WA WA - David Boniske, 21, Olympia, 23 July 1977

[Michle315]

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1266dmwa.html

David Reuben Boniske
Missing since July 23, 1977, from Olympia, Thurston County, Washington.
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics

* Date Of Birth: September 24, 1955
* Age at Time of Disappearance: 21 years old
* Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 6'5"; 170 lbs.
* Distinguishing Characteristics: White male. Brown hair; hazel/blue eyes. Wears glasses.
* Dentals: Available

Circumstances of Disappearance
Boniske was last seen on July 23, 1977, at his home in Olympia, Washington.
He was an Evergreen State College student at the time. Boniske disappeared without telling anyone where he was going.

A telephone and other credit cards which he normally used have not been used since his disappearance. Some cash and a check were also left at the college, along with Boniske's camera and hang glider. At the time of his disappearance, Boniske had a science project going involving the camera, which he used extensively. His disappearance occurred in the middle of the project.

Boniske's car was found in Seattle. The car had been stripped of all identification. Foul play is suspected.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Thurston County Sheriffs Department
360-786-5500

Agency Case Number: 7713827

NCIC Number: M-016429924
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

 

[Ambercat]

David Boniske's NamUs page -- https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/17959/130

 

[Needtoid]

His brother thinks he is in a truck in the water somewhere; I talked to him. Very sad case. I guess no one will know anything until his truck or body resurfaces. Hopefully, though, he is alive. Of course that is the ideal scenario. But he seems like a family oriented man, not someone who would just pick up and go. So he's probably in harm's way or he met with bad company. :-(

 

[Odyssey]

His brother thinks he is in a truck in the water somewhere; I talked to him. Very sad case. I guess no one will know anything until his truck or body resurfaces. Hopefully, though, he is alive. Of course that is the ideal scenario. But he seems like a family oriented man, not someone who would just pick up and go. So he's probably in harm's way or he met with bad company. :-(

According to Doe Network, his truck was found in Seattle. Is that not correct or is his brother not aware that they found the truck?

 

[Needtoid]

According to Doe Network, his truck was found in Seattle. Is that not correct or is his brother not aware that they found the truck?

I'm so sorry, but now I don't know if that was a typo and if I meant to write that his brother thinks his "body" is in the water somewhere (not truck)-- or if he had 2 vehicles.

I had spoke to David's brother just once in 2013. He had told me that David's car was scrapped. I even just went back to my old log and I had notated that the car was scrapped and damaged. I did send David's brother an email after we spoke, but I didn't hear back from him. I don't want to be a nuisance and message him again, because I don't want to uncover an old wound. But this case has always perplexed me. There were a few other cases in which the cars were found scrapped for parts-- local to this-- around the same time, and all men of similar ages.

 

[Odyssey]

Oh ok, I just thought Doe Network might have been wrong.

This is an interesting case. I came across it today for the first time while researching the case of David Sampson who was also 21 and disappeared from Seattle that same year.

 

[namstache]

David was ruled out today as one of the unidentified Gacy victims

 

[Savemecastiel]

Bump...

 

[CastlesBurning]

Bumping for David...it's now been over 43 years.

 

[katherine h]

I'm so sorry, but now I don't know if that was a typo and if I meant to write that his brother thinks his "body" is in the water somewhere (not truck)-- or if he had 2 vehicles.

I had spoke to David's brother just once in 2013. He had told me that David's car was scrapped. I even just went back to my old log and I had notated that the car was scrapped and damaged. I did send David's brother an email after we spoke, but I didn't hear back from him. I don't want to be a nuisance and message him again, because I don't want to uncover an old wound. But this case has always perplexed me. There were a few other cases in which the cars were found scrapped for parts-- local to this-- around the same time, and all men of similar ages.

I’ve alw

David Boniske's NamUs page -- The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

View attachment 65760

David Boniske's NamUs page -- The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

View attachment 65760

I would love to solve this case after all these years. David would have been my uncle, he was my mom’s sister. He grew up in Asheville, NC so I’m guessing there weren’t a ton of resources back then for the family to use from so far away.

