Barry Alexander Kelly
Missing since: September 27, 1975
Missing from: Niagara Falls, Ontario
Year of birth: 1953
Age at disappearance: 22 years
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White
Hair: Black, Shoulder
Height: 175cm / 5ft 9in
Weight: 57 kgs / 126 lbs
Physical Build: Slender/Thin
Barry was last seen wearing: Tan trench coat, dark brown pants, black wedge shoes & an orange/brown hooded sweater with stripes. A silver metal watch & a silver stainless steel chain around his neck
Details: Barry Alexander Kelly was just 22 years old when he disappeared in September 1975. More than half a century has passed since that weekend, yet the circumstances surrounding his final known movements remain remarkably sparse. What is known places the young Niagara Falls, Ontario man on the opposite side of the international border shortly before he vanished.
On Saturday, September 27, 1975, Barry was in Niagara Falls, New York. His last known location was the Speak-Easy Steakhouse, where he was seen sometime that day. The available police information does not explain why Barry had travelled to New York, whether he had gone there alone or with someone else, or how he had crossed the border. It also does not identify the person who last saw him at the restaurant.
At some point after that sighting, Barry disappeared.
He never returned to his home in Niagara Falls, Ontario, and there are no publicly documented confirmed sightings of him after September 27. Investigators have stated that Barry was despondent around the time he went missing, but few additional details about his circumstances have been released. There is no publicly available information indicating whether he had spoken about travelling elsewhere, whether he intended to return home that evening, or whether anyone knew where he planned to go after leaving the restaurant.
One of the biggest unanswered questions is whether Barry ever crossed the border back into Canada. His last documented location was in the United States, while his disappearance is investigated by the Niagara Regional Police Service in Ontario. Publicly available records do not establish that Barry returned to Canada after being seen in Niagara Falls, New York. They also do not reveal whether investigators were able to reconstruct any portion of his movements after the restaurant.
Barry was born in 1953. At the time he disappeared, he was approximately 175 centimetres, or 5 feet 9 inches tall, and weighed about 57 kilograms, or 126 pounds. He was described as white, with a slender build and black, shoulder-length hair.
Investigators also have a relatively detailed description of what Barry was wearing when he disappeared. He had on a tan trench coat, dark-brown pants, black wedge shoes and an orange-and-brown striped hooded sweater. He was wearing a silver-coloured watch and a silver-coloured chain around his neck.
Despite the distinctive clothing and the fact that Barry disappeared from a busy tourist area straddling two countries, no publicly documented lead has provided an answer to what happened to him. There is no reliable public information describing a vehicle connected to his disappearance, belongings being recovered, financial activity after he vanished, or a confirmed sighting elsewhere. There also appears to be very little surviving news coverage about the investigation available online.
That lack of information makes it important not to fill the gaps with assumptions. Barry being described as despondent is part of the official record, but it does not establish what happened to him. Likewise, there is currently no publicly available evidence showing that he met with foul play, deliberately disappeared, suffered an accident, or crossed back into Canada. Those possibilities remain just that—possibilities.
Decades have now passed, and the young man Barry was in 1975 would be in his seventies today. Yet his case remains open, and his name continues to appear in Canada’s national missing-person database.
Perhaps the most haunting part of Barry Alexander Kelly’s disappearance is how abruptly the known story ends. A 22-year-old man from Niagara Falls crossed into neighbouring Niagara Falls, New York. He was seen at the Speak-Easy Steakhouse on September 27, 1975. Then the trail simply disappears.
More than 50 years later, investigators are still looking for the information that could explain where Barry went after leaving that restaurant – and whether he ever made it home.
If you have information on Barry’s case, please contact any of the following:
Niagara Regional Police Service: 905-688-4111
Reference Case#: 1975-32138
Canada’s Missing Case reference: 2014003833
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
Sources: Canada’s Missing/RCMP and Niagara Regional Police Service.
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