Naman Shrestha
Quitting his successful punk rock band was not the only strange thing that Brian Barton did as soon after that, he also vanished out of thin air, without informing anyone. Exploring all the intricate details of the disappearance case of Brian Barton, Investigation Discovery’s ‘Disappeared: The Final Chord’ also happens to include interviews with his family, friends, and officials who did everything they could to get to the bottom of the case. Since the whereabouts of Brian remained a mystery for years, there were some wild theories about what might have happened to him.
Punk Rock Guitarist Brian Barton Went Missing After Quitting the Band
Brian Roy Barton was born on August 6, 1979, in the state of California. After he turned two, he was adopted by Maureen Barton and her husband J.B. Growing up in the company of his brothers Stephen and Adam in Vista, California, he attended Rancho Buena Vista High School. When he was 21 years old, he decided to follow his passion and dream of becoming a punk rocker, which took him away from his hometown to Federal Way, Washington, with his best friend Jon Krebs. Soon, the manifestations of his dreams started to turn into reality when he became an integral member of the band As Fate Would Have It as a guitar player.
As the band made waves, it grew in popularity in the seaport city of Seattle. Meanwhile, he had been in an on-and-off relationship with Breanna Duvall for about a year or so. In 2005, they even outperformed several other groups in a battle of the bands competition. But when the creators of the famous Taste of Chaos Tour asked them to join the tour, it served as a testament to the fact they were heading in the right direction as a band. However, before the tour began, Brian changed his mind about it and quit the band altogether, for mysterious reasons. Even his best friend couldn’t make sense of that decision of his. Jon found it very strange because he was aware of how much he loved to play the music he and his band were playing.
As for his bandmates, they were left shocked and upset, thinking that he chose his relationship with his fiancée Breanna over the band. But when he disappeared on March 10, 2005, without letting anyone know, his bandmates’ frustration turned into concern over their former partner. His disappearance caused a lot of tension between friends and bandmates as some believed foul play was involved on the part of someone personal while others suspected that he might have orchestrated the vanishing act to start a new life. One of the band members who had to deal with the blame for Brian’s disappearance was the founding member of the band—Dylan “Tank” Loorem. However, he defended himself in a 2014 interview with HuffPost, saying, “I didn’t do anything. I was in 40 bands before that band, and 50 since then. I’m not Dexter.”
On the day of his disappearance, March 10, 2005, Brian went to work for a plastic molding manufacturer and cashed his paycheck before meeting a counselor to whom he had been opening up about his childhood adoption. The 25-year-old’s belongings, including his car keys, cell phone, wallet, and truck, were left behind as he was nowhere to be seen after his appointment with the counselor. When Breanna could not get ahold of her boyfriend, she reported him missing the same day. The police, with the help of Brian’s family and friends, searched for him for more than a decade but to no avail. During this time, his family set up the organization Vanished Inc dedicated to finding him. The organization was created in an effort to share Brian’s story with the rest of the world and raise awareness about the case. It had a Facebook page and a Twitter account and could also be contacted on Gmail.
Brian Barton’s Remains Were Found at a Church Near His Apartment After 12 Years
12 years after Brian’s disappearance, in July 2017, church volunteers and the cleaning crew of the Evergreen Bible Chapel found some human remains in some overgrown shrubbery behind the church in the 34000 block of 21st Avenue Southwest, which is situated not that far from his apartment at that time. While the remains were confirmed to be Brian’s, the police did not believe that any foul play was involved. However, despite all the tests conducted on his remains, the authorities could not determine the cause of death. So, his loved ones might never get the chance to know what exactly happened to Brian and how his remains ended up in the vicinity of the church.
Kimberly Krebs, Jon Kreb’s wife, had a few things to say after his remains were discovered. She shared her thoughts with Kiro7, “It’s just, like, indescribable how awful it is and to have gone 12 years like, 12 years wondering, hoping, wishing, praying that he would show up.” In order to hold a proper funeral for Brian and provide financial support to his family, his friends set up a GoFundMe page. Its description read, “For years, Brian’s family and friends have been searching, going so far as to set up a social media campaign called Vanished Inc in order to help other families share their missing loved one’s stories. If you are unable to give, we encourage you to share this campaign and follow Vanished Inc on Facebook to help bring other missing people home to their brokenhearted families.”
Read More: Chris Tapp: What Happened to Him? How Did He Die?
