WEBVTT 1 00:00:26.679 --> 00:00:30.719 Welcome back to the Pathway Chili. I'm Robin, I'm Jules. 2 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:34.880 And I'm Ashley. Let's dive right into this week's case. 3 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:42.200 October fifteenth, nineteen seventy four, Overland Park, Kansas, thirty two 4 00:00:42.280 --> 00:00:45.479 year old businessman Gary Simmons leaves his office in order 5 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:47.960 to purchase a horse from a man named Tom Dixon. 6 00:00:48.759 --> 00:00:52.399 Later that day, Gary provides authorization for Dixon to cash 7 00:00:52.439 --> 00:00:55.439 a thirty thousand dollars check, but he has never heard 8 00:00:55.439 --> 00:00:59.439 from again, and Dixon also disappears after collecting the money. 9 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:04.159 Seventeen years later, gary skeletal remains are discovered inside a 10 00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:06.719 cave and it turns out that he's been shot in 11 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:09.879 the head. Will Dixon is believed to be involved in 12 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:13.879 Gary's murder, He's never tracked down, and investigator suspect that 13 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:17.200 the whole thing was orchestrated by an unknown third party. 14 00:01:17.959 --> 00:01:21.599 After that, the path went Chiley. So today we're going 15 00:01:21.640 --> 00:01:23.920 to be covering a very bizarre case which was once 16 00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:27.480 featured on Unsolved Mysteries, the nineteen seventy four murder of 17 00:01:27.519 --> 00:01:31.799 Gary Simmons. This story is essentially two mysteries rolled into one, 18 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:34.680 as not only does it involve an unsolved murder, but 19 00:01:34.760 --> 00:01:37.760 an individual who is suspected of being responsible has not 20 00:01:37.799 --> 00:01:41.359 been seen in over fifty years. Gary Simmons was a 21 00:01:41.359 --> 00:01:44.599 prominent businessman who lived in Orbitland Park, Kansas, before he 22 00:01:44.680 --> 00:01:47.519 vanished without a trace, and his skeletal remains would be 23 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:51.239 discovered across the state line seventeen years later inside a 24 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:55.159 cave in Independence, Missouri. On the day of his disappearance, 25 00:01:55.319 --> 00:01:57.599 Gary had met up with a man named Tom Dixon 26 00:01:57.640 --> 00:02:00.480 to supposedly purchase a horse from him, but it's been 27 00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:02.920 theorized that the whole thing was a setup in order 28 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:05.680 to scan Gary out of thirty thousand dollars before he 29 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:09.199 was murdered. But what really complicates this case is that 30 00:02:09.240 --> 00:02:12.199 Tom Dixon also vanished without a trace, and there have 31 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:14.680 been no confirmed sightings of him at all since nineteen 32 00:02:14.759 --> 00:02:18.639 seventy four. While the most logical explanation is that Dixon 33 00:02:18.680 --> 00:02:21.360 took the thirty thousand dollars and disappeared to start a 34 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:24.319 new life, this story's a lot more complicated than it 35 00:02:24.360 --> 00:02:27.120 looks on the surface. There's a lot about this case 36 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:29.800 which does not make any sense, and one theory is 37 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:32.280 that Dixon was just a cog and an elaborate murder 38 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:36.439 plot orchestrated by an unknown third party who subsequently got 39 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:40.520 rid of Dixon after he outlived his usefulness. Indeed, the 40 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:44.039 original Unsolved Mystery segment left out some key details about 41 00:02:44.039 --> 00:02:47.479 this story, some of which provide more confusion. So we're 42 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:52.400 going to perform our own in depth exploration on today's episode. 