Up and Vanished Weekly | VANISHED: Richard Cox

26:41We're looking at West Point. This is not a military career starter here. You know, someone who may have been looking at trying to live their life in a more authentic way, in a way that they couldn't. And if that's the case, some people have said maybe George was a romantic partner. You know, that that could be an option. You know, it was the 1950s. Every state in the U.S. at the time had anti-sodomy laws until 1964. So we're talking about 1950. And so at this time, actually, in the military, you could not be gay. And we've all heard of don't ask, don't tell laws. But back then, actually, you could be discharged for being gay in the military.

27:24What did you make of all this when you were looking into the possibility that he did run away? So in terms of like Richard's romantic life, we don't have strong answers, you know, and honestly, you know, that's his life too. You know, those are not answers for us. But we do know that a few people reached out to his roommates and said that they had dated Richard from New York. His friend Joseph said that he wasn't aware that Richard had ever dated men. But I would say back to his friend Joseph, that's not something you necessarily know. It did come out in the FBI FOIA release that there were a few statements from cadets who did indicate that they'd been romantically involved with Richard.

28:06And that was something that, you know, they weren't willing to go on record with their names attached to it for for obvious reasons. So I think that we have to look at that and the repressive context it exists in. Right. This is not only just repressive, but violent context. Incredibly violent and repressive. Sure. Like the physical repercussions that could come to someone at West Point who was seen to be gay by the people around them. I can't even imagine what that would be like. But would that affect his decision to simply leave West Point? Very likely it could. Would that make him want to disappear?

28:49You know, leave everything he knows? Change his name? that that's a whole different question I think so when I think about the fact that Richard may have chosen to disappear whether or not he was gay is not the main factor for me I think it might have had to do with pressures at home that had something to do with his family that has something to do with perhaps not wanting to pursue the family business some other factors more of our discussion after a quick break. You're listening to Up and Vanish Weekly.

29:47It's time for WhatsApp. Message privately with everyone. Learn more at whatsapp.com. When it comes to what your family eats and drinks, you know your choices matter. You're the expert because you know what fits your life. And getting it right starts with good information. That's why America's beverage companies are sharing more information about our ingredients at goodtoknowfacts.org. No spin, no judgments, just the facts straight from the experts for more than 140 beverage ingredients. Visit goodtoknowfacts.org. Hey listeners, if you have a tip or theories about a case you want to share, or a case of interest you'd like to recommend to us, then we want to hear from you.

30:34Email us, cases at tenderfoot.tv, DM us on Instagram at UAV Weekly, or give us a call at 770-545-6411. Now, here's John with this week's critical missing case. On Saturday, April 5th, 2025, 49-year-old John Gans mysteriously went missing from the Thomasville, Missouri area. According to reports, John left an Airbnb in Springfield, Missouri, around 4.10 that Saturday afternoon. And his family later spoke with him on the phone around 9.12 p.m. that evening. He's not been seen or heard from since. Now, police later found his abandoned car, along with his keys, wallet and ID, a laptop, tablet, and a suitcase and carry-on bag.

31:24John is of Caucasian ethnicity. He has a height of 5 '10", and a weight of 190 pounds. He has brown hair and hazel eyes. Identifying marks include multiple tattoos, such as a dragon on the back of his leg and a woman on one of his arms. So, listeners, if you know any information about the disappearance of John Gans, you're asked to please reach out to Sheriff Eric King with the Oregon County Sheriff's Office at 417-778-6611. And you can reference case number 25-9641.

32:05All right, now back to our case.

32:14The FBI soon became deeply involved in the search, but it wasn't long until that, too, turned out to be a dead end. Years passed, and Richard's whereabouts remained a complete mystery, but the speculation continued. Then, four years after he disappeared, authorities finally caught a break, a possible sighting of Richard Cox. Ernest Shotwell, an old friend of Richard, spotted him at a bus station in D.C. He called out to him by name, and the man turned and answered, Yes, how are you? The two chatted for several minutes. Ernest stated that his old friend was acting strange. Jumpy, even. He didn't think too much about it until he later heard that Richard had been reported missing for years.

