Barry Cowsill missing following Hurricane Katrina
Barry Cowsill is reported missing in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Barry Cowsill of the singing Cowsill family band that inspired “The Partridge Family” TV show has been reported missing by his family.
Bob Cowsill told “Entertainment Tonight” the siblings believe they saw their 51-year-old brother in a CNN video of Hurricane Katrina survivors at the New Orleans Convention Center. But they have not been able to locate him and have turned to the public for help.
“We’re pretty sure that’s him, and if it was him, it meant he was at the convention center,” Bob Cowsill said.
He said the last they heard from Barry was a message on his sister’s answering machine that said: “I don’t know how to get out of town except wait for a bus … I’ve been so … lonely … I hope I get in touch with you.”
Barry had battled substance abuse and depression and was supposed to have been headed to Los Angeles to enter a treatment center, his brother said.
An email from the Cowsill web site:
Dear Tom and Red,
I just discovered your site on the web, and I am writing to ask if you could help us publicize the fact that Barry Cowsill, a New Orleans musician who is also a member of the famous Cowsills family singing group from Newport, Rhode Island, has been missing for over 2 months.
Barry rode out Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and the last contact that Barry made with anyone in his family was a voicemail on his sister’s phone on September 1. Barry is believed to be included in some footage shot by CNN near the New Orleans Convention Center later that day.
Thanks so much for responding with interest in posting about Barry being missing. The last contact Barry made with his family was a voicemail he left on his sister Susan’s phone on September 1. Barry said that he had made it through the hurricane, but no one has heard from him since. A man who looks like Barry was spotted by fans in CNN footage shot near the New Orleans Convention Center later that day.
Here’s the link to a fan’s web page that contains the CNN video and some stills from the CNN video as well as some of the media attention that has been given to Barry’s story:
http://www.stellarshowcase.durham.on.ca/ET.html
The clothes and hat worn by the man in the video are not familiar to Barry’s family, but that doesn’t mean that the man couldn’t be Barry.
Barry had just moved back to New Orleans a few weeks before Katrina hit and was staying with a buddy on Tchoupitoulas Street.
Barry is 51 years old, is 5′ 10″ tall, weighs 150-160 lbs., has brown hair, hazel eyes, wears a headband and usually either a hat or a cap, may or may not have a beard, usually wears glasses or sunglasses, and is a smoker.
I’ll paste some photos of Barry below. If you have any other questions, please feel free to e-mail me. Your assistance in helping to spread the word is greatly appreciated!
The Cowsills singer Barry Cowsill is still missing from his New Orleans home, two months after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast.
The 51-year-old member of the 1960s singing group moved to the city shortly before the natural disaster in August. He left a message on his sister Susan’s cell phone in the aftermath of the hurricane asking for help, but hasn’t been heard from since.