Episode 84: The Disappearance of Kurt Newton
On August 29th, 1975, 4-year-old Kurt Newton was camping with his family over Labor Day weekend at the Natanis Campground in Chain of Ponds in Coburn Gore, Maine, just six miles from the Canadian border. Kurt’s parents, Ron and Jill Newton, had taken Kurt and their 6-year-old daughter Kimberly up to Natanis Point with three other families from their hometown in Manchester, Maine.
The weekend was spend fishing, making bonfires and swimming, and the family woke up on Sunday, August 31st to a chilly, foggy morning. Jill went to rinse off the kid’s muddy shoes, Kimberly was playing a game and Ron took his truck to get more firewood. Before anyone knew it Kurt had slipped from everyone’s sight and was riding after his dad on his big wheel red tricycle.
After about a half mile the road from the campground forks, with the left side leading to a small dump and the right side leading to a heavily wooded forest where Ron was gathering more wood. Kurt’s bike was found near the dump by Jack Hanson, the campground volunteer, who assumed it was meant to be thrown away and put it on the trash pile.
When Jill realized Kurt was gone and wasn’t with Ron, she panicked and a search party immediately began. The search for the 4-year-old turned into the most intensive search in Maine state history, spanning over 13 days with over 3,000 people helping.
Jill and Ron never lost hope that their son would be found and they turned their basement into a hub for the search, sending out thousands of missing persons flyers to restaurants and businesses and every school district in the country before sending flyers throughout Canada.
Despite several leads, the case has grown cold. Kurt was last seen wearing a navy blue sweatshirt, a red jersey, red and black corduroys with dark brown shoes. He also was wearing his favorite navy blue jacket that was decorated with little baseballs. He weighed 45 pounds and was 3’8.
Anyone with any information on the disappearance of Kurt Newton is asked to please call the Maine State Police at 207-289-2155.
Image sources:
newengland.com - “The Day Kurt Newton Disappeared”
digitalmaine.com