NC NC - Terry, 11, & Alan Westerfield, 6, Fayetteville, 12 Sept 1964
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STANDREID
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Thanks for presenting this case.
It is tempting to put it on the stepfather but I hope they aren't focusing too much on him because it could have been someone else. I wonder if the military might have given him a polygraph regarding the events. As I understand it, people in the military have fewer options when it comes to refusing a polygraph although a potential criminal case might be one of them.
What was the movie? Was it a "kid show" that a pedophile/pederast might have seen as a hunting ground?
It is tempting to put it on the stepfather but I hope they aren't focusing too much on him because it could have been someone else. I wonder if the military might have given him a polygraph regarding the events. As I understand it, people in the military have fewer options when it comes to refusing a polygraph although a potential criminal case might be one of them.
What was the movie? Was it a "kid show" that a pedophile/pederast might have seen as a hunting ground?
In a case like this, the military generally does not get involved in the investigation or the prosecution. Jurisdiction goes to the civilian authorities as in any other missing person case.
The Cumberland County Sheriff Office has jurisdiction in this case.
The Cumberland County Sheriff Office has jurisdiction in this case.
Me too!
Respectfully, Danzn16. What do you think happened to the boys? Or would we even need more evidence to form a theory on that? I always thought the step-dad had something to do with this.
Satch
danzn16
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I really don't know! All I know is that they went to the movies and never showed back up. They said the stepfathers story had inconsistencies but we don't know what they were. I would love to know the mother's and other family members takes on what happened. Did they have a good relationship with the stepfather? There really could have just been some creep at the movie theater. I have no idea. It would be so horrible not to know what happened to both of your little boys, I can not even imagine.
Ambercat
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NamUs UP #2489 is an unidentified young male hitchhiker who died in an auto accident on November 8, 1974 near Baker (San Bernardino County), CA. According to NamUs --
I thought about Terry Lee Westerfield when I read this. He would have been about 21 in 1974.
https://identifyus.org/cases/2489
I thought about Terry Lee Westerfield when I read this. He would have been about 21 in 1974.
Hilda Swenson
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The NamUs report says the hair color is "Dark-brown, could be taken for black". Red hair ioften fades to brown with age and the body was also burned. Instinct says the stepfather killed the two boys but this unidentified young man is interesting using the name Terrence or Lee and being the same age and from the same part of the country.
danzn16
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It happened in California so this would be on the other side of the country. Driver said hitchhiker said he was from Florida and lived in Indiana some, and picked him up in Iowa. So nothing linked to NC. They have the hitchhikers DNA. I looked in NAMUS for Terry Westerfield and it says DNA is not available. Does that mean that there is no DNA for the brothers on file? I just can't see the 2 boys disappearing forever from their mothers and never being seen from again just to become drifters. Something very bad happened to them that day
Hilda Swenson
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Yep- I was thinking the SE US part of the country. If the kids ran away on their own that day and hitched around it could be a possibility but not at all likely I'm afraid. The youngest one was 6 at the time they disappeared so that especially rules out that particular scenario for me.It happened in California so this would be on the other side of the country. Driver said hitchhiker said he was from Florida and lived in Indiana some, and picked him up in Iowa. So nothing linked to NC. They have the hitchhikers DNA. I looked in NAMUS for Terry Westerfield and it says DNA is not available. Does that mean that there is no DNA for the brothers on file? I just can't see the 2 boys disappearing forever from their mothers and never being seen from again just to become drifters. Something very bad happened to them that day
Regarding the DNA, do we know if the birth father or mother are still alive or any close relatives that could provide a sample? I found that the stepfather returned to Wisconsin afterward, where I believe he is originally from. Finding remains and ID'ing them would go a long way in this case. Someone mentioned the stepfather was interviewed in 2000 and less than cooperative. I think he needs to be revisited.
danzn16
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It would be great for the mother to donate DNA so that DNA could be cross checked with unidentified bodies. They did not have DNA back then, and it's relatively recent. I wish that the case worker for this would at least try to update the file with DNA will their relatives are still living.
Ambercat
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It happened in California so this would be on the other side of the country. Driver said hitchhiker said he was from Florida and lived in Indiana some, and picked him up in Iowa. So nothing linked to NC. They have the hitchhikers DNA. I looked in NAMUS for Terry Westerfield and it says DNA is not available. Does that mean that there is no DNA for the brothers on file? I just can't see the 2 boys disappearing forever from their mothers and never being seen from again just to become drifters. Something very bad happened to them that day
Admittedly, it is far fetched because it is likely that the stepfather murdered the two boys. I wasn't really thinking that they disappeared to become drifters, more along the lines that the stepfather gave them to someone instead of actually killing them (maybe someone who wanted kids who would keep them away from him and his then wife) or something that has nothing to do with the stepfather and the two boys had the misfortune to encounter someone like Michael J. Devlin, who kept them against their will for a prolonged amount of time.
