Name: John Francis Lenihan
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: September 10, 1994
Location Last Seen: Georgetown, Clear Creek County, Colorado
Date of Birth: February 6, 1921
Age: 73 years old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 5'9" - 5'10"
Weight: 160 lbs.
Hair Color: Gray
Eye Color: Brown
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Recently recovered from cancer; arthritic hip
Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Not Available
Clothing: Possibly a short-sleeved light green shirt and yellow shorts.
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Glasses
John Lenihan vanished September 10, 1994 during a Colorado vacation. Clear Creek County Sheriff's deputies found Lenihan's abandoned rental car at the Cloudland picnic area, about four miles east of Colorado Highway 103. Lenihan made the trip from Fort Lauderdale, Florida alone because his wife didn't like the mountains, and didn't want to leave her aged parents, so he took along a tape recorder and sent her tapes detailing his travels in Colorado. Sheriff's deputies found the recorder and his last tape in his abandoned rental car. On it, he was talking about a hiking trail he wanted to try and a "real nice young couple" from Colorado he'd met when he stopped to take some pictures.
Lenihan had taken his picture with the aspen in the background, and he and the couple, who appeared to be in their 20s, had visited for about a half-hour, he told his wife. Deputies also found his camera in the car and had the film developed. The last picture appeared to have been taken about a half-mile from the picnic grounds. It showed John Lenihan dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts. Searchers combed the area for several days without finding a trace of Lenihan. They were forced to suspend the search in October because of snow. Authorities don't suspect foul play. They think Lenihan may have fallen, gotten lost, or that the 11,000-foot elevation was too much for a 73-year-old man unaccustomed to high altitudes. John Lenihan, a piano and organ salesman most of his life, retired in 1986 as a civilian employee of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.
Agency Name: Clear Creek County Sheriff
Agency Contact Person: Lt Steve Gremillion
Agency Phone Number: (303) 679-2354
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 94-2031
NamUs Case Number: 12069
NCIC Case Number: M767331791
NamUs
Sarasota Herald-Tribune (9/15/98)
Colorado Bureau of Investigation
Added: 8/15/10; Last Updated: 05-18-2022 - By: Htmlcnvtr
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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