Because of the circumstances, authorities theorized the three boys were trapped inside the cave when it collapsed and weren't able to get out. For Billy and Joey Hoag, it was more than perfect because they had plans after school to go and do what they did best, exploring. No, wait a minute, that's not what I mean." Yet another says they were last spotted on top of a cliff called Lovers Leap by a janitor at their school. Greg Henderson, the boys 11-year-old friend who barely missed the cave trip that day, thinks there might have been corruption. I dont think they felt like doing it.. Craig disappeared with two other boys, the Hoag brothers Joel and William. Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in. Visitation will be from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM Tuesday at the James O'Donnell Funeral Home. She stayed up every night waiting for my brothers to come home. An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account. Threats of harming another When they werent home by 5:45, their brother Tim started looking for them. At the time the boys went missing, machines being used to search the caves could go as far down as 39 feet but the town mayor ordered them to go no further than 37 feet. All rights reserved. After a long search, the conclusion was reached however no one is for certain that the boys were exploring and the walls of the cave collapsed and trapped them. Wingate expounds on the Gacy theory in his new book, "Souls Speak: Missing children reveal their serial killer from beyond," which became available Wednesday on Amazon.com. In the US state of Missouri, one of the local attractions is a vast network of caves that have thousands of passages, both above and below ground. According to an October 2020 post on John Wingates website. Be Proactive. Before Mom left, she hollered at Tim. Brother Bill Dexheimer will officiate. Were they trapped underground by a cave-in? The case of the Lost Boys of Hannibal has been the subject of at least three books. Jack calls in Hannibal to work on the psychological profile of the Minnesota Shrike, and the two go to his office where he meets Will Graham. Henderson also remembers a few theories as well. Because of these caves, Missouri is often referred to as the state of the caves, and it is not surprising that they attract many explorers as well as adventurers. Again. Lets talk about The Lost Boys of Hannibal, who havent been seen or heard from in almost 55 years. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, The Hoag brothers were missing. Extensive search-and-rescue efforts turned up no sign of any of them, however. "For 52 years, the consensus has been that the three Hannibal boys were lost in a calamitous collapse inside the cave," Wingate said. Tim (DeDes younger brother by one year) was getting off the bus. They were carrying shovels and a flashlight, and said they were going to explore Murphy's Cave, near the Highway 79 construction project. Billy and Joey, as they were more commonly called, also had nine other siblings. Or were they trying to evade someone who was following them? As it turned out, Gacy was living and working in Waterloo, Iowa, in 1967, while his mother was living in Little Rock, Ark. Notifications from this discussion will be disabled. There wasnt much evidence I could find that they would want to do this, and they all had plans for that evening that they never showed up for. If you forget it, you'll be able to recover it using your email address. You really dont ever get over it. They got forensic and all that stuff, they could probably get it solved. or anything. They were waiting for the moment when the construction workers at the site would go to rest. But a parental edict to stay in the yard the afternoon they disappeared wasnt enough to deter the young adventurers. When the parents of the Hoag brothers returned from the store and saw that their children had disappeared, they became very angry and intended to give them a good lesson. While giving a presentation, he noticed a woman in the audience was crying and visibly upset. When their parents returned home and asked where they were, DeDe had no idea. This was the last time these children were seen alive. More than 200 cavers from across the country converged on Hannibal to explore the labyrinth of underground passageways, including Murphy's Cave and some newly opened cave entrances where road construction was taking place along what is now Mo. Louis on the Air brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. Because nothing was ever found, there's speculation that the children weren't lost in the cave and something else caused their disappearances. They left anyway while their parents were out. Thats all there is to it.. Joey has brown hair and eyes and was last seen wearing a t-shirt and jeans. A memorial plaque with the boys names and their history is placed next to the ill-fated entrance to Murphys Cave, which is now closed. The parents found out when they saw the characteristic reddish dirt on their clothes. Billy and Joey were making plans to go caving and they were recruiting some of their friends at A.D. Stowell Elementary School the next day. In May 1967, the trio left home to explore caves in Hannibal, Missouri. You have permission to edit this article. Some of the drivers may not know it, but a portion of Route 79 in Hannibal could be the final resting place of three missing boys. Within a few days, the boys still hadnt been found and people started to wonder if they really were in the cave. Fifty-four years ago this month, three boys went missing in Hannibal, Missouri, and were never seen again. The three Hannibal boys were particularly curious about the caves. Was this just a case of kids being irresponsible, as kids often are? This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. You can head over to, a small town of about 17,000 people that sits along the famous Mississippi River, Billy was very mischievous while Joey was more serious, interested in science, especially astronomy, exploring the cave when they were spotted by a worker, were later found to be missing from the Hoag home, were reportedly in Murphys Cave around 4:35 pm, but gone a few minutes later, a quick search of the cave by Tim turned up nothing, groups like the Mark Twain Emergency Squad and National Speleological Society, the cave would continue to be searched for the next month, the entrance to Murphys Cave was discovered, said case would stay open, but there probably wouldnt be any more searches, John Wingate, a childhood friend of the boys, have done a pretty deep dive into the case and even said they want to solve it, theres a new effort underway to keep mapping out Murphys Cave, they were supposed to be at church that evening, and probably would have had to catch the bus between 5:30 and 5:45 to be there by 6 pm, were sealed up a few days after the boys were last seen, that the boys didnt actually all go missing at once, He believes the mayor and others involved in the search may not have wanted to find the boys. They feared crashes and other disasters. Everyone knew everyone on the south side of Hannibal and when the Hoag brothers decided go caving Dowell probably just happened to be near by and joined them. Craig Dowell lived over on Union Street. Visitation will be from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM Tuesday. She . 