Christine Green-Missing 28 Years

Photo Credit: Charley Project.org

ON April 23, 1985, 16 year-old Christine Green from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was last seen leaving her family's residence around 8:00 AM. She was on her way to Bartram High School for her classes, but never arrived to any of them. She has never been seen of heard from again.

Christine was 5'0" and weighed 90 pounds at the time of her disappearance. She has black hair and brown eyes, and may go by the nicknames "Tina" or "Dinky". She has a scar on her left side from a surgery she received in July 1984. She was last seen wearing a pink blouse, blue vest, jeans and black shoes. In 1984, she had her left kidney removed, and was being monitored for any sickness or fever as a result of the procedure. As a result, she may be in need of medication. Also, it was never confirmed, but Christine may have been pregnant at the time of her disappearance.

Christine's disappearance was hard to research because there is not a lot of details or information about her case. However, there are two theories. One is that Christine was afraid to go home because she was pregnant, and ran away as a result. The second is more sinister, indicating she may have been intercepted on her walk to school that morning. Her family spoke out on the theory that she ran away. Christine has no noted prior behavior of running away, or even not informing her family of her whereabouts. Her family says that even if she did leave, if she was okay, she would have called to let them know.
These are two of the biggest theories. Her pregnancy could be a motive for her leaving. Back in the 1980s, as a pregnant teen, any girl would be scared to death. Perhaps she left out of fear, or perhaps she met up with someone and did not intend to go to school. With the lack of information in her disappearance, I am wondering if she has any friends that could confirm her being pregnant. Did she have a boyfriend? Did he know she was pregnant, and how did both of them feel about it if she was? Did she have anyone out to get her from school or as a result of a relationship? Is it possible she thought about seeking out an abortion? If she left because of the pregnancy, I truly feel she would have told at least one person of her plants, or made hints about her thoughts to leave. However, note that her case classification is "Endangered Missing". This brings me to the second theory about Christine's disappearance.

Allen Briscoe was last seen exiting the bus on Woodland Avenue. (Photo Credit: Charley Project.org)

Months later, the mother of 16 year-old Allen Briscoe Jr. called home from work around 7:30 AM (on Friday the 13th) to wake Allen and his 17 year-old sister up for school. Allen always answered, but this time, no one picked up. Allen was a student at Batram High School. An hour after school, around 3:30 PM, Allen's mother called again from her second job. At the time, she did not get home from work until 11:30 PM. Again, no answer. At 11:00 PM, she had discovered that Allen's sister had arrived home, but was locked out because Allen had the keys. She waited at her grandmother's house. Allen was never seen or heard from again.
Allen's school closed early that day, and records show Allen attended school at some point that day. Two of his friends also confirmed this, but Allen's mother believes he never attended school that Friday. A friend of Allen's said that they rode the subway around Philadelphia, and returned to their neighborhood by bus later that day. Allen had mentioned to his friend he had plans to visit a female friend later that day. The last confirmed reported sighting of Allen is exiting the bus at Woodland Avenue.
When Allen vanished, he was 5'8" and weighed 140 pounds. He has black hair, brown eyes and a lump on his shoulder. His right shoulder droops as he walks. He also has a scar on his shoulder, is bowlegged and one of his front teeth was chipped at the time of his disappearance. His nicknames are "Squeaky"  or "Squeak". He was last seen wearing a black jacket and blue jeans.

An image of John Batram High School today, where both Christine and Allen were students during their disappearances. (Photo Credit: Wikipedia U.S National Registar of Historic Places)

Unlike Christine's disappearance, police do not believe Allen was a runaway. He did not speak of leaving his home and left behind his clothes, belongings and money. Investigators believe his friends may hold more answers, and have tried to re-interview them. However, due to the passage of time, investigators are having trouble locating them.
According to Nancy Grace on CNN Justice, another boy in the area Allen was last confirmed to be in was also brought up as being a good individual for an interview. The boy came over to Allen's house a few days before his disappearance, and Allen's mother remembers warning her son to keep away from him.
A southwest Philadelphia woman named Rajchel called in with a tip saying she believed her boyfriend was Allen Briscoe after seeing an age progression of him in a magazine ad. She said the photo closely resembles her boyfriend. Rajchel contacted the man on this subject, and he has been uncooperative about whether or not he is Allen due to a criminal history. Allen's mother hopes to see him to be able to rule him out or in as her son, missing 28 years ago.

Here is a map showing a bus stop along Woodland Avenue. Although this is recent, it could also be the area Allen was last seen at. You can see an aerial view here.(Photo Credit: Google Maps)

Police also are considering the possibility that Christine and Allen's disappearances are connected. Most importantly, did these two know each other from school or have any type of connection, even a similar group of friends? Both were African American, attended Batram High School, vanished months apart in 1989, and were from the same area. If they were abducted, could the suspect have know both separately? But why would they be targets out of all people? Did they have knowledge about something important that could have later made them targets? With the lack of people found to interview and lack of national news coverage on both, it is hard to answer any of the questions on here. Both seem like good, family-oriented kids, despite being the big1-6 (sweet sixteen). I also think that considering Christine as a runaway dislodged the search for her early on in her disappearance. The first 48 hours are crucial, and they didn't considered any other theories until they thought of a connection to Allen's disappearance, in which it does not seem like he was a runaway.

14 year-old Jerome Morris vanished in 1990, last seen leaving his residence. There is barely any information on his disappearance. (Photo Credit: CharleyProject.org)

I searched the NAMUS database for other disappearances that occurred between 1980-1990, involving teens, and I did pull up a couple of profiles, but it is hard to link or exclude them because there is barely any information on them. The first is 14 year-old Jerome Eugene Morris, who vanished on August 1, 1990 from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was last seen leaving his home, and has not been seen since. There are no news articles on this boy, and I was unable to establish who last seen him and where he may have been headed to. Police have always assumed him to be a runaway, but Christine was also thought to be a runaway as well. I don't think any other angle has been investigated in his disappearance. I also noticed there are no age progressions done of him. Usually this can be due to the case being closed, police already reaching a resolution or the family requesting agencies not to do it. I am hoping it was not done because he is assumed to be a runaway.
The second disappearance was of 13 year-old Sparky Wilson. She vanished on April 18, 1990, from Kilbuck, Pennsylvania, although some list her disappearance from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There is no other information on her disappearance, except that she was last seen wearing a white jacket. I cannot say that I believe Jerome or  Sparky's disappearances are connected to Christine's or Allen's, but all of them seemed to be thought of as runaways, and all cases lacked publicity. I could barely dig up any news articles or anniversary articles of any of them, which was very disappointing, but gave me all the more reason to share there stories in hopes that their cases will remain active, and that their families can find closure one day.

If anyone has any information about the disappearances of Christine Green or Allen Briscoe, Jr., please contact:

 

 

 Philadelphia Police Department

215-685-3251

OR

1-800-THEMISSING

Sources:
Christine Green
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/g/green_christine.html
Allen Briscoe, Jr.
http://nancygrace.blogs.cnn.com/2010/02/23/nancy-grace-cold-case-13/
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/briscoe_allen.html
http://missingallenbriscoe.wordpress.com/
Jerome Morris
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/morris_jerome.html
Sparky Wilson
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/15472/198