Disappearance of Robert Hoagland

Hoagland's disappearance was resolved almost a decade later when his body was found by a roommate in a Rock Hill, New York, apartment December 5, 2022, where he had been living under the name Richard King. Deputies from the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office found paperwork with his real name on it, and notified Newtown police.

On December 5, 2022, police responded to an untimely death in Rock Hill, New York, roughly a hundred miles (160 km) west of Newtown. Officials had difficulty ascertaining the identity of the deceased, and upon further investigation discovered numerous documents referencing "Robert Hoagland". Sullivan County officials worked in conjunction with Newtown police to confirm his identity. He had been using the pseudonym "Richard King" and had been living there since November 2013.

In 2016, the producers of the Investigation Discovery series Disappeared focused an episode on Hoagland's disappearance. Since there had been no significant leads or sightings since late 2014, Newtown police and the Hoagland family (who cooperated) were hopeful that it would produce some new information. The episode, "A Family Man", aired on May 31.

Around the one-year anniversary of Robert's disappearance, in late July 2014, another sighting near Newtown was reported. A man told officials of the Putnam County, New York, sheriff's office that he had seen Robert going into the county jail in Carmel, the county seat, a short distance from Connecticut, and then leaving after two minutes. However, the only video footage the county could find that might have shown the man was from the building's exterior, and the man on it could not be conclusively identified.

In November 2014, Newtown police received another tip that Robert might be working in a restaurant in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. They clarified to a local newspaper that the tipster had not claimed to have actually seen him, only that he might be there. Their counterparts in Horry County, where Myrtle Beach is located, provided assistance. At that time, Richard Robinson, a Newtown supervising detective, stated, "We cannot say how long it may be before it's known whether Mr. Hoagland is [in South Carolina] or not."

"Everything is on the table," Newtown police chief Charles Kehoe said in 2014, as what might have happened to Robert. Two possibilities have emerged: that he was the victim of foul play, or that he decided to walk away from his life. There is significant evidence of both possibilities and neither has emerged as more likely.

On the morning of July 28, 2013, security footage at a Mobil gas station in Newtown, Connecticut, United States, captured Robert Hoagland (1963 – December 5, 2022), a local chef and property appraiser, buying a map along with fuel for his wife's car. He was last seen by anyone who knew him later that morning, when his son bid goodbye as Robert was mowing the lawn of the family home, a conversation also witnessed by a neighbor. Hoagland failed to show up for work the next morning or pick up his wife when she returned home from an overseas trip that afternoon. He was reported missing.

Robert and Lori's 24-year-old son, Max Hoagland, had a history of problems with drug addiction and had been in rehab earlier in 2013. Robert left his restaurant job for a position in a friend's law firm to better help his son with his recovery; he also worked as a real estate appraiser. Robert and Lori had talked about going on a hiking trip with Max on the Appalachian Trail that summer as part of that effort. In July, Lori went on a two-week trip to Turkey with some friends; she and Robert regularly exchanged email messages while she was away.

In September 2013, the Hoagland family began the court process necessary to appoint a trustee to represent Robert's interests, although they hoped it would not be necessary.

Later in September 2013, two sightings of men matching Hoagland's description were reported in Rhode Island, which borders Connecticut to the east. A man with a backpack was seen walking along Rhode Island Route 117 and Interstate 95 near Warwick; it turned out to be someone else. A short time later, Rhode Island Department of Transportation workers also reported seeing a similar-looking man, also with a backpack, walking west along Rhode Island Route 165 near the Connecticut state line at Voluntown. Police were unable to locate that man or determine his identity.

In December 2013, the Los Angeles Police Department asked citizens of that area to be on the lookout for Robert, who his family said had connections to several Los Angeles suburbs, including Hollywood. While no significant sightings have been reported in Los Angeles, another sighting came in January, when a tipster reported seeing Robert at a Savers thrift store in Brookfield, just to north of Newtown. He was reportedly driving a car with New York license plates. However, review of security-camera video from the store was inconclusive.