The Missing Mark Himebaugh

The Missing
Mark Himebaugh
Case #: 91-17695
County: Cape May

On November 25, 1991, 11 year old Mark Himebaugh lived with his mother and older brother in Del Haven, NJ and was a 6th grader at Cape May County Alternative Middle School. He was last seen walking towards a playground in the County Park, nearby to his home. The last person to see him was a park security guard, claiming it was about 4:00 that afternoon. Mark was wearing a blue U.S.N sweatshirt, a gray jacket with a red blue and gray plaid lining and four outer pockets with velcro, a pair of gray docker pants and red and white sneakers. Mark’s mother Maureen told her son she was dropping off a neighbor to pick up their car at a repair shop in Middle Township. He did not want to go along because a small brush fire had broken out in town and he wanted to watch what was happening. By the time Maureen had finished her errand around 40 minutes later, her son was gone. At first, Maureen assumed Mark was with neighborhood children, however, that was not the case.

His mother reported him missing at about 5:00 PM that evening after she still could not locate her son. The entire town was searched, on foot and via helicopter; hundreds of neighbors, police, and fire fighters joined in to locate the boy.

Investigators did locate Mark’s left shoe, a hand-me-down L.A Gear sneaker at Sunray Beach about 75 yards away from the family home later in the day of his disappearance. His footprints were seen above the tide line, some barefoot, some not, but these were the only solid clues ever found.

Of note, the afternoon of his disappearance, traffic had been rerouted past their house.

Mark’s left foot was healing from a fracture at the time of his disappearance. He was also taking the antidepressant medication Prozac for his behavioral problems. Mark is classified as emotionally disturbed and he may have OCD. He frequently had tantrums and angry outbursts as a result of his conditions, but his behavior had been improving prior to his disappearance with the help of his medication and therapy sessions. He had a habit of biting his fingernails and is right handed. He is a caucasian male, with blue eyes and red hair with freckles across his body. He was 4’6, 85 lbs. His nickname is “Curious George.”

There are unconfirmed reports from witnesses stating that Mark was seen at the entrance of a local park with an unidentified young girl at about 3:40 P.M. on the day Mark vanished. Her identity is still unknown. She was about 9 or 10 years old in 1991 with dishwater blonde colored hair. She was about 4 ft tall and 70 to 75 lbs. Wearing a dark blue ski parka that had a hunter orange stripe on the back. Police believe this girl has information about Mark’s disappearance, below is a sketch of what she looked like.

Two other men were also reported to have been seen with Mark on the day of his disappearance. One man was said to be 30 to 35 years old, ‘5’8 – ‘5’9 and about 150 lbs. He had dark reddish brown hair in a ponytail and had a scruffy, unkempt appearance. Below is a sketch. There is no available description of the other male.

In 1993, A man named Thomas Butcavage Jr. was named as a person of interest in Mark’s disappearance. He resembled the sketch of the man Mark may have been seen with. A male prostitute named Daniel Coll approached the police and said that Butcavage was one of his regular clients and had shown him a video of himself having sex with a young boy who resembled Mark. The boy was handcuffed, gagged and appeared frightened. The prostitute asked Butcavage if the boy was Mark Himebaugh and Butcavage said it was. He also said he deliberately planted Mark’s sneaker on the beach to confuse the investigation.

Butcavage has not been charged in Mark’s case but he has been imprisoned multiple times for drug offenses and for sex with underage males. In 2015, authorities asked anyone who knew Butcavage in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s to please come forward.

Mark is believed to have been abducted by a stranger. The case is still unsolved. Mark’s mother has kept unopened gifts for Mark and still uses the same phone number in case her son might one day be found alive.

If you have any information about this case, please contact the Middle Township Police Department at 609-465-8700.

Sources:

https://echoespath.com/mark-himebaugh/

https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2019/10/09/mark-himebaugh-mother-whose-son-went-missing-28-years-ago-has-message-of-support-for-mother-of-missing-dulce-maria-alavez/