CA CA - John Mitchell Carroll, 18, missing after job interview, Susanville, 1975

[Bluebesa]

I’m looking for more information about the cold case of John Mitchell “Mitch” Carroll, (6781- DMCA) who went missing in Susanville, California on September 23, 1975. He was 17 years old and reportedly had a job interview with the U.S. Forest Service, but instead was last seen getting into a white van.


What makes this case especially strange to me is that Mitch was a smoker and left his pack of cigarettes in his sister’s car, which he normally wouldn’t do, since the interview was expected to be brief. His sister saw him get into the white van, which was suspicious because Forest Service vehicles at that time were not white.


I’m interested in hearing from anyone who knows about this case or similar abductions involving young males, white vans, and fake job interviews in the 1970s in California or nearby states.


Any leads, theories, or similar cases you know of would be greatly appreciated.

-
Name: John Mitchell Carroll
Nickname/Alias: Mitch Carroll
Case Classification: Missing
Missing Since: September 23, 1975
Location Last Seen: Susanville, Lassen County, California

Physical Description​

Date of Birth: January 17, 1958
Age: 17 yrs old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 140 lbs.
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Blue
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Wears glasses; birthmark on temple

Identifiers​

Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown

Clothing & Personal Items​

Clothing: White t-shirt; Levi's pants; boots
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Eyeglasses

 

[GraceG]

Welcome @Bluebesa . Since it's required to have a link to LE, MSM or NamUS for a missing person thread I found a couple to attach for this young man. First one is from the Department of Justice missing persons database. The second one is is for the Doe Network (which has his D.N. case number) and has the information as to the Forest Service Interview.

John Mitchell Carroll

oag.ca.gov

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/software/mp-main.html?id=6781DMCA

He and I would be the same age. I worked as a contract pilot for a group that supported the Forest Service firefighting efforts in the late 70's. I personally don't see the Forest Service interviewing a 17 year old. In the 70's, even the lower level Forestry Aid or Tech positions (GS3) required a year of post high school education. Even if he was looking at a wildland firefighter position - they still had a requirement of age 18 and a high school diploma or GED. Recruiting was usually done at recuiting events, and from there it was more common to get a phone interview, the in person interviews being reserved for the more specialized positions. No one ever was "picked up" for an interview that I EVER heard of (again, just my personal experience).

There WAS the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) a permanent program after 1974 offering summer conservation work-learn opportunities for young people focusing on providing employment, accomplishing conservation work, and promoting environmental appreciation. But if he was "interviewing" for that, he would likely have been past the age limit for the next available season (summer 1976) as it was limited to 15-18 year olds.

Honestly, my initial reaction without know more about him, was either he was incredibly naive and was taken advantage of by a stranger or he was embellishing the circumstances of his life in communication with his sis (that age is tough, you want to be treated like an adult and taken seriously, but most people still want to treat you like a little kid).

I never heard any of my friends (and I hung out pretty much with contract pilots or Forest Service crews the couple of years I did that) talking about sketchy interviews or young men disappearing from the area (we operated mostly in southern OR, Northern CA.) If you look at some generic databases of the missing from the area in the 70's, most were women, or the circumstances of which were much different than the "white van" scenario (note, I'm sure there are a lot more than the few I found, I just found some media covered ones).

 

[Bluebesa]

Welcome @Bluebesa . Since it's required to have a link to LE, MSM or NamUS for a missing person thread I found a couple to attach for this young man. First one is from the Department of Justice missing persons database. The second one is is for the Doe Network (which has his D.N. case number) and has the information as to the Forest Service Interview.

John Mitchell Carroll

oag.ca.gov

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/software/mp-main.html?id=6781DMCA

He and I would be the same age. I worked as a contract pilot for a group that supported the Forest Service firefighting efforts in the late 70's. I personally don't see the Forest Service interviewing a 17 year old. In the 70's, even the lower level Forestry Aid or Tech positions (GS3) required a year of post high school education. Even if he was looking at a wildland firefighter position - they still had a requirement of age 18 and a high school diploma or GED. Recruiting was usually done at recuiting events, and from there it was more common to get a phone interview, the in person interviews being reserved for the more specialized positions. No one ever was "picked up" for an interview that I EVER heard of (again, just my personal experience).

There WAS the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) a permanent program after 1974 offering summer conservation work-learn opportunities for young people focusing on providing employment, accomplishing conservation work, and promoting environmental appreciation. But if he was "interviewing" for that, he would likely have been past the age limit for the next available season (summer 1976) as it was limited to 15-18 year olds.

Honestly, my initial reaction without know more about him, was either he was incredibly naive and was taken advantage of by a stranger or he was embellishing the circumstances of his life in communication with his sis (that age is tough, you want to be treated like an adult and taken seriously, but most people still want to treat you like a little kid).

