MD MD - George Barksdale, 4, Baltimore, 21 April 1969

[anthrobones]

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/barksdale_george.html

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: April 21, 1969 from Baltimore, Maryland
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date of Birth: February 10, 1965
Age: 4 years old
Height and Weight: 2'6, 35 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Black hair, brown eyes. Barksdale is African-American. He has a birthmark on his left calf. His nickname is Sputnik.
​

Details of Disappearance

Barksdale was last seen outside of a church in west Baltimore, Maryland on April 21, 1969. He has never been heard from again. Few details are available in Barksdale's disappearance. His case was reopened in 2005.
​

 

[meggilyweggily]

I wish there was a better picture of him. :-( He looks like an alien in the only one that's available.

 

[petra]

you are right ...what a terribly poor picture.

george would be about 40 now. wonder why the case was reopened in nov 2005. could there be some new evidence?

 

[anthrobones]

I tried to find more information. Apparently there was an article (it's no longer available), but you can see the title of it only when you click a link. His brother is looking for him, so maybe that is why the case was reopened.

http://www.thewbalchannel.com/news/4637717/detail.html

Again, the article isn't there, but the title bar of the page can be read. :/

 

[Kat]

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...894,4250176&dq=george-barksdale+missing&hl=en

Baltimore Afro-American - Jun 7, 1969

George lived at 1015 Argyle Ave. and was last seen sitting on the steps of the church located directly across the street: The House of Prayer for all people.

This article lists him as missing at 8 or 9 PM.

A huge search was done, over 60 homes entered, almost 200 people questioned, vacant homes searched, dumpsters, trash cans, alleys, abandoned fridges', air ways.

Text of article with broken link referenced in post #4 can be found here:
http://s13.invisionfree.com/PorchlightUSA/ar/t4881.htm

 

[Fuuro]

Since there are no UIDs I can think of that match his stats except for the Lorton John Doe (whose height is way, way, off) maybe he was abducted by a couple who couldn't conceive or something... but 4 seems too old...

 

[dogperson]

Since there are no UIDs I can think of that match his stats except for the Lorton John Doe (whose height is way, way, off) maybe he was abducted by a couple who couldn't conceive or something... but 4 seems too old...

That's what I have always hoped as well, that somebody who really wanted a child took him and raised him. Somehow I've always pictured him sitting outside the church after the Sunday morning service but I used an online day calculator and the 21st was a Monday, plus I see that he lived across the street from the church. I wonder how much traffic there was on that street? Maybe a lady who desperately wanted a child pulled up alongside and enticed him into her car with candy. There have been cases in the news of distraught women who have just lost a child either stealing or trying to steal someone else's child. The alternative reasons for taking a small child are too horrible to think about. In April it would have been dark or getting dark by 8pm-9pm when he was last seen. He doesn't look 4 years old in his photo; surely this isn't the only photo the family had of him. I wonder who was supposed to be minding him while he was outside, of course I realize people gave their kids lots more freedom in those days. I was a kid in the 70s and was often playing outside alone for hours, but then we lived deep in the country so we could hear a car coming from a long distance away.

 

[Richard]

Bumping case up for George. He has been missing for 48 years.

 

[Richard]

Still missing. 49 years now...

 

[Moonwalker9]

Agreed on the photo. It's terrible. It's hard to get any public attention without a decent photo.

I think the boy was either abducted (killed or sold for adoption) or he was accidentically hit by a car and secretly disposed.

 

[Richard]

From:

George Barksdale - Maryland Missing Person Directory

George Barksdale Went Missing In Baltimore Maryland in April 1969

Facial/case ID
Public viewable


Missing
Last seen alive: April 21, 1969

Circumstances: The child vanished outside a West Baltimore church.
First Name: George
Last Name: Barksdale
Details
Age When Last Known Alive: 4
Race: Black/African American
Sex: Male
Height: 30.0
Weight: 35.0
Location
City: Baltimore
State: Maryland
Zip: 21201
County: Baltimore City
Appearance
Hair: Black
Eye: Brown
Scars And Marks: Birthmark on left calf
Clothing and Accessories
Clothing: Blue polo shirt; blue or red corduroy pants
Footwear: Black tennis shoes with red stripes on them

 

[Kim M]

No Word On Child, 4, Gone For 164 Days
Baltimore Afro American Newspaper Archives, Oct 7, 1969

