MA MA - Raymond Louis Barabe, 12, Falmouth, 6 Nov 1968

[ChatteringBirds]

NamUs Case Created: September 30, 2019
Can anyone find articles or additional information about his case?

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

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

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Missing Person / NamUs #MP60439
Raymond Louis Barabe
Male, White / Caucasian
Date of Last Contact: November 6, 1968
Missing From: Falmouth, Massachusetts
County: Barnstable County
Missing Age: 12 Years
Current Age: 68 Years
Chosen Name/Nickname/Alias: Ray
Height: 4' 10" (58 Inches)
Weight: 75 lbs
Hair Color: Brown,
dimpled grin
Eye Color: Brown

Distinctive Physical Features: No Information Entered

Clothing and Accessories-
Accessories: carrying his math book
Clothing: black leather jacket, olive green trousers, blue sport shirt
Footwear: brown loafers

Circumstances of Disappearance:
Standing in a parking lot of Falmouth Plaza close to his home when he was last seen.

 

[Caring1]

Jul 29, 1970, page 32 - The Boston Globe at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com

View the digital scanned newspaper from The Boston Globe dated Jul 29, 1970, page 32.

www.newspapers.com

Hope I did that right with the link, not sure.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Thanks, Caring1!

Your article says a ton:
-His mother may have been the last to see him. She was running errands at the plaza and told him to head home.
- He was having difficulty adjusting after the family moved. His mother had been called to his school more than once. He said he was being blamed for the actions of other students at school.
- He would go back to his old neighborhood to be with his friends there "every day."
- His parents admit he said he felt they favored his brother. His father could be "stern."
- He had been talked to by police for entering buildings unlawfully with a friend, and he was afraid of the police.
- The police considered him a runaway. They interviewed friends and family but did not treat his disappearance as a crime nor do a "systematic search."
- He was seen hanging out "alone" in his old neighborhood by an older friend's mother.
- His father said, "I think he's having a ball. I think he's living with a hippie gang somewhere."
- His mother said she didn't think he was still alive. Mother's intuition, and he had been gone too long, missed too many holidays. He had been withdrawn, "didn't discuss his problems with us."

Based on all of this, I think he was most likely:

- approached and taken by a predator who recognized his vulnerability OR

- something happened when he was with older/new "friends," maybe he was hanging out with the wrong crowd and something went very wrong OR

- his parents actually knew more (I can think of numerous scenarios).

All JMO. But -- I think it's likely someone, maybe even from his circle, knew what happened to him.

My sympathy to his family. It sounds like he probably has surviving siblings. He was like most preteens -- trying to find his place and where he fit in. Such a vulnerable age and a sad case.

 

[Richard Woodrow Johnson]

Thanks, Caring1!

Your article says a ton:
-His mother may have been the last to see him. She was running errands at the plaza and told him to head home.
- He was having difficulty adjusting after the family moved. His mother had been called to his school more than once. He said he was being blamed for the actions of other students at school.
- He would go back to his old neighborhood to be with his friends there "every day."
- His parents admit he said he felt they favored his brother. His father could be "stern."
- He had been talked to by police for entering buildings unlawfully with a friend, and he was afraid of the police.
- The police considered him a runaway. They interviewed friends and family but did not treat his disappearance as a crime nor do a "systematic search."
- He was seen hanging out "alone" in his old neighborhood by an older friend's mother.
- His father said, "I think he's having a ball. I think he's living with a hippie gang somewhere."
- His mother said she didn't think he was still alive. Mother's intuition, and he had been gone too long, missed too many holidays. He had been withdrawn, "didn't discuss his problems with us."

Based on all of this, I think he was most likely:

- approached and taken by a predator who recognized his vulnerability OR

- something happened when he was with older/new "friends," maybe he was hanging out with the wrong crowd and something went very wrong OR

- his parents actually knew more (I can think of numerous scenarios).

All JMO. But -- I think it's likely someone, maybe even from his circle, knew what happened to him.

My sympathy to his family. It sounds like he probably has surviving siblings. He was like most preteens -- trying to find his place and where he fit in. Such a vulnerable age and a sad case.

Additional Articles:

 

[PGHJW]

The father died in 1985. It seems that the last name was officially spelled "Barabee." It's definitely him but the grave and some documents uploaded show that spelling. He seems to have remarried. No mention of Raymond in the obituary.

 

[DD Byrd]

If I'm reading the article correctly, the old home and the new home are less than a half mile from each other. So while I understand a 12 year old would miss his friends, they are (in 1968 'safe for a child to bike ride' terms) right there, and not much longer time to walk. I'm wondering if the zoning was different then and he ended up at a different school so he didn't see them as much all day, and by November it would get dark? Falmouth Plaza is close as well. Falmouth, like the rest of the Cape, has ponds, bogs, and obviously the ocean. I'd assume they checked the woods directly behind the Alma house, if indeed that was a wooded lot then.

Hard to tell inflection from a printed quote, but I find saying (and certainly believing) "he's having a ball with a hippie group" curious. Especially for a young-looking 12 year old. That sounds like denial, and while it certainly wasn't as talked about as much then, this could be a suicide. I wonder if there were any known guns missing from the home, or if either parent had sleeping pills, etc.

It seems he wanted to be with his friends, not necessarily escape his life...but he also could have tried to hitch a ride with the wrong person. If they made it off the Cape he could've gone anywhere. It would interesting to know if he'd ever taken the ferry to Nantucket or MV.

 

[Nate_Bro]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

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

www.namus.gov

 

[ChatteringBirds]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

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

www.namus.gov

Interesting possibility, @Nate_Bro.

 

[bettyboop]

Thank you for starting the thread, @ChatteringBirds , I didn't know about this one. I did notice that in one article it was mentioned he was seen by his mother in the shopping center parking lot, and another article said he was last seen in his backyard. Also it was said the police, as was usual at the time, considered him a runaway. It was said they didn't consider any other possibility, and never did a thorough search for him. @DD Byrd , I agree the father's statement, "I think he's having a ball. I think he's living with a hippie gang somewhere."', is offputting and weird. JMO MOO

 

[Richard]

Bumping this thread up. Probably no connection, but this case has some similarities to the disappearance of Dickie Huerkamp from Mapleton, Minnesota on 2 October 1965. He was 15, but very small for his age, and of a description similar to Raymond.