On a cold January afternoon in 1972, 16-year-old Dermot Faulkner Kelly walked out of his family's home in Oglesby, Illinois, and vanished. At approximately 1:15 or 1:30 p.m. on January 30th, he told his parents he was taking his. 22 caliber rifle to the woods along the Vermilion River for some target practice. When he had not come home by 3:00 p.m., his concerned parents contacted the police, and a search was initiated by 5:00 p.m. The temperature that day was bitterly cold and dropped below zero during the night, adding a sense of urgency to the search. Dermot was a junior at St. Bede's Academy, where he was described as an intelligent, quiet, and contemplative young man with a B-average. His family noted he was a non-troublesome boy who did not use drugs or alcohol. His father mentioned that Dermot was troubled by what he perceived as inequities and hypocrisy in society.
In the fall of 1971, he had missed several weeks of school while receiving medical treatment in Chicago.
The day after his disappearance, searchers discovered Dermot's jacket and boots on the bank of the Vermilion River, near where it flows into the Illinois River. In the snow, they found a set of bare footprints leading from the riverbank about 20 feet out onto the partially frozen river, with no prints indicating a return. An impression of a rifle was also found in the snow nearby. Authorities initially theorized that Dermot had accidentally fallen into the river and drowned. Divers searched the frigid water and, while they did not find Dermot, they did recover a rifle believed to be his from under the ice; its telescopic sight was missing. Despite the evidence at the scene, Dermot's parents were not entirely convinced he had drowned, as it is unusual for a body to never surface in the Vermilion River. A few days before he went missing, Dermot had mentioned wanting to leave and start a new life. This, coupled with a since-unconfirmed sighting of him in Chicago in 1973 by his family doctor's wife, led his parents to believe he might have run away to live a transient lifestyle.
Despite extensive searches and ongoing investigations over the years, no solid clues to Dermot's whereabouts have ever emerged. He left behind his wallet, identification, and other personal belongings, carrying only a small amount of money. In 1992, twenty years after he was last seen, Dermot Faulkner Kelly was legally declared dead. Both of his parents have since passed away without knowing what happened to their son. Investigators have considered various possibilities, including that he took his own life, though some find it odd he would bring a rifle if he intended to drown himself. The case was reopened in 2018 by an investigator with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, who believes the evidence points towards suicide, but acknowledges there are still oddities in the case. DNA has been used to rule out connections to unidentified bodies in the Midwest, including victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy. The overview of the case is one of enduring mystery; a young man, seemingly troubled by the world around him, disappeared on a freezing winter day, leaving behind ambiguous clues that have allowed for multiple theories but no definitive answers, leaving his family and community with unanswered questions for decades.Last Seen: Jan 30, 1972
