On August 31st, 1975, the Newton family started their day at a campground on the Maine/Canadian border in the township of Chain of Ponds just like any other vacation day.

According to NewEngland.com (via Yankee Magazine), that ordinary day included some very ordinary activities, from eating a big breakfast to sitting around a campfire to take the fall-like chill off. However, hours later, Sunday, August 31st of 1975 would end up being anything but ordinary and would turn into the Newton family's worst nightmare.

Canva via Maine State Police
Canva via Maine State Police
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That's because August 31st, 1975 was the day that 4-year-old Kurt Newton disappeared.

The shiny blonde haired boy who was afraid of the woods was reported lost in the worst possible place, the woods.

As word traveled across Maine about Kurt's disappearance, the Newton's friends and family jumped into action to join the search with police. When media alerted the general public, it struck a chord. Before long, there were more than 1,500 volunteers searching the dense woods around Chain of Ponds searching for 4-year-old Kurt Newton, according to newengland.com.

It ended up being the most exhaustive search for a missing person in Maine's history, the article stated.

How did Kurt go missing? The chain of events may seem mundane but each piece adds to the puzzle.

The day before Kurt went missing, Kurt and his sister were playing around the campground, according to newengland.com, and the weather was damp over Labor Day weekend, leaving plenty of mud for children to get into.

Fast forward to the day Kurt goes missing, his mother decides to clean his mud-riddled shoes just 50 yards from the family's campsite, the article stated. Kurt's father, who had built that ordinary campfire in the morning, reportedly needed more wood and set off in his truck to gather more. That left Kurt alone, even for the briefest of moments.

A witness reported seeing Kurt peddling furiously on his bright red tricycle attempting to follow the path his father had taken in his truck to gather the firewood, according to newengland.com. Later that day, another witness found Kurt's red tricycle along the side of the road, the article stated.

Newengland.com reported that over the course of the next 11 days, more than 3,000 people, including Maine's Governor,  joined the search to find Kurt. Shockingly and frustratingly, no clues were found to lead the searchers to Kurt.

Many questions still linger. Did the 4-year-old boy wander so deep into the woods on the day of his disappearance that the search party never stood a chance? Did he encounter agitated wildlife unexpectedly? Was he abducted in one of the most remote parts of the state?

Nearly 45 years later, the disappearance of Kurt Newton remains one of Maine's most troubling unsolved mysteries.

If you or anyone you know has information that could help police solve the disappearance of Kurt Newton, you're asked to contact the Maine State Police at 1-800-228-0857. You can also leave an anonymous tip here.

Here's the Full List of Missing Persons Cases in Maine

 

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