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

[Satch]

Another possibility is that he left the hotel to go to work, arrives at work only to be terminated. Then he goes to a pay phone and calls his grandmother,/mother telling them he lost his job. He never makes it back to the hotel.

Just another scenario where there would only be one job.

This scenario would certainly simplify things as we would know the date he went missing.

Good thinking @Odyssey!

This could also elevate the suicide theory. But by how much is open to debate.

Satch

 

[Satch]

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.

The show, "Gay Power,Gay Politics" is available on YouTube. It's an hour long. Important!- The content, I have not watched. I have been told it is very negative and hurtful to the gay population, so for these reasons, and out of respect to my gay friends and colleges, I will not post the link in the forum. But it's out there today.

Certainly a startling coincidence that this show airs on the same day that Farren Stanberry is confirmed to have made his last call to family. (Corrected from having gone missing.)

Satch

 

[summergirl1]

It is possible Farren could have met with some sort of accident, but apparently there's no known reports of unidentified hit and run or auto accident ( if he hitch hiked and someone picked him up as has happened to some John Does) victims in the vicinity at the time. It is possible that the work he was doing was sketchy or made up and only used to lure him..usually those incidents don't go on or not much longer than the victim goes to the job interview or first day of "work" and disappears, though.

His roomates at the hotel didn't say he was going to a job interview or the first day of a new job, although maybe they wouldn't have known, and maybe he left for one job and was planning to go a job interview afterwards or something. There's certainly many cases of people, usually females but not always, disappearing headed to fake job interviews or fake jobs ("modeling", but sometimes posed as more normal work) so that defintely does happen. Maybe someplace Farren went after work before he usually went back to the hotel had something to do with his disappearence. It would be interesting to know the time of day he disappeared.

 

[Bit of hope]

The show, "Gay Power,Gay Politics" is available on YouTube. It's an hour long. Important!- The content, I have not watched. I have been told it is very negative and hurtful to the gay population, so for these reasons, and out of respect to my gay friends and colleges, I will not post the link in the forum. But it's out there today.

Certainly a startling coincidence that this show airs on the same day that Farren Stanberry is confirmed to have made his last call to family. (Corrected from having gone missing.)

Satch

Thank you for pointing us to this Satch. I know it's not an official source but a very interesting read. Gay Power, Gay Politics - Wikipedia Actually it appalls me to the core, so I can understand why you are not posting this so called "documentary", full of prejudices, false representation of the gay community and twisted facts.

As could be expected it sparked a lot of homophobic reactions. And Farren could have been "right in the middle" of it.

This I find interesting related to this case;

Anti-LGBT backlash​

Following the airing of the report, the Community United Against Violence (CUAV), a San Francisco group dedicated to addressing anti-gay violence in the city, reported a 400% increase of reported violent incidents against LGBT people. This marked a reversal of the decrease in violence reports to that point in 1980.

 

[Ciriii57]

Let me first say: great work.
I agree with your last sentence. My first words were "I'm leaning towards he was harmed". My point was that he may have been a victim of a hate-crime, but he might as well had an accident of some sort. There is still the option of him leaving the city. Against that is him leaving his possessions behind (would love to know what exactly. He might have chosen to travel light and took some essentials with him) and probably telling his roommates he was going to work. I hope there is a way to find out where he worked and trace back what might have happened. If he passed in 1980 shortly after the missing date either his body is concealed/still not found/lost or his body/remains where found somewhere, then or later, not identified and buried or cremated. Maybe you could ask the detective if there are unidentified remains found that are not entered in Namus at all (maybe there is a backlog in entering old cases), or are in Namus without access for the general public to see.

Hi @Bit of hope I am so sorry if I was snippy with you! I really didn't mean to sound so abrupt! I'm mortified!

Your suggestion of a hate crime is a really strong probability, I had posted earlier about a terrible documentary that had been recently aired and caused a 400% increase in crimes against gay men (@Satch just reshared it) so we can see that that the tensions were particularly high right at the time Farren was there.

My own feeling is that this wasn't a hate crime, but I don't have time right now to break down why. But I will post my theories in a couple of hours so please let me know what you think when I do.