I never heard any of my friends (and I hung out pretty much with contract pilots or Forest Service crews the couple of years I did that) talking about sketchy interviews or young men disappearing from the area (we operated mostly in southern OR, Northern CA.) If you look at some generic databases of the missing from the area in the 70's, most were women, or the circumstances of which were much different than the "white van" scenario (note, I'm sure there are a lot more than the few I found, I just found some media covered ones).

Thank you for your feedback and addition! There's a man who has more relevant information about Mitch and added context regarding the disappearance. Unfortunately, the comment he made on the original post has been deleted since I first posted in the wrong forum. I already reached out to see if he can copy that response here, and we could go from there.

 

[Cool Cats]

Thank you for your feedback and addition! There's a man who has more relevant information about Mitch and added context regarding the disappearance. Unfortunately, the comment he made on the original post has been deleted since I first posted in the wrong forum. I already reached out to see if he can copy that response here, and we could go from there.

B

CA Post in thread 'CA - John Mitchell Carroll, 18, missing after job interview, Susanville, 1975'

Aug 6, 2025

Welcome @Bluebesa . Since it's required to have a link to LE, MSM or NamUS for a missing person thread I found a couple to attach for this young man. First one is from the Department of Justice missing persons database. The second one is is for the Doe Network (which has his D.N. case number) and has the information as to the Forest Service Interview.

John Mitchell Carroll

oag.ca.gov

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/software/mp-main.html?id=6781DMCA

He and I would be the same age. I worked as a contract pilot for a group that supported the...

• Bluebesa

• 

The Doe Network

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/software/mp-main.html?id=6781DMCA

 

[Cool Cats]

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/software/mp-main.html?id=6781DMCA

6781DMCA - John Mitchell Carroll​

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Left: circa 1975
Name: John Mitchell Carroll
Nickname/Alias: Mitch Carroll
Case Classification: Missing
Missing Since: September 23, 1975
Location Last Seen: Susanville, Lassen County, California

Physical Description​

Date of Birth: January 17, 1958
Age: 17 yrs old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 140 lbs.
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Blue
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Wears glasses; birthmark on temple

Identifiers​

Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown

Clothing & Personal Items​

Clothing: White t-shirt; Levi's pants; boots
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Eyeglasses

Circumstances of Disappearance​

Mitch Carroll was last seen in the Raley's parking lot at about 3 p.m. on September 23, 1975.

Mitch's sister drove Mitch, who didn't have a car, to the local grocery parking lot, where he was supposed to meet up with the Forest Service about a job. The interview wasn't going to take too long, so Mitch, a smoker, left his pack of cigarettes in the car. Mitch's sister saw him get into a white van, which she thought was peculiar since all the Forest Service vehicles at the time were a drab light green, and the van drove off. His family and friends have not seen him since.

Investigating Agency(s)​

Agency Name: Susanville Police Department
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 530-257-6121
Agency E-mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 11588

Information Source(s)​

CA DOJ
Lassen Advocate - Oct. 3, 1975 Family Member

Admin Notes​

Added:07/19/2025; Last Updated:07/19/2025 -HB

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Perhaps his case could be added to the government missing person's database NamUs. I can't submit it from my location, but it's an important step, in my opinion.

 

[mlhenn]

John Mitchell Carroll – The Charley Project

Details of Disappearance​

John was last seen in Susanville, California at 3:00 p.m. on September 23, 1975. His sister drove him to a local grocery store parking lot where he was supposed to meet someone with the Forest Service about a job. He left his pack of cigarettes in her car as he didn't expect to be gone long. John's sister saw him get into a white van, something she thought was strange because Forest Service vehicles were green.

The van drove off and John never returned. He has never been heard from again. Few details are available in his case.

John Mitchell Carroll​

• 
• 

John, circa 1975

 

[victoriarobinson642]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Now in NAMUS

 

[HopeRains]

Small town. Per the 2020 census ~20K residents.

 

[HopeRains]

I don't have any knowledge about his schooling but wanted to poke around some about the youth corp mentioned in the thread. The article in the clip below discusses an experimental year-round school that provided opportunities for students they might not get otherwise and specifically mentioned 4 students being invited to work in at the Youth Conversation Corps in the San Francisco Bay Area in September and October of "this" fall (the article is dated Sep 1975). So, it would appear the opportunities were not just during the summer. Additionally, and perhaps entirely coincidental, the article is dated September 22, 1975 - the day before young Mitch went missing.

Article clipped from The San Bernardino County Sun

Clipping found in The San Bernardino County Sun published in San Bernardino, California on 9/22/1975.

www.newspapers.com