CA CA - Farren Stanberry, 18, San Francisco, 24 Apr 1980

[Ciriii57]

Gay Power, Gay Politics - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

On 26th April 1980 CBS Aired a documentary called Gay power, gay politics. It was supposed to about LGBTQ influences in politics but was roundly critisised as it essentially focused on gay men cruising in parks and the sadomasichism scene.
Despite the criticisms of the show San Francisco reported a 400% increase in crimes against gay men in the weeks following the airing.

This may give an idea of the possible volatile situation that Farren had found himself in and may also explain what happened to him....

Wikipedia link above just to get an idea about the documentary.

 

[Mfleish]

I appreciate all the work that's being put in for Farren! One question about the unclaimed Marriott property. Could the detective look into it to get more information to see if it is Farren's and maybe a date from that as well?
I found quite a few Marriotts in the area of doing a quick Google search, but it was difficult to find when they were opened and if they were indeed a Marriott in 1980. I think the most likely is San Francisco Marriott Union Square, built in 1971 or Courtyard San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf, built in 1979. However, Courtyard by Marriott wasn't founded until 1983, so I don't know if we can rule that one out. Also, there could have been a Marriott in another location that no longer operates.
I also went through every state's unclaimed property since I have a 4 day weekend and Stanberry isn't a very common name, to see if Farren maybe had a habit of leaving money, but I couldn't locate anything.

 

[Mfleish]

Thank you for this photo @Ciriii57! I have never seen this either! I actually enlarged and enhanced this one is well, for better facial recognition! We are making great progress!

This photo that @Ciriii57 added and @Satch enhanced is from the 1978 Medford High School yearbook. Farren is a sophomore in this picture. Medford High School is in Medford, Oregon about 323 miles or a 6 hour drive from John Day. I couldn't locate him in Medford in 1979 or 1980 or in the John Day Grant Union High School's 1980 yearbook, 1979 is not available.

Did he drop out of high school?

 

[Odyssey]

This photo that @Ciriii57 added and @Satch enhanced is from the 1978 Medford High School yearbook. Farren is a sophomore in this picture. Medford High School is in Medford, Oregon about 323 miles or a 6 hour drive from John Day. I couldn't locate him in Medford in 1979 or 1980 or in the John Day Grant Union High School's 1980 yearbook, 1979 is not available.

Did he drop out of high school?

Hmm, that's a good question. We know he was already in San Francisco in April 1980, and we know he left Oregon just after his 18th birthday.

Would he have graduated already or did he disappear in what should have been the end of his senior year?

 

[Odyssey]

Its definitely possible. But remember he did actually have $42 ish in his account and it doesn't explain why he left all his possessions in the hotel (if they were indeed his).
It seems to me that he did go somewhere, but didn't intend to be gone for more than a day. Unfortunately we don't even know if he had his wallet, ID or anything on him or what he was wearing as we have no idea what "psessions" were left behind. If they weren't actually even his possessions he may have had everything with him!
If Farren ended up travelling with someone they may have transported him or his body outside of San Francisco. I feel like it would be much harder to dispose of a body in the middle of a huge city, especially a body that hasn't yet been found.

Just a thought on the money in his account. In 1980, it was more of a hassle. There was no direct deposit, no ATM's, no debit cards. When you got paid, you had to go into the bank during business hours and stand in line.
I'm trying to remember whether you needed to have an account with the bank for them to cash paychecks for you. Does anyone recall? It seems like I remember if you didn't have enough to cover the check in your account already, the funds wouldn't be available until the check cleared, which took several days.

Farren might have brought money from home on his trip and opened that account when he decided to stay in San Francisco and perhaps he had forgotten about it when he was asking his mom for money. He may have cashed his checks at a liquor store where he would pay a fee and get his money right away.

Am I remembering right?

 

[Satch]

This photo that @Ciriii57 added and @Satch enhanced is from the 1978 Medford High School yearbook. Farren is a sophomore in this picture. Medford High School is in Medford, Oregon about 323 miles or a 6 hour drive from John Day. I couldn't locate him in Medford in 1979 or 1980 or in the John Day Grant Union High School's 1980 yearbook, 1979 is not available.

