OH OH - Walter Dunson, 97, Cincinnati, 1985

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/d/dunson_walter.html

http://enquirer.com/editions/1998/07/10/loc_missing10.html

Lots of people are looking for Walter Dunson.

Ever since he was reported missing last month, his whereabouts have remained a mystery. And the different people trying to track him down -- a son, the police, the Social Security Administration -- do not agree on what may have happened to him. Or even whether Walter Dunson was around to disappear.

For Walter Dunson's son, Gary Adams, the question is what happened after his 98-year-old father wandered off June 5 from a trip to Findlay Market. Mr. Dunson's 99th birthday came and went July 2 without celebration.

Ned Morrell also would like to find Walter Dunson. As district manager of the Social Security Administration, Mr. Morrell wants to talk with Mr. Dunson in person to determine whether Mr. Dunson's monthly checks should keep coming.

Cincinnati Police Officer Denise Neu also is looking for him. The missing persons detective has been combing through death certificates and medical records to find any recent trace of him.

No one has seen Mr. Dunson since he was reported missing by his son. Neighbors in Kennedy Heights say they haven't seen him in years.

Bryan Byas, Mr. Dunson's 23-year-old grandson in Walnut Hills, has told police he's never met him.

Mr. Adams refused to discuss his father's case. Police, who don't completely buy the notion that Mr. Dunson wandered off, have added homicide investigators to the case to look at the possibility that Mr. Dunson has not been alive to disappear.

Walter Dunson was born July 2, 1899, possibly in Georgia. He was a World War I veteran who settled in Cincinnati and worked at a now defunct foundry on Colerain Avenue in Camp Washington called Oberhelman-Ritter.

He began drawing a pension in 1970, and those checks have been cashed, along with his Social Security payments, until he turned up missing. Over the years, the checks add up to more than $100,000. Police are not yet accusing anyone of anything. "We don't want to unnecessarily point fingers," said Sgt. McKinley Brown, a supervisor in the police division's homicide unit.

It is still a missing person case, and there's no crime at this point, said Sgt. John Newsom, the homicide supervisor overseeing the case. "We're starting like it's from Day One."

Missing person detectives have become regulars at Findlay Market and have gone door to door in Kennedy Heights searching for anyone who knows anything about Mr. Dunson.

"It's a mystery," Officer Neu said. "And our big concern is, where is he?"

Dead or alive?

The mystery of Walter Dunson's whereabouts began June 1, when a letter went out from the Social Security Administration.

The letter arrived at 5725 Wyatt Ave., a small brick house in Kennedy Heights painted pink with white trim. Mr. Adams has told police his father has lived there with the family for about 18 years.

Social Security officials wanted to have a meeting with Mr. Dunson, a routine check under normal procedures. "We have 90-odd beneficiaries who turn 98 or 99 this year," said Mr. Morrell, whose office covers more than 54,000 check recipients in eastern Hamilton County. "We just want to verify they're alive."

Four days after the letter was mailed, Mr. Dunson's son reported him missing.

He told police they were shopping at the Over-the-Rhine market on June 5, a Friday afternoon, when they became separated about 2 p.m. According to the missing person report, he told police he didn't need their help and would find his father himself.

When police asked for a picture, Mr. Adams told them no one had taken a picture of his father in about 20 years. It took several days before he agreed to sit down with a police sketch artist and give a description.

He said his father was a 5-foot-8, 150-pound black man with gray hair, brown eyes and no distinguishing features. He said he was wearing brown pants, black leather shoes, a navy peacoat and was carrying a black leather wallet with about $15 in it.

Anthony Grass, a Findlay Market janitor, remembers running into Mr. Adams that day and being asked whether he'd seen a "short old man." Mr. Grass didn't see anyone who fit the description. Apparently, neither did anyone else.

"I don't think this guy's ever been around here," said Gary Geiger, owner of Geiger's Meat Counter, who has examined the police composite. "How can an elderly man wander away from Findlay Market?"

