IL IL - Dermot Kelly, 16, Oglesby, Jan 1972

[parakeet]

Here's a few more things from the article. I've not seen part II yet.
The article (part I) says that Dermot was one of 5 kids. His dad was a trial lawyer, and the family "...enjoyed a comfortable upbringing."
the article (at least part I) doesn't go too deep into his homelife. The dad did travel quite a bit around the country & Mexico to try and find him. Plus, he hired 2 private investigators and 2 psychics.
Dermot had a 150 IQ, was a B average student, but his teachers felt he was capable of being an A student.
"'You never knew what Dermot was thinking," the elder Kelly said. "And he never would say." ...
Dermot spent a lot of time reading & thinking

 

[parakeet]

His dad is quoted as saying: "'[Dermot] was stricken by the hypocrisy he saw about him in everyday life. I just think he got fed up & couldn't take it anymore. I read somewhere that when a person has latent talent & cannot be themselves they react that way.'"
I don't think dermot had a car. If he did, he did not take it. He did not take his driver's license, nor his "favored personal effects."
He only had about $1.17 in his pocket.
His friends said he was a good listener, but he didn't say much unless it was something important.
I thought that maybe he committed suicide, too, but I'd rather envision him in a cabin in the wilderness somewhere, maybe even with a wife who shares his ideals. Seems to me he would have been found had he killed himself. Unless he traveled far away to do it.

 

[parakeet]

Satch, do you know the living sister's name? I wonder if she has or knows any of the information the private investigators found out.

 

[Satch]

Satch, do you know the living sister's name? I wonder if she has or knows any of the information the private investigators found out.

Thank you for everything! I know the article starts out that "Dermot Kelly must of felt that he had the weight of the world on his shoulders...." did it go into specifics about this?

This case has always stuck with me because so little has been known about it. I guess I should retract my statement about the father not caring. It would be great to know what the PI's and psychics found out! I do not know the living sister's name? Do you know the first names of the parents? Sadly, I found out through another user on this forum that they are deceased.

I cannot imagine the pain and sadness that that family went through and any surviving members who will probably wonder for the rest of their lives. What happened to him? I have learned so much from this information. Is it known when his parents passed away?

I did at one time go to one of those Database Searches, and it showed a Dermot F. Kelly living in New York, about 50 years old.

I think he either ran away to join the hippie movement, or ran away to a VERY ISOLATED location, like Alaska or something as stated. I wonder if he is still living? I am frightened by the skeletal remains of the unidentified victims elsewhere in this thread. (One found in California and one in Illinois.) A while back, a morgue picture was found and talked about in this thread that sort of resembled Dermot. The hair and height was very close, but the weight and age were off. I wonder what the detective found (elsewhere in this thread) when he speculated that Dermot might have drowned, because he found footprints near a river, (presumably near where Dermot might have traveled at the time he left home.) But he didn't say what river.

I just think that if he has passed on after all these years, wouldn't his body have been found? If however Dermot is alive, I don't think he wants to be found. This is just what I am thinking. Still SO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS! I do envision Dermot as a compassionate person, a great thinking and philosopher, full of ideas, and strong committments.

Thank you so much Parakeet, for helping us with this case! And Dermot, if you are out there, there are people that really care about you, hope and pray that you are OK, and that you may contact them, or even better yet, come home someday! You are missed in this world!

Satch

 

[parakeet]

http://s1208.photobucket.com/albums...t/?action=view&current=DermotarticleasGIF.gif

Solved the format problem with a Mac!
I've not received part II yet. They sent me part I again by mistake.

 

[Satch]

http://s1208.photobucket.com/albums...t/?action=view&current=DermotarticleasGIF.gif

Solved the format problem with a Mac!
I've not received part II yet. They sent me part I again by mistake.

You are awesome!!!! Thank you!!!!

I tried to print it, because I am doing research on this case! You are very kind in helping with this! The paper copy isn't too good, but everyone, if you use the "Zoom" feature on your browser it comes out very good!!!!

Thanks again.

Jack

 

[parakeet]

Hey Satch, perhaps if I were to email you a copy in PDF it would print out better

 

[Satch]

Hey Satch, perhaps if I were to email you a copy in PDF it would print out better

Oh, that's OK. I read the whole thing on the screen and could make out all the words. Was able to download it using the tools provided by Photobucket as well. Quality is pretty good for a Microfilm copy! This case is so sad, because like the author said, he just plain left. No goodbye, no nothing.

