Still Missing: Rethinking the D.B. Cooper Case and Other Mysterious Unsolved Disappearances (27 page)

The young cashier paints a very different picture, though. She denies running off to Mexico with Lepsy. When interviewed, she claims she was away at Michigan State University when Dick Disappeared. She found out about the incident from her father, and was shocked to hear of it. She describes Dick as a “Nice man, who always towed the company line. “

She related a story of when a few of the store workers had requested the day after their graduation “off” so they could drink a few beers and celebrate their accomplishment. Dick refused their request, explaining that each employee has a duty to their job and the company they work for. The newly graduated did show up for work that day, although a couple of them weren’t in the best of shape.

The young cashier also describes Dick as trustworthy, and someone you could go to with a problem, someone you could talk to. Dick was seen as a role model by the younger workers.

When asked about Dick’s friend, Jay, she recalls many called him “George,” a nickname given to him by Dick, because Jay reminded him of a cartoon character, “George of the Jungle.” She recalled serving Dick, Jackie, Jay, and Jay’s wife drinks, when the two couples were out having cocktails together at the Chief Shoppenagon’s Motor Hotel. Like many industrious Grayling girls, the young cashier had multiple jobs to pay her way through college. It was there at Chief Shoppenagon’s that she heard the rumor of someone in Glen’s Markets meat department wholesaling the grocery store’s meat directly to Chief Shoppenagon’s Motor Hotel, and then pocketing the money. Eventually, this embezzlement would have been discovered by Lepsy, while auditing the stores books, and tracking sales and expenses. Dick usually did his book keeping on Saturdays, after the store closed.

When asked her feelings upon hearing of Lepsy’s disappearance, she said “Shocked, very shocked. I was away at school when my father told me. I couldn’t believe it.”

The bright young pretty cashier eventually moved away from Grayling and raised her family downstate and enjoys a successful career.

“One thing about a little town like Grayling” she says reflectively, “is everybody knows your business. And if they don’t know it, then they make something up.”

So True.

For a couple weeks following Dick’s disappearance, head cashier Maryann Hull received several mysterious phone calls on Dick’s office phone. When she answered, a male voice would ask for Dick, and then he would hang up as soon as Maryann told him Dick wasn’t there.

“I thought maybe he got himself mixed up in drugs or something” she explained.

Rumors had circulated through Grayling for years about drugs coming up from Mexico in produce trucks, and grocery stores being the hubs of illegal drug supplies. Did Dick uncover illegal activity in his store? Or was he involved? No one knows for sure.

When asked about the young cashier, Maryann responded: “She seemed like a real nice girl, pretty darn cute. She did her work at the store and all that. She was intelligent and very pleasant to talk to. I only saw them (Dick and the young cashier) together in the break room. They always sat together in the break room.”

“I thought she’d gone back to college” Maryann said, “I don’t know for sure. I really didn’t hear anything like that, you know, about, they thought maybe they had gotten together somewhere or something.”

When asked about Dick’s wife, Jackie, Maryann described her as “Happy go lucky and concerned with people. She was very nice.”

When asked of her opinion of Dick’s friend Jay, Maryann stated “I always felt he had something to do with Dick disappearing. There’s just something about the guy I just didn’t care for. I didn’t know if he got Dick involved with drugs. To me it looked like Dick had changed somewhat after Jay came to the store, and they were out and about themselves, the two of them.”

When asked to describe her former boss, Maryann said “He was a nice looking man. I thought he was very nice. He was always pleasant with me and the customers and everything. I never ever expected something like that, that he’d do that. I thought he was the kind that if he did take the money, he probably would wait for the seven years and look back and laugh at them (the Catts). But needless to say, he never showed up.”

Over the years since Dick’s disappearance, C. Glen Catt (Young Glen) and his father, Glen A. Catt had discussed on more than one occasion how they thought Dick would show up after the statute of limitations expired and hand them a check for $2000. “That’s just the kind of guy that Dick was.” To this day Mr. Catt is surprised he never came back.

The Catt’s also discussed how they were actually grateful only $2000 disappeared from the store safe.

“He could have easily taken 10 times as much, but he only took what he needed.” Says Catt. “Dick could have easily held the deposits for a week, and took that. That would have been a substantial amount of money.”

