Ray Lawrence Aleshire, also known as “Larry,” was 53 years old when he was last known to have contact in Cumberland, Maryland, with NamUs case data listing February 27, 2023, as the date of last contact. He was a White/Caucasian man, about 5 feet 7 inches tall, with hazel eyes and gray or partially gray hair; the case data listed his weight as about 115 pounds, while early public police notices described him at about 150 pounds. He did not have a fixed residence and was known to stay with relatives and friends. According to the case information, Larry had argued with a friend and left to stay in another friend’s shed on February 26, 2023. While there, he reportedly said he was going to help unknown homeless individuals set up a camp somewhere along the Potomac River, but the exact location was not known.
When contact with Larry stopped, concern grew among those who knew him. Public notices soon asked the community for help finding him, describing him as missing from Cumberland and asking anyone with information to contact police. A March 13, 2023 local notice said the public was being asked to help locate Ray Lawrence Aleshire and listed him as a 53-year-old Cumberland man, while a later March 29, 2023 notice said Cumberland City Police and the C3I Unit were continuing the investigation and that he had been reported missing to police on March 9. Those notices reflected the uncertainty of the early search period, when authorities and the public were still trying to determine where Larry had gone and whether anyone had seen him after he left the places where he had been staying.
For nearly two years, Larry’s disappearance remained unresolved. The case stayed tied to Cumberland, the Potomac River area, and the reality that he had been living without stable housing, a circumstance that can make searches more difficult and leave fewer clear records of a person’s movements. Investigators treated the case seriously because, according to Cumberland Police Chief Chuck Ternent’s later statement reported by CNHI, Larry’s son reported him missing after several weeks without contact, and although Larry was homeless and stayed in the local area, it was unusual for him to be out of contact for that long.
The case changed on March 4, 2025, when skeletal remains were discovered in a wooded area off Independence Street in Cumberland by a person using a metal detector. Authorities searched the area, and evidence was collected across roughly an acre of woodland. A second, expanded search on March 11, 2025, located a nearby campsite, a backpack, and documents bearing Larry’s name. The remains were taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, where a forensic anthropologist compared them with Larry’s known medical records and made a positive identification. Officials said the cause of death could not be determined.
Larry’s case is no longer an active missing person case; the case data indicates the resolution status is Deceased. The exact date of his death is not known from the available information, and the circumstances that led from his last known movements in Cumberland to the wooded area off Independence Street remain limited and painful in their unanswered details. What is known is that Ray “Larry” Aleshire was a 53-year-old Cumberland man without a fixed residence, last known to be moving between friends and family and reportedly planning to help others set up a camp near the Potomac River; he was reported missing after contact stopped, searched for by police and the community for nearly two years, and ultimately identified after remains were found in March 2025, bringing confirmation and some measure of closure to those who had been hoping to find him.
Last Seen: Feb 27, 2023