Did he drop out of high school?

Interesting!

I always thought that Farren resided in John Day Oregon being raised by his Mother and Aunt. But since he is in the Medford High School Yearbook, obviously the family must have resided in Medford, Oregon at that time. This is new to me!

He might have indeed dropped out of high school.This could indicate that he struggled academically, and might have caused friction in the family. Any other reasons, other than academics, that would cause someone to drop out of school?

Satch

 

[Odyssey]

Interesting!

I always thought that Farren resided in John Day Oregon being raised by his Mother and Aunt. But since he is in the Medford High School Yearbook, obviously the family must have resided in Medford, Oregon at that time. This is new to me!

He might have indeed dropped out of high school.This could indicate that he struggled academically, and might have caused friction in the family. Any other reasons, other than academics, that would cause someone to drop out of school?

Satch

There could be other reasons. I dropped out because my mom and step-dad were moving to Oregon and I didn't want to go with them. So I needed to work full time to support myself and I couldn't do that if I was in school.

I did go back later and finish though through an adult ed center.

 

[Ciriii57]

I appreciate all the work that's being put in for Farren! One question about the unclaimed Marriott property. Could the detective look into it to get more information to see if it is Farren's and maybe a date from that as well?
I found quite a few Marriotts in the area of doing a quick Google search, but it was difficult to find when they were opened and if they were indeed a Marriott in 1980. I think the most likely is San Francisco Marriott Union Square, built in 1971 or Courtyard San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf, built in 1979. However, Courtyard by Marriott wasn't founded until 1983, so I don't know if we can rule that one out. Also, there could have been a Marriott in another location that no longer operates.
I also went through every state's unclaimed property since I have a 4 day weekend and Stanberry isn't a very common name, to see if Farren maybe had a habit of leaving money, but I couldn't locate anything.

That's fantastic @Mfleish I couldn't find that info anywhere!
There is a group on Facebook that I joined called "San Francisco Remembered" it's full of amazing old photos and memories. Someone in that would certainly know and may even have worked at one. Definitely worth asking I think. I can if you like?

Regarding the school, I think I remember reading on Familysearch that Farrens dad moved alot for work in both Oregon and Washington. There were towns listed but I'll have to double check tomorrow. Does it mean he dropped out of school when he was 16? Is that unusual ( sorry, that's the normal age to leave school in the UK)
I imagine since he probably therefore had no friends in John Day it wasn't such a big deal for him to set of travelling.

 

[Ciriii57]

He may have cashed his checks at a liquor store where he would pay a fee and get his money right away.

Of course!! Well done @Odyssey of course that's what he would have done, that's what everyone did back then! If it's the same as in England you could pretty much cash your cheque anywhere!
Of course, then he would have money on him, and the only cheque that wasn't cashed was the last one that he never collected.

 

[Odyssey]

Does it mean he dropped out of school when he was 16? Is that unusual ( sorry, that's the normal age to leave school in the UK)
I imagine since he probably therefore had no friends in John Day it wasn't such a big deal for him to set of travelling.

It's usually age 18 here. Most people turn 18 during their senior year.

If he was moving around a lot, that might be why he dropped out. Having to keep changing schools is not easy.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

Just a thought on the money in his account. In 1980, it was more of a hassle. There was no direct deposit, no ATM's, no debit cards. When you got paid, you had to go into the bank during business hours and stand in line.
I'm trying to remember whether you needed to have an account with the bank for them to cash paychecks for you. Does anyone recall? It seems like I remember if you didn't have enough to cover the check in your account already, the funds wouldn't be available until the check cleared, which took several days.

Farren might have brought money from home on his trip and opened that account when he decided to stay in San Francisco and perhaps he had forgotten about it when he was asking his mom for money. He may have cashed his checks at a liquor store where he would pay a fee and get his money right away.

Am I remembering right?

