Mark Himebaugh's Mother Still Hoping For Answers After 11-Year-Old Son's Disappearance Nearly 3 Decades Ago
DEL HAVEN, N.J. (CBS) -- A South Jersey mother turns to CBS3 Mysteries for help to find her little boy who disappeared nearly 30 years ago. Mark Himebaugh lived in Del Haven, Cape May County.
Joe Holden sat down with Mark's mother who still lives in the same house, with the same phone number holding onto hope that Mark will come home.
Closing in on 30 years of grief and heartache.
"People don't know that I cry behind closed doors for Mark because he was adorable, intuitive, sweet," Maureen Himebaugh said. "I am Mark's mom. Always, always."
Her 11-year-old son - now missing for three decades this November. He is the Del Haven, Cape May County boy who's been "forever lost."
"I have his little troll that he gave me right before he disappeared. And it was all wrapped up, the police even opened it. It was wrapped in paper for my birthday," Maureen Himebaugh said.
November 25, 1991. Mark left home to watch a brush fire burning in the nearby marsh. It's the last time he's seen.
Fire police set up a detour down Mark's street, which flooded the neighborhood with traffic, and possibly the person who abducted Mark.
"We have an 11-year-old boy who is missing. There's no closure for the family one way or the other," Cape May County Prosecutor's Office Detective Marshall Cradock.
A detail as random as a make or model of a car or the part of a license plate could be key.
"Any information could be critical," Cradock said.
Of the many theories investigators have, one is that something happened to Mark close to the bay. His mother says one of her shoes was found there, she believes it was placed to confuse the investigation.
"In the beginning, the police were here every day," Maureen Himebaugh said.
Dozens of interviews and even some possible targets of the investigation have all amounted to only more questions and some dead ends.
The Cape May County Prosecutors Office declined to discuss potential persons of interest. For now, Mark Himebaugh has been forever lost while also forever young as the clock has ticked on.
"He's always that young, and we need to find him and find who is responsible for this," Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey Sutherland said.
"He was taken, but I don't know why. There's a lot of theories but I don't know why, what it was. That's why I'm hoping someone will come forward with that I'm hoping," Maureen Himebaugh said.
Reminders of Mark are everywhere.
"I take my finger and I kiss his picture a lot," Maureen Himebaugh said.
But no Mark. He turns 41 on Sunday. It's a day Maureen chooses to celebrate while lost in forever agonizing over the whereabouts of Mark Himebaugh.
"I've accepted that I could go to my grave and not know. I don't want that. I want closure because the not knowing is the hardest. In my heart I know he's probably gone because of the time, but you can't give up. I am not giving up on him coming home, I'm not," Maureen Himebaugh said.
If you have any information that may be able to help detectives, please reach out to Cape May County prosecutors at 609-465-2800.
