TX TX - Martha Wes Dunn, 15, Daingerfield, 5 Sept 1990

[HmmMysterious]

I just hope Eric and Martha are enjoying a happy marriage.

 

[Richard]

Martha Wes Dunn, age 15
Missing since 5 September 1990

 

[Noirdame79]

I came across this disturbing Reddit post from the Unsolved Mysteries subreddit:

I lived across the street from the Dunns for years. In my opinion, the runaway story is a tall tale the family told to cover up what I believed really happened to her. No one looked for Martha Dunn because nobody cared that she disappeared. If she had been a cheerleader, or popular, it would have been another story. But, she was quiet, shy, and came from a very strange family.

It's my opinion, Martha Dunn is buried behind the trailer they lived in at the time of her disappearance. I saw some weird things with this family. They brought me over to show me blood on the ceiling, blood in a bed, and other weird things. I'd call the County Sheriff and they'd send a deputy out and test the blood, only to find it was animal blood. This was after Martha disappeared.

We had a dog that had puppies and the puppies contracted Parvo. One day I was at work, and the puppies got out of the pen. We went looking for the puppies and Betty Dunn (the mother) told me I could go to their backyard and look. There was a large ravine behind their trailer that was about 10 feet deep and 20 feet wide. At the bottom, I found what appeared to be a sunken grave about 5 feel long. John Dunn (the father) appeared behind me and told me to get off his land. I immediately went home and called the Sheriff's department. They said they'd come out in the morning.

At 6 AM the next morning, we woke to the sound of a lot of trucks coming up the road and to the Dunn's. About 10 large 36-foot end dump trucks brought in dirt and covered over the large ravine. When the deputy finally showed up, John Dunn allegedly said he was putting in a pond. Which didn't make sense as he covered the large ravine completely over. The deputy just said, well we can't do anything now.

The Dunn's told so many stories, everyone was confused. From they ran away to Oklahoma, to they ran off with a cult to they were kidnapped by devil worshippers. I don't believe any of it unless they were talking about themselves. There were rumors that Martha was pregnant, possibly by a family member. I don't know anything about that poor boy, Eric Owens, but if he crossed paths with the Dunn's, he probably didn't make it out alive. If either actually ran away, why are they still in hiding? It doesn't make sense. They're probably both buried in that ravine. The Dunns no longer live there, so why can't someone step in and check the land to see if there is a body there?

Think no one in that family could have done something terrible to Martha? Just look at what her brother was convicted of. The victim was only 9 years old. Why isn't anyone talking about this? The whole world looked for Gabby Petito because she was blond, well-known, and well-liked. What about the Martha Dunn's of the world? Why does her killer get to get away with this?

Here's the brother's offender report: James Kenneth Dunn, a registered Sex Offender in OMAHA, TX 75571 at Offender Radar

Martha's brother is a sex offender, specifically a pedophile. How many other cases are there out there like this? It explains the lack of information, not only about Martha but also about her boyfriend Eric Owens. Martha supposedly argued with her parents (who knows about what) and took off. “On September 30th, Martha’s father received a call from a friend who lived in Durant, Oklahoma. He claimed that he had seen Martha and Eric together in the area and that both were “dirty and hungry”. He stated that he cleaned them up and gave them food. When investigators went to Durant, Oklahoma to investigate his statement, the pair was gone.” Is there any actual evidence that the phone call was ever placed? Or if it was, perhaps this person was mistaken, or the father had him call and make that claim. (That's not far-fetched either. Fred West, after killing his daughter Heather and burying her in the backyard, told the other children and anyone else who asked that Heather had taken a job out of town, and had someone call the house to pretend to be Heather). The police looked for Martha and Eric there and found nothing. They are classified as runaways because that's likely how Martha's parents wanted it. Someone claiming to be Martha's sister posted on the official music video of Runaway Train on YouTube, but all she said is that Martha is still missing. It also probably isn't a coincidence that it is often mentioned that Martha and Eric were "heavily involved in drugs" - perhaps an attempt to portray them in a negative light and reinforce the idea that they ran away. IMO.

