Randy Stewart Doran was 22 when he left home in March 1978 after an argument with his uncle and began hitchhiking south. A former Marine who played guitar, wrote songs and poetry, he traveled through Nevada and Florida before arriving in New Orleans, where he reportedly found work—possibly on a shipping dock or the SS President riverboat. He sent a reassuring postcard to his aunt and made a phone call in early April saying he was eating, sleeping and had made friends; that call was the last confirmed contact with his family.

Randy was described as 5 feet 11 inches, about 160 pounds, with brown collar-length wavy hair, blue or hazel eyes and a scar on his upper lip. In the months before he vanished he carried a small pocket Bible and preached to friends, prompting speculation he might have joined a nomadic religious group. The family’s first missing-person report met resistance because he was an adult; a report was later filed but the case was reportedly not actively pursued for years. The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office currently shows the case as open and family DNA has been submitted to national databases.

If anyone in New Orleans in spring 1978 knew a young drifter who fit Randy’s description or has information about dock or riverboat workers from that period, please come forward.