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

[Siulnas1]

I have a question…maybe stupid, but how does one ride a bike and carry a shotgun in a case ( presumably it would be heavy)? I m trying to imagine this in my brain. A lunch of sandwiches, potato chips etc could be place in a basket on the bike….but a shotgun? I’m confused.

You lay it across the handlebars and tie it down, or just hold it, tricky but I did it many times.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

What this recent information shows is that Mrs. Huerkamp was a concerned parent who did check on Dickie several times before reporting him missing to the police chief. There could be any number of reasons for the perceived delay in reporting him missing.

Since he had stated his intention of hunting with two (or three) boys besides Chuck Healy, it would have been considered possible that he met up with them and was still hunting on Saturday afternoon till early evening at sunset. In his mother's mind, he might have arrived at the Healy home late, like he did the night before when out with McGregor, Fitzgerald, and Johnson. It wasn't until Sunday morning, when he had not returned home or attended Mass, and it was confirmed that Dickie had not shown up at the Healy home, that the reality of him being missing set in and she called Chief Moore.

Investigators might have suspected foul play early on but refrained from voicing such scenarios publicly or to the press. Their concentration was on the search and the hope that Dickie might be found alive. They probably did not want to disparage the community with morbid theories - especially without any evidence that an abduction, or homicide had occurred.

all...so well stated.
I felt the same about the mother's actions. "boys will be boys" was active and alive in those years. I think she did not want to appear overly alarmed at first. Even if she was truly petrified.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I would strongly consider several possible scenarios:

- An accidental shooting by another
- An abduction of opportunity
- An accidental fall (in a well, crevasse, river, etc.)
- a homicide elsewhere with a staged disappearance while hunting

I really don't see a "running away" scenario being logical or likely.

IF... he intended to run away, he probably would have headed north - not south - to Mankato to catch a bus elsewhere. And he certainly wouldn't take the shotgun along. His description and disappearance were well publicized and no solid sightings or leads came of it.

I am a firm believer in the proper use of tracking dogs. Having trained and worked with several scenting dogs, I have seen them do truly amazing things. But I am also aware of conditions which can either help or hinder a tracking situation.

If my best tracking dog was given a specific person's scent, he could follow a two day old track of that person through a fairground filled with people. Every person has a unique scent and the experienced dog with a good handler will stick with it to the exclusion of all others.

However - the dog has to be given that scent. If he is simply taken to a spot and allowed to pick out a scent to follow, you cannot assume that he got the correct scent. In Dickie’s case, over 300 people wandered all over the area looking for him a day before the dogs were brought in.

From what was reported, no definite conclusions can be drawn regarding the dog search.

I am more informed with the case now... but still do not believe I saw anything about extensive searching IN the river. Or the conditions of said river. I think I saw that it was mentioned that the water was deep... but that might just been a post from one of "us" posters.

Nowadays, we get data on depth, currents, directions and possible distances a body could travel in water.

 

[Richard]

I was a friend of Dickies; he was a funny, fairly smart, in my opinion and in my sight abused young boy. I have a slightly different opinion of the events of that day. You also have to remember that he was under nourished, frail small framed young boy. He would come over to our house on occasion and the first thing that my mother would do is offer him something to eat. A 12-gauge shot gun set me back and I was a lot bigger. With all due respect his parents were alcoholics and fought in public at the tavern more than once. Also omitted from the stories I have read, that his father was a part time grave digger at the cemetery. Rumors went around that he was killed accidentally while being disciplined and that his father had maybe dug a false grave and buried him. I hope not. My hope is that he hitched a ride got out of Dodge and is living a prosperous life.

Welcome to Websleuths and this thread topic.

Do you know which farms or areas he liked to visit or hunt?

 

[Richard]

I am more informed with the case now... but still do not believe I saw anything about extensive searching IN the river. Or the conditions of said river. I think I saw that it was mentioned that the water was deep... but that might just been a post from one of "us" posters.

Nowadays, we get data on depth, currents, directions and possible distances a body could travel in water.

Newspaper articles mentioned that several boats were used to drag the river and that a magnet device was used to try and locate the shotgun.

Helicopters searched the river from the air and volunteers checked the fields and along the river banks.

The river was reported as being high due to recent rains.