NY NY - Mitchel Weiser, 16, & Bonita Bickwit, 15, Narrowsburg, 27 July 1973

  • #341
On one hand, I imagine these 2 young loves running off to be together and start a life. But why wouldn't they, after all these years, not have reached out to family to say they were OK maybe when they turned 18 or 21? Hard to believe since 1973 they wouldn't have made contact with someone to let them know they were alive and well...
 
  • #342
Smith says that the two other hitchhikers in the back were older, perhaps in their midtwenties. He did not talk to them. They stayed in the van the whole time and did not go down to the river. “They never got up or anything,” Smith says. “They were all covered up with sleeping bags and blankets.”

Hmm I wonder…..Were they even alive? Covered in sleeping bags and blankets in that heat? Maybe just 2 more victims. Why didn’t anyone report their drowning to police at the time? Also, did Smith get back in the van and continue on without them?
 
  • #343
  • mitchel_fred_weiser_2.jpg

  • mitchel_fred_weiser_4.jpg
  • weiser_mitchel6.jpg
  • Missing Since07/27/1973
  • Missing From Narrowsburg, New York
Age16 years old
  • Height and Weight5'7, 140 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description Blue jeans, a t-shirt and boots.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, hazel eyes. Mitchel wore gold-rimmed metal eyeglasses at the time of his disappearance. He parted his shoulder-length hair in the middle and pulled it back into a ponytail. Mitchel has a scar on his lower lip and his upper front teeth are discolored. His nickname is Mitch.''
  • Bonita Mara Bickwit – The Charley Project
  • bonita_mara_bickwit_1.jpg
  • bonita_mara_bickwit_2.jpg
  • Missing Since07/27/1973
  • Missing FromNarrowsburg, New York
  • Age15 years old
  • Height and Weight4'11, 90 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry DescriptionA blue jeans and a t-shirt.
  • Distinguishing CharacteristicsCaucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Bonita's nickname is Bonnie. Some agencies reverse her first and middle names, as in "Mara Bonita Bickwit."
 
  • #344
Could you please include their rule outs?
According to Missing wiki, Bonita has these rule outs: Rockingham County Jane Doe (1980), Irondequoit Jane Doe (1988) and Isle of Wight County Jane Doe (2001). Mitchel has only one: Swimsuit Boy (1973).
 
  • #345
  • #346
Mitchel - 80 Unidentified Person Exclusions
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  • #347
Bonita - 14 Unidentified Person Exclusions
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  • #348
Smith says that the two other hitchhikers in the back were older, perhaps in their midtwenties. He did not talk to them. They stayed in the van the whole time and did not go down to the river. “They never got up or anything,” Smith says. “They were all covered up with sleeping bags and blankets.”

Hmm I wonder…..Were they even alive? Covered in sleeping bags and blankets in that heat? Maybe just 2 more victims. Why didn’t anyone report their drowning to police at the time? Also, did Smith get back in the van and continue on without them?
Wow that is creepy who were the other 2 people covered in sleeping blankets
 
  • #349
This month marks 52 years missing...

mitchel_fred_weiser_1.jpg


Mitchel Fred Weiser, age 16



bonita_mara_bickwit_4.jpg


Bonita Mara Bickwit, age 15
 
  • #350
Looks a bit like Mitchel to me:
Santa Cruz (Aptos) CA found July 1974, there for months, height and age on point. To me, clothing on point. Mitchel was said to have had a grey and olive green plaid flannel shirt with him. Hair is similar to Mitch's per some images and one description I saw given around time of disappearance.
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Per some sources, this UP died of gunshot wounds to head.

If that actually were Mitchel Weiser (which is a massive big "if"), is this Bonnie?
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September 1973, La Habra Heights. Doe's height's a bit off (three inches), but I'm taking it it's estimated, there's no reconstruction and they don't know eye color. Weight is close. Hair is brown but shoulder-length, I believe. Five hours between La Habra Heights (Jane Doe) and Santa Cruz (John Doe above.) Like the John Doe, died of gunshot wound to head. At first I was thinking there was no way this could be Bonnie because this Doe had a turtleneck on, and Bonnie disappeared in the middle of what was a very hot summer. But Mitchel had that flannel shirt. And plus, this Doe also had a halter top.

Maybe this Colorado Doe?
Close on height/estimated. November 1973, Weld County CO. This is a very lengthy travel from the John Doe mentioned above. Cause of death unknown. Also, wearing a sweater, and again I'd have initially not have thought so until I considered the flannel with Mitchel.
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I had the Doe in Irondequoit NY listed but she's already on the exclusion list.

Hopefully not, and probably not, although I don't like what I see to be a strong resemblance with the Aptos John Doe, jmo. The shirt looks uncanny to me, but may just be a coincidence. These were very popular colors in this timeframe.
 
  • #351
... I don't like what I see to be a strong resemblance with the Aptos John Doe, jmo. The shirt looks uncanny to me, but may just be a coincidence. These were very popular colors in this timeframe.
RSBM
Excellent sleuthing, @snooptroop88. Do we know if Mitchel had no dental work?
 
  • #352
RSBM
Excellent sleuthing, @snooptroop88. Do we know if Mitchel had no dental work?
Mitchel and Bonnie's dental records were lost, and I think if there were prominent issues with Mitchel's teeth that would "jump out" to a layperson, those would be noted in sources. All I see noted in sources for dentals is that Mitchel's upper front teeth were discolored. Am taking this to be something of an important note in light of the overall circumstances because it shows someone was trying to go ahead and identify points that might be visible to a layperson or through visual examinatio of the teeth.

What they note for Aptos John Doe is all teeth present but lacked dental treatment.

Mitchel and the Doe could potentially align on the dentals-- or not, jmo. It depends on what they're basing the Doe's lack of treatment on. It does sound from the scant info available like both of them did have all their teeth.
 
  • #353
Mitchel and Bonnie's dental records were lost, and I think if there were prominent issues with Mitchel's teeth that would "jump out" to a layperson, those would be noted in sources. All I see noted in sources for dentals is that Mitchel's upper front teeth were discolored. Am taking this to be something of an important note in light of the overall circumstances because it shows someone was trying to go ahead and identify points that might be visible to a layperson or through visual examinatio of the teeth.

What they note for Aptos John Doe is all teeth present but lacked dental treatment.

Mitchel and the Doe could potentially align on the dentals-- or not, jmo. It depends on what they're basing the Doe's lack of treatment on. It does sound from the scant info available like both of them did have all their teeth.
Excellent...

Perhaps lack of dental treatment in Aptos John Doe aligns with reports that Mitchel's teeth were discolored. I think you're on to something.

Curious how you would alert authorities?
 
  • #354
DBM. Dupe.
 
  • #355
Thinking of Mitchel and Boniita..July 27, 1973!
 
  • #356
This article has been updated as of July 24, 2025 at 5 p.m. to include a new public campaign seeking more information from potential witnesses
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Michele Festa’s sweet 16, which Bonnie attended with Mitchel
rbbm.
''In July 2025, New York State cold case investigators launched an unprecedented joint public campaign seeking new information and witnesses in the case. The New York State Police and the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office collaborated on a poster offering a $10,000 reward for information about the disappearance of the teens. The two departments say they have “partnered together to investigate their disappearance with the hopes of bringing closure to Bonnie and Mitch’s loved ones.” The new poster offers never before revealed details about Mitchel’s 1970s Japanese camera, which is now considered a collector’s item. ''
July 25, 2025
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2023
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''Of the estimated 600,000 fans who left for Summer Jam, only Mitchel and Bonnie vanished without a trace. ''
“As far as we can see, they have not done this,” says Karten, who operates a website devoted to the couple. He says the Sullivan detectives should also be adding the multiple websites and podcasts focused on missing persons that would allow thousands of self-proclaimed “web sleuths” to use their informal methods to connect dots and perhaps uncover things the authorities might have missed.''

''Jones notes that Mitchel had a nice camera that may have been given to someone as a gift, though authorities never released its exact model to use as a clue that could help corroborate a potential witness. “What if someone remembered receiving a camera with a partial roll of film with pictures of Mitchel and Bonnie?” Jones asked in the Vanished podcast. ''
 
  • #357
''In July 2025, New York State cold case investigators launched an unprecedented joint public campaign seeking new information and witnesses in the case. The New York State Police and the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office collaborated on a poster offering a $10,000 reward for information about the disappearance of the teens. The two departments say they have “partnered together to investigate their disappearance with the hopes of bringing closure to Bonnie and Mitch’s loved ones.” The new poster offers never before revealed details about Mitchel’s 1970s Japanese camera, which is now considered a collector’s item. ''
July 25, 2025
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“As far as we can see, they have not done this,” says Karten, who operates a website devoted to the couple. He says the Sullivan detectives should also be adding the multiple websites and podcasts focused on missing persons that would allow thousands of self-proclaimed “web sleuths” to use their informal methods to connect dots and perhaps uncover things the authorities might have missed.''

''Jones notes that Mitchel had a nice camera that may have been given to someone as a gift, though authorities never released its exact model to use as a clue that could help corroborate a potential witness. “What if someone remembered receiving a camera with a partial roll of film with pictures of Mitchel and Bonnie?” Jones asked in the Vanished podcast. ''
I think then that there needs to be information about the camera circulated amongst camera collectors and vintage photography hobby groups. My dad is a collector of old cameras (pre-WW2 though) and I will tell him about this case, even though we are in the UK. Many collectors are happy to purchase from abroad, my dad has bought and sold cameras and parts from Japan, Russia, USA, etc.
 

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