David Laurie Phillips
Case Classification: Missing
Missing Since: June 4-10, 1883
Location Last Seen: Salina, Saline County, Kansas
Physical Description
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
Date of Birth: August 21 or 27, 1837
Age at Time of Disappearance: 46 years old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height at Time of Disappearance: Unknown
Weight at Time of Disappearance: Unknown
Hair Colour: Dark
Eye Colour: Light blue or grey.
Alias(s) / Nickname(s): Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: He wore a beard and moustache.
Dentals: Not available.
Fingerprints: Not available.
DNA: Unknown
Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Circumstances of Disappearance
David Laurie Phillips was a carpenter and cabinetmaker by trade and a member of the Salina Town Company, a company who founded Salina, Kansas. He was born in Scotland and immigrated to the United States in 1858.
Mr. Phillips was last seen travelling by train from Kansas to visit his nephew, Dr. William A. Phillips, at his home in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Phillips sent a telegram to Dr. Phillips from Las Vegas, New Mexico, and again from Yuma, Arizona.
When the train arrived in Los Angeles, David Phillips was not on it. A passenger on the train – a young man – sent Dr. Phillips an urgent message. He stated that David had acted incoherently at the Yuma station and when the train made a brief stop at Volcano Springs, California (now Mundo, CA), at about 1 A.M. on June 10, 1883, the roadmaster saw David Phillips leap off as the train was pulling away. The roadmaster reported that Mr. Phillips had “neither hat, shoes, nor coat.”
Other sources indicate that Mr. Phillips became ill, possibly from a migraine, and became delirious from the heat. According to witnesses, he struck a passenger with a bucket, jumped off the train, and ran into the desert. Other sources stated that he claimed to have been robbed.
Search parties looked in the area for weeks, but David Phillips was never located. His family erected a monument in his memory in Gypsum Hill Cemetery in Salina, Kansas, which is engraved with “So he died there, and the Lord buried him in the Valley but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.”
The original missing person report cannot be found. Some sources list his date of disappearance as June 8, 1883, or June 4, 1883.
Investigating Agency(s)
If you have any information about this case, please contact.
Agency Name: Saline County Sheriff’s Office
Agency Phone Number: 785-826-6500
