MN MN - Richard John ‘Dickie’ Huerkamp, 15, Mapleton, 2 Oct 1965

  • #321
None of the articles mention anything about what his sisters might have said. Both parents have since passed away, but his sisters still live in Minnesota. It would be interesting to hear what they might know.
I’m also open to suggestions about what might be appropriate ways for the community to honor and remember Dickie with this anniversary. I am a bit reluctant to even do so since his sisters are still in the area. I do not know them but it appears they don’t want attention drawn to the case. (jmo)
RSBM
If it's true that Ann and Kathy don't want attention drawn to their brother's case, this is a red flag for me. I can understand parents wanting to keep younger children out of the media spotlight, but this was a missing person case-- their brother. IF by chance his sisters have been carrying around knowledge of what happened to him, that's an awful burden to carry, and for such a long time. jmo
 
  • #322
I wonder whether Ann rode her bike anymore after Dickie disappeared. Some people are uncomfortable using something that was involved in a disappearance or death. Just a thought and jmo.
 
  • #323
I thought I had read all the postings but I don't remember anyone stating that Dickie's sisters were opposed to attention being drawn to his case - or that either of them had even been contacted. Did I miss something?
 
  • #324
Unfortunately I know 2 of the 3 have passed. As posted Pastor Schimek passed in 1989 and Harold Moore some years back as well. I wonder if doing a FOIA request would bring any insight to light?
 
  • #325
I thought I had read all the postings but I don't remember anyone stating that Dickie's sisters were opposed to attention being drawn to his case - or that either of them had even been contacted. Did I miss something?
I think that idea stems from assumptions from people in Mapleton. Anne still lives there, but hasn’t done much of anything to keep her brother’s case alive, that I am aware of. I guess if the majority of the town believed your father killed your brother, might not wanna dig up that past. I know a cousin of Dickies has said they want to know the truth about what happened and I know many of his childhood friends conveyed the same. But I don’t believe anyone has directly spoken to Ann or Kathy and gotten a sense of their opinions/desires regarding Dickie.
 
  • #326
I think that idea stems from assumptions from people in Mapleton. Anne still lives there, but hasn’t done much of anything to keep her brother’s case alive, that I am aware of. I guess if the majority of the town believed your father killed your brother, might not wanna dig up that past.
RSBM
IF their father was responsible, he can't be prosecuted, but finding Dickie's body would bring some closure. If Mr Huerkamp  didn' t kill Dickie, many townsfolk have been blaming the wrong person for a very long time. jmo
I know a cousin of Dickies has said they want to know the truth about what happened and I know many of his childhood friends conveyed the same. But I don’t believe anyone has directly spoken to Ann or Kathy and gotten a sense of their opinions/desires regarding Dickie.
Fair point.
 
  • #327
I thought I had read all the postings but I don't remember anyone stating that Dickie's sisters were opposed to attention being drawn to his case - or that either of them had even been contacted. Did I miss something?
I had originally expressed my opinion of "it appears they don't want attention drawn to the case". To be very clear this is just my opinion and to my knowledge they have made no comment saying so.

But as Pressureandheat also points out (post #325), it appears they haven't done much, if anything to keep the case alive. If they had, I would think at the very least Dickie would be listed in the Unsolved Cases Database and/or the county would have something more in his case file. Again, all my opinion.

It is certainly possible the sisters aren't willing and/or able to pursue things. Not all people are savvy in technology and research. Of course, as Brightchaser47 (#321) stated it is a "red flag". Perhaps the reason they aren't trying to move the case forward is because they already know what happened and they have the answers. And those answers are sad and terrible - their parents were the reason for Dickie's disappearance (jmo). Regardless of the truth, those sisters have my sympathy and respect.
 
  • #328
Regardless of the truth, those sisters have my sympathy and respect.
RSBM
Absolutely. They were children when their brother disappeared.
 
  • #329
I think it would be 'interesting' to find out how much effort and dedication Dickie's parents personally put towards the search effort. We've all seen other cases where the person or persons that you would expect to be last to give up the search of a missing loved one actually give up first, or give minimal participation. This can be a big clue, but I don't know how we could find this out now.
 
  • #330
I think it would be 'interesting' to find out how much effort and dedication Dickie's parents personally put towards the search effort.
RSBM
I've actually been wondering about that myself (especially when reading how persistent the sheriff, chief of police, and minister were), but didn't want to seem critical....
 
  • #331
There have been a number of ways that Dickie's memory has been kept alive over the years.

- His high school class of 1968 had a dedication and bio on him in their yearbook.
- There is a memorial cenotaph marker in the Mapleton Cemetery.
- In or around 1975, there was a Loyola Scholarship created in his name.
- He is mentioned in his mother's obituary.
- There is a Find-a-Grave online posting on him.
- Newspaper articles were written about him for at least a year after his disappearance.
- And, of course, this thread on Websleuths contains probably the most extensive account.

It would be most helpful if the Blue Earth Sheriff Department could locate and make public the original case file. And have some of the missing person websites feature his story. Many of them will only do so if requested by Law Enforcement agencies. There is certainly much more information (including a photo) available on Dickie - even without the original case file - than on many other missing persons currently listed on those sites.