 

[Satch]

Great post!

I think that most banks in the US were not open on Sunday and also limited Saturday hours. I am also drawn to him getting another job and something bad happening to him on the way to work, at work, or going someplace in relation to work. It would be great if we could find the exact date that he left the hotel and told his roommates that he was going to work, but never came back. The earliest that this happened was probably early May, and the latest that this happened, was probably early June. I think @Ciriii57's theory of mid May as a likelihood of when this happened is a great hypothesis!

When Farren called his Mother and Grandmother on April 26, 1980 I believe he had nothing, lost his first job, and was living hand to mouth. I mean, "A room and a bath for a buck and a half" was probably a financial strain. He had nothing, and when he told his Grandmother, "I love you." I originally took that as a suicide cry for help.

However, off the basis of his roommates who said Farren "left for work and never came back." that leads me to him getting another job, not him committing suicide. It's possible that they lied, if Farren swore them to secrecy about something, but I doubt that. Back than in San Francisco, you could be a temporary help "errand boy." Cook, street vendor, food prep, dishwasher, bus boy(At the Marriott?) It is possible that Farren never got a high school diploma. But back in those days, companies would hire temps to do very basic things.

OR:

Farren being vulnerable and with not a lot of street smarts was lured into something horrible, with false promises and false trust on that "second job." Tragically, Farren would fit the profile of someone luring an unsuspecting victim to a horrible place. Someone looking for a "Fashion model." "Photography assistant." And perhaps Farren had the body and physique that they were looking for, to (put it mildly) "Do bad things" to him. Farren could have been "set up" and trapped where once he started, he could not escape. This could tie in with a hate crime. There's a part of me that senses that "Second Job" lead to an evil place. What the advertised job could have been a total "come on" compared to what was actually taking place?

The above scenario before the "Or" is horrifying, but we have to be realistic that this could have happened. Farren leaving his belongings and money behind is a red flag to me. He might have forgotten about the money. But I don't think he did.

Satch

Correction: It should say "Above scenario AFTER the or" Breaking down whether his job was legit or ill-repute.

Satch

 

[Ciriii57]

Hi All,
I thought it might be useful at this point to breakdown what we know, what we think we know and what we don't know since we have brought new things to light (italics will be my own ideas though). Then in another post later I am going to breakdown the possible reasons for Farren's disapperance in as much of a neutral and logical way that I can (but they will be my own thoughts).
First I wanted to say how good everyone's ideas are on where and when Farren was working, so many I had never considered! Every single one of them is a possibility, or maybe even it was something else entirely. Unfortunately until more comes to light, we have no idea, so I am just sticking to saying we know he had a job somewhere when he vanished. Ok:

What We Know

• Farren disappeared between Sunday 26th April and Monday 16th June. I feel like we can narrow this down slightly. The hotel charged nightly or weekly (paid in advance). I believe it would have made more sense for Farren to pay weekly. As the below snippet shows, the weekly rate was $38 in advance in July 1980..so probably the same a few months earlier. Farren had $42 left in his account so he could have afforded to pay his rent. Therefore he probably owed a week's rent which would place his disappearance I believe at the latest Monday 9th June. I personally believe that Farren got another job later and needed to work a week before his first paycheck so my most likely dates for him disappearing would be between Monday 12th May-Monday 9th June. But as others have pointed out, this may not have been the case so these are my own ideas for a date. You may have your own.

• Farren was staying in room 218 of The National Hotel
• Farren shared a room with an unkown number of other young men (I don't think more than 4 or 5 people would have fitted into these small rooms comfortably)
• Farren had a job at the time he went missing and left for work that day but never returned
• Farren lost a job sometime prior to 26th April
• Farren had $42 in his bank account

What We Think We Know But Cannot Prove (Yet)

• Farren may have been gay (I think all the evidence points to him being gay, but we don't know)
• Farren may have been working for The Marriott Corporation (Unfortunately we cannot prove this was Farren)
• Farren may have been visiting with a gay man at some point (we havent been able to establish if this was at the hotel, in a different location or even a fact)

What We Still Don't Know

• Where Farren worked at the time of his disappearance
• Whether Farren was paying for the room at the National on his own and letting the other guys stay there "on him" or whether the rent was shared.
• Was the $38 weekly room fee per room or per person. How much did Farren owe.
• Whether Farren had gotten another job or was still working out the first
• If Farren ever made it to work that day
• How long had Farren been in San Francisco
• The circumstances of the infamous "visit to the gay man"
• What were his "few belongings", just clothes etc. Did he have his wallett, ID, some cash etc. on him when he vanished?

