Matthew Crocker

    On June 9th, 1995, Morgan Nick disappeared from a ballpark in Alma, Arkansas. Morgan Nick is a name many of you will recognize. Since the day she disappeared, her mother has worked tirelessly to keep her name from being forgotten. Since she disappeared, her community has moved heaven and earth in an effort to bring her home. And she deserves every bit of the attention she has received and more. But this wasn’t the first time June the 9th would bring tragedy and heartache to a family in our community. Because Morgan wasn’t the first child to disappear on June the 9th. This is the story of Matthew Crocker who disappeared on June the 9th, 1983. Today we’re here to answer a question. Where is Matthrew Wade Crocker?

    Matthew Crocker lived in Van Buren, Ark. For those of you unfamiliar with the area, Van Buren is just a relatively short walk down the highway from Alma, Ark. He shared a home with his mom, dad and three siblings. At the time of Matthew’s abduction his dad, Phillip, was away. And by away, I mean he was in jail. He had been picked up for public drunkenness according to the local papers. This left Matthew's mom, Mary, essentially, a single mother responsible for all the childcare while also working to pay the bills.  This would be hard enough for any one person but making it even harder was the fact that Matthew was only four months old.

     Seeing her struggle, a friend of the family named Kirby Henry offered a suggestion. His girlfriend, a woman named Kathy Johnson, needed a place to live.  If Kathy could stay with Mary, she’d be able to watch the kids while Mary worked. It seemed like the perfect arrangement that both would benefit from.  

    Admittedly, Mary didn’t know much about Kathy, but desperate times call for desperate measures. She allowed Kathy to move in with her and her kids. This was a decision she would soon come to regret.

    A few days had passed since Kathy moved in and Mary learned a little more about her houseguest/babysitter. She learned that Kathy had met Kirby, the man that introduced them, at the rodeo. Kathy also mentioned that she had two children, but they were deceased. According to Kathy, they had both died not long after birth, but she gave no further details.  Infact, Kathy gave out very little information about her past. The only other information Mary knew was that Kathy may have been from Kentucky and may have also gone by Judy.

    I know! That’s not a lot of information to know about a woman you’re letting live in your house with your kids let alone leave alone with your kids. But Mary was desperate, without someone to watch her children, how would she work? If she didn't work, how could she afford to take care of her kids? It wasn’t the ideal situation Mary had hoped it would be but who would have thought it would end the way it did?  

    It wasn’t long after Kathy moved in when Mary had a “get together” at her house. Newspapers at the time reported it as a party, but was it? Admittedly, there was alcohol in the house that night but there is no proof that it had anything to do with what happened next.  

    Mary put Matthew down to sleep in the crib next to his one-year-old sister, Elizabeth, then went to bed as well.  Sometime during the night, Kathy took little Matthew and left the house, stealing Kirby’s Silver 1973 Chevy Vega so she could make her escape. The car would later be found abandoned at a rest stop off interstate 40 just outside Sallisaw, Oklahoma, a town about 45 minutes west of Van Buren.  

    With the car thought to be used in the kidnapping being found across state lines, the disappearance qualified for help from the FBI. They were called in to assist the Van Buren Police Department. An ABP was put out of Kathy. This is where we get our first big clues to who Kathy was. Kathy was an approximately 26 y/o white female with shaggy blond hair standing about 5’4”. But the biggest clues were her tattoos. She had a unicorn on her upper left arm and “Kathy” with a ribbon above it on her upper right arm. She also had a star tattooed on the left side of her chest. But wait, there’s more. Tattoos fade or can be removed but scars are harder to hide, and Kathy had a large scar on her right shoulder angling down her back.  

    Matthew would stand out as well because he had something called a pectus which is an inward growing sternum. This would make his chest appear to scoop inwards. There would be no way of hiding this. As Matthew grew older it could lead to health problems such as shortness of breath due to the fact that the lungs would never be able to fully expand. It may have even needed surgery to correct. Pectus's are not super uncommon, happening in 1 in about 400 births, but it does add some distinction to Matthew.

    And that was it. There were tips called in. There was even a tip from a woman that said she saw Kathy and Matthew at a truck stop. The witness claimed to have overheard her say that she was making her way to California. But nothing led to Matthew. The story ran in local newspapers but was quickly pushed aside.

   This case is so frustrating. I have so many questions. Was Kathy Johnson even her real name? She may have gone by Judy, too. Did she call someone she knew from the rest stop for a ride, or did she hitchhike? Either way, someone had to have helped her get away. Maybe that person just hasn’t come forward yet. What did the police do to try to find Matthew? Did they search the car or house for fingerprints? Did they put up flyers with Matthew’s story at truck stops? Was there a reward offered?  

    But my biggest question is: Why was this not treated like a bigger deal than it was?  It only took days for this story to fade from the front page and since then there has been little information shared with the public about further investigations.

    I can’t help but wonder. Was this a case of victim blaming? I hate to make that assumption, but it feels like the story dead ended so fast. Where were the cries for justice from the community? Where were their thoughts and prayers? Was Mary blamed for letting someone she didn’t know well into her house? Was she blamed for the party? Was Phillip blamed for being in jail? If so, all I have to say is, shame on you! None of that made it ok to steal their baby? And it certainly didn’t make it ok for Matthew to be taken away from his family to be raised by a stranger!    

    It’s not too late to bring Matthew home. All this story needs is for it to reach the right ears. Kathy would stand out with her tattoos and that scar. Someone has seen those things. If alive today, Kathy would be 68 years old. She was 5’4” with blond hair at the time of the disappearance but it would most likely be gray now. And, again, she had a unicorn tattoo on her upper left arm and “Kathy” with a ribbon above it on her upper right arm. She also had a star tattooed on the left side of her chest and a large scar on her right shoulder going down her back.

    Matthew would only be 42. He had a concave chest that could have made physical activity difficult and may have required surgery to repair.

    If you think you know either of these people or if you have any further information to their whereabouts, you can call the Van Buren Arkansas police department at 479-474-1234