43 00:02:52.520 --> 00:02:55.560 This is fascinating. I used to live actually right outside 44 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:00.000 of Overland Park, Kansas. It's not too far from Kansas City, Kansas, 45 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:02.919 in Kansas City, Missouri, so I know over in part 46 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:06.759 quite well. And when you look at this case, you 47 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:10.639 have thirty thousand dollars that's being exchanged, and that doesn't 48 00:03:10.680 --> 00:03:12.759 sound like a lot, but this was nineteen seventy four, 49 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:16.120 so today that would be somewhere between like one hundred 50 00:03:16.120 --> 00:03:19.639 and ninety and two hundred thousand dollars. So that's a 51 00:03:19.719 --> 00:03:24.120 significant amount of money. Is it enough money to completely 52 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:27.759 vanish and disappear and create a new life in nineteen 53 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:30.919 seventy four, I mean maybe. So you got to keep 54 00:03:30.919 --> 00:03:33.800 in mind, could Dixon have actually fled and gone somewhere 55 00:03:33.800 --> 00:03:37.800 like Mexico or even over to Europe because you didn't 56 00:03:37.800 --> 00:03:40.840 have to really leave a trail back in nineteen seventy 57 00:03:40.840 --> 00:03:43.680 four to travel or to get to other places. So 58 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:47.840 with two hundred thousand dollars in his pocket, basically you 59 00:03:47.879 --> 00:03:50.759 would think, hey, I mean, he really could have taken 60 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:54.039 off on his own. And there's also a second possibility, 61 00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:58.240 which investigators actually believe that maybe he was actually set 62 00:03:58.360 --> 00:04:02.960 up to do the execution and then himself got killed 63 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:03.840 as well. 64 00:04:04.039 --> 00:04:07.000 Yeah, you're absolutely correct that in today's money, thirty thousand 65 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:09.639 dollars is a lot like between one hundred and ninety 66 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:12.319 and two hundred thousand dollars, And that adds an extra 67 00:04:12.360 --> 00:04:15.039 element of confusion because, as we're going to talk about, 68 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:17.199 the cover story is that Gary was going to use 69 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:20.480 that money to buy a horse. But his family would say, yeah, 70 00:04:20.519 --> 00:04:22.439 that's very out of the ordinary for him to spend 71 00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:24.480 that amount of money just to buy a horse. So 72 00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:27.040 some people have wondered if there's more to the story 73 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:30.000 and if he was planning to pay Dixon for other reasons. 74 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:33.040 Ashley, did you just know off the top of your 75 00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:34.920 head that it was about two hundred thousand or did 76 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:35.639 you look that up? 77 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:38.560 I looked it up. I'm smart, but I'm not that smart. 78 00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:41.560 I was like, damn that is so impressive. But you 79 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:43.360 looked it up quickly. I'm impressed by that. 80 00:04:44.279 --> 00:04:46.480 Yes, I wouldn't You said thirty thousand and seventy four. 81 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:48.160 I'm like, could that be enough for him to go 82 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:49.560 on the run? And then I looked it up. I'm like, 83 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:53.639 I mean two hundred thousand dollars to flee and start over. 84 00:04:54.439 --> 00:04:55.600 It could gets you pretty. 85 00:04:55.319 --> 00:04:57.079 Far, especially somewhere like Mexico. 86 00:04:58.120 --> 00:04:59.160 Yes, that's very true. 87 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:04.680 Our story begins in nineteen seventy four in Overland Park, Kansas, 88 00:05:05.079 --> 00:05:07.839 which is located in Johnson County right next to the 89 00:05:07.879 --> 00:05:10.800 Missouri state line and is one of the suburbs of 90 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:15.040 the Kansas City metropolitan area. Our central figure is thirty 91 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:18.360 two year old Gary Simmons, who lives with his wife, Nancy, 92 00:05:18.519 --> 00:05:20.839 and their son and daughter on a large ranch in 93 00:05:20.839 --> 00:05:24.720 a rural area just outside Overland Park. Gary is the 94 00:05:24.759 --> 00:05:28.759 president and owner of the Simmons Petroleum Corporation, which operates 95 00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:32.240 a chain of independent gas stations in Kansas City, and 96 00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:34.639 he has a reputation in the community for being a 97 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:39.480 hard working, self made man. Gary's biggest hobby is horse trading, 98 00:05:39.879 --> 00:05:42.199 as he owns and raises twenty three horses on his 99 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:45.160 ranch and is a member of numerous local horse clubs. 