Marc Joseph Himebaugh

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Middle Township Police Department (NJ)

Missing From:

Del Haven, New Jersey

Summary:

Mark Joseph Himebaugh was an 11-year-old boy who disappeared on November 25, 1991, from Del Haven, New Jersey. He left his home to watch a nearby brush fire and was never found. Police believe he was abducted by a stranger, with a person of interest identified years later, though no charges have been filed.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

On November 25, 1991, Mark got home from school around 3:30 pm and saw a brush fire close to his home in Del Haven, New Jersey, and asked his mother Maureen for permission to walk to the fire to get a closer look. Maureen gave him permission, and he left promising to return soon, but shortly after he left, she got a phone call from a neighbor who needed a ride home because her car had broken down, so Maureen agreed to pick her up. She passed by Mark as he was walking towards the fire and asked if he wanted to go with her, but Mark was determined to get closer to the fire and declined the offer. He was last seen at approximately 3:15 p.m. or 4:00 p.m. that day. Due to the fire, fire police had set up a detour that routed unusual traffic onto Himebaugh's street, and one report suggests he was last seen speaking with someone possibly driving a small white or gray vehicle. An extensive search of the area found one of Mark's sneakers approximately 75 yards or a block from his family's home, but no other trace of him has ever been found.

Additional Details:

At the time of his disappearance, Mark lived with his mother and brother and attended Cape May County Alternative Middle School. Mark had a brother named Matthew. His mother reported him missing that same evening. The investigation was followed by multiple tips from witnesses who claimed to have spotted the boy talking to two individuals in a white or grey car around 3:30 pm, and detectives believed these men were directed towards his neighborhood when police set up a diversion because of the fire and likely abducted him there. Initially, multiple suspects were identified in the case, including Mark's father Jody Himebaugh, because of his odd behavior in the days that followed—he reportedly went to work and seemed unbothered while the rest of the community looked for his son—but he had a solid alibi and was soon ruled out as a potential suspect. Thomas Butcavage Jr. is considered a person of interest in Mark's case, as he resembled one of the two men Mark may have been seen with, and in 1993, a male sex worker approached police with a video of Butcavage sexually assaulting a young boy who looked like Mark, and according to the man who had brought this forward, Butcavage had said the boy was Mark and that he had planted the sneaker on the beach to hinder the investigation. Butcavage has never been charged in relation to Mark's case, although he has spent time in prison for sexually abusing underage boys. The Middle Township Police Department and Cape May Prosecutor's Office deployed artificial intelligence to investigate the case of Mark Himebaugh, having entered into an agreement with Tabtu Corp and its service provider, Terawe, to use AI to assist in the case. In February of 2015, a team consisting of Middle Township detectives, both retired and active, along with members of the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office, New Jersey State Police, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and experts from across the country met at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for a case review. Mark Himebaugh's unsolved case featured on People Magazine Investigates in an episode titled Where Is Mark Himebaugh?, which aired on Investigation Discovery on July 24, 2023.

Case Last Updated:

Sep 04, 2026