Birth: July 5, 1988
Disappearance Location: Azalea, Oregon
Disappearance Date: March 18, 1991
Age at time of disappearance: 2
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Height: 2'5"
Weight: 35 pounds
Sex: Male
Race: White
Thomas 'Tommy' Dean Gibson was last seen around 11:30AM on Monday, March 18, 1991 playing in his front yard in rural Azalea, Oregon. He was wearing a purple sweatshirt, gray pants and black and white checkered sneakers. At the time, Tommy had a gap between his from upper teeth.
Thomas's father, Larry Gibson, was then-the Douglas County Deputy Sheriff. He told authorities he was taking a job around his property during the late morning hours, carrying a handgun with him to shoot stray cats, many of which had been living on the property.
Larry claimed he shot at a cat near the area where Tommy was playing, but missed the animal. Larry claims he continued on his job and learned his son was missing after returning to the house approximately 45 minutes later. Photo of Larry below.
The family contacted authorities immediately after Larry realized Tommy was missing. Larry was told not to report to work at the sheriff's office, but apparently dressed in his uniform and left the property for approximately 25 minutes during the investigation. Larry claims that his 4-year old daughter witnessed an unidentified couple pull into their driveway and abduct Tommy. Larry said he was checking a local rest area for signs of Tommy and the couple.
While loved ones searched the surrounding communities for Tommy, Larry say at home; at one point he told the searchers to give up and go home because it was snowing.
Authorities believe Larry shot at a stray cat and killed the animal, as a deceased cat was located on their property near Tommy's last known location. Investigators believe the bullet traveled through the cat and struck Tommy as he played, killing him. They theorized that Larry noticed Tommy's body after returning from his job and buried the child in an effort to conceal his crime.
Larry denied all of that and maintained his innocence throughout the investigation. After Tommy's disappearance, Larry resigned from the sheriff's office and moved to his native Montana. He and his wife divorced in 1994, and she took their three children and moved back to Oregon.
Larry's estranged wife and his daughters later changed their stories to investigators and said that his daughter witnessed her father hitting Tommy. Larry then put the child's body in a black plastic garbage bag, put the bag in the back of his patrol car and drove away. And in 1994, Larry was charged with the murder of his son, Tommy.
In March 1995, Larry was ultimately convicted of second-degree manslaughter, although he continues to deny any involvement in Tommy's disappearance.
At his trial, Larry's half-sister, Debbie Clark, testified against him stating that after Tommy went missing she received a frantic phone call from Larry in which he confessed to killing Tommy, and telling her he may need money to post bail after his arrest. Prosecutor's star-witness, Tommy's sister, Karen, told the court that her father threatened her against telling authorities what she originally witnessed, and felt unsafe to do so until the couple got a divorced in 1994.
Larry served less than one year and in 1996, Larry was released from prison and has since published a website appealing for information on the whereabouts of his son.
Tommy has never been located. His case remains classified as a non-family abduction. If you have any information on the disappearance or whereabouts of Thomas Dean Gibson, please contact the Douglas County Sheriff's Office at 503-440-4450 or your local FBI office. ** I do all the research myself and the information on the case is from online sources and may or may not be correct.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Thomas_Gibson
https://charleyproject.org/case/thomas-dean-gibson
https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Tommy_Gibson
https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/170dmor.html
they forgot me already