IL IL - Joshua Mahaffey, 15, Centralia, 12 Oct 1991

[Kat]

The Doe Network:
Case File 3618DMIL

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3618dmil.html

Joshua Jerome Mahaffey
Missing since October 12, 1991 from Centralia, Clinton County, Illinois
Classification: Endangered Missing


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Vital Statistics

•Date Of Birth: June 2, 1976
•Age at Time of Disappearance: 15 years old
•Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'2" (157 cm); 120 lbs (54 kg)
•Distinguishing Characteristics: White male. Brown hair; brown eyes.
•Scars: Joshua has a scar on his left cheek from a dog bite.
•Dentals: His two front teeth are capped and one of them is discolored.
•AKA: Josh
•DNA: In Codis.


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Circumstances of Disappearance
Joshua was last seen at home on October 12, 1991. Foul play is suspected.


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Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Clinton County Sheriff's Office
618-594-4555

Agency Case Number: M96B1547


NCMEC #: NCMC1082479

Source Information:
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
NamUs

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/mahaffey_joshua.html
More details at link above.

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/4375/26
NamUs Profile:
Dental: Available and entered
DNA: Sample submitted-tests complete
Fingerprints: NA

Could not locate any archived articles for Joshua.

Joshua has been missing almost 19 years. Come home soon.

 

[Missizzy]

http://www.bnd.com/2010/11/28/1492828/was-young-teen-buried-alive-in.html

Was young teen buried alive in Devil's Playground? 1991 disappearance still baffles investigators

"Nearly 17 years after teenager Josh Mahaffey disappeared, a hypnotized woman carefully walked the rutted trails of the Devil's Playground searching for his grave..."

and

"....Police involved in both investigations today say it may never be known if Collins' story of witnessing the Satanic torture of Josh and his burial in the Devil's Playground can ever be proved or disproved.

During the Devil's Playground search in 2007 when she was under hypnosis, C was accompanied by a hypnotist hired by a prominent local couple who also trailed along, hoping to solve what is arguably the most baffling mystery in Clinton and Marion counties -- what happened to 15-year-old Josh Mahaffey...."

more at link




Read more: http://www.bnd.com/2010/11/28/1492828/was-young-teen-buried-alive-in.html#ixzz16bmH8ajI

 

[JerseyGirl]

still missing: http://www.bnd.com/news/local/article210119674.html see slide 16

 

[Savemecastiel]

Bumping

 

[MagnoliaMountain]

Joshua Jerome Mahaffey – The Charley Project

 

[JerseyGirl]

Joshua's photo is shown age-progressed to 39 years. He was last seen at home on October 12, 1991. Joshua's two front teeth are capped and one of them is discolored. His nickname is Josh. Foul play is suspected.

Bloomington vigil raises awareness about missing, abused children

 

[Atombudd]

Centralia boy's 1991 disappearance still unsolved
Case of missing Illinois teen Joshua Mahaffey allegedly last seen at Devil’s Playground remains unsolved nearly three decades later
Decker said the investigation is also frustrating without the involvement of Josh’s family.

“Before their son disappeared, they were very private people,” Decker said. “Afterward, I just know that the mother became even more withdrawn. If you do get in touch with her, she doesn’t speak much or look you in the eye. And she’s just totally isolated herself from society.” Authorities say they are not aware of where either of Josh’s parents are now.

Alan Rose told Dateline that he drove past the family house this week, where he said Josh’s mother once kept his room as a shrine -- a place where no one was allowed to go.

“The house was run down and completely overgrown with weeds,” Rose said. “Doesn’t look like anyone even lives there anymore.”

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Poor Joshua - and his family.

I wish they would take today's technology back out to that desert area and see if they can find anything.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Bumping up. I hope the truth will come to light.
This case seems a bit sensationalized in media, but it's really about a teenager who felt lost in this world (if he kept "running away") and ended up victimized, IMO/JMO.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Joshua Jerome Mahaffey – The Charley Project

 

[Beccalicious]

Bumping

 

[Pennysmom1]

Joshua is still missing

Missing Person / NamUs #MP4375

View NamUs missing person case MP4375 for Joshua Jerome Mahaffey missing from Centralia, Illinois. Date of last contact: Oct 12, 1991. NCMEC case number: 1082479.

namus.nij.ojp.gov

Have you seen this child? Joshua Jerome Mahaffey

Missing From: Centralia, IL. Missing Date: October 12, 1991. Joshua's photo is shown age-progressed to 39 years. He was last seen at home on October 12, 1991. Joshua's two front teeth are capped and one of them is discolored. His nickname is Josh. FOUL PLAY IS SUSPECTED.

www.missingkids.org

Oct 21, 2019

Joshua Mahaffey Disappearance Garnering National Attention After Dateline Feature

CENTRALIA — While a number of missing persons cases from the area remain unsolved, one of the oldest recently garnered national attention when it was the subject of a Dateline broadcast on NBC. The broadcast focused on

www.wmix94.com

<<Joshua reportedly snuck out of his bedroom window October 12, 1991 in rural Centralia after getting into an argument with his mother.

Tanya Mahaffey didn’t report her son missing until November 12 1991, telling authorities that she didn’t report him missing right away because he was known to run off for several days at a time.

Josh was known to hang out at the Fairview Shopping Center and a place off Jolliff Bridge Road known as Devil’s Playground. Authorities from both Marion and Clinton counties have searched the area for clues and remains but after nearly three decades have come up empty handed.

Shortly before his disappearance, Josh had reportedly been involved in the burglary of a small grocery store in town, taking snacks and sodas with a friend named Terry Martin.

One witness reported seeing Josh riding in a blue Ford Maverick with Martin the night he disappeared. Martin’s girlfriend and another teenage boy were also reportedly in the car.

According to Dateline, Clinton County Sheriff’s Detective Todd Timmerman says the witness later told Centralia attorney Harold Pike that she witnessed Josh being tortured and murdered at Devil’s Playground.

Over the years law enforcement and private groups have searched the area of Devil’s Playground but what happened to Joshua Mahaffey remains a mystery.>>

 

[Pennysmom1]

Joshua Jerome Mahaffey – The Charley Project

• 
  

Joshua, circa 1991; Age-progression to age 39 (circa 2015)

<<Details of Disappearance​

Joshua got into an argument with his mother and departed from his Centralia, Illinois home on October 12, 1991. He climbed out his bedroom window and left with another boy. He has never been heard from again.

According to one account, he was later sighted with another teenage boy, leaving a shopping center in a blue Ford Maverick with a friend, Terry Martin, and Martin's girlfriend. Martin and the other boy returned hours later. The car was mud-splattered and Joshua wasn't with him. He has never been heard from again.

Joshua had been known to run away for several days at a time, so his mother was initially unconcerned by his absence. She began to worry after weeks passed without any sign of him, and she reported him missing on November 12.

Martin is a suspect in Joshua's disappearance. In 2003, while in jail, he allegedly told another inmate that he had killed a boy named Josh in 1991. A witness, Tonya L. Collins, who was in her teens in 1991, told authorities that she'd witnessed Joshua's torture and murder in a Satanic-type ritual in the Devil's Playground area of Centralia. She passed a polygraph about the case in 1996, but failed a second one in 2008.

In 2008, she was placed under hypnosis and led authorities to Joshua's supposed burial site in the Devil's Playground, but a dig of the area produced nothing. Collins named Martin as Joshua's killer. It was she who claims she saw them leave the shopping center together.

Martin has an extensive criminal record. In 1993, he beat a man with a baseball bat and almost killed him. In 1999, he was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the rape of a 6-year-old girl. He was paroled in 2010, but allegedly failed to register as a sex offender and was re-arrested.

Joshua and Martin burglarized a small grocery together prior to Joshua's disappearance. Joshua testified against Martin in that case, and Martin was ultimately sentenced to four years in prison. Joshua was also allegedly seeing Martin's girlfriend in secret, something Martin denies.

Martin admits that he was friends with Collins and Joshua in 1991, but says he didn't harm Joshua and doesn't know what happened to him. He stated Joshua often talked about running away, possibly to Kentucky, which was where his father lived.

Authorities believe Joshua is probably deceased, but they're unsure as to what happened to him. His case remains unsolved.>>

3618DMIL - Joshua Jerome Mahaffey

Identifiers​

Dentals: Unknown; two front teeth are capped and one of them is discolored
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Available; entered into CODIS