When asked to describe Dick Lepsy, C. Glen Catt, a very successful and respected business leader in Northern Michigan, said “Dick was a fun guy to be around. He was well thought out and always knew what he was going to do next. He was very bright. He wasn’t what I would call an educated individual, but he was very intelligent, if you know what I mean.”

The well-spoken Mr. Catt also added “If Dick was in Grayling right now; I’d drive down and see him. Not because I’m mad about the money or anything, but because I thought he was a really neat guy. I would love to talk to him.”

Time passes and memories fade. Retired police officer Larry Yoder remembers inspecting the Lepsy’s basement and crawlspace looking for clues in the weeks following Dick’s disappearance. He was chosen because he was the smallest on the force at that time and could fit into tight spaces the easiest. Nothing was found. He vaguely recalls a female companion supposedly leaving with Dick, but she was located shortly thereafter and had not disappeared with him. Yoder believes he is the last living member of the Grayling Police Department from that era, but does admit his memory is not the best at times.

The Grayling Police Department investigated Lepsy’s disappearance in conjunction with the Michigan State Police, though his disappearance was never actually considered a missing persons case, since Dick was thought to have left voluntarily. Both agencies were investigating the missing money from Glen’s Market, though it must be noted that no charges were ever filed in the case. Eventually, through the passing decades, both the Michigan State Police and the Grayling Police Department purged all of their records concerning the Lepsy investigation, leaving only the fading 45 year old memories of those involved.

When Jackie Lepsy approached the Grayling Police chief to file a missing persons report a few days after Dick’s disappearance, the police chief refused and responded, “Dick’s a big boy, he’ll come home when he’s good and ready.”

Dick Lepsy’s family moved on without him. Jackie struggled to raise their children without the man who promised to be with her in sickness or in health, but with the help of her parents and Dick’s parents, managed to bring the Lepsy children up properly. Dick missed out on watching his children grow. Sadly, the four children learned how to adapt to life without their father.

Oldest son Richard Lepsy served his country in the U.S. Navy, and later in life became involved with planting churches. He enjoys hunting, fishing and is quite an accomplished outdoorsman. He lives in Grayling with his 2nd wife, and they have 5 children together, 3 sons and 2 daughters.

Lisa Lepsy left Grayling for Tennessee for about 20 years, and then returned to Michigan. She works in the graphic arts and website design industry. She is active in her local church and volunteers her services there regularly. She now resides in a quiet neighborhood near the shores of Lake Huron in Lexington, Michigan with her partner Karen, and daughter Ayrn.

David Lepsy followed in his mother’s footsteps and became a Registered Nurse. He even worked at the same hospital, Mercy Hospital in Grayling, as his mother. David lives in Grayling and he and his wife have 4 daughters.

Christopher, the youngest of the Lepsy Children, is also known lovingly by his siblings as “The Great Dr. Lepsy.” He graduated from his parents’ alma mater, Grayling High School, with honors. He then went on to graduate cum laude from Michigan State University and received a master’s degree from the University of Michigan, as well as a Ph.D. in pharmacokinetics.

Dr. Lepsy is a senior principal scientist in the Pharmacokinetics, Dynamics and Metabolism Department of Pfizer Global Research and Development, and he continues research on the discovery and development of new medicines, as well as on the bimolecular processes in the kidney that are key determinants of how drugs are eliminated from the body.

Dr. Lepsy and his wife live in New Hampshire and have five children.

Dick missed out on the opportunity to watch his children grow up and flourish. He also missed out on the opportunity to meet his 13 wonderful grandchildren and their spouses and the 20 great-grandchildren that were the eventual result of his union to Jackie. The Lepsy grandchildren didn’t fall far from the roots of their tree. Bright, athletic, with a touch of rebelliousness seems to be the norm among them. They did however miss out on the opportunity to have a relationship with a very interesting and loving man.

So what happened to Dick Lepsy? Did he run off to Mexico with a woman from work, a woman he fell in love with, taking $2000 of Glen’s Market’s money with him? Or . . . was the store robbed, Dick murdered, and the car left in the airport parking lot to cover up the crime? Did Dick give into his depression and kill himself? Or is he lying on a beach in Mexico, sipping on a drink, working on his tan?

