Mysterious Disappearances: What Happened to Nicholas Barclay?

The disappearance of Nicholas Barclay in 1994 resulted in an incredible chain of events, including a child tragically going missing, an imposter showing up and posing as Nicholas, and the eventual downfall of said imposter.

Crucially, Nicholas remains missing, with no sign of him three decades later. Several questions surrounding his disappearance remain unanswered.

This article reviews this case. There is a reader’s poll at the end of the article, which we hope you vote on. Then, we will all be able to see what the most common belief is to explain what happened.

Background

Nicholas Barclay was born in 1981, and was aged 13 at the time of his disappearance. He lived in San Antonio, Texas.

He lived with his mother, Beverley Dollarhide, and his brother, Jason Barclay. Furthermore, he also had a half-sister – Carey Gibson, who lived elsewhere. The father was unknown.

Nicholas had a history of running away and poor behaviour, and was described as “streetwise”. He was also known to steal items from stores.

His household growing up was rather unstable, with his mother Beverley being a heroin addict. Moreover, his brother Jason had recently returned to live in the family home in the lead-up to him vanishing.

The Disappearance

On 13th June, 1994, Nicholas Barclay was playing basketball with his friends in his native San Antonio, Texas.

At some point, he went missing. The details are rather murky, with conflicting accounts on what happened.

The general consensus is that Nicholas called his mother to ask for a lift home, but spoke to his brother Jason. However, Jason told him to walk.

Unfortunately, Nicholas never made it home. He was reported as missing, with no sign of Nicholas anywhere.

The Investigation

Because of Nicholas’s history of running away, he was initially believed to just be on the run again. Therefore, the Police were slow in responding.

But after Nicholas didn’t return within 48 hours, a search for him took place. Unfortunately, there was no sign of Nicholas anywhere.

The route from where he was playing basketball back to his house was searched, although this failed to result in any leads developing.

3 months after Nicholas had vanished, Jason alerted the Police that he believed he saw Nicholas trying to break in to the home via the garage.

The Police responded by searching the area, but once again, there was no sign of Nicholas. The Police doubted that this was a genuine sighting.

Unfortunately, no leads ever developed. It seemed as if Nicholas had vanished without trace. The slow response to his disappearance may have been crucial.

Later Developments

The disappearance received very little attention until October 1997 – about three years after the disappearance, when a phone call changed everything.

US Officials received a phone call by Spanish authorities, who said that they believed they had Nicholas in a youth shelter.

The young man they believed was Nicholas had told the authorities that he had escaped from a child sex ring, and had been abused for several years. He had allegedly forgotten about his past life.

Nicholas’ half-sister Carey flew over to Spain to see him. However, Carey didn’t initially believe that the boy resembled his brother. However, as it had been three years, she believed it was feasible.

Nicholas seemed to have some memories of the past. It was enough to convince Carey that he truly was Nicholas – and they flew back to Texas together.

The mother, Beverley was delighted to see Nicholas again. However, it didn’t take long for questions to arise. The questions revolved around his appearance.

Nicholas had blonde hair and blue eyes – however “Nicholas” now had dark brown hair and brown eyes. He also had a French accent. The man explained it by saying his abductors had chemically changed his eye and hair colour and forced him to speak differently.

Nicholas returned to school, but teachers and classmates also became suspicious. His identity was being questioned on an increasing basis. He refused to give any blood samples.

Unsurprisingly, the news generated a lot of media interest. This led to an interview taking place between Nicholas and a private investigator named Charlie Parker.

Parker – an experienced investigator – came to the swift conclusion that the person he had interviewed was not truly Nicholas. He also carried out some analysis of photos, which in his mind confirmed his suspicions.

The FBI had also interviewed the man, wanting to know more about the alleged child sex ring that he’d been a victim of. With many American children missing, there was the hope that more could be recovered. But the interviews only heightened the suspicions of FBI personnel.

With questions continuing to mount, a court ordered fingerprints and a DNA test to be taken. When this was completed, it was found that the man was not Nicholas, instead it was a 23 year old man from France called Frederic Bourdin.

Bourdin was a serial impersonator who had managed to get information about Nicholas from a missing child centre. He had engaged in similar activities in the past – where he would claim to be someone that had been missing.

The Barclay family responded unusually – they wanted Bourdin to remain in the family home. They reportedly believed that – despite the evidence saying otherwise – the man was truly Nicholas.

This led to some questioning if there was familial involvement in the disappearance. It seemed very bizarre that they wanted the man to stay in their home.

