A missing persons report that lay untouched more than five years in a Tulsa Police Department file has convinced some officers it is time for the department to create a missing persons bureau.
And while a high-ranking official agrees a bureau would help, a manpower shortage is preventing the department from assigning detectives to missing persons cases only.
Department records show the case of Kathleen Henson and her young son, Royce, came to light only after Miss Henson’s mother, Elizabeth Higginbotham, called police in April and asked what was being done about her daughter’s case. The answer: officers apparently had not investigated Miss Henson’s disappearance since March 29, 1979.
That news “was really distressing,” Mrs. Higginbotham said.
Although this is an isolated case, Det. Sgt. Buck Gardner said, it’s time the department assigned detectives on a full-time basis to missing persons detail.
“People are starting to demand attention of the police department (in regards to missing persons) Gardner said. “It’s a shame people disappear like that and (the investigation) more or less comes to end after a while.”
When a missing person is reported in Tulsa, the case is usually assigned to a juvenile division detective or, if the person is presumed dead, a homicide detective.
If no new leads are found, the case, although still officially open, goes into a file until new information is found.
That apparently is what happened in Miss Henson’s case.
Miss Henson, who was 31 when she disappeared, called a friend March 23, 1979, at 11:30 p.m. and said she would deliver eight concert tickets to the friend in 30 to 45 minutes. A police report shows Miss Henson also told the friend she had to stop somewhere, but didn’t say where she was going.
Miss Henson never delivered the tickets. Royce, then 18-months-old, also disappeared.
On March 25, 1979, the friend who was unidentified, told police she saw Miss Henson’s car on E. Ute Street, just west of Peoria Avenue. Police impounded the car and checked for evidence relevant to Miss Henson’s disappearance. When no evidence was found, police released the car to Miss Henson’s parents.
Four days later, on March 29, police files show a supplemental report was issued. The report said police checked Miss Henson’s apartment at 620 S. Peoria Ave. for evidence of foul play. When nothing was found, the report was filed, and no action was taken until April 1984.
Mrs. Higginbotham said she was upset “because the file was lost. In the case a Jane Doe (unidentified body) was found somewhere out of state, (officers) might have been able to do something. Police said Miss Henson’s case is now being {actively” pursued. However, police basically have to start their investigation from the beginning with information that is 5-years-old.
This type of lapse may not have happened if the department had had a missing persons bureau, some officers say.
``We need a central squad to say, `If someone has information, call here,’” said Gardner, a former juvenile division sergeant. “If officers run into a dead end, at least they can spend a little time on the case and try to generate some new information.”
Bureau detectives also could cooperate with other area departments, exchange missing persons information and help identify bodies that have been found.
“We’re getting a daily influx of information on unidentified bodies. Once in a while, we get a missing persons report in Tulsa, and an unidentified body is found in, let’s say, Lawton,” Gardner said. Bureau detectives could investigate the case while other detectives concentrate on their regular duties.
When asked if a bureau would be helpful to the department, Maj. Stanley Glanz said, ``sure, there’s a need, but my problem is manpower.”
“Right now, we’re seven people short in the detective division,” he said. “We really don’t have any problem with the way we handle (missing persons cases) now. Detectives are only spending 10 percent to 20 percent of their time on cases.”
Deputy Chief Don Bartlett said there have been no formal discussions regarding the creation of a missing persons bureau.
“Considering Tulsa’s continued growth and the disturbing trend of “serial” killers, Gardner said “with people like Henry Lee Lucas, Ottis Elwood Toole and Gary Alan Walker, this type of thing could start to occur more and more. Who knows what could have happened, since (Toole) was through here about the time Francine Frost disappeared. We need some unit that keeps the files open and keeps these cases in mind,” he said.
Lucas claims he and Toole criss-crossed the country and committed between 200 and 300 murders. Lucas has been convicted of one murder, and police here say Toole is a suspect in two Tulsa deaths in 1981. Walker, a former mental patient, is charged in connection with the slayings of five Oklahomans.
Mrs. Frost disappeared in 1981 after she went to a Skaggs Alpah Beta store at 21st Street and Memorial Drive, police said. Mrs. Frost’s car was found in the parking lot with the keys in the driver’s door.
No one has heard from Mrs. Frost since.
