Curt Borton Jr.

[JRA2000TL]

I just watched this case, and it is very strange. I did a search and it appears that as of last year, no updates have been noted. What does everyone think? I would assume that the family would be able to correctly identify their own son but why would he never respond? Even when they ran the plates of that car he was in, they came up with nothing. It just doesn't make sense.

This, to me, is one of the stranger cases on UM. It's almost as if they mystery is right there to be solved several times over but nothing ever comes of it.

[justins5256]

This case never sat right with me for some reason. Obviously, this man's family wants to know he is alive and okay but some of the stories they told seem a bit far fetched, to say the least. I guess I don't understand why the government would take such an interest in Curt (sp?) as it was mentioned in the segment that he didn't posses any skills that would make him a candidate for any type of mission or special assignment.

I can't help but wonder if the family is blowing things out of proportion, seeing what they want to, or just grasping at straws because they really want to believe Curt is alive and don't want to accept the evidence that suggests otherwise.

[DP1]

I really feel sorry for the family. But I think they're seeing what they want to see. I mean, the military actually took the time to dismiss them on television. They never did that on any other segment.

[Cori aka ChrisSCrush]

This was a case I wanted to believe but had trouble accepting.

[marlins3]

I think the family is sadly mistaken and is coping with Curt's loss in their own way. I never thought either picture looked like Curt (the first picture they show looks like a South Vietnamese soldier with american troops.. However, they are Curt's parents would be able to identify a picture of their own child much better than anyone else.

[marlins3]

I wonder if the military failed to take Curt's father seriously because he was uneducated (he was functionally illiterate). BTW, I believe Borton wa skilled in Vietnam.

[TracyLynnS]

I don't think the pictures shown of Curt in the Marines Magazine and a film frame were him. They just don't look like him, imo. Among other differences, they have different brow bone shapes and different ears, and they don't even look like each other.

However, I think the family used these photos as a spring board for Curt's sister to continue her search for him all the way to DC. I think her sightings of him there are more credible.

If you believe the federal government works in mysterious ways, or if you just plain old don't trust those effers (guess you can tell how I feel), then it's easy to explain why Curt's SS# came up as "never issued", and why the license plate on the red car, supposedly driven in DC by Curt, came back as registered to a man who says he knows nothing about Curt.

Well duh! If those plates are given out by the gov't for their own secret purposes, it's very likely that the plate on Curt's car wouldn't be registered to his own name and address, but to someone else working for secret gov't crap, and so on with everybody else's plates. That makes it easier to hide from whoever the gov't workers are supposed to be hiding from.

The phone call that the father received regarding the name of Curt's blonde haired baby sitter is somewhat unsettling to me. It's like whoever was on the phone with the dad wanted to make a positive connection between the dad and Curt, but then there was no further contact.

Or else maybe Curt just wanted to be sure that after all these years, those were really his folks, and an easy way to confirm that would be by asking a private question that only the family would know. Maybe he was actually spying on them the whole time, trying to make sure they were his family. Once he realized that they were (through the baby sitter question) then there was no reason to further endanger them or himself through those "chance" meetings at the park and on the roads.

One thing that I think is total BS is the explanation given by the gov't that the south asians had a viable trade in the "digging up and selling corpses" business. That gov't spokes blabber said that's why only several of Curt's teeth were recovered in a grave in Vietnam, but no other bones were found.

At first, the gov't spokes blabber called them "grave robbers". BS all over that. Grave robbers in modern times are not looking to supply cadavers to medical colleges. They are looking for valuables buried with the dead. They leave the bodies and take the jewelry, gold teeth, etc. I tried to find info on such activity, and doing a quick internet search only provides info on a drug trade that involved sending drugs from VN to the US in cadavers.

That's not what we're dealing with in Curt's case. In his case, he was supposedly buried in one location in VN. Then dug up and buried in another location in a grave robbing business. What money is there in digging up and reburying the dead? Seems like it would cost money to do that and would reap no rewards.

And who the heck were those two guys who kept meeting Curt's dad in the parking lots trying to get him to sign a document declaring Curt dead? The gov't spokes blabber may claim that they don't work in such an unprofessional manner, but come on! The gov't also runs the IRS, and Congress for crying out loud! And they don't exactly have "professional" stamped all over them.

