Overview

Full name: Paul Allen Allard (also listed as Paul Alan Allard)

Date last seen: August 30, 1976 (some historical reports state August 13, 1976)

Last known location: Bird Road near Southwest 112th Avenue, Miami, Florida

Age when missing: 14 years old

Case classification: Endangered Missing

Current status: Unresolved missing-person investigation

Main circumstances: Paul disappeared while staying with relatives, shortly after expressing his wish to return to Connecticut. He was walking toward a convenience store and was never confirmed to have arrived. His family suspects he may have been abducted, potentially while trying to hitchhike home, but that theory has not been established as fact.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Paul Allen Allard Missing Person Case: 14-Year-Old Vanished in Miami, Florida, in 1976

Paul Allen Allard was just 14 years old when he disappeared while visiting relatives in Miami, Florida, on August 30, 1976. Nearly five decades later, his disappearance remains one of Miami-Dade County’s longstanding missing-child cold cases.

Paul had reportedly called his mother in Connecticut, asking to return home. Arrangements were made for an uncle to pick him up, but before that could happen, Paul vanished. He was last seen walking along Bird Road near Southwest 112th Avenue toward a 7-Eleven convenience store. He never reached his destination.

Despite renewed investigative attention decades later, Paul’s whereabouts remain unknown. His case continues to appear in official missing-person databases, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).

Date and Location Last Seen — Case Summary

Full name: Paul Allen Allard (also listed as Paul Alan Allard)

Date last seen: August 30, 1976 (some historical reports state August 13, 1976)

Last known location: Bird Road near Southwest 112th Avenue, Miami, Florida

Age when missing: 14 years old

Case classification: Endangered Missing

Current status: Unresolved missing-person investigation

Main circumstances: Paul disappeared while staying with relatives, shortly after expressing his wish to return to Connecticut. He was walking toward a convenience store and was never confirmed to have arrived. His family suspects he may have been abducted, potentially while trying to hitchhike home, but that theory has not been established as fact.

The Disappearance of Paul Allard in Miami

During the summer of 1976, Paul was staying with family members in the Miami area. Although his family had connections to Florida, he and his mother were living in East Hartford, Connecticut, at the time.

On the day of his disappearance, Paul reportedly contacted his mother and told her he wanted to come home. She arranged for his uncle to collect him. However, when his uncle arrived, Paul could not be located.

The last reported sighting placed Paul walking along Bird Road near Southwest 112th Avenue toward a nearby 7-Eleven. What happened between that sighting and his disappearance has never been determined.

A Previous Journey to Connecticut Raised Questions

Paul’s disappearance was especially concerning because he had previously traveled between Florida and Connecticut on his own.

In October 1975, when he was 13 years old, Paul reportedly left his mother’s home in Florida and hitchhiked to Connecticut to visit his father, who was hospitalized. His father died around Christmas that year.

Following his father’s death, Paul, his mother, and his three siblings relocated to East Hartford, where they lived on Prospect Street.

Investigators considered the possibility that Paul had attempted another trip to Connecticut in August 1976. His family feared he could have encountered someone dangerous while hitchhiking. However, no confirmed evidence has publicly established that Paul successfully left Miami or began traveling north.

A Distinctive Hand Injury Could Help Identify Paul

At the time of his disappearance, Paul had blond or sandy-colored hair, blue eyes, and shoulder-length hair. He stood approximately 5 feet 4 inches to 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighed between 110 and 125 pounds.

One of his most important identifying characteristics was a serious hand injury. Official FDLE and NCMEC descriptions state that his left hand was taped because of the injury. Additional historical descriptions indicate that two fingers were severely injured and that doctors had considered amputation.

Paul also reportedly had scarring on fingers of his right hand. Some historical descriptions differ on the precise details of his injuries, making medical and dental records especially important for identification.

Family Efforts Helped Reopen the Investigation in 2006

For decades, Paul’s family searched for answers. In January 2006, renewed family advocacy helped bring his disappearance back to the attention of Miami-Dade investigators.

Contemporary news reports described relatives working with missing-children advocates to encourage police to reexamine the case. Investigators faced a significant obstacle: the original investigative records had reportedly been lost.

Without the original file, authorities had to reconstruct portions of the investigation using available information and witness accounts.

At the time, investigators expressed hope that advancements in forensic science, DNA analysis, and computerized records could help generate new leads. Historical coverage also described a $1,000 Crime Stoppers reward, although its present availability has not been confirmed.

Latest Publicly Available Investigation Information — October 2026

As of October 17, 2026, Paul Allen Allard remains listed as missing by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and Miami-Dade law enforcement.

NCMEC continues to display an age-progressed image depicting how Paul might have appeared at age 57. His official poster identifies August 30, 1976, as the disappearance date and directs tips to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.

The Charley Project records an update to Paul’s age-progression information in March 2020. A separate missing-person awareness entry was created by Missing People in America in January 2025, demonstrating continued public interest in the case, but not a newly announced investigative breakthrough.

No confirmed recovery, identification, arrest, or resolution was found in the publicly accessible records reviewed. Specific recent investigative activities, including whether new DNA comparisons or interviews have been conducted, have not been publicly verified.

Paul’s disappearance remains an active concern for missing-person advocates and anyone who may have information about his final known movements in Miami in 1976. Even a seemingly minor recollection from someone who lived or worked near Bird Road at the time could potentially help investigators reconstruct the events surrounding his disappearance.