UT UT - Thomas Novak, 12, Park Valley, May have traveled to Nevada or Idaho, 25 July 1958

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This case was just added to NamUs. I feel for his family. Thomas would currently be 75-years-old. All info. from NamUs:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Thumbnail.jpg
Missing Person / NamUs #MP86599
Thomas Novak, Male, White / Caucasian
Date of Last Contact: July 25, 1958
Missing From: Park Valley, Utah


Missing Age: 12 Years
Current Age: 75 Years
Height: 5' 4" - 5' 9" (64 - 69 Inches)
Weight: 90 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue


Other distinctive physical characteristic: Walks with a shuffle

Clothing: Last seen wearing a tan shirt and blue jeans; possibly a western style straw hat, an old type .22 rifle, and a bundle of cattails.

Circumstances of Disappearance:
Thomas "Tommy" Novak was last seen about 10 pm on July 25th, 1958 on the Lawrence Carter Ranch in Park Valley, Utah wearing a tan shirt and blue jeans. No cars or horses were reported missing, so it is assumed the boy left on foot.
He did not take any extra clothing or food with him.

At first it was thought the boy may be headed to Finley, Nevada or Idaho. A boy resembling Tommy had been seen trying to broad a train at Brigham City.

On Aug 4th, a boy in a tan shirt, blue slacks, a western style straw hat, carrying an old type .22 and a bundle of cattails was seen at the Ogden stockyard and later the rail yards. The boy told a railroad checker that he was going to Wells, Nevada.

The last possible sighting of Tommy came from a rancher in Snowville, Utah who reported that he saw the boy on the evening of Aug 11th.

The Box Elder County Sheriff's Office, led by Sheriff Warren Hyde, and many locals on horseback conducted extensive searches of the rugged area around Park Valley but did not find any trace of the missing boy. Railroad authorities as far as California were notified to be on the look out for Tommy riding the rails.

Before moving to Utah about a year prior, the family had lived in Nevada. The authorities from Nevada were familiar with Tommy and noted that the boy had an interest in trucks. He was known to hitch
rides or stow-away in large trucks.

Tommy had one sibling, a four-year-old brother, at the time of his disappearance.

Circumstance Notes:
Tommy was not reported missing until until July 29th since he had run away from home several times before but never stayed away too long.
 
A couple of clippings from the local paper which give a few more details about his disappearance, the search (which seems to have been thorough) and possibilities.
 

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This case was just added to NamUs. I feel for his family. Thomas would currently be 75-years-old. All info. from NamUs:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
View attachment 324006
Missing Person / NamUs #MP86599
Thomas Novak, Male, White / Caucasian
Date of Last Contact: July 25, 1958
Missing From: Park Valley, Utah


Missing Age: 12 Years
Current Age: 75 Years
Height: 5' 4" - 5' 9" (64 - 69 Inches)
Weight: 90 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue


Other distinctive physical characteristic: Walks with a shuffle

Clothing: Last seen wearing a tan shirt and blue jeans; possibly a western style straw hat, an old type .22 rifle, and a bundle of cattails.

Circumstances of Disappearance:
Thomas "Tommy" Novak was last seen about 10 pm on July 25th, 1958 on the Lawrence Carter Ranch in Park Valley, Utah wearing a tan shirt and blue jeans. No cars or horses were reported missing, so it is assumed the boy left on foot.
He did not take any extra clothing or food with him.

At first it was thought the boy may be headed to Finley, Nevada or Idaho. A boy resembling Tommy had been seen trying to broad a train at Brigham City.

On Aug 4th, a boy in a tan shirt, blue slacks, a western style straw hat, carrying an old type .22 and a bundle of cattails was seen at the Ogden stockyard and later the rail yards. The boy told a railroad checker that he was going to Wells, Nevada.

The last possible sighting of Tommy came from a rancher in Snowville, Utah who reported that he saw the boy on the evening of Aug 11th.

The Box Elder County Sheriff's Office, led by Sheriff Warren Hyde, and many locals on horseback conducted extensive searches of the rugged area around Park Valley but did not find any trace of the missing boy. Railroad authorities as far as California were notified to be on the look out for Tommy riding the rails.

