What Happened To Oliver Munson?

Oliver Munson made a living working as an industrial arts teacher in a Maryland school district. The 39-year-old lived in the comfortable suburb of Catonsville. In January of 1983, Oliver was in pursuit of his dream car. He went out to buy a Datsun 240Z. Unbeknownst to Munson, though, he bought from someone with shady intentions. Dennis Watson — the man who sold him his car — was actually the ringleader of a car theft operation. The vehicle that Oliver Munson just bought had been stolen three months earlier.

Watson had been using his business as a cover for a chop shop, a place where his stolen cars were dismantled and sold for parts. Entire cars were also sold along with fake ownership papers. Police had been staking out his “garage” for weeks before they had enough to make a move. On March 16, 1983, Watson’s business was raided and he was placed in handcuffs. In validation of their surveillance, the police recovered several illegal titles, dismantled cars, and stolen ID tags.

As the police were combing through Watson’s records, they came across the name “Oliver Munson”. Detective Phillip Goodwin learned from the records that Munson was in possession of a stolen car that he’d purchased from Watson. They attempted to reach him at his home, but he was not there. Before leaving, they towed his car away to hold it as evidence.

The detective was eventually able to get in touch with Oliver. He confirmed that he purchased the car from Dennis Watson. He also was adamant that he was unaware that it was stolen. Detective Goodwin believed him, but then told Oliver that he would need to testify against Watson in court. Oliver was visibly uneasy. Unfortunately for him, though, he had no choice but to testify.

Oliver was scheduled to testify in court on February 16, 1984. Three days before his court date, Oliver was leaving for work. A neighbor said that he’d seen him heading out at around 8 am. He made his turn onto Orpington Road and was never seen again. Oliver was not likely to miss work, so when he didn’t arrive at Ellicot City Middle School that morning, both students and staff began to worry.

Oliver’s brother James also began to worry. He had called him relentlessly to no avail. The next day — the day after Oliver disappeared — James decided to drive over to Oliver’s house himself. He looked throughout the house (which was undisturbed) and couldn’t find him. The following day, though, James learned that someone had broken into Oliver’s home and stolen his video equipment. Police have never been able to determine if this break-in was related to Oliver’s disappearance.

Fearing the worst, he went to the police to file a missing person report. Then, on February 16, his car was found abandoned on Braeside Road. It was just a few blocks away from his house. One of the tires was flat, although it did not have a leak. His stereo had been stolen. His work papers and lunch were sitting on the front seat. There was no evidence to give any indication as to his whereabouts.

Detective Goodwin believed that Oliver had been kidnapped and murdered. He also believed that Dennis Watson was the person behind it. At that point, they would learn that this wasn’t the first time something like this happened.

On November 20, 1973, 29-year-old Clinton Glenn was found burned to death in a vehicle. The car was registered to Dennis Watson. Like Oliver Munson, he had been asked to testify against Watson in an armed robbery trial the next day. Witness testimony led to Watson being indicted for Clinton Glenn’s murder. And then another key witness died of a suspicious drug overdose. Without the witness, the prosecution had to drop the charges.

The investigation into what happened to Oliver Munson stalled for months. Then, the police heard from a man named Hilton Solomon. Solomon told police that his car had been stolen just hours before Oliver had reportedly disappeared. On February 27 — two weeks after the disappearance — he found his car in Leakin Park in West Baltimore. There was a hat inside similar to one that Oliver Munson owned. His car was taken by police, checked, and released back to him. Afterward, Solomon decided to clean it. That’s when he found several receipts from a video store with Oliver’s name on them. Curiously, the police made no mention of finding that during their search.

Detective Goodwin then examined the car. He found what he described as brownish stains on the front right-hand side of the vehicle. Under the seat was also a spent cartridge case — suggesting that a gun had been fired in the car. On one of the video store receipts were red smudges. Tests done on the stains and smudges revealed that it was human blood, type O+. This would suggest that Oliver met with foul play, but there were actually no records documenting his blood type so the police couldn’t be too sure.

When it came to Dennis Watson’s trial for the car theft, there was a surprising outcome. He pled guilty and got a 10-year prison sentence. He was paroled in 1989 after serving half his sentence. Oliver Munson's case, however, is still without any answers. Oliver’s mother died in 1990 without ever having learned what happened to her son.

In 1985, Oliver Munson was legally declared dead and was classified as the victim of a presumptive homicide. The police have been unable to find Dennis Watson after he was out on parole. They would like to question him again about the disappearance. To this day, the dissappearance of Oliver Munson remains unsolved.