MA MA - Robert Rasmussen, 13, and Gerald Montrio, Jr., 15, Plymouth; 09 September 1957

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SheWhoMustNotBeNamed

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Gerald Montrio

Endangered Missing from Plymouth, Massachusetts since September 9, 1957

Age: 15 -- Height: 6'0" -- Weight: 140 lbs -- Hair Color: Black -- Eye Color: Brown

Gerald appeared older than his age when he disappeared. He was born on the Caribbean island of Bermuda and speaks both English and Spanish.


*NO PHOTO AVAILABLE*
Robert Rasmussen

Endangered Missing from Plymouth, Massachusetts since September 9, 1957

Age: 13

Robert's nickname is Robbie.



Gerald Montrio and his best friend Robert "Robbie" Rasmussen disappeared from Plymouth, Massachusetts on September 9, 1957. Their clothing was later found on Flat Rock by Plymouth Harbor. An extensive search of that area turned up no sign of the boys, and they have never been heard from again.

Although the circumstances of their disappearance indicate that Gerald and Robbie drowned, the boys' sisters never believed this, and investigators did look into other theories. The sisters said the boys' home lives were troubled, and the thought the boys had run away and left their clothes on the beach to make people think they were dead. The women hope their brothers are still alive.


NamUs

Charley Project

For The Lost
 
Looking for Gerald MONTRIO, my brother
Posted by: Raquel ()
Date: April 23, 2012 01:47PM

Gerald is my brother. He was 15 years old when dissapeared without trace in Plymouth (Massachusetts). I was just13.

The story of his missing:
[www.freerepublic.com]
[www.milforddailynews.com]

Now, nearly 55 years later I've learnt to use the computer and I've decided to start my own search for him because it was too soon forgotten.
I need to find him. I'm sure he's alive somewhere. Maybe he's got his own family, maybe he uses another name. I'm sure he didn't forget his sister Raquel who loved him and still loves him. Always. Perhaps Gerald reads I'm looking for him and he contacts me.

About Gerald MONTRIO, my brother:

Full name: Gerald MONTRIO
Born: 18th February 1942 (St. George's - Bermuda)
Disappeared: Monday, 9th September 1957
Last seen: at home on Rocky Hill Road, Massachusetts, USA, by sister Raquel
Height: 6'
Weight: 140 lbs.
Eyes: brown
Hair: black

Anybody knows about him? Anyone can give me a trail? Do you recognize the boy in the picture?

Gerald if you read this message, please contact me. I'm Raquel, your sister. There's too many years without hearing from you, without any news from you. I've missed you so much all these years and I still miss you. Please contact me at: lookingforgeraldmontrio@hotmail.com


http://peoplelookingforpeople.com/read.php?3,1836



I hope he finds answers!
 
This is a bizarre case. It seems as if Gerald Montrio may have been following a path set by his father. There are a series of messages on http://boards.tiscali.ancestry.co.uk/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=8320&p=localities.britisles.wales.general relating to the father. If these are correct (and I see no reason to doubt the research done) Gerald's father, also Gerald was actually born Gerald McEllistrim Brooks in Wales on 21 December 1908 (the McEllistrim comes from his mothers maiden name) . He became a merchant seaman and emigrated to the USA in 1936. He applied for naturalisation as Gerald Montrio but, on the papers, declared that he arrived as Gerald McEllistrim Brooks. Whilst this does not shed any more light on the disappearance of the young Gerald it does make you wonder if he knew something of his fathers change of identity and thought 'if he can do it, so can I'. The father seems to have died in California in 1982.

It seems that several of the fathers uncles emigrated to the States around 1900 and that his maternal grandmother also emigrated (even earlier). Perhaps the name change was to avoid family already in the USA?
 
I'm curious as to why there are no available photos of a 13-year-old boy. Yes, people took fewer photos in the '50s than today, but surely there must have been SOME photo that could be used...a school photo, even something from when he was younger, just so that people have a general idea as to his looks.

Raquel, not sure if you still visit this forum, but if you do, what precisely is meant by their home lives being "troubled"? Were the boys in actual danger or just unhappy?

If they did indeed head west, what sort of things or places might have attracted their attention? For instance, did they particularly enjoy some kind of work, have some kind of special hobbies or interests that they might have become part of, etc?
 
SheWhoMustNotBeNamed said:
*NO PHOTO AVAILABLE*
Robert Rasmussen

Endangered Missing from Plymouth, Massachusetts since September 9, 1957

Age: 13

Robert's nickname is Robbie.

<snip>

Although the circumstances of their disappearance indicate that Gerald and Robbie drowned, the boys' sisters never believed this, and investigators did look into other theories.
Click to expand...

BBM.

Raquel, are you in contact with Robbie's sister? If so do you think she would also come here and let us have her memories and views on the matter?

From what has been posted I see you both believe your brothers weren't drowned, but in view of how long they have been missing have either of you given DNA for future identification purposes just in case?
 
