Eugene Gabbard Jr. -- Missing Since January 14th, 1985

Missing Person: Eugene Gabbard Jr.

Note: This photo was taken from a 1979 high school yearbook, 5-6 years before the person disappeared.

He had facial hair at the time of his disappearance.

Details (might be paraphrased): Gabbard was last seen in Jackson, Kentucky on January 14th, 1985. He has never been heard from again. At the time of his disappearance, he was driving a blue 1976 Pontiac 2+2, license plate KY JGM-248 which has never been located. There are few details regarding Gabbard's disappearance and his whereabouts remain unknown (from Websleuths).

Not the actual vehicle. Generated image to show what the vehicle likely looked like.

Last contact: January 14th, 1985 (Monday) according to NamUs; January 15th, 1985 (Tuesday) according to journalism

Last location: Jackson, Kentucky

Age when Eugene Gabbard Jr. disappeared: 23

Sex: Male

Height in inches: 72

Weight in pounds (lbs): 150

Ethnicity: White/Caucasian

Hair color: Brown, had a beard

Eye Color: Brown

Scar or distinctive characteristic: small scar over left eyelid under the eyebrow; birthmark of a brown spot on front of left chest near shoulder; skull with spider over it on left arm between shoulder and elbow, Harley Davidson sign with eagle over a green wreath with initial H.D. on upper right arm.

Link to government source: Link to Government Source: MP9737 (right click to open).

BMI means body mass index. It is meant to describe someone's healthy body weight relative to the individual's height. It is only food for thought because it does not account for all body types. Eugene Gabbard Jr. had a BMI of 20.34. He was at a healthy weight by BMI standards at the time of her disappearance. 

Commentary and Research

By: Shane Lambert 

A color photo from his high school yearbook. Also, 5-6 years before his disappearance. Shootout to Websleuths user MadMcgoo for the find.

Has Eugene Gabbard Jr. been found?

I did not find much information on this missing person when it came to published journalism from about the time of his disappearance. However, he received a bit of press coverage in 2001.

Reportedly, he was on his way to purchase a new truck the day that he disappeared. This day was reported as January 15th, 1985. That is one day later than the dates on his online profiles.

Was Robbery a Possible Motive?

Importantly, when he disappeared he had $3000 in cash on him that he was planning to use to buy the vehicle. That's about $8700 by today's standards. This could have made him a target for anyone who knew that he might have been carrying that kind of cash during his trip. There were some tips that he had been murdered, however, the police seemed to have very little to go on.

The Mountain Eagle. August 15th, 2001.

I feel like one loose end in this case is simply who was he going to meet?

Car sales involve more than enough money to generate clandestine activity. We're all aware of stories, in modern times, involving illicit transactions from online classifieds. The same things happened before the Internet, involving newspaper classifieds.

Bud and June Runion Murder: How a Craigslist Car Sale Turned Deadly in Georgia

As food for thought, in January 2015, Elrey “Bud” Runion, 69, and his wife June Runion, 66, embarked on a 180-mile trip to Telfair County from their home in Georgia. They were chasing a 1966 Ford Mustang convertible, a car Bud had coveted since much younger days. After posting an ad on Craigslist, they thought they’d found a seller in McRae, a quiet rural town. Carrying cash for the purchase, they left home on January 22nd, 2015, with intentions to buy the vehicle.

But things turned really dark for them. The couple never made it back, and four days later, on January 26, their bodies were found in a wooded area near McRae, both shot in the head. Their 2003 GMC Envoy was discovered submerged in a nearby lake. There was an arrest and conviction, but the point is that a simple vehicle sale can be a very dangerous meeting, due to the amount of money involved.

Source: The Runions Went Missing, Later Found

Why Hiding a Car Is Harder Than Concealing a Body: Size and Logistics Explained

Hiding a car can be far more challenging than concealing a body. A vehicle like Eugene Gabbard Jr.’s 1976 Pontiac 2+2 is a large, conspicuous object that doesn’t vanish without effort.

Abandoning it in a remote forest or ravine might seem viable. If it goes unnoticed the years and decades will pass and it will start to deteriorate. But if someone recognizes the car as belonging to a missing person, then the vehicle could be incriminating.

Often when a person is missing and the car is as well, the vehicle is found submerged in water. The following image is computer-generated based on the description of Gabbard Jr.'s vehicle.

Research in March 2025 Proved Fruitless

On March 17th, 2025, I tested a hypothesis that there might have been an advertisement in a local newspaper that Gabbard had responded to. I looked for such an advertisement for a truck that cost $3000 and did not have an exact hit. But not all of the newspapers in the region are digitalized at Newspapers.com. The Mountain Eagle was the main newspaper available, which was not entirely local to Gabbard. I gave up feeling like maybe a hit to an interesting classified ad might be possible in the future, so feel free to visit this angle with other publications, as more and more are presumably digitalized in the future. Despite extensive analysis, no definitive leads emerged.

