James Woodford Guinn disappeared from the grounds of Pinecrest State School in Pineville, Louisiana, in the late afternoon of a September day in 1993. He was 48, legally blind, had severe seizures, very limited mobility and functioned at about the level of a five-year-old. He lived at Pinecrest for nearly three decades and was last seen at 4:45 p.m. on the patio of his cottage; staff noticed he was missing about fifteen minutes later when he failed to come to dinner.

James required medication that he did not have with him and could not survive more than a few days without it. His cottage was about a mile from the institution’s front entrance; the fenced grounds’ only public exit was unmanned when he vanished. Witnesses described him as someone who liked being around others and with no history of wandering or trying to leave. He was last seen wearing a lavender or wine-colored striped shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers, possibly marked with the initials J.G.

His mother sued Pinecrest, and evidence at trial showed his care plan had been changed from constant supervision to checks every fifteen minutes five months before he went missing; the judge awarded her $300,000. No trace of James has ever been found. If anyone knew James, his routines, or the Pinecrest grounds in 1993, can you help shed light on what happened?