DATE OF LAST CONTACT: 19th November 1976
MISSING FROM: Oswego, New York State
DATE OF BIRTH: 14th June 1957
HEIGHT: 6’1
WEIGHT: 140lbs
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS:Caucasian male, Blonde hair, Blue eyes. Shoulder length hair. Was wearing: a dark green corduroy coat, green fatigue pants, a blue or brown knit hat, blue sneakers. May have been depressed and/or suffering memory loss.
INVESTIGATING AGENCY: Oswego Police Department
BASIC CASE FACTS
- 19th November 1976 – Dean leaves his home in Oswego, New York to go for a short walk
- End of November 1976 – Dean’s brother searches extensively in Pennsylvania, where he is believed to have been headed
- December 1976 – There are several witness sightings in Pennsylvania
- January 1977 – Psychics claim that Dean is at a college campus in Ithica
Dean Heagerty told his mother he was going for a short walk and left his Oswego, New York home. He was never seen again. Dean had previously been hospitalised after a nervous breakdown and was suffering from memory loss. His family believed that he was trying to get to his brother’s home in Pennsylvania and the search centered there. Psychics were consulted but no trace of Dean has ever been found.
Dean’s case intrigued me and I felt compelled to tell his story. When looking at cold cases it is often theorised by family and friends that the missing person suffered from amnesia and simply walked away. I have never read a case where this is a credible theory…until now. Because Dean was in fact suffering from medically diagnosed amnesia and it seems that is exactly what happened to him.
DEAN’S STORY
Dean Gerard Heagerty was born on the 14th June 1957 in Oswego, New York State. The middle child of six boys, Dean’s parents, John and Jean, were of Irish Catholic descent. To his school friends Dean’s nickname was “Hegs” and he attended Bishop Cunningham High School in Oswego, a Catholic school run by priests. Dean was a popular and well-liked high school student with many friends and was class president in his senior year; he thrived in school and was a member of the chess and pep clubs. He graduated in 1975 and enrolled at the State University of New York in Oswego.
Unfortunately things did not go so well for Dean at college. His brother says “he had a hard time adjusting to college life and became depressed and started suffering from memory loss“. In late 1975 Dean suffered a nervous collapse. He dropped out of college and returned home, but things did not improve. Dean was in the habit of wandering away from his home in a confused and disoriented state, often times ending up hundreds of miles away. He was later hospitalised for eight weeks for a ‘nervous condition’ after being diagnosed as having suffered a nervous breakdown. At the time he disappeared Dean had returned to live at the family home in Oswego, but was still under the care of a doctor and was described as being depressed and confused and suffering some degree of memory loss.
Dean’s brother describes him as a “beloved, sweet, beautiful, handsome soul” and by all accounts Dean was a sensitive, intelligent young man who is greatly missed by his family.
DISAPPEARANCE
At 6pm on Friday 19th November 1976 Dean walked out of his home at 189 E 6th Street in Oswego. He told his mother that he was “going for a short walk”, his mother told him to put his boots on before leaving due to the weather but he answered “I’ll be coming right back”. Dean didn’t come right back, he walked out of his front door and this was the last time anyone saw him. The Heagertys lived on a quiet, tree-lined residential street in the heart of Oswego’s east side; quiet, low-crime and safe. The residence was located about 5 blocks from the Oswego River to the west and about a mile from Lake Ontario to the north. It was dark when Dean left and the weather that night was freezing; the temperature never got higher than 47F (9C) with rain and high winds and Dean was wearing light, non-waterproof clothing. When he left the home Dean was carrying $26, and presumably also had his wallet and ID. Dean was reported missing two days later.
A HISTORY OF WANDERING AWAY
Dean did not have a history of running away, but he did have a history of wandering away in a confused state. In the months prior to his disappearance Dean had gone missing at least twice. Once he had ended up in Ohio and turned up at the home of aunt and uncle.
In March 1976 Dean had wandered away attempting to reach his brother. He was eventually located in a bus station in Philadelphia in a confused state. He had been robbed by youths who took advantage of his confused state.