Paul Sebron, a vendor known as "Mr. Pig," has wondered why no one has asked him to post a flier in his window next to the other messages taped there.

"If my grandfather or father was missing," he said, "I'd hope there'd be some effort to find him."

The Adams family has been uncooperative with police, Officer Neu said. The family also declined repeated requests to be interviewed for this story.

Nseen in neighborhood

"We're not getting much help from anybody in the family," Officer Neu said. "We're running into a lot of dead ends."

The only Walter Dunson missing flier posted around Findlay Market is at the Elder Cafe, where no one has seen Mr. Dunson for at least the last 18 years.

One bar patron instantly recognized his name and police sketch. "He used to stay at the Drop Inn Center back in 1979 or '80," said Pat Elliott, a former counselor at the homeless shelter. "It's been years since I've seen him. I hope they find him."

Dead or alive, police want to know where he is.

Detectives have checked for death certificates or John Does at morgues and homeless shelters but have come up with nothing. Drop Inn Center residents say they don't recognize the composite. Police have not verified any sightings of Mr. Dunson.

Paulette Wilkins thinks they never will.

She lives next door, on the same side as the Adams' foil-covered windows.

She knows the kind of car Mr. Adams drives and what time the couple is usually home. She used to hear music from the upstairs bedroom when the couple's two sons lived there. But she has never seen Mr. Dunson.

Neither has Phylliss Leathers. She recently bought the house she grew up in two doors down from the missing neighbor.

"I've never seen the man in my life," she said. "I've never seen him go for a walk. I've never seen him going to a car. I think it's awfully peculiar."

For police, the paper trail to Mr. Dunson's life ended a long time ago.

His driver's license expired in the 1970s, his medical records date to about 1980, and police have uncovered no bank accounts or medical claims since.

"If he died of natural causes, just let us know," Officer Neu said. "We're pretty exhausted as far as leads go unless we get help from people. We're stumped."

He probably died of natural causes way before 1998... but this case is really sad, nonetheless, if you think about what probably happened here. I wonder if he had any other children.

Still haven't found Mr. Dunson's body but according to the Charley Project:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/d/dunson_walter.html

Adams was convicted on twenty-five counts of theft of public funds in the spring of 1999, for stealing Dunson's Social Security benefits. He was acquitted of twenty-five counts of forgery; investigators were unable to find a sample of Dunson's handwriting to compare with his supposed signature on the checks. The court determined that Dunson had most likely been deceased since at least 1985, and Adams had therefore been misappropriating his benefits since 1986. Adams was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution. He has never been criminally charged in connection with his father's disappearance and police say that, unless they find Dunson's remains, the case is likely to end with the theft convictions.

Walter Dunson

BY MISSING VETERANS
PUBLISHED JUNE 5, 1998
UPDATED JANUARY 4, 2018

Walter Dunson is a World War I Veteran who was reported missing around 2:00 p.m. on June 5, 1998 from Findlay Market in Cincinnati, Ohio.

According to Gary Adams, the son of Walter Dunson, Gary Adams and Walter Dunson were shopping at Findlay Market and Gary stepped into a butcher shop,leaving Walter Dunson outside. When Gary Adams left the butcher shop, Walter Dunson was gone.
Coincidentally, Walter Dunson went missing four days after the Social Security Administration (SSA) sent a letter to his address on file requesting that Walter Dunson meet with SSA to verify he was alive, getting his checks, and nobody was impersonating him to cash the checks.

Investigators believe that Water Dunson died many years ago, more so around 1980. In 1980, Walter Dunson was hospitalized several times for dementia and a possible stroke and was not a patient there after that time. Nobody in the apartment where he supposedly resided recalled seeing Walter Dunson after 1980.

Gary Adams was ultimately convicted 25 counts of theft of public funds for cashing Walter Dunson’s SSA checks totaling over $100,000, stealing his SSA Benefits.

The court decided that Walter Dunson was most likely deceased since 1985. The body of Walter Dunson was never located.

