Carlene Brown

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Carbon County Sheriffs Department (WY)

Missing From:

Rawlins, Wyoming

Summary:

Carlene Brown disappeared from Rawlins, Wyoming on Independence Day 1974. She lived in the area and was last seen in the company of her friend, nineteen year old Christine “Christy Gross. The two girls attended the Little Britches Rodeo and vanished afterwards. Their car was found abandoned but no other trace of the two was found. Nearly a decade would pass before the skeletal remains of Gross were found in a field near Sinclair, Wyoming. She had been murdered. Carlene Brown was never found.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

Carlene was last seen in Rawlins, Wyoming on July 4th 1974. She was a local teenager who graduated from the areas high school in May 1973 with excellent marks. Brown lived with her father, Carl Brown and brother, Rick Brown, at 309 West Buffalo Street. Her parents were divorced and her mother, Catherine lived in Colorado in 1974. Carlene attended the Little Britches Rodeo with her friend, Christine “Christy” Gross. Christy was visiting the Rawlins area from Bowdle, South Dakota. The two were last seen during the rodeo and had disappeared by the time it ended. Their car was later found abandoned; some accounts state the vehicle was located over 200 miles away in Worland, Wyoming or that it had been found still at the fairgrounds. Police initially believed both girls had run away. On October 27th 1983, the skeletal remains of a young woman were found by two siblings testing their father’s new truck in a field three miles south of Sinclair, Wyoming. The victim had a ring on one finger and had been the victim of a homicide. Dental records identified the remains as belonging to Christine Gross. The ring was a handmade gift from her uncle and her family positively identified it as being hers. She had been killed by two heavy blows to her head. The area her remains were found in was searched for any trace of Carlene Brown but she was not located anywhere in the vicinity. Despite this, police suspect Brown was also murdered. Their cases remain unsolved.

Additional Details:

While no one has been arrested for the presumed double kidnapping, police believe Brown’s disappearance and Gross’ slaying are linked to the other disappearances in the Rawlins area during the summer of 1974. On August 4th 1974, Deborah Meyer disappeared from the Rawlins area. She was last seen leaving a relative’s home on Seventh and Spruce Streets to walk to a local movie theater. She failed to arrive to the theater and was never seen again. Meyer remains missing but investigators generally suspect she met the same fate as the other three girls. It’s been theorized that possible serial killer, On August 23rd 1974, ten year old Jayleen Banker was abducted from the Carbon County Fairgrounds in Rawlins. She had been last seen standing at a popcorn stand. In April 1975, Jayleen’s partially clothed body was found laying in a. field near the Rawlins City gravel pits, two miles west of Rawlins. She had been killed by a blow to her head. Royal Russell Long was involved in the cases. Long lived in the Rawlins area during 1974 where he was known to work at local fairs and carnivals. He was convicted of kidnapping twelve year old Sharon Baldeagle and her friend in January 1985. Both girls ran away from their homes in Eagle Butte, South Dakota on September 18th 1984 and were picked up by Long while hitchhiking in Casper, Wyoming. He took them back to his home in Evansville where he held them at gun point and tied them up. Long physically beat Sharon and raped her friend. The friend managed to free herself and flee to a neighbors house. Before the police could arrive, Long fled with Sharon. He was apprehended a week later in New Mexico, Baldeagle was not with him at the time. Long denied killing the girl and said she was still alive when he last saw her. He was sentenced to life in prison for the kidnapping. Later that year, he was also charged with the kidnappings and murders of two Oklahoma City girls who were taken from the Oklahoma State Fair during the fall of 1981. Cinda Pallett and Charlotte Kinsey, both 13, were last seen being driven away by an unidentified man matching Long’s description on September 25th 1981. Neither girl has ever been found. The charges against Long in those cases were eventually dismissed due to lack of evidence. He remains the primary suspect in the 1981 kidnappings. Royal Long died of a heart attack while serving his life sentence for kidnapping in 1993.

Case Last Updated:

Jan 06, 2025