 

[Caring1]

Bump

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

23 Unidentified Person Exclusions

 

[Diane Redfern]

What was his project about? Is it possible this project put him in danger somehow?
I can't even find an article about this. It's so frustrating when the information is so scarce.
I find interesting his height... I mean, almost 2 metres. There aren't many on NamUs UIDs that fit.
The closest is this one and he's been ruled out:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

This one has not been ruled out, but it's hundreds of miles away from Olympia:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

This one was found in Buckley, 50 miles away from Olympia:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

And finally we have this one, found in Ferndale in 2022; the thing is that David's car was located in Seattle, and Seattle is en route to Ferndale:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

By the way, I'm sure there's no connection, but Donna Manson was also a student at Evergreen State College.

 

[Caring1]

Bump

View attachment 408916

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

23 Unidentified Person Exclusions

View attachment 408917
View attachment 408918
View attachment 408919
View attachment 408920

David has one new exclusion:

 

[spartanx]

I have the impression that this young man was kidnapped or someone took revenge... maybe for a woman... I don't think he escaped, apparently he was happy with his life... in schools or universities it is common... fighting for a girl...
whatever the case
rest in peace

 

[FlyOfDragons]

while not immediately relevant to this case, I just want to say that during my research so far I've found that David's mother, Kitty, is a fascinating person: while primarily an environmental activist, she's also an advocate for world peace as well as women's rights. during (and after) the Cold War she (co-)founded a sister cities program between her & David's hometown (Asheville, NC) and a city in Russia to try to foster unity and peace between citizens of the two locations. she also held a lot of talks and helped organize meetings commemorating the bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki and calling for nuclear disarmament. she's generally been active in a lot of stuff, and there are a lot of newspaper articles about/that mention her starting from at least the late 70s

 

[HopeRains]

Some of the many articles:

Article clipped from The Olympian

Clipping found in The Olympian published in Olympia, Washington on 7/25/1977.

www.newspapers.com

Article clipped from The Olympian

Clipping found in The Olympian published in Olympia, Washington on 8/4/1977.

www.newspapers.com

Article clipped from The Olympian

Clipping found in The Olympian published in Olympia, Washington on 9/25/1977.

www.newspapers.com

Article clipped from The Olympian

Clipping found in The Olympian published in Olympia, Washington on 8/22/1977.

www.newspapers.com

Article clipped from The Olympian

Clipping found in The Olympian published in Olympia, Washington on 9/2/1977.

www.newspapers.com

Article clipped from The Olympian

Clipping found in The Olympian published in Olympia, Washington on 11/17/1977.

www.newspapers.com

 

[HopeRains]

Also, and this is a biggy, all articles point to his disappearance on July 7 not July 23 as shown in both Namus and DoeNetwork. I believe that is when he was reported as missing. He attended one class on July 5 (Tuesday) and apparently disappeared 2 days later.

Approx 60 miles.

 

[HopeRains]

Additional article with more specific reference to the recovery/identification of his car.

Article clipped from The Olympian

Clipping found in The Olympian published in Olympia, Washington on 9/1/1977.

www.newspapers.com

 

[FlyOfDragons]

Also, and this is a biggy, all articles point to his disappearance on July 7 not July 23 as shown in both Namus and DoeNetwork. I believe that is when he was reported as missing. He attended one class on July 5 (Tuesday) and apparently disappeared 2 days later.

Approx 60 miles.
View attachment 614677

yep. went to class on the 5th, called his mom on the 7th asking for money so he can rent an apartment instead of living in a dorm. he was reported missing on the 23rd, but all modern sources incorrectly put that as his date of last contact

not too long after David’s disappearance his younger sister Jill enrolled at the same college

ETA no contemporary sources indicate anything about David being in the middle of a project or anything. he loved to take photographs, yes, but i haven’t found anything about a project. he had only just started the summer semester and had only gone to one class before disappearing. his mother did state that before the semester started he was looking forward to studying the effects of nutrition on the body using the college’s electron microscopes, but again, nothing about him being in the middle of a project

 

[sasha17]

yep. went to class on the 5th, called his mom on the 7th asking for money so he can rent an apartment instead of living in a dorm. he was reported missing on the 23rd, but all modern sources incorrectly put that as his date of last contact

not too long after David’s disappearance his younger sister Jill enrolled at the same college

ETA no contemporary sources indicate anything about David being in the middle of a project or anything. he loved to take photographs, yes, but i haven’t found anything about a project. he had only just started the summer semester and had only gone to one class before disappearing. his mother did state that before the semester started he was looking forward to studying the effects of nutrition on the body using the college’s electron microscopes, but again, nothing about him being in the middle of a project

The part about asking his mother for money to move out of the dorm caught my attention. Was he having a conflict with a dorm roommate?