But I want to thank you again because maybe it will help us sleuths (hopefully) bring closure to this almost 40-year old case!

Satch

 

[Satch]

I didn't take a look at the map to guess which river, but it would be likely a river within the vicinity Dermot went missing.

I am becoming more and more involved with this case. Just out of curiosity, I wanted to learn more about the community in which Dermot grew up, Oglesby, Illinois and I went to their website:

What kind of shocked me, was the tag-line, "Where Friends and Rivers Meet."

Here is the website:

http://www.oglesby.il.us/

Click on "Discover Oglesby" and it talks about and shows a huge river, surrounded by large woods, Dermot Kelly's hometown. Look at all those trees in the background. Now I don't know if this is THE RIVER where the detective said he say footprints, or THE WOODS where Dermot said on that day that changed his family's lives forever where he was going to do target practice only never to return. But it certainly is striking.

A determined kid could run off in those woods and be hard, if not impossible to find. And if the whole town is full of rivers and woods, that detective could have been on to a very sad situation. I mean just to see this on the communities web page! I'm thinking OMG, could Dermot have seriously gone target shooting that day, slipped on ice or something, fell in the winter, January, 1972, and simply drowned? In my view, he was a smart kid, but he certainly did not take anything that he would need for a long journey to start a new life. The cold weather, no evidence of taking a car, leaving all of his belongings behind. How would he have survived that long with only $1.17 known to his name at the time he vanished in cold weather?

Unless he hitchhiked or had a plan to meet up with friends who were doing the same thing. You know, two or more of them got into a friends' car and planned this out. But the hitchhiking thing almost has to be ruled out, cuz I don't think a stranger would pick up someone carrying a gun. Unless Dermot just had the gun and the "say I'm going for target practice" as a ploy rather than shock his parents by saying, "Dad, I'm leaving home, I can't take it anymore, and I'm not coming back. Don't look for me because you will never find me. I have to get out of here. I can't be here anymore."

Or the gun itself, he could have just hid it in those woods and than met up with friends, left, or hitchhiked than? But the thing is, Dermot did not have enough survival possessions on him to go very far just by walking in the Winter without SOME kind of assistance for the long haul. (Food, clothes, lodging, where to go? Where to go on foot?) His options without outside assistance would be very limited.

It's interesting that the city of Oglesby, Illinois seems to be a very upscale, upper-class community with high levels of respect, tradition, and strong moral values. I will hopefully post on this soon. I need a little bit of time to think about what I just saw here.


Satch

 

[parakeet]

Where did you read about a detective seeing footprints on a river bank?
It could be possible that Dermot purchased a greyhound bus ticket days or weeks before he vanished. I wonder if there were any bus terminals in his town?
And I wonder how much Dermot had been reading up on wilderness survival skills. I guess its possible that dermot could survive with nothing but a rifle. I've seen a documentary about a man who went to Alaska with nothing but a rifle, an ax and a video camera. He built a cabin and lived off the land for 30 years or so. And then there's that young man they made a movie about who tried the same thing, but ended up so hungry and emaciated he ate a poisonous plant by mistake, then died.
Still waiting on the second part of the article.

 

[Cubby]

Where did you read about a detective seeing footprints on a river bank?
It could be possible that Dermot purchased a greyhound bus ticket days or weeks before he vanished. I wonder if there were any bus terminals in his town?
And I wonder how much Dermot had been reading up on wilderness survival skills. I guess its possible that dermot could survive with nothing but a rifle. I've seen a documentary about a man who went to Alaska with nothing but a rifle, an ax and a video camera. He built a cabin and lived off the land for 30 years or so. And then there's that young man they made a movie about who tried the same thing, but ended up so hungry and emaciated he ate a poisonous plant by mistake, then died.
Still waiting on the second part of the article.

BBM, and welcome to WS; parakeet. It was my conversation with the detective currently working Dermots case where we learnt of the possible foot prints which lead to the river. I didn't have any reason to doubt his word... and that was based on my sleuthing experience, a step dad who is retired LE from Central IL, and my SP (single parent) experience.

Keeping it simple, I think I would like to know what river, because I did not catch that with Dermot's case..... and I'd like to start from the 'inside or simplest' on out.

I'd like to start from knowing what kind of search was done with Dermots case... I just do.

Oglesby is not that far from Chicago.... while not part of the metro area, it is just still close.

I think of Dermots case often. And I keep his case close to my thoughts...

Maybe we can start with finding out more of the initial search for him.