After the dad finally signed the document, he received a check for over $40,000. I'm assuming it was drawn on some bank unrelated to the gov't and couldn't be traced to the gov't. Why would two strangers hound Curt's family to declare him dead, then send him forty grand for doing so?

And come to think of it, why did the family have to declare him dead? Curt was a marine in Vietnam. Why didn't the gov't just declare him 'killed in action' and be done with it? (Plus it had been over 20 years since he'd been last seen alive.) Then the gov't could move Curt into his new identity for whatever it is they wanted him to do.

[TracyLynnS]

I don't know if this makes any difference, but Curt's mom is identified in the segment as his step-mother. She calls him her son and I don't know at what point in his life that she became his step mother.

[Fabolous]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and I registered because I just watch this episode of Curt Borton. After watching this unsolved mystery, I was curious and wanted to see if there was anything on this person on the net or if there was any update..because isn't Unsolved mysteries a really old show??Any ways I read a couple of people post...and I have to disagree with some of you..maybe its wishful thinking but I still believe he is still alive...I was so angry when the sister didn't go up to him and ask the man, "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?!"..got me so angry, but of course she didnt want to jepordize her children...so in a way it was understandable.
Although they mentioned that Curt didn't have any skills to do some covert op mission or w/e..we dont know for sure..and the man who said it was part of the u.s military, he could be working for the government for all we know, just hiding the facts...I found it kind of stupid, and everytime that marine spoke....I didnt believe him...I bet he IS working for some secret agency just to cover up for Curt...N e ways...great to see someone had recently postd..shows me this thread is still active...

[crystaldawn]

Here is a webpage that talks about him.

http://taskforceomegainc.org/b038.html

[Todd Mueller]

There were several stories of this type in the history of UM. All different but with the central theme of "military man goes missing" and then is either sighted again and/or evidence turns up that he is in some secret program.

As much as I would like to believe these, I think most of them are probably just the hopes of loving families. (Please note they don't all fall into this category but I think most do.)

Justin Burgwinkel, Paul Whipkey, and the other guy I can't remember (his family said they saw him at a gas station on a nice day and he said, "Looks like snow" and then walked away).

I really, really want to believe that these people were/are alive and were on some secret mission, but my logic says in most if not all cases, Occam's Razor applies and there are much simpler explanations.

[TracyLynnS]

TM, This is the guy who saw his sister and said, "looks like snow" when it was a sunny day in october with no sign of snow any time soon. She went on to see him in town a few more times, so she claims.

I don't know about the other cases. I'm sure a great many of the "missing vietnam soldier turns up mysteriously" are just cases of wishful thinking on the part of the parent. I know that sounds awful, but it must have been extremely hard for the families to accept.

[Todd Mueller]

TM, This is the guy who saw his sister and said, "looks like snow" when it was a sunny day in october with no sign of snow any time soon. She went on to see him in town a few more times, so she claims.

I don't know about the other cases. I'm sure a great many of the "missing vietnam soldier turns up mysteriously" are just cases of wishful thinking on the part of the parent. I know that sounds awful, but it must have been extremely hard for the families to accept.

DOH! I'm an idiot... :crazy:

I didn't read carefully enough. I thought this thread was about the guy who they thought had died in Vietnam and then his parents saw his picture in the magazine, which was apparently "backed up" by a guy in a bar, which later turned out to be false.

I stand by the rest of what I said, though. ;)

[Fabolous]

i came across something interesting on the web..something related to Curt...as i was searching on google i came across a page, that had his sister e-mail...and saying if anybody had n e question feel free to ask her....heres the link
http://www.pownetwork.org/bios/b/b038.htm
I doubt e-mailing her now would get us any answers or any updates on her brother whereabouts because it was last posted in 1998....but give it a try ..someone, lol?

[88keys]

I saw this case the other day, and it's definately one of the strangest I've ever seen! I don't necessarily not believe the family...I'm not sure what to think. I also did not think the photographs looked like Kurt. But I don't know why that man kept following the sister around, or why those government men kept acosting the father in parking lots. The whole thing is so bizarre.

