MO MO - James Charles Stanford, 16, Overland, 1 May 1971

[John/Jane Doe]

James Charles Stanford – The Charley Project

 

[SHSASUsleuth23]

Good work sleuths! Let's bump this and warm it up!

 

[Ciriii57]

Hey everyone I just had a question. I'm from the UK and a convent is always for female nuns, while a monastery is for male monks.
Perhaps it is different in the states? It's just that to me a convent (with nuns) is an odd place for a young man to want to go to. Was he very religious is it known?

It's possible the word has another meaning I'm unaware of but I'd like to know thanks.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

James Charles Stanford – The Charley Project

 

[rosesfromangels]

I’m not fully convinced he left to go anywhere…

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[JaneGaGa]

Crazy longshot: The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[MadMcGoo]

Hey everyone I just had a question. I'm from the UK and a convent is always for female nuns, while a monastery is for male monks.
Perhaps it is different in the states? It's just that to me a convent (with nuns) is an odd place for a young man to want to go to. Was he very religious is it known?

It's possible the word has another meaning I'm unaware of but I'd like to know thanks.

Given the time (early 1970s) and locations (TX & CA) I’ve always wondered if he may have talked about joining a cult. For example, The Children of God or The People’s Temple. Just a thought.

Convent - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

What's the difference between a convent and monastery? --Aleteia

First of all, a convent is based off a Latin word that means “to convene or gather” and can technically refer to a building where a group of priests or religious “come together” after working in various active apostolates. In the United States and many English speaking countries this term is typically used exclusively when referring to the living quarters of an active women’s religious order. However, historically it also referred to men’s religious houses as well.

On the other hand, a monastery is based off a Greek word that means “to live alone” and is normally applied to a building used by a religious order that is “set apart” from the rest of the world. Men religious who live in a monastery are usually named “monks,” and come from a long tradition of monastic living.

 

[Ciriii57]

Thank you!

Given the time (early 1970s) and locations (TX & CA) I’ve always wondered if he may have talked about joining a cult. For example, The Children of God or The People’s Temple. Just a thought.

Wow that's a very interesting thought. Do you know if these places were typically able to recruit outside of CA or TX? Did they feature in the media?

 

[MadMcGoo]

Thank you!


Wow that's a very interesting thought. Do you know if these places were typically able to recruit outside of CA or TX? Did they feature in the media?

Awhile back I did some research on a different missing person from Virginia in 1972 (she’s since been located alive) and found quite a bit on one cult in particular. There were articles published all over the US at the time and I’m sure word of mouth played a big part too. “Hey distant cousin, you should come to the west coast and check out all the things they don’t have in Missouri!”, type of thing. IMO this scenario would make more sense than a convent or monastery.

Here’s one example of a newspaper article published in Kentucky in 1970:

Oct 24, 1970, page 5 - The Courier-Journal at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com

View the digital scanned newspaper from The Courier-Journal dated Oct 24, 1970, page 5.

www.newspapers.com

 

[SkyBoomer]

This isn’t based on anything but gut reaction as soon as I read the first post in this thread, but my mind went straight to Corll and Swimsuit Boy.

I also think the 6’3” is likely 63”, based on the 125lb weight.

Hoping for some resolution for James after 50+ years.

 

[Ciriii57]

Awhile back I did some research on a different missing person from Virginia in 1972 (she’s since been located alive) and found quite a bit on one cult in particular. There were articles published all over the US at the time and I’m sure word of mouth played a big part too. “Hey distant cousin, you should come to the west coast and check out all the things they don’t have in Missouri!”, type of thing. IMO this scenario would make more sense than a convent or monastery.

Here’s one example of a newspaper article published in Kentucky in 1970:

Oct 24, 1970, page 5 - The Courier-Journal at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com

View the digital scanned newspaper from The Courier-Journal dated Oct 24, 1970, page 5.

www.newspapers.com

Thanks for this! This type of "monastery" makes much more sense than the traditional kind I was thinking of too! Especially for a young man at this time I think.

 

[Tiffanee]

This isn’t based on anything but gut reaction as soon as I read the first post in this thread, but my mind went straight to Corll and Swimsuit Boy.

I also think the 6’3” is likely 63”, based on the 125lb weight.

Hoping for some resolution for James after 50+ years.

I’m looking into this too! By convent, they could’ve also meant commune. There was a well known hippie commune in San Marcos, TX at the time that’s less then 3 hours from Houston.

 

[Tiffanee]

Sent in! And now we wait....

Do you know if they have DNA. I’m not seeing confirmation anywhere & no rule outs on NAMUS.

 

[Tiffanee]

It would give him a BMI of 15.6 That's pretty underweight. Not impossible, but he really doesn't look that small to me. I wonder if it might have been his weight a few years prior? The photos on NAMUS he looks maybe 10-12 years old. Maybe that was his weight when those pictures were taken?

It’s possibly a clerical error & suppose to say 63”

 

[Tiffanee]

He does have DNA on file.

 

[Deleted member 326769]

There is just no way he was 6’3” and 125 pounds. I’m 5’4” and when I weighed 125 (at least five years ago) I was VERY thin. That has to be meant to be 225 at that height. Or just a random number

 

[Issbellz2067]

In May of 1971, a 15 year old boy named James Charles Stanford went missing out of Clinton, OK. A year later, in June of 1972, a man (in the same age range as Stanford,) was struck by a car in the same city. it is a far stretch, but I feel like the John Doe could potentially be the young boy. They are in the same age range, almost look alike (or at least would if the photo of Stanford was him after being missing for a year,) and overall is worth looking into. James Stanford didn’t really have much information about him on his missing poster, making it kind of difficult to know anything more about him or anything that would be able to identify him. all the information is on the national Center for missing and exploited children.
Photos: