Overview

Last seen: February 22, 1970
Location: San Mateo, San Mateo County, California
Age: 18
Status: Missing
Companion: Peter Joseph Bonick, age 17
Investigating agency: San Mateo Police Department

The main circumstances are unusually sparse. Richard was reportedly last seen at his residence in San Mateo. Peter Bonick disappeared at approximately the same time, and investigators believe the two young men departed together. No confirmed communication from Richard has been publicly documented since that day.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Richard Nelson Lamson Missing Since 1970: The Unsolved San Mateo, California Disappearance

Richard Nelson “Rick” Lamson was 18 years old when he disappeared from San Mateo, California, on February 22, 1970. More than five decades later, his whereabouts remain unknown. His disappearance is closely connected to that of his friend, 17-year-old Peter Joseph Bonick, who vanished on the same date. Authorities have long believed the two young men left together.

Richard remains listed as a missing person by the California Department of Justice, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, NamUs-linked databases and other missing-person organizations. His current California law-enforcement case number is 130312022, his NamUs number is MP20045, and his NCMEC case number is 1214160.

Richard Nelson Lamson: Date and Location Last Seen

Last seen: February 22, 1970
Location: San Mateo, San Mateo County, California
Age: 18
Status: Missing
Companion: Peter Joseph Bonick, age 17
Investigating agency: San Mateo Police Department

The main circumstances are unusually sparse. Richard was reportedly last seen at his residence in San Mateo. Peter Bonick disappeared at approximately the same time, and investigators believe the two young men departed together. No confirmed communication from Richard has been publicly documented since that day.

Who Was Richard Nelson “Rick” Lamson?

Richard Nelson Lamson was born January 14, 1952. At the time he disappeared, he was described as a white male standing approximately six feet tall and weighing about 185 pounds. He had brown hair and blue eyes and was known by the nickname “Rick.”

Richard was reportedly wearing a gold-colored shirt, coral-colored jacket, blue jeans and desert boots when he disappeared. The California Department of Justice states that dental X-rays are not available for Richard.

He would be 74 years old in 2026.

The February 22, 1970 Disappearance

According to official California records, Richard and Peter Bonick were both last seen February 22, 1970, in San Mateo. Richard’s California missing-person record specifically identifies Peter as the person who disappeared with him. Peter’s record likewise identifies Richard, establishing the connection between the two cases in official records.

The Charley Project reports that Richard was last seen at his residence in San Mateo. Authorities believe Richard and Peter left together, but very few details about Richard’s movements that day have been publicly released. Neither young man has been officially accounted for since.

Peter’s disappearance provides additional context. He had reportedly been staying at a children’s home and was home on a weekend pass when he vanished. The Charley Project states that Peter disappeared from the vicinity of the 2000 block of Ginnever Street in San Mateo during the morning and was later reportedly seen hitchhiking on State Route 92, possibly toward Half Moon Bay.

Those details have sometimes been repeated online as though both young men were definitely seen hitchhiking. That distinction is important: current public information directly documenting Richard is much thinner than the information available about Peter.

Reported Sightings After the Disappearance

One of the enduring questions in the case involves reported sightings after February 22, 1970.

The Charley Project reports that two friends said they saw Peter approximately a month after his disappearance at a Mayfair Market. That account is associated specifically with Peter’s case and should not automatically be interpreted as a confirmed sighting of Richard.

A later independent missing-person article reported a version in which Richard and Peter were seen hitchhiking on Highway 92 toward Half Moon Bay and possibly seen later at a Mayfair Market. The same article notes that an alternate account says only Peter was seen. It also describes an unverified claim from a former classmate that Peter may have been spotted at the San Mateo County Fair in 1977.

These later claims are potentially useful as historical leads, but they are not the equivalent of confirmed law-enforcement sightings. No reliable public record located during this review establishes that Richard was alive after February 22, 1970.

Why Richard and Peter’s Cases Remain Connected

Richard and Peter disappeared on the same day, from the same general area, and authorities believe they left together. Their current NCMEC posters also cross-reference one another as companions. Richard’s NCMEC record identifies Peter as his companion, while Peter’s record displays Richard.

Peter’s NCMEC record lists NCIC number M651482870. Richard’s NCMEC record lists NCIC number M091263838. Their continued presence in these national systems demonstrates that both disappearances remain unresolved.

The California Department of Justice also maintains separate San Mateo Police Department case numbers for the two men: Richard’s is 130312022, while Peter’s is 000216021.

Is Richard Lamson’s Case a Homicide?

There is currently no publicly available evidence establishing Richard’s disappearance as a homicide.

The California Department of Justice classifies him as a missing person, and the Charley Project lists his classification simply as “Missing.” No body, confirmed death, homicide determination, suspect, arrest or criminal charge connected to Richard’s disappearance was located in current public records reviewed for this article.

Given the extraordinary length of time that has passed, many possibilities can reasonably be considered by investigators. However, without evidence establishing what happened, accident, voluntary disappearance, foul play and other possibilities remain theories rather than established conclusions.

Recent Case Activity and Current Investigation Status

Richard’s disappearance remains publicly listed as unresolved.

The Doe Network added Richard’s case as 5098DMCA in March 2017. Its publicly available update archive later records that information in Richard’s case was updated on January 22, 2024. The Doe Network continues to include Richard in its chronological index of missing males.

More recently, a March 8, 2026 update in the Websleuths discussion dedicated to Richard and Peter documented Richard’s current NamUs listing as MP20045 and his NCMEC number as 1214160. This represents a database/community-record update rather than evidence of a new investigative breakthrough.

Current California Department of Justice records continue to list Richard as missing and direct information to the San Mateo Police Department. NCMEC likewise maintains an active missing-person poster for Richard and lists his current age as 74. A missing-child alert aggregation also republished Richard and Peter’s unresolved cases on March 25, 2026.

As of August 29, 2026, no newer credible public announcement located in this review reports that Richard has been found, that remains have been identified as his, that a suspect has been named, or that an arrest has been made. The publicly available investigation therefore remains an unresolved San Mateo missing-person case.

A Case With Very Few Public Answers

Richard Nelson Lamson disappeared at an age when his adult life had barely begun. The simultaneous disappearance of Peter Bonick makes the case particularly unusual, but the surviving public record provides surprisingly few details about where Richard intended to go, why the pair may have left, whom they encountered, or what happened after they departed San Mateo.

Peter’s reported movements toward Half Moon Bay offer one possible geographic direction for investigators and researchers, but even those accounts contain inconsistencies. More than 56 years later, the central question remains unchanged: what happened to Richard Lamson and Peter Bonick after February 22, 1970?

Anyone with information about Richard Nelson Lamson should contact the San Mateo Police Department at 650-522-7700 and reference case 130312022. Information concerning a missing child case may also be provided to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).