different towns.
It's a one-pony town, too, so the theatre may not have wasted money advertising- there's no competition, so if anyone wants to see a movie, the choices are one.
Also, I'd consider 4 pm to be closer to when he left. I don't believe the Town Hall ran an early matinee... the town wasn't big enough to support it, so it probably only had 3 showings on weekends and two on weekdays. 5, 7, and 9 pm. If era papers could be located on smalltownpapers.com, etc (they can't), there may be an advert. The Plumas papers (all owned and operated by the same company) only ran once a week, with slightly different front pages for the headers for the different towns.
It's a one-pony town, too, so the theatre may not have wasted money advertising- there's no competition, so if anyone wants to see a movie, the choices are one.
Sorry, Lins, it's not amazing work. In fact, I must retract my understanding the theatre ran doubleheaders. Every photo and every bit of info I have says that theatre ran b-movies, one at a time, no double features. And the A-list movies I mentioned? Not in Quincy. Anyone in Plumas had to go way out of town to see a REAL movie.
Other than that, the sunlight is thin and the roads were narrow and he was on the tiniest of roads when he disappeared. This is about Mark Wendell Wilson, and the focus is that he was abducted on a tiny winding road. I think the runaway theory is pure BS.
[modsnip]
Other than that, the sunlight is thin and the roads were narrow and he was on the tiniest of roads when he disappeared. This is about Mark Wendell Wilson, and the focus is that he was abducted on a tiny winding road. I think the runaway theory is pure BS.
[modsnip]
Satch - there was only one theater in Quincy. I don't remember what it was called now, but there has always been only one. It might be called "Plumas something"?
The Project Jason site is nice. I wish the family would come and blog there. That would be helpful.
Salem
With regards to the name of the theater in Quincy, California, it was and still is, the Town Hall Theater. The poster above this post asked about it and I remembered that I had found out the name. Mark's case for me has always been incredibly sad, because there are very little clues as to what happened to him.
Seemingly though, it was something awful, likely Mark was a too trusting small-town boy who "got a bad ride" and was killed. The big lesson to be learned from Mark's case and similar cases like this is NEVER, EVER HITCHHIKE, OR ACCEPT RIDES FROM STRANGERS! Of course back in the 60's when Mark vanished, and probably up until the late 70's, hitchhiking was common because people back than didn't think about the seriousness of this issue like they do now.
If only a trusted family member or good friend had given him a ride that day so that Mark wouldn't have been alone, this whole tragedy never would have happened. We don't know for sure that Mark was alone, or met up with someone before going to the movies, or was supposed to meet up with someone. I think that because there's no evidence that anyone else connected to Mark's case disappeared that day, I believe that he was alone.
Satch
Devastating information above. It was very kind of the yearbook staff to pay a special tribute to Mark and Kathy.
I wonder if there is a way that the yearbook with Mark's tribute could be tracked down and posted here? I know it is a long-shot. However, it is possible that such a tribute would allow us at WS to remember and reflect on what Mark loved, or anything else about him. What subjects he liked in school? Hobbies? Interests? Activities?
I have not been to ProjectJasin.org for awhile. There was (or I assume still is) a blog on Mark's case. Some of the information was new, at least to me. However, to have that kind of personal reflection and remembrance from a school yearbook would signify something special, and help many of us see the things that make (made) Mark special, instead of just a "Missing Person."
I don't think there would be sensitive information in a high school yearbook for something like this to be posted, I would presume would be OK. I think it would help with closure and healing.
Satch
QuincyGirl
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I am starting a thread for Mark. I know he is a long shot, but I have submitted him to the local LE and they are looking into it. I received an email from the detective this morning that says they are still looking at the DNA and doing some research. If the detective gives me permission I will post his entire update.
I have trouble keeping up with Mark because he doesn't have a thread and I always have to go find him :crazy:
I will try to move the previous posts to this thread if I can figure out how
Salem
Please see the attached Maybe regarding Mark Wilson
QuincyGirl
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I am starting a thread for Mark. I know he is a long shot, but I have submitted him to the local LE and they are looking into it. I received an email from the detective this morning that says they are still looking at the DNA and doing some research. If the detective gives me permission I will post his entire update.
