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.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I believe that the young man in the article was Richard Kollmann, son of Bernard Norbert and Frances Kollmann of St Joseph, MN. He passed away on 1 August 2024. I do not know the specifics about the time he went missing.

I mentioned in post 164 of this thread an abduction/murder which took place in 1972 in Wisconsin that had some similarities to Dickies case. The perpetrator was identified through DNA in recent years and he was a Minnesota resident at the time.

There was also a case of abduction and murder of a 14 year old boy, Michael Fisher, in Superior, Wisconsin which occurred in June 1966, only 8 months after Dickie's disappearance.

LINKS:

https://www.sctimes.com/obituaries/pmns0902395

WI Thread 'WI - Michael Fisher, 14, Superior, 19 June 1966'

Sep 10, 2015

The only background information I could access about this case is from the book linked below. There's probably more articles about Michael but I can't view them.

101 Wisconsin Unsolved Mysteries by Marv Balousek

#63 - Who killed Michael Fisher?

On the morning of June 19 1966, Michael Fisher prepared his wagon and set off to begin his paper route. He only delivered one paper though. Later that morning, his sister found the wagon with the undelivered papers and finished the deliveries herself. She was unsure on what had happened to him. Michael's body was found about...

• JusticeWillBeServed
• Replies: 16
• Forum: Cold Cases

• 

and Michael Fisher was also an alter boy, and does also look diminutive....

 

[nhmemorymaker]

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.

thanks for all here.

 

[Pressureandheat]

Lots of drama there:

Adventures with Purpose - Wikipedia (cf “Legal Cases”).

Maybe:

Home | Northstar SAR

www.northstarsar.com

Good to know. The MN group looks like a good option!

 

[Pressureandheat]

Mutzie worked some for the Kriengel Brothers that was doing the tiling around Mapleton at the time and also as a grave digger for the local cemeteries. There also was a family farm that in previous posts family members have mentioned wanting to have ground sonar equipment brought out but it’s never been done.

 

[Pressureandheat]

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

Still can’t tell if there is a light on that bike. No one seems to remember but it would have been pitch dark at 5am in that road. Did he have a flashlight as well?

 

[Siulnas1]

Certianly.

 

[Siulnas1]

Welcome to Websleuths and this thread topic.

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

We hunted from the highway east down the river many times, often left our bikes in the ditch off the path down to the river, back in the day, didn't really worry about anyone stealing our bikes. Heck, we didn't lock our doors of cars for that matter. As for a light on the bike, it probably did not work anyway, we rode in the dark with only a reflector on the back. As for the kick stand it was on the right side and would have sunk in the soft ground, so it wasn't uncommon to just lay them over. I know one thing for sure in my heart Dickie would have never, ever left food lying there. I believe the Art Moore the city cop, was involved in covering up. To me, and I was 15 at the time. it sure seemed to be swept under the table in a short time.

 

[Richard]

We hunted from the highway east down the river many times, often left our bikes in the ditch off the path down to the river, back in the day, didn't really worry about anyone stealing our bikes. Heck, we didn't lock our doors of cars for that matter. As for a light on the bike, it probably did not work anyway, we rode in the dark with only a reflector on the back. As for the kick stand it was on the right side and would have sunk in the soft ground, so it wasn't uncommon to just lay them over. I know one thing for sure in my heart Dickie would have never, ever left food lying there. I believe the Art Moore the city cop, was involved in covering up. To me, and I was 15 at the time. it sure seemed to be swept under the table in a short time.

Do you remember what type of shotgun Dickie had?

Information on its make and model could be an important clue in any search.

 

[Richard]

Richard John "Dickie" Huerkamp, age 15
Missing since 2 October 1965

 

[stone-turner]

Siulnas1, thank you for your 1st-hand personal insights into Dickie's life! I think I'm speaking for more than just myself when I say that it means a lot to those of us who didn't know anything about the family. We can (and do) only speculate on the facts we have to go on. Every bit of information helps. If Dickie's life was miserable, I too would like to hope that he found a way to have a better life. Unfortunately I can't stop there. When I look at the other facts, running away doesn't make sense unless it was completely spontaneous, unplanned and opportunistic. If I had planned to run away, I would have grabbed all the cash I could get my hands on, taken extra changes of clothes and not encumbered myself with unnecessary (borrowed) possessions (bike and gun). And I wouldn't have left any food behind unless I was sure of where my next meal was coming from. Did Dickie have a bank account at 15 years old? (I did.) Did he withdraw any money before disappearing? (I would). I can't shake the uneasy feeling that the river scene was staged to cover up something that happened in town.

