Name: Brian Roy Barton
Age: 24 years old
Last seen: March 10, 2005
Location: Federal Way, Washington
Status: Found deceased in August 2017
Disappeared: Season 3 Episode 4 “The Final Chord”
Case Information
24 year old Brian Barton was last seen in Federal Way, Washington on March 10, 2005. He disappeared after quitting his punk rock band and breaking up with his girlfriend.
Background
Brian Barton was born on August 6, 1979, in California. At age two, he was adopted by parents Maureen and Brian Barton. He has two brothers.
In 1997, Barton graduated from Buena Vista Highschool in Vista, California. When he turned 21, Barton moved to Seattle with a friend and soon became involved in the music scene of the city, home of grunge music.
Barton joined the punk rock band As Fate Would Have It as the lead guitarist. Within four years, the band quickly enjoyed success and popularity in Seattle. In 2005, they entered a contest in a battle of the bands, where they outperformed numerous groups.
Following the contest, they were chosen to join a tour in Los Angeles by the creators of Taste of Chaos Tour.
At the time of his disappearance, Barton was in an on-and off relationship with girlfriend Breanna Duvall for about a year. The band considered their relationship a hindrance to their success.
On March 8, 2005, Barton called his girlfriend, and following a long discussion over the phone, they decided to break up. However, the couple got back together within a day and Barton subsequently quit his band, dropping out of the tour inexplicably.
Disappearance
On March 10, 2005, Barton went to work at a plastic molding manufacturer and cashed his paycheck.
At 4:00 pm, Barton went for an appointment with a counselor that he had been seeing upon recently learning of his adoption. They discussed his childhood and his relationship with his girlfriend.
Following the appointment, Barton’s girlfriend tried to contact him around 5:00 pm, but all calls to his cellphone went to voicemail. Brian Barton has not been heard or seen from again.
Growing concerned, his girlfriend left work early to go check on him at their apartment in the 1300 block of Southwest Campus Drive in Federal Way, Washington. His truck was parked in the driveway, but no signs of Barton were found.
She filed a missing persons report that evening when he did not return.
Investigation
Barton left behind his keys and his powered off cell phone inside his vehicle. His wallet containing about $800 in cash and his work clothes were discovered inside his apartment. There’s been no activity on his bank accounts since he went missing.
Human remains found behind church in Federal Way
On July 29, 2017, skeletal remains were uncovered by church members during a routine clean up of the property behind Evergreen Bible Chapel, in Federal Way, Washington.
The church was located in the 34000 block of 21st Avenue Southwest, within a mile of where Barton lived.
On August 4, 2017, the body was positively identified as Brian Roy Barton. A preliminary examination by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office found no evidence of foul play in the death.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Brian Barton please contact the Federal Way Police Department (253) 835-6700.
Resources & Further Information
Brian Barton Memorial Fund, organized by Jon Krebs – Go Fund Me
News & Media Links
Did Seattle Punk Rocker Brian Barton Stage His Own Disappearance? – HuffPost 05/14
Human remains found by church workers in Federal Way – The News Tribune 07/2017
Remains Of Missing Punk Rocker Found Behind Church – HuffPost 04/17
This episode made me so sad. From the beginning of the episode he sounded so much like my ex-husband who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. He is high-functioning and does not fit the typical picture of a schizophrenic. It’s not unusual for them to want to experience wanderlust and want to just up and leave their lives, even if that’s not they way they have been in the past. With him having experience on roughing it, Brian likely tried to just disappear from his life and start a new one off the grid. It’s just sad that the detectives and friends started attacking one another. If they had only understood all of the signs of what was going on, none of that would have been necessary. And the fact that he talked about taking his life should have motivated police to look sooner instead of treating it as a typical, adult disappearance. I think law enforcement could use more training on mental health and at-risk suicide cases.
I just saw this episode of “Disappeared” last night for the first time and decided to Google to see if he had been found. This is sad beyond words but I am glad his family at least knows what happened to him, at least, that they can stop searching. I wondered who killed him? Because it certainly seems that someone did, since his body was buried….as they always say at times like this: someone knows something. I guess this is one that will never be solved.
I would love to see Disappeared back on tv this helps families have hope and gives them closer sometimes. . People don’t just Disappear somebody knows something!!!!
Watching this episode and reading more about it the officer who grabbed this case failed to do a proper job with following through with this guy’s clear mental health issues. The fact they didn’t organize any search of the area and instead pointed fingers at his friends and girlfriend was a disaster. Given they found his remains a half mile away from where they were living 12 years later with no signs of any foul play mean the police failed badly. Just terrible and embarrassing the way they handled it. I question how many other cases this officer screwed up over the years she was working.
Can’t help but feel Breanna complained about Brian to her roommate and Brains bandmate, and Brians girlfriend and two bandmates hatched a plan to get rid of him.
If someone tells you they would never commit suicide, believe them.
Brian was miserable because both his friends, bandmates and girlfriend consistently let him down.