I have trouble keeping up with Mark because he doesn't have a thread and I always have to go find him :crazy:
I will try to move the previous posts to this thread if I can figure out how
Salem
New information regarding Mark Wilson
http://plumasnews.com/index.php?opt...-missing-boy&catid=69:-headline-news&Itemid=6
Potential lead found in 1967 case of missing boy
Mark Wilson was 13 when he disappeared in 1967.
BY Dan McDonald
Managing Editor
3/28/2014
Trained dogs detect scent at abandoned well in Meadow Valley
More than 46 years ago, 13-year-old Mark Wilson left his Meadow Valley home on foot. He told his parents he planned to try to hitch a ride to Quincy to watch a movie.
The eighth-grader was never seen again.
Shortly after Mark — his friends called him “Wilson” — disappeared without a trace Nov. 4, 1967, a search began.
An all-points bulletin was issued by the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office to law enforcement agencies throughout the region.
As the days and weeks passed, Sheriff W.C. Abernethy personally traveled the state searching for any possible leads to Wilson’s whereabouts. The sheriff would eventually distribute fliers nationwide.
Wilson’s mother, Betty Wilson, offered a $500 reward for information that could help her find her son.
Weeks, months and then years passed without a single credible lead. Wilson had simply vanished.
Current sheriff Greg Hagwood said that despite having absolutely no clues to work with, his office revisited the Wilson case every year.
“We haven’t had any actionable leads in the 26 years that I’ve been at the sheriff’s department,” Hagwood said.
Until now.
“I want people to know that regardless of how old the case is, we haven’t forgotten about it. And the family hasn’t forgotten about it. And we are going to take whatever efforts to conclusively determine what is at this site.”
Last October, a specially trained dog (known as a cadaver dog) zeroed in on abandoned well in Meadow Valley. The dog and its handler, which were brought in by friends and family of Wilson, were definitely on to something.
The Sheriff’s Office followed up by bringing in a cadaver dog of its own. That dog made “a positive alert” at the same location.
In January, a third “highly credentialed” dog was enlisted by the sheriff. According to Sheriff Hagwood, the dog that specialized in the recovery of human remains picked up a scent in the same spot.
“It was kind of a triple-blind test,” Hagwood said. The sheriff emphasized that the three dogs weren’t led to the site. They found it on their own.
“We wanted to be completely objective about this,” Hagwood said. “Given that three dogs have independently alerted to human remains at this site, and its proximity to the area where Mark Wilson was last seen, we have an obligation to find out what’s in there.”
Hagwood said he didn’t want to give the exact location of the well, which is on private property in Meadow Valley.
“We aren’t identifying the property specifically at this time in the interest of the actual case and in the interest of the current property owners,” Hagwood said.
The sheriff also cautioned that because the dogs were trained to detect “historic and prehistoric” human remains, whatever attracted them could be more than 100 years old.
“That is important to bear in mind,” he said. “We have no evidence at this point to be able to say the dogs are alerting on (Wilson’s) remains. We don’t have that.”
Excavating the well site
Hagwood said an excavation at the well site would likely happen in May or June. He said the team of experts needs to be assembled. And it is important to have relatively good weather.
He expects the excavation to take seven to 10 days.
“Once this process starts, it won’t stop until it is completed,” Hagwood said. “It’s not a situation where we can work for a couple days and take a week off. Once it starts, it will go daily until it’s completed.”
The cost of such an operation, which could involve as many as a dozen specialists and technicians, could total more than $100,000, according to the sheriff. However, Hagwood said he has enlisted the help of FBI experts from across the country.
“They have what is known as an ‘evidence recovery team.’ They are FBI agents and specialists and technicians whose expertise is in processing, recovering and excavating historical sites,” Hagwood said. “And with that, it brings a level of expertise that is world-renowned at very little, if any, cost to Plumas County.”
The sheriff said his office is fortunate to have the expert help. But he said he would have dug up the well even without it.
“I’m gonna find out what’s in that well, come hell or high water,” Hagwood said. “That’s just the bottom line.”
Little known about the well
Hagwood said there are no records to indicate when the well was dug or when it was last used.
“I know it was there in 1926. I’ve got photographic evidence that it was there in ’26,” he said. “But that’s about all we know.”
Hagwood said his office has been trying to contact local people who might have some knowledge of when it was built.
Wilson remembered
The sheriff said people in the community have been very helpful in the case.
