CA CA - Norma Houghland, 27, & sons Thomas, 9, & Richard, 6, Sacramento, 15 July 1978

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Richard Houghland

Endangered Missing from Sacramento, California since July 15, 1978

Age: 6 -- Hair Color: Blonde -- Eye Color: Brown

Richard's nickname is Ricky.

Thomas Houghland

Endangered Missing from Sacramento, California since July 15, 1978

Age: 9 -- Hair Color: Brown -- Eye Color: Brown

Thomas' nickname is Tommy.


Richard and Thomas disappeared with their mother, Norma, from Sacramento, California on July 15, 1978. They didn't have air conditioning in their home, so Norma would often drive the children on rides in the car to stay cool. They may have done that on the day they disappeared. Norma's ex-husband lived in Washington, so no one realized they were missing for a week. All of their clothing and belongings were left behind. The only thing missing was their car, a gold Pontiac LeMans, which has never been found.


Charley Project

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

35-year-old mystery: What happened to this Sacramento mom and her sons?

She was a pretty young mom who because she didn't have air conditioning, would take her sons on drives in their car to cool off during Sacramento's hot summers, say police.

But presumably after one such drive, Norma Houghland and sons Tommy, 6, and Ricky, 9, were not seen again - ever. That was 35 years ago, on July 15, 1978.

http://www.news10.net/news/article/...-happened-to-this-Sacramento-mom-and-her-sons




Mother, sons' disappearance remains unsolved 35 years later

Karen Molina flips through old photo albums and keeps asking the same question, day after day.

"What happened? Why are you gone?" she asked, in front of KCRA 3's Mike TeSelle as they sat in Molina's Sacramento home.

Read more: http://www.kcra.com/news/mother-son.../20991278/-/qfhc6n/-/index.html#ixzz2ZHfUQqu2
​

 

[alllads]

They're up on Namus now:

Norma: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/33282
Thomas: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/33819
Richard: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/33817

No dental or DNA for any of them (at least yet). There are fingerprints for Norma.

Surprised that I've never heard of this case at all.

 

[kemo]

I've never heard of this case. Sounds like it was never investigated as a criminal matter. The KCRA story suggest the mother may have been "depressed", i.e. Suicidal. The fact that the vehicle was never located suggested it went into a body of water. The Sacramento and American Rivers are right there. I don't know if there were any spots where a vehicle could go in without being seen, leaving damaged guard rails or otherwise turning up during periods of low water.

 

[Alleykins]

I took some screen shots from the news broadcast because I think it helps to have as many pictures as possible:

 

[Damarna]

OK, this is really heartbreaking!

 

[KaylaraOwl]

Plenty of places they could have gone in the water. Does anyone know the address she left from? Could give us an idea of where to search. I mean, I've been looking at the American River for 5 minutes and already found something that kinda looks like a submerged car on it. The drought there has really lowered the water levels and we might actually have a chance of seeing something.

( possible car? https://www.google.com/maps/place/A...m2!3m1!1s0x809ad0a89f5535b5:0x458ad073e411476 )

 

[Alleykins]

The news clip said Sutterville Rd. At about :50 they showed a street sign of Sutterville Rd and 17th Ave.
Every time I hear of an MP with a car that disappears with them, I think of them ending up in a body of water.

 

[KaylaraOwl]

I know this is a long shot, but I think I found 3 uids on the same road, found in different years that may match this family.

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/14870
http://glendoracitynews.com/2015/10/13/breaking-human-remains-discovered-along-glendora-mtn-rd/
approx 25 year old white female skeletal remains discovered last year on Baldy Mountain, CA off Glendora Ridge rd.


http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/871umca.html
https://identifyus.org/cases/4397
boy aged 3-8 found on Glendora Mountain Rd. In 1978. Partially decomposed.


http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2409umca.html
https://identifyus.org/cases/4231

Boy aged 2-4 found on Glendora Mountain Rd. In 1984. Skeletal.

What do you guys think?

 

[Thefacelessman]

I know this is a long shot, but I think I found 3 uids on the same road, found in different years that may match this family.

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/14870
http://glendoracitynews.com/2015/10/13/breaking-human-remains-discovered-along-glendora-mtn-rd/
approx 25 year old white female skeletal remains discovered last year on Baldy Mountain, CA off Glendora Ridge rd.


http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/871umca.html
https://identifyus.org/cases/4397
boy aged 3-8 found on Glendora Mountain Rd. In 1978. Partially decomposed.


http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2409umca.html
https://identifyus.org/cases/4231

Boy aged 2-4 found on Glendora Mountain Rd. In 1984. Skeletal.

What do you guys think?

The only thing that really makes it a long shot (and very long)..... is that the boys don't look the slightest bit Hispanic?
Or is the father Hispanic/half Hispanic?

 

[kemo]

Glendora isn't anywhere near Sacramento. At least 400 miles apart. It would be interesting to know if she had ties to any area besides Sacramento.

There were a lot of undeveloped areas along the American River in the 1970's. Now more of it is either developed or part of an established recreation area. The river isn't that wide or deep but there may spots where a vehicle could go in undiscovered. The Sacramento is deep and wide but it might be harder for a car to go in during mid day without being seen by someone. To the west is the Delta area with a network of sloughs, bridges and levee roads where a car could go off and no one would know.

If her car was never registered after 1978, there is a very good chance it ended up in a body of water. Unfortunately, in theses day wreaked abandoned cars were often sold off to junkers to cover the cost of recovery without attempting to track down the owners. You would expect human remains to be found in this car but they could be missing for various reasons.

 

[cocomod]

I think that the female looks a lot like Norma. I think you should submit her as a possible.

I think the older boy does not resemble Richard in the sketch, but...

 

[KaylaraOwl]

I know that they are from far off, and that it's very much a long shot. I just thought it was strange that three people were found along that road, and that they were all around the ages of the Houghlands. I noticed the first two boys were found on the same street, and thought I should look for a woman too. And then I found the woman from last year.
I think she kinda looks like Norma.

I still think this is unlikely, and that the Houghland family is underwater somewhere, but I will submit her just in case.

 

[KaylaraOwl]

Because if it is Norma, then I really think there is a big chance these are also her boys.

 

[KaylaraOwl]

Sent it to Dustin at Namus.

 

[Alleykins]

Because if it is Norma, then I really think there is a big chance these are also her boys.

I think it was a great find. Even if they aren't the Houghlands, perhaps it's a different family, or maybe the boys are related to each other but not the adult, or any combinations there of. Do they ever check DNA against other UPs? There are some siblings that have gone missing together, and I always wondered about that, like the Abell sisters. Even though they went missing at the same time, they might not be found at the same time, in the same place.

 

[KaylaraOwl]

I don't think namus checks Uids against each other unless it is suggested to them. CODIS might, though. I'll have to look into that.

 

[Alleykins]

I was thinking that if Norma liked to take the kids for drives to cool them all off on hot days, then they could be just about anywhere near or far.

 

[KaylaraOwl]

Ok, got word back. They are unable to compare her to this uid due to limited biometrics for Norma. The email is as follows:

"Thank you for your email. I will pass this along to the investigative agency. Unfortunately, we are unable to do these comparisons based on the limited biometric data we have for the Norma Houghland case. However, we are working to try and obtain additional data from this case at this time, so we'll hopefully be able to definitely confirm or exclude these matches in the near future. " So, then the question becomes, can we help them find relatives of Norma?

 

[KaylaraOwl]

I sent a message to the person who wrote the article about Norma and her sons, and asked if he could contact ask her sister to submit a DNA sample with the police dept. Even if she doesn't match this uid, maybe she has already been found elsewhere.