CANADA Canada - Adam, Trevor, & Mitchell O'Brien, Torbay, NF, 9 Nov 1996

[EllieGato]

It has been over a couple of years since anyone has been to this thread. I've been working on a UID thread and I feel there is a resemblance to Adam Matthew O'Brien. I also think he looks like G O'B who is wanted by interpol.

Does anyone know where any of the possible sightings were? Could they have sailed to different countries like Cameroon, Africa or New York or Naples, Florida?

Anyone in the family named Liz? Like a cousin? A pseudo-sister so to say?

What did Gary do for a living?

Would his kids have excellent table manners, as in placing their forks and knives in the correct position when they were through? Would they be very well mannered? Dry sense of humor?

Here are the age progression photos for Adam, and then one of Gary and the Unidenitified Doe, Big Cypress, Florida found July 23, 2018.

Known as Ben Bilemy (alias), Denim (trail name), and Mostly Harmless trail name. He has a thread here (if I linked it right)
FL - FL - Big Cypress National Preserve, Male hiker, "Denim" and "Mostly Harmless", 23 July 2018

Any thoughts from someone familiar with their story would be great!

I'm thinking... what happens when they grow up? Who are they then? Aliases?

 

[Ambergold2003]

Hi, I'm from the area that these kids went missing. I've followed this case for 20+ years. I'd love help solve this mystery, if at all possible. Gary, the father, was an electrician... If I recall correctly. I've also read he was abusive and would have complete control over them. I also read recently, that a close friend of GO attempted suicide on the anniversary of their disappearance and attempted it again years later and succeeded. Also, it was widely spectulated that GO had help. I recall a news interview years ago where CBC? Interviewed a close family member brother? Uncle? I can't quite remember. But I do remember how smug this person was. Saying Gary would never be found. It was obvious he was with holding info.

 

[Ambergold2003]

It has been over a couple of years since anyone has been to this thread. I've been working on a UID thread and I feel there is a resemblance to Adam Matthew O'Brien. I also think he looks like G O'B who is wanted by interpol.

Does anyone know where any of the possible sightings were? Could they have sailed to different countries like Cameroon, Africa or New York or Naples, Florida?

Anyone in the family named Liz? Like a cousin? A pseudo-sister so to say?

What did Gary do for a living?

Would his kids have excellent table manners, as in placing their forks and knives in the correct position when they were through? Would they be very well mannered? Dry sense of humor?

Here are the age progression photos for Adam, and then one of Gary and the Unidenitified Doe, Big Cypress, Florida found July 23, 2018.

Known as Ben Bilemy (alias), Denim (trail name), and Mostly Harmless trail name. He has a thread here (if I linked it right)
FL - FL - Big Cypress National Preserve, Male hiker, "Denim" and "Mostly Harmless", 23 July 2018

Any thoughts from someone familiar with their story would be great!

I'm thinking... what happens when they grow up? Who are they then? Aliases?

It has been over a couple of years since anyone has been to this thread. I've been working on a UID thread and I feel there is a resemblance to Adam Matthew O'Brien. I also think he looks like G O'B who is wanted by interpol.

Does anyone know where any of the possible sightings were? Could they have sailed to different countries like Cameroon, Africa or New York or Naples, Florida?

Anyone in the family named Liz? Like a cousin? A pseudo-sister so to say?

What did Gary do for a living?

Would his kids have excellent table manners, as in placing their forks and knives in the correct position when they were through? Would they be very well mannered? Dry sense of humor?

Here are the age progression photos for Adam, and then one of Gary and the Unidenitified Doe, Big Cypress, Florida found July 23, 2018.

Known as Ben Bilemy (alias), Denim (trail name), and Mostly Harmless trail name. He has a thread here (if I linked it right)
FL - FL - Big Cypress National Preserve, Male hiker, "Denim" and "Mostly Harmless", 23 July 2018

Any thoughts from someone familiar with their story would be great!

I'm thinking... what happens when they grow up? Who are they then? Aliases?

