*Please be aware that I will be covering some sensitive details in this post to do with child abduction and satanic rituals. As always I have tried to be as sensitive as I can with the details without taking away from the facts of the case. Please feel free to contact me by email if you have any questions or issues*
Kevin Andrew Collins might not be a name that jumps out at you when you first hear it but I bet you recognise the face?, I'm sure you've asked yourself ''where have I seen this little boy before?''. Well, 10 year old (the age he was back in 1984) Kevin unfortunately earned the title as the first missing child who's picture was placed on milk cartons across the United States. The missing poster of this beautiful little boy became somewhat iconic in a heartbreaking way. His poster was everywhere and even featured in scenes in classic movies such as 'The Terminator' and 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'.
Before the days of the internet this was how appeals and searches were done. These methods are still used but thanks to the internet, advances in forensic technology, AMBER Alerts and mobile phones, we are able to do a lot more nowadays than we could before and we are able to reach more people on a much bigger scale. Despite the lack of resources available in 1984 and in the first stages of the case (where the police were not as helpful as they could have been), Kevin's family did all that they could and literally walked the streets putting posters up everywhere, doing TV appeals, radio appeals, newspapers columns dedicated to Kevin were published and for the first time in American history, his picture and information was to be placed on milk cartons up and down the country.
Kevin was known as the first of the 'Milk Carton Kids' and as heartbreaking as this is, I believe the idea to include these appeals on milk cartons to have been a genius idea. Despite all of the trouble that Kevin's family had gone to, the public's support and the change of tune by the police who were now taking the matter more seriously, the whereabouts of Kevin were still unknown. That was over 40 years ago and today (2024 as I write this) we are no closer to knowing the truth of what happened to Kevin.
With unsolved cases that have gone on for decades and in particular with missing cases, there is a tendency for some people's minds to run riot. People want answers and they want to be the ones who can solve the case. It is sad and disrespectful and to be honest I've seen a lot of disrespect when it comes to this case. It's insulting to the family of Kevin and Kevin himself that some people have been spreading wild stories about child sacrifice at Bohemian Grove of which they are claiming (by a so-called 'confidential source' that most probably doesn't exist) Kevin was a victim. Another strange man on YouTube (who's trying to sell his self-published books by the look of it) is pointing the finger at Kevin's mother and basically saying she is responsible for Kevin vanishing despite having not a shred of evidence or fact. When it comes to conspiracy theories, I listen to what people have to say, I'm interested and I admit that there are times when what they have said has actually turned out to be the case or an event they predicted eventually happened, I am open minded. But when it comes to a missing child and a devastated family who's grieving and has had decades of never-ending pain, it is just vile to make up fantasy stories.
Bohemian Grove is shrouded in mystery and it's a private club which is very secretive and the members are often people in the highest echelons of society, people with serious money and power. The group of men get together and what they get up to, nobody knows and it intrigues me but that's a whole different rabbit hole and a possible future post? There's a lot of things that I think actually go on (as I said before, I am a free-thinker) but I think that connecting Kevin to Bohemian Grove is in poor taste. I'm sure you would agree with me when I say, facts and evidence are very important and more important that just a rumour, a theory. If this so called witness (I watched a guy being interviewed and his eyes were darting about all over the place) actually viewed (as he claimed) Kevin being murdered at Bohemian Grove then why didn't he stop it? I'm sure if any of us saw a child being harmed we would do something about it there and then, police would be contacted etc.
Kevin was quite a shy boy and he was a very well behaved child, the sort of boy that you would dream of having as a son. He was born in San Francisco on January the 24th 1974, one of nine children, to doting parents Ann and David. Kevin struggled with dyslexia at school but despite this he gave his school work his all. He was quite a sociable child and loved to take part in sports, particularly basketball of which he attended regular practice like clockwork. He'd often attend basketball practice with his brother but on that particular day he went missing his brother was ill so, as determined as he was to never miss a session, he attended on his own. The session didn't end until just after 7pm on that chilly February evening of the 10th which for a 10 year old boy to travel back on his own would nowadays raise eyebrows but back then it was seen as normal. Kevin walked to the bus stop and patiently waited to make his journey home back to the safety of his family. Instead sadly Kevin never made it home, it was like he vanished into thin air, never to be seen or heard from again.