Before moving to Utah about a year prior, the family had lived in Nevada. The authorities from Nevada were familiar with Tommy and noted that the boy had an interest in trucks. He was known to hitch
rides or stow-away in large trucks.

Tommy had one sibling, a four-year-old brother, at the time of his disappearance.

Circumstance Notes:
Tommy was not reported missing until until July 29th since he had run away from home several times before but never stayed away too long.
 
This case would be a really good candidate for genealogy. imo It's very possible he started a new life. It would be really cool for his family to meet the family he started, if he started one.
 
12 years later a young man killed himself with a rifle, and is still unidentified. If he did go north to Idaho he might have crossed to Canada? Not sure how common it was for young males to walk around with rifles in those days, or how far you would get doing so. Different gun description, but who knows..
 
The Utah authorities page on him is interesting (Thomas D NOVAK) stating "Thomas was most likely autistic and did not have a good home life." Not a great background for survival. I have seen comments elsewhere about rumours of his parents involvement and search of their home, but from a source not allowed to be posted.
I think, but cannot be sure, that his parents were George Novak and Evelyn Edna Novak nee Borigo. The 1950 census, when they were in California, shows them with a son Tommy D and no other children and Evelyn is shown as dying in Arkansas in 1964 (which is where Tommy's parents moved circa 1960). They are also shown as having another child (Rocky Joe) in the mother's death record. This fits with the 4 year old sibling in 1958. All of this is from Ancestry. Unfortunately there is also some contradictions in the record as the George Novak with a son Rocky is shown as dying in 2011 but with a different wife and mother to Rocky (despite him showing on Evelyn's death record - an official document). It would be good if this parentage could be confirmed as George Novak became a sort of cult figure as a prospector and only inhabitant (with his son) of the ghost town of Ballarat in Death Valley. This would make it more likely that more information may be out there
 
Last edited:

Thomas D. Novak​

novak_thomas.jpg

Thomas, circa 1958
  • Missing Since 07/25/1958
  • Missing From Park Valley, Utah
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Male
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 05/22/1946 (77)
  • Age 12 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'0 - 5'9, 90 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A tan shirt and blue jeans, and possibly a straw Western-style hat. Possibly carrying old and rusted .22 rifle and a bundle of cattails about eighteen inches long with cut ends.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, blue eyes. Thomas's nickname is Tommy. He walks with a shuffle and has a few scars on his scalp that may be visible through his hair.

Details of Disappearance​

Thomas was last seen at the Lawrence Carter Ranch in Park Valley, Utah at 10:00 p.m. on July 25, 1958. He was preparing for bed at the time, unlacing his shoes to take them off. He is believed to have left the ranch on foot, as no vehicles or horses were found to be missing. He didn't take any extra clothing or food with him.

He may have been en route to the town of Fernley, Nevada or to the state of Idaho. He had run away from home five times before, but would never stay gone for very long. As a result of his runaway history, he was not reported missing until July 29.

On August 4, a boy matching Thomas's description and wearing clothes similar to the ones he was last seen wearing was sighted in the stockyard and later the rail yard in Ogden, Utah. In addition to the tan shirt and blue jeans, he was wearing a straw Western-type hat, and he carried an old and rusted .22 rifle and a bundle of cattails about eighteen inches long with cut ends. He said he was going to Wells, Nevada.

People on the Wells-bound train reported seeing this boy sitting on a flat gondola car later on. He reportedly jumped from the train about a mile outside of Wells and begun walking towards the nearest road. No one in Wells itself is reported to have seen him. Extensive searches of the Park Valley area, which was remote and rugged desert, turned up no indication of Thomas's whereabouts and he was never seen again.

Thomas had moved to Utah with his parents and younger brother a year before his disappearance; they had previously lived in Nevada. His parents worked as migrant farm laborers at the Lawrence Carter Ranch. By 1960, they were living in Arkansas.

Thomas had an interest in trucks and was known to stow away in large trucks and to hitchhike. There has been no sign of him since 1958.

Last updated August 25, 2023; casefile added.
 
Thomas was most likely autistic

Considering the word covers so many different things, and autism varies literally person to person, I am wondering what specifically about Thomas the person was referring to..
 
I wonder if he ever made it off that ranch.

How many people worked at the ranch that were migrant workers, like his parents? Easy to fade away and maybe someone notices, maybe not?
 

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