Resources for Missing Persons

According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day. Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends. Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.

Missing Person Case Updates with Photos

Barbara Joe Kelley
Barbara, date, approximate 1950; Henry Lawrence Baird
Date Missing 06/18/1950
Missing From
Humboldt County, California
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Age 17 years old
Height and Weight 5'4 - 5'7, 150 - 165 pounds
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female.
Details of Disappearance Barbara was last seen in Humboldt County, California on June 17, 1950. She lived in Fortuna, California and her 28-year-old boyfriend, Henry Lawrence "Red" Baird, lived in Eureka, California. A photo of him is posted with this summary. That evening they went out together and never returned.
The next morning, Baird's body was found lying facedown on the beach at Table Bluff. He had been shot in the back of the head. He was naked except for his shoes and socks. Nearby were the rest of his his clothes, and Barbara's own clothing was neatly folded and hidden underneath them; only her stockings and shoes were missing. There was no sign of Barbara herself. She has never been heard from again and may have been abducted by whoever shot him.
In 1963, a possible suspect, Gayle Patrick Irish, confessed to killing Barbara, Baird and another man, Billy Wells Hale. Irish had a long record for sex offenses and, at the time of his confessions, he was committed to the state mental hospital. He initially made his statements to the hospital chaplain. At the time of the arrest which led to his committal to the mental hospital, he was armed with a large-caliber hunting rifle.
Hale had been killed in 1957, in circumstances similar to Baird's murder: he and a woman were parked on a lane six miles north of Marysville, California when a strange man walked up to the car and shot him in the head. The man then bound the woman's hands and drove her for sixteen miles until he pulled off the road into someone else's private driveway. He threatened the woman with a razor, but she was able to flee when the homeowners returned.
According to Irish, he had found Barbara and Baird parked in a car on a remote road outside Eureka. He ordered them out at gunpoint, forced Baird to strip off his clothes, marched him down to the beach and shot him. He then drove Barbara to a logging camp near Crannell, California, shot her in the back, wrapped her nude body in a blanket and buried it off a logging road there.
Irish was unable to lead authorities to the alleged gravesite, but the specific logging road he named did exist and the area had become heavily overgrown in the years since 1950. The police apparently misplaced the hunting rifle they confiscated from him, so they weren't able to compare it to the bullet taken from the scene of Baird's murder. Irish was never charged with any of the murders he confessed to, due to lack of evidence.
At the time of her presumed abduction, Barbara was a waitress at the Sweet Shop, a Fortuna restaurant. She's described as deeply religious. Her , and Baird's murder, remain unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Humboldt County Sheriff's Office
707-268-2539
Other
Humboldt County Sheriff's Office
The Eureka Times-Standard
The Eureka Humboldt Standard
The Oakland Tribune
NamUs

Missing Person Photos

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 unknown. 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 to 5 percent 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. A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images 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.

Resources for Missing Persons

According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day. Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends. Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.

Missing Person Case Updates with Photos