CA CA - Patrick 'Shawn' Betz, 11, Upland, 20 Jan 1988

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Missing Since: January 20, 1988 from Upland, California
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: June 21, 1976
Age: 11 years old
Height and Weight: 4'7, 90 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Brown hair, green eyes. Betz has a skin discoloration on his lower left jawbone, near his chin. He goes by his middle name, Shawn.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A gray shirt, gray pants and white shoes.

Details of Disappearance

Betz disappeared from his hometown of Upland, California on January 20, 1988. He told his mother that he was going with a friend to a basketball game at Upland High School. There was a basketball game that evening, but it was being played in Chino, California, not in Upland.

Betz and his friend went to The Pizza Chalet on Foothill Boulevard and Euclid Avenue in Upland at 9:00 p.m. They had visited the establishment earlier that day as well. He and his friend played video games there and then Betz left to walk home. A witness saw him leave with an unidentified adolescent male. Betz's parents waited up all night for him to come home. They reported him missing early the next morning.

The Pizza Chalet moved to another location after Betz's disappearance. His case remains unsolved.

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Upland Police Department

909-946-7624

Charley Project

NCMEC​

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[dearmont]

Posting for comments - thanks

 

[Salem]

The ears are wrong for the older UID found in Florida, I think. Shawn does look a lot like the child with the tape on his mouth, except that child looks younger than 11 to me.

Distrubing pictures, but necessary. Who is Tara Calico?

Salem

 

[gitana1]

Posting for comments - thanks

What the heck is that picture of the child with the taped mouth from? How horrifying.

 

[dearmont]

What the heck is that picture of the child with the taped mouth from? How horrifying.

More on this photo can be found on the Tara Calico thread here:
Tara Calico and the Photographs - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

 

[gitana1]

More on this photo can be found on the Tara Calico thread here:
Tara Calico and the Photographs - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

I looked it up on the web and I was horrified. It is seriously one of the worst cases for me, on Websleuths. To actually see children suffering like that is not something I can stomach. I just don't see how the case has not been solved yet. Horrible.

 

[Lilachaze]

The ears are wrong for the older UID found in Florida, I think. Shawn does look a lot like the child with the tape on his mouth, except that child looks younger than 11 to me.

Distrubing pictures, but necessary. Who is Tara Calico?

Salem

I have to agree the boy with the tape on his mouth looks younger then 11 to me.

Is there anything new on this case?

 

[batz]

Bumping for Patrick.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Bumping for Patrick.

I can't find anything recent for this case. It's like the investigation just stalled out after the night he disappeared.

 

[thenotebook]

I can't find hardly anything for this case online! He was featured in the Soul Asylum video for Runaway Train.

 

[Upland]

2017 bump for Shawn.

We moved to Upland two years after this crime happened. I'm familiar with the shopping center where he was last seen. It's difficult for me to comprehend the apparent lack of leads. In the late-1980 the population of Upland was probably 65,000+. I always assumed that since he was going to Upland HS for a basketball game, that it was a Friday night but when I double-checked it was actually a Wednesday night. Wednesday at 9:00PM at UHS would not be anywhere near as busy as a Friday. The center where Pizza Chalet used to be is about a 1/2 block east from UHS. It has been a little sketchy as long as I can remember - low lighting, people regularly hit you up in the parking lot for money, that kind of thing. However, regardless of what direction you walk there would have been plenty of traffic on either Euclid avenue or Foothill Blvd (route 66), either direction.

It's odd to me that the friend he was with at Pizza Chalet saw him walk away with an unknown older person without recognizing him, finding out more info or even getting a good look. If a composite exists, I've never seen it. I'm guessing it was getting late, they were both bored and neither really wanted to go home. If someone new entered the picture I'd probably want to see what was going on before letting them both bail on me.

I feel really bad for the family. I think they lived just down the street from where we are now. Unless police are holding back and I don't know why they would after 3 decades, this case is puzzling for the void of information.

