Missing Kids and Their Bicycles - Cases of Dario Cicolecchia, Janice Pockett, and Others

By: Shane Lambert

Season 2 of Forensic Files included an episode (Episode 12) that offers key insights for those studying missing persons cases. The episode covers the 1993 disappearance of Dario Cicolecchia, a boy in Switzerland, whose case led to a murderer’s capture and revealing statements about his methods. This case provides a nugget of information worth considering for similar mysteries.

Dario Goes Missing: Secluded Area, Unwittingly Leaves Trail for Pedophile to Follow

Dario went missing after leaving home on a bicycle to go fishing. He was later found dead and mutilated in a Swiss cornfield. Forensic medicine revealed he was drowned, with diatoms (one-celled organisms found in water) in his lungs. These diatoms matched a nearby creek, pinpointing the murder location, and were also found in the suspect’s car, linking the victim, car, and crime scene.

The convicted murderer, Roland Kubler, was featured in the *Forensic Files* episode “Micro-clues” (December 18, 1997), which examined his actions.

Note the Bicycle in this Case: It Acts As a Trail to Follow

Kubler claimed he spotted Dario’s bicycle near the road, signaling a young boy nearby. This triggered his actions, leading to Dario’s murder. He didn’t actively seek bicycles but stumbled upon one during other activities. This is notable because other missing children cases, where only bicycles are found, may follow a similar pattern. A visible bicycle could act as a trigger for a predator in a secluded area.

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Is Roland Kubler Now Dead?

A Reddit discussion suggested Roland Kubler is deceased, but this lacks verification due to the informal nature of community forums. The Serial Killer Database Wiki lists him under ‘Dead Serial Killers,’ but without confirmed details from Swiss sources, his status remains unverified.

Janice Pockett Left Her Bicycle Visible Before Disappearing

Janice Pockett, missing from Tolland, Connecticut since July 26, 1973, rode her green banana-seat bicycle to a wooded area to retrieve a butterfly. Her bike was found near a road, but she vanished. This mirrors Dario’s case, suggesting a predator may have noticed her bike, prompting an investigation of the area.

Vicki Lynn Hoskinson Disappearance: A Child’s Bicycle is a Clue Again

In another case, Vicki Lynn Hoskinson (*Forensic Files* Season 3, Episode 11, “Speck of Evidence”) left a bicycle behind, as noted in a recent article. A child’s bicycle may act as an ‘advertisement’ to a predator, suggesting a young person nearby. In non-family abductions, items like bicycles, scooters, or skateboards could be key clues, indicating a serial predator noticed them.

This pattern suggests victims were pursued rather than randomly encountered. For more related mysteries, see: Women With Car Troubles Go Missing | Missing Person Phenomenon -- Bloodhounds Tracking Ends at Roadside

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Jacqueline Winfred Kinney (NamUs MP#23628) - Case details

NamUs doesn't have a lot of information posted for those looking at the case of Jacqueline Kinney. The site says she went missing on December 5th, 1969 from Canton, Connecticut. At time of writing, 50 years are about to pass since she went missing. I've decided that 50 years is my deadline for working on a MP's case so I thought I'd give her case an hour of research tonight.

From Namus:

• She was 35 when she went missing
• She was 5'4"
• She was 150 pounds
• Last known location was 41.8534128,-72.88699299999999
• Red/auburn hair, blue eyes
• Surgery-related scar on right side of abdomen
• Scar on back of her left leg below the knee
• Vaccination scar on one of her legs above the knee

Information I gathered from reading articles in historical newspaper articles:

• From The Hartford Courant. September 2nd, 1977. Page 5.
• She was of 7 High Street, Collinsville section
• Her husband's name was Gerald; he reported her missing on December 8th, which is three days after she was last seen
• She was reported missing from her home
• The police searched around a place called "the old Werner homestead" for her after receiving a tip they wouldn't elaborate on in the fall of 1977 (nearly eight years after she was last seen)
• Family didn't think she would run off
• From The Hartford Courant. September 18th, 1977. Page 3.
• They stopped searching "the old Werner homestead" for her

Note: vanished December 5th according to NamUs.
December 8th was when she was reported missing.

• From The Hartford Courant. Feb 2, 1979. Page 2.
• The police sought a warrant for her murder.
• No name of the suspect given but he was called "a man who once lived in Canton and who knew Mrs. Kinney."
• Same article says the husband, who reported her missing three days after she was last seen, was reported to be living in Maine as of September 1977 (maybe Bridgewater, Maine)

Trenny Gibson (Namus #MP4524) - Food for thought and comparisons

By: Shane Lambert

The missing person's case of Trenny (Teresa) Lynn Gibson is one of the most puzzling missing person's cases from the 1970s. Trenny was a part of a school field trip on October 8th, 1976 near a site called Clingsman Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. She went missing from a trail at about 3pm despite being part of a large group of classmates taking the trail. She has not been heard from since.

