The Unsolved Disappearance of Daniel Andrew Weaver in Waco, Texas

The Unsolved Disappearance of Daniel Andrew Weaver in Waco, Texas

On Tuesday, January 18th, 1983, 20-year-old Daniel Andrew Weaver left his home in Waco, Texas, and disappeared, leaving behind a mystery unsolved after more than four decades. He told his wife, Tamara Weaver, he was visiting his father before heading to his 7-11 gas station job for a 4pm to midnight shift. Daniel never reached work, and he has not been seen or heard from again.

His vanishing spurred a robust investigation involving police, three grand juries, and private detectives hired by his brother, David Weaver. The case deepened in 2006 when his stepmother, Lydia Weaver, submitted a will she claimed Daniel signed. A Texas court deemed it forged, per a 2007 UPI report. David, who contested the will, had Daniel declared dead, calling the legal fight part of a broader puzzle.

Suggestions That Daniel Died Close to His Disappearance Date

Daniel did leave behind an uncashed paycheque from his job at 7-11. In my experience reviewing missing persons cases, failure to cash pay or failure to claim an asset has often been a very big clue that the person is deceased. Furthermore, that he didn't collect his inheritance is a big clue that he died at about the time of his disappearance.

In another case from the same era, Robby Peay's failure to collect his inheritance was long considered to imply his death. He was, in fact, found dead just recently.

Clothing and Accessories Not Mentioned in Case Files

I could not find any clothing descriptions for Daniel Weaver. However, the details of a John Doe are worth cross-referencing to Weaver's case if you come across one associated with a 7-11 or gas-station employee uniform. He was going to work when he disappeared, at least after going to his father's. Note that 7-11 convenience stores can have different brand names for gas service, so any gas station uniform could be in play. The address of the store was 1225 N. 56th Street, presumably in Waco, Texas.

Family History is on the Dark Side

The following newspaper article will provide insight into the investigation and family dynamics surrounding Daniel's disappearance. It is part 1 and part 2 side by side, as the article was printed on separate pages. These images will enlarge when clicked. I think this article is particularly important for someone interested in this case.

Waco Tribune-Herald, July 26, 1987 (Part 1)

Waco Tribune-Herald, July 26, 1987 (Part 2)

Later, Lydia and Daniel’s father (Ray Weaver, who died in 1997) both invoked their Fifth Amendment rights during a 1987 grand jury. The forgery does stand out as an important flag in this case. Furthermore, Daniel was in line for an inheritance when he turned 21. Could he be one of Texas’s unidentified remains? The table below lists his factual case details, followed by potential matches from NamUs.

Daniel Weaver: Missing From Waco, Texas Since 1983

Category	Field	Details
Case Information	Case Status	Missing
	Date of Last Contact	January 18th, 1983 (Tuesday). One source said he left his apartment at 3:30pm. Another said 11:30am. I did read that he had eaten cereal, a food more common in the morning for most people.
	Last Known Location	Waco, Texas 76708, wife saw him leave his apartment. The 7-11 address and the address of his father are in the article above.
	County	McLennan County
Demographics	Full Name	Daniel Andrew Weaver
	Biological Sex	Male
	Missing Age	20 Years
	Current Age	Would be 62 years old if alive
	Race / Ethnicity	White / Caucasian
Physical Description	Height	5' 8" (68 Inches)
	Weight	140 lbs
	Hair Color	Brown
	Left Eye Color	Brown
	Right Eye Color	Brown
Circumstances	Circumstances of Disappearance	Daniel had left his home in Waco to go to work at the 7-11 gas station on 1/18/1983. He was supposed to work a shift reported as 4am to 12 midnight at NamUs, but this is likely an error, as it suggests a 20-hour shift. It was likely meant to be from 4pm to midnight. He never showed up for work, and this was the last time anyone saw him.

Potential Unidentified Matches for Daniel Weaver

I looked through seventeen John Doe cases where some of the case information above aligned. Some of them were easy to rule out. However, the cases below were ones where I had some confidence that a John Doe might be Daniel Weaver. In particular, UP1811 and UP4575 are cases that are worth looking at closely. I think I will return to this blog post another time, but anyone who wants to build on the table below, feel free to with a citation.

