In the late spring of 2018, the community of Neon, Kentucky, was shaken by the disappearance and subsequent death of a local man. Ricky Allen Gibson, a 44-year-old male, was reported missing, prompting an investigation by the Kentucky State Police. The search for Gibson came to a grim conclusion when his partially decomposed body was discovered on a strip mine at the top of Haymond Hill on the morning of May 3rd.
The investigation into Gibson's disappearance quickly transitioned into a homicide case. Within days, authorities arrested two individuals in connection with his death. Clifford Jermaine Caudill, a 38-year-old from Neon, and Dedra Keathley, 41, of Joes Creek in Pike County, were taken into custody. Both were charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence. The break in the case came after Caudill, during questioning at the Hazard State Police Post, admitted that Gibson had been killed and his body had been moved.
According to statements made by Caudill to the police, an altercation occurred inside the bathroom of his home at 27 Welch Hollow. The confrontation involved Gibson and two other individuals, and it was during this dispute that Gibson was shot and killed. Following the shooting, Caudill, along with the two other people, allegedly transported Gibson's body to the remote strip mine on Haymond Hill in an attempt to conceal the crime.
While Keathley was also charged, police noted that she was uncooperative and denied any involvement in the murder. Investigators believed that a third person assisted in disposing of the body and had not been publicly named. Authorities also announced they were searching for Caudill's brother, Braden Uriah Stamper, for absconding from probation, as he had lived in the same house as Caudill and had not been seen since the murder.
