Released on June 1, 1993, Runaway Train was a power ballad from the American band Soul Asylum. The music video(s) were inspired by “kids on milk cartons”, featuring missing young people from all over the world.
It is a song that, not only played in my house a lot because my mum liked the band, but one of the missing people on the UK version of the video was later found a block away from me, buried in a garden.
Then two of the girls, also from that version of the video, were found buried in the garden of serial killer Peter Tobin – you can read the blog about him here.
I have always wondered about the stories behind their faces, and their fates, so I am going to see how many I can find. Plus the 25 year anniversary has just past and NCMEC have brought out a newer version.
Different versions of the video were made for different countries, 3 from across the states, 1 each from Australia, Canada and the UK but MTV mainly only ever showed one version, so some are hard to find and information is lacking.
There is mention online, in two different places, of a German version but I can not find it, or any lists/mentions from it. I *think* someone is confusing the three German backpackers removed from the Australian version as being a stand alone video, I have no proof of either to be honest.
If you remember it or have a copy, message us!
Tony Kaye was the director of the video. The three original versions of the video in the United States, totalled 36 missing children shown (tho I can only find around 20, I shall add to this as I find them, please inbox any you find that are not included here).
According to Kaye, 26 missing children were found after being featured in the video.
In 2006, guitarist Dan Murphy stated in an interview with Pasadena Weekly that some of the cases featured in the video had ended in tragedy: “Some weren’t the best scenarios. I met a fireman on the East Coast whose daughter was in the end of the video, and he’d been in a bitter custody battle with his wife over her”, Murphy said. “It turned out the girl hadn’t run away, but was killed and buried in her backyard by her mother. Then on tour, another girl told us laughingly ‘You ruined my life’ because she saw herself on the video at her boyfriend’s house and it led her being forced back into a bad home situation.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaway_Train_(Soul_Asylum_song)#Resolved_cases
American Version
(missing children listed are from different versions of the video, but only one is currently on YouTube)
*Still Missing*
Andrea Durham (13) went missing from Fort Walton Beach, Fla., on Feb. 1, 1990.
Agencies classify Andrea’s case as that of a runaway or a possible non-family abduction. The circumstances surrounding her disappearance remain unclear; there is very little evidence as to her fate. Authorities originally thought she was a runaway, but now they believe other forces may have been at work in her disappearance.
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/4711?nav
Police looking for more information in 2018
*Resolved*
Aundria Bowman (14) last seen at her family home in Hamilton, Michigan, on March 11, 1989.
In January 2020 Dennis, who adopted Aundria when she was five months old, confessed to Aundria’s murder.
At the time, he was already in custody pending trial on charges of murder in the unrelated 1980 murder of a woman in Virginia, 25-year-old Kathleen Doyle
In the spring of 2020, Aundria’s remains were found in a shallow grave on Dennis’s property.
On May 15, 2020, Dennis Bowman was charged with the murder, child abuse and mutilation of a body in Aundria’s case.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Aundria_Bowman
*Still Missing*
Byron Page (17) disappeared in Los Angeles on Jan. 29, 1992.
Byron was last seen at a bus stop at Overhill and Slauson Streets in Los Angeles, California on January 29, 1992. He was planning to visit a music warehouse and video store twenty miles away in West Hollywood, California; he was a regular patron of the store.
Byron never arrived home and has not been seen again. Employees at the store did not recall him entering the business that day.
Byron also mentioned being a camp counselor at a local YMCA, a work experience program at the Los Angeles International Airport, making the honor roll and his five-semester perfect school attendance record.
Byron added that his PSAT score was among the top 6 percent of black students who took the exam and qualified him for an academic college scholarship.
“This pleased me and reaffirmed my belief that through hard work and dedication one’s goals can be achieved,” Byron wrote.
He seemingly had no reason or want to leave but little else is known about his disappearance.
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/7311?nav
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/06/07/grace.coldcase.byron.page/index.htm
Christopher Kerze (17) vanished from Eagan, Minn., home along with the family’s van on April 20, 1990. It was found 200 miles away.
He withdrew $200 from his savings account the day he disappeared. The next day, a handwritten note arrived at his parents’ home, postmarked Duluth, Minnesota; that town is about two and a half hours from Eagan.