33:05Authorities considered Shotwell's encounter to be a genuine sighting. Then, in 1960, an undercover FBI source was on location at a bar in Melbourne, Florida. While there, he met a man who called himself R.C. Mansfield. Initially, the introduction didn't raise any red flags, but then the two got to drinking and talking. At one point, the man said, quote, quote, the U.S. Army and my mother think I'm dead. Then he claimed that his real name was Richard Cox. The FBI source tried to set up another meeting, but he never showed. So were these two sightings, years apart, merely a coincidence? Or had Richard Cox been in hiding this entire time?

33:55Or maybe there was a different explanation entirely, one that possibly involved a covert government program with national security implications.

34:09These alleged sightings that happened years after Richard went missing are really interesting to me. What are the chances of something like this happening? Not only once, but twice. So the first one, it was an old friend of his named Ernest Shotwell saw him at a bus station in 1952 and had an entire conversation with him. He said that he was acting a little bit weird, but that Richard answered to his name. But he didn't actually report this to the FBI until 1954 because he didn't know he was missing. And the FBI said this was a credible sighting and, you know, put it out there, reported it to everybody.

34:46So that feels to me like a pretty credible sighting. Not just saying I saw him, he looked like Richard, but they had a conversation. Would there be any reason for this man to lie? And again, you made the point, like, he didn't know he was still missing. So, like, he didn't, to me, it doesn't seem like there's a reason to lie. It seems like it would be a weird lie. And we could say, okay, but maybe he just ran off to start another life, right? It could be because he was feeling repressed, because of the reasons that we mentioned. It could be simply because he hated the military, you know, and he didn't want to get married and he wanted to have more freedom.

35:23But then we get to that 1960 sighting that you just mentioned with the FBI. And that sighting just feels a little more CIA espionage-y. Let's talk about that sighting. So in 1960, he's seen in the Shoe Bar Tavern in Melbourne, Florida. Again, this is super far from West Point. Right. Allegedly, he's on an undercover assignment and an FBI source begins drinking with a contact. And this contact is accompanied by a woman and a man named R.C. Mansfield. Do you want to take it from there and kind of explain this R.C. Mansfield? So, and actually, this is fascinating. I ran into this like 1950s Life magazine article when I was researching this about how people choose pseudonyms.

36:14And they say that people will often stick with their real first name. People are just really attached to them and they'll pick a last name. And if the last name is not their middle name, they're going to choose either the town they're from or a street they lived on. It's making me think of D.B. Cooper. I know immediately. And then I started to be like, I'm going to do better than this when I go undercover and, you know, leave behind my husband, child and mortgage, you know. But, you know, R.C. Mansfield, Mansfield, of course, is the town that Richard Cox is from, Mansfield, Ohio. And so that was what was so fascinating about this.

36:52But the FBI source didn't pick up on it immediately because why would you immediately think of Mansfield, Ohio? But luckily, our friend, R.C. Mansfield, got drunk and explained it to him and let him know that he was indeed Richard Cox and that his mother and the army were looking for him. Which makes me think he had to be pretty deep in his cups there to explain that. And so the FBI source is like noted, goes back, shares the information, sets up another meeting, but R.C. Mansfield never shows up. And it's really fascinating to me that rather than following up on this lead, the FBI just kind of pulls back and doesn't further explore it.

37:36Right. So the FBI actually was allegedly 24 hours of finding Richard and then they were called off. So that to me makes me feel like there was someone higher up calling the shots than the FBI. So let's talk about the CIA theory. That is the most prominent theory and I find the most plausible theory. So it is alleged that perhaps George was a CIA recruiter and he was recruiting Richard. What I find confusing is why. Why Richard? Do you have any thoughts on that? I don't unless there's just a lot about his time in Germany that Richard simply never shared, even with the people who were working with him there.

