On a November morning in 1983, 20-year-old Richard William Miller Jr., known as Petie, left for work in Staunton, Virginia, driving his 1968 gold Chevrolet pickup. His father, driving a separate vehicle on Route 254, later noticed Richard’s truck pulled over behind another pickup; believing his son had stopped to help, the father kept going. That was the last confirmed sighting of Richard.

Richard was described as a white male, 5 feet 7 inches, 120 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a red shirt, dark blue work pants, a blue jacket, and brown dress boots. On December 14, 1983, his pickup was found abandoned in Richmond, reportedly parked three to four weeks and wiped clean of fingerprints or other evidence. The family later received an anonymous typed letter claiming he had chosen to cut ties and was alive; they did not believe it.

Investigators learned the motorist Richard had stopped to help was his fiancée’s stepfather, Charles Lindberg Almond, and that Richard had recently accused Almond of sexually abusing his fiancée, which led to an argument. Multiple searches and excavations over the years produced no trace of Richard or his remains. If anyone remembers Richard, his truck, or that stretch of Route 254 in 1983, please share what was seen or heard.