“There are a lot of people still in the Quincy area and Plumas County who knew the young man and who were close to the family,” Hagwood said. “There is a high level of interest in a case like this.
“I want people to know that regardless of how old the case is, we haven’t forgotten about it. And the family hasn’t forgotten about it. And we are going to take whatever efforts to conclusively determine what is at this site.”
Recently posted articles
Potential lead found in 1967 case of missing boy
Mark Wilson was 13 when he disappeared in 1967.
BY Dan McDonald
Managing Editor
3/28/2014
Trained dogs detect scent at abandoned well in Meadow Valley
More than 46 years ago, 13-year-old Mark Wilson left his Meadow Valley home on foot. He told his parents he planned to try to hitch a ride to Quincy to watch a movie.
The eighth-grader was never seen again.
Shortly after Mark — his friends called him “Wilson” — disappeared without a trace Nov. 4, 1967, a search began.
An all-points bulletin was issued by the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office to law enforcement agencies throughout the region.
As the days and weeks passed, Sheriff W.C. Abernethy personally traveled the state searching for any possible leads to Wilson’s whereabouts. The sheriff would eventually distribute fliers nationwide.
Wilson’s mother, Betty Wilson, offered a $500 reward for information that could help her find her son.
Weeks, months and then years passed without a single credible lead. Wilson had simply vanished.
Current sheriff Greg Hagwood said that despite having absolutely no clues to work with, his office revisited the Wilson case every year.
“We haven’t had any actionable leads in the 26 years that I’ve been at the sheriff’s department,” Hagwood said.
Until now.
“I want people to know that regardless of how old the case is, we haven’t forgotten about it. And the family hasn’t forgotten about it. And we are going to take whatever efforts to conclusively determine what is at this site.”
Last October, a specially trained dog (known as a cadaver dog) zeroed in on abandoned well in Meadow Valley. The dog and its handler, which were brought in by friends and family of Wilson, were definitely on to something.
The Sheriff’s Office followed up by bringing in a cadaver dog of its own. That dog made “a positive alert” at the same location.
In January, a third “highly credentialed” dog was enlisted by the sheriff. According to Sheriff Hagwood, the dog that specialized in the recovery of human remains picked up a scent in the same spot.
“It was kind of a triple-blind test,” Hagwood said. The sheriff emphasized that the three dogs weren’t led to the site. They found it on their own.
“We wanted to be completely objective about this,” Hagwood said. “Given that three dogs have independently alerted to human remains at this site, and its proximity to the area where Mark Wilson was last seen, we have an obligation to find out what’s in there.”
Hagwood said he didn’t want to give the exact location of the well, which is on private property in Meadow Valley.
“We aren’t identifying the property specifically at this time in the interest of the actual case and in the interest of the current property owners,” Hagwood said.
The sheriff also cautioned that because the dogs were trained to detect “historic and prehistoric” human remains, whatever attracted them could be more than 100 years old.
“That is important to bear in mind,” he said. “We have no evidence at this point to be able to say the dogs are alerting on (Wilson’s) remains. We don’t have that.”
Excavating the well site
Hagwood said an excavation at the well site would likely happen in May or June. He said the team of experts needs to be assembled. And it is important to have relatively good weather.
He expects the excavation to take seven to 10 days.
“Once this process starts, it won’t stop until it is completed,” Hagwood said. “It’s not a situation where we can work for a couple days and take a week off. Once it starts, it will go daily until it’s completed.”
The cost of such an operation, which could involve as many as a dozen specialists and technicians, could total more than $100,000, according to the sheriff. However, Hagwood said he has enlisted the help of FBI experts from across the country.
“They have what is known as an ‘evidence recovery team.’ They are FBI agents and specialists and technicians whose expertise is in processing, recovering and excavating historical sites,” Hagwood said. “And with that, it brings a level of expertise that is world-renowned at very little, if any, cost to Plumas County.”
The sheriff said his office is fortunate to have the expert help. But he said he would have dug up the well even without it.
“I’m gonna find out what’s in that well, come hell or high water,” Hagwood said. “That’s just the bottom line.”
Little known about the well
Hagwood said there are no records to indicate when the well was dug or when it was last used.
“I know it was there in 1926. I’ve got photographic evidence that it was there in ’26,” he said. “But that’s about all we know.”