38:22Or if there's stuff that went on while he was at West Point that we simply do not know about. There are some people who thought that because of his ease in Germany, his contacts in Germany, his ability to speak Russian, that he would simply be able to move around easily. And that, you know, would have been helpful. That's the strongest theory I've seen. Yeah, I think what I'm a little, you know, it confuses me is at the time they were building the CIA, they were doing a lot of recruiting. So if Richard was recruited to the CIA, wouldn't there have been a bunch of other guys going missing also?

38:57Like, wouldn't you have a bunch of missing West Point cadets? Like, why is just one missing? That's the interesting thing. And I also go back to would the FBI have done such a thorough hunt for this man? Like, you mean, like, wouldn't they know from this, like, you don't need to be searching? And I don't know how much these two agencies communicate. So from what I vaguely know is that they actually really don't communicate. Like the CIA is clandestine and they operate rogue is my understanding from my partner, who is actually a former army ranger who was going to go into the CIA. This is really interesting to me.

39:41From what I understand is they it's they do what they do. So the FBI would not need to be informed of something like this. Like so, OK, we see this with witness protection, right? Police will be looking for a missing person. And then you hear these theories like, oh, they were put into Wipro because they saw this thing. Well, police don't know that. Police don't need to know that. So my assumption and my understanding is it's similar. They don't need to know. In fact, it would be more secure for the FBI to not know that. But again, if it's so secretive to recruit to the CIA, they're obviously recruiting other people.

40:19They're not other missing cadets. Why just Richard? The only thing I could come up with, and this is just on the fly, is that they needed him for something specific based on someone he knew. That would be it, you know? And then they needed him to do something specific. And we're not talking necessarily high-level operative here, right? Because a lot of times we see them referred to like an FBI source, you know, a CIA source. And this is not someone who's out there doing what we consider to be like espionage. But just stuff. gathering information, living out in the world, doing things. So I do wonder if there was just something he learned when he was out there.

41:01We do know that they really looked into his background in Germany and found out he was not involved in the black market there because there was a thriving black market. What he mostly did was he played basketball, army basketball, and he did a lot of sightseeing. Those were the two major things he did in Germany. and that he was really interested in the rise of communism in Russia. That was something he was keeping up with and writing to a friend about, actually, you know. That was what was going on. But did he encounter someone during his time there? Did he work for a particular officer when he was the clerk?

41:34That, you know, may have created some connections they found valuable. So that's really, you know, the closest I can come up with. But would that then lead someone to maintain that secret identity for the rest of their lives? and never contact their family again. Well, it's funny because any one of us could be a CIA operative sitting around here because it's so secretive. I know. That's kind of the scary thing to me when I've talked with my partner about like, what would you have done in the sea? Like just finding out all these things about how the secret organization operates, keyword again is secrets.

42:07We really don't know what they do. I find it interesting, too, that allegedly the FBI had been within 24 hours of finding him, but they were abruptly removed from the case, suggesting that a higher up was pulling the strings. And the only higher up from the FBI would be CIA. And I think the other really interesting thing is, too, is that this R.C. Mansfield, he mentioned Cuba and Castro, and this was right before the Bay of Pigs invasion. So he, you know, this is interesting pointing kind of to the CIA too, because at the time, the CIA was trying to push out Fidel Castro from power in Cuba. And so the Bay of Pigs invasion was about to happen in 1961.

42:56And when the FBI met with this R.C. Mansfield, he knew information about this before it happened, which, again, just makes me think that there was this CIA connection. I mean, he knew this information before it was happening. So when we look at the idea that maybe Richard was just trying to escape for whatever reason, right? And we know there's kind of several reasons on the table. People have looked at this man named Dion Frisbee, and he first came to the attention of the public because of a citizen sleuth who was working with the Miami Herald, who then brought it to the attention of the police who then investigated it.

43:37And they found that a man named Dion Frisbee, who had actually been stationed in Kentucky briefly with Richard, had actually come up on murder charges. He'd killed an elderly woman on a cruise ship. And this is how this all kind of came to light. And it turned out that he'd been living in New York City around the same time that Richard disappeared. And his major business there was black market fake IDs. And so the theory developed that perhaps he was George because he fit one of the physical descriptions and it was the taller physical description. And people then said, what if he was George and he made Richard a fake ID and helped him get out?

