Summary based on the NamUs case record (MP13644)
In the winter of 1984, the quiet community of Lyons, Colorado, was unsettled by the perplexing disappearance of 61-year-old Rex Lee Douglas, a local pastor. A married man and a figure in his community, his last known whereabouts trace back to January 30, 1984, at the St. Louis Lambert Airport in Missouri. Douglas had traveled to Missouri for what was described as a personal business trip to complete a land transaction.
This trip, however, involved a series of movements that would later become puzzling to investigators and his loved ones. The journey included a side trip to Des Moines, Iowa, for reasons that remain unclear. He had also mentioned to his wife the possibility of visiting the Nazarene Headquarters in Kansas City, a trip he apparently made, as he flew from Kansas City to Des Moines before returning to St. Louis.
The mystery deepened at the St. Louis airport. Douglas was scheduled to fly back to Denver's Stapleton International Airport, and records indicate he checked out of his hotel in Bridgeton, Missouri, on the morning of January 30th. He placed a suitcase in a locker at the airport, but inexplicably, he never picked up his boarding pass and did not board the flight to Denver. His suitcase was discovered a year later by airport police. The last confirmed sighting of him was on that day in St. Louis, and from that point, his trail went cold. At the time of his disappearance, he was wearing a dark navy blue suit, a brown sweater vest, a white shirt, and a red tie. He also wore glasses for reading. Distinctive physical features included a small, round scar on his left shoulder and the tip of his left middle finger being amputated.
The investigation into Rex Douglas's disappearance has spanned decades, yet it has failed to yield any definitive answers about his fate. His wife reported him missing on February 3, 1984, after he failed to return home. The case was initially handled by the Lyons Police Department, which has since been dissolved, and was later taken over by the Boulder County Sheriff's Office. Over the years, efforts to uncover what happened have been hampered by a lack of leads. The circumstances surrounding his trip, particularly the detour to Iowa and the unusual events at the airport, have left a void of information. Despite the passage of time and the case growing cold, the question of what happened to the pastor from Lyons, Colorado, remains an unanswered and haunting mystery for his community and what is left of his family.Last Seen: Jan 30, 1984
