OR OR - Brian Page, 16, Salem, 12 Jan 1975

[Shannon7]

Here is a copy of the flyer from MPCCN:

Brian Page
MPCCN Case File: 6M70

Left: Page, circa 1975;
Right: Age-progression at age 41 (circa 1999)




Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: January 12, 1975 from Salem, Oregon
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: March 15, 1958
Age: 16 years old
Height and Weight: 5'8; 155 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Light brown hair; brown eyes. Page has a scar on his left arm. His nickname is "Joe."
<LI>NCIC Number: M-882827008



Details of Disappearance
Page was last seen leaving a party in Salem, Oregon with a friend on January 12, 1975. His car, a 1962 turquoise Volkswagen Bug with Oregon license plates 7P3626, has never been recovered. Few details are available in Page's case.



Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Portland Police Department
503-823-0400



Source Information
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
National Crime Information Center

 

[Shannon7]

This case really bothers me. It is listed on a few sites, such as The DOE Network, Charley Project, Missing Children's Network, and the Oregon State Police Missing Children's Clearinghouse. There are so few details, and I just can't seem to understand how a person AND a vehicle just vanishes into thin air for 30 plus years. I can't find any newspaper archives on the disappearance. I contacted Judy Hayes with the State Police Clearing house, and she told me that she had no knowledge of this case until 1995, when a female caller (who turned out to be the sister of Brian's best friend) called to inqure about his case. I asked Ms. Hayes if there were any other photos of Brian (she said that was the only one available...and it was taken from a highschool yearbook), if the friend he supposedly left the party with returned or disappeared, and if this friend was able to give any accounting of the evening after leaving the party. I also wanted to know if there were any cliffs or large bodies of water he could have accidentally driven off into and submerged the vehicle, or if he was considered a runaway.


She was unable to answer any of my questions, but said that she only knew that this was a 16 year old boy who lived in Portland that drove to Salem for a party (I would never allow one of my teenagers to drive almost an hour away to attend a party.) Witnesses saw him walking to his vehicle to leave the party. He was never heard from again and the vehicle never surfaced either. She said that since this case is so old, it was before the FBI had the NCIC available to track missing persons or vehicle plates. I asked her if anyone has recently checked DMV records to see if the VIN comes up with different plates. She said that both the plates and the VIN number were flagged in case they ever surfaced. She was also unsure if his parents still lived in the area. She stated that she felt confident that between the Marion County Sheriffs Office and the Portland PD, the investigation had been sufficient.

I emailed both the Marion County Sheriffs Office in Salem (Where he was originally reported missing) and the Portland Police Department (which filed the missing person's report with the state since he lived in Portland), but neither has responded, yet.

Does anybody know anything else about this case?

 

[gardenmom]

I wonder if there was a body of water that he could have crashed his car into? And, if they sent in divers.

 

[Shannon7]

I wondered that also, Garden Mom. I tried pulling it up at mapquest, but couldn't tell much. I'll post if I hear back from Portland PD or the Sheriffs Office.

 

[Shannon7]

I still haven't received a response from the Portland PD or the Marion County Sheriffs Office. I would think that the straightest route to travel would be I-5. Does anyone know if there are any bodies of water large enough to lose a vehicle in, along that route between the two cities?

 

[michelle]

I cannot open the link to see his picture.....
​

 

[Mullins]

Do you know the address of the party and what direction his friends saw him heading? I found the following bodies of water in Salem (may not be all inclusive):

Pringle Creek
Webb Lake
Walling Pond
Looks like a body of water near the intersection of State and Hawthorne Ave NE
Body of Water near Salem Parkway and Cherry Ave NE
Staats Lake
Willamette River
Gibson Creek
Mill Creek
Croisan Creek
Glen Creek
Winslow Gulch
Franzen Reservoir
Battle Creek
Jory Creek
Higgins Creek

These are not all --- but it would be helpful to know the general area he was leaving from and where he was perhaps headed.....

 

[Paradise]

Age Progression

 

[KT Can]

bump...

 

[raindrops300]

www.doenetwork.org/cases/4dmor.html

It states he was last seen leaving the party with a friend. What happened to the friend?
There's not much information on this.