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We won't share it with anyone else. . The boys were last seen on the south side of Hannibal, Missouri between 4:20 and 5:00 p.m. Investigators searched trains that had left Hannibal around the time the boys were last seen, perhaps wondering if they had been snatched without anyone noticing. She said keep an eye on the boys (Billy and Joey) because of what they had done the night before, DeDe said. On Wednesday, May 10, the boys left school, changed clothes, and went walking in the direction of Murphys Cave yet again. It was a Tuesday night when Billy and Joey came back home covered in mud. The boys parents, who owned a popular tavern in town, left for a meat market around 4 pm, giving their older children orders to make sure Billy and Joey didnt leave the house. May 1967 - Hannibal, Missouri - three boys, brothers Bill Hoag, 11, and Joey Hoag, 13, and their friend Craig Dowell, 14, decided to go cave exploring. Then, searchers began looking around the surrounding forests, abandoned houses and old mines. After that, they disappear and even traces of them, much less their bodies, were found. Joey Hoag, Billy Hoag, and Craig Dowell had simply vanished without a trace. Be Truthful. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Or were they met with a sinister fate?" TU5XDI92lIM. The perfect weather for being outside. Advertisement. The next theory is that the boys were kidnapped and possibly killed. We'll send breaking news and news alerts to you as they happen! Where are you going, DeDe asked Billy. Don't knowingly lie about anyone Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in. Hannibal Police checked all departing trains the day the boys left to make sure they werent attempting to run away or, worse yet, had been kidnapped. About two years later, he was joined by younger brother William Francis. Billy and Joey were nowhere to be found. Every. I dont know if Ill be alive, but Im sure somebodys going to find them sometime, she said. Threats of harming another Mom and Dad left to go over to Buehlers Market to get some meat. Will says . No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism 2022 by Mary Hallberg, Proudly created with Wix.com. So what happened to the Lost Boys of Hannibal? Our house was so full of cave men coming in from out of town. This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Nonetheless, this tight-knit community . "But now this whole situation has rewritten that history and changed the ending from missing' to murder.' When they werent home by 5:45, their brother Tim started looking for them. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. She believes it will be out of circumstance theyll be discovered. Its entirely possible that even the most meticulous of searches could fail to turn up human remains. At the Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival, you will find a palate-dazzling smorgasbord of cuisines and cocktails in which to indulge. Wingate said he realizes the psychic-driven theories about Gacy's involvement will sound far-fetched to many people. Most of all DeDe cherished the time she shared with her family and friends. We hollered, we yelled.. The Lost Boys of Hannibal*** was released in 2017 and Souls Speak*** in 2019. He and Joel were both eighth-graders at Hannibal Junior High at the time of their disappearances. On Monday, May 8, 1967, Billy and Joey were exploring the cave when they were spotted by a worker. Theyre not sleeping, Im not sleeping till they get home. Nearly 55 years ago, two young brothers and their friend gathered shovels and flashlights on a spring afternoon to explore a cave in their hometown of Hannibal, Missouri. They wouldnt believe me until somebody stepped forward and sort of said, Hes right, because I saw them. Bill Dexheimer (who did not wish to comment), he said that he had seen I dont know if he saw Craig but he saw Billy and Joey. Other, similar theories suggest they were trapped in a road cave in, fell into a sinkhole or did actually return to the cave, only to become trapped somewhere where they couldnt be found. The Hoag brothers and the Dowell boy were last seen by Lynn Strube, 14, of 405 Smith, and John Janes, 13, 1125 Sierra, Wednesday . Searching for the missing, identifying those with no name.Missing and Unidentified Persons Cases, Moderators:Nut44x4, tatertot, rain, burnsjl2003, Begood, wv171. Their family owned Hoag's Tavern, a popular restaurant on Main Street. Sunshine and clouds mixed. - The hometown of one of America's most enduring and beloved authors is also the site of a decades-old mystery. accounts, the history behind an article. In 2010, author Charles Stewart published a book about them, titled A Sorrow of the Heart. It would be quite interesting if you could go down and dig in that hole. All new tunnels have been carefully inspected. The Lost Boys of Hannibal: Missing for 55 years. Henderson found it odd that Billy wasnt there. But, so far, they havent found anything , Other theories say that the children fled to another city or were abducted. But when the children did not return home during the time that they would usually go back from their games, their parents were worried. (I did read on a forum that the cave was actually discovered during the construction, but I cant confirm this.). High 59F. The hometown of one of Americas most enduring and beloved authors is also the site of a decades-old mystery. Hannigram is the slash ship between Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter from the Hannibal fandom. Being restricted to the yard was the boys punishment. Not sleeping, Im not sleeping, Im not sleeping till they home! 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