Could it be that the real crime here, isn’t just a man being murdered for a measly couple thousand dollars of cash, though $2000 could buy you a new car in 1969? Could the true crime here be that this wonderful father, loving husband, cherished friend and faithful boss/co-worker and employee was robbed of his life, his legacy and his reputation? Dick Lepsy was an all-American guy who worked hard, treated others with dignity and respect, and loved, and was loved, by many. Now, only about a dozen individuals even remember he was ever alive.

Is Dick Lepsy the victim here, or is his close friend Jay, whose reputation was tarnished by this incident? There are still people who think Jay is involved in Dick’s disappearance. These are just suspicions, just opinions. These suspicions aren’t based on any facts, just feelings. Is the true injustice here that an innocent man’s legacy is besmirched because his good friend ran off to start a new life? What if Dick Lepsy was murdered by someone else and Jay had no involvement or knowledge of it? Questions, always more questions.

A Coincidence is defined as something that happens by chance in a surprising or remarkable way, or the condition of being identical. The similarities between Dick Lepsy and the D.B. Cooper suspect are merely coincidental. There is nothing tethering the two individuals or their stories, except a few strange similarities and the strong physical resemblance the two share.

The Charlie Project, Doe Network and NamUs missing person websites each describe Dick Lepsy as being between 5’10” and 6’2” in height and weighing between 180 lbs. and 190 lbs. when he disappeared. The information on these websites was provided by Dick’s daughter Lisa Lepsy in 2011. Dick Lepsy was 33 years old when he vanished, which would make him 35 years old during the Cooper hijacking.

According to Agent Larry Carr, the FBI description of the Cooper suspect is based upon the description given by stewardesses Flo Schaffner and Tina Mucklow, who were 23 and 22 years old respectively, at the time of the hijacking.

“The two flight attendants who spent the most time with him on the plane were interviewed separately the same night in separate cities and gave nearly identical descriptions,” says Carr. “They both said he was about 5’10” to 6’, 170 to 180 pounds, with brown eyes. People on the ground who came into contact with him also gave very similar descriptions.

Both stewardesses also said the Cooper suspect had no discernible accent, leading the FBI to believe that the Cooper suspect was from the mid-west. Dick Lepsy grew up in Chicago and moved to Northern Michigan as a teenager.

Both Lepsy and Cooper were smokers. Lepsy was reported to be a” pack a day” smoker, and the Cooper suspect was known to have smoked eight Raleigh brand filter tip cigarettes while onboard the 727 during the hijacking. Lepsy’s favorite brand of cigarettes at the time of his disappearance was Chesterfield Kings.

When the FBI searched the hijacked 727 after it landed at Reno, they found a number of items the Cooper suspect left behind. They found his empty drink glass and eight Raleigh cigarette butts. They also found the front parachute pack that Cooper opened to scavenger parts to use to secure the bag of ransom money to his body for the jump. Fingerprints that might possibly belong to the hijacker were also found in various places in the rear of the aircraft, and on the drink glass. There was also a curious piece of clothing left behind: a skinny black clip-on tie. The black tie also had a tie clip.

Dick Lepsy often wore skinny ties nearly identical to the hijacker’s tie. Neck wear was mandatory at Dick Lepsy’s employer, Glenn’s Market. Many employees, according to owner Glen A. Catt, wore skinny black clip-on ties indistinguishable to the one found on the hijacked 727. It should be noted that Dick Lepsy was proficient in tying his own tie knots.

Numerology is a belief in the divine, mystical or other special relationship between a number and some coinciding events. Forms of the number 2 repeatedly connect the two cases. There were 2 years between the two incidents. Dick Lepsy was alleged to have taken $2000 from his company’s safe. The Cooper suspect demanded, and received $200,000 in ransom. The ransom consisted of $200,000, all in $20 bills. The Cooper suspect paid for his ticket with a $20 bill. He also paid for his drink, a bourbon and 7up, with a $20 bill.

One more interesting tidbit: When Dick Lepsy’s disappeared, his car was found in the parking lot of the Traverse City Cherry Capitol Airport. What is the address of the Traverse City Cherry Capitol Airport’s passenger terminal? 727 Fly Don’t Drive, Traverse City, Michigan.