Peter John McColl

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Berkeley Police Department Ca (CA)

Missing From:

Berkeley, California

Summary:

Peter John McColl, known affectionately as "Rainbow" to his friends, was a bright 16-year-old honors student at Berkeley High School who was deeply engaged in music, poetry, and athletics, serving as a rower on his school's crew team. On August 28, 1995, he departed from his family's residence near The Alameda in Berkeley at approximately 11:00 a.m., telling his brother he planned to walk to the bus stop and take a bus to Cody's Bookstore near Salon Avenue and Telegraph Avenue, but he never returned home and has not been heard from again.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

On August 28, 1995, the Monday before Peter was to start his junior year at Berkeley High School, he left his parents home in the 700 block of The Alameda and told his younger brother, Joseph, that he was going to take a bus to Cody's Books on Telegraph Avenue. Peter was nearsighted and wore glasses, but did not have his glasses with him the day he went missing. He was not carrying any additional clothing or money when he vanished, and his wallet was discovered after his disappearance, but his identification cards were missing. The driver of the AC Transit bus 43, near the corner of Redwood Road and 35th Street in Berkeley, claims Peter asked him directions to Montclair, California on the day of his disappearance and appeared to have a prearranged meeting with an unidentified teenaged boy whom the bus driver also saw. A cab driver claims he drove a young man fitting Peter's description, and a teenaged girl with red-streaked hair, to the airport to catch a Southwest Airlines flight shortly after Peter disappeared, though this sighting has not been confirmed and inquiries at the airline have not turned up any relevant information.

Additional Details:

McColl's family members said that he did not place any unusual phone calls prior to his disappearance and it was uncharacteristic of him to leave without warning. He was an honors student in 1995, and disappeared only a week before the start of his junior year at Berkeley High School. He had just passed his driver's test, but hadn't gotten his license yet; it arrived in the mail a few weeks after he disappeared. An extensive search of the area produced no clues as to Peter's whereabouts. After more than a week of placing hundreds of "missing" flyers around Berkeley and hillside communities, the family asked the Polly Klaas Foundation to distribute them to law enforcement agencies in California and neighboring states. There were several religious groups recruiting on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley, where Peter's father was then a professor, at the time of his disappearance, and Peter is described as a deep-thinking, spiritual person, though his parents looked into the possibility that he had joined one of the groups but could find no evidence to support this theory. Peter's parents now live in Poulsbo, Washington, where they run a foster care facility for troubled teens, with his sister living in Seattle, Washington and his brother living in San Diego, California. Peter's case remains unsolved.

Case Last Updated:

Apr 24, 2026