Neil and Terry Gott
Real Names: Neil Howard and Terry Lynn Gott
Aliases: No known aliases
Wanted For: Drug trafficking
Missing Since: March 6, 1991
Case
Details: Many neighbors believed that Neil and Terry Gott and their young daughter, Heather, were a typical family in North Benton, Ohio. He owned a successful auto repair shop, while she worked for a house cleaning company. That changed in 1990 when he began calling a known drug dealer in Akron, asking for a large amount of drugs. The FBI listened to these conversations for about a month. On December 15, 1990, he put in a substantial order for the next day: eight ounces of cocaine. When he made the buy, the FBI was waiting. However, they decided not to take him into custody. They wanted to continue their investigation until they got everyone in his network.
Neil called his buyers and told them that they would not get their cocaine. Due to these calls, the FBI was able to ascertain the names of his cohorts. Investigators had already begun to suspect that he was more than just a small-time cocaine middleman. They learned that he had rented a barn nearby. It had an electric bill of up to $1900 per month. This led them to believe that he and Terry were growing marijuana in it.
Eventually, the FBI was able to get a search warrant for the Gott home and their barn, where a large amount of marijuana was found. They discovered that Neil's growing operation was very sophisticated. The marijuana was worth up to $100,000. A large number of weapons were also found. Terry denied any involvement in the drug dealing. Neil was arrested, but his parents posted his bail, and he went back to his drug operation. However, in March 1991, twenty-two people were indicted in drug-related charges, including them. They never arrived in court and soon vanished.
When the FBI went to the Gott home, they found that it was empty. In the backyard, they found a dead dog chained to a tree. They found a neighbor who said that they had left about a week earlier. They also found a woman who had rented a U-Haul trailer for them. They apparently left town on March 6. The trailer was later found in Florida. They have not been seen since.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on the December 9, 1994 episode.
Results: Captured. A viewer's tip led the FBI to a marijuana operation in Lake County, Florida, where Neil and Terry were arrested in October 1995, along with three others. Agents confiscated over a million dollars' worth of marijuana and cocaine. They were both convicted on a single drug charge, served time in federal prison and have since been released. Neil was later arrested again for drug trafficking and possession. In June 2003, he was sentenced to one year in prison. He has since been released again.
Links:
- Boating's Most Wanted
- Police Arrest 5, Seize 1,000 Pot Plants - October 14, 1995
- Former "Unsolved Mysteries" Criminal Supplied Mother-Daughter Dealing Duo - July 25, 2009
- Recent litigation detailed