Walter Dunson would have been 97 at the time he was reported missing in June, 1998. Walter Dunson is described as a black / African American male standing 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing approximately 150 pounds. Walter Dunson has gray hair and brown eyes. Walter Dunson was last seen wearing a light brown shirt, dark brown pants, black leather shoes, and a dark blue navy peacoat.

If you have any information about the whereabouts of Walter Dunson, contact the Cincinnati Police Department at 513-352-3542.

LINK:
http://www.missingveterans.com/1998/walter-dunson/

Walter Dunson

Dunson, circa 1973 (25 years before he was reported missing; more recent photographs of Dunson are unavailable); Composite sketch of Dunson as he is supposed to have looked like at the time of his disappearance

• Missing Since0 6/05/1998
• Missing From Cincinnati, Ohio
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race Black
• Date of Birth 07/02/1900 (120)
• Age 97 years old
• Height and Weight 5'8, 150 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A light brown shirt, dark brown pants, black leather shoes and a dark blue navy peacoat.
• Distinguishing Characteristics African-American male. Gray hair, brown eyes. Some agencies give Dunson's date of birth as July 2, 1899 or July 7, 1900. He wears dentures and reading glasses.

Details of Disappearance

Dunson's son, Gary Adams, reported him missing on June 5, 1998. He said they were shopping together at Findlay Market on Elder Street in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati at about 2:00 p.m. when Adams stepped into a butcher shop for a moment to purchase steaks, and when he came back out Dunson was gone.

Dunson was carrying a black leather wallet with about fifteen dollars in it when he disappeared. He may also have been carrying a lottery ticket; a clerk at Cee Kay Beauty Supply in Findlay Market remembered selling one to a man matching Dunson's description. Other people at Findlay Market also recalled seeing an elderly man that day, but he appeared to be at least twenty years younger than Dunson.

Investigators believe that Adams's version of events is fictitious and Dunson actually died years, perhaps over a decade, before his alleged disappearance.

Adams had lived with his family in rented accomodation in the 5700 block of Wyatt Avenue for eighteen years, and his landlord and neighbors don't recall seeing an elderly man living with them. Dunson's supposed bedroom was at the top of a steep flight of stairs, had very few items in it and didn't appear to have been lived in recently.

There were no prescription medications for Dunson in the house, although he had a history of medical problems. Adams's son had lived in the room for two months in 1988 and visited the home regularly afterwards; he said he'd never met his grandfather or even heard of him until he was reported missing.

Dunson's driver's license expired in the 1970s and has not been renewed. The most recent photo of him that authorities were able to find was from 1973. He was hospitalized at Cincinnati's University Hospital three times in 1980 for treatment of dementia or possibly a mild stroke, but not has not been a patient there since then.

He has not seen a doctor, made an insurance claim, had any prescriptions filled, held a bank account, voted, or owned a library card since about 1980.

Dunson used to frequent the Elder Cafe, but no one has seen him there since about 1980. He sometimes stayed at the Drop Inn Center, a local homeless shelter, in 1979 and 1980, but no one had seen him there in many years and residents of the shelter do not recognize the composite picture of Dunson as he is supposed to have looked in 1998.

Dunson once belonged to the Calvary Baptist Church in the Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati. He was an usher there, but none of the other church members recall seeing him since at least 1980, except the pastor, who thought he'd seen Dunston at some time before 1986. The pastor's statement is the only independent evidence of Dunston's existence past 1980.

When confronted with this evidence, Adams stated that Dunson does not believe in doctors or banks and that is why the paper trail for him stopped in 1980. He described his father as a quiet, reclusive man who only goes outside during the nighttime, because he had the latest shift throughout his working career and was used to sleeping during the day.

Adams also stated Dunson kept to himself in part because he afraid the family would get in trouble with their landlord for having too many tenants, but Adams's landlord says there are no restrictions on how many people can live in the home.

