Guy Oliver Morton, 18, was the oldest of nine children. He enjoyed the role of number one. Born in Springfield, Illinois, he loved life, music and his siblings.
He attended school in Marion, Iowa where he played football and ran track. He was affiliated with the youth group at People’s Unitarian Church in Cedar Rapids.
Guy attended summer camp in Avionne, France at the age of 13 with his sister, Jan age 10. There they lived with French children, learning their language. His friends remember his kindness and his sense of humor.
Guy was on his way to work at Hardy’s in April 1973 when the motorbike, on which he was riding as a passenger, was involved in a collision with a car. He sustained severe head injuries and a hip dislocation. Guy was unconscious 21 days.
Working with therapists and recuperating at the family farm, he fought his way back to health over the ensuing months. But his class at school, and his friends, had moved on. He was not the leader anymore. His world had changed.
Guy got a job as a highway worker, but found the Iowa weather too cold. He hitchhiked to Florida, returned to Iowa, then left for the west in May 1975.
He lived briefly with a cousin in Phoenix before getting a job as a landscaper that took him to Flagstaff. Late in June, his employer called Guy’s parents in Iowa and reported him missing.
The employer explained that Guy had hitchhiked to Phoenix to recover a deposit on a car he could not afford. Guy wanted to fly home for a July 4 family reunion in Iowa. His employer said Guy failed to return when expected. His parents called the authorities in Arizona and Iowa and reported Guy missing.
Days turned into months, then into years: twelve years. The Mortons never gave up hope.
Through the years, when his friends gathered, they compared notes to see if anyone had heard from Guy. He was very well liked by all people.
As time went by, his parents contacted the FBI, Social Security, The Salvation Army, churches and the authorities repeatedly without result.
In 1987, armed with 1000 posters bearing his picture and an age progression study, his parents journeyed to Arizona to retrace his steps. From Flagstaff to Phoenix they talked to media, sheriffs and anyone who would listen. They postered all over. After ten days they returned home to Colorado.
The Arizona Republic newspaper carried Guy’s story on the front page. A retired deputy sheriff read the story and remembered a skeleton with a broken knife blade in the chest cavity that had been found in the desert west of New River in 1975. A forensic comparison of photos and dental records established the identity. It was Guy Oliver Morton.
But his remains had been destroyed by the same Maricopa County Medical Examiner who had wrongly identified those remains in 1975. The faulty identification was the reason for the vain search for 12 years. No murderer has been identified or apprehended.