Gary was an electrician.

 

[Janelle84]

Ok after reading all the comments here I have some input. I may be way off the mark but a little insight none the less.

First off, flying off the island would of been very improbable. It definitely would have been noticed regardless of the ID’s used to do so. Newfoundland in general is far too small a province for that not to have been noticed. The St.John’s airport (which would of been the closest to them) wasn’t even an International Airport until we’ll into the 2000’s. In that case they would to have made their way to the Gander airport to travel Internationally which would have been a 3-4 hour drive from Torbay. Again, would of been noticed in a town of less than 15000 that were already on look out at that point. Even National flying would have witnesses to have seen the father and boys in the airport.
So scratch the idea of flying.

Next the Greenland suggestion, which although in theory could make sense, realistically not probable. Newfoundlanders know better than to hop in a boat and speed off towards what Google Maps has shown were THOUSANDS of icebergs! They never would’ve made it there (Think Titanic for a second). The suggestion again makes sense to having found somewhere that was totally segregated however the logistics seem extremely improbable.

Now on to getting off the island in general...
Ferries, that’s it! It’s an island and the ferries (Marine Atlantic) are highly monitored. The kids would’ve had to have been hidden to have even made it on a ferry without detection. GO would’ve had to provide his Drivers License to get on as well. So he has no car (as that was found in the Ocean) and no means of travelling, so how is he getting to a ferry that’s either located, at that time, in Argentia, NL (2.5-4 hour drive), Lewisporte NL (4-5 hour drive), or Port Aux Basques, NL (12 hours!) without detection of any sort!?

Both the Argentia and Port Aux Basques Ferries land in Nova Scotia and would’ve required further ferry crossings to continue through Canada. However, this way would’ve given him the opportunity to go to the US by way of New Brunswick. Again... I’m not sure the probability of this considering the struggle it would have been to get to and on the ferry in Newfoundland to begin with. The Lewisporte ferry (now shut down) would’ve landed in Goose Bay, Labrador which would’ve given him access to the mainland and a clear shot through Canada that way.

Again, I have no actual assurance here but this is just a little insight of the area and maybe be able
to point the sleuths in the right research directions.

If the car in the ocean was an elaborate scheme I don’t think they went far immediately. To me I feel like they would’ve held up somewhere until they had more clearances and if GO was a smart as he’s made out to be then the scheme would’ve been elaborate enough to include a back up car (which he would to have purchased before then, any car sale records on file?) a cabin or uninhabited home of a friend or family member (anyone check land ownership of the family members? Like the sister...) OR a family member away (that could of received the children from an airport one by one over time as to be undetected)
Minors can travel alone as long as there is someone there to receive the child.

I obviously have theories but he would’ve needed help for all of them and it’s hard to believe after all these years no one would’ve slipped at all...

 

[musicaljoke]

Ok after reading all the comments here I have some input. I may be way off the mark but a little insight none the less.

First off, flying off the island would of been very improbable. It definitely would have been noticed regardless of the ID’s used to do so. Newfoundland in general is far too small a province for that not to have been noticed. The St.John’s airport (which would of been the closest to them) wasn’t even an International Airport until we’ll into the 2000’s. In that case they would to have made their way to the Gander airport to travel Internationally which would have been a 3-4 hour drive from Torbay. Again, would of been noticed in a town of less than 15000 that were already on look out at that point. Even National flying would have witnesses to have seen the father and boys in the airport.
So scratch the idea of flying.

Next the Greenland suggestion, which although in theory could make sense, realistically not probable. Newfoundlanders know better than to hop in a boat and speed off towards what Google Maps has shown were THOUSANDS of icebergs! They never would’ve made it there (Think Titanic for a second). The suggestion again makes sense to having found somewhere that was totally segregated however the logistics seem extremely improbable.