Close family members could contact the Sheriff and ask him to either re-open the case or begin a new case file by officially filing a missing person report. Investigators should classify this as a potential homicide case rather than simply as a Missing Person Case. Family members could also volunteer to submit DNA samples to assist future possible investigations.
 
  • #332
I reached out to Sheriff Wersal the other day and this was his response:

This was brought to my attention a couple of years ago and it is true that we do not have a case file or any police reports in house. I made contact with the local BCA homicide investigator, and he checked their files and they also do not have a casefile. They are not able to put the case on their unsolved case database because they have no record of it. The only information I have is the news article that was sent to me.

I can’t speak for the whereabouts of the original reports, as this occurred long before my time here or even my time on earth. I did reach out to some of the retired staff and they also have no recollection of the case.

If any member of the public has any evidence that can be brought forward, they are welcome to do so.
 
  • #333
Last evening I just happened to be driving up County Road 7 across the Maple River and through Mapleton. Of course, I was thinking about Dickie again. Out of the blue, questions started popping into my head that I hadn't considered before. What if there never was a police file of any kind? What if someone came into town saying, "My son is lost out hunting!" and everyone just ran out to look for him where the bike was reportedly found? What if neither the local police nor the county sheriff ever considered a need for any forensic-style interviews of all the 'key players' to determine how Dickie got lost in the first place? What if the only interviews performed were done by newspaper journalists and we already have all the recorded words from the 1960s? If that were the case, then the only way that I can see to get additional information now is to have law enforcement open a case and begin interviewing anyone still alive with first-hand knowledge. What a chore this could be after 60 years have passed. I can easily see why resource-stretched law enforcement wouldn't prioritize this very high.
 
  • #334
Last evening I just happened to be driving up County Road 7 across the Maple River and through Mapleton. Of course, I was thinking about Dickie again. Out of the blue, questions started popping into my head that I hadn't considered before. What if there never was a police file of any kind? What if someone came into town saying, "My son is lost out hunting!" and everyone just ran out to look for him where the bike was reportedly found? What if neither the local police nor the county sheriff ever considered a need for any forensic-style interviews of all the 'key players' to determine how Dickie got lost in the first place? What if the only interviews performed were done by newspaper journalists and we already have all the recorded words from the 1960s? If that were the case, then the only way that I can see to get additional information now is to have law enforcement open a case and begin interviewing anyone still alive with first-hand knowledge. What a chore this could be after 60 years have passed. I can easily see why resource-stretched law enforcement wouldn't prioritize this very high.
You raise excellent questions. When I read about any case/story, I try to think about how the time period it is set in, affects it. What is done now certainly wasn't the same procedure 60 years ago. So I think your questions are quite valid and it is very probable that no police file was ever created. Perhaps things were done very loosely in the 1960s, especially in rural America.
 
  • #335
I reached out to Sheriff Wersal the other day and this was his response:

This was brought to my attention a couple of years ago and it is true that we do not have a case file or any police reports in house. I made contact with the local BCA homicide investigator, and he checked their files and they also do not have a casefile. They are not able to put the case on their unsolved case database because they have no record of it. The only information I have is the news article that was sent to me.

I can’t speak for the whereabouts of the original reports, as this occurred long before my time here or even my time on earth. I did reach out to some of the retired staff and they also have no recollection of the case.

If any member of the public has any evidence that can be brought forward, they are welcome to do so.

Sounds like the door is open for someone to initiate a missing person report to the Sheriff's Office. It would be best if a family member were to make the request, sticking to known facts in the case.
 
  • #336
They are not able to put the case on their unsolved case database because they have no record of it.”

This is such a frustrating part of these older cases. LE knows case files get lost, thrown away,, misplaced, etc, over time. However, this case is pretty well documented in the newspapers of the time, and its clear this is a child who went missing and was never found.

I wonder what LE’s actual authority here is - could they open a new case on their own say so,if so inclined? Or is there a law or regulation that would prevent them from doing so?

I understand that this may not be a priority for them, I’m just curious about whether a protocol exists for them to open a new case file on a old missing persons case, even without a family request.

Otherwise, cases like Dickie’s and Jackie Theel’s (1944) seem bound to languish in obscurity. Nobody but us few are looking for them, or even know they existed and were lost.
 
  • #337
Welcome to the new members here. It’s good to see new folks interested in solving these sad cold cases from many years ago. Richard does an excellent job of researching and writing these. There are quite a few we’ve puzzled over and discussed.

Dickie’s is such a sad case, poor little man. It’s so helpful to see some new information and action from local people. It seems many locals cared about Dickie.
 