100 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:48.959 On the morning of October fifteenth, Gary went to his 101 00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:51.639 office in Overland Park and had a meeting with forty 102 00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:54.879 two year old man named Tom Dixon, who he'd spoken 103 00:05:54.920 --> 00:05:57.879 to on the phone the previous day. Dixon lived with 104 00:05:57.879 --> 00:06:00.639 his family in a rural home in the un incorporated 105 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:04.240 community of Stillwell and was known for working various jobs 106 00:06:04.279 --> 00:06:08.600 such as a painter, contractor, and carnival operator. He claimed 107 00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:10.480 that he was acting as an agent for a man 108 00:06:10.519 --> 00:06:13.040 who was selling a pure bread apple Lucia horse for 109 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:16.759 thirty thousand dollars and Gary was interested in purchasing it. 110 00:06:17.399 --> 00:06:20.959 At ten fifteen am, Gary told his secretary, Jody Miller, 111 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:23.120 that he would be back within an hour or so 112 00:06:23.639 --> 00:06:27.199 before he and Dixon left the office together. Gary never 113 00:06:27.240 --> 00:06:30.519 told Jody where he was going, but fifteen minutes after 114 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:33.680 he left, Jody received a phone call from him. Gary 115 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:36.319 instructed her to make out a thirty thousand dollars check 116 00:06:36.360 --> 00:06:39.240 to Tom Dixon, which he would be picking up shortly. 117 00:06:40.040 --> 00:06:42.639 Sure enough, Dixon returned to the office a half hour 118 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:45.839 later in order to receive the check and told Jody 119 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:47.879 that he would be meeting up with Gary again in 120 00:06:47.959 --> 00:06:49.439 order to get his signature on it. 121 00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:53.040 All right, question for you, do we know if there 122 00:06:53.319 --> 00:06:55.600 was already a signature on it? So if I leave 123 00:06:55.639 --> 00:06:58.680 a check for let's say rebel to pay somebody coming 124 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:02.839 to paint, right, I'll write out the person it's too, 125 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:04.959 or even leave that blank, and I'll always sign my 126 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:07.040 name and write who it's for in the memo line. 127 00:07:07.079 --> 00:07:10.480 So does Jody remember if it was actually signed and 128 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:12.800 if it would make sense for Dixon to need to 129 00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:13.759 meet up with Gary again. 130 00:07:14.439 --> 00:07:16.959 I don't. I'm guessing I thought it wasn't signed, because 131 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:20.279 otherwise Dixon never would have said that that I'm specifically 132 00:07:20.279 --> 00:07:22.759 meeting up with Gary again to get a signature on it. 133 00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:25.319 I mean, a lot of mysterious things would happen, but 134 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:28.000 there would be confirmation that for the next couple hours, 135 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:31.439 Gary was confirmed to be alive, So it doesn't seem 136 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:33.800 that far fetched he would send Dixon back to pick 137 00:07:33.879 --> 00:07:36.120 up the check that was unsigned, and then go back 138 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:39.040 to get him to sign it after the transaction is completed. 139 00:07:39.399 --> 00:07:42.079 I mean, obviously, if you just picked up this sign check, 140 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:44.879 then Dixon could very well just go cash it and 141 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:47.160 then not go up with meet up with Gary again 142 00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:49.839 to complete the transaction. So I think they were under 143 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:51.759 the assumption that they were going to meet up together 144 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:54.399 again and that once the transaction was completed, he would 145 00:07:54.399 --> 00:07:55.160 finally sign it. 146 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:59.040 Okay, so he's not basically leaving a check for him 147 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:02.199 to grab. He's actually making him go grab something so 148 00:08:02.279 --> 00:08:03.800 they can complete a transaction together. 