When Linda Iseler’s husband went missing nearly three decades ago, she thought the worst. It was 1993 when she last saw her husband, Richard Hoagland. As the father of two sons, Douglas and Matthew, it was unlike him to leave without notice. Naturally, Linda started to think through nightmare scenarios. And because they were living the idyllic American life, Linda had no idea why Richard would leave on his own volition, so she suspected something sinister.
Richard disappeared like a ghost. No notes were left behind. No messages were ever relayed to Linda or her children. It was like he was kidnapped and vanished without a trace.
His disappearance would forever change the lives of Linda and her two sons. Without their father in the picture, they could not go on as they once did.
It took decades, but finally, Linda got to the bottom of the mystery. But it took years of strife and unknowing before she finally struck gold with the truth.
In the early ‘90s after Richard’s disappearance, Linda told ABC News “20/20,” “How do you walk away from your own children? How do you turn your back?”
Richard had been previously married and divorced but proclaimed his for Linda and their family time and time again. It seemed like everything was wonderful until he simply disappeared one day in 1993.
The family led a normal life in Indianapolis, Indiana. While they fought just like any married couple, their relationship was solid as a rock – or so Linda thought. Over time, Richard began to withdraw from the family. Linda ignored it and assigned it to stress at his job. She was wrong.
Richard kept his feelings secret from his wife and sons. And little did his family know, but Richard was hard at work planning a change in lifestyle, one that would forever ruin Linda’s life.
While working at the medical office where she held a job for years, Linda suddenly received a call that shook her to the core. The call was from Richard. He told her he was calling from outside the hospital. He said he couldn’t talk long but needed to check into the hospital immediately. She worried and promised to join him after work.
She came home from work and found her youngest son alone. His father was nowhere to be found. She thought he was dead. His toothbrush wasn’t missing. She thought he was listed as “John Doe.”
Then it hit her. Linda recalled a comment he had made years ago – that he was a wanted man. The FBI was hunting him down from embezzling millions of dollars, but she thought he was joking.
“He was very spontaneous. He was a guy who lived life to the fullest. He was always doing something.”
Then she received a phone call that changed her life. It was from Richard.
“I can’t live this way anymore. I feel you would be better off without me.”
The FBI was hunting him down. And he would go to jail if caught.
He called again. “I don’t want to go to jail. I’m never coming back.”
Fast forward 20+ years later and Linda gets another call, but this time it’s not from Richard. It’s from Detective Anthony Cardillo and he had one question that shook Linda to her core: “Do you know Richard Hoagland?”
Just hearing that name brought it all back for Linda and she could barely stand while on the phone.
After talking with the Detective she learned that Richard was living in Florida under a different name, after assuming the identity of a deceased person. And the police had him custody for using false identification. Linda also learned that Richard remarried and had another child with his new wife.
Richard is currently serving his jail sentence in Florida, and Linda and her family want nothing to do with the man.
Has anything like this ever happened in your family?