CANADA Canada - Richard 'Ricky' Jones, 18, Brantford, Ont, Oct 1975

Detectives with Brantford Police have talked with four people who remember Ricky Jones, a man last seen by family in the fall of 1975.

But the conversations haven't led very far in the search for Jones.
Jones's family approached a local newspaper and Brantford Police put out the word about the decades-old missing persons case earlier this month.
The four people police spoke to were students at Sheridan College in the mid-1970s, and remembered Ricky Jones, said Insp. David Wiedrick, of Brantford Police.
"It appears that Ricky attended some of his classes after he was last seen in Brantford in October 1975,"

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"At this stage, due to the lack of information that we have found on Ricky, he is either passed on, assumed a different name or is living somewhere other than Canada," Wiedrick said in an email.

In many cases, people missing that long have passed away. Wiedrick became concerned Jones may be one of those people. "If Ricky was one of those persons, we may be able to provide his family some closure," he said.
But ultimately, if Jones is found, it's up to him if he wants to re-connect with his family.
The unusual story came to light when the man's younger sister, Diane Jones Sanderson, contacted the Brantford Expositor in February 2016, with hopes of finding her brother. The paper then called police who began looking into the request.

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There seems to be very little information about Jones who was last seen in 1975 on Clench Avenue in Brantford. He was enrolled at Sheridan College in September that year and was in the graphic arts or graphic design program.
According to a description given to the Brantford Expositor by the man's family, in 1975 Jones was "tall and thin, 5-foot-10-inches to six-feet in height with brown hair that curled down to his shoulders that he parted in the middle. He didn't have tattoos or identifying moles but he did have a bit of a cleft chin," the paper reported.

Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is asked to call Detective Terry Shipp at 519-756-0113 x 2266.
"I couldn't believe how many road blocks we had," Wiedrick said

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BRANTFORD - Diane Jones Sanderson desperately wants to know what happened to her little brother.
Richard Jones - known as Ricky - was tall, slim and good-looking when he disappeared in 1975.
Forty years later, his sister cruises web-pages of missing persons and found bodies in hopes of finding some clue about Ricky's location.

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"At the time the family just thought he was messed up in drugs and had taken off." Diane Jones was young and had her own issues at the time her brother disappeared.

But, as the years went on with no word from Ricky, she worried.
Her mother and brother-in-law went to the police, but if an official missing persons report was ever filed, it's been lost over the years.
After four decades, Diane couldn't even remember if family had talked to the Brantford Police or to a police service near where Ricky had been living at the time.
"Now it's the computer age and I thought there might be a chance, after all these years.

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In recent years, Diane started looking at missing person sites that document people who have disappeared and unidentified bodies that have been found.

"It's hard to look at all these cases but they're taking DNA now from these unidentified bodies and there have been several instances of identifying kids from the 70s. I kept waiting to see Ricky's picture there, thinking they'd add it soon."

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The family has some of Ricky's DNA, in case they're ever asked to compare it with a body.

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In February 2016 a sister of a male that had not been seen since 1975 contacted the Brantford Expositor (Susan Gamble) and requested assistance in locating her brother. Reporter Susan Gamble contacted Brantford Police who did cursory searches of computer databases and could not locate any information of the missing male. Service Ontario and Canada Revenue Agency were also contacted to no avail. Brantford Police are sending out a Tweet with the most recent picture of the missing male provided by the family. It is the investigators hopes that someone may know where the missing male is now living so that police can contact him to advise that his family are looking for him after all these years. Any information to assist in locating a male who has been missing since 1975 would be appreciated.

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A family photo of Ricky Jones, taken before he disappeared

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[h=2]All of a sudden, he was gone'[/h] The disappearance happened 41 years ago.
"Back then, there wasn't an internet or anything, for us to know what direction he went in, or what happened, or…"
But Ricky was an adult, she said.
"I mean, it was the '70s," Jones Sanderson said. "Brantford was very small and lots of people I know just left, right? You know, traveling around Canada and hitchhiking, stuff like that. So that's possible."
She said there was no falling out with the family.
"It was just, he started school. And then all of a sudden, he was gone. And our whole family was in a turmoil with my mother so sick and everything, and everybody rushing back and forth to the hospital."