The note said Christopher had lied about being sick so he could use the family’s car to get away “to not even I know where.” He said he intended to take his own life, and apologized for hurting his family and loved ones.
Two days after Christopher was last seen, the Dodge Caravan was found abandoned on the roadside in Itasca County in northern Minnesota, near the George Washington State Forest and the Chippewa National Forest, about twenty miles north of Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
Christopher’s grandparents lived in Grand Rapids. Inside the van were the keys and a note from Christopher explaining who owned the van.
An extensive search of the area turned up no indication of his whereabouts; it’s possible he hitchhiked to an unknown destination.
It is believed that Christopher took his own life.
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/6261?nav
*Resolved*
Curtis Anthony Huntzinger (14)
Curtis disappeared from Blue Lake, California on May 19, 1990. He was originally considered a runaway, but as the years passed police began to suspect foul play in his case.
In the days before he went missing he told his parents and police that he was being molested by family acquaintance Stephen Hash, then 35.
Hash,was charged with voluntary manslaughter in Curtis’s case in December 2008. Days later, he attempted to plead guilty, but the judge refused to let him. Hash led police to Curtis’s body, which was entangled in tree roots in a shallow grave located off old State Route 299 between Blue Lake and Korbel.
In court, Assistant District Attorney Wes Keat read the terms of the plea agreement, which stipulated Hash will serve 11 years in prison, and pay a total of more than $9,000 in restitution fines
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/83046996/curtis-anthony-huntzinger
https://www.times-standard.com/2009/05/11/a-timeline-of-the-curtis-huntzinger-case/
*Still Missing*
Kimberly Doss (16) disappeared from Davenport, Iowa, on Sept. 1, 1982 (approx)
She has not been seen or heard from since she vanished.
Thursday’s Child, a charitable organization that assists homeless or at-risk teenagers, claims they made contact with Kimberly in 1984, two years after her disappearance. They stated Kimberly was working as a prostitute on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California, under a pimp named James Wiseman. She had straight, bleached blonde hair and was using the name Kimberly Gardner.
The woman the Thursday’s Child workers saw was approximately four inches taller than Kimberly was reported to be, however. Kimberly’s mother did not believe the Hollywood woman was her daughter, so no investigative action was taken at that time.
This online blog looks into the inconsistencies in Kimberly’s disappearance, including her age, when she went missing and issues with family members stories- https://crimesquid.com/2018/04/02/the-often-misreported-mystery-of-kimberly-sue-doss-new-information/
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/2919?nav
*Still Missing*
Duane Fochtman (15) was last spotted in the downtown area of Lincoln City, Oregon, on July 22, 1986.
One of Duane’s right fingers was crippled and he has previously fractured his ankle, he may use the first name “Dwayne”
Little else is known about his case.
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/6072?nav
*Still Missing*
John Lango (17) was last seen wearing jeans and a gray jacket as he walked away from his Pottsville, Penn., home at midnight on Jan. 1, 1988.
John was last seen leaving his family’s residence in Pottsville, Pennsylvania at approximately 12:00 a.m. on January 1, 1988. He never returned home and has not been heard from again. John was a student at Pottsville Area High School in 1988. Few details are available in his case.
John has a burn scar on his upper right arm and was wearing a gray jacket, blue jeans, and Adidas sneakers when he went missing.
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/7220?nav
*Still Missing*
Wilda Mae Benoit (14) she was last seen at her home in Creole, La., on July 23, 1992.
Wilda was last seen at her family’s residence in Creole, Louisiana on July 23, 1992. She had just been released from the hospital after a shoulder injury and was under heavy sedation at the time. She has never been heard from again. Authorities initially classified her case as a runaway, but her family never believed she left of her own accord.
Her step mother made a public post in 2003
“If Wilda Mae happens to read this I would like her to know that he has been sober for quite a while now.”
Leading many to believe she might has been trying to get out and away from the situation at home.
Wilda may have travelled to Florida after her disappearance.
There is little available evidence in her case.
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/4049?nav
*Still Missing*
Martha Wes Dunn (15) was from Daingerfield, Texas, on Sept. 5, 1990. She may have been with a male companion, Eric Glenn Owen
There was a theory that Martha and Eric had travelled to Hayworth, Oklahoma. Eric’s aunt lived there and there were several reported sightings of the pair there. Another theory was that they had gone to Kansas, possibly to the Wichita area; Eric’s mother lived in Kansas. Neither of those theories has been confirmed.
