Case Details
- Photo URLs:
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- Missing Since:
- Missing Since 06/18/1950
- Missing From:
- Missing From Humboldt County, California
- Classification:
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Gender:
- Female
- Race:
- Race White
- Date of Birth:
- Age:
- Age 17 years old
- Height and Weight:
- Height and Weight 5’4 – 5’7, 150 – 165 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description:
- Distinguishing Characteristics:
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female.
- Details of Disappearance:
- Barbara disappeared in Humboldt County, California on June 17, 1950, after a night out with her boyfriend, “Red” Baird. The next morning, Red was found dead on a beach, shot in the head. He was naked except for his shoes and socks; Barbara’s clothes were neatly folded near his body, but she was gone.
Years later, a man named Gayle Patrick Irish, who had a history of sex crimes and was in a mental hospital, confessed to killing Barbara, Red, and another man. Irish claimed he’d forced Red to undress and shot him on the beach, then killed Barbara and buried her near a logging camp. He couldn’t lead police to her body, and the police lost the rifle they took from him, so he was never charged.
Despite this confession, and the similarities between Red’s murder and another crime Irish admitted to, there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him. Barbara’s disappearance and Red’s murder remain unsolved mysteries. Barbara, a waitress known for her strong religious beliefs, has never been found.
- Agency:
- Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office 707-268-2539
- Source Links:
This person was missing Missing Since 06/18/1950