44:19My issue with this, although it's a very popular theory, is there are a few too many what ifs in that sentence for me. What if they reconnected? What if they did this? What if they did that? Right. And what if all of these things came together and he gave him a fake ID and helped him get out? But what if he never saw him again? What if he didn't remember Dion Frisbee? You know, what if their paths never crossed? So that's kind of that angle for who George might be, because I think that people headed in that way because they could find absolutely no George in the past of Richard Cox they could fit.

44:58They looked into every single George he'd ever known. They actually almost arrested one George. And this is a George who knew a woman named Alice, you know, because he shouted a name that sounded like Alice down the stairs. They found out that poor guy had been at a dance on the night in question. They had to let him go. So to me, the whole Dion Frisbee angle, while interesting, is ultimately kind of grasping at straws. More on this case after a quick break. It's Hulu-ween on Disney+. Watch frightful family favorites like Hocus Pocus and Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas on Disney+. I am the Pumpkin King!

45:38Then take the terror to ten with a thrilling new remake of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Scream, and more with Hulu-ween on Disney+. All these and more screaming this Halloween season with Hulu on Disney+. Bundle subscription required. 18+. Select Hulu content via Disney+. Additional content on Hulu app. Terms apply. Visit Disneyplus.com slash Hulu for details. This episode is brought to you by Rakuten. If you're shopping while working, eating, or even listening to this podcast, then you know and love the thrill of a deal. But are you getting the deal and cash back? Rakuten shoppers do. They get the brands they love, savings, and cash back.

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46:51Justin Alexander was a survival expert, a full-time vagabond, and the kind of man who could disappear if he wanted to. But in 2016, after venturing into India's remote and unforgiving Parvuti Valley, he didn't come back. Justin left behind whispers, half-truths, and a cryptic, haunting message. If I'm not back by mid-September, don't look for me. The podcast takes you on a gripping journey into the unknown and a search through treacherous landscapes. And one thing becomes clear. In the wild, the line between lost and gone can be razor thin. Listen to Status Untraced wherever you get your podcasts or binge ad-free exclusively on Tenderfoot Plus.

47:31And now, back to the show. One of the people who has found out a lot about this case is a retired history teacher named Marshall Jacobs. He decided to pursue this as a research project, and Jacobs probably got farther than a lot of people have gotten in his research. Can you tell me a little bit about what Jacobs found or what Jacobs believes? Yeah, so Jacobs was a writer who I think in his retirement got really obsessed with this case and just sort of doggedly followed it. He's not the only one, but he seems to have gotten the furthest, as far as we know, in terms of his research. His research can be seen as somewhat controversial in that the family of Richard Cox disputes almost all of his claims.

48:23But I think it comes down to what assumptions he makes about Richard's life and their essential point, which is they simply do not believe that Richard would have gone out of contact for the rest of his life. and Jacobs very strongly believes that not only did Richard join the CIA, but that Richard lived out his life not only overseas, but came back here and actually died in America under assumed identity without ever making contact with anyone he knew ever again. So I think that's something that's been kind of difficult for them to deal with if that was indeed the case. so knowing all of this laura and you've looked into this for a bit and i said to you that i believe he went into the cia i think that's the most plausible what do you think happened i am like let's say 60 40 okay so i'm like 60 cia 40 simply started a new life i don't have quite enough to say it was the CIA.

49:29I know people saw him, right? But you can see someone without them having joined the CIA, right? They can be out and about in the world. I feel like if people had seen him overseas, that would push me 100 % into the CIA camp because he knew so many people who'd been in the military and even people who'd been in intelligence, you know, who they could have seen him overseas pretty easily. I also wonder if he was indeed in the CIA, if he would have even acknowledged people who knew him or if he would have blown his cover. But then also, maybe I'm giving him too much credit, you know, so I don't know.

