This week on True Crime Daily The Podcast: Mark Himebaugh was 11 years old when he was last seen near his home in Del Haven, New Jersey, on November 25, 1991. At first, his disappearance was treated as a missing-child case, a boy who went to look at a nearby marsh fire and may have wandered off. But as the hours and days passed, something more nefarious was feared.
A child’s sneaker was found near Himebaugh’s home during the intensive searches for the freckled, red-headed little boy.
Sketches of “persons of interest” were released to the public. But 30 years later, Mark remains missing.
Ana Garcia covered the case as a young reporter and interviewed Mark’s mother Maureen.
In this episode, Ana and private investigator Luis Bolaños sit down with Maureen Himebaugh and retired Middle Township Police Officer Richard McHale. And Cape May County Detective Marshall Cradock gives an update on the current status of the case.
FBI Kidnappings/Missing Persons: Mark Himebaugh
https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/mark-himebaugh
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children: Mark Himebaugh
https://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMC/762514.html/mainposter
Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office / Detective Marshall Cradock
609-465-1135, extension 3350
http://www.cmcpros.net/2015/06/01/missing-since-1991-mark-himebaugh/
Cape May County Sheriff’s Office 411 TIP Line:
Text 847411 (TIP411)
http://cmcsheriff.net/tip411.html
609-889-3597 (Anonymous)
Middle Township Police Dept.
609-465-8700
Sketches:
https://truecrimedaily.com/2021/11/19/where-is-mark-himebaugh-new-jersey-boy-vanishes-anniversary-looms-tcdpod/
“Where Is Mark?” By Richard McHale
Othram: Justice Through Genomics
https://othram.com/
Luis Bolaños, GET BIT Investigations
https://www.getbitinvestigations.com/
Ana Garcia
http://www.anagarciatv.com
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Prayers to his mom and family 🙏 In the name of Jesus he will come to his mom!
I remember that day vividly… his brother Matt was a classmate.. such a sad, horrible day…
Hmmmmmm much like dulce Maria alavez :[
What about the neighbor she gave a ride to the gas station? Was this normal and someone she trusted. It sure was good timing in favor of anyone wanting to take him?
i swear to god i kept hearing them say, "butt cabbage."
I grew up in Cumberland county, NJ, just a few miles away from the bay, and this is one of those haunting memories I have as a child, I have never been able to shake. I can remember searching on our side of the Delaware bay for him, and as a preteen myself I was terrified. I'm now 47 and this story still creeps up into my memories.
Butcavage is definitely involved in this case. There is NO WAY they could have gotten a sketch THAT CLOSE to what he looked like BEFORE his mugshot was released. And his former lover/companion is CLEARLY telling the TRUTH!!!! MAY GOD BLESS THIS CHILD. 😊
I'm praying for you and the return of Mark Maureen. God bless you!!!!
His toothbrush???? His hairbrush???? His pillow? Or pillowcase???
My heart breaks for Maureen and every parent who has lost a child and gone without answers. I pray that somebody has the courage to speak up and unburden themselves.
To see journalists and folks who worked the case still so tormented by it shows that people have cared and continue to do so years later.
Has anyone read about an update of the DNA on the shoe??
Is. Mark in prison ?
Scary part is Maureen’s Facebook is full of stuff about mark. Where as his father has never posted a single article. Makes you wonder
Thank you Rich for telling the story of the actual timeline of events.
Sad, he was just a little boy and his mom will never stop loving and missing him. Mom's of grown men who go missing feel this pain too. Moms love their sons, big or small, forever and ever. She will not have peace in this life unless he is found.
He was such a cute kid. Can't imagine the pain his family went through and continues to go through.
I am from the area. I was 6 when he went missing. Currently ready "Wheres Mark?" Searching for videos about this. Thanks for covering
Yes that is true… marks photo WAS everywhere. Wawas,post offices, gas stations. I mean everywhere! That is why I remember this case. Like I said I was 14 when this happened, I moved out of NJ in 2015, and flyers were STILL around.
I grew up in south Jersey and this case and the boy in the box case have always haunted me, my entire life.
I was 14 at the time this happened. I lived about 40 minutes north of where he went missing from, I remember the fear me and my friends had during this time period, we wouldn't even go outside. I remember the flyers in all our local stores for years.
Did they check in the water by the beach?
