Case Details

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This person was missing Missing Since 07/15/1991

Missing Since:

Missing Since 07/15/1991

Missing From:

Missing From Lock Haven, Pennsylvania

Classification:

Classification Endangered Missing

Gender:

Female

Race:

Race White

Date of Birth:

Age:

Age 40 years old

Height and Weight:

Height and Weight 5’5, 140 pounds

Clothing/Jewelry Description:

Clothing/Jewelry Description A sleeveless maroon, blue and yellow dark print dress, flat shoes (possibly tan in color, size between 8 1/2 and 10), a gold chain necklace, quarter-carat diamond earrings, a wedding ring with three small diamonds and a gold and diamond engagement ring with a one-carat diamond.

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Dark brown hair. Heckel’s hair was shoulder-length at the time of her disappearance. She wears contact lenses and her ears are pierced. Her nickname is Kathy. Heckel’s blood is type A positive. One of her teeth has been extracted and she has fillings on twelve others. She has a surgical scar on the right side of her abdomen from where her right kidney was removed.

Details of Disappearance:

In July 1991, a secretary named Heckel vanished from her workplace in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. She left for lunch and never returned. Her car was found a few days later, abandoned near a hospital, with the keys missing. Because she left without money or belongings, and her bank accounts were accessed after her disappearance, police suspected foul play.

Investigators focused on a coworker, Loyd Groves, with whom Heckel was having a secret affair. Heckel had recently told friends she wanted to end the relationship, fearing Groves’s stalking and threatening behavior. They’d had a big argument the morning she disappeared, and Groves was seen chasing her. His van was seen leaving around the same time as Heckel’s car.

Groves acted suspiciously after Heckel’s disappearance, giving a confusing alibi and worrying about getting arrested. Crucially, Heckel’s blood was found in Groves’s van, along with a gun, knife, duct tape, and ammunition.

In 2015, Groves was charged with murder. While a jury acquitted him of the most serious charge, they found him guilty of third-degree murder in 2018. He was sentenced to 10-20 years in prison. Heckel was officially declared dead in 1998. Her family always believed she was murdered.

Agency:

Pennsylvania State Police 570-726-6000

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