OR OR - Frances Brewster, 75, & Walter Cierley, 88, Bend, October 1999

http://www.bendbugle.com/bend-police-issue-nationwide-alert-for-missing-couple-fear-foul-play/

In July 1998, Walter Andrew Cierley, who now would be 91, moved suddenly from his Prineville apartment. A relative who “a couple of weeks later shows up and cleans out the apartment of belongings” told police that Cierley was traveling around the country with friends in a motor home.

Fifteen months later, in October 1999, Frances B. Brewster, who now would be 76, moved out of a Bend retirement center – with the same male relative’s help – and last was seen in the Sunriver area, Hayes said. The relative she had been living with said Brewster had left with Cierley to travel around the country in a motor home.

Hayes said police were told Cierley had been married to Brewster’s sister, who passed away several years ago. Relatives said they have been unable to contact the pair and have not heard from them on key dates when they normally would have, such as “birthdays, Christmas and such,” Hayes said.

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http://www.bendbugle.com/suspect-in-mothers-uncles-slayings-kills-self-as-police-move-in/

A 45-year-old Seattle man who allegedly killed and buried his mother and uncle in Central Oregon – then cashed their Social Security checks – apparently shot and killed himself when confronted by police in Seattle last Friday on Deschutes County arrest warrants, authorities said.

Federal indictments regarding the cashing of the checks were pending when Seattle police and federal agents went to a Seattle address to arrest John Henry Shipman on two warrants out of Deschutes County, said Bend police Lt. Jerry Stone. The warrants were for violations of a release agreement and a restraining order. Stone said the warrants stemmed from Shipman’s arrest and related investigations by Bend police into domestic violence directed at a former girlfriend.

When contacted in Seattle, around 4:30 Friday afternoon, Shipman retrieved a shotgun inside the residence, and officers retreated. A Seattle SWAT team was called in, but negotiators were unable to contact Shipman again. The SWAT team entered the residence around 11 p.m. and found Shipman dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Stone said.

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Charley Project:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/brewster_frances.html
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/cierley_walter.html

NamUs (Frances): https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/25666

NamUs information for Walter. What a tragic case.

Frances Brewster, possibly Spring River Road Jane Doe? Doe Network: http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1269ufor.html and NamUs: https://identifyus.org/cases/11434. Bend, Oregon is approximately 17 miles from Sunriver and even thought the age is off (believed to be 60 at the oldest) she also had no teeth. Little information is available due to only the skull being recovered.

theshadow45 said:

Frances Brewster, possibly Spring River Road Jane Doe? Doe Network: http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1269ufor.html and NamUs: https://identifyus.org/cases/11434. Bend, Oregon is approximately 17 miles from Sunriver and even thought the age is off (believed to be 60 at the oldest) she also had no teeth. Little information is available due to only the skull being recovered.

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Submitted via NamUs.

Bumping for Frances and Walter, now missing 21 years

Walter Andrew Cierley​

• 

Cierley, circa 1998

• Missing Since 07/01/1998
• Missing From Prineville, Oregon
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 12/31/1909 (113)
• Age 88 years old
• Height and Weight 5'8, 170 pounds
• Associated Vehicle(s) Motor home
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Gray hair, blue eyes. Cierley wears a full set of dentures.

Details of Disappearance​

Cierley was last seen sometime during July 1998 when his nephew, John Henry Shipman, helped him move out of his Prineville, Oregon apartment. Shipman later told people that Cierley was traveling around the country in a motor home. He has never been heard from again.

Shipman is the son of of Frances Brewster, who was reported missing by one of her other children in May 2001. She was last seen in October 1999 and was living with Shipman at the time of her disappearance. Shipman told authorities that Brewster was traveling with Cierley, whose late wife was Brewster's sister.

Police discovered that Shipman was cashing both Brewster and Cierley's Social Security benefit checks after they disappeared. When they tried to arrest him on some unrelated domestic violence charges in September 2001, he killed himself with a shotgun. Federal indictments related to the check-cashing were pending against him when he died.

Although Shipman never admitted to involvement in his mother and uncle's disappearances, authorities believe he murdered them both and buried their bodies somewhere in central Oregon.

Brewster and Cierley have never been located. Foul play is suspected in their cases due to the circumstances involved.

Investigating Agency​

• Bend Police Department 541-388-5550

Source Information​

• Bend.com
• North American Missing Persons Network

Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004. Last updated May 9, 2005.