I got hooked on this case pretty quick and hadn't even realized that two of my good friends had already covered this case. I only noticed AFTER I wrote this up. Had I known. I might not have even written it. My good friend Andrea from WhereAboutsStillUnknown and Ed Dentzel from UnFound. Please give these links a read and listen.
Shurlock
Quick Entry #16: What Happened To Bill Underwood?
William "Bill" Campbell Underhill
“When, I was young I felt like I could somehow will him home,” Mary Underhill said. (Bill's Sister)
I was going through the case information through several websites. And it mentioned that Bill was a big Rock N Roll fan. And there was a soundbite to this song as being one he liked. So I dedicated this song to the entry. I love this era of music by the way. I'll stream Pandora listening to this era for hours. Any woman I'm dating will always give me odd looks when they hear the music I like for the first time. I'm 40 and I can't. I just can't listen to much of today's music. I love this era of music I dedicated TWO songs to this entry. The other can be found at the bottom of the entry.
Missing Since:
Between March 6th and 10th 1969 (Somewhere around)
Missing From:
St. Paul, MN
Date of Birth:
07/02/1948
Parents:
James & Anne Underhill (Both Deceased)
Siblings:
Mary Underhill and Sarah Holm
Height & Weight:
6'2 & Between 168-175 lbs
Hair & Eyes:
Brown & Hazel
Occupation:
Student at the College Of Liberal Arts at the University of Minneapolis in Minnesota.
Other:
Small Scar on Forehead
Dislocated Shoulder
Suffered Polio as a Child
Wearing:
Blue Jeans, Beige Sweater, Brown Suede Jacket, and Suede Boots
Girlfriend:
Terry Holmberg (Described in articles as "casually dating" Bill.)
Early Life
As a young boy Bill had contracted Polio. After recovering from Polio. Bill became a very active young man. He was into Fishing and Weightlifting. He was an avid skateboarder. And at one point raised baby squirrels. In High School Bill played Football and was on the Wrestling team.
“As years went by I no longer thought of him as alive and my hope changed to finding his bones — to being able to bury him, to do what people do when someone dies,”
Mary Underhill, Bill's Sister
Details of Disappearance
According to reports, 21 year old Bill Underhill had taken a sociology exam sometime earlier on the day he disappeared. The exact date of his disappearance hasn't been established. All that is known is that occurred sometime between March 1st and March 10th. That's according to the Facebook page ran by Bill's sisters. They were able to obtain the Original Police Report Filed by their parents. The Report was filed on March 10th 1969. So later on that evening, After Bill's Test. (Date Unknown) He attended a party at an Apartment Building near 14th Ave and SE 5th St. In the University's Dinkeytown District. The exact address is unknown. At some point that night. After Bill had visited with several friends. When he abruptly left the party and went outside. Leaving behind his jacket in the process. After a few minutes someone went to check on Bill and they were unable to find him. Since that night in March of 1969, Bill has never been seen or heard from again. His Social Security Number has never been used. And his Bank Account has never been touched. At the time Law Enforcement didn't look very hard into cases of young men going missing since many were fleeing The Draft. As a result of this. Bill was not officially listed as a Missing Person until 2013 when he was officially entered into Namus.
The Call
An interesting aspect written about in one article is that Bill's girlfriend Terry Holmberg has stated she received a call sometime during the night Bill disappeared. She is quoted as saying.....
“He called and I could just tell something was wrong,” Holmberg said. “He sounded very sad, and he was saying goodbye. He told me to stay a nice person, and he wouldn’t tell me where he was … I thought maybe he was breaking up with me. I didn’t realize until later he had disappeared.”
Not sure how much I put into that call. Not that I'm questioning her honesty.
Analysis
There isn't a whole lot to go on here. Without the exact date of his disappearance it makes it hard all around. Lots of websites list the date of his disappearance as the 13th of March. But that can't be accurate if his parents filed a report with Law Enforcement on the 10th. There is a retired Detective working with the family on the case. Which is always a good thing. There is a Facebook page that's pretty active and it's run by Bill's sisters. I don't know what to think about the call to his girlfriend. I saw the girlfriend post on the Charley Project's Blog entry and she stated she wasn't aware of Bill's disappearance until much later. Then I read where she describes this call that occurred the night Bill supposedly vanished. Maybe she remembered it after she started processing his disappearance in her head. It could happen. Again, Not questioning her honesty. Apparently a lot of his Classmates didn't know for a long time that Bill went missing. The retired detective has been in contact with some of the people that attended that party the night Bill was last seen. I know it's been a long time. It's just wild that the exact location of this party is still unknown. I can understand the date. But you'd think the location could at least be nailed down. Even after all these years. I've not read anywhere, That Bill suffered from depression. Nor any mental illnesses. He seemed to be a very healthy young man. An active weightlifter. You can see his arms in one of the pics where he is holding up a fish. I can't imagine someone having an easy time being physical with Bill. It would seem it would take more than one. Unless the person is armed. But what would be the motive? Him leaving his jacket at the party is interesting. I imagine there was drinking going on at a college party. Was he drinking? If so how much? Was he inebriated? There has been speculation that he might've left to avoid Vietnam Service. But there has never been any indication he left and fled to Canada. According to his family. That has been looked into. In Andrea's post on her website she mentions that one of Bill's weightlifting journals has notes up until March 6th. She also mentions that Bill didn't own a car. I hope the retired detective as well as the sisters get their answers soon.
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Quick Entry # 16: What Happened To Bill Underwood?
Reviewed by
CrimeBlogger1983
on
February 16, 2024
Rating:
5
