Leonard Dirickson and his 16-year-old son, Jared, had just finished breakfast around 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 14, 1998, when a white pickup truck pulled into their driveway. Jared watched from the window as his dad stepped outside to talk to the driver. They exchanged a few words, and then Leonard came back inside. He told Jared that the man wanted to buy one of his horses and that he’d be back that afternoon.
With that, Leonard got into the truck and drove off with the stranger. That was the last time Jared saw his father.
Leonard and Jared lived on an 800-acre ranch in Strong City, Oklahoma. They raised pigs and cattle, and Leonard owned 15 horses. Most of them were kept in Elk City, but he also had at least one at a stud ranch in Mobeetie, Texas.
When Leonard left that morning, he mentioned to Jared that he and the man would be heading to both locations.
When Leonard didn’t return that night, Jared became worried. At just 16, he and his dad were extremely close, and Jared knew his father wouldn’t stay away without calling. Concerned, he reached out to Leonard’s parents in Elk City, but they hadn’t heard from him either.
By the next morning, with no word from Leonard, his parents reported him missing to the Roger Mills County Sheriff’s Department.
Jared told police that his father had left with a white man driving a mid-1990s white Ford F-150 extended cab pickup truck. Jared thought the truck had a yellow New Mexico license plate on the front bumper. However, New Mexico didn’t issue front plates at the time, so it was likely from a different state.
The man never got out of the truck, so Jared didn’t get a clear look at him. He did notice what appeared to be a reddish-brown beard. It wasn’t clear if Leonard knew the man, but he seemed at ease when he left. Jared didn’t think his father felt threatened.
Jared had wanted to go along, but Leonard asked him to pick up feed for their pigs instead. The local feed store closed at noon on Saturdays, and Leonard knew he wouldn’t be back in time.
Leonard’s disappearance was so out of character that police took it seriously from the start. They feared he and the unknown man might have been in a car accident.
Investigators searched all the routes from Leonard’s home to both Elk City and Mobeetie. They searched by ground and air but found no signs of the truck being involved in a wreck or running off the road.
Jared told police that his father had left with a white man driving a mid-1990s white Ford F-150 extended cab pickup truck. Jared thought the truck had a yellow New Mexico license plate on the front bumper. However, New Mexico didn’t issue front plates at the time, so it was likely from a different state.
The man never got out of the truck, so Jared didn’t get a clear look at him. He did notice what appeared to be a reddish-brown beard. It wasn’t clear if Leonard knew the man, but he seemed at ease when he left.
Jared didn’t think his father felt threatened. Jared had wanted to go along, but Leonard asked him to pick up feed for their pigs instead. The local feed store closed at noon on Saturdays, and Leonard knew he wouldn’t be back in time.
Leonard’s disappearance was so out of character that police took it seriously from the start. They feared he and the unknown man might have been in a car accident. Investigators searched all the routes from Leonard’s home to both Elk City and Mobeetie. They searched by ground and air but found no signs of the truck being involved in a wreck or running off the road.
Leonard’s disappearance was the first in Roger Mills County since 1981, and detectives were determined to solve the mystery. They distributed missing person posters across western Oklahoma and parts of Texas.
The posters featured a photograph of Leonard alongside the sketch of the man who had picked him up that Saturday morning. Although a few tips came in from people who thought they’d seen Leonard, none of the sightings could be confirmed.
Investigators were baffled by the case. Roger Mills County Sheriff Joe Hay didn’t mince words when he spoke to reporters. “This is very unusual for this guy,” he said.
“Occasionally, you have a guy who twists off and goes away for a while, but that’s not this guy. He’s not a drinker and not a druggie. He’s a hardworking guy.”
Neighbors in Strong City backed that up. They told detectives there was no way Leonard would have left his son alone for long. None of them had ever seen the man in the white pickup truck before, but detectives believed Leonard must have known him.
“Leonard’s house wasn’t one you drive by; it was one you drove to,” the sheriff explained. “I’m not even sure you can see it from the road.” To investigators, it seemed clear that the man had gone to Leonard’s home for a reason—but they weren’t convinced it had anything to do with horses. They had discovered that Leonard hadn’t advertised any of his horses for sale.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation joined the search for Leonard, but progress was slow. Detectives followed up on every tip, but none brought them closer to finding him.
Sheriff Joe Hay expressed his frustration, saying, “With most investigations, you usually have a place to start. We don’t even know where to start with this one. It feels like chasing a ghost.”
Looking for answers, investigators turned their attention to Leonard’s past. He had married his high school sweetheart, Kathy, when he was 18. Together, they ran a dairy business on their Strong City ranch and had two children, Jared and Connie.
Over time, the marriage fell apart, and in 1996, Leonard and Kathy divorced. The split was acrimonious, leading to a bitter custody battle that divided the family. Kathy was granted custody of Connie and moved to Hammond, Oklahoma. Jared, however, chose to stay on the ranch with Leonard.
