There are many peculiar details surrounding the disappearance of Shayne Bassett. (he went by Shayne) The cardboard box his son was found in at the state house in Massachusetts just being one of them. The location of where his son was placed has always felt intentional and specific to his family. Shayne would not have left his son in a cardboard box in a diaper with only a towel wrapped around him in early April. This was Easter Sunday fyi for everyone to consider. Shayne was reported missing to the local police department within 48 hours of when he was last seen by his family. That was Saturday evening before Easter he picked up his son from his brother's house in Boscawen and was supposed to head to his sister's house for Easter as there was family visiting from Canada. When he never showed and didn't answer phone calls the family went to his home to investigate and found the scene. Part of the problem with this case is it wasn't given a lot of attention when it happened and years later the family struggled to get it on the NH cold case list as Franklin PD lost the case file sometime after 1977. Shayne had made mistakes in his life but was turning things around for his children. Someone close to him and those mistakes robbed him of his life and his son's from knowing their father. This family has grieved and continues to grieve every time the case resurfaces. Unfortunately there will likely never be any resolution because of the lost case file and the time that has passed.
Thank you for sharing this, and I’m so sorry for what your family has carried all these years. The Easter timing, the location at the State House, and the lost case file are heartbreaking and important context. If anyone reading this remembers anything from that Easter weekend in 1977—Franklin, NH or near the MA State House—please come forward. Even the smallest detail could matter.
Stanley Shayne Bassett, 29, of Franklin, New Hampshire, disappeared on April 2, 1977. He was last seen with his nine-month-old son; the next day the infant was found abandoned in a cardboard box on the steps of the Massachusetts State House and was later identified and reunited with family. Stanley himself was never located.
A single father living in a house owned by his parents on Salisbury Road, Stanley left five dogs uncared for, which his family says was out of character. He had recent legal trouble: his health food store, Nature Gardens, had been shut down and he was arrested in 1975 for marijuana possession, served a short jail term, and remained on probation. In August 1976 he reported being followed by a suspicious car while on work release and said he feared for his life. Some have speculated his legal troubles could be connected to his disappearance, but no evidence has been made public to support that.
The case was reported to authorities officially in 2022 and remains open. Does anyone have information about Stanley’s last known movements or contacts in April 1977?