[marlins3]

I think I was the first on here to mention the photographs that did not resemble Curt. The ONLY thing that keeps me from dismissing the family altogether is the fact the father says he was confonted in a parking lot and signed the document which changed Curt's status. The Army official interviewed was adamant the military does not work that way and I believe he is right. However, after signing the paper Curt's family received a large check. I assume the check was issued from teh federal government. If there was no check (and the fact his ss# came up as never issued), I would think this whole story is a crock.

[cocytus]

While it would be great that Curt Borton survived Vietnam and was alive somewhere.
However, the evidence portrayed in segment points to that not being the case.

1) He hadn't been in the military very long so him being sent on a "special mission" was very unlikely.
2) When the Marine Corps found teeth that they believed to be his,a simple mitochondrial DNA test would have confirmed his identity. The family didn't seem to have taken this test.
3) The guy that was stalking (if somebody was) could have been in more trouble if he had played a cat and mouse game if he was Curt Borton.
4) If the family believe that he was alive,why didn't they hire a PI when they receive the $43,000 check? This would have solved most of their concerns as a professional investigator would have easily dismissed the less credible information sources.
5) The Vietnam conflict had ended almost 20 years BEFORE this segment was originally aired. Whatever Borton was supposed to have been doing would have ended many years before then.There would be no reason for him to remain "undercover" and doing as such would have been expensive and pointless.

[egswanso]

I think I was the first on here to mention the photographs that did not resemble Curt. The ONLY thing that keeps me from dismissing the family altogether is the fact the father says he was confonted in a parking lot and signed the document which changed Curt's status. The Army official interviewed was adamant the military does not work that way and I believe he is right. However, after signing the paper Curt's family received a large check. I assume the check was issued from teh federal government. If there was no check (and the fact his ss# came up as never issued), I would think this whole story is a crock.

His SSN doesn't come up as not issued. At least, it didn't when I ran a search for him in the Vietnam casualty database on ancestry.com. Specifically:

Name: Robert Curtis Borton Jr
Birth Date: 24 Jun 1946
Death Date: 24 Aug 1977
Gender: Male
Age: 31
Race: Caucasian (White)
Home City: Winfield Lincoln
Home State: Michigan
Religion: No Religious Preference
Marital Status: Single (Spouse Not Listed)
SSN/Service #: 492-48-6171
Citizen Status: U.S.
Death Date: 24 Aug 1977
Processed Date: Dec 1995
Casualty Country: Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam)
Casualty Type: Hostile - Died While Missing
Casualty Reason: Unknown or Not Reported
Casualty Air: Ground Casualty
Body Status: Body Recovered
Service Branch: United States Marine Corps
Component: Regular (RA, USN, USAF, USMC, USCG)
Pay Grade: Specialist Seventh Class (U.S. Army) or Sergeant First Class (U.S. Army) or Master Sergeant (U.S. Air Force) or Gunnery Sergeant (U.S. Marine Corps) or Platoon Sergeant (U.S. Army) or Grade/Rate Abbreviations With First Column: Any Entry; Second Column: A
Province: Military Region 1 - Quang Nam
Service Occupation: Rifleman (USMC)
Data Source: Combat Area Casualties Current File

Run this SSN in the death index, and it comes up with the same information on name, DOB, and DOD. The 1977 death date, according to the database, was "not actually death dates, but the dates in which MIA or POW soldiers were officially declared deceased."

There is a simple solution to this mystery - just run a DNA test on the remains the gov't says are Curt's. If there is a match, mystery solved.

[bluejazz87]

His SSN doesn't come up as not issued. At least, it didn't when I ran a search for him in the Vietnam casualty database on ancestry.com. Specifically:

