WA WA - Loukthayoth 'Luke' Phiangdae, 11, Raymond, 6 Feb 1996

Missing Since: February 6, 1996 from Raymond, Washington
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: December 9, 1984
Age: 11 years old
Height and Weight: 4'2 - 4'5, 65 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Asian (Laotian) male. Black hair, brown eyes. Phiangdae's nickname is Luke. He has a birthmark on his right buttock. Phiangdae may reverse his first and last names, as in "Phiangdae Loukthayoth." He is an immigrant from Laos.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A blue shirt, black pants, a black denim jacket and tennis shoes.

Details of Disappearance


Charley Project
NCMEC

Little Luke has been missing for 15 years today.

Missing after an argument with his parents. Foul play suspected. I wish there was more info on this one.

Luke Phiangdae has been missing from Washington for 16 years today.

http://www.facebook.com/missingnorthwest


Charley Project - MISSING: "Luke" Phiangdae - Raymond WA, 1996
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11-year-old Loukthayoth "Luke" Phiangdae was last seen near his home in Raymond, Washington on February 6, 1996. He apparently left home after an argument with his parents, and has never been seen again. Foul play is suspected in Luke's disappearance.

Bumping.
Bring him home soon.

Hey, I googled just his last name and right away a Louk Phiangdae came up on Linkeden and mylife, that shows him in Portland Oregon.

There are 8 people in the United States on intellus and 3 are the same person Louik Phiangdae,2 for Loukthayane Phiangdae, it shows them all age 32. According to the dob we have he would be 28????

Here's a citation notice Louk Phiangdae 32 of Raymond, child restraint violation, $124.

There is a phone # for him in the Raymond Washington business directory under the name Luke Phiangdae.

Bumping.

Sleuthster said:

There are 8 people in the United States on intellus and 3 are the same person Louik Phiangdae,2 for Loukthayane Phiangdae, it shows them all age 32. According to the dob we have he would be 28????

Here's a citation notice Louk Phiangdae 32 of Raymond, child restraint violation, $124.

There is a phone # for him in the Raymond Washington business directory under the name Luke Phiangdae.

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I doubt that's him, he seems too young to have gone off on his own without anyone noticing and I think that if he was kidnapped then he probably wouldn't be living under his own name. :twocents: However the Oregon connection is interesting, perhaps he was eventually let go but given a fake birth date.

His Doe Network page says:

Phiangdae was last seen in his residence in Raymond, Washington on February 5, 1996.
On the morning of February 6, 1996, Luke's parents went to his bedroom. They found that his door was locked and his window screen was off the window and he was missing.
He has not been seen or heard from since.

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So which is it? Did he leave home after arguing with his parents and never came back, or did they send him to him room after the fight and he was gone by the next morning? I wonder where each site is getting their information from. It seems strange that parents would argue with a kid that young and not keep an eye out for his return to the point of assuming he's in his room the next morning.

Maybe he left, came back, went to his room... his parents noticed his return, didn't think of it until they checked on him the next morning. Maybe while he was away he ran into someone who followed him home. Or perhaps they assumed he returned but he never did and someone just removed the screen.

Do we know anything else? Where he went when he left, if they heard him come back, if anything was found in the room?

For him to have been possibly sighted in Oregon and for there to be multiple listings for a man with the same name (and "close" birthdate), seems rather strange. I'm curious where his family is now and whether or not he had any siblings? It seems easy enough to call the number listed for LP. If only his family could see this...

If foul play is involved in Luke's disappearance as authorities say they suspect then I wonder why there is so little information available. I mean, this is an eleven-year-old boy we are talking about. Hopefully they have investigated acquaintances, family, and neighbors. JMO and :twocents:

Missing for 20 years this month...

Updated Charley Project link - Loukthayoth Yoshi Phiangdae – The Charley Project

So sad - there are so many Asian UIDs and yet so few recorded missing. So its frustrating when someone IS reported missing and there's no resolution. C'mon Luke, where are you?

I noticed that the Willalpa River is very close by, to the south of Luke's home on Crescent Street. Could he have fallen in it?

A story about Louk's disappearance recently came out: Mystery of missing Raymond boy still lingers 28 years later - The Daily Chronicle

NWsleuth said:

A story about Louk's disappearance recently came out: Mystery of missing Raymond boy still lingers 28 years later - The Daily Chronicle

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This article is very interesting. Thanks for linking it.

I have never heard of two detectives publicly disagree on the possible outcomes of a case before. I'm sure it's happened before but this is the first time I'm seeing it.

Still, Wilson isn’t convinced either had any involvement, especially as time passed by and he got to know both of them at the local American Legion.

“They just didn't seem like the people to do that, to me,” Tom said. “But anybody can be wrong.”

Ron Davis, one of the lead detectives, had other suspicions.

There were some facts about the case Ron couldn’t overlook, however. One of Louk’s shoes was found in his bedroom the next morning — and he only had one pair of shoes, Davis said.

Two months after the disappearance, on April 14, 1996, a counselor at the Shoalwater Bay Medical Clinic, 20 miles west of Raymond, told police that one of their patients said her daughter heard Louk’s older brother, Taolook, 17 at the time, say that he knew his dad had killed Louk but wouldn’t tell anyone because he was afraid his dad would kill him. Ron interviewed Taolook, who denied saying it.

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This could have ended badly for the older brother. I hope detectives are handling this delicately but still investigating.

March 28, 2025 article


[…]

At around 7 p.m. that night, a woman who lived a couple of blocks down the road said she had seen Louk running across the Highway 101 bridge toward Raymond from Riverdale

[…]

My first thought was suicide... Last time I checked, suicide was the second leading cause of death among 10- to 14-year-olds... Remember, Louk spent his first two years in a POW camp... Even after he got out, his parents and older siblings were still dealing with the trauma inflicted there...
At that age, when the brain isn't even close to being developed, the reasons for suicide can vary, including a desire to die, revenge on one's parents, along with other reasons unique to Asian culture...
His sister was the last family member to see him, and she said Louk had never looked so distraught... If he had decided to run away or just relax somewhere else, he would have at least brought a coat, or even his backpack... He didn't need a coat for what he was planning...
The detective says all the people who drowned were later found in the river... These are just the drowning cases he knows about. Anyone who jumps into cold water and doesn't drown will quickly develop hypothermia...
In water at or slightly above freezing, you'll lose consciousness in 15 minutes. This isn't even considering the currents that will pull you in. If you try to swim, you'll lose body heat even faster and should cut your survival time in half...
He was last seen by the bridge. According to his sister's recollection, he was quite distressed the last time she saw him. I don't think the family is being entirely truthful... In a house with five other children, it's impossible for them to have noticed him missing in just 15 minutes... They wouldn't have forced their way into the door after he didn't respond (to force).
I doubt the officer searched his room for foreign fingerprints... I think the family isn't being entirely truthful about whether he was depressed or suicidal... I think many families of missing persons do the same thing... Whether they're in denial, believe (perhaps rightly) that people will give up looking for their loved one, or want to protect the reputation of the missing person and their family...
whatever the case,
Rest in peace, Little Luke

What a sad case. I can think of numerous scenarios, and I wouldn't rule anything out in this case.

spartanx said:

it's impossible for them to have noticed him missing in just 15 minutes... They wouldn't have forced their way into the door after he didn't respond (to force).

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They could have gone to try to talk to him and then become angry thinking he locked them out, so forced their way in. Who knows what happened when, but it sounds like an emotionally volatile night. That happens sometimes.