 

[Satch]

A call to the LaSalle County sheriffs office led to the following info.

The detective I spoke with believes Dermot was ruled out as one of the remaining unidentified victims of Gacy. He didn't have the file in front of him, but his recollection was that Dermot was compared and ruled out.

He also let me know Dermot was compared to a then unidentified man who was involved in a train wreck in Wisconsin. I could not find a still unidentified male who matched that description at Doenetwork, so perhaps there is no file online -or- that person has since been identified.

There is a possibility Dermot drowned as LE's investigation led to finding some foot prints that led to a river area - he did not indicate which river.

I have a call into the Cook County medical examiners office to inquire if there is a list of rule outs for the unidentified victims of Gacy. I'm hoping for a call back, if not I will try again in a few days.

Parakeet,

I remember that Cubby had provided the above information about LE finding footprints near a river. That's why I was so surprised to see the river pictures on the website.

Satch

 

[parakeet]

Thanks! Its been so long since I read the whole thread.
Cubby, did you happen to get Dermot's living sister's name? If we could get her number, maybe she'd be able to tell us what the investigators the dad hired found out. Or maybe you could call the detective back and ask him? I'd do it myself, but I have a speech impediment that is 10X worse on the phone.

 

[Satch]

BBM, and welcome to WS; parakeet. It was my conversation with the detective currently working Dermot's case where we learned of the possible foot prints which lead to the river. I didn't have any reason to doubt his word... and that was based on my sleuthing experience, a step dad who is retired LE from Central IL, and my SP (single parent) experience.

Keeping it simple, I think I would like to know what river, because I did not catch that with Dermot's case..... and I'd like to start from the 'inside or simplest' on out.

I'd like to start from knowing what kind of search was done with Dermot's case... I just do.

Oglesby is not that far from Chicago.... while not part of the metro area, it is just still close.

I think of Dermot's case often. And I keep his case close to my thoughts...

Maybe we can start with finding out more of the initial search for him.

Great post Cubby!

I agree. Because so much time has passed, it would be most effective for us to start from the beginning. Does anybody know if Dermot's case is still on-going? And if not, what information, tools, or evidence could be used to reopen the investigation? I agree about knowing what river the detective investigated. But to even start before that, to retrace or attempt to relearn about this troubled young man and what made him just vanish into thin air?

Brainstorming is one of the best beginnings or revisits to any case. And for effective brainstorming I don't think we should look at right or wrong, at least not at this stage in determining the evidence, but any small critical items of evidence or information leading up to Dermot's leaving home and never coming back. For instance:

• Did Dermot confide any any close friends or people outside of the family in discussions of what he was thinking? We have learned in Part 1 of the article that "You could never tell what Dermot was thinking. He would never say." Well, perhaps if there was strained relationships in the family, maybe Dermot would not want to say what he was thinking to family or other relatives, but perhaps to close friends. If those people are still around, what if anything did Dermot say to them before he disappeared that could indicate something was wrong?
  
  
• Did Dermot keep a journal or diary of any kind? If this was collected as evidence, what did it say? Was there a pattern to Dermot's thoughts and writings that would suggest one behavior or set of behaviors over the others?
  
  
• What items did Dermot value that he left behind? Sometimes very subtle clues of evidence can provide greater detail as to what a person might be thinking, acting, or planning to do.
  
  
• Over the course of his life in years, months, days, weeks, before he left home, what was his personality like? If it changed over time, how?
  
  
• Was Dermot taking any prescription or over the counter medication? If so, for what symptoms?
  
  
• What little evidence there is of the parents' relationship suggests a faltering marriage that was sometimes abusive and a father going through a job loss? How long had the relationship been failing? Were Dermot and/or his other siblings subjected to a lot of anger or abusive behaviors in the home? This could certainly compel anyone over time to say, "I want out!!!!"
  
  
• Was Dermot or any members of the family seeking therapy for the issues they were experiencing? For how long?
  
  
• What was the relationship like between Dermot and his siblings?
  
  
• How did the economic, social, and political changes of the times (60's-70's) affect Dermot and his family? Was there a lot of forced political beliefs instilled by the parents? For example they might have had strong conservative views vs. Dermot who may have supported 60's radical views? Maybe Dermot was looking for peace and love and could not find it in a home for a constant fighting and bickering. If such existed. Did this build up over time in the Kelly household and reach a boiling point, forcing Dermot to leave and never want to come back? I think this question is HUGE.

