Gone Without A Trace
For over 60 years, the Carroll family has dealt with an unsolved mystery that has haunted them every single day of their lives.
One of loss, heartache and possible tragedy. It would be the year 1961 when George Carroll, loving father, and husband would vanish without a trace…
Decades of Mystery
For decades, his family wondered what could have possibly happened to him. His four children, hoping and wishing he would one day walk back through the door like it was all a horrible nightmare.
It would be 60 years later that his youngest son, Mike, would make a shocking discovery in the basement of his old family home. One that would finally solve the mystery of his father’s disappearance.
The History of a Man
George Carroll was born in 1934 and from a young age always knew he wanted to join the military. Not the best student in his family and with a desire to fight for his country, he enlisted after graduating from high school.
Of course, he never could have imagined that he would wind up fighting in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. Thankfully, he made it through the war unscathed.
Settling After Service
Once his time in the army was complete, George settled down in the community of Lake Grove in Long Island, New York.
He lived in a cute little home on Olive Street, enjoying a quiet life and starting a family of his own. Life was good and picturesque.
Everything He Could Possibly Want
At this time, George had a wife named Dorothy and four children: Patricia, Jean, Steven and the youngest, Mike. In 1961, the children were all still pretty young, between the ages of nine and one-year-old.
And unfortunately, their lives were all about to be impacted in a way they never expected.
Vanished
It would be the fall of 1961 when the Carroll household would be completely turned upside down. One day, George simply vanished from the family home and never returned.
The children were devastated and left wondering why their father would have left them?
Unanswered Questions
George’s disappearance rocked the close-knit family and the community. So many questions were left unanswered. Why would George abandon his family?
No one reported any accidents in the area and the hospitals didn’t report any unidentified men being brought in. What truly happened to George?
A Wife’s Account
After the disappearance, the children remember their mother telling them that George had left the house to buy cigarettes and never came back.
However, it seemed George had left his wallet in the house, which made the story suspect. Why would he go to buy cigarettes and leave his wallet?
Suspicious Claims
According to George’s son, Steve, who was only eight at the time, he never really bought his mother’s story.
He always thought it was weird how quickly Dorothy brushed off his disappearance nor seemed too concerned. Plus, his dad leaving his wallet behind wasn’t like him at all.
Don’t Ask Me Again
Despite the children questioning their mother’s story, according to youngest son, Mike, she always dodged any questions about their father.
In an interview with the New York Post, he revealed that she would always tell the children to stop asking, so eventually, they kept their mouths shut.
Rumors Abound
With so much mystery surrounding George’s disappearance, rumors began to swirl around the family. Some relatives believed that George had decided to flee to Korea where he had fought in the war.
It was rumored he may have had a long distance Korean lover he chose over his family. However, there was also a darker theory…
Murder?
Some people in hushed conversations discussed the possibility that George was dead and buried underneath the house.
Around the time of his disappearance, the family was building a basement addition to the property. The perfect place to hide a body.
No Missing Person’s Report
Deepening the mystery of George’s disappearance was the alleged information that Dorothy never filed a missing person’s report.
Therefore, the entire incident was swept under the rug and never hit the radar of the local police. Why would his wife not report his disappearance? Could she have been involved in some way?
Shadows of the Past
Even though it was hard to do, the children tried to get on with their lives. However, their father’s memory was like a dark shadow looming over every day.
There were just too many unanswered questions to simply forget their father and move on.
A New Marriage
Shortly after George’s disappearance, Dorothy moved a new man into the house named Richard Darress. The two had a whirlwind romance and married quickly, much to the shock of the children.
However, the marriage was not a match made in heaven and would eventually fall completely apart.
Goodbye, Richard
While the children were hoping to regain some stability in their lives, their mother’s rocky marriage ensured that wouldn’t happen. After two decades of fights and abuse, Dorothy divorced her second husband in 1983.
According to Mike, his mother believed that Richard had been having an affair, which is why she kicked him out.