Now on to getting off the island in general...
Ferries, that’s it! It’s an island and the ferries (Marine Atlantic) are highly monitored. The kids would’ve had to have been hidden to have even made it on a ferry without detection. GO would’ve had to provide his Drivers License to get on as well. So he has no car (as that was found in the Ocean) and no means of travelling, so how is he getting to a ferry that’s either located, at that time, in Argentia, NL (2.5-4 hour drive), Lewisporte NL (4-5 hour drive), or Port Aux Basques, NL (12 hours!) without detection of any sort!?

Both the Argentia and Port Aux Basques Ferries land in Nova Scotia and would’ve required further ferry crossings to continue through Canada. However, this way would’ve given him the opportunity to go to the US by way of New Brunswick. Again... I’m not sure the probability of this considering the struggle it would have been to get to and on the ferry in Newfoundland to begin with. The Lewisporte ferry (now shut down) would’ve landed in Goose Bay, Labrador which would’ve given him access to the mainland and a clear shot through Canada that way.

Again, I have no actual assurance here but this is just a little insight of the area and maybe be able
to point the sleuths in the right research directions.

If the car in the ocean was an elaborate scheme I don’t think they went far immediately. To me I feel like they would’ve held up somewhere until they had more clearances and if GO was a smart as he’s made out to be then the scheme would’ve been elaborate enough to include a back up car (which he would to have purchased before then, any car sale records on file?) a cabin or uninhabited home of a friend or family member (anyone check land ownership of the family members? Like the sister...) OR a family member away (that could of received the children from an airport one by one over time as to be undetected)
Minors can travel alone as long as there is someone there to receive the child.

I obviously have theories but he would’ve needed help for all of them and it’s hard to believe after all these years no one would’ve slipped at all...

Welcome Janelle! Great first post. It's good to hear the local geographical sense of this.

 

[brian1000]

Hi Everyone. I just got the post above in my email. It seems that so many matters have kept me away from websleuths for a few years, although it is a great passion of mine to see life's struggles sorted out. In particular, the ideas from Janelle84 were so well put. However I just did a search and found this way of getting from St. John's Newfoundland to Greenland. I think that such a way was possible back when John O'Brien took Adam, Mitchell, and Trevor on Nov. 9, 1996. There are so many puzzling aspects of this matter, with the motor belonging to the vehicle of Gary O'Brien found at the foot of Flatrock Cliff in Red Head Cove on the East Coast of Newfoundland. Why were there effectors to dispose of the vehicle. I do agree as was previously stated, that the vehicle belonging to Gary O'Brien had to be hidden in some way to lend credence to the theory that the family had left Newfound by car. The rest of the vehicle outside of the engine can easily be dispose of. I just did a search a few minutes ago and found this website about a ferry service to Greenland. Gary O'Brien had excellent job skills as he was an electrician. Greenland is the type of place that is basically off the radar when it comes to communication. We don't hear news about Greenland and Greenland may be oblivious to events going on in North America. In some ways, it feels like Greenland is on another planet. A money bribe can make some people look the other way when it comes to expediting south after traveller's escape from North America. Here is the website that I just discovered for current travel to Greenland. I feel that a search should be carried out on all such ferry trips that could have been taken on Nov. 9, 1996. Thanks everyone for your efforts on websleuths. Greenland and Wild Labrador, Small-Ship Cruise

 

[Janelle84]

Ok, I just took a look into this information a little and I’m definitely not saying you’re wrong here however this ferry service runs from Labrador not Newfoundland. As a native Labradorian I can promise you they are not close. We travelled to Newfoundland every summer when we were children and it took 3 days by car and there were a minimum of 3 ferries to get there driving. The travel route was (backwards) Newfoundland to Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia to New Brunswick, New Brunswick to Quebec, Quebec to Labrador (Where it would’ve been another 12 + hours of driving through Labrador’s unpaved highway to get to the ferry you’re discussing)
The other route at the time was again from Lewisporte to Goose Bay by ferry and that ferry was over 2 days long. I’m sure they would’ve had serious watch on that ferry at that time considering the time they would’ve been on that particular ferry. The fact that Newfoundland and Labrador is considered one province can be really confusing to people that aren’t from here but they are VERY different places I assure you, in fact they have different time zones and everything!
Again not saying is isn’t an option at all just very improbable.