I hope this is helfpful as an aide. If you think I have missed anything please let me know. Again, italics are just my own thoughts that I have tried to reason out with logic but not proven.

Ciriii57

 

[Ciriii57]

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to do a break down of the possible reasons that have been discussed by us all for Farren's disappearance. I have tried to treat each one as logically and neutrally as I can, but these are still my own thoughts and ideas and you may totally disagree with me. Please do let me know your own thoughts.

Hate Crime
Quite rightly this is up there as a strong contender. We have already discussed how San Francisco was suffering a 400% increase in violent crimes against gay men but even without this it should definitely be considered and is up at the top of most lists. However, I do have some thoughts as to why this may not have bee the case:

• Farren might not even have been gay
• To be targeted Farren would have had to be identified as gay by the perps. So he would have needed to be either alone in a gay neighborhood, doing something in public that identified him as gay or working at a known gay establishment like a bar or sauna. All of these are possibilities.
• Although there have most definitely been murders motivated by homophobia, the perps don't usually hide the body-more they leave it as like a message/warning.I would expect a body to have been found and be in the news at the time, and then someone would have recognised him-he must have known people; he had work mates and room mates for a start.
• If he was beaten up by a group in a random homophobic attack then again, I would expect a body/news story. I would also expect them to run away and leave the body, not hide it.
• Targetted murder of gay men. I can find only 1 case where a murderer specifically targeted gay men for a non-sexually motivated murder, to kill them just because they were gay and attempt to hide the body; this is very rare. There could be more though.

I think anti-gay hate crime is still a strong contender, but for me it is not as strong as some other options. You guys may disagree.

Below is a link to Hate crime examples from the Dept of Justice:
Hate Crimes Case Examples

Robbery
It is possible that Farren was mugged on the way to or from work. They may not have intended to kill him, or they left him for dead. However, again, I would expect a mugger to just run away. In the days before CCTV etc they would probably not be identified. So I would have expected there to be a body found and possible newspaper reports from the time.

Accidental Death
I have been considering that Farren may have been hit by a car or even a street car. But again, surely this would make the news and a body would definitely be there. I can't really think what other possible accidents could go unreported and leave no body in a big city. Maybe someone accidentally ran over him and then hid the body but this feels like a long shot to me.

Voluntary Disappearance
I just can't see why? By all accounts he was very close to his grandma and aunt and he had a little sister. It seems unlikely he would never want to contact them again. He may have been scared about coming-out to his family, but times have changed and I think by now he'd have called. His family sounds quite liberal and accepting anyway. And anyway, he wouldn't have left what meagre posessions he had as well as his $42. I think it would have been difficult to start a whole new life, new name and not show up on any government records at all in this time. And his Uncle said he would have had no idea how to go about doing this successfully.

Suicide
While a possibility, it's not high up for me. I don't think Farren was in such dire straights that he would have killed himself. He had a job, money, a roof over his head and a close family. By all accounts he was loving life in San Francisco. It's also worth noting that people who commit suicide cannot hide their bodies (for obvious reasons); so unless he took himself off to some very secluded place he would have been found. Yes, he may have jumped into the Bay but these jumpers are usually either seen jumping or they wash up eventually.