 

[Moonwalker9]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Patrick Shawn Betz – The Charley Project

Patrick Shawn Betz

• 
• 

Patrick, circa 1988; Age-progression to age 38 (circa 2014)

• Missing Since01/20/1988
• Missing FromUpland, California
• ClassificationEndangered Missing
• Date of Birth06/21/1976 (42)
• Age11 years old
• Height and Weight4'7, 90 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry DescriptionA gray shirt, gray pants and white shoes.
• Distinguishing CharacteristicsCaucasian male. Brown hair, green eyes. Patrick has a skin discoloration on his lower left jawbone, near his chin. He goes by his middle name, Shawn.

Details of Disappearance
Patrick disappeared from his hometown of Upland, California on January 20, 1988. He told his mother that he was going with a friend to a basketball game at Upland High School. There was a basketball game that evening, but it was being played in Chino, California, not in Upland.

Patrick and his friend went to The Pizza Chalet on Foothill Boulevard and Euclid Avenue in Upland at 9:00 p.m. They had visited the establishment earlier that day as well. He and his friend played video games there and then Patrick left to walk home. A witness saw him leave with an unidentified adolescent male. Patrick's parents waited up all night for him to come home, but he never arrived. They reported him missing early the next morning.

The Pizza Chalet moved to another location after Patrick's disappearance. His case remains unsolved.

 

[FindTheTruthNow]

First of all, as a father of an 11 yr old now, I would like to extend my very deepest condolences to the Betz Family. Now, I noticed that there was a case of a 9 year old boy in upland found the following year, that had been murdered by some teenagers after being seen playing video games at the Bowling Alley....sounds eerily similar. I suspect this has been looked into, and may be part of an ongoing investigation. It just seems odd to not find anything making a possible connection between the two incidents.

 

[Whitechick1028]

First of all, as a father of an 11 yr old now, I would like to extend my very deepest condolences to the Betz Family. Now, I noticed that there was a case of a 9 year old boy in upland found the following year, that had been murdered by some teenagers after being seen playing video games at the Bowling Alley....sounds eerily similar. I suspect this has been looked into, and may be part of an ongoing investigation. It just seems odd to not find anything making a possible connection between the two incidents.

What is the name of the 9 year old boy? I’ve never heard of that case. Does anyone know if we are allowed to look at the case file?

 

[organicircuitry]

Interesting to note that Patrick's NamUs case listing 'comparison' section - which lists the UID EXCLUSIONS, as in the UIDs that are DEFINITELY NOT Patrick - are ALL UIDs from Virginia. There is so little about Patrick's case online, and of course certain facts are kept quiet from the public, but I'm very curious as to why none of the comparison/exclusions are from CA, which is where he disappeared from.
Patrick's Comparisons/Exclusions:
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Patrick's Main Case Info:
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
I was wondering if anyone else had heard anything about a Virginia angle?

 

[Alderyn]

I'm not sure how departments handle Namus but could it be that whoever is handling Virginia UIDs is on top of comparisons with MPs?

 

[ChatteringBirds]

My heart goes out to Patrick's family. Hopefully this case will gain some traction and leads.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Bumping case.
What happened to Patrick?

It is never too late for someone to come forward, anonymously or not, and let law enforcement know what happened so that hopefully his family can have answers.

 

[emptychicken]

First of all, as a father of an 11 yr old now, I would like to extend my very deepest condolences to the Betz Family. Now, I noticed that there was a case of a 9 year old boy in upland found the following year, that had been murdered by some teenagers after being seen playing video games at the Bowling Alley....sounds eerily similar. I suspect this has been looked into, and may be part of an ongoing investigation. It just seems odd to not find anything making a possible connection between the two incidents.

This, I believe, is the 9 year old murdered that you’re talking about. Wow. Strikingly similar.


Body of Upland Boy Found at Base of Cliff; Murder Complaints Issued

 

[PrivateInspector007]

Looks like the boy in Upland was identified as Jason Matthew Lea.

I too wonder if Shawn is the boy in the van. It is hard to tell but the boy in the van appears to be wearing a white or grey shirt. Shawn was last seen wearing a grey shirt. It would be helpful to compare if different photo of Shawn was released but I couldn't locate any new 'old' photos.

Shawn Betz