UP Case	Details	Subject Match Probability
UP1811	Irving (Dallas Co.), found 12/12/2002, Male, White/Caucasian, 20-39 years, 5'6", 130 lbs, body parts in plastic bags, hands missing	Moderate confidence (demographics, height, and weight align closely, and location is plausible at 95 miles from Waco, but the 19-year gap and lack of PMI make it uncertain; comparisons were limited due to minimal information on the John Doe, such as no PMI, hair/eye color, or clothing; I think the missing hands might have been an attempt to hide the John Doe's identity by eliminating fingerprints, a key identifier in the pre-DNA forensic era)
UP14785	Denton, found 12/27/1984, Male, White/Caucasian, 20-22 years, light brown hair, partial skeletal remains with mummified skin, hands missing	Mild confidence (demographics, age, and hair color align closely, and location is plausible at 130 miles from Waco, but PMI of 1 year suggests death around December 1983, 11 months after Daniel's disappearance, making a match less likely unless the PMI is inaccurate; comparisons were limited due to minimal information on the John Doe, such as no height, unreliable weight due to partial remains, and no clothing; I think the missing hands might have been an attempt to hide the John Doe's identity by eliminating fingerprints, a key identifier in the pre-DNA forensic era)
UP4075	Houston, found 4/11/1988, Male, White/Caucasian or Hispanic/Latino, 20-30 years, 5'4", 145 lbs, black hair, short mustache, wearing Levi jeans (29x30), red/blue T-shirt, brown/orange boots, ProTime wristwatch	Low confidence (demographics, age, weight, and mustache align, and location is plausible at 170 miles from Waco, but black hair differs from Daniel's brown hair, height is off by 4 inches, and the 5-year gap with a decomposing state suggests a more recent death; comparisons were limited due to minimal information on the John Doe, such as no PMI or eye color, and lack of Daniel's clothing details from 1983)
UP4518	Freestone, found 10/2/1984, Male, White/Caucasian, 20-25 years, 5'5", 127 lbs, black hair, black mustache, brown eyes, scars on back, leg, ankle, foot, and abdomen, wearing gray sweatshirt (L, "Sportman"), gray warm-up suit (M, "DJ Smash"), white T-shirt (38-40), "Oscar De Laurente" blue jeans, gray velcro athletic shoes (6.5), gray briefs with maroon trim, black "General Quartz" watch in pocket	Low confidence (demographics, age, eye color, and mustache align, and location is very close at 60 miles from Waco along I-45, but black hair differs from Daniel's brown hair, height is off by 3 inches, shoe size 6.5 seems small, multiple scars not noted in Daniel's profile, and 1984 estimated year of death is 1-2 years after disappearance; comparisons were limited due to minimal information on the John Doe, such as no PMI, and lack of Daniel's clothing details from 1983)
UP4575	San Jacinto, found 12/11/1983, Male, White/Caucasian, 20-40 years, partial remains with soft tissues, hands missing, found in wooded national forest hunting area	Moderate confidence (demographics and age align, location is plausible at 150 miles from Waco in a remote wooded area, and PMI of 1 year is a near match, suggesting death around late 1982 to early 1983, aligning closely with Daniel's disappearance; comparisons were severely limited due to minimal information on the John Doe, such as no height, weight, hair, eye color, or clothing; I think the missing hands might have been an attempt to hide the John Doe's identity by eliminating fingerprints, a key identifier in the pre-DNA forensic era)

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Phyllis Maue: Missing Since 1982 - Unsolved Disappearance Case

Missing Person's Name: Phyllis Maue

Middle initial: A.