Those thinking about this case should be aware of the case of Phillip Roman in 1994. He went missing near Clingsman Dome as well. He was found three days later alive and well but there are still some pointers about the trails near Clingsman Dome that should be noted.

Roman was only 20 feet away from his father on the trail when he went missing. He was 10 years old and looking for a shortcut to the parking lot. The "tangled mess" of the area then caused him to get lost. The impression I get of the area is that a short off-trail excursion might have major implications. The area sounds like one where any kind of diversion could disorient you quickly.

News-Press Dec. 30, 1994. Page 28.

One scenario with Trenny is that maybe she went off-trail voluntarily, perhaps for a bathroom break, or perhaps to try and find a shortcut to the parking lot. If she was doing either of these, she might do so quietly and covertly. If she was looking for a shortcut, then she might have understood that this would be frowned upon by the field trip's leadership.

Emma Lorene Vaughn (#MP7091) - Case details

Emma Lorene Vaughn's date of last contact is July 10th, 1982 according to NamUs. According to some newspaper clippings from 1982, the date was actually July 1st, 1982. The contradiction might be relevant. It's possible the news agencies had the date wrong too but websleuths should be open to considering Jane Does found in the nine days between July 1st, 1982 and July 10th, 1982.

Here are the articles:

Tallahassee Democrat, May 26th, 1985

Feb. 21, 1982. The Palm Beach Post.

NamUs #MP83 - Virginia Lynne Uden missing since 1980

By: Shane Lambert

Virginia Lynne Uden went missing with her two sons, last seen on September 12th, 1980. Her case details, according to NamUs, are as follows:

Case Details of Virginia Lynne Uden’s Disappearance

Attribute	Details
Age	32 years old
Race/Gender	Caucasian female
Height/Weight	5'6" and 170lbs
Hair/Eyes	Brown hair, brown eyes
Distinguishing Mark	Birthmark on the left lower eyelid
Last Location	Riverton, Wyoming
Vehicle Evidence	Vehicle located with blood in the back seat, thought to belong to one of her sons but this may have been presumptuous.
Missing With	Richard and Reagan Uden are also missing
Possible Destination	May have been traveling to the boy's adoptive father's residence

The news did cover this disappearance. Her vehicle was a station wagon, and it was found in Shoshone National Forest. As per the article below, foul play is suspected in this case.

NamUs #MP83 Fri, Dec 5, 1980 – 2 · Casper Star-Tribune (Casper, Wyoming) · Newspapers.com

Virginia's mother offered a $1000 reward for information. Below is an article about that, while the actual advertisement is further below.

NamUs #MP83 Thu, Aug 20, 1981 – 15 · Casper Star-Tribune (Casper, Wyoming) · Newspapers.com

NamUs #MP83 Thu, Aug 20, 1981 – 20 · The Jackson Hole Guide (Jackson, Wyoming) · Newspapers.com

Conviction and Ongoing Questions: Virginia Lynne Uden's Disappearance

There is a conviction in this case. The adoptive father, Gerald Uden, confessed in 2013 to killing them. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, where he remains incarcerated at the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution as of April 2025, at around 83 years old.

He has since at least partly recanted and shifted at least some of the blame to his wife, Alice Uden, who herself was convicted in a separate murder case and died in prison in 2023. This is a case where it’s evident that they were murdered, though questions linger due to Gerald’s shifting story. Their location is still unknown.

While Gerald’s confession provides some answers, the absence of Virginia and her sons’ remains leaves a piece of this tragedy unresolved, though the core truth of their fate feels less mysterious today.

NamUs #MP59776 - Opal Beatrice Fulks

By: Shane Lambert

NamUs #MP59776 stands out in the month of September 2019 for NamUs. It was just added to the database even though the MP was last seen in 1931. Here's what NamUs states on the matter:

• last contact: March 4th, 1931
• aged 22 years ( meaning the birth year of 1909)
• White female
• 5'0" to 5'10" (note: the range here is HUGE)
• 100 to 180lbs (note: huge range)
• last seen in Monticello, Indiana
• last documented location was at the birth of a daughter, Barbara Annette Fulks

I searched her name in newspaper databases. Nothing appeared for the exact name but "Opal Fulks" worked. Her husband Emery Fulks sought a divorce, according to an article I found in 1939:

NamUs #MP59776  Mon, Jul 31, 1939 – Page 5 · Logansport Pharos-Tribune (Logansport, Indiana) · Newspapers.com

Emery Fulks requests divorce  Tue, Aug 1, 1939 – 2 · Journal and Courier (Lafayette, Indiana) · Newspapers.com

NamUs #UP60245 - Body found near McFarland in an orange orchard

By: Shane Lambert

NamUs #UP60245 notes:

• Adult pre-50 years old
• Height 4'11" to 5'1"
• Female
• Hispanic/latino
• Body found: June 10th, 1988 (decomposed)
• Brown hair
• Found in an orange grove in rural McFarland, California
• Clothing description at NamUs
  

The following article appears to be related to the case. It's strange in that it actually names a murder victim who was found in an orange orchard near McFarland on the same date as NamUs #UP60245. Coincidence? Related news? I thought it was worth posting. 

