Unsolved Disappearance
Mark Joseph Himebaugh, 11, went missing on November 25, 1991, from Del Haven, New Jersey.,
Mark was last at about 4:00 p.m. near his family's residence in rural Del Haven. Traffic had been rerouted past his house due to a fire. His mother had permitted him to watch firefighters extinguishing a small brush fire about a quarter-mile from their home.
Mark's mother left the home to run a short errand, but she got delayed and returned home 40 minutes after she had given Mark permission to leave. His mother assumed he was with a neighborhood child so she didn't become concerned right away. By 5:00 p.m. she reported him missing when she could not find him. He has not been seen since.
There was an unconfirmed sighting of Mark at a local park with an unidentified child around 3:40 p.m. Another sighting placed Mark talking to two men who were between 30-35 years old and had a scruffy appearance.
Investigators located one of Mark's white "LA GEAR" sneakers at Sun Ray Beach the day he disappeared. They never found the other, with the exception of footprints above the tide line. Mark's left foot was healing from a fracture so he may have had difficulty running.
A man named Thomas Butcavage Jr. was named a person of interest in 1993. He resembles the man Mark had been seen talking with. In 1993, a male prostitute came forward and said Butcavage had shown him a video of himself having sex with a young boy who looked like Mark. The child looked very scared and was handcuffed and gagged. The male prostitute ask Butcavage is it was Mark and he admitted it was. He also said he "planted" Mark's shoe on the beach to confuse investigators.
Butcavage has never been charged, but he has been incarcerated several times for drug offenses and sex with male minors. He was convicted of child molestation in 1999 and serving a 36-year prison sentence at Graterford State Prision in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
Mark's mother, Maureen Himebaugh, still lives in the same house she did when Mark vanished. "I cannot sell this house because Mark could find this house," she told the Atlantic City Weekly. Maureen has also kept the same phone number.
Investigators believe Mark is the victim of foul play.
If you have any information about the disappearance of Mark Joseph Himebaugh, please contact Middle Township Police Department at 609-465-8700.
Mark Himebaugh's Shoe
Age Progression
Missing November 25, 1991
Mark Himebaugh's Shoe