Recovered/Located CT - Robert Hoagland, 50, Newtown, 28 Jul 2013

Heard about the passing of Robert "Hoagy" Hoagland earlier this week, after he had been a missing person for years. Hadn't read much about the case prior to this recent revelation. Afterwards, I did see the Disappeared episode.

Wow. It's amazing that he was able to stay under the radar for 9 years without being "found out" - especially during this post 9/11 era with all of the security checks; valid forms of I.D. that are needed to conduct business; etc. And, he wasn't living that far from where he had vanished from. Plus, IIRC he only took out $600 from his account before he left. That's a very small amount of $ to start a new life with...unless he had some $ stashed away that his family didn't know about?!

Very strange. So, what happened here?! It doesn't sound like he had amnesia or anything similar - it definitely sounds like a voluntary disappearance.

The fact that RH did turn up like this is making me re-think other cases where I felt sure a missing person met with foul play, instead of a voluntary disappearance. I.e., if RH could do this - others could as well.

In any case, I hope more details will come out regarding this. In the meantime, I suspect the below post could be fairly accurate in describing what caused RH to leave his family & old life behind:

I just watched his Disappeared episode, and what immediately came to mind was a sort of spooked voluntary disappearance after the confrontation with Max’s associates.

An apparent friend of Chris’s posted on reddit that the family feels certain he left voluntarily. The same friend also said that the town is small enough that if Max’s drug issues had caused or contributed to the disappearance, they would’ve heard the rumors about it.

Obviously they know the place better than I, who doesn’t know it at all. But it just seems really coincidental that Max is arrested and Hoagy goes missing on the same day.

Maybe it’s far fetched but I just can’t help but wonder if the associates threatened or even blackmailed him and he felt that to either protect himself and/or the rest of the family, he had to leave. Leaving wallet, passport, etc behind would actually make sense in that case, so they wouldn’t be able to trace him. Basically like a self-made witness protection program. The friend really seemed to downplay the drug scene in Newtown as not terribly serious, but honestly you just never know when it comes to illicit activities and drug dealers, even ones that seem “low level”
 
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Sad case. I learned of it today.

I don't judge this man for starting a new life. Whether he had a sort of mental break and felt it was a better option than others, or he believed he must leave to protect himself or family, we just can't judge.

I hope his family is well-supported and cared-for right now.

This case reminds not to jump to conclusions in other cases.
JMO.
 
I bet he was a line cook somewhere and just flew under the radar under the new name. I'd love to know if he had a car or anything in his new name. It seems like it would be impossible to get a job or a loan for a car or a mortgage with a fake identity.

Maybe he was mad at his wife for going on a vacation when he was dealing with the kids problems, but it still seems cruel not to just tell her he was leaving. The fact that Chris had said the family thought he walked away makes me wonder if he did reach out and tell someone to stop looking for him. I'd love for someone to interview the roommate and find out how "Richard King" lived and if he was happy.

I had an uncle who just disappeared on his family. Someone worked for an insurance company and found him years later living in CA. He had started a new family but did use his original SSN. So, I know it happens where people just snap and walkway from all of their responsibilities.
 
What doesn't surprise me is that RH did this. It seems there were a lot of stressors in his life, and that may have been too much for him. This makes sense, and no one knows how they would react under similar/identical circumstances - unless/until it happens to them.

What does surprise me is that he was able to get away with this for 9 years. As was said, if he wanted to buy/rent a car; rent an apartment; buy a house; get a checking account/credit card; get a job, etc. - it seems that he would need legitimate paperwork/forms of I.D. to do any of these things.
 
I think the toughest thing would be finding a job. In my opinion, the rest is conceivably doable. You could find a private room in someone's house/apartment, if you have a fake I.D., but you'd have to live a simple life. But some people want that. (If I did not have children, I would.)
 
"David told the detectives Rich had mentioned to him the previous week that he was going to receive some mail with a different name on it. He offered no explanation, and David didn’t want to pry."

