Usher Raymond Thomas, Jr. Went Missing in 1961, And His Family Hopes For Answers

July 10, 2026 — Underground Mysteries

Usher Raymond Thomas, Jr. is an unreported missing person who was last seen in about 1961 in Manhattan, New York City, New York. He was about 18 years old with his whole life ahead of him at the time of his disappearance. The exact date and even year of his disappearance is unclear, but his family believes it was in or around 1961. His niece is one of his main advocates for his search, and she states, “He’s all I have left,” in a compelling plea to the public for assistance in her search.

About Usher Raymond Thomas — Missing Since 1961

Born on March 17, 1943, Usher Raymond Thomas would be 83 years old in present day. He was raised in Brooklyn, NY and grew up on the 500th block of Quincey Street. His parents are both deceased, and his family is searching for answers to his whereabouts.

About Usher Raymond Thomas’ Disappearance

Usher Raymond Thomas’ niece believes that he may have last been seen by his friend, Dougie / Douggie / Duggie.

At this time, this is the first news article and official missing person profile on his case. His niece has shared his story to social media, and someone sent me the post. I then researched his case to learn more about his disappearance.

I was unable to find a death record for Usher Raymond Thomas, and it is uncertain if he is still alive. I also searched records of potters’ fields in NYC, to no avail. I searched the New York courts database, but no records surfaced that I could find. (There may be other court records that are not showing online, as the online portals only go back so far.) Because of the lengthy passage of time, some records may be buried in deeper archives.

I have added Usher’s case to Underground Mysteries’ missing person database, which hosts unreported and underrepresented missing people (as well as reported missing people). Note: If you have an unreported missing loved one, please report him/her missing and please add his/her case to our missing person database.

I called the New York City Police Department, and they could not locate a report pertaining to Usher Raymond Thomas’ disappearance. While he currently does not have an official report in his disappearance, he could have had one at the time of his disappearance. Sometimes, records get lost, purged, or destroyed. Since this case dates back to the 1960s, it is possibly that if a report existed, it simply has been absent, thus never making it to the digitized world. Or, there is a possibility that a report was not attempted, or that one was not permitted. All of those factors are unknown to me.

Usher Raymond Thomas’ Physical Description

Usher Raymond Thomas can be described as an African American male with black hair and brown eyes of average height and weight (at the time of his disappearance). His precise height and weight are unknown. If alive in present day, his hair may be gray or mixed with gray.

Call to Action

Please share this case, in hopes that his family can one day get the closure they deserve. Usher Raymond Thomas may have vanished many years ago as a teenager, but there is still hope in his case. Many people are reunited with their loved ones decades after their disappearance, whether living or deceased. Here is a case of a man named Daniel Gerry Taylor, who also went missing in the 1960s and was rumored to have been in New York (as well as California and Canada). Another older case I have been helping advocate for is of Minnie Lou Benton Daniel, an unreported missing woman who was last seen in the 1950s in Georgia. I have also helped locate many missing people who had been missing for many decades. One example is of a man named William Clyde Brooks, who disappeared from his family and society in 1977. He even had a missing person report, a full case, an investigation, and no one could find him. After doing a deep search into his disappearance, I was able to discover that he had passed away without his family knowing or being alerted.

If you have any information on Usher Raymond Thomas’s case, please call your local authorities. You can mention this article for reference, since an official report does not exist. Also, you can contact me here and I can relay the message to his family members.

Summary

Usher Raymond Thomas – missing since 1961 **

Source

Usher Raymond Thomas’ family members
New York City Police Department
New York State unified court system archives
U.S. public records
U.S. census for 1950
New York County (Manhattan) Supreme Court Clerk’s Office
Kings County (Brooklyn) Supreme Court Clerk’s Office
Federal court records (online portal search tool)
National archives
FOIL requests — underway, not complete
Municipal archives
Newspaper archives
City directories
Voter registration online search tool
Family Search
Ancestry
Numerous people-finder tools: Whitepages, Truthfinder, Been Verified, and many others)