Woody Kelly mysteriously disappeared in '85, just as authorities say they were closing in on his multimillion-dollar scam. Today, they still wonder: Did he cheat death, too?(News)

Byline: Sara Faiwell Daily Herald Staff Writer There are two words that still make people in Antioch uneasy: Woody Kelly. He was a businessman, a family guy and everyone's friend. But 20 years ago this week, he disappeared. "If I found him today and had a gun, I would probably shoot him," says Norm Osgood, a former Kelly client.

Woodruff S. Kelly Jr. led a very public life in Antioch, a town of about 4,000 in the early '80s. On the surface, he was running a successful investment business that promised an astounding 18 percent return on all investments.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5273/is_200506/ai_n20854661

Just watched this on my own VHS copies today and wanted to bump it.

Even though Woody is still missing, there's virtually no discussion of him on here at all. Just wondered if anyone knows if there's been any leads at all between 1985 and now? It sounds to me like he was sort of a white collar 80s yuppie type who probably started off a regular, educated nice guy but just got greedy and turned bad. If he's still alive he'd be 67...and if he is, I'd guess he must've started a brand new life with a different identity.

Something that just now occured to me (and I saw this one way back in my early UM fan days circa '94) which is interesting is concerning his family. He apparently had a wife and kids, yet they were never interviewed on the segment or even mentioned by name! That's not typical for UM. Maybe his wife was mad at him and ashamed for what he'd done, but I still find it fascinating they ONLY talked to his business partners and people he'd ripped off. It does make this case even more mysterious since you don't have his relatives' personal input.

A Google search reveals nothing recent about this case.

Although it could be possible that this man simply went on the run, since they never said that he had any training in avoiding detection by law enforcement/private investigators nor has he apparently contacted his family,IMHO, I believe that he is deceased.

To much time has passed w/o any type of sighting and even the FBI and US Marshall aren't actively looking for this man.

A Google search reveals nothing recent about this case.

Although it could be possible that this man simply went on the run, since they never said that he had any training in avoiding detection by law enforcement/private investigators nor has he apparently contacted his family,IMHO, I believe that he is deceased.

To much time has passed w/o any type of sighting and even the FBI and US Marshall aren't actively looking for this man.

Yeah, I'd say chances are that he is dead. The responding policeman in the intro could've had the right instinct that Woody fell overboard. Even if he had been leading a double life of some sort, chances are it would've tragically caught up with him, ala Jack Brown or Roger Dean.

A suicide would explain why he wanted to go on his boat by himself, but you'd think he would've left his wife and kids a suicide note or some money if taking his own life was his intent. Just a weird case.

Woody Kelly mysteriously disappeared in '85, just as authorities say they were closing in on his multimillion-dollar scam. Today, they still wonder: Did he cheat death, too?(News)

Byline: Sara Faiwell Daily Herald Staff Writer There are two words that still make people in Antioch uneasy: Woody Kelly. He was a businessman, a family guy and everyone's friend. But 20 years ago this week, he disappeared. "If I found him today and had a gun, I would probably shoot him," says Norm Osgood, a former Kelly client.

Woodruff S. Kelly Jr. led a very public life in Antioch, a town of about 4,000 in the early '80s. On the surface, he was running a successful investment business that promised an astounding 18 percent return on all investments.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5273/is_200506/ai_n20854661

Rewatched this one last night. Dr. Norm Osgood I think lost the most out of everyone, his total gone was 483k.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-01-05/features/8601020621_1_lake-michigan-getaway-car-cross-lake

Here's an article that goes into more detail on the case. According to the article there was a money trail that lead to Florida shortly after he dissapeared. It also states that 2 days before he disappeared he received a note from a bank for $70,000. I'd have to say that would make it seem like Kelly was intentionally disappearing, preparing for a life on the run. I think he fled the country and is either still living in a foreign country or has since died. The segment made a big deal about Kelly being a "family man", so I can see the argument being made that he would never have ran away from his family. But if he hoodwinked a whole community, I don't think it's much of a stretch to say he hoodwinked his family too.

I'm curious about this case too. He stole so much money from these people. Weird how there is really nothing on the internet of him.