Wow. He didn't want to pry? If I were planning to room with a stranger and they said "by the way, I'll be getting mail with a different name on it," that would be an immediate red flag.

Hoagie really lucked out I guess. That roommate was so determined not to pry that he didn't know anything about Hoagie -- he didn't even know if Hoagie could afford health insurance. That's odd. He said he thought of Hoagie as a brother, and he let him live in his house rent-free (just "chipping in" on utilities)...and yet when he noticed Hoagie's health was declining and wasn't sure if he could afford medical care, he didn't say anything? I dunno, I know there are some people who really prioritize "not prying" above anything else, but it's very hard for me to understand that perspective. The whole situation is super weird.
 
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"David told the detectives Rich had mentioned to him the previous week that he was going to receive some mail with a different name on it. He offered no explanation, and David didn’t want to pry."

Wow. He didn't want to pry? If I were planning to room with a stranger and they said "by the way, I'll be getting mail with a different name on it," that would be an immediate red flag.

At that point, ‘Rich’ had roomed with him for about nine years. Not a stranger at that point—at least not thought of as a stranger.

 
At that point, ‘Rich’ had roomed with him for about nine years. Not a stranger at that point—at least not thought of as a stranger.

It really is a very bizarre story: I don't blame Hoagland's wife and children for not commenting about the situation: I imagine they feel totally betrayed. Hoagland lucked out by finding a roommate who had zero curiosity---
 
The man who vanished

Excellent & well-written article. Thanks for posting. This definitely "fills in the blanks" and somewhat explains how RH was able to "stay off the radar" for 9 years. However, I don't believe most people would have been able to pull this off - especially in this era.

There are obviously still a lot of questions re: this case, but it seems like the answers died with RH. Re: the article, it appears evident that he didn't tell anyone that he fled from a previous life. Everyone who knew him in NY state seemed to be in the dark about his true identity - until after he passed.

I do wonder why he only went a state away from CT, to NY. I.e., he wasn't extremely far from where he used to live. And, during the 9 years he was "underground" it's plausible/possible that he could have run into someone from his past that recognized him, etc. I wonder if part of this was because he only had $600 cash & couldn't go that far away. I guess we'll never know now.
 
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I wonder if he realised that it was possible he might die and decided to start using his real name, so that after his death his family might find out that he had passed away.

Maybe he was having some regrets and was feeling a lack of family as he became unwell.
 
"David told the detectives Rich had mentioned to him the previous week that he was going to receive some mail with a different name on it. He offered no explanation, and David didn’t want to pry."

Wow. He didn't want to pry? If I were planning to room with a stranger and they said "by the way, I'll be getting mail with a different name on it," that would be an immediate red flag.

Hoagie really lucked out I guess. That roommate was so determined not to pry that he didn't know anything about Hoagie -- he didn't even know if Hoagie could afford health insurance. That's odd. He said he thought of Hoagie as a brother, and he let him live in his house rent-free (just "chipping in" on utilities)...and yet when he noticed Hoagie's health was declining and wasn't sure if he could afford medical care, he didn't say anything? I dunno, I know there are some people who really prioritize "not prying" above anything else, but it's very hard for me to understand that perspective. The whole situation is super weird.
That was a long time after they already lived together. I would not personally do anything David did, but I wouldn’t exactly call it weird. It was just an “off the books” rental.

Hoagland was very calculated and lucky though, everything fell into place. I feel horrible for his family.
 

The man who vanished​

Interesting article. I'd been wondering if his early death was in part caused by his inability to get healthcare without any ID, it sounds like his roommate was speculating similarly.

I wonder if he was as remote in the life he left as he was in the one he had in Rock Hill. Did his family and friends in Newtown feel like they didn't really know him? Now I'm wondering what his upbringing was like--I don't remember now if there were relatives outside of the immediate family (wife and sons) who were looking for him.

A very strange case indeed.
 

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