149 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:05.040 That's what it seems like. 150 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:07.920 Okay, well that makes more sense. I was like, why 151 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:10.000 do we need to go get another signature? He left 152 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:12.720 a check for you, But okay. Another thing that's really 153 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:16.079 interesting here is that when you look at Dixon, Dixon 154 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:20.600 doesn't sound like he would be brokering a deal for 155 00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:24.360 a two hundred thousand dollars horse. He's somebody who does 156 00:08:24.439 --> 00:08:28.000 odd jobs and doesn't seem like somebody who fits the bill. 157 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:31.959 He's a carnival operator. So when you think about is 158 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:35.240 it true that he's actually brokering a deal, or you know, 159 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:38.000 is he somebody who's being used as, like you said, 160 00:08:38.039 --> 00:08:42.320 a cog in the wheel to get Gary executed. It 161 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:45.559 seems much more likely that he's that role, that he's 162 00:08:45.559 --> 00:08:47.960 been hired as somebody who's kind of a throwaway person 163 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:51.600 in the system and he's going to be used to 164 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:54.679 kill him because he's kind of this, like, I don't know, 165 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:58.840 just more disposable person. Right when you're talking about buying 166 00:08:58.840 --> 00:09:02.159 a two hundred thousand dollars horse and today's money, that's 167 00:09:02.200 --> 00:09:04.039 a big deal. You would think this was a very 168 00:09:04.360 --> 00:09:07.679 esteemed person. This is someone who's in the horse field 169 00:09:07.720 --> 00:09:11.720 and in you know, actually in that kind of lifestyle, 170 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:13.440 and he is anything but that. 171 00:09:13.720 --> 00:09:16.039 Do we remember the horse Syndicate. 172 00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:20.360 Oh yes, yeah, we talked about that on previous episodes, 173 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:23.879 about like this mafia organization that operated in Chicago in 174 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:27.120 the fifties and sixties and used horse racing as their 175 00:09:27.159 --> 00:09:30.000 cover for money laundering and murdered a lot of people. 176 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:33.960 The horses can go for millions upon millions of dollars, 177 00:09:34.039 --> 00:09:37.799 it's insane. So that whole competition and the way people 178 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:41.799 will you know, kill horses for insurance and for revenge 179 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:45.039 and steal things from each other. It's a it's a mess. 180 00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:47.559 And don't we think it's a bit wild that if 181 00:09:47.720 --> 00:09:51.399 Dixon's plan was to secure this thirty thousand dollars from 182 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:54.360 Gary and then at the behest of somebody else to 183 00:09:54.440 --> 00:09:59.000 kill him, that there's this major paper trail. There's people 184 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:02.600 that have met d there's Jody, the assistant, and then 185 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:05.159 you also have checks. There's people at the banks who've 186 00:10:05.159 --> 00:10:08.679 seen him. Wouldn't it be better if your objective was 187 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:11.279 to run away with the money, to just leave with 188 00:10:11.320 --> 00:10:13.000 the money and not deliver on the horse. 189 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:16.440 Yes, absolutely, And you would also think that you would 190 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:18.799 have Gary bring you a check that you can go 191 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:22.000 deposit or something, or cash like, hey man, you know 192 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:24.200 my guy doesn't work in check You're gonna have to 193 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:27.159 bring cash to me. But you're right, they end up 194 00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:29.120 I'm assuming going to a bank. 195 00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:31.639 Yep. That's what we're going to talk about right now. 196 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:33.080 Wow. 197 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:36.159 So around the same time he phoned his secretary, Gary 198 00:10:36.200 --> 00:10:39.320 placed another call to J. Thomas Bircham, the president of 199 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:42.000 the Santa Fe Trail Bank in the suburb of Merriam. 