On January 19, 1989, a welfare check led to the discovery of 42-year-old Thomas Patrick Ryan dead from homicidal violence in his Portland, Oregon apartment at 4509 SW Vermont Street, Apartment 1. Officers had to get the apartment manager to open the locked door before finding the body.

Investigators noted the victim’s brown two-tone 1979 Chevrolet Monte Carlo was missing from the complex and believed the vehicle may have been taken by the person or persons responsible. The Monte Carlo was later found in Washington State, just across the river from Umatilla, Oregon, which was the last known place the car had been seen.

A possible suspect description was developed tied to the stolen vehicle: a white male about 20 years old, roughly 5 feet 8 inches tall, slender at 140–150 pounds, with red hair and a red beard. No arrests have been publicly announced and the Portland Police Bureau’s Cold Case Homicide Unit lists the case as open.

If anyone knew Thomas Ryan, saw that Monte Carlo, or has information about the described man, please come forward.