Name: Robert Curtis Borton Jr
Birth Date: 24 Jun 1946
Death Date: 24 Aug 1977
Gender: Male
Age: 31
Race: Caucasian (White)
Home City: Winfield Lincoln
Home State: Michigan
Religion: No Religious Preference
Marital Status: Single (Spouse Not Listed)
SSN/Service #: 492-48-6171
Citizen Status: U.S.
Death Date: 24 Aug 1977
Processed Date: Dec 1995
Casualty Country: Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam)
Casualty Type: Hostile - Died While Missing
Casualty Reason: Unknown or Not Reported
Casualty Air: Ground Casualty
Body Status: Body Recovered
Service Branch: United States Marine Corps
Component: Regular (RA, USN, USAF, USMC, USCG)
Pay Grade: Specialist Seventh Class (U.S. Army) or Sergeant First Class (U.S. Army) or Master Sergeant (U.S. Air Force) or Gunnery Sergeant (U.S. Marine Corps) or Platoon Sergeant (U.S. Army) or Grade/Rate Abbreviations With First Column: Any Entry; Second Column: A
Province: Military Region 1 - Quang Nam
Service Occupation: Rifleman (USMC)
Data Source: Combat Area Casualties Current File

Run this SSN in the death index, and it comes up with the same information on name, DOB, and DOD. The 1977 death date, according to the database, was "not actually death dates, but the dates in which MIA or POW soldiers were officially declared deceased."

There is a simple solution to this mystery - just run a DNA test on the remains the gov't says are Curt's. If there is a match, mystery solved.
But what about then? Has that number always been registered?

There just seems to be too many weird occurrences for this to be easily dismissed as the family "seeing what they want to see". Especially if you take into consideration all of the people they encountered throughout the years.

Oh and what about that man who held a gun to the family member that tried searching for the SSN? Why didn't it come up at the time when the person searched it? And apparently doing such a gesture got him a death threat.

[justins5256]

His SSN doesn't come up as not issued. At least, it didn't when I ran a search for him in the Vietnam casualty database on ancestry.com.

LOL, were you threatened at gunpoint after you looked that up?

[RobinW]

I think it speaks volumes that on virtually other UM story about suspicious military disappearances or suicides, RS would always open with the statement: "The military declined to participate in our broadcast". In the Curt Borton segment, they actually let a military spokesperson be interviewed on camera to deny the allegations, as if to say: "We REALLY don't have anything to hide on this one, so we have no problem defending ourselves and denouncing this family's laughable accusations".

[bluejazz87]

I think it speaks volumes that on virtually other UM story about suspicious military disappearances or suicides, RS would always open with the statement: "The military declined to participate in our broadcast". In the Curt Borton segment, they actually let a military spokesperson be interviewed on camera to deny the allegations, as if to say: "We REALLY don't have anything to hide on this one, so we have no problem defending ourselves and denouncing this family's laughable accusations".
That doesn't mean the military is telling the truth though. Especially after all the unusual incidents that occurred.

[egswanso]

Oh and what about that man who held a gun to the family member that tried searching for the SSN? Why didn't it come up at the time when the person searched it? And apparently doing such a gesture got him a death threat.

The SSN is on the internet, available to billions of people from a variety of sites. So I find that claim absurd, to say the least.

[egswanso]

LOL, were you threatened at gunpoint after you looked that up?

Nope.

Gotta wonder about a vast conspiracy that doesn't bother to redact the supposed secret information from public databases...

[bluejazz87]

The SSN is on the internet, available to billions of people from a variety of sites. So I find that claim absurd, to say the least.
Well the SSN is available now. But what about back then? You can't be certain. The cousin could always be lying, but why fabricate such a story? What would be the motive? It wouldn't get them any closer to finding Borton.

[egswanso]

Well the SSN is available now. But what about back then? You can't be certain. The cousin could always be lying, but why fabricate such a story? What would be the motive? It wouldn't get them any closer to finding Borton.

Well, I can't say about "back then" since I didn't look back then, but it's just not a plausible story considering that there's no reason to hide this information and it's virtually impossible to believe that something would move from being so secret the gov't would kill over it to public domain so quickly.

Why would the cousin lie? Why would anyone? Publicity, for one. Conspiracy theory books tend to sell too, so the profit factor can't be ruled out, either.

[RobinW]

That doesn't mean the military is telling the truth though. Especially after all the unusual incidents that occurred.

Oh, I agree, but I just find it interesting that with all the mysterious cover-up cases on UM, the military would actually agree to cooperate on what is arguably one of the least believable ones they've profiled.

[bluejazz87]

Well, I can't say about "back then" since I didn't look back then, but it's just not a plausible story considering that there's no reason to hide this information and it's virtually impossible to believe that something would move from being so secret the gov't would kill over it to public domain so quickly.

