Missing
Dallas Clifford Basham
Basham, approximately 1984
Date and time person was reported missing : 02/27/1984
Missing location (approx) :
St. Petersburg, Florida
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Male
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 09/01/1961 (59)
Age at the time of disappearance: 22 years old
Height / Weight : 5'4 - 5'6, 140 pounds
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : A light-colored t-shirt, blue jeans, white sneakers and possibly stud earrings.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian male. Brown hair, blue eyes. Basham has a tattoo of the name "Lisa" on his right shoulder and an unspecified tattoo on his right ankle. He may use the last name Ulrey. He has previously fractured his right ankle and his ears are pierced.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Basham was last seen in St. Petersburg, Florida at 10:00 p.m. on February 27, 1984. He left his wallet and clothing behind at home, and missed an important meeting the next day. He has never been heard from again. He disappeared two days after he was released from jail on theft charges.
A few days after Basham disappeared, John Edward Bellas and Jeffrey Austgen were accused of his murder. Investigators determined Basham was murdered by Bellas in the 2700 block of 18th Avenue north on the night of his disappearance. The motive was supposedly because Bellas thought Basham had "snitched" to the police while he was in jail.
Bloodstains, hair and electrical wire were found in the house where the murder allegedly took place, and the carpet had been ripped out of one of the rooms. According to witnesses, Bellas beat Basham on the head with a hammer, strangled him with copper wire, bound his body with the wire and and transported it to the Burks Road area north of Clear Lake in Dade City, Florida, before burying it in a shallow grave in an orange grove.
Austgen cooperated with the prosecution and pleaded guilty to more than half a dozen felony charges, including being an accessory after the fact to Basham's murder. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. Bellas pleaded guilty to second-degree murder one week before his trial was to begin and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He tried to help authorities find the body, without result. He served his sentence and has been released from prison. Basham's remains have never been found.
Other information and links : ncy
Pasco County Sheriff's Office
800-706-2488
September 2021 updates and sources
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Pasco County Sheriff's Office
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are not known. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2�5% of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
Several organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and imAge at the time of disappearance: s of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
The Evening Independent
October 12, 2004. May 1, 2017; picture added.
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
