NY NY - Steven Damman, 2, East Meadow, 31 Oct 1955

[jashrema]

I lean towards him being Steven also. The birthmark and chin scar are really enough for me. What are the astronomical odds that he would have a birthmark and chin scar on smae place?
I think he was kidnapped by the wife because something happened to HER son. She either killed him herself, personally I think it was accidental, and then before husband got home, she had to go get a new boy...hence, the baby sister was safe and sound.

 

[warbuckle]

I think the fact him nor his father can produce a Birth Cert is telling, especially since the father swears he was born at the Navy hospital in Pensacola. I think the fact they really look like each other and the DNA test. I have seen those DNA test. They are suppose to be very accurate, but I would think before the FBI wanted to make an offical annoucement they would want to verify with their own lab. They probably also want to make sure the DNA was collected properly. Think about it, if the FBI says this is the boy he will surely make some money off this. Talk showes and maybe a book or movie. This is big.

 

[Auburnmommyof2]

Steven's mother is in a nursing home according to an article I read. My far fetched theory is that the Barnes' family did indeed have a son the same approximate age as Steven and that something tragic happened to him and they "replaced" him with Steven. Again, this is just my far fetched theory. I think it could even be possible that the Boy in The Box could be the Barnes' son. Only my brainstorming thoughts, nothing really to back it up.

 

[Mr. E]

Intersting theory. But I can't see a mother giving up her son and keeping the baby. Do we know if both dad's were in the Navy? Real dad mentioned navy hospital in FL that is why I was wondering. What was going on in 1955? Sorry but I am a youngen and learned history in SC....

Jerry Damman was an airman.

I can't think of what was going on in '55. Hadn't the US withdrawn from Korea by that point? Nothing yet in Vietnam? I'm guessing the biggest military "thing" going on then was the Cold War, but it was before my time and I'm only going off high school/college history classes (those were a long time ago, too!).

I suppose the man who raised John might have thought he was raising his own son. I would think if he'd kidnapped the child so many years ago, he wouldn't be so adamant to say John is his when faced with DNA tests -- maybe he'd start making excuses about John's true parentage.

The thing that strikes me is that John's mother seemed like she was trying to tell him something important on her death bed. Could it have been not that he was kidnapped, but that he was the product of an affair?

Don't get me wrong. I really think it would be neat to have the Damman case solved with a living, breathing person (rather than testing found remains or something). I just don't know, though. Everything we've seen is circumstantial. I'd like to compare the two scars, but I can't find a clear view of them on any pictures, and I suppose the scar would be different on a grown man, anyway.

 

[warbuckle]

Steven's mother is in a nursing home according to an article I read. My far fetched theory is that the Barnes' family did indeed have a son the same approximate age as Steven and that something tragic happened to him and they "replaced" him with Steven. Again, this is just my far fetched theory. I think it could even be possible that the Boy in The Box could be the Barnes' son. Only my brainstorming thoughts, nothing really to back it up.

You are not far fetched. That was the theory I offered up many threads back. I think page 2 maybe. I suggested they did have a son that was born, but maybe the dad was shipped out oversees in the navy. While he was gone something happened to the son and mother kidnapped this child. Father never noticed because he was gone for a long time like 2 years and when he had left his son was an infant.

The only problem with this is that their would be a birth cert and perhaps still some baby photos of the infant son.

 

[warbuckle]

Jerry Damman was an airman.

I can't think of what was going on in '55. Hadn't the US withdrawn from Korea by that point? Nothing yet in Vietnam? I'm guessing the biggest military "thing" going on then was the Cold War, but it was before my time and I'm only going off high school/college history classes (those were a long time ago, too!).

I suppose the man who raised John might have thought he was raising his own son. I would think if he'd kidnapped the child so many years ago, he wouldn't be so adamant to say John is his when faced with DNA tests -- maybe he'd start making excuses about John's true parentage.

The thing that strikes me is that John's mother seemed like she was trying to tell him something important on her death bed. Could it have been not that he was kidnapped, but that he was the product of an affair?

Don't get me wrong. I really think it would be neat to have the Damman case solved with a living, breathing person (rather than testing found remains or something). I just don't know, though. Everything we've seen is circumstantial. I'd like to compare the two scars, but I can't find a clear view of them on any pictures, and I suppose the scar would be different on a grown man, anyway.

Well, he could have been the product of an affair but that would still make him the biological child of the mother which he said she was trying to tell him he was not. Plus that wouldn't explain not having a birth cert and the fact they really look a lot a like.

 

[warbuckle]

If you want to get really far fetched and use an affair how about this. Maybe the missing boys mother had an affair with Richard barns. She didn't want the child any longer so she faked the kidnaping as a way to give the child back to the real father without disclosing the affair to her husband. That is juicy and most likely NOT true!

 

[SleuthyMama]

If you want to get really far fetched and use an affair how about this. Maybe the missing boys mother had an affair with Richard barns. She didn't want the child any longer so she faked the kidnaping as a way to give the child back to the real father without disclosing the affair to her husband. That is juicy and most likely NOT true!

