Ludger R. Belanger was 25 years old when he disappeared from Washington, Maine, on November 25, 1975. He was a young husband and father of three daughters, remembered by his wife, Linda, as a down-to-earth country man and mechanic whose life was rooted close to home. That morning, he had gone out hunting with Linda and his brother in the rural area near Route 105 and Route 206.
After the three separated and later regrouped, Ludger chose to continue deer hunting while Linda and his brother returned home. Maine State Police say he was dropped off along Route 105 around 9:00 a.m., carrying a. 30-30 hunting rifle, and told his wife he expected to be home in about an hour. NamUs lists him as a White/Caucasian male with brown hair and brown eyes, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and 125 pounds at the time he vanished. He was last known to be wearing a red-and-black plaid jacket, green cotton pants, a blaze-orange hat, and green rubber boots.
The earliest part of the case looked, at first, like the disappearance of a hunter in the Maine woods, but investigators later came to believe Ludger had not simply gotten lost. The Maine State Police account says the investigation revealed that he had shot a deer, dragged it to the road, and was then picked up by someone in a motor vehicle. Later reporting described fresh snow on the ground that morning and placed Ludger only about a half-mile from home when he set out alone. His wife has said she believes he shot and dressed the deer, dragged it toward the nearest road, and likely expected he could get a ride back. Instead, he never returned to his family, and his absence became a wound that has lasted for decades.
As the investigation developed, suspicion centered on the possibility that Ludger encountered two men in an old Buick after taking the deer. A later account from The Charley Project states that authorities identified two suspects in his disappearance; one died in an accident less than a year after Ludger went missing, while the other, Danny Collins Jr., remained living in Maine at the time of that reporting. According to that account, Collins allegedly confessed to a friend in 1977, saying that he and the other suspect picked Ludger up while under the influence of drugs and that Ludger was ultimately shot in the back seat of the car. Authorities had examined a car after the disappearance and reportedly noted that the interior had been washed, the rear seat was missing, and a single deer hair was stuck to the hood ornament. No arrest has been reported in the case, and those details remain part of a painful unresolved investigation rather than a completed prosecution.
The search for Ludger and for answers has continued through years of grief, frustration, and hope. Police reportedly searched places including quarries, abandoned wells, Crystal Lake, and the home of one suspect, but his remains were not found. Linda, who later remarried, has remained active in the search and has spoken publicly about wanting her husband’s remains recovered so the family can lay him to rest with dignity. In more recent coverage marking 50 years since Ludger vanished, his disappearance was described as one of Maine’s oldest cold cases, with his wife and daughters still praying for closure. Maine State Police continue to list the case among missing persons handled by the Major Crimes Unit Central, and they ask anyone with information to contact investigators.
Ludger Belanger’s case remains the story of a young father who left for a short morning hunt near his Washington, Maine, home and never came back. The known path begins with his family dropping him near Route 105, continues through evidence suggesting he successfully shot a deer and reached the roadside, and then turns into a decades-long mystery built around the belief that he accepted a ride from someone who never brought him home. His loved ones have lived for many years without the certainty of a recovery or the peace of a final goodbye. In overview, Ludger was last seen alive on November 25, 1975, while deer hunting in Washington; investigators believe he made it out of the woods with a deer and was picked up by a vehicle; two suspects were developed but no arrest has been reported; his body has not been recovered; and his family continues to seek the truth, accountability, and the chance to bring him home.Last Seen: Nov 25, 1975