Obituary for Martha's mother. Martha is listed as being among her survivors, although she was still missing at the time of her mother's death. The obit also confirms that James Kenneth Dunn is Martha's brother. I haven't been able to find any current info on Martha's father.

BETTY J. DUNN
January 24, 1946 ~ August 19, 1994

Betty Dunn, 48, of Daingerfield, Texas, died Friday in Longview, Texas. She was born Jan. 24, 1946, in Hollis.

Dunn had lived the past several years in Daingerfield, moving from Haworth. She was a homemaker and mother.

Survivors include her husband, John Kenneth Dunn of Daingerfield; one son, James Kenneth Dunn of Daingerfield; three daughters, Laura Ann Dunn, Martha West, and Gora Mae Dunn, all of Daingerfield; her mother, Lillian Wright; a brother, Tony Wright; four sisters, Dessie Owens and Alvadell Wright, both of Haworth, Ruby Cagle of Plano, Texas, and Dorthell Cunningham of Rufe; two grandsons, several nieces and nephews.

Graveside services will be held Monday at 10 a.m. at Haworth Cemetery under the direction of Norwood, Coffey-Leonard Funeral Home of Idabel.

McCurtain Gazette
Link to Find A Grave page: Betty J Wright Dunn (1946-1994) - Find a Grave...

 

[Noirdame79]

From The Lost Children Of Runaway Train article:

On September 30, a few weeks after the disappearance, Dunn’s father, John, called the police to report that he’d received a call from a friend in Durant, Oklahoma. The friend had said he’d seen Dunn and Owens, and they were “dirty and hungry.” He got them cleaned up and fed. “That’s what the father told the deputy,” said Gray. “Of course, they called up there and never found them or anything like that.”

There was another, considerably darker possibility, suggested by [Martha] Dunn’s father: that [Eric]Owens, who had been involved with drugs in Oklahoma, was targeted by a dealer who kidnapped them both. But there was no ransom demand. Indeed, said Gray, “There were no signs of anything like that happening.”

The Lost Children of ‘Runaway Train’

On a Friday morning in April 1990, Christopher Matthew Kerze, 17, told his mother, Alona, he had a headache. And so, having no reason to...

melmagazine.com

Was that one of the many stories that the Reddit user was referring to that the Dunns put out? Notice that Martha's father said that Eric was involved in drugs in Oklahoma and that they might have been kidnapped by drug dealers. We don't know to the extent to which Martha and Eric were involved in drugs if at all, but it's interesting that John Dunn referred to Eric having been involved in drugs but didn't say that Martha was. In the video she made dedicated to Martha several years back, her sister mentioned that Martha's boyfriend Eric took her and that they were both doing drugs. However, it's been stated that her parents last saw her at 2:20 pm and that Martha supposedly spoke to Eric by phone at around 10 pm, and then her father reported her missing at 5 am the next day, which is supposedly when it was noticed that Eric was missing as well, although it was supposedly never reported. Her sister specifically said that Eric "took" Martha, not that they may have run away together (Eric was also of Native American descent, which could explain the lack of attention to his case). This appears to have been a case that the local law enforcement didn't take seriously, at least in the beginning, which would have aided whoever was responsible for the disappearances. I honestly don't think that either of them ran away; things don't add up, and I think the supposed "sightings" of them were false. The leads that were followed up on were dead ends. If the rumor was true that Martha was pregnant, was Eric the father, or as the Reddit poster suggested, was someone in her family? Given that her brother is a registered sex offender, it does make you wonder.

 

[Noirdame79]

This photo of Martha (which appears to have been taken outside of the trailer where her family lived in Daingerfield, Texas) has often been retouched to remove the small dog she was holding when featured on missing person websites (this is a screenshot from the Runaway Train music video).



Eric Owens. His older brother Kenneth, was shot and killed a year before he disappeared.