Murder
This is the top of the list for me. While it is possible that it was a random murder, it is far more likely that he was murdered by someone he knew; either a colleague, a friend, a lover etc etc. Generally most murders are committed by people known to the victim (see the link below for some statistics).
I think that this would explain why his body has not been identified yet; I believe that the killer transported his body outside of San Francisco and hid it somewhere secluded OR he may have disposed of it somewhere like on a construction site within the city. I think that the disposal site would be somewhere known to the killer where they felt comfortable. There are several possibilities for the killer (but I am only guessing at any potential motive):

• An acquaintance that he trusted, maybe they offerred him a ride
• A friend, maybe one of his roommates even
• A sexually motivated murder so someone he had met, or perhaps a stranger
• The "gay man"
• A colleague or his employer
• Someone he owed money to (drug dealer, pimp etc)
• Serial killer

Since we don't know much about Farren's life in SF, we don't know what he did, where he went or who he was mixing with. However for me I believe that the strongest probability is that Farren was murdered by someone who he knew (my guess, because he was going to work) is someone he either worked with or someone he knew from work (like a customer). I think there was probably a sexual motive involved and for whatever reason it ended in murder. The murderer subsequently hid Farren's body. This may have been a "one-time" crime or they may have also committed similar crimes before and/or after.

Murder - number of felonies by relationship of victim to offender 2022 | Statista

In 2022 in the United States, 13 people were murdered by their employer.

www.statista.com

Okay, as I said, these are my own personal theories and ideas and reasons why I believe them. You probably have your own and they differ. I'd be interested to know if you favour another idea and why? And of course, let me know what you think.

Ciriii57

 

[Odyssey]

My thoughts are that pretty much all the theories seem unlikely to me but we know one of them has to have happened.

I think the idea that he left on his own is the least likely. I think he would have called home, had work records, etc. that could be traced. He could be among the homeless but it just doesn't seem to me that he was in dire straits.

If he did take his own life, I could only imagine it being related to falling in love and being hurt by the person. I don't think it would have been due to losing his job or his mother not sending money. He'd been traveling around for awhile and I don't think the possibility of being broke or losing a job was something he wasn't prepared for. I also think suicide is unlikely because there aren't many places to stay hidden in & around San Francisco.

I think it's possible that there was some kind of accident. He's been described as a country boy, maybe he decided to go fishing in the bay and something happened, or perhaps he overdosed, but then where is his body?

Even homicide seems unlikely to have happened out on the street without anyone seeing anything. Maybe it could have been possible in the middle of the night down an alley or something. Violent crime wasn't exactly rare in San Francisco, but finding a public place that was deserted enough would have been difficult.

This leads me to my most likely theory, which is some sort of homicide at the hands of someone he knew. Even that is hard to imagine because how many people would he have known outside the hotel? We still don't know how long he was even there. And I don't think he was killed in the hotel.

The more I think about it, I am starting to lean toward the idea that he left the hotel to go to work, lost his job, called home and disappeared in the same day. I'm wondering if he got into an altercation with someone at work.

 

[Satch]

My thoughts are that pretty much all the theories seem unlikely to me but we know one of them has to have happened.

I really love all of your insights, @Odyssey! Thank you so much! I think you mean because we don't have conclusive evidence as to what happened to Farren, that anything and everything is out there, but one of our above theories has happened? We just can't prove it yet?

But than I raise a question of back than or even now, but let's stick to 1980. How many people go murdered in San Francisco and their body's never show up as evidence? Or the bodies show up, and they are simply never reported?

I have often wondered how many bodies are under the water of the Golden Gate Bridge? I read that is the #1 place for suicides. But it would seem as @Ciriii57 has pointed out, that most bodies would surface, unless weighted down, or a shipping vessel went through. (that last idea is mine.)

All things considered, maybe everything that happened to Farren Stanberry occurred on April 26, 1980?

Satch

 

[Satch]

Consider the Resources of the San Francisco Library and City Hall for additional help on Farren Stanberry's Case.

Here is the Website for the San Francisco Library:

San Francisco Public Library | Home | San Francisco Public Library

sfpl.org

I am putting this out in Farren's thread to see if that can help us research the following:

1.) Archived phone books or business records from 1980? Actually, I don't know when in 1980 the books would have been published, so even 1979 is a good starting point.

2.) What the National Hotel was like in 1980, and the businesses surrounding it at that time? (I think @Odyssey did some research on this at the time, and provided some map locations to areas around Market Street where Farren might have visited near the hotel.) We might be able to see if there was a payphone nearby that Farren might have called from on the day that we will remember for the rest of our lives, April 26, 1980!

