Howard Frederick Kley – The Charley Project
Howard Frederick Kley
Kley, circa 1966
- Missing Since: 01/26/1966
- Missing From: Coos Bay, Oregon
- Classification: Endangered Missing
- Age: 53 years old
- Height and Weight: 5'6 - 5'8, 170 - 180 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description: A gray suit, a blue and white striped shirt, and a gold watch with an ivory face on his left wrist. The watch is a 25th anniversary watch given to Kley by the Shell Oil Corporation and is engraved with Kley's name, the words "Shell Oil" and the year 1958.
- Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Graying brown hair, blue eyes. Kley has previously broken his left index finger; as a result, that finger is crooked and has a divot in the knuckle. He has a large scar on his left thumb running onto the hand and a black spot on his lower lip. He had skin lesions on his temple and the bridge of his nose, which were burned off prior to his disappearance. Kley smoked cigarettes at the time of his disappearance; he preferred short Chesterfields but sometimes smoked L&M ones.
Details of Disappearance
Kley, a senior engineer for Shell Oil, was on a business trip when he went missing on January 26, 1966. He and two business associates had stopped in Coos Bay, Oregon en route to Seattle, Washington.
Kley and three of his business associates checked into the Dunes Motel on Bayshore Drive, had dinner at the Skyroom Restaurant. When his coworkers were ready to go back to the motel, Kley told them he would be along later. He was last seen talking to several women.
He was supposed to meet his coworkers in the morning so they could drive to Seattle, but he never showed up. His luggage was left behind in his hotel room and the bed hadn't been slept in. His coworkers paid for his hotel room for another day and went to Seattle without him, figuring he would make his way there alone. He has never been heard from again.
At the time of his disappearance, Kley had two grown daughters and lived with his wife in the 1100 block of Upper Happy Valley Road in Lafayette, California. His family stated he had no history of mental illness. His case remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
- Coos Bay Police Department 541-269-8911
---------------------------
The height, location, age, and postmortem interval are nearly perfect. He went missing from around a half hour from where the UID was located. Also, I have no idea why the UID is wearing glasses in several of his reconstructions, seeing as glasses are never mentioned on NamUS or Doe Network, but for what it's worth, Howard occasionally wore reading glasses.
A problem, though, is that Howard did not have dentures, and the dentures worn by the UID appear to have been made in Seattle in 1966. Howard disappeared in very early 1966, suggesting they were probably made after his disappearance.