TX TX - Nicholas Barclay, 13, San Antonio, 13 June 1994

[slwgirl]

Were they trying to hide his murder by pretending that Bourdin was the the son, so as to hopefully prevent anyone else from questioning them about the disappearance? Because that is the only thing that really makes sense to me, just another way to hide a murder.

 

[MagnoliaMountain]

Were they trying to hide his murder by pretending that Bourdin was the the son, so as to hopefully prevent anyone else from questioning them about the disappearance? Because that is the only thing that really makes sense to me, just another way to hide a murder.

That's what I think.

 

[Evaluna]

This case haunts me!
I really want him to be found 💔
I keep checking unidentified to see if there's a match.
I'm wondering if his info has been entered in NamUS ??

 

[SeekingJana]

I don't understand why this case didn't get more attention by LE and the public when it was " fresh". There were potentially witnesses to what happened to Nicholas: Either the boys at the basketball area where he is said to have gone to play the last time he was seen ( which I don't think actually happened but who knows), and the family members.

At that time, his mother was addicted to heroin, and he had a brother and a sister. How hard would it have been to separate them and question them? I don't think this was ever done because Nicholas was seen as a child likely to runaway.

I totally agree with the assessment that Bourdin was accepted into the dysfunctional family to " close the gap" and make the crime disappear. Bourdin saw it, as he was a master at the same deception in many other missing boy cases around the world.
While the mother's drug use likely influenced Jason's drug use, Bourdin is adamant that Jason was acting hostile towards him.

I think that somehow, Nicholas was a victim of homicide or possibly accidental death by a family member. It's my opinion that Bourdin likely did pick up on anger and possibly guilt or desperation on Jason's part...

Because Jason lied ( in the opinion of LE) about Nicholas returning to the garage, etc. I believe he was likely the one who killed Nicholas and the other family members were in on the post- crime cleanup and body burial or other means of disposal.

I could be wrong, but I don't think he's alive. I think he was killed the night he " went missing". He wasn't truly ever missing but was deceased with the death and body concealed.

How long can the sister keep up the charade if what many of us believe is what happened? I base most of my theory on the documentary " The Impostor". I think it's incredibly bizarre that an impostor who was trying to scam picked a family with so many likely hidden secrets themselves.

 

[Via Marple]

I don't understand why this case didn't get more attention by LE and the public when it was " fresh". There were potentially witnesses to what happened to Nicholas: Either the boys at the basketball area where he is said to have gone to play the last time he was seen ( which I don't think actually happened but who knows), and the family members.

At that time, his mother was addicted to heroin, and he had a brother and a sister. How hard would it have been to separate them and question them? I don't think this was ever done because Nicholas was seen as a child likely to runaway.

I totally agree with the assessment that Bourdin was accepted into the dysfunctional family to " close the gap" and make the crime disappear. Bourdin saw it, as he was a master at the same deception in many other missing boy cases around the world.
While the mother's drug use likely influenced Jason's drug use, Bourdin is adamant that Jason was acting hostile towards him.

I think that somehow, Nicholas was a victim of homicide or possibly accidental death by a family member. It's my opinion that Bourdin likely did pick up on anger and possibly guilt or desperation on Jason's part...

Because Jason lied ( in the opinion of LE) about Nicholas returning to the garage, etc. I believe he was likely the one who killed Nicholas and the other family members were in on the post- crime cleanup and body burial or other means of disposal.

I could be wrong, but I don't think he's alive. I think he was killed the night he " went missing". He wasn't truly ever missing but was deceased with the death and body concealed.

How long can the sister keep up the charade if what many of us believe is what happened? I base most of my theory on the documentary " The Impostor". I think it's incredibly bizarre that an impostor who was trying to scam picked a family with so many likely hidden secrets themselves.

This documentary has been aired on free TV in Aus (SBS).

It is said that it takes one to know one. So liars know liars too, I suppose.

And to throw another curve ball ... Is there a chance that Jason's (older brother) overdose was not overdose, but foul play? He seemed to be the only one in the family who didn't play the faking act, when the imposter turned up.