Before I get into my theory of this case, it's worth noting that Chief Deputy Robbie Gray, who began investigating the case in 1999, has noted that the Dunns were "a strange family" (which is exactly how the Reddit user, who claimed to have lived across the street from them at the time of Martha's disappearance described them) and he seemed skeptical of the "lead" from the family friend in Oklahoma, which never went anywhere, as well as Martha's father's theory that she and Eric were kidnapped by drug dealers, which also was a dead end. Gray also said that Martha may have been anxious to "get out from under them", which leads me to suspect that he has a similar theory. If Martha was pregnant by a family member, I don't think it was her brother James (who was four years younger), however, given that he became a sexual predator who assaulted at least one child, I'm inclined to think that there was sexual abuse going on in the family. If Martha didn't run away (and I don't think she did), maybe she was trying to or planning to; maybe she confided to Eric about what was going on in the house, and he was going to help her escape. Whoever was abusing Martha and possibly impregnated her (and I think you can figure out who I'm referring to), was not about to let her leave or risk her exposing the family secrets. It explains the wildly different stories that her parents (particularly her father) put out, which conveniently pointed suspicion away from the family and sent law enforcement (when they bothered to investigate) on wild goose chases. It explains the "they were heavily involved with drugs" story, and that they were supposedly sighted in Oklahoma, although never in the places in that state or Kansas where Eric's aunt and mother respectively, lived at the time. There was also no mention of Martha contacting her relatives in Oklahoma, whom she had been visiting the day before her disappearance. Even the story of her arguing with her parents seems like a convenient set-up to make her look like a "bad kid" who took off with her boyfriend.

They seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth, and the one sighting that seemed remotely promising went nowhere. Again, I'm suspicious about this "family friend" who claimed to have seen them on September 30th, almost a month after they went missing (and he supposedly only talked to Martha's father but did not contact the police). Why didn't this person report this sighting to the police himself? There is very little information about this family friend or whether or not he was questioned or interviewed by police. This is in a similar vein when a killer in a domestic homicide that has been covered up claims to have seen or heard from the victim when no one else did. Here, similar to the case of Aundria Bowman/Alexis Badger, you've got one of the parents claiming to have heard from someone who saw Martha and Eric, but when it was investigated, nothing came of it. I'm also disturbed by the claim that the last time they saw Martha was at 2:20 pm, that she called Eric at 10 pm, and that she was reported missing at 5 am. That has to mean she was probably around the trailer most of the afternoon and evening, but the last time they saw her was in the afternoon, and by the next day she and Eric were "gone" (that word always stands out to me in missing person cases, and it also brings the Alissa Turney case to mind. Her stepfather said the last time he saw her was at home, walking down the hallway to her room, and when he checked later, she was "gone"). It doesn't add up. Since Martha and Eric were believed to be runaways (and despite what her sister claimed, I think her parents probably reported Martha as one, and Eric was presumed to be because he vanished at the same time), the police probably didn't bother to search the trailer or the surrounding area.

IMO.

 

[Noirdame79]

With the phone call that Martha supposedly made to Eric at around 10 pm on March 5, there is no indication as to where this information came from, if it was verified via phone records, or from where the call was placed. Another sketchy part of the story. While Martha's sister Cora (who made the tribute video mentioned on the first page of this thread; her name was misspelled in her mother's obituary) stated that the police assumed Martha was a runaway because of her age, which could very well be true, what her parents told them about the last time they saw her and the alleged sighting of Martha and Eric by the family friend in Oklahoma, as I mentioned before, definitely seems that they wanted to give the impression that she was a runaway. Not only did Martha and Eric have relatives there (who never heard from them), Eric was originally from Oklahoma, and Martha had supposedly visited relatives there shortly before they vanished. Again, I find it very suspect that this "friend" of the Dunn family (who has never been publicly identified) did not contact the police with this sighting but instead called Martha's father, who then relayed it to the police. Did the police interview this person in Durant when they went to investigate the sighting? From what I've gathered, the "theory" that Martha's father John Dunn gave to police about them being abducted by drug dealers (according to the former neighbor, the Dunn parents also said that they may have been kidnapped by devil worshippers, or even joined a cult, which sounds very similar to what Josef Fritzel claimed about his daughter Elisabeth, whom he imprisoned in the cellar of the family home) was after the Oklahoma sighting didn't pan out.

