NY NY - Mitchel Weiser, 16, & Bonita Bickwit, 15, Narrowsburg, 27 July 1973

Richard

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Mitchel Fred Weiser and Bonita Mara Bickwit: Missing since 27 July 1973 NY

Mitchel Fred Weiser
Missing since July 27, 1973 from Narrowsburg, Sullivan County, New York.
Classification: Endangered Missing


Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: November 23, 1956
Age at Time of Disappearance: 16 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'7" (170 cm); 140 lbs (64 kg)
Distinguishing Characteristics: White male. Brown hair; hazel eyes.
Marks, Scars: He has a scar on his lower lip. He wears eyeglasses.
Dentals: His front teeth were discolored at the time of his disappearance.
AKA: Mitch


Bonita Mara Bickwit


Missing since July 27, 1973 from Narrowsburg, Sullivan County, New York.
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: January 28, 1958
Age at Time of Disappearance: 15 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 4'11" (150 cm); 95 lbs (43 kg)
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair; brown eyes.
Dentals: Not available.
AKA: Bonnie.

Circumstances of Disappearance

On July 27, 1973 Mitchel Fred Weiser, and his girlfriend, Bonita Bickwit planned to hitchhik to Watkins Glen, NY for an Allman Brothers-Grateful Dead concert.
Weiser met Bickwit at Camp Wel-Met in upstate Narrowsburg, where she worked as a mother's helper. They set off for the concert, which was 75 miles from their location; neither has been seen since.
It's believed that Weiser and Bickwit had approximately $25.00 between them.
They carried backpacks and sleeping bags. Authorities initially believed that the couple simply ran off together. Bickwit and Weiser had secretly exchanged wedding rings earlier in the summer of 1973.
Both attended John Dewey High School in Brooklyn. Bickwit lived in Borough Park with her family, Weiser lived in Midwood.


In 2000 a witness claimed that he watched Bonnie and Mitchel both drown on their way back from Watkins Glen. The witness was on his way home from the festival and hitched a ride in a volkswagen bus. There was a young couple in the back of the bus who he claims were Bonnie and Mitchel. It was a hot day and there was a river nearby. They stopped, to cool off in the water. As the witness was taking off his shoes, he heard a shout. He turned to see that the girl was in the river. The boy, her companion, leaped in to save her. They both were swept away, down the rapids, still alive.


After the incident the witness and the driver drove away from the scene. The driver said he would make an anonymous call to the police from a gas station. Police have no record that a call was made.
The witness account has yet to be verified.

Anyone with information on this case should contact:
Sullivan County Sheriff's Department 845-794-7100


NCIC Number: M-761802363

Source Information:
The Doe Network: Case File 2DMNY
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
The New York Post
The New York Daily News
Discover Magazine
The Jewish Week
The Times Herald-Record


Links:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2dmny.html
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3dfny.html
 
There were no replies to this post, but recent interest in another case mentioned Fred and Bonita.
 
Makes you wonder why the driver wasn't a witness too? And why the driver wanted to remain anonymous when reporting the incident...

Also, what river was it and had it recently rained? What rapids were near and what was the water level of the river? (Most rivers run low at that time of summer)....

Richard said:
There were no replies to this post, but recent interest in another case mentioned Fred and Bonita.
 
There is the possibility of some truth to the witness's claim, if the couple were returning to Narrowsburg from Watkins Glen. The most likely route to travel would be Route 97, a very scenic road which parallels the Delaware River. The area is extremely popular for rafting and canoeing. The Upper Delaware has class 2, 3 and occasionally 4 rapids. However, in July, the water level would be down somewhat...And its difficult to believe that neither of the bodies would be recovered since the area has been so popular for many, many years. Dozens of rafts filled with people are a common site during the summer.
 
I have a friend who swears she saw Bonnie just a few years ago, at a bookstore. She reported it to the NCMEC but nothing came of it -- which is unsurprising, since my friend had no other information other than that she saw her.

I think there's a good possibility the two of them ran away. But why they would stay away this long is beyond me. Maybe they got into trouble afterwards, maybe they split up or something.
 
Did she know Bonnie, or was she going on the picture?

Running away I could see too, but staying away is not likely unless both were having really bad family relations. I wonder if either had ever been fingerprinted before, or if any of their fingerprints were recorded on objects from their homes?

Wonder what their families were like and if their families are actively searching for them still?