 

[iulia]

Case of missing San Antonio boy from 1994 remains a mystery

 

[Swirlz]

The Tragedy of Nicholas Barclay; or, how The Imposter (2012) let its audience get manipulated

 

[SpaceFridge]

Were they trying to hide his murder by pretending that Bourdin was the the son, so as to hopefully prevent anyone else from questioning them about the disappearance? Because that is the only thing that really makes sense to me, just another way to hide a murder.

I echo this theory. It was, albeit by virtue of the documentary and it's style & production, very much suggestive of a domestic murder. Not only this, but the social circumstances of the family and broader community would also serve to reinforce this theory in my experience.

 

[Seratonin]

 

[PommyMommy]

NOV 13, 2020
These San Antonio residents vanished and have never been found (mysanantonio.com)
[...]

Nicholas Barclay, 13, was last seen in June 1994 playing basketball with friends in San Antonio. He never returned home.

Three years later, his grieving family received a phone call: Nicholas had turned up at a children's home in Spain. Nicholas' sister flew to Spain and identified the person — who said he had been abused — as her brother. She brought him home to Texas.

Family members glossed over discrepancies between the Nicholas that disappeared and the Nicholas that showed up in Spain. The new Nicholas had different colored eyes and hair, as well as a French accent.

Fingerprints eventually identified the man as Frederic Pierre Bourdin, a 23-year-old French con artist with a criminal record. He pleaded guilty to fraud in 1998.

The case was the subject of an award-winning 2012 documentary, "The Imposter." Nicholas has never been found.

Anyone with information about Barclay is asked to contact SAPD at 210-207-7484.

[...]

 

[Noirdame79]

It should be noted that Nicholas's mother Beverly and his half-brother Jason were heavy drug users at the time of his disappearance. Domestic violence was a common occurrence and the police were at the house at least once or twice a month. One of Nicholas's friends (interviewed for the documentary The Imposter (2012) ) stated that when Jason moved in, things went downhill fast. He was known for having a violent temper and his drug use only added to that. The family tends to portray Nicholas as the one who caused all the problems but look at his role models. The poor kid was probably abused and left to fend for himself. There even seems to be some debate as to when he actually went missing and if the story of him playing basketball with his friends that day is even true. His disappearance wasn't reported right away and the police didn't take it seriously at the start.

Given Jason's strange behavior, I'm inclined to think that he killed Nicholas (either accidentally or intentionally) and Beverly helped to cover it up. The rest of the family either knows or suspects, but refuses to admit it, IMO. His sister Carey, whether intentionally or not, obviously did feed Frederic Bourdin information, how else would he have been able to pass the test to prove he was Nicholas without it? You can maybe buy into their desperation in wanting to believe he was Nicholas at first, but once they were presented with proof, their willful blindness comes across as sinister. I realize that understandably, Bourdin is going to have severe credibility issues but he's not the only one who believes the family was in on it. I doubt he had many other experiences where family members of the missing person he impersonated gave him the time of day, let alone believed him and/or went along with his con.

I hope there will be answers one day in this case and Nicholas will be found, and hopefully given a proper burial (I think it's unlikely he's alive)

 

[Noirdame79]

This video about the case is interesting - the private investigator Charlie Parker (who is still investigating the case) is interviewed, as is Bourdin, and he revealed that Beverly confessed to him that Jason murdered Nicholas (which she denies)

 

[Noirdame79]

This article provides a bit more information than most. It seems to confirm that Nicholas's disappearance wasn't reported for three days and he was last seen by others outside the family on June 10, rather than June 13, when his mother reported him missing. It also goes into a bit more detail in terms of the family dynamic at the time he vanished.

The True Story of a Missing Boy and His Imposter

In 1994, a boy from Texas named Nicholas Barclay went missing. Three years later, the boy-turned-teenager was found in Spain. He was reunited with his family, but not all was as it seemed. Something was off, and no one could really believe that it was really Nicholas. The sudden and miraculous discovery of the troubled teen just seemed too good to be true. And when it feels that way, it usually is too good to be true.

Nicholas was 13-year-old went after a basketball game with his friends at a neighborhood park. Frederic was a 23-year-old young man from France who grew up in a home without love or affection. He took up a life crime to keep himself afloat and essentially to feel wanted. This is the incredible and very true story of a boy, his assumed kidnapping, his spine-tingling “return,” and an imposter’s performance for the history books.

