Missing
Gary F. Lansaw
Lansaw, approximately 1966 (approximately twenty-two years prior to his disappearance; more recent photos are unavailable)
Date and time person was reported missing : 09/18/1984
Missing location (approx) :
Terre Haute, Indiana
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Male
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 03/31/1949 (72)
Age at the time of disappearance: 35 years old
Height / Weight : 6'0 - 6'2, 165 pounds
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian male. Brown hair, brown eyes.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Lansaw disappeared with Ronald Gilbert from Terre Haute, Indiana on September 18, 1984. The two men left town that day, supposedly en route to Paris, Illinois. They were planning to collect a debt from Jerome E. Board. He owed Lansaw, a drug dealer, $2,800 for drugs. The men never returned to Terre Haute and neither of them has ever been heard from again.
In 2000, Jerome and his brother Herbert Board Jr. were tried for Gilbert and Lansaw's murders. Prosecutors alleged that the brothers and Dale Peterson decided to shoot the men to death on their father's property rather than pay back the money. Jerome's ex-wife, Debra Broad, testified for the prosecution, stating that when Jerry brought them to the property in Paris, Herbert and Peterson were lying in wait to shoot them. Afterwards they dismembered the bodies and burned them.
By the time the Board brothers were charged, Peterson had taken his own life. Debra did not give her statement about the murder until the police contacted her in 1999, and she was granted immunity from prosecution for her role in the alleged murders. There was no physical evidence to support the story. The Board brothers were acquitted of all charges in December 2000.
Foul play is suspected in Lansaw and Gilbert's cases due to the circumstances involved. Their bodies have never been found.
Other information and links : ncy
Vigo County Sheriff's Office
812-232-3801
September 2021 updates and sources
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are not known. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2�5% of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
Several organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and imAge at the time of disappearance: s of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Indiana Missing Persons Bulletin
The Mattoon Journal Gazette
WTHI-TV 10
October 12, 2004. September 20, 2019; .
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
