KS KS - David Phillips, 46, Saline County, 10 June 1883

New Posts

A

anthrobones

New Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2005
Messages
1,142
Reaction score
254
I think this is the oldest case I've ever seen anywhere. Ever.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1472dmks.html

David Laurie Phillips
Missing since June 10, 1883 from Saline County, Kansas
Classification: Missing



Vital Statistics
  • Age at Time of Disappearance: 46 years old
  • Distinguishing Characteristics: Beard & moustache; Light blue or grey eyes.




Circumstances of Disappearance
Phillips was last seen traveling by train from Kansas to Los Angelas on June 10, 1883. He was going to visit his nephew, Dr. William A. Phillips at his home in Los Angeles, California.
Phillips sent a telegram to Dr. Phillips from Las Vegas, New Mexico, and again from Yuma, New Mexico.
When the train arrived in Los Angeles, David Phillips was not on the train. Dr. Phillips was given an urgent message by a passenger on the train. The young man stated that David had acted incoherently at the Yuma station; seventy miles later, about 1 am on June 10, 1883 the train made a brief stop at Volcano Springs, as the train was pulling away, the roadmaster saw Phillips leap from the train, reporting later that he had "neither hat, shoes, nor coat".
The original missing persons report cannot be found. Although David Phillips' body was never recovered, the family erected a monument in his memory in Gypsum Hill Cemtery, Salina, which says "So he died there and the Lord buried him in the Valley but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day."
Deut.34 Ch. 5.6

 
Dr. Doogie said:
That would make him 169 years old today. Anbody want to try and get LE to do an age progression for him?
Click to expand...
I seriously laughed out loud at that!!!!!

You know though, even though this case is very old, it is still possible to solve the mystery of what happened to him.

I'm thinking of the movie "Back To The Future" where family folklore had it that their father fell out of a tree and their mother nursed him back to health... they later met at the "Under the Sea" dance (or somethink like that).

About a Christmas.....

I read an a different story once where a man was going up the mountain to consult with an old woman, because she was known as a witch. This was just 2 days before Christmas.

His horse and buggy slid off the road and he ended up clinging for life in a tree. He stayed there all night, freezing. In the morning a beautiful young girl looked down the embankment and said "There you are!". She managed to toss him a rope and pull him up (using her mule I think?).

It was now Christmas Eve. The beautiful young woman took the man to her grandmother's house, on the mountain. She mixed him up some herbal remedies and although he suffered from a fever, and was quite sick, he came through it all ok.

Turns out the Grandmother was the witch he was seeking. She "knew", through intuition, that someone was coming and had not arrived, so she sent her Granddaughter to check the road for him.

That young man ended up marrying the beautiful young woman one year later, on Christmas Eve..... Oh and the young woman's family name? It was Christmas!

Family folklore can be VERY interesting.... if anyone wants to find this man, they may find it in the "How we met" stories of their family tree!
smile.gif
 
Here is the oldest unidentified victim post on the Doe Network
http://doenetwork.us/cases/265ufky.html

265UFKY.jpg


Unidentified Female

* Found in the late 1800's, in Harrodsburg Spring Park in Kentucky.

Case History
On an unspecified date in the late 1800's, a young woman checked into the Harrodsburg Springs Hotel in the small Kentucky town. She used a false name, and while no one knew her true identity, they recalled that she was beautiful. That night, as music played in the ballroom, the girl came downstairs and began dancing with various partners.

The girl danced and at the end of the night, her final partner realized, that the young girl had died in his arms. The staff and guests held a funeral for the girl and she was buried on the hotel's property. The hotel is gone now. It burned down more than fifty years ago, although the grave remains in what is now a public park. There is a metal marker over her resting place that reads ... "UNKNOWN - Hallowed and Hushed be the place of the dead. Step Softly. Bow Head."

As time has passed, local residents claim that the girl still returns to the site of the hotel.

Harrodsburg, Kentucky is located about thirty miles southwest of Lexington on Route 68 and just a few miles north of the Perryville Battlefield. The city park where the hotel once stood is located in the center of town.
 
Well, looks like Sheriff Nimrod Miller has surpassed David as the oldest missing person case I've heard of.
 
It's not really official, but I think I'm not going to post any cases on Charley from the 19th century. I'd love to make a website about Charley's namesake, Charles Brewster "Charley" Ross, though. I'm not expecting him to be found -- kid's been missing since 1874 I think -- but his story is fascinating, tragic and ironic.
 
meggilyweggily said:
It's not really official, but I think I'm not going to post any cases on Charley from the 19th century.
Click to expand...

Just out of curiosity, is it simply because there are absolutely no chances of finding any person that's been missing for so long alive (obviously)? Or that the possibility of obtaining reliable new info on such cases is virtually inexistent?
 
