Suspicious Death of Henry Hults

At about 6:30 am on March 22, 1963, 62-year-old Henry Hults was found dead in his backyard about 15 feet from his house in Oxford Junction, Iowa. He had been badly burned and there were several patches of burned ground near him. It's possible this was from him trying to stop the flames. The fire had caused his death. 

It's not stated why they think it is a murder and not an accident. That is why I titled it a suspicious death. 

SOURCES:
Iowa Cold Cases
Find a Grave

Ghost: Specter of Newby Church

In 1963 Reverend Kenneth F. Lord would be taking pictures of the Church of Christ the Consoler on the grounds of Newby Hall in North Yorkshire, England. When the pictures were processed a strange figure would show up standing next to the altar.

The being was semi-transparent and was standing on the first step to the altar. It still towered over it however as it stood 9ft high. The figure was wearing a black robe that covered where its feet supposedly were and the hood was over the head. The hands are unseen and the face is covered in a white sheet with two depressions where the eyes are. The figure seems to look right at the camera. It's believed that this figure could have been a 16th-century monk wearing a white shroud over the face to mask leprosy or disfigurement.

Reverend Lord was confused by this figure as the church had no history of the paranormal. It was said the he was not the type of man who would pull a hoax at the time. 

Reverend Lord would then release the photo. It's believed that the photo was a hoax or possible double exposure. It's said that professionals at the time looked over the photograph and came to the conclusion that it wasn't so.

So was this a hoax or is there a harmless Specter at Newby Church?

SOURCES:

Burials and Beyond

Wikipedia

Ghosts Wiki

Urban Legendpedia

August 28, 1963 Indio, California Baby Boy Doe

On August 28, 1963, the burned remains of a newborn were found in Indio, California. The infant had evidence of charing, but the infant died from a head injury. The placenta and gas can were found at the scene. They likely died the day before.

John Doe was a white or Hispanic male. 

SOURCES:

NamUs

Murder of Bruno Désilet

Photo of the crime scene

On July 10, 1963, Bruno Désilet was last seen walking along the roadside of rang du Petit Saint Esprit in Nicolet, Quebec, Canada. His wife would report him missing on the 18th. Two days later on July 20th, two fishermen would find his body near rivière Nicolet. It was found that he had been murdered.

SOURCES:

Government of Quebec 

Disappearance of Raymond G. Carey Jr.

On October 25, 1963, 16-year-old Raymond Carey Jr. left home at 7:15 p.m. he was supposed to go watch a movie, but instead, he went to the bowling alley. Afterward, he would go to a PI Kappa Sigma sorority dance at the Lithuania Dance Hall in Hartford, Connecticut. 

Raymond told another boy at the dance that he had a ride home. A witness later saw him leaving the hall with three other teenage boys. This was the last time anyone had seen him and reported him missing the next day. He had no history of running away.

He was a junior at Bloomfield Highschool. He participated in the church basketball and softball teams, He used to play trumpet, but it used to irritate the scar on his lip.

Raymond is a white male and was 16-years-old at the time. He's 5'6" and 130 lbs. He has brown hair and blue eyes. He has a scar on his lip. He was wearing a pair of grey suede shoes, a dark green sweater, a dark green sports shirt, and a pair of black pants.

SOURCES:

NamUs

Charley Project

International Missing Persons

Hartford Courant October 29, 1963

Hartford Courant December 21, 1963

Disappearance of Linda Kay Britton

On June 11, 1963, 18-year-old Linda Kay Britton left her home in Cambridge, Ohio to mail a letter. She was never seen again after this and it's believed foul play is involved in her case. 

Linda is a white female and was 18-years-old at the time. She's 5'1" and 98 lbs. She had shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing bright orange pants, a white hooded jacket, and pink framed eyeglasses.

SOURCES:

NamUs

Charley Project

Doe Network

Ohio Attorney General's Office

The Times Recorder June 21, 1963

Disappearance of Juliette Delania "Lannie" Walker

On June 1, 1963, 21-year-old Juliette "Lannie" Walker was last seen in Pontiac, Michigan. She was known to get out of contact for a day or two, but she was never seen again after June 1st.

Lannie is an African American female and was 21-years-old at the time. She has black hair and brown eyes. She's 5'5" to 5'7" and 140-160 lbs.

