OH OH - John Hundley & James McQueary, both 9, Fairfax, 15 Oct 1964

LOL, I was just getting ready to post this as it didn't come up in a search. The boys name are Johnny Hundley and Jimmy McQueary and they were 9 years old. They went missing in 1964.
 
I sent the info to Charley Project. and posted what little we know on Porchlight. How sad we can't find more...
 
Over 45 years have passed since two nine-year old boys from the eastern Cincinnati suburb of Fairfax disappeared from their community and were never seen again.

John Hundley and James McQueary lived very close to each other and were both in the third grade at Fairfax School. On Thursday afternoon, October 15, 1964, they were last seen walking out of the parking lot of Frisch's Mainliner, a very popular restaurant in the Frisch's Big Boy chain that was a short walk from their homes. One of the youths had owed the manager a short amount from a recent visit and the pair had stopped in to repay the debt. After doing so, they walked west off of the property which was in the opposite direction from where they lived. Although Daylight Savings Time was still three years away from going into effect in Cincinnati, the two still had some time to do something before it became dark.

When neither of the pair returned home, police were called. After the news picked up the story, the surrounding community was on the lookout for the young men. The initial thought was the two had ventured too close to nearby construction work. There had been some work done on a nearby street. There was also a much larger project that was ongoing as construction was taking place on an extension of Columbia Parkway, a four-lane highway that carried traffic from downtown Cincinnati into Fairfax. This was only a short distance from the restaurant where the boys were last seen.

Not long after the report of the boys' disappearance, a man told authorities he had previously seen a pair matching their description cleaning up in a restroom at Lunken Airport. That was in the immediate vicinity although quite a walk for two nine-year olds. However, this and all leads failed to find the young men and the case soon grew cold.

That was the situation until September, 1967, when a 17-year old Marine private from Fairfax, then stationed in San Diego, told authorities he had killed the boys. He alleged that he and another youth, who later moved to Indianapolis, had lured them to a location and then killed them. The Marine was brought back to the area for futher questioning, but on arrival, he stated he had just made up the story to avoid the military. As a result and with no other evidence, he was released. The other person he had named was also deemed to be not involved in the matter.

The disappearance remains open with no further clues and is unsolved to date.
 
How extensive was the search for the two young boys back then?

How far were they from the Little Miami River and the Ohio River from where they disappeared?
 
How extensive was the search for the two young boys back then?

How far were they from the Little Miami River and the Ohio River from where they disappeared?

For the time, I'd say it was fairly extensive. As far as I know, the thought was the boys had not gone far from Fairfax. As far as I remember and the more current research I did, there was more reason to believe they had gotten in trouble around a construction site as opposed to being involved with a third party (such as being kidnapped, etc.).

The Ohio River is not too far from that area - slighty south of Luken Airport. The Little Miami River is also closeby and runs into the Ohio just south of the airport. Fairfax is somewhat north of Luken Airport.
 
The initial thought was the two had ventured too close to nearby construction work. There had been some work done on a nearby street.

What kind of a construction work was going on the nearby street?

Are there any parks or ravines near that area? Was this a hilly area?

Were there any other children or teen disappeareances in the Tri-State area during the 1960's?
 
The newspaper account mentioned that there was some digging on a nearby street. It may have been trenches, etc. The main work was the construction to extend Columbia Parkway into Fairfax. That work involved good sized equipment such as bulldozers, etc. I've heard the theory that it was there that the boys may have fallen into a ditch or open pit and been covered.

There is one park that I can think of in that area, but it is to the east in Mariemont. I don't know of any ravines or any real hills to speak of.

There were no real disapperances to speak of in the Tri-State area during the 1960's in terms of a pattern. Not long after this was the infamous Cincinnati Strangler, but his targets were basically older women and that was more in the City of Cincinnati. In the Summer of 1964, there was a young toddler who disappeared in Fairfax. She was found dead under a porch and a young man from the neighborhood - who had been involved in searching for her - was charged and convicted. There were some other people who disappeared in the months after that as well as an unsolved murder, but nothing to be linked to the Hundley/McQueary disappearance.
 
I've heard the theory that it was there that the boys may have fallen into a ditch or open pit and been covered.

I sounds like the boys went to the construction area after workers were already done with their construction work for the day.

It is possible that they could have went into a trench and the trench suddenly collasped on them.

Or as you say, they could have fallen or tumbled into a ditch or open pit that probably was very deep and they had head injuries that either knocked them out or killed them.
 
I have heard the theory that it very well could have been in the construction area for the extension of Columbia Parkway where the boys could have met their fate. As I noted, it was very close to Frisch's Mainliner - and they were last seen walking west in that direction. You do wonder though if any of the workmen may have later noted anything amiss; such as a filled-in trench or ditch that could have covered over the boys after they had fallen in? Would they have recalled that wasn't how they left it and check it? This extension project took some time from start to finish, even encountering at least one lawsuit by someone whose property was in the right of way. When completed, it met Wooster Pike just off of the restaurant property. That's how it remains today.
 
Bump

This month will mark 46 years that John and James have been missing. Please come home soon.
 
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/h/hundley_johnny.html
hundley_johnny.jpg

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/mcqueary_jimmy.html
mcqueary_jimmy.jpg
 
Go to:
http://news.google.com/newspapers
Type in this search:
9 year old boys missing cincinnati oh

It brings up "35 men search for traces of two missing Ohio boys. I ran across this today while looking for information on 4 others who disappeared in Ohio in the 60's.

I'm looking for information on 3 possibly 4 who disappeared near Akron in the 60's. Two bodies were found, one was not, and I'm not sure of the fourth. They were Thomas Sumerix 15 - Disappeared June 5, 1963, Joseph Kulesza 17 - disappeared June 12, 1963, Ruth Guthrie 12 - Disappeared June 2, 1963.

Tommy's remains were found May 2, 1964 and Ruth's remains were found May 27, 1964. Joseph has never been found (or at least I can't find evidence of that). There was another girl and I have not been able to find her name or any information about her. She disappeared around the same.

I want to post this but am new to the site and don't know how. Ruth and Tommy were strangled with ropes. I'm thinking serial killer. I wonder if your two boys disappearance could be related to my four?
 
Joseph Kulesza was found alive 18 months later in Jacksonville, Fla.
 

Staff online

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
186
Guests online
1,569
Total visitors
1,755

Forum statistics

Threads
589,974
Messages
17,928,574
Members
228,028
Latest member
Kac1991
Back
Top