NY NY - Mitchel Weiser, 16, & Bonita Bickwit, 15, Narrowsburg, 27 July 1973

[Carolina Jacks]

I believe that the collect phone call to Mitchel's father took place sometime in 1985.By a person claiming to be Bonnie.

 

[hot cawfeee]

with a concert in the area that would bring potentially ALOT of people, who would be camping, traveling caravan style, I would think NYS Troopers would be on the roads. Nothing reported it seems.
Has any research been done with their SS#'s ?

 

[dotr]

Bumping this information in the hopes that it sparks someone's memory.
Wondering what could have made them each feel/act uneasy around family before they left? rbbm.
http://www.mitchelandbonnie.com/The Story
[h=2][/h]

[h=2]Mitchel Weiser and Bonnie Bickwit have been missing for 41 years. Bonnie Bickwit was working as a mother’s helper at Camp Wel-Met in Narrowsburg, New York when she vanished on July 27, 1973 with her boyfriend, Mitchel Weiser. Mitchel was working as a photographer’s assistant in Brooklyn.[/h] Bickwit and Weiser planned to hitchhike to attend a concert festival, Summer Jam featuring The Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead in Watkins Glen, New York. The concert is believed to have been the largest in history, with over 800,000 people showing up. Weiser met Bickwit at Camp Wel-Met and they set off for the concert, which was 75 miles from Narrowsburg. Neither has been seen since. It is believed that Weiser and Bickwit had approximately $25 between them. They carried backpacks, sleeping bags, and a cardboard sign that read “Watkins Glen.” They were last seen hitchhiking along State Route 97.

Authorities initially believed that the couple simply ran off together. Bickwit and Weiser had secretly exchanged wedding rings earlier in the summer of 1973. Both were intelligent teenagers who attended John Dewey High School, a Brooklyn alternative school for gifted, high-achieving students. Bickwit lived in Borough Park with her family when she was not working at Camp Wel-Met; Weiser lived in Midwood. Both Bickwit and Weiser are from stable, middle-class Jewish families.

Both Weiser and Bickwit’s loved ones say the two seemed ill at ease before they left for the concert. Bickwit sneaked away from Camp Wel-Met and went home one day the week before she vanished, and took $80 which she had been saving for a bicycle. Her family was not home at the time, but neighbors saw her. She was also having difficulties with the family she was working for. Bickwit asked them for the night off when Weiser showed up on July 27, and quit in anger when they refused. She told her employers that she would come by after the concert to collect her clothes and paycheck. Weiser, meanwhile, was worried that he would not be able to attend the college of his choice.

Despite this, however, their loved ones believe Bickwit and Weiser were just having normal adolescent problems and would have never run away from home. Bickwit’s best friend was in Europe the summer she vanished, but she exchanged letters with Bickwit and says their communications were normal. Weiser was looking forward to taking his drivers’ test, which was scheduled for a few weeks after he disappeared.

 

[dotr]

I believe that the collect phone call to Mitchel's father took place sometime in 1985.By a person claiming to be Bonnie.

The phone call.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=84&v=BZMmM-grRjQ

 

[dotr]

http://www.mytwintiers.com/news/loc...issing-from-watkins-glen-73-concert/974183778
Feb 14 2018

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (18 NEWS) - In July 1973, hundreds of thousands of music fans flocked to the Southern Tier for Summer Jam at Watkins Glen.

The outdoor concert starred the Greatful Dead, The Allman Brothers and The Band.

Summer Jam is believed to have been the largest concert in history, with over 800,000 people showing up, surpassing Woodstock.

But a trip to the concert is also a decades long mystery for two fans from Brooklyn - 15-year-old Bonnie Bickwit and boyfriend 16-year-old Mitchel Weiser. The teens vanished when they took off for the concert with backpacks, sleeping bags and about $25 combined.

They were last seen hitchhiking along State Route 97 with a cardboard sign that read "Watkins Glen." It is uncertain if the teens ever made it to the concert.

"There's been no trace of them, there's been a lot of information that has come in, there's been a lot of leads that have pursued," said retired Schuyler County Sheriff Michael Maloney.

Today, Bonnie Bickwit would be 60-years-old, Mitchel Weiser would be 61-years-old.

July 2018 will mark the 45th year since the couple has gone missing.

If you have any information about Bonnie Bickwit and Mitchel Weiser, please call the Sullivan's County Sheriff's Department (845) 794-7100.

 

[hot cawfeee]

I guess they felt uneasy about leaving their families, risking disapproval of parents and their religious community. It was 1973 and am sure they were naive in some ways and mature in other ways.

