Thurlow M Buchanan was a hardworking, diligent, and dependable young man with plans for a successful future.

Thurlow graduated from O.D. Wyatt High School in 1984 and began going to night school shortly after, where he started learning how to be a plumber. He played track and football in high school, loved playing minigolf on the weekends, and going to high school and college athletic events in his free time. Thurlow worked plumbing jobs and had big plans to finish his last year of night school and to join his uncle at his firm working as a journeyman plumber.

“He was easy-going. Everybody liked him. He was just a good kid.” - Thurlow’s instructor.

Thurlow was described by friends, family, and others who knew him as being easy-going, very hardworking, dependable, and popular. He had lots of friends and made sure to never leave town without telling someone in his family. He was a happy young man, who had money in the bank, a new pickup truck, and a beautiful girlfriend; which makes the circumstances surrounding his disappearance much more suspicious.

Thurlow was last seen in Fort Worth, TX in 1987.

Thurlow was last seen leaving a friend’s apartment on Pinson Street in Fort Worth, TX on November 9, 1988. When he left, he was driving his new 1987 Nissan pickup truck. Three days later, on November 12, 1987, his pickup truck was given a parking ticket about a half mile away from the University of Houston near downtown Houston, TX. Nothing in or around the truck indicated that foul play was involved.

Thurlow’s girlfriend, Terri, attended the University of Houston, so it was initially believed that he may have visited her after leaving his friend’s home on the day of his disappearance. However, his family members explained that he did frequently visit her, but usually on the weekends.

“There’s no way he would have went there then, not without fresh clothes, or in the middle of the week, because he had to be in school.” - Virginia Gilliam, Thurlow’s mother.

Where the case stands today.

Today, Thurlow has remained missing for 35 years without any signs or clues leading to his whereabouts. Authorities have acknowledged that Thurlow likely met with foul play on the night of his disappearance, despite not finding any concrete evidence that would prove this belief.

At the time of his disappearance in 1987, Thurlow was described as a 22 year old African American man with black hair and brown eyes. He was 5’9” tall and weighed approximately 160 lbs. He has a scar between his eyes on his forehead and a scar on his left cheek. Today, Thurlow would be 57 years old. If you have any information regarding Thurlow's whereabouts or his disappearance, please contact the Fort Worth Police Department at (817) 392-4442.