In the autumn of 1972, John Dewayne Burrell, a 35-year-old man from Horatio, Arkansas, embarked on a journey that would ultimately lead to his disappearance. He left his home on November 4, 1972, traveling to McCurtain County, Oklahoma, in the company of another individual. With blond or strawberry-colored hair and standing between 5 feet 7 inches and 6 feet tall, Burrell was a noticeable figure.
The specifics of his time in Oklahoma are not widely known, but it is understood that he was in the area for over a year before he was last seen.
The last confirmed sighting of John Burrell was on December 12, 1973, in a rural area west of Broken Bow, Oklahoma. Following this last sighting, information suggests that he may have been taken to the Little River Bridge, which is located approximately two miles south of Horatio, Arkansas, in Sevier County. This critical piece of information shifted the focus of the search back to his home state. In the days and weeks that followed, several searches of the Little River were conducted in an attempt to locate him, but unfortunately, these efforts were unsuccessful.
Since that winter day in 1973, there has been no record of John Dewayne Burrell. His case remains an unresolved and troubling mystery. The investigation into his disappearance is under the jurisdiction of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations, Southeast Regional Office. The circumstances surrounding his last known movements, particularly the journey from Oklahoma back to the Little River Bridge in Arkansas, are central to the questions that still linger. The lack of any contact or evidence of his whereabouts after December 12, 1973, has left his family and investigators without answers for decades. This case represents a profound loss and a puzzle that has endured through the years, leaving a community with the lingering uncertainty of what happened to John Burrell.Last Seen: Dec 12, 1973
