Choices & Consequences: The Disappearance of Leon Moncer

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February 18th, 1982:

21-year-old Leon Moncer was last seen leaving his residence in Bellaire, Ohio. His car would be found on the side of the road a couple of days later. His wallet, cigarettes, and spare key were still in the car, but Leon was nowhere to be found. 

The Times Leader reported on his case 10 days after his disappearance and said he was a helpful, caring man. While some people remember him that way, the women in his life had a different perspective.  He was known to abuse and cheat on every woman he had been with. To make matters worse, he was a drug dealer in the community, so when he vanished, there were a few people in town who turned a blind eye. It seems this may have included some of the original investigators.

His soon-to-be ex-wife Irene still spoke of him politely despite the abuse she had suffered at his hands. She had a three-year-old daughter with this man, who deserved to know what happened to her father. Unfortunately, 43 years have passed, and no one knows for sure what happened to Leon Moncer.

 The Relationships:

Leon was still currently married to Irene, although their divorce would be finalized shortly. They were struggling to try to co-parent their child despite the crumbling of their relationship. While many couples go through this ordeal, Moncer’s abuse of substances didn’t make things easier. Although they had been separated for quite a while, their divorce wasn’t quite final at the time of his disappearance.

Leon had started a new relationship with a woman who has been named GG to protect her identity. He had been dating her long enough that he had proposed. She agreed, but he had recently hit her and broken her nose in an argument. This wasn’t a smart move because GG had Brothers who were furious, and justified in being so.

Leon was known to cheat on every woman he dated, so when he told his brother that he couldn’t attend his birthday party because he had a “hot date,” no one really thought anything about it. No one knew who the woman was either.

The Bar Fights:

Leon was known to be rowdy when he was under the influence, which caused many bar fights. One notable fight happened a short time before he disappeared. It took place at Tin Pan Alley, which was a known gathering place for mobsters at the time. 

The Note: “Leave It Alone, Or You Are Dead.”

The week before Leon disappeared, he received a death threat by mail. It was a letter without a stamp that consisted of letters cut from magazines. It read, “Leave it alone, or you are dead.”

If this note was legitimate, it didn’t seem to faze Leon. He simply shrugged it off and threw it away.  There is no evidence of this note left behind. It would be nice to have it for reference and to take DNA samples from it.

The Disappearance:

Leon was last seen on the night of February 18th, 1982. He told his brother Raymond that he couldn’t make it to his birthday party because he had a date. No one was sure it was, and no one thought to ask. To this day, no one has figured out if he actually had a date that night or if it was a joke.

According to Irene, Leon left his parents’ house, which was across the street, then stopped by his boss’s house tomorrow $20, and then drove to his friend’s house in Wheeling. She believed his first name was Ted, but had no idea what his last name was. Several friends placed Leon at Ed’s Lounge in Lloydsville later that evening, but nobody mentioned his mystery date.

No one was concerned about his absence until he missed work the next day, which was out of character for him. Despite all of his other problems, he was a hard worker who never missed work unless he was sick.

The family filed a missing person’s report with the Belmont County Sheriff’s Department. That night, Leon’s mother received a strange phone call. She was talking on the phone at about 9:00 p.m. when the phone operator interrupted her and asked her to hang up because an emergency phone call was coming through from Leon Moncer. The mother eagerly hung up the phone and sat waiting all evening for a call from her missing son. It was a cruel prank to pull on a grieving mother.

The next day, the family drove around trying to find any trace of Leon. They spotted his gray Dodge Aspen parked off the side of Anco Mining Road. He wasn’t there, but all of his belongings were still inside, along with empty beer cans and an empty bottle of wine. 

Conflicting reports have come in about the state of the abandoned car. Some reports said that it was left idling, and a neighbor shut the car off. Again, there’s nothing to verify this part of the story. We do know that his wallet, his spare key, and his cigarettes were still in the car. We do know that there was mud in the car, but this was a muddy time of year, so that is not necessarily pointing towards a struggle. It is strange, however, that his main car keys were not in the car. Instead, a spare key was found in the console of the car. What does all of this mean? Does this mean he simply stepped out of the car for a moment and never made it back? Or was he drug from the car?

The family reported the car, and the police told them to have it towed and get it out of the way. The police did not come out and take pictures or investigate the car as far as anyone can tell. Instead, the car was towed to Leon’s parents’ house, where it sat in the yard for 10 years without investigation.