SOURCES:
Charley Project
NamUs 

Murder of Margret Sheeler

On the day of December 27, 1963, pregnant 20-year-old Margaret Sheeler was at her home at 21 Bridle Path, London, Ontario, Canada. She and her husband Philip had a bad argument. She decided to leave the house and walk to her parent's home even though there was a snow storm happening.  but she never returned home so he reported her missing around 11:40 p.m. the next day. 

On Jan. 23, 1964 two boys stumbled across Margret's body in a field west of Bridle Path on Kipps Lane. Her clothes had been taken off and were strewn about the field. Her cause of death was found to be a skull fracture.

SOURCES:

London Police

True Crime Files 

Disappearance of Mary Ann Ruth Switalski

On July 15, 1963, 16-year-old Mary Ann Ruth Switalski went to a carnival at St. Priscilla's Catholic Church in Chicago, Illinois. Two days after she went missing a letter postmarked from Oak Park, Illinois was sent to her parents. Her note stated she was going to earn money to take care of them. This was the last time anyone had heard from her. 

She may have joined a magazine door-to-door sales group that was going to California. The owners of the sales organization gave conflicting information as the wife stated she left with the group and the husband stated that she never left Chicago. 

Mary Ann is a white female and was 16 years old at the time. She is 5'2" and was 102 lbs at the time. She has blonde hair and hazel eyes. She was wearing a black sleeveless top, white shorts, and straw sandals. 

SOURCES:

FBI

Charley Project 

NamUs

Nationals Missing Person Directory 

Disappearance of Martin Franzel

Between 5 a.m. and 6.am. on June 14, 1963, 76-year-old Martin Franzel went on his morning walk. He left his home on 3rd Ave. South in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but never returned back home. An extensive search was done for him, but no signs of him were found.

He was a 76-year-old white male. He was 5'8" and around 140 lbs. He had grey hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a cotton shirt, khaki pants, and a tan cloth hat. He was wearing glasses with metal rimes. He walked with a limp with a swoop and used a cane.

SOURCES:
Charley Project
NamUs
DoeNetwork

Disappearance of Phillip R Malchow

On May 6. 1963 47-year-old  Phillip R. Malchow was last seen in Black River Falls, Wisconsin.  He's a white male 47 years old.He's 5'5" to 5'10" and 160 to 210 lbs. He has blonde hair and blue eyes. 

SOURCES:
NamUs

Disappearance of Christopher H. Bridgeman, Jr.

33-year-old Christopher H. Bridgeman Jr. was last seen during a visitation with his 6-year-old son at Martian Way Hotel in Thurston County, Washington. He said told his son he was going to go see his father, and Christopher never returned to the motel. He was last seen sometime in Jan. of 1963.

His children had thought that Christopher had left to go try and start a career in country music. He was a budding country singer who had a hit song playing on local radio at the time. In 2004 a cousin asked the family if it was possible Christopher's father killed him and buried him in the basement. His drivers license for the time he disappeared had shown up in his father's possession.

His father had told the family he spent two weeks every year to search for Christopher on the west coast. He claimed he had also filed missing person reports, but no one could confirm that he had. The basement had been searched and nothing was found but animal bones. The house was unstable at the time and Law enforcement had a limited time to search.

He's a white male and 33 years old. He's 5'10" and 160 lbs. He has brown hair and his eye color is unknown.

SOURCES:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1506dmwa.html
http://www.missingin.org/reg9133/christopher_h_bridgeman__jr_.htm
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/22762

Disappearance of Phyllis Marie Corbin

In 1963 16 year old Phyllis Marie Corbin was placed at the House of Good Shepard in St. Louis, Missouri. It was a shelter for juveniles located on 3800 block of Gravois Ave. in St. Louis. Sometime in November of 1963 Phyllis and another unnamed girl decided to runaway. They both headed to New Orleans, Louisiana. The two got a ride to the Greyhound bus station to get to New Orleans.

It's reported that the other girl returned three weeks later by herself, but that is unconfirmed. The home supposedly reported the girls missing, but the family hasn't been able to confirm.

Phyllis is a white female and was 16 years old at the time of her disappearance. She had reddish brown hair, and blue eyes. She was around 5'5" and 5'8" and 100-155 lbs.

