He Vanished With His Geological Truck Containing $30,000 Worth Of Radioactive Material, And His Boss Thinks He Was Kidnapped
By 1976, Paul R. Hibbard was 25 years old, living in Mead, Colorado, and engaged to be married. He was also a geologist who’d worked for Berge Exploration, an Adams County-based company, for two years.
Yet, during what was supposed to be a typical workday on May 28, 1976, Paul mysteriously disappeared, along with his geological truck containing $30,000 worth of radioactive material.
Just one week before he vanished, Paul had received a strange phone call, which might’ve been linked to his disappearance.
The caller claimed to work for his employer, Berge Exploration, and said Paul needed to bring his specialized van to Gillette, Wyoming.
The vehicle was used to log or locate uranium, oil shale, coal, and additional mineral deposits. But Paul didn’t think the caller was telling the truth.
He wound up speaking to his boss, who confirmed that no one from Berge Exploration needed the van in the Gillette area.
Still, one week later, Paul visited the Gillette area anyway to perform his own routine geological work. While there, both he and his truck carrying $30,000 in radioactive material went missing.
Paul’s employer suspected he may have been targeted and kidnapped due to his specialized geology knowledge and sophisticated equipment.
His boss thought Paul might’ve been forced to work for an illegal geological exploration company as a “logging operative.”
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
Two months after Paul vanished, nearly $10,000 worth of his geological equipment was located by the police in July 1976. The equipment was found in the possession of Joseph O. Dowdy, a resident of Upton, Wyoming.
Joseph reportedly worked for a company that logged and drilled for water wells, oil, and gas. He attempted to sell Paul’s equipment to his boss, which was how he got caught.
Investigators arrested Joseph and charged him with grand larceny. Then, he was questioned regarding Paul’s disappearance, yet the potential lead proved to be a dead end. Joseph didn’t provide any clues as to where Paul might be.
He pled guilty to grand larceny in January 1977 and received a sentence of one to three years behind bars.
However, while Joseph’s grand larceny case was still pending, an anonymous caller contacted the police with a tip. This led authorities to locate Paul’s truck, which was abandoned three miles away from Upton, Wyoming.
The vehicle had been parked near multiple water pits in a wooded area, and inside, investigators uncovered a large amount of human blood soaked into the seats, on the floor mats, and on the doors.
Back then, DNA testing was unavailable, so the police simply typed the blood. This wasn’t very helpful, either, as they didn’t know Paul’s blood type.
The circumstances of Paul’s case have pushed authorities to suspect foul play, but what exactly happened remains a mystery over 48 years later.
Paul was five foot ten, weighed 160 pounds, and had black hair and brown eyes at the time he went missing. Anyone with information regarding his case is urged to contact the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office at (307) 682-7271.
More About:True Crime