I have always thought the stepfather knows more. But not enough to convict him of wrongdoing in this case without evidence. Do you guys even think the boys got to the theature that day? Tragically, I believe that something terrible happened to them that day or within a few days afterwords. (Abducted and being held against their will is a tragic possibility as well.) I think they were abducted and killed, not necessarily by the stepfather. However, you can't rule the stepfather out.
Satch
Interesting Ambercat!
You think the stepfather murdered the boys? I would like to hear or read his alibi and why police thought it was sketchy? I agree with you that I don't think the children just took off on their own.
Satch
StJohn
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Here is a link to a local news story that ran back in March re the missing boys. Not sure why they say it is the oldest unsolved missing person case in NC, since I don't think the case of the missing Yoli children in 1962 has been solved.
http://www.wral.com/missing-brothers-case-is-nc-s-oldest-unsolved-disappearance/12176586/
http://www.wral.com/missing-brothers-case-is-nc-s-oldest-unsolved-disappearance/12176586/
aThousandYearsWide
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I wonder why this case is often called the oldest missing persons case in North Carolina. like in this article http://www.wral.com/missing-brothers-case-is-nc-s-oldest-unsolved-disappearance/12176586/
The brothers went missing in 1964, Diana and Mark Yoli went missing two years earlier in 1962 from Camp Lejune, NC; and Leila and Mary Rachel Bryan went missing over 20 years before either case in 1941 from Carolina Beach, NC. Anyone else find it weird that NC's oldest cases all went missing in pairs?
When it comes to the Westerfield brothers, I'd be very surprised if it wasn't their step-father who was responsible. He was the last known person to see them, be with them, and his story about dropping them off at the movies doesn't add up.
Why were these children even with their step-father (or should I call him their ex-step-father) if their mother was in the middle of a separation/divorce with him? Knowing how long their mother was married to him might be useful information, because if they were married for a while the boys grew up around him and that would make sense to why they'd still be with him. But all the things I've read about the case doesn't paint that picture, to me, anyways.
I personally believe the boys were killed earlier in the day, I read about a neighbor boy knocking on the door wanting to play with one of the boys and the step-father told him he (Terry) was in a punishment, why would he still be allowed to go to the movies if he was being punished? Maybe he was already dead when his neighbor wanted to play. The step-father no longer had responsibility or obligation to the boys anymore, and maybe wanted to get back at their mom for divorcing him?
The children were regulars at the theater they supposedly went missing from, the theater workers, who would have recognized them, didn't even see them that day (some say they did, others didn't). The theater thing was a probable alibi, waiting for someone you know isn't going to come out of the theater. It was also storming that night, another factor working in favor of the step-father. Search efforts would be delayed, and even if the boys were found evidence would have been washed away. I wonder if the police still have tabs on the step-father.
The brothers went missing in 1964, Diana and Mark Yoli went missing two years earlier in 1962 from Camp Lejune, NC; and Leila and Mary Rachel Bryan went missing over 20 years before either case in 1941 from Carolina Beach, NC. Anyone else find it weird that NC's oldest cases all went missing in pairs?
When it comes to the Westerfield brothers, I'd be very surprised if it wasn't their step-father who was responsible. He was the last known person to see them, be with them, and his story about dropping them off at the movies doesn't add up.
Why were these children even with their step-father (or should I call him their ex-step-father) if their mother was in the middle of a separation/divorce with him? Knowing how long their mother was married to him might be useful information, because if they were married for a while the boys grew up around him and that would make sense to why they'd still be with him. But all the things I've read about the case doesn't paint that picture, to me, anyways.
I personally believe the boys were killed earlier in the day, I read about a neighbor boy knocking on the door wanting to play with one of the boys and the step-father told him he (Terry) was in a punishment, why would he still be allowed to go to the movies if he was being punished? Maybe he was already dead when his neighbor wanted to play. The step-father no longer had responsibility or obligation to the boys anymore, and maybe wanted to get back at their mom for divorcing him?
The children were regulars at the theater they supposedly went missing from, the theater workers, who would have recognized them, didn't even see them that day (some say they did, others didn't). The theater thing was a probable alibi, waiting for someone you know isn't going to come out of the theater. It was also storming that night, another factor working in favor of the step-father. Search efforts would be delayed, and even if the boys were found evidence would have been washed away. I wonder if the police still have tabs on the step-father.
Ozoner
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I also think the boys were killed earlier in the day. The people who remembered seeing them probably had their days mixed up. Unfortunately, their mistake made it more difficult to prove the stepfather's involvement.