At first glance, the newspaper article below and the NamUs description for #UP60245 appear to be of one and the same person based on the dates matching and the orange-grove location. That forces one to ask why #UP60245 is considered unidentified. Could be that these are not one and the same person or that the original identification was wrong?

Related to NamUs #UP60245  Fri, Jul 8, 1988 – 9 · Tulare Advance-Register (Tulare, California) · Newspapers.com

NamUs #UP59983 - San Ysidro Jane Doe from 1988

NamUs details for #UP59983:

• Female
• Hispanic/latino
• 18-25 years
• about 4'11"
• about 116 pounds
• hit-and-run victim walking west along highway 905
• brown hair
• brown eyes
• clothing and jewelry available at NamUs

Opinion: This hit-and-run happened very close to the American/Mexican border. Based on the individual's latino/hispanic ethnicity, those looking at this case may need to consider the possibility that this individual was a Mexican national. This means you may have to cross-reference this case with missing Mexican nationals.

  Sun, Dec 25, 1988 – 110 · The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) · Newspapers.com

Read the following article, one that discusses hit-and-run accidents in the area as a phenomenon that has something to do with illegal immigration in the area.

  Wed, Aug 30, 1989 – 23 · The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) · Newspapers.com

NamUs #UP1498 - Case Details

NamUs #UP1498 is an unidentified person.

According to NamUs, her details are as follows:

Body found: July 1st, 1980
Location: Neptune, New Jersey
Age: estimated 20-30 years old
Sex: Female
Race: White
Estimated to have died: in 1980
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 135 pounds
Approximate Google Maps coordinates of body: 40.2091219,-74.0386271 (behind Shore Bowling Alley)
Hair: brown

She had $27 in bills. She had "Zena" blue jeans, a dark blouse with gold threads, no bra, no belt, and black briefs. Her footwear was sneaker size 7.5. She had two neck chains, one is a gold metal-choker chain with 0.5" letter T. She had a ring, white metal with a white stone and a bracelet of a brown tortoise shell. Pictures of jewelry and footwear are at NamUs.

Case research/expanded details:

The NamUs description says that she died in 1980, meaning before July 1st, 1980 -- the day her body was found. I found one newspaper article discussing this case that may pinpoin the time frame better. According to George McCarthy, writing in the May 6th, 1982 edition of the Asbury Park Press, this woman may have died in early June of 1980. Her age in that article is listed as 25-30. Her death was thought to be caused "by several blows to the head."

Note: "Brockton Road" should likely be Brockton Avenue.

Another headline from July 2nd, 1980 out of the same newspaper states that the body was pulled from a creek. The person was found by someone out on a walk. The Doe, in this case, is described as about 5'8" between 150 to 155 pounds and with auburn hair.

NamUs #UP1498
Body, missing person
  Wed, Jul 2, 1980 – Page 2 · Asbury Park Press (Asbury Park, New Jersey) · Newspapers.com

Mystery of the Sarah Joe and the Missing Sailors from Hana from February 1979

By: Shane Lambert

Updated: July 2nd, 2023

A mystery has endured for over 40 years for those that knew Ralph Malaiakini, 27, Scott Moorman, 27, Benjamin Kalama, 38, Patrick Woessner, 26, and Peter Hanchett, 31. Those five sailors left a port near Hana, Hawaii on February 11th, 1979 and what exactly happened to them after that remains a mystery. 

The five sailors set sail into the Pacific Ocean from Hana on a vessel known as the Sarah Joe, a 17-foot motor-powered boat. According to the original reporting from Hawaii in 1979, there were messages of distress from the boat the day it disappeared. The sailors indicated that they were having engine trouble early in the evening (Honolulu Star-Bulletin Feb 12, 1979). 

Unfortunately, gale winds picked up, the men couldn't be reached when they indicated that they were in distress, and subsequent rescue attempts failed. This was despite the use of what appeared to be an intelligent search method over water.

