OK OK - Stephen “Steve” Lee Murphy, last seen in Claremore sometime in 1976, not reported missing until July 2022

[Snoangel26]

If the USMC did not report anything it is unlikely he is/was AWOL. The military won't actively hunt AWOL but when they are marked AWOL then it is entered in NCIC. So if he was arrested, stopped for a traffic violation, or ran through the law enforcement system for any other reason he would have been flagged that the military wanted him for being AWOL.

This is what someone was able to get.

 

[Snoangel26]

I tried it myself entering his info but didn't click "submit" - the SSN & Service number are not required. By no success, do you mean you got a response of no records found?

There response was please send proof of death or his authorization

 

[Skittles81]

We have his military records showing he was AWOL/deserter. They are posted somewhere in the thread.
Do you have documentation of this requirement? From everything I was able to find, there was no reporting requirement in 1976.
There is no court martial in his records.
I also searched law enforcement databases in the area, no arrests.

No documentation of that requirement. I'm an Army vet, so I have experience with soldiers going AWOL. I know that is the protocol, but I am not sure if it was back in 76. I know they definitely don't hunt them down (again not sure if they did in the 70s)- they just wait for them to be picked up for something else, then get them. We had deserters in Afghanistan - those are the only ones they hunted because it was possible they were traitors as well as a deserter & were working for the Taliban.

What records do you have if you have ones showing no court martial & that he was AWOL? Which ones are you looking for? I'm confused what records you are looking for if you have those. Do you by chance have a DD214? That would have his SSN or Service Number as well as last known to the military address.

 

[azure]

No documentation of that requirement. I'm an Army vet, so I have experience with soldiers going AWOL. I know that is the protocol, but I am not sure if it was back in 76. I know they definitely don't hunt them down (again not sure if they did in the 70s)- they just wait for them to be picked up for something else, then get them. We had deserters in Afghanistan - those are the only ones they hunted because it was possible they were traitors as well as a deserter & were working for the Taliban.

What records do you have if you have ones showing no court martial & that he was AWOL? Which ones are you looking for? I'm confused what records you are looking for if you have those. Do you by chance have a DD214? That would have his SSN or Service Number as well as last known to the military address.

See the attachment two posts above your quoted post.

 

[Skittles81]

There response was please send proof of death or his authorization

Weird. I'll do some asking around from some of my Army buddies and see what they can tell me for possible other ways to get any info.

 

[Skittles81]

See the attachment two posts above your quoted post.

Thanks. Looks like the first few times he turned himself back in. Would be interesting to know if he was denied leave and went to whatever he wanted to go do. OR if he was on a bender or something and just didn't make it back on time since those first few are only a few days AWOL. I can't tell what the 3 letter code is for the last UA, but that could mean something - most likely just that he never returned.

 

[megs1477]

No documentation of that requirement. I'm an Army vet, so I have experience with soldiers going AWOL. I know that is the protocol, but I am not sure if it was back in 76. I know they definitely don't hunt them down (again not sure if they did in the 70s)- they just wait for them to be picked up for something else, then get them. We had deserters in Afghanistan - those are the only ones they hunted because it was possible they were traitors as well as a deserter & were working for the Taliban.

What records do you have if you have ones showing no court martial & that he was AWOL? Which ones are you looking for? I'm confused what records you are looking for if you have those. Do you by chance have a DD214? That would have his SSN or Service Number as well as last known to the military address.

There were significant changes in how deserters were handled in the late 70s. I am putting together a video about Steve's disappearance and found several reports as part of the research. Pendleton was a mess around that time so there is no telling how well paperwork was done. Stephen was not discharged until 1984, which is odd and not explained.
We have a redacted service record which @Snoangel26 posted above and the FOIA document below which indicates no court martial records in his file.

 

[megs1477]

Thanks. Looks like the first few times he turned himself back in. Would be interesting to know if he was denied leave and went to whatever he wanted to go do. OR if he was on a bender or something and just didn't make it back on time since those first few are only a few days AWOL. I can't tell what the 3 letter code is for the last UA, but that could mean something - most likely just that he never returned.

He and his wife were having issues around that time. We don't know exactly when, but they ended up splitting up. I wondered if perhaps things not going well at home led him to UA. Then after they split, he says screw this (in April 76) I only went in for wife/baby. But I can't figure out why he would go back in November..unless mom's escape story is true and they just brought him back, no brig?

