Sixteen-year-old Anthony Ross Allen, known as Tony, disappeared from Fort Smith, Arkansas, in October 1978 while a sophomore at Southside High School. He had recently moved out of his mother’s home to live with friends in Cedarville. Friends say he and another youth later went to Oklahoma, staying in Hartshorne or McAlester before being asked to leave; thereafter Tony reportedly stayed with a man who sheltered runaways and fled when law enforcement visited that residence. Authorities have never confirmed his presence in Oklahoma.

Initially treated as a runaway, the case was reclassified as missing by the Fort Smith Police Department in 1980 as silence continued and concern about foul play grew. Records related to the investigation were lost in a 1996 tornado, but the case was reopened in 2004 at the family’s request. Tony was described as 6 feet 1 inch to 6 feet 2 inches, about 135 pounds, brown hair and eyes, with a small mole near his nose and a cyst on his calf. Rumored sightings in Fort Smith were never confirmed. Does anyone who knew Tony or his circle in 1978 have information that could help locate him?