Missing
William Henry Forshee Sr.
William, approximately 1973
Date and time person was reported missing : 04/16/1973
Missing location (approx) :
Miami, Florida
Missing classification : Lost/Injured Missing
Gender : Male
Ethnicity :
Black
DOB : 09/07/1925 (95)
Age at the time of disappearance: 47 years old
Height / Weight : 5'9, 185 pounds
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: African-American male. Black hair, brown eyes. William is bald and may have a mustache. One of his eyes is missing. As the result of an accident, his right leg is one and one-quarter inches shorter than his left leg.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : William, his son William Jr., and two other African-American men, Minni or Benny Gaskins and DeWitt Lewis, left Miami, Florida in an eighteen-foot outboard boat on April 16, 1973. They were on an overnight fishing trip to Marco Island. They never returned to shore and none of them have ever been heard from again.
The boat trailer was found at Captain's Landing Marina in the 1000 block of Bald Eagle Drive, on Marco Island, alone with the men's truck, a green 1969 Ford F100 with Florida license plates, but the boat itself was never located and neither were any of its passengers.
Another vessel, a 14-foot boat which carried Robert Stone of Fort Myers, Florida, disappeared at the same time; it's unclear whether it or Stone was ever located either.
Photographs and vital statistics for Lewis and Gaskins are unavailable. The disappearances remain unsolved.
Other information and links : ncy
Miami-Dade Police Department
305-418-7284
September 2021 updates and sources
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are not known. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2�5% of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
Several organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and imAge at the time of disappearance: s of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
The St. Petersburg Times
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Florida Today
Miami-Dade Police Department
October 12, 2004. February 10, 2019; Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : updated.
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
