Post by hi224 on Nov 28, 2020 7:18:14 GMT
26 November 1990: Disappearance of Tu-Thi Cam Tran
It was the Monday after Thanskgiving of 1990, a pleasant day for late November in Maryland. 24-year-old Tu Thi-Cam Tran had attended classes that day at her university, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, often abbreviated as UMBC (not to be confused with the more famous University of Maryland, College Park; I'm aware that the latter is usually what people mean when they refer to "the University of Maryland", but they are separate schools and located almost an hour apart.)
Tu, an information systems major, was in her senior year at UMBC. Described as "attractive", she was of Vietnamese descent. Tu was quite petite: standing at about 4'9 and weighing about 90 pounds, she had a "slim" build. She had brown eyes and shoulder-length black hair, and she had one particular distinguishing feature: she was missing one of her toes. On this particular day, Tu was wearing a blouse, jeans, and sneakers, along with a distinctive necklace with white-pearl beads and blue stones, formed in a scallop design.
After her class finished at 6:45 PM, Tu went to hang out with a classmate in the Gameroom of the University Center, where UMBC students often spend time between or after class. She hung out with her friend until around 8:30 PM. The friend reported that Tu seemed to be in good spirits. Understandable, coming off of the holiday break with only a few weeks left in the semester.
At around 8:30 PM, Tu left the University Center, with the plan to drive back to her home in Lanham, in about a half an hour south in Prince George's County. Tu lived there with her older brother and his family.
However, she never came home. Her concerned brother reported her missing to campus police. Her car was found still parked where she'd apparently left it; there was nothing to suggest she had ever made it there.
Investigation
A massive search of UMBC's 500 acre campus, including the surrounding woods, was organized. The campus was surveyed with K9 teams and helicopters, but no trace of Tu was found. Fliers with her name and photograph were posted around campus.
The investigation was handled by the UMBC campus police, rather than the Baltimore County Police. This decision was made because, according to a Baltimore County Police spokesperson, university police were "fully certified to investigate incidents believed to have occurred on the campus." According to Louise M. White, UMBC's director of media relations, they thought that there was "no reason to believe" Tu had been harmed.
The university police were tight-lipped about their investigation. Said Frank Wiley, the campus police's spokesperson, in a statement to The Retriever (UMBC's student newspaper), "It's an ongoing investigation. We won't release any information on an active investigation."
"We do have an active missing person's investigation being conducted by our investigative section," he continued. "There are a number of leads involving possible whereabouts and we are investigating all of them. At this point we do not suspect foul play."
In a later statement, made in January 1991, Wiley added: "We are very confident... that our investigation does not indicate the presence of any kind of serial rapist or serial killer." They refused to release more specific information, saying it would be "contrary to the public interests" and might "jeopardize an ongoing investigation". Despite this, they insisted that they were working hard on the case. They said that they had "enlisted the assistance of other law enforcement agencies both in and out of state" and that they were "conducting an exhaustive investigation."
At this point, police said that they had found "no evidence of foul play" and that they "did not believe Tran was forcibly abducted" despite the circumstances of her disappearance. However, they also said they had not ruled out foul play.
According to archives of The Retriever, despite Wiley's statement, rumours spread that Tu had been kidnapped or murdered, that her body had been found in the woods, that she had been shot repeatedly, or that a killer was loose on campus, but police denied these.
Fueling further speculation, Tu's disappearance came after the disappearance of a male UMBC staff member from off-campus earlier in the fall semester; however, police termed this an "unrelated event". They were correct about this - it indeed did turn out to be unrelated, as the staff member was eventually found alive.
Many students criticized the police response to the case. In March 1991, UMBC students held a Take Back The Night march against sexual violence. Claudia Lenhoff, a member of the Women's Union, discussed Tu's disappearance in her opening speech. "She should not be forgotten. And we should not be satisfied with silence when we ask our questions."
The Retriever's staff editorial of May 1991, in a recap of the school year, noted sarcastically: "According to what the rumor mill generated, she was abducted by a stranger, maybe two, or someone she knew. There were cigarette butts in her car, bullet holes, and blood stains, and her mangled corpse had been found just outside the Loop, or in the Patapsco River, or in the Baltimore Harbor, and there was a second abduction the following week, and so on and so on. Either that, or she was in Cleveland. But if one listened to the police statement, soon after, one could divine that she had just up and disappeared without evidence of foul play. It happens sometimes."
Sadly, following this, it seems that the case gradually fell into obscurity. As far as I can tell, there were no further news reports on Tu's disappearance or the investigation, and despite the reactions of the student body at the time, it appears her name has largely been forgotten. The only further indication of progress that I could find is that Tu's DNA is available and that processing and testing are complete, meaning she can be compared to Jane Doe's. If Tu is still alive, she would now be 54.
