Missing Matthew Crocker /// Off The Record | Forensic Files

[music] [music] [music] All right, finally fall weather. >> That's right. I actually got some rain
uh this last week. >> The rain falls. It hasn't rained in my neck of the woods in two or three
months. It feels like it's very, very dry. >> Very dry. It is. >> Um, on Friday, I went to walked out to
the mailbox, grabbed the mail, and >> skipped out. >> You know those um penny saver
>> magazine. Not a magazine, but they're they're like an advertisement for >> goods and services. Plus, they also have
coupons in them. Yeah. They're they're junk mail. goods and services. It sounds like it's they put out ads for
prostitutes, >> but some of these, this is not the first time that I've seen this, and I'm sure
others know what I'm talking about, but sometimes this one in particular, they it seems like they quite frequently work
with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. >> Okay. And that's a comp that's a I was
going to say company, but it's an organization that is near and dear to us. It's an organization that the garage
has donated to several times and will continue to do so. But this one in particular caught my eye. It was a
missing person's flyer of a and this is this is sad. Uh but stay with me on this. This was of a little boy um a
baby. I mean, it's uh a little Caucasian boy, Matthew Crocker, missing since June
9th of 1983 from Van Beern, Arizona. >> His birth date was just earlier that year in February of 83. He would be 36
years old now. Uh he has brown hair, brown eyes, 2 foot 5 in, and only 15 lbs is what they have him listed as. And of
course, when you see these from years ago, they'll have the age progression photo of what they believe Matthew would
look like, right? >> Uh today, well, not today because this says age progress to 32 years of age.
And that's actually a uh service that the missing and exploited children's organization, the center for missing and
exploited children, that's one of the services that they provide. That's something that they have to spend money
on and come up with this computer image and then release it to the public hoping
that it brings a renewed interest in an old cold case. Now, along with the the age progression photo and a real photo
of Matthew from when he was just a little baby is a sketch of a white woman with dark
hair and it just on my little penny saver flyer that they sent out. They just list this person as unknown female.
So, this this really got my interest. So, I I wanted to look into this a little bit more and I found a couple of
Reddit posts regarding this missing person's case. And I I'll read from these here. Uh, one person says, "This
is one of the strangest unsolved missing cases I've seen, and I had never heard of it,
>> even though it's from my home state. I just happened upon it on a sleepless night. Matthew's parents met a woman in
1983." This is this person's understanding of the of the story. Matthew's parents met a woman in 1983
who called herself Kathy Johnson. She was a worker at a fair that had stopped in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Damn it. You know what I did? I do that sometimes. Arizona, Nick, Arizona is AZ and I will never remember that.
So when I said went missing from Van Beern, Arizona, it's Van Beern, Arkansas. Okay.
>> So I'm a [ __ ] >> What What's AZ is Arizona, >> right? But for whatever reason, when I
see a R because it just gave the state abbreviation. >> Okay. >> My mind immediately goes to Arizona,
which is >> That's all right. I'll make you start shipping out shirts more. You'll learn
that real quick. >> Right. Right. Uh, so this woman supposedly was a worker at a fair that
stopped in Fort Smith, Arkansas. And a friend of Matthew's family who met this woman persuaded Matthew's family to take
her into their home in Van Beern, Arkansas. >> Matthew's parents went to bed on June
9th, 1983. And when they woke up, Matthew and this woman were both gone. Neither of them have ever been seen
again. A composite sketch of the possible abductor is posted below this case summary. She's described as
Caucasian with a tattoo of a green and yellow star on the left side of her chest, a tattoo of a unicorn on her
upper left arm, and a long scar on the back of her right shoulder, and a tattoo on her upper right arm of the name Kathy
with a ribbon above it. Authorities believe the abductor may have taken Matthew to raise him as her son. So
that's a bit of the silver lining here. That's the one good thing that that >> seems like everybody believes this boy
now a man is still alive, >> right? >> They think he is probably still alive and doesn't know his true identity. I
can't find anything detailing much of the investigation. This is just going on and on with their post, but that gives
