Phillips circa 1883; Phillip's monument
Phillips circa 1883; Phillip's monument
Name: David Laurie Phillips
Case Classification: Missing
Missing Since: June 4, 1883
Location Last Seen: Salina, Saline County, Kansas
Date of Birth: August 21 or 27, 1837
Age: 46 years old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Hair Color: Dark
Eye Color: Light blue or gray.
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: He wore a beard and mustache.
Dentals: Not availble.
Fingerprints: Not availble.
DNA: Unknown
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
David Laurie Phillips was a carpenter and cabinent maker by trade and a member of the Salina Town Company, a company who founded Salina, Kansas. He was born in Scotland and immigrated to the United Sates in 1858.
Mr. Phillips was last seen traveling by train from Kansas to visit his nephew, Dr. William A. Phillips, at his home in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Phillips sent a telegram to Dr. Phillips from Las Vegas, New Mexico, and again from Yuma, Arizona.
When the train arrived in Los Angeles, David Phillips was not on it. A passenger on the train - a young man - gave Dr. Phillips an urgent message. He stated that David had acted incoherently at the Yuma station and when the train made a brief stop at Volcano Springs, California (now Mundo, CA), at about 1 A.M. on June 10, 1883, the road master saw David Phillips leap off as the train was pulling away. The road master reported that Mr. Phillips had "neither hat, shoes, nor coat."
Other sources indicate that Mr. Phillips became ill, possibly from a migraine, and became delirious from the heat. According to witnesses, he struck a passenger with a bucket, jumped off the train, and ran into the desert. Other sources stated that he claimed to have been robbed.
Search parties looked in the areas for weeks but David Phillips was never located. His family erected a monument in his memory in Gypsum Hill Cemetery in Salina, Kansas, which is engraved with "So he died there and the Lord buried him in the Valley but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day."
The original missing persons report cannot be found. Some sources list his date of disappearance as June 8, 1883 or June 4, 1883.
Agency Name: Saline County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 785-826-6500
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: Unknown
NamUs Case Number: Not listed
NCIC Case Number: Unknown
Keely Denning
Ancestry.com
Salina Founding Fathers by Gary Demuth
Cemetery Tour
Wikipedia: Mundo, California
Salina's Historic Downtown
by Mary Clement Douglass (p. 10)
Added: Prior to 2011; Last Updated: 05-18-2022 - By: Htmlcnvtr
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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