 

[justthinkin]

Down in South Carolina, a serial killer by the name of Donald "Pee Wee" Gaskins claimed to have killed 3 teens, 2 girls and a guy from Oregon in 1975.

http://www.francesfarmersrevenge.com/stuff/serialkillers/gaskins.htm
"Writing from prison, Gaskins called 1975 &#8220;my busiest year and my killingest year.&#8221; His pace of random murders on the Carolina coast remained &#8220;about the same,&#8221; although he started January with a threesome, including a man and two women. Gaskins described them as &#8220;hippie types&#8221; from Oregon, whose van had broken down near Georgetown. He offered a lift to the nearest garage, then detoured to a nearby swamp and handcuffed his captives at gunpoint. Before he drowned the trio, Gaskins said, &#8220;It was hard to say which one suffered most. I tried to make it equal.&#8221;

It would be a stretch to think Joe Paige & a couple of girls wound up in SC, but who knows. I don't know if the bodies of the trio Gaskins claimed to have killed were ever recovered.

 

[smp]

Brian was my brother. He actually went to the party in Salem with his older sister and two neighbor friends who were also brother and sister.
He was with the male friend when he disappeared. The friend claims he has no knowledge of what happened to Brian.
My parents were heartbroken, and received no help from the police. The Portland police said it was Salem's problem, and the Salem police said it was Portland's. A police officer came to our home and was very rude about the whole situation, saying that Brian just ran away. We know that was not true, because Brian would always call home whenever he was going to be late. After all this time, our family is still haunted by his disappearance.

 

[DIRK SCHILLER]

what was the last thing his male friend told your family about your bro?
was he driving alone or his friend was also in the car?
did your brother drink too much that night?
what´s this neighbor´s story?

 

[Mom who cares]

smp...firstly let me tell you how sorry I am that this has happened to your family. Secondly, thank you for coming to Websleuths. This is a great forum with lots of members to help you sort through this sad situation. I hope you will continue to share with us so we can help you.

 

[yosande]

Brian was my brother. He actually went to the party in Salem with his older sister and two neighbor friends who were also brother and sister.
He was with the male friend when he disappeared. The friend claims he has no knowledge of what happened to Brian.
My parents were heartbroken, and received no help from the police. The Portland police said it was Salem's problem, and the Salem police said it was Portland's. A police officer came to our home and was very rude about the whole situation, saying that Brian just ran away. We know that was not true, because Brian would always call home whenever he was going to be late. After all this time, our family is still haunted by his disappearance.

He was with the male friend when he disappeared, but this friend has no knowledge of what happened to him?

Certainly he must know where he was dropped off at, since he isn't missing.
He may know if Brian said where he was going after he dropped off this neighbor friend.
Did the sister catch another ride home? Was that preplanned?
About where did Brian live in Portland, and did he live in Salem before that?
How is he known to the people who were throwing the party, old friends, heard about from friend?
He was sixteen and had a license to drive, and was driving a VW bug, which aren't known for speed, so he wasn't racing anyone, correct.

What was Brian like?
Did he get good grades in school?
Did he have a drug problem?
Did he have a girlfriend?
If yes, had they recently broken up?

My own brother was attacked with a long pipe one night while being tricked outside by a girl who he knew.
Apparently the father was upset because he danced with his daughter, so he decided to ambush him. Because it was dark, he was able to get away after realizing there was no reasoning with guy.
After they left, he came back in the house. He had been hiding in the field behind the house.

It was a different time back then. People took matters into their own hands rather than call LE. I don't remember calling LE that night.
My brother was very sore, but thankfully no bones were broken. He had gotten hit three or four times.

So, whether your brother was in an accident, and he has simply never been found, or someone did him harm, more information is needed.

Certainly though, you and your family must have some first intuition as to what happened to him, yes?

If you think we can help, please don't hesitate to ask.

God bless you and your family. Not knowing must be horrible.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

For The Missing: Pacific Northwest Brian Page has been missing from Oregon for 36 years today.



Brian Joseph Page - Salem OR, 1975

16-year-old Brian Page, who may use the nickname Joe, has been missing from Salem, Oregon since leaving a party with friends in 1975. His vehicle, a turquoise 1962 Volkswagen Bug, has also never been found. Anyone with information should call Portland Police at 503-823-0400.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Brian's photo has been age-progressed to age 52. http://www.missingkids.com/missingk...NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US

 

[Satch]

So sad!

Hopefully WS can help! I would like to know if the friend whom Brian was with at the time he disappeared has provided any information concerning what he remembers that afternoon or night? Also, has the friend been interviewed? How many times? Are the friend's stories consistent? What does he/she think happened to Brian?

