NY NY - Douglas John Legg, 8, Santonini Preserve, Newcomb, 10 July 1971

[h=1]Douglas John Legg[/h]

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Douglas, circa 1971

• Missing Since 07/10/1971
• Missing From Oswego County, New York
• Classification Lost/Injured Missing
• Date of Birth 08/11/1962 (55)
• Age 8 years old
• Height and Weight 4'6, 76 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A white short-sleeved polo shirt with navy blue stripes on the collar, navy blue shorts and black sneakers with a circular sole pattern.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Blond hair, blue eyes. Douglas's nicknames are Doug and Dougie. He has a slight speech impediment.

[h=3]Details of Disappearance[/h] Douglas was last seen on July 10, 1971 in Oswego County, New York. He was visiting his uncle at the family's 12,500-acre estate in the Santanoni Preserve in Newcomb at the time. On the day of his disappearance, Douglas went on a family hike in the Adirondack wilderness.

His uncle sent him back home at 3:30 p.m. to change into long pants, as his shorts wouldn't protect him against the poison ivy on the trail. Douglas had gone hiking many times in the local area and was very familiar with it, and it was only a short distance back to camp. He never arrived there, however, and has never been heard from again.

An extensive search, lasting six weeks and largely financed by Douglas's wealthy family, turned up no indication of his whereabouts. He was in the third grade at the time of his disappearance, and resided in Baldwinsville, New York. His loved ones describe him as a happy, healthy, normal child.

Although there were rumors that foul play was involved in his case, most investigators believe Douglas became lost or died in an accident in the wilderness. His case remains unsolved.

http://charleyproject.org/case/douglas-john-legg

Dental information / charting is currently not available

Status: Sample is currently not available

Fingerprint information is currently not available

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/8036/


Previous (closed) thread: https://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?61017-Douglas-J-Legg-(8)-Oswego-County-NY-1971

That's so sad.

Daily News (July 13, 1971) -


Daily News (July 15, 1971) -


Star Gazette (July 26, 1971) -


Star Gazette (August 11, 1971)-

Bumping for Douglas...this month is 49 years since he disappeared.

I had never read this (from the first link nyonge has included - The strange disappearance of Douglas Legg from the Adirondack Mountains — StrangeOutdoors.com ):
"In 1993, a woman claimed that Dougie had been kidnapped and killed by her relative, and his body dumped into a lake in Lewis County. Officials searched the dry lake bed, only to learn that the woman was a psychiatric patient suffering from false memory syndrome. Then around the same time, a man came forward to report to officials that he had across a small skull and partial skeleton in 1973 which he believed to be human.
He and a friend were hunting and became separated as he chased a deer across a peninsula leading to a 21 acre island in Newcomb Lake, approximately 1/2 mile from the lodge. He didn’t report it in 1973, he said, because they did not know about the case at the time and had been on leave from the Navy for four days and not where he was supposed to be. He later reported it when his friend heard the news reports about the renewed search for Dougie based on the woman’s false story. The man traveled from his home in Montana to show investigators the area where he found the remains, but unfortunately, they found nothing. The remains would now be tobacco-colored and buried under inches of sediment and moss and since only a general location could be given, authorities only searched the most likely area, a 50 x 50 yard area.
The story fits with the last known sighting of Dougie who was possibly was attempting to follow his uncle around Newcomb Lake. Police had the theory that attempting to follow his uncle, he walked across the peninsula and thinking he was still following the lake shoreline became disoriented and lost on the island. The island was searched at the time of the disappearance but it was hampered due to the dense vegetation in the area."

This is so sad. The family could have had the chance to bury him and rest at last having some answers. But it was too late when this witness decided to speak. I mean, ok, you don't know there's a missing child in the area... but you have just found a skeleton, you must notify this to LE, it's not like "Look, a skeleton... Oh my god, a butterfly!!!"

Diane Redfern said:

I had never read this (from the first link nyonge has included - The strange disappearance of Douglas Legg from the Adirondack Mountains — StrangeOutdoors.com ):
"In 1993, a woman claimed that Dougie had been kidnapped and killed by her relative, and his body dumped into a lake in Lewis County. Officials searched the dry lake bed, only to learn that the woman was a psychiatric patient suffering from false memory syndrome. Then around the same time, a man came forward to report to officials that he had across a small skull and partial skeleton in 1973 which he believed to be human.
He and a friend were hunting and became separated as he chased a deer across a peninsula leading to a 21 acre island in Newcomb Lake, approximately 1/2 mile from the lodge. He didn’t report it in 1973, he said, because they did not know about the case at the time and had been on leave from the Navy for four days and not where he was supposed to be. He later reported it when his friend heard the news reports about the renewed search for Dougie based on the woman’s false story. The man traveled from his home in Montana to show investigators the area where he found the remains, but unfortunately, they found nothing. The remains would now be tobacco-colored and buried under inches of sediment and moss and since only a general location could be given, authorities only searched the most likely area, a 50 x 50 yard area.
The story fits with the last known sighting of Dougie who was possibly was attempting to follow his uncle around Newcomb Lake. Police had the theory that attempting to follow his uncle, he walked across the peninsula and thinking he was still following the lake shoreline became disoriented and lost on the island. The island was searched at the time of the disappearance but it was hampered due to the dense vegetation in the area."

This is so sad. The family could have had the chance to bury him and rest at last having some answers. But it was too late when this witness decided to speak. I mean, ok, you don't know there's a missing child in the area... but you have just found a skeleton, you must notify this to LE, it's not like "Look, a skeleton... Oh my god, a butterfly!!!"

Click to expand...

Something similar happened in Dennis Martin's case. Someone found a skeleton around the area he went missing but they didn't report it for years. I don't understand not reporting skeletal findings especially if a skull is found. Makes you wonder if they were doing something illegal out there and didn't want to get caught.

aThousandYearsWide said:

Something similar happened in Dennis Martin's case. Someone found a skeleton around the area he went missing but they didn't report it for years. I don't understand not reporting skeletal findings especially if a skull is found. Makes you wonder if they were doing something illegal out there and didn't want to get caught.

Click to expand...

Yeah, it also happened with the Boy in the box, he was located by a man who put traps in the area and did not report it because he did not want to be involved... But anyway, I think it is so crazy... even if you are doing something wrong, the finding of a body is a very big thing. It drives me crazy, where is their empathy?
I hate deeply the expression "It's not my business", because it's a great lie: If you find someone who needs your help or you witness an injustice, it's your duty to get involve, because we live in this world and it's our responsibility to leave it better than we found it.

It's actually quite easy to disappear from places like this. Always travel with someone; carry a gps locator. I hope Dougie is found. I can't image what effect this had on his family.

51 years