Ricky Dane Boyd was a 53-year-old male from South Point, Ohio, whose disappearance began in May 2020. The case date provided is May 1, 2020, though several public online records and local reporting list his last known contact as May 10, 2020. Ricky was described as a white male, approximately 6 feet 4 inches tall and 210 pounds, with brown hair, blue eyes, and glasses. His absence became deeply concerning to those who loved him, especially after his mother reported him missing and the South Point Police Department began seeking help from the public.
Investigators later said Ricky's trail appeared to lead away from South Point and across the river region. According to South Point Police investigator Craig Brafford, Ricky "either ended up at a house in Huntington, or was driven to a house in Huntington," and that was the last confirmed place investigators could place him. Police pursued tips, checked leads, and looked into cell phones associated with him, but those efforts did not bring Ricky home. There were also unconfirmed rumors that he may have ended up in Kentucky, but authorities had not been able to verify that information at the time they appealed for more public assistance.
While Ricky's family and investigators were searching for answers, a separate and heartbreaking discovery had already been made in Johnson County, Kentucky. On June 7, 2020, a human skull was found in the Whitehouse area of Johnson County and was sent to a University of Tennessee anthropologist in Knoxville for examination. The remains were later returned to the Kentucky State Police medical examiner for DNA testing and identification. Nearly two years after the discovery, authorities announced that DNA testing had identified the remains as those of Ricky D. Boyd of Ohio.
Because Ricky's remains were identified, this is no longer an active missing persons case; it is, regrettably, a case in which he was located deceased. The exact date of his death is unclear from the available public information, so the most that can be said with care is that he disappeared in May 2020 and was later identified through remains found in Kentucky. Public summaries connected to the identification have described the death as under continued investigation, and one public unidentified-persons resource characterizes the matter as a suspected homicide, though the official WCHS report states only that the Johnson County Sheriff's Office said the case remained under investigation.
Ricky Dane Boyd's story began as the disappearance of a 53-year-old man from South Point, Ohio, whose family could no longer reach him and whose last known movements appeared to cross into the Huntington-area region. Police followed leads, searched for usable phone information, and asked the public for help, but the answers came through a painful identification after remains found in Johnson County, Kentucky, were linked to him by DNA. In overview, Ricky was last seen in May 2020, was searched for as a missing man from South Point, Ohio, and was later identified as the person whose remains had been found in Kentucky, leaving his loved ones with confirmation of his fate but still with the sorrow and unanswered questions that surround the final chapter of his life.
Last Seen: May 01, 2020
