WA WA-Gary Wallace Gutierrez, 20, Chelan County, 01 Aug 1979

[ADKGemini]

Gary Wallace Gutierrez – The Charley Project

Gary Wallace Gutierrez

• 

Gutierrez, circa 1979

• Missing Since08/01/1979
• Missing FromWenatchee, Washington
• ClassificationMissing
• Age20 years old
• Height and Weight5'10, 155 pounds
• Distinguishing CharacteristicsCaucasian male. Brown hair, green eyes.

Details of Disappearance
Gutierrez was last seen in Wenatchee, Washington on August 1, 1979. He was working in an apple orchard at the time. He has never been heard from again.

Gutierrez had a Colorado driver's license in 1979. He liked backpacking, and he had been planning to move across the country to Maine at the end of the August 1979. His case remains unsolved.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[Savemecastiel]

Bumping

 

[MadMcGoo]

Missing Person / NamUs #MP39979
Gary Wallace Gutierrez, Male, White / Caucasian
​

Date of Last Contact: August 1, 1979
Missing From: Wenatchee, Washington
Missing Age: 20 Years
Height: 5' 10"
Weight: 155 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Green

Circumstances of Disappearance: Gary was last seen in Wenatchee, WA where he worked at an apple orchard. He was known for backpacking and planned on moving to Maine at the end of August. He had a Colorado driver's license.

Current list of Unidentified Person exclusions:
UP3041 06/26/1982 Nez Perce ID
UP6474 06/12/1990 Prince William VA
UP6530 05/18/1990 Chesterfield VA
UP6746 01/29/1982 Newport News VA
UP2560 03/05/2003 Norfolk VA
UP6762 10/08/1995 Richmond VA
UP6171 12/26/2005 Pittsylvania VA
UP2667 08/18/2008 Dinwiddie VA
UP6639 07/28/2007 Fairfax VA

 

[Mireille]

Lurker here, that finally was allowed to post something. [Yay!]

I got curious about this case, because so little information is available and even moreso, it felt as if he could be alive elsewhere. After a few attempts at finding his birthdate and failing, I did find two family trees on ancestry that held his name. They list his birth-year as 1959, and both list him as living in kitsap, washington for some time, however both trees list him as dead, but in two different counties. One in Pierce, the other in Benton. Washington.

The headline for this page is: All Family Trees results for Wallace Ktrzakalski
I do not know whom that is, and google results yields no results aside this page.



I am unable to view the years, or further details as I am not a paying member. I have however looked for a death record and I found one for a Gary Gutierrez whom died due to a cardiac arrest in 1983, but the age is not a match, since he was 27 at the time of death, meaning he was born in 1956-1957. The death also occurred in Yakima.

I also found another death record, which contained very little information aside that the surname was Gutierrez. He might have had a middle name which started on U. No first name listed. No other vitals such as height and weights. However, the male who died, was 20 years old, and had county of residence listed as : 0, and death county listed as : 0. This person, whomever it is died a few months , before Gary W. Gutierrez was reported missing on 08/01/1979


A part of me genuinely wonders if this might be him.
I also found a man who was born in 1959, who had an old grainy potato quality image up of him as young, and he looks similar to Gary W. Gutierrez (and carries an almost identical name). But it is hard to really tell. Since neither photograph is good enough to truly compare well.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Lurker here, that finally was allowed to post something. [Yay!]

I got curious about this case, because so little information is available and even moreso, it felt as if he could be alive elsewhere. After a few attempts at finding his birthdate and failing, I did find two family trees on ancestry that held his name. They list his birth-year as 1959, and both list him as living in kitsap, washington for some time, however both trees list him as dead, but in two different counties. One in Pierce, the other in Benton. Washington.

The headline for this page is: All Family Trees results for Wallace Ktrzakalski
I do not know whom that is, and google results yields no results aside this page.

View attachment 285771

I am unable to view the years, or further details as I am not a paying member. I have however looked for a death record and I found one for a Gary Gutierrez whom died due to a cardiac arrest in 1983, but the age is not a match, since he was 27 at the time of death, meaning he was born in 1956-1957. The death also occurred in Yakima.

I also found another death record, which contained very little information aside that the surname was Gutierrez. He might have had a middle name which started on U. No first name listed. No other vitals such as height and weights. However, the male who died, was 20 years old, and had county of residence listed as : 0, and death county listed as : 0. This person, whomever it is died a few months , before Gary W. Gutierrez was reported missing on 08/01/1979
View attachment 285769

A part of me genuinely wonders if this might be him.
I also found a man who was born in 1959, who had an old grainy potato quality image up of him as young, and he looks similar to Gary W. Gutierrez (and carries an almost identical name). But it is hard to really tell. Since neither photograph is good enough to truly compare well.