Nicholas Barclay, a Boy From Texas
Nicholas Barclay was born on December 31st, 1980, and raised in San Antonio, Texas, by a single mother, Beverly Dollarhide, who was battling her own drug addiction. She worked the “graveyard shift” at a local convenience store. Beverly had two older kids from a previous marriage, a daughter named Carey, and a son named Jason. Both of Nicholas’ half-siblings were much older than him.

Nicholas was a troubled little boy and had his share of run-ins with the law, despite his young age. He managed to accumulate a juvenile criminal record for felonies like breaking and entering, stealing, truancy, and threatening his school teachers. Nicholas was also known to be verbally and physically abusive toward his mother. Eventually, Beverly asked her eldest son, Jason, to help her with Nicholas.

His Step-Brother Came into the Picture
Jason was in his 20s at the time that he came to live with her and Nicholas. Beverly was hoping that Jason could help her take control of her son that was continuously acting out. This wasn’t necessarily the best thing Beverly did, though, as Jason himself was battling a cocaine addiction and had a violent temper of his own.

Police had been repeatedly called to the home on calls of domestic disturbances. Needless to say, the cops knew Nicholas and his mother pretty well. Nicholas was scheduled for a court appearance on June 14th, 1994, which could have led to the possibility of him being sent to a group home. Obviously, the thought of being sent to a group home and losing his freedom didn’t sit well with the boy.

The Exact Date is Up for Debate
Nicholas was last seen playing basketball in June of 1994, but there’s speculation as to the exact date. His mother reported him missing on the 13th, despite the reports made that stated that Nicholas was last seen on the 10th. Apparently, it wasn’t unusual for Nicholas to be away from home for a day or so, which could explain why she waited three days.

The park that Nicholas was playing basketball at was about a mile or two from his house. He reportedly called home to see if his mother could pick him up when he was done his game, but Jason answered the phone instead. He told Nicholas that their mom was still asleep, and he didn’t want to wake her up. (Let’s remember that she worked the night shifts and slept during the days).

A Small Boy for His Age
Jason told Nicholas that he was going to have to walk home. Jason was the last person to ever speak to Nicholas. On June 13th, Beverly called the police to report her son as missing. Given Nicholas’s reputation with the police and his scheduled court appearance, they were slow to respond. They assumed that he was just running away from the inevitable.

The cops told Beverly that it was likely that Nicholas would show up in a day or so. They were given a description, however, as to what Nicholas was wearing that day. The boy, who was small for his age at only four-foot, eight-inches, and weighed only 80 pounds, was wearing a white shirt and purple pants. He was carrying a pink backpack, too.

A Strange Disappearance
With such a description, the police probably thought that the boy would be hard to miss and would be found and brought home before long. But they were mistaken. Nicholas was carrying on him only $5, and he wasn’t known to be carrying any extra clothing. His family figured, if he had been planning to run away, he would probably take more personal items with him. Rather, he had left everything behind.

Police then opened a missing person investigation, but there were no leads as to where Nicholas could have gone. With only $5 to his name, the chances of him buying a ticket on public transportation were low. So was the possibility of finding room and board somewhere. The only explanation at the time was that he hitchhiked somewhere of town, which meant there was even less hope of finding him.

Three Years Later…
Then, three months later, in September of 1994, police received a phone call from Jason Barclay. He claimed that he saw Nicholas trying to break into their garage. When the police arrived, Jason told them that they were too late – Nicholas had already fled. That incident was the only lead in the case up to that moment, which ultimately was a dead end.

Three years later, just as the Barclays were losing hope, they received an unexpected phone call. They were told that Nicholas had been found, he was lost and scared in a Spanish village. The boy was immediately flown back to the United States and reunited with his family. Sounds wonderful, right? But this story is far from a fairytale ending…

A (Not So) Convincing Cover Story
The story the new Nicholas told the police was that he was kidnapped by high-ranking government officials that were running a child prostitution ring. He claimed that he, and other kids, were subjected to sexual abuse. He claimed that he was part of bizarre experiments, which, as he explained, caused his blue eyes to turn brown and his hair to grow darker, making him unrecognizable.

