Paperboy Brian Bleyl Went Missing on His Paper Route and Was Never Seen Again.

Brian Richard Bleyl was born on December 2nd, 1968, in Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona, United States to Philip Lingren Bleyl and Sharan Rasmussen. He had seven siblings: Jane, Diane, Kevin, Gordon, Jonathan, William and Lisa Ann. 

The family lived at 914 W. Avenue in Pheonix in 1981. At the time, Brian was a sixth-grade student at Orangewood Elementary School.

On Saturday, February 28th, around 3 p.m., a 12-year-old Brian was last seen riding his bike around North 9th Avenue and West Myrtle Avenue attempting to finish his Phoenix Gazette newspaper route. He was wearing a light blue t-shirt with the words "GUHSD Physical Education Department", dark blue warm-up pants with a white stripe on the sides, and blue sneakers.

Philip found Brian's bike the next day in an alley in the 1100 block of west Glendale which was just a few blocks away from home. The police didn't start looking for Brian until this day.

Maybe the authorities thought Brian was a runaway. His parents and friends however, never once thought that he would run away. Every day for the past five weeks Brian went out to his backyard to check on his pregnant pigeon. His father said that Brian knew the eggs were supposed to hatch on Sunday, and he wouldn't miss it. He also missed Church and on Monday school, both activities he really enjoyed.

The search for Brian intensified on Monday with Lt. Mike Kavanaugh at the helm. He set up a temporary command post at a fire station at 7th Avenue and Glendale where he assigned 19 detectives to go door to door in Brian's neighborhood to search for answers.

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office searched an area near the Aqua Fria River after a tip came in about a boy matching Brian's description being seen riding in what was described as a blue 4-wheel drive Ford Bronco with a handicap license plate.

16 jeeps from the county's jeep posse scoured the rain drenched Aqua Fria River bottom in an eight-mile area from Olive Avenue to McDowell between El Mirage Road and 107th Avenue. The search lasted about five hours, but nor the jeep or Brian was found.

Brian's parents didn't think the boy spotted in the jeep was their son because he was described as wearing different clothes than Brian was last seen in.

At the end of the day, the officers had not come up with any significant leads. And the case went cold.

In 1989, after new information was received by police, 39-year-old Stephen Michael Wilson was arrested and charged with Brian's abduction, molestation and murder. Stephen lived at the 2500 block of East Clarendon and was a customer on Brian's newspaper route. and according to Sgt. Andy Anderson of the Phoenix Police Department, he was a suspect from the very beginning.

Police reports claimed that in 1982 Stephen confessed to two acquaintances and, in a separate conversation, to a Phoenix doctor that he had killed Brian.

During the trial the prosecutor said that Brian and other kids had hurled homophobic insults at an openly gay Stephen and also threw rocks at his home. This caused Stephen to strike out against Brian.

Also, during the trial it came out that Brian's bike was found a few yards behind Stephen's apartment, and a neighbor said she'd seen the boy at Stephen's front door around the time he vanished.

At the end of the trial, the jury acquitted Stephen of all charges.

After his acquittal, a frail Stephen continued to make jewelry. He also had a nearly fatal heart attack and ended up moving in with his parents to spend his last days. He had attended the Nutcracker performance with family members the night of December 22nd, 1993. He ended up passing away early the next morning. He maintained his innocence in Brian's case until his last day.

When Brian disappeared, he was a 5-foot, 95-pound, Caucasian male with blond hair and brown eyes. He also has a red birthmark the size of a quarter on his forearm. He is diabetic and requires insulin. He needs to inject 30 units of insulin a day and, allegedly if he goes more than a few days without it, he will slip into a coma and eventually die.

Here is an age progression photo of Brian. He would turn 55 this year.

Anyone having information regarding this case is asked to contact the Phoenix Police Department
Missing Persons Unit at (602) 534-2121 or phoenix.tips.ppd@phoenix.gov.
After hours: (602)262-6141
Detective D’addabbo #5586 Sergeant Chapman #7114
602-534-3053 602-262-4088