WA WA - Transient carnival worker Robert Theodore Thompson missing from Spokane since July 14, 1974

[MadMcGoo]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) MP93891

ROBERT THEODORE THOMPSON


Date of Last Contact: July 14, 1974
Missing From: Spokane, Spokane County, Washington
Race / Ethnicity: White / Caucasian
Sex: Male
Age: 42 Years
Height: 5' 6" - 5' 8" (66 - 68 Inches)
Weight: 140 - 150 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Distinctive Physical Characteristics: One finger had been partially amputated.

Circumstances of Disappearance: Robert was a transient that traveled between his family's home in Corvallis, Oregon and Washington, Montana, and Minnesota. He followed the fairs and worked as a circus worker and as a cook at restaurants.

Investigating Agency:
Spokane Police Department (509) 625-4100
Agency Case Number: 2022-20112209

 

[alb1on]

He appears in family trees on Ancestry which include one of the pics in #1 above. His family grave memorial is at Robert Thompson - Find a Grave Memorial which shows his parents and siblings. A clear indicator that this is the correct person is the location in Corvallis, Oregon and that he is the only one of the parents and six children on the memorial stone to appear as simply 'in memoriam' with no date of death.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Born May 9, 1953 in Bixby, South Dakota. That tree had a clearer version of the photo: ETA: that’s not clearer at all.

 

[Bit of hope]

Born May 9, 1953 in Bixby, South Dakota. That tree had a clearer version of the photo: ETA: that’s not clearer at all.
View attachment 363788

I don't think it was 1953 It was 1932. Current age is 90.

 

[MadMcGoo]

I don't think it was 1953 It was 1932. Current age is 90.

Thanks for catching that! I really fumbled the ball there. lol

 

[Shellie Moran]

Born May 9, 1953 in Bixby, South Dakota. That tree had a clearer version of the photo: ETA: that’s not clearer at all.
View attachment 363788

Sorry, but you have his birth year wrong. He was born in 1932.

 

[summergirl1]

I wonder if any of his family has submitted DNA. Given the fact he had a partially amputated finger, it would be easy to rule out many Does, even those found more decomposed. His family last knew him to be in Spokane is what I gather, but it is definitive that he disappeared from there or did his family only have occasional contact with him and realized months later they hadn't heard from him in awhile and that was the place he was last heard from? He was mainly a transient it sounds like and given that it was a summer, a popular season for circuses and carnivals, he may have just been temporarily in town with the circus or carnival. His disappearence probably had something to do with someone he knew as otherwise he sounds like the type of person who wouldn't be a target of anyone, unless he met with some type of accident and no one around him was aware or bothered to report him missing. Just some thoughts.

 

[Shellie Moran]

I wonder if any of his family has submitted DNA. Given the fact he had a partially amputated finger, it would be easy to rule out many Does, even those found more decomposed. His family last knew him to be in Spokane is what I gather, but it is definitive that he disappeared from there or did his family only have occasional contact with him and realized months later they hadn't heard from him in awhile and that was the place he was last heard from? He was mainly a transient it sounds like and given that it was a summer, a popular season for circuses and carnivals, he may have just been temporarily in town with the circus or carnival. His disappearence probably had something to do with someone he knew as otherwise he sounds like the type of person who wouldn't be a target of anyone, unless he met with some type of accident and no one around him was aware or bothered to report him missing. Just some thoughts.

Your thoughts are correct. I am his daughter and gave a sheriff dept my DNA last week. I believe my dad is the John Doe from a Spokane fire at the old Cadillac Hotel on June 27th,1978. They exhumed the body last Nov. Waiting to hear.

 

[chaddylex]

Your thoughts are correct. I am his daughter and gave a sheriff dept my DNA last week. I believe my dad is the John Doe from a Spokane fire at the old Cadillac Hotel on June 27th,1978. They exhumed the body last Nov. Waiting to hear.

Hi Shellie,
Have you ever heard back if the John Doe was your dad? I just saw in NamUs that your dad's profile was modified today 1/21/25, but he still doesn't have any rule outs or exclusions listed.

I hope you receive answers about your dad's disappearance.

 

[Melt71]

The unidentified remains UP342 referred to by Shellie in her post above

WA Thread 'WA - Spokane, UnkMale 20-70, UP342, edentulous, amputated finger, June’78'

Dec 12, 2020

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Unidentified Person
NamUs #UP342

Date Body Found: June 27, 1978
Location Found: Spokane, Washington
ME/C Case Number: 78-0001
Sex: Male
Race / Ethnicity: Uncertain
Estimated Age Group: Adult
Estimated Age Range (Years): 20-70
Estimated Year of Death: 1978
Estimated PMI: 1 Days
Estimated Height: 5' 6" (66 inches)
Estimated Weight: 130 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinctive Physical Features: Amputation;
The...

• MadMcGoo
• Replies: 7
• Forum: The Unidentified

• 

 

[Richard]

Spokane, WA was where the World's Fair took place in 1974.