Nicholas’s half-sister Carey was flown out to Spain, believed that she was going to rescue her baby brother. She then came with him back to San Antonio, and at first, had him stay in her home and share a bedroom with her son. He was then placed back in his mother’s home.

A Tale of Two Nicholases
Nicholas’ family welcomed the now teenager back with open arms. His mother had kept his room just as he had left it, as she had been anxiously waiting for his return. It could be said that his mother missed her son so much that she didn’t notice the completely obvious inconsistencies between her son who went missing and the teenager who was now in their home.

Keep in mind that the Nicholas, who went missing in 1994, was a blond-haired blue-eyed boy with a violent temper and an attitude problem. The Nicholas who was found in Spain in 1997, was a dark-haired brown-eyed 16-year-old who was creepily calm and made anyone around him uncomfortable. Despite the blatant discrepancies, the Barclay family insisted, without a doubt, that this boy was indeed their son.

Day In, Day Out
The disturbing story of the Barclay family’s pain and the too-good-to-be-true Hollywood ending made national headlines. The story of a missing boy reunited with his family drew news crews and reporters to the Barclay home day in and day out. But news reporters weren’t the only ones interested in getting the full story.

Investigators were also determined to find out what happened to Nicholas Barclay during the three years he was missing. That is if it was even Nicholas who returned. After hearing the story, private investigator Charlie Parker got suspicious. The hair and eyes claims that the new Nicholas reported were way too suspicious. It was highly unlikely that his supposed kidnappers went to such lengths to alter his eye color. That’s to say that such a thing is even possible.

The Truth Comes Out
Parker was also put off by the clear difference in personality. Though it is possible that such a traumatic experience can result in a more subdued personality where the victim withdraws into him or herself, Parker felt that it was above and beyond that. The new Nicholas didn’t seem withdrawn; he seemed more mature – older than his reported 16 years of age.

Something was fishy, and Parker knew that the circumstances were too strange to be believable. Then Parker found out that his instincts were on the mark. This new Nicholas Barclay wasn’t 16, but rather 23. In fact, it wasn’t Nicholas at all. Months after his “return,” Nicholas was exposed for who he really was, a 23-year-old French citizen named Frédéric Pierre Bourdin – a notorious con artist.

But before we get into who Frédéric Bourdin is…

The Question Is…
Were Beverly and her family really convinced that this was the same boy? Or were they hiding something? Partly because of Bourdin’s claims after finally being arrested for posing as Nicholas Barclay, many people believed that Nicholas’s family is responsible for what happened to their son. Some speculated that Jason might have murdered him.

After his arrest, Bourdin told the police that he didn’t believe that the family’s grief was real. While in custody, he proposed a rather disturbing theory that could potentially explain why the Barclay family accepted him into their home so willingly. That they opened their home to a young man who was so clearly not their biological son. But then again, this is coming from a serial imposter…

Bourdin’s Theory
“I don’t have any confessions. There’s no body. Murder is very simple and very basic,” Frederic Bourdin said. “I think something happened inside that house, but I can’t prove it.” Bourdin’s theory was that Nicholas’ own family took his life – that one or all of the family members had killed Nicholas and only adopted Bourdain because it was a way to cover it up. Private investigator Charlie Parker bought into Bourdain’s theories and has been working on proving them ever since.

Using the evidence collected from initial investigations as well as others that were opened after Bourdain’s imprisonment, Parker put together a rather compelling case. He claims that Nicholas Barclay’s rage came to a boiling point and pushed a family member over the edge.

Pointing the Finger
While there is no body, and no confession other than that of a known criminal, Parker is still confident that the Barclays have something to do with it. The idea was that if Jason did it, then Beverly, trying to protect her older son, helped him cover it up. Not long after Bourdin’s arrest, Jason died of a drug overdose (whether or not it was accidental is unknown).

But for many, it seemed suspicious. Did Jason feel some sort of guilt? But whether or not he took Nicholas’ life, he must have felt some remorse as he was the one who told his little brother to walk home by himself the day he vanished.

