Neo Babson Maximus
Charles Allen, Jr.
Neo Babson Maximus, a UMASS-Dartmouth senior missing since October.One of my best friends Neo who’s given name at birth was Charles Allen, Jr. legally changed his name to Neo Babson Maximus this past summer while living with me in Rhode Island before he disappeared in October.
I was the first person he ever told regarding his name change. I remember we were sitting in my room back in September of 2007 and he told me his reasoning for changing it was because he started to dislike his name because he wanted something unique, something different. His life became revolved around tennis to the point where it was a complete obsession. He watched tennis, played tennis and talked about tennis more then anything else. From watching Tennis so much and becoming better at it himself he noticed the names of a lot of famous professional tennis players and believed that one day he too would become a professional tennis player. He also thought that it would be a good idea to change his own name to something more memorable and different so that along the way of getting noticed from playing tennis; more and more people would start hearing his new name and he would become famous by it.
I already knew how he came up with the name “Neo Babson Maximus†before he even told me since I know a lot about him and we have been best friends since High school. However, for those of you who are curious; he chose his first name to be Neo from the Matrix who was his favorite movie character of all time. Neo was also his trademark name in the very popular online first person shooter games known as Half-Life and Counter-strike. He chose Maximus to be his last name from the Main character in Gladiator since that was his favorite movie. Babson was chosen as his middle name since it is a family name.
Charlie also known as Neo suffered a bi-polar disorder, which I knew a lot about being around him throughout high school and living with him in college. Some think that the name change may have been a result of his disorder; but, Charlie had the personality where if he set his mind to something he would do it regardless.
From what I have read online and told from his family, it seems the day Charlie disappeared he most likely was suffering from a manic episode of his Bi-polar disorder. He didn't make much sense to his mother, father, and sister when he talked to them on the phone. He sounded paranoid, and he talked about living in Texas or Florida. I personally remember talking to his sister Brit and she was telling me that the last time she talked to him on the phone he sounded afraid, like someone was after him. I remember her telling me that Charlie actually said people are after him, he has to go and he can’t talk right now but to look under the Periodic Table of Elements and you will find the answer. I was very shocked and confused by all of this because I just hang out with him earlier that same week he disappeared and he seemed normal.
Soon after Charlie disappeared, he broke into a Dartmouth home, waking a sleeping woman in her second floor bedroom early in the morning. He told the woman he was looking for his good friend Mason who the woman replied did not live there. The woman told the police that Charlie had apologized and then jumped out off the second floor to the ground, and ran into the woods.
Charlie's backpack has been recovered; his cell phone and the cell phone charger have not. I still call his phone almost everyday waiting for that one day he will pick it up; however, every time I call and wait for 4-5 rings I only hear the automated voice on his cell phone saying “inbox fullâ€.
Searches of the area around Dartmouth, MA after Charlie disappeared produced no trace of him, and another intensive search, with dogs turned unsuccessful as well.
There is one intriguing lead in this case upon which Charlie's family is pinning all hope. Shortly after Neo disappeared, a witness told police he saw a man fitting Neo's description talking to or approaching a truck driver on Route 6 in Dartmouth. The truck was an auto carrier, but the carrier was empty, as if it had delivered all of its cargo.
Some believe Neo may have hitched a ride with the truck driver out of New England and being one of his close best friends this could very well be what happened. It may seem a little unrealistic, but I knew how he was and experienced some of it while living with him before he disappeared.
Charlie was one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever known. His ability to be persuasive along with his incredible memory was astonishing. His family even told Police that he is a very intelligent and very persuasive young man. They also stated he has the ability to not only memorize credit card numbers, but on at least one occasion, Charlie managed to convince a clerk to accept that number without any form of ID. I know my friend Charlie very well, and he is capable of anything; whether he has a bi-polar disorder or not he is much smarter then most people; therefore he definitely has the survival skills he would need to get away and stay away.
So it's actually not out of the realm of possibility that Neo hitched that ride, and is living in Florida or Texas as he discussed the day he disappeared from what his family had said.
It's also possible Neo is still in the woods of Dartmouth, waiting to be found also. However, knowing my friend well I highly doubt that he is anywhere close to Massachusetts at all.
You can only imagine the pain and suffering Charlie's family is dealing with and has been dealing with for nearly the past 8 months since he has vanished.
They've hired private investigator John Lecesse to track Charlie down, and they are doing everything they can to find him.
I decided to delete everything on my Myspace that referred to me and use this whole account as a source of feedback and a virtual network for everyone who knows him and who might possibly know anything more on this situation. My friend Charlie could very well be anywhere within the United States or possibly in another country. I will be using this profile to launch bulletins from time to time so that others will know more about this story and hopefully we can get more clues to where he might be. Any information at all is very helpful and not only myself but his family would greatly appreciate it.
Please, If you think you can help, if you have any idea who the truck driver is (police have not been able to locate him), please call Dartmouth Police at 508.997.9900. Or contact me personally through this Myspace.
Thank you all for reading this. With all of your help he could very well be found soon so please tell as many people as you can to get this story out there. His family as well as myself and other close friends all hope he is still alive, safe and will come home soon; but we can’t do it alone. Please Help...
-Anthony Costanzo