Missing
Steven William Branston
Branston, approximately 1996
Date and time person was reported missing : 10/01/1996
Missing location (approx) :
Honolulu, Hawaii
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Male
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 03/11/1976 (45)
Age at the time of disappearance: 20 years old
Height / Weight : 6'0, 170 pounds
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : Possibly a black and white or tie-dyed shirt, jeans or cut-off shorts, sandals and a scarf-type headband.
Medical conditions : Branston suffers from schizophrenia and was also severely depressed at the time of his disappearance; he may have been suicidal. He was supposed to be taking Risperdal, an anti-psychotic medication, but he quit taking it before he went missing. Branston also has a history of drug abuse. He is classified as disabled.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian male. Brown hair, blue eyes. Branston may have a light brown, curly beard. His hair was long at the time of his 1996 disappearance, and he normally wore it pulled back into a ponytail. He smokes cigarettes.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Branston was a resident of Lakeport, California in 1996. He told his sister that he imagined traveling to Hawaii and dying during the summer of that year. His family became concerned that he was suicidal. He had had a normal childhood, but in his teens he became troubled, was a poor student and started using drugs. He was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia and began seeing a psychiatrist and taking medication for his condition.
Branston last saw his family on August 1, 1996, just before his parents went to Wyoming for the summer. On August 5, he arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was apparently homeless and living near the Honolulu Airport. He opened a bank account and arranged to have his Social Security payments sent there, and he rented a storAge at the time of disappearance: locker at Hy-Pac Self StorAge at the time of disappearance: , where he stored his identification, medication, and clothing.
Branston deposited his Social Security checks for August and September in his Hawaiian bank account. A teller at the Bank of Hawaii in Kaunakakai, Hawaii says Branston tried to cash a check there in October 1996, but wasn't allowed to because he didn't have any identification. His parents reported him missing with the Lakeport Police Department on October 5.
Hy-Pac Self StorAge at the time of disappearance: contacted Branston's parents in November 1996, after he stopped paying the fees for his locker. His parents monitored his bank account for at least a year after his disappearance, but no one deposited or withdrew any funds. There were possible sightings of him on the islands of Oahu, Molokai and Kauai until June 1997, but none of them were confirmed.
Branston's case remains unsolved. Both Hawaii and California police are investigating.
Other information and links : ncy
Lakeport, California Police Department
707-263-2331
Honolulu, Hawaii Police Department
808-529-3111
808-529-3394
September 2021 updates and sources
California Attorney General's Office
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin
The Doe Network
October 12, 2004. September 5, 2016; picture and Description, clothing, jewerly and more : added, Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: , Medical conditions : and Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : updated.
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