Kevin was not the type of child to just run off, there was no problems at home, he was a happy child but he was a very trusting child too and would happily talk to anyone. Witnesses have claimed that he was seen talking to a man with a black dog, other witnesses have said that he was seen talking to two white men with a car. Nothing else has been reported since but the case was reopened again in 2013 when a decision was made to start looking back into historical cases which many have now been thankfully solved due to advances in forensics. We are sadly no closer to learning the truth of what happened to Kevin but his family have never given up although they do believe that the reality of the situation is that Kevin may no longer be with us. They just want answers, they want to know what really happened to him. His mother Ann has previously said that in one way she wants to know what happened and for his possible remains to be found for some sort of closure but on the other hand knowing the truth, discovery of remains would also be devastating because then that is the final chapter in this heartbreaking story and the hope of ever finding him alive completely gone.
Speculation continues about what possibly could have happened to Kevin, I've mentioned the extreme theories and false accusations but could he have been abducted by the two men in the car? Could he have been abducted and brought up by another family as we have seen in previous cases? Kevin would be 50 years old today (at time of writing in 2024) if he had been abducted by a family you would have thought that at some point the truth would have revealed itself by now?
I, like a lot of people including yourself as you read this, have some ideas and I'm sad to say but I have to be honest, it looks to me (and this is just my opinion) that Kevin may have been abducted and murdered. There was a 'Person of Interest' that the police had their eye on and he was a known child abuser who went by various aliases. As I mentioned previously, witnesses claimed to have seen Kevin talking to a man with a black dog, this suspect (real name Dan Therrien who was going by the name 'Wayne Jackson' at the time) was local to the area that Kevin went missing and also had a black dog. Dan was a sick monster who preyed on children as young as 7 years old, he had a history of horrendous crimes towards children. Despite him looking more and more like a suspect he was never arrested and the police basically let him slip through their fingers. They remained focused on him at the time and even searched his home where they found bones which turned out to have belonged to an animal.
Despite the case being re-opened and investigators going back over the facts and looking at Dan Therrien again, it was sadly to no avail because Dan passed away leaving many questions unanswered. Investigators have been trying for years to get information out of a close friend of his who so far is saying nothing, they want to know anyone who could have possibly been around Dan back in 1984 and the following years incase they hold the key to vital information.
As well as having to deal with not knowing what happened to Kevin, the malicious theories and the lack of media attention nowadays to this case, the family have had to deal with people pretending to be Kevin and attempting to contact them. It is a very sick world that we live in at times.
After Kevin's disappearance, the family tirelessly looked for him and the stress became too much for his parents marriage, they sadly divorced and although his mother Ann remained in the area, his father moved out of the country.
On the 10th anniversary of Kevin's disappearance, a decision was made to install a tribute bench to him at the Holy Cross cemetery in Colma, California. The bench includes the inscription: 'Forever in our hearts - Kevin Andrew Collins'.
There's always a real sadness that comes over me when I think of this case and similar cases. I've mentioned before that although I study and write about a lot of different crime stories, when it is something to do with children I always find it particularly heartbreaking. I do hope that one day soon a miracle will happen and the family of Kevin Andrew Collins will get some answers we must also never give up on hope no matter how bleak the outcome may appear, there has been times when surprises have happened.
When he was last seen, Kevin was 4'6, had brown hair and weighed around 70 lbs. His eyes are described as grey/green. He was wearing a school uniform, dark brown cord trousers. A white short sleeved shirt, a dark green sweater and a Giants jacket.
If you have any information or may know someone who does, no matter how small please contact the San Francisco Police Department on 415 553 1071 (quoting case number: 840167303)
Further Reading & Sources:
- State of California Department of Justice | Missing Information for Kevin Andrew Collins
- Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes | Book by Michael Newton
- Kevin Andrew Collins: Article | People
- Kevin Andrew Collins | NBC News
- Kevin Andrew Collins | Wikipedia
- Kevin Andrew Collins | Reddit Discussion
- Kevin Andrew Collins | Missing Kids
- Kevin Andrew Collins | Child Find of America
- Kevin Andrew Collins | ABC7 News
- Kevin Andrew Collins | Find A Grave
- Help Find Missing Kevin Andrew Collins | Facebook
- Kevin Andrew Collins | & News
Thinking of Kevin and his family, please also keep them in your prayers. I hope you will join me next time for my last instalment of this unsolved series.
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Take care until next time x
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