Martha's sister Cora, is from what I've gathered, considerably younger than Martha so the things she stated in the YouTube video she made may just be what she was told rather than from any actual memories. I do think she genuinely wants answers, but may not be able or willing to see that they could be closer to home than she thinks. It was mentioned in the video that following her mother Betty's death in 1994, John stayed in the trailer until Cora turned 18 and graduated from high school, and then he moved away (and may have remarried). By then, the ravine/grave that the neighbor supposedly saw had been dug behind the family's trailer and filled in with dirt by the time law enforcement showed up to investigate would have by then been grown over by grass. Depending on what is going on there now and who might own the land, I wonder if anyone would think to dig there?

 

[subaw0067]

Is there a thread for Eric?

 

[Noirdame79]

Is there a thread for Eric?

Sadly, no.

 

[Jeepguy79]

I talked to that person on Reddit the day they posted that stuff. I'm pretty sure they did actually live across the street from the dunns. In messages he told me that they had a pond and one day dirt trucks came and filled it in. Also he told me the same rumor I heard from another resident, that her medical emergency was pregnancy. I tried to find arial photography of the area but came up with nothing. The family sold that place and lives in Omaha now.

Here is my issue with this case. The Oklahoma sighting by a friend. They are close enough friends that Martha and Eric just show up at their house. The friend knows they are on foot and hungry. They are this close to the family and don't call until after they are gone? A lot of the information on locating them seems to have a bias. Like it's telling a certain story. But the story is partial.

There is zero usable information in their missing person fliers beyond their name, dob, and identifying marks besides missing from. There is no clothing descriptions or how they might be traveling. No vehicle or anything. As best I can tell these kids just supposedly took off on foot with little to no money and ended up at least in Oklahoma.

No one else besides the friend of the father reported seeing them in Oklahoma. It is extremely hard to live essentially on the run. They would have had to never used their real identities anywhere. They had these terrible drugs issues the dad says but no contact with law enforcement? So either they setup perfect identities under assumed names and with no education or anything found employment and housing and everything eventually or they died. If they split up one would have reappeared.

I don't think they ever made it far from home. I'm in Texarkana and willing to search anywhere I legally can if someone has any direction. I shared the info from the redditor years back with the police chief there.

 

[Noirdame79]

I talked to that person on Reddit the day they posted that stuff. I'm pretty sure they did actually live across the street from the dunns. In messages he told me that they had a pond and one day dirt trucks came and filled it in. Also he told me the same rumor I heard from another resident, that her medical emergency was pregnancy. I tried to find arial photography of the area but came up with nothing. The family sold that place and lives in Omaha now.

Here is my issue with this case. The Oklahoma sighting by a friend. They are close enough friends that Martha and Eric just show up at their house. The friend knows they are on foot and hungry. They are this close to the family and don't call until after they are gone? A lot of the information on locating them seems to have a bias. Like it's telling a certain story. But the story is partial.

There is zero usable information in their missing person fliers beyond their name, dob, and identifying marks besides missing from. There is no clothing descriptions or how they might be traveling. No vehicle or anything. As best I can tell these kids just supposedly took off on foot with little to no money and ended up at least in Oklahoma.

No one else besides the friend of the father reported seeing them in Oklahoma. It is extremely hard to live essentially on the run. They would have had to never used their real identities anywhere. They had these terrible drugs issues the dad says but no contact with law enforcement? So either they setup perfect identities under assumed names and with no education or anything found employment and housing and everything eventually or they died. If they split up one would have reappeared.

