Laura Bradbury (left)
Real Name: Laura Ann Bradbury
Nicknames: None
Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California
Date: October 18, 1984
Bio[]
Occupation: Minor
Date of birth: 1981
Height: Unrevealed
Weight: Unrevealed
Characteristics: White female with Blonde hair and blue eyes.
Case[]
Details: On October 18, 1984, three-and-a-half-year-old Laura Bradbury disappeared from her family's campsite at Indian Cove Campground in California's Joshua Tree National Park. She had accompanied her eight-year-old brother to the portable restrooms near the campground. He left Laura outside the the restroom while he used the facilities. When he came out, she was gone. Over 250 people searched for her in the Joshua Tree National Park. A bloodhound followed what appeared to be footprints from her flip-flops for about two miles before losing the scent. After three days, the search was called off.
Suspects: Witnesses claimed to have seen a man in his fifties with a metallic blue van at Indian Cove Campground just before Laura vanished. A similar-looking man was seen near Burns Canyon a few hours after Laura's disappearance. Authorities believe the man was taking the back road to Big Bear.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on April 29, 1985 as part of Missing... Have You Seen This Person? Special #1.
Results: Unresolved. In March 1986, a skull and other remains were found by hikers near the park's west entrance, only five miles from the family's campsite. In 1990, initial DNA tests suggested that the remains belonged to Laura. However, her family was not certain. In 2010, new DNA testing was done; it confirmed that the remains were hers. No arrests have ever been made and the case remains unsolved.
Interestingly, a man named Jim Nestor later vanished in 1985 while searching for Laura. His case was also featured on Missing... Have You Seen This Person?. His skull was found in February 1988, but the cause of death remains unknown. It is not known if his death was related to Laura's disappearance.
Laura's mother Patty died in 2001. Her father Michael wrote a book about his daughter's disappearance called "Laura Ann Bradbury: A Father's Search" in 2010.
Links:
- Missing Laura: For Parents, There is No Quitting - October 18, 1985
- Bones of Child Found Near Site of Bradbury Camp - March 25, 1986
- Mike Bradbury's Obsession: On the Afternoon of Oct. 18, 1984, His Daughter, Laura, Disappeared - July 20, 1986
- Bradbury Case: Sheriff's Dept. Link Bones, Missing Girl - January 26, 1989
- Laura Bradbury Death Shown by DNA Evidence - December 16, 1990
- What happened to Laura Bradbury? - April 7, 2010
- A father asks: 'When will this ever end?' - September 18, 2010
- Trying hard to turn the page - September 19, 2010
- Laura Bradbury disappeared 26 years ago - March 11, 2014
- Laura Bradbury on Find a Grave