On September 30, Martha’s father got a call from a friend in Durant, Oklahoma; the friend said he’d seen Martha and Eric together and they were “dirty and hungry,” and he cleaned them up and gave them food. When police went to Durant to investigate the report, they couldn’t find them.
Eric and Martha were both heavily involved with drugs at the time they went missing; it’s possible their disappearances were drug-related. However, there is no evidence of foul play, and police continue to believe they left of their own accord. Both cases remain unsolved. Augusta, Kansas police are helping investigate.
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/6028?nav
Eric- http://charleyproject.org/case/eric-glenn-owens
*Still Missing*
Patrick Shawn Betz (11) disappeared from his hometown of Upland, California on January 20, 1988. He told his mother that he was going with a friend to a basketball game at Upland High School. There was a basketball game that evening, but it was being played in Chino, California, not in Upland.
Patrick and his friend went to The Pizza Chalet on Foothill Boulevard and Euclid Avenue in Upland at 9:00 p.m. They had visited the establishment earlier that day as well. He and his friend played video games there and then Patrick left to walk home. A witness saw him leave with an unidentified adolescent male. Patrick’s parents waited up all night for him to come home, but he never arrived. They reported him missing early the next morning.
The Pizza Chalet moved to another location after Patrick’s disappearance. His case remains unsolved.
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/5848?nav
*Still Missing*
Thomas “Tommy” Gibson (2) was last seen playing in the front yard of his family’s residence in rural Azalea, Oregon at approximately 11:30 a.m. on March 18, 1991.
Thomas’s father, Larry Gibson, then the Douglas County Deputy Sheriff, told authorities he took a jog around the family’s property in Azalea during the late morning hours of his son’s disappearance. Larry carried a handgun with him to shoot stray cats, many of which had been living on the property.
Larry claimed he shot at a cat near the area where Thomas was playing, but missed the animal. He then continued on his jog and learned his son was missing after returning to the house approximately 45 minutes later.
The family summoned law enforcement later in the day to search the property. Larry was told not to report to work at the sheriff’s office, but apparently dressed in his uniform and left the property for approximately 25 minutes during the investigation.
He stated that his four-year-old daughter witnessed an unidentified couple pull into their driveway and abduct Thomas. Larry said he was checking a local rest area for signs of Thomas and the couple. While members of the community searched for Thomas, Larry sat at home; at one point he told the searchers to give up and go home because it was snowing.
Authorities believed that Larry shot at a stray cat and killed the animal, as a deceased cat was located on the Gibsons’ property near Thomas’s last known location.
Investigators believed that the bullet traveled through the cat and struck Thomas as he played, killing him. They theorized that Larry noticed Thomas’s body after returning from his jog and buried the child in an effort to conceal the crime.
Larry denied this scenario and maintained his innocence throughout the investigation. He resigned from the sheriff’s office and moved to his native Montana after his son’s disappearance. He and his wife separated in 1994, and she took their three other children and moved back to Oregon.
Larry’s estranged wife and his daughter later changed their stories to authorities and said that his daughter witnessed her father hitting Thomas. Larry then put the child’s body in a black plastic garbage bag, put the bag in the back of his patrol car and drove away. He was charged with murder in Thomas’s case in 1994.
Prosecutors argued that Larry had a history of abusing his children and was under stress at the time of Thomas’s disappearance, as he had to care for the children while his wife was taking college classes. They theorized that, if he did not accidentally shoot his son, Larry lost his temper and beat the child to death.
Larry was ultimately convicted of second-degree manslaughter in 1995, although he continues to deny any involvement.
Thomas has never been located.
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/6112?nav
*Resolved*
Ginger Sue Hudson missing 1992
Nothing online about her but this comment is from the official YouTube video.
*Resolved*
Elizabeth Wiles (16)
Elizabeth was watching MTV at a friend’s house when she happened to catch the video of “Runaway Train” by the Minneapolis-based rockers Soul Asylum. Between the usual performance shots, the video flashed photos of missing and runaway children. Suddenly she saw her own face on the screen. “It was like, ‘Oh, no, I can’t look!’ ” she recalls. “I was so scared, I didn’t feel any other emotions.”
