# Did they ever find the little boy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2006, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307 "2006-02-27T13:19:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dgrdfd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@dgrdfd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dgrdfd)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307/21 "2009-06-18T03:55:15Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I wonder how he figured it out. Did a relative tell him? [The caption on the CBS page above reads:](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/17/national/main5094009.shtml?tag=cbsContent;cbsCarousel) > [@](#): > > John Robert Barnes, left, said that pictures he found online led him to believe he could be Stephen Damman (right, in an undated photo) who disappeared from outside a Long Island, New York, bakery more than 50 years ago. (CBS/AP) > [@](#): > > John Robert Barnes told The Associated Press that he was doing online research within the past year to try to figure out who he really was, saying that from childhood he never felt as though he fit in with the family that raised him. So maybe it was a simple “hey, I look like that kid!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307/22 "2009-06-18T04:19:12Z")
Newspapers would rather run with the story prior to genetic testing than after. The odds are low that there would be a story after. And, there’s no sense repeating the story again just because the news was verified. I suspect that someone would have to directly contact the guy in question to find out the results of the test. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307/23 "2009-06-18T04:26:14Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > He doesn’t know. IIRC his “parents” are both dead and he has always assumed that they were his biological parents. Of course he knows. I’m talking about his childhood. I mean was he raised like a normal kid or was he kept in a box for 12 years or something. I find it strange that someone who is damaged enough to take someones child would be normal enough to raise the child well. > [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Newspapers would rather run with the story prior to genetic testing than after. The odds are low that there would be a story after. And, there’s no sense repeating the story again just because the news was verified. > > I suspect that someone would have to directly contact the guy in question to find out the results of the test. The story does mention that the man has already contacted his possible sister and they had a private DNA test which confirmed they could be related. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307/24 "2009-06-18T04:33:12Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > The story does mention that the man has already contacted his possible sister and they had a private DNA test which confirmed they could be related. The “could” bothered me. Anyone know the math on this? ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307/25 "2009-06-18T04:50:38Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > The “could” bothered me. Anyone know the math on this? It’s unlcear form the story, but it appears that the “sister” may be the offspring of his father from his second marriage. To quote “The father of the woman and the missing boy… divorced the boy’s mother a few years after the kidnapping and now lives on a farm with his wife, Charlotte.” Genetic similarity to half siblings averages 25% but ranges from 50% to 0%. Genetic similarity with any human being on the planet also covers the ranges from 50% to 0%. I’m not sure of the maths, but unike siblings where your odds of getting less than a 25% is tiny, the odds with a half sibling are even. So if the match returned say, 10%, that might indicate a possible half sibling or it might just be chance. > [@Loach](#): > > Of course he knows. I’m talking about his childhood. I mean was he raised like a normal kid or was he kept in a box for 12 years or something. I find it strange that someone who is damaged enough to take someones child would be normal enough to raise the child well. WTF do you mean “Of course he knows” He was 2 years old at the time that the event might have happened. He remembers no life at all except for with his “adopted” family. Of course he doesn’t know. How could he know? Where would he get such information? Look, I’ll repeat it again: he doesn’t know. Nobody knows. There is no way for anybody to know. He was too young to even remember if he _was_ kidnapped, much less remember his kidnapper’s face. Maybe he was raised by his kidnapper. Maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he was never kidnapped. He doesn’t remember. He was too young. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307/26 "2009-06-18T11:38:58Z")
