NM NM - Eerie CB Radio Messages From Child - Aug 1973

Blue the Puppy:

I find this quote from the Albuquerque Journal, August 12, 1973, of interest:

"Unofficially, and off the record, many persons involved in the search expressed their feeling that the transmissions are a hoax, or at least that transmissions subsequent to the original--and maybe valid--one have been the work of pranksters. If the initial transmission was real, there is a possibility that the boy has already died, some officials feel."

btw, thats an interesting point you bring up with today's technology and the radio transmissions. i wonder if they do still have copies of the transmissions. it would be really interesting to see, since the case never really had an official resolution ..
 
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Wow, what an interesting story! Good memory, too Shebbear. It would be really interesting to hear the original transmission and the following ones. Very sad if it is true and because of copycat's the boy may have died.
 
Creepy story that has haunted me since first discovering it. Makes me think that somewhere in the mountains underneath a huge amount of overgrowth, the truck with the boy and his father's remains still sits.


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I was thinking about this all summer, for some reason. I had not thought of it since I was little, maybe 10. Finally I googled it and wound up here (where I am often on, and never thought to look) and here's this comment from last month. Still curious!!!
 
<modsnip: discussing PMs> The Denver story about the hoaxer is no longer accessible online, even using Wayback Machine. <modsnip>

Thinking Sideways did a podcast on this in 2014 Lost Boy Larry

I am not so sure this was a hoax. Stuff like this gets me--

"The search was so poorly-organized and chaotic that even if “Larry” was in the area, there was no guarantee he would be found." Source: Strange Company: Newspaper Clipping of the Day

"As the search continued, one rescue worker in a helicopter flying over the Manzano Mountains, talked to a boy in distress who called himself 'David', not Larry. ( My note: Why was David in distress and did anyone help him?) Larry reported to an Albuquerque ham radio operator that he could see the search lights of an airplane as it combed the Marzano area southeast of the city." Source: Lost Boy Larry - Hoax or Heartbreak? - NewMexi.Co

I cannot find the link now but I read on another site three pilots spotted a red truck in the NM desert. There was no follow-up I guess.

And what if he was in another state entirely? The podcast brings up the idea he could have hit his head which also lead to confusion for him. Remember, in those days there were no seatbelt laws.

I wish the cb operators who talked to him would be interviewed on YouTube or something. I also wish people who are good at scouring Google Maps could look for the red truck.
 
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If there are no father and son missing person reports that fit this description I would be inclined to think perhaps it was a hoax.
 
If there are no father and son missing person reports that fit this description I would be inclined to think perhaps it was a hoax.

That's exactly what I was going to post. Word for word.
 
<modsnip: discussing PMs>The Denver story about the hoaxer is no longer accessible online, even using Wayback Machine. <modsnip>

Thinking Sideways did a podcast on this in 2014 Lost Boy Larry

I am not so sure this was a hoax. Stuff like this gets me--

"The search was so poorly-organized and chaotic that even if &#8220;Larry&#8221; was in the area, there was no guarantee he would be found." Source: Strange Company: Newspaper Clipping of the Day

"As the search continued, one rescue worker in a helicopter flying over the Manzano Mountains, talked to a boy in distress who called himself 'David', not Larry. ( My note: Why was David in distress and did anyone help him?) Larry reported to an Albuquerque ham radio operator that he could see the search lights of an airplane as it combed the Marzano area southeast of the city." Source: Lost Boy Larry - Hoax or Heartbreak? - NewMexi.Co

I cannot find the link now but I read on another site three pilots spotted a red truck in the NM desert.

I wish the cb operators who talked to him would be interviewed on YouTube or something. I also wish people who are good at scouring Google Maps could look for the red truck.

The truck, if there, is probably not red any more.

The territory described is vast & unforgiving, but I agree that a father&son would have been reported missing.
 
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I have just heard a podcast about this case today (yes, the Thinking Sideways podcast).
I used to play with CB radios back in the day, and a lot of people were members of CB clubs.
A lot of CB clubs had "fox hunts" where we had to find the location of a transmitter by using direction finding equipment.
Do you know if direction finding equipment was used in the search?
 
I agree that this could've initially been a real transmission that was later copied by people from various locations, hence the shifting details (kid's name changing, story of dad's condition, etc). The other alternative is it was a hoax from Day 1.

The part about them finding a red truck--verified by three people--but not following up on that lead is troubling. I highly doubt someone would take a hoax so far as to put a truck in the middle of nowhere to trick people. Was the red truck "upside down in a ditch" like the kid reported? Too bad we don't have a recording of the transmission! That would be so creepy.

If it really did happen like it was reported--in the NM desert in August--the kid wouldn't have survived for too long. (Nor would the radio's battery, I'm guessing). Part of me thinks it's a hoax because CB users frequently do dumb things like making up silly names & playing pranks, but part of me thinks the searchers gave up too soon & the search wasn't all that in-depth. Unless you find the person responsible for the transmission, you can't say with certainty that it's a hoax. Too many unanswered questions for me to form a strong opinion either way.
 
I have just heard a podcast about this case today (yes, the Thinking Sideways podcast).
I used to play with CB radios back in the day, and a lot of people were members of CB clubs.
A lot of CB clubs had "fox hunts" where we had to find the location of a transmitter by using direction finding equipment.
Do you know if direction finding equipment was used in the search?

Welcome Ubg33k :)

:welcome:
 
I’ve decided to join because I was thinking about this case after hearing the aforementioned podcast. I want to bring something to the discussion here:

David Joseph Miera – The Charley Project

David Miera disappeared a few years prior to the CB events and would have been about the same age. One account given was that the boy was given away to hippies: I hate to say but child trafficking is not a new idea. Is it possible that Lost Boy Larry was actually David, several years after his disappearance, living off grid with a new family or father? It could provide an explanation to a lack of missing child reports: if the identity of the child was a lie or secret? As dehydration set in the child became unable to keep the new identity straight and was mixing it up with deep set formative memories? Just a thought: the referring to himself as “David” made me think of the other case from Dixon.

Also, can anyone confirm the rabbit hunting season in New Mexico for 1973? If the child lived off grid they could be hunting outside of the legal season? Could help to narrow down the origin of the child. I don’t think it’s really a hoax. My gut won’t let me accept that theory.
 

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I’ve decided to join because I was thinking about this case after hearing the aforementioned podcast. I want to bring something to the discussion here:

David Joseph Miera – The Charley Project

David Miera disappeared a few years prior to the CB events and would have been about the same age. One account given was that the boy was given away to hippies: I hate to say but child trafficking is not a new idea. Is it possible that Lost Boy Larry was actually David, several years after his disappearance, living off grid with a new family or father? It could provide an explanation to a lack of missing child reports: if the identity of the child was a lie or secret? As dehydration set in the child became unable to keep the new identity straight and was mixing it up with deep set formative memories? Just a thought: the referring to himself as “David” made me think of the other case from Dixon.

Also, can anyone confirm the rabbit hunting season in New Mexico for 1973? If the child lived off grid they could be hunting outside of the legal season? Could help to narrow down the origin of the child. I don’t think it’s really a hoax. My gut won’t let me accept that theory.
If N.M. is like AZ rabbit season is all year long and I would assume that would have been true in 1973. Nearly 50 years later it’s hard to believe that if this were true the truck would have been found by now. Also someone had to have missed this kid and his dad. Relatives? Friends? Teachers? Were they homeless? It seems like a hoax to me.
 
Is there any report of a father and son missing from that date or near those days? Perhaps some weeks later?
 

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