All Theory, No Proof
Jason was questioned multiple times, both by the police and private investigators, but no conclusion was ever made as to his involvement. His reported sighting of Nicholas in September also seemed very suspicious to those following the case. Some people even pointed the finger at Beverly, saying she knows more than she ever let on.

Freaking Out
According to authorities in Madrid, Spain, Carey swore under oath that Bourdin was her brother and, indeed, an American citizen. He was then granted a US passport and was on a flight to San Antonio the next day. For a moment, Bourdin had the chance to fantasize about becoming part of a real family, but midway to America, he began to “freak out,” as Carey put it. He was shaking and sweating.

When the plane landed on October 18th, 1997, Nicholas’s family was waiting at the airport. Bourdin recognized them right away from Carey’s photographs that she showed him on the plane. Beverly, Carey’s then-husband, Bryan Gibson, their son, Codey, and their daughter, Chantel. Only Jason, the recovering drug addict, was absent.

A Family Reunion
A family friend videotaped the reunion, where you can see Bourdin bundled up, his hat pulled down, his brown eyes covered by sunglasses, his fading tattoo covered by gloves. While Bourdin thought Nicholas’s relatives were going to “hang” him for what he’s done, they embraced him, saying how much they missed him. But while everyone was emotionally crazy, Beverly hung back, looking skeptical.

The True Story of a Missing Boy and His Imposter

 

[Noirdame79]

Nicholas was last seen playing basketball in June of 1994, but there’s speculation as to the exact date. His mother reported him missing on the 13th, despite the reports made that stated that Nicholas was last seen on the 10th. Apparently, it wasn’t unusual for Nicholas to be away from home for a day or so, which could explain why she waited three days.

If Nicholas actually did go missing on June 10, it means his mother waited for three days before reporting him missing. She may have said that because he had run away in the past, she didn't report it right away because he was never gone for longer than two days. On the surface, that makes sense. However, it could also be a convenient excuse. If he did vanish on that earlier date, it makes the argument "he wanted to avoid the court hearing on the 14th" less plausible, as four days was beyond the amount of time he usually stayed away from home for. According to Beverly (if her account is to be believed), she gave him $5 when he left the house. Other than a small backpack, he only left with the clothes he was wearing. When the police began investigating, they discovered that he left all of his belongings behind. If you're running away, even if you're only planning to be gone for a few days, you're going to need more money and are likely to take more with you.

Also, Jason's account of Nicholas phoning home and asking for a ride strikes me as a bit odd, for a few reasons. 1. If he did call home, and Beverly was asleep, why didn't Jason go pick him up? 2. If this really happened the day before the court hearing was scheduled, and Nicholas was opposed to the idea of being sent to a group home/juvenile detention center, and with his history of running away, wouldn't his family have wanted to make sure that he was on hand for the hearing?

There's also no mention if any of his friends were interviewed, and which friends he was supposedly playing basketball with on that day. Since the police didn't take it seriously at first and it may have not been reported for a few days, it makes you wonder if any of his friends were spoken to by investigators.

Beverly and Jason weren't exactly upstanding citizens themselves and fights between the family were so common that the police were at their residence frequently. If the account of him being out with his friends at a park that was about a mile away from his house is true, I think the "he never came home" is very likely B.S. Either Nicholas did come home, Jason picked him up, or possibly, he was never playing basketball with friends on the day that he actually went missing.

Of course, there is that phone call (and police report that Jason filled out) in October, three months later, stating that Nicholas was trying to break into the garage, which, later after the whole Bourdin ordeal, started to make sense. Since there was no sign of a break-in or any sign of Nicholas (police searched the neighborhood), it was later deduced that it was a lie on Jason's part, in an attempt to make it seem as if Nicholas was still alive. Why would Nicholas be breaking into the garage, and even if your little brother is a hellion, wouldn't you want to make sure that he's okay if he's been missing for months? While you likely would call the police to report that he's alive and safe, even if he was breaking into the garage, that should be the least of your concerns. From what I've read and seen, Jason didn't seem to care that Nicholas was missing, didn't react when he heard that "Nicholas" had been found alive, and unlike the rest of the family, he didn't embrace Bourdin or even pretend that he was Nicholas. He told him "Good luck" and left. He even told investigators just days before his death that he knew Bourdin was not Nicholas, but he didn't bother to say anything to his family. It's obvious that the brothers didn't have a good relationship, but even so, you'd think he would at least show some concern.

