Mark Himebaugh was last seen on November 25, 1991, in his Del Haven, New Jersey, neighborhood. He was eleven years old at the time. Credit: FBI
Police are hoping new technology will help them solve the case of an 11-year-old boy who went missing in 1991—but that technology is not genetic genealogy. Rather, it’s an artificial intelligence (AI) service.
Last month, the Middle Township Police Department in New Jersey announced they entered into an agreement with Tabtu Corp. and its service provider Terawe to utilize their Vollee Artificial Intelligence service to assist in the Mark Himebaugh missing person case.
“Investigations can result in the collection of large amounts of data and evidence. AI has the potential to help find patterns and connections in this vast array of information that may not be readily apparent,” reads the police department statement. “The Vollee AI service can help improve the efficiency and efficacy of these investigations. The use of the Vollee Neural AI Assistant, built on Microsoft’s Azure cloud service, enables advanced computer and processing capabilities.”
Himebaugh was 11-years-old when he vanished near his family’s home on Nov. 25, 1991. He was last seen around 4 p.m. when he walked down the street to observe firefighters extinguishing a small brush fire a quarter of a mile from the family home. One hour later, he was reported missing.
Due to the fire, a detour was set up that flooded Himebaugh's street with unusual traffic, which many believe led to his abduction. There have been a handful of leads in the last 32 years, but none have panned out.
In 2010, an unidentified man called the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children from a payphone in Philadelphia. He described himself as “the son of the witness of the crime,” and said "Gilbert Patrick Marie" was involved in the boy's disappearance. However, police were never able to identify anyone by that name, nor were they able to identify the caller.
Perhaps the strongest lead came in 2015. A male prostitute told investigators that Thomas Butcavage showed him a tape where he was sexually assaulting a handcuffed boy. The prostitute said the boy looked like Himebaugh. The police released a composite sketch of a person of interest who resembles convicted sex offender Butcavage, who is currently imprisoned.
The only evidence recovered was one of Himebaugh's sneakers near the scene of the fire.
Middle Township Lt. Tracey Super, a department spokesman, told NJ Advance Media that the partnership with Terawe is still in its infancy.
“We’re going to compile all our data—from Middle Township Police Department, the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office, the FBI and State Police. We’re going to put that into one clearinghouse and be able to search that. The (AI) is also going to be able to go through other resources outside of our investigation so if say, a subject comes up in an investigation, we’re going to see if he had any ties to the area,” Super told the local New Jersey media entity.
The Middle Township Police Department partnered with Terawe after then-Chief Christopher Leusner saw a presentation about AI at a police chiefs convention.
"It is important that we use every available resource and the latest technology to help us find Mark. My hope is this pilot program will help us solve Mark’s case and be used as a model to help with other cold cases," Leusner said. The police chief retired on June 1 and was succeeded by Jennifer Pooler.