Name: Ronald Henry Tammen
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: April 19, 1953
Location Last Seen: Oxford, Butler County, Ohio
Date of Birth: July 23, 1933
Age: 19 years old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 5'9" - 5'10"
Weight: 175 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown, short
Eye Color: Brown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Dark/ruddy complexion and muscular build.
Dentals: Not Available
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Available. Blood type is O positive.
Clothing: Plaid jacket
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Blue and tan blanket
Tammen was last seen in Old Fisher Hall at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. At about 8:30 p.m., he entered his room after returning from a road engagement with the Campus Owls, a dance band for which he played string bass. Outside sat his 1940 Chevrolet sedan. Tammen left his Fisher Hall room to get new bed sheets from the Hall manager because someone had put a fish in his bed. He took the sheets and returned to his dorm room to study. There are reports that following this incident Tammen heard something that disturbed him and went into the hall to investigate.
Around midnight, Tammen's roommate returned to find the door open, the radio playing and all the room lights on. Tammen's psychology book lied open on his desk and beside the book were Tammen's watch, wallet and car keys. The roommate didn't think anything of it and assumed that Tammen had decided to spend the night in the Delta Tau Delta house. After about an hour of waiting for Tammen's return, the roommate went to bed. It was only when Tammen failed to return the following day that the roommate became worried and a search for the missing student begun. Authorities checked all bus, rail and air terminals. The Air Force ROTC sent 400 men to help students search the countryside. Friends and family, from Maple Heights, near Cleveland, said Tammen wouldn't leave without telling them. At first, police developed an amnesia theory, but later they did consider that he might have deliberately disappeared.
Mrs. Carl Spivey claimed that Tammen, dazed and unable to even remember his name, came to her home in Seven Mile, about 15 miles east of Oxford early on the morning of April 20, when she heard a knock on her door. She saw a young man - who fit Tammen's description - standing outside. When she opened the door, Tammen asked her for directions to the nearest bus stop. As there was no bus station in Seven Mile, she told him to go to Hamilton. She noticed he had a smudge of dirt on a cheek and his eyes were vacuous. Snow was on the ground that night, but he wore no coat or hat. She shut the door and expected to hear his car start, but it didn't. Then she realized the young man was walking. Upon further investigation, it was found Oxford Bus Lines had suspended that night, so the young man could have not taken the bus. Other sightings, both of Tammen and of his ghost, have been reported on a number of occasions.
In 1973, the Butler County Coroner revealed that Tammen had visited his office, seeking a blood test, five months to the day of his disappearance. The coroner claimed that, in his 35 years of practice, Tammen was the only person to visit his office with such a request.
When Fisher Hall was demolished in 1978, an extensive search of the rubble was conducted, but no signs of Tammen's remains were found.
Agency Name: Oxford Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Detective Lieutenant Daniel Umbstead
Agency Phone Number: (513)-524-5240
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: N/A
Agency Name: Butler County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: (513)-785-1300
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 080352
NamUs Case Number: 4523
NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs
Miami University Alumni Association
The Cincinnati Enquirer - Oct. 31, 1998
The Miami Student - Apr. 21, 2011 & Oct. 30, 2015
WXIX-TV News
Added: Prior to 2011; Last Updated: 05/17/2024 - By: kc
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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