Missing Uncle

http://tinypic.com/r/1494lt3/4

My Uncle "Howard Junior VanDevender" pictured above disappeared without a trace sometime in October 1991 while on a trip from Southern California to Kingman, Arizona. He was a very devoted treasure hunter Last time I talked to my Uncle was back in 1979 while I was stationed At Fort Bragg, North Carolina and he stayed with me for two days. He was very heavy into prospecting in the Superstition Mountains and did he ever have maps and other stuff related to a hunt for the Lost Dutchman. Very convincing stuff really. My Uncle was driving from Southern California to Kingman, Arizona and called his son telling him that he was very scared and thought some men might be after him, apparently he had stopped in a bar during the trip, maybe had too much to drink and got into a conversation with some rough people about a gold claim and a silk map that he had. My Cousin said that the men were very in getting information about the silk map that he had and the gold mine he was looking for. He told him over the phone that he needed to get out of there and call the police but he said my Uncle was not one to call the police for anything. My Cousin said that he told him he loved him and my Uncle told him the same and he said that was the last he ever heard from him again. My Cousin told me he was certain that my Uncle was in California working for a friend but he did not remember who. He said his sister, my Cousin Becky and her husband Shawn knew who he was. My Uncle left Southern California and headed towards Kingman in a large white car that he had borrowed from a friend named Bob Shear. Bob Shear was also a business partner with my Uncle in mining and they had a claim together in the Goldfield mountains. Supposedly my Uncle also contacted him the same time he disappeared. The police found the car on the side of the road on Interstate 95 North of Lake Havasu City not too far from I-40 where he would have turned to go to Kingman. Supposedly my Cousin Becky has a copy of the police report from the Kingman Police Department however when my Cousin Howard tried to get a copy years later he was told that they only kept records for 8 years and then destroyed them.
My other Cousin Margaret and her husband Steven went to Kingman and got all of my Uncle's belongings except for his guns because the police would not release them right away. After making inquiries years later my Cousin Howard and his wife Babbette were allowed to claim the guns. The only thing remaining was his holster and a 1909 Springfield Rifle.

My Uncle "Howard Junior VanDevender" was born 29 January 1933 so he would have been 58 when he disappeared. He had both upper and lower dentures, was about 5'9"My Dad has dentures on the top and bottom. He is about 5'9" and weighd about 170 lbs. He had brown hair with a little gray in his beard. He had hazel eyes. He did not have any tattoos. The only identifying marks that my Cousin could think of would be that his thumbs would bend back all the way and he had big balls on the side of both feet by his big toes. He has a scar above his left eye that he had about 4 stitches on his forehead. He did have his ribs broken once when he was in his 30's. The best picture of him would be the one I posted above. He could play the guitar and sing. He loved talking about the Bible and gold mines. He always talked about gold mines to anyone who would listen. He did construction for a living. He specialized in drywall, but he did some remodeling. He was very educated.
My Cousin recently contacted Troy Dunn from the show The Locator to see if they would be willing to help find out what happened to my Uncle, but he has not heard anything from them. They said it would be awhile before he would hear anything.

I have contact info for my Cousins and you can call them to get more information but you will need to contact me for this info as I will not post it here and I will need to ask their permission first.

In advance please accept my thanks for looking into this for us. I hope you have some luck with it.

God be with you!

Michael

Michael,
I am posting your uncles photo below..
I will look over what you sent me also and get back with you..
Thanks for coming to Porchlight, I hope we can help find your uncle..
Ellen


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