Missing
Lewis Barrett Welch Jr.
Welch, approximately 1971
Date and time person was reported missing : 05/23/1971
Missing location (approx) :
Nevada City, California
Missing classification : Lost/Injured Missing
Gender : Male
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 08/16/1926 (94)
Age at the time of disappearance: 44 years old
Height / Weight : 6'0, 150 pounds
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : A denim jacket, Frisco jeans and boots.
Medical conditions : Welch was depressed and suicidal at the time of his disappearance. He had also been drinking heavily.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian male. Graying red hair, blue or brown eyes. Welch's nickname is Lew. He has a thin build and is balding.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Welch was part of the "Beat movement" of the 1960s and was a relatively known poet. He associated with other Beat writers including Philip Whalen, Jack Kerouac and Gary Snyder. Kerouac wrote about Welch in his novel Big Sur; the character he based off of Welch is called "Dave Wain." Welch had lived with Snyder and Whalen and attended Reed College, where he wrote his thesis on the writer Gertrude Stein.
Welch moved to New York after graduating college. He began to have emotional problems afterwards, moved to Florida and completed a course of therapy. He then studied philosophy and English at the University of Chicago before moving to California, where he drove a cab while devoting most of his time to writing. He got involved in the San Francisco literary scene. People who knew him stated he was a very talented writer, but his multiple nervous breakdowns crippled his career.
Welch was depressed and was drinking heavily by 1971. He was last seen on May 23. He was staying with Snyder in Nevada City, California at the time. Welch walked out of Snyder's house carrying a gun he'd taken from Snyder's foot locker. The gun is described as a stainless steel, heavy-frame .22 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver. Welch has never been heard from again. He left a note behind reading:
"I never could make anything work out right and now I'm betraying my friends. I can't make anything out of it -- never could. I had great visions but never could bring them together with reality. I used it all up. It's all gone. Don Allen is to be my literary executor -- use MSS at Gary's and at Grove Press. I have $2,000 in Nevada City Bank of America -- use it to cover my affairs and debts. I don't owe Allen G. anything yet nor my Mother. I went Southwest. Goodbye. Lew Welch."
Although Welch is presumed to have committed suicide, his remains have never been located.
Other information and links : ncy
Nevada County Sheriff's Department
530-470-2400
530-265-7880
September 2021 updates and sources
The Doe Network
The American Museum of Beat Art
American Poems
California Attorney General'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.
5 October 12, 2004. February 12, 2013; Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : updated.
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
