IL IL - Bruce Campbell, 57, Jacksonville, 13 April 1959

I am local but this was before my time so I had never heard of this case before. Interesting read.
 
As the second disappearance of this type is the family you only thinking of? If he went voluntarily in a pajamas so he probably had an accomplice. But again .. what would the reason for it have been? The assistant has since been silent all these years. Suicide? But why in the pajamas and the middle of the night in a strange place? There he would meet with his children and grandchildren? Probably he was murdered by a close relative who had an interest in the body never was recovered.
 
My first thoughts were he left willingly due to some type of business problems associated with being a stock investment counselor. Or he left with a girlfriend as suggested in the article.

His asking his wife repeatedly about the car doors being locked sounds off. Why didn't he just go check them? His asking and not checking them himself leads me to believe he purposely made it sound as if he was paranoid. I can't imagine being that tired after a long drive. Tired yes, but not so tired one would act irrationally.

Curious about the Sandman Hotel mentioned in the article, I found the following. At least it gives us an idea of what the hotel looked like.

http://minnesotaniche.ecrater.com/p/6820491/sandman-motel-cafe-jacksonville-il

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I have my doubts about the efficacy of the original search; yes, scores of people - almost all untrained - turned out and did their best, but I doubt that professionals on the scene could provide much guidance to that big of a group, or that advanced grid search techniques were used. (True, a very tall man in very green pajamas might not have been that hard to spot!)

Without knowing more about the family situation, of course, it's impossible to say, but I see no reason why the fellow would have had to feign a near-breakdown and paranoia if he only wanted to leave his wife, or that he would have left her after a long drive to Illinois. Far easier to simply disappear in Massachusetts, and take your wallet with you.
 
Yeah, he left in his pajamas, without his wallet, wouldn't that make it difficult to start over anywhere? He would have needed money, for one. If he had someone helping him, they would have had to have funds to help too.

His wife died without ever knowing what became of her husband. There was a local farmer who reported hearing shouts around the time Campbell disappeared.

Weird case, I don't think we'll ever know, unless his remains turn up somewhere.
 
I find it odd that The Charley Project doesn't list this case at all.
 
I am local but this was before my time so I had never heard of this case before. Interesting read.

I am about 50 miles from Jacksonville, IL and I don't recall this case either even though I would have been in 7th grade when it occurred. Maybe it was more of a Springfield story. Not that it matters beyond curiosity but, going by her name, was his wife foreign born, like Filipino perhaps?

OK, here's my go at it. He was concerned about the car and went out to see if it was locked. When he returned, he accidentally came back to the wrong room and was killed by its occupant who then disposed of the body. Maybe he was murdered by some miscreant for the "fun" of it or was killed by the person because he thought Campbell was an intruder and who then disposed of the remains because he had some reason not to involve police, like for example, he had an outstanding warrant out for him or was there with a woman who wasn't his wife.
 
I am about 50 miles from Jacksonville, IL and I don't recall this case either even though I would have been in 7th grade when it occurred. Maybe it was more of a Springfield story. Not that it matters beyond curiosity but, going by her name, was his wife foreign born, like Filipino perhaps?

OK, here's my go at it. He was concerned about the car and went out to see if it was locked. When he returned, he accidentally came back to the wrong room and was killed by its occupant who then disposed of the body. Maybe he was murdered by some miscreant for the "fun" of it or was killed by the person because he thought Campbell was an intruder and who then disposed of the remains because he had some reason not to involve police, like for example, he had an outstanding warrant out for him or was there with a woman who wasn't his wife.
Interesting.....
 
My best guess is that he had out-standing debts or perhaps just simply that the past caught up with him. Due to this, he ended up getting killed.
Someone very smart murdered him. If they weren't smart there would be at least some evidence floating about.
There is probably no one alive today that knows what happened, sadly, i think that this mystery is here to stay.
 
This is the strangest and most absurdly confusing case i have ever heard of. I almost don't know what to think happened.
 
Interesting...I have never heard this story, either. My husband's grandfather was a professor at MacMurray, but not until the late '60s or early '70s, I believe. His widow still lives in Jacksonville, and my other grandparents "in-law" reside in the area, also. Will have to do some asking to see if anyone remembers anything.
 
Thanks for the update. I think he faked the exhaustion and had to remain in the motel as it was a previously agreed to as a picking up spot for some reason which I think had to do with debts as stockbroker - or maybe people who did not like their returns on the money they had invested with him and wanted a chat with him. Two days is long enough to work out the schedule of when the person at the front desk has a break. I think he left the motel when he knew his wife was asleep and the clerk at the front desk was distracted. He would have used the ruse of checking on the doors of the car if he had been spotted.
He left the motel at pre- determined time, walked a small distance and the was picked up by those who wanted a chat with him. Bruce was taken to a farm area and it was his voice the farmer heard arguing aloud. He was killed and I think his body was transported and disposed of else where. I think Bruce thought he could deal with the problem with and he could walk back claiming he must have sleepwalked. I do not think he was running away to be with another woman. If that was the case, I think he would have just not come home after work one day. All my opinion of course
 

A true crime podcast is re-examining a disappearance that happened nearly 64 years ago in Jacksonville.

The American Hauntings Podcast will kick off its seventh season by covering the disappearance of Bruce Campbell Sr., a 57-year-old stocks and investments counselor from Northampton, Massachusetts, who disappeared in the early morning of April 14, 1959.
 

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