Nestled in the rolling hills of Connecticut, about a twenty minute drive from Hartford, is the sleepy little town of Portland. Once a rural farming town known for its shaded tobacco farming and brownstone mining, the town is now cast under a perpetual shadow of gloom and dread. For it was here, in October of 1996, that an eight-year-old boy named Eric Mathews vanished without a trace from his parent's back yard and has never been seen since.
The afternoon of October 20, had been like any other autumn afternoon for the Mathews family who lived on a small farm on the outskirts of town. Ten-year-old Oliver Mathews was playing ball with his younger brother, Eric, in the back yard while the boys' parents, Walter and Joanne, were getting ready for a Fall Fest being held that evening at the Pilgrim Methodist Church about a mile down the road. According to subsequent testimonial from Oliver, he had been pitching a softball to Eric who was practicing at the bat. It was about dusk, and Joanne later recalled having glanced out the bedroom at the boys playing and seeing a "magnificent sunset" behind the woods at the far west of the property. She estimated the time as being around 5:30.
In the back yard, the boys were growing restless waiting for their parents to get ready. Getting bored with the game of ball, Oliver suddenly threw the softball as hard as he could at the hay barn behind Eric. The ball landed on top of the slanted tin roof, but then rolled off the back into the weeds behind the barn. The ball belonged to Eric and he quickly ran behind the barn to fetch it. Oliver had lost interest in the game and walked over to the tire swing his dad had fixed to a pecan tree earlier in the week for the boys. Several minutes passed before Oliver realized his little brother had not come out from behind the barn.
Oliver called Eric's name twice, but the younger boy did not reply. Oliver walked quietly to the barn, intending to sneak around the back and scare his little brother who was probably poking a stick into another ant mound, a favorite past time on the farm. But to Oliver's surprise, Eric was nowhere to be seen. The older boy then walked back to the front of the barn which remained open so that the families' three cows could easily reach the hay at their leisure. Thinking that Eric might be hiding behind the large hay bales as a lark, Oliver entered and began sifting through the hay.
At that time, Walter and Joanne called from the back porch that it was time to go to the church. Oliver called back that he couldn't find Eric. Joanne called for her youngest son, saying that the family would be late for the Fall Fest if he didn't come out from his hiding place. But there was still no answer from Eric. His parents questioned Oliver as to Eric's whereabouts, but the ten-year-old was at a loss for an explanation. He told them he had been within twenty yards of Eric the whole time they had been outside playing. The only time he had taken his eyes off his younger brother was when Eric had run behind the hay barn to find his ball.
As there was nothing behind the barn but two acres of open pastureland, and nowhere for a boy to hide, it was determined that Eric must be hiding somewhere in the immediate vicinity of the barn. Walter promised a sound whooping for his disobedient son if he did not come out of hiding at once, but the threat went unanswered.
After fifteen minutes of searching for Eric but not finding a trace of the boy, panic began to set in. Joanne telephoned the neighbors that lived within a one-mile radius and asked if they had seen any sign of the missing boy, but unfortunately, no one had. Walter hopped in his truck and drove up and down the road searching for his son. Thinking that Eric might have gotten bored waiting at the house and had decided to walk alone to the church, somehow evading Oliver's attention, he stopped in at Pilgrim Methodist Church to inquire of everyone present if they had seen the boy. But no one reported having seen Eric, who was very well known to the congregation.
At 6:27 PM, Walter Mathews reported the incident to the Hartford Police Department. Detective John Chambers and Officer Mike Ingram were dispatched to the Mathew's farm to do a report and to look further into the matter. The two Police officials arrived at the Mathew's residence at around 7:10 PM and wrote an official missing person's report, based on the testimonies of Walter and Joanne Mathews and Oliver.
It was after dark by this time, but the Detective and Policeman began a search of the farm with the use of flashlights. At approximately 8:05 PM, having had no luck finding the boy, Detective Chambers called for more officers and the aide of floodlights and bloodhounds.
Since Oliver had been the last to see Eric, who had now been missing for about 2 1/2 hours, the officials asked him to give a close recount of Eric's movement right before he vanished. Oliver showed the Policemen exactly where his younger brother had been standing when he threw the ball on top of the barn. He then re-enacted his brother running around the left side of the barn to fetch his ball after it rolled off the back side of the roof. The ball was found at the back of the barn in a tuft of weeds, but there was absolutely no sign of the eight-year-old boy-- not so much as a broken weed stem.
As mentioned before, bloodhounds were called in to track the missing boy's scent. Mysteriously, the hounds were unable to trace Eric's scent beyond the back of the barn. It was as if he had run around the back of the barn and then vanished from the face of the earth. Just as mysterious, the dogs each seemed to trace the boy's scent to a small pile of sand that lay approximately one foot from where the ball was found. By midnight, the police had the area behind the barn taped off, and made plans to return the next morning when hopefully the daylight would shed a better light on the investigation.
At 7:15 AM, October 21, a team of Policemen and Detectives arrived at the Mathews' Farm to resume their investigation for the missing child. Special attention was given to the small sand pile that lay behind the haybarn. The sand, which was subsequently tested in a forensic lab in Hartford, was determined to be foreign in nature to other sand found in the Mathew's pasture. It appeared to Detective Chambers to be refined sand, the kind used in playground sandboxes. The sand pile was measured and found to be less than one foot in circumference. What significance, if any, the sand played in the disappearance of Eric Mathews was unknown, but the police decided to have the area excavated and carefully canvassed for any trace of the missing child. Unfortunately, the excavation proved fruitless.
By 8:00 AM, a party of searchers arrived on the property and began an extensive search of the entire farm, beginning near the main house and working outward to the back woods. Police thoroughly interrogated the Mathew's neighbors, and subsequently, each member of the Pilgrim Methodist Church. But despite the painstaking efforts of the Hartford Police Department and the townspeople of Portland, no sign of Eric Mathews was ever found.
Indeed, to this present day, no information or evidence to shed the smallest light on the missing boy's whereabouts has ever been ascertained. As can be expected, various theories have been offered throughout the years as to the fate of the Mathews child. Most of these, including the theory of a stealthy alien abduction, have been dismissed as absurdities by Detectives and other officials.
As for the mysterious sand pile found behind the Mathews' barn, Police remain baffled by its presence in the pasture. Forensic testing concluded that the sand was mesh silica sand, a synthetic type bought in stores. None of the Mathews family can offer any idea of how the sand got there, much less what possible bearing it could have on Eric Mathews' disappearance. According to the official police report, none of the Mathews family are suspected of having anything to do with the child's evanishment; as far as they can determine, Oliver Mathews' testimony is factual and there is no reason to suspect otherwise.
A $100,000 reward remains in offering to anyone who can offer information as to the whereabouts to Eric Mathews. As of the time of this writing, he would be twenty-three years old.
No comments:
Post a Comment