TX TX - John Victor Dial: US Air Force, 23, Childress, May 1966 [Archive]

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Richard

05-03-2006, 12:05 PM

40 years ago ...

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John Victor Dial
Missing since May 1966 from Childress, Childress County, Texas
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: April 28, 1943
Age at Time of Disappearance: 23 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5"10; 140 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White male. Sandy blond hair; blue eyes.
Marks, Scars: He has a few freckles across his nose.
DNA: Available.

Circumstances of Disappearance
Dial was last seen in Childress, Texas in May 1966. Dial joined the Air Force when he was 16 years old and sometime after he was stationed at Howard Air Force Base in Panama Canal Zone. He went home for a visit to Childress, Texas in May 1966 then he returned to Panama in June 1966. The phone calls to his family stopped by July 1966 after he told his family he married a woman from Panama.

There is a high possibility he might be living in the United States. The American Embassy did a 4 month investigation and it was determined he is no longer living in Panama. There has not been any reported earnings on his SSN since 1968.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Childress Police Department Childress Chief Reese Bowen 940-937-2546

Agency Case Number: 05000280
NCIC Number: M-824922682
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
The Doe Network
National Center for Missing Adults
Texas Department of Public Safety
The Doe Network: Case File 1134DMTX

Link:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1134dmtx.html

Richard

10-12-2006, 12:22 PM

I wonder if John Victor Dial was discharged from the Air Force and then went missing, or if he was still on active duty when he went missing. If that were the case, he would have been in the middle of his second tour of duty (assuming a four year enlistment) and would have been declared a deserter.

If he was listed as a Deserter, he would still be in the system as such, and any appearance of him at a border crossing would have resulted in a "hit" and FBI/Air Force notification.

While not surprising that it was Dial's family who reported him missing and listed him on the Doenetwork, one wonders what information the Air Force Office of Special Investigations has on the case.

Even if Dial had been discharged from the Air Force, his disappearance may have been cause for an investigation, due to National Security concerns.

docwho3

10-12-2006, 01:38 PM

16 years old is pretty young to be leaving home to join the service (might even require lying about age?) and could indicate a problematic relationship with his relatives at home.
I haven't read anything about this case other than post one on this thread but I have to say that, reading between the lines, it sounds like a family dispute over the marriage of the man to a panamanian woman caused him to stop communicating with his realtives.

He may even have felt strongly enough about such a dispute to not want to share the same last name as his relatives. I don't know if he would have intentionally stopped using the SS number or if he perhaps passed away (from a work accident or car wreck etc) while using the new unknown name and so no one but the wife knew to notify the relative but she may have felt that his wish to sever all ties to his relatives should be honored. (Or she too may have passed away in the same event as the husband.) This is all just speculation but thats what the info strikes me as meaning.

Paradise

10-12-2006, 02:11 PM

I wonder where he was earning money in 1967-68 (since he went missing in 1966)? Was it in Panama or the US?

docwho3

10-12-2006, 03:30 PM

I did a quick but not extremely thorough websearch and found:

John Victor Dial, US Air Force, Missing since May 1966
I found this
"15-Nov-05"
". . . he came home for a visit May 1966 and he had married Elsa (Caballero) Dial from Panama her family was from around Panama City after about a month all contact stopped and days, months, and years went by.
My grandparents never filed a police report and I don't know why not. . ."
http://www.john1943dial.blinkz.com/
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http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/d/dial_john.html
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http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/mpch/mpdetails.asp?id='M6/10/20059:45:52AM'
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"I wanted to check in to say that I am still searching for
Elsa Dial a daughter maybe Verxia Dial or Llorando
Dial not real sure about the daughter's name she maybe
living in Panama City I have an address,phone number on
them but, I believe she does not speak english would some-
one from Panama please contact me to call her and find out
if she is in fact the Elsa Dial I am looking for that was
married to my uncle John Victor Dial birthdate 4/28/43 he
has not been seen since 1963 also I received new information
yesterday that has been helpful I was able to get his
military personnel records under the provisions of the
Freedom Of Information Act of all the releasable information
on my uncle.I was able to learn his service number,his rank
was a sergeant and he did not got to Howard A.F.B. until
June 5,1966 he was under the 5700th CE Sq,also he was in
the 24th CE Sq that was March 15, 1968.So anyone that might
have knew him please contact me? I also found out in the
early years from 1960 to 1964 he served in the 78th Civil
Eng Sqm Hamilton AFB,California.I am a calling the Veterans
Affairs Monday to see if they can provide me with information.
I believe it is possible he is still living in Panama
because of some information I was given that there has not
been any reported earnings on him since 1968 and it did
come from a reliable source which suggests he must me liv-
ing overseas.My mother has not seen her brother since he
was 18 years of age if alive today he would be 56 years
old it has been 36 years time for our family to get this
resolved both my grandparents died in 1988 so far as I know
he does not know they passed away they went to their graves
in grief not knowing what happened to their son.My mother
was a young woman the last time she saw her brother she is
in her 60's now and she is in bad health and wants to find
her brother we need to find answers to get this resolved.
My mother said I was a 2 month old baby the last time she
saw him so I guess it is natual for me to be curious.Thank
you and I do appreciate the kindness,from those that have
e-mailed me with information.