Hagwood said his office has been trying to contact local people who might have some knowledge of when it was built.
Wilson remembered
The sheriff said people in the community have been very helpful in the case.
“There are a lot of people still in the Quincy area and Plumas County who knew the young man and who were close to the family,” Hagwood said. “There is a high level of interest in a case like this.
“I want people to know that regardless of how old the case is, we haven’t forgotten about it. And the family hasn’t forgotten about it. And we are going to take whatever efforts to conclusively determine what is at this site.”
Recently posted articles
Here's the photo of Mark from the 1967 yearbook. This would have been taken near the beginning of the school year, in mid-1966. The photo of Mark most often seen seems to be his yb photo for the following year (1968); however, his photo does not appear in that book. It seems to have been pulled prior to the book going to print, as a result of his disappearance. As for the memorial, I can't find it in glancing through the 68 yearbook, which is not surprising as it was a small, single-line blurb... much less prominent than the Kathy Howard memorial I posted above.
In case it disappears from markwilson.projectjason.org, and simply to consolodate the info here:
In case it disappears from markwilson.projectjason.org, and simply to consolodate the info here:
Clothing: He was wearing dark jeans, a sweat shirt, a white nylon windbreaker jacket and sneakers.
Circumstances of Disappearance: He left his home in Meadow Valley in the early afternoon on Saturday to hitchhike to the matinee show in Quincy. (7 miles away) He asked his mother for some money out of his small saving account which she refused, so it is thought that he only had a few dollars with him.
ABOUT MARK WILSON
I would describe Mark as having a pleasant personality, easy-going-with a sense of humor. He could solve all kinds of puzzles. He was interested in bikes then and had a three speed stingray. He always wanted a ten speed. He often rode the bike to town seven miles away, but not that Saturday when he disappeared because it would have been dark after the show.
I understand that at the time all the boys in the small boy scout group had put Mark’s name down as one of the boys they wanted to be in their patrol group. He was shy and was having trouble with his school work. He may have been dyslexic.
I asked him once if he would be interested in being an astronaut. He said ‘no’, but he might be interested in helping to build the space ship! He had drawn a picture of a peace sign, but didn’t seem too interested in all the protests and politics of the times then. He was only in the eighth grade. He had made some ‘glasses’ out of the reflectors on the road posts which gave sort of a psychedelic look when you wore them, breaking up the light. He may have been interested in mechanical things more than philosophical things.
We had a swimming pool at the house we were living in when he disappeared. The house was in foreclosure then and after Mark disappeared we moved back to a smaller house next door. Dick, Mark’s stepfather, had gotten some high school boys through probation to do some work clearing roads in a subdivision we were trying to develop, and they would come and swim after ‘working’ Some could swim the length of the pool underwater and Mark was trying to do that too.
Circumstances of Disappearance: He left his home in Meadow Valley in the early afternoon on Saturday to hitchhike to the matinee show in Quincy. (7 miles away) He asked his mother for some money out of his small saving account which she refused, so it is thought that he only had a few dollars with him.
ABOUT MARK WILSON
I would describe Mark as having a pleasant personality, easy-going-with a sense of humor. He could solve all kinds of puzzles. He was interested in bikes then and had a three speed stingray. He always wanted a ten speed. He often rode the bike to town seven miles away, but not that Saturday when he disappeared because it would have been dark after the show.
I understand that at the time all the boys in the small boy scout group had put Mark’s name down as one of the boys they wanted to be in their patrol group. He was shy and was having trouble with his school work. He may have been dyslexic.
I asked him once if he would be interested in being an astronaut. He said ‘no’, but he might be interested in helping to build the space ship! He had drawn a picture of a peace sign, but didn’t seem too interested in all the protests and politics of the times then. He was only in the eighth grade. He had made some ‘glasses’ out of the reflectors on the road posts which gave sort of a psychedelic look when you wore them, breaking up the light. He may have been interested in mechanical things more than philosophical things.
We had a swimming pool at the house we were living in when he disappeared. The house was in foreclosure then and after Mark disappeared we moved back to a smaller house next door. Dick, Mark’s stepfather, had gotten some high school boys through probation to do some work clearing roads in a subdivision we were trying to develop, and they would come and swim after ‘working’ Some could swim the length of the pool underwater and Mark was trying to do that too.
