Twelve-year-old Michael O’Gorman disappeared after leaving his Gloucester, Massachusetts, school on Monday afternoon, March 18, 1974. He was described as a quiet, well-liked sixth-grade student. An immediate search followed; bloodhounds tracked his scent through a wilderness area known as Dogtown and the trail ended on a street near the Route 128 rotary.

Michael remained missing for five years. In a weekend in May 1979 two boys riding bikes in woods near a Manchester-by-the-Sea rest stop found a sneaker protruding from beneath a pile of rocks; the skeletal remains were later positively identified as Michael O’Gorman. The placement of the body under stones was taken as evidence of intentional burial and foul play.

The Manchester Police and Massachusetts State Police investigated, interviewing family, friends, and teachers, and focusing on the rest stop area, which at the time was known for illicit activity, but investigators did not develop a solid suspect and no arrests were announced. The murder remains unsolved.

If anyone has information about Michael, his movements on March 18, 1974, or activity around the rest stop in the 1970s, please come forward.