I can't wait for part 2 of the article! Sometimes I just think about his case, especially at night when it is quiet. And when I think about him vanishing without a trace I will sometimes get goosebumps on my back and body, fearing that something unpleasant has happened to him. It's that feeing of the unknown and the uncertainty of where he is. I cannot even begin to comprehend what his family has gone through, and what surviving members have to worry about every day and night. How do you walk away from that as a parent, relative or friend? So much for the expression "Time heals all wounds." Healing cannot begin until Dermot is found, and we need to keep up hope that he is alive and happy. That Dermot will come home....someday.

Satch

 

[parakeet]

I'm still waiting on the second part. I wasn't expecting it to take this long. The problem is, I don't know what page its on, so that means the librarian has to look through the whole paper. I guess they are in no rush to do so; which is aggravating, b/c what if I needed it to complete a research paper? My mom is sending the request to different libraries hoping to speed it along. I will post it as soon as it hits my email.

 

[Satch]

Great post Cubby!

I agree. Because so much time has passed, it would be most effective for us to start from the beginning. Does anybody know if Dermot's case is still on-going? And if not, what information, tools, or evidence could be used to reopen the investigation? I agree about knowing what river the detective investigated. But to even start before that, to retrace or attempt to relearn about this troubled young man and what made him just vanish into thin air?

Brainstorming is one of the best beginnings or revisits to any case. And for effective brainstorming I don't think we should look at right or wrong, at least not at this stage in determining the evidence, but any small critical items of evidence or information leading up to Dermot's leaving home and never coming back. For instance:

• Did Dermot confide any any close friends or people outside of the family in discussions of what he was thinking? We have learned in Part 1 of the article that "You could never tell what Dermot was thinking. He would never say." Well, perhaps if there was strained relationships in the family, maybe Dermot would not want to say what he was thinking to family or other relatives, but perhaps to close friends. If those people are still around, what if anything did Dermot say to them before he disappeared that could indicate something was wrong?
  
  
• Did Dermot keep a journal or diary of any kind? If this was collected as evidence, what did it say? Was there a pattern to Dermot's thoughts and writings that would suggest one behavior or set of behaviors over the others?
  
  
• What items did Dermot value that he left behind? Sometimes very subtle clues of evidence can provide greater detail as to what a person might be thinking, acting, or planning to do.
  
  
• Over the course of his life in years, months, days, weeks, before he left home, what was his personality like? If it changed over time, how?
  
  
• Was Dermot taking any prescription or over the counter medication? If so, for what symptoms?
  
  
• What little evidence there is of the parents' relationship suggests a faltering marriage that was sometimes abusive and a father going through a job loss? How long had the relationship been failing? Were Dermot and/or his other siblings subjected to a lot of anger or abusive behaviors in the home? This could certainly compel anyone over time to say, "I want out!!!!"
  
  
• Was Dermot or any members of the family seeking therapy for the issues they were experiencing? For how long?
  
  
• What was the relationship like between Dermot and his siblings?
  
  
• How did the economic, social, and political changes of the times (60's-70's) affect Dermot and his family? Was there a lot of forced political beliefs instilled by the parents? For example they might have had strong conservative views vs. Dermot who may have supported 60's radical views? Maybe Dermot was looking for peace and love and could not find it in a home for a constant fighting and bickering. If such existed. Did this build up over time in the Kelly household and reach a boiling point, forcing Dermot to leave and never want to come back? I think this question is HUGE.

I can't wait for part 2 of the article! Sometimes I just think about his case, especially at night when it is quiet. And when I think about him vanishing without a trace I will sometimes get goosebumps on my back and body, fearing that something unpleasant has happened to him. It's that feeing of the unknown and the uncertainty of where he is. I cannot even begin to comprehend what his family has gone through, and what surviving members have to worry about every day and night. How do you walk away from that as a parent, relative or friend? So much for the expression "Time heals all wounds." Healing cannot begin until Dermot is found, and we need to keep up hope that he is alive and happy. That Dermot will come home....someday.

Satch

PS. More things to add!

• Did Dermot study up on wilderness survival skills or talk to anyone about this? (This was already mentioned) Obviously, what comes to mind from this is any information he may have learned, and if he told anyone where he was going, or places he would like to go to start a new life.
  
  
• Was/Has Dermot's Social Security Number been used since his disappearance and when? If that time could be tracked down to not too long ago, there would be a much greater likelihood that he is alive. If there has NEVER been any usage of his social security number since he disappeared, than sadly, this could indicate that he may no longer be living. Looking at things like voter registration records, new drivers license applications, Title/property records, tax information. Any of these documents could be helpful.
  
