Steven Oldham was 48 years old when he was last known to be in Bath, Maine, on December 21, 2000. His case is recorded in NamUs as missing person case MP55267, with Bath, in Sagadahoc County, listed as the place of last contact. The public case information describes him as a White/Caucasian male with brown hair and hazel eyes, approximately 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet 1 inch tall, weighing about 200 to 215 pounds. He had identifying scars on the bridge of his nose and on his back.
At the time, he was reported to have been wearing a blue sweatshirt, blue jeans, tan Carhartt coveralls, and a wedding ring. The Bath Police Department is listed as the investigating agency, and the case was reported on the same date he disappeared.
Steven was working as a crane operator in connection with Bath Iron Works, a major shipbuilding site on the Kennebec River. The available case details state that he was on a barge during dredging work being done so that a floating dry dock could be installed. During that work, the crane tipped over from the barge into the river. A co-worker who had also been in the crane was rescued, but Steven was not found. The crane was later recovered, yet Steven remained missing, leaving his loved ones with the pain of a sudden workplace tragedy and the absence of a recovered body.
The workplace incident later drew attention from federal safety authorities. OSHA cited Weeks Marine, the Cranford, New Jersey-based marine contractor involved in the dredging work, after the fatal accident in which the crane went into the Kennebec River. Reporting on the OSHA action stated that Weeks Marine had been contracted to dredge part of the river at Bath Iron Works, that the dredging was being done by a mobile crane on a barge, and that two employees were in the crane when it entered the river on December 21. One worker was rescued, while the second worker was not found. OSHA proposed $360,000 in fines and described alleged safety failures involving the crane’s securement to the barge, operation within manufacturer specifications, defective swing gear, rescue-skiff availability, and other worksite conditions.
Steven’s case remains publicly documented through NamUs, a national system used to help track missing, unidentified, and unclaimed persons. Data.gov describes NamUs as a national repository intended to serve law enforcement, medical examiners, coroners, investigators, and families seeking information about missing loved ones. Maine State Police also note that Maine’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner serves as the official state clearinghouse for missing people in Maine and uses NamUs to help manage missing person case files.
Taken from start to finish, Steven Oldham’s disappearance began as an ordinary workday on the Kennebec River and became a devastating loss when the crane he was operating went into the water during dredging work at Bath Iron Works. He was a 48-year-old husband wearing his work clothes and wedding ring, a man known in the record through the physical details that might help identify him and through the tragic circumstances that took him from those who cared about him. The crane was recovered, another worker survived, and the incident was later the subject of OSHA enforcement action, but Steven himself was not found. The case overview is that Steven Oldham, NamUs MP55267, was last seen in Bath, Maine, on December 21, 2000, after a crane tipped from a barge into the Kennebec River during dredging work; despite recovery of the crane and continued public documentation of the case, he remains listed as a missing person.Last Seen: Dec 21, 2000
