Richard Hillmann
The Vanished Podcast
Wondery
4.5 • 15K Ratings
🗓️ 11 February 2018
⏱️ 72 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
60-year-old Richard Hillmann disappeared after leaving a Friendsgiving party in Merlin, Oregon on November 22, 2017. Richard had plans to cook Thanksgiving dinner for some friends the following day but but by then, Richard was missing. No trace of Richard or his Toyota pick-up truck have been found. Richard's case is baffling with many different theories but not much concrete evidence.
If you have any information about the disappearance of Richard Hillman, please call the Josephine County Sheriff’s Department at 541-474-5123. To contact the private investigator, please call the tip line at 541-414-6685. If you would like to follow this case on Facebook, they have a group called The Search for Richard Hillmann.
January 24, 2019 UPDATE from Richard's daughter:
"It's with a heavy heart that I share some sad news. Yesterday afternoon a gentleman discovered my father's truck along an embankment and partially submerged in the Rogue River, approximately 25 miles west of where he was last seen in Merlin, Oregon, in a fairly remote area. Due to the description, OSP was called to the scene where they confirmed the license plate. There is a badly decomposed body seatbelted in the driver's seat, who will likely be identified as my father. Due to the location, and limited amount of daylight remaining, the vehicle and scene were secured by OSP and left overnight to recover first thing this morning. This remains an investigation so I probably won't be able to share as much as I'd like, but wanted to at least get this piece of information out to everyone.
Thank you for continuing to keep my father's story in your prayers and for all of the sharing on social media to make sure he didn't just fade away from people's memories. We obviously never believed we would see him again, but getting this news doesn't make the loss any easier. I guess it does provide some relief just knowing we have him now and can say our proper goodbyes. Hopefully now we can start determining exactly what happened to him. RIP Dad. "
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, prime members, you can listen to the vanished ad free on Amazon Music. Download the app today. |
| 0:10.8 | Right now it's all we have is that at about 6.30 |
| 0:15.4 | He vanishes from there and there were maybe 15 people 12 to 15 people that were there within and |
| 0:24.1 | And it all kind of just the whole thing |
| 0:27.5 | starts right there as far as missing persons case go |
| 0:33.5 | And honestly now it didn't look like there's any signs of a struggle at all. I mean it looks like |
| 0:39.7 | My dad had simply just left and like he had planned on coming back |
| 0:44.6 | 60 year old Richard Hillman attended a friends giving get together in Merlin, Oregon on the evening of November 22nd, 2017 |
| 0:57.4 | Witnesses who were at the party claim that they saw him pull away that evening in his green Toyota pickup truck heading in the direction of his home |
| 1:05.5 | No one has seen or heard from Richard since and his truck has never been located |
| 1:10.6 | Richard lived alone so nobody immediately realized that he was missing |
| 1:15.2 | When his family was unable to reach him for several days. They asked the sheriff's department to go check on him |
| 1:21.4 | When they arrived at his home there was no sign of Richard, but also no sign of a struggle |
| 1:27.0 | Richard had plans to have some friends over for Thanksgiving, which was the day after he went missing |
| 1:32.4 | It appeared as though Richard had been prepping for the holiday |
| 1:35.7 | He had just purchased all of the necessary ingredients and had a turkey thawing in the refrigerator |
| 1:41.7 | Richard's daughter Laurie and her husband Nick have been trying to piece together all of the clues with the hope that these clues will lead them to Richard |
| 1:49.1 | But with all of the clues pointing in different directions the answer to what happened to Richard remains a mystery |
| 1:55.8 | I'm Marissa, and this is episode 112 of the vanished Richard Hillman's story |
| 2:10.8 | Well done you've sorted through the embarrassment of riches that is the modern podcast landscape and found me |
| 2:33.8 | Rob Briden on my podcast in this series of bride and Anne |
| 2:38.9 | I talk to among others Harry Hill Ben Elton Charlotte Church Steve Cougan and Dame Harriet Walter |
... |
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