On November 1, 1952, 42-year-old Victor Harold Travis, known to some as "Bunk," disappeared from Plainfield, Wisconsin, after a planned hunting trip. A survivor of polio, Travis walked with a noticeable limp. A few weeks prior to his disappearance, on October 25, Travis had met a man who called himself "Ray Burgess" at a tavern in Big Flats, Wisconsin.
Burgess, described as being about 5'6" tall and weighing 250 pounds with a "fat baby face" and at least one gold tooth, presented himself as a chain store executive from either Milwaukee or Madison. He was seen with a large amount of cash, paying for drinks with $50 and $100 bills. Despite his mother's warnings about associating with strangers carrying large sums of money, Travis was seen with Burgess again on the day he went missing.
The two men were reportedly heading to a farm in Plainfield owned by Lars Thomsen for a day of squirrel hunting. Travis left his own vehicle at the Big Flats tavern and departed with Burgess in the latter's 1950 Oldsmobile. Later that afternoon, at approximately 4:00 p.m., they were seen at a bar in Plainfield where they stayed for about three hours. Upon leaving the bar, they mentioned they were returning to the Thomsen farm. This was the last time either Victor Travis or the man known as "Ray Burgess" was reportedly seen. In the days that followed, a search of the area was conducted, but there was no sign of the two men or Burgess's vehicle. However, some of Travis’s belongings, including his hunting rifle, clothing, and his dog, were found on the Thomsen property.
The investigation into the disappearance of Victor Travis and his companion grew more complex as authorities delved into the identity of "Ray Burgess." An investigation into the license plate number of the Oldsmobile, which had been written down by Lars Thomsen's wife, revealed it was registered to a Milwaukee man who had been deceased since 1948. The vehicle itself was traced to a car dealer and a farmer, neither of whom fit Burgess's description or name. Years later, in 1957, the case was re-examined in light of the arrest of notorious murderer and body snatcher Ed Gein, whose property was adjacent to the Thomsen farm where Travis had intended to hunt. Despite the proximity and the gruesome discoveries at Gein's home, authorities found no evidence to link him to the disappearances of Travis and Burgess, and it was believed Gein's victims were exclusively female. Theories over the years have ranged from a revenge plot to a possible gangland-style killing, with some suggestions that "Ray Burgess" had connections to the Chicago mob. To this day, the disappearance of Victor Harold Travis remains an unsolved case, a perplexing mystery that has endured for decades in the small community of Plainfield.Last Seen: Nov 1, 1952