200 00:10:42.759 --> 00:10:44.720 Gary was scheduled to have a meeting there at ten 201 00:10:44.919 --> 00:10:48.279 thirty with representative from the McKee Oil Company, who had 202 00:10:48.279 --> 00:10:51.960 made a business deal with the Simmons Petroleum Corporation. Gary 203 00:10:51.960 --> 00:10:54.559 would receive a payment of over one hundred thousand dollars 204 00:10:54.559 --> 00:10:56.600 for the deal, but he asked Bertram if they could 205 00:10:56.600 --> 00:10:59.879 postpone the meeting until one PM and the McKee represented 206 00:11:00.200 --> 00:11:04.440 agreed to this. Shortly before noon, Bertram received another phone 207 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:06.879 call from Gary, who informed him that a man named 208 00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:09.720 Tom Dixon would be arriving shortly with a thirty thousand 209 00:11:09.720 --> 00:11:12.639 dollars check he had received for the purchase of a horse. 210 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:15.600 Gary said he would not be present, but he wanted 211 00:11:15.639 --> 00:11:18.000 to grant his approval for Dixon to cash the check. 212 00:11:18.840 --> 00:11:21.639 Since Bertram was a personal friend who considered Gary to 213 00:11:21.639 --> 00:11:24.120 be one of the bank's top customers, he had no 214 00:11:24.200 --> 00:11:27.519 issues with this. Bertram would later say that he recognized 215 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:30.120 Gary's voice on the phone and did not detect anything 216 00:11:30.200 --> 00:11:33.720 unusual from him. It wasn't long before Dixon showed up 217 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:36.200 at the bank with a signed thirty thousand dollars check, 218 00:11:36.519 --> 00:11:40.279 and since Bertram had seen Gary's signature on several previous occasions, 219 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:44.000 he had no reason to believe it wasn't legitimate. Bertram 220 00:11:44.039 --> 00:11:46.279 asked Dixon if he would be interested in opening up 221 00:11:46.279 --> 00:11:49.240 an account with them, but Dixon declined, claiming that he 222 00:11:49.320 --> 00:11:52.159 needed the money to pay off some debts. Since the 223 00:11:52.200 --> 00:11:55.120 bank did not have the entire thirty thousand dollars in cash, 224 00:11:55.480 --> 00:11:58.720 Berchram gave Dixon five thousand dollars in one hundred dollars 225 00:11:58.759 --> 00:12:01.080 bills and the rest of the balance in the form 226 00:12:01.080 --> 00:12:04.679 of a cashier's check. Dixon subsequently took the check to 227 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:07.799 the Commercial National Bank of Kansas City and received the 228 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:10.960 remaining twenty five thousand dollars in one hundred dollars bills. 229 00:12:12.120 --> 00:12:14.639 So now this is two banks that he's actually gone 230 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:18.399 to and had to be physically present to get access 231 00:12:18.440 --> 00:12:21.399 to the complete thirty thousand dollars. So Jeles, you're right. 232 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:24.720 Not only is Jody the one who's interacted with him, 233 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:27.919 but now you have two bankers, one who really knows 234 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:31.639 Gary and another bank who's fulfilling the rest of the obligation. 235 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:35.600 But it's a lot of individuals putting eyes on Dixon 236 00:12:35.720 --> 00:12:38.759 if he was going to be this hit man for hire, And. 237 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:41.840 You're going to be pretty memorable when it's thirty thousand 238 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:44.320 dollars that you're getting like two hundred thousand dollars in 239 00:12:44.360 --> 00:12:46.639 today's money, everyone is going to remember you. 240 00:12:48.120 --> 00:12:49.799 Yeah, And that's why it makes sense to me that 241 00:12:50.120 --> 00:12:52.720 this whole deal could have been orchestrated by a third 242 00:12:52.759 --> 00:12:55.240 party and was having Dixon do all the leg work 243 00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:57.480 and be seen by all the people, so that if 244 00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:00.480 he was killed later on, this criminal mass mind who 245 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:03.120 orchestrated the whole thing could say, well, nobody's seen in 246 00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:06.000 my face, so there's no evidence that I'm involved. 247 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:11.039 At twelve forty five pm, Bircham's secretary received a phone 248 00:13:11.080 --> 00:13:13.480 call from Gary, who told her that he would be 249 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:15.799 a little late for his one pm meeting with the 250 00:13:15.879 --> 00:13:19.480 McKee oil representative. However, Gary did not show up for 251 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:22.159 the meeting at all and was never heard from again. 