BBM -- Are we sure about this? I am within a year or so of Farren's age and I lived in SF and nearby during the 1982-1984 timeframe and I specifically recall using ATMs. I don't know if they were brand new technology then or had been around in 1980 as well. Unfortunately I don't know about direct deposit at that time either.

Here are some financial details I do recall from that time.

I initially worked for a nonprofit who didn't have much to spend on salaries, so when they offered me a job, they asked me how much I needed to cover my costs. I added up my rent, food, car insurance etc and came to a total of $700 per month. (I forgot to add for taxes, oops!, so my checks were only ~$550ish per month, eek)

So $700 was a low but survivable monthly cost in SF in 1982.

Of course I was not living on the street and was not in a marginalized/discriminated class such as Farren may have been as a gay man, even in 'tolerant' SF. When I left the nonprofit, I went to various temporary employment agencies and was kept fairly busy as a secretary/administrative assistant working in the financial district. My memory tells me my hourly wage at those assignments would have ranged from $8 to $10 per hour, probably mostly in the $9 or $9.50 range (a bit higher than salaried folks, because no benefits).

I shared a three bedroom apartment with two other women and my share was around $300-$350 per month. This was in the Western Addition neighborhood.

Again this was in the 1982-1984 timeframe so everything would presumably have been a bit cheaper in 1980, plus the very different hardscrabble lifestyle of the discriminated against may have made these numbers possibly entirely irrelevant.

But if a gay man wasn't "out" or vocal about it, and if he had basic office skills and an appropriate wardrobe for an employment agency (front desk, warehouse, etc) he probably could have found a decent wage job where no one cared if he was gay as long as he could do the job and not be too obvious about his personal life.

My memory and opinions only

 

[Odyssey]

BBM -- Are we sure about this? I am within a year or so of Farren's age and I lived in SF and nearby during the 1982-1984 timeframe and I specifically recall using ATMs. I don't know if they were brand new technology then or had been around in 1980 as well. Unfortunately I don't know about direct deposit at that time either.

I can't be 100% sure that none existed anywhere, but I lived in NYC until 1984 and don't ever recall seeing an ATM there. Then I moved to California and the first ATM's I remember were only at Bank of America and were called Versatel. My best guess would be that I first saw them around 1987-1988. Then they started popping up everywhere.

 

[Ciriii57]

I can't be 100% sure that none existed anywhere, but I lived in NYC until 1984 and don't ever recall seeing an ATM there. Then I moved to California and the first ATM's I remember were only at Bank of America and were called Versatel. My best guess would be that I first saw them around 1987-1988. Then they started popping up everywhere.

Interesting article in the link below. So the first ATMs in San Francisco were being rolled out in the kate 1970s by..Wells Fargo Bank! By 1981 there were 208 of them.
However I still think it was very common to just cash your cheque somewhere else so you would have immediate cash rather than waiting for a check to clear.

Dispensing money like magic - Wells Fargo History

A Wells Fargo historian shares how the company’s ATMs have improved the customer experience over time, from “Silver Service” ATMs at just a few branches in the 1970s to more than 13,000 today.

www.wellsfargohistory.com

 

[Ciriii57]

Hey everyone, so another email update from Sergeant Rand. He has corrected himself on some things and given us some important info. I have attached snippets of both emails from him for future reference and here's what he said:

Sorry I stated his mother reported him missing it was his grandmother that reported it not his mother. He would speak with his grandmother about once a week by phone. I’m not positive about the drop off when I spoke to his uncle he had made missing person flyers back in the 90’s and he had stated Farren went missing in 1982. After I showed him the original report he stated he was mistaken on the year. The uncle I spoke with is married to the aunt that wrote the article, and he married into the family after Farren went missing. He has tried to find him as well. The only thing I know to be factual is the last time anyone had spoken to or seen from Farren was 4-26-80 and he was in San Francisco. The place he was staying in was apparently a type of low rent flop house and the people he was living with stated he left for work and never came back. Farren left what few belongings he possessed where he was staying so I believe he was killed in 1980 and I believe his body was recovered back then and they did not have a way to identify his body. The aunt and grandmother did drop him off but it was prior to him going to San Francisco originally.

