Missing: Brian Thomas Vargo
Brian Vargo was a sophomore student at UT Austin in 1976, when he disappeared during a spring break road trip to Colorado. 48 years later, his niece is heading up the family's search for answers.
Brian Thomas Vargo, born September 8th, 1955, was a college sophomore, studying Architectural Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. On March 9th of 1976, he was 20 years old and heading out for spring break. He told roommates that he was heading out to Colorado, to meet up with a friend and possibly work at a "dude ranch". Unknown to his roommates or his family, he had dropped out of school that day.
Somewhere in Colorado during his trip, his white Mazda RX2 broke down. He must of decided to sell it rather than fix it up, because he traveled back to Houston to get the title from his parent's house. His mother, now in her 100s, reports she saw him shuffling through some papers when he came back to the house. Vargo was then dropped off by his mother and aunt at a bus stop in Katy, Texas. That was the last anyone saw of him.
When the family got messages from UT Austin that Vargo had not been back to classes since spring break ended, nor had he been to his apartment, they were shocked. The school told them to come pick up his things. They found his wallet and other belongings in the apartment, but no Vargo. According to the family, they were advised against filing a missing person's report.
Prior to his disappearance, Vargo was a very well-liked and studious person. He made honor role in spring of 1975. Everything started to go a little downhill for him in the summer of 1975. He was pulled over by police while back in Houston, and they found marijuana in his car. Later, family found letters and journals of Vargo's, where he described losing interest in everything. According to his sister, Vanita Vargo Netek, there was one such letter addressed to his father that read "I just need to get away. I need to take some time." By fall of 1975, his grades started to slip, and this resulted in him dropping out in spring of 1976 without telling anyone.
For the longest time, the family believed that Vargo would return. His mother kept his room exactly the same way it was when he left. It wasn't until they got a call from a mechanic in Colorado, saying that they had Vargo's car and wanted to know what they were supposed to do with it. Once they realized he never got back to his car, they really started to worry. Vargo's family then hired a private investigator to find him, only to have the investigator pursue a drug-related line of questioning. Tim Murphrey, one of Vargo's college roommates, firmly asserted that Vargo wasn't a drug addict of any kind. “He smoked weed and drank beer but he didn’t have a greed for drugs."
The family tried to file an official missing person's report around the late 1990's, but for one reason or another it was never completed. It was not until February 2nd, 2021 that a missing person's report was filed by Vargo's niece, Amanda Vargo Wattecamps, nearly 45 years after he went missing.
Provided he was still alive, Vargo would now be almost 66 years old. The family and police have not stopped searching for him, and APD reports that the case is still open.
If you, or anyone you know, have any information about the disappearance of Brian Thomas Vargo, please contact the Austin Police Department's Missing Persons' Unit at 512-974-4123 or call Crime Stoppers at 713-521-4600.
Sources:
https://www.facebook.com/Searching4BrianVargo/
Instagram: @searching4brianvargo
Matt Largey
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