Last contact: June 25th, 1982 (Friday); reportedly at about 2 PM

Age when she disappeared: 29

Sex: Female

Height in inches: 64 which is 5'4"

Weight in pounds (lbs): 120

Ethnicity: White/Caucasian

Hair color: Red/Auburn, long and shoulder-length

Eye Color: Brown, and can be wearing glasses

Scar or distinctive characteristic: Caesarian scar on abdomen

Family: Gregory Paul (son), Greg Maue (husband)

Details from a government source (might be paraphrased or details added): Phyllis Maue was last seen getting into a light brown Chevrolet Van, one block from her residence. She had a possible destination of New York. She was last seen wearing a red pullover shirt, blue jeans, and gym shoes. These could be cross-referenced to Jane Does on NamUs.

Link to government source: https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/115557?nav

Commentary and Research

By: Shane Lambert

The Day Phyllis Maue Vanished

Phyllis Maue was last seen on June 25th, 1982, which was a Friday.

According to NamUs, she was last seen entering a Chevrolet Van and may have been heading to New York. However, most of the focus on this individual had to do with more local areas where she was last seen. I think searching in New York will likely prove fruitless.

xAI's Grok generated these images when asked to generate an image of a typical Chevrolet Van from the 1977 to 1982 period.

This is a case where I was able to find some journalism on the missing person. Her last known location was in Norwood, Ohio, a suburb or small city to the northeast of Cincinnati, Ohio. A friend last saw her at 2 PM on June 25th, 1982.

The first article on her disappearance that I was able to find appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer on Wednesday, March 23rd, 1983, titled "Police Ask Help in Finding Woman Missing Since June."

From this article we learn she was married to Greg Maue, she had a ten-year-old son, and that there was a letter from Cincinnati about this case. This letter, which was postmarked to that city, claimed that she was heading to New York City -- which was probably not true, in my opinion.

There were some marital problems in her life as the article above mentions a possible divorce. Another thing that stood out with this case is the letter. What does it mean when someone sends a letter saying that she is going to a far-away city but then is never heard from again?

Before speculating on that, let's stick to known facts. There was a classified advertisement for this missing person that appeared in 2006.

This advertisement claims that she was last in the presence of Samual Ray Phillips (July 1st, 2006; Cincinnati Enquirer), who died in 2004 in a car accident. I think the proper spelling of this person's name was Samuel Ray Phillips, with the "e" in his first name instead of an "a." 

I found a gravemarker on Findagravel.com for a Fairfield man of this name who died in 2004.

By my research, Samual is spelled wrong in this classified ad. Should be Samuel.

Samuel Ray Phillips

Born: November 7th, 1928

Death: January 24th, 2004

Gravemarker suggests a marriage to "Rose M." born in 1934 (possible Rosemary Brown).

Ancestry: This individual is on Ancestry

There was a second piece of journalism on Phyllis Maue in February 2006. Deborah Dixon of The Journal News headlined "Police say missing woman may be tied to Fairfield man." In this article, Ray Phillips is mentioned. It is also stated that police were planning some digs to search for her body. Other important details from this piece of journalism:

• Phyllis left an uncashed paycheque behind. Uncashed assets appear in quite a few missing persons cases. I think it suggests that the person, when last seen, did not plan to disappear voluntarily. If the MP did plan to disappear voluntarily, most would take their negotiables with them.
• Her husband received a nude photo of her in the mail that suggested an extramarital affair with Ray Phillips;
• Reportedly, Maue was going to end the affair on June 25th, 1982.

One interesting fact is that a handwriting expert looked at the letter from Phyllis Maue. He concluded that she did write the letter. However, the handwriting expert also stated that the letter writer was under stress as she wrote.

You have to wonder if an expert of this sort could discern a trembling hand from handwriting. Also, someone under duress might pause while writing -- and this could leave an ink blob. I think her handwriting would have to be compared to normal script. But, for sure, this is not an exact science but rather food for critical thought.

Has Phyllis Maue Been Found?

In my opinion, the totality of the scene suggests that a murder took place. The letter was used as a diversion. I think someone forced her to write it, believing that ostensibly placing her in New York City would explain what was going to be a prolonged...or permanent...absence.

This would help create a diversion and a length of time for the disappearance to be considered voluntary. The more time that passes, the more difficult it is for the authorities to solve the case.