Overview

Full name: David Allen Lowe

Age when missing: 29

Date last seen: February 6, 1980

Last known location: North parking lot of the former Pasadena Police Department, 1201 Davis, Pasadena, Texas

City / County / State: Pasadena, Harris County, Texas

Case classification: Missing person

Current status: Unresolved; no publicly verified recovery or resolution

Physical description: Lowe was described as a white male, approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing 190 pounds. He had brown hair and hazel eyes.

Associated aircraft: Red-and-white 1974 Cessna 172, registration N890L, serial number 17262750.

Main circumstances: Lowe was last seen at the former Pasadena Police Department. He is believed to have left in the aircraft, but the available case summaries do not establish a verified flight route, destination, or explanation for his disappearance.

Detailed Case Breakdown

David Allen Lowe: The Unsolved 1980 Disappearance of a Texas Police Officer and a Missing Cessna Aircraft

On February 6, 1980, 29-year-old David Allen Lowe disappeared from Pasadena, Texas. A police officer and Vietnam War veteran, Lowe was last seen near the Pasadena Police Department. Investigative records indicate that he was believed to have departed in a small, red-and-white Cessna aircraft.

More than four decades later, Lowe’s whereabouts remain unknown. The circumstances surrounding his disappearance, including the reported connection to the aircraft, have left significant questions unanswered.

His case is documented by the The Charley Project and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).

Case Summary

Full name: David Allen Lowe

Age when missing: 29

Date last seen: February 6, 1980

Last known location: North parking lot of the former Pasadena Police Department, 1201 Davis, Pasadena, Texas

City / County / State: Pasadena, Harris County, Texas

Case classification: Missing person

Current status: Unresolved; no publicly verified recovery or resolution

Physical description: Lowe was described as a white male, approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing 190 pounds. He had brown hair and hazel eyes.

Associated aircraft: Red-and-white 1974 Cessna 172, registration N890L, serial number 17262750.

Main circumstances: Lowe was last seen at the former Pasadena Police Department. He is believed to have left in the aircraft, but the available case summaries do not establish a verified flight route, destination, or explanation for his disappearance.

Sources: The Charley Project – David Allen Lowe; NamUs Case 60758.

Background: Who Was David Allen Lowe?

David Allen Lowe was 29 years old when he disappeared in February 1980. He was associated with the Pasadena Police Department in the Houston metropolitan area of southeastern Texas.

A historical newspaper account discussed in a Websleuths case discussion identifies Lowe as a police officer. According to the discussion’s transcription of reporting from The Houston Post, his supervisors considered him a capable officer.

Lowe was also identified as a Vietnam War veteran. The missing-veterans organization Veteran Doe reported that he had received the Bronze Star. Although this information is part of his publicly documented background, the military award details have not been independently verified against service records for this article.

Public information about Lowe’s childhood, family background, and personal life is limited. Historical reporting indicates that he was separated from his wife around the time of his disappearance, but no verified evidence establishes that his marital circumstances caused or contributed to what happened.

His disappearance was particularly concerning because he was a law enforcement officer whose absence from work could be recognized quickly.

February 6, 1980: The Disappearance in Pasadena, Texas

According to the Charley Project, Lowe was last seen in the north parking lot of the former Pasadena Police Department in the 1200 block of Davis Street on February 6, 1980.

The location is significant because it was associated with his workplace rather than a remote or unfamiliar destination.

The available missing-person record indicates that Lowe was believed to have departed in a privately operated aircraft: a red-and-white 1974 Cessna 172 bearing registration number N890L.

The aircraft’s serial number, 17262750, is another identifying detail that could help distinguish it from other Cessna aircraft of the same model.

However, the wording of the public case summary is important. Investigative records say Lowe was believed to have left in the plane; they do not establish as a confirmed fact that he piloted it, where it flew, or what ultimately happened to it.

The Charley Project does not identify a verified destination, flight plan, final radio transmission, crash site, or recovered wreckage.

After February 6, Lowe was never publicly confirmed to have been seen or heard from again.

Investigation History and Available Evidence

Initial Missing-Person Investigation

A February 12, 1980, article in The Houston Post, summarized in a January 2026 Websleuths discussion, provides additional historical details about the disappearance.

According to that secondary transcription of the newspaper report, Lowe was reported missing after failing to appear for work on February 6 and February 7.

The account also states that his personal automobile was found locked and parked several blocks from an airport where an aircraft had reportedly been stolen on February 6.

This is an important distinction from the shorter NamUs-derived case summary. The historical reporting suggests a possible connection between Lowe, his parked automobile, and a reported aircraft theft. However, the original newspaper page was not independently examined for this article, and these details should be treated as historically reported information rather than newly verified investigative findings.

The same account describes several other circumstances:

• Investigators reportedly found no evidence of foul play at Lowe’s residence.
• No pilot’s license registration was reportedly located in Lowe’s name.
• Coworkers reportedly told investigators that Lowe had said he knew how to fly.
• Lowe was reportedly separated from his wife at the time.

These details are attributed to the historical newspaper account as reproduced on Websleuths. They do not establish that Lowe stole the aircraft, flew it, or deliberately disappeared.

Source: Websleuths – David Allen Lowe Case Discussion.

The Missing Cessna 172

The most distinctive element of Lowe’s disappearance is the aircraft associated with his case.

The Charley Project identifies the plane as a 1974 Cessna 172 with the following characteristics:

• Color: Red and white
• Manufacturer: Cessna
• Model: 172
• Model year: 1974
• Registration: N890L
• Serial number: 17262750

The Cessna 172 is a small, single-engine aircraft widely used in general aviation.

