Please Help Locate Trevor, Adam & Mitchell O’Brien

Trevor Anthony Thomas O’Brien
Date of birth: May 8, 1985
Age at disappearance: 11 yrs
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Dark Brown
Height: 143 cms / 4in 8in
Weight: 31.8 kgs / 70 lbs
Last seen wearing: Blue jeans, Black & White Adidas sneakers

Adam Matthew O’Brien
Date of birth: October 28, 1982
Age at disappearance: 14 yrs
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Dark Brown
Height: 159 cm / 5ft 3in
Weight: 45.4 kg / 100 lbs
Last seen wearing: Green shirt with Black & White Adidas sneakers and Black & White striped jacket & pants

Mitchell Gary Marcus O’Brien
Date of birth: November 29, 1991
Age at disappearance: 4 yrs
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Brown
Height: 93 cm / 3ft 1in
Weight: 22 kgs / 49 lb
Last seen wearing: Blue jeans, blue turtleneck, black & white sneakers

Suspected Abductor: Gary Joseph O’Brien
Relationship to Trevor, Adam & Mitchell: Parent
Date of birth: October 17, 1956
Age at disappearance: 40 yrs
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Grey
Height: 177 cms / 5ft 10in
Weight: 60 kgs / 132 lbs

Case reference: 1996006630
Missing from: Torbay, Newfoundland
Missing since: November 9, 1996
Case Details: When police first arrived at the house, they discovered that O’Brien had set up a makeshift bomb using two 400-pound (180 kg) propane tanks that would have exploded and destroyed both his home and the surrounding houses if anyone had tried to get inside. Diana believes that this was done in order to create a diversion. Gary O’Brien has a history of violence, suicidal tendencies, and psychiatric problems, and is described by Diana as “introverted” and “resourceful”.

In October 1997, almost a year after the disappearance, an engine assembly for a 1989 Ford Tempo, which may have been from Gary’s vehicle, was discovered in the ocean near Flatrock, approximately ten kilometres from where the boys disappeared. No bodies were recovered from that location. Diana suspects that Gary dumped the engine of his car over the cliffs and into the ocean in order to deliberately mislead police. The following year, police in Thunder Bay received an anonymous tip from a woman who stated that she’d recognized pictures of the brothers. The woman said that she’d babysat for them, and knew the nicknames of one of the boys. Police attempted to locate the woman until 1999, but were unsuccessful.

Although Gary’s sister suspects that her brother and her nephews are dead, Diana firmly believes that her sons are still alive, stating that Gary may have taken them to a religious commune and reared them in an environment with no access to technology or the outside world. She believes that being cut off from the outside world may have allowed O’Brien to brainwash Adam, Trevor, and Mitchell, which could be why they have never tried to contact her.

In order to aid the search for the O’Brien Brothers, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has created multiple age-progressed photos of the boys over the past two decades, with the most recent ones having been released in early 2017.

If you have information on this case, please contact any of the following:
St. John’s RNC: 709-729-8000
Reference Case#: 96-30299
Crime Stoppers: 1-800-222-TIPS(8477)
Online at: https://www.canadiancrimestoppers.org/submit-a-tip/submit-a-tip
Crime Stoppers provides anonymous tipping
Send email to the National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains at: canadasmissing-disparuscanada@rcmp-grc.gc.ca