In the February 15th, 1979 edition of the Honolulu Advertiser, I read an article that described using a pigeon technique to search the water. Three pigeons were tied to a helicopter and each was assigned a lookout angle. Since each pigeon could see 120-degrees, the three combined meant they could see a full 360-degrees. These pigeons were specifically trained to look for orange anomalies in the water, the color that is common to lifesavers and lifejackets.

The search in the days that followed the disappearance of the men yielded no clues. But the remains of one of the sailors, Scott Moorman, were eventually found on an atoll in the Marshall Islands in 1989 -- some 2000 miles away. They were buried and given a makeshift grave marker.

There's some evidence that whoever buried him might have been native to Asia, possibly Japanese. I would argue that this person was also educated, to some extent, in forensics.

June 28th, 1989
Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Personally, I don't think there is a huge mystery here. We can take the call for help at face value -- the sailors had engine trouble. The storm may have killed some of them directly by sweeping them into the ocean. Most likely, the boat was swept outside of the searched area in the days ahead. 

The finding of Moorman may be the only closure that is ever afforded to this mystery: lost at sea can mean lost for all time. I think Moorman likely died of exposure while in the boat. Then the ship stayed lost on the open ocean until it ran aground.  Moorman, in good faith, was then buried by those that found him. 

In an episode of Unsolved Mysteries, the hit television show from the 1980s and 1990s, this mystery was covered. It is shown that the grave that was found had a mandible on it, commonly called a jawbone. This episode is embedded below as of July 2nd, 2023 (please comment if the video goes defunct).

Why would someone bury unidentified remains with the mandible on top of the grave? One explanation is simply that the person who buried the man understood that the mandible could be used for identification. This bone contains the lower teeth and can be compared to dental records, which is a very common way to identify John Does. Accordingly, you have to think that the person or persons that buried Scott Moorman's remains were acting in a respectful and thoughtful way. He buried the remains but put the mandible in an easy-to-find spot so that anyone that wanted to run forensic tests against dental records would be able to do that without digging up the entire corpse.

In the Unsolved Mysteries episode, it is reported that the atoll was subject to a survey not long before the discovery of the remains. How could it be that this survey missed the Sarah Joe and the grave?

If we assume that Moorman's remains were in the boat when it grounded on the atoll, then the people that removed him changed the weight of the boat when they did that. Accordingly, from wherever it originally rested, the Sarah Joe would then be lighter without Moorman in it. The boat would then be more susceptible to movement from winds and ocean currents, including changing tides. It could be that the surveyors simply missed the grave and that the boat was moving around a little in the area due to the changing tides.

It could simply be missed due to time and chance. In my opinion, there is not a great mystery with this. Wondering where the others are may be a futile mystery to work on given that they might be lost at sea for over forty years now.

Ruth Marie Severance NamUs #MP18953 - Missing person notes

By: Shane Lambert

I had a look at the case of Ruth Marie Severance tonight (may be called Ruth Marie Jones-Severance). She's someone that has been missing since December 11th, 1982 from Houston, Texas. Her missing-person profile at NamUs does not offer a ton of information. However, here are the details provided:

• 24 years old as of December 11th, 1982
• Only 4'10"
• 110 lbs
• White/Caucasian
• Google Map's last-known location: 29°45'37.5"N 95°22'11.3"W
• Blond/strawberry hair
• Hazel eyes
• Clothing: green and white jacket, navy-blue shirt, and blue jeans

Regarding the circumstances of her disappearance, the NamUs profile leaves a lot to be desired. I had a look through an online newspaper database in search of details for her case for Websleuths and others interested in this case. Here is a summary of what I found (from Feb 9th, 1983 Victoria Advocate).

• The last person to see her was her ex-husband
• The ex-husband was named Pete Severance, 32 years old at the time of Ruth's disappearance
• They were arguing at the time of her disappearance and often fought over custody of their one child
• The detective in the case in 1983 believed foul play was involved
• Ruth left Pete's car while the two drove together to do some Christmas shopping
• A close friend of Ruth's was who reported her missing on December 12th of 1982
• Pete Severance was questioned by police
• The detective on the case, JC Mosier, claimed that Pete had scratches under his eyes and a black eye
• Mosier claimed that Pete claimed that Ruth gave him the wounds
• Pete declined a polygraph

There were not a lot of newspaper articles on this case, at least not in the resources I consult.

Food for thought

• Women that go missing after a fight with their boyfriends/husbands are definitely not always disappeared by the boyfriends, or ex-boyfriends/ex-husbands. Kelly Disney's missing person's case is an interesting one to compare. She went missing after an argument with her boyfriend but appears to have been disappeared by someone else. It's important not to get tunnel vision but to see all angles.
• Pete Severance is described as a salesman for a hole-digging company in the one newspaper article I found