In the late autumn of 2006, Herbert 'Herb' Allen, a 78-year-old retired tool and die maker, was living a quiet and solitary life in Cleveland, Ohio. A man of routine, he regularly attended weekly breakfast meetings with friends at the Vasa Lodge. Described by most as reclusive, Herb kept his personal troubles to himself, and few knew of the complexities that lay beneath his quiet exterior. He was last confirmed to have been seen on Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 2006.
When he missed his subsequent weekly breakfasts, his friends were concerned, but no one immediately realized the gravity of the situation. The true alarm was not sounded for several weeks, and the circumstances that came to light would point to a deeply troubling disappearance.
The mystery of Herb Allen's whereabouts began to unravel on December 12, nearly three weeks after he was last seen. His 1995 minivan was discovered hundreds of miles away in New Mexico, not with Herb, but in the possession of a man named Terry White. White was a former tenant of Allen's, whom the elderly landlord had reportedly evicted just the week before he vanished. Suspicious employees at a truck stop near Tucumcari, New Mexico, had alerted state police after observing White using Allen's credit cards and selling gasoline for cash. When police stopped the vehicle, White claimed that Herb had loaned him the van. A search of the minivan, however, revealed unsettling evidence: a. 22 caliber rifle and bloodstains on a passenger door. The investigation took another turn when police, checking on Allen's home in Cleveland, found a note on his refrigerator. The note indicated he was going on a trip and had asked a tenant to manage his landlord duties, but authorities could not be certain that Allen himself had written it.
The investigation that followed painted a grim picture. It was discovered that White had been using Herb's credit cards to finance his cross-country journey. While Terry White was sentenced to 18 months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm and the unauthorized use of Allen's credit cards, he was never charged in connection with Herb's disappearance and has maintained his innocence. Friends and acquaintances were left to grapple with the disturbing details that emerged, which stood in stark contrast to the quiet man they thought they knew. Allen, a 1946 graduate of Collinwood High School, had a past that included allegations of domestic abuse during his 44-year marriage and a grand theft charge involving his brother. Despite the suspicions and the troubling evidence found in his van, Herbert Allen was never seen or heard from again. His body has never been recovered, leaving his loved ones without answers and his case an unresolved and deeply sorrowful mystery.Last Seen: Nov 23, 2006
