Account
Jan 28, 2026
Jan 28, 2026
Toby
Eugene Anderson
16
16
5'5 - 5'7 inches
150 lbs
White
Male
In the autumn of 1986, a 16-year-old male named Toby Eugene Anderson disappeared from Selma, Oregon, though some agencies provide a later date of August 22, 1988. At the time, due to difficulties within his family, Toby was living with various relatives and had most recently been staying with his paternal uncle, Almer "Billy" Wright. Before moving to Oregon in February 1986, Toby, described as a prankster, had spent time in juvenile hall in his native Northern California. While living with his uncle and cousins in Oregon, he attended Illinois Valley High School, and things seemed to be going well. He wrote to his parents occasionally and never complained about his new living situation. This period of apparent stability, however, would come to an abrupt and mysterious end, leaving his family with decades of unanswered questions. The circumstances surrounding Toby's disappearance are shrouded in conflicting and disturbing accounts, nearly all of which originated from his uncle, Billy Wright, the last person known to have been with him. Shortly after Toby was last seen, Wright informed his school that Toby had moved back to California to live with his father, a claim that was proven to be untrue. To other family members, the story was that Toby had become upset one night and simply ran away. Years later, as his cousin Denise McGarity began investigating in 2018, a much darker narrative emerged from Wright. He claimed that Toby had been caught attempting to assault one of his daughters and was hiding in a chicken coop. Wright stated that he found Toby there and drove him off the property. His stories about what happened next were wildly inconsistent; in one version, he dropped Toby off at either the juvenile hall or the police department in Cave Junction, while in another, he suggested Toby was likely dead, killed by a blow to the back of the head, and buried on a property in California. The ominous nature of these tales was compounded by threats Wright allegedly made to other relatives, warning they could "end up on a hill like Toby". Decades have passed, but no trace of Toby Eugene Anderson has ever been found, and authorities have been unable to find any indication that he was alive after 1986. Police have noted that if Toby had been taken to a police station or juvenile hall as his uncle once claimed, a report would have been filed and his parents would have been notified, but no such records exist. The investigation into his disappearance gained new momentum thanks to the efforts of his cousin, who suspects her uncle was responsible for Toby's fate. The uncle's credibility is further diminished by his criminal history; at the time of Toby's disappearance, he was reportedly involved in the drug trade, and he was later sentenced to a lengthy prison term for rape and child molestation. An overview of the case reveals a deeply troubling situation where a teenager, already in a vulnerable position due to family turmoil, vanished while in the care of a relative who provided multiple, contradictory, and suspicious stories about his whereabouts. Lacking any concrete evidence or a body, the disappearance of Toby Eugene Anderson remains an unsolved case, a painful void in the lives of the family members who continue to seek justice and closure.
Sep 01, 1986
Selma
Oregon
Selma
Oregon State Police
800-442-2068
05/12/2026
