MS MS - Jeffrey Hegwood, 23, Hattiesburg, 20 March 1980

JHegwood.jpg


Jeffrey Keith Hegwood
Missing since March 20, 1980 from Hattiesburg, Forrest County, Mississippi.
Classification: Missing

Vital Statistics

    • Date Of Birth: February 6, 1957
    • Age at Time of Disappearance: 23 years old
    • Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'10"; 158 lbs.
    • Distinguishing Characteristics: White male. Dark brown hair; brown eyes. Hegwood wears eyeglasses or contact lenses and also suffers from seasonal allergies, including hay fever.
    • Marks, Scars: He has a scar on his inner left eyebrow.
    • Jewelry/Items: Hegwood was wearing a gold Bulova Acutron watch with a green safety cross on its face and the name "Robert E. Bell" engraved on the back at the time of his disappearance. He was also carrying a .25-caliber RG Model 26 pistol with serial number U020365.
Circumstances of Disappearance

Hegwood was last seen in Hattiesburg, Mississippi on March 20, 1980. He has never been heard from again.
Hegwood enjoyed hunting, fishing and canoing in 1980. He was employed as a bartender at the time of his disappearance.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Hattiesburg Police Department
Detective Rusty Keyes
601-545-4974


NCIC Number: M-059130013

Source Information:
ID-Wanted
The Doe Network: Case File 1121DMMS

LINK:

The Doe Network: Case File 1121DMMS
 
RG MODEL 26 PISTOL NIB 25 ACP

The serial number of Jeffrey's pistol was U020365.

If it were to be listed on a registry of stolen firearms, perhaps it might lead to information regarding his disappearance.
 
:)I was so happy to see interest in this case in the new year! I have been looking into it for over a month now. I live in this town and have been here since 2002. I have already talked to many people who remember this case and/or the bar associated with it. They have agreed to be interviewed. My hope it to start a podcast before the 40th anniversary.

I have run into a few people who have literally asked me if I “want to go down this road.” I’m even posting a comment made by an acquaintance who I can’t wait to talk to. Very interesting.

My office is next to where the “fender-bender” was and I have visited what is left of the other locations.

If anyone has more info on user DLJ1979, please let me know. I have surmised a first name but that is all. So far, the best leads I have come from here, two articles from the late ‘80s, and hearsay. I just wanted to let those of you still following the case know all of this. :)
 

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:)I was so happy to see interest in this case in the new year! I have been looking into it for over a month now. I live in this town and have been here since 2002. I have already talked to many people who remember this case and/or the bar associated with it. They have agreed to be interviewed. My hope it to start a podcast before the 40th anniversary.

I have run into a few people who have literally asked me if I “want to go down this road.” I’m even posting a comment made by an acquaintance who I can’t wait to talk to. Very interesting.

My office is next to where the “fender-bender” was and I have visited what is left of the other locations.

If anyone has more info on user DLJ1979, please let me know. I have surmised a first name but that is all. So far, the best leads I have come from here, two articles from the late ‘80s, and hearsay. I just wanted to let those of you still following the case know all of this. :)
I’m so glad to see that Jeffrey’s got at least one person fighting for answers in his case! His name and face have come up several times in the past few months during my research of other cases. I’d love to see him found.

That’s quite an interesting comment you posted...wonder what was meant by it? Do you have any theories on what happened to Jeffrey?

ETA: I’ve been working on a Jane Doe case from near the Brookhaven area and have made friends with a couple of locals and LE connections...next time I speak with one of them I’ll mention Jeffrey and see what they might know.
 
Jeffrey Keith Hegwood
  • jeffrey_keith_hegwood_1.jpg
Hegwood, circa 1980

  • Missing Since 03/20/1980
  • Missing From Hattiesburg, Mississippi
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Male
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 02/06/1957 (62)
  • Age 23 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'10, 158 pounds
  • Medical Conditions Hegwood suffers from mild seasonal allergies, including hay fever.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Dark brown hair, brown or blue eyes. Hegwood may have a mustache. He has a diagonal scar on his inner left eyebrow and he wears eyeglasses or contact lenses.
Details of Disappearance
Hegwood was last seen in Hattiesburg, Mississippi on March 20, 1980. He had a date scheduled for 9:00 p.m. that night and he went to the bank and then purchased flowers for the date, but never showed up for it. His roommates came home that night to find the door of their apartment open and Hegwood missing.

That same night, a car matching the description of Hegwood's struck another car carrying three people. Hegwood's vehicle was subsequently found parked on a dead-end street with a muddy handprint on it.

Six months later, Hegwood's half-brother, whom he had never met, was killed in a police shoot-out in the Canadian province of Ontario. He was carrying Hegwood's identification at the time of his death.

Authorities don't believe Hegwood's half-brother was responsible for his disappearance, but they think he stole some of his belongings prior to his disappearance.

Hegwood enjoyed hunting, fishing and canoeing in 1980. He owned his own bar and worked there at the time of his disappearance, and he was supposed to graduate from college in two weeks. His case remains unsolved.

Source:

Jeffrey Keith Hegwood – The Charley Project
 
Jeffrey Keith Hegwood
  • jeffrey_keith_hegwood_1.jpg
Hegwood, circa 1980

  • Missing Since 03/20/1980
  • Missing From Hattiesburg, Mississippi
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Male
  • Race White
  • Date of Birth 02/06/1957 (62)
  • Age 23 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'10, 158 pounds
  • Medical Conditions Hegwood suffers from mild seasonal allergies, including hay fever.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Dark brown hair, brown or blue eyes. Hegwood may have a mustache. He has a diagonal scar on his inner left eyebrow and he wears eyeglasses or contact lenses.
Details of Disappearance
Hegwood was last seen in Hattiesburg, Mississippi on March 20, 1980. He had a date scheduled for 9:00 p.m. that night and he went to the bank and then purchased flowers for the date, but never showed up for it. His roommates came home that night to find the door of their apartment open and Hegwood missing.

