(Real) Unsolved Mysteries

nicolas barclay

On June 13, 1994, 13-year-old Nicholas Barclay left his home to play basketball at a neighborhood court. When he was done, he called his mother to come pick him up, but she was sleeping. His older brother didn't wake her. He never came home.

At first, it was thought he may have run away (as he'd done it before), but he never stayed gone for long. He was a problem child, according to his family, and had recently stolen a pair of shoes. His juvenile hearing was set for June 14, just one day after his disappearance, so that was taken into consideration as well.

Years went by with no sign of Nicholas. In October 1997, over three years later, a call was made to the Barclay family from Spain. A young man was identifying himself as Nicholas and asking to come home. He was claiming he'd been involved in a child sex ring. Nicholas' sister flew to Spain, agreed that it was her brother, and they both flew back to Texas together.

However, nothing quite fit with the young man's story. His hair was dark brown, which could've darkened from Nicholas' light brown color, but his eyes were brown as well—and Nicholas had blue eyes. His response? His captors had altered both his hair and eye color during his abuse. His pattern of speech was off and he had a distinctly french accent, and, yet, the Barclay family believed him.

In fact, they believed him so desperately that they were indifferent to DNA and fingerprint testing until it was ordered by the FBI. These tests proved it was not, in fact, their teenage son—but a 23-year-old french man posing as the missing child.

In the documentary the imposter, said French man—Frederic Pierre Bourdin (pictured above)—said that while he was aware of his deception, he thought Nicholas' family went along a little too easily with his charade. Even with his enormous lie, he felt he saw a subtle desperation in this family—as though his appearance in their lives were some sort of alibi.

Nicholas remains missing.