 

[dotr]

Very lengthy article with lots of pics and video from the event. Not likely to have much luck, but looking through in the hope of spotting the missing couple.
With the amount of vehicles coming and going in the area, perhaps some with some drivers in altered states, wondering if the couple may have been involved in a hit and run type situation? imo, speculation.
http://www.newyorkupstate.com/concerts/2017/07/flashback_summer_jam_brings_600000_music_fans_to_watkins_glen_in_1
973.html

[h=1]Flashback: Summer Jam brings 600,000 music fans to Watkins Glen in 1973[/h] Posted July 28, 2017
By Johnathan Croyle

The Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, N.Y., on July 28, 1973 was once hailed as having the largest audience ever for a pop music festival according to the Guinness Book of World Records. An estimated 600,000 people traveled by car, van or hitchhiked to what was then called Watkins Glen Grand Prix Raceway to see The Band, Allman Brothers Band and the Grateful Dead perform. Despite drawing more fans than Woodstock, the "one-day blowout at Watkins Glen," the Guardian wrote last year, "has virtually been forgotten."

Watkins Glen had a population of roughly 2,700 people after the 1970 Census and it was overwhelmed by people that July day. (One estimate said one out of every three people between the ages of 17-24 from New York to Boston was in Watkins Glen that day.)

The Syracuse Post-Standard said the village was "paralyzed by the onslaught of cars, trailers, campers, microbuses, trucks and motorcycles."

The Band played next, beginning with a Chuck Berry cover, "Back to Memphis." They played favorites like "The Weight" and "Don’t Do It" before a huge thunderstorm forced them from the stage and turned the ground into a muddy bog. (You can hear the thunder in the video above.)

It was past 3 a.m. before the concert was over. Most of the 600,000 people had left well before then after not being able to hear the music or see the stage.

The biggest problem was drugs, and most medical effort was on treating drug overdoses.

There was one death at the Summer Jam concert. It occurred shortly before the thunderstorm, which interrupted The Band’s performance.

Veteran skydiver Willard "Smitty" Smith Jr., 35, of Syracuse, died after parachuting from a plane near the concert.

He was found in the woods a half-mile from the concert grounds.

 

[dotr]

Video, mostly of the crowd. Some slight nudity.
Wishful thinking, but @17:06 girl in middle of frame wearing hat?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqlADKgCS_Y
Bob Student

Published on May 15, 2014
Sections of this video were used in 'Long Strange Trip' by Director Amir Bar-Lev. With: Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Robert Hunter, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Tom Constanten, Donna Godchaux, Keith Godchaux, Ron McKernan, Brent Mydland.

 

[dotr]

https://www.google.ca/search?q=bonita+bickwit&client=firefox-b&dcr=0&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwja_p23_L7ZAhUFzIMKHRmXD5MQ_AUICygC&biw=1011&bih=648#imgrc=gAWG00NudgoysM:

 

[Two for the road]

Dotr, thanks for bumping us this thread. Mitch and Bonnie are my "case I'd like to see solved this year". I've scoured the internet in hopes of finding some obscure link to their case... I have found a couple that looks like it could be Bonnie and Mitch in their sixties as members of a religious organization in Canada, but I hear that just wishful thinking on my part.

I don't think they ever made it to the concert. I think allyn Smith is full of it. From what I've read, it sounds like the concert was at times very violent and there was heavy drug use, nudity and gratuitous sex...not something a couple of religious kids would want to be a part of. Maybe the concert was just a cover up for them running away to start their own life.

I wonder if their relatives noticed anything missing after they vanished like momentos and such.

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks for bumping up the case. They don't seem to get as much attention.

 

[hot cawfeee]

very possible they got there and left b/c too wild a scene.........I truly hope they are alive and well and living quietly....and will contact their families. I keep hope alive. I remember an episode of "Disappeared". The missing woman was alive and left b/c she didn't think anyone would miss her or her problems.

 

[Carolina Jacks]

Video, mostly of the crowd. Some slight nudity.
Wishful thinking, but @17:06 girl in middle of frame wearing hat?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqlADKgCS_Y
Bob Student

She does look like Bonnie. But there were 600,000 people there, Many of them never even got in because it was full.

 

[Carolina Jacks]

The only way to find them is to go there. And walk the same route that they took. The first place i would look is Burdett NY. I read a thread from 9 years ago. from someone. That claimed that Bonnie and Mitch used to live in Burdett on a small farm. Near the Finger Lake National Forest. But that they wished to be left alone.
Or the forest. I honestly believe that they could have got lost in the woods while walking at night. and they never made it out. Therefor we would be searching for bones in the wilderness . And Mitchel's camera.. Don't forget that Mitchel loved photography . Even if we could just find his camera. That would be a huge lead. They are still up there in that area.. Either dead or alive. I guess i will have to go there. And look for them.

 

[SpanishMossAntiques]

I wish I had the time and money to join you in your search - I used to work as a Park Ranger, and am really good at finding things in the woods (we had a number of people who would commit suicide in the deep woods)... I often was assigned to patrol those remote areas of the forest where my back-up was nearly 1/2 hour away! My main job was to locate lost visitors, and to provide first-aid to those who were far from help and injured... I think their skulls,or partial skulls may still remain, along with pieces of their belongings and possibly some clothing. Good luck in your search, and please keep us posted!