That same night, a car matching the description of Hegwood's struck another car carrying three people. Hegwood's vehicle was subsequently found parked on a dead-end street with a muddy handprint on it.

Six months later, Hegwood's half-brother, whom he had never met, was killed in a police shoot-out in the Canadian province of Ontario. He was carrying Hegwood's identification at the time of his death.

Authorities don't believe Hegwood's half-brother was responsible for his disappearance, but they think he stole some of his belongings prior to his disappearance.

Hegwood enjoyed hunting, fishing and canoeing in 1980. He owned his own bar and worked there at the time of his disappearance, and he was supposed to graduate from college in two weeks. His case remains unsolved.

Source:

Jeffrey Keith Hegwood – The Charley Project
Snipped from above

Six months later, Hegwood's half-brother, whom he had never met, was killed in a police shoot-out in the Canadian province of Ontario. He was carrying Hegwood's identification at the time of his death.

Authorities don't believe Hegwood's half-brother was responsible for his disappearance, but they think he stole some of his belongings prior to his disappearance.


This is interesting!:)

I wonder how his ID ended up with his half-brother? Did 1/2-bro live in MS? What's in Canada or why was he there? Specifically, what are the belongings they think the brother stole? Was he wearing a watch when he was killed by police? What were the circumstances surrounding the police shooting? What makes them believe the brother was not involved in Jeffrey's disappearance?

This case seems so easily solvable. I wonder if the FBI would get involved given his ID was found in Canada? How does that work across international jurisdictions?
 
It does beg some questions.

Who was this half brother and what was his age and when was he killed?

Who were his associates and close friends?

How was it that if they had never men, he ended up with Jeffrey's ID and other belongings?

Why was none of this information available earlier to investigators?

Was this half-brother ever considered as a suspect?
 
I spoke with a few locals and the consensus (RUMOR based) seems to be that who law enforcement suggests is not responsible is in fact probably in someway responsible. Although unfortunately, the few people I spoke with hadn’t heard his name in quite sometime... almost as if the case had been solved. Quite sad IMO. And very bizarre...
 
Parents of missing man offer reward By SUSANA BELLIDO AMERICAN Statt Writer Her son disappeared about six years ago. . He was a 23-year-old USM student, she said. A senior business major with above-average grades at school. An "ordinary good guy" who got along well with other people. The owner of the Townhouse Lounge in Hattiesburg. The older brother of two girls. Someone who always brought animals home and enjoyed fishing and hunting. "Someone I was very proud of," she said. Jeffrey Keith Hegwood disappeared from Hattiesburg in 1980. His family has not heard anything about him since. They are now offering $3,000 to anyone who arranges a reunion among Jeffrey and his father and mother, Alvin and Ruby Hegwood, or with his paternal grandparents, Alvin and Zelma Hegwood, all of Forest. They are also offering $25,000 to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for his disappearance. They hope the reward will bring about some kind of answer. Any answer. "I think the worst kind of answer would be better than no answer," said his mother. "It's been a long six years." Jeffrey's case is still open at the Hattiesburg Police Department, but not much has been learned about it during the last six years, Police Det. David Brinkley said. Foul play is a possibility, he said. March 20, 1980, was a "very normal day," Mrs. Hegwood said. Jeffrey had gone to his classes, gotten a haircut, opened the lounge at 3 p.m. He was offering two drinks for the price of one that night, so the lounge was crowded with college students. He had arranged for someone to fill in for him and arranged a date with a girl. Apparently, he left the lounge at about 9:30 or 10 p.m. to go home, where he was going to meet his date. His car was involved in a minor "hit and run accident, nothing serious," his mother said. Police have not determined whether Jeffrey was driving his 1974 Oldsmobile when the accident oc curred. "If he was driving his car, that was the last time we know he was seen," Mrs. Hegwood said. His car was found abandoned in the eastern part of Hattiesburg, on Short Katie Avenue, the day after he disappeared. Mrs. Hegwood said police assured her they "found nothing unusual and no sign of anybody being in his car with him." Nothing was wrong with the car, nothing had been taken from it and the keys had been left inside, she said. No motive or evidence of foul play were initially linked to the case, police told the American immediately after Jeffrey disappeared. He had brown hair, blue eyes, was 5-ft.-9-in. tall and weighed about 160 pounds when he disappeared. He was wearing a V-neck brown sweater, tan pants, a gold watch and a turquoise ring. "There has absolutely been no trace of anything definite," Mrs. Hegwood said. She does not know what to expect. "Sometimes I feel he is alive...." But she cannot believe that he would not get in touch with his family during all these years. And "it's terribly hard to believe" he had a reason to leave. "I don't knowMt's hard. It's very hard to know how I feel sometimes," she said. All leads given to the Hattiesburg Police Department in Jeffrey's case will be investigated and re- . r c " V' Jeffrey Keith Hegwood plies will be kept confidential, Brinkley said. Kathy Blackledge and Brinkley of the police department can be contacted at 544-7900.


Jeffery Keith Hegwood - Newspapers.com
 
Here's another article
 

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