On March 14, 2017, Thomas Lee Hegar, 50, and Dustin Louis Childress, 40, were dropped off near a forested property on South Upper Highland Road in the rural Beavercreek area. The two men entered the private land and, according to a frantic call received about 10:15 a.m., reported they were being shot at and that Hegar had been wounded while trying to flee. Their whereabouts remained unknown for hours.

At 5:46 p.m. one of the women who had dropped them off called 911, prompting a search of the area with the property owner’s consent. Deputies found the concealed bodies of Hegar and Childress near the front gate; the county medical examiner later ruled both deaths were from gunshot wounds. The property owner, Robert John Hilands, was interviewed, confessed to shooting the men, and was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated murder and unlawful use of a weapon. In 2019 Hilands was found mentally unfit to stand trial and committed to Oregon State Hospital after a schizophrenia diagnosis left a judge to conclude he could not assist in his defense and was a danger to himself and others.

Does anyone have information about Hegar’s activities that morning or remembered seeing a vehicle or anyone near South Upper Highland Road that day?