So from this podcast I extrapolate that where the shoe was found only Mark's footprints were observed. No adult footprints. So maybe he ditches his sneaker because his recently fractured ankle is hurting him in the older shoe. He eventually almost makes it home, hobbling along when someone offers him a ride the rest of the way. He may have known the abductor, he may have vaguely known him, or not known him at all. Mark's mum said she didn't think Mark would get into a stranger's car, but with a sore ankle maybe he would have. Just some thoughts here. It doesn't sound as if the shoe was left there or thrown there by the abductor with only a child's footprints leading away from the shoe. When I was a child I got lost returning to my grandmother's home after going off by myself to the shops. I stopped at an intersection and was obviously lost as a car stopped and asked me if I was in fact lost and did I want help getting home. I was about 8 or 9. I wondered for a moment if it was safe to get in the car. I looked at the other occupants and saw a lady in the front passenger seat, the driver a man, and several kids in the back. I ascertained that this looked like a normal family, I should be safe and I got in the car. Fortunately for me I was taken back to Granny's and it worked out well, but you know I think my mother would have said the same as Mark's mom.
Holy shit, i didn’t even realize why your voice has always been SO familiar in these videos 🤦♀️ i grew up in CMC
Maureen ❤❤❤❤❤❤
I know its just a sketch, but i wonder if someone could apply facial aging technology to the blonde girls face to get an estimate of what she may look like now ?
Maybe it is the same person in the sketch, the person was seen at different time periods. Maybe his glasses got knocked off in the abduction? 47:51
Ana, I just finished the book, “Where is Mark”… I am so confused. The father??! Oh my God. Did the police ever interrogate him about these horrid allegations? Of other children or of his own son? And the connections there? I just listened to this whole video and it was not mentioned at all. That book really shook me to my core. I pray for this poor mom to have peace.Maureen’s trauma breaks my heart. I can’t even imagine the pain that she’s lived with with 30 years. And how about Mark’s friend, Robyn? Who is now a grown woman? Apparently in “Where is Mark”, she came forward and verified all the allegations about the father and the child ring that was involved? Have police not done anything about this? This is so shocking and horrifying. Those are pretty bold things to put in a book if they were not verified by a witness or someone involved to be true. I would urge everyone to read the book and then post comments. Ana? Have you read it? 😪
If Butcavage and male prostitutes of his, were known to circulate the area, it's possible the woman seen in the car (with the Butcavage lookalike), was actually a male prostitute in drag, (which most male prostitutes are)… Has this theory been looked into?
It's highly unlikely a woman was involved in the abduction. Male sex workers, who were associated with Butcavage needs to be looked into.
Was Butcavage roommate's father a sex worker, since the father was in the area during the same time as the Butcavage lookalike? This could be a connection that makes sense?
30 years ago abduction was rare, I don't believe a girl was used to lure him away… Kids were trusting of adults back in those days.
Based on probabilities, the most likely scenario is that he was taken by a local pedophile, probably someone who he felt comfortable with or knew in some capacity. A fresh set of eyes on the initial suspects or persons of interest may be the best path moving forward.
Have law enforcement ever looked into serial pedophile child killer Lewis lent from Massachusetts. He moved around quite a bit and is responsible for at least 3 children's deaths possible more.
Question? Was the jacket on the little girl seen with mark verified as real brand of jacket? Was the park ranger ever checked out? They said he knew all the kids. Sounds like he was the last one to see Mark. Watched this on ID channel don’t know if these questions were answered.
I grew up a few years after his disappearance in the same neighborhood right down the street and my grandparents always had me check in every hour because of this case and now I understand why they did or want to know who I was with etc. and why they did a lot about stranger danger with me.
The initials I put out there M.I. the 1st name of his Mother &M.I 's are so close it's cannie
Are we still using Lie Detectors in 2023? Are they even a little reliable.
Wasnt there a couple that came forward and said they saw the sneaker on the beach before Mark went missing?
After listening to a podcast with McHale – Im not 100% convinced the dad is not either directly or indirectly involved. He was putting up flyers in CC Philadelphia because he had "friends" there.
Rich McHale nailed it. I just listened to a podcast wherein he talked about the case. He knows who did it but as we know, there are things that cannot be revealed while the case is still open. Also, the brushfire that caused the slow and rerouting of traffic within the neighborhood – how did that start? Could it have been deliberate to slow up police etc? Just a thought
Anna, could you look into an unsolved homicide from 1983? I was in high school at the time and I have never forgotten. Eric Shunk was a little boy from the Kensington area. He went out to run to the store to get a copybook. He never came home and the search began. He was found on the railroad tracks at about 2:30a.m. He was under some snow and he had been beaten so badly that originally they thought he was stabbed. There was blue and white nylon rope around his neck. I believe they had suspects but they were minors. Teens that hung out by the railroad. There had to be DNA. His father was also a Philadelphia Police officer. Please help.
Shades of Johnny Gosch!