Missing man's father visits son's last digs
Toolbox
By Alan J. Keays Herald Staff - Published: June 23, 2005
The father of a 29-year-old Rutland man, who has been missing since last month, traveled to Vermont attempting to retrace the last known steps his son took.
William "Mike" Hogan was last seen around noon on May 16 in the area of Spring Lake Ranch in Shrewsbury. Police searched the area the next day and again two weeks after that to no avail.
Hogan's father, also named Mike Hogan, came from his home in Maryland to the Rutland area Wednesday and went to Spring Lake Ranch and then tried to follow the last path his son was known to take.
The father said he found no clues and continued to look in Rutland at places were his son was known to go, posting fliers around the area with his son's photo and contact information for anyone who may have seen him.
"You've got to try," Hogan's father said late Wednesday afternoon.
The younger Hogan had been at the Spring Lake Ranch residential treatment facility in Cuttingsville as he battled an obsessive-compulsive disorder that left him at times feeling extreme anxious and distressed.
On May 16, as part of his after-care, he went from his apartment in Rutland to the ranch to work. He worked through the morning and then didn't show up for lunch.
He was reported missing to Vermont State Police later that day when he failed to show up to take a bus back from the ranch to Rutland.
He is described as 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighs 190 pounds. He has brown hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing khaki pants and T-shirt. He may be wearing a red fleece vest.
He may have traveled south by train or car, or he may still be in the Rutland and Shrewsbury area, the father said.
A week after he went missing, two employees at Wal-Mart in Rutland identified him from a poster that his mother was showing in the store, according the flier.
The two employees stated that he was there to buy cigarettes, and he engaged them in conversation.
Police interviewed the two employees and determined that they were credible. However, police reviewed the store's security tapes and could not identify him on any of the tapes, the flier stated.
The elder Hogan attached a written note to the fliers he posted around downtown.
"Mike, give me a call, love Dad," he wrote to his son.
Anyone has seen William "Mike" Hogan is asked to call Vermont State Police at 773-9101.
Contact Alan J. Keays at alan.keays@rutlandherald.com.
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