IN IN - Paul Raymond Harrod, adult, may have been using false identity, Hamilton County, 27 Nov 1992

[GuyfromCanada]

Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office detectives are seeking assistance in solving a cold case they have been working for several years. It is an unusual case involving a missing person using possible false identifying information that has resulted in few results during the investigation.

On Friday, November 27, 1992, the day after Thanksgiving, Paul Raymond Harrod left his home near Sheridan, IN and has not been seen or heard from since that date. Harrod left a $100 bill and a note for his wife stating he “needed to get away for a while.” He left in his 1992 white Geo Metro 2-door hatchback but left no indication where he was going or when he might return. On Friday, May 7, 1993, Harrod’s wife filed a missing person report with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.

There has been little information to use as detectives try to track down Harrod’s location. Over the years, investigators have uncovered bits and pieces including:

-the Geo Metro was sold in Denver, Colorado in 1994
-Harrod’s Social Security number was not issued to him until 1987
-the high school Harrod listed as attending has no record of a person by that name ever being there
-a Paul Raymond Harrod with the same parents’ names and date of birth was killed by a car when he was five (5) years old. The death occurred in Harrod, Ohio.
-detectives believe Harrod may now be in his 70’s but an exact age may not be available

Investigators working the case recently received the photos of Harrod. The individual photo of Harrod was taken on Thanksgiving Day in 1992, the day prior to Harrod’s disappearance. Detectives would also like to identify the best man in the wedding photograph in order to interview the individual for more information.

In addition to the Sheriff’s Office working the case, detectives have also enlisted criminal justice students from Purdue University. Anyone with information on Paul Raymond Harrod or who may have known Harrod during his time in Hamilton County is asked to contact Detective Lockhart at 317-776-9887 or through Hamilton County Public Safety Communications at 317-773-1282.

Hamilton County Sheriff's Office Indiana

Authorities want help solving odd cold case over Hamilton County man reported missing in 1993

Well, this is an unusual case... Wow.

 

[GuyfromCanada]

Any opinion on this unusual case @MassGuy - edit, made a mistake while tagging.

 

[Got2BkidNme]

I wonder who was getting married on Thanksgiving. And when the car was sold in Colorado, was it still in his name? Why the long stretch before reporting him missing?

 

[Got2BkidNme]

I wonder what his occupation was while he was in Indiana....

 

[Elisaa444]

Wow. This is very interesting!

 

[MassGuy]

Any opinion on this unusual case @MassGuy @PommyMommy @GraceG @doodles1211 @rosesfromangels @StarEyes @Mom24 @perfectingpink @YaYa_521

Wow, that’s a wild one.

This guy was obviously hiding from something (likely the law).

You don’t steal an identity otherwise.

 

[GuyfromCanada]

Family Search, Paul Raymond Harrod's death certificate, DOB 2/7/1942 DOD 12/27/1947. FamilySearch

 

[GuyfromCanada]

Any opinion on this unusual case @PommyMommy @GraceG @doodles1211 @rosesfromangels @StarEyes @Mom24 @perfectingpink @YaYa_521

 

[GuyfromCanada]

I also wonder how Paul was able to get his Social Security Number in 1987 if there's no record of him prior to that? This is indeed a mystery.

 

[GuyfromCanada]

Find A Grave listing for Paul Raymond Harrod (1942-1947) with a photo of his grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/58989921/paul-r-harrod

 

[doodles1211]

He likely has chosen another small child's name to take on, when he left in 1992. That was the way people were doing it back then. There was a woman in FL not that long ago that was finally identified. She had done the same thing. I don't think they ever would have found out who she was if it had not gotten a lot of attention in the media.
A case like this could drive someone (me) batty trying to figure any part of it out!

 

[TatianaBarbie]

I certainly have a lot of questions about this case.

1. Are the wedding picture and the individual picture both taken on the same day (Thanksgiving 1992), the day before he left?

2. How long did his wife know him before the wedding?

3. Did he have any known children?

4. Did he have a job (already brought up by @Got2BkidNme )?

5. Has his social security number ever been used since his disappearance?

6. Was he the person who sold the Geo Metro in Colorado? What name was on sales record?

7. Why did his wife wait so long to report him missing (already brought up by @Got2BkidNme )

8. Did his wife ever divorce him?

 

[doodles1211]

With all of the DNA sites these days any of his children could submit and see what family may pop up! That would be a really good next step to take if children exist... IMO.

 

[Ellmau]

Might just be a bigamist? When did he get married to the wife who reported him missing? Presumably after 1987 when his ID was issued.

 

[GuyfromCanada]

If you go to Case Search - MyCase and type Paul R. Harrod there was a small claims court case against him filled on 7/13/1994 by Midwest Credit Service Inc. (a collection agency?) and an address in Sheridan is listed for him, turned out to be a bad address. The case was dismissed on 6/11/1997, most likely because he was not located.

Note: There's a different Paul R. Harrod with a speeding case from 1998 and an address in Kentucky.