But as fear gave way to homesickness, Elizabeth phoned home. “I talked to my mom, and we both started crying,” says Elizabeth, who flew home to Arkansas five weeks later. “The video brought me home.”
https://people.com/archive/heading-home-vol-40-no-14/
**THIS ONE IS LISTED IN OTHER PLACES BUT SHE IS NOT IN THE MAIN VERSION AND ACTUALLY WENT MISSING 5 MONTHS AFTER THE VIDEO, SO I AM ASSUMING SHE WAS ADDED TO THE 3RD USA VERSION?**
And the most famous case featured- Polly Klaas (12)- On October 1, 1993, she was kidnapped at knife point during a slumber party at her mother’s home in California. She was later strangled by scumbag Richard Allen Davis and her body was found two months later.
Her father, Marc, started KlaasKids Foundation in 1994, that run and support a Nationally recognised SAR Team provides search managers, planners, field searchers and K-9 for missing child cases. They do amazing work and you should check them out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Polly_Klaas
https://klaaskids.org/
People from this video that I can not find official information about-
Heather Lee Yagle-1990 (no photo) according to Reddit -“There are records online indicating that a woman named Heather Lee Yagle was arrested in Hancock County, Mississippi aged 42 at the time of the arrest, otherwise there is very little information.”
Christina Ann Wood-1991
Darlene Michelle Hungerford– 1991 (some sites list her as found, no photo)
Michelle Ann Farley-went missing in 1992 and is rumoured to have been found alive shortly after the release of the video. She is apparently the girl who told the band ‘You ruined my life’
Emily Tamara Pois went missing 1992 and is rumoured to be alive after people found police records for her online after this date.
Berenice Espinoza (nothing at all I can find, no photo,just an old reddit post saying she was found)
UK Version-
*Resolved*
Update- Mark has reached out to confirm he is no longer a missing person and hasn’t been for 25 years
Mark Bartley was a runaway who went missing in 1992.
He was recognised in the video by a man who knew Bartley was staying in the tenant’s house below them, but was unaware of his missing status. By the time the police arrived, Bartley and the man he was living with were gone. It is unknown what happened to him after this. This is according to Wikipedia, he is not listed on UK Missing Person sites.
And this guy is claiming to be him in the comments of the video
*Still Missing*
Lee Boxell (15) went to a football match on 10 September 1988 and never returned home. No one has come forward with any confirmed sightings of Lee at any of the football grounds in the area.
Crimewatch has featured his case due to a youth club he is believe to have been a member of, called The Shed.
William Lambert, the St Dunstan’s Church graveyard digger who ran The Shed, was jailed for 11 years in 2011, when he was aged 75, after sexually abusing four girls who attended the club
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Lee_Boxell
https://www.missingpeople.org.uk/help-us-find/lee-boxell-93-000058
*Still Missing*
Nicola Payne (18) went missing 1991, no trace of her has ever been found. She had a seven month old baby, who she left at her boyfriends house, said she was popping home to get something and just never came back. While she is still missing, I can not find her on UK Missing Persons site.
Timeline of her disappearance – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-25417081
*Still Missing*
Bill Bennett (18) missing 1985 in Tenerife, Spain. Seems he was once listed on Missing People UK but not anymore.
Billy disappeared while on holiday in Tenerife at the end of 1985. He was last seen on 1 December. Despite extensive inquiries, Billy’s whereabouts remain unknown.
Billy from Holborn, London was due to go to Tenerife with a friend but at the last minute the plan changed and Billy went ahead alone. He is known to have stayed at the Las Americas resort and seems to have visited the Sergeant Peppers nightclub on several occasions.
Billy’s friend came out later with his girlfriend and says he saw Billy a couple of times. On one occasion Billy seemed rather the worse for wear and said that he had lost all his money and had no where to stay. No one has seen him since then.
*Still Missing*
Kevin Hicks (16) went out to buy some eggs for a school project in Croydon in March 1986 and was never seen again.
On 25 October 1996 someone anonymously called the Croydon Advertiser and said they knew where Kevin’s body was. Nothing has ever been found.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-38376671
Mark Garvey 
*Still Missing*
Mark Garvey (15) went missing in 1987, the last time his mother, Dot, saw Mark, he was leaving the family home in Walton to visit his girlfriend in West Derby.
