ND ND - Barbara Cotton, 15, Williston, 11 Apr 1981

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We started a Facebook group and page focused on Barb. Also a Twitter, Instagram and an email account all under the name Find Barb Cotton. Both the Find Barb Cotton and the Dakota Spotlight Podcast group has a wealth of information and discussion if anyone is interested.
Lisa Jo
 
Richard said:
Barbara Louise Cotton's case has the distinction of being the first featured case in the first Index of the Doenetwork. Unfortunately, there is little information available concerning her disappearance. And example from a newspaper is this eleven year old article:

Bismarck Tribune, The (ND) - January 29, 1995

Mystery lingers in Williston disappearance WILLISTON (AP) -- Barbara Cotton was seen walking down Main Street on the night of April 11, 1981, when she was 15 years old. Then she disappeared. Years of searching by law enforcement officers, years of chasing clues, have proven fruitless. But her family still holds out some hope.. ""I want to try and find her one more time,'' said her mother, Louise Cotton.. Mrs. Cotton, 65, has traveled as far away as Florida to follow leads, and called...
Click to expand...

Barb has a Facebook group now and a website findbarbcotton.com There is also a a billboard being put up this month in Williston asking for information.
We still don't have all the answers but we're determined to throw everything we've got at trying to get some!
We need all the help we can get to bring her home. You can email me at findbarbcotton@gmail.com (everything sent is kept confidential) if anyone has any information, questions, theories.
I would love to have some extra help on this as far as internet research.
 
Friends, family hope billboard will help locate woman who went missing in 1981

Aug 23, 2021
A few weeks ago, something new popped up on the landscape in Williston.

On U.S. Highway 2, heading north through town, a billboard went up asking for help with the case of Barbara Cotton, a teenage girl who went missing 40 years ago.


The billboard asks whether people remember Cotton and shows a photo of her. It also has an imperative for anyone who knows something, “It’s time for you to speak up,” along with the web address findbarbcotton.com

Schiele said no tips have come from the billboard yet, but she remains hopeful.
 
#FindBarbCotton - Find Barb Cotton
Learn about Barb's disappearance - Find Barb Cotton

Snipped

After 40 years, there’s only a few things that are clear…
Barb has never been seen or heard from again.
No remains have been found.
There have been no arrests.
The people that should have been questioned immediately in 1981, apparently never were.

The worst part is that many of them have since passed away. This includes everyone that Williston police has publicly said that they consider a “person of interest” .

(click link for more details)
 
Hopefully the website helps solve this case. The fact that the most often repeated story about when she was last seen may not be the last time she was last seen likely hasn't helped solve this case. That whoever did it is almost certainly dead would be anyone's conclusion, but maybe there is still a way to get more info and find her remains after all these years.
 
summergirl1 said:
Hopefully the website helps solve this case. The fact that the most often repeated story about when she was last seen may not be the last time she was last seen likely hasn't helped solve this case. That whoever did it is almost certainly dead would be anyone's conclusion, but maybe there is still a way to get more info and find her remains after all these years.
Click to expand...

I hope so!
I did just find a match today on doe network that I think has potential

87UFTX
 
Not a match.
I confirmed that Barbara Cotton does have a number of metal fillings in her molars despite her teeth being listed as "in excellent condition".
 
Hey guys,
We could really use some help with spreading information on Stacey's friend "Red" and on Stacey, especially in western Montana and Northern California. If anyone here wants to try their hand at finding them that would be awesome as well.
A fresh set of eyes is always appreciated.
Stacey Demarr Werder was 21 in 1981. He was a drifter from Yreka California.
He stood aprox. 5ft 8in tall, brown hair, slight mustache and beard. He also had an 8 inch surgical scar that ran vertically between his navel and sternum.
Stacey is the main person of interest in Barb's disappearance.
It was reported that Barb may have been with him at the Pioneer hotel in Scobey a few days after she disappeared. Police checked it out and only reported that she was not there with no mention of Stacey being there or not.
Stacey was arrested on June 12th 1981 in Glasgow and remained in the jail there for 10 days. (this may have been related to an incident at Fort Peck).
Stacey was arrested in Malta, Montana on July 15th 1981 and unfortunately, hung himself in jail that night.
Stacey's friend "Red", possibly Red Sullivan or C. E. Sullivan was likely around Stacey's age (21 in 1981 / born around 1959) was with him when he was arrested in Malta and they likely were traveling together.
Red was described as tall, slender and had blonde hair.
We think he was possibly from California as well. After Stacey's death, Red brought Stacey's belongings to his mother in CA.
It would be wonderful if this post could get shared in Montana, North Dakota and California so that maybe we can find Red if he's still alive.
Please feel free to reply or you can email me at findbarbcotton@gmail.com
Thanks!
 
Fifteen-year-old Barbara Cotton vanished without a trace from Williston, ND in 1981.

In this episode of Dakota Spotlight's A Better Search for Barbara we speak with Barb's childhood friend, Sandee Evanson. What have we learned over the last year since Dakota Spotlight began looking into this cold case? Sandee shares her thoughts on the ups and downs, the successes and the frustrations.

Also in this episode a conversation in California with family members of Stacey DeMarr Werder, a person of interest in this cold case.

Missing Barbara Cotton, what we've learned in a year: Listen to episode 20
 
90

Barbara Cotton, left, and her sister Kathy in 1978, three years before Barbara vanished.

upload_2022-1-27_6-0-21.jpeg
upload_2022-1-27_6-1-50.jpegupload_2022-1-27_6-5-30.jpegupload_2022-1-27_6-6-48.jpeg
Barbara Louise Cotton
 
  • “We don’t forget about them. We keep a file and it’s gone through every year,” said Lt. Gary Malo, commander investigations for Bismarck Police Department.

Barbara Cotton disappeared from Williston 40 years ago when she was 15.

A law passed in 2019 is set to create a statewide missing persons database. It received funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act in 2021. The database has not yet been finalized.
A look at North Dakota’s missing people and cold cases
Barbara Cotton
Barbara went missing at 16 years old, on April 11, 1981, in Williston. She was last seen leaving a local restaurant and didn’t take any belongings with her. She’s now 56.

Her left ear is lower than her right and she has a dark brown mole on the upper right side of her chest. She has brown hair and eyes.
  • barbara-cotton.jpg
barbara-cotton-age-progression.jpg

The names and faces of those still missing across North Dakota
 
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