WI WI - Manford Bernard Frye, 62, also goes by Matthew, Franklin, Milwaukee County, March 13, 2022

[Keiri]

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 case is new to NaMus but I'm not sure when it was reported to police. Note the 2022 missing date.

Date of Last Contact March 13, 2022
Missing From Franklin, Milwaukee County
Age 62 Years
DOB 1959
Sex Male
Race White
Height 6' 0" (72 Inches)
Weight 180 - 210 lbs
Alias Matt
Hair Bald, facial hair goatee
Eyes Blue
Scars: one on chin
Tattoos: right forearm- sun, 13, back- Frye,100 wood, left arm- eagle, tribal, upper left arm- barbwire, eagle

Case Owner:
Franklin Police Department
(414) 425-2522
Case Number: 22-010022

NO LONGER UNDER DOC SUPERVISION (source: WI DOC page which it won't let me link to results)
Case 1
Case 2
Harm to Officer case
Article re breakins

Not sure about what his social media presence is. I have seen NO missing postings for him anywhere else.
Manford aka "Matt" was last known to be at American Motel in the City of Franklin. He has not communicated with friends or family since 04/04/22.

 

[Keiri]

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/jsonline/name/manford-frye-obituary?id=3269175 his dad's obit

 

[Keiri]

Folks, I asked Law enforcement about his access to vehicles.
Got this reply today:

At the time, Mr. Frye had transportation.
Respectfully,
Sgt Jason Ireland
Franklin Police Department
Detective Bureau

 

[Keiri]

Im kinda wondering why they didn’t say what kind of car we should be looking for. Should I ask?

 

[Keiri]

Lots of updates in the last month, but nothing visible on our end.

 

[Keiri]

His facebook, pretty bare Facebook
Sending it to LE

 

[jfrye]

Lots of updates in the last month, but nothing visible on our end.

Curious what you mean by updates?

This is my Father’s case. Would greatly appreciate any update. Law Enforcement hasn’t contacted me since Dec 19th 2024. Also included (which was failed to be added to the report) is the religious tattoo on his right arm.

I initially tried to file a missing person report and was refused by LE. Then a few weeks later my Uncle went in and LE agreed.

 

[jfrye]

Folks, I asked Law enforcement about his access to vehicles.
Got this reply today:

At the time, Mr. Frye had transportation.
Respectfully,
Sgt Jason Ireland
Franklin Police Department
Detective Bureau

He didn’t have his own vehicle.

 

[jfrye]

View attachment 553657

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 case is new to NaMus but I'm not sure when it was reported to police. Note the 2022 missing date.

Date of Last Contact March 13, 2022
Missing From Franklin, Milwaukee County
Age 62 Years
DOB 1959
Sex Male
Race White
Height 6' 0" (72 Inches)
Weight 180 - 210 lbs
Alias Matt
Hair Bald, facial hair goatee
Eyes Blue
Scars: one on chin
Tattoos: right forearm- sun, 13, back- Frye,100 wood, left arm- eagle, tribal, upper left arm- barbwire, eagle

Case Owner:
Franklin Police Department
(414) 425-2522
Case Number: 22-010022

NO LONGER UNDER DOC SUPERVISION (source: WI DOC page which it won't let me link to results)
Case 1
Case 2
Harm to Officer case
Article re breakins

Not sure about what his social media presence is. I have seen NO missing postings for him anywhere else.
Manford aka "Matt" was last known to be at American Motel in the City of Franklin. He has not communicated with friends or family since 04/04/22.

I’d be curious of who spoke to him after ~March 13th.

 

[Keiri]

He didn’t have his own vehicle.

I don’t understand why they told me that he had transportation then. I believe you of course. This matters because cars can be located in water, whereas on foot limits distance.

The updates I saw on NaMus were law enforcement entering data (probably entering dna into the system). We can’t see that information. But we can tell when the Namus case was updated, and that’s what I was talking about.