 

[CastlesBurning]

Age progression to 48:

George Barksdale – The Charley Project

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Bumping up this old case for George. Maybe someday it will be solved.
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[Richard]

George Barksdale

George, circa 1969; Age-progression to age 54 (circa 2019)

• Missing Since 04/21/1969
• Missing From Baltimore, Maryland
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race Black
• Date of Birth 02/10/1965 (56)
• Age 4 years old
• Height and Weight 2'6, 35 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A red, white and blue pullover polo shirt, red or blue corduroy pants and black sneakers with red stripes on the bottom.
• Distinguishing Characteristics African-American male. Black hair, brown eyes. George has a birthmark on his left calf. His nickname is Sputnik.

Details of Disappearance

George was last seen playing on the steps of the United Church House of Prayer for All People at Preston Street and Argyle Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m. on April 21, 1969. He has never been heard from again. Authorities believe he was abducted by a non-family member.

George talked well at the time of his disappearance and knew his address and the names of his family members. He lived in the 1000 block of Argyle Avenue in 1969. Few details are available in his case.

Investigating Agency

• Baltimore City Police Department
• 443-984-7385
• 443-984-7386
• 443-984-7387
• 410-396-2359

Source Information

• The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
• The Doe Network
• WJZ 13 Baltimore News
• The Baltimore Afro-American
• The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
  
• George Barksdale – The Charley Project

 

[Boredathome]

Since there are no UIDs I can think of that match his stats except for the Lorton John Doe (whose height is way, way, off) maybe he was abducted by a couple who couldn't conceive or something... but 4 seems too old...

So, I was thinking about the Lorton John Doe today, and the height thing crossed my mind, too. I did a little digging. The low end of the average height range for a 4 year old boy is 37.5 inches, and the average child grows roughly 18 inches between birth and age 4. So, to me, that means that either: A. George Barksdale was born very small, B. George wasn't growing anywhere near the average rate, or C. George's stats are listed incorrectly and he was taller than recorded. His height is far enough below the normal range that, in today's world, a pediatrician would note it and likely discuss both congenital and environmental factors that could be restricting his growth-- not sure how that would've been treated in the 60s/70s. Also, as a parent of a three year old and a one year old, I have to say, I have absolutely no idea how tall my kids are, and if they went missing, I would literally have to call their pediatricians office to get their most recent height. I know I should be able to retain that kind of information, but with all the other things to keep track of, it totally doesn't stick for me, and I know I'm not the only parent in the world who this is true for.

That said, three years elapsed between George's disappearance and the discovery of Lorton John Doe. If George's stats are correct, and he was growing normally, he would've been around 39 inches at that time, so six inches shorter than Lorton. If George was not growing normally amd his stats were correct, he would've been shorter. If George were growing normally, but his stats were incorrect and he was nearer to average height, say 36", he would've been very close to Lorton's height in 1972.

Not really sure what to think about any of that, except to say that he could've been much closer to Lorton's height than we think.

 

[xxashleyxx]

Has this UID been ruled out?

461UMVA - Unidentified Male​

461UMVA

 

[ChatteringBirds]

George would currently be 59-years-old. I feel for his surviving loved-ones.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Has this UID been ruled out?

461UMVA - Unidentified Male​

461UMVA

George is not visibly listed under exclusions for the 1972 UID in Lorton, but on the UID's thread, people speculate he has been automatically ruled-out by DNA....

 

[spartanx]

It could be that someone who was looking for children to sell to adoptive parents on the “black market” adoption circuit saw George sitting on the stairs and lured him or kidnapped him or someone just as desperate for a child took him away… I think this is the more likely of the two scenarios and it's not that far-fetched, there have been other cases involving kidnapped African American children...

I also think George walked away from the Church, got trapped or injured somewhere, died and hasn't been found yet... I feel like this is less plausible since the police scoured the area and it's not like the desert where various animals they could move the remains a long distance...however, children can be curious and left alone, we don't know what he might have gotten himself into...I think if anyone had come across George, they would have been able to tell them where he lived. ..

Maybe he could have gotten lost in traffic or in a parking lot. Someone accidentally hits him, he gets scared and hides the body...

I read that illegal adoption would not be as likely for a black baby in the 1960's... I watched the videos a bit and the abductions she talks about happened in the late 80's from what I saw, a totally different time period. different...
either way
rest in peace