Believe it or not, since moving to HI I actually try to keep a more alert eye out for some of those guys who might have been attracted to the islands--just in case. Woody Kelly's one of them. I can't believe there's hardly anything about him available on the web.

i forget this case

i forget this case

Woody Kelly had his own investment company in Antioch, IL. I think he promised his customers something like a 18% return--it was really high, I remember that. Anyway, he grew his clientele and ended up with a lot of wealth. He went shopping for a new boat one day, took it for a test drive without any salespeople aboard, and never returned. The boat was found a few days later by the Coast Guard, unoccupied and with no sign of Woody. Pretty soon after that, Woody's investors figured out he hadn't invested their money at all--he'd spent it. I think he made off with something like six million dollars.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-01-05/features/8601020621_1_lake-michigan-getaway-car-cross-lake

Here's an article that goes into more detail on the case. According to the article there was a money trail that lead to Florida shortly after he dissapeared. It also states that 2 days before he disappeared he received a note from a bank for $70,000. I'd have to say that would make it seem like Kelly was intentionally disappearing, preparing for a life on the run. I think he fled the country and is either still living in a foreign country or has since died. The segment made a big deal about Kelly being a "family man", so I can see the argument being made that he would never have ran away from his family. But if he hoodwinked a whole community, I don't think it's much of a stretch to say he hoodwinked his family too.

Forgive me for bumping an older thread, but I just saw this case for the first time and this comment pretty much sums up what I think happened. Kelly was a middle aged man back then so he'd likely be dead or near death by now.

I assume that with today's advancements in technology that someone somewhere would get a glimpse of him as that seems to happen in most of these cases. However, that assumption also implies that he has been alive during these technological advancements. He may very well have faked his disappearance and died while on the run.

This one is a true mystery.

What's interesting about the Kelly disappearance is the fact that he disappeared before it was found out that he was embezzling money from his clients. Had he disappeared shortly after being outed as a fraud, I could conceivably see it as a possible suicide, but not with the Kelly disappearance. The fact that he never contacted his family again makes the case even more bizarre.

What's interesting about the Kelly disappearance is the fact that he disappeared before it was found out that he was embezzling money from his clients. Had he disappeared shortly after being outed as a fraud, I could conceivably see it as a possible suicide, but not with the Kelly disappearance. The fact that he never contacted his family again makes the case even more bizarre.

I always suspected Woody Kelly could have simply been a better planner than your garden variety UM fraudster.

Rather than waiting around until his victims and/or the authorities began to catch on, Kelly may have decided to bail out before the kitchen got too hot, so to speak. And arguably, that's probably a far more reasoned thing to do as opposed to taking flack from 'angry investors' (Stack phrase alert) and/or having LE breathe down your back for weeks on end.

ETA: I have some odd attachment to this segment. Always liked it for some reason.

ETA: I have some odd attachment to this segment. Always liked it for some reason.

Me too. I think it's the small town ambiance featured in the segment for me.

Out of curiosity, does anyone know if his wife and family were forced to repay all of the money he embezzled? I know in some cases, its left to the victims family to do so.

I would think if got away with he would have left a safe deposit box on whatever island he is on to be opened for whenever he passes stating his real identity. The kind of guy who hoodwinks an entire community and abandons your family,might also be the kind of guy who brags from beyond the graveabout getting away with the perfect crime.

This case made the "Unsolved Mysteries of Wisconsin" book.

It seems based on online newspapers that Kelly was seen as late as 1992 if eyewitnesses can be believed.

This is a cool case as both scenarios are equally plausible in my mind.
I note unlike say the Dale Kerstetter case no family of Woody's took part. His wife tried to have him declared dead first chance. It makes me wonder if he did a runner and they knew?

This is a cool case as both scenarios are equally plausible in my mind.
I note unlike say the Dale Kerstetter case no family of Woody's took part. His wife tried to have him declared dead first chance. It makes me wonder if he did a runner and they knew?

I don't think Kerstetter's family took part in anything either. Nor do I even altogether think Kerstetter did himself. But anyway..............

Woody has got to be dead by now. He did not look as young as 42 in my mind. He looked much older. I don't buy into the idea he fell overboard. This is Lake Michigan I believe, not an ocean. There is no way his body does NOT pop up somewhere in a lake. Even one of the Great Lakes, it still shows up eventually. There aren't sharks that are going to eat you or anything in a fresh water lake. So he did not go overboard, but might have staged it to look like it and took off. Either way, I can understand why his family wasn't interviewed. Not everyone is proud of the people they know. Denis Depue's girlfriend never revealed her identity although she did speak on the show. It isn't because Denis could come back and kill her as he knew who she was and where she lived, but probably just didn't want the publicity of dating a wanted murderer whom she had no idea about. Woody's family could be in that same boat. They may not have wanted the publicity of their names being out there.