Why would the cousin lie? Why would anyone? Publicity, for one. Conspiracy theory books tend to sell too, so the profit factor can't be ruled out, either.
Ehhh I think you're kind of going off on a tangent with what the cousin said. Is there any basis for the conclusion to dismiss his story? He's trying to help his family. I don't see why he would lie. Even if you don't want to believe him, you can't dismiss his accounts and just assume it was all made up because the SSN for Borton is found in the database now. In my opinion that isn't enough to dismiss his accounts, or anyone else's for that matter. Especially the sister who saw him on three separate occasions for that matter. Just way too many reported incidents to simply say "oh the family just saw what they wanted to see". Way too many to go that route. Think about it, the sister's sightings, the cousin's encounter at gunpoint and being followed, and the father being pursued by those two men.

[bluejazz87]

Oh, I agree, but I just find it interesting that with all the mysterious cover-up cases on UM, the military would actually agree to cooperate on what is arguably one of the least believable ones they've profiled.

Well sometimes the military would cooperate on UM on even stranger cases. Some of the paranormal like UFO's and such and gave statements. So...

[egswanso]

Ehhh I think you're kind of going off on a tangent with what the cousin said. Is there any basis for the conclusion to dismiss his story? He's trying to help his family. I don't see why he would lie. Even if you don't want to believe him, you can't dismiss his accounts and just assume it was all made up because the SSN for Borton is found in the database now. In my opinion that isn't enough to dismiss his accounts, or anyone else's for that matter. Especially the sister who saw him on three separate occasions for that matter. Just way too many reported incidents to simply say "oh the family just saw what they wanted to see". Way too many to go that route. Think about it, the sister's sightings, the cousin's encounter at gunpoint and being followed, and the father being pursued by those two men.

I dismiss the whole thing because it's absurd and illogical.

What is the purpose of the "secret returnee" program? The family claims it's because the government doesn't want to admit POWs might have been left behind. It is odd, then, that:

1. The Government told the family that there were sighting of Curt after the
Paris Peace Accords.

2. Curt's name (with thousands of others) is on the 1991 "Last Known Alive"
list.

The sister's sightings are as credible as any other eyewitness sightings, i.e., not very. Did she see someone who might have resembled her brother? Sure. Was it him, very unlikely.

[bluejazz87]

I dismiss the whole thing because it's absurd and illogical.

What is the purpose of the "secret returnee" program? The family claims it's because the government doesn't want to admit POWs might have been left behind. It is odd, then, that:

1. The Government told the family that there were sighting of Curt after the
Paris Peace Accords.

2. Curt's name (with thousands of others) is on the 1991 "Last Known Alive"
list.

The sister's sightings are as credible as any other eyewitness sightings, i.e., not very. Did she see someone who might have resembled her brother? Sure. Was it him, very unlikely.

What was illogical was what happened to the family in terms of being followed, phone called and forced to sign certain papers. As for the sightings, I think the sister would recognize her own brother. She could have just been seeing things, but it happened in three different locations apparently...and I guess her children even recognized their uncle.

I would probably dismiss the entire thing too if it wasn't for all of the strange incidents that happened to the family. Sure they could be lying about everything, but I don't see what the motive would be. Wouldn't get them any closer.

[egswanso]

What was illogical was what happened to the family in terms of being followed, phone called and forced to sign certain papers. As for the sightings, I think the sister would recognize her own brother. She could have just been seeing things, but it happened in three different locations apparently...and I guess her children even recognized their uncle.

I would probably dismiss the entire thing too if it wasn't for all of the strange incidents that happened to the family. Sure they could be lying about everything, but I don't see what the motive would be. Wouldn't get them any closer.

If any of that even happened, of course.

Curt Borton was a pretty regular looking guy; nothing particularly unique about him; I see a couple people who look like him almost daily. IMO, neither of the pictures shown in the segment look much like him.

The father can't read, so he doesn't know what he signed and the whole story just doesn't make sense. Why would DOD personnel stalk someone to make them sign something? The Gov't doesn't need the family's permission to declare a soldier dead, they just can. Curt is still on the MIA lists as well and the official (gov't issued!) last known to be alive list, so again, the family's story just isn't consistent with reality.

