1DFND - Barbara Louise Cotton

Left: circa 1981; 3rd Image: circa 1978; Right 3: Age-progressed by NCMEC to age 42 years; 47 years; 54 years

Name: Barbara Louise Cotton
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: April 11, 1981
Location Last Seen: Williston, Williams County, North Dakota

Physical Description

Date of Birth: November 10, 1965
Age: 15 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 100 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Hazel-brown
Nickname/Alias: Barb
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Curvature of spine which may cause a slight limp when she walks; left ear is noticeably lower than right ear. Pierced ears. A dark brown mole on upper right side of her chest. Mole on right side of neck.

Identifiers

Dentals: Available. She has excellent teeth.
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Mitochondrial DNA entered into CODIS

Clothing & Personal Items

Clothing: Jeans, blouse and loafers.
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Disappearance

Barbara was last seen on April 11, 1981, leaving a local restaurant after eating dinner with a boyfriend and another friend, and walking down Main Street toward her home, which was 5 blocks away.

According to her boyfriend, he offered to walk Barbara home and she declined. He said he last saw her near or entering Recreation Park. In July of 1981, the boyfriend hung himself in a jail in Montanta.

Barbara's case was treated as a runaway situation for the first few days then changed to a missing person report. Barbara's family does not believe she would run away. She had no personal belongings with her. She left behind her clothing, glasses, money from savings, last paycheck and her carton of cigarettes.

Extensive searches for Barbara have yielded no results or evidence about her whereabouts.

Investigating Agency(s)

Agency Name: Williston Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Lt. Steven Armstrong
Agency Phone Number: 701-577-1212
Agency E-Mail: Unknown
Agency Case Number: NDM10088

NamUs Case Number: 2921
NCIC Case Number: M-069910154

Information Source(s)

NamUs
NCMEC
CA DOJ
Grand Forks Herald Jan. 29, 1995
Williston Herald Apr. 1, 2011
The Jamestown Sun Mar. 5, 2021

Admin Notes

Added: 11/15/2007; Last Updated: 07/08/2024 - By: hb