JusticeWillBeServed
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NamUs
Doe Network
Charley Project
Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: March 10, 1991 from Riverside, California
Classification: Lost/Injured Missing
Date Of Birth: January 6, 1988
Age: 3 years old
Height and Weight: 3'0, 35 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Brown hair, brown eyes.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A red sweatshirt, blue jeans, gray socks, white Gerber sneakers with a blue stripe and Mickey Mouse jockey shorts.
Details of Disappearance
Travis was last seen by his father at about 10:30 a.m. on March 10, 1991. His father was repairing some chainsaws near their cabin in Riverside, California. Travis wandered into some bushes to relieve himself. When he did not return after ten minutes, his father went looking for him. He could not find him anywhere. Travis has never been heard from again.
The cabin was located in a rural, mountainous area. Temperatures dipped below the freezing level in the week following Travis's disappearance. Rescue workers and helicopters with infared technology searched the terrain, but located no evidence indicating the child's whereabouts. After four days of searching, during which time there was a storm with snow, hail, and rain, authorities called off the search and declared that Travis could not have survived the weather conditions. The only possible evidence located in the mountains were shoe prints thought to belong to Travis, half a mile from where he was last seen. There were also marks consistent with sliding or dragging, and animal tracks. The tracks were originally thought to be from a mountain lion, but investigators later stated that they probably belonged to a large dog.
The possibility of abduction was also looked into. Several people reported having seen a boy matching Zweig's description, but these sightings were never confirmed. His case is similar to that of Laura Bradbury, also three years old, who disappeared from Joshua Tree National Park in 1984. Some bone fragments were discovered in 1986 near the site of Bradbury's disappearance and were identified as hers in 1990. That case remains unsolved. Travis's parents both took polygraphs and were ruled out as suspects in their son's case. They have since divorced.
Travis has never been located. His family hopes that he was abducted by someone who wanted to raise a child; if this is the case, he may not know he is a missing child. Travis resided in La Quinta, California at the time of his disappearance. He had an outgoing personality in 1991. His case remains unsolved.
KESQ investigates 26-year search for missing Pinyon Pines boy
Family members speak about 26-year search for missing Pinyon Pines boy
Distraught Father Vows to Press Hunt for Missing Son, 3 - March 1991
Did a cougar take 3-year-old California boy? - March 1991
Doe Network
Charley Project
Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: March 10, 1991 from Riverside, California
Classification: Lost/Injured Missing
Date Of Birth: January 6, 1988
Age: 3 years old
Height and Weight: 3'0, 35 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Brown hair, brown eyes.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A red sweatshirt, blue jeans, gray socks, white Gerber sneakers with a blue stripe and Mickey Mouse jockey shorts.
Details of Disappearance
Travis was last seen by his father at about 10:30 a.m. on March 10, 1991. His father was repairing some chainsaws near their cabin in Riverside, California. Travis wandered into some bushes to relieve himself. When he did not return after ten minutes, his father went looking for him. He could not find him anywhere. Travis has never been heard from again.
The cabin was located in a rural, mountainous area. Temperatures dipped below the freezing level in the week following Travis's disappearance. Rescue workers and helicopters with infared technology searched the terrain, but located no evidence indicating the child's whereabouts. After four days of searching, during which time there was a storm with snow, hail, and rain, authorities called off the search and declared that Travis could not have survived the weather conditions. The only possible evidence located in the mountains were shoe prints thought to belong to Travis, half a mile from where he was last seen. There were also marks consistent with sliding or dragging, and animal tracks. The tracks were originally thought to be from a mountain lion, but investigators later stated that they probably belonged to a large dog.
The possibility of abduction was also looked into. Several people reported having seen a boy matching Zweig's description, but these sightings were never confirmed. His case is similar to that of Laura Bradbury, also three years old, who disappeared from Joshua Tree National Park in 1984. Some bone fragments were discovered in 1986 near the site of Bradbury's disappearance and were identified as hers in 1990. That case remains unsolved. Travis's parents both took polygraphs and were ruled out as suspects in their son's case. They have since divorced.
Travis has never been located. His family hopes that he was abducted by someone who wanted to raise a child; if this is the case, he may not know he is a missing child. Travis resided in La Quinta, California at the time of his disappearance. He had an outgoing personality in 1991. His case remains unsolved.
KESQ investigates 26-year search for missing Pinyon Pines boy
Nestled in the mountains above the Coachella Valley off of Highway 74 in Pinyon Pines lies a mystery that's lasted for more than a quarter of a century. It's the story of three-year-old Travis Zwieg, a boy who was last seen with his father at a home on Indio Avenue on March 10th, 1991.
"They had come up here to chop firewood, and Travis was sent outside to go and play with the dogs that were outside, and subsequently disappeared," Captain David Teets with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said.
Teets said the initial search for Zweig lasted days on end, with deputies fielding numerous leads as speculation grew as to what may have happened to the little boy.
Now 26 years later, Teets and other deputies continue to search for clues on a case that's had about half a dozen detectives at the helm.
But he said anniversaries like this are what help keep this case and others like it off the shelves, along with renewed interest by new investigators -- and updated information, including a new sketch just released, that depicts what Zwieg may look like at 29 years old, if alive today.
Teets said they'll continue to work to try and find Zwieg, hoping to one day find an answer.
"We're always hopeful obviously that we'll find Travis, (but) time's going to tell," Teets said. "We're hoping that by getting this information out ot the public, and producing an updated sketch of what Travis might look like, we're hoping that will renew some public interest in this case, and that we'll get some leads that we can follow up on."
Family members speak about 26-year search for missing Pinyon Pines boy
Meyers said she was home with her mother and grandparents, while Travis and their father, Kevin Zwieg, headed up to the cabin for a weekend with friends.
Meyers, along with investigators, said Travis disappeared just feet away from where Kevin was cutting wood, and has never been heard from again.
From then on, Zwieg said the search and suspicions began.
"After 15 or 20 minutes, I knew something was wrong and he had been taken, he said. There was no way for him to get away from me that fast, and Travis wasn't a little boy that liked to wander. He liked to hang around his dad, and I knew right away there was something wrong."
Zwieg said he and Travis's mother broke up soon after. He moved back near his family in Washington, and said he hasn't spoke with her to this day.
Meanwhile, Meyers said she was put into the foster care system, growing up in different homes around Riverside County.
Distraught Father Vows to Press Hunt for Missing Son, 3 - March 1991
Did a cougar take 3-year-old California boy? - March 1991