Resources for Missing Persons

According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day. Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends. Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.

Missing Person Case Updates with Photos

Caleb Ray Diehl










Diehl, date, approximate 2015; Ricky Howard
Date Missing 03/30/2015
Missing From
Nocona, Texas
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 03/15/1997 (25)
Age 18 years old
Height and Weight 5'11 - 6'2, 145 pounds
Associated Vehicle(s) Borrowed pickup truck (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Blond hair, blue eyes. Diehl has previously had orthodontic braces, but they were removed in 2013.
Details of Disappearance Diehl was last seen in Nocona, Texas on March 30, 2015. He lived with his sister in Grapevine, Texas, but at the time of his disappearance he was visiting his mother in Nocona and had a part-time job there. His own vehicle was in the repair shop, so Diehl borrowed a pickup truck from his employer, Ricky Dale Howard, to go to another job. Howard was also a good friend of Diehl's family. A photo of him is posted with this summary.
Diehl never returned to his mother's home that night. The truck he was driving was found abandoned at Howard's home two days after his disappearance, with its keys hanging on their usual hook. Authorities aren't sure how it got there. Since his disappearance, Diehl hasn't used his cellular phone or his social media accounts. He didn't take any belongings with him.
Police tracked Diehl's cellular phone signal to Howard's property; this is the last place is is known to have been before it lost signal. Howard told police he had found a broken phone lying on the floor and had thrown it away. Before law enforcement could examine Howard's own phone, he removed the SIM card and destroyed it.
Howard has a prior criminal record for bank fraud and aiding and abetting; he was convicted in 2007 and sentenced to 46 months in federal prison. In May 2015, he was arrested on weapons charges. He gave police investigating Diehl's disappearance permission to search his property, and they found several guns, which as a convicted felon he wasn't allowed to possess.
Howard pleaded guilty to the firearms charges and was sentenced to five years in prison.In 2016, he was charged with four counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child after two boys came forward and said Howard had sexually abused them during the 1990s.
One alleged victim stated Howard began abusing him in 1996, when he was thirteen years old, and the assaults continued for four years; he estimated that he was abused about 500 times. Another alleged victim said Howard had abused him in 1994, when he was twelve. Howard is still awaiting trial on those charges, which will take place after he is released from federal prison in the firearms .
In 2017, police obtained Howard's desktop computer and found 300 images of child sexual abuse on it, as well as images of Diehl. While none of the photos of Diehl showed him being sexually abused, they did show him in various states of undress.
In 2018, police recovered Howard's laptop computer, which he had given to a relative in Tennessee to help run his business. They found child sexual abuse images on that as well, including images of Howard sexually abusing a nude male minor about 13 to 15 years old. Diehl's family identified the boy in the photos as him.
As a result of these photographs, in October 2018, Howard was charged in state court with possession of child pornography with unknown victims and indecency with a child by exposure and by sexual contact, that child being Diehl. In February 2021 he was charged in federal court with sexual exploitation of a minor, the minor being Diehl.
The first trial ended in a mistrial after a juror was injured and could not be replaced. Afterwards, Howard reached a plea deal with the prosecution, pleading guilty to one count sexual exploitation of a minor. More than 40 other charges, both state and federal, were dropped. In October 2021, he was sentenced to the maximum term of 30 years in prison.
Authorities aren't sure what happened to Diehl and no charges have been filed in his disappearance, but foul play has not been ruled out and they think it's possible Howard was involved in his .
Diehl was a high school senior at the time of his disappearance, and planned to move to California or Colorado after graduation. His loved ones stated he was close to his family and it's uncharacteristic of him to leave without warning. His remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Nocona Police Department
940-825-3281
Montague County Sheriff's Office
940-825-3281
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Facebook Page for Caleb Diehl
NBC News
Texomas Homepage
The Wichita Falls Times Record News
KAUZ 6
The Bowie News
Everything Lubbock
CBS Dallas-Fort Worth

Missing Person Photos

A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe. By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends. A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.

Resources for Missing Persons

According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day. Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends. Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.

Missing Person Case Updates with Photos