Dean’s family firmly believed that he had wandered away again, though as his mother states in the same article “…he has never been gone this long before. I just hope no harm has come to him”. It does sound like during his memory lapses, Dean usually attempted to seek out family members. Could it be that he retained the memory of where they lived and tried to get there for reasons known only to himself?
SEARCHING IN SCHWENKSVILLE
After he was reported missing police were notified in New York State, New Jersey and Pennsylvania to be on the look-out, but law enforcement did little actual searching and his family decided to look for him themselves. They had a few clues to work with. Earlier on the day of his disappearance Dean had told his mother that he “wouldn’t mind visiting Noel (his older brother) for Thanksgiving”. Thanksgiving, on 25th November in 1976, would have been less than a week away from when he disappeared. It is theorised that in his confused state, Dean held on to his earlier statement and tried to make his way to his brother, Noel. The other clue was that Dean left with only $26 and therefore he was believed to have been hitchhiking.
Dean’s brother, Noel, lived in a hotel in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania at the time. Schwenksville is a very small community near the larger town of Pottstown, in 1976 there were only about 1000 residents. It is located about 270 miles away from Oswego. Noel was in a band called ‘Pegasus’ which used to play in bars and clubs all over Pennsylvania and New York and Dean was familiar with the area. He had visited his brother before and stayed in a hotel in Pottstown and he knew his brother played the club scene. It was theorised by his family that he had hitchhiked into the area and may be trying to find Noel. Based on this Noel spent weeks travelling to all the bars and clubs around Pennsylvania and New York, speaking to customers and staff and circulating Dean’s photo in the hopes someone would recognise him.
Noel’s search for his brother was heavily publicised in the local media and Dean’s photo was heavily circulated yet it didn’t result in any leads as to his whereabouts. It has to be assumed that if Dean had made it to the area that someone would have seen him and recognised him which may suggest he never made it that far.
“WE ARE BASING OUR HOPES NOT IN POLICE REPORTS, BUT IN THE WORD OF PSYCHICS”
With no leads the Heagertys turned to psychics. A couple of weeks after Dean disappeared Noel spoke to two psychics; one a local from Pottstown and the other from New York and both told him the exact same thing: that Dean was alive and was looking for him in bars in North-East Pennsylvania. Noel said in an article in the Pottstown Mercury “We can’t narrow down a positive location, but I really believe he is trying to work his way down to the Schwenksville area. I just hope he turns up quickly” This gave the family hope, and Noel continued his search, but to no avail.
By the start of 1977 with still no word of Dean, his family sought out two psychics based in Philadelphia and New York. One of these, Phil Jordan, who had previously worked with police in other cases, proved himself when he revealed information about Dean that only his family would know. Both of these psychics came to the same conclusion: They believed that Dean was on a college campus staying with other students and zeroed in on Ithica – either at the community college or Cornell University. They said that Dean was staying with people en route because he didn’t want his brother to see him in his present condition. Interestingly Ithica would be on Dean’s direct route if he was headed from Oswego to Schwenksville.
With this information Dean’s mother believed that when students go back to school after the Christmas holidays that Dean would be found. He never was.
Did the psychics hinder the investigation; did they focus Dean’s family to look in the wrong places? Should the Oswego police conducted a search of their own and involved law enforcement in the Pottstown area? Undeniably yes!
SIGHTINGS
There were only two possible sightings of Dean in the weeks following his disappearance; both in the Pottstown area where it was believed he had been heading. The first came from a man named Mark Wagner who believed that he and his wife had picked up Dean as a hitchhiker on Friday 27th November; eight days after his disappeared. He believed that he picked Dean up on Interstate 80 north of Hazleton, Pennsylvania and dropped him off at a restaurant on a turnpike near Allentown. This route would have made perfect sense if Dean was indeed headed to Schwenksville and once he reached Allentown he was within about 35 miles of Schwenksville.
The couple said that Dean was mostly silent and seemed somewhat despondent; which would match Dean’s state of mind. Mr. Wagner said that Dean told them that he “Had no money and nowhere to go”. However, their description of his clothes was different to what Dean was known to be wearing – they said he was wearing a heavy tan jacket and jeans. It is not unreasonable to assume that Dean had managed to get a change of clothes in the eight days since he left home.
