Circumstances of Disappearance
Heckle was last seen on February 3, 1973 while on a weekend trip with Boy Scout Troop 101. The group camped at the Kiwanis Cabins along the Cedar River between Palo and Toddville, near the Duane Arnold Energy Center. He was last seen by his fellow scouts about 8 p.m. that night. He apparently disappeared while playing a game of "capture the flag."
Troop members searched on their own for about 90 minutes before calling the Sheriff's Department. Regular and reserve deputies, Marion police and Civil Defense volunteers searched the reserve near the Cedar River's backwaters that night.
A searcher found Heckle's blue quilted nylon parka, snagged on a log along the river's east bank the next day. Investigators found no sign of foul play. It is believed that he slipped into the icy Cedar River and drowned.
Heckle was a fifth grader at Eisenhower Elementary School.