252 00:13:22.679 --> 00:13:25.120 He also did not return to his office, and when 253 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:28.559 he failed to come home by the following morning, his wife, Nancy, 254 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:32.720 contacted the Overland Park Police Department and reported Gary missing. 255 00:13:33.720 --> 00:13:36.360 At the time of his disappearance, Gary had been driving 256 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:40.159 his silver Linking Continental Mark four, but the vehicle could 257 00:13:40.200 --> 00:13:44.200 also not be found. While Gary's phone call to Birchram's 258 00:13:44.200 --> 00:13:47.200 secretary was the last time he was confirmed to be alive, 259 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:50.840 the last reported eyewitness sighting of Gary was from the 260 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:54.840 owner of a truck stop located ten miles from Gary's office. 261 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:57.720 The sighting occurred at eleven thirty am on the morning 262 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:01.120 of October fifteenth, just over an hour before his final 263 00:14:01.159 --> 00:14:04.240 phone call, and the truck stop owner claimed that Gary 264 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:07.120 was pacing back and forth between the counter and the window, 265 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:09.200 and he appeared to be waiting for someone. 266 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:13.279 Well, remember he had actually called and had postponed that 267 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:16.960 meeting till one o'clock, and then he ends up calling 268 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:20.679 the bank what around twelve thirty or a little bit afternoon, 269 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:23.159 to say, hey, this guy's coming in with a check. 270 00:14:23.399 --> 00:14:25.399 And we know for a fact that he called his 271 00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:28.519 secretary at twelve forty five, but he doesn't show up 272 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:31.559 for that one o'clock meeting. So really there's this fifteen 273 00:14:31.639 --> 00:14:35.840 minute window that something could have happened, and it's almost 274 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:38.559 as if he's delaying that meeting because he knows there's 275 00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:40.799 something else he needs to do before he sits down 276 00:14:40.840 --> 00:14:43.720 with those individuals. So if one of the things is 277 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:47.360 securing that thirty thousand dollars check, is he then waiting 278 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:50.360 for someone for quote the horse he's getting? Is he, 279 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:52.799 you know, pacing back and forth because the people keep 280 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:54.919 being late and delayed, which is why his whole day 281 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:58.519 has been put off. What's happening? Who is that quote 282 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:01.120 third party? And is it directly tied to Dixon? 283 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:03.639 What's so weird about the whole thing is that this 284 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:06.120 was a pretty important meeting where Gary would have been 285 00:15:06.120 --> 00:15:10.600 receiving one hundred thousand dollars from the McKee Oil company representative. 286 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:13.720 And you're thinking to yourself, even though Gary really loves horses, 287 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:16.600 would he really be willing to delay this meeting and 288 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:19.600 potentially not make this money just to buy a horse. 289 00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:22.480 So that's what makes no sense about this whole thing, 290 00:15:22.519 --> 00:15:24.879 is that he just suddenly decides, on this particular morning, 291 00:15:24.919 --> 00:15:28.000 I have to pay thirty thousand dollars to get this horse, 292 00:15:28.320 --> 00:15:30.720 even though I have a big business deal coming up. 293 00:15:30.759 --> 00:15:32.960 And that's why people have speculated that there's a lot 294 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:35.440 more to this story and that he wasn't just buying 295 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:39.639 a horse. Police spoke to Tom Dixon's wife, Shirley, but 296 00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:41.799 they learned he had also not returned home on the 297 00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:44.639 evening of October the fifteenth, and no one knew where 298 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:48.000 he was. It turned out that earlier that morning, during 299 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:50.639 