feb 22, 1970 - Peter Joseph "Pete" Bonick & Richard Nelson "Rick" Lamson DISAPPEARANCES

Description:

Peter Bonick, 17, and Richard Lamson, 18, are two friends who are believed to have gone missing together on Sunday, February 22, 1970. Despite this, details differ between accounts of each boy's disappearance. Because of this, I will be discussing the circumstances of each one separately.

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Richard Lamson, 18, was last seen at home in San Mateo, CA on Sunday, February 22, 1970. His friend Peter Bonick disappeared at the same time; authorities believe they left together. Neither of them have ever been seen or heard from again. Very few details are available in his case.

According to Ancestry and the City of San Mateo directories from 1969 and 1971, Richard was living with his parents Richard Charles Lamson and Lorraine Lamson (nee Zell) and his older sister Constance, who was a student. Richard's father, Richard Sr, was a field supervisor at San Francisco Naval Shipyard, which has since been renamed Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. The Lamson family lived at 1739b Marina Ct in San Mateo, San Mateo County, CA.

Richard Lamson is a white male with brown hair and blue eyes. At the time of his disappearance, he was 18 years old, 6'0, and 185 lbs. He was last seen wearing a gold-colored shirt, blue jeans, a coral-colored jacket, and desert boots. Richard was born on January 14, 1952 in Guam, where his father was stationed at the time; if alive today he would be 73 years old.

According to the Doe Network, Richard is Endangered Missing, though the Charley Project lists him as simply Missing. It should be noted that the Charley Project incorrectly gives his middle name as Henry, when it is in fact Nelson.

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Peter Bonick, 17, was last seen at home in the vicinity of the 2000 block of Ginnever Street in San Mateo, CA during the morning hours of Sunday, February 22, 1970. He was later seen hitchhiking on State Route 92 to Half Moon Bay, San Mateo County, CA. He has never been heard from again. While NamUs indicates that Peter was last seen traveling with a male companion — i.e. Richard Lamson — the sources that specify where he was last seen hitchhiking do not further specify that Richard was with him at that time.

According to the 1971 directory for the city of San Mateo, Peter's parents, Paul and Sandra "Sandi" Bonick, lived at 2081 Ginnever St in San Mateo, CA at the time; they had been living there since at least 1965. The family previously lived at 1705 Peck in San Mateo up to at least 1961.

Paul Bonick was assistant vice president of money transfer at Crocker Citizens National Bank in San Francisco. By November 1969 he was also treasurer of a San Mateo Boy Scout troop. While not specified in 1971, by at least 1974 Sandra was a nurse working at Mills Memorial Hospital. Peter's mother and father passed away in 2014 and 2023, respectively. He has an older brother named Paul James Bonick Jr who is still alive.

Peter had previously had an incident with the police in September 1965, when he was twelve years old. He reportedly tried to run away by stealing his father's car after being reprimanded for having a fight with a sibling, possibly a younger sister. Peter led two CHP officers on a chase for almost an hour before stopping. His father came and got him, and no punishment for the incident was reported.

According to the Charley Project, Peter may have been staying at a boys' home called the Log Cabin Ranch in La Honda, San Mateo County, CA in February 1970. The same source indicates that at the time of his disappearance, he was on a weekend pass to visit his family. Peter also may have been sighted by two friends a month or so after his disappearance at the Mayfair Market. However, it should be noted that the Charley Project, as well as the Whereabouts Still Unknown blog post which seems to use it as a source, do not cite where the information regarding the boys' home and possible later sightings came from. It is possible that this information was originally included in missingincalifornia.com, which was linked by the Charley Project and has since been taken down; there are no posts on that site regarding Peter or Richard that are available on the Wayback Machine.

Peter Bonick is a white male with blue-green hazel eyes. His hair is variously described as blonde, light brown, and sandy. At the time of his disappearance he was 17 years old, 6'0, and 175 lbs; alternatively, one source, CA DOJ, lists his weight as 160 lbs. His upper front tooth is chipped, and he has a root canal with no restorations. One of his shoulder blades is higher than the other due to idiopathic scoliosis. He was last seen wearing blue jeans and a beige or yellow shirt. His date of birth is February 6, 1973; if alive today, he would be 72 years old.

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It seems that both boys used to have profiles on NCMEC, though this is no longer the case. Richard's NCMEC case number was 1214160, while Peter's was 1211918. The pages were not archived on the Wayback Machine.

There are photos of both boys on all databases. However, there are no age progressions of the two. The DNA of both boys are available for comparison. Peter's dentals and fingerprints are also available, while Richard's are not.