-My most important take away from this is "the people he was living with stated he left for work and never came back." So we know for definite that Farren had indeed found himself a new job so I think my earlier theory is correct and I think it increases the likelihood that F.Stanberry's unclaimed €98 is his. As per the below link, the California minimum wage in 1980 was €3.10 an hour. He may have been earning a bit more, so this paycheck amounts to probably approximately a week of work (possibly a bit less). We don't know if it was his first paycheck or a later one but that narrows down the dates he went missing to I would say sometime after Monday 5th May-to early June (based on the fact that he didn't have a job on the 26th April and had to do a week's work before he got his first paycheck) but I think it was probably most likely sometime towards the end of May-first week of June.

History of California Minimum Wage

www.dir.ca.gov

-Regarding the unclaimed money from the Marriott corporation; I have found that this wasn't just hotels and they also owned a few restaurant chains and fast food places too so I am going to have a look through and see what existed in San Francisco at the time and I will post later. Regarding the hotels that @Mfleish mentioned earlier; unfortunately the Union Square wasn't owned by Marriott until 2006 and the Fisherman's Wharf was completed in 1984. I have asked in a facebook group to see if anyone remembers where the nearest hotel was. Perhaps a SF 1980 directory would list all Marriotts? I think someone had posted one right at the beginning oif this thread...

-Sgt Rand corrected himself that it was indeed the grandmother and not the mother who reported him missing. And it was the aunt and uncle who searched. I am not too sure about his comment "He would speak with his grandmother about once a week by phone" as this means she waited 6 whole weeks before trying to contact him. I am wondring if that should be "once a month" as that seems more logical, she wouldn't have been expecting a call before about the 26th May then.

-The Aunt and grandma did drop him off at that campsite, but this was before he went to San Francisco. So it sounds like he actually returned from travelling in the East and then made his way to SF from that campsite. But it is not really relevant to his disappearance. Also his uncle made a mistake in his missing person posters and adverts and said 1982. Since he did a ton of letter writing and searches all over, if he mistakenly said 1982 in all of them then no wonder he had no luck!

-Sergeant Rand thinks that Farren was killed in 1980 and unfortunately his body was never identified. That is sad, but I suppose that means it would be worth looking again at UIDs, perhaps from a wider area, and concentrating on the ones without DNA. @Odyssey I definitely think you shoud resubmit your earlier suggestion.

OK well I have lots of thoughts and am going to do some checking on various other things and will have more posts later.

EDIT- Forgot to say. I can't work out where the hotel manager's claim that Farren was visiting a gay man fits in with any of this?? Now we know for sure he was going to work.

 

[Bit of hope]

Hey everyone, so another email update from Sergeant Rand. He has corrected himself on some things and given us some important info. I have attached snippets of both emails from him for future reference and here's what he said:

Sorry I stated his mother reported him missing it was his grandmother that reported it not his mother. He would speak with his grandmother about once a week by phone. I’m not positive about the drop off when I spoke to his uncle he had made missing person flyers back in the 90’s and he had stated Farren went missing in 1982. After I showed him the original report he stated he was mistaken on the year. The uncle I spoke with is married to the aunt that wrote the article, and he married into the family after Farren went missing. He has tried to find him as well. The only thing I know to be factual is the last time anyone had spoken to or seen from Farren was 4-26-80 and he was in San Francisco. The place he was staying in was apparently a type of low rent flop house and the people he was living with stated he left for work and never came back. Farren left what few belongings he possessed where he was staying so I believe he was killed in 1980 and I believe his body was recovered back then and they did not have a way to identify his body. The aunt and grandmother did drop him off but it was prior to him going to San Francisco originally.

