Key facts
- Name: Donald Joseph Connell (“Donny”)
- Born: ~1958
- Age at disappearance: 28
- Last seen: December 2, 1986
- Location: Record Street, Newport, Rhode Island
- Height / build: 6’0″, 150–180 lbs, brown hair, brown eyes
- Status: Still missing — Newport Police open case
- Case number: Newport PD 08-31602-0F (report date December 12, 1986)
- Investigating agency: Newport Police Department — (401) 847-1306
One street
On the evening of December 2, 1986, Donald “Donny” Connell left his parents’ home on Record Street in Newport, Rhode Island, to walk to his sister’s house. It was one street away. A walk of minutes.
He never arrived. His sister, driving home herself, found no brother waiting. The family assumed he’d made other plans. Ten days later — on his sister’s birthday, December 12 — they reported him missing.
That is nearly the entire public record of what happened to Donald Joseph Connell. A 28-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran walked out his parents’ door on a December evening in Newport and stepped off the map between two houses on the same small grid of streets. No witnesses have ever come forward. No belongings were found. No explanation has ever surfaced.
Who Donny was
What the records preserve: Donny Connell, 28, white male, six feet tall, brown hair, brown eyes, a Marine. A young veteran home in Newport, close enough to his family to walk over to his sister’s on a weeknight evening. Beyond that, the file is thin — “Few details are available in his case,” the Charley Project notes, a line that has stayed true for forty years.
His case is listed by NamUs (#MP30939) and the Charley Project — Newport Police Department case #08-31602-0F, (401) 847-1306. The record persists in the national databases four decades on. That is its own kind of testimony: forty years on, Donny Connell has not been forgotten by the system, even if the system has almost nothing to work with.
Note: an earlier version of this page said the database entry had been updated as recently as May 2026; we could not verify that date from public sources, so we removed it. The listings above are confirmed.
The investigation
There was barely an investigation to begin with — or at least, barely one that left a paper trail. He was an adult, reported ten days after he was last seen, in an era before cell phones, before cameras on every porch, before anyone thought to treat a missed short walk as the start of a forty-year mystery. The delay alone may have cost the case whatever it might have had: memories fade, streets get repaved, witnesses move away.
What investigators do know fits in a paragraph. He left on foot. He didn’t drive — he had no transportation listed. He never contacted anyone again. There is no evidence of foul play and no evidence against it. No theory has ever been publicly advanced by law enforcement, because there has never been enough to advance one.
Theories: what might have happened
Honesty requires saying this plainly: there is no evidence base for theorizing about Donny Connell. But the shapes such cases usually take are worth naming, with their limits stated.
Foul play on a short walk. A young man on foot at night, forty years ago in a port city — a robbery, an altercation, an accident with a driver who kept going. Possible. Supported by nothing, contradicted by nothing.
He left voluntarily. Adults do walk away. But Donny left no note, made no contact in four decades, and was reportedly close to his family — including the sister he was walking to see. A voluntary disappearance sustained for forty years without a single trace is the least likely shape this takes.
Accident. Newport is a waterfront city; December is dark and cold. A fall, the water, the wrong turn — the geography allows it. The record doesn’t confirm it.
What the case really illustrates is the cost of the ten-day gap. Reported the night he didn’t arrive, there might have been a search, a canvas, a chance. Reported on his sister’s birthday, there was a file number.
Have information?
Contact the Newport Police Department: (401) 847-1306 (case #08-31602-0F). In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- ~1958 — Donald Joseph Connell is born.
- 1980s — Serves in the U.S. Marine Corps.
- December 2, 1986 (evening) — Leaves his parents’ home on Record Street, Newport, to walk one street to his sister’s house. Never arrives.
- December 12, 1986 — Reported missing, ten days later, on his sister’s birthday.
- 1986–present — Case remains open with the Newport Police Department; few details ever emerge.
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is Donald Joseph Connell still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Donny Connell has been missing for nearly 40 years. His case remains open with the Newport Police Department.
Was Donald Connell ever found?
No. He has never been heard from since the evening of December 2, 1986, and no remains have ever been identified as his.
Why did it take ten days to report him missing?
His family initially assumed he’d made other plans when he didn’t arrive at his sister’s house. He was 28, an adult, and in 1986 there was no expectation of constant contact. He was reported missing on December 12 — his sister’s birthday.
Was foul play suspected in Donny Connell’s disappearance?
Law enforcement has never publicly classified the case either way. There is no known evidence of foul play — and no evidence of anything else.
How old would Donald Connell be today?
Born around 1958, he would be about 68 in 2026.
How can I help?
Share this case file — cold cases like Donny’s survive on someone remembering something. Anyone with information should contact the Newport Police Department at (401) 847-1306.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Newport Police Department, case #08-31602-0F — (401) 847-1306.
- Reference: The Charley Project, “Donald Joseph Connell” (retrieved Oct 2026); 411GINA missing-person flyer; missingin.org Rhode Island directory.
- Media: 5 Mysterious Cold Cases in Rhode Island (Southern Girl Crime Stories).
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here.
Verification corrections (October 2026):
– BEFORE: “His case file was still being updated in missing-persons databases as recently as May 2026” → AFTER: removed; the page now states only what is confirmed — the case is listed by NamUs (#MP30939) and the Charley Project (Newport PD case #08-31602-0F). The May 2026 update date could not be verified from public sources.
– Slug and URL unchanged.
Last verified October 2026.