the time period, he met with Gary Dixon and May 300 00:15:50.679 --> 00:15:53.120 plans to meet up at the owners of Bob's salvage 301 00:15:53.159 --> 00:15:56.279 yard in Independence, Missouri, as they happened to be friends 302 00:15:56.279 --> 00:15:59.600 of his. According to one of the owners, Bob Williams, 303 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:02.440 Dixon told him that he had recently purchased some junked 304 00:16:02.440 --> 00:16:05.000 cars in Waverley, and they were planning to go pick 305 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:07.440 them up in order to bring them to the salvage yard. 306 00:16:08.279 --> 00:16:11.159 Dixon finally arrived at the yard between five and five 307 00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:14.879 thirty PM, and after apologizing for not showing up that morning, 308 00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:17.720 he spent the next several hours hanging around there and 309 00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:22.000 helping out the employees. At around eleven PM, Dixon told 310 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:23.919 Williams that he was going to use the phone to 311 00:16:23.960 --> 00:16:26.519 call home, but they never saw him again, as he 312 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:30.960 presumably left without telling them. Dixon's abandoned pickup truck would 313 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:33.919 soon be discovered at the Quality Oil Company truck stop 314 00:16:33.960 --> 00:16:37.080 on US Route sixty nine with the keys in the ignition. 315 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:41.399 Well, remember, his wife is saying that, hey, he didn't 316 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:44.639 come home that night, and no one knew where he was. 317 00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:48.519 He tells the guys at the salvage yard at eleven o'clock, Hey, 318 00:16:48.600 --> 00:16:52.320 maybe I should check in. Was it normal that eleven 319 00:16:52.360 --> 00:16:55.080 o'clock wouldn't have been an alarm in and of itself 320 00:16:55.080 --> 00:16:57.279 for his wife that Hey, you've been gone all day, 321 00:16:57.879 --> 00:16:59.799 You're hanging out at the salvage yard, and by a 322 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:02.080 eleven PM I still haven't heard from you. Was that 323 00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:04.839 odd in his wife's viewpoint. 324 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:06.480 I'm not entirely sure. I don't know if it was 325 00:17:06.519 --> 00:17:09.160 standard practice for him to be out late, but she 326 00:17:09.240 --> 00:17:11.640 did later tell the police that, no, he never did 327 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:14.200 call me at eleven pms, So it seems like maybe 328 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:16.440 he was just using this as an excuse to leave, 329 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:19.799 or maybe he got intercepted or something before he got 330 00:17:19.839 --> 00:17:23.200 the chance to call his wife. But she just thought 331 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:25.400 it was very out of the ordinary that he would 332 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:27.440 just not show up at all. 333 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:31.400 Police eventually spoke to a friend of Dixon's named Tom Callahan, 334 00:17:31.960 --> 00:17:35.119 who claimed that on the morning of October sixteenth, Dixon 335 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:37.839 called him at home and to ask for assistance because 336 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:40.440 his pickup truck had broken down at a Quality Oil 337 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:44.000 company truck stop. When Callahan drove there to pick him up, 338 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:47.400 Dixon asked if he could borrow Callahan's own pickup truck 339 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:50.279 for a few hours in order to conduct some quote 340 00:17:50.519 --> 00:17:54.720 personal business. Callahan agreed to the request, and after he 341 00:17:54.839 --> 00:17:57.920 was dropped off at his home, Dixon left in Callahan's 342 00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:02.039 truck and returned about two hours later. Dixon told Callahan 343 00:18:02.119 --> 00:18:04.039 that he'd just been hired to be the driver of 344 00:18:04.119 --> 00:18:06.880 a cross country rig and asked for a ride to 345 00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:10.680 the Heart of America Truck Plaza, located near Interstate thirty 346 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:14.039 five in the suburb of Oleitha. Callahan said that he 347 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:16.759 drove Dixon to the truck Plaza and dropped him off 348 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:19.640 at around one thirty PM, but this was the last 349 00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:23.640 