The family of Harry “Buddy” Browe, Jr. contacted me. To be precise, Tina, the daughter of Louise who is Harry’s youngest sister, emailed me. She told me that the family has tried for years to get attention for this case. They contacted radio and TV shows but everyone told them that they already have enough cases.
From the thirteen Browe children only four are alive: Louise (Tina’s mother is the youngest at 70), Irene, Shirley, and Henry (Hank).
Harry’s family nickname is Buddy. Tina told me that Louise doesn’t recall him as Buddy disappeared before she was born. But that isn’t all. Louise was only two years old when her mother Alice died. She doesn’t have active memories about Alice.
In the 80s, Louise traveled to Detroit to collect as many newspaper clippings as she could find. Robert, her father, did not really speak about the tragedy when Louise was growing up. While reading up on Buddy’s case she found details reported about her parents as well. That is how she got to know a little more about her mom. Grandma Marion also pleaded with newspapers to keep the case alive. She went to New York by train to plead on national radio to the kidnapper to please bring Buddy back to the family. The Browe family thinks that Buddy was taken by a childless couple.
Tina surfs the web often to find any news about the Browe family history and of course, any news about Buddy. She bought the picture that many newspapers used in their reporting. She sent it to me and I have permission to use two pictures on my blog. A full colour photograph of baby Harry “Buddy” Browe, Jr. and a photograph of Robert & Alice Browe.
The family hopes that by keeping Buddy’s pictures online they will one day find someone who recognizes the baby. It would help enormously if somehow we could make an age-progressed sketch that could let us know what Buddy might look like today. I am not sure how accurate it will be but it is worth a try.
Tina has collected many family pictures. She thinks that Buddy would resemble any other Browe family member as they all look a lot like each other. “Half of them were redheaded after my grandmother and half were brunettes after my grandfather.”
Louise hopes that she will learn her brother’s fate in her lifetime. Should that not be the case Tina hopes the case remains alive online. That way we have a chance it will show up in someone’s news feed who knows either Buddy or his descendents.
Description
Harry is white with blue eyes and light brown/dark blond hair. He had a double mastoidectomy that left scars behind each ear. A mastoidectomy removes diseased mastoid air cells that sit behind your ears in a hollow space in your skull. This is often the result of an ear infection that has spread. The fingernail on his left hand ring-finger is missing. These details were found at Porchlight but there is no source to check. Harry’s case is not in NamUs. I am still checking to see if there are unidentified babies in the Indiana/Michigan area who match Harry’s age.
If Harry was taken by people to raise as their own he was most likely given a different name. If alive, Harry would be 82-83 years old. He might have a family and grandchildren. If at some point they learn his birth name and check their heritage they will find this. Harry was a missing child and was loved by his family.
Contact Information
If you have any information about Harry “Buddy” Browe, Jr, please contact the Detroit Department for Missing Children at (313) 596-2069 or email them at [email protected]
Thank you to the Browe Family for allowing me to use these pictures and for sharing these details about Harry “Buddy” Browe, Jr with us.