you a general idea of it. Now, the reason why this really caught my eye and the reason why I really wanted to make
sure that we talked about it here is the description of those tattoos. >> Yeah. >> It's you can presume that this person
might still have these tattoos >> that this woman still has. >> Yeah. >> So, it was a
>> um >> unless they were covered up, >> right? Right. But somebody might be able
to figure something out just by the description of those tattoos. Now, >> in another Reddit post,
it says, this has got some insightful stuff in it, but it's got some questionable things in it, too, as well,
and we'll get into that. But, um, in 1983, there was no National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It was
founded in 1984, so there was no system to track these cases or standard for which they were handled. According to
this poster, it was a giant cluster [ __ ] Actually, that's why John Walsh uh created NCMC,
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It looks like Matthew was one of those unfortunate
children who disappeared before the center was founded and he somehow slipped through the cracks. There is
really no information on the case and it was just added to uh the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children. >> Well, yeah. >> And Charlie's project recently. Yeah,
that's because for years people were looking in Arizona. >> Well, this poster goes on to have
two theories about the case. >> They say their first theory is the police department handling this case
wasn't familiar with missing children and they had little resources. They questioned if the FBI was even called
in. the really famous missing children from this time period that we know of had very proactive parents and they did
not um and they not the police were the driving force behind the media coverage.
This person says that their best guess is that Matthew's parents didn't know how to get their missing son in the
papers and such and therefore it received little press coverage. Now, their second theory is that there
was no carney lady at all. That she's an imaginary perpetrator, much like Xany the nanny or, you know, some other
people that we've fictitious individuals that we've talked about in different cases on uh that we've covered here.
>> Yeah. Where are we getting the reports from the about these tattoos? Is this just coming from the the parents?
>> So, this comes from the parents. But here's one thing that I found was really
interesting. And and to be honest with you, Captain, I don't want to sound like I'm I'm uh you know,
>> throwing shade on this on this person on this commenter that that posted their
two theories there because >> my mind went there as well was like, well, did this carnival lady really even
exist? You know, the parents go to bed, they wake up, their son's gone, >> this lady's gone. But then I got on to
remember the line in here on Reddit says it was just added to the Charlie project, Charlie's project recently.
>> So I wanted to check the Charlie's Project website and I did so and they had some different details of the
disappearance. >> It says Matthew's mother met a woman in 1983 who called herself Kathy Johnson.
She was a worker at a rodeo that had stopped in Fort Smith, Arkansas. >> A friend of Matthew's family met her and
introduced her to Matthew's mother. The baby's father was in jail at the time, and Matthew's mother needed help with
child care. So, she asked Johnson to stay in her Van Burren, Arkansas home for a week to watch her her three
children. She had more than uh just Matthew. Mhm. >> There was a party at Matthew's home on
the night of June 9th, 1983, and alcohol was served. When Matthew's mother woke up in the morning, Matthew and this
Kathy Johnson were both gone, and the family car was also missing. Three other children were left at the trailer.
Neither Matthew nor his abductor have ever been seen again. Kathy Johnson had told Matthew's mother that she was 26
years old. She also said she had lost two children shortly after they were born. She said her children, had they
lived, would have been 9 and 6 years old. This is in 1983. She may also use the first name Judy.
And a composite sketch of the abductor is posted with case summary. She is described as Caucasian, about 5'4 inches
tall with blonde hair. That's weird because the the composite looks like she would have dark hair. She had a chipped
or decayed front tooth, a 6 to 7 in scar on her left shoulder blade, a puncture scar 68 in above her right knee. She had
a tattoo of a green and yellow star or sunburst on her left side of her chest, a tattoo of a unicorn on her upper right
arm, I'm sorry, upper left arm, a long scar on the back of her right shoulder, and a tattoo on her upper right arm with
