Gordon Collins

Sightings of a missing man after a boating accident give his family hope.

Missing: Gender: Male DOB: 2/22/57 Height: 6’2” Weight: 200 lbs. Eyes: Blue Hair: Light Defining Characteristics: Scars – outer left shoulder, 2-inch clean horizontal scar from a power saw, chest above the heart is a circular scar from a fall on bicycle handlebars Remarks: Last seen 4/93

CASE DETAILS

In September of 1991, a disoriented, penniless, and obviously out of place young American man wandered into the Mexican village of Colonia Vicente Guerrero, 300 miles south of San Diego. He lingered for months, living on hand-outs and the charity of strangers. Many now believe the man was Gordon Collins, who had been missing for five months.

In April 1991, Gordon was vacationing with his girlfriend, Anastasia Seals, and another couple, near Santa Rosalia, a popular deep sea fishing port near the middle of the Baja Peninsula. Four days after they arrived, the group rented a boat at a local hotel. Gordon’s friend, Wayne Schwartz, had fished off the Baja coast many times. As the group left port, a fisherman on his way in warned them that a storm was brewing.

Several hours later, a fierce storm hit the area. Gordon and his friends never returned. The next day, a hotel employee discovered the bodies of Gordon’s girlfriend, Anastasia Seals, and Wayne Schwartz. But Gordon and Wayne’s wife, Arlean Burlington, were never found. Gordon father, John Collins, described what the searchers found:

“The bodies and all the paraphernalia out of the boat was all within one square mile of each other, ‘cause I talked to the fellow that fished the bodies out and so we say, ‘Hey, where’s the other two jackets? Where’s the other two people?’”

For three days, the United States Coast Guard searched a 250-mile area, but found nothing. It seemed obvious that Gordon and Arlean had also perished.

In time, Gordon and Arlean’s parents were asked to sign death certificates. However, reports that Gordon was still alive had already begun to come in from Mexico. Some thought he might be suffering from amnesia.

When Gordon Collins’ parents traveled to the site of the accident, they found two Mexican fishermen who said they had seen a man matching Gordon’s description wander out of the ocean. He was wearing only shorts and was covered in cuts. They said they saw him trying to board a bus. John Collins recalls his reaction:

“I was very excited. Things started fitting together because this is where the accident happened. They found the bodies just a mile and a half off of the shore. It’s gotta be Gordy.”

Around the same time, a man named Jose Peralta also sighted Gordon on a nearby beach.
Gordon’s mother Mary Lou Collins talked to him:

“Jose said that Gordy said he was waiting for friends he went fishing with and could he have Jose’s blanket, ‘cause he was going to sleep on the beach there at Cabo and wait for his friends.”

John Collins tells of other confirmations:

“On one trip, we were headed toward La Paz and we stopped at a few of these taco places and they said, ‘Yeah, seen him an hour ago’. So we went on down for probably another three or four miles and we stopped again, and the guy says ‘Yeah, we seen him about thirty minutes ago.’ So we finally got right into town and they say, “Yeah, within five minutes.’ And I don’t know what happened, but everybody just clammed up. We couldn’t get anymore more information.”

Over the next three months, Gordon Collins was spotted at least fifty times in seven different locations, all in the area of La Paz and Cabo San Lucas, at the southern end of the Baja Peninsula. Gordon’s parents hired Bill Garcia, a private investigator, who alerted newspapers in Baja. After the articles ran, Garcia received several calls from a village 300 miles south of Tijuana. Raul Amador says he remembers Gordon vividly:

“He was four, five months here in town. … Everybody knows him.”

Bill Garcia believes the villagers:

“We’ve show them pictures and everyone recognizes him and they’re positive that it’s him. The people that have talked to him know some things about Gordon and feel confident that he is there.”

When the man identified as Gordon was arrested for stealing food, the local sheriff brought in James Hatfield, an American living in the village, to translate. James said he was sure the man he met was Gordon Collins:

“There’s no doubt in my mind it’s Gordon, because when we met him in jail, I introduced myself to him and he gave me his name Gordy. And then when the flyer came out, it’s right there on the flyer, ‘Gordon.’ And you can’t get the two pictures mixed up. It’s the same.”

But Bill Garcia didn’t make it in time:

“He moved on shortly before we were able to get to the area and we haven’t been able to find where he’s gone from there.”

Over the next year, sporadic sightings of Gordon continued. The U.S. Consulate has officially reversed its position and no longer presumes that Gordon Collins is dead. John Collins holds onto hope that he may see his son again:

“You can’t just up and give up, because it’s your son. I know it keeps me driving, it keeps me going. And I want to get him home.”

Watch this case now on Amazon Prime in season five with Robert Stack and in season one with Dennis Farina. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Various seasons available now on Hulu.