By December 1997, Leonard had to make a tough decision to sell the family’s dairy business. The move wasn’t tied to the divorce but to financial challenges. The cost of cattle feed had risen sharply, while milk prices had dropped, making it impossible to keep the business going.
In January 1998, Leonard started working at a metal company in Elk City and quickly grew to love the job. He enjoyed it so much that his father, Don Dirickson, began considering buying the company for him. Tragically, Leonard disappeared before Don could make those plans a reality.
Although Leonard had struggled financially after losing the dairy business, things seemed to improve once he began working at the metal company. Jared, his son, didn’t recall Leonard mentioning any plans to sell his horses, and detectives found no evidence that he had ever advertised them for sale.
Leonard’s aunt, Dixie Gilworth, described him as a hardworking and reliable man. “He’s a dependable, capable guy. It just doesn’t add up that he would leave with just the clothes on his back,” she said.
While she held onto hope that Leonard was still alive, she feared that the man who arrived at Leonard’s ranch that morning had more sinister intentions.
In the early weeks of the investigation, detectives followed hundreds of tips but couldn’t uncover any substantial leads about Leonard’s disappearance. They interviewed more than 70 people, but no one had a bad word to say about him.
Sheriff Joe Hay remarked, “We’ve talked to anyone and everyone he had dealings with, and everyone thought the world of him. I’m sure there are a few out there who weren’t his friend; we just haven’t found them yet.”
Leonard’s family pointed out that he rarely carried more than $100 in cash, making him an unlikely target for robbery. After his divorce, he had maxed out his credit cards, and his checking account remained untouched. There were no substantial withdrawals in the weeks before he went missing, and his last paycheck hadn’t been cashed.
Those who knew Leonard couldn’t believe he would stage his own disappearance. He was too close to his son to leave without a word.
None of his belongings were missing from his home, and he didn’t have the financial means to start over somewhere new. His family was certain that Leonard had been the victim of foul play.
Detectives were convinced the unidentified man held the key to finding Leonard, but no one seemed to know who he was. Leonard’s neighbors, friends, and family didn’t recognize the man in the sketch, and many believed he might have been a stranger to Leonard as well.
Some questioned whether Leonard would have willingly gotten into a truck with someone he didn’t know, but Sheriff Joe Hay explained, “Out here, where Leonard was born and raised, it comes natural to trust people.” It seemed possible that Leonard’s trusting nature had led to trouble.
The first significant lead in the case came in September 1998. A man called the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation from a bar in Amarillo, Texas, claiming he knew Leonard and that Leonard was at the bar.
Authorities in Texas quickly responded, but by the time they arrived, both Leonard and the caller were gone. Investigators staked out the bar for several nights, hoping Leonard might show up, but they never found any trace of him.
By the end of 1998, the case had faded from the headlines. Jared, who still wasn’t speaking to his mother, moved in with his grandparents in Elk City. Surrounded by photos of his father in their home, Jared found some comfort and held onto hope that Leonard would be found alive.
Leonard’s parents, Don and Norma, desperately wanted to believe he was still alive, but they admitted the chances were slim. They were certain Leonard would have called Jared if he could, and the silence pointed to a grim reality.
“In my heart, I know something bad has happened,” Norma told a reporter. “He wouldn’t have left Jared. They were just too close.”
As time passed, Sheriff Joe Hay acknowledged he had no answers. While Leonard’s family was adamant that he wouldn’t have staged his own disappearance, investigators couldn’t find any solid evidence of foul play.
“We don’t know if he’s still alive, but I’m convinced that he’s still out there somewhere,” Hay said. The absence of a body left room for hope, however slim.
Leonard’s parents clung to that hope. In 2000, Don shared, “If he’s alive, I just want him to come back home. Jared needs him worse than we do.” Still, as more time went by, it became harder for Don and Norma to remain optimistic.
Detectives continued circulating the composite sketch of the man last seen with Leonard, but no one came forward to identify him. Leonard’s family expressed doubts about the sighting that led to the sketch. They questioned whether Leonard would have gone to a diner to eat so soon after breakfast with Jared. Even so, detectives remained convinced that finding the man in the sketch was the key to solving the case.
Leonard Neal Dirickson was 39 years old when he disappeared in 1998. The mysterious circumstances of his case have led authorities to suspect foul play, though they admit it’s possible he left voluntarily. His family doesn’t believe he would have abandoned his teenage son, who still hopes to be reunited with him one day.
Leonard had gray eyes and brown hair. At the time of his disappearance, he was 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighed about 200 pounds, and was last seen wearing green jeans, a faded black hooded Carhartt jacket, and a brown baseball cap with a green bill and “ACCO FEEDS” written on it. If you have any information about Leonard, please contact the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation at 800–522–8017.
Below, you’ll find all the newspaper clippings related to the case.
