Dan Tondevold

[treeman]

Any updates on this crazy case?

So many possibilities.

-Ben

[Kane]

Originally Posted by treeman

Any updates on this crazy case?

So many possibilities.

-Ben

What kind of case was this? Could you please give me a concise description of it? Thank you in advance.

[AVERMAN]

It was one of those classic "Con artist scams money from senile old lady then disappears" dealies. Only in this one, he is supposedly found dead but theres a twist, because nobody who knew the man identified the body.

Basically, A lady from Knoxville Tennessee lets this guy from Denmark move in with her. He soon takes control of her finances and she gives him power of attorney. In 1984 i think it was, they planned a trip down to South Carolina. They stayed there for 4 months. They had planned that the old lady take a plane while the guy drove the Mercedes back. When the lady arrived home, the guy hadnt arrived yet, and all their utilities were disconnected. Meanwhile, the guy is spotted 100 miles south of their holiday destination. He is soon found dead in a field near a dog that had been shot in the head. He had also been shot in the head with the gun lying nearby. Just before the holiday, the guy placed an ad in a paper looking for a chauffeur, even though there was no need for one. The ad said that only males were needed and that applicants needed to send a photo. It is believed that the guy was looking for a body double to kill and make it look like he had committed suicide, while running away with the old lady's money.

[The Third Man]

I found a record in the Social Security Death Index for a Dan S. Tondevold which seems to match Tondevold's date of birth (8/26/1933--in the UM segment it was mentioned that Tondevold graduated from high school in 1951). The SSDI entry stated that Tondevold died in 1985, which I think was when the body was found in South Carolina.

So officially it seems the case is closed, and that the body is still officially thought to be that of Tondevold.

[AVERMAN]

That's what UM mentioned too. However at the end, they reported it as if the guy was still alive.

[The Third Man]

I don't think he is alive, frankly. While I'm not in total agreement with mozartpc's argument that "Suicide or Murder?" cases on UM are always really suicide, I think it holds here.

A friend of the lady whom Tondevald was scamming claims that "it doesn't make sense" for Tondevald to kill himself having stolen lots of money from the scammee. I'm not so sure; I'd argue that Tondevald knew the end of the gravy train was nigh--once they returned from South Carolina the jig was going to be up--and he also knew that he had now soaked the woman for all she had.

I'm also far from convinced that Tondevald was necessarily looking for a body double in the ad. Looking for a chauffeur for a four-month trip makes some sense; Tondevald probably didn't want to have to drive her around all that time. Even asking for a picture for a job like that isn't that unusual; an older woman wouldn't want to be driven around by a scary-looking guy, and that could eliminate some candidates right off the bat. Also, one other key point: Tondevald posted the ad at the beginning of the four-month vacation. Why would Tondevald do that, when he "needed" the body double at the end of the vacation?

It just seems to me like a rather high-risk strategy for disappearing...run an ad and hope that someone who looks vaguely like you responds, lure said candidate into the middle of nowhere, and fake a suicide and hope that the guy that identifies your body double never got a good look at you. If Tondevald wanted to disappear, all he would have had to do is stay behind in South Carolina (as he did), then take off somewhere else and just not bother with the body double and the fake suicide. He could have been long gone by the time anybody noticed.

[AVERMAN]

ThirdMan, I like the cut of your jib.

[Tennessean]

In the early 80's I was working in a specialty food shop in Knoxville called The Gourmet's Market and Dan Tondevold was a regular customer. I asked him about the origin of his name and he said he was Danish. I mentioned that I had a good friend from Aarhus and he said he had never heard of it. Aarhus is the second largest city in Denmark. I wonder how many Americans have never heard of Chicago?

[treeman]

Thanks for that Tennassean interesting stuff.

-Ben

[Jediknight1823]

Originally Posted by Tennessean

I wonder how many Americans have never heard of Chicago?

They're a pretty good band. And Cetera had that "Glory of Love" song, so it would strange not to know who they are.

But yeah, this is one bizarra case.

[unsolvedmysteriesfan]

Originally Posted by Jediknight1823

They're a pretty good band. And Cetera had that "Glory of Love" song, so it would strange not to know who they are.

LOL.

[Huskerz85]

This reminds me of the Ed Baker (Houston Oilman scams investors with his "tax shelters".....is thought to have later committed suicide in a deserted field where burnt out shell of his Jaguar was found) case alot though the other major details differ very much....

I think Tondevald is alive. In fact, I don't even think that's his real name. What I think happened is that this guy, whoever he is, assumed this 'Dan Tondevald' identity......keeps up appearances while he cleans out his elderly target......then in SC, he does the 'Body Double' thing and after the body is discovered & ID'ed, he skips town and either goes back to his regular identity (not very likely), or assumes a new one (more likely)....all with the stolen funds in hand.

The body double thing may seem like a far-out, high-risk plan.......but if we're to assume this perp liked/likes to change identities, then this would fit in with that very well.

[CanadianUMFan]

It actually mentions in the segment that Tondevold was really from Las Vegas and not Denmark. The Danish accent was a put-on.

One item that bothers me is that a dog was found shot in the head next to Tondevold's body. However, UM never mentions whether Tondevold ever had a dog. If he did and the dead dog could be identified as his, then it is more likely that the dead human body is Tondevold's. If Tondevold never had a dog, then to whom did this dog belong and why was it found with this dead human?

[Drakken]

The thing is, was Las Vegas' Tondevold and the con artist Dan Tondevold really the same person?

Not that I believe that he was Mrs. Berry's son Hugh (that was accurately disproven) but I have found some weird biometrical discrepencies between the picture of the later Dan Tondevold (DT #2) and the pictures in the Las Vegas yearbook presented near the end of the segment (DT #1).

- #1's ears are spreaded wider, while #2's ears are closer to the side of the head.
- #1's nose is rounded, with a wider nosebone, while #2's nose is narrower and pointed.
- #1's eyebrows are hairier and higher in the forehead than #2's.
- No cheekbone are visible on the #1's pictures, whose cheeks are plain with no bone showing. On the other hand, #2 has a more pronounced cheekbone. However, the fact that #2 is smiling could skewer this.

You can look at these pictures and reach a conclusion by yourself, but when I compared the pictures I realized that it is possible that the Dan Tondevold we know and the younger Dan Tondevold are not the same person. I wish I had a software to compare biometrics between these two pictures to quantify these discrepencies, but from what I see in those pictures there is at least a reasonable doubt that he was on those pictures.

[cindy5]

Originally Posted by unsolvedmysteriesfan

LOL.

I just came across this page. Does anyone have any other informaton regarding Dan Tondevold and this story? Someone told me along time ago that they saw this on unsolved mysteries. I was never able to see that episode. I tried to find out some details. I received some information. Dan lived in Las Vegas along time ago. Any information that you can give me would be greatly appreciated.