Three-and-a-half-year-old Laura Bradbury disappeared while vacationing with her parents at Indian Cove campground.
Over the years, there have been several instances of disappearances. Missing people are no longer a shock. Some people experience an abduction, but others experience far worse consequences.
The world has also been shaken by the case of Laura’s disappearance. At the time of her disappearance, Laura was very small, and her situation is particularly special.
Laura Bradbury, disappeared in a campsite
When did Laura Bradbury disappear? His Abduction Explored
She and Travis, Laura’s older brother, went to a portable bathroom nearby. Laura waited outside as Travis entered the bathroom.
Laura was not in sight as Travis came out of the bathroom. 250 people were searching for Laura’s location as people started looking for her everywhere.
There were no leads in the Laura hunt around the Indian Cove campground despite the use of dogs, horses, and helicopters. A sniffer dog followed her scent for about two kilometers before losing her. Before the official search was suspended, only three days had passed.
Laura’s family, however, were confident they could locate her. They began their preliminary search for Laura and handed out flyers and t-shirts of her. They also appeared on talk shows on radio and television, and the disappearance was re-enacted twice in prime time.
One of the first missing children to be depicted on milk cartons was Laura, whose disappearance made national headlines. However, there was still no trail.
How old was Laura Bradbury when she disappeared?
Laura was barely three years old when she disappeared. People all over town were trying to help find Laura after her case made national news.
The case lacked leads. Witnesses reported seeing a man in his 50s driving a metallic blue van to the Indian Cove campground before Laura disappeared. A similar-looking man was spotted in Burns Canyon shortly thereafter.
The sheriff’s office even hired a hypnotist to try to elicit more details from campers who had seen the bearded, pot-bellied man and his car. After that, however, there were no more tracks on the van.
Who were Laura Bradbury’s parents?
Patty and Mike Bradbury, Laura’s parents, gave birth to her. Travis Bradbury was his older brother, who was 8 years old.
The way the police handled the problem did not sit well with Laura’s parents, who decided to take matters into their own hands. They assumed that even though they knew Laura was missing, the police were doing nothing to help.
Laura’s mother, Patty, died in 2001, and in 2010 her father, Michael, wrote a book about his daughter’s abduction called “Laura Ann Bradbury: A Father’s Search.”
Near the west entrance to the park, hikers in 1986 found a skull they believed belonged to Laura Bradbury. The only thing we could deduce from the characteristics of the skull was that it belonged to a child, but the DNA did not match Laura’s.
Michael attempted to have the skull moved to a morgue so he could claim his daughter’s remains, but he was unable to. Laura’s disappearance remains unexplained to this day.