Bourdin later said that he believed the family knew from the start that he wasn’t Nicholas. He said that this was evident from the first meeting with Carey – and that Carey was telling him what to remember for their return to the US.

Bourdin later said that he believed that the Barclay family murdered Nicholas, and that he also feared for his life at the hands of the family.

At the time, the Police were closing in on this same belief – that there was familial involvement. However, Jason – who developed a cocaine addiction after the disappearance – died from a drug overdose before he could be questioned, or potentially brought to justice.

Bourdin was found guilty of passport fraud and perjury, and spent six years in prison for his crimes. He was released and returned to Europe, where he assumed the identity of another missing child – Leo Balley.

Bourdin became the subject of a 2012 Netflix documentary named The Imposter, which became very popular. The extent of Bourdin’s impersonations and crimes was startling, with Bourdin saying he had assumed at least 500 false identities in his life.

Nicholas’ mother took two polygraph tests regarding his disappearance. She passed the first test, but failed the second one. Polygraph tests are not admissible in court, but many consider her to know what truly happened to Nicholas.

Theories

There are three main theories in this case – each of which have elements that make sense, while also having some parts that do not.

We take a look at the evidence for each theory:

Theory One: The Barclay family were involved in Nicholas’ disappearance

Many people have argued that the Barclay family were involved in Nicholas’ disappearance. This could be in numerous ways.

Some have argued that Jason did actually go and pick up Nicholas, but killed him that evening. This could have been in a fit of rage, as an accident, or even premeditated murder. He then might have said that he told Nicholas to walk back to hide what had truly happened.

Jason’s call three months after Nicholas’ disappearance, which said about Nicholas apparently trying to break into the family garage – was also deemed suspicious. Experts have stated that completing such a call is common in murder cases, as the murderer tries to convince the Police that the person is still alive.

Moreover, it is known that Jason and Nicholas had a strained relationship. If a murder did take place, then Jason could have managed to dispose of his body.

Jason developed a cocaine addiction following Nicholas’ disappearance. Some have argued that this addiction developed due to feelings of guilt. He died before investigations could go further.

There is also the confusion over the imposter Frederic Bourdin. Anyone who looks at the pictures above could surely say they aren’t the same person. So why would the family take him in?

Did they take him in because they truly believed it was Nicholas? Or did they do so to conceal the darker truth of what had happened to Nicholas.

Bourdin himself believed that the family knew all along that he wasn’t truly Nicholas. Moreover, he believed that the family had killed Nicholas.

The mother Beverley took two polygraph tests based around if she knew what happened to Nicholas. She passed one, but failed the other. Could she have also been involved and supported Jason – perhaps with the idea that it was better to hold onto one son rather than lose two?

However, if this is true, then it isn’t clear how they would have disposed of Nicholas’ body. It also isn’t known how much of the family were involved.

Theory Two: Nicholas Barclay was abducted and later killed

The theory put forward by many, including the Barclay family, is that Nicholas had been abducted by someone while returning from basketball.

Sadly, child abductions are rather common. Nicholas may have been seen as vulnerable – being under 5 foot tall, he could easily have been bundled into a car.

His mother Beverley also said that Nicholas was fearless, so it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for him to get into the car of a stranger.

If this theory is accurate, then it is likely that Nicholas was unfortunately killed at a later date. This would explain why he was never found, as his body may have been disposed of.

This is normally the most common outcome of cases involving missing teenagers. It is highly possible that this fate befell Nicholas Barclay too.

Theory Three: Nicholas Barclay intentionally ran away

The initial belief was that Nicholas had left on his own accord. He had a history of doing so, and was living in an unstable situation.

It is possible that Nicholas did indeed run away intentionally. He had been called “streetwise”, and knew his way around the area, and how to travel.

If this did happen, then he could feasibly still be alive to this day. He might have just made the conscious appearance to never re-emerge.

However, this seems unlikely. It would be very difficult to not re-emerge, especially when someone was claiming to be him. It would be bizarre to not show up again.

Additionally, having asked for a lift home, it doesn’t seem as if Nicholas wanted to run away. This theory doesn’t quite add up, but is possible.

Reader Vote

Now that you have read the above theories, we invite you to vote on the theory that you believe is accurate in the poll below.

Summary

Unfortunately, Nicholas remains missing. With more than three decades having passed since he vanished, it looks as if we will never learn what happened to him.

Perhaps the biggest tragedy of the case is that what happened with Frederic Bourdin is what is most remembered in this case. It is as if Nicholas – the true victim in this case – has been forgotten.