  
• Here's a long shot, but it is still worth a try-Suppose Dermot wanted to get his name changed to REALLY drop out of society and not be found? How would he have to go about doing this? And if he could have done this, would there be any type of national network databases that would reveal that he changed his name, and where he would be when he did this?

 

[Cubby]

Hi Guys! My time is a little bit more limited since school started but I will make sure I try and get to this thread.

I did not get any names from the detective I spoke with nor did I ask for any. IMO, I think we should start with LE's main theory and work our way out. And that might be an unfortunate accident.

It is possible the detective might be willing to answer some additional questions over the phone or via email. We may be able to get some of the case docs via the FOIA.... I would have to look into that as it is usually other WS'rs who obtain those copies when available.

Lastly, it might not be a bad time to inquire with LE regarding this considering the proximity of Oglesby to Dekalb IL which has a very current missing persons case ( this month ).. if by chance an outside search team such as TES (Texas Equusearch) were to come out and LE had a specific area for an organization for TES to search they might be willing to consider searching this area if they have similiar equipment etc.... and of course that would be based on whatever searches LE had already done in that area.

Just some off the top of my head idea's.

hth...

oh, one last thing.. As for looking for the date of the article, you might find it in google archives news search. You might get lucky and find a PTV (pay to view) snippet which lists the page and section rather than going through an entire fiche - if that helps.

Thank you everyone for your interest in Dermots case.

 

[Satch]

Bumping up for any new information or updates,

You know there are many "If only's" about this case. But the one main one that haunts me is this:

"If only his parents had pressed Dermot three days before leaving", according to the article ,when he said, "I'm going to make a new life on my own, and do it entirely on my own." I wonder why they did not question him further about this?

People have speculated that he left without warning or a goodbye. But the above quote certainly WAS a warning. It was a siren going off and a message from Dermot of what he was planning to do. He could have been wanting at that moment to speak out. But maybe because his was not questioned, tragically his family could have blown their only chance to find out his plans. Unless there are items of evidence like I brainstormed above that we don't know about.

FYI: The Charley Project Database with Dermot's information has been updated with the information that we have learned from the article. You can read the new information here:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/k/kelly_dermot.html

A very special thank you for posting these new details of his disappearance!


Satch

 

[Satch]

Continuing to research this case, I wanted to investigate two very important variables in Dermot's life. Well, not only Dermot's life, but probably any teen's life, the variables of home and school.

When I learned that Dermot had attended Illinois, St. Bede's, Academy I actually visited their website, which is below:

http://www.st-bede.com/

Through research, I looked at the expectations of the school. Now, I assume that generally parochial schools are stricter than their public school counterparts. But in looking at things like expectations, such as the dress code, rules of conduct, the environment at the school, the expectations would be very strict, traditional Roman-Catholic values and teachings. And of course, I am looking at this school's environment now at the end of 2010. Think of how much stricter, demanding, and conforming, that it could have been when Dermot was a student back in 1972.

Many people who send their children to Private Schools have a great deal of money. Well, they certainly aren't strapped financially! Dermot's father was an attorney, and raising five children in the house there could have been a lot of very strict, strong, rules and regulations both at home and this Catholic Academy where Dermot attended. It's not just a school, it's an academy where expectations are going to be higher than that of other educational institutions.

A check of records showed that Dermot's father would be in his nineties if alive today. This means that his father would have been in his 60's when Dermot disappeared. Very strong morals, values, and respect in Dermot's home from his parents, combining with a conservative and strictly disciplined Catholic school, may have put severe identities and role confusion in Dermot's head.

Perhaps he wanted to be liberal in his thinking and views, but pressure from a conservative school and home-life may have catapulted the troubled teen in to many different directions. "What do I do? What roles am I supposed to follow?" His friends could have had strong beliefs that could have clashed from the values that Dermot was being taught in school and home.

Dermot was a creative thinker, a philosopher, likely a peace activist, perhaps searching for a life that wasn't being taught in school or at home, and he may have seen leaving as no other choice but a form of escape from the pains he may have had in his daily life.

Satch

 

[carbuff]

That was certainly a common scenario in 1972. I graduated in '71 from a high school a few states farther west; my family was neither Catholic nor particularly religious or conservative, and we still had those sorts of issues. So I think you're probably right in your analysis.