Thoughts and Questions:
I think at this point I should mention the fact that I'm a student at UMBC, currently in my fourth year. I was shocked to hear there was an unsolved missing person's case involving a student from my school. As far as I know, there's no memorial or anything of the sort to Tu on campus, and nobody I know had heard of the case when I asked them. As it was coming up on the 30th anniversary of her disappearance, I wanted to do something to raise awareness of the case.
UMBC has a reputation for being a quiet, safe campus; it's located near Catonsville but tends to be somewhat isolated from it. Students often walk around late at night without an issue. In 1990, it was even more so; a lot of the larger buildings on campus, such as the Commons, hadn't even been built yet. However, some of the parking lots are further removed from campus and more isolated. A lot of them are surrounded by thick, wooded areas, not all of which are well lit. They've recently installed blue lights near most of the walkpaths, but these weren't present in 1990. Additionally, the campus itself is rather open; there's no security checkpoint to enter and anyone can drive on to campus at any time. Certain buildings do require a card swipe to access, however, anybody could have entered the campus itself.
The other odd thing about this case is that apparently the investigation was primarily handled by campus police. As somebody who's been researching missing person cases for a while, this seems to be unusual protocol; sure, I'd expect campus police to be involved, but I am surprised that they did not work with Baltimore County police. Are campus police usually equipped to deal with a missing person's case by themselves? That being said, it appears Tu's brother originally filed the missing person's report with campus police, so perhaps that's why it turned out that way.
And as a UMBC student, while I don't want to generalize, our campus police has fallen short at times (though lately they have made efforts involving community outreach.) A couple years back, there was a big-deal lawsuit alleging they had mishandled sexual assault cases, and though it was eventually dismissed, their reputation and people's faith in them definitely took a big hit. I do not know what it was like in 1990, though the fact that there was student criticism at the time makes me wonder.
But putting all of that aside, what happened to Tu Thi-Cam Tran? Why were police so convinced that she was not abducted, and why did they not suspect foul play? And if she was not a victim of kidnapping or foul play, where has she been for the last 30 years? Even if we don't know the answer to these questions, we can do our best to keep the case from being forgotten.
Thanks for reading this write-up. My sources are listed below. If anyone finds any information I have missed, please share!
Sources:
Charley Project: Tu Thi Cam Tran
Namus: Tu Thi Cam Tran
The Baltimore Sun: 13 December 1990
The Retriever Archives: 11 December 1990, 29 January 1991, 12 March 1991, 19 March 1991, 14 May 1991
Missing Maura Murray Podcast: December 2019
It was the Monday after Thanskgiving of 1990, a pleasant day for late November in Maryland. 24-year-old Tu Thi-Cam Tran had attended classes that day at her university, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, often abbreviated as UMBC (not to be confused with the more famous University of Maryland, College Park; I'm aware that the latter is usually what people mean when they refer to "the University of Maryland", but they are separate schools and located almost an hour apart.)
Tu, an information systems major, was in her senior year at UMBC. Described as "attractive", she was of Vietnamese descent. Tu was quite petite: standing at about 4'9 and weighing about 90 pounds, she had a "slim" build. She had brown eyes and shoulder-length black hair, and she had one particular distinguishing feature: she was missing one of her toes. On this particular day, Tu was wearing a blouse, jeans, and sneakers, along with a distinctive necklace with white-pearl beads and blue stones, formed in a scallop design.
After her class finished at 6:45 PM, Tu went to hang out with a classmate in the Gameroom of the University Center, where UMBC students often spend time between or after class. She hung out with her friend until around 8:30 PM. The friend reported that Tu seemed to be in good spirits. Understandable, coming off of the holiday break with only a few weeks left in the semester.
At around 8:30 PM, Tu left the University Center, with the plan to drive back to her home in Lanham, in about a half an hour south in Prince George's County. Tu lived there with her older brother and his family.
However, she never came home. Her concerned brother reported her missing to campus police. Her car was found still parked where she'd apparently left it; there was nothing to suggest she had ever made it there.
Investigation
A massive search of UMBC's 500 acre campus, including the surrounding woods, was organized. The campus was surveyed with K9 teams and helicopters, but no trace of Tu was found. Fliers with her name and photograph were posted around campus.
The investigation was handled by the UMBC campus police, rather than the Baltimore County Police. This decision was made because, according to a Baltimore County Police spokesperson, university police were "fully certified to investigate incidents believed to have occurred on the campus." According to Louise M. White, UMBC's director of media relations, they thought that there was "no reason to believe" Tu had been harmed.
The university police were tight-lipped about their investigation. Said Frank Wiley, the campus police's spokesperson, in a statement to The Retriever (UMBC's student newspaper), "It's an ongoing investigation. We won't release any information on an active investigation."
"We do have an active missing person's investigation being conducted by our investigative section," he continued. "There are a number of leads involving possible whereabouts and we are investigating all of them. At this point we do not suspect foul play."