The "sightings" also occurred 15-20 years after the sister last saw him, he'd look a little different, especially after some time in a VC camp. I don't quite know how children who never met someone would "recognize" him. Of all the supposed "incidents," I believe the sister truly does BELIEVE she saw her brother, I just find it highly unlikely she did.

I can't say they are lying, but why would they - the same reason psychics lie, people telling ghost stories lie, and countless others lied on Unsolved Mysteries - publicity and money. At best, maybe they thought the publicity of the "incidents" would get the gov't to look into the matter. To be honest, my belief that they are being disingenuous is much higher since they apparently won't cooperate in giving a DNA sample to match to the bones identified as Curt's. Want an answer? There it is.

[bluejazz87]

If any of that even happened, of course.

Curt Borton was a pretty regular looking guy; nothing particularly unique about him; I see a couple people who look like him almost daily. IMO, neither of the pictures shown in the segment look much like him.

The father can't read, so he doesn't know what he signed and the whole story just doesn't make sense. Why would DOD personnel stalk someone to make them sign something? The Gov't doesn't need the family's permission to declare a soldier dead, they just can. Curt is still on the MIA lists as well and the official (gov't issued!) last known to be alive list, so again, the family's story just isn't consistent with reality.

The "sightings" also occurred 15-20 years after the sister last saw him, he'd look a little different, especially after some time in a VC camp. I don't quite know how children who never met someone would "recognize" him. Of all the supposed "incidents," I believe the sister truly does BELIEVE she saw her brother, I just find it highly unlikely she did.

I can't say they are lying, but why would they - the same reason psychics lie, people telling ghost stories lie, and countless others lied on Unsolved Mysteries - publicity and money. At best, maybe they thought the publicity of the "incidents" would get the gov't to look into the matter. To be honest, my belief that they are being disingenuous is much higher since they apparently won't cooperate in giving a DNA sample to match to the bones identified as Curt's. Want an answer? There it is.

LOL the government could just lie about the DNA samples. I don't know, it seems like you're assuming the family is lying from the get go and for some reason already branding them as attention seekers. Sure they could be, but at the same time I don't think there is enough there to automatically discount the family...just because the government says "this and that". (because the government never lies about anything right?) Everything the family went through could have been coincidental sure, but you should at least consider the possibility that they are telling the truth. For everything that may support the side of the military's accounts, there is just as much unusual circumstances against the military's word reported by the family. It's almost a case of "he said/she said"...which is why I can't discount either side.

[bugnpinky]

Of course they want attention. For their son's case. These aren't conspiracy theory people looking to sell a book or a story. There's too many things that family went through that they can't all be dismissed as "coincidence." Considering I don't believe Unsolved Mysteries paid people to come on the show (someone correct me if I'm wrong) wanting money and negative attention is far more farfetched in this case.

[egswanso]

LOL the government could just lie about the DNA samples. I don't know, it seems like you're assuming the family is lying from the get go and for some reason already branding them as attention seekers. Sure they could be, but at the same time I don't think there is enough there to automatically discount the family...just because the government says "this and that". (because the government never lies about anything right?) Everything the family went through could have been coincidental sure, but you should at least consider the possibility that they are telling the truth. For everything that may support the side of the military's accounts, there is just as much unusual circumstances against the military's word reported by the family. It's almost a case of "he said/she said"...which is why I can't discount either side.

I didn't set out with the notion that the family is lying (and as I said before, mistake explains some of the "incidents"), but when everything they say doesn't make sense and is inconsistent with verifiable information, it becomes much more then "he said/she said"

If you want to believe that the Gov't is engaging in a huge conspiracy that secretly freed an ordinary grunt from the VC and snuck him back into the country, for reasons and motives unknown, and that same conspiracy is hiding him from his family (but giving him freedom of movement), again, for reasons and motives unknown, hey, that's your right.

[egswanso]

And just to be clear, I have no problem believing the following:

1. Borton could have been captured by the VC on his initial mission (he could have also been killed, but the recon mission to find him and his platoon should have found the bodies in such a case)

2. Borton was held in a VC camp during the war and was not released pursuant to the Paris Peace Accords.

3. Borton remained alive into the 1980s (given conditions at VC prisoner camps, I can't see anyone there surviving more then 10-15 years; and at some point prior to normalization, you'd imagine they would have just been killed, if they had).

