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A blog that tries to inform others about at least a few of the hundreds, if not thousands, of missing children and adults in America. If you have a loved one missing, and would like me to add their story here, please contact me a.s.a.p.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Ronald Tammen, Missing since 1953, Oxford Ohio

Ronald Tammen:
Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: April 19, 1953 from Oxford, Ohio
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date of Birth: July 23, 1933
Age: 19 years old
Height and Weight: 5'9 - 5'10, 175 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Dark brown hair. Tammen had a muscular build in 1953. His blood type is O-positive.


Details of Disappearance

Tammen was last seen in old Fisher Hall, a former Victorian mental asylum converted to a dormitory at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio on April 19, 1953. He was a resident hall advisor at Fisher Hall, and lived in room 225. At 8:00 p.m., he requested new bedsheets because someone had put a fish in his bed.
Sometime around 8:30 p.m., Tammen apparently heard something outside his room that disturbed him, and went out into the hallway to investigate. He never returned. His roommate came in at 10:00 p.m. and found him gone. The roommate originally assumed Tammen was spending the night at his Delta Tau Delta fraternity house, and did not report his disappearance until the next day.

There is no indication that Tammen left of his own accord. His clothes, car keys, wallet, identification, and other personal items were left behind in his dormitory room, and he also left the lights on, the radio playing, and a textbook lying open on his desk. His 1938 Chevrolet sedan was not taken from its place in the school parking lot, he left his bass fiddle in the back seat of the car, and he left behind $200 in his bank account. Tammen is believed to have had no more than $10 to $15 on his person the night he disappeared, and was not wearing a coat. However, authorities have not found any indication of foul play in Tammen's disappearance either. They do not believe he could have been forcibly abducted, as he was large enough and strong enough to defend himself against most attackers. They theorize that he could have developed amnesia and wandered away, but if that was the case he should have been found relatively quickly.

A woman living outside of Oxford, twelve miles east of the Miami University campus, claims that a young man came to her door at 11:00 p.m. the evening Tammen disappeared and asked what town he was in. Then he asked directions to the bus stop, which she gave him, and he left. However, the bus line had suspended its midnight run, so he could not have gotten on a bus.

The witness says the man she spoke to was disheveled and dirty and appeared upset and confused. He was not wearing a coat or hat, although it was a cold night and there was snow on the ground. He was apparently on foot, since the woman did not see or hear a car. The man matched the physical description of Tammen and was wearing similar clothes, but it has not been confirmed that they were the same person.

Five months to the day before Tammen vanished, he went to the Butler County Coroner's office and asked for a blood test. The coroner claims that this was the only such request he ever got in 35 years of practice. It is unknown why Tammen wanted the test done and whether it has anything to do with his later disappearance.

Tammen's parents, who lived in the 21000 block of Hillgrove Avenue in Maple Heights, Ohio in 1953, last saw him a week before he disappeared and say he did not appear to be troubled by anything at the time. He was on the varsity wrestling team in college, played in the school dance band, and was a business major and a good student. He dated at the time that he vanished but did not have a steady girlfriend.

In the decades after Tammen's disappearance, students at Miami University claimed his ghost haunted Fisher Hall. His parents are now deceased. Fisher Hall was torn down in 1978 and an extensive search was conducted in the rubble for Tammen's remains, but no evidence was located. His case remains unsolved.



Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Oxford Police Department
513-524-5240



Source Information
The Doe Network
Miami Mysteries and Ghost Stories
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NewspaperArchive
Miami University Libraries


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In many cases, these blogs are obtained from other sources on the web. Source information will be added whenever possible. My apologies for those already up that may not be sourced, or credit given. This will be fixed.