I’m watching an interview on TV right now (Today show, NBC). He said his mother told him before his death that he wasn’t their biological child, but gave no more detail. His dad is alive and claims that he is their biological child. The man who thinks that he’s Steven claims resemblance to living relatives of the kidnapped boy and a scar under his chin like in the kidnapped boy’s case. (I suspect a scar under the chin isn’t uncommon for a child learning to walk, though.) ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307/27 "2009-06-18T11:46:26Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > WTF do you mean “Of course he knows” He was 2 years old at the time that the event might have happened. He remembers no life at all except for with his “adopted” family. Of course he doesn’t know. How could he know? Where would he get such information? I had the exact same reaction as **Loach** when I read the story. (At least, I think I did, sorry if I am putting words in your mouth.) What I am wondering is if his “adopted” parents raised him in what would be a considered a normal family environment, or if he suffered through an abusive situation. I know he wouldn’t remember when he was 2 … but how does he describe his childhood when he was 5? 10? 14? In one of the news stories I saw, this man said he felt like he didn’t fit in with the family he was raised in … and that made me wonder if he felt that way because (for example) they had different interests and personalities but were otherwise nice people OR if he had spent his childhood being ill-treated and this is one of those terrible “he had to sleep in a crate in the basement” stories one sometimes hears about. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307/28 "2009-06-18T11:59:17Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > WTF do you mean “Of course he knows” He was 2 years old at the time that the event might have happened. He remembers no life at all except for with his “adopted” family. Of course he doesn’t know. How could he know? Where would he get such information? How many different ways does \*\*Loach \*\*have to ask? He’s asking about the kid’s childhood AFTER year 2. “of course he knows” because everybody knows how they were raised as a child. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307/29 "2009-06-18T15:42:24Z")
Okay, this story just freaked me the hell out. I mean, it was upsetting because it’s a sad story in any event, but then I noticed that he went missing in Long Island, which is where I grew up. Then I saw that it was East Meadow - same town where my family lived until I was two. And Steven’s the same age as my brother would be. (My bro. died in 1963 in a pool accident, before I was born.) A little too close to home, this. If my parents were alive I’d ask them about this story. My mom was always incredibly overprotective, understandably considering her son’s accident. But I’m wondering if this missing child tragedy in their own neighborhood also affected them. So far I haven’t seen any info about what happened to the mother. I guess she’s no longer alive? ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307/30 "2009-06-18T15:49:10Z")
Missed the edit window, dammit: Okay, according to [this Newsday article](http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-liboy1712884274jun16,0,790894.story), the mom IS alive but in a nursing home. Also, according to a letter received by one of her sons (who would be Steven’s half brother), Greer wrote that the woman he thought was his mother mentioned a kidnapping on her deathbed. That’s a bit more specific than some of the articles mention – they just said the woman uttered something about the boy not being her natural-born son. Hm. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307/31 "2009-06-18T16:12:58Z")
Latest word is [Probably so](http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/17/ny.missing.boy.mystery/index.html). ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307/32 "2009-06-18T16:24:00Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Latest word is [Probably so](http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/17/ny.missing.boy.mystery/index.html). That’s just based upon the already known “private” DNA testing done with the half-sister. We won’t have better indication until the testing comparing him with his purported biological parents is completed. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307/33 "2009-06-18T18:55:57Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > His dad is alive and claims that he is their biological child. Holy crap, I had to read this a couple times before this sunk in. The “father” who raised Barnes is still alive! If Barnes really is Damman, then Barnes Senior is guilty of a pretty heinous crime. If not, he’s the victim of some pretty awful rumor-mongering by his own son! That’s bizarre that there was an SDMB thread about this two years ago. This was one time when a bump was certainly appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307/34 "2009-06-18T19:21:27Z")