What I can't believe, based on the evidence presented, is that Borton, or anyone else similarly situated, was a "secret returnee" There were three pieces of evidence presented:

1. His father claims he was pressured by the Gov't into signing a document stating Curt was dead.
2. His sister claims she saw him in the Washington D.C. area
3. His cousin claims his social security number was "invalid"

To each:

1. The father can't read, so he didn't know what he signed. He doesn't know where the "agents" were actually from, but they did not act like official gov't representatives. Curt WAS NOT declared dead and is on the official "Last known to be alive" list, released by the gov't in 1991.

2. The sister never spoke with or approached her "brother" A license plate she copied down traced to someone else, who was not Curt and had no connection to him.

3. The social security number (492-48-6171) appears in every public database, issued to Curt, with his information. You can actually order the original SS-5 form for him at this site: http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. That burden just isn't met here, IMO.

[The Human Mop]

I always wondered about the sighting of "Curt" in the red car. They traced the license plate to a guy who knew nothing of him. Couldn't Curt's sister have met with him so she could say, "Oops, you looked like my brother but you're not, sorry" OR she could at least find out who borrowed his car that day?

Was she making it up, did she make a mistake about the license #, was it honestly a guy who looked like him, did someone loan his car to a guy who looked like Curt, or was it really him? I tend to think it wasn't him, but who was he? Was the car owner the guy who talked to her?

I wish I knew the answers!

[Arnold_OldSchool]

3. Borton remained alive into the 1980s (given conditions at VC prisoner camps, I can't see anyone there surviving more then 10-15 years; and at some point prior to normalization, you'd imagine they would have just been killed, if they had).



http://www.strike-the-root.com/72/knight/knight2.jpg

“USA” were 12 feet tall and together the 3 letters stretched 37 feet across the dry paddy, and the highly classified “Walking K” Escape and Evasion symbol beneath the “USA” was 24 feet tall and 19 feet across. DOD experts told you that this “USA Walking K” pilot distress code “must be considered valid until proven otherwise.”

[Victoria81]

This has always been strange to me. Looking online, the sister moved to California after the segment was taped and her "brother" was there...creepy.

Why follow the cousin? I notice he was in military fatigues. Connection?

Where did the check come from??

[idol]

Plus the family got a check for 43k for Curts father signing a form. The whole story is odd. After a few sightings you'd think his sister would try to talk to him. I know she didn't because she claimed she was told he was dangerous but still one of the sightings looked to be in a public park area. At least yell from a few feet away and say "Hi Curt" and see what his reply would be.

[xxxxmattxxxx69]

I liked the part in this story where they had the guy who played Brad Bishop hold a gun to their cousin but since he didn't want to be IDed the conversation sounded off

[dks64]

I watched this segment for the first time today. I have no idea what to make of the encounters with both "Robert" and the "military men" who kept confronting the father in public places. Weird case all around, I would love to know what really happened.

[TheCars1986]

Come on people, Curt Borton is dead. He was KIA most likely. The two pictures shown in the segment look like Asian men and look nothing like Curt at all. He was a PFC, why would the government waste time and money even having a "secret returnee" program (presumebaly to hide their embarassment about not bringing everyone home), only to continue to hide these people that were freed and returned to the U.S.?! Doesn't make any sense. It wasn't like Curt was a Colonel, he was a PFC. As someone else pointed out, the Vietnam war has been over for decades now, why hasn't Curt reached out to his family since the UM broadcast? And I find it very hard to believe that if the government is telling you your brother died in Vietnam, yet you see him in the flesh 15+ years later in a public park, you do not attempt to approach him in any way, shape, or form. In her interview the sister says it was because he was described as "dangerous", but I think she may have had a fear that she'd be embarassed (or be forced to accept Curt's death) by running up and hugging a man who is not related to her at all.

I think this is just a case of a family not accepting the harsh reality and continuing to hold on to every single shred of hope they can that their loved one is still alive.

