Real Name: Tom Dixon
Aliases: No Known Aliases
Wanted For: Auto Theft, Questioning in Murder
Missing Since: October 1974

CaseEdit

Details: In 1991, a Missouri bus driver named Tyrone Rollins discovered the remains of Gary Simmons in a cave near the bus garage. Police re-opened the investigation and discovered that Gary, who had vanished in October of 1974, may have been murdered by a man named Tom Dixon. On the day before Gary vanished, he learned that Tom had a pure-bred horse to sell. The next day, Tom met Gary at Gary's office and the two soon left and Gary told his secretary that they will return shortly, but did not say where they were going. Fifteen minutes later, Gary called his secretary and told her to write a check to Tom for $30,000. Tom later

arrived and picked up the check, and he later met with Gary to get his signature, although nobody knows where that was. The last time Gary was ever seen alive was at a truck stop. A few hours later, Tom arrived at a salvage yard, driving Gary's Lincoln Continental car and asked if it could be flattened to avoid all traces of identification, but the salvage man suggested that Dixon put the car in the Missouri river. Dixon was later seen cashing Gary's check at a bank. The bank manager, of whom Gary was one of his best customers, approved the check and also suggested if Dixon was interested in opening an account with him as well. Tom Dixon declined, claiming he was in debt and needed the cash to retire said debts. The next day, Tom Dixon was dropped off by a friend at a truck stop and was never seen again. Six months later, Gary's car was pulled from the river. Police had no idea what happened to the two men until Gary's skeletal remains were located in 1991. Authorities now believe that Dixon murdered Gary over a bogus horse deal.

Extra Notes: The case was featured as a part of the April 8, 1992 episode.
Results: Wanted. As Unsolved Mysteries was still filming this story, a new witness named Roy Hylton came forward. Roy knew both Gary and Tom, and claims that the horse deal was not bogus and that Gary had actually shown him the horse. Roy believes that Gary may have been killed over black market gasoline, because Gary's gas station business had been failing, as many in the oil and gas station business had been hit hard by the 1973 oil crisis. The case is now considered even more complicated than before. Police believe that Tom Dixon may know who killed Gary Simmons, or may actually be the killer, but police only have enough evidence to have an arrest warrant for auto theft, in the stealing and subsequent destruction of Gary's vehicle. Dixon is likely now in his 80s and authorities suggest that he is very likely to be dead.
Links: None

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