NamUs #UP107 - Barren County Jane Doe Found November 2nd, 1973

By: Shane Lambert

The Barren County Jane Doe is NamUs #UP107. This is an individual who was found with a gunshot wound that was fatal near Park City, Kentucky. The Kentucky State Police say she was "stashed in a small ravine." Here are the details for this case that I found from various sources, as mentioned throughout.

Date body found: November 2nd, 1973 (Friday) in the afternoon.

Time/date of death: This Jane Doe, according to NamUs, was thought to have been dead for "Months." According to the journalism from the time of the discovery, she was thought to have been at the site where she was found for 3 to 10 weeks. It seems that women who went missing in October 1973 or any month before then during that year could be in play for a match.

Where the body was found: In Barren County, Kentucky. NamUs says she was found along the Interstate. According to the journalism I read, she was found one mile north of Park City, along I-65 "near a grove of trees." An article on this matter with Kentucky State Police said "The body was found 100 feet west of the southbound lane of I-65, 7/10 of a mile north of Park City."

04 Nov 1973, Sun The Park City Daily News (Bowling Green, Kentucky) Newspapers.com

Who found the body?: A truck driver using the Interstate.

Age: She was 20 to 50 years old, according to NamUs, and that is a very broad range. According to the Kentucky State Police, she was about 35 years old.

Sex: Female

Race: White/Caucasian

Estimated Height and Weight: 5'7" and 145 pounds, according to NamUs. According to the Kentucky State Police, she was 5'7" to 5'8" and 140 to 150 pounds.

Hair: Red/Auburn

Distinctive: Ivory-colored nail polish on the fingernails of her left hand. "The middle incisor teeth of maxilla were missing" (Kentucky State Police).

Clothing articles:

1. A cotton v-necked dress that was white with blue-horizontal stripes, an elastic waist, and two front buttonholes.
2. Pink panties with lavender polka-dots
3. "Exquisite form" bra with prosthetic inserts "falsies"

Accessories: Near the body, a set of keys was found - one key possibly to a 1969 GM product ignition, one key possibly to a 1969 GM product trunk, one key possibly to a 1967-1971 ignition, and two keys engraved with "114."

Opinion: The 114 keys could be big clues. If those are apartment keys, any missing person who lived in "Unit #114" would be a good candidate. Addresses for missing people can be found using Ancestry. If you know of a missing person in the area and timeframe involving this Jane Doe, try to find the MP's address on Ancestry after cross-referencing the other details.

Patricia Hubbard -- Missing Since February 2008

Details from NamUs**: 

Patricia was reported missing on 2-9-08.

Missing Person: Patricia Hubbard
Last-contact date: February 9th, 2008
The area where the MP was last seen: Louisville, Kentucky, 7300 block of Dunkirk Lane near the Dixie Highway
Link to government source: NamUs #MP1696

VITAL DETAILS

Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 53 years old
Birthdate: between February 10th, 1954 and February 9th, 1955
Hair: Blond/Strawberry, shoulder length
Eyes: Brown
Scar: Left knee (limped from a knee injury)
Height/weight: 5-foot-7 and 120 pounds
BMI*: Patricia Hubbard was in the normal range for BMI.

• Please, Google-search BMI if you aren't familiar with the phrase. I think it's an important tool to be aware of when working on missing person cases.

Patricia Hubbard, a missing person, was last heard from on February 9th, 2008 when she was 53 years old. She has now been missing for 13 years as of the original publication date of this blog post.

CharleyProject appears to have done some research on the circumstances in her life surrounding her disappearance. I recommend reading those at the following link: CharleyProject's landing page for Patricia Hubbard.

As for finding Patricia Hubbard, Websleuths or amateur investigators can look through the Jane Does at the various websites, like NamUs or DoeNetowrk. You would be looking for someone who was found on or after February 9th, 2008 for starters. Also, you would want someone who was thought to have died at about the time that Patricia Hubbard went missing. If dealing with skeletal remains, this missing person had knee surgery on her left knee. Ground zero, in this case, is Louisville, Kentucky, particularly the 7300 Block of Dunkirk Lane off of the Dixie Highway.

Clothing and articles/items that a missing person was last associated with can be important. If, for example, a Jane Doe is found, knowing what the missing person had in her possession might expedite a match. While DNA and dentals will always be the best way to conclude a match, the former can be very expensive. It's best to narrow down the field of candidates to make the process of identification more efficient.

There were a couple of articles or possessions that were associated with Patricia Hubbard. Please, take note of the following: blue jeans and a pink sweater. One odd detail with this case is that Patricia's husband committed suicide a few months after Patricia's disappearance.

Thu, May 29, 2008 – Page B3 · The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky) · Newspapers.com

If these kinds of mysteries intrigue you, then you can find more like them at Websleuths.com.

Author: Shane Lambert

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

Shane Lambert is not a Private Investigator, however, he is currently studying to be one as of February/March 2021.

Website hashtag: #MPCSL

*For BMI values, I use the UPPER or HIGHER ranges that are given for height and weight.
**Text might be paraphrased. If taken verbatim, then grammar or spelling errors are not necessarily corrected from original sources.
Disclaimer: Whenever possible, government sources are preferred for getting the details of a missing person's case. However, any source that the article writer deems reputable may be used.