ME ME - Bernard 'Bunny' Ross Jr, 18, Presque Isle, 12 May 1977

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I hope his brother, Patrick, drops by WS again to give his take on this letter!

:please:
 
I am glad this case is getting attention and I hate to say it, but I mistrust the anonymous letter. I always wonder why someone with credible information about a case wouldn't just report it to the authorities, even anonymously. There are so many kooks out there, I hope this family isn't being preyed upon by a whack job. We'll see if the author of the letter contacts authorities.........
 
Cubby said:
I am glad this case is getting attention and I hate to say it, but I mistrust the anonymous letter...
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I agree that it's good that his case is getting attention. But I'm more puzzled by this letter than I am doubtful of it being legit.

The Portland Herald story (via The Blaze article linked above by IHAVENOCLUE) seems to have more info about the possible contents of the letter than any of the other stories I've seen. And that was mainly that the writer suggested the papers running another story about Ross in the Augusta area. But basically nothing else. They even admit as much.
Gardner declined to release the letter, describe what it said or explain what made police take the unusual step of contacting the newspapers to arrange for an interview with the missing man’s family. Gardner acknowledged that the letter could be an elaborate hoax, but added that even if it wasn’t, police wouldn’t release it to the public.
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It annoys me to no end that they decided to publicize the fact that the parents were sent the letter, but refuse to say anything about it.
I want to know why it was publicized. Was it specific enough about anything to make them think the writer has their head screwed on right?
I mean, they won't even say if it was written out or typed...
Ugh! I just hate being teased.
 
When the person who wrote the letter asks for money, we will know they don't know anything.
 
Bernard's facial features remind me very much of Alcala's man doing a back bent in foliage! Alcala was released a short while after May 1977.
 
I came across searching around and came across on Facebook under Ross Bernard jr and also living in Slidell Louisiana. Could be something or nothing related but I figured yall should know.
 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernard-ross-b1737b16/This may seem "out there" but I came across a picture of a Bernard Ross in BC Canada who's face and shape is quite similar to Bunny's picture from the 1970's. I found this via LinkedIn.
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Prayers to the Ross family and I hope they have resolution and closure after all these decades.


My posts are opinions and hopeful conjectures....
 

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This beautiful area is one of the last unspoiled places in the eastern US. Little development has occurred in the area since 1977. The population in Northern Aroostook County/ St. John Valley has been steadily declining each decade due to the sinking economy, lumber mill closings, and lack of economic opportunities. Realty Road from Route 11 in Ashland past the mill is a dirt road through the wilderness and connects to and is used by the timber industry for logging operations. Realty Road is also the way to access remote lakes and sporting camps for fishing and hunting. I have family ties to the St. John Valley and last travelled there in August 2016.
 
When I find an MP who I think is a live person, I just let it go. If they wanted to reach out to their families in this day and age of the information super highway, they would have by now. I figure if they left and started a new life, they must have had a good reason, even if it makes no sense to anyone else. I know that stinks for those left behind, but it happens.
 
Pcfillion said:
This just came up again in the news, and I thought there is a bit of similarity.


http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/unknow...onquin-park-cold-case-1.3520697?autoPlay=true
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There's quite a few missing young men from Ontario from around that time frame that this could be.
Unfortunately, Canada doesn't compare DNA between missing persons and unidentified remains like we do through CODIS. Last I knew, Canadian officials will only take/ask for a DNA sample from an MP's family and compare it when they suspect they have a set of remains to match it to.
http://www.canadasmissing.ca/index-eng.htm
 
So taking a look at things and trying to get some information on this case.
What was Bernard despondent about? How despondent? Where exactly in Ashland on Realty Road? Did he know anyone in Ashland or someone who worked at Pinkham Mill? Could he have grabbed a ride from one of the log trucks? Was the Machias River ever looked at?

I looked in the newspapers at that time and found reference to a Bernard "Bunny" Ross who coached a girl's basketball team. Is this the same Bernard or was it his father?

