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

[Satch]

For me,

I always considered the suicide angle as when Farren made that now confirmed phone call on April 26, 1980 he had no job and was desperate for money. An 18-year old in desperation, in a big city, I think would panic about unpaid bills and debts. And when his Mother said "no." Farren was absolutely terrified of LE coming after him to pay his debts. At 18, he was legally an adult. And you can't survive without money.

Maybe in dire straights, Farren might have forgotten about that $42 and change at Wells Fargo Bank. Or knew that anything he would get would only be a temporary thing. <modsnip: not victim friendly/encourages the sleuthing of family members>

Family desertion is a huge terrible thing, and there may be details within the family that are really heartbreaking, that could have affected Farren's emotional state. That is why I still have to place suicide pretty high on the list of what happened to this great kid, who got caught in a web of bad experiences. It's either suicide or murder for me regarding what happened to Farren.

<modsnip> Did he get those broken wrists from a fall, or being abused?

Satch

 

[Odyssey]

I think it would be interesting to see if Farren's sister remembers anything more. Farren was reported missing by his maternal relatives so it's very possible that they didn't have contact with Farren's dad, while his sister probably did. Farren might have called his father too without his maternal grandmother knowing about it.

Since he was Farren's primary custodial parent, it's very possible he called him at some point.

 

[Ciriii57]

But something I did notice just by looking at the list of missing people in California, is there seems to be a fair amount of boys and men that went missing, between 1979 and 1983 in the bay area. Granted I need to take the time to really look at this and see if what I am seeing is right, but between September and October in each of these years, a male or males went missing. Most were grown men who left for work and were never seen again. its very weird!

Quoted from the Daniel Naylor thread. Struck me as interesting and might be worth some further investigation if they all went missing while heading to work...could be a potential link. Perhaps a killer was in the area.

 

[Satch]

<modsnip> 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).

Yes,

We are finally able to sort out so many of the incorrect things in Farren's case that have originally prevented a proper trail to follow. There is still a ways to go in some areas, but I want to thank @Ciriii57 @Odyssey and Sergent Rand for their AWESOME work in this case! Everyone at Websleuths you are amazing!!! Thank you all for helping find Farren!

<modsnip: quoted post was snipped>

This is a great question @Ciriii57. Why did she have Farren's money? I don't think Farren would ask her for money out of her own pocket, or would he do that? In any case, we don't know Farren's mental state, if he was on prescription medication or street drugs to cope with daily life stresses? I am sure that poor Farren had plenty of them. "Seeing the world" could have had much deeper meaning for Farren. Maybe he wanted to escape the stress of some family problems or personal issues.

Our research is now to find out more about Farren's personality and lifestyle. What hobbies did he like? What music did he like? Was he an avid reader or writer? We he extroverted, or introverted? What things troubled him? How did his wrists get broken? How well did he know his father? What was their relationship like? What if, (or did) Farren reach out to his Dad for money help, or any phone call conversations or home visits?

I agree with @Ciriii57. There are some family issues that we don't know about.

Satch

 

[Ciriii57]

Yes,

We are finally able to sort out so many of the incorrect things in Farren's case that have originally prevented a proper trail to follow. There is still a ways to go in some areas, but I want to thank @Ciriii57 @Odyssey and Sergent Rand for their AWESOME work in this case! Everyone at Websleuths you are amazing!!! Thank you all for helping find Farren!

<modsnip>

This is a great question @Ciriii57. Why did she have Farren's money? I don't think Farren would ask her for money out of her own pocket, or would he do that? In any case, we don't know Farren's mental state, if he was on prescription medication or street drugs to cope with daily life stresses? I am sure that poor Farren had plenty of them. "Seeing the world" could have had much deeper meaning for Farren. Maybe he wanted to escape the stress of some family problems or personal issues.

Our research is now to find out more about Farren's personality and lifestyle. What hobbies did he like? What music did he like? Was he an avid reader or writer? We he extroverted, or introverted? What things troubled him? How did his wrists get broken? How well did he know his father? What was their relationship like? What if, (or did) Farren reach out to his Dad for money help, or any phone call conversations or home visits?

I agree with @Ciriii57. There are some family issues that we don't know about.

Satch

<modsnip: WS does not encourage or condone contacting family members. Talk of it on the public threads is not allowed>

<modsnip: no source links>

But hopefully we can fill in some more details soon.

 

[Mfleish]

I checked the yearbooks again. They have an index at the back which would list if Farren was in any other photos, but he is not listed other than the photos we already have.

 

[Ciriii57]

I checked the yearbooks again. They have an index at the back which would list if Farren was in any other photos, but he is not listed other than the photos we already have.

So I guess he did drop out in 1977 then. I wonder if thats when he moved to John Day and he just never enrolled in the high school there.
<modsnip>

 

[summergirl1]

I thought he was raised by his aunt and grandmother?

 

[Satch]

I thought he was raised by his aunt and grandmother?

He was,

When his dad won custody in the divorce settlement, on the grounds of Mother deserting the kids, Farren was raised by his Aunt and Grandmother. <modsnip> Would love to find out how much contact Farren's dad with him? Any contacts with him when all of these things were happening from August 1979 to June of 1980? How were relations between Farren and he?

For instance, how come Farren did not call his dad to send him money after he had lost his job?

Satch

 

[Ciriii57]

I thought he was raised by his aunt and grandmother?

