I don't disagree with your hypothesis. Honestly it was one of the first things that came to my mind as well. He definitely had an involved wife and parents but that doesn't exclude homosexual encounters. He went missing at a time that homosexual relations were still criminilized in most states.
I live in the area and have been to Wright Park and agree that it could have been a viable meetup spot.
I'm gay. I hid my relationships with women from my family for a while out of fear of rejection. When I was still "in the closet" to them the last thing I did before going on a long trip with others was to meet up with the woman I saw seeing. When you exist behind a mask you long to affirm the aspect of your identity you hide from others. If you consider maybe not being involved with one man in specific maybe he cruised the park on the way back home before their camping trip.
I don't suggest this as some sort of character assassination. I suggest it because of gay hook up culture and shame associated with homosexuality at the time. He seems like a decent sized clean cut guy and I cannot honestly fathom what other behavior could have put him at risk because his known life and behaviors don't indicate any real risk factors which leads me to what don't we know or what could he have been hiding?
Additionally I've engaged with a lot of SAGE gays. Folks that would have been close to George Nace in age. A common theme was sticking through their first heterosexual marriage for 20+ years until kids were out of the nest before they left their partners to live in a way that felt more authentic to themselves.
I appreciate you taking the time to consider and respond to my post. I am also thankful that you were able to understand my thinking on the matter and realize it is not some kind of assault on a specific sexual orientation or identity which can sometimes happen when discussing difficult cases like these.
I am also sensitive to the idea that society largely frowned upon same-sex relations at the time forcing people to "live two lives" or partake in such relationships in secret. Forcing a sub-culture under the radar has potential risks, one of them being that because that discussions about the matter at hand is non-existent in the "real world." In a simpler sense, when you drive something underground, you also create a situation that any ancillary things along with the thing you drive underground are no longer visible to onlookers.
In this case, it sounds like men were shamed about their sexuality and were driven "underground." The problem is that secrecy can mean secrecy. Forget gay culture, think straight prostitution. It is illegal, yet is rampant. Because you are engaging in a "culturally subversive" act other crimes associated are not reported on at levels in the public eye like in a mainstream social group.
So for instance, if you decide to have a relationship with a female sex-worker in an illegal way, you could be exposed to criminal activity like violence, drugs, etc that you never would report on because you were already involved.
I kind of see that opportunity here -- Perfectly friendly and law abiding gay men cannot express their sexuality, so they set up meetings with other men. Who knows what those other men are like and it is perfectly rational that someone could set up a guy like George Nace as a robbery or planned violent event.
I really liked your viewpoint on how few risk factors someone like Nace really had.
