Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 17, 1995 TAG: 9503170025
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Instead, the 62-year-old man disappeared from Blacksburg the day before and hasn't been heard from since.
Barnette had moved to Blacksburg about two months before his disappearance to take a job as manager of Pedro's, a Mexican restaurant on Draper Road that friends from Kentucky had opened.
Police said he left the restaurant with about $1,000 of the night's receipts May 22, 1990, and has not been heard from since.
Barnette left behind all his belongings at his Foxridge apartment, including pain medication and antibiotics he was taking for health and dental problems. His personal financial accounts were not closed.
Barnette's locked car was found parked at his apartment complex. ``Nothing's been touched whatsoever - that we're aware of,'' said the missing man's son, John Barnette.
Police have kept the case open, but have no leads.
``It's dead-ended,'' said Detective Sgt. Donnie Goodman. ``We've checked incoming teletypes and leads, but nothing's panned out.''
John Barnette, 33, has taken time off from his job as marketing director for a physical therapy clinic in Lexington, Ky., to search for more clues to his father's disappearance. He was in the New River and Roanoke valleys this week to continue his quest.
Cavin Barnette had come to Blacksburg after his second divorce from John's mother. John Barnette says the usual stresses of divorce were present, but his father knew he was expected in Kentucky three days before the wedding.
``I know he was looking forward to coming.''
When his father didn't show up by May 26, and then never resurfaced, ``we were all really kind of stunned,'' John Barnette said.
He has trouble believing his father would purposely abscond with money from the restaurant, and fears his father could have been abducted and robbed.
``My father, I know, would not take the money and intentionally take off. I don't feel in my heart that he was that desperate.''
Barnette holds out hope that his father is still alive and has started a new life.
If his father is alive, Barnette wants to get reacquainted and introduce him to his grandchildren.
John Barnette has kept in touch with Blacksburg police and has followed leads on his own. News reports of unidentified bodies in Kentucky or Tennessee send him to the phone to call state police in those two states. He twice consulted psychics, both of whom have suggested that Cavin Barnette may have sustained a head injury and developed amnesia.
``I don't know if I believe in them or not,'' John Barnette said of psychics. ``You get to a point where you're desperate,'' and any positive information is welcome.
``We hired a private investigator. He basically came up with nothing. I've written 'Unsolved Mysteries' twice, and they've turned me down.''
The only clue that his father may be alive seems to have the kind of twist Robert Stack would find intriguing.
In October 1992, an old piece of luggage turned up at an Amtrak station in Chicago. The luggage bore the initials ``JS,'' but had a baggage tag giving John Barnette's address. The name, however, was ``Grizelda Barnette,'' which has no meaning for John Barnette.
``Mortville'' had been handwritten on a destination tag. Mortville doesn't exist, and the private investigator believed it could be a veiled reference to death.
John Barnette came to Virginia armed with 4,500 fliers a friend printed for free. The bright yellow sheets with black printing include a photo and description of Cavin Barnette.
John Barnette plans to head back home Saturday if no leads pan out, but may first stop off In Washington, D.C., or other metropolitan areas to continue the search
``I'm kind of flying by the seat of my pants right now,'' he said.
He'll post a few fliers about the New River Valley, send the bulk of them to police departments and hospitals, and hope some word finally comes.
``He's the type of individual, if somebody meets him, they won't forget him,'' Barnette said of his father.
The senior Barnette had a varied work history. He helped coach football at the University of Kentucky in the late 1960s and early 1970s and later owned an automobile dealership and worked in marketing, real estate and public relations.
Cavin Barnette would be 67 today. He is described as 6 feet tall and 180 pounds, with intermixed brown and gray hair. He has blue eyes and sometimes requires glasses. He has had extensive dental work and has a surgical scar on his abdomen.
Anyone with information should call Detective Goodman at 961-1153.
by CNB