 

[Snoangel26]

There were significant changes in how deserters were handled in the late 70s. I am putting together a video about Steve's disappearance and found several reports as part of the research. Pendleton was a mess around that time so there is no telling how well paperwork was done. Stephen was not discharged until 1984, which is odd and not explained.
We have a redacted service record which @Snoangel26 posted above and the FOIA document below which indicates no court martial records in his file.

Yes I would like his DD214 and anything else

 

[Skittles81]

There were significant changes in how deserters were handled in the late 70s. I am putting together a video about Steve's disappearance and found several reports as part of the research. Pendleton was a mess around that time so there is no telling how well paperwork was done. Stephen was not discharged until 1984, which is odd and not explained.
We have a redacted service record which @Snoangel26 posted above and the FOIA document below which indicates no court martial records in his file.

Apparently, now they can be discharged rather than court marshaled. Not sure when that went into effect. Here is the regulation on that. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/ARN30496-AR_635-200-000-WEB-1.pdf

Also, the Vietnam War went til 75 - possibly he went in cause he was drafted then went AWOL cause the war was over and he hadn't wanted to join in the first place.

Sorry - veteran cases bother me - so I try as much as I can to help with them.

 

[Snoangel26]

He and his wife were having issues around that time. We don't know exactly when, but they ended up splitting up. I wondered if perhaps things not going well at home led him to UA. Then after they split, he says screw this (in April 76) I only went in for wife/baby. But I can't figure out why he would go back in November..unless mom's escape story is true and they just brought him back, no brig?

Why no brig tho? There is significant amount of time between last two

 

[Skittles81]

Why no brig tho? There is significant amount of time between last two

Possibly they just wanted him discharged since he had been AWOL so much that year. I posted a link to a regulation that says DES "can" choose to discharge instead of court martial, however I'm not sure if that was the case in the 70s.

 

[Stunned]

I don't know. I know when he was in junior high he brought his bible

The way the family is acting got me wondering if maybe this was a religious fallout of some sort.

 

[megs1477]

Why no brig tho? There is significant amount of time between last two

Keeping in mind my knowledge is pretty much limited to what I’ve learned researching this case….
Part of one of the reports I found and used in the video said they (officers) have the choice of punishment from none to severe. The report wanted it changed.
Vietnam was barely over…they lost MANY man to desertion and the war. Maybe they just wanted a warm body at that point? They were also having to ship people out because of the KKK stuff…but that was a couple weeks after he came back.

 

[megs1477]

The way the family is acting got me wondering if maybe this was a religious fallout of some sort.

I’m wondering if maybe they were upset with him for “screwing up” (no pun intended) as some would see it and getting his girl friend pregnant when he was 17. From his high school involvement he seemed to be pretty intelligent and ambitious (deca is all about being a business leader). Maybe the family had high hopes for him and was disappointed he chose the military as a quick, easy way to support his new family. Completely speculating.

 

[Skittles81]

The way the family is acting got me wondering if maybe this was a religious fallout of some sort.

It definitely seems like some sort of family falling out. Would kind of make sense that he wasn't reported missing and his Mom shared no info if he was excommunicated so to speak. Could have been religious, could have been he was in the military in an unpopular war, or even that he was a deserter. Would be interesting to know where he went when AWOL.

 

[OddOneOut]

But it might flush him out.

It might also cause him to lose his home, pension, social security benefits, medical care, etc. If so, he might get mad enough to refuse to see her.

 

[OddOneOut]

If the USMC did not report anything it is unlikely he is/was AWOL. The military won't actively hunt AWOL but when they are marked AWOL then it is entered in NCIC. So if he was arrested, stopped for a traffic violation, or ran through the law enforcement system for any other reason he would have been flagged that the military wanted him for being AWOL.

Which means he may be hiding from the Marines. He could have left the country and assumed a new identity.

 

[OddOneOut]

On leathernecks.com, there are veterans searching for yearbooks and boot camp photos.

 

[OddOneOut]

I did a search for "camp pendleton 1976" and found a lot of articles about race riots, beatings, and associated court martials. I wonder if the violence could be why he kept going AWOL and why he wasn't court martialed? It sounds like the officers had their hands full with all of this.