Robert Hoagland

In 2016 the producers of the Investigation Discovery series Disappeared decided to make a season of new episodes after a hiatus of three years. One of the cases they chose to focus an episode on was Hoagland's. 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 Hoagland 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, would be assisting them. "We cannot say how long it may be before it's known whether Mr. Hoagland is [in South Carolina] or not," said Richard Robinson, a Newtown supervising detective.

"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. The evidence suggests both; neither has emerged as more likely.

On the morning of July 28, 2013, security cameras at a Mobil station in Newtown, Connecticut, United States, recorded Robert Hoagland (born 1963), 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 said goodbye to him while Robert was mowing the lawn of the family home, a conversation also witnessed by a neighbor. He 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 and his whereabouts are still unknown.

Robert and Lori's son 24-year-old son, Max Hoagland, had a history of problems with drug addiction. Earlier in 2013 he had been in rehabilitation. 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 while she was away.