The Bizarre. Disappearance of Duane Murphy

Duane Murphy served as a lead technician for his company, a job that took him out of town often. Duane, the father of a little girl and another on the way, didn’t like being away from his family for so long, but he was a hard worker who needed to provide for his family.

In the summer of 2017, Duane left his home in Georgia on a work trip that took him to Laredo, Texas.

On June 2, 2017, Duane didn’t show up to meet the crew for work. A couple of guys checked his room, found his cell phone and wallet, and called his family. No one knew where Duane was. The police were notified.

It was quickly realized that the police had picked up Duane the night before for erratic behavior, which included running naked in the street.

Duane had been taken to a hospital for evaluation, but he was released shortly after.

Duane has not been seen or heard from since.

Where is Duane Murphy?

This case is approaching the 5-year mark since Duane went missing. It’s been far too long that his family, which includes two young daughters, has had to go without having any answers.

Duane is described as a kind man. The type of guy who would help anyone who needed it. In 2017, he had a baby girl at home, and another one on the way with his fiancée’. Duane is also described as a hard worker. He had been working for his company for 12 years when he mysteriously vanished on June 2, 2017.

Duane was living in Georgia with his family when he and his crew had a work trip planned to Laredo, Texas. Duane traveled often for work with his crew and served as a lead technician.

On Friday, June 2, his crew waited for Duane to meet up with them. When he didn’t show and they couldn’t reach him, they checked his room and were able to gain access. They found his keys, cell phone, and wallet, but no sign of Duane.

Which of course, makes no sense. He couldn’t have gone far without his keys and wallet.

When they still couldn’t locate Duane, they called his fiancée back home to see if she might know what was going on. She had no idea, and by now, everyone was getting worried.

This wasn’t like Duane at all, their responsible and hard-working crew leader.

Eventually, everyone was worried enough that they notified the police.

Police took the report and soon realized that the man they were describing to them sounded familiar. Sure enough, the Laredo police knew Duane Murphy.

Supposedly, the night before, which was Thursday, June 1, someone had called the police to report a man acting erratically and running around naked in the streets of Laredo. The police located this man and took him to the hospital for a check-up and possible treatment. It was completely unclear what was causing this man to act like this.

When law enforcement made the connection, they called the hospital to verify that Duane was there so they could let his family and his work crew know what was going on.

Only, the hospital didn’t have Duane Murphy. In fact, they had released him because, despite his erratic behavior, he had seemed to calm down, and they didn’t think he was a danger to himself or others, so they had let him go.

Now, everyone was very confused.

This erratic-acting man that was described to them didn’t sound anything like the Duane they knew- the family man and the responsible team leader. It didn’t make any sense at all.

Not only did that not make any sense, but where was Duane now? Why didn’t he return to the hotel room?

The search for Duane began. Some of Duane’s family members came into town and hit the streets to look for him. They delivered flyers and talked to everyone they knew.

Some sightings started to come in, but still, they couldn’t find Duane.

Duane’s fiancée started a GoFundMe to help raise the money to stay in Laredo. She needed to find her fiance, and this poor woman not only has a young child but is pregnant with their second. Staying in Laredo, she would need money for food,a  hotel, and expenses to go out and out about every day.

Authorities were baffled as well. Did Duane have a mental break? At age 39, it was noted that he was a bit older than the typical age when schizophrenia sets in, but could it be something else? Did Duane become involved in drugs?

They started investigating some of these sightings.

Multiple people thought they saw him take his clothes off and jump in the river in Laredo. When he came out of the river, once again he didn’t have any clothes on, and no one saw where he went from there, but it was thought he went to Nueva Laredo, Mexico.

Did Duane cross the border?

Law Enforcement in Laredo alerted authorities in Mexico and the search for Duane now spanned across the border.

He was specifically seen near the Gateway to the Americas International Bridge, also known as International Bridge. The International Bridge is one of four bridges- vehicle bridges- that connect Laredo, Texas to Nueva Laredo in Mexico. The bridge goes over the Rio Grande River.

The Rio Grande River is a concern here. This River is huge- at 1,896 miles. Some sightings reported that he exited the river- with no clothes on.

So again, we are left with the questions. Why was Duane, a 39-year-old father who had never exhibited behaviors like this before, taking his clothes off and jumping in the Rio Grande River?

This had to be a psychological break, or mental breakdown, or possibly drugs? Neither of which Duane had ever shown signs of before.

There is also very little media coverage of Duane’s disappearance, despite the very bizarre circumstances. He was seen alive, walking into Mexico, and it’s believed he was alive in Mexico shortly after the time he vanished.

Authorities have noted that the sightings of Duane in the river and going into Nueva Laredo, Mexico have been confirmed. They are certain those sightings were of Duane.

But here we are, five years later, Duane Brian Murphy is still missing.

Is Duane alive and well, living in Mexico? Did he return to the United States? Did something happen to him in Mexico?

There have been no confirmed documented sightings of Duane since 2017.

Duane is described as an African American male, 39 years old when he vanished and would today before 44. He is 6’1” tall and weighed around 210 pounds when he was last seen. He has black hair, brown eyes. Duane also has a tattoo of a cross on his upper right arm.

Anyone with information on Duane Brian Murphy’s whereabouts is asked to call Laredo Police Department at 956–795–2904.