HI VUCUREVICH, Milan Jr - Doe Net 502DMHI

bessie

Verified Insider
Joined
Aug 19, 2008
Messages
31,771
Reaction score
1,605
dFv7dte.jpg

Milan Vucerevich, Jr.

Doe Network 502DMHI

Missing since June 3, 1984 from Kauai, Kauai County, Hawaii.
Classification: Endangered Missing
Vital Statistics
Distinguishing Characteristics: Brown hair.

Circumstances of Disappearance
Vucurevich went sailing with two friends, Mary Houston and Jim Chouinard, in Hanalei Bay off of the Hawaiian island of Kauai on June 3, 1984. The group was traveling in an 18-foot catamaran, which was described as "unsinkable" by its manufacturer. They were scheduled to return to shore in a few hours, but the three friends never arrived on Kauai and have not been seen again. Vucurevichs boat has never been located despite an extensive search at the time of their disappearances.

Vucurevich is a former United States Marine, a former lifeguard and an expert boatman. Houston and Chouinard are described as being excellent swimmers. Vucurevich's father, Colonel Milan Vucurevich Sr., is retired from the United States Army and has spent years attempting to find out what happened to his son and his friends in 1984. The United States Navy was conducting military tests off of Kauai on the day of Vucurevich Jr.'s boat ride. The Navy was firing missiles at white styrofoam targets that were approximately the same size and shape as the group's catamaran. Vucurevich Sr. has said that the Navy did not allow search teams to enter an area near the last known location of his son's boat in Hanalei Bay. He believes that the Navy mistakenly fired a missile at Vucurevich's catamaran and killed the persons on board. The Navy has denied any involvement in the disappearances. Vucurevich Sr. has written numerous politicians and presidents requesting assistance with information related to his son's case.

The Navy did accidentally launch a missile at a freighter near Kauai in 1988, four years after Vucurevich and his friends disappeared. The impact killed one person aboard the boat. Vucurevich's case remains unsolved. He was a resident of Los Angeles, California in 1984.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Kauai Police Department
808-241-6739

NCIC Number: N/A

Source Information:
KCBS-2
David H. Hackwo

http://doenetwork.org/cases/502dmhi.html
 
Vucurevich's circumstances make it all but impossible for him to be our man but he does fit all the physical stats including age, and he has a nose very similar to the UID's. And since he was last seen on a solid sailing boat with a crew of experienced sailors (about whom very little is known), it's not impossible that they decided to sail off into the sunset for some unknown reason.
 
I have to agree with you Carbuff. I read a story about his dad trying to get the Navy to admit they hit the boat he was on. On the dad's obituary, one poster mentioned his dad searching for 24 years....and stating..."We all know what happened that day".

I'm assuming the other 2 people he was with have never been found either.
 
No, none of them, but I suppose if they got hit by a Navy shell, there wouldn't have been much to recover. Also no debris from their boat has washed ashore anywhere. That's more unusual. And I can't find anything at all about the two friends he was with. They aren't reported as missing.

It's all pretty weird but no reason to think it didn't happen the way it's reported.

But on the other hand, he does fit the UID's description.
 
I looked too, I wasn't able to find either one of them as missing either. I presume their families believe they were hit by a Navy shell as well and never filed a MP report. I did find it interesting that one of the people on the list is a Michael Chouinard (Mr. Vucurevich went missing with a Jim Chouinard and Mary Houston). Michael went missing from Texas in 1991.

I wonder if there is a relation?
 
I looked too, I wasn't able to find either one of them as missing either. I presume their families believe they were hit by a Navy shell as well and never filed a MP report. I did find it interesting that one of the people on the list is a Michael Chouinard (Mr. Vucurevich went missing with a Jim Chouinard and Mary Houston). Michael went missing from Texas in 1991.

I wonder if there is a relation?

Good find. That one really makes my eyebrows go up.

There's just something hinky about the whole thing, y'know?
 
I looked too, I wasn't able to find either one of them as missing either. I presume their families believe they were hit by a Navy shell as well and never filed a MP report. I did find it interesting that one of the people on the list is a Michael Chouinard (Mr. Vucurevich went missing with a Jim Chouinard and Mary Houston). Michael went missing from Texas in 1991.

I wonder if there is a relation?

Chouinard is a fairly common name: see the Chouinard MP thread.

Vucurevich's two companions were momentarily mentioned as missing in one of the stories above. Their families may have agreed with the finding that they likely drowned and saw no need to file an MP report. Vucurevich's family may have wanted to keep the candle burning for their son. Thus, the differences in coverage between the individuals.

Whole container ships have suddenly disappeared off the map without a trace (not to mention Malaysia Airways until very recently). Debris or bodies (no doubt without PFD's) from a tiny boat? Navy conspiracy theories seem like a big reach.

There must be a lot of drownings of sailors headed to Kauai, no need to point to an errant missile as a cause (More reading on freak and monster waves can be found in "The Wave" by Susan Casey.....excellent book.) Sometimes people get the notion they are not subject to forces of nature because they are "experienced" or "excellent swimmers". Plus, Vucurevich's catamaran was sold to him as "unsinkable". The Titanic was "unsinkable" too......
 
Vucurevich's circumstances make it all but impossible for him to be our man but he does fit all the physical stats including age, and he has a nose very similar to the UID's. And since he was last seen on a solid sailing boat with a crew of experienced sailors (about whom very little is known), it's not impossible that they decided to sail off into the sunset for some unknown reason.

The detail that gives me pause is how much he weighs..... If LE is correct in linking the jeans found at Sand Canyon with the UID, the UID has to be skinny and tall. Vucurevich is 230 lbs....major, big guy..
 
Heavy guys can lose weight.

If they were out in the middle of the ocean, I wouldn't think twice about no signs being found, but they were in theory fairly close to the coast. The Navy base, now permanently closed, is on the other side of Kauai from Hanalei Bay, so they must have been sailing around the island to get within range of a shelling drill unless the Navy boats were well away from the base. But that's a good point about a new boat and overconfidence.

I mean, I agree that it's in the highest degree unlikely. But I can't find anything to absolutely rule it out, either.

https://goo.gl/maps/nzWvZYt3pyP2
 
While a naval accident seems like a fairly possible (maybe likely?) explanation, unsinkable doesn't mean it can't break up (or capsize), leaving those on board in the water with a pile of debris floating around them. Most kayaks are unsinkable, but many people drown in them.

The fact that no remains were ever found, they looked like a target (horribly unfortunate coincidence) and were in the test area, seems to be the wrong place, the wrong time...

It is well documented that the military has a culture of cover-up and an us versus them with an eye toward civilians, never wanting to look bad...I hate how they make up false stories of heroism about a negligent friendly fire victim, to be read in his funeral, etc., only for it to later emerge that it was all nonsense. How must the family feel?...
either way
rest in peace
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
89
Guests online
1,800
Total visitors
1,889

Forum statistics

Threads
590,007
Messages
17,928,896
Members
228,037
Latest member
shmoozie
Back
Top