CA - Derran Conway Rogers, 13, Modesto, 27 Feb 1973

[heartanium]

<modsnip - quoted post was removed>

I think many people would love to have more information on Derran since there's so little out there about him.

<modsnip - quoted post was removed>There was another case in November of 1973 where a girl around Derran's age disappeared while hitchiking on a Modesto highway.

Corinne June Groenenberg - MP4547

CA - CA - Corinne Groenenberg, 14, Modesto, 1 Nov 1973

Missing Since: November 1, 1973 from Modesto, California Classification: Endangered Missing Date Of Birth: October 4, 1959 Age: 14 years old Height and Weight: 5'6, 115 pounds Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Groenenberg has a surgical scar on her...

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[heartanium]

Good find!
I always thought it was wild how old newspapers gave away people's adresses like that.
Speaking of which, his NamUs says he lived on Randy Street and here it says Roseburg Ave. Did he move or did the street change name?

Same, I would not be to happy if my address was just public like that.

Randy street now seems to be Randy Avenue in Modesto.

 

[heartanium]

If I'm mapping it right it, Derran lived close to Thomas Downy High School, about 2ish miles.

 

[Hazeleyedgirl]

<modsnip - quoted post was removed> I think many people would love to have more information on Derran since there's so little out there about him.

<modsnip - quoted post was removed> There was another case in November of 1973 where a girl around Derran's age disappeared while hitchiking on a Modesto highway.

Corinne June Groenenberg - MP4547

CA - CA - Corinne Groenenberg, 14, Modesto, 1 Nov 1973

Missing Since: November 1, 1973 from Modesto, California Classification: Endangered Missing Date Of Birth: October 4, 1959 Age: 14 years old Height and Weight: 5'6, 115 pounds Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Groenenberg has a surgical scar on her...

www.websleuths.com

When I first started looking into Darrens disappearance, I came across Corinne’s case and wondered if they may be connected also. <modsnip - quoted post was snipped> I’m new to this site and trying to navigate it is tricky. I did tell his brother that people would like to hear from him. I will try and help him respond. He was 8 when Derran disappeared. Modesto pd handled the case very poorly.

 

[heartanium]

When I first started looking into Darrens disappearance, I came across Corinne’s case and wondered if they may be connected also. <modsnip - quoted post was removed> I’m new to this site and trying to navigate it is tricky. I did tell his brother that people would like to hear from him. I will try and help him respond. He was 8 when Derran disappeared. Modesto pd handled the case very poorly.

I saw Corrine's case and the date and wondered if they were connected too. I've been trying to find where Corrine lived to see if it was near Darren, but I've unfortunately had no luck.

<modsnip>

I can see where Modesto PD mishandled the case - I've tried to access archives from their site from 2000-2015 to see their missing persons list, and there was only one sentence on Darren's case. Very little was published on him in the Modesto Bee. I'm very sorry his family had to deal with this, it seems that the police just probably treated him as another runaway.

(Capture taken 10 June 2004)

The current Modesto PD website doesn't even have a missing persons list available.

If it helps, here is the frequently asked questions about Websleuths, this may help you navigate forms a bit easier.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

This post contains a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). Each question below links to a post in the thread containing the answer. Posts may be updated from time to time as the site evolves or as we come across more to share. Forum - Basics Where do I start? Are there any rules I...

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[heartanium]

Posting current exclusions for Derran, unfortunately not many from the Modesto/Sacramento area. Many are from VA coroner doing their due diligence.

40 Exclusions

 

[SophieRose]

If I'm mapping it right it, Derran lived close to Thomas Downy High School, about 2ish miles.

View attachment 407782

Thanks for mapping it. When I was in high school in the Bay Area we took buses for any mileage at or over 1.5 miles. Derran lived 1.8 miles from the school. Could he have been walking to a bus stop?

 

[Puzzleworth]

A writer on Reddit posted a long writeup about Derran recently. I don't think I can link to it here, but it's on r/UnresolvedMysteries. The writer was verified by the moderators of that forum. He interviewed two of Derran's siblings, who provided details and family photos, and did other research. I won't copy-and-paste the whole thing, but here are some relevant details:

• Much of the original info about Derran's case was lost. The missing persons file was purged at some point between the mid-'70s and 2005, when the family went to contribute their DNA and learned there was no record of his disappearance with the Modesto police.
• His parents have since had their DNA entered (whether into CODIS, Namus, or a state database wasn't mentioned) and are now both deceased
• Derran is recorded as attending school until April 19, 1974. This was discovered through his presence in the 1974 Downey High School yearbook (available online) and confirmed through attendance records at the school district. The reason for the discrepancy in dates is unknown.
• No activity on his SSN (verified by new PD investigation)
• His reported height (~6'0) is at least roughly accurate. The Rogers siblings provided photos that show him several inches taller than his mother.

His siblings recall much more, but I've stuck to the publicly-provable information so as not to fall afoul of Websleuths's hearsay rules.

 

[snooptroop88]

Does anyone else see a resemblance here? Derran:

Images from Rodney Alcala's photos in storage locker:

The hair looks darker with the boy from the Alcala images, but that could be lighting/background. Mouth, nose, face generally & chin all similar, jmo. Blow-ups of the photos show small freckles or moles (? ) between mouth and nose and on lower chin (their right side, viewer's left) for both Derran and the unidentified young man in the Alcala images. I think the one on the chin is pretty pronounced, the one between mouth and nose is much more faded-- if there at all-- for Derran.

 

[alb1on]

One thing that puzzles me is the lack of mention of him in family announcements. The Modesto Bee obituary for his father, Wayburn Rogers, at https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/modestobee/name/wayburn-rogers-obituary?id=11922358 lists the children, including 2 other deceased sons but no mention is made of Derran. It may simply be that no one knows what to say about a missing son.

 

[Leprikawn]

Does anyone else see a resemblance here? Derran:
View attachment 590836
Images from Rodney Alcala's photos in storage locker:
View attachment 590834View attachment 590835
The hair looks darker with the boy from the Alcala images, but that could be lighting/background. Mouth, nose, face generally & chin all similar, jmo. Blow-ups of the photos show small freckles or moles (? ) between mouth and nose and on lower chin (their right side, viewer's left) for both Derran and the unidentified young man in the Alcala images. I think the one on the chin is pretty pronounced, the one between mouth and nose is much more faded-- if there at all-- for Derran.

Was Alcala in the bay area during that time?

 

[snooptroop88]

Was Alcala in the bay area during that time?

Alcala extradited to LA County 1972 and served a couple of years there, released, around 8/1974 he was working as a photographer throughout LA County. So there's a gap there of like a year and a half between when Derran disappeared and when Alcala would have been on the streets. Unless initially a runaway situation, or there's some more involved scenario, agreed it can't be Alcala.

https://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Psyc%20405/serial%20killers/Alcala.%20Rodney%20_2012_.pdf

 

[spartanx]

In the '70s, in San Francisco, you could definitely find welcoming communities on the streets, especially if you were open to alternative religions and drugs... I think he wanted to escape for a while, between the drug use, his fight with his father, and the idea of leaving early that morning... The question is what happened next... It was a lot easier to disappear in the '70s, and you were basically impossible to track if people didn't know where to look for you physically...
whatever
Rest in peace, Derran