The only way to find them is to go there. And walk the same route that they took. The first place i would look is Burdett NY. I read a thread from 9 years ago. from someone. That claimed that Bonnie and Mitch used to live in Burdett on a small farm. Near the Finger Lake National Forest. But that they wished to be left alone.
Or the forest. I honestly believe that they could have got lost in the woods while walking at night. and they never made it out. Therefor we would be searching for bones in the wilderness . And Mitchel's camera.. Don't forget that Mitchel loved photography . Even if we could just find his camera. That would be a huge lead. They are still up there in that area.. Either dead or alive. I guess i will have to go there. And look for them.

 

[Two for the road]

There is a website that is operated by friends and family. There is a comment on that website by an ex boyfriend of Bonnie's that seems a little suspect. The poster claims he was an ex boyfriend of Bonnie's and that he would come over all the time despite living some distance away. He said that he met Mitch and that the three of them hung out and he wasn't surprised that Bonnie and Mitch started dating Mitch after they stopped dating. Et cetera...

What struck me as odd about the comment was that he kept a momento given to him by his ex high school girlfriend that he only dates for one year in his desk at work. Also, he went to Watkins Glen for that concert (I know 600,000 people attended, but what a coincidence that he was her ex boyfriend and went up there!) It's almost as if he's saying "it couldn't be me, I wasnt at camp I was in NY hanging with other friends when they went missing"

He then goes on to say that he's been in contact with Bonnie's parents and that he has made a Facebook post and links back to it. If you click he only posts about Bonnie not Mitch.

I think it is odd. I feel like the "doth do protest too much" seems to apply there.

The post was made March 20, 2014 3:01am. What do you guys think? http://www.mitchelandbonnie.com/?page_id=157

 

[Carolina Jacks]

The FB post clearly states that Adam was friends with Bonnie and Mitch and that he was at the concert. I read the link when i was sick with Pnuemonia a few months ago. But i never clicked on the FB link. Good research Two For The Road. I doubt if he had anything to do with their disappearance . He seems sincere.

 

[Carolina Jacks]

I wonder if Adan could be Ted Smith , from the thread on Sean Mungers post on Jan. 1st 2014. That thread still sends chills up my spine.

 

[Two for the road]

I read that comment as in why bother rather than "they are dead" etc.

The reason why it makes me wonder about the post mentioned above is because he claims he was friends with both, but he very clearly had much more to say about Bonnie than Mitch despite claiming to be friend with both. And he only mentioned keeping in touch with Bonnie's family and not Mitch's family. It sounds like Mitch and Bonnie we're planning to go to the concert as soon as his other friend bailed. If this poster knew that, he'd know exactly where to find them and the fact that he went up to the concert too is all too small world to me.

It just makes me think that he kept in contact with her family to sort of insert himself into the investigation even though he wasn't really a part of Bonnie's inner circle at the time of her disappearance. Then again he may have been lying about all of that who knows.

In the video Mitch's sister said that he called her from the camp around midnight and told her that he had used his $25 on a cab fare from NYC to narrowsburg and that he planned to hitch the rest of the way. His sister told him that he shouldn't and that they needed to come home. She made it seem like he threw a fit when she told him that. Also in the video Bonnie's mom read some of a letter Bonnie sent about just wanting to be her own person. It makes me think that they were planning on running away. I'd be interested to know if they took anything from their rooms such as baby photos or momentos. And I also would like to know which school Mitch wanted to get into that he found out his parents couldn't afford.

 

[Carolina Jacks]

Bonnies Mom's 2 best friends both swore that they both seen Bonnie and Mitch boarding a train leaving Boston in 1974. That it had to be them. That was in the video also. And these ladies were her best friends. I looked up Greatful Dead tours . After leaving Watkins Glen. The Dead played in Boston in the fall if 1973 for 3 days. And then again they played in Boston for 2 days in the summer of 74.

 

[Two for the road]

Bonnies Mom's 2 best friends both swore that they both seen Bonnie and Mitch boarding a train leaving Boston in 1974. That it had to be them. That was in the video also. And these ladies were her best friends. I looked up Greatful Dead tours . After leaving Watkins Glen. The Dead played in Boston in the fall if 1973 for 3 days. And then again they played in Boston for 2 days in the summer of 74.

That's a great find! I just feel like these two ran away. Maybe something bad happened to them. Maybe they are living in a rural area off the grid somewhere. Back then it wasn't hard to get a job because nothing was ran through national databases. Everything was paper even paychecks. So if they saw a help wanted sign and got the job, the employer didn't have to report them anywhere. If they signed up for said job as Joe Schmoe from Ohio and nobody would know.