Richard Hoagland, a Cold Case That Just Ran Away From His Family

Richard Hoagland was a Cold Case that just began a new identity.

The Man Who Died Twice: The Incredible Double Life of Richard Hoagland

For 23 years, the disappearance of Richard Hoagland remained one of Indianapolis’s most perplexing mysteries. A successful businessman, devoted father, and seemingly happy husband vanished without a trace on February 10, 1993, leaving behind a shattered family and a trail of questions that would haunt investigators for decades.

But the truth behind Hoagland’s disappearance would prove to be far more extraordinary than anyone could have imagined—a twisted tale of deception that spanned two decades and involved a stolen identity, a new family, and a man who literally came back from the dead.

The Perfect Life That Wasn’t

Richard Hoagland appeared to have it all. After a previous divorce, he had found love again with Linda Iseler, and together they built what seemed like an idyllic life in Indianapolis. The couple enjoyed a large home, exotic vacations, and financial stability. Their two young sons, Matthew (9) and Doug (6), completed the picture-perfect family.

But beneath the surface of this seemingly perfect existence, something was terribly wrong.

The Day Everything Changed

February 10, 1993, started like any other day. Then Richard called Linda at work with an urgent message: he was ill and needed to go to the emergency room immediately. When Linda offered to accompany him, he refused, insisting he didn’t have time to wait.

It was the last time she would ever speak to her husband.

Richard vanished completely. His toothbrush remained in its place. No clothes were missing. He hadn’t even taken a coat despite the February cold. His passport sat untouched. When authorities eventually located his car, it was abandoned at Indianapolis International Airport—but there was no record of any Richard Hoagland boarding a flight that day.

Birthday Cards from the Void

That summer, something extraordinary happened. Both sons received birthday cards from their father, each containing $50. Doug’s card carried a haunting message: “Maybe sometime soon we will get to see each other. I bet I won’t even know you. It has been so long. Mind your mother. Bye, Dad.”

These cards would be the last communication from Richard Hoagland—for 23 years.

As the investigation unfolded, Linda found herself under suspicion. Police interrogated her repeatedly, even suggesting Richard might have been involved in drug trafficking—a possibility she knew nothing about. The family lost everything: their house, their cars, their stability. Linda’s mother had to step in to help.

“He devastated us. He left us with nothing, absolutely nothing. I was very broken,” Linda said.

After ten years, Richard was declared legally dead. Linda eventually remarried and tried to rebuild her life.

The Shocking Truth Emerges

In the summer of 2016, Linda received a phone call that would shake her to her core. Detective Anthony Cardillo of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Department in Florida asked if she knew Richard Hoagland.

“Yes, that’s my ex-husband,” she replied.

“We have him in custody,” the detective said.

Richard Hoagland had been found alive—living under the name Terry Symansky in Zephyrhills, Florida.

The Man Who Came Back from the Dead

The truth was more bizarre than fiction. After disappearing in 1993, Richard had fled to Florida and rented a room from the father of Terry Symansky, a fisherman who had died in a boating accident in 1991. Somehow, Richard obtained Terry’s death certificate and used it to create an entirely new identity.

Using the dead man’s death certificate, Richard applied for a birth certificate in Terry Symansky’s name. With that birth certificate, he obtained a driver’s license. Piece by piece, he built a new life as Terry Symansky.

Under his stolen identity, Richard bought a house, married a woman named Mary, and even fathered another child. For 23 years, he lived this elaborate lie, maintaining the facade of being Terry Symansky while his real family mourned his disappearance.

DNA Reveals the Impossible

The deception might have continued indefinitely if not for a genealogy project. The real Terry Symansky’s family began researching their family history using Ancestry.com. When Terry’s nephew discovered that his supposedly dead uncle had gotten married two years after his burial, alarm bells rang.

The Symansky family contacted authorities, leading to Detective Cardillo’s investigation. When confronted, Richard initially maintained his false identity, even providing a driver’s license with Terry Symansky’s information. Only when presented with the real Terry Symansky’s death certificate did he finally admit the truth: he was Richard Hoagland.

Two Families, One Liar

The revelation devastated both of Richard’s families. His Florida wife and son of 20 years were blindsided by the discovery that their husband and father was living under a stolen identity. His Indiana family struggled to process that the man they had mourned for 23 years had been living a parallel life just states away.

“I believe he got caught up with the wrong people—got carried away and over his head in something,” Matthew Hoagland said of his father’s disappearance and deception.

Justice Served

Richard Hoagland now faces multiple charges, including identity fraud. He awaits trial in Florida, having pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. His only explanation for abandoning his first family was vague: “family issues with his wife and children.”

For Linda Iseler and her sons, the discovery brings more questions than answers. How does someone walk away from their children? How do you build an entirely new life while your family grieves your death? And perhaps most hauntingly—what really happened on February 10, 1993, to make Richard Hoagland choose to disappear?

The case of Richard Hoagland serves as a chilling reminder that sometimes the most extraordinary mysteries have the most mundane explanations—and that the human capacity for deception knows no bounds. For 23 years, he lived as a ghost, a man who died twice: once when he disappeared, and once when his lies finally caught up with him.