Overview

Last Seen: September 2–3, 1975
Location: Grandview, Johnson County, Texas
Age: 33
Status: Endangered Missing
NamUs: MP11014

Important date discrepancy: Current sources do not agree on the precise date. The Charley Project lists White as missing since September 3, 1975, while sources based on the NamUs listing report September 2, 1975.

Main Circumstances

White, a veterinarian involved with cattle and embryo research, disappeared at approximately the same time as 45-year-old James Durwood Grisham.

The two men were reportedly last seen together leaving a bank in Grandview. Accounts differ about what was happening immediately before their disappearance. One account says Grisham owed White money for a horse; another says White and Grisham were seen in a truck with an unidentified third person.

White’s truck was subsequently located abandoned at a local coffee shop with some of his belongings still inside.

Several days after White disappeared, his wife received an unusual letter apparently from him. The original letter was later lost.

On December 27, 1975, Grisham’s badly decomposed body was discovered approximately three miles east of Parker, Texas. His cause and manner of death were never determined.

White has never been located.

Detailed Case Breakdown

George Gilbert White Jr. Disappearance: The 1975 Grandview, Texas Cold Case

More than 50 years after veterinarian George Gilbert “Buddy” White Jr. disappeared from Grandview, Texas, his fate remains unknown. White was 33 years old when he vanished in September 1975 along with an acquaintance, James Durwood Grisham. What initially might have appeared to be two men leaving town eventually became far more troubling after Grisham’s decomposed body was discovered months later.

White has never been found.

Very Brief Case Summary

Last Seen: September 2–3, 1975
Location: Grandview, Johnson County, Texas
Age: 33
Status: Endangered Missing
NamUs: MP11014

Important date discrepancy: Current sources do not agree on the precise date. The Charley Project lists White as missing since September 3, 1975, while sources based on the NamUs listing report September 2, 1975.

Main Circumstances

White, a veterinarian involved with cattle and embryo research, disappeared at approximately the same time as 45-year-old James Durwood Grisham.

The two men were reportedly last seen together leaving a bank in Grandview. Accounts differ about what was happening immediately before their disappearance. One account says Grisham owed White money for a horse; another says White and Grisham were seen in a truck with an unidentified third person.

White’s truck was subsequently located abandoned at a local coffee shop with some of his belongings still inside.

Several days after White disappeared, his wife received an unusual letter apparently from him. The original letter was later lost.

On December 27, 1975, Grisham’s badly decomposed body was discovered approximately three miles east of Parker, Texas. His cause and manner of death were never determined.

White has never been located.

Who Was George “Buddy” White?

George Gilbert White Jr., commonly called Buddy, was 33 when he disappeared. He was described as a white male with brown hair and blue eyes, approximately 6 feet to 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing between 180 and 190 pounds.

White was known for wearing traditional Western clothing, including cowboy boots, a cowboy hat and a pressed shirt.

Professionally, White was a veterinarian. Available accounts say he conducted embryo research, attended cattle auctions and was involved in the cattle business.

The Disappearance of George White and James Grisham

White disappeared at the same time as James Durwood Grisham, a 45-year-old acquaintance. Grisham had been released from federal prison in 1973 after serving time on drug charges and was reportedly still on parole when the two men disappeared.

White and Grisham were reportedly seen leaving a Grandview bank together shortly before they vanished.

Exactly why they were together remains unclear.

One account states that Grisham owed White money for a horse White had sold him. Another version of events says White and Grisham were seen inside a truck with a third person whose identity has not been publicly established.

Those conflicting accounts have never been publicly reconciled.

White’s Abandoned Truck

After White disappeared, his truck was found abandoned at a local coffee shop.

Some of White’s personal possessions were reportedly still inside the vehicle.

The abandoned truck became an important piece of the mystery because White himself was nowhere to be found, and there is no verified public account showing that he returned for the vehicle or his belongings.

The Mysterious Letter Sent to White’s Wife

One of the strangest elements of the case occurred several days after White vanished.

White’s wife received what has been described as a cryptic letter apparently sent by her husband. Instead of being addressed to the post office box where the couple normally received mail, it was sent directly to the trailer where they lived.

According to later recollections, the message apologized for what had happened and instructed White’s wife to see her father because he would know what to do.

The precise wording cannot be independently verified because the original letter was subsequently lost.

The significance of the message—and the circumstances under which it was written or mailed—remain unresolved publicly.

Did George White Leave Voluntarily?

At one point, there was speculation that White might have fled to Mexico.

Reports also state that before his disappearance White had been kiting checks at cattle auctions, an allegation that provided a possible explanation for why someone might initially believe he had deliberately left the area.

But that possibility does not explain everything that followed.

White abandoned a vehicle containing possessions, disappeared simultaneously with Grisham, and Grisham was subsequently found dead.

Those circumstances eventually caused authorities to look at a far more serious possibility.

James Durwood Grisham Is Found Dead

On December 27, 1975, nearly four months after the men disappeared, Grisham’s badly decomposed body was discovered in a briar patch approximately three miles east of Parker, Texas.

The condition of his remains prevented authorities from establishing exactly what happened to him.

His cause and manner of death have never been publicly determined.

White was not found with Grisham and has never been located.

The discovery transformed the disappearance into an enduring mystery: two men vanished together, one eventually turned up dead, and the other seemingly disappeared completely.

Authorities Consider Possible Homicides

A major development came in 2010, approximately 35 years after White vanished.

Authorities announced that they were investigating Grisham’s death and White’s disappearance as possible homicides.

That represented a significant shift from theories that White might simply have left voluntarily.

Publicly available case information has not identified a charged suspect in White’s disappearance or established exactly what investigators believe happened to the men.

Latest Investigation Information

As of the latest publicly available information located for this article, George Gilbert White Jr. remains missing and his case remains unresolved.

The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office remains identified as the investigating agency in public missing-person records.

The newest substantial public case update located during research was published by The Charley Project on January 6, 2026, marking roughly 50 years since White disappeared. The organization again reported that White had never been located and noted that authorities have considered both White and Grisham possible homicide victims.

Public discussion of the case has also continued. A Websleuths thread dedicated to White’s disappearance contained activity into January 2026. In April 2025, a contributor posted that White’s NamUs information showed one unidentified-person exclusion. Such community discussions can be useful for tracking public case activity, but theories and possible matches posted by members should not be treated as official investigative findings unless confirmed by law enforcement or NamUs.

No credible public announcement located during this research indicates that White has been found, that his remains have been identified, or that anyone has been arrested or charged in connection with his disappearance.

Why the George White Case Remains Unusual

The case contains several circumstances that continue to raise questions more than five decades later: White disappeared alongside another man; witnesses gave differing accounts about what the men were doing; there may have been an unidentified third person; White’s truck was abandoned with belongings inside; his wife received an unusual letter after his disappearance; and the man who disappeared with him was later found dead.

Perhaps most importantly, authorities ultimately began considering both cases as possible homicides.

Yet George “Buddy” White himself has never been found.

Until his whereabouts are established, the central question that has followed this Johnson County mystery since 1975 remains unanswered: What happened to George Gilbert White Jr.