LA LA - Alan Bourque, 19, New Orleans, 9 Feb 1970

[Bagpus]

So good to hear that the case has been reopened by the AF.

 

[cenazoic]

From what we’ve heard he was with friends, he stepped out of the bar to watch it and then he was never seen again.

Just to clarify a bit, Mardi Gras is a 6 (ish) week celebration based on the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar. It lasts between 12th Night (6 January) and Fat Tuesday (“Mardi
Gras”). Ash Wednesday is the next day and marks the start of Lent, which is dependent upon a given year’s date for Easter. So in that context, talking about ‘the parade’ doesn’t narrow anything down; there are many parades, typically named for the ‘krewe’ putting it on. The year Alan went missing, there were 33 parades during that time.

In 1970, Ash Wednesday fell on 11 February. Apparently, the 1970 Mardi Gras season was one of the most violent in years, with over 600 people arrested (at least a third of which were for ‘open air sleeping’.)
So, that doesn’t square with the Namus report that “He was last seen a month later, March 10, on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana during Mardi Gras”, as Mardi Gras was a month past at that point. Since the family story is that he went missing during MG, and he missed reporting in at Keesler on 9 February, it does make one question the credibility of that report (as @MadMcGoo mentioned previously.)

In any case, parades in 1970 did not roll through the French Quarter (Bourbon Street).

What if “March 10th” is a typo, and the reporter actually said ‘“February 10th”? This was Mardi Gras day (ie, the big event) year. However, the NOPD also went on strike during Mardi Gras, and “the biggest New Orleans parades, including Rex, Comus and Zulu, cancelled altogether; others rolled in suburban parishes instead of New Orleans.”

Note that the parades/krewes mentioned above traditionally parade on Mardi Gras day. So there wouldn’t have been a parade to see that day.

The above krewes traditionally follow the ‘uptown route’, which is: “starting at Napoleon Avenue and Magazine Street; proceed north to St. Charles; proceed east on St. Charles to Lee Circle continuing on St. Charles to Canal Street.” This was still true in 2023, although Lee Circle is now known as Harmony Circle.

After all that, this doesn’t really help narrow down where Alan may have been / or the bar, assuming that story is true, except that it tends to exclude the French Quarter.

Did the Air Force ever declare Alan AWOL?

 

[apearn]

Hi all! I’ve made posts before, but I’m on here again in the hopes to give this a jump and put back on the radar. As one of his family members, we want what you want… answers. It’s been difficult, but here are the highlights that we know. He was in the process of transferring bases and failed to report. The story has always been that he went to Mardi Gras for the parade and vanished. From what we’ve heard he was with friends, he stepped out of the bar to watch it and then he was never seen again. The case was reopened by the Air Force thanks to the work of his sister and they began interviewing those known to be there, and over a year ago familial DNA was submitted and prior to that, photos. We have not given up. I’ve been reaching out to podcasts and others for hopes of covering his story and we are trying to see the status of the DNA and there they are at with this all. So all we ask is that you don’t give up either. We just want to know we tried all that we could. #bringalanhome

What base was he coming from when he was heading to Keesler AFB, MS?

 

[Unknowntoyou]

Just to clarify a bit, Mardi Gras is a 6 (ish) week celebration based on the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar. It lasts between 12th Night (6 January) and Fat Tuesday (“Mardi
Gras”). Ash Wednesday is the next day and marks the start of Lent, which is dependent upon a given year’s date for Easter. So in that context, talking about ‘the parade’ doesn’t narrow anything down; there are many parades, typically named for the ‘krewe’ putting it on. The year Alan went missing, there were 33 parades during that time.

In 1970, Ash Wednesday fell on 11 February. Apparently, the 1970 Mardi Gras season was one of the most violent in years, with over 600 people arrested (at least a third of which were for ‘open air sleeping’.)
So, that doesn’t square with the Namus report that “He was last seen a month later, March 10, on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana during Mardi Gras”, as Mardi Gras was a month past at that point. Since the family story is that he went missing during MG, and he missed reporting in at Keesler on 9 February, it does make one question the credibility of that report (as @MadMcGoo mentioned previously.)

In any case, parades in 1970 did not roll through the French Quarter (Bourbon Street).

What if “March 10th” is a typo, and the reporter actually said ‘“February 10th”? This was Mardi Gras day (ie, the big event) year. However, the NOPD also went on strike during Mardi Gras, and “the biggest New Orleans parades, including Rex, Comus and Zulu, cancelled altogether; others rolled in suburban parishes instead of New Orleans.”

Note that the parades/krewes mentioned above traditionally parade on Mardi Gras day. So there wouldn’t have been a parade to see that day.

The above krewes traditionally follow the ‘uptown route’, which is: “starting at Napoleon Avenue and Magazine Street; proceed north to St. Charles; proceed east on St. Charles to Lee Circle continuing on St. Charles to Canal Street.” This was still true in 2023, although Lee Circle is now known as Harmony Circle.

After all that, this doesn’t really help narrow down where Alan may have been / or the bar, assuming that story is true, except that it tends to exclude the French Quarter.

Did the Air Force ever declare Alan AWOL?

We have very little information. As far as we know the march date is correct. The story has always been that he was at Mardigras but if was a month prior it could have been something else that he was there for, the truth is we really don’t know what happened, it could really be a number of options in regards to why he could have been there. Now that it’s reopened we hope to clarify the details and start to get more information. To my knowledge he was considered a deserter when he went missing and this impacted the initial investigation as a result.

 

[cenazoic]

As far as we know the march date is correct. The story has always been that he was at Mardigras but if was a month prior it could have been something else that he was there for,

Thanks for the clarification! I’d guess that NOLA would be a big draw for airmen at Keesler as the closet big city - only about 1.5 hours away driving. So Alan could have just been in town for fun, although the 10th of March was a Wednesday.

It’s also easy to imagine that the bit about Mardi Gras could have just been details getting lost/misremembered over time, although there is the part where Alan was reported to have stepped out to watch ‘the parade’.

If the March date is correct, its also possible ‘the parade’ was for St Patrick’s Day instead. I’ll need to dig around to find how many parades, and when/where they rolled, in 1970.

 

[apearn]

What month did he ship to basic?

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Alan Roger Bourque – The Charley Project

 

[Diane Redfern]