My theory is that he drove to Ashland, parked around the area where the logging trucks were and begged a ride off of one of the drivers. He may have even gotten a ride from one of the workers. It would be interesting to know what the trucking routes from that time to get an idea of where he may have headed. Being that he sounds like a kid that didn't get into trouble, a small thing like taking the painter's truck may have made him feel like he was in big trouble now and couldn't go back home. I wonder if there was anywhere he had talked about going. Did he dream of going to the city or to the midwest or california? It's been such a long time, if he's out there he may still be afraid to go home.
 
I have strong family ties to this area and the logging trucks working out in the wilderness are basically running routes between the remote logging sites and the mills. Those logging trucks aren’t traveling out of state on the highways. To find rides with long haul truckers you would have to head several hours south to a place like Dysart’s outside of Bangor. I do hold the tiniest hope that Bunny may be alive out there somewhere.
JMO
Mom24 said:
So taking a look at things and trying to get some information on this case.
What was Bernard despondent about? How despondent? Where exactly in Ashland on Realty Road? Did he know anyone in Ashland or someone who worked at Pinkham Mill? Could he have grabbed a ride from one of the log trucks? Was the Machias River ever looked at?

I looked in the newspapers at that time and found reference to a Bernard "Bunny" Ross who coached a girl's basketball team. Is this the same Bernard or was it his father?

My theory is that he drove to Ashland, parked around the area where the logging trucks were and begged a ride off of one of the drivers. He may have even gotten a ride from one of the workers. It would be interesting to know what the trucking routes from that time to get an idea of where he may have headed. Being that he sounds like a kid that didn't get into trouble, a small thing like taking the painter's truck may have made him feel like he was in big trouble now and couldn't go back home. I wonder if there was anywhere he had talked about going. Did he dream of going to the city or to the midwest or california? It's been such a long time, if he's out there he may still be afraid to go home.
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Dot#5t said:
I have strong family ties to this area and the logging trucks working out in the wilderness are basically running routes between the remote logging sites and the mills. Those logging trucks aren’t traveling out of state on the highways. To find rides with long haul truckers you would have to head several hours south to a place like Dysart’s outside of Bangor. I do hold the tiniest hope that Bunny may be alive out there somewhere.
JMO
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I do believe he's alive.
News article from the Bangor Daily News June 27th 2009 "Missing in Maine":
Though Ouellette has investigated dozens of missing persons cases over the decades, there are some that continue to haunt him. One such case involves the 1977 disappearance of a 19-year-old Fort Kent man.
The son of a Fort Kent schoolteacher now living in Portland, Bernard "Bunny" Ross Jr. initially was the subject of a warrant in a truck theft case. The truck was found and the charges dropped, but Ross remained missing.
Despite a thorough search, Ross was never found.
Though 32 years have passes, Ross' parents maintain regular contact with Ouellette to see if there have been any new developments.
"We've done some work to try to locate him," Ouellette said. He periodically checks for activity with Ross' Social Security number, but so far has found nothing.
"Once in a while [Ross' father] will see a vanity plate that has the word bunny, and he'll ask me to run the plate and find out who it is, and I'd find out that it belongs to a female or somebody else," he said. "So there's always this glimmer of hope that he's alive, that he just ran away, or he had some sort of accident where he doesn't know where he belongs or whatever. But he's accepted the fact that his son may be dead," Ouellette said.
 
Skigirl said:
My family has had ties to Maine for several generations and I have been following this case for years. I feel terrible for his family and hope he is found.
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The problem is there is so much open area up there and so many areas that have now become overgrown. Places where there were homes are now forests again which only makes it even harder to find someone. Back in those days the area was fairly busy. The Pinkham mill employed quite a number of men and it was shift work, so there was a set time when people were coming in and out of the place. It's possible Bernard knew someone who worked there and went looking for someone for a ride, but it would seem if that were the case the person would have told LE. I've read a lot of the articles from that time and they do claim they did "extensive searches" of the area, but who knows what that means. And if he tried to catch a ride back to PI, he may have gotten into trouble.
 
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