Satch

 

[smp]

Here's more detail: Brian and his friend, David, had taken LSD this night, and were listening to music at their friend's home in Salem. When my sister and her friend returned from a party, David said he was freaking out, and he left the home. David's sister told Brian to go after him.
Brian, being a good friend, followed David out of the house. The Volkswagen bug was David's car, and they took off in this. The police picked David up around 5:00 am. He had broken into a car dealership and was racing down State St in the stolen car.
He said that he had been having a bad trip and thought he was in hell. So sometime between 2 am and 5 am my brother disappeared. He was driving the Volkswagen.
He was a good kid, and always let my mom know when he was going to be late. He also watched out for his siblings and friends. He may have e+perimented with drugs, but that was common for this time. It did not make him a bad kid, or make him irresponsible. He was a wonderful brother, and even though I was the oldest, he would look out for me.
I know that David was hypnotized to see if he could remember what happened to Brian, but it was not successful. My dad was always convinced that David had something to do with his disappearance, but I don't know that this is true. I do know that the police were judgmental and not at all sympathetic or helpful. They considered him to be just another runaway, and would not help my family. My mother (now deceased) would always break into tears when talking about the policeman who came to take the report. The lack of police response allowed my brother's disappearance to slip into oblivion.
I did go to see a psychic who worked with the police, and she said he was driving away from Salem and trying to sober up. She said the car skidded on ice and went into Detroit Lake. This lake does dry up quite a bit in summer, and I don't know how deep it is behind the dam. I'm sure it's possible, but with all the fishing and water sports on this lake, it seems something would have turned up by now. It is still heartbreaking when I think of Brian's disappearance. I just wish we knew what happened to him.
I checked into the Portland police cold cases, but his name's not listed there. It appears you have to have a body to be considered murdered or dead. If you're missing, you do not have a voice.

 

[Satch]

Here's more detail: Brian and his friend, David, had taken LSD this night, and were listening to music at their friend's home in Salem. When my sister and her friend returned from a party, David said he was freaking out, and he left the home. David's sister told Brian to go after him.
Brian, being a good friend, followed David out of the house. The Volkswagen bug was David's car, and they took off in this. The police picked David up around 5:00 am. He had broken into a car dealership and was racing down State St in the stolen car.
He said that he had been having a bad trip and thought he was in hell. So sometime between 2 am and 5 am my brother disappeared. He was driving the Volkswagen.
He was a good kid, and always let my mom know when he was going to be late. He also watched out for his siblings and friends. He may have e+perimented with drugs, but that was common for this time. It did not make him a bad kid, or make him irresponsible. He was a wonderful brother, and even though I was the oldest, he would look out for me.
I know that David was hypnotized to see if he could remember what happened to Brian, but it was not successful. My dad was always convinced that David had something to do with his disappearance, but I don't know that this is true. I do know that the police were judgmental and not at all sympathetic or helpful. They considered him to be just another runaway, and would not help my family. My mother (now deceased) would always break into tears when talking about the policeman who came to take the report. The lack of police response allowed my brother's disappearance to slip into oblivion.
I did go to see a psychic who worked with the police, and she said he was driving away from Salem and trying to sober up. She said the car skidded on ice and went into Detroit Lake. This lake does dry up quite a bit in summer, and I don't know how deep it is behind the dam. I'm sure it's possible, but with all the fishing and water sports on this lake, it seems something would have turned up by now. It is still heartbreaking when I think of Brian's disappearance. I just wish we knew what happened to him.
I checked into the Portland police cold cases, but his name's not listed there. It appears you have to have a body to be considered murdered or dead. If you're missing, you do not have a voice.

SMP,

Thank you for your kindness and courage in telling us about this information. I hope that someday your brother will be found and pray that he is OK! You certainly deserve closure and some comfort during all these years, what surly has been a most difficult time for you and your family.

It is true that a lot of LE jurisdictions back in the 70's and previous often thought that most missing people, especially if they were juveniles were just runaways. Tragically, many responses often ranged from apathetic to total insensitivity. I remember that people often had to wait for a certain period of time before LE would even consider someone a missing person! How awful!

Thankfully, times have changed, but sadly those who have been affected by the pain of not knowing what happened to their loved ones, remains.

Welcome to Websleuths! Hopefully, we can work together for you, your family, and for Brian. Thank you for your post!

Satch