Name: Thomas William Richey
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: July 11, 1950
Location Last Seen: Prospect, Jackson County, Oregon
Date of Birth: December 3, 1933
Age: 16 years old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 5'9" - 5'10"
Weight: 165 - 170 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Nickname/Alias: Tommy
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Wears glasses
Dentals: Unknown
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Glasses
Thomas left home to go fishing on the Rogue River on July 11, 1950, 4 miles outside Prospect on Mill Creek Lane and 6 miles upriver from the Lost Creek Dam. He liked to fish in an area where there was a cable car above the river that could be stopped in the middle and fished from above.
When he didn't return home on the evening of July 11, a search was begun the following morning. His fishing pole as well as several fish he caught were found inside the cable car. The cable car was braked in the middle of the river.
A bloodhound tracked Thomas' scent to the river's edge where two footprints were found near the cable-car crossing where his fishing tackle was located.
Despite extensive searches in the woods and river, Thomas was not found.
Twenty years previously, Thomas' mother's first husband and 6-year-old son drowned in the same area of the river.
Agency Name: Jackson County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: Ben Fazio, Medicolegal Death Investigator
Agency Phone Number: 541-774-6800
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 18-18032
NamUs Case Number: 51989
NamUs
Medford Mail Tribune (Medford, OR) - Jul. 12-14, 1950
Ancestry.com
Added: 7/9/22; Last Updated: 7/9/22 - By: Doe-NamUs-App
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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