“I’m scared I’m going to die not knowing what happened to him,” says Dot, softly – her emotions still raw after all this time. “There wasn’t really a reason for him to go.”
“He just said, “mum I’m going now,” and that was it,” says Dot,
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/watch-liverpool-mums-plea-find-12244380
It emerged that Mark and his girlfriend had argued after he found her with his best friend. Mark left in tears and was last seen walking to get a bus by the Jolly Miller pub, on Queens Drive.
Police worked on the case for three months, questioning everyone at Mark’s school, De La Salle in Croxteth, searching Walton park with tracker dogs and making an announcement on the Tannoy at Goodison – but there was no trace of Mark and no one came forward with information.
“On the night he disappeared, he had access to a large amount of money he’d collected for a school holiday to France, but he didn’t take a penny of it with him.
Dot, from above link interview
https://www.missingpeople.org.uk/help-us-find/mark-garvey-93-000064
*Resolved- I think*
Susan Callam left home on 4th of May 1993, there is no information about her online, the you tube comments say she was found alive after a documentary was made about her. Here is the BFI log for it-
Simon Darby missing 1989- Can not find anything about him and he is not listed on any UK missing website
*Still Missing*
Ben Needham (21 months) was a toddler when he went missing from outside his grandmothers house in Kos, Greece in 1991.
Police have said, he “most likely” died in an accident near to where he disappeared in 1991. Ben’s mother,Kerry, has never stopped searching and is often on TV asking people to come forward with information. She says the last 25 years have been a “living nightmare”.
The local man Konstantinos Barkas , who many believe accidently killed Ben in a construction accident, died in 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Ben_Needham
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-37676268
The next 3 girls either were, or are rumoured to be, victims of British serial killer Peter Tobin.
I wrote a blog about him last year, that includes all of them, and can be found here
*Still missing*
Louise Kay (we have a thread about Louise in our group True Crime Society). She is thought to be a victim of Tobin.
Dinah 
Vicky
Dinah McNicol (18) went missing in 1991, body found in Peter Tobin’s garden in Margate in 2007, buried with 15 year old Vicky Hamilton.
*Resolved*
Andy Gooch (22) went missing in 1992, a lot of the lists about this video online say there isn’t much info but Andy Gooch is the local one to me.
He was found dead, buried, in the back garden of a home about a block away from where I live. There is nothing online about him but I went to the local library over a year ago now, to read microfilms about his murder. I don’t have the copies right now, and library is still closed due to lockdown but I still have screenshots from that day.
Might get better copies when all is open again.
He was clubbed to death with a metal bar by his friend, Andrew Firth, after an argument about money and drugs, then buried in another friends garden. Firth then went to comfort Andy’s mother and helped her look for him. Locals remember the day they finally dug it up, three years later.
I have been told police only knew he was there as Firth could not deal with the guilt anymore.
While I can’t find anything online, and can’t access archives right now, someone who remembers when it all happened told me they spoke to Firth at a local club not long after he was released, about 17 years ago, and he openly talked about his friends death and said it was a fight that got out of hand, an accident.
Australian version
So, I have never seen this version, it is not up on YouTube and removed sharply when uploaded elsewhere. This is because two of the girls in the video were victims of serial killer Ivan Milat, and their families wanted it removed. I see people mentioning a version where they were removed but that is also no longer online (at this time) BUT a fab person over on Reddit called The Plow King, made a list of them all. THANK YOU!
*Resolved*
Samantha Knight (9) went missing on August 19, 1986 from Bondi, Sydney Australia.
Sixteen years later, Michael Guider, who was in prison serving 16 years for sexually abusing 11 children in Sydney, admitted to another prisoner that he had snatched Knight from Bondi and drugged her. He had planned to take photos of her but when he returned from the store, she was dead on his couch. Guider said he panicked and buried her body somewhere before moving it later on.
He eventually pleaded to manslaughter and has yet to reveal the location of her body.