The Cold Case team that is currently working on this case is surprised by the lack of interest the original police force showed in this case. The car should have been detailed and searched for forensic evidence, but it was not done, and that evidence has been lost to time.

Reported Sightings:

Like with a lot of missing person cases, there have been some reported sightings of Leon after his disappearance. While sometimes these sightings give the family hope, they also tend to derail the investigation. People don’t realize how unreliable Eyewitness statements really are, especially when you add emotional trauma into the mix, you will find that eyewitness statements are rarely accurate.

For a short time after the disappearance, a  few people around town thought they had seen Leon in a local bar, but they were never sure. One person even saw him walking down the road, but wasn’t sure. After these so-called sightings, it seems like the investigation stalled out completely.

There is one disturbing sighting that was reported repeatedly by Irene herself. She claimed that for nearly 2 years after Leon disappeared, a strange man would stand in the shadows outside of her house. She would call the police. But they would never arrive in time to catch the man. She even moved a few miles away, but instead of calling her local police department, where they might arrive on time, she would call the original investigators, and of course, they would never make it before the man disappeared.

I find this strange considering the fact that someone could be stalking her and her child, and she’s not more panic-stricken about it, but we all grieve differently. Was she actually seeing anyone out there in the shadows?

Declared Dead:

Leon was declared dead on November 16th, 1988, on what would have sadly been his 28th birthday. His parents never stopped looking for him, and unfortunately passed away without getting the answers they needed. His daughter is still looking for answers to this day. 

Investigation Over the Years:

While the initial investigation seemed to be lacking in enthusiasm, a Cold Case team has picked up this case and has tried to find answers for the family. Unfortunately, the original case file was lost for years and was recently found after an extensive search in an old storage unit. That was back in 2007.

Since the original car was not investigated, it makes it hard to know who was with Leon on that so-called hot date. Was anyone in that car with him at all? Did somebody ambush him on the side of the road? Did he have a girlfriend that night, but she was a plant to set him up? 

We may never know unless somebody comes forward. All of the forensic evidence was lost long ago.

The Ohio Valley Cold Case task force is still taking calls and following leads on this case. It even led them to dig up a basement in Columbus, Ohio. As far as anyone knows, nothing came of that lead. At least the public hasn’t been notified of anything by the police.

Sadly, this family has dealt with scams like so many others. You have so-called psychics calling family members and giving them false hope. You have people calling pretending to be family. But then, when you call back, they don’t exist. Unfortunately, there are predators out there who prey on victims’ family members. They have no empathy whatsoever and will steal millions of dollars from the families if it’s possible. Beware of scammers, especially in cold cases.

Theories:

Mob Hit:

There are a ton of theories out there on this case, and one of them is that it was a mob hit after Leon got into that fight with some mob Associates down on Tin Pan Alley. If there was a silent Watcher on the house like Irene claims, that might be a thin string to point towards a mob hit. Mobsters live by a strange moral compass. They might take out the father, but then watch over the child later. I’m still not convinced that there was a silent Watcher in this case.

GG’s Revenge:

The theory that most people like to go with is the fact that GG’s brothers took out the man who abused their little sister. This is a story of vengeance and makes perfect sense to anyone who has been abused. However, that is the obvious answer, and I have a hard time believing that the police wouldn’t have figured that one out in 43 years. There must be a reason why GG’s brothers haven’t been labeled as Persons of Interest in this case.

Unknown Revenge:

This unknown avenger is a theory that somebody else took Vengeance on Leon that night. Who in his life had the most motive to take him out? I contend somebody closer to him actually had more motive than GG’s brothers. Once the police can figure this out, then they will have their lead suspect. Unfortunately, Leon’s lifestyle opened the door to too many theories. 

He was known to sleep around with many women. Could he have gotten hold of somebody’s wife or daughter? He was also known to fight at local bars regularly. Did he fight with one person who just happened to be more violent than him? He sold drugs. Did he step on another drug dealer’s territory? Somebody in Leon’s life wanted him out of the way. The question is, after 43 years, who had the means to do it and pull it off and get by with it for all these years?

Simple Accident: 

The last theory is that he got out of his vehicle that night to pee and stumbled off into the rugged wilderness of Ohio. In his inebriated state, he may have fallen, hit his head, and died in the woods. If this is the case, I am sure somebody would have found him by now, or animals would have dragged up pieces of his clothing… something. Unfortunately, nothing has ever been found. 

What do you think happened to Leon Moncer? Whatever your opinions of him are, we must remember that his poor daughter deserves answers, and his parents died without ever having the answers they needed. 

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