Attachments
The news report mentions that the unnamed well that got three independent hits from different cadaver dogs is located in or near the rural community of Meadow Valley, on private land. Of course, there must be an informant or other impetus that gave Hagwood, et al., cause to put the first dog on the ground near that well in the first place. After nearly fifty years, the dog was put on the ground specifically looking for him, otherwise there's no logical reason for the conclusions drawn or the news article itself. They could have played it like Cache County SO did when they located Tina Sharp's skull, three years and thirty miles from where she was murdered in 81. In that instance, LE tried to play it off as ancient remains from Native Americans, until science shot them down and they had to, instead, work the case.
Being familiar with Hagwood and PCSO's ways, I'm fairly certain this search is the result of new info, and they knew going in any 'hit' would indicate Wilson. That said, we still don't know where Mark's home was, where he was officially last seen, nor where the well is. The person who described Mark on projectjason.org appears to be close, possibly one of his three sisters. It would be nice if family would come forward here to elucidate.
If this is indeed Mark, the new details indicate he likely didn't end up in that well due to misadventure. Had it been an accident and he was alone, there would be no new details coming forward because there would be no witness. Therefore, a perp is involved who was from the area and knew it well enough to know the location of the well (was it already abandoned when he disappeared? From the article, it seems PCSO is still trying to determine the basics on the well, so my guess is it was abandoned by 67).
So many things may have happened- he may have been picked up by the perp promising a ride into Q, or he may never have made it to the main road to start hitching. This new info (if it is, indeed, related to Mark) further substantiates the earlier conclusions: this crime was not committed by some traveling killer; The perp is a local person very familiar with the immediate area and quite possibly familiar enough with Mark to have used that community sense of trust against him.
Being familiar with Hagwood and PCSO's ways, I'm fairly certain this search is the result of new info, and they knew going in any 'hit' would indicate Wilson. That said, we still don't know where Mark's home was, where he was officially last seen, nor where the well is. The person who described Mark on projectjason.org appears to be close, possibly one of his three sisters. It would be nice if family would come forward here to elucidate.
If this is indeed Mark, the new details indicate he likely didn't end up in that well due to misadventure. Had it been an accident and he was alone, there would be no new details coming forward because there would be no witness. Therefore, a perp is involved who was from the area and knew it well enough to know the location of the well (was it already abandoned when he disappeared? From the article, it seems PCSO is still trying to determine the basics on the well, so my guess is it was abandoned by 67).
So many things may have happened- he may have been picked up by the perp promising a ride into Q, or he may never have made it to the main road to start hitching. This new info (if it is, indeed, related to Mark) further substantiates the earlier conclusions: this crime was not committed by some traveling killer; The perp is a local person very familiar with the immediate area and quite possibly familiar enough with Mark to have used that community sense of trust against him.
I don't want to speculate too much, because we don't have enough evidence yet, but I have a very bad, and sick feeling that this could be Mark. Just from the standpoint of reference when we are talking about a "Well" is this something like a hole in the ground where Mark could have slipped and fallen, never to be heard from again? (Like a manhole with a cover uncovered?) What types of wells are there? And could this relate to, if this is Mark, whether this was an accidental occurrence where he fell and couldn't get out, or somebody hurt and killed him?
Or horribly, he could have hitched a ride with the wrong person, and sadly those remains if they are human remains were dumped in this well by the perpetrator after Mark was killed?
If it's NOT Mark, and it may very well not be Mark, because we don't know enough about where Mark was within the proximity of his house, to where this well is in regards to where he disappeared. Than, if not Mark, I go back to the hitchhiking "bad ride" theory, which may still be the case, even if these remains are Mark.
If Mark had some sort of accident or injury in the way to the movies, or wherever he was going, I think the evidence would have surfaced long ago. If this is Mark, how horrible for this poor family, and it was likely an intentional act, most likely committed by someone familiar with the community, although I can't rule out an outsider. There are sickos everywhere, and a lot of times, they can take advantage of unsuspecting people in small towns, who think that everyone is kind, good, and trusting.
It is possible that this poor young man's small town trust in people probably proved fatal. What's also devastating is that, if Mark was indeed killed, the perpetrator will probably never be brought to justice.
Satch