ME ME - Francis Travis, 48, Sanford, 5 Dec 1947

[TheArtfulDetective]

Francis Law Travis


No photo available

Case Classification: Missing
Missing Since: December 5, 1947
Location Last Seen: Sanford, York County, Maine

Description:

• Date of Birth: circa 1899
• Age: 48 years old
• Race: White/Caucasian
• Gender: Male
• Height: 5' 8" / 68 inches
• Weight: 156 lbs
• Hair Color: Blonde/strawberry and thinning on top
• Eye Color: Gray
• Nickname/Alias: Frank
• Distinguishing Marks/Features: Linear scar on right side abdomen
• Clothing & Personal Items: Reading eyeglasses. Brown suit, Brown overcoat, Brown hat. Wrist watch - gold plated with a leather strap.
• Identifiers: Unknown

Circumstances of Disappearance:
Travis disappeared from Sanford, Maine on December 5, 1947. He was last leaving his residence that morning as he left for work as usual. He has never been seen or heard from since. The next day his car was found abandoned in Ogunquit but there was no trace of him. His whereabouts remain unknown.

Investigators:

• Sanford Police Department: (207) 324-3644
  Reference Case#: 47-1205

NamUs Case Number: MP55124

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[annpats]

Ogunquit seems a small well-to-do town on the Atlantic coast. Looks like there are some nice properties there and a great place to live.

But in 1947...? I can imagine it was a rural backwater kind of place, with not too many houses. Just fishermen's huts maybe.

I wonder if he went there to commit suicide, and his body was taken away by tides and currents of the ocean...?

MOO.

 

[annpats]

Picture of Ogunquit in 1938.

 

[Skigirl]

Ogunquit seems a small well-to-do town on the Atlantic coast. Looks like there are some nice properties there and a great place to live.

But in 1947...? I can imagine it was a rural backwater kind of place, with not too many houses. Just fishermen's huts maybe.

I wonder if he went there to commit suicide, and his body was taken away by tides and currents of the ocean...?

MOO.

Ogunquit has always been a place with a lot of wealth and summer residents, for what it's worth. Marginal Way was built in 1925, and there were "cottages" (in the Newport, RI sense) there in the 1880s and 1890s.

 

[Skigirl]

His hat was found on the shore in Ogunquit in April of 1948 according to an article in the Kennebec Journal on April 14, 1948. Verified as his by his initials inside the hat and by the store clerk who sold it to him.

 

[HopeRains]

Biddeford Daily Journal 8 Dec 47, pg 8

 

[MadMcGoo]

Francis Law Travis (1899-1947) - Find a Grave...

Born in 29 Sep 1899 and died in 5 Dec 1947 Sanford, Maine Francis Law Travis

www.findagrave.com

 

[MadMcGoo]

They keys were not found with the vehicle.

Portland Press Herald 08 Dec 1947, page 2 - Newspapers.com

View the digital scanned newspaper from Portland Press Herald dated 08 Dec 1947, page 2.

www.newspapers.com

Portland Press Herald 14 Apr 1948, page 1 - Newspapers.com

View the digital scanned newspaper from Portland Press Herald dated 14 Apr 1948, page 1.

www.newspapers.com

 

[MadMcGoo]

The closest possible matches I found in Maine. All within about 30 miles from where his car/hat were found.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) (I doubt this one is him, but it was pretty close to Ogunquit)

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

 

[Pennysmom1]

Missing Person / NamUs #MP55124 Francis Law Travis

Clipping found in The Lewiston Daily Sun published in Lewiston, Maine on 12/8/1947. Missing Person / NamUs #MP55124 Francis Law Travis

www.newspapers.com

Missing Person / NamUs #MP55124 Francis Law Travis

Clipping found in Portland Press Herald published in Portland, Maine on 12/16/1947. Missing Person / NamUs #MP55124 Francis Law Travis

www.newspapers.com

5891DMME - Francis Law Travis

Circumstances of Disappearance​

Francis travis was seen at home the morning of December 5, 1947. He left to go to work at the Goodall-Sanford Inc Mill where he was superintendent of dyeing. The following day, his abandoned car was located at Onto Hill near the Ogunquit Cliffs about 100 feet from the water's edge. The driver's side window had been left open and snow had blown inside. The keys were not found in the car.

Four months later, Francis' hat, positively identified by his initials along the hat band, was found washed up in a tangle of seaweed along the shore line of Perkins Cove, about 1/2 mile from where his car was found.