Victor Harold Travis, 42 and known to some as Bunk, vanished from Plainfield, Wisconsin after a planned hunting outing on November 1, 1952. A polio survivor who walked with a noticeable limp, Travis left his own car at a Big Flats tavern and departed with a man identifying himself as Ray Burgess in a 1950 Oldsmobile. Burgess was described as about 5 feet 6 inches tall, 250 pounds, with a fat baby face and at least one gold tooth, and had been seen paying with large bills.

The two were seen together in Plainfield that afternoon and left a bar around 4:00 p.m., saying they were headed to the Lars Thomsen farm. That was the last confirmed sighting of either man. Travis’s rifle, clothing, and his dog were later found on the Thomsen property, but neither the men nor the car were located. The Oldsmobile’s license traced to a man dead since 1948, and the vehicle’s trail led to a dealer and a farmer who did not match Burgess’s description.

Investigators later reviewed the case during the Ed Gein investigation, but found no evidence linking Gein to these disappearances. Theories have included revenge or a gangland-style killing, but the case remains unsolved. Did anyone in the Plainfield area know Victor, Ray Burgess, or remember that Oldsmobile?