As an interesting story about Guider, Olivia from True Crime Society has said that when she was growing up on the NSW Central Coast, there was a local man who was homeless and everyone assumed he was harmless. Turns out that man was Michael Guider…
http://www.australianmissingpersonsregister.com/SamKnight.htm
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13507055/samantha-terese-knight
*Still Missing*
Anneke Adriaansen (19) went missing on 12 January 1979 with her fiancee Alan Fox who is also missing. They were last seen in Byron Bay. The two were known to be hitchhiking at the time. In 2005, a Coroner declared them both legally dead, however their bodies have never been found.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/coroner-declares-missing-couples-dead-after-27-years-20050804-gdlt6r.html
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases-int/123dfnsw.html
*Still Missing*
Elizabeth Herfort (18) was last seen on June 13, 1980 at the Australian National University (ANU) Bar in Canberra.
It is believed she went to hitchhike home. People saw a girl matching her description getting into a vehicle. She was never seen again.
“She has been murdered,” Mrs Berry said. “I don’t care about catching the offender. I don’t know how she was murdered but I would like to know where she is . . . the police have said she could be anywhere. I have thought in the Brindabellas . . . I need to have her body found so that I can look ahead instead of looking back all the time. I have a very vivid imagination and I am a very emotional person . . . I watch the weather reports and when it snows there I imagine Lizzie out there somewhere with nothing to cover her. Or if it rains I think Lizzie is getting wet . . . and all sorts of things go through my mind. I think of her as just a skeleton now. It is horrible. It’s almost impossible to describe.”
https://policenews.act.gov.au/news/media-releases/36th-anniversary-%E2%80%93-elizabeth-herfort-disappearance
http://www.australianmissingpersonsregister.com/Herfort.htm
*Still Missing*
Andrew David Robinson (29) went missing on 14 March 1989 from New South Wales, Australia. He left his Lawson home on foot telling his wife that he was going to a friend’s house. He has not been seen since.
*Still Missing*
Tavanti Piras (2) went missing from Castle Hill, Sydney Australia on 26 July 1990, last seen by his father, Augusto Piras. It is believed his mother may have taken him to Thailand.
That is all the info on this poor kid.
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/porchlightaustralia/1990-piras-tavanti-26-july-1990-t474.html
*Still Missing*
Warren Long (20) went missing from Drummoyne, Sydney on 15 March 1993.
He was last seen leaving his place of work.
His car and a brief note were found at Watson’s Bay by his friends on March 17 1993. There have been possible sightings of him in Queensland
“We look for him everywhere. These kind of situations are extremely hard on all family members….our daughter Kerrie is sad that he is not around to enjoy her children. For myself, I live with hope because no matter how hard I try I just can’t see him taking his own life but a very tiny corner of my mind says perhaps he did and that hurts because you think you know your own children.”
Judy-Warren’s mother
*Resolved*
Ryan Keen-Coffield (2) missing 1991.
AAPAUSNEWS
June 6, 1994
A DREAM came true and a three-year custody battle ended at Sydney Airport last night when Yvonne Keen arrived home from the United States with her son Ryan. The mother and son flew into Sydney from Los Angeles just before 9pm – the first flight they could catch after a US court gave Ms Keen permission to bring her son home. Five-year-old Ryan Keen-Coffield was last on Australian soil three years ago, before he was allegedly kidnapped and smuggled overseas by his American father John Coffield. A two-month legal battle ended when a US Appeals Court rejected on Friday an application by Coffield to keep the boy in America. Ms Keen, who was reunited with Ryan in April, arranged the hasty homecoming before Coffield could make a second appeal in the US Supreme Court on Monday (US time). Coffield allegedly abducted Ryan, then aged two, from the former de-facto couple’s home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in June 1991. After an intensive, three-year international search, a tip-off on March 30 lead to Coffield’s arrest at the Ohio farming community of Portage County. Coffield, 42, who was arrested for “interferring with the custody of an Australian child”, could face five years’ jail if extradited to Australia by Federal Police.
https://www.leagle.com/decision/199414896ohioapp3d521144
It’s a petition dated 1994 where the mother sought an order requiring Ryan’s father, John Coffield, to return possession and control of their minor child, Ryan Russell Keen Coffield, to her.
The mother claimed the father had taken Ryan from Australia and had brought him to the United States, in violation of a temporary custody order of an Australian court.
https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/8nhmmw/update_on_the_missing_children_from_soul_asylums/dzvz0gs
It refers to the 1991 abduction of Ryan about halfway through the document, so it appears to be the same person.