 

[stone-turner]

And while I'm at it, I want to come back to something that troubles me about Mrs. Huerkamp's behavior. Earlier I posted that I couldn't understand how she waited until Sunday morning to go looking for her son. When the article came out in the Mapleton paper a few weeks ago, I learned that she did indeed make two phone calls to the Healy home looking for Dickie. The paper states that the calls were at 2 pm and 7 pm. Both times the Healys told her he wasn't there. At first, I thought this made a little sense over not calling at all. But the more I considered it, the less sense it made. So she was concerned enough to call at 2, and then to call again at 7 (dusk), but waited until the next morning to call again? WHAT!? My parents wouldn't let me out of the house at 15 unless they knew where I was going, what I was planning to do, with whom, who was driving, and what time I would be returning. I'm sure my mom would have called half the county by 7:30 pm, and would have organized a search party/posse by 8:30. And no one would have gone to bed until I was located. (Not sure if I want to think about what would have happened when they did finally find me.)
Did Mrs. Huerkamp ask the Healys to call her back if Dickie didn't show up by dark? My family would have. Did she call any of the other hunter's families to see if they were home safe yet - and when they had last seen Dickie? My family would have. Did she not take these steps because she already knew Dickie wasn't going to show up - anywhere? Am I missing something here? Can anyone offer another plausible and less-incriminating explanation for this?

 

[Richard]

For his recent Maple River Messenger article, Steven Shute interviewed Chuck Healy and quoted him as saying he was up the morning of 2 October 1965 and waiting to go hunting with Dickie, but that he never showed up.

This is the first confirmation that Dickie had, in fact, made plans to hunt with Chuck that morning. Older articles had mentioned that Dickie had hunted on the Healy farm in the past and had sometimes spent the night there.

Also that Mrs. Huerkamp had thought that Dickie might have intended to hunt there again that fateful morning - but it was never confirmed that Dickie and Chuck had made such a plan or when they made it.

Had Dickie invited the other three boys (McGregor, Johnson, Fitzpatrick) to pick him up him up and then drive ot meet Chuck at the Healy farm to hunt?

Was Chuck supposed to go with all the other boys to another farm to hunt?

Or had Dickie called Chuck that morning after missing his ride with the other boys and simply made last minute plans to hunt with Chuck at the Healy farm?

These are questions which cold case investigators should ask.

 

[stone-turner]

Regarding my previously-posed question about how Mrs. Huerkamp could have gone to bed not knowing exactly where Dickie was spending the night, I spoke today (offline) with someone who turned out to be the parent of a man who was once a very troubled teen. This parent explained to me that if there was enough turmoil in the home, Mrs. Huerkamp may have determined that no matter where Dickie was staying that night, it was probably better than him coming home and having conflict start up again. If there had been a big blowup in the household the night before (especially between Dickie and his dad), she may have thought a cooling-down time was desirable. She may have been relieved for Dickie's sake that he didn't come home that night. Just a possible, reasonable explanation for what appears to be negligent parenting otherwise.

 

[Richard]

Regarding my previously-posed question about how Mrs. Huerkamp could have gone to bed not knowing exactly where Dickie was spending the night, I spoke today (offline) with someone who turned out to be the parent of a man who was once a very troubled teen. This parent explained to me that if there was enough turmoil in the home, Mrs. Huerkamp may have determined that no matter where Dickie was staying that night, it was probably better than him coming home and having conflict start up again. If there had been a big blowup in the household the night before (especially between Dickie and his dad), she may have thought a cooling-down time was desirable. She may have been relieved for Dickie's sake that he didn't come home that night. Just a possible, reasonable explanation for what appears to be negligent parenting otherwise.

That could be a reasonable explanation. What we do know is what Mrs. Huerkamp stated to reporter Jim Klobuchar, if not to other reporters and police investigators: that Dickie made hunting plans the night before with two other boys, borrowed his parent's alarm clock, woke up late, asked to borrow his sister Ann's bike and left in the early morning with his borrowed shotgun and supplies to go hunting. And that she thought he might be going to the Healy farm.

She further stated that she called the Healy farm the next morning (Sunday) to ask if Dickie had spent the night there, and when either she could not reach the Healy's or when she was told Dickie had not shown up (some discrepancy in reports) she drove toward the Healy farm to look for him, seeing the bicycle on the side of the road.

That story did not change over the years, and recent interviews by reporter Steven Shute with Dickie's sister Ann, and with Chuck Healy have tended to support and confirm Mrs. Huerkamp's 1965 statements. An anniversary news article from the 1980's quoted Dickie's sister Kathy as confirming the story as well.