the name again Kathy with a ribbon above it. The interesting thing here is when we
get a little bit more of the story, it does seem now like this this person actually existed. That it's not just
some story that the parents came up with because something happened to their kid
and they needed a good story to cover it up. >> Mhm. goes on to say that Matthew and his
abductor may have traveled to, I'm sorry, through Utah to California after Matthew's abduction, possibly driving a
1973 Chevy Vega. Authorities believe the abductor may have taken Matthew to raise
him as her son, and he's probably still alive and doesn't know his true identity.
So, not just Matthew was gone, but the car was gone. We have other witnesses. There was a party there that night. We
have a little bit more of a story of the mother saying, "I didn't just meet this woman and she
stayed in my home one night. I asked her to stay and watch my children for me." >> Right?
>> And one thing that we we have too that is in the favor of Matthew's mother for
believing her story is not just the other potential witnesses, >> but the missing vehicle.
>> Their car was stolen as well. And I'm guessing when we have when we have the website saying that
they may have been traveling through Utah to get to California, that's either judging by words that were communicated
from this quote unquote Kathy Johnson to Matthew's mother or the vehicle that was
stolen would have been seen in Utah heading in the direction of California. >> Right.
>> So interesting stuff. I and I I do very much like when we have when we have a case like this and you
have the the tattoos. Again, that's one way of of solving this. >> Not Yeah. And it doesn't rule out that
it's not completely made up. Uh there was this lady and she had a tattoo and what does the tattoo say? Uh Kathy on
her arm, star. But when you start getting into multiple tattoos, multiple details, we talked about scar honor. Um,
it's either, you know, it's either great clues or it's completely made up. So, there's a lot to go off of. And and and
also like the the decay decaying front tooth now that was all that was 83, you said.
>> Yeah. So, that tooth if it was decaying, it's gone by now. >> Yeah. So, >> um, but yeah, if I mean if you know
somebody that has those tattoos, >> Yeah. If you have a grandma with a tattoo, >> weird. Can you imagine?
>> That says Kathy. >> 36. >> Let her name's not Kathy. >> So, this Matthew would be what? 36. Is
that right? 36 years old. 37 years old. >> Can you imagine growing up and believing
you were somebody else from some different family? Yeah, I don't buy the the story of the
parents though. Um it's one of those things where it's like there's probably more to the story
they're not telling us type thing. >> Well, I don't know that they're not telling us. This is just
>> right that's not reported or we don't have that information on >> Yeah. Sometimes sometimes the
information doesn't stand the test of time. You know, father timeated as they say. Yeah.
>> And so >> just like her front tooth didn't stand the test of time. Yeah. >> Either does.
>> So what the the more information about this story may just not have lasted all
of these years. >> Yeah. And then what do you do? What if you had a good childhood and good
upbringing and and things worked out and you were doing well with with your life?
Would you would you be mad? >> I I don't know. I can't put myself in >> 36 years old
>> in that situation. I have no >> I'm assuming that things didn't work out that well though.
Um, so but it's it's interesting that they they believe that he's still alive. So I I don't put it past somebody that
is willing to steal a child and to steal a vehicle. I don't put it past them >> that they uh dispose of the kid at some
point. So, but I guess it's better to keep hope, right? >> Yes, of course. [music]
[music]

Missing Matthew Crocker /// Off The Record Episode: 77 Nic and the Captain discuss: Missing Matthew Crocker. www.TrueCrimeGarage.com

Brief Summary

The episode covers the 1983 disappearance of Matthew Crocker and the mysterious woman last seen with him.

Key points

The Mysterious Disappearance of Matthew Crocker. Matthew Crocker went missing in 1983, and the search for him continues. His case raises questions about the past and the possibility of hope.

Episode highlights

The Mysterious Disappearance of Matthew CrockerMatthew Crocker went missing in 1983, and the search for him continues. His case raises questions about the past and the possibility of hope.“Authorities believe the abductor may have taken Matthew to raise him as her son.”12:11Jan 9, 2026

Episode quotes

Can you imagine growing up and believing you were somebody else?

14:37WatchJan 9, 2026

Tension

50/ 100Some tension

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