At the bottom of the article it states, “In support of its judgment as to the grave-risk exception, the trial court held that the relevant evidence had supported the conclusion that the return of Ryan to Australia did not pose a grave risk to his physical or psychological well-being. Our review of the record supports the trial court’s holding. As part of his case, appellant presented the testimony of a psychologist who had met with Ryan on a number of occasions. During cross-examination, this witness stated that in his opinion, Ryan’s proposed return to Australia, in and of itself, did not present a risk of psychological harm. This same conclusion was also reached by a social worker who had had contact with Ryan.” So it would appear that he was returned to Australia at some point.
https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/8nhmmw/update_on_the_missing_children_from_soul_asylums/dzvz0gs
The following were German backpackers
People I can find listed online as being in the videos but not from which country or any more info-
- Christina Herman, missing 1993
- Elenoa Isaia, missing 1992.
- Hsuan-Hua (Sharon) Huang, missing 1992.
- Jeffrey Peter Hiner, missing 1984.
- Kyle Wade Ducker, missing 1993.
- Tristan Spencer, missing 1993
If any of these are cases local to you, and you remember them being found or any other information, please message us!
Runaway Train 25:
You can now create your own video and watch the new one-
https://www.runawaytrain25.com/
Over a decade later, technology has improved and a new “Runway Train” music video has been released in the hopes of finding more missing children. “Runaway Train 25” uses geolocation technology to turn the music video content into a search tool to find missing children. The video automatically updates itself with the profiles of missing children from the NCMEC database based on a viewer’s location, which people can share across Twitter and other social media platforms.
https://etcanada.com/news/455536/runaway-train-song-turns-25-see-the-new-music-video-thats-helping-to-find-missing-children/
*Still Missing*
Adagio Talifero (14) missing since 7th June 2018
Adagio was last seen in June 2018. He was homeschooled and lived with his father, Gerald, on a farm near Nevada City, California. They left the farm on June 2, and this is the last time anyone saw Adagio.
In the following days, Gerald visited friends in Arizona, and relatives in Santa Barbara and Ojai, California, and left some of his belongings with these people. He said he and Adagio were going to sail a friend’s 30-foot sailboat to Hawaii. When he was asked where Adagio was, Gerald said he was on the boat with friends. It was unusual of Adagio not to accompany his father everywhere, as they were very close.
Gerald set sail from Goleta Beach, California on June 7. There was a possible planned stop in San Diego, California. The trip to Hawaii should have taken three to six weeks. Gerald’s ex-wife and his family became concerned when they didn’t hear from him or Adagio within five weeks, and contacted the Coast Guard, but they had no information about the boat so there was little the Coast Guard could do.
The pair apparently never arrived in Hawaii. They were supposed to fly back to San Diego on September 1 and had already purchased tickets, but never made the flight.
It’s possible Gerald and Adagio perished at sea, but Adagio’s mother, who divorced from Gerald in 2013, believes her son may be alive and that Gerald may have taken him and disappeared voluntarily. Their cases remain unsolved.
http://charleyproject.org/case/adagio-talifero
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/52536?nav
Tammy 
Diego
*Still Missing*
Tammy Flores (3) (the page linked to her name currently has the wrong photo) and her brother Diego (who isn’t shown in the video)
Tammy and her brother Diego disappeared from Victorville, California on October 23, 2007. They were abducted by their non-custodial father, Francisco Flores. He never returned them after a scheduled visitation. A felony warrant for kidnapping was issued for him on January 18, 2008.
No one answered the phone when she called on October 23, and she went to Francisco’s house and found it vacant. She went to authorities at this time and was given full custody of Tammy and Diego on October 31.
Authorities learned that Francisco refinanced his home for $100,000 before the abduction and took the money with him. (The house has since been foreclosed.) He had a job at a cable company and had been a model employee for ten years, but when he kidnapped the children he walked away from his job without giving notice.
Their cases remain unsolved.
http://charleyproject.org/case/tammy-alexandra-flores
Tammy- https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/20917?nav
Diego- https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/20916?nav
*Still Missing*
Alexandria Lowitzer (16) was last seen in Spring, Texas on April 26, 2010. She left school that day and got off at her usual bus stop on Low Ridge Road near her home at 3:00 p.m.
En route, she called her mother saying she was going to walk to her workplace, the Burger Barn on Treaschwig Road, to pick up her paycheck. Burger Barn was only about a quarter-mile from her home, but she had never walked there before.
