Thomas Hayden Sr., 62, disappeared from his Dover Township, Pennsylvania, home in autumn 2011. His wife, Virginia Hayden, told family he had traveled to Mexico for ALS treatment, but that explanation began to unravel after a grisly find in January 2012: a bag containing a human scalp with hair tied in a ponytail and blood‑soaked cloth was found along a Dover Township road. The remains could not be identified at the time.

The case stalled until 2017, when Hayden’s daughter from a previous relationship reported him missing after repeated efforts to contact him were blocked by the stepmother. DNA from Thomas’s brothers later identified the scalp as his. Investigators found Virginia had forged his signature, collected over $113,000 in his Social Security benefits after his disappearance, and purchased a .357 caliber handgun shortly before he vanished. A forensic pathologist concluded Thomas likely died of a gunshot wound.

In September 2022 Virginia entered a no‑contest plea to third‑degree murder and tampering with evidence and was sentenced to six to 20 years. The full body of Thomas Hayden has never been recovered.

Did anyone in Dover Township know Thomas’s movements or see him around autumn 2011?