Welcome!

I have a subscription to Ancestry, so I will check later on this evening and see what I can find.

 

[Mireille]

Welcome!

I have a subscription to Ancestry, so I will check later on this evening and see what I can find.

Oh that would be wonderful. I was not able to find any death records with the name specifically in Benton or Pierce. The records available there however, are not complete records from every county. So that would be very useful!!

 

[MadMcGoo]

Oh that would be wonderful. I was not able to find any death records with the name specifically in Benton or Pierce. The records available there however, are not complete records from every county. So that would be very useful!!

I’m afraid I’m not going to be much help. I remember now looking on Ancestry when I posted previously and not finding much then either.

Those two trees appear to be fairly accurate though. I can’t, however, find a birth or death record for him. According to those trees he was born in July of 1959 (either 5th or 25th), but they list his date of death as June 14, 1980 (one in Steilacoom, Pierce and the other in Pierce, Benton). That’d be too early to have him declared legally dead but almost a year later than his missing date, so I’m not sure where that comes from.

His family apparently had ties to Arizona and Colorado mostly. I didn’t find anyone in yearbooks that I felt certain was him. The one photo publicly available of him is very hard to compare anything to though.

I’m looking through newspapers now...haven’t found anything so far.

 

[Mireille]

I’m afraid I’m not going to be much help. I remember now looking on Ancestry when I posted previously and not finding much then either.

Those two trees appear to be fairly accurate though. I can’t, however, find a birth or death record for him. According to those trees he was born in July of 1959 (either 5th or 25th), but they list his date of death as June 14, 1980 (one in Steilacoom, Pierce and the other in Pierce, Benton). That’d be too early to have him declared legally dead but almost a year later than his missing date, so I’m not sure where that comes from.

His family apparently had ties to Arizona and Colorado mostly. I didn’t find anyone in yearbooks that I felt certain was him. The one photo publicly available of him is very hard to compare anything to though.

I’m looking through newspapers now...haven’t found anything so far.

Did it say where he was born?

Thank you for checking. It gives some further information at least.
I am going to circle back to the guy on my death certificate. The middle name is listed as starting on the initial U. However, I found more death records, with no first name, and middle name U. Just like with Gary the place of residency is listed as 0, and the county of death is listed as 0. So I am starting to think it simply stands for "unknown".

Edit: I Just noticed his death-date is listed as 7/5/1979
This is 5th of July no?

I am gonna dig around for some death records though. They have to be somewhere if they actually recorded him as dead. Do you think it is possible that the reported missing date might be "the day they reported him missing". Rather than "the day he went missing?" I am not certain whom reported him missing.

 

[Mireille]

I think I might have found one of the death certificates the family trees have

Link

Gary W. Guiterrez [The name is possibly typoed. The missing persons spells it Gutierrez. It was why I did not find it on my original dig]
Death: Pierce county.
Residence county: Kitsap county
Age: 20
Died: 6/14/1980
Edit: If he was born on the 5th or 25th of July, this would still make him 20 at his DOD. It would have been 1 month until he was 21.

This is looking like him. I m not certain if law-enforcement know about this? or have checked it.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Did it say where he was born?

Thank you for checking. It gives some further information at least.
I am going to circle back to the guy on my death certificate. The middle name is listed as starting on the initial U. However, I found more death records, with no first name, and middle name U. Just like with Gary the place of residency is listed as 0, and the county of death is listed as 0. So I am starting to think it simply stands for "unknown".

Edit: I Just noticed his death-date is listed as 7/5/1979
This is 5th of July no?

I am gonna dig around for some death records though. They have to be somewhere if they actually recorded him as dead. Do you think it is possible that the reported missing date might be "the day they reported him missing". Rather than "the day he went missing?" I am not certain whom reported him missing.

I misspoke earlier. The Washington death index is where I found both of those records, including the one you posted. And neither tree has sources for the birth date, so it must have been manually entered. The only discrepancy in dates (5th v 25th) is a single residence record for Gary W Guterres which places him in Meridian, Idaho at an unknown date. Everything else indicates he was born on the 25th, but it doesn’t say where he was born. If it’s the same place his mother and father were living (according to a city directory) in 1959, it might have been Douglas, Arizona.

I could not find anything in newspapers aside from an auction at his dad’s business in AZ after his death and possibly a military announcement for his dad and an arrest of his half brother. I really wish we knew why there are two separate death records on that date for him. Because I do believe that is him.