Mrs. Huerkamp has passed away, but two living witnesses have confirmed key elements. Ann says that she was at home and that she did see Dickie on the morning of 2 October 1965, and that he did ask to use her bicycle. She might have been the last person to see him alive. Chuck Healy was Dickie's same age and states today that he was up that morning and expecting Dickie to come to his farm to hunt - but that he never arrived.

Two of the three boys who claimed to have arrived at Dickie's home and knocked and rang the doorbell are still living but declined to be interviewed for the Maple River Messenger article. They might provide further information if questioned. What exactly were their original hunting plans? Where were they supposed to hunt geese? Was it the Healy farm? The McGregor farm? Why did they change plans and head up to Happy Hollow to hunt squirrels instead? Why didn't they later stop by Dickie's house on their way to Minnesota Lake for more hunting that day?

From all that has been said about Dickie, he was very intelligent and a person who made detailed plans to hunt. He had taken a Hunter Safety class in school, borrowed a shotgun, obtained a box of ammunition, packed a lunch, had hunted previously, sought out others to hunt with, and set an alarm clock to be ready in the morning. He had obviously made some arrangements with Chuck Healy as well. And when his arranged ride fell through, immediately asked to borrow his sister's bike to make his hunt happen. He was focused, prepared and flexible.

Dickie wasn't "running away". And he didn't just dump his bicycle and supplies to wander off into an overflowing river. Subsequent searches were thorough and pretty much ruled those scenarios out. Something happened that morning which was beyond Dickie's control.

 

[snooptroop88]

That could be a reasonable explanation. What we do know is what Mrs. Huerkamp stated to reporter Jim Klobuchar, if not to other reporters and police investigators: that Dickie made hunting plans the night before with two other boys, borrowed his parent's alarm clock, woke up late, asked to borrow his sister Ann's bike and left in the early morning with his borrowed shotgun and supplies to go hunting. And that she thought he might be going to the Healy farm.

She further stated that she called the Healy farm the next morning (Sunday) to ask if Dickie had spent the night there, and when either she could not reach the Healy's or when she was told Dickie had not shown up (some discrepancy in reports) she drove toward the Healy farm to look for him, seeing the bicycle on the side of the road.

That story did not change over the years, and recent interviews by reporter Steven Shute with Dickie's sister Ann, and with Chuck Healy have tended to support and confirm Mrs. Huerkamp's 1965 statements. An anniversary news article from the 1980's quoted Dickie's sister Kathy as confirming the story as well.

Mrs. Huerkamp has passed away, but two living witnesses have confirmed key elements. Ann says that she was at home and that she did see Dickie on the morning of 2 October 1965, and that he did ask to use her bicycle. She might have been the last person to see him alive. Chuck Healy was Dickie's same age and states today that he was up that morning and expecting Dickie to come to his farm to hunt - but that he never arrived.

Two of the three boys who claimed to have arrived at Dickie's home and knocked and rang the doorbell are still living but declined to be interviewed for the Maple River Messenger article. They might provide further information if questioned. What exactly were their original hunting plans? Where were they supposed to hunt geese? Was it the Healy farm? The McGregor farm? Why did they change plans and head up to Happy Hollow to hunt squirrels instead? Why didn't they later stop by Dickie's house on their way to Minnesota Lake for more hunting that day?

From all that has been said about Dickie, he was very intelligent and a person who made detailed plans to hunt. He had taken a Hunter Safety class in school, borrowed a shotgun, obtained a box of ammunition, packed a lunch, had hunted previously, sought out others to hunt with, and set an alarm clock to be ready in the morning. He had obviously made some arrangements with Chuck Healy as well. And when his arranged ride fell through, immediately asked to borrow his sister's bike to make his hunt happen. He was focused, prepared and flexible.

Dickie wasn't "running away". And he didn't just dump his bicycle and supplies to wander off into an overflowing river. Subsequent searches were thorough and pretty much ruled those scenarios out. Something happened that morning which was beyond Dickie's control.

Totally agreed on all of this. Don't think Dickie ran away. It's jmo, but I think Dickie is a non-family abduction in an era when such things weren't considered, and weren't discussed even if they were considered. Pre-Corll, pre-Gacy.

I wouldn't be surprised if Dickie is among unidentified in Namus. Could well be wrong, maybe some sort of accident. It could be some combination of these scenarios and he's buried somewhere in the area-- or beyond.

But with all the visitors to the area at around this time, I do think abduction is a strong possibility. It may not be the case, and I recognize that. I wouldn't say I refuse to believe the family was involved, but based on the information available, I do not think they were.

I do think family is involved in several cases where there's been no conviction, this case wouldn't be among them, but again, jmo.