Missing
Samuel Arthur Todd
Todd, approximately 1984
Date and time person was reported missing : 01/01/1984
Missing location (approx) :
Manhattan, New York
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Male
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 06/12/1959 (62)
Age at the time of disappearance: 24 years old
Height / Weight : 5'11, 135 pounds
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : A dark blue sweatshirt with circular emblem that had "ECOLINT GENEVE" imprinted on the front, blue jeans, blue sneakers and a plastic Timex watch.
Medical conditions : Todd may be suffering from amnesia.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian male. Light brown hair, blue eyes. Todd wears eyeglasses with dark frames. He has a slim build. Todd's nickname is Sam. He has two small scars on his left cheek near his eye.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Todd attended a series of New Year's Eve parties with his younger brother and some friends in the New York City borough of Manhattan at Soho's Puck Building during the early morning hours of January 1, 1984. His brother stated Todd got drunk and became exuberant during the night.
Between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m., Todd left the third party to take a jog and try to sober up. He was last seen walking in the vicinity of Mulberry Street and Houston Street in Manhattan. He left his wallet and jacket at the party and carried no identification or cash on his person when he vanished. He never returned and has never been heard from again.
Todd's family reported him missing later in the day and over 200 volunteers, many of them Todd's classmates and former classmates from college, searched New York City for him. They could find no tEthnicity : of him.
Investigators believe he may have been assaulted and possibly struck on the head while walking that night. He may be suffering from amnesia as a result of his injuries. His family stated he was streetwise and had been mugged before.
An employee at the Men's Shelter in the Bowery in New York City told authorities that a man resembling Todd's description was in the shelter's area days after Todd disappeared. The worker also stated that the individual had a meal at the shelter, while another witness said that the man was later seen washing car windows on a Greenwich VillAge at the time of disappearance: street.
Todd attended an international school in Geneva, Switzerland and is a 1981 graduate of Vassar College, where he ran cross-country. He was a clergy student at Yale Divinity School at the time of his disappearance, and had passed the first round of qualifying exams for Presbyterian ordination. There were, however, some problems in Todd's life which may have caused him distress.
He had pre-registered for five courses for the spring semester, but he wasn't performing well academically; he had gotten incompletes in two courses he'd taken in the fall of 1983, and these incompletes would automatically become failures if his coursework wasn't completed by February 1984. Even if Todd was able to complete the classes, he still wasn't on track to graduate from Yale on time.
He was also suffering financial problems and had accepted financial assistance from relatives, and he was struggling to pay his tuition and his rent. He had ended his relationship with his girlfriend in the autumn of 1983. He had stated he planned to avoid his ex during the New Year celebrations, but she was at the party he attended that night.
Todd was interested in jazz music and in peace and justice issues in 1984, and he volunteered for several charities. He was born in New York City and lived all over the United States and in several foreign countries during his life.
In spite of Todd's difficulties, his family stated he was happy at the time of his disappearance, and they don't believe he would have ever left on his own. His case remains unsolved.
Other information and links : ncy
New York Police Department
646-610-6914
September 2021 updates and sources
New York Police Department
The New York Daily News
New York State Police
California Attorney General's Office
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