The second sighting came on Sunday 29th November. A woman claimed that she saw Dean in the afternoon, thumbing a ride Eastbound on Route 422 near Sanatoga; a small town in between Pottstown and Schwenksville. Although she didn’t pick him up and the clothing description was different to what Dean was wearing, she said she got a good look at his face and was adamant it was Dean. Eastbound would take him in the direction of Schwenksville, which was only eight miles away.
If these sightings were Dean then it means he came extremely close to his brother’s residence; possibly within just a few miles. If that is the case then what became of him? Why didn’t his brother, or any of the people he had shown Dean’s photo to, see him? Is it possible there was another young man who looked just like Dean hitchhiking in this rural area? Did something happen to Dean within miles of his destination?
WHERE’S DEAN?
There could be several possibilities of what happened to Dean, and I am not 100% sold on any of them. Let’s bear in mind that Dean was a confused young man who may have been suffering with memory loss and might also have been depressed. He didn’t have much money and he wasn’t wearing suitable clothing for an extended trip in the cold weather. His family believed he was headed to see his brother in Pennsylvania while psychics said he was staying with people at a college in Ithica. However I have to point out that there isn’t actually any evidence that Dean ever left Oswego. I don’t know if extensive searches were ever conducted in Oswego but there is every chance he never left.
SUICIDE
Suicide should be considered due to Dean’s mental state at the time of his disappearance. However I find it very unlikely. Dean told his mother he would only be a short while and he left no suicide note or said a proper goodbye to any of his loved ones. Also, his body has never been found. Although not impossible, I don’t think it is a strong possibility.
ACCIDENTAL DEATH
Dean could have suffered an accident anywhere at any point, from falling into a river of lake to getting hit by a car or falling down a ravine. The options are endless and it cannot be fully discounted but where is his body? If Dean had been involved in an accident then he should have been either hospitalised or shown up somewhere as an unidentified body; he never has.
FOUL PLAY
It is very possible that Dean met with foul play somewhere on the road. If Dean was hitchhiking then it could be particularly dangerous in the 1970s. It had already been noted that Dean had previously been robbed and taken advantage of by those he trusted when he wandered off to Philadelphia. If he was still in a delicate mental state then it becomes much more likely that someone did this again. Dean may have met foul play anywhere along his route and his body disposed of anywhere; still waiting to be found. Regarding hitchhiking – I have to wonder how likely it was that Dean was capable of hitchhiking in his state.
ITHICA
The psychics thought Dean was staying with people at a college campus in Ithica. Although his family believed them, this is my least likely scenario. I just don’t see how it makes sense? Why would Dean end up living with a group of random students who he didn’t know? What happened when everyone left campus for Christmas and the college closed down? Was Dean alone on a college campus over the holidays? It all seems very unlikely.
HOSPITALIZATION/HOMELESS
I can’t help but wonder if Dean was hospitalised or became homeless. In an article in the Pottstown Mercury Dean’s mother stated that if Dean had been picked up, she wasn’t even sure if he would be able to communicate with people if he was suffering from amnesia. This statement suggests that Dean may have suffered from problems communicating when he was having an episode. Is it possible that Dean was picked up by law enforcement and, perhaps after having been robbed, he had no identity and was unable to communicate who he was and was placed in an institution. Although I would like to think that someone, somewhere would have eventually realised who he was, what if they didn’t? It is possible that Dean just drifted into the homeless population of a major city and fell into the cracks.
Dean’s disappearance is a mystery. Nowadays he would be classed as a vulnerable person and immediate searches would be initiated. He would probably have been found. But in 1976 the police likely told his mum she would have to wait 48 hours before reporting him missing, and even then; because he had a history of going missing, the police probably assumed he was a runaway. Dean’s family did a fantastic job looking for him and I think did everything in their power at the time – but I have my doubts about whether they were looking in the right area. As Dean’s brother says on a Facebook post “We have never had a single piece of evidence as to what happened to him”. Dean Heagerty literally vanished into thin air.
SOURCES
- Pottstown Mercury
- Recollections of Dean’s brother, Noel
- NAMUS
Never Seen Again 