If I may suggest, especially with the Milwaukee area, you need to stay on top of contacting them for updates. I find email works better. Otherwise cases can just fall through the cracks.

Good news is we’re an open records state so you can request the file and get it from the records department. Look on their website to do that request. You can then track what’s been done and maybe make suggestions. You have to be proactive, in my opinion, because many cases just die after an initial search. Milwaukee county is generally understaffed everywhere.

I think but am not sure I found his Facebook account. If you have access to his stuff maybe Franklin might want to know more. I think social media and phone records are crucial, although here it’s next to impossible to get a warrant to examine them without meeting tough criteria.

 

[jfrye]

I don’t understand why they told me that he had transportation then. I believe you of course. This matters because cars can be located in water, whereas on foot limits distance.

The updates I saw on NaMus were law enforcement entering data (probably entering dna into the system). We can’t see that information. But we can tell when the Namus case was updated, and that’s what I was talking about.

If I may suggest, especially with the Milwaukee area, you need to stay on top of contacting them for updates. I find email works better. Otherwise cases can just fall through the cracks.

Good news is we’re an open records state so you can request the file and get it from the records department. Look on their website to do that request. You can then track what’s been done and maybe make suggestions. You have to be proactive, in my opinion, because many cases just die after an initial search. Milwaukee county is generally understaffed everywhere.

I think but am not sure I found his Facebook account. If you have access to his stuff maybe Franklin might want to know more. I think social media and phone records are crucial, although here it’s next to impossible to get a warrant to examine them without meeting tough criteria.

I greatly appreciate your advice,

I have more information that I will not share here because I have been told these things in LE confidence.

He was in the process of selling his vehicle. That vehicle was located and was obviously not in his possession.

LE has been incredibly hesitant to share any information.

I spent two straight years asking for information with, in my eyes, no progress.

It took nearly three years for this case to be posted in national databases.

In my opinion, LE does not find this case to be of high priority.

LE has been incredibly difficult to get to respond and this case has demanded so much of my time that I had to quit my job due to stress. At about the 2.5 yr point I had to give up because I was losing myself in the case.

In my opinion, my Father is not alive, someone knows something and has refused to tell the truth.

This was not a man who just “disappears”.

He is one of 11 children, and had close relationships with most of his siblings. He never would not contact someone in the family.

 

[jfrye]

I don’t understand why they told me that he had transportation then. I believe you of course. This matters because cars can be located in water, whereas on foot limits distance.

The updates I saw on NaMus were law enforcement entering data (probably entering dna into the system). We can’t see that information. But we can tell when the Namus case was updated, and that’s what I was talking about.

If I may suggest, especially with the Milwaukee area, you need to stay on top of contacting them for updates. I find email works better. Otherwise cases can just fall through the cracks.

Good news is we’re an open records state so you can request the file and get it from the records department. Look on their website to do that request. You can then track what’s been done and maybe make suggestions. You have to be proactive, in my opinion, because many cases just die after an initial search. Milwaukee county is generally understaffed everywhere.

I think but am not sure I found his Facebook account. If you have access to his stuff maybe Franklin might want to know more. I think social media and phone records are crucial, although here it’s next to impossible to get a warrant to examine them without meeting tough criteria.

They are probably saying he had access to transportation because people around him at the time of this occurrence had vehicles. His vehicle, one he had not finished the process of selling, was taken to a junk yard and destroyed right around the time of his disappearance.

 

[jfrye]

View attachment 553657

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 case is new to NaMus but I'm not sure when it was reported to police. Note the 2022 missing date.

