A man evicted from a homeless camp at Third and Ingra was interviewed by the Anchorage Daily News, telling the reporter that the temporary homeless shelter set up at the Sullivan Arena just wasn’t the place for him. He pushed his grocery cart full of belongings on down the street to find another place to camp in Anchorage.
Not long afterwards, the man’s name popped up on Reddit, an internet website that is a massive collection of forums, where people from all over the world share news and content and carry on discussions.
One discussion under the “Unresolved Mysteries” forum has since ensued about whether this Myron Traylor was the same one who disappeared as a young teen from Arizona.
Myron Traylor was 13 years old when he disappeared in Phoenix and he is presumed dead. He’d be 45 years old today, whereas the Anchorage Myron Traylor is 40, at least according to court records.
But there was something in the photo that caught the attention of the forum, and the participants wondered if it’s the same person. It’s the shape of his head, the arc of his brow. Both the young Arizona Myron and the Anchorage Myron are good-looking people.
The investigation of his disappearance from Phoenix focused on his mother’s boyfriend at the time, Gettus Leroy Mintz, who was a witness who was one of the last to see Myron at the OK Fish-N-Chips the evening he disappeared. Myron’s aunt reported that one of Mintz’s arms was in a sling shortly after Myron vanished, but Mintz claimed the injury was a dog bite. Investigators believed Mintz was was involved with illegal drugs in 1988, and they theorized that Myron confronted him regarding his lifestyle and was murdered shortly thereafter.
Myron D. Traylor, the Anchorage man who gives his age as 40, likely has scars of a lifetime, with plenty of priors in this long list of encounters with the Alaska criminal justice system.
While the police were clearing out the camp, he went on his way, and avoided being picked up by police, even though he has a current open case of “failure to appear” for a court date.
How many Myron Traylors are there in the world? Must Read Alaska’s research turned up four — the homeless man in Anchorage, a 46-year-old with the middle name of Terez in Florida, and two who are deceased in Arkansas.
Only the Anchorage Myron Traylor has no apparent relatives.
The trail may end there, for according to one Reddit user, a cold-case detective he contacted said the Anchorage Myron is not the same as the Arizona missing boy from 1988.
Read more about the Myron Traylor disappearance at this link.
According to the Charley Project, young Myron was walking to his grandparents’ house with his mother in Phoenix, Arizona on July 27, 1988. His grandparents’ residence was located on east Pecan Road.
Myron stopped at OK Fish-N-Chips, which was located on 16th Street and Southern Avenue, to purchase a soft drink while his mother continued ahead. He was last seen at approximately 6 p.m. outside the stand after purchasing a soda.
Myron was carrying a plastic bag full of dirty laundry at the time of his disappearance; he planned to wash the clothes at his grandparents’ home. He was also going to call his brother, who was staying with a relative in California; Myron’s family home near 16th Street and Nancy Lane did not have a telephone. He has never been heard from again.
Myron finished sixth grade at Sierra Vista Elementary in the spring of 1988; his hobbies at the time included drawing and reading, and was not involved with drugs or gangs.
He regularly attended services at Southminster Presbyterian Church on 19th Street near Broadway, went to Sunday School, and was a member of the church choir and the youth group. He didn’t have a habit of staying out late and it’s uncharacteristic of him to leave without warning. His father was in prison when he disappeared, and his mother has been ruled out as a suspect in his case.
Myron’s mother’s then-boyfriend, Gettus Leroy Mintz, is the only suspect in his disappearance. He was one of the four witnesses who saw Myron at OK Fish-N-Chips the evening of his disappearance. Myron’s aunt said that one of Mintz’s arms was in a sling shortly after Myron vanished. He claimed the injury resulted from a dog bite.
Investigators stated that Mintz was involved with drugs in 1988. Authorities theorized that Myron confronted him regarding his lifestyle after seeing him at OK Fish-N-Chips and was murdered shortly thereafter.
A photo of Mintz is posted with this case summary. In 2009, he stabbed his girlfriend and her mother in Peoria, Arizona. His girlfriend died, and Mintz was convicted of second-degree murder and aggravated assault and sentenced to forty-two years in prison. He has refused to be interviewed about Myron’s case.
Investigators received an anonymous letter in 1991 that claimed Myron was buried on private property near 24th Street and Jones Avenue in Phoenix. A search of the location produced no evidence regarding his case. Authorities believe that Myron was killed and buried near his last known location.
Myron’s mother died in March 2002 at the age of forty-five, nearly fourteen years after her son disappeared. His case remains unsolved.
