SheWhoMustNotBeNamed
Former Member
Missing Since: November 1974 from Independence, Missouri
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Date of Birth: January 27, 1974
Age: 10 months old
Height and Weight: 2'5, 22 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Brown hair, brown eyes. Michael's height and weight are approximations.
Missing Since: November 1974 from Independence, Missouri
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Date of Birth: September 21, 1970
Age: 4 years old
Height and Weight: 3'6, 40 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Light brown hair, brown eyes. Sheri's height and weight are approximations.
Details of Disappearance
Michael disappeared with his mother, Freda Loretta Denman, and his sister, Sheri Lynn Johnson. Denman's husband Henry Lee Harbison, also known as Henry Johnson, disappeared at the same time as his family. They were not reported missing until March 1975, five months after their disappearance. It was the family's landlord that told the police they had disappeared.
Police found Denman's clothes still in the closet of their residence. Harbison's clothes and clothes of the children were missing, however. Blood was also found on a cushion in the home, but laboratory tests on the stain were inconclusive.
It is suspected that Harbison may have murdered his family. Photographs of Harbison are shown below this case summary. He has an extensive criminal background and uses several aliases. His affiliates at the Church of the New Song claim the entire family was murdered. Denman's family believes Denman was murdered and the children were given away.
Both the Independence police department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were involved in the Denman/Johnson disappearances. The Independence police closed the file on the disappearances, thinking the FBI would follow up on it. It didn't. The case remained closed until 2004, when it was reopened. Investigators are testing the DNA of a prison inmate in Arkansas as a possible match for Michael.
Due to the unclear circumstances in their disappearances, the Johnson children's cases are classified as non-family abductions. Michael, Sheri, and their mother's cases are still unsolved.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Independence Police Department
816-325-7335
OR
816-325-7300
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Independence Police Department
816-325-7335
OR
816-325-7300