Richard has 29 rule-outs on his NamUs profile. There are 40 UIDs on Peter's exclusion list, including Solano County John Doe 1979. Neither of them are Swimsuit Boy, an unidentified victim of Texas serial killer Dean Corll.

Anyone with information regarding the boys' disappearance is urged to contact Stacey Chamberlain and/or Diana Scalzo of the San Mateo PD at (650) 522-7700. Richard's agency case number is 130312022, while Peter's is 000216021.

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On February 11, 2017, the Facebook account Missing - Please Find Us posted about Peter and Richard's disappearance, stating, "My brother Peter Bonick and his friend Rick Lamson
were hitchiking [sic] from San Mateo, Calif. to Half Moon Bay, Calif. (25 mi.) in March of 1970. They both disappeared and the only person to hear from them was in jail at the time but sadly, he commited [sic] suicide." It seems that a sibling of Peter — or at least, someone posing as one — may have submitted this to the Facebook page to be posted. It is unknown which sibling posted this, if it is even authentic at all.

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On August 30, 2011 at 2:19pm, a user named Linda Williams commented on a Charley Project Blog post that briefly mentioned Peter:
"Regarding Peter J. Bonick cold case mystery – A friend got an email from a former classmate of us all. Towards the end he asked if anyone had found out what happened to Rick Lamson, then went on to say he saw Peter Bonick at the San Mateo County Fair in 1977. He further stated when their eyes first met he didn’t think Pete recognized him, then Peter turned an ran. FYI: Peter worked at the fair helping to set up rides & do odd jobs in ’67 or ’68."

Two years later, on May 22, 2013, another user named Yun responded to Linda, asking her where she got this information, to which Linda replied, "Regarding request for information on who saw Peter Bonick at the fair in San Mateo. I kept the original e-mail with the name of the person who saw him. I also spent 3-4 hours in San Mateo in 2009 with the person who saw Peter at Mayfair Market in San Mateo several months AFTER he was reported missing. When I spoke to the cold case detective in San Mateo in 2008 she told me there was nothing in his file that mentioned Rick vanishing with him or at the same time. I’m also interested in knowing who Yun is and what your interest is in this case, did you know either of them, are you a detective?"

Linda then followed it up two days later, saying, "I received confirmation on Peter Bonick being seen at the San Mateo County Fair in 1977. This is the copy/paste verification from B.B.
“I can tell you this, when I saw Pete that night there was NO DOUBT who he was. Like I said it took him a few seconds to recognize me, but I am sure he did. He had a shaved head was the only difference, but there was no mistake who he was.”"

In a separate comment on May 23, 2013, Linda stated the following:
"Peter was not only seen at Mayfair Market AFTER the date he vanished but he spoke to Karin & her then boyfriend, asked if she had seen Butch Ballard (now deceased). Asked her to relay a message that he would get the money from him later. I have interviewed Butch’s room mate to see if Butch ever saw Peter but he didn’t. Source said: when Butch drank & talked a lot & couldn’t keep a secret. Regarding seeing Pete at the SM Fair, this is a copy paste of the message sent to RE, they had not been in touch for 38 years & found each other on FB. I’m waiting for this person to contact me, his initials are B.B. he wrote: “I think everyone you talk to is ashamed of something they did. One day at the county fair (1977) in san mateo, I was talking to someone, I forget who, and in the crowd Peter Bonick came through and at first I dont think he knew who I was, we stood there 4 feet apart for a few moments he wheeled around and took of running. Did you ever know what happened to Rick Lampson?” NOTE he spelled the last name wrong, this has been a common mistake when discussing this case with others.
Why did it take so long to add Rick Lamson to the missing person list and who finally added him. I’m told he had an older sister.
Rick was 18 at the time he vanished is is possible he was trying to avoid the draft that was in place in 1970. Both these boys were locked up at The Boys Ranch in La Honda in 1969-70. Pete was 1 week from getting out with an early diploma, I don’t know if Rick had already gotten out but they were friends prior to being locked up & they were NOT busted at the same time."

She also stated in another comment on June 2, 2013, "Although both boys [Rick and Peter] went missing the same day it’s important to note that neither were actually seen together to my knowledge."

While this all may in fact be true, I should note that there is really no way to exactly verify Linda's personal relations to the case. Regardless of the authenticity of her account, I am leaving it here for others to judge.

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WRITE-UP COMPLETION DATE: June 15, 2025

Cases mentioned:
Solano County John Doe 1979
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LUNAR PHASE: waning gibbous
ZODIAC SIGN: pisces
DAY OF WEEK: Sunday
EVENTS: Feb. 16 = Presidents' Day (6 days earlier)

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