Kipling "Kip" Hess III, a 12-year-old boy from Merritt Island, Florida, disappeared on the morning of March 27, 1979, while walking to school. He left behind a note at his home that read, "Goodbye, Mom and Dad," which added to the mystery of his sudden disappearance. Kip never arrived at school and was never seen again. His case quickly became one of the more chilling missing persons cases in Florida.
John Rodney McRae, a convicted murderer, emerged as the prime suspect in Kipling's case. McRae had previously been convicted of the murder of an 8-year-old boy in Michigan during the 1950s and was released after serving 20 years in prison. By the 1970s, McRae had moved to Florida and was working as a prison guard at a local juvenile detention center. It was later discovered that McRae had met Kip at a church carnival shortly before Kip went missing. In a strange twist, McRae even participated in the search efforts for Kip, but investigators later found a missing person flyer for Kip taped inside McRae's locker at work.
Despite the strong suspicions against McRae, no direct evidence was ever found to link him definitively to Kip's disappearance, and Kip's body was never recovered. McRae was also implicated in the disappearances of other young boys during his time in Florida, but he consistently maintained his innocence. He was eventually convicted of another murder in Michigan in the 1980s, but he died in prison without revealing any details about Kip's fate. Kipling's case remains unsolved to this day, and authorities continue to hope for any new leads that could finally bring closure to his family.
Last Seen: Mar 27, 1979