Im really not so sure he was actually raised by them tbh. I think his Dad raised him because Farren and his sister attended Medford High which is in the area his Dad was living. His mum, grandma and aunt were living in John Day, a good few hours away from Medford.
Farren seems to have left Medford sometime in 1977, while his sister remained in Medford, so I'm guessing she stayed living with the Dad.
At most I think Farren lived with his maternal relatives from mid 1977 to August 1979 (based on school years and when he left).

I could be wrong, but the school yearbooks seem to support it.

<modsnip: off topic>

 

[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

Hi all!

Has anyone tried to contact the San Francisco Public Library or San Francisco City Hall to use research in answer to the above questions? @Ciriii57 and I are really hoping for a National Hotel April 1980 Registry List! Is the National Hotel still in operation today?

Satch

Satch

 

[Bit of hope]

This is from My heritage.

US Yearbooks Name Index, 1890-1979

• Birth (assumed) About 1963
• School Grant Union High School
• School location John Day, Grant County, Oregon, United States
• Yearbook year 1977
  
  

Farren Stanberry
US Yearbooks Name Index, 1890-1979

• School Medford High School
• School location Medford, Jackson County, Oregon, United States
• Yearbook year 1978

 

[Satch]

An Oregon Government site that gives the correct date that Farren was last contacted: April, 26, 1980. Websleuths should change the date in this thread to reflect this update. April 24, 1980, we now know is not correct:

Oregon State Police : Missing Persons : Missing Persons : State of Oregon

missing people

www.oregon.gov

Satch

 

[Satch]

This is from My heritage.

US Yearbooks Name Index, 1890-1979

• Birth (assumed) About 1963
• School Grant Union High School
• School location John Day, Grant County, Oregon, United States
• Yearbook year 1977
  
  

Farren Stanberry
US Yearbooks Name Index, 1890-1979

• School Medford High School
• School location Medford, Jackson County, Oregon, United States
• Yearbook year 1978

Thanks for this!

This confirms that Farren attended South Grant Union High School in John Day, Oregon in 1977. It also confirms that Farren attended South Medford High School in Medford Oregon in 1978. One of the links above lists his 1977 photo as a Freshmen (first year of high school.) But (IF we are following traditional protocols, and there are MANY things about Farren's case that aren't traditional, or have been posted wrongly for decades, this would actually be his Sophomore (second year of high school.) The 1978 photo would be Farren's Junior year of High School. If Farren attended high school in 1979, that would be his senior year, with a May or June 1980 time of graduation. We currently do not not know if Farren attended high school as a senior during the 1979-1980 school year.

If you click on Farren's name in the above blue link, it lists him as attending Medford High School in 1978.



Satch

 

[Ciriii57]

This is from My heritage.

US Yearbooks Name Index, 1890-1979

• Birth (assumed) About 1963
• School Grant Union High School
• School location John Day, Grant County, Oregon, United States
• Yearbook year 1977
  
  

Farren Stanberry
US Yearbooks Name Index, 1890-1979

• School Medford High School
• School location Medford, Jackson County, Oregon, United States
• Yearbook year 1978

Wow thats amazing! So he WAS in fact attending the John Day school in 1977...and then for some reason moved to Medford in 1978. I am still gettimg incredibly confused regarding the US school years and their names so you'll have to excuse me, regarding what @Satch stated above, does that mean that he may have been held back a year or is the yearbook wrong?
<modsnip>

 

[Ciriii57]

Hi all!

Has anyone tried to contact the San Francisco Public Library or San Francisco City Hall to use research in answer to the above questions? @Ciriii57 and I are really hoping for a National Hotel April 1980 Registry List! Is the National Hotel still in operation today?

Satch

Satch

I tried to chat with them but unfortunately due to the time difference they are always off line; I had no idea where to start looking and wanted some help but I think I have to give up and leave it to someone in The US.
Regardin The National Hotel; I believe it operated as a Budget Inn for some time and was then purchased by The Tenderloin Housing Clinic to house homeless people. I believe there was a major fire in 2021 leaving almost 100 homeless people....homeless again! I think it is still boarded up but I am not 100% on that.

In case anyone's interested, here are some photos of the inside, I imagine it was refurbished from 1980 but still I found it interesting, especially to get an idea of room size!

 

[Ciriii57]

An Oregon Government site that gives the correct date that Farren was last contacted: April, 26, 1980. Websleuths should change the date in this thread to reflect this update. April 24, 1980, we now know is not correct:

Oregon State Police : Missing Persons : Missing Persons : State of Oregon

missing people

www.oregon.gov

Satch

Hey @Satch The Oregon missing person report says he had blue eyes but all other reports I've read state hazel eyes? Do we know which? I can't reallt tell from the photos.

 

[Ciriii57]

Looking through the yearbooks with a fine toothcomb and I believe this is Farren in his Freshman English Class (at the back). Thanks @Bit of hope this really is an amzing find! We finally have another photo...I am going to see if I can find others too. Thats the link below and also snippets of the photo:

Farren Stanberry - V.S. Jaarboeken Naam Index, 1890-1979 - MyHeritage

Ontdek uw voorouders - zoeken van geboorte, huwelijk en overlijdens certificaten, volkstelling records, immigratie lijsten en andere records - allemaal in één familie onderzoek!

www.myheritage.nl

 

[Satch]

WOW!

Great work by @Ciriii57 and @Bit of hope! Everyone involved! We have what certainly appears to be a new photo of Farren!! I enhanced it below. It should be clearer! (And did a close up!)

Satch

 

[Satch]

Hey @Satch The Oregon missing person report says he had blue eyes but all other reports I've read state hazel eyes? Do we know which? I can't reallt tell from the photos.

I have color blindness to some colors, so not sure on this one!

Satch