CASE NOT CLOSED

Could This Letter Solve a 1977 Missing Person’s Case?

His parents had given up on knowing where he went 39 years ago. Then they got a letter.

Bernard “Bunny” Ross Jr. has been missing since 1977. No one knows where he went—unless a new letter is telling the truth.

Ross’s parents, Carol Ross and Bernard Ross Sr., received an anonymous letter a few months ago at their home in Portland, Maine, from someone claiming to know where their son is. Police don’t know yet whether to believe the letter, but they’re trying to find out.

“I’ve never had anything like this happen in my career,” Maine State Police Lieutenant Troy Gardner told the Portland Press Herald. “Of course, there’s no way of knowing whether the letter’s truthful or the information is accurate, but we are asking for whoever wrote the letter to please contact us.”

Bernard Ross Jr. was 18 when he disappeared on May 12, 1977, after leaving his family home in Fort Kent in an emotional state. A family car that went missing the same day was later found abandoned on a dirt road, leaving no clues as to his whereabouts.

Since then his parents have learned to live without knowing what became of their oldest son. The only times it seemed like they might learn the truth was when police—many times, from many parts of the country—would call to identify a body.

“You’d get your hopes up,” Carol Ross said, “but of course it would turn out to be someone else.”

Police have not released details of the letter to the public, in order to protect the investigation.

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Nathan Place

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