50:13But I do think we can 100 % rule out foul play. Yeah, you're buying the sightings. You believe he was actually seen alive. I do. I think they are credible sightings, particularly that shot wall sighting is credible to me. Yeah, I guess I struggle with running away to start a new life. I guess. Why? Again, I just I just think you could have left West Point. Like, why? I don't have a good answer for that, except that, you know, when you're 21, you don't have a full frontal cortex. I don't know. Well, that's always my counter to this person ran off is it's very difficult to stay hidden. It's very, very difficult, not just because people will cite you, but for yourself, for your want to connect with people that you once knew, to connect with family.

51:09I mean, you really have to think he went the rest of his life, 50 years, never reaching out to family members just because he wanted to start a new life. It's not plausible for me. Often, often. I would say in this situation, to me, it doesn't seem plausible either. Yeah. And to your point, you're working on me here. Even in the 1950s, I was reading some stats that over 95 % of people who went missing were eventually found where foul play hadn't been committed. And I think without some help, it would be quite difficult. Now, certainly people can start a new life. It was easier to get that paperwork in the 50s.

51:53But as an adult, it's more difficult still. And like you said, he could simply have waited out the year. He could have not gone back to West Point. Did he need to do all the pomp and circumstance to disappear? Where would he be getting the money? Of course, he could have had money put away. But we know, based on what we've learned in this episode, that they couldn't find a single bank account tied to him. So without some sort of outside source of money, and then who would be providing that? And he left all of his money. Yeah. He left$1 ,000. Yeah. Which is a lot. But it's a lot of money. And so he'd have to have someone giving him money.

52:28And who would that be? Okay, I'll go 80-20. I'll go 80-C-I-A, 20-start-a-new-life. Laura, thank you so much for talking with me about this case. If people want to know more about you or the work you do, where can they find you? So, of course, they can always listen to my podcast, The Fall Line, or One Strange Thing. I'm also a writer. My book, Lay Them to Rest, was released last year. I have a website, lauranorton.com. You can learn more about that in my work on unidentified persons cases. John and Jane Doe's.

53:04I'm sure at this point y 'all can understand why this case drives me insane. There's a handful of really strong theories about Richard's disappearance, and each one has some level of credibility to it. And it's easy to go back and forth the deeper you dig. In March 1950, Lieutenant Colonel Edwin Howell, the West Point Provost Marshal, told the Des Moines Register, I am convinced this is foul play. I'm sure we will not find this man alive. In July 1951, Miss Rupert Cox told the Daily News, Dick was a fine boy who wouldn't worry us if he was thinking straight. Something must have snapped in his mind.

53:46there must have been some problem he couldn't work out by himself, so he took this way. Like I said earlier, it's extremely difficult to disappear yourself and start a new life completely disconnected from everything he once knew. And for someone like Richard, that seems impossible to do with a multi-continent and multi-agency search underway. unless he was somehow helped by someone. We're now 75 years past Richard's disappearance, and it's very likely we will never know what happened to him. I think this case is a good reminder that we may not always understand what other people are going through or why they do certain things.

54:33It's also a reminder that sometimes we simply can't explain things.

54:50Y 'all, thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of Up and Vanish Weekly. Be sure to tune in next week as we dig into another new case. Until next time.

55:06Up and Vanish Weekly is a production of Tenderfoot TV in association with Odyssey. Your hosts are Maggie Freeling and myself, Payne Lindsey. The show is written by Maggie Freeling, myself, and John Street. Executive producers are Donald Albright and myself. Lead producer is John Street. Additional production by Meredith Stedman and Mike Rooney. Research for the series by Jamie Albright, Silesia Stanton, and Carolyn Talmage. Edit and mix by Dylan Harrington and Sean Nerney. Supervising producer is Tracy Kaplan. Artwork by Byron McCoy Original music by Makeup and Vanity Set Special thanks to Oren Rosenbaum and the team at UTA Beck Media and Marketing and the Nord Group For more podcasts like Up and Vanish Weekly search Tenderfoot TV on your favorite podcast app or visit us at tenderfoot.tv Thanks for listening

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