Alexandria told her mother she didn’t have her house key, but her mother stated the house was unlocked. She never arrived at the restaurant, never came home and has never been heard from again.
Alexandria’s case was originally classified as a runaway, but investigators are now looking at other theories in her disappearance. She left behind many personal belongings a runaway would normally have taken, such as her makeup, purse, phone charger, clothes and money, and her cellular phone hasn’t been used since she disappeared.
Before she went missing, Alexandria used her phone frequently and sent thousands of text messages every month. Entries in her journal indicated she was thinking of running away, but her family stated there was no evidence that the journal writings were recent.
Alexandria’s parents describe her as an artistic and well-behaved teenager who played softball, sang in her school choir and was in the Girl Scouts. They stated she rarely socialized outside her home but would bring friends over instead.
Her case remains unsolved.
Facebook page-https://alexandrialowitzer.com/
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/7260
*Still Missing*
Joanna Hernandez-Pacheco (14) disappeared from Columbus, Ohio at 9:30 a.m. on June 23, 2018.
She was last seen either in the area of 161 and Busch Boulevard, or at the St. James Catholic Church on Oakland Park Avenue. Authorities believe she left of her own accord.
Joanna may still be in the local area, or she may be in California or Mexico. She may be in the company of an adult male. Few details are available in her case.
http://charleyproject.org/case/joanna-hernandez-pacheco
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/54216?nav
*Still Missing*
Nahomi Grant (15) went missing in New York.
She was last seen on June 22, 2018 and was wearing a denim skirt, white top, pink Adidas sneakers and a black fanny pack.
Nahomi is believed to be with a female companion. I can not find anything else about her and she is not listed on Charley Project or NAMUS
https://www.missingalert.com/Missing/New_York/NAHOMI_GRANT
*Still Missing*
Kristopher Lewis (13) disappeared from Boston, Massachusetts on February 4, 2014.
He was last seen leaving his home on Morton and Selden in the Dorchester area. Authorities believe he left of his own accord.
Kristopher has disappeared before and has been found in the Fields Corner area of Dorchester in the past. Few details are available in his case.
http://charleyproject.org/case/kristopher-bryan-lewis
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/25422?nav
So, yeah this is a really random blog but I hope you enjoyed the rabbit hole. If and when new information comes up, it will be updated.
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A lot of work was put into the article and I enjoyed the information. Thank you.
Wow, what a great piece of work this is! Thank you! That song still gives me a sense of sadness when I hear it. I love it and love that it has helped some people. 💜
Great work! I had often wondered what had become of these kids? I can’t even fathom what their families went through
Thank you for this article. My son Adagio Talifero, featured in one of the Runaway Train videos, has been missing since June 2018. He would be 16 now. Updates on the ongoing investigation can be found at http://facebook.com/findadagio ❤
My husband & i just watched the video again last night. We do frequently.. we were always wondering what were the stories or the fates of these unfortunate children and young adults. Thank you so much for sharing and everything your doing.
Kyle Wade Ducker is alive and commenting on the video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRtvqT_wMeY&lc=Ugy0BzfmFUkwj3XwVgF4AaABAg
I’m confused with something. In the 2006, Soul Asylum’s guitarrist said on an interview that a he met a fireman that was in a custody battle with her wife and that his daughter ran away but then he found out that his daughter was killed by her own mother, the guitarrist said that it was a girl at the ending of the video and people said that it was Emily Tamara Pois, but lately, as the post said, there’s rumors of her being alive because of police records. ah, that confuses me…
Dennis Lee Bowman has plead No Contest to second degree murder of 14 y.o. Aundria M Bowman, adopted name, Alexis Miranda Badger REAL NAME. He is to be sentenced in Allegan County, MI. on Feb 7th 2022 at 8 am. I”m Alexis’s REAL mother and I will be at the sentencing.
Just to update. Emily Pois is alive and well living in Colorado. She is engaged to Jeff Coy of California
I’ve heard this song on the radio many times but today is the first time I’ve ever watched the video and learned the meaning to it right after I searched what happened to these children and am glad you put all the info into one place it’s absolutely heart braking to hear that even the solved cases are extremely tragic endings..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHEDrLI-gP0&list=WL&index=93
This link has the German version on it. Hope this helps.