MS MS- Daniel Murry Dutton, 28, Long Beach, 8 Jul 2000

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Pennysmom1

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<<His cab was found abandoned in a Lake City, FL Days Inn parking lot on July 13, 2000. Daniel was not listed as a guest at the hotel. No blood or fingerprint evidence was found in the cab. However, some receipts, a bent golf club, Daniel's checkbook, his eyeglasses, and half a roll of duct tape were recovered. A recovered receipt dated July 9, 2000 was from an Econolodge in Gainesville, FL, and Daniel is believed to be the person who rented the room, as his signature appeared to match that on the receipt provided by the hotel. It is unknown if Daniel was accompanied or alone>>





  • daniel_murry_dutton_1.jpg
Dutton, circa 2000
  • Missing Since 07/08/2000
  • Missing From Long Beach, Mississippi
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Male
  • Race Asian, Biracial, White
  • Age 28 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'9, 195 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A t-shirt and black pants.
  • Associated Vehicle(s) Yellow Cab taxicab (accounted for)

  • Distinguishing Characteristics Biracial (Asian/Caucasian) male. Black hair, brown eyes. Dutton's hair was worn long at the time of his disappearance, and he also had a beard. He has very poor eyesight and wears eyeglasses. He has a tattoo of a penguin on his shoulder. Dutton's nickname is Dan.

Details of Disappearance​

Dutton was last seen in Long Beach, Mississippi on July 8, 2000. He worked as a taxicab driver for the Yellow Cab company in Biloxi, Mississippi at the time of his disappearance, and lived with his parents on Buena Vista Drive in Long Beach. His last fare was to a Gulfport, Mississippi address at 8:50 p.m.

Dutton's father saw him at home at 11:00 p.m. The next morning, he was gone. He left a note saying he had to go away for a few days. He has never been heard from again. His father reported him missing on July 17.

On July 13, five days after he disappeared, Dutton's taxi was found in a Days Inn hotel parking lot in Lake City, Florida, 400 miles from Long Beach.

Dutton's checkbook, eyeglasses and some receipts were inside the vehicle, and there was half a roll of duct tape and a bent golf club in the trunk. There were no visible blood traces, and no indication of Dutton's whereabouts. He had not registered as a guest in the hotel.

The hotel staff called the cab company instead of the police. The company called Dutton's home, then made arrangements to have the cab towed back to Biloxi. The receipts in the car indicated the cab had traveled to Gainesville, Florida, which is 51 miles from Lake City.

Police believe Dutton paid cash for a room at an EconoLodge hotel there on July 9. There were also receipts for a backpack, toothbrush and toothpaste he bought on the day of his disappearance.

Dutton's checking account had been overdrawn for two weeks before he vanished, and he'd maxed out his credit cards for $10,000. A .22 caliber gun his father bought him disappeared with him and has never been found.

Dutton hasn't accessed his financial accounts or emailed anyone since his disappearance, and he doesn't have a cellular phone. He is described as a quiet loner, and he doesn't have a history of traveling long distances by himself. He is a graduate of Long Beach High School and enjoys watching movies in his spare time.

Dutton's parents have both died in the years since his disappearance. His case remains unsolved.

Investigating Agency​

  • Long Beach Police Department 228-863-7292

Source Information​

Updated 2 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated December 14, 2015; clothing/jewelry description added
 

LONG BEACH, Miss. (AP) — A cab driver from Long Beach vanished nine years ago, leaving personal items in an abandoned taxi more than 400 miles from his home.

Daniel Murry Dutton was known to jokingly tell relatives his vision was so bad he needed to wear his eyeglasses to take a shower. Police discovered his glasses, checkbook and some receipts in his cab in July 2000 after the taxi was found in the parking lot of a hotel in Lake City, Fla.

Dutton wasn't registered at the hotel. To his family's knowledge, he didn't know anyone in Florida, wasn't prone to travel great distances alone and had little or no money to make a trip.

Police found a bent golf club and half a roll of duct tape in the trunk.

"We found no traces of blood and no viable fingerprints," said Long Beach Police Chief Wayne McDowell. "He just vanished. A person doesn't go missing for nine years without popping up somewhere."

Records generated by routine transactions, such as a new driver's license, can help investigators locate or track the movement of persons of interest. McDowell has reopened the cold-case file of Dutton's disappearance but has found no trace of him since July 9, 2000.

"I do not believe he is alive," McDowell said. "There's just too many strange things about this case."
….
Family and others have described Dutton as a loner who was quiet and spent his time off watching movies in his bedroom. His parents have since died. His father, Donald Dutton, was a retired oceanographer at Stennis. His mother, Midori Koike Dutton, worked at Treasure Bay. His younger brother, Dennis Dutton, had left to join the Army. His older sister, Yoko Demmons, had married and moved away.

McDowell was the detective who took the missing-person report and handled the investigation.

"It's stuck in my mind," McDowell said. "I've always wondered what happened to him."

Dutton had been gone nine days when his father filed a missing-person report on July 17, 2000. Dutton's last fare was logged July 8, 2000, to a Gulfport address at 8:50 p.m. His father said he last saw him at home around 11 p.m. The father said he found a note the next morning. It said, "Dad, I'll be away from the house for a few days. Dan."

Dutton's mother immediately feared her son was dead, McDowell recalled.

More in the article
 

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