I think this case is a fairly straightforward one of a person having a psychotic episode, wandering off into the wild and dying. He has a memorial with his wife and son which can be found at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20712680/david-laurie-phillips . The entry from a local history book, quoted on that page, is informative;

David L. Phillips, younger brother of William A. Phillips, was one of the five-member Salina Town Company. Although his family erected a monument to his memory, his body does not rest here. His disappearance remains a mystery today. Phillips left Salina in June 1883 on a trip to Washington Territory via the southern route through California. While traveling by train through a desert region of Arizona, Phillips, who suffered from migrane headaches, became distraught and irrational, telling his fellow passengers that he had been robbed. At a railroad stop called Volcano Springs, the road master saw Phillips leap from the train without hat, shoes or coat and run into the sandy, isolated region where temperatures soared during daylight hours. Although the Phillips family spent time and money in attempts to find the missing man, neither his fate nor the reason for his bizzare behavior was ever discovered.

Interestingly, his brother was a Civil War Colonel and later a Congressman. So I suspect the search efforts were more thorough than most at the time. Given the route Phillips took through Yuma I assume that Volcano Springs is what is now called Mundo, and which is recorded as being on the route of the Southern Pacific Railroad at the time. Given that the area was desert at the time and temperatures go over 120 fahrenheit it is easy to see the risks.
 
Last edited:
alb1on said:
I think this case is a fairly straightforward one of a person having a psychotic episode, wandering off into the wild and dying. He has a memorial with his wife and son which can be found at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20712680/david-laurie-phillips . The entry from a local history book, quoted on that page, is informative;

David L. Phillips, younger brother of William A. Phillips, was one of the five-member Salina Town Company. Although his family erected a monument to his memory, his body does not rest here. His disappearance remains a mystery today. Phillips left Salina in June 1883 on a trip to Washington Territory via the southern route through California. While traveling by train through a desert region of Arizona, Phillips, who suffered from migrane headaches, became distraught and irrational, telling his fellow passengers that he had been robbed. At a railroad stop called Volcano Springs, the road master saw Phillips leap from the train without hat, shoes or coat and run into the sandy, isolated region where temperatures soared during daylight hours. Although the Phillips family spent time and money in attempts to find the missing man, neither his fate nor the reason for his bizzare behavior was ever discovered.

Interestingly, his brother was a Civil War Colonel and later a Congressman. So I suspect the search efforts were more thorough than most at the time. Given the route Phillips took through Yuma I assume that Volcano Springs is what is now called Mundo, and which is recorded as being on the route of the Southern Pacific Railroad at the time. Given that the area was desert at the time and temperatures go over 120 fahrenheit it is easy to see the risks.
Click to expand...
Does he have DNA?
 
Mysteries1974 said:
Does he have DNA?
Click to expand...

I am not sure if that question is meant to be serious (?) given the date but............it is likely there are living descendants. I am not an expert on DNA so am not sure how useful they would be in providing a useable DNA profile. My comment about descendants is based on the attached contemporary newspaper cutting on his disappearance, which says he had 5 children. It comes from Ancestry.
 

Attachments

  • phillips.jpg
    phillips.jpg
    57.3 KB · Views: 9
alb1on said:
I am not sure if that question is meant to be serious (?) given the date but............it is likely there are living descendants. I am not an expert on DNA so am not sure how useful they would be in providing a useable DNA profile. My comment about descendants is based on the attached contemporary newspaper cutting on his disappearance, which says he had 5 children. It comes from Ancestry.
Click to expand...
The question was asked seriously. I submitted him to namus and if he has a profile I would like to print it into namus.
 
Mysteries1974 said:
The question was asked seriously. I submitted him to namus and if he has a profile I would like to print it into namus.
Click to expand...

Sorry if I misunderstood. I think the answer is that no DNA profile exists but that confirmation of identity for any remains which are found could be made (assuming the remains yield a profile) by comparison with his direct descendants. I know that a great granddaughter died as recently as 2002 and I would be surprised if others of her (or further) generations are not alive. I do not know whether a useful profile for comparison could be obtained in advance of a profile from remains since I assume a descendant profile would not provide a pure match. But I suspect, based on the newspaper report citing local experts, that even skeletal remains would only be found as a result of shifting sands.
 
alb1on said:
Sorry if I misunderstood. I think the answer is that no DNA profile exists but that confirmation of identity for any remains which are found could be made (assuming the remains yield a profile) by comparison with his direct descendants. I know that a great granddaughter died as recently as 2002 and I would be surprised if others of her (or further) generations are not alive. I do not know whether a useful profile for comparison could be obtained in advance of a profile from remains since I assume a descendant profile would not provide a pure match. But I suspect, based on the newspaper report citing local experts, that even skeletal remains would only be found as a result of shifting sands.
Click to expand...
Is their any contact listed for his decedents?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Staff online

Members online

... and 109 more.
Total: 1,435 (members: 110, guests: 1,325)

Online statistics

Members online
110
Guests online
1,325
Total visitors
1,435
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
591,783
Messages
17,958,760
Members
228,606
Latest member
wdavewong
Back
Top