  • #338
IMG_3108.jpeg

Richard John "Dickie" Huerkamp, age 15, Missing since 2 October 1965 from Mapleton, Blue Earth County, MN
Race: White
Age: 15 years
Date of Birth: September 1, 1950
Height: 4’9”
Weight: 78 pounds
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Clothing: Gray coveralls, a red shirt, blue jeans, a red hunting cap and high top "parachute" boots with buckles. He was carrying a 12-gauge shotgun (make, model, serial number not known) that was not found.
Circumstances of Disappearance: He left his home alone around 5:00 am to go goose hunting. He failed to return home by the next day and his mother reported him missing after finding his bicycle, lunch and a box of shotgun shells alongside County Road 7, about four miles south of Mapleton. On Monday, 4 October, bloodhounds tracked a scent from the bicycle to the Maple River, where an extensive search was conducted. No trace of him was ever found.

Dickie Huerkamp (age 15) told his parents, Winifred and Mathias Huerkamp, on the evening of Friday 1 October 1965, that he intended to rise early the next morning and go hunting with two high school friends.

In preparation for that hunt, he made a lunch of sandwiches, potato chips and candy bars. He readied the shotgun (in a case) that he borrowed from neighbor Roger Charles Otto Schultz (1921-1995) and a box of shotgun shells. He then borrowed his parents' alarm clock to assure his early wakening.

Two of his Mapleton High School friends - Jerry D. McGregor, age 18 and George Carl Johnson, age 16 stated that they came to the Huerkamp home and rang the doorbell prior to 5 am - although none of the five residents of the house reported hearing it. The boys then proceeded to the home of Gary Edward Fitzpatrick, age 15 (1950 -2005) where they picked Gary up and drove to a place to hunt. It is probable that McGregor was the driver.

Although, the stated intention (to Dickie) was to go Goose hunting, the three boys later told investigators that they went north to Hungry Hollow, a place 15 miles north of Mapleton, near Mankato, Minnesota where they hunted instead for squirrels. They said that they later drove to Minnesota Lake, southeast of Mapleton.

Dickie, upon awakening, was upset that he overslept and missed going with his hunting buddies. He returned the alarm clock to his mother, dressed in his hunting clothing, and then asked his sister Ann if he could borrow her bicycle in order to go hunting. His reported departure time from home was about 5:00 am, Saturday morning, riding Ann's bicycle and taking with him his lunch, shotgun and a box of shotgun shells.

Dickie's mother stated that she thought he intended to spend Saturday night at the farm and home of Mr. Stanley Healy, south of Mapleton. When Dickie failed to show up for church the next morning, his mother called the Healy home and learned that he had not spent the night there. At this point, she drove south on County Road 7 toward the Healy farm and noticed Ann's bicycle at the side of the road near a farm driveway. With it was the untouched lunch that Dickie had packed, a box of shotgun shells, and an empty gun case.

A search involving volunteers from two churches was begun on Sunday afternoon. The next day, Monday, 4 October, bloodhounds were used which followed two separate scent trails from the bicycle location to the nearby Maple River. A much more thorough search took place over the following weeks, but no trace of Dickie, his clothing, or his shotgun ever turned up.

Dickie was originally reported missing by his mother, Winifred Huerkamp on Sunday, 3 October 1965. Because his sister's bicycle, along with a sack lunch, a box of shotgun shells, and a gun case were found at the side of County Road 7, about 4 miles south of Mapleton, the case was considered to be in the jurisdiction of the Blue Earth County Sheriff's Office.

Both of Dickie's parents have passed away. Dickie's sisters Ann and Kathy were 13 and 11 at the time of his disappearance. Both still live in Minnesota.

If you have any information about this case, contact:

Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office
401 Carver Road, Mankato, MN 56001
Phone: 507-304-4809
email: [email protected]

Or

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA)
1430 Maryland Avenue East
St. Paul, MN 55106
Phone: 651-793-7000
 
  • #339
You raise excellent questions. When I read about any case/story, I try to think about how the time period it is set in, affects it. What is done now certainly wasn't the same procedure 60 years ago. So I think your questions are quite valid and it is very probable that no police file was ever created. Perhaps things were done very loosely in the 1960s, especially in rural America.
SerenaLeigh, you think we can get someone at the Maple River Messenger to do a story on the 60th anniversary of Dickie going missing? I don’t know the editor any more. Any chance you have any connections up there to see if they’d do a nice write up on him?
 
  • #340
I reached out to Sheriff Wersal the other day and this was his response:

This was brought to my attention a couple of years ago and it is true that we do not have a case file or any police reports in house. I made contact with the local BCA homicide investigator, and he checked their files and they also do not have a casefile. They are not able to put the case on their unsolved case database because they have no record of it. The only information I have is the news article that was sent to me.

I can’t speak for the whereabouts of the original reports, as this occurred long before my time here or even my time on earth. I did reach out to some of the retired staff and they also have no recollection of the case.

If any member of the public has any evidence that can be brought forward, they are welcome to do so.
So because no one has the case file does this mean nothing can be done to get him added to the MN Missing website?? That would be so sad and frustrating because at some point if anything is ever found, those that knew him will be long gone and newer generations won’t know about Dickie.

I wonder if any of his family has a file? Like if Anne inherited any of her parent’s things or records? I know there was a cousin on here at one point. Might be our only hope in finding some records.
 

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