This was posted in different thread of WS by new member, unfortunately no link was provided, but hey there is picture now.

attachment.php
 
Al Ka said:
This was posted in different thread of WS by new member, unfortunately no link was provided, but hey there is picture now.

attachment.php
Click to expand...

Should someone email Lori Bruski Robert's picture? Maybe a NAMUS profile will be made for him now that he has a picture.
 
Forty-six years after disappearance, women seek long-lost brothers
The article is from 2003; nearly 62 years have now passed.

The sisters of two unrelated men continue to search for their lost brothers who were presumed drowned in the Massachusetts Bay, near their home in Plymouth, Mass., Sept. 9, 1957. Their bodies were never found.

Joyce Balint, 54, (Rasmussen) of Connecticut and Rasha Razbeau, 59, (Raquel Montrio) of Edinburgh, Scotland, still wonder what really happened to their brothers who were neighbors and childhood friends.

"In my heart, I've always known my brother was alive," Balint said.

Clothing belonging to Robert Rasmussen, 13, and Gerald Montrio, Jr., 15, both of Plymouth, Mass., was found on the beach the day of their disappearance, although questions arose that have never been answered.

Balint visited newspapers in the Bullhead City AZ and Needles CA area last week in an attempt to get media coverage about the mystery. She said much has been written in East Coast newspapers, but the West is where they most likely came. She said it made sense they would have traveled Route 66, perhaps to Needles.

"Route 66 was the way to hitchhike west," Balint said. She said television was full of western movies and the boys heard the phrase "go west, young man," over and over. Balint said the Montrio family owned a lot of land and horses. Both the boys knew how to ride horses, hunt and fish.

Balint, who was 8 at the time her brother vanished, said police never spoke to the siblings. Her younger brother Wesley Rasmussen, 4 at the time, said he had asked to go to the beach with the older boys and was told by his big brother he could not go, because they were never coming back. Balint said the boy's account was dismissed because of his age. She said there are also witness reports that young men fitting the lost boys' descriptions were seen hitchhiking at about 4:30 p.m. They were last seen at home after school at about 3 p.m.

The Old Colony Memorial, Plymouth, Mass., reported in June that witnesses also had seen two boys with bundles of clothes getting in and out of a boat, plus friends of the boys reportedly told police the missing duo had saved money and practiced hopping freight trains after running away to Boston once before. The newspaper also reported a firefighter, Lenny Sullivan, who had been part of the search party, believed the boys had drowned and the bodies fell prey to the "wildlife of the ocean."
---
"No death certificates were ever issued for the boys. They couldn't say for sure what happened to them. The police said maybe they drowned, maybe they didn't," Balint said. She said both mothers of the lost boys basically suffered nervous breakdowns and blamed each other's family. Thus, the girls did not speak about the incident until recently. Balint said Razbeau's family moved to Santa Barbara, Calif., a short while after the incident.

"My mom always stayed (in the home in Plymouth) in case Bobby came home," Balint said.

Razbeau previously told the Sunday Express, Glasgow, Scotland, she remembered her brother being distraught about the eminent return of their father who was a Merchant Marine and away at sea. Razbeau said her father abused the boy. She said days before Montrio's disappearance, he gave her a treasured signet ring, "in case anything happened to him."

Balint said her brother feared their father's discipline would soon come to physical blows.

The Rasmussens' father was also a member of the Merchant Marines.

Balint said it could not have been a suicide pact. The boys were Boy Scouts, tall for their ages and knew how to take care of themselves.

"Running away in the 50s would have been easy," Balint said.

She said they could have passed as brothers too. Both had dark hair, dark eyes and olive skin.

"I would not be mad at him. I really understand," Balint said. She said anyone in their 60s or 70s might remember meeting the boys along Route 66 in the late 1950s, or early 1960s.
 
This case has always interested me in that I hope that the boys did in fact run away. I'm not sure if either sister still visits here, but I'm curious now if they have tried any of the DNA sites to link up to potential relatives?
 
Robert Rasmussen doesn't appear to have a NamUs page and Gerald does. Robert's Charley page links to a NamUs so obviously there was one at one point. Is it possible his remains were found but not Gerald's?
 
This is an odd case. Not only did Gerald's father change his name, as detailed in #3 above but it also transpires that he was the subject of an insanity committal under the Montrio name in Tulsa in 1937. The name change and family history are extensively detailed with source records on Ancestry. I might have thought the insanity case referred to someone else except for the intersections in the records. The naturalisation papers from 1940 refer to him being in Tulsa in 1935 and the insanity hearing documents (all on Ancestry) refer to his occupation as a seaman. It seems that the insanity case arose from severe injuries he received and for which he received workmen's compensation. Surprisingly he was back working as a seaman in 1938 (and it is definitely the same man as the port arrival records are for the same vessel as on his naturalisation papers). The only relevance of this is whether his injuries and mental state were such that 20 years after the original hearing he was still sufficiently affected to be a danger and cause his son to break all contact for the subsequent 25 years up to his fathers death? If so the two boys have done a great job of hiding their tracks as there are no hints anywhere in the records.
 
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