[biscuitgirl]

Come on people, Curt Borton is dead. He was KIA most likely. The two pictures shown in the segment look like Asian men and look nothing like Curt at all. He was a PFC, why would the government waste time and money even having a "secret returnee" program (presumebaly to hide their embarassment about not bringing everyone home), only to continue to hide these people that were freed and returned to the U.S.?! Doesn't make any sense. It wasn't like Curt was a Colonel, he was a PFC. As someone else pointed out, the Vietnam war has been over for decades now, why hasn't Curt reached out to his family since the UM broadcast? And I find it very hard to believe that if the government is telling you your brother died in Vietnam, yet you see him in the flesh 15+ years later in a public park, you do not attempt to approach him in any way, shape, or form. In her interview the sister says it was because he was described as "dangerous", but I think she may have had a fear that she'd be embarassed (or be forced to accept Curt's death) by running up and hugging a man who is not related to her at all.

I think this is just a case of a family not accepting the harsh reality and continuing to hold on to every single shred of hope they can that their loved one is still alive.

I think you are absolutely right. I too felt that the two photos they presented looked nothing like Curt and looked like Asian men. They didn't even share his eyebrows and hairline. I don't even think the two men in the photos are the same man. Also, has anyone noticed how people do not always look the way they do in photos? Some people just look different in a picture. Or you might see a photo of someone somewhere and think, "that looks like so-and-so", when you know perfectly well that isn't them. I don't know if that makes any sense, but my point is that people can look different in photos than in real life.

If there is one thing I have learned from watching a lot of UM, it is that parents of missing/suicide/whatever kids can become very delusional about what happened to them or what they did. I was just reading about the case of Amy St. Laurent (not on UM) who's killer confessed to his mother; the mother then told a friend about the confession, then told a grand jury about the confession, yet now claims that her son is innocent. Crazy! And I'll never forget about seeing Diane Broadbeck's mother on UM who swore up and down that her daughter would NEVER leave willingly with a convicted killer, yet that's exactly what happened. It comes to a point where you really just have to take what these family members say with a grain of salt. They are convinced of whatever they want to believe, many to the point of obsession. I think this case is a perfect example of how delusional a family can become over an idea.

[The Human Mop]

And let's face it, some people just have "common" faces. I was at the doctor's office with my son once and saw a picture in a magazine of a boy that looked just like my son. I showed the nurse, basically just said, "Look at this picture" and she said, "Oh my goodness, another (son's name)."

I've also seen color, high quality pictures of strangers that look JUST LIKE my daughter. That's no big deal, since I know where she is, but if she were missing I'd be convinced that the pictures were of her.

I saw a toddler once who looked just like my best friend's baby, to the point that I asked her mother, "Is her name (friend's name)?" I thought she could have been a new babysitter, the 2 children looked THAT MUCH alike.

[scc1222]

I think you are absolutely right. I too felt that the two photos they presented looked nothing like Curt and looked like Asian men. They didn't even share his eyebrows and hairline. I don't even think the two men in the photos are the same man. Also, has anyone noticed how people do not always look the way they do in photos? Some people just look different in a picture. Or you might see a photo of someone somewhere and think, "that looks like so-and-so", when you know perfectly well that isn't them. I don't know if that makes any sense, but my point is that people can look different in photos than in real life.

If there is one thing I have learned from watching a lot of UM, it is that parents of missing/suicide/whatever kids can become very delusional about what happened to them or what they did. I was just reading about the case of Amy St. Laurent (not on UM) who's killer confessed to his mother; the mother then told a friend about the confession, then told a grand jury about the confession, yet now claims that her son is innocent. Crazy! And I'll never forget about seeing Diane Broadbeck's mother on UM who swore up and down that her daughter would NEVER leave willingly with a convicted killer, yet that's exactly what happened. It comes to a point where you really just have to take what these family members say with a grain of salt. They are convinced of whatever they want to believe, many to the point of obsession. I think this case is a perfect example of how delusional a family can become over an idea.
exactly.It's denial and it's very strong motivation to believe something that isn't true.it's a form of mental personal protection/self-preservation.

[TheCars1986]

I don't think Curt's family was in denial per se, I think that they really truely thought he was still alive after all of those years. Especially with his sister claiming she saw him 3 or 4 times since his alleged "death".