I don't think they ever made it far from home. I'm in Texarkana and willing to search anywhere I legally can if someone has any direction. I shared the info from the redditor years back with the police chief there.

Agreed. Also, it was Martha's father who told the police about the sighting of Martha and Eric by the family friend; there's nothing to indicate that the friend contacted the police himself. The officer who took over the case seems suspicious about this alleged sighting. Given that both Martha and Eric had relatives in Oklahoma, you'd think some of them would have seen or heard from them. There's no reason for them to still be in hiding, as the former neighbor pointed out. This sounds like a covered-up homicide staged to look like a runaway situation.

The second-hand reported sighting sounds similar to the Aundria Bowman/Alexis Badger case, where her adoptive mother reported several sightings of Aundria to the police from others; it turns out Aundria/Alexis was dead the whole time, killed by her adoptive father (whom she had reported for sexual abuse) and buried on the family property. The Bowmans claimed that Aundria/Alexis stole money from them and ran away because she was upset after learning that she was adopted and that she lied about her adoptive father abusing her. I've noticed that in cases like this, the child is always portrayed in a negative light, and this instance is no different. Martha arguing with her parents and her and Eric supposedly being "heavily involved in drugs" was no accident. That was on purpose, just like the numerous stories the Dunns told about what had supposedly happened to Martha and Eric, that no one has been able to verify. "They're bad kids, into drugs, hard to handle, no one should care about them" etc. Horrible.

 

[Jeepguy79]

Agreed. Also, it was Martha's father who told the police about the sighting of Martha and Eric by the family friend; there's nothing to indicate that the friend contacted the police himself. The officer who took over the case seems suspicious about this alleged sighting. Given that both Martha and Eric had relatives in Oklahoma, you'd think some of them would have seen or heard from them. There's no reason for them to still be in hiding, as the former neighbor pointed out. This sounds like a covered-up homicide staged to look like a runaway situation.

The second-hand reported sighting sounds similar to the Aundria Bowman/Alexis Badger case, where her adoptive mother reported several sightings of Aundria to the police from others; it turns out Aundria/Alexis was dead the whole time, killed by her adoptive father (whom she had reported for sexual abuse) and buried on the family property. The Bowmans claimed that Aundria/Alexis stole money from them and ran away because she was upset after learning that she was adopted and that she lied about her adoptive father abusing her. I've noticed that in cases like this, the child is always portrayed in a negative light, and this instance is no different. Martha arguing with her parents and her and Eric supposedly being "heavily involved in drugs" was no accident. That was on purpose, just like the numerous stories the Dunns told about what had supposedly happened to Martha and Eric, that no one has been able to verify. "They're bad kids, into drugs, hard to handle, no one should care about them" etc. Horrible.

I agree with every single bit of that. They need to just hand the file to us and we'll go get em. Hah.

Ive never seen a missing person report like that one. They really should consider rewriting all of it. I've always thought it sounded like every bit of information came through the father and was intentionally casting them in such a negative way that no one would care about them. Like you said the dad is where the call went and all the info it seems. Exactly like that case.

They never left Dangerfield. I tried my best to find any trace of them. I've looked at every unidentified from here through Kansas and no match. A guy named Michael smith in Oklahoma almost fit maybe but he was identified they just didn't have next of kin yet. Similar couple deceased in Kansas I found nok for as well looking for them. I've been looking since before the Reddit post and they didn't go.

Maybe one day the new owners will put in a pool or something. It should be excluded at least. Oh also my wife is from cass county and I don't know exactly what drugs teens could be bad into back then. I feel like they maybe smoked a joint or two. Dad knows something, probably everything.

 

[Noirdame79]

I agree with every single bit of that. They need to just hand the file to us and we'll go get em. Hah.

Ive never seen a missing person report like that one. They really should consider rewriting all of it. I've always thought it sounded like every bit of information came through the father and was intentionally casting them in such a negative way that no one would care about them. Like you said the dad is where the call went and all the info it seems. Exactly like that case.