-My most important take away from this is "the people he was living with stated he left for work and never came back." So we know for definite that Farren had indeed found himself a new job so I think my earlier theory is correct and I think it increases the likelihood that F.Stanberry's unclaimed €98 is his. As per the below link, the California minimum wage in 1980 was €3.10 an hour. He may have been earning a bit more, so this paycheck amounts to probably approximately a week of work (possibly a bit less). We don't know if it was his first paycheck or a later one but that narrows down the dates he went missing to I would say sometime after Monday 5th May-to early June (based on the fact that he didn't have a job on the 26th April and had to do a week's work before he got his first paycheck) but I think it was probably most likely sometime towards the end of May-first week of June.

History of California Minimum Wage

www.dir.ca.gov

-Regarding the unclaimed money from the Marriott corporation; I have found that this wasn't just hotels and they also owned a few restaurant chains and fast food places too so I am going to have a look through and see what existed in San Francisco at the time and I will post later. Regarding the hotels that @Mfleish mentioned earlier; unfortunately the Union Square wasn't owned by Marriott until 2006 and the Fisherman's Wharf was completed in 1984. I have asked in a facebook group to see if anyone remembers where the nearest hotel was. Perhaps a SF 1980 directory would list all Marriotts? I think someone had posted one right at the beginning oif this thread...

-Sgt Rand corrected himself that it was indeed the grandmother and not the mother who reported him missing. And it was the aunt and uncle who searched. I am not too sure about his comment "He would speak with his grandmother about once a week by phone" as this means she waited 6 whole weeks before trying to contact him. I am wondring if that should be "once a month" as that seems more logical, she wouldn't have been expecting a call before about the 26th May then.

-The Aunt and grandma did drop him off at that campsite, but this was before he went to San Francisco. So it sounds like he actually returned from travelling in the East and then made his way to SF from that campsite. But it is not really relevant to his disappearance. Also his uncle made a mistake in his missing person posters and adverts and said 1982. Since he did a ton of letter writing and searches all over, if he mistakenly said 1982 in all of them then no wonder he had no luck!

-Sergeant Rand thinks that Farren was killed in 1980 and unfortunately his body was never identified. That is sad, but I suppose that means it would be worth looking again at UIDs, perhaps from a wider area, and concentrating on the ones without DNA. @Odyssey I definitely think you shoud resubmit your earlier suggestion.

OK well I have lots of thoughts and am going to do some checking on various other things and will have more posts later.

EDIT- Forgot to say. I can't work out where fits in with any of this?? Now we know for sure he was going to work.

I'm thinking about this: "the people he was living with stated he left for work and never came back." and "the hotel manager's claim that Farren was visiting a gay man".

Sad to say, but people lie and have distortions in memory after a while. It's harder to lie in a group, but what if they made up a story together? It wouldn't be the first time this happened. I tend to think a detective has experience in detecting a lie, so for now lets go with Farren left for work.

If he was living in a low rent flop house at the time does that mean he left the hotel already. Was this a different living arrangment?

 

[Ciriii57]

I'm thinking about this: "the people he was living with stated he left for work and never came back." and "the hotel manager's claim that Farren was visiting a gay man".

Sad to say, but people lie and have distortions in memory after a while. It's harder to lie in a group, but what if they made up a story together? It wouldn't be the first time this happened. I tend to think a detective has experience in detecting a lie, so for now lets go with Farren left for work.

If he was living in a low rent flop house at the time does that mean he left the hotel already. Was this a different living arrangment?

No, he was living in The National Hotel, this is the low rent flop house that the detective is referring to.

I am inclined to believe what his roomates said for the simple reason I don't see why they would lie. This was their friend and it's not like he had anything worth stealing. It is also very unlikely for all the members of a group to keep a secret for so long.
As for the Hotel Manager; either he was mistaken (quite likely after 10 years) or for some reason he was being deceptive.
I don't think Farren was murdered in the hotel; there would have been too many people around to keep it a secret.

 

[Ciriii57]

Just wanted to point out:
In 1980 Mother's day was 11th May. He didn't call home, so had he already gone missing? Perhaps not depending on his relationship with his mother.
Father's Day was on 15th June. He was reported missing the day after. Perhaps the family had been expecting a call for Father's Day which started them worrying when none came?
Just a thought.