I've heard some theories that Jason may have imagined the "Nicholas breaking into the garage three months after he went missing" episode, and some cite his drug use at the time as a possible cause. Others think that when Jason died of the overdose, he was suffering from guilt for not picking up Nicholas the day he disappeared, etc. However, given how his behavior has been described (although of course, you can't always know what goes on inside someone), I'm inclined to think that he knew all along that Nicholas was dead, and unlike the rest of the family (whether they know/suspect or not) he wasn't going to pretend that Frederic Bourdin was his brother. He also was very uncooperative when he was interviewed, and very hard to track down at that. He didn't seem to care, didn't seem to be interested, and became hostile when asked if he knew more about his brother's disappearance. I don't think it's a coincidence that he died a few days later; I'm inclined to think that it was a suicide. He obviously knew that he was going to be investigated, and he'd been clean for quite some time by then. Something drove him to use again, and I suspect that he did intend to take his own life so he wouldn't have to answer any more questions or be exposed.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, according to friends and neighbors, when Jason moved in, Nicholas and his mother became estranged and the volatility in the house escalated. The family, not surprisingly, tries to paint a different picture. Bourdin told the authorities after his arrest that Beverly told him that Jason killed Nicholas, Carey didn't have anything to do with it, but she knows what happened, and I think the rest of the family either knows or suspects.

I also found it striking that in the documentary The Imposter (2012), Beverly stated that she believes Nicholas got into a car with a stranger, that he had no fear, and basically that "he was that kind of a person". I was shocked, in large part because most parents of missing children that I've seen interviewed would state the opposite, or at least say that maybe the child was forced into a car or tricked, but she just straight up said, "I think he got into a car with someone". It was almost like she was blaming him, and trying to divert suspicion. If that was yet another attempt to show what a bad kid he was, it actually reflects badly on her, and what a poor job she did as a parent. I know she was an addict, and addiction is a disease, but that just paints a portrait of how Nicholas was clearly not taken care of, not given the right kind of guidance, not protected, and exposed to dangerous situations. Jason's presence in the house only made things worse. At the end of the day, Nicholas was only 13 years old (and small for his age), Beverly and Jason were the adults. It always annoys me when parents or other people who act as parental figures try to distance themselves and act as if they have no part in how the child behaves or reacts. Take some responsibility or at least have some insight. It just made me more suspicious that she knows what happened to Nicholas and probably helped cover it up to protect Jason. I hope I'm wrong, I really do, but this case reeks of "domestic homicide".

 

[Noirdame79]

Just wanted to add a couple of things:

1. Nicholas was diagnosed with ADHD prior to his disappearance

2. Nicholas was the only one with the surname of Barclay. Apparently, his parents were never married. His mother Beverly, his late brother Jason and his sister Carey (prior to her marriage) had the surname Dollarhide

3. The private investigator, Charlie Parker, is still investigating the case. He has a Twitter account, but it's locked and you can only see his tweets if he accepts your follower request. There's also a Facebook page about the case but it's not active at this time.

 

[Noirdame79]

I came across a bit of info regarding Jason, Nicholas's half-brother, who was considered the chief suspect in his disappearance.

Ancestry and Ancient Faces stated that he died in 1999 at the age of 30, in Bexar County, Texas, in which San Antonio is the county seat. While the Charley Project states that Jason died in 1998, it's probably an error or an assumption. After all, how many young men named Jason Dollarhide died that year in Bexar county? (Neither site lists a cause of death).