Debbie Fleming
. . ."
http://www.lostparadise.com/guestbook/gb029.html
**************************

Pandora

10-13-2006, 07:34 AM

Richard

10-14-2006, 11:32 AM

If the Dials had children, they may go by the name Caballero. Many of my formerly South American students still use their mother's last names as is the custom in their countries--only as they become "Americanized" do they switch over to their father's last name.
The usual practice in South and Central American countries is to use BOTH of the parents last names, Father's then Mothers. Often, in the US, it is just the last "last name" (that of the mother) that incorrectly gets published or used.

Richard

12-04-2007, 09:58 AM

bumping this case of a missing American Serviceman...

not_my_kids

09-23-2009, 04:52 PM

Charley project now says that George called a family member in 1985 and may have returned to Childress in 1990. He is now thought to be an American auto mechanic and may be in TX.
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/d/dial_john.html

Fukiyama

09-23-2009, 10:08 PM

From the Charley Project page:

Dial was stationed at Howard Air Force Base in the Panama Canal Zone with the United States Air Force in 1966. He went home to Childress, Texas for a visit in May 1966. He was last seen at a family member's residence in the vicinity of the 400 block of Avenue A northeast in Childress.

Dial returned to Panama in June 1966. He kept in telephone contact with his family until July of that year, when he told his family he had married a Panamanian woman named Elsa Caballero. The phone calls stopped after that until 1985, when Dial apparently telephoned a family member once. He may have returned to the Childress area for a visit sometime during 1990.
I've seen this kind of thing with other descriptions of circumstances, but I just always find it bizarre how they can go into so much detail in like 'he was last seen at this address on this date' and then suddenly at the start of the next paragraph, they provide details on his whereabouts after that. I understand that that is probably when his family last saw him; if that's the case though, that should just be said plainly instead of how it's worded now. :P

Richard, do you know if Mr. Dial's service record would still be in existence after the St. Louis fire?

not_my_kids

09-24-2009, 04:56 PM

Too late to edit, I had it posted above that he was thought to be in TX. I have no idea where I got that from, since on second look, it only says that he is thought to be in the US, and that he did return to TX in 1990. Nothing about him still being there.
My apologies.

Richard

09-24-2009, 11:46 PM

...
Richard, do you know if Mr. Dial's service record would still be in existence after the St. Louis fire?

I cannot say with certainty, but it might be possible, since he was declared a deserter, at least portions of his records would have been copied into a Criminal Investigative report or file.

The fire you refer to occurred in July 1973. It destroyed Army Personnel Records from 1912 to 1973 if they were being stored at the National Military Personnel Records Center.

Some Air Force Records were also destroyed, but not all.

Navy and Marine Corps records remain intact, as they were not in the same building as Army and Air Force Records.

Military Personnel records are protected by the Privacy Act. Only the veteran, or someone he appoints with a power of attorney, or his immediate next of kin, if deceased can request portions of the records. Police can sometimes also request them if they have compelling reasons.

Richard

04-20-2012, 10:59 PM

46 years and still missing...

necco

04-25-2012, 04:59 PM

Panama has a large ex-pat community and always has. I hope the authorities did a sufficient search for him. I know there are a lot of retired Americans in David. Because they use the American dollar (they call it a Balboa, but it's got George on it) and it is worth so much more there, many ex-mil and ex-zoners have made their homes throughout the country.