 

[meanmaryjean]

Authorities want help solving odd cold case over Hamilton County man reported missing in 1993

"Detectives say Paul Raymond Harrod left a $100 bill and a note for his wife stating he “needed to get away for a while” before he left his home near Sheridan on November 27, 1992. He hasn’t been seen or heard from since."

Pertinent points:

• SSN was not issued to him until 1987
• High school he claims to have attended has no record of him
• Child with same name, same parent names and same DOB killed in accident at age 5 in Harrod, OH.

 

[PommyMommy]

Any opinion on this unusual case @PommyMommy @GraceG @doodles1211 @rosesfromangels @StarEyes @Mom24 @perfectingpink @YaYa_521

Well geez, there's not a lot to go on here. My first thought would be to look at MP's on NaMus (Male, White, Brown Hair, Current Age 65-75, missing prior to 11/27/92), but surely LE has already done this. What about prison escapees and absconders? Certainly, those have been checked too.

If there hasn't been any activity (employment records, credit card applications, etc.) on the SSN issued in 1987, it makes me wonder how he supported himself. Was he working for cash or did he assume another identity? Surely his wife knows his occupation/trade?

I also wonder if LE has looked at vehicles that were purchased in Denver around the time the GEO was sold in 1994?

Sorry I'm not more help. Good luck!
MOO

 

[Steelslady]

Authorities want help solving odd cold case over Hamilton County man reported missing in 1993

"Detectives say Paul Raymond Harrod left a $100 bill and a note for his wife stating he “needed to get away for a while” before he left his home near Sheridan on November 27, 1992. He hasn’t been seen or heard from since."

Pertinent points:

• SSN was not issued to him until 1987
• High school he claims to have attended has no record of him
• Child with same name, same parent names and same DOB killed in accident at age 5 in Harrod, OH.

Jumping off of this post- I would say some answers might be in Ohio. The internet was still new, so I couldn't have been able to look this child's name, date of birth and death, etc, unless he was living in the area at that time, and either read about this child's obituary and waited to use his identity later, or he went through cemeteries looking for a child that passed away within a few years and managed to get ID made with the information he gathered about this child- name, DOB, etc. In order for this man to have found that information out- the parents' names especially, he would either have to have read an obituary locally or went to the town hall and got a death certificate to get this information. None of this was online back in 87, as the internet was brand new- I know, as I worked as a travel agent back then- and there was no way to get any information about anyone online back then.

If I were LE, I would look into Ohio more- was there anyone resembling this man that went missing? Did this happen to another woman who reported a husband missing? Were there any armed robberies back then? Home break ins? Murders? Children missing or adults missing other than this man?

As someone mentioned above, he could have been a bigamist, but even back then, a lot of them kept their names, as it was easier to hide then- today, people still remain hidden, but it takes a lot of work and planning to try that, as your name and photos can be blasted all over social media now, if you pull a stunt like this.

What doesn't make sense to me is the wife not reporting his missing sooner. Several months went by, and she decided to report him? Did they have a child or children together?

No question, he was still alive when he sold his car in Colorado. There are so many places this man could have hidden and no one would have known. Are there any ranches and farms close by in the area that he sold his car? Many times, ranch and farm hands were paid under the table and given a small cottage to live on. After he sold his car, he may have taken on a new identity- used his old identity to sell the car, while already using a new one while working as a hire hand on a ranch or a farm. It was so easy to do back then, as again, no one could look for you online to track you down or post your photo.

Ohio and Colorado, in my opinion, is where I would start posting his photos on social media outlets. Those photos are pretty decent ones- they aren't blurry and you can see his face clearly. Someone out there knows who this man is.

Now, reasons why he might be on the run, so to speak:

1. he's a bigamist and his, er, other wife was close to finding him
2. he owed money to someone- drugs, gambling debts. I wonder if his wife could tell us any of his habits while they were together- did he do drugs, did he gamble, was he a drinker, how was he financially- did he go from job to job or not work at all, did he work under the table at a job while with her, was he responsible paying his bills.
3. of course, we could go down the route that he was a sex offender or murdered someone.
4. he could have robbed a store or a bank- did he own any guns? Was he into hunting?

Back then, there were no cell phones, either, so he could have kept in touch with his own family or friends back home, by calling from a pay phone miles away from where he was living with his wife.

Did she ever hear him talk to his own family or friends from the past? Did she ever meet any of them? I doubt that she did, he probably told her that he was an only child with no aunts and uncles or cousins, and that his parents and grandparents were deceased. That line was often used by people like this guy, when new love interests hook up with them.

I would start in Ohio. As I said above, there was no internet, there were no cell phones. He was there at some point to find a child's grave or obituary- which was only local news- not like today, where obituaries are posted online.

 

[doodles1211]

" Detectives say they would also like help identifying the best man in the photo because they want to gather information from him."
Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office wants help solving unusual 1993 cold case over missing man

Wouldn't the wife know him or at least his name? Or, is he a mystery man too?

 

[Deleted member 238128]

I’d be interested to know what was going on in their lives at the time. Could he have hoped to reinvent himself, start afresh with a new identity, but history began to repeat itself, so he needed to hit the reset button again? Also, the $100 bill, who was on it, Franklin?