 

[MadMcGoo]

I hadn’t even noticed the last name was misspelled on that record. Good catch!

 

[MadMcGoo]

Also, I looked into the city he was supposedly last in. “Wenatchee is referred to as the "Apple Capital of the World" due to the valley's many orchards.”

I don’t know much about Apple orchards or harvesting, but knowing when that was might help narrow down when he was last there (assuming the LKA date is an estimate).

 

[Mireille]

Apple season starts in August if you wanna pick apples. (aug-early nov) They are normally picked by hand to prevent bruising.
Washington Apple info So it does make sense that he was "heading there " for work at that date.

I am going to guess you need some workers to otherwise keep up your orchards though. Water, clip, keep birds and stuff out so they don't eat them. So not sure when they hire or where.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Apple season starts in August if you wanna pick apples. (aug-early nov) They are normally picked by hand to prevent bruising.
Washington Apple info So it does make sense that he was "heading there " for work at that date.

I am going to guess you need some workers to otherwise keep up your orchards though. Water, clip, keep birds and stuff out so they don't eat them. So not sure when they hire or where.

Ahh ok. I didn’t think about that. Plus I forgot he was planning to move to Maine at the end of August.

 

[Mireille]

Ahh ok. I didn’t think about that. Plus I forgot he was planning to move to Maine at the end of August.

No, I think it is a great point you are making by bringing it up.
Why would you "start" working at an orchard if you were about to leave 1 month into an employment? Summer "seasonal" jobs normally start in June/July and last until Aug/Sept here. Not sure what it is like in the US.

Seems more likely he either went a few months before, which would make sense to the first death certificate. Or, he worked there, stayed cause he liked it, and eventually did not move to main, but died the following year. As Gary W. Guiterrez?

Either is possible.

Edit: Of course, seasonal work! How did I not think of that before.
He was travelling , probably start of July, to work there. He would have most likely gone there long before August started. Seasonal work starts at the latest in July (earliest May) around here.

On charley project it says: "Gutierrez was last seen in Wenatchee, Washington on August 1, 1979. He was working in an apple orchard at the time. He has never been heard from again."

So death certificate for first guy is 7/5/1979, which is, 5th of July 1979. I am getting that odd feeling he died before even properly getting into work, and somehow, one year later was identified , but his name was spelled wrong....?

Edit again: What is the date in the missing persons is off by 1 month. What if he was last seen the 1st of July. Somehow no missing persons report was taken until a month later?

 

[Mireille]

Small update from my front.

I attempted to e-mail the Medical Examiner's office in pierce county to ask if this or either could be Gary.
They are sadly unable to give out much information due to legalities. They have laws and guidelines to follow as well. I could not be given more info unless I was legal kin (Or perhaps a member of law-enforcement, which I am not)

They did however confirm that they dealt with the " Gary W. Guiterrez" case and that this indeed belonged to them.

They also confirmed what was said earlier in the thread that; it is not their policey to make a death-certificate for someone who has been missing for a year (or a little under a year in this case). So these two cases probably had actual bodies, that are somewhere.

I then reached out to the Wenatchee police dept and asked if he could be either of the two as well. If there was a way to find out. The answer was sadly not very promising.

Gary was listed as missing 40 years after he was last heard from by a family member. Which on one hand makes it a little more likely that he could be either, but also very sad. There is no DNA and no dentals to compare to either.

I suppose the next stop will be Benton, though I do not expect much information from that front either.

Will update when I find out more.

 

[TheArtfulDetective]

It specifically states he was known for backpacking. Sounds like a plausible angle for his disappearance if he got lost, fell, injured, or met up with unsavory people. Were there good hiking places nearby? Were there places he visited frequently? It would be a needle in a haystack to find a backpacker, particularly if nobody knew where he could have gone.

He had a CO driver's license but there was no mention if he had a car. It seems unlikely as there was no mention of a car going missing with him, nor a car turning up for that matter. If he didn't have a car, then it's back to the hiking disappearance possibility. He probably would have went on foot in the vicinity.

Also if he didn't have a car, how was he going to get to Maine? Hitchhike? Maybe he did just that only left earlier than planned and met with foul play. If that's the case then his body could be anywhere. Then it's the task of trying to match him with an UID- nationwide. Unfortunate that there's so little information to help narrow things down.

 

[Diavola]

Bumping for Gary, missing for over 43 years...

 

[cheemsg]

Could he be this John Doe:
NAMUS?
He had brown hair bleached blond and is thought to have died in 1978 or 1979. It looks like Gary has his hair dyed blond in the picture.

 

[CastlesBurning]

Bumping for Gary - it's now been 44 years.