3.) Political movements or demonstrations happening in San Francisco from late 1979 to June 1980. (We have the potential to narrow this down, IF we find out how long Farren resided in San Francisco, or if we ever find out exactly if/when he passed away.)

4.) The locations of Marriott Hotels and Wells Fargo Banks in the area at that time in relationship to the National Hotel.

5.) The job he had, and lost? Why he lost his job?

6.) Other places where Farren might have worked while in San Francisco?

This is not an end list! If you have any other ideas where the library could be useful, please advise.

Here is also a website to San Francisco's city hall! Where they might have some additional information relating to the business locations where Farren might have worked, or been last seen. Maybe even providing a history of the National Hotel in and around 1980.

San Francisco City Hall | San Francisco

sf.gov

Satch

 

[Ciriii57]

The more I think about it, I am starting to lean toward the idea that he left the hotel to go to work, lost his job, called home and disappeared in the same day. I'm wondering if he got into an altercation with someone at work.

Good Morning @Odyssey I agree, we just have no real idea do we-even though I personally think some are more likely than others, it could be the most unlikely. About your theory quoted above; do you mean that he lost his job, then called home and then went back to work where there was an altercation or that someone from his work went looking for him?
It could all very well have happened on the same day. My own personal belief is that it was later though and at a new job, just based on what you said about SF giving few opportunities to just abduct someone from the street I am leaning towards him working late somewhere, maybe a convenience store, bar or restaurant, it was dark and late and a colleague or a customer offerred him a ride or maybe to come back to theirs for a drink. I am convinced that he had to have been acquainted with his killer for them to get him into theoir home or car.

I have often wondered how many bodies are under the water of the Golden Gate Bridge?

Hey @Satch I tried to get some figures on this but couldn't..but I was shocked about the suicide figures from Golden Gate Bridge. And thats just the bridge...people jump from all around the bay. From what I am reading the currents around the bay would tend to carry a body inward towards the shore, but I don't think thats a given. Bits have bones have been washing ashore for decades so there musy be many, many suicides who are just never found. So again...Yes he may have killed himself. It's just whether he was suicidal...I don't think so, but it's quite possible; we just don't know his mental state or even if he had a psychosis.

 

[Odyssey]

But than I raise a question of back than or even now, but let's stick to 1980. How many people go murdered in San Francisco and their body's never show up as evidence? Or the bodies show up, and they are simply never reported?

That's a hard question to answer because if their bodies were never found, there's no way to know if they were murdered.

There are several young men missing from San Francisco from that time period, most of them have no details available. I can't recall all their names at the moment but Robert Kuhlman is one of them whose name I remember.

I don't necessarily think this has happened in Farren's case, but I also know that some UID's were misidentified back before DNA was used for comparison. So I wouldn't entirely rule out the idea that his remains could have been identified as someone else, whose actual remains are sitting in Namus today.

 

[Odyssey]

Good Morning @Odyssey I agree, we just have no real idea do we-even though I personally think some are more likely than others, it could be the most unlikely. About your theory quoted above; do you mean that he lost his job, then called home and then went back to work where there was an altercation or that someone from his work went looking for him?
It could all very well have happened on the same day. My own personal belief is that it was later though and at a new job, just based on what you said about SF giving few opportunities to just abduct someone from the street I am leaning towards him working late somewhere, maybe a convenience store, bar or restaurant, it was dark and late and a colleague or a customer offerred him a ride or maybe to come back to theirs for a drink. I am convinced that he had to have been acquainted with his killer for them to get him into theoir home or car.

I was kind of thinking maybe he got into an altercation at work, which caused him (and possibly the other person too) to lose his job.

Then he goes to a pay phone and his mom won't send money, so he goes back to talk to his manager to try to save his job, or perhaps to find out when he can pick up his paycheck and he encounters this person again?

It could have been at night if he was working at Marriott, they would have 24 hour staff.

It's just so hard to really come up with anything that totally makes sense.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

In many MP cases the family of the MP has portrayed their loved one as having no problems that might explain why they went missing--only to subsequently admit there was more to the story. I understand why they do it: if it were to turn out their loved one just needed to disappear for a while and clear their head, they wouldn't want the whole world knowing their loved one's business.