SOURCES:
http://charleyproject.org/case/phyllis-marie-corbin
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/50556/details

Stevie Crawford (Formerly 1963 Jackson County, Oregon John Doe)

2-year-old Stevie Crawford was Identified in June of 2021 by 23&Me. Stevie was last seen in 1962-1963 with his mother. His mother went on a trip and came back to New Mexico telling family members that Stevie was taken care of. His mother has since passed and it is believed this may have been a case of filicide. 

`````

A fisherman in the Kennne Creek Reservoir in Ashland, Oregon hooked what he thought was a rolled blanket. What inside horrified him. It was the body of a young boy. It was determined he had died after October the year before. Winter's freezing temperatures could had helped preserve the body. The cause of death is unknown due to the condition of the body. It was not determined whether it was natural, accidental, or murder. The body was wrapped in a blanket and dumped in the water.

The FBI compared the boy's footprints to birth certificates of newborns born at local hospitals that may have been born around the same time. None have been found to match.

The body was wrapped into two blankets. One was an Aqua blanket and a handmade patch work quilt. The Patchwork had lots of red including gingham red squares. Two iron assayers molds were placed in the blanket with the body to help weigh it down. The molds were used fore refining and casting metal. The blankets were wrapped with old telephone wiring with lead sheath and rubber insulation were used to tie the blankets. It was found that the wiring was once common, but had not been out of date at the time.

The John Doe was a white male  around 1 to 2 years old. He may of had a developmental disability or genetic abnormality such as Down Syndrome. He was around 2'8" to 3'2" tall and 19 to 30 lbs. He has long sandy brown hair. He had eight upper teeth and eight lower teeth. one of his lower teeth bifurcated, having two roots and the surface split due to an odd groove.

He was wearing a pullover red and white striped long sleeve shirt, a pair of gray corduroy pants white an elastic waste and an adjustable belt, a cloth diaper with blue diaper pins covered with plastic pants, ankle socks, and white learner or "Jumping Jacks" shoes. The shoes were likely bought at Nobles shoes in downtown Medford and the clothes were likely from J.C. Penny.

Dentals and DNA is available.

Other images:

Image of  his Shoes

SOURCES:

Wikipedia
Doe Network

Unidentified Wiki

John Xavier Gaydosh

One day in June 1963 John Xavier Gaydosh went to work, and never came back. The day wasn't determined, but his vehicle was found near a pond. He went missing in New Britain, Connecticut. He may use the alias John Thomas Gaydosh Jr. There is not much information on this case.

John was a 30 year old white male. He was 5'11" to 6" and 165 to 190 lbs. He has brown hair and his eye color is unknown. between 1955 and 1958 John broke his back.

He has DNA available.

Sources:
http://charleyproject.org/case/john-xavier-gaydosh
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/26608/0

Murder of Larry Jo Phebus

In October on 1962 14 year old Larry Jo Phebus was living in Tioga, North Dakota with his older brother Chester Phebus and friend Sam Wallace. He had moved from Petersburg, Indiana to live with the two. All three of them were living in a travelers motel, and Chester worked at an oilfield job.

On October 20, 1962 Sam and Chester went on a double date to watch a movie in Willston. They left Larry Jo home alone, and when they got back there was no sign of him. It was strange because whenever Larry Jo would leave he always left a note, so that they wouldn't worry. There was no note left at the motel room.

Chester started his search by asking friends of Larry Jo if they had seen him. He also went and asked people both from Ray and Tioga if they had seen him, but no one had. The last time anyone saw him was that Saturday. On Monday October 22, 1962 Chester told the police that Larry Jo was missing.

Larry Jo was known to hitchhike between Ray and Tioga, but never hitchhiked for over 30 miles. Thinking it could be possible though Chester had contacted his family in California, Illinois, and Indiana to see if Larry Jo had shown up. He never did and never would. On March , 1963 his body was found in a grain field near Alexander, North Dakota on Mar 28, 1963.

On March 28, 1963 Farmers were removing rocks from their field near Alexander, North Dakota when they found a body of a boy. It was obvious that before death the boy had suffered. Larry Jo was found nude with cord wrapped around his wrists and feet tied and neck. He had been strangled to death and sexually assaulted.

SOURCES:
https://attorneygeneral.nd.gov/public-safety/cold-cases
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13837070/larry_phebus_murder/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13837206/murder_of_larry_phebus/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13837279/larry_phebus_murder/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13837289/larry_phebus/
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Phebus&GSfn=Larry&GSbyrel=all&GSdy=1963&GSdyrel=in&GSob=n&GRid=25324384&df=all&