John Michael Baham Jr.

• Missing Since 12/23/1990
• Missing From Oakdale, Louisiana
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 01/24/1969 (55)
• Age 21 years old
• Height and Weight 5'8 - 5'10, 190 - 200 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A red and blue flannel shirt, a red undershirt, new blue jeans, cowboy boots and a western-style belt with the name "Mike" on it.
• Associated Vehicle(s) Pickup truck (accounted for)
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Dark brown hair, blue eyes. Baham goes by his middle name, Michael, or the nickname Mike. Most accounts refer to him as Michael Baham. He is missing three teeth and has a removable bridge for them.

Details of Disappearance

Baham was last seen in Oakdale, Louisiana on December 23, 1990. He was en route to meet a friend at a car wash in town. En route, he stopped the Bayou Store, leaving it and driving away at 7:30 p.m.

He never arrived at the car wash, which was only a short distance away, and has never been heard from again. At 9:30 p.m., a witness saw his pickup truck near the Calcasieu River Bridge on Highway 10, west of Oakdale. The lights were on, and then the witness saw them go out.

The next morning, Baham's father found his truck on a dirt road under the bridge. The keys were in ignition in the "on" position, the battery was dead, and Baham's coat and his shotgun were inside the truck, but there were no signs of a struggle or any other indication as to what had happened. A photo of Baham's truck is posted with this case summary. He had just cashed a paycheck, and he was carrying $1,500 in cash. He had been drinking at the night of his disappearance.

Baham's father found Oakdale resident Paul A. Kilgore and another man were sleeping in a car nearby when he found his son's truck. Police immediately questioned them, but both men denied having seen or heard anything. Kilgore moved to Michigan a short time later. In 1998, a jail inmate implicated him in Baham's murder. The inmate had been only thirteen years old at the time of Baham's disappearance and said he went to the authorities because his conscience was bothering him.

He lead police to the Dead Man's Lake area, where he said Baham's body had been buried. Authorities excavated the site and found nothing, but based on the inmate's information, in July of that year, Kilgore was arrested in Michigan for first-degree murder and first-degree robbery. A jury refused found insufficient evidence to indict him, however, and he was released.

Baham is a 1987 graduate of Oakdale High School and has a younger brother and sister. He was working in Texas at the time of his disappearance, but had come back to Louisiana to spend the Christmas holidays with his family. They stated he was not the kind of person who would have run away, particularly without his coat; it was only 17 degrees the night he disappeared. He also left nearly $4,000 behind in his bank account.

Foul play is suspected in his case, which remains unsolved.