Phillip Farris was 45 years old when he was last known to be in Phippsburg, Maine, on May 18, 1978. He was a White/Caucasian man with brown hair and blue eyes, described as approximately 5 feet 5 inches to 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing about 150 to 160 pounds. His missing person case is listed in NamUs as MP55226, with the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office identified as the investigating agency and the agency case number listed as 78-0520.
The case was reported on May 19, 1978, one day after he was last seen.
The known circumstances begin at the Phippsburg Boat Landing. Phillip and his son, John, reportedly took a dory from the landing to reach a larger fishing vessel. What began as a short trip across the water became a tragedy when the dory capsized. The following day, the overturned boat was found, and the Coast Guard recovered John’s body. Phillip, however, was not found. The available public summaries do not provide a detailed weather report, an exact route, or a full account of the search conditions, leaving much of what happened on the water known only in outline.
For Phillip’s family, the loss carried a particularly painful uncertainty. One loved one was recovered, while Phillip remained missing, leaving those who cared about him without the same final answers. Publicly available case information does not list distinctive physical features, clothing, accessories, or transportation details beyond the dory and the fishing vessel destination. NamUs also lists a DNA reference connected to a son, with the sample status shown as pending in the provided case information, reflecting that the case has remained part of the missing-person record long after the day he vanished.
Maine State Police notes that its online missing-person list is not a complete list of all missing people in Maine and identifies the Office of Chief Medical Examiner as the official state clearinghouse, with NamUs used to help track and manage missing-person case files. In Phillip Farris’s case, the public record points to a water-related disappearance from Phippsburg on May 18, 1978: a father and son left from the boat landing in a dory, the dory later capsized, John was found deceased by the Coast Guard, and Phillip was never recovered. Decades later, the compassionate overview of the case remains simple and sorrowful: Phillip Farris disappeared during a boating trip in Sagadahoc County, Maine, his body was not found, and the public record continues to preserve his name, description, last known location, and the unanswered circumstances of that day.Last Seen: May 18, 1978