This new “development” seems like a non-story that should have been cleared up with DNA tests with the Barnes’s father before hitting any news outlet. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307/35 "2009-06-18T20:02:24Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Holy crap, I had to read this a couple times before this sunk in. The “father” who raised Barnes is still alive! > > If Barnes really is Damman, then Barnes Senior is guilty of a pretty heinous crime. If not, he’s the victim of some pretty awful rumor-mongering by his own son! Wow, at first I thought you were misreading the stories, but apparently I did. Relevant bits from [this article](http://www.freep.com/article/20090618/NEWS06/90618024/0/NEWS05/Kalkaska+man++DNA+will+prove+I+was+taken): > [@](#): > > Richard Barnes Sr. says the boy he raised is truly his son, despite preliminary DNA tests that show John Barnes could be related to the Dammans. > > “He always felt he didn’t bond to us, but that’s false,” Richard Barnes Sr. said from his home near Kalkaska. “It should prove 100% he’s not related to these people.” > > (SNIP) > > Barnes is now estranged from the father who raised him. He said the elder Barnes has declined to answer his questions about his early childhood. > > “I talked to my dad about 15 years ago, but he wasn’t interested in anything I had to say about it, so I dropped it,” Barnes said. > > After Barnes contacted the Damman family and police in New York, the FBI took over the case. Conclusive DNA tests should be done as soon as next month. Shouldn’t this be easy for Barnes Sr. to prove? Wouldn’t they have a birth certificate? Seems odd that this fairly obvious question isn’t being mentioned in the articles… ---
**Author:** ![Kkrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Kkrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kkrose)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307/36 "2009-06-18T21:14:53Z")
That was quick. The FBI says it’s [not him](http://www.freep.com/article/20090618/NEWS06/90618076) ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307/37 "2009-06-18T21:35:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Shouldn’t this be easy for Barnes Sr. to prove? Wouldn’t they have a birth certificate? Seems odd that this fairly obvious question isn’t being mentioned in the articles… Well, you see, they have a “Certificate of Live Birth”, but it’s not the hospital original birth certificate, and he suspects that the state is involved in a massive cover-up of the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307/38 "2009-06-18T21:43:35Z")
> [@Kkrose](#): > > That was quick. The FBI says it’s [not him](http://www.freep.com/article/20090618/NEWS06/90618076) Jeebus, the not-sister and not-nephew went on several television shows before the claim was substantiated at all? :smack: Some days I hate the media. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307/39 "2009-06-18T22:02:13Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Well, you see, they have a “Certificate of Live Birth”, but it’s not the hospital original birth certificate, and he suspects that the state is involved in a massive cover-up of the truth. Very funny. 🙂 A more complete story (including birth certificate info!) is on [Newsday](http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-lidamman0619,0,465555.story)’s site: > [@](#): > > The FBI said DNA tests conducted on John Robert Barnes, of Kalkaska, Mich., found he could not, in fact, be Steven Craig Damman, who disappeared on Oct. 31, 1955, after his mother left him in front of a Food Fair supermarket in East Meadow while she shopped. > > In addition, a birth certificate obtained by Newsday on Thursday shows Barnes was born on Aug. 18, 1955, in Pensacola, Fla., making him less than 3 months old at the time of the disappearance. Damman was nearly 3 years old when he vanished and sparked one of the largest mass hunts in Long Island history. > > The DNA tests by the FBI specifically concluded there is no genetic relationship between Barnes and the mother of the real Steven Damman, officials said Thursday. > > “DNA samples analyzed by the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Va., show that [Damman’s sister] Pamela Damman Horne do not share the same mother,” FBI Detroit head Andrew Arena, said in a brief statement. > > Barnes’ father, Richard Barnes, this week had called his son’s story “bull” and said he had been his father his entire life. He said his son was born in a Navy Hospital in Penascola, Fla., on Aug. 18, 1955. “We brought him home two days later,” the elder Barnes said. “And he’s never been out of our sight.” That’s a real shame. It seems like Barnes Jr. is troubled and looking for some kind of connection. I hate that he gave the Dammans false hope, though. I must say when I looked at the kid’s picture and compared it to Barnes, I really did see a resemblence. Maybe it was just a sort of confirmation bias. (Pointless addendum: the guy shares my birthday. Yet another coincidence!) ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307/40 "2009-06-18T22:04:16Z")
The Detroit Free Press has an online [poll](http://www.freep.com/article/20090618/NEWS06/90618041) that asks: “Is Michigan man the missing boy?” 80% of those polled think that the answer is “Yes.” :rolleyes: This is a perfect example of why polls are not the best way to determine facts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-the-little-boy/346307.md?page=3)