TX TX - Thurlow M. Buchanan, 21, Fort Worth, 9 Nov 1987

[MadMcGoo]

Thurlow Buchanan - 1984 - Senior
O D Wyatt High School - Fort Worth, Texas, USA


Date of Last Contact: November 9, 1987
Missing From: Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas
Race / Ethnicity: Black / African American
Sex: Male
Missing Age: 21 Years
Date of Birth: April 12, 1966
First Name Thurlow
Middle Name: McFarland
Last Name: Buchanan
Nickname/Alias: Therlow Matt Buchanan
Height: 5' 9" (69 Inches)
Weight: 160 lbs
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Brown
Scars/Marks: Scar on his forehead between his eyes, scar on his left cheek

Circumstances of Disappearance: Missing since 1987. His car was recovered in Houston, Texas.
*Address listed in 1987 for Thurlow M. Buchanan: 3812 Falcon Dr, Forest Hill, TX, 76119-7378

Investigating Agencies
Fort Worth Police Department (817) 392-4442
Agency Case Number: 87578466
Date Reported: November 13, 1987

Sources

• NamUs MP65876
• Ancestry.com

(NamUs lists his age as 22 years, however according to the birth record I found for him, he would have been 21 at the time of his disappearance)

 

[Nancy Drew RN]

This article also refers to him as being 22, although I agree he seems to have been 21 (4/12/66). His brother had passed in a car accident in 1986, at age 18, so a lot of suffering for this family. Per these articles, he had no issues with drugs or money, and although he was dating a woman at the University of Houston (near where his car was found), they said he wouldn't have gone in the middle of the week, without a change of clothes.

Thurlow Buchanan 1/2/88 (1/2) - Newspapers.com
Thurlow Buchanan 1/2/88 (2/2) - Newspapers.com
Thurlow Buchanan 11/22/98 - Newspapers.com

 

[Tricia]

Click on this obit link and scroll to read the comments. Thurlow's mother had him declared dead but that doesn't mean people should stop looking or stop calling in with tips.
View Harold Carminati's Obituary and express your condolences

 

[ChatteringBirds]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Bumping up case. He wasn't added to NamUs until 2020. Unfortunately I guess that didn't lead to answers. My heart goes out to his family.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Bumping case up. Have any UIDs been ruled-out for him?

 

[Caring1]

Bumping case up. Have any UIDs been ruled-out for him?

There are none listed in NamUs.

 

[Murkywaters]

Thurlow has been added to The Charley Project.

Thurlow Matt Buchanan – The Charley Project

Missing Since: 11/09/1987
Missing From: Fort Worth, Texas
Classification: Endangered Missing
Sex: Male
Race: Black
Date of Birth: 04/12/1966 (57)
Age: 21 years old
Height and Weight: 5'9, 160 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: African-American male. Black hair, brown eyes. Buchanan has a scar on his left cheek and a scar on his forehead between his eyes. He may spell his name "Therlow."

Details of Disappearance​

Buchanan was last seen in Fort Worth, Texas on November 9, 1987. He has never been heard from again. After his disappearance, his car was found abandoned in Houston, Texas. Few details are available in his case.

 

[HopeRains]

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Jan 88, pg 17. This article states his mother received a form letter from Houston PD about the truck being impounded after 8 tickets, the first of which was issued November 12, 3 days after his disappearance. The truck was located 1/2 mile from the university his girlfriend attended.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Nov 87, pg 47

 

[HopeRains]

Date of Last Contact: Per articles, evening of November 9 (Monday) @ a friend's house

First Ticket Issued by HPD on vehicle 1/2 mile from girlfriend's university, per articles, November 12 (Thursday). The location of the vehicle is just entirely too coincidental for me.

 

[ralyla]

There is now one rule out:

UP2438
07/06/1988
Harris
TX

 

[mlhenn]

Thurlow Matt Buchanan – The Charley Project

Last updated December 4, 2024; picture added, details of disappearance updated.

 

[GuyfromCanada]

DEC 23, 2024

When 21-year-old Thurlow Buchanan vanished in 1987, he left behind a family desperate for answers—and a trail that led to Houston.

Thurlow was a young man with a bright future ahead. He was attending plumbing school, inspired by a family member’s business.

More at Missing in Houston: 37 years after his car was found in Houston, Thurlow Buchanan is still missing

 

[victoriarobinson642]

DEC 23, 2024

When 21-year-old Thurlow Buchanan vanished in 1987, he left behind a family desperate for answers—and a trail that led to Houston.

Thurlow was a young man with a bright future ahead. He was attending plumbing school, inspired by a family member’s business.

More at Missing in Houston: 37 years after his car was found in Houston, Thurlow Buchanan is still missing

 

[mlhenn]

Thurlow Matt Buchanan – The Charley Project

Last updated January 10, 2025; two pictures added, details of disappearance updated.

• 
• 

Buchanan, circa 1987

Details of Disappearance​

Buchanan was last seen leaving a friend's apartment on Pinson Street in Fort Worth, Texas on November 9, 1987. He was driving his new pickup truck. He has never been heard from again.

Three days later, his truck was found abandoned at a bus station in Houston, Texas near the campus of the University of Houston, which his girlfriend attended. There was no indication of foul play and no sign of Buchanan. The vehicle was towed from the bus station and his family didn't even find out it had been located until a year later, when they got a notice saying it would be auctioned off.

It's uncharacteristic of Buchanan to leave without warning; he had never left town before without telling his mother and only visited his girlfriend in Houston on weekends, because he himself attended night school; he was training to become a plumber. He had no history of missing class prior to his disappearance and is described as a reliable person who was close to his family.

The circumstances of his disappearance are unclear.