Steven William Branston

• Missing Since 10/01/1996
• Missing From Honolulu, Hawaii
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 03/11/1976 (48)
• Age 20 years old
• Height and Weight 6'0, 170 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description Possibly a black and white or tie-dyed shirt, jeans or cut-off shorts, sandals and a scarf-type headband.
• Medical Conditions Branston suffers from schizophrenia and was also severely depressed at the time of his disappearance; he may have been suicidal. He was supposed to be taking Risperdal, an anti-psychotic medication, but he quit taking it before he went missing. Branston also has a history of drug abuse. He is classified as disabled.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, blue eyes. Branston may have a light brown, curly beard. His hair was long at the time of his 1996 disappearance, and he normally wore it pulled back into a ponytail. He smokes cigarettes.

Details of Disappearance

Branston was a resident of Lakeport, California in 1996. He told his sister that he imagined traveling to Hawaii and dying during the summer of that year. His family became concerned that he was suicidal. He had had a normal childhood, but in his teens he became troubled, was a poor student and started using drugs. He was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia and began seeing a psychiatrist and taking medication for his condition.

Branston last saw his family on August 1, 1996, just before his parents went to Wyoming for the summer. On August 5, he arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was apparently homeless and living near the Honolulu Airport. He opened a bank account and arranged to have his Social Security payments sent there, and he rented a storage locker at Hy-Pac Self Storage, where he stored his identification, medication, and clothing.

Branston deposited his Social Security checks for August and September in his Hawaiian bank account. A teller at the Bank of Hawaii in Kaunakakai, Hawaii says Branston tried to cash a check there in October 1996, but wasn't allowed to because he didn't have any identification. His parents reported him missing with the Lakeport Police Department on October 5.

Hy-Pac Self Storage contacted Branston's parents in November 1996, after he stopped paying the fees for his locker. His parents monitored his bank account for at least a year after his disappearance, but no one deposited or withdrew any funds. There were possible sightings of him on the islands of Oahu, Molokai and Kauai until June 1997, but none of them were confirmed.

Branston's case remains unsolved. Both Hawaii and California police are investigating.