Gary Simmons

Real Name: Gary Ross Simmons
Nicknames: No known nicknames
Location: Independence, Missouri
Date: October 15, 1974

Case[]

Details: On October 16, 1991, an Independence, Missouri school bus driver named Tyrone Rollins discovered skeletal remains in a cave near the bus garage where he worked. The driver’s license of Overland Park, Kansas businessman Gary Simmons was found in a pants pocket, and dental records subsequently confirmed his identity, For several years prior, Tyrone had strange feelings about the cave. When he found Gary's remains, he contacted the police, who determined that Gary had been shot in the head.
Police reopened the investigation and discovered that Gary, who had vanished in October 1974, may have been murdered by Tom Dixon. During the 1970s, he had owned and operated a lucrative chain of gas stations in the Kansas City area. His main hobby was horse trading. On October 14, the day before he vanished, he learned that Tom had a pure-bred horse to sell. The next day, they met at Gary's office. At 10:15am, they left and Gary told his secretary that they will return shortly. However, he did not say where they were going.
Fifteen minutes later, Gary called his secretary and told her to write a check to Tom for $30,000. At 11am, he arrived and picked it up; he later met with Gary to get his signature, although nobody knows where this meeting took place. Gary was last seen alive at 11:30am at a truck stop ten miles from his office. He was apparently looking out the window, waiting for someone.
Just before noon, Tom showed up at Gary's bank. Gary called the president, claiming that Tom was coming to cash the check. The manager, of whom Gary was one of his best customers, approved it and also suggested if Tom was interested in opening an account with him as well. He declined, claiming he was in debt and needed the cash to retire said debts.
Around five hours later, Tom arrived at a salvage yard eleven miles from the bank, driving Gary's Lincoln Continental car. He asked if it could be flattened to avoid all traces of identification, but the salvage man suggested that he put it in the Missouri River.
The next day, Tom was dropped off by a friend at a truck stop and never seen again. Six months later, on April 25, 1975, Gary's car was pulled from the river. Police had no idea what happened to him and Tom until his remains were located in 1991. Authorities now believe that Tom murdered him over a bogus horse deal.
Suspects: Tom is considered the prime suspect in Gary's disappearance and death. However, he has never officially been charged with his murder.
A private investigator hired by Gary's family stated that he disappeared just before he was to testify in a federal investigation about black-market gasoline sales. The investigator also suggests that Tom was used to lure and kill him. However, investigators did not believe this theory as he was not involved in the purchase of illegal gasoline.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on the April 8, 1992 episode.
Results: Unresolved. As Unsolved Mysteries was still filming this case, a new witness named Roy Hylton came forward. He knew both Gary and Tom, and claims that the horse deal was not bogus and that Gary had actually shown him the horse. He also claims that Gary had made phone calls to his bank and office from the Whispering Downs Horse Ranch on the day of his disappearance.
Roy believes that Gary may have been killed over black market gasoline, because his gas station business had been failing, as many in the oil and gas station business had been hit hard by the 1973 oil crisis. However, his brother claims that he was not involved in black market gasoline.
This case is now considered even more complicated than before. Police believe that Tom may know who killed Gary, or may actually be his killer, but police only have enough evidence to have an arrest warrant for auto theft, in the stealing and subsequent destruction of Gary's car. Tom is 5'8", with brown or graying hair and green eyes. He is likely now in his 80s and authorities believe that he is now deceased. Some investigators now believe that he was killed along with Gary. However, this has not been confirmed.
Sadly, Gary's brother, Jerry, passed away in 2016 at the age of sixty-seven.
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Gary Simmons

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