Man Vanishes After Unknowingly Buying Stolen Car

Oliver Wendell Munson was a 39-year-old African-American living in Catonsville, Maryland. He attended the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and was an industrial arts teacher at Ellicott City Middle School.

Oliver had a good relationship with his students and took them bowling twice a week. He had an occasional girlfriend and spent most of his free time working on old cars which he kept in his yard.

Every morning before leaving for work, Oliver spoke on the phone with his mother. He was close to his family and often spent the weekends on the Eastern Shore of Maryland with his mother and siblings.

On February 13, 1984, Oliver’s neighbor saw him leaving his house at 7:50 AM as per usual. Presumably, he was going to work but he never arrived at school.

Due to his unusual absence, the school notified Oliver’s younger brother, James. The next day, after several unanswered calls, James went to his brother’s house. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary but Oliver was nowhere to be found and therefore reported missing to authorities.

Three days after Oliver was last seen, his car was found on Braeside Road, a couple of blocks away from his home, parked in the opposite direction of the school. The right front tire was flat and several of Oliver’s belongings were found in the front seat — his touring cap, school notebook, and lunch bag. Nonetheless, the car provided no clues as to Oliver’s whereabouts.

On the day Oliver disappeared, another Maryland resident reported their car missing. Hilton Solomon’s car had been stolen just hours before Oliver went missing on his way to work.

Hilton eventually found his own car on the edge of Leakin Park in West Baltimore. A couple of days after recovering his car, Hilton decided to clean it out on February 27 and found several items that weren’t his.

Under the front passenger seat, Hilton found a spent small-caliber shell casing. There was also a hat that was similar to one Oliver owned. Most notably, he found two video store receipts with Oliver’s name on them. The receipts also had a few smudges of blood.

The blood was determined to be O-positive but it is unknown if the blood belongs to Oliver as there are no records of such. Despite technological advancements, the blood sample can no longer be examined as it is too deteriorated.

Authorities conducted a search at Leakin Park but found no trace of Oliver.

In January of 1983, a year before disappearing, Oliver bought a Datsun 240Z from Dennis L. Watson. Unfortunately, Oliver was not aware that Dennis was the leader of an auto theft ring. The car that he had bought had been stolen three months prior.

Dennis and his associates would steal cars and bring them to his garage. The cars would either be dismantled and sold in pieces or resold with fake papers. On March 16 of the same year, authorities raided Dennis’ garage after investigating him for several weeks. Police found dismantled autos, illegal titles, and stolen vehicle ID tags.

Oliver’s name was found in confiscated records and consequently, his Datsun was seized. Oliver was questioned but police soon determined that he was not involved in Dennis’ theft ring.

Given that Oliver was the only witness to have bought a stolen car directly from Dennis, police did not give him much of a choice other than to testify in court. Oliver was nervous to do so but obliged.

Oliver had been scheduled to testify against Dennis just three days after he mysteriously vanished. Interestingly, Dennis pleaded guilty to auto theft and was sentenced to ten years in prison — Oliver’s testimony would not have made any difference.

Nevertheless, Oliver was not the only person to meet a tragic fate while waiting to testify against Dennis.

In 1973, 29-year-old Clinton Glenn was found burned to death in a car registered to Dennis. He was supposed to testify against Dennis, in an armed robbery case, the day after his death. Dennis was charged for Clinton’s murder based on the testimony of another witness. However, this witness died of a suspicious overdose and therefore the case was dropped.

When asked about Oliver’s disappearance, Dennis professed his innocence. He was paroled in 1989 after serving only half of his ten-year sentence.

Neither Oliver’s loved ones nor authorities believe he left on his own accord. He was declared legally dead on May 28, 1985; a judge ruled him a victim of a “presumptive homicide”. His mother has since passed away but his family is still waiting for answers.

Oliver has been missing for 36 years. If alive, he is now 75-years-old.