In this case we have Farren's mother refusing to give him his own money when he requested it; and he appeared to have a pretty good reason for requesting it. That strikes me as strange, and like there might be more to the story. Perhaps Farren's mom was just a horrible mother... or perhaps Farren's mom had a good reason for not wanting him to have his own money. Possibly something she knew, or thought she knew, about what he was going to do with it.

 

[Ciriii57]

also know that some UID's were misidentified back before DNA was used for comparison. So I wouldn't entirely rule out the idea that his remains could have been identified as someone else, whose actual remains are sitting in Namus today.

Oh I had no idea about that. That's kind of disheartening isn't it.

was kind of thinking maybe he got into an altercation at work, which caused him (and possibly the other person too) to lose his job.

Then he goes to a pay phone and his mom won't send money, so he goes back to talk to his manager to try to save his job, or perhaps to find out when he can pick up his paycheck and he encounters this person again?

It could have been at night if he was working at Marriott, they would have 24 hour staff.

Another excellent theory! It could well be. It would fit into being someone he knew as well.
I keep coming back to that gay man he was supposedly visiting ...is it possible that he did come back from work that day but his roommates didn't see him, but he mentioned to the hotel manager he was going to visit "insert name"? The visit was therefore at a different place. The hotel manager must have known the man.
Again i guess it's all possible and probably meaningless to speculate until more is known.

I do have one question, I keep coming across UIDs described as wearing "Street Clothes" does anyone know what this means? Is it a polite was of saying a homeless persons clothes? Thanks

 

[Odyssey]

I do have one question, I keep coming across UIDs described as wearing "Street Clothes" does anyone know what this means? Is it a polite was of saying a homeless persons clothes? Thanks

It's hard to say what they meant, street clothes could have a few different meanings.

Nowadays it's a style of clothing (usually referred to as streetwear, not so much street clothes)

Street clothes in the military simply means not in uniform

It could mean casual as opposed to dressy

And yes it could mean homeless also

I'm not sure why they would list "street clothes", that's not very helpful in identifying someone.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

I've always taken "street clothes" to mean everyday clothes such as jeans or chinos, rather than beach clothes, a posh suit, or anything else that you might wear for a specific job or occasion.

But it's a very vague description, because different people would consider different things to be "street clothes".

 

[Ciriii57]

I'm not sure why they would list "street clothes", that's not very helpful in identifying someone

No it really isn't! But thank you for explaining what they might refer to.
You are very knowledgeable and insightful and I find it a pleasure to read your input in cases.

 

[Ciriii57]

In many MP cases the family of the MP has portrayed their loved one as having no problems that might explain why they went missing--only to subsequently admit there was more to the story. I understand why they do it: if it were to turn out their loved one just needed to disappear for a while and clear their head, they wouldn't want the whole world knowing their loved one's business.

In this case we have Farren's mother refusing to give him his own money when he requested it; and he appeared to have a pretty good reason for requesting it. That strikes me as strange, and like there might be more to the story. Perhaps Farren's mom was just a horrible mother... or perhaps Farren's mom had a good reason for not wanting him to have his own money. Possibly something she knew, or thought she knew, about what he was going to do with it.

Great point! It could explain some things too and to be honest we have no idea about Farren's state of mind or possible addictions. This is one reason I was hoping the family would contact me, they have my details but nothing yet.
I wonder if the reason he didn't finish High School in Medford and suddenly moved to John Day was because he was having some issues there and it was an attempt to get him away. It may go someway to explaining why he had wanderlust and seemed to suddenly need to get away. I'm not sure how prevalent drugs were in late 70s Medford but he could easily have had an undiagnosed mental health issue. Alot of people with schizophrenia etc seem to have gone to San Francisco to escape.
I do think there is some situation with the family that we aren't aware of. Mother abandoned father and kids, custody awarded to father, lived with aunt an grandma.

<modsnip: off topic>

I've never been able to work out quite why she had Farren's money since it seems he never actually lived with her.
Another question, how would she have gotten this money to him in 1980? A wire transfer? (I actually don't really know what that is I've just heard it in old movies).