Jason R Dollarhide

 

[Swirlz]

I thought this blog post was interesting: The Tragedy of Nicholas Barclay; or, how The Imposter (2012) let its audience get manipulated

 

[Noirdame79]

I thought this blog post was interesting: The Tragedy of Nicholas Barclay; or, how The Imposter (2012) let its audience get manipulated

It's strange that the person who wrote the post didn't mention the drug problems and domestic violence in the family, or that the behavior of Nicholas's older brother Jason was suspicious, to say the least. I get what they were saying regarding manipulation on Bourdin's part but if it was just his word, I would be more willing to side with the family, but their behavior isn't exactly honest, in my opinion. Between Beverly, the mother, and Carey, the sister, the latter comes off best, but again, their refusal to give blood for a DNA sample and allowing Bourdin back even after they were told by the FBI agent that he could not be Nicholas is more than a little concerning. The family claiming that law enforcement wasn't interested in Nicholas's disappearance at the time and that they were the only ones looking for him doesn't necessarily prove they don't have more knowledge or even involvement in what happened. Michael Turney claimed that the police didn't do enough to find his stepdaughter Alissa and that he was conducting his own investigation, and look where he is now - in prison, awaiting trial for her murder.

Charlie Parker, the private investigator who helped unmask Bourdin, is still investigating the disappearance of Nicholas Barclay.

It has been mentioned that Jason calling the police a few months after Nicholas went missing, claiming that his younger brother was trying to break into the home is a classic move by a murderer trying to make it seem like the victim is still alive (and there was no sign of Nicholas or a break-in when the police arrived). Michael Turney claimed that Alissa called him after her disappearance, but nothing in the phone records indicate that that phone call was ever received. Fred West, after killing his daughter Heather and burying her in the backyard, told the other children and anyone who asked that she had left of her own free will, and then had someone call the house to pretend to be Heather; he would pick up the phone, listen for a few seconds, hang up, and then tell whoever was present that it was Heather and she was swearing at him. The recently resolved case of Aundria Bowman, as well as that of Dylan Redwine are more instances of missing children who turned out to have been murdered by family members.

 

[Noirdame79]

On June 13, 1994, Beverly and Jason told police that Nicholas had been playing basketball three days earlier and called his house from a pay phone, wanting a ride home. Beverly was sleeping, so Jason answered the phone. He told Nicholas to walk home. Nicholas never made it. Because Nicholas had recently fought with his mother over the tennis shoes he had stolen, and over the possibility of being sent to a home for juveniles, the police initially thought that he had run away—even though he hadn’t taken any money or possessions.

Parker was surprised by police reports showing that after Nicholas’s disappearance there were several disturbances at Beverly’s house. On July 12th, she called the police, though when an officer arrived she insisted that she was all right. Jason told the officer that his mother was “drinking and scream[ing] at him because her other son ran away.” A few weeks later, Beverly called the police again, about what authorities described as “family violence.” The officer on the scene reported that Beverly and Jason were “exchanging words”; Jason was asked to leave the house for the day, and he complied. On September 25th, police received another call, this time from Jason. He claimed that his younger brother had returned and tried to break into the garage, fleeing when Jason spotted him. In his report, the officer on duty said that he had “checked the area” for Nicholas but was “unable to locate him.”

Jason’s behavior grew even more erratic. He was arrested for “using force” against a police officer, and Beverly kicked him out of the house. Nicholas’s disappearance, Codey told me, had “messed Jason up pretty bad. He went on a bad drug binge and was shooting cocaine for a long time.” Because he had refused to help Nicholas get a ride home on the day he vanished, Chantel says, Jason had “a lot of guilt.”

In late 1996, Jason checked into a rehabilitation center and weaned himself from drugs. After he finished the program, he remained at the facility for more than a year, serving as a counsellor and working for a landscaping business that the center operated. He was still there when Bourdin turned up, claiming to be his missing brother.

Bourdin wondered why Jason had not met him at the airport and had initially made no effort to see him at Carey’s. After a month and a half, Bourdin and family members say, Jason finally came for a visit. Even then, Codey says, “Jason was standoffish.” Though Jason gave him a hug in front of the others, Bourdin says, he seemed to eye him warily. After a few minutes, Jason told him to come outside, and held out his hand to Bourdin. A necklace with a gold cross glittered in his
palm. Jason said that it was for him. “It was like he had to give it to me,” Bourdin says. Jason put it around his neck. Then he said goodbye, and never returned.

