Missing Persons Cases From The '80s That Shook The World

Publish date: 2024-05-02

On July 20, 1984, a Catholic priest, Father John Patrick Kerrigan, disappeared from Ronan, Montana. Police soon found his bloodied clothes and possessions, as well as a "deformed" coat hanger. A week later, his car was found abandoned, the interior covered in bloodstains, according to Flathead Living. Kerrigan's remains have never been located. At first, it seemed to be a single, terrible crime, but clues began piling up that things might not be so simple.

Investigators soon discovered a 1982 crime in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where another Catholic priest, Father Reynaldo Rivera, also disappeared. His vehicle was found abandoned, and police also found a wire coat hanger at the scene. Rivera's body was later discovered, however, and it appeared he had been strangled with some sort of wire.

This is where things stalled until police uncovered Kerrigan had been accused in numerous cases of child sexual abuse. What's more, he had also spent some time in Jemez Springs, New Mexico, not far from Santa Fe, at a Catholic rehabilitation center. While the crimes were very similar and Kerrigan had spent time in the same area as Rivera, no clear evidence has emerged that the two were connected in any way. A popular rumor is that the men were killed as revenge by a victim of church sexual abuse, but this has never been proven and Father Rivera has never been accused of or linked to any impropriety.

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