In a later statement, made in January 1991, Wiley added: "We are very confident... that our investigation does not indicate the presence of any kind of serial rapist or serial killer." They refused to release more specific information, saying it would be "contrary to the public interests" and might "jeopardize an ongoing investigation". Despite this, they insisted that they were working hard on the case. They said that they had "enlisted the assistance of other law enforcement agencies both in and out of state" and that they were "conducting an exhaustive investigation."
At this point, police said that they had found "no evidence of foul play" and that they "did not believe Tran was forcibly abducted" despite the circumstances of her disappearance. However, they also said they had not ruled out foul play.
According to archives of The Retriever, despite Wiley's statement, rumours spread that Tu had been kidnapped or murdered, that her body had been found in the woods, that she had been shot repeatedly, or that a killer was loose on campus, but police denied these.
Fueling further speculation, Tu's disappearance came after the disappearance of a male UMBC staff member from off-campus earlier in the fall semester; however, police termed this an "unrelated event". They were correct about this - it indeed did turn out to be unrelated, as the staff member was eventually found alive.
Many students criticized the police response to the case. In March 1991, UMBC students held a Take Back The Night march against sexual violence. Claudia Lenhoff, a member of the Women's Union, discussed Tu's disappearance in her opening speech. "She should not be forgotten. And we should not be satisfied with silence when we ask our questions."
The Retriever's staff editorial of May 1991, in a recap of the school year, noted sarcastically: "According to what the rumor mill generated, she was abducted by a stranger, maybe two, or someone she knew. There were cigarette butts in her car, bullet holes, and blood stains, and her mangled corpse had been found just outside the Loop, or in the Patapsco River, or in the Baltimore Harbor, and there was a second abduction the following week, and so on and so on. Either that, or she was in Cleveland. But if one listened to the police statement, soon after, one could divine that she had just up and disappeared without evidence of foul play. It happens sometimes."
Sadly, following this, it seems that the case gradually fell into obscurity. As far as I can tell, there were no further news reports on Tu's disappearance or the investigation, and despite the reactions of the student body at the time, it appears her name has largely been forgotten. The only further indication of progress that I could find is that Tu's DNA is available and that processing and testing are complete, meaning she can be compared to Jane Doe's. If Tu is still alive, she would now be 54.
Thoughts and Questions:
I think at this point I should mention the fact that I'm a student at UMBC, currently in my fourth year. I was shocked to hear there was an unsolved missing person's case involving a student from my school. As far as I know, there's no memorial or anything of the sort to Tu on campus, and nobody I know had heard of the case when I asked them. As it was coming up on the 30th anniversary of her disappearance, I wanted to do something to raise awareness of the case.
UMBC has a reputation for being a quiet, safe campus; it's located near Catonsville but tends to be somewhat isolated from it. Students often walk around late at night without an issue. In 1990, it was even more so; a lot of the larger buildings on campus, such as the Commons, hadn't even been built yet. However, some of the parking lots are further removed from campus and more isolated. A lot of them are surrounded by thick, wooded areas, not all of which are well lit. They've recently installed blue lights near most of the walkpaths, but these weren't present in 1990. Additionally, the campus itself is rather open; there's no security checkpoint to enter and anyone can drive on to campus at any time. Certain buildings do require a card swipe to access, however, anybody could have entered the campus itself.
The other odd thing about this case is that apparently the investigation was primarily handled by campus police. As somebody who's been researching missing person cases for a while, this seems to be unusual protocol; sure, I'd expect campus police to be involved, but I am surprised that they did not work with Baltimore County police. Are campus police usually equipped to deal with a missing person's case by themselves? That being said, it appears Tu's brother originally filed the missing person's report with campus police, so perhaps that's why it turned out that way.
And as a UMBC student, while I don't want to generalize, our campus police has fallen short at times (though lately they have made efforts involving community outreach.) A couple years back, there was a big-deal lawsuit alleging they had mishandled sexual assault cases, and though it was eventually dismissed, their reputation and people's faith in them definitely took a big hit. I do not know what it was like in 1990, though the fact that there was student criticism at the time makes me wonder.
But putting all of that aside, what happened to Tu Thi-Cam Tran? Why were police so convinced that she was not abducted, and why did they not suspect foul play? And if she was not a victim of kidnapping or foul play, where has she been for the last 30 years? Even if we don't know the answer to these questions, we can do our best to keep the case from being forgotten.
Thanks for reading this write-up. My sources are listed below. If anyone finds any information I have missed, please share!
Sources:
Charley Project: Tu Thi Cam Tran
Namus: Tu Thi Cam Tran
The Baltimore Sun: 13 December 1990
The Retriever Archives: 11 December 1990, 29 January 1991, 12 March 1991, 19 March 1991, 14 May 1991
Missing Maura Murray Podcast: December 2019