Newtown Police Robert Hoagland was found dead in New York nine years after he vanished from his home in Newtown, Connecticut, police say. He was living under the alias Richard King.
Robert Hoagland was a Connecticut man who went missing in 2013 and was found dead nine years in New York, where he had been living under a fake name, Newtown Police said in a press release. Hoagland, who was going by Richard King, died in Sullivan County on December 5, 2022, police said.
Hoagland, 59 at the time of his death, vanished on July 29, 2013, and the mysterious case drew national media attention and social media speculation and was covered by the Investigation Discovery series “Disappeared,” and on several podcasts. Newtown Police said, “The family requests that their privacy be respected during this difficult time. The police department does not plan to release any further information as there was no criminal aspect to Robert Hoagland’s disappearance.”
According to Newtown Police, the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department contacted the Newtown Police to report they had found Hoagland dead at a home in Rock Hill, New York, after responding to a report of an untimely death there. “They initially could not identify the male but found papers showing the name Robert Hoagland,” the Newtown Police said. Detectives from Newtown confirmed Hoagland’s identity on December 6, police said.
Robert Hoagland Left Behind His Wallet, Car, Medication & Cell Phone & Was Reported Missing After He Skipped Work & Failed to Show Up to Pick Up a Family Member at the Airport
According to Newtown Police, Hoagland was reported missing Monday, July 29, 2013, when he “failed to pick up a family member from the airport. Through the investigation, it was learned that Robert Hoagland also failed to show up for work that day. Officers found the family cars, Robert’s wallet, medication and cell phone at the family home.” Hoagland lived in the Sandy Hook neighborhood of Newtown, according to police.
Hoagland had last been seen a day earlier, on Sunday, July 28, 2013, at a gas station on Church Hill Road. “The investigation remained ipen and sightings were received and investigated nationwide,” police said. “The disappearance of Robert Hoagland received lots of media attention, including a feature on the Investigation Discovery series ‘Disappeared.'”
According to the Danbury News-Times, the family member who reported Hoagland missing was his wife and mother of his children. He was supposed to pick her up at JFK Airport in New York, the newspaper reported. He had three sons who were in their 20s when he left Newtown, according to the News-Times.
Hoagland Was ‘Living Under the Radar’ in New York, Police Said
Rock Hill is located about 90 miles west of Newtown. “The detectives learned that Robert Hoagland had been living in Sullivan County since around November 2013 and was using the name Richard King. Robert Hoagland’s remains were taken to the Sullivan County Coroner for an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death; however, there were no signs of foul play,” Newtown Police said.
Undersheriff Eric Chaboty told the News-Times that Hoagland was living with a roommate in Rock Hill. Chaboty told the newspaper, “He was living under the radar.” Chaboty said it is a “great mystery” why Hoagland was in Rock Hill.
The Investigation Disocvery episode, titled “Disappeared: A Family Man,” aired in 2016. Hoagland was a chef and property appraiser originally from California. According a 2014 report by NBC Connecticut, Hoagland withdrew $600 from a bank account before vanishing, but left behind the rest of his money.