They never left Dangerfield. I tried my best to find any trace of them. I've looked at every unidentified from here through Kansas and no match. A guy named Michael smith in Oklahoma almost fit maybe but he was identified they just didn't have next of kin yet. Similar couple deceased in Kansas I found nok for as well looking for them. I've been looking since before the Reddit post and they didn't go.

Maybe one day the new owners will put in a pool or something. It should be excluded at least. Oh also my wife is from cass county and I don't know exactly what drugs teens could be bad into back then. I feel like they maybe smoked a joint or two. Dad knows something, probably everything.

The lack of information is a huge giveaway. The whole thing is sketchy. I live in Canada so I can't do much of anything, but I would like there to be a resolution to this case. I don't even know if Martha's father is still living but even if this case is solved after he is deceased, there will be answers and the truth revealed.

The way Martha and Eric have been portrayed feels very deliberate. I know Martha's mother died a few years after she went missing and Martha's sister claims that while it was cancer that took Betty Dunn's life, she feels it was more the result of a broken heart. Or maybe a guilty conscience? I saw a picture of the parents in the music video Martha's sister Cora posted and her mother looked like someone who aged prematurely, and had a hard life. Maybe Martha was "taking her mother's place" with her father if you know what I mean. If Martha was pregnant by her father that would be another reason to possibly want to silence her and anyone else who might know the truth (such as Eric). Cora also stated in the video that they still look for Martha but are often told to "leave it alone" (paraphrasing). Who is telling them to "leave it alone" or is that something that her father wants the rest of the family to believe?

It's good to know that there are others who care about this case. The best of luck and I hope the truth will come out one day.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Mod Reminder:

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Thanks,
Mad

 

[xinnek]

Well, it looks like my posts have been removed and I have to wait to be verified. I think the moderators/admin will realize very quickly I'm a very reliable witness and was actually there, so I do have pertinent information. So, I'm hoping my posts will be reposted tomorrow afternoon. Good job mods,

 

[Brotherfudz]

Well, it looks like my posts have been removed and I have to wait to be verified. I think the moderators/admin will realize very quickly I'm a very reliable witness and was actually there, so I do have pertinent information. So, I'm hoping my posts will be reposted tomorrow afternoon. Good job mods,

This case has always intrigued me, can’t wait to read your input.

 

[xinnek]

All of my posts were removed last Sunday, and I understand the need to maintain order in difficult situations, and why this was done. Having been the founder and administrator of multiple large forums, I know how moderation works.

I requested verification on Sunday, and now it's Thursday, still no response, no calls, no questions, on a verification that was made to sound like a very simiplistic and quick process. Moderators, Admin, can anyone provide any insight into why I haven’t received any communication regarding my verification?

Pursuing Justice for Martha has been incredibly frustrating for the past 35 years, I’ve encountered nothing but roadblocks in my pursuit of justice for this 15 year old girl. If it is just taking time to contact me, I don't mind waiting, but If no one is going to contact me, or you've already made up your mind to not approve me, can you just let me know? All I'm asking.
Kind Regards.
xinnek

 

[HmmMysterious]

All of my posts were removed last Sunday, and I understand the need to maintain order in difficult situations, and why this was done. Having been the founder and administrator of multiple large forums, I know how moderation works.

I requested verification on Sunday, and now it's Thursday, still no response, no calls, no questions, on a verification that was made to sound like a very simiplistic and quick process. Moderators, Admin, can anyone provide any insight into why I haven’t received any communication regarding my verification?

Pursuing Justice for Martha has been incredibly frustrating for the past 35 years, I’ve encountered nothing but roadblocks in my pursuit of justice for this 15 year old girl. If it is just taking time to contact me, I don't mind waiting, but If no one is going to contact me, or you've already made up your mind to not approve me, can you just let me know? All I'm asking.
Kind Regards.
xinnek

Nothing yet, huh?