He Vanished Right Before He Was Supposed To Testify Against The Man Who Robbed Him At Gunpoint In His Apartment
In 1973, Henry Baltimore Jr. was a 21-year-old honor student at Michigan State University studying social science and music. His goal was to become a social worker.
Henry is remembered as the university marching band’s first known Black drum major. Yet, he disappeared on May 30, 1973, mere days before he was supposed to testify against a man who’d robbed him at gunpoint in his apartment months earlier.
In March 1973, Henry had gone to the police to report the crime. He alleged that, on March 3, two men had restrained him, tied him to his bed, and beat him with a pistol.
The men reportedly stole a watch, his golf bag, clothing, and $110 in cash. Henry waited 10 days before filing a police report, stating that he was frightened.
He also identified a 22-year-old named Roy L. Davis as one of the attackers. Roy was ultimately arrested and charged with armed robbery, but Henry didn’t show up for the preliminary hearing to testify against him.
This caused him to receive a fine of $50, and two days later, Henry approached the police and asked them to drop the whole case. The authorities wouldn’t do that, though, and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. So, once the hearing was rescheduled for May 24, 1973, Henry was forced to testify.
Roy’s arraignment was then set for June 1, 1973, but Henry vanished before he could testify again.
At the time, he was living in an off-campus apartment located in the 300 block of Oak Hill Avenue in East Lansing with three roommates. Henry’s older sister, who was also a student at Michigan State University, stopped by his apartment on May 30, 1973, to pick up a paper she was supposed to type for him.
Yet, upon arrival, Henry wasn’t home, and his roommates claimed he’d visited the library and never came back. Henry’s sister didn’t hear from him, even after the paper’s due date passed, and became concerned. That’s when she alerted their father, and the police were notified of his disappearance.
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Henry’s car, a 1968 Buick, was discovered at his residence about an hour and a half after he was last spotted. He didn’t take his money, car keys, clothes, or other belongings with him, either.
According to Ingham County Sheriff Scott Wriggelsworth, investigators suspect Henry had been home alone on the day he went missing. Neighbors alleged a green car had been parked in their assigned parking spot. Additionally, two men banged on Henry’s door and asked if the neighbors knew where Henry was.
Wriggelsworth thinks Henry, who’d been inside his apartment, was afraid to answer the door. Given his apartment showed no signs of forced entry, it’s believed that he ended up opening the door and getting in the car with the men.
“The report isn’t super detailed, a lot to be left to interpretation, again, no physical evidence whatsoever. Both detectives that worked this case have since passed,” Wriggelsworth explained.
“Several months later, after Henry’s been missing this whole time, Roy pleads guilty to the original armed robbery, ended up getting sentenced to six months in the county jail, and that probably would have been the end result anyways.”
Nonetheless, what exactly happened to Henry, who’s remembered as a leader with a fun-loving attitude, remains a mystery.
In June 1973, Henry’s family told The State News that he’d been receiving threats from Roy regarding testifying again.
His loved ones provided DNA to the police, which allowed investigators to make his DNA available in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). Wrigglesworth feels as though Henry was murdered, and his remains may be between East Lansing and Flint, where Roy was from.
However, he spoke to witnesses back in 2014, and they reportedly did not remember anything.
“Somebody knows what happened to Henry,” Wrigglesworth said.
An award-winning student documentary short entitled “What Happened to Henry?” was created about his case. Henry’s parents have since died without ever getting answers or justice.
“I think it has had a devastating effect on our family. Particularly my father and my mother because they were so hopeful that someday we would know something and always told us to keep the faith that he would one day walk through the door with his smiling face and say, ‘I’m home,'” Henry’s sister, Lural Baltimore, shared in 2014.
“But that never happened. It’s just been a hole in our heart that we’ve never known exactly what has occurred with him.”
Henry was six foot two, weighed 175 pounds, and had black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing light gray slacks, a black turtleneck sweater, and black and grey shoes.
Anyone with information regarding his case is urged to contact the East Lansing Police Department at (517) 351-4220 or the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office at (517) 676-8251.
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