If Lowe departed in the plane, its eventual location could be essential to determining what happened. However, no publicly verified crash location, aircraft recovery, or confirmed flight destination was located in the sources reviewed.

The absence of a publicly documented recovery does not establish that the aircraft crashed. It also does not prove that Lowe successfully departed in it.

Source: The Charley Project – David Allen Lowe.

Physical and Forensic Evidence

The available public case summaries contain little information about physical evidence collected during the original investigation.

Beyond the historical reporting concerning Lowe’s parked automobile, no independently verified inventory of evidence was located.

In particular, the reviewed sources do not establish whether investigators recovered fingerprints, personal belongings, aircraft debris, or other forensic material directly associated with his disappearance.

No public confirmation was located of a DNA identification, investigative genetic genealogy result, or forensic breakthrough resolving Lowe’s whereabouts.

This does not mean that investigators possess no additional evidence. Police investigative files may contain information that has never been publicly released.

Searches and Investigative Efforts

Public information about searches conducted immediately after Lowe’s disappearance is limited.

The available sources do not establish the dates, locations, or extent of any coordinated aircraft searches, ground searches, or water searches.

Consequently, it would be inaccurate to claim that particular bodies of water, flight corridors, or remote areas were searched and cleared.

The Pasadena Police Department is identified by the Charley Project as the investigating agency.

Theories and Unresolved Questions

Several possible explanations arise from the circumstances of Lowe’s disappearance. None has been established as the confirmed outcome.

Possibility One: An Aviation Accident

One possibility is that Lowe departed in the Cessna and experienced an accident.

A small aircraft could potentially come down in an isolated area or body of water without being immediately located.

However, this explanation depends on an unconfirmed premise: that Lowe actually departed in the aircraft.

No verified crash site, recovered wreckage, or official determination of an aviation accident was identified in the reviewed sources.

Therefore, an aviation accident remains a possibility rather than an established finding.

Possibility Two: A Voluntary Disappearance

Another possibility is that Lowe intentionally left his previous life.

The reported proximity of his parked vehicle to an airport and the alleged disappearance of an aircraft raise questions about whether his departure was planned.

Nevertheless, there is no publicly verified evidence establishing that Lowe intended to abandon his employment or family relationships permanently.

His reported marital separation does not, by itself, demonstrate a motive for voluntary disappearance.

Possibility Three: Criminal Involvement

The possibility of foul play cannot be ruled out solely from the available information.

However, no publicly verified suspect, arrest, criminal charge, or homicide determination associated with Lowe’s disappearance was located.

The historical newspaper account reportedly indicated that investigators found no signs of foul play at his home. That observation does not eliminate every possible criminal explanation, but it also provides no basis for accusing any individual.

Lowe’s case should continue to be described as a missing-person investigation, not a confirmed homicide.

Questions That Remain Unanswered

Several important questions remain:

• Did Lowe actually board or operate the Cessna identified in his missing-person record?
• What evidence originally connected him to the aircraft?
• Was a confirmed flight route or destination ever established?
• What happened to the aircraft bearing registration N890L?
• Were any additional witnesses interviewed or physical evidence recovered?
• Does the Pasadena Police Department retain evidence that could be examined using modern investigative methods?

Answers to these questions could help clarify the circumstances of his disappearance.

Family Appeals and Continued Public Awareness

Although Lowe disappeared in 1980, his case has continued to attract attention through missing-person organizations and online communities.

On November 11, 2019, Veteran Doe published a profile highlighting his disappearance and reported military background.

In a March 13, 2020, comment on that page, a person identifying herself as Lowe’s niece, Andrea, stated that he disappeared before she was born and that her mother spent more than 30 years searching for him before her death.

The comment offers a personal account of the family’s experience, although the writer’s relationship to Lowe has not been independently verified.

Another commenter identifying Lowe as a cousin expressed a desire for answers in April 2022.

These comments illustrate the continuing personal significance of the case, but they should not be confused with official investigative findings.

Source: Veteran Doe – David Allen Lowe Missing Veteran.

Latest Publicly Available Investigative Updates — October 2026

A review of publicly available information through October 19, 2026, did not identify a confirmed resolution of David Allen Lowe’s disappearance.

The Charley Project continues to list him as missing. Its case page indicates a November 15, 2020, update, but that administrative date should not be interpreted as evidence of a new investigative breakthrough.

In January 2026, a Websleuths discussion presented Lowe’s case details and historical newspaper reporting. This was renewed public discussion, not an official announcement that investigators had discovered new evidence.

No publicly confirmed recent developments were located involving:

• Recovery or identification of Lowe’s remains.
• Recovery of the associated aircraft.
• A confirmed DNA or genetic genealogy match.
• Identification of an official suspect or person of interest.
• Arrests, criminal charges, or court proceedings connected to his disappearance.
• A publicly announced cold-case breakthrough.

No verified recent official press release specifically addressing Lowe’s case was located.

These findings describe the public record reviewed for this article. They do not establish whether law enforcement has conducted confidential investigative work.

Conclusion: The Unanswered Disappearance of David Allen Lowe

David Allen Lowe was just 29 years old when he vanished from Pasadena, Texas, on February 6, 1980.

His case remains unusual because of his position as a police officer, his military background, and the reported connection to a missing private aircraft.

The available information leaves open several explanations, including an aviation accident, voluntary disappearance, or circumstances involving another person. None has been confirmed.

For Lowe’s relatives and those who continue to follow the case, the central question remains the same: what happened after he was last seen in Pasadena?

Anyone with firsthand information about Lowe’s movements on February 6, 1980, the red-and-white Cessna 172 registered N890L, or previously unreported evidence is encouraged to contact the Pasadena Police Department at 713-477-1221.

Even information that seems minor could help investigators clarify the historical record.