Missing man found, then found dead.

March 21, 2001 6:58 PM

Missing man found, then found dead.
posted by crunchland (4 comments total)

A few weeks ago, a 65 year old man was out in his barn near Toledo, Ohio, getting hay to feed his horses, when he apparently struck his head on a beam. His family found his toupee, his work gloves, and some bloodied paper towels. No sign of the man or his car. A manhunt was performed, but they couldn't find him. Nine days later, he was found in Salina, Kansas -- 1000 miles away from where he started -- apparently suffering from amnesia. The man had no recollection of the long trek, though he did remember driving some, and that he bought three items at a roadside flea-market. Otherwise, he had no memory of where he went or why. When his wife told him he'd been to Kansas, he replied "Why would anyone go to Kansas?"


The plot thickens... this past weekend, his wife asked him how he felt. His answer was "I feel strange." On Monday morning, the found him hanging from a rafter in his barn -- an apparent suicide.
posted by crunchland at 6:59 PM on March 21, 2001

Fortunatelym, there is a very shrewd sheriff on the case. He noted that there remains a lot of unanswered questions. That would not have occurred to a layman.
posted by Postroad at 8:22 PM on March 21, 2001

Not to nit-pick, crunch, but he wasn't found in Kansas. He was actually found back in his hometown (at Wal-Mart, of course). Receipts found in the car showed he had been to Salina, which makes this even stranger. He hadn't just wandered away, he went to Kansas and back.

Very very strange. If I were one of the doctors who let him go home, I'd been feeling pretty shitty about now...not that anyone could have known what would happen.
posted by jpoulos at 7:20 AM on March 22, 2001

It sounds like an H.P. Lovecraft story with all the interesting bits cut out...
posted by Neb at 4:09 PM on March 22, 2001