Going Their Separate Ways
After the divorce, Dorothy moved to New Mexico to start over. During this time, the children, now grown went their separate ways as well. However, Richard would not let Dorothy get away so easily.
In 2000, she was forced to take out a restraining order against him. It seemed Dorothy had no luck with men.
Questioning Their Mother’s Story
As the Carroll children grew older, they began to question their mother’s story. Although she swore that their father simply left for cigarettes and never returned, something never felt right about her explanation.
And the fact she didn’t want the children asking questions, also seemed suspect. “There really wasn’t much talk about it,” one of her son’s told ABC. “But we became curious as adults as to where he might be.”
Renewed Interest
After his mother’s death in 1998, the youngest son Mike bought his family home on Olive Street. After living there for over 20 years, he began to wonder if the rumors were true.
Could his father really be buried beneath the house? It was a chilling thought, to say the least.
His Father’s Final Resting Place
According to Mike, the rumors swirling around his father’s disappearance had always been in the back of his mind. “It didn’t just come up overnight.
It’s something that’s been talked about for years,” he told the local media, “This is something as we grew up, you know, we heard multiple stories.”
Searching for Answers
Tired of wondering, Mike finally decided he would search for answers himself and began to excavate the basement. Unfortunately, he was forced to abandon the project because he realized he was digging in the wrong place.
“I got to the point where it became dangerous because I was afraid my house was going to cave in. So I stopped digging,” Mike told News 12.
Never Giving Up
Despite the setback, Mike had no plans to give up his quest for the truth.
There was no way that he could continue on with his life not knowing what happened to his father. Somehow he would get to the bottom of the situation.
Searching for the Truth
Mike and his family began to dig in other areas of the basement, working hard to remove the heavy layers of concrete.
The family hired building contractors to ensure they were doing things safely as well.
Bringing in the Experts
One expert that Mike hired knew how to work a radar that could penetrate the ground using electromagnetic radiation.
This would create a scan of the subsurface structures. During this scan, the radar picked up a mysterious mass about six feet down.
Turning to a Psychic
At the encouragement of his sisters, Mike turned to a psychic for answers. The family hoped they might get a sign from the supernatural that could confirm their father had murdered or that his spirit was still lingering in the home.
The psychic revealed they had a gut feeling that something horrible had happened, although they did not communicate directly with George.
Seeing Spirits
According to Mike, he had been seeing spirits in his childhood home from a very young age. Even his friend who had been visiting had an encounter with a spirit in the home.
“My friend came from Georgia, and he said, ‘Mike, I came out of your bathroom, and I saw a guy standing there, like, you know, a shadow of a man, standing and walking down the stairs.”
The Paranormal Investigation Continues
Mike decided to continue to reach out to paranormal experts in an attempt to help locate his father’s body. One psychic arrived at the basement and point to a spot in the floor, revealing they felt a significant swell of energy.
Sadly, Mike suffered a stroke during this time and his sons had to continue the investigation.
Sons to the Rescue
“I told my kids, ‘Guys come on over here and help me out. You’ve been watching me do this; you get in there,’” Mike explained.
“I think they felt bad for me because they knew this was important to me.”
Human Remains
After months of searching and digging, Mike’s two sons decided to excavate the area the psychic had pointed out. It was there they found what looked like human remains.
Mike immediately notified the police who arrived the next day to examine the bones. The remains would have to be sent out for DNA testing to confirm whether or not they belonged to George Carroll.
Officially Confirmed
Weeks later, the Suffolk County police were able to confirm the skeleton did belong to George.
“The DNA was extremely well-preserved within the skeletal remains, even after almost 60 years.” Finally, after decades of uncertainty, the mystery had been solved.
Happy for Answers
Despite having to tear up his basement, Mike is happy to finally know what happened to his father, even though the details surrounding his death are still shrouded in mystery. “I took a chance.
I could have done this whole thing and found nothing, and then I would have had a whole messed-up basement.” But I’m really glad we found what we found. It puts my family at ease.” We hope Mike and his siblings can finally find some peace.