Herbert Leroy Allen

• Missing Since 11/23/2006
• Missing From Cleveland, Ohio
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 09/08/1928 (96)
• Age 78 years old
• Height and Weight 5'9, 160 pounds
• Associated Vehicle(s) Silver 1995 minivan (accounted for)
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, brown eyes. Allen's nickname is Herb.

Details of Disappearance

Allen was last seen in the 1300 block of Clearaire Road in Cleveland, Ohio on November 23, 2006. He has never been heard from again. No one realized he was missing until December 12, when his silver 1995 minivan was found in New Mexico in the possession of Terry Chase White. White was one of Allen's former tenants; Allen had evicted him the week before he went missing. White had used Allen's credit cards to pay for his trip across the country.

While White was pumping gas at a truck stop, the employees became suspicious of his behavior and called the police. White drove off before the police arrived, but he was stopped a few miles away. He gave his real name to the officer, admitted the van was Allen's and claimed Allen had lent it to him.

When the investigators searched the van, they found a .22 caliber rifle in the back and bloodstains on the rear sliding door. When the police went to Allen's home on east 340th Street in Cleveland, they found a note on his refrigerator. It said he was going on a trip and asked one of his tenants to take care of his landlord duties. Authorities aren't sure whether or not Allen actually wrote the note.

Allen graduated from Collinwood High School in 1946 and spent 20 years working as a tool and die maker for General Motors. His wife claims he frequently beat her during their 44-year marriage. She divorced him in 1994. In 1996, Allen was charged with grand theft; he'd allegedly stolen $16,000 in life insurance from his brother, who had dementia.

Allen claimed his brother had given him the money. Court officials thought he might be mentally ill and ordered a psychiatric exam. He was declared competent, but never stood trial; instead, the case was dropped after he repaid some of the money to his brother's estate and entered a diversion program. Most of his friends and neighbors thought of him as a quiet, reclusive man and had no knowledge of the problems in his life.

White was subsequently sentenced to 18 months in jail for weapons possession and using Allen's credit cards without permission. He was never actually charged in Allen's disappearance, however.

At the time of his disappearance, Allen attended Bethlehem Lutheran Church and was a regular patron of Springvale Ballroom in North Olmsted, Ohio. He usually went to breakfast with his friends at the Vasa Lodge once a week. His body has never been found, but his case is considered to be a homicide.