NY NY - Richard Cox, 21, West Point, 14 Jan 1950

[PFF]

See message # 3 for link to Life Magazine Article

 

[STANDREID]

I haven't heard that "George" had an accent when he called Cox's classmate so I guess we can assume that the mystery man was American although that doesn't mean that he couldn't have been a foreign agent. If George wasn't an agent then I have to wonder if he wasn't a blackmailer of some sort. Perhaps the two had some kind of altercation and Cox came out on the short end. Cox could have defected but that seems like one of the more unlikely explanations to me.

 

[scriptgirl]

I heard that George had an accent-German, maybe?

 

[noZme]

Did the books follow the later life of the fiance', Betty Timmons?

 

[Richard]

It has been over 65 years since Cadet Cox went missing.

 

[Vivette]

With this case I have a feeling we will never find out what happened.

 

[Richard]

Bumping

 

[Kodiak]

BUMP!

Is there a reason that Richard Cox is not listed on The Doe Network, The Charley Project, or even NamUs? If fellow Ohioian, Ronald Henry Tammen Jr., who went missing in 1953 is listed on all three sites, why not Cox?! I know he was legally declared dead in 1957, but there is no reason for him not to be listed in NamUs for comparisons of unidentified persons/remains.

And speaking of Tammen, J. Wenger, a researcher, and writer, who is on the verge of cracking Tammen's case wide open, believes Cox and Tammen could have crossed paths with each other. And she presents the overlooked clues between the two missing men and their cases:

Did Ronald Tammen cross paths with Richard Colvin Cox?

And be sure to read her latest blog entry:

A dead body in Georgia

 

[Kodiak]

I just finished "OBLIVION" by Harry Maihafer and Marshall Jacobs, both of whom are now deceased. What a written legacy that both the author and the researcher left behind as it truly is a great book. A definite keeper. If you are interested in the Richard Cox case, this book is a must read! I would love to see this optioned as a major motion picture, it was that good.

After reading it, I feel like I somehow knew Cox and his family personally. I found within the spy vs. spy twists and turns, sadness for Cox and realized it truly is a sad case, concerning him and all his family and friends.

Personal fun fact while reading the book:
I noticed the numerous mentions in the book of The Thayer Hotel located on West Point's property. It's the hotel that George and Cox supposedly had dinner at before the latter disappeared. I was curious about the hotel while reading because my mother's maiden name is Thayer, with Braintree, Massachusetts lineage. I found out that hotel was named after Colonel and Brevet Brigadier General Sylvanus Thayer, who was known as "the Father of West Point." Then, in my family tree, I discovered Sylvanus Thayer is my 4th Cousin six times removed. Now I have a common link to West Point and the Hotel. My mom and I love New York City and when I told her this news and showed her the hotel, and the West Point area, she was ecstatic, and wants to book a trip to West Point and stay at the hotel!

Sylvanus Thayer - Wikipedia

The Hotel Thayer Official Website

Also, for those who have read the book, what did you think? I would love to hear your thoughts.

 

[jgfitzge]

I just finished "OBLIVION" by Harry Maihafer and Marshall Jacobs, both of whom are now deceased. What a written legacy that both the author and the researcher left behind as it truly is a great book. A definite keeper. If you are interested in the Richard Cox case, this book is a must read! I would love to see this optioned as a major motion picture, it was that good.

After reading it, I feel like I somehow knew Cox and his family personally. I found within the spy vs. spy twists and turns, sadness for Cox and realized it truly is a sad case, concerning him and all his family and friends.

Personal fun fact while reading the book:
I noticed the numerous mentions in the book of The Thayer Hotel located on West Point's property. It's the hotel that George and Cox supposedly had dinner at before the latter disappeared. I was curious about the hotel while reading because my mother's maiden name is Thayer, with Braintree, Massachusetts lineage. I found out that hotel was named after Colonel and Brevet Brigadier General Sylvanus Thayer, who was known as "the Father of West Point." Then, in my family tree, I discovered Sylvanus Thayer is my 4th Cousin six times removed. Now I have a common link to West Point and the Hotel. My mom and I love New York City and when I told her this news and showed her the hotel, and the West Point area, she was ecstatic, and wants to book a trip to West Point and stay at the hotel!

