I wonder whatever happened to Richard Hill.

As far as I know, it’s been about 35 years since anybody in the area has heard from him. His son, in his late 40s, thinks his father abandoned him. I kind of doubt that he’s still alive.

When Richard disappeared, there were no newspaper articles about it. No APB was broadcast. To the best of my knowledge, no major effort was made to find him.

Richard was a lost soul. Once at a fire scene many years ago, a fire which I was covering, Richard insisted that he saw a spaceship land right before the fire; a fire which destroyed several buildings. He was serious in believing that someone from that spaceship started the blaze.

He was still living with his parents when he disappeared. So was his son, who like his father, has limited social attributes. Richard’s parents, who are both long deceased, were more parenting to his son than he was.

But the son, who lives in Lansford, harbors bitterness about the disappearance of his dad. He obviously cared a lot about his father at one time. Now, he feels his father left when he needed him most. He feels sad that his father didn’t stick around.

What happened to Richard?

The last I heard, and what relatives I talked to can relate, was that he went to work for the carnival which set up rides at the Carbon County Fair in Lehighton. The fair in Lehighton ended in 1992 and his disappearance was well before that time.

Some say he opted to travel with the carnival. That’s the last anybody heard from him.

Did he manage to find residency someplace else during the travels of the carnival? Did he hook onto another job?

You had to know Richard to realize that it’s not unfathomable to think that maybe he didn’t make it; that maybe the rugged carnival life was too much for him.

Richard was raised in Lehighton. He was married but was divorced after his son was born.

I’m not sure how young the son was when Richard vanished. All I know for sure is that he left without a trace.

Very frankly he was somewhat of a burden on family members. He didn’t hold a job. He was somewhat off the wall. He was harmless but could be annoying, although he was always friendly.

Mostly he was vulnerable. I can’t imagine the carnival life being sympathetic or facilitative to him.

I have a hard time thinking of him surviving in general without some guidance, especially with a traveling carnival.

There are probably a lot of Richard Hills in this world; individuals who disappeared but aren’t missed by many. Even in today’s world with DNA, computers and databases, they aren’t located if nobody’s looking for them.

His son wouldn’t have the capabilities of doing a computer or social media search for him. I doubt if Richard would even be part of social media if he is still alive. I also doubt that a Web search would locate him. He was not a prominent person. He was not a typical classmate anyone would try to locate.

He was Richard, a loner who had fantasy thoughts.

I wonder what happened to him?