Missing man reported seen
California woman says she had encounter with Mike Hogan
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Sandy Hopkins (left) shares a surge of hope for finding her son with ex-husband Michael Hogan. Their son, also named Mike Hogan, went missing in Shrewsbury last year. Karen Quincy Loberg / Ventura County Star |
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By Alan J. Keays Herald Staff - Published: April 29, 2006
The family of a Rutland man who mysteriously went missing nearly a year ago has traveled to California in hopes of finding him after a reported sighting there.
William "Mike" Hogan, 29, who suffers from an obsessive compulsion disorder, has been missing since May 16. He was last seen in the area of Spring Lake Ranch in Shrewsbury, where he worked and received treatment.
Police and family members have been searching for him ever since, but despite their efforts they have been unable to find him.
Now, his family members are in Ventura, Calif., following up on the first new lead in the case in several months. The lead is a result of a possible sighting by an anonymous tipster who reported meeting the missing man in a downtown park in that southern California community.
"We got a call this past weekend that Michael was in Ventura, California," said Hogan's father, who also goes by the name Michael Hogan.
The younger Hogan's now-divorced parents immediately packed up and traveled Monday morning from their homes in Bel Air, Md. Once in California, they met with the woman who reported seeing their son.
"She said he identified himself as Mike Hogan, told her he was a missing person, and he said he didn't remember where he lived and where he was from," the elder Hogan said. "He said that he couldn't remember his phone number, but he wanted to call his mother and tell her he was OK."
The woman later talked to a friend who went online and called a hotline set up for missing persons after finding Hogan's Web site, www.helpfindmikehogan.org. And the hotline staff notified authorities, who then contacted Hogan's family.
"The lady who talked to Mike wanted to remain anonymous," Hogan's father said. "But we were able to meet her (Thursday)."
Following that meeting, the elder Hogan said, he was more optimistic than ever that the woman had seen her son.
"We're absolutely convinced she talked to Michael," he said.
Vermont State Police Lt. David Covell, who oversees detectives in Troop C, which includes Rutland County, said State Police have been in regular contact with authorities in Ventura, a beach town of about 105,000 residents.
"They have been very cooperative in working the case and attempting to locate Mr. Hogan," Covell said Friday. "There is some information that is encouraging, but were still waiting on the authorities out in Ventura to continue with their assistance … to determine if this is him or not."
The lieutenant said prior to the possible California sighting, authorities have not had any other possible sightings of Hogan for "quite some time."
Hogan's parents, with the help of local authorities, have spent the past several days searching the Ventura area for their son and putting up missing person's posters displaying his image, description and contact information.
"I went into a pawn shop and bought a mountain bike so I could go back on the trails and ride along the beach and go places you can only walk to," the father said.
"They have this place they call the River Bottom, where a lot of the transient people hang out," he said. "They told me to leave my wallet in my car, leave my watch in my car, and not to be too well dressed because it's not that safe."
The elder Hogan said some people seemed to recognize his son from pictures.
"A lot of the people can't really hang their hat on the accuracy of what they tell you," the father said.
The story also has generated a great deal of coverage in the local media, landing on the front pages of newspapers, as well as airing on television news stations in southern California.
"We have had tremendous support from the police and the press," the father said.
On May 16, as part of his after-care, Hogan went from his apartment in Rutland to the ranch in Shrewsbury to work. He worked through the morning and then failed to 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 from the ranch back to Rutland.
Hogan is among the roughly 8,000 missing adults the FBI lists as "endangered" or "disabled," meaning they suffer from some form of mental illness that may lead them to attempt suicide or abandon their lives.
According to his family and police, Hogan's condition required he take as many as eight different medications daily, and he had been experiencing medical problems when he suddenly left work at the ranch on May 16.
Police have repeatedly searched the wooded area around the ranch, but have not turned up any trace of Hogan.
Also, Hogan lacked a vehicle, but he did have a driver's license. Family members said he when left the Rutland area he did so only with the clothes on his back. His apartment did not appear to be disturbed.
There have been reported sightings of Hogan in downtown Rutland and the Killington area, but none recently. Police point out that they have been unable to confirm those sightings.
"When we first came out here to Ventura we had great expectations that we were just going to go to this park and we were going to see him and take him home," the elder Hogan said Friday. "That hasn't happened, but we're going to be here as long as it takes."
Contact Alan J. Keays at alan.keays@rutlandherald.com.
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