Bourdin told me, “It was clear that Jason knew what had happened to Nicholas.” For the first time, Bourdin began to wonder who was conning whom.

Carey, worried about her supposed brother’s self-mutilation and instability, was no longer willing to let him stay with her, and he went to live with Beverly in her apartment. By then, Bourdin claims, he looked at the family differently. His mind retraced a series of curious interactions: Beverly’s cool greeting at the airport, Jason’s delay in visiting him. He says that, although Carey and Bryan had seemed intent on believing that he was Nicholas—ignoring the obvious evidence—Beverly had treated him less like a son than like a “ghost.” One time when he was staying with her, Bourdin alleges, she got drunk and screamed, “I know that God punished me by sending you to me. I don’t know who the hell you are. Why the are you doing this?” (Beverly does not remember such an incident but says, “He must have got me pissed off.”)

On March 5, 1998, with the authorities closing in on Bourdin, Beverly called Parker and said she believed that Bourdin was an impostor. The next morning, Parker took him to a diner. “I raise my pants so he can see I’m not wearing a gun” in his ankle holster, Parker says. “I want him to relax.”


Fisher and Stick took note of the disturbances in Beverly’s house after Nicholas had vanished, and the police report stating that Beverly was screaming at Jason over Nicholas’s disappearance. Then there was Jason’s claim that he had witnessed Nicholas breaking into the house. No evidence could be found to back up this startling story, and Jason had made the claim at the time that the police had started “sniffing around,” as Stick put it. He and Fisher suspected that the story was a ruse meant to reinforce the idea that Nicholas was a runaway.

Stick and Fisher began to edge toward a homicide investigation. “I wanted to know what had happened to that little kid,” Stick recalls.

Stick and Fisher gathered more evidence suggesting that Beverly’s home was prone to violence. They say that officials at Nicholas’s school had expressed concern that Nicholas might be an abused child, owing to bruises on his body, and that just before he disappeared the officials had alerted child-protective services. And neighbors noted that Nicholas had sometimes hit Beverly.

According to Fisher, when the examiner told Beverly that she had failed the exam, and began pressing her with more questions, Beverly yelled, “I don’t have to put up with this,” then got up and ran out the door. “I catch her,” Fisher recalls. “I say, ‘Why are you running?’ She is furious. She says, ‘This is so typical of Nicholas. Look at the hell he’s putting me through.’ ”

isher next wanted to interview Jason, but he resisted. When he finally agreed to meet her, several weeks after Bourdin had been arrested, Fisher says, she had to “pull words out of him.” They spoke about the fact that he had not gone to see his alleged brother for nearly two months: “I said, ‘Here’s your brother, long gone, kidnapped, and aren’t you eager to see him?’ He said, ‘Well, no.’ I said, ‘Did he look like your brother to you?’ ‘Well, I guess.’ ” Fisher found his responses grudging, and developed a “very strong suspicion that Jason had participated in the disappearance of his brother.” Stick, too, believed that Jason either had been “involved in Nicholas’s disappearance or had information that could tell us what had happened.” Fisher even suspected that Beverly knew what had happened to Nicholas, and may have helped cover up the crime in order to protect Jason.

fter the interview, Stick and Fisher say, Jason refused to speak to the authorities again without a lawyer or unless he was under arrest. But Parker, who as a private investigator was not bound by the same legal restrictions as Stick and Fisher, continued to press Jason. On one occasion, he accused him of murder. “I think you did it,” Parker says he told him. “I don’t think you meant to do it, but you did.” In response, Parker says, “He just looked at me.”

Several weeks after Fisher and Parker questioned Jason, Parker was driving through downtown San Antonio and saw Beverly on the sidewalk. He asked her if she wanted a ride. When she got in, she told him that Jason had died of an overdose of cocaine. Parker, who knew that Jason had been off drugs for more than a year, says that he asked if she thought he had taken his life on purpose. She said, “I don’t
know.” Stick, Fisher, and Parker suspect that it was a suicide.

 

[Noirdame79]

So according to what the PI and FBI found out, Nicholas was probably being abused at home. Most likely by Jason. His mother called the police on him (Jason) on two separate occasions and they were reportedly arguing about Nicholas's disappearance.