Reporter-News Archives Wednesday, January 10, 2001 Missing Man: The Missing Details Copyright 2001 Abilene Reporter-News By Loretta Fulton Reporter-News Staff Writer An employee of a California seminary known as James Simmons was identified Wednesday as Wesley Barrett “Barre” Cox, the man who disappeared near Abilene in 1984 and apparently has been suffering from amnesia for 16 years beforebeing recognized a month ago while preaching in a Texas church. Cameron Crabtree, director of public relations at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, Calif., confirmed that Simmons and Cox, 49, are the same person. Crabtree said the man he knows as Simmons enrolled in the school in 1991. From 1991-94, he earned two master’s degrees and then was employed as director of housing. Crabtree said word of Simmons’ true identity began surfacing last week and Simmons resigned to accept a position with the Texas church where he was recognized. The name of the church and city have not been disclosed. Crabtree said Simmons told school officials about his mysterious past when he sought enrollment in 1991. “He was very upfront,” Crabtree said. The man told them he had no recollection of his life before 1984 and that all he knew was that he awoke from a coma in a Memphis, Tenn., hospital in July 1984 and was told that he had been in a coma for two weeks. Memphis police Maj. Hudson Brown said a search of the department’s records have failed to confirm Cox’s account. Mary Cox, his sister-in-law, told The Associated Press late Wednesday that the long-missing man was reunited with his mother and brother on New Year’s Day. She said Cox did not recognize his 80-year-old mother or his 54-year-old brother, George, when they all spent a few hours together at the family home in Frankston in East Texas. Mary Cox said she immediately recognized her brother-in-law from “his looks, from his voice, his writing, his demeanor.” “It was just a blessing to see him and to hug him,” she said. “It was just the answer to our prayers.” “We’re happy for (his mother) because she never did give up on the fact that he was alive,” she said. “It’s more like a closure for her and she knows that he’s doing well and is healthy. He has had some rough times but is doing well now.” Cox’s car was found abandoned and ransacked July 12, 1984, on a farm road in Jones County north of Abilene. He had been en route to his home in San Antonio from Lubbock. He intended to stop in Abilene to visit friends he made while employed as an admissions counselor at Abilene Christian University. Cox was a family minister at MacArthur Park Church of Christ in San Antonio when he disappeared. The family had recently moved there from Abilene at the time of the disappearance. A massive air and land search failed to provide any clues to Cox’s whereabouts and law enforcement officials speculated he intentionally disappeared. No trace had been found of him until Dec. 10, when he was recognized in a Texas church as he auditioned for a preaching post. Neither Cox, nor his wife Beth Cox, who now lives in Franklin, Tenn., has been available for interviews. Contacted at her home Wednesday night, Beth Cox referred all questions to a Tennessee attorney. “I’m really just trying to grasp the situation now,” she told the Associated Press. Earlier this week Beth Cox, who never married again, told officials at ACU that she had spoken with her missing husband after he was identified and told his real name. At Golden Gate seminary, the man known as James Simmons was a “fabulous student” who earned several academic recognitions and later was an excellent employee, Crabtree said. He was regarded as “personable and warmhearted” by his peers, Crabtree said. School administrators agreed to allow Simmons to enroll on a trial basis after testing showed he had knowledge equivalent to at least a bachelor’s degree. Golden Gate officials didn’t know it at the time, but Simmons actually held a master’s degree from Texas Tech University and was finishing his doctoral dissertation there when he disappeared. Simmons went to Golden Gate from Virginia, Crabtree said, and his references checked out there. Applicants at Golden Gate, a Southern Baptist Convention seminary, are required to produce biographical information and provide references. Crabtree wouldn’t divulge which church Simmons had been working at in Virginia. At Golden Gate, Simmons earned a master of divinity degree in 1994 and a master of theology degree in 1999. Crabtree said the reaction at Golden Gate was one of hopefulness that the man people there know as James Simmons will have a good future. “The reaction here was just really wishing God’s blessing on his life and the adjustments he needs to make in the weeks and months ahead,” Crabtree said. “People were drawn to him and we really wish him well.” Crabtree said that although Simmons’ peers and associates knew about his mysterious background, no attempt was made to find his true identify. “I don’t think that really had been on anybody’s mind,” Crabtree said. “He was here as a good student and a good staff member.” Contact staff writer Loretta Fulton at 676-6778 or fultonl@abinews.com. 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