Kevin Andrew McCarthy Collins

Kevin, circa 1984; Age-progression to age 39 (circa 2013); Dan Therrien in the early 1980s; Therrien, circa 2008

  • Missing Since 02/10/1984
  • Missing From San Francisco, California
  • Classification Non-Family Abduction
  • Sex Male
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 01/24/1974 (50)
  • Age 10 years old
  • Height and Weight 4'6, 72 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A San Francisco Giants jacket and his school uniform, which consisted of a white short-sleeved dress shirt, a dark green sweater, brown corduroy pants and beige Nike sneakers.
  • Medical Conditions Kevin has dyslexia, a learning disability which makes it difficult for him to read.
  • Associated Vehicle(s) Royal blue four-door 1967 Ford Galaxie
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, gray/green eyes. Kevin has freckles on his face and a small horizontal scar on his tongue.

Details of Disappearance

Kevin was last seen at approximately 6:40 p.m. on February 10, 1984 in his hometown of San Francisco, California. He was last seen sitting on a bench at a bus stop on the corner of Oak Street and Masonic Avenue, waiting for a bus to take him home from basketball practice.

He was witnessed talking at the bus stop to a blond man about six feet tall, in his twenties or thirties. The man was accompanied by a large black dog, possibly a Great Dane or similar breed. He has never been heard from again. It is possible that Kevin was abducted by two Caucasian men driving a royal blue four-door 1967 Ford Galaxie, but that report has never been confirmed.

The northern California child killer Jon Dunkle is possible suspect in his case. His three known victims physically resembled Kevin and were in roughly the same age group. Dunkel has never been charged in connection with Kevin's case, however.

Dan Leonard Therrien was questioned as a possible suspect in Kevin's disappearance in 1984, and police searched his apartment, with his permission. He used several alias dates of birth and alias names, including Raymond William Stewart, Kelly Lee Dawson, and Kelly Sean Stewart, and the San Francisco police knew him as Wayne D. Jackson.

He lived across the street from Kevin's school, had a history of sex crimes against children, he resembled the man with the dog that was seen talking to Kevin before his disappearance, and he owned a large black Doberman dog.

Photographs of Therrien are posted with this case summary. Two witnesses at the time failed to pick him out of a lineup, the search of his home yielded nothing, and he was released.

Unbeknownst to the San Francisco police, at the time they questioned him, Therrien was wanted for kidnapping and sexually assaulting two thirteen-year-old boys. He had been arrested for the crime, but skipped bail and fled the country before the case was resolved.

Therrien was still in San Francisco and was living under an alias name when he died of natural causes in 2008. In early 2013, authorities renewed the investigation and searched his former residence again. They found some bones under the apartment building's garage, but believe they are animal bones.

Kevin was in the fourth grade at St. Agnes School when he disappeared. The sixth of ten children in an Irish Catholic family, he resided in the 2500 block of Sutter Street in San Francisco. His siblings ranged in age from 7 to 19 years old in 1984. One cousin and one foster child were also living in the Collins residence.

Authorities do not believe Kevin ran away from home, as he got along well with his family and was not having any problems except for being bullied at school. His parents divorced amicably five after his disappearance. In 1994, they held a memorial service for him.

His father founded a missing children's organization, the Kevin Collins Foundation, but it closed in 1996 due to financial constraints. Kevin's case remains unsolved. His mother still lives in the local area, but his father has since moved out of the United States. His case remains unsolved.

Updated 8 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated March 5, 2013; age-progression updated.