 

[Ciriii57]

This photo that @Ciriii57 added and @Satch enhanced is from the 1978 Medford High School yearbook. Farren is a sophomore in this picture. Medford High School is in Medford, Oregon about 323 miles or a 6 hour drive from John Day. I couldn't locate him in Medford in 1979 or 1980 or in the John Day Grant Union High School's 1980 yearbook, 1979 is not available.

Did he drop out of high school?

Farren's family moved around alot. I know in later years his dad moved around several states. When his parents divorced in 1964 his Dad was living in Lebanon, Oregon and his Mum was in John Day which is where his grandma and Aunt were living after recently relocating from Portland. Lebanon is not a million miles from Medford.
I found Farren's younger sister (Peggy Sue) and she graduated Medford Senior High School in 1981. After that she also moved up to John Day. I can find NOTHING about his mum except her name and she was a Nurse's Aide. But since Farren's dad was granted a divorce on the grounds of her abandoning him, I am guessing there was some "issue" in the family.

My guess at this point would have to be that Farren had been living with his Dad (who got custody) in the Medford area but dropped out of school aged 16 and moved up to John Day to live with his maternal grandparents and aunt. Maybe he wanted to get to know his Mom too. His sister remained in Medford. She is still alive and living in Las Vegas (BTW).

Just a little insight into Farren's family background and possible reason he was in Medford.

 

[Odyssey]

@Ciriii57 Great info there! As for submitting that UID again, did Rand mention that at all? Im pretty sure he was the one who requested the comparison from SF. Is it possible to ask him if he knows how it was ruled out? I remember him saying he looked at both dentals and thought they looked like a match.

If we know it was the wrists then there isn't really any point in resubmitting it. My only concern was that maybe they were busy and didn't bother to really look at it before responding. It's kind of a hassle to submit because it involves explaining that the hotel name is wrong, the UID address is wrong, etc.

If he left for work and never came back, I wonder if he ever made it to work. I think that running a check of his social security number would give us the last day he worked and where he worked, assuming he was working "on the books" and it was reported to the IRS.

I really don't believe the manager was being deceptive by saying he was visiting a gay man, I think he just didn't want to out him to his family, so made it sound like he was just caring for someone.

 

[Ciriii57]

As for submitting that UID again, did Rand mention that at all?

Unfortunately not; I actually mentioned it twice (that he had previously had contact with another member of the group regarding the UID) hoping he would reveal something, but he never responded to that (Maybe he is still angry that you gave his computer a virus all those years ago hahaha sorry I couldn't resist!)
I don't want to send him another email again now so soon as I get the impression he is busy at the moment and I thanked him profusely and we sort of agreed that I would get in touch again if we found anything relevant.

I only say to submit it again as it sounded like the SF Medical Examiner was so busy at the time that I worried they had only taken a cursory glance at it. But in retrospect, like you say, if it was submitted by LE they would have probably taken it seriously and I agree, it would probably be easy to spot 2 broken wrists and do a rule out.

If he left for work and never came back, I wonder if he ever made it to work. I think that running a check of his social security number would give us the last day he worked and where he worked, assuming he was working "on the books" and it was reported to the IRS.

I know it would be useful to know what work was and if it was in the day or at night.
If it was on the books yes, back at that time it could have been "cash in hand". If that unclaimed property isn't him then he literally could have been doing anything anywhere. But at least we know he was doing something.
Wouldn't LE have already checked out his social security number?(I would hope so!) I know DC had checked with them if it had been used since. I can only assume that it didn't tell them anything useful or they would already have the answers to these questions? I assume this is not something that a member of the public can just check out?

The thing about the hotel manager that I still don't get (Please tell me if I am being dumb). Ok so, everyone already knew Farren was staying at the National Hotel. So when asked he could have just said "yeah I remember him, he was staying here with a bunch of guys in room 218, he left all his stuff". If he didn't want to out Farren to his family, he didn't even need to mention anything about anyone being gay. So why did he say he was visiting a gay man? Either he was mistaken, or there was some truth in what he said.