Seems sad, they were so young.


meggilyweggily said:
I have a friend who swears she saw Bonnie just a few years ago, at a bookstore. She reported it to the NCMEC but nothing came of it -- which is unsurprising, since my friend had no other information other than that she saw her.

I think there's a good possibility the two of them ran away. But why they would stay away this long is beyond me. Maybe they got into trouble afterwards, maybe they split up or something.
 
Reading this case I felt that they ran away together. They struck me as 2 teen lovers who felt that nobody understood them or appreciated their love for each other. Maybe their parents thought the relationship was too serious considering their age, maybe the parents wanted them to spend more time apart. I think that would be any parents reaction if they found out their teen children had a secret wedding ceremony together.
 
This case was recently mentioned in another thread about a Grateful Dead Fan who is unidentified. Just bumping this up, so that it can be more easily found.
 
meggilyweggily said:
The original Bickwit/Weiser casefiles were lost, meaning that if any fingerprints were taken, chances are those were lost as well. Sigh.

Goodness!

LOST?

How could that happen? Isn't that rather suspicious?

'WHO' might have wanted the records to disappear?

I don't like the sound of that one bit.
 
wondering22 said:
Goodness!

LOST?

How could that happen? Isn't that rather suspicious?

'WHO' might have wanted the records to disappear?

I don't like the sound of that one bit.
"Lost" doesn't always mean destroyed or misplaced. In this day and age a "lost" file is quite often a file whose records have been neither digitalized nor indexed in a central database. In such cases paper files could probably be found in some obscure repository where fetching them is comparatively time consuming therefore costly and that wouldn't be done unless very compelling evidence surfaces. In many institutions (including LE agencies) files that aren't readily available through the regular channels are often considered "lost" even though they exist in archives. A private investigator would probably be able to locate the missing files if someone is willing to pay for it.
 
A lot of files really do get lost, especially in old cases. I have one case where a girl disappeared and her file was lost; it included her dental records and family contact info, so not only can they not identify any bodies as her, but if she shows up alive they won't be able to get in touch with her family, if she has any left.
 
Bumping. It was 35yrs a couple weeks ago. I had heard of this couple before but just recently re-read their profiles. I wish there was a more comprehensive look at the events. Did anyone report seeing them at the concert in Watkins-Glen? Did LE track down anyone who gave them rides while they were hitch-hiking?
If they did drown wouldn't their bodies have washed ashore at some point?
 
Nothing is mentioned in the Doe Net account, but what I always found interesting, was the report on Charley Project, of a truncated phone call from "Bonnie" that her family received years later. It does not seem to have been a hoax...why did the caller hang up before they were connected? And how would the hoaxer know Bonita's nickname was Bonnie? On the other hand, Smith's story sounds credible. But they can't both be true, unless the couple (or one of them) survived the rapids.

You have to wonder. If one or both of them are still living, what has kept them from calling home after all this time?
 
Yes, the phone call. That gets me to. Why? Why would she call but then hang up? My first instinct is it was a hoax, some kids just messing with her. They could have seen on the news or read that Bonita also went by Bonnie.

My issue with Smith's story is why did no one call the police? Why have none of the other people in that group come forward to report what they saw. Smith said the bus driver said he would call the police but obviously never did and never came forward. Most normal people who saw two teens drowning would not just go on about their business and never say anything espeically when their families are looking for them like Weiser and Bickwit 's were. I don't know if I buy Smith's story or not. Too many inconsistencies.
 
This is the first ive really read about this case,there is a website created by family members that has alot of pictures of the pair(Heartbreaking)and articles that have been printed about the disappearence over the years.
There is also alink to a site about the 1973 Watkins Glen concert with lots of crowd photos.
I couldnt help looking for them in the photos which im sure many have done,needle in a haystack.
Every once in awhile one of these cases really reaches out and touches your heart ,this one certainly did mine.
I think that photo of Bonnie smiling with the flag did it for me.
I dont know what to make of the hitchikers story...its plausible but it raises so many more questions then it answers.
I hope LE follows up with him from time to time.
Given the time and the mood of the subculture the van driver may have had some very good reason (at least to him) to not contact police especially if he thought the pair were already dead.
I do find it hard to belive the bodies wouldnt have washed up,it had rained over the weekend off an on. Summer showers mostly it sounds like.
But this was July you wouldnt think the river would have been a raging torrent.
Even most of the rivers here in the Pacific Northwest arent that time of year.
I hope a real answer comes some day,they left so many friends and family that still miss them deeply they must have been an exceptional couple of kids.
I dont belive they ran off together though I wish that were true.
 

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