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"We just kept expecting to hear from him and never did," she said.

"That could have been his choice. I don't know. Or maybe it wasn't."

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Brantford Police provided a phone number for anyone who has information about Jones' whereabouts: Det. Terry Shipp at 519-756-0113 x 2266.

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dotr said:

Bumping for Ricky, somebody has to know where he can be found.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/ricky-jones-brantford-missing-1.3543334

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dexter75 said:

This is random I know, dotr.

Looking at many of these posts where youth went missing in the 70's.
Often, I recall stories my mother would tell of her hitchhiking to see my father when they were teens ( 17 ) just before they married & I came along. ( 1975 )

My mom would " thumb it " from the Irish Hills ( MI ) to Jackson/Michigan Center many times a week. She thought nothing of it, being dropped off along back roads. ( wherever my dad was hanging out )

She wasn't ever afraid as the world was a much " different " place then.

I often would ask if that REALLY were the case, or maybe our world is just smaller because of SM?

Anyway,
my heart goes out to all families of MP.
I often think of the days BEFORE the Internet...computers even!
I think of how scared, lost families must have felt. I think about how many folks ( police included ) wrote these kids off as runaways

I visit nearly every day. One of the first & last thoughts I have with each visit to any missing/unidentified page here is HOW?
How can a person(s) go missing without a trace?

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Roselvr said:

I knew it was dangerous to hitch because you never knew who would pick you up. When I was about 6 (1971) I saw a guy parked 20 feet from my house masturbating/ exposing himself. I lived near a major city in North Jersey called Elizabeth which was right next to Newark and NY City. Even taking the bus to shop in down town Elizabeth in the early to mid 70's, we knew to be aware of our surroundings. I always made sure I had money for a phone booth.

In my tweens I could get around on my own with my bicycle, then moped before I drove a car or motorcycle so didn't have a need to hitch. We used to ride our bikes all over. Back in 1980 I used to ride my moped 12 miles to work thru some bad towns, I was very much aware of where I was and that someone could run me off the road and grab me.

Maybe I had more street smarts then most to know not to hitch because of the guy that exposed himself or because of where I lived. I also used to work alone at our family gas station from 15 on; I'm thankful to be here still. It's why I do what I do now

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dexter75 said:

Thanks for sharing this��
What an experience, at 6 years old
Definitely a lot of sickos out there. I would often ask my mother " didn't you realize the dangers? " Her response was always that no one in her family talked about such things. Kind of a scary thought because my grandparents owned a diner all of the kids helped run, and this diner ( still there today ) sits right along US Hwy. 12 ( I think of Brittney Beers, Sturgis MI )

Being a mother of 2 girls I can't imagine NOT teaching them how to be smart on the street & how to protect themselves.
Anyway, I best stay on topic.�� Thanks again for your thoughts��


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Roselvr said:

I would think that with them working at the diner that they'd know what kind of crazy is out there because diners get all sorts of people coming in after partying all night.

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dexter75 said:

You know, you're so right! I'm sure they did.
Lord, perhaps my mother was just oblivious to it all..or she really knew and was blinded by love. ( telling us different because when you have 5 daughters..what WOULD you tell them?�� )


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Roselvr said:

I looked up Brittney, so sad they never found her. How far was your diner from there?

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namstache said:

Any chance he is Delafield Doe? I dont see much chest hair in his pic but I do see some facial similarities.

https://identifyus.org/cases/7632




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Boystory3 said:

Could Ricky Jones be one of the Sumter Co does? His physical descriptions sounds like it could match that if Jock Doe and he went missing in 1975 and the Sumter co couple was found shot to death in 1976 and never identified.

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Boystory3 said:

Could Ricky Jones be one of the Sumter Co does? His physical descriptions sounds like it could match that if Jock Doe and he went missing in 1975 and the Sumter co couple was found shot to death in 1976 and never identified.

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