Sylvanus Thayer - Wikipedia

The Hotel Thayer Official Website

Also, for those who have read the book, what did you think? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Not sure if you knew there is a Thayer Academy here in Braintree Massachusetts...

 

[Kodiak]

Not sure if you knew there is a Thayer Academy here in Braintree Massachusetts...

Wow! Thanks for letting me know! I never knew that! I found the official website and will check it out!

 

[dogperson]

I just finished reading "Oblivion". I felt the authors made a good case for Richard Cox joining the CIA. I'm not 100% convinced of that, but I am convinced he was alive for some time after he vanished. The person named Shotwell in the book talked with him in a Greyhound station about 2 years after he disappeared and passed a polygraph about the sighting. (I know polygraphs aren't proof, but the fact that he says he actually talked with Richard by name and Richard spoke of working in Germany carries a lot more weight than the testimony of someone who didn't actually know Richard but thought they saw him.)

 

[Richard]

This case will be 70 years old in January.

 

[madamx]

Bumping

 

[Richard]

Richard Cox had served in West Germany after World War II as a US Army Sergeant in a counter espionage unit. Speculation about him disappearing from the US Military Academy, West Point due to espionage related reasons were considered and could well have had something to do with it.

However, this was a very well publicized case and was in the papers for weeks. If it were the newly formed CIA wanting to recruit him, they most likely would have done it in a more controlled and quiet manner.

At that same time (1950), however, there were a lot of abductions and actions being taken around the world by Soviet and Eastern Bloc countries against Americans. Servicemen, journalists, embassy personnel were being recruited and even abducted. About that same time, a US Navy patrol plane was shot down in the Baltic and photos were obtained by the US of a Soviet ship "rescuing" survivors - none of which were ever returned to the US:

------------------------
On April 8, 1950, Soviet Lavochkin La-11 fighters shot down a US Navy PB4Y-2 Privateer (BuNo 59645) over the Baltic Sea, off the coast of Liepāja, Latvia.
The privateer was a World War II and Korean War era patrol bomber of the United States Navy derived from the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. Named the Turbulent Turtle, the aircraft was assigned to Patrol Squadron 26 (VP-26), Det A. In addition to other types of missions, privateers were used by the US Navy for signals intelligence (SIGINT) flights off of the coast of the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China.

The crew was reported missing in action on April 9, 1950 in the Baltic Sea, 80 miles southeast of Libau, Latvia. Below are the names of the ten sailors, including CT3 Edward J. Purcell, from the Naval Security Group that were on PB4Y-2 Privateer, flight 59645.

CT3 Edward Purcell

Missing Aircrew members:
AT1 Frank L. Beckman
AL3 Joseph J. Bourassa
ENS Tommy L. Burgess
AD 1 Joseph H. Danens
LT John H. Fette
CT3 Edward J. Purcell
LTJG Robert D. Reynolds
AN Joseph N. Rinnier
LT Howard W. Seeschaf
AD 1 Jack W. Thomas

Each of the crew members was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross...

Much more at link below...

LINK:
Remembering Crew Members of U.S. Navy PB4Y-2 Shoot Down, April 8, 1950 – And Shocking Cold War Case Study

 

[ColyH]

I haven't read Oblivion so I am not all that familiar with this case but from what I read they did a very extensive search for him did not find a body. I wonder if he wasn't happy with his life, was sick of West Point and wanted out of the military and this was his only way out. Just because someone seems happy on the outside doesn't mean everything is good on the inside.

 

[thejeangenie]

I think he left voluntarily, left the country, and established a new life in Mexico or South America.

 

[Richard]

Richard Cox is still carried as "missing" in the West Point Class of 1952 section of their list of Cadets.

That same class also lost a lot of cadets in the crash of a large aircraft.

 

[Seratonin]

 

[ColyH]

I doubt Richard Cox was a spy. The Soviets recruited people who were in positions that held important information and Cox was not in that position. He could not have been a spy for the U.S. because his face would have been too well known seeing as he was a missing West Point cadet.

I also wonder about the angle with "George". Is it possible the cadets believed Cox was a homosexual and they did away with him and then made up the story about a guy named "George" to throw people off the track? The story about this guy cutting off the man part of German soldiers seems like a story college guys would make up and not something that actually happened.