Stranger things have happened. Just sayin'.

 

[FishingFunnyFrog]

My only problem with many of the theories about Mrs. Barnes kidnapping Steven to replace a baby that died while Richard was overseas is that there is an almost 3 year descrepancy in the ages of Steven and John. Richard says John was born in August 1955. Steven was kidnapped in October 1955 as an almost 3 year old toddler/preschooler. You can't pass off a 3 year old as a new born baby. If John is Steven Damman then I think Richard and his wife were in on the kidnapping together.

I wonder if John always felt old for his age. Since he's been told he was born in 1955 he would have started school around 1960. Did he go through puberty a couple years earlier than most kids? Was he exceptionally tall for his age? Was he more intelligent than his peers?

The birth dates really throw me off...3 years is a huge difference in childhood. Something is wrong here.

 

[badhorsie]

I lean towards him being Steven also. The birthmark and chin scar are really enough for me. What are the astronomical odds that he would have a birthmark and chin scar on smae place?
I think he was kidnapped by the wife because something happened to HER son. She either killed him herself, personally I think it was accidental, and then before husband got home, she had to go get a new boy...hence, the baby sister was safe and sound.

I'm wondering why you think this to be the case

If this man is Steven, then it is the most wonderful thing I have heard for a long time.:woohoo:

BTW I read somewhere that, before the exclusion by DNA, the Boy in the Box, bless him, was believed to be Steven, is this true or just shoddy reportage

 

[FishingFunnyFrog]

Snipped by me:

I would still like to know where Marilyn Damman is (little Steven's birth mother) and if she has been made aware of these unfolding events. What are her feelings about all of this?

Has anyone here tried yet to sleuth her whereabouts?

It was stated in an article that Marilyn is in a nursing home in the Kansas City area. It also said that she has not been informed of the situation because the last time someone brought up Steven's name in her presence she had a breakdown.

Pamela (Steven's sister) and her son also live in the Kansas City area. Maybe Marilyn raised Pamela in KC after the divorce while Jerry and Charlottle Damman lived on a farm outside of Des Moines IA. About a 3 hr drive between the 2 places. John Barnes apparently visited both Pamela and the Damman farm when he drove down from Michigan to "get a look" at his possible family.

 

[WhyaDuck?]

I'm wondering why you think this to be the case

If this man is Steven, then it is the most wonderful thing I have heard for a long time.:woohoo:

BTW I read somewhere that, before the exclusion by DNA, the Boy in the Box, bless him, was believed to be Steven, is this true or just shoddy reportage

Yes, he was thought to be the Boy in the Box, according to many sites, etc - including the Charley Project.

 

[FishingFunnyFrog]

Does anyone know if Richard Barnes and the woman who raised John were divorced as well? In this article is says John's mother's name was Elizabeth Grundell (different last name).

http://www.freep.com/article/20090617/NEWS06/90617027/Could+this+boy+be+this+man

 

[cleo612]

Does anyone know if Richard Barnes and the woman who raised John were divorced as well? In this article is says John's mother's name was Elizabeth Grundell (different last name).

http://www.freep.com/article/20090617/NEWS06/90617027/Could+this+boy+be+this+man

Yes, one of the articles stated that they were divorced in 1972.

 

[FishingFunnyFrog]

Does anyone know if Richard Barnes and the woman who raised John were divorced as well? In this article is says John's mother's name was Elizabeth Grundell (different last name).

http://www.freep.com/article/20090617/NEWS06/90617027/Could+this+boy+be+this+man

Ok woah! I just posted this link but didn't read the article in it's entirety. There are links to 2 more pages at what I thought was the end of the article. On page 3 it says that John has an OLDER BROTHER AND SISTER that he is now estranged from. If John is Steven...I wonder what info his older brother and sister will be able to provide about the mystery.

link to page 3: http://www.freep.com/article/20090617/NEWS06/90617027/Could+this+boy+be+this+man

 

[cleo612]

I sure wish we could get a better look at the ears on both little Steven Damman and the adult John Barnes.

 

[cleo612]

Yes, he was thought to be the Boy in the Box, according to many sites, etc - including the Charley Project.

If it turns out that John Barnes is Steven Damman, then I hope the authorities take a close look at a DNA comparison between the Barnes family and the Boy in the Box--just to rule out any possible connection.

 

[WholeLottaRosie]

You are right he did say that but just because he was their when his son was born doesn't necessarly mean when he returned from duty the boy was the same boy? Am I making any sense?

Example: couple has baby, brings home baby, dad leave for deployment and is gone for 2 years oversees, dad comes home to son and doesn't realize he is a different boy.

This is exactly what I think happened. Just a hunch.

 

[SuziQ]

Test shows man not long-missing Long Island boy

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=6872502

 

[FishingFunnyFrog]

This is exactly what I think happened. Just a hunch.

If that is what happened then Richard Barnes would have come home to find that his 2 year old son looked like a 5 year old. There are almost 3 years between the birth dates of Steven Damman and John Barnes.