Dunson was reported missing four days after the Social Security Administration (SSA) sent a letter to his and Adams's residence. The letter requested that Dunson meet with an SSA representative in person to verify his identity.

Dunson had been drawing a pension and Social Security benefits since 1970 and the SSA was doing a routine procedure which they do for all recipients approaching 100 years of age, to make sure he was still alive and receiving the payments and no one else was impersonating him to cash the checks.

Authorities believe Adams had been co-signing his dead father's checks and depositing them into his own account for years under the pretense that Dunson was still alive. The amount of money over the years totaled over $100,000.

Adams was convicted on twenty-five counts of theft of public funds in the spring of 1999, for stealing Dunson's Social Security benefits. He was acquitted of twenty-five counts of forgery; investigators were unable to find a sample of Dunson's handwriting to compare with his supposed signature on the checks.

The court determined that Dunson had most likely been deceased since at least 1985, and Adams had therefore been misappropriating his benefits since 1986.

Adams was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution. He has never been criminally charged in connection with his father's disappearance and police say that, unless they find Dunson's remains, the case is likely to end with the theft convictions.

Dunson is believed to have been born in Marietta, Georgia. He is a World War I veteran who worked at the now-defunct Oberhelman-Ritter iron foundry on Colerain Avenue in Cincinnati, which he retired from in 1970. He never legally married, but had eight or nine children.

Dunson's case remains unsolved; he is presumed deceased.

Investigating Agency

• Cincinnati Police Department 513-352-3542

Source Information

• The Cincinnati Enquirer
• The Cincinnati Post
• City of Cincinnati
• LexisONE
• Walter Dunson – The Charley Project

Missing for 25 years...


Walter Dunson, born 1900, Missing since 1998
Veteran of World War One

Walter Dunson is still missing. His is a rather long and strange story:

Walter Dunson was born in or near Marietta, Georgia on July 2nd 1900. He entered the armed forces and served in WWI earning a bronze star for bravery.

After the war, Dunson settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. He found employment at an iron foundry beginning in the 1930s where he worked the night shift. Although he never legally married, Dunson fathered 8 or 9 children with several different women. He retired from the foundry in 1970 after 40 years of service...

Sometime after 1978, Walter moved into the home of his son, Gary Adams in Cincinnati... On Friday, June 5th, 1998 Gary Adams phoned the police to inform them that his nearly 98-year-old father was missing....

Gary, who was 41 years old, said that he and his father purchased some produce before Gary stepped into a butcher shop to purchase some meat, but when he went back outside his father was gone. Police arrived at the scene and Gary provided them with a description. He described his father as 5’8” and 150 lbs. Gary said Walter was a thin black man with brown eyes and gray hair. He was wearing brown pants, black leather shoes, and a navy colored pea coat. Walter was also carrying a black leather wallet with about $15 dollars inside. When asked for a picture of the man, Gary told the searchers that he didn’t have a photo of his father and had not taken a photo of his father in the last twenty years, claiming that his family "didn’t believe in taking photographs."...

But this was not the only strange statement Gary Adams made that day...

...Then in early 1999, Gary Adams was arrested and charged with the theft of public funds and forgery for cashing his father’s checks from 1980-1998. Among the witnesses who testified were doctors who treated Walter in the 1980s, neighbors, workers from the market, the landlord, church goers, and Gary Adams own son...

Walter is described as a thin black male, 97 years old at the time of last contact. He was about 5’8” and weighed 150 lbs. He was wearing a light brown shirt, dark brown pants, black leather shoes and a dark blue navy peacoat. He was also carrying a black leather wallet with about 15 dollars in it. He may also have a lottery card in his possession. He wears dentures and reading glasses. In his composite he has some facial hair but in real photos he is clean shaven. Some agencies give Dunson's date of birth as July 2, 1899 or July 7, 1900. If alive he would be 121 years old today.

If you have any information on the disappearance of Walter Dunson please call Cincinnati Crime Stoppers at 513-352-
3040.

Much more at this link: