NY NY - John Lake, 37, New York City, 10 Dec 1967

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John Lake, the Sports Editor for Newsweek Mag., went out to dinner with a lady friend on the evening of 12/10/67. They took a cab back to her place but she would not let him up because it was late. He told her he would take the subway to his studio on Christopher St. in the Village. He was never seen again.

His son, Eric, has launched this website documenting his search for what happened to his dad.

http://www.johnlake.com/index.html

http://charleyproject.org/cases/l/lake_john.html
 
John Lake, the Sports Editor for Newsweek Mag., went out to dinner with a lady friend on the evening of 12/10/67. They took a cab back to her place but she would not let him up because it was late. He told her he would take the subway to his studio on Christopher St. in the Village. He was never seen again.

His son, Eric, has launched this website documenting his search for what happened to his dad.

http://www.johnlake.com/index.html

http://charleyproject.org/cases/l/lake_john.html

Fascinating page that Eric Lake set up to explore his father's disappearance. A fine writer and tribute to his parents but what has happened to the book he was writing? It also looks like the page has not been updated in years and searches I am doing have so far turned up nothing written about the case since around 2007, the 40th anniversary of John Lake's disappearance.

Was there a discovery made of some kind?
 
John is in NAMUS: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/4386/

John Lake was last seen on the evening of December 10, 1967 in Manhattan, NY, after having dinner with an acquaintance. According to the acquaintance, he had several drinks when he dropped her off at her apartment in Midtown and began walking to a subway station to go downtown to his apartment in Greenwich Village. He was not seen again.


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John Lake - circa September 1967

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John Lake - circa early 1960s

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John Lake to 73 years by Wesley Neville
 
Seems like there was an update to the page in 2015. Almost sounds like he did find out some info but chose not to make public on this page

John Lake : The Investigation

It sounds to me, MadamX, like Mr. Lake was a suicide. Very sad, but what I think is almost as sad, is his son’s description of the “help” he received by many of the police detectives, with the exception of one.
 
It sounds to me, MadamX, like Mr. Lake was a suicide. Very sad, but what I think is almost as sad, is his son’s description of the “help” he received by many of the police detectives, with the exception of one.
Oh wow Jmoose, now that I am reading what you wrote and thinking back yeah could be suicide. Sad they never found the body maybe just some clues of something.
Yeah that is really super sad why would you Not want to help a son looking for his fateher?
 
It sounds to me, MadamX, like Mr. Lake was a suicide. Very sad, but what I think is almost as sad, is his son’s description of the “help” he received by many of the police detectives, with the exception of one.

I agree that it sounds like suicide. This part also confused me:

He had an appointment to meet the PR guy for the Kansas City Chiefs, who were in town to play the Jets, on Saturday night. Also to attend was Pete Axthelm, a writer from Sports Illustrated, who six months later was given John Lake’s job as sports editor of Newsweek. Lake never showed for the appointment – this was extremely out of character because he was known to be scrupulously professional and serious about his job.

On the Sunday in question (the next day) he apparently called a few people to get together, but no one could. Jean, who had been away for the weekend, told me she found a list of people, mostly women who worked as researchers at Newsweek, in his handwriting. A friend of Jean’s told me he called her husband to see if he’d want to go to a football game. (A Giants’ game, she thought – both NY football teams were in town that weekend.) The husband had already gone, so Lake said, “Can I come over and talk to you for a while?” She declined, because she was busy. Apparently, he later settled for Sandy.

So he missed a scheduled appointment on Saturday and then Sunday was calling around asking people to meet up, and that’s the night he went missing? I just want to make sure I’m reading it right. I’m also confused about the list of women his girlfriend found. Were they women he called that day?

Seems like he needed someone to talk to. That he finally agreed to divorce, got his own apartment in the city, and was reaching out to find someone to talk to, makes me lean towards suicide. Sad.
 
I realize I am late to the party on this one, but I came across John Lake in a book written about the 1968 baseball season. He was supposed to ghostwrite a book about Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals, but after his disappearance, it was assigned to someone else. I been trying to get a handle on this case. It's intriguing because a man successful in his business vanishes. Maybe it was suicide, but one detail I am interested about is that he had financial difficulties. He had a good job with Newsweek, and though he was having to support his wife and family in New Jersey, it seems like he was making enough to get by and his career was going good. Which makes me think, was there another reason for the financial problems. This is New York in the 1960s. He's a sports guy. I am sure the son has explored this. Also, a New York Times article from 2005 mentioned something about detective sending a picture of a dead body to the son that may have been his father. Some features matched, but it was uncertain. What was the cause of death on that dead body?
 
John Eric Lake

Born February 18, 1930
Disappeared December 10, 1967 (aged 37)
New York
Died 1975
Nationality United States
Education Syracuse University
Occupation Sports journalist and editor
Employer New York Herald Tribune & Newsweek
Height 6' 0
Weight 180
Spouse(s) Alice Conlon
Children Daughter & son
Website johnlake.com
John Eric Lake (born February 18, 1930 in Albany, New York - disappeared December 10, 1967) was the sports editor of Newsweek until his mysterious disappearance.
 
John Eric Lake
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Lake, circa 1967; Age-progression to age 73 (circa 2003)
  • Missing Since 12/10/1967
  • Missing From Manhattan, New York
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Male
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 02/18/1930 (89)
  • Age 37 years old
  • Height and Weight 6'0, 180 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description Possibly a navy blue blazer with striped lining.
  • Medical Conditions Lake may have been depressed at the time of his disappearance. He was reportedly intoxicated when he was last seen.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Black hair, brown eyes. Lake has a small scar on his chin. At the time of his December 1967 disappearance, he wore black-framed eyeglasses.
Details of Disappearance
Lake was last seen late in the evening in Midtown in the New York City borough of Manhattan on December 10, 1967. He had dinner and several drinks with a female acquaintance that day, then they took a cab at her apartment on east 54th Street afterwards.

Lake wanted to come up to her apartment, but she refused to let him because she to work the next day. She suggested he take the waiting cab to his studio apartment in Greenwich Village, but Lake said he would take a subway instead. He was last seen walking to the subway station. Lake has never been heard from again. He was not reported missing until four days had passed.

At the time of his disappearance, Lake was employed as the sports editor for Newsweek. Many of his coworkers believed he left of his own accord. Lake was reportedly dissatisfied with his job, had problems with drinking, and was struggling financially due to a divorce settlement. He had separated from his wife, with whom he had two children.

His coworkers believe he was depressed at the time of his disappearance but not suicidal. His disappearance was investigated by the Pinkerton Detective Agency in addition to the New York City Police Department.

Lake graduated from Syracuse University; he belonged to Phi Beta Kappa, an honors society, there. He enjoys smoking cigars and he is very interested in literature, theater, folk and country music, and sports. Lake was unimpressed with material wealth in 1967; if he is alive today he may be living a simple lifestyle.

He was declared legally dead seven years after his disappearance, but his case remains unsolved. His son continues to search for him.
Investigating Agency
  • New York Police Department 646-610-5000
Source Information
LINKS:

John Eric Lake – The Charley Project

John Lake
 
His profile in NamUs: The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Does he have any exclusions in NamUs?

I just came across John's case mentioned in the thread for UP16252. I don't think that UID could be him. Yet you have to wonder why John hasn't been located after all these decades. How sad for his children/family.
 

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