time anyone ever saw him. However, Shirley Dixon claimed that 350 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:26.039 she received a call from her husband at around three 351 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:29.880 pm that same afternoon. By this point, Nancy Simmons had 352 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:33.359 already reported Gary missing, and the police had asked Shirley 353 00:18:33.400 --> 00:18:37.440 about her husband's potential involvement. When Shirley asked Tom who 354 00:18:37.480 --> 00:18:40.319 Gary Simmons was, he confirmed that he did meet up 355 00:18:40.359 --> 00:18:42.440 with him, but he had not seen Gary since the 356 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:46.039 previous day. Before he ended the call, Dixon told his 357 00:18:46.119 --> 00:18:49.279 wife that he was calling from Arkansas and would return 358 00:18:49.319 --> 00:18:52.200 home that evening, but he never did, and this would 359 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:54.440 turn out to be the last time he was confirmed 360 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:55.039 to be alive. 361 00:18:56.839 --> 00:18:58.519 This is a little confusing to me. Help me break 362 00:18:58.519 --> 00:19:02.880 this down. So we know that Dixon is borrowing his 363 00:19:02.920 --> 00:19:07.240 friend Tom Callahan's truck. Do we know if Tom's truck 364 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:09.880 was nicer like a newer nicer model. 365 00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:13.720 I have no idea. It's just I think he's just 366 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:15.559 saying that I need to borrow it just because my 367 00:19:15.640 --> 00:19:17.720 other truck broke down and was having problems. 368 00:19:18.519 --> 00:19:21.279 Okay, I call a lie. Possibly it could be one 369 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:24.160 of two things. He's remember going to broke her a 370 00:19:24.200 --> 00:19:27.319 two hundred thousand dollars deal in today's money. So if 371 00:19:27.319 --> 00:19:30.720 he's driving up in some credit truck, right, does that 372 00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:35.960 raise alarm bells? And or could he also be trying 373 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:39.200 to move a body with blood and he doesn't want 374 00:19:39.240 --> 00:19:41.079 to get that blood in his truck because it would 375 00:19:41.079 --> 00:19:44.519 be directly tied to him. That's my first thought. Next, 376 00:19:44.599 --> 00:19:49.039 when you look at the fact that Dixon's going to 377 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:52.119 the truck plaza, isn't that where people saw him saw 378 00:19:52.200 --> 00:19:53.519 Gary pacing back and forth. 379 00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:56.079 This is actually the day after his meeting with Gary. 380 00:19:56.279 --> 00:19:59.599 So Gary was seen the previous day, and Dixon wasn't 381 00:19:59.640 --> 00:20:01.880 boring to truck to see Gary because once again, this 382 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:04.440 is the day after. So I mean, your theory about 383 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:07.000 him using it to move a body, that would make sense, 384 00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:09.160 But I think we can discount the idea that he 385 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:12.039 just wanted a nicer truck to make a better impression. 386 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:13.160 For making a horse deal. 387 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:15.359 I think he was moving a body. Then that's his 388 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:17.680 quote personal business. I'm sorry I misunderstood that it was 389 00:20:17.720 --> 00:20:20.559 the next day. Yeah, I think his personal business was 390 00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:23.960 making sure that forensic evidence was in his friend Tom's 391 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:24.759 truck and not his. 392 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:28.680 I like that theory. That sounds accurate, That makes sense. 393 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:31.160 And to clarify the timeline, he didn't come home the 394 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:33.839 previous evening and failed to call his wife, and he 395 00:20:33.880 --> 00:20:36.559 did call her till three pm the day after, on 396 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:39.680 October the sixteenth, which was, of course, the last time 397 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:42.240 he was confirmed to be alive. So it sounds like 398 00:20:42.279 --> 00:20:44.079 that was very out of the ordinary. So it makes 399 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:48.119 you wonder where was Dixon during the night. Was he 400 00:20:48.200 --> 00:20:50.880 disposing of a body or something, or was he hiding out. 401 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:54.000