Date of Last Contact March 13, 2022
Missing From Franklin, Milwaukee County
Age 62 Years
DOB 1959
Sex Male
Race White
Height 6' 0" (72 Inches)
Weight 180 - 210 lbs
Alias Matt
Hair Bald, facial hair goatee
Eyes Blue
Scars: one on chin
Tattoos: right forearm- sun, 13, back- Frye,100 wood, left arm- eagle, tribal, upper left arm- barbwire, eagle

Case Owner:
Franklin Police Department
(414) 425-2522
Case Number: 22-010022

NO LONGER UNDER DOC SUPERVISION (source: WI DOC page which it won't let me link to results)
Case 1
Case 2
Harm to Officer case
Article re breakins

Not sure about what his social media presence is. I have seen NO missing postings for him anywhere else.
Manford aka "Matt" was last known to be at American Motel in the City of Franklin. He has not communicated with friends or family since 04/04/22.

The initial missing persons report was filed either late April of 2022 or early May.

 

[Keiri]

The initial missing persons report was filed either late April of 2022 or early May.

I am personally disgusted by the number of people missing for so long that are not reported by NaMus or ncmec. I want our state to change that. It should not have taken over two years for your dad’s disappearance to make it there. Now you know why everyone says Wisconsin has a low missing number. The media goes based off the databases, which do not contain a majority of the missing. I say this because Milwaukee county has stated they have a minimum of 500 people missing at any time, yet the whole state has only 224 in the combined databases for Wisconsin.

I wanted to go complain at the recent fire and police dept committee meeting, but I live in Madison and am not qualified to argue for it. Instead, mkepd was grilled over the missing homeless man swept away by floods not being declared critical missing. There are so many huge changes needed, and if you feel compelled, you can find a whole lot you can do for missing people through advocacy. But that’s a commitment. Just saying my disgust runs deep for the missing persons rules in the state and mke county.

A lot of missing people’s families start Facebook pages to gain attention. I am friends with some. In the Franklin area there’s one for sandy eckert, and Milwaukee as a whole Alex Kruck and Ryan withee’s families are very active. If you check on Facebook you can follow them and put out stuff about your dad, too. The families may also be willing to give you advice for things I don’t know about.

The only other thing I can say is if you are not convinced your dad is deceased, a good spot to look is homeless encampments and shelters. They don’t report who is there for privacy reasons, so you can either go to them or contact local homeless activism groups - there’s a few that give resources to the homeless directly and are willing to check for Missings among them. Hospitals can be difficult to get info from. You can also hire a private detective but I’ve never seen a found person as a result of them. There’s search and rescue groups but mkepd is infamous for refusing their help.

I’m sorry this has taken such a toll and that he’s missing. If Franklin turned it over to sensitive crimes, let me know. Request your dad’s file and see what’s been done.

You said there’s things you aren’t disclosing. That’s good. Keep it secret. But know that there’s a few homicide-related Missings in Milwaukee being worked and their families are barely told anything because it’s an active investigation and they can’t tip off the suspects. So if your case is like that (don’t answer that) then know it could be why you’re not hearing anything. My opinion and the opinion of some of the families involved in those is it’s possibly a ring that’s going to be hopefully handled later, when there’s enough evidence.

 

[jfrye]

I don’t understand why they told me that he had transportation then. I believe you of course. This matters because cars can be located in water, whereas on foot limits distance.

The updates I saw on NaMus were law enforcement entering data (probably entering dna into the system). We can’t see that information. But we can tell when the Namus case was updated, and that’s what I was talking about.

If I may suggest, especially with the Milwaukee area, you need to stay on top of contacting them for updates. I find email works better. Otherwise cases can just fall through the cracks.

Good news is we’re an open records state so you can request the file and get it from the records department. Look on their website to do that request. You can then track what’s been done and maybe make suggestions. You have to be proactive, in my opinion, because many cases just die after an initial search. Milwaukee county is generally understaffed everywhere.

I think but am not sure I found his Facebook account. If you have access to his stuff maybe Franklin might want to know more. I think social media and phone records are crucial, although here it’s next to impossible to get a warrant to examine them without meeting tough criteria.

I was asked to stop contacting LE and they would update me with any news.

 

[Keiri]

I was asked to stop contacting LE and they would update me with any news.

Wow... that's... disheartening. I'm so sorry. I don't have any words for how soul crushing that must feel.