Hi Everyone. I just got the post above in my email. It seems that so many matters have kept me away from websleuths for a few years, although it is a great passion of mine to see life's struggles sorted out. In particular, the ideas from Janelle84 were so well put. However I just did a search and found this way of getting from St. John's Newfoundland to Greenland. I think that such a way was possible back when John O'Brien took Adam, Mitchell, and Trevor on Nov. 9, 1996. There are so many puzzling aspects of this matter, with the motor belonging to the vehicle of Gary O'Brien found at the foot of Flatrock Cliff in Red Head Cove on the East Coast of Newfoundland. Why were there effectors to dispose of the vehicle. I do agree as was previously stated, that the vehicle belonging to Gary O'Brien had to be hidden in some way to lend credence to the theory that the family had left Newfound by car. The rest of the vehicle outside of the engine can easily be dispose of. I just did a search a few minutes ago and found this website about a ferry service to Greenland. Gary O'Brien had excellent job skills as he was an electrician. Greenland is the type of place that is basically off the radar when it comes to communication. We don't hear news about Greenland and Greenland may be oblivious to events going on in North America. In some ways, it feels like Greenland is on another planet. A money bribe can make some people look the other way when it comes to expediting south after traveller's escape from North America. Here is the website that I just discovered for current travel to Greenland. I feel that a search should be carried out on all such ferry trips that could have been taken on Nov. 9, 1996. Thanks everyone for your efforts on websleuths. Greenland and Wild Labrador, Small-Ship Cruise

 

[Ambergold2003]

You forget this was 1996. Passports and ids were not essential back then. Also, Gary had the children for the weekend, he would have had lots of times to leave the island before being discovered as missing. A piece of info that has always stuck with me is a woman from Manitoba that claimed to be their sitter.. she knew the pet name for the youngest. It's never been made public. Gary had a plan I have no doubt. He also had help. He was planning this for a while. On the day of pickup the youngest child was sick and the mom didn't want him to go but Gary insisted she have him ready when he arrived.

 

[Janelle84]

This case plays on my mind regularly, having my own boys and feeling for their mother so deeply, she deserves to know what happened to her children.
I recently listened to another YouTube video done about the boys (yay!) and even though the creator did an ok job explaining the details, and ANY press about this is beyond appreciated, she left me with more questions. Not being from the area, the creator had to rely highly on third hand information including having to change her VPN to look as though she was from Canada to even understand where this happened. She had very little knowledge about cars which made her opinions and theories skewed.
However!
Here’s my questions and hopefully someone might have some answers:
How would GO gone about getting his 1300lbs (600kg) engine off of that cliff if it wasn’t attached to the car?!
Did he have an opportunity to have changed the engine out before the events in preparation for his get away? Would anyone remember having sold him an engine? Maybe a parts lot? (Car graveyard)
Did any of GO’d neighbours see the boys go in to the house that weekend or was the bomb set even before he picked up the boys? They would’ve given him a 2 day head start if he hadn’t gone home.
The state of the home? Once police went into the home, we’re all of GO’s belongings still there or did it look as though he’d packed?!
The babysitter?! Does anyone else think that this was a decoy set up by GO with a family member? I mean how does a person who apparently has REAL information just go missing?! Did they go to Thunder Bay and ask around to see if ANYONE else had seen them?

I guess what I’m getting at here is that the serious lack of evidentiary information available. I am always left with the idea that the police didn’t do enough to investigate. Like where’s the records of flights and ferries from those 3 days?! Did he buy a boat beforehand or have a family member who DIDN’T have a boat after that weekend?!

So many questions